Health news blog

Before spectacles are prescribed, thorough eye tests should be performed. Children may require spectacles to deal with a range of problems with vision, including astigmatism, long- or short-sightedness and squint. As children grow, their eyesight changes, so these tests need to be repeated every year, and an adjustment to the prescription may be needed. Because you may be changing your child’s glasses every year, it is advisable to buy inexpensive frames, preferably non-breakable ones.

This may also mean you can afford to buy a spare pair in case one gets lost.

Your child may need much encouragement from you to wear his glasses. Adolescents may prefer contact lenses, