Pharmacy News

It is estimated that about 20 per cent of the normal population experience some form of insomnia at some time in their lives. The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted a survey in 1983. They interviewed 465100 people at random and asked them if they had been taking sleeping medication in the last two weeks. They found that 3.6 per cent of those interviewed had been. Hence the problem of insomnia is fairly common. Consequently the manufacturers of sleeping pills are making millions of dollars out of insomnia.

But what is insomnia? The Oxford Dictionary states that insomnia means habitual sleeplessness. To the doctors, insomnia is only a symptom of underlying problems. Insomnia itself is not an illness. It is like a fever which is symptomatic of some underlying infection. If a patient has a fever, there is generally a cause for it. Both the fever and the cause should be treated.

However, there is a difference between fever and insomnia. Fever can be confirmed objectively by taking body temperature, and we can measure how high the temperature is. Insomnia is a subjective symptom and cannot be confirmed by measurement to assess how bad it is. Very often people complain that they never sleep a wink. Does this mean that they have the most severe form of insomnia? In other words, how reliable are people’s assessments of the severity of their insomnia?

With the help of the sleep laboratory we can now measure and objectively assess how much insomnia these people have. In Paris, Dr Betty Schwartz tested chronic insomniacs who insisted that they never slept. These people were monitored at night in the sleep laboratory. Since these people were convinced that they did not sleep at night, they agreed to press a button to signal that they were still awake whenever they heard a buzzer. It was found that, in most cases, they all had a normal sleep pattern on the EEG recordings. The buzzer sounded many times throughout the night, but none of these people pressed the button. These people, who insisted that they had insomnia, had in fact been sleeping soundly and could not hear the sound of the buzzer. In the morning, when they were questioned about their sleep, they still insisted that they had not been sleeping at all.

It has been reported that 95 per cent of healthy adults fall asleep within half an hour. Hence those who fall asleep within half an hour do not have insomnia. But is this true? People who fall asleep easily may wake up at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. in the morning and fail to go back to sleep. This is called early morning insomnia. What about those that sleep and wake at normal hours, but wake up very frequently throughout the night. Do they have insomnia? And there are people who need only three or four hours of sleep without feeling any distress at night, and they function well the next day. They never complain of insomnia, but are they experiencing insomnia?

*52\174\4*

Once we can do it, this process is really quite effortless. The idea is in our mind, then we experience the effects of the idea. It just happens. We do not do anything to bring it about. In fact, once we make an effort to bring it about, the whole thing goes wrong, and we are immediately aware that we are not relaxed.

We use the trains of thought for the relief of symptoms in exactly the same way. The regression is the all-important factor. There is nothing new for us in this next step. We have already learned to present the idea of relaxation and then to experience relaxation. We can do this if we are tense, and our tension goes, because the positive feeling of relaxation will inhibit the negative feeling of tension by the process which we have already described as reciprocal inhibition.

I have mentioned the method of letting ourselves go as we breathe out. We let go our breath, and we let go ourselves. With each breath we will drift a little deeper into regression. This approach can be used very successfully by some people to enhance the effect of their sequences of thought. We are very relaxed and comfortable. The ideas of the train of thought come to us slowly and leisurely. An idea comes each time we breathe out, and we dwell on it a little. With the next breath follows the next idea. And all the time we are so relaxed that we are hardly aware of the things around us.

The trains of thought, which I have set out in relation to various symptoms, are intended merely as a guide. They are only suggestions. Each individual will modify them according to his own inner needs. Only the principle is constant for us all. The details, the approach, and the attitude are varied to suit the unique individuality which makes each of us different from anyone else.

*78\57\2*

“When the biologically oriented physician is confronted with a case of infectious disease his approach and his actions are entirely different. For him, bacteria and viruses which are present in certain infections, are phenomena of secondary interest He considers them only as symptomatic factors in relation to the host organism (the patient) and his body as a biological environment All his attention is directed towards the patient. His primary aim is to employ every measure available to increase the power of resistance within the host organism and avoid causing it any damage. The first principle of the art of healing, enunciated already by the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates, Trimum est nil nocere —the most important thing of all is that treatment must do no harm—is violated in present-day medical practice more than in any other period of medical history.

“The biologically oriented doctor is aware that with chemical and antibiotic drugs he will always cause damage to the host organism’s biological milieu, even though with such treatments he can achieve a temporary effect. Therefore, he avoids to the utmost the use of such drugs in the management of simple and harmless infections. To treat a common cold or a sore throat with, for example, penicillin, for him is a crime against the fundamental rules of health. Instead, his attention is directed to increasing the body’s own resistance with all the natural, harmless, biological methods of treatment which are available.”

“In your experience, Dr. Essen, are the results of such biological treatments gratifying?” I asked.

