Herbal Health – information on herbal medicine

Twenty years ago, when a person was diagnosed with an intracerebral hemorrhage, many doctors often opted against treatment since the condition almost always meant certain death. Today, if the intracerebral hemorrhage is caught early and treated with microsurgery, the person can be saved. Once in the emergency room, the doctor will examine you for signs of an intracerebral hemorrhage with a CAT scan and maybe do a lumbar puncture (see treatment under “Headache in the Morning, Made Worse by Sneezing, Coughing” above, for more information about this procedure). Once the diagnosis is confirmed, surgery can begin to repair the blood vessel or aneurysm. If the aneurysm is caught early, you will recover fully.

I have a 52-year-old patient who experienced a severe headache on a subway platform one morning. She also felt weak, and she passed out. She later told me that she had had a constant headache for several days before she passed out, and she had never suffered from headaches before.

She was rushed from the subway platform to a large New York hospital where the doctors were able to quickly diagnose that she had a brain aneurysm that was bleeding; her different-sized pupils gave her condition away. The doctors performed emergency surgery to clip the bleeding vessel and stop the hemorrhage. Since the surgery, she has had no residual side effects and has been carrying on with her life as usual. After surgery, she spent two weeks in the hospital, and after two months she returned to work. A year later she shows no signs of the aneurysm.

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If an adult child brings in an elderly parent and complains that the parent has been confused and forgetful lately, I ask the parent to draw a clock face, to both diagnose the adult and reassure the child. If the parent can draw a clock and hands and place the numbers in their proper place, I tell the parent and child that there’s nothing to worry about. With normal aging, an elderly person’s concepts of space and time gradually become more difficult for them to grasp; I feel that as long as they include all of the numbers as well as the hands, they are okay. If, however, you notice that an elderly relative has become increasingly confused over a long period of time and that it’s beginning to affect the quality of her life, the first step is for her to see her physician, who will probably conduct blood tests to check for vitamin deficiencies, thyroid disease, or another underlying treatable illness. If, however, the doctor determines that your relative does have Alzheimer’s disease, treatment will depend on the severity of the disease.

If placement in a nursing home is not necessary, many people with Alzheimer’s disease will thrive in a day program at a specialized center. The daily activity, as well as regular treatment, can help ease the underlying depression that is a common problem for many people with Alzheimer’s.

Recently a new medication called Cognex or Tacrine has been shown to help some people with Alzheimer’s. These medications seem to slow and even reverse some of the cognitive changes in these patients by improving the response of the neurotransmitters. In the beginning, the doctor will start a patient out on a low dose of the medication and slowly increase it over a period of several weeks. But the effects are usually not dramatic; slowing the speed at which Alzheimer’s progresses can take months to occur. Cognex or Tacrine can also be highly toxic to the liver, so a patient needs to be monitored regularly with blood tests to check the degree of toxicity. Even though these medications are a bright light on the horizon for Alzheimer’s patients, I don’t consider them to be a panacea, as I’ve seen them work well in some of my patients while they’ve had no effect on others.

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Even though modern medicine has enhanced the health and extended the lives of people who would have otherwise perished without it, the advances have come at a price: the amount of money that is required to research and develop these new techniques is enormous, amounting to billions of dollars each year. Someone has to pay for high-tech medicine, and it eventually filters down to the point where it’s paid for by the consumer. And since research must continue so that we can improve on the type of medicine we currently practice, the cost will continue to rise. It is for precisely this reason that the price of medical insurance has gone through the roof since the 1970s and ’80s and it has become impossible for working poor, middle-class, and even upper-middle-class Americans to take advantage of these incredible advances. Only people who are on welfare and receive Medicaid or are elderly and benefit from Medicare are able to benefit directly from the system—that is, besides people who have employer- or self-funded health insurance. Even then, people who have private health insurance are frequently shocked to discover that their insurance sometimes doesn’t cover everything they think it does. Of course, we hear about the great numbers of Americans without health insurance, which is estimated to be 37 to 40 million people. These Americans learn to keep their fingers crossed and maintain their own health; in the case of an injury or major illness affecting themselves or a family member, they either draw on their savings or go into massive debt.

As if all these changes weren’t enough to influence health care in America and point out the need for reform, it is also important for you to realize that even as the medical technology has made significant advances, the type of physician who graduates from medical school has also changed. When I finished medical school in 1975, everyone in my class chose a specialty like plastic surgery, ophthalmologic reconstruction, or another extremely narrow field of medicine. Back then, graduating physicians quickly realized that the glamour and financial rewards of medicine were primarily in doing specialty work, not in general practice. Even those physicians who chose to go into general medicine became specialists in family practice or primary internal medicine. Most physicians also opted for private practice, many times in partnership with another doctor who was in a complementary specialty, like an OB/GYN who shared an office with a pediatrician. And specialists also earned more money than generalists, which undoubtedly helped many new med school graduates with hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loans staring them in the face to decide their destinies.

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Women’s HealthUlcers. An area of skin with a hole in its surface is called an ulcer. Sometimes ulcers form around the bottom area, and there are a few common (and uncommon) causes. These include:

• herpes infections.

• traumatic abrasions, like little cuts and scratches, often from intercourse. If these become painful and don’t seem to be getting better, it is usually because there is some bacterial infection in them.

• thrush (candidiasis) can occasionally cause local ulcers in the skin.

• nonspecific ‘aphthous’ ulcers, like the ones we get in our mouths from time to time, can occur in the vulval area.

• rare syndromes, such as Bechet’s syndrome, can give recurrent vulval ulcers.

• reactions to some medicines (again fairly rarely) can give vaginal ulceration, in a condition called Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

• very rarely, ulcers may be a sign of a skin cancer.

Thickened skin. If the skin is irritated for a long period of time, it will usually become thicker. People who have long-standing itchy conditions, like eczema, or recurrent thrush, may develop thickened, whiter skin around the vulval area. This is more common in middle age. Most forms of vulval skin thickening are benign, but very rarely, in older women, changes may occur which may be precancerous, so it should be examined by a doctor.

Lipomas. These are soft, discrete lumps of fatty tissue under the skin. They may occur anywhere on the body, including the bottom area. They are perfectly harmless, and have no potential to develop into anything else. They can be removed surgically, but this is usually only for cosmetic reasons.

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Cancer can best be Heated if detected early. In many instances it can be completely cured. Countless people who have been treated have lived long, healthy lives, with no new sign or symptom of cancer.

Why are people so afraid of cancer?

The reasons vary, but they usually include some of the following:

Despite the progress that has been made in regard to this disease, old attitudes persist that little if anything can be done about it.

Even today, cancer is the second greatest killer among diseases.

Cancer can attack people of all ages—men, women, and children. It can affect almost any part of the body.

The disease seldom issues clear and obvious warnings. There is no general lest that can definitely rule out all possibility of cancer.

Most of the causes of cancer are not known, and we tend to feel helpless when facing a mysterious adversary.

These are, indeed, reasons for regarding cancer as a serious enemy. But they are not reasons for becoming panicky. Even though the enemy has not been wiped out, he is being cornered.

We do not understand why cells sometimes go on multiplying until there is too much tissue. That is what a tumour is: a lump or mass produced by the unchecked growth of cells in some part of the body.

Tumours are either benign or malignant. A benign tumour may be large or small. It may become so large that it causes trouble because it occupies too much space. But it does not spread.

A cancer is a malignant tumour: a shapeless mass that keeps on growing in a disorderly fashion. Some cancers grow rapidly, some slowly. But they do not stop, nor do they remain confined to a small area. This is what makes them dangerous, and it is the reason why a person cannot afford delay in the treatment or removal of a cancer.

