General health recipes
PREVENTION OF VENEREAL DISEASES
• The best prevention against venereal disease is to have as few sexual partners as possible. It is unusual for those who have sex with only one partner to catch a venereal disease but it is not impossible. Certain venereal infections can be caught from towels, sheets and lavatory seats, so it makes sense to avoid using other people’s belongings. Some people avoid public lavatories for this reason. Thrush and certain other genital infections in women can be transmitted to their partners who need never have had sex outside the partnership. Needless to say, babies who catch herpes or other venereal infections have not had sexual contact with anyone-they have contact with the infected genitals of their mothers.
• If you are having sex with someone you don’t know well (on a one-night stand, for example) it makes sense for the man to use a sheath. Women who have sex with strangers should always carry a sheath and insist that the man wear it. Likewise, men should carry a sheath against this eventuality. The diaphragm offers some small protection to a woman but not nearly as much as does a sheath. Spermicidal foam has some effect in killing off the organisms that cause VD.
• At the first sign of any of the above diseases seek help. This makes sense not only because you will be treated more quickly and more effectively but because the best form of prevention against VD is ensuring that anyone who knows he or she has the condition prevents themselves from passing it on to others. If you have any of the above symptoms stop having sex and get help.
• If you discover any of the above symptoms be ready to tell the clinic who your sex partners were so that they can trace them and treat them too. Absolute confidentiality is the rule at these clinics but unless your sexual contacts are traced and treated the infected people will go on to infect others.
• Prevention ideally starts early-at school and at home-by instructing children and teenagers about the dangers of sex with multiple partners. Many schools currently give such information but the quality is extremely variable and much of it takes the form of scare stories. This often has exactly the opposite effect as many children unconsciously turn away from such unpalatable information. There is a real need for professional sex educators, who would go round schools telling children about the many aspects of love and sex, among which would be a discussion of sexually transmitted diseases.
With the current scares over AIDS and herpes there are signs that VD is decreasing a little as people reduce their promiscuity somewhat. This started off among US homosexuals but is spreading to affect heterosexuals and other countries too.
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SELF-HELP PREVENTION: ABOUT BRUISING
Bruising is a collection of blood and blood breakdown products in the skin or other superficial parts of the body.
What causes it?
• Trauma to the area.
• Certain rare blood or blood-vessel diseases.
• Leukemia in children.
• Cushing’s disease (over-activity of the adrenal glands).
• Certain drugs.
The only one of these abnormalities that can be prevented without medical help is the first. Anyone who bruises easily should see a doctor to have the other conditions ruled out. It is almost impossible to prevent all knocks and bumps in life but for those (children especially) who are liable to very easy bruising some of the hints under the prevention of accidents could be helpful. Here are a few tips to help prevent bruises from becoming worse than they otherwise would be.
• Arnica-the homoeopathic remedy-if dabbed on the area immediately after a knock will prevent the bruise coming out at all or reduce its severity. Arnica should only be used on closed skin (i.e. not if there is a wound).
• Ice constricts the tiny capillaries in the skin and prevents blood from leaking out to cause a bigger bruise. For immediate first aid put an unopened pack of frozen vegetables (peas are ideal) straight from the freezer on to the area.
• Pancreatic and pineapple enzymes help reduce bruising. Bromeleins-the active ingredient in pineapple-help reduce pain and swelling.
• Vitamin Ñ and bioflavonoids might also help, according to a study in New York. These help to strengthen capillaries in people who are prone to easy bruising.
This is particularly likely to be of value in the elderly, who tend to be short of these vitamins.
Keep off drugs that are known to thin the blood. Aspirin is the best known and most widely used but anti-histamines, anti-inflammatories and diuretics can all contribute to easy bleeding.
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FEET, PAINFUL GROWTHS ON SOLES OF
Description and Possible Medical Problems
As we grow older, we become attuned to the little aches and pains that, although they may not totally restrict our movement are nevertheless there—and they weren’t before. A creak in the knee during a walk or a knuckle that begins to swell the second you type for more than a certain number of minutes—these things are annoying, but we can still carry on.
When a pain occurs on the bottom of your foot, however, and makes it difficult to walk, it’s probably not just any old ache or pain but a plantar wart, also called a verruca plantaris. A plantar wart is caused by the same virus that’s responsible for the warts that appear on your hands, and it has a characteristic dark spot in the middle. One way in which it differs from the wart on your finger is that it is usually level with the surface of skin because of the pressure of walking, which makes it recede into the skin.
