Health News. Lots of resources and information

Some of the biggest problems that arise in managing a permanent special diet stem from organising them alongside normal family meals. If one or two foods have to be avoided, it is not usually much of a problem to accommodate within ordinary household catering; but if more foods are involved, or if more than one household member has a special diet, then it can become a nightmare of planning and juggling.

One solution that people sometimes adopt is to put the whole household on to the special diet, or something close to it. It is often easier to organise and plan this way, but it has some drawbacks. It often causes stupendous rows, it can be very costly (depending on the foods you have to eat), and it can have one unforeseen consequence – it occasionally reveals that other family members have food allergies and intolerances too, unmasked by the special diet, and they start to get sharp reactions typical of an exclusion diet. It is not a good idea to put anyone through that process without good reason, without supervision or without foresight.

You may well have hidden food sensitivity in your family, given that allergy and food intolerance often run in families, and that mild symptoms often go undetected and unreported. It is better either to leave it alone, or to sort it out systematically, rather than find it out by accident when one family member starts following another’s special diet. So keep the special diet just for the person for whom it is designed.

*130\117\8*

Tags: Allergies
Posted in Allergies | No Comments »

A final factor in judging where chemicals are likely to cause reactions is that of ‘chemical load’ or overload of the system. The load effect is also known as the ‘cocktail effect’. People with chemical sensitivity often appear to react to a wide range of chemicals and their tolerance to specific chemicals can vary. Sometimes they will react to a given chemical and at other times they can tolerate up to a certain amount. One explanation for this may lie with the body’s mechanisms for detoxifying chemicals. From studies of toxic exposures, it has been shown that exposure to two or more chemicals can be much more harmful than exposure to one alone, the reason being that if the same enzyme is required to break down the chemicals, there can be an inadequate supply of the enzyme, and of the catalyst or cofactors needed to help that and other chemical processes in the body. The chemically sensitive person’s ability to cope with chemicals in their environment may, therefore, depend on their overall ‘load’ of chemicals (and hence demands on their enzyme systems). This is perhaps the reason why a tiny extra amount of chemical load can often be enough to take a chemically sensitive person over their tolerance level and cause reactions.

The load effect is important when thinking about what chemicals might cause you to react. Some chemicals are more troublesome than others and consistently cause problems, but your overall load of chemicals may aggravate the situation by overloading your system.

This is why, when talking about avoidance of chemicals below, it is often good to try to reduce your overall load of chemicals, as well as to avoid chemicals to which you know you are specifically sensitive. Reducing overall load can actually improve your tolerance of specific substances.

In addition, some people cross-react to chemicals, that is their bodies recognise substances that are chemically related and react to them.

*61\117\8*

Tags: Allergies
Posted in Allergies | No Comments »

Pure cotton clothing for women has become much more widely available over the last few years, as have silk and linen clothes at more reasonable prices. This section first gives advice on finding relatively safe sources of cotton clothing. Details of silk and linen clothing follow at the end of the section.

Cotton Clothing

Some items of clothing can be hard to find in pure cotton, such as cotton swimwear, pure cotton tracksuits, or unusual or stylish fashion clothes. The sources provided are chosen therefore because they sell unusual clothes, as well as being better tolerated by people with allergies and sensitivities.

Of the High Street suppliers, Benetton pure cotton clothes are generally well tolerated, once they have been washed – especially their corduroy, cotton jersey and tracksuit fabric clothes. They are a very useful source for warm winter clothing if you can tolerate nothing but cotton. Mixed reports are received of Marks and Spencer and Laura Ashley cotton clothes, in cotton poplin and drill in particular. Some people tolerate these very well; others find they do not. Proceed with caution!

While Next’s clothes for children are relatively trouble-free, some of their women’s cotton jersey fashions have higher levels of fabric finishes and cause more problems, even after washing. Again, handle with care! Next now sell a range of formaldehyde-free organic clothes.

Look out for soft cotton Indian or Third World fashions, which are usually relatively untreated. Cotton voiles and cotton lawns are also often better tolerated than stiffer cotton drill or poplin.

*335\117\8*

Tags: Allergies
Posted in Allergies | No Comments »

Here are some guidelines on how to avoid trouble when using building and decorating materials, or if having work done. If you work in the building trade.

Avoiding Trouble at Home

Even if you have decided that you need eventually to replace the materials around you in your home, go gently if you remove or replace them. Unless you are in the unusual position of being able to move out while work is done, and stay out until the place is aired, then do one room or one major task at a time. Give it time to air and give your system time to cope without overload.

