(Epistaxis)
Nosebleeds have a variety of causes, most of which are minor. Most nosebleeds are caused by the rupture of small blood vessels in the anterior section of the nasal septum. There are often obvious causes like a blow to the nose, irritation from a foreign body, excessive nose-blowing during a cold or sinusitis and nose-picking. Nosebleeds can also occur during menstruation. Some people suffer more from nosebleeds than others.
Occasionally nosebleeds are related to more serious illnesses and injuries such as the presence of polyps or other growths in the nose, high blood pressure, allergies to certain foods, vitamin deficiencies and conditions like haemophilia.
Arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, can cause nosebleeds in old people, while in children they are sometimes a symptom of rheumatic fever.
When bleeding from the nose cannot be sourced to a blood vessel inside the nose, it may indicate an internal injury. The blood may be caused by a skull fracture or injury to the stomach or lungs. If the nose bleeds regularly or excessively, or if the bleeding is difficult to stop, medical advice should be sought. Persistent bleeding may require cauterisation of the blood vessel.
*22/69/2*
Nitrates and nitrites, widely used as food additives in products such as smoked meats and fish, can undergo reactions in the stomach to yield nitrosamines, which are considered to be carcinogenic.
The reaction is encouraged when the compounds are subjected to high heat, such as takes place when bacon is cooked. Since both nitrates and the amines with which they react occur plentifully in many foods, and nitrates are also found in human saliva, elimination of food additives in the diet alone will not on its own prevent the formation of nitrosamines.
The good news is that Vitamin C can block the formation of these carcinogenic compounds.
People whose diets are rich in Vitamin C have been found to be less prone to stomach cancers. Manufacturers of processed meats have taken advantage of this information not only by reducing the amount of nitrites used during processing, but by adding forms of Vitamin C to their products.
Both nitrites and nitrates have been linked with health problems other than cancer. Migraine sufferers might do well to eliminate nitrates from their diets, since these compounds have been known to cause headaches in sensitive individuals. Chronic sufferers of hives are hypersensitive to a number of preservatives, including nitrites.
*21/69/2*
We have noted that the main reaction of the body to anxiety is one of preparation for action—the increased output of the heart, the diversion of blood to the muscles, and the liberation of glucose into the blood to provide extra energy. Of course any movement of the bowels would hamper this preparation for physical activity, so the normal response of the body to anxiety includes a dampening down of movement of the bowels. In this way a mild anxiety reaction extending over a long period may lead to chronic constipation.
A professional man in his early fifties started the relaxing mental exercises on account of mild general tension, without thought as to any possible effect on his bowel action.
He had been constipated all his life, and for the last thirty years had been given to relieving his constipation with suppositories and enemas.
After a few months, with the reduction of the general level of his anxiety, he found that he had established a perfectly normal bowel action, without physical straining, for the first time in his life.
The reduction of general anxiety undoubtedly helped by allowing the normal mobility of the bowel. But the patient himself lay stress on his being relaxed when actually at the toilet.
*20/57/2*
GALL-BLADDER AND GALL DUCTS
1. The inflammatory gall-bladder disturbances are recognised by a lightening of colour in the gall-bladder area—white lines or wisps. It is usually a question of an inflammation extending from the intestine, as already stated in connection with inflammatory states of the liver, going out from the duodenum, and extending in proportion to the disturbance as far as the liver. Usually only white lines are seen = pain lines.
2. Gallstones themselves do not, of course, register in the iris. However, their presence can be presumed when small dark spots are seen in the gall-bladder area. Gallstones lead readily to inflammation and to gall stasis.
3. Fine white, generally serrated, lines indicate the tendency to colic. The same tendency is also indicated by nerve rings which interrupt in the gall-bladder and gall duct areas.
4. Not infrequently, one finds the gall-bladder and liver areas displaced in profile to about
41′-42′. Patients who have this sign are tainted by hereditary disease. Among their antecedents there must have been alcoholism. We must also remember here that diseases which show the organ signs displaced in profile, are either not healed at all or only with great difficulty.
*18/78/2*
Q. What other forms of medication are used?
A. The Histamine ft-receptor antagonists are currently the most widely used drugs for peptic ulcers. Nevertheless, a form of medication called tri-potassium di-citrato bismuthate (colloidal bismuth) is also claimed to produce very good results. It is said to be about as effective as cimetidine, but until recently the only form available was an unpleasant tasting liquid which had a strong ammoniacal odour. It is now available as a chewable tablet and this has improved patient compliance. There is little doubt that if a person does not like his medication, , he often will not take it. He will invariably lie to the doctor and say he is taking the prescribed medication!
Q. Does it have adverse side effects?
A. Every medication has some side effects in someone as we have already pointed out. However, like cimetidine, these are small and fairly unimportant, at least in the known short term. It may stain porcelain teeth fillings, colour the tongue and cause the stools to turn a strange dark grey. It is taken well before meals. Its effect is negated by the presence in the stomach of food, milk or antacids, so it is essential these are not taken at the same time, or indeed probably within an hour or two either way.
*16/61/2*
The anxious patient cannot sit still. He fidgets and wriggles about. He cannot settle to the task in hand; he starts one job but feels uncomfortable, leaves it and starts something else. He is less restless when there is something definite that he has to do, so he is more comfortable at work than at home. On weekends, in spite of happy relations with his family, it is common for him to wish for Monday so that he can go back to the fixed routine of work.
Sometimes people feel that they will be better if they take a holiday and have a good rest. Of course, these patients are at their worst in such circumstances because they have lost the ability to relax and take it easy. Other people with anxiety are benefited by such a holiday, but when restlessness is a feature the anxious patient only returns more tense and frustrated than ever.
A forty-seven-year-old foreman wrote for an appointment, and described his restlessness in these terms.
“I have an inability to relax, nervous tension, anxiety complex and constant apprehension, I cannot sit [without a flush of anxiety] in meetings, church, theatre, dentist’s chair, barber’s chair, public transport, or as a passenger in a motor car . . . My flush of nervous tension makes me leave whatever I am attending . . .”
*13/57/2*
Car, plane and sea sickness result from the overstimulation of the canals of the inner ear which regulate the body’s system of balance. Waves of nausea are the principal symptom, usually resulting in vomiting. These are sometimes accompanied by cold sweats and giddiness. People vary in their susceptibility and, with regular travel, can learn to overcome the problem in most cases. Children, for example, are more prone to car sickness than adults. Motion sickness is much more likely to occur in an enclosed space with insufficient ventilation, such as in a cabin of a ship. At sea, get up on deck when possible; in a car or bus, open the windows; and when travelling by plane, keep the ventilator on full.
Avoid alcohol, rich, aromatic food and excessive tobacco and do not attempt to read until your body has adapted to the motion. Do not try to focus your eyes on objects moving around you.
To prevent and treat motion sickness, administer strong ginger tea before travelling and carry a supply for the journey. This simple anti-nausea medicine is highly effective and can safely be given to young children.
Some motion sickness has emotional causes such as fear of flying. In this case, counselling may help.
*11/69/2*
The loss of a foetus in early pregnancy is a distressing experience. While the risk of miscarriage exists with every pregnancy, it can be reduced. All pregnant women should cease smoking and drinking alcohol. Try to avoid taking medications but, if you must, check with your doctor to ensure that they will not induce spontaneous abortion or harm the foetus in any way. This also applies for herbal remedies, many of which can induce miscarriages.
Vitamin E is thought to reduce the risk of miscarriage as is the regular drinking of raspberry leaf tea which strengthens the uterus. Avoid eating new or green potatoes. These contain the toxin solanine which can cause women to miscarry.
Throughout pregnancy, exercise should be regular and gentle. In the early months of the pregnancy, some doctors advise against having sexual intercourse during the days when the women would normally have her period. If the women has miscarried previously, particular care should be taken at the stage of the pregnancy when the last miscarriage occured.
Generally, a balanced diet, perhaps a little more rich in protein, will prepare a woman well to carry her baby full term. If spotting occurs, immediate and complete bed rest is advised until professional advice is sought.
*9/69/2*
If we are to learn to master our anxiety in an enlightened fashion, we must first know something of its nature. What is anxiety? Unfortunately there is no complete agreement among psychiatrists on this subject, but it is possible to make a number of general statements that help to define anxiety. The ideas which I offer you now are a summary of a theme which I have developed elsewhere.
Most people when they experience anxiety take heed of the warning and do something about it. We do a little less work and so reduce the stream of impulses to our brain, or we take a holiday and remove ourselves from conflicts that have been disturbing us, or we rest and so give our brain a chance to re-establish equilibrium, or we take sedatives and tranquillizing drugs which further aid its integration. This works well enough when the major inflow of disturbing impulses comes from outside sources, but it is generally ineffective when it arises in our unconscious mind. In these circumstances we need something more. We shall see how this can be achieved by helping our mind to sort things out in the relaxing mental exercises which we are about to discuss.
*4/57/2*
The word ’sciatica’ derives from the term sciatic nerve. Sciatic pain is a very specific kind of referred pain, one that is experienced at one or more places along the course of the sciatic nerve, which is the major nerve of the leg (and, incidentally, the nerve with the largest diameter in the human body). The sciatic nerve – one for each leg, of course – starts at the lower end of the spine and continues down behind the thigh. Directly above the knee joint, the sciatic nerve divides into two main branches – the tibial and common peroneal nerves – one branch travelling down the shin to the big toe, and the other running down the back of the calf to the heel before it winds around to the front of the foot and then extends into the toes.
The above is, of course, but a simplified description of the sciatic nerves; if you were to look in Gray’s Anatomy, the classic volume that still remains a standard medical reference nearly 150 years after it was first published, you’d find that more than four pages of small type are devoted to listing all the intricate sub-divisions of these nerves. While little purpose would be served by going into all this detail, it is important to note that almost any part of the leg can be affected by sciatic pain.
*3/124/2*