You can usually let an ordinary wart clear up by itself or use an over-the-counter preparation to freeze it so it falls off. With a plantar wart, however, you usually don’t have the luxury of time, since it hurts with every step.
If you have a plantar wart, you should see your doctor. He will use cryotherapy to freeze it off, lasers to burn it off, or topical medication such as an aspirin derivative or a mild acid, which will cause the wart to eventually dry up and fall off. Whatever removal method is used, it is not painful, and the wart should fall off in about four days.
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BODY SIGNAL ALERT VAGINAL DISCHARGE WITH BLOATING AND GENERAL MALAISE: TREATMENT
If your doctor suspects you have ovarian cancer, he will use a sonogram, a CAT scan of the pelvis, and a physical examination to make a positive diagnosis. There is also a blood test that can detect the presence of ovarian cancer and also track its progression. However, this test isn’t a standard part of a regular gynecological exam because it is very expensive. In addition, the test is not 100% accurate: in other words, a negative result does not mean you are free from cancer, and a positive doesn’t necessarily mean you have cancer.
If you do have ovarian cancer, you will need surgery to remove the cancer and help determine whether the cancer is in an early or advanced stage. In addition to your ovaries, your fallopian tubes, uterus, and lymph glands will also probably be removed to make sure that the cancer has not spread. After surgery, you will likely be treated with radiation or chemotherapy to keep the cancer in check.
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BELCHING WITH HEARTBURN, AN ACID TASTE IN THE MOUTH, AND A SORE THROAT: DESCRIPTION AND POSSIBLE MEDICAL PROBLEMS
Heartburn is probably the most common digestive complaint among people in their 40s and 50s—witness the sizable industry that offers pills and liquids in all shapes, sizes, and colors that profess to treat the condition. Most often, heartburn is a sign of stress and/or culinary overindulgence. To help determine the cause of your heartburn, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do I have heartburn after every meal?
2. Do I sometimes find it difficult to sleep?
3. Does the pain occur in the middle of my abdomen between the upper left and right quadrants?
4. Do I frequently take over-the-counter heartburn remedies?
5. Is the heartburn painful?
Fortunately, heartburn is rarely a sign of a serious underlying illness. If you have persistent heartburn with a bad taste in your mouth and bad breath, then you may have a hiatal hernia, a physiological condition in which the valve between the esophagus and the stomach is not working
right. With a faulty valve, the stomach breaches the area directly below the diaphragm and actually rises up into the chest area. This allows stomach acids to enter the esophagus and the mouth. The high acid content of the stomach juices can irritate the esophagus, and this is known as heartburn.
If you have a hiatal hernia, it’s probably a by-product of too many years of eating rich food and leading a sedentary lifestyle. The obesity that usually results can also cause the stomach to push up into the esophagus. In addition, eating heavy meals just before you lie down to go to sleep can cause the valve to malfunction. And alcohol, cigarettes, spicy foods, and antibiotics can aggravate heartburn even more. When belching occurs in combination with sweating and a general malaise, it can be a sign of heart disease.
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BODY SIGNAL ALERT COUGH, PRODUCTIVE AND ACUTE: DESCRIPTION AND POSSIBLE MEDICAL PROBLEMS
The first thing you should realize with a cough that has appeared suddenly and brings up mucus or phlegm is that this is the body’s way of getting rid of an irritant that has entered the lungs. With an acute, nonproductive cough, the cause is usually an inhaled irritant, like dust. A productive cough, however, is probably caused by an underlying illness that is irritating the lungs and causing them to produce more phlegm than usual.
If you have an acute, productive cough, ask yourself the following questions:
1. What color is the secretion: grey, brown, green, red, yellow, or clear?
2. Am I coughing up a lot of phlegm or mucus—more than about a teaspoon—and is it thick or thin?
3. Am I coughing only at night or all day long?
4. Do I have a fever, chills, body aches, or lethargy?
6. Have I recently lost weight?
7. Was I a heavy smoker in the past?
8. Do I have night sweats?
If you have thick, copious secretions that are grey, yellow, brown, or green, you probably have a bacterial infection, which means you could have pneumonia. Some other symptoms could be fever, chills, or fatigue. If you have these symptoms, you should see your doctor.
If you’ve recently lost weight and have night sweats along with an acute, productive cough, you may actually have tuberculosis.
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PIMPLES: DESCRIPTION AND POSSIBLE MEDICAL PROBLEMS
I bet you thought you left acne and the occasional pimple behind in your 20s.
Guess again. Though acne flare-ups in adults do not occur to the degree they do in teenagers, midlife and older adults can indeed get pimples on their faces—and elsewhere on the body.