If not checked, cancers grow until the enlarging tissue crowds and presses on other organs of the body. The cancer prevents the organs from doing their proper work, and robs the healthy cells of their food and blood supply. Some cancers spread like wildfire, destroying the organs around them. Pieces of cancer tissue may break off and, carried by the blood or the. lymph, start growing in a new and perhaps distant part of the body.

WARNING

Only a doctor can tell whether a tumour is malignant or benign. Usually, a pathologist has to examine a bit of the growth under a microscope in order to know whether or not it is cancer. Never decide for yourself that it is only a harmless growth. Once a cancer has spread, the chances of a cure diminish rapidly.

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Measles is a very contagious disease caused by a virus. The disease starts with the same symptoms as a cold. After a few days, a characteristic rash appears. These spots are pink and may show up first behind the ears or on the forehead or the cheeks, and then spread downwards. Usually, the spots itch when the fever is at its highest point. The rash begins to fade after four or five days.

Complications such as ear infections and pneumonia are possible after measles. It can also result in permanent brain damage, and may even be fatal, although these extremes are rare. A live virus vaccine against measles is now available and is believed to give life-long immunity. Many doctors think that measles will be the next childhood disease to be almost eliminated.

German measles

Like ordinary measles, German measles, or rubella, is caused by a virus. It usually begins with a slight cold, a fever, and a sore throat. Then the rash comes in the form of rosy-coloured spots that quickly spread over the entire body. At first, the rash looks like a measles rash, then like scarlet fever. The lymph glands behind the ear and in the neck swell up. The rash lasts two or three days.

German measles is a contagious disease. In children, it is usually mild and without complications. The real threat occurs when an adult woman catches it during the first three months of pregnancy. In such a case, there is serious danger that the child will be born deformed. The pregnant woman exposed during her first three months to German measles should consult her obstetrician immediately.

Mumps

Mumps is a contagious childhood disease caused by a virus. The parotid gland beneath the ear, which secretes saliva, swells up, first on one side of the face and then sometimes on the other side. Less often, the virus attacks other salivary glands under the jaw.

In adult males, mumps can be a painful illness because it can attack the testicles. If the father or any other young male in the household has not had mumps, he should consult his doctor.

Mumps is treated by rest in bed until the fever and swelling have cleared.

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This is a method of partial abstinence, based on the fact that women are unable to conceive during part of each month.

The ‘safe period’ is, on the average, about 20 days long. It starts ten days before menstruation and lasts until approximately ten days after the onset of menstruation. Usually, pregnancy can result only when coitus is performed during the middle days of the menstrual cycle, the period four or five days before ovulation to four or five days after ovulation takes place.

As the ‘safe period’ varies according to the menstrual cycle, each woman must determine it for herself. Some women know when ovulation occurs. At that time, midway between periods, they experience an inter-menstrual pain, a peculiar, sudden, spasmodic sensation associated with one of the ovaries, followed by a heavy feeling in the lower abdomen that may last several hours. If they are alert to it, most women will also observe an unusual mucous secretion. These indications are helpful in determining the exact day of ovulation. Far more accurate, however, is the rise in temperature that occurs in women at the time of ovulation, usually between 0.6° and’ 0.8° F. To determine the period of ovulation, you should keep a temperature chart for no less than three months. A five-minute temperature should be taken every morning after awakening, while you are still in bed.

Even in women whose periods occur with great regularity, ovulation may be hastened or delayed when they are ill or emotionally upset. If this should happen, the calculations will be in error. Because of this possibility, the rhythm method cannot be considered as reliable’ a means of preventing conception as the condom or the pessary. It also has the disadvantage of limiting the days for having intercourse.

The advantages of the rhythm method lie in the fact that it does not depend on either the man or the woman alone. It is a partnership responsibility. Also, it is not dependent upon a mechanical or artificial device. This makes it morally and ethically acceptable, not only to Roman Catholics but to members of certain other religious denominations.