If you are a tenant, negotiate with your landlord over what he or she can do for you. You may have to pay yourself for the work you need. If you cannot afford to do a lot of work, then do one room, preferably the bedroom, or your ‘oasis’, and do it thoroughly, rather than do everything partially.

Allow rooms to air for as long as you possibly can, even up to a few weeks, before using them again. Decorate or do work before going on a visit or on holiday, for instance, and air well on return, or ask a neighbour to open windows and air the home while you are away.

Do not decorate or do work in a new baby’s room close to the delivery date; decorate it months before if you can, and if your superstition permits. New babies are more vulnerable than adults to chemical load.

Redecorate infrequently to keep the load, and the inconvenience, down. Get someone else to redecorate or do work for you if you possibly can. If you cannot afford to pay for work to be done, then look for friends who are keen on DIY, and offer to do something for them in return – other household jobs, or car-washing or window cleaning, for instance. Ask your voluntary services or charities if there are groups, such as scouts’ groups, who could help you out.

If you do work yourself, protect your skin and airways with overalls, gloves and face masks. Sander and Kay sell pure cotton work overalls by post (address below). Ventilate thoroughly while working and take frequent breaks. Wash hair and bathe or shower immediately after doing work.

Use low-hazard materials as far as possible. Details are given below. Use solvent-free materials wherever possible. Avoid using wallpaper or lining paper, especially if you are allergic to moulds. Avoid using particle board (see below) if you are able to.

If you are starting from scratch, or replacing old structures or materials, use materials which are inert, such as ceramic tiles, cork, cement, glass, marble, stone, most woods, or materials which do not need repainting, such as metal or varnished wood. Doors, window frames, skirtings, wall panels and cupboard doors can be made from unpainted wood, sealed with a clear varnish which needs redoing very seldom. >PLANTS AND TREES for choice of wood, and see Varnishes (below). Ceramic tiles can be used for floors, work surfaces, even walls. Kitchen work surfaces can also be made from sealed wood, stainless steel or tiles.

*267\117\8*

Tags: Allergies
Posted in Allergies | No Comments »

Choose With Care Where You Go On Holiday

Coastal areas are generally more favourable than inland areas. Alpine or other high altitude areas are relatively free of pollens, with short pollen seasons and often with micro-climates that discourage pollen production. In some countries, such as Spain or Portugal, pollens are produced virtually all year round and you may have problems. The Pollen Research Unit has information on pollen counts and major allergens for most parts of the world.

Important Events

Important events, such as school and college exams, or sports events and school outings often take place at peak summer pollen times. In the case of exams, if you or your child are affected by allergy to the extent that your performance is reduced, make sure that the people responsible know, if necessary providing a doctor’s note. Ask if you can take exams in a place better protected from pollens – say, at home so that you do not have to go outside that day. Be assertive if pollens make you or your child very unwell – many people view allergy as a minor inconvenience without realising how disabling it can be.

*199\117\8*

Tags: Allergies
Posted in Allergies | No Comments »

Morning-after Pill-If, as a result of unprotected intercourse or a condom bursting around the time of ovulation, fertilisation may have occurred, two pills (Eugynon 50 or Ovran) can be taken within 72 hours, but preferably 48 hours, of exposure followed by two more 12 hours later. Pregnancy is now unlikely to occur.

However, a pregnancy test must be carried out 3—4 weeks later and a barrier method of contraception should be used in the meantime. There is a risk, however theoretical, that if the woman is pregnant and continues, the foetus may be damaged by the pills. Your GP or any clinic can provide the service. (Some clinics remain open even over the Christmas holiday for this purpose). Alternatively an IUD can be fitted and has the same effect.

Male pill-Hormones as well as other substances such as gossypol, discovered by the Chinese, and D-propranolol, a drug normally used to reduce blood pressure, have been tried in Pills for men. Since a man makes 100,000 sperms per minute, compared with a woman’s one egg a month, it is a tall order and all formulations have problems in practice. Whatever is possible technically though, one survey of over a thousand women found that two-thirds would not trust a man who said he was taking a male Pill.

Anti-progesterones-These substances block the body’s progesterones. One such product, RU 486 (mifepristone), is undergoing trials. It can be given by mouth, vaginally, or by injection. If given in the second half of the cycle or early in pregnancy it usually results in menstruation occurring. In this respect it is similar to an IUD.

*116\164\2*

Tags: Men’s Health
Posted in Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction | No Comments »

A common notion in Victorian times was that ‘ladies do not move’. This may well be true but only women can have intercourse. However, a man with difficulties in controlling the time of ejaculation can find that passionate movements by his woman destroy his control. On the other hand an older man or a man with a tendency to slow ejaculation or a loss of erection may benefit from his partner’s movements. A woman can move most freely in positions in which her body is free. These include positions such as the rear-entry, woman-on-top, and left-lateral. Women like to move in all kinds of ways during intercourse and movements include thrusting and rotating the pelvis so that the penis is swept around the interior of the vagina. The best way to imagine this is to think of the base of a felt-tip pen inserted into the vagina. The woman then draws circles with the tip. A woman can also contract her pelvic muscles. If this is done as the penis moves inwards and if they are released as it moves outwards, it greatly enhances the sensation for both partners.

A little practice during masturbation or during intercourse pays real dividends. A variation of this is for the penis to remain motionless in the vagina and for the woman, by repeatedly contracting and relaxing her pelvic muscles, to bring her partner, and herself, to orgasm.

In positions in which the man mainly controls the movement, he usually wants to move at a speed which corresponds to the one he uses when masturbating. Some like short, rapid movements and others slow, long ones. Women have their preferences too and a communicating couple will tell each other what they want. Quick, teasing movements at the vaginal opening without full penetration and even total withdrawal from and re-penetration of the vagina, for example, can, at the early stages of intercourse, bring some women to orgasm.

*96\164\2*

Tags: Men’s Health
Posted in Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction | No Comments »

From puberty until the menopause women have a period each month if an embryo has not implanted. There are many reasons for periods not appearing in normal women, the commonest of which by far is pregnancy, but others include an emotional shock, physical or mental

ill-health, a change of time zones, a woman’s fear that she might be pregnant and all kinds of stress.

Periods can vary greatly in their duration and in the heaviness of the blood loss. Normal periods can last for anything from two to eight days and the amount of blood loss is usually between five and six tablespoons. It seems a lot more because blood spreads over surfaces easily. If you ever have bleeding between your periods, see your doctor.

One of the earliest practical considerations is sanitary protection. Sanitary towels or tampons have to be used to absorb the menstrual blood. Sanitary towels are pads of highly absorbent material — often paper. Today’s slimmer pads are unobstrusive even under tight clothes and many come with a waterproof backing film to prevent leaking.

Tampons are more convenient and comfortable for many girls and women. These are small plugs of absorbent material about the size of a finger that are inserted into the vagina where they expand and absorb the menstrual flow. If a girl is a virgin she may find it difficult to push the tampon into her vagina at first but most hymens already have a large enough hole to make it fairly easy. On first inserting a tampon the girl may actually break or stretch the hymen and this can cause some soreness for a day or two. It may be helpful to use a mirror at first. For the first few times a tampon is used it can help to smear its tip with KY jelly or something similar. Follow the instructions on the packet as these vary according to the type of tampon you are using. The most helpful thing of all when putting a tampon in the first few times is to relax. It cannot get lost inside. It is relatively easy though to forget that it is there, especially when the period ends and there is no leakage. All tampons have a string attacked to their base which, when pulled, brings them out of the vagina. Tampons very rarely get stuck but if they do don’t worry. Just ask your mother to help you or go to your doctor.

Whether a tampon or a sanitary towel is used it should be changed several times a day and more often if the flow is heavy. Lots of girls and women put a stick-on ‘pant-liner’ inside their pants to mop up the inevitable occasional leak.

Many girls and women wonder about sex and their periods, but even though many cultures have a taboo on sex with menstruating women there is no reason to avoid intercourse. Of course, some women or their partners use periods to avoid having sex for a quarter or more of the month. An orgasm can help to reduce some of the symptoms of premenstrual tension and the cramping pains some women have in the first couple of days of their period. Research has proved that many women are most interested in sex around the time of a period and actually during it, and again at around ovulation (in the middle of the month), so clearly there is no reason to believe that nature meant sex to be a no-go area because of a period.

Although there is an ancient Jewish notion that menstruating women are unclean, no medical evidence has ever been found to support this, though some doctors persist in talking about menstrual ‘toxps’, the existence of which has never been proved. In spite of the advertising world’s suggestions, and many women’s suspicions, that menstruating women smell and that men are likely to find them unattractive, this is not true if reasonable rules of hygiene are observed.