“I have had the joy of observing how the body, as a rule, if the general resistance is not too much lowered and if given a chance and proper aid in the form of rest, fasting, wholesome diet, and other biological measures, will by the strength of its own healing power win the battle. And this is not only true in cases of milder infections, but also in cases of very serious diseases. Furthermore—and this is a very essential point—instead of coming out of the disease weakened and debilitated, as is always the case after treatments with chemical drugs, the patient, after biological treatments, comes out strengthened and renewed. It is my observation that biological treatments raise the general resistance of patients and they will, as a rule, become more immune to infections in the future.”

*35\176\2*

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK IN ADULTS

The presence of learning difficulties or physical disabilities in association with epilepsy usually carries a poor outlook. However, this does not necessarily mean either that the epilepsy has caused the additional problems, or that these problems have been responsible for the poor outcome. What it usually means is that the underlying abnormality of the brain (of whatever cause) has been severe enough to produce both an epilepsy which is difficult to treat and other neurological problems.

Long-term outlook in adults-The factors which predict a poor outlook in adults are also

well-known. The first is that if the epilepsy is initially difficult to control, then it will usually continue to be difficult to control. The longer that seizures have continued, the less likely they are to stop. Other poor prognostic factors include evidence of structural damage, as manifest by associated neurological signs, the occurrence of partial seizures and the occurrence of episodes of status epilepticus. Exceptions to this general rule are that neurological signs and seizures arising as a result of strokes in older age are not generally difficult to control.

*72\188\2*

Consulting your physician. In tens of thousands of arthritis patients, CMO has shown virtually no negative side effects. Independent laboratory tests have proved that CMO has absolutely no toxicity even at doses 500 times greater than normal. Still we suggest that anyone under the care of a physician should seek that physician’s advise about adding CMO to your current therapy.

Use of other supplements or medications. Generally speaking, any medication or supplement that has proved helpful previously can be taken concurrently with CMO and need not be discontinued. There are exceptions, however, and those are various strong immunosuppressants and anti-inflammatory prescription medications which can often (but not always) slow down or block the actions of CMO. The medications that have been so identified are Methotrexate, Rheumatrex, Cloroquine, Gold Shots, Prednisone, and other steroids.

On the other hand, CMO has never been shown to interfere with the actions of any other medications or supplements. The use of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and beneficial oil supplements is encouraged.

*88\142\2*

Symptom

A wound that is deeper than it is long or wide

Home care

Wash the wound carefully and apply a nonirritating antiseptic.

If no foreign body remains in the wound, cover the area with a sterile bandage and inspect it regularly for signs of infection.

If a foreign body remains in the wound, take the child to the doctor.

Precautions

-    Redness, swelling, or stiffness of the joint at the site of a puncture wound is a medical emergency. Take the child to the doctor.

-    A puncture wound in the abdomen, in the chest, or in a joint requires immediate medical attention.

-    Never try to remove a foreign body (for example, needle and knife blade) from a puncture wound yourself.

-    A puncture wound that is still tender after a day or two should be seen by a doctor.

-    Make sure your child’s tetanus immunization is always current.

Wounds that pierce the skin are classified as abrasions (scrapes), lacerations (cuts), and punctures. A puncture is a wound that is deeper than it is long or wide. Most puncture wounds in children are made by nails, needles, pins, knives, or splinters.

Because of their small opening and then-depth, punctures present four particular dangers: the tetanus germ thrives in the absence of air, so a puncture is an ideal site for developing tetanus; a puncture wound is hard to clean and therefore susceptible to infection; punctures can penetrate deep into the body; and a puncture wound may harbor foreign bodies that are difficult to detect.

*174/84/5*

If death doesn’t scare you enough to make radical changes to protect your heart health, how about a fate some guys might consider worse than death: impotence? We’re all too familiar with the grab-your-chest symptoms of heart attack and disease. Less well-known is that the artery supplying blood to the penis is much smaller than those that lead to the heart and, as a result, one of the first to get clogged by fatty plaque.

“What actually happens is that the arterial walls narrow, and so the velocity or the amount of the blood that can move through this artery is decreased,” says L. Dean Knoll, M.D., director of research at the Center for Urological Treatment and Research in Nashville. “And when the amount of blood is decreased, you can’t fill the spaces in the body of your penis.” In fact, one South Carolina study found that erection problems were 80 percent more likely in men with total cholesterol levels above 240 milligrams per deciliter than those with scores below 180 milligrams per deciliter. And while you’re watching those numbers, you probably should keep tabs on your blood pressure; hypertension has also been linked to erection problems, says Dr. Knoll.

*1/36/5*

Medical Treatments

If you are trying to conceive it is imperative that you start to ovulate. One of the most common drugs used to trigger ovulation is clomiphene citrate. Clomiphene is an anti-oestrogen that tricks the brain into thinking that there is no oestrogen in the blood. Because the oestrogen is blocked, the pituitary gland gets the message to increase the supply of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH).The FSH reaches the ovaries and egg production is stimulated. If the clomiphene is suddenly stopped, the brain recognizes that there is a massive amount of oestrogen and this results in an LH surge that releases the egg from the ovary.

Clomiphene is an effective drug for artificially inducing ovulation but, ironically, it may also increase the chances of a miscarriage by somewhere in the region of 20-30 per cent. It is thought that the clomiphene interferes with the womb lining, preventing the fertilised egg from implanting. Other treatments used to induce ovulation, like gonadotrophin treatment, can also increase the miscarriage rate.

Natural Treatment

Losing weight has been shown to be very effective in treating PCOS and restoring fertility. One study showed that overweight women with PCOS had more fertility problems than lean women with PCOS. However, even though the link between PCOS and excess weight (and between losing weight and reduced symptoms) is well-established, the reasons for it are unclear.

Nevertheless, overweight women seem to have much lower levels of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) in their blood which resulted in more testosterone and worse PCOS symptoms, such as an excess of hair.

When these women went on a diet and lost weight their SHBG levels rose, their testosterone levels fell and their PCOS symptoms diminished.

Along with the weight loss, came a remarkable change in ovarian function: 82 per cent of the women who were not previously ovulating showed improvements, with a number of successful pregnancies occurring during the study, even though these women had a long-standing history of infertility.

One reason may be that weight loss lowers insulin levels, which reduces the ovaries’ production of testosterone. No one really knows why PCOS responds to weight loss but it must be linked with the fact that overweight women (without PCOS) can dramatically increase their fertility by losing weight.

One study found that 11 out of 12 women who had been overweight and not ovulating conceived naturally after reducing weight.

*71/73/5*

What is it?

After the age of 50 or so we all lose the ability to remember things as well as we used to and memory loss is to some extent normal and inevitable. It is also rather annoying. There should be little deterioration in memory before the age of 70 or so, but after 80 most people have increasing memory loss.

But loss of memory in old people does not mean that they have difficulty remembering everything. They often lose the ability to remember things that happened recently, but do not have the same problems with things that happened a long time ago-they can regale you with all the details of what they did during World War I but can’t remember whether yesterday was Tuesday or Wednesday or whether they had lunch today. It is as though their long-term memory with all its repetitions and reinforcements is locked into the brain more securely than the transient events that could have happened at any time. Without repetition a short-term memory lasts for about 30 seconds and then is gone. Lots of memories don’t even last that long-they never get sorted into the memory bank at all. Concentration plays a big part in memory at any age and if we don’t concentrate in the first place it doesn’t register in our memories.

We can’t possibly remember everything we experience in life, at least not consciously-though our experiences may be held in our unconscious minds and then dredged up by some method. Often, such memories come out in daydreams, fantasies, or while we are asleep.

What causes it?

•     Normal ageing.

•     Too little choline in the diet.

•     Too much to remember.

•     Smoking, drinking and drugs.

•     Tiredness.

•     Wrong mood.

*194/72/5*

The use of analgesics alone often has a limited role in the relief of pain due to endometriosis. They may not be able to completely alleviate your pain and you should not use them continuously even if your pain is chronic and ongoing. You may therefore have to explore a range of options in order to manage your pain. To give you some insight as to the variety of treatments available, we have compiled a brief overview of some of those that people have found useful in helping them to manage their chronic pain.

Heat

You will probably have already discovered that heat brings some relief to menstrual pain. The faithful hot water bottle placed on the affected area can diminish your menstrual pain significantly. Other forms of heat relief include electric blankets or heating pads, a hot shower, bath, spa or sauna. The heat works directly on the nerves that transmit the pain and it also relaxes tense muscles.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapy

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, commonly known as TENS, is a treatment developed when it was observed that pain symptoms eased when electricity was applied to the skin at the site of pain.

A TENS unit is a small battery-operated machine (about 10 centimeters by 8 centimetres) that is usually clipped to a belt or placed in a pocket. Two small electrodes that are stuck on to the skin with paste at the site of the pain run from this battery. The small electrical impulses emitted from the battery are transmitted through the electrodes and stimulate the nerves which, in turn, control the pain symptoms. The intensity and rate of the impulses can be regulated by a dial located on the machine.

It is thought that TENS may work in two ways. Firstly, the electrical currents may stimulate the nerves to prevent the pain messages from the area reaching the brain. Secondly, it may increase the production of endorphins – pain-killing chemicals produced by the body.

During the treatment women have said that they experience a tingling or pulsating sensation under the electrodes.

There is no evidence that TENS is addictive and during the day it can be used continuously or intermittently.

It appears that the effect of the TENS may be such that after a time you will be able to decrease the amount of time that you need to use it.

*63/41/5*