Cause

Tonsillitis is caused most often by one of the common viruses, but sometimes it can be caused by a germ (bacterium). It is often impossible to distinguish between viral and bacterial infection. For this reason, many doctors will treat tonsillitis with a course of antibiotics, or even an injection.

Clinical features

The child will complain of a sore throat and sometimes of difficulty in swallowing. There may be a fever and the glands in the neck may be enlarged and tender. Very often he will have a headache, a runny nose and many of the symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection as described above. The symptoms usually improve after a few days and disappear within a week.

Sometimes the doctor may order a throat swab to determine whether a virus or bacterium is causing the infection, and occasionally a blood test may be helpful. No other tests are generally useful or indicated.

Treatment

If the infection is a viral one, no specific treatment is necessary. However, it is often difficult clinically to distinguish between an infection caused by a virus and one due to a germ, so the doctor will often prescribe a course of antibiotics. This is given in the form of a mixture, tablets or capsules to be taken by mouth. Very occasionally, if the child is sick or has difficulty swallowing, the antibiotics are given by injection, but this is not usually necessary.

General treatment is similar to that suggested for a cold. Gargling with warm salt water may ease a sore throat, as will frequent warm drinks and lozenges. Specific food (e.g. ice cream and jelly) has no proven value, except that the child enjoys it.

When to see your doctor

See upper respiratory tract infection (colds).

Prevention

There is no effective way to prevent tonsillitis.

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Cause

The causes of most premature deliveries are unknown but certain conditions are associated with early labour. Malformations of the womb, an incompetent cervix, early breaking of the waters (premature rupture of membranes), multiple pregnancy (e.g. twins), and maternal diabetes or an acute illness in the mother, are all more likely to result in premature labour.

Clinical features

Premature babies are generally immature. They are smaller than full-term babies and usually require special care. Tiny babies may need intensive care. In general, premature babies are more prone to develop breathing problems, cardiovascular problems, anaemia, jaundice, feeding problems, low levels of calcium and glucose, hypothermia (low body temperature), and infection due to an immature immune system. With new sophisticated techniques available to highly skilled paediatric staff, most premature babies do very well nowadays, and do not suffer any long-term consequences. If your premature baby is at major risk of developing complications, he will usually be transferred to a hospital that has a neonatal intensive care nursery.

Nerve damage

If a nerve has been stretched during the baby’s passage through the birth canal, it may result in temporary weakness of certain muscles. This is more common in breech deliveries or if your pelvis is small and the baby is large. If the baby has been delivered by forceps, damage may have occurred to a nerve supplying one side of the face. The baby may not be able to move one side of the face very well. This usually improves without treatment after several weeks.

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ANSWER: There is no need to overcome those important years. The idea is to incorporate your feelings and memories and values from those years into your sexual life. If this seems almost impossible, I suggest you consult a clergyperson. Examination of belief and value systems is a key part of developing super marital sex for all couples, so your orientation gives you a head start here. The challenge will be in learning a new sexuality that is comfortable and nonoffensive to you both. I can assure you that in the years I have been doing therapy, I have never encountered a religious system that prohibits sensitive, caring intimacy between married people. The problem is usually not the religion, but the religiosity, the way it was taught and not what was taught. We must learn to look for the deeper messages in our value system, the messages about and not against sexual intimacy.

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Nearly 100% of such poisoning comes from our diet. We basically poison ourselves, simply because we do not care about what we eat.

In view of the above, our diet requires a basic revision

The wisdom of many civilisations in the past was expressed in their diet. Two key items in the diet are common for all civilisations without exception, from ancient India to modern Georgia :

1. PURE AIR

2. PURE WATER (from the spring)

I have not heard anyone objecting to this. However, the word to which we should pay special attention is pure.

Unfortunately, the criteria for purity have become quite arbitrary nowadays. The prevailing doctrine is, that there is a threshold of pollution in the water, which is acceptable and safe for humans to consume. Medical Authorities generally accept and recommend the chemical treatment of water, leaving chlorine and other chemicals in it. Poisons are added

(fluoride), in the name of sterilisation and safety of supply, despite the fact that their toxicity is beyond doubt, and they accumulate in our body causing chronic diseases (arthritis). Municipal water also contains heavy metals from pipes, pumps etc., traces of herbicides, pesticides and other chemicals. It is very difficult to obtain information about the levels of such ingredients in our water from the relevant authorities. They would prefer that we do not know and believe that the water is OK.

Do not consume such water. Do not use it for tea, soup on even in cooking. Use water obtained from natural springs. Alternatively, filter the municipal water yourself. Do not use chemical filters. They may initially work, but eventually they may leave even more chemicals in the water you drink. The best are multi-stage paper and active carbon filters, with the final stage that uses a reverse osmosis ceramic membrane. The process of reverse osmosis imitates the function of a natural spring: water runs over a stone (ceramic element) and minute quantities filter slowly through. For home installation, the rate is quite slow: about half a litre per hour. There are systems available, which store about 10 litres of filtered water under light pressure, ready for the immediate use.

Note, that most of the beverages, including fruit juices from concentrates, contain municipal tap water. It would be much better if you squeezed the juice yourself from fresh fruits, or bought the frozen concentrate and diluted it yourself with spring or filtered water.

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It could even be due to the presence of circulating toxins, poisons or drugs in the system. The commonest cause of indigestion originates in the stomach. This is a gastritis or inflammation of this organ.

This may be due to infection either from contaminated food or passed on from another person. It may arise from irritation from too much food, too rich a food, or from such things as pickles or spices. It may be caused by the irritation of too much alcohol, tea or coffee or cigarette smoke.

It may be due to the irritation of the stomach from aspirin or the anti-inflammatory drugs used in rheumatism and arthritis. Or the gastritis may occur as the result of stress or nervous tension.