A pimple forms when an oil gland that sutrounds a hair follicle becomes plugged by sebum, the oil produced by the gland. The male hormone androgen, which is produced by both men and women, plays a role in sebum production because an increase in the amount of androgen in the body means an increase in sebum.
There are several reasons why pimples may suddenly make an appearance in an adult. Androgen levels, for one, can be affected by medications such as birth control pills. But acne can also be aggravated by the use of certain cosmetics, especially heavy moisturizing creams, which can block the oil glands and produce a buildup of sebum or encourage an allergic reaction that produces pimples. Creams can also aggravate preexisting acne. Heredity can also play a role.
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HEART PROBLEMS: BLOOD CLOTTING AND TONIC WATER
Spontaneous clotting of blood in the circulation will cause a stroke (if the clot lodges in one of the brain’s blood vessels) or a heart attack (if it blocks one of the heart’s coronary arteries). To prevent recurrences, many people recovering from a stroke or a heart attack are given daily doses of one of the anticoagulant drugs, such as Warfarin or Coumadin. Other conditions, too, (e.g., heart valve abnormalities) may require long-term anticoagulation. Since too much drug will result in bleeding, and too little of it provides no benefit at all, regular testing is required to make sure that the patient’s dosage needs are being exactly met.
Change in dosage requirement could occur in anyone who drinks tonic water, a major ingredient of which is quinine. Quinine, reports the British Medical Journal (286:1258), interacts with anticoagulants, making their effect more powerful. Anticoagulant users, therefore, should be careful to avoid any drinks that are made with tonic water.
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SUNLIGHT AND EYE PROBLEMS
Malignant melanoma, a cancer that grows from pigment cells either of the skin or of the eye, is about three times more common in our southern states than in the North, the New England Journal of Medicine (313:789) reports, and the factor responsible seems to be the ultraviolet light in sunshine.
Not surprisingly, therefore, people with brown eyes (whose eyes are protected by the pigment) are only about half as likely as those who are blue-eyed to develop a melanoma of the eye. Furthermore, those who do develop this cancer are likely to have spent more time farming, gardening, or sunbathing outside, or tanning indoors with a lamp. Lastly, the report indicates the importance of protecting our eyes with a hat, visor, or sunglasses, which, if used routinely, reduce the risk of eye cancer by about 50 percent. Clearly, therefore, sunlight is a big factor in eye cancer, but one we can largely avoid. UV-filtering sunglasses should be worth their extra cost!
Sunlight is also an important factor in the development of cataracts, the Western Journal of Medicine (143:511) reports. Ultraviolet light (UV) causes the deposition of minute granules of an opaque brown pigment in the normally clear and colorless body of the lens. After many years, if the eyes continue to be exposed to strong sunshine, more and more granules are deposited until the lens becomes completely opaque, with blindness as a result. Vision can be instantly restored, of course, by surgically removing these cataracts and replacing them with artificial lenses. The more we expose our eyes to UV, it has been found, the more opaque our lenses become. Not surprisingly, therefore, cataracts are much more common in the tropics than in the temperate zones of Europe and North America. Furthermore, they are less common in office workers than among people who work outside.
Along the same line, the British Medical Journal (65:869) reports that in the tropics people need reading glasses at an earlier age than they do in a cold climate. The average age at which glasses are first needed varies from 36 at one climatic extreme to 50 at the other. Again, stronger light could well be the factor involved, and people should be careful to wear sunglasses when exposed to bright sunlight.
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PROSTATE CANCER TREATMENT
Enlargement of the prostate, whether due to cancer or to the benign swelling that occurs so commonly in aging men has, until recently, been most often treated by the operation in which pieces of tissue are removed with an instrument that is passed up the urethra, the urinary passage in the penis. Called transurethral resection (TUR), this is easier than surgically removing the entire prostate through the lower abdomen, an operation known as prostatectomy. Furthermore, until now, TUR was much less likely than prostatectomy to cause impotence because it does not injure nerves supplying the penis. Prostatectomy, as usually performed, did injure those nerves, thereby often causing permanent impotence. Understandably then, even though cure of prostate cancer is less likely with TUR than with prostatectomy, TUR has been the more popular procedure.
Because it spares the nerves of the penis, this new operation is most unlikely to cause lasting impotence. (For some weeks or months after prostate surgery of any kind, it must be understood, all men will experience at least some degree of impotence). Another advantage of the new prostatectomy surgery, which is performed through the lower abdomen, is the completeness with which it removes all tumor tissue. With these positive features, it is likely to become the treatment of choice.
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