For absolute safety—when, for example, pregnancy would constitute a serious threat to health or life—I feel that all couples whose religious scruples permit should use both the condom and the diaphragm with contraceptive cream, and should not have intercourse at the time when conception might take place.

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Your body has an excellent coat of armour in the skin, which keeps out germs. But cuts or other breaks in it, and openings such as the nose and mouth, provide opportunities for the microbes to enter.

Nose, throat, and lungs

Many bacteria and viruses are spread and taken into the body through the nose and throat. Most germs thrive in moisture, and spitting, coughing, and sneezing keep them circulating. When you sneeze, you may expel a spray of liquid to a distance of several feet. The common cold, pneumonia, tuberculosis, whooping cough, scarlet fever, diphtheria, influenza, and meningitis are spread in this way.

Colds offer many bacteria—especially streptococci and pneu-mococci—a chance to get a foothold and infect your body with more dangerous diseases.

Nursing mothers with colds should ask the doctor about wearing a nose-and-mouth mask when handling the baby.

More people than you would guess have tuberculosis. Any cough that lasts more than six weeks calls for a chest X-ray. In fact, everybody should have periodic chest films.

Infection from food and water

Typhoid, now uncommon, is typical of the infections that can enter through the mouth. Other diseases of this group include amoebic dysentery and bacillary dysentery (caused by bacteria).

Typhoid germs are found in food, milk, and water that have been contaminated by faeces. Flies that have fed on body eliminations may carry the typhoid germs to food and drinks. Every precaution should be taken to keep food, especially warm food, covered.

Habits of cleanliness should be practised by all members of the family. Washing your hands after going to the toilet and before eating should be as automatic as breathing.

All the milk that comes to your table should be pasteurized. You can do your own home pasteurization whenever in doubt about the milk by boiling it for three minutes. Another method of home sterilization is scalding the milk in a double boiler. The milk should be kept at 150° F., as measured by a cooking thermometer, for a half hour.

Never drink raw milk, because the cow or the people who work with the milk may transmit disease.

In most cities, the water that comes from the tap is safe to drink. But if you live in the country or are going there on vacation, be careful about the drinking water. Boil it for ten minutes before drinking it.

Meats can also carry disease. Uncooked pork may contain the living parasite that causes trichinosis. For complete protection, pork should always be cooked thoroughly. Any pinkness means that it is underdone. For roast pork, an hour to the pound at 350° F. is safe. Brucellosis (undulant fever) may be acquired from pork, beef, milk that has not been pasteurized, and cheese and ice cream made from unpasteurized milk. Raw fish, beef, and pork may contain tapeworms. Thorough cooking of all meats and fish is the best protection.

Diseased rabbits cause tularaemia, a serious illness that may be contracted even just from skinning and preparing the rabbit.

Dangers may be lurking in bakery goods, especially those with custard fillings, such as éclairs, on which bacteria thrive. It is most important to buy your pastry from a clean, reliable bakery, and to put it in the refrigerator immediately when you get it home.

Frozen food can be a means of economy, but it can also be a source of danger. Most meats, poultry, and fish can be quick-frozen and kept safely for long periods. Vegetables, bread, and cake are also popular. But most foods—fruit juices, for example—should be used as soon as they are thawed and should not be refrozen.

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The gall bladder is a side pocket in the channel through which the bile flows from the liver into the intestine; it acts as a storage place for the bile, and aids digestion whenever fatty food is eaten.

There is nothing you need to do about the everyday care of your gall bladder except to keep your weight normal. Obesity probably increases the tendency towards gall bladder disease. Women who have had several children are more likely to suffer from gallstones; in general, after the fortieth birthday, about twice as many women as men have this problem. Once stones have formed, they cannot be dissolved; sometimes, they pass spontaneously into the intestines. However, your doctor has ways of stimulating the flow of bile and of decreasing the infection in the gall bladder; these measures may conceivably reduce the formation of additional stones.

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