Having periods affects women in many different ways. Some are completely unchanged physically and mentally and others are tired, grumpy, irritable, have a lot of lower abdominal pain and back pain, and feel bloated. Considerable research shows that women are more likely to be ill, to be admitted to hospital, to have acute medical and psychiatric illnesses, to crash the car, to hit their children, to be off work, and a host of other things, around the onset of their period. Men (including male doctors) for years thought that these problems were in the mind but research has now proved that the signs and symptoms are indeed very real. Explaining all these premenstrual troubles to children can be a problem and should be done in a way that does not make them think of menstruation as an illness. Girls raised to think in this way often end up with intolerable premenstrual symptoms themselves because they expect to be ill when they have a period.

Obviously having periods can be messy and some women consider them a misery and call periods ‘the curse’. Today’s Western woman will have 400—500 periods in a lifetime, but her ancient ancestors would only have had about thirty cycles, partly because of a later onset of periods and an earlier menopause and partly because most of the others would have been suppressed by having many pregnancies and breastfeeding on a prolonged basis.

Endometriosis is worth a mention here because it is found by chance during laparoscopic examination in up to 5 per cent of women whereas the condition is said to be present in up to half of subfertile ones. Endometrial cells (cells that normally form the lining of the uterus — the endometrium) are found outside the uterus in this condition, especially in the ovaries, bowels and behind the vagina. Such cells escape from the open, outer ends of the fallopian tubes during mensturation and are usually mopped up by the body’s defences. Defects in these defences possibly prevent the cells being scavenged and so endometriosis results. Women between 30 and 45 are most vulnerable and whilst many have no symptoms others suffer from heavy periods, abdominal and back pains, painful periods, and painful intercourse. Surgery, or a male-type hormone called Danazol, which induces a temporary false menopause, can be used to relieve the condition. Any blockage of the cervix which may encourage menstrual blood to flow along the tubes must also be cleared.

*76\164\2*

Tags: Men’s Health
Posted in Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction | No Comments »

Probably about two out of three marriages have serious problems at some time although, as we have seen, only half of these will end in divorce. So what can someone who is worried about his or her marriage do?

Talk it over between yourselves-Read this far you will already have learned enough to have answered some of your main problems (we hope!) and throughout the rest of the articles you will find answers to many others, which you will be able to discuss with your partner. Ignorance of the facts is only one area of trouble, albeit an important one. Feelings are the biggest problem when things go wrong and often one cannot share one’s feelings about someone else with them. At this point a third party becomes almost essential.

Talk to a close, trusted friend-Don’t go around sharing your marital and relationship problems with just anybody or you will receive so much conflicting and unprofessional advice that you will be even more confused. Also, it may feel embarrassing for you and your partner when things improve. Seek out a trustworthy friend and talk things over rationally and confidentially. Bear in mind that a friend will tend to take your side because he or she likes you and will not want to offend you. A true friend will tell you the bad news along with the good, but such discussion can put intolerable stress on the friendship and may even kill it completely. Because there are so many problems with all this, lots of people do not confide their marital problems to friends or family but go straight to professionals.

*56\164\2*

Tags: Men’s Health
Posted in Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction | No Comments »

Where, during courtship or engagement, the relationship is seen to be wrong or unsuitable, it is best to end it in a straightforward way with a rational discussion of the reasons. However, having said this, not everyone is capable of dealing with rejection and tactics for ending the relationship may have to be modified. Threats and blackmail have to be resisted because an unsuitable relationship will only become more unsuitable as time goes by. Women especially may make suicidal gestures on such occasions and men may behave unsociably and even violently. In such cases they may need medical help. If you are rejected, here are some helpful thoughts:

1 Considering how rotten a bad marriage can be, you have had a lucky escape.

2 You should be wiser and more clever in choosing your next partner and managing the relationship; after all, if you have learned nothing of value to help you next time, you have only yourself to blame.

3 It is unrealistic but all too common to pick out one feature, physical or psychological, about yourself and blame it for your ‘failure’ – this almost never applies.

4 Even thinking about the situation in terms of ‘failure’ is wrong since relationships are about mutual compatibility and not about estimates of the eternal or absolute worth of the participants.

5 You are free for all the thrills and excitements of making another choice and testing it in courtship.

Having said all this, it has to be admitted that the abandonment that is involved, especially if the partner has left the relationship for someone else, and the sense of loss, exposes the individual to depression, mourning, self-criticism and a temporary loss of self-confidence and esteem. Women seem, on average, less able to cope with this kind of set-back than men and being rejected in this way can sometimes alter their self-esteem for the rest of their life.

*34\164\2*

Tags: Men’s Health
Posted in Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction | No Comments »