An ulcer may form in the stomach or the duodenum, which is the first part of the small bowel, and the symptoms of this may be exactly the same as with the gastritis.

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They still have some advantages in that they readily cross from the blood into the fluid inside the brain and spinal cord, which many newer antibiotics don’t. They are thus useful in treating bacterial meningitis, an infection of the covering membranes of the brain.

Insoluble forms, which are not absorbed, are used to sterilise the bowel.

Some people become sensitised to the sulphonamides and can develop an allergic rash or other allergic symptoms.

A recently developed antibiotic combines a sul-phonamide with an antibiotic of the tetracycline group, trimethoprim.

These complement each other’s action to a considerable degree and make the drug bacteriocidal in some circumstances — that is, it kills the germ rather than inhibiting its growth.

This antibiotic is marketed in Australia as Septrin and Bactrim.

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It is important for healing wounds and skin disorders such as acne and herpes, formation of the bones, the health of the immune system, slowing down the aging process, the sexual development of adolescents and the sexual function of men.

Men can lose up to 1 mg of zinc each time they ejaculate. Zinc may help prevent the enlargement of the prostate gland as it is believed to regulate the metabolism of testosterone.

It is also now thought a zinc deficiency may contribute to anorexia nervosa.

There is a deficiency of zinc in Australian soils and so there is a need to both eat foods which are high in zinc and to supplement the diet with zinc up to 15 mg a day. Signs of a deficiency include: white spots under the nails; skin disorders such as acne; slow healing of wounds; retarded growth and slow sexual development in children, loss of appetite, confused sense of taste, smell and sight; low resistance to infections indicating poor immune response and low sex drive which could lead to prostate problems in later life for men.

Diabetics excrete zinc excessively. Alcohol inhibits the absorption of zinc from the gut and alcoholics always have a zinc deficiency. Vegetarians are also prone to zinc deficiency as a result of a high roughage diet and poor absorption of the mineral from the gut.

Zinc is found in eggs, liver, oysters, beef, chicken, fish, wheat, rice, legumes, corn, Brazil nuts, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds.

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From the nature of his slow death, it was determined that this substance was ricin, an intensely toxic substance (more poisonous than snake venom) present in the castor oil bean. It is not present in castor oil but remains in the bean “cake” after the oil has been extracted. The cake can be rendered safe for human consumption by cooking and is used as staple food in several parts of the world, including Mexico.

Mexicans and Caribbean islanders employ the attractive looking castor oil bean to make necklaces and other jewelry for the tourist trade. According to Toxicology, there have been serious reactions and deaths when people have eaten one of these beans or have merely crushed one in their fingers and subsequently put their fingers in their mouths. Ricin causes drastic purging with bloody diarrhea, shivering, fever, violent vomiting, and shock. Even a minute trace in a scratch can be fatal. So, when shopping abroad for trinkets, avoid buying castor oil bean jewelry.

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Heat rash consists of hundreds of tiny pinhead eruptions, each surrounding a skin pore. These eruptions may look like small pink or red bumps or like tiny water blisters. They are moderately itchy and may show scratch marks. If you look at the rash with a magnifying glass in good light, each dot of heat rash can be seen at the mouth of a pore from a sweat gland.

The rash usually appears on the cheeks, neck, or shoulders, in skin creases, and in the nappy area. It frequently appears if the child has been wearing a wet bathing suit. Hot humid conditions, perspiration, and overdressing are further clues that the rash is heat rash.

Home care

Infants and children are safest from heat rash in an air-conditioned environment. Keep a child with heat rash as cool as possible. Cool baths, or baby powder or corn flour applied lightly with a powder puff, help ease the condition. If the heat rash is on your baby’s face, rest the child’s face on an absorbent pad in the crib. During warm weather, using prickly heat powders may give some relief.

Precautions

• Be careful with powder. If a baby inhales a large amount of powder, inflammation of the lungs can occur.

• Detergents and bleaches in clothing and bed linens may aggravate heat rash.

• Bubble baths, water softeners, and oily lotions should be avoided.

• Do not overdress the child. The clothing that’s appropriate to the weather for you is also appropriate for the baby.

Medical treatment

A doctor’s treatment is not necessary. Heat rash can be adequately and safely treated at home.

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Plenty of weekend warriors are injured in sports like basketball, bicycling, football, and Softball. They’re rarely deadly, but collectively, they report astronomical injury rates, which is where the trouble really lies. We hardly have to tell you that, even if injuries don’t kill you, they can sure take their toll on your body over time. And serious injuries, such as those to the head, neck, or back, can cause permanent debilitating problems like brain damage and paralysis.

“That’s why we encourage people to take just a few minor precautions during their recreational activities,” says Dr. Jeffrey Sacks of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

By following a few basic rules, you can put your safest foot forward next time you step out to play.

Put the beer on ice. Alcohol is an enormous factor in recreational injuries, Dr. Sacks says. So don’t be stupid. “When you’re drowning from a waterskiing incident because you’re drunk, that’s no accident. That’s preventable. Save the beer for afterward,” says Dr. Sacks.

Get in gear. “Some men always seem surprised by their concussions, as if you can’t bruise your brain playing backyard football,” Dr. Sacks says. “A helmet is the best protection you can get for riskier activities, especially football, biking, and other wheel sports like inline skating.”

Take charge. We have a whole industry devoted to “adventure travel” where people do relatively risky activities rather safely, says Dr. Alton Thygerson of Brigham Young University and the National Safety Council’s First-Aid Institute. “That’s because the folks in charge know what they’re doing. You can help prevent being another accident statistic by learning the fundamentals of an activity before you start, especially ones that involve some risk like water sports or mountain biking.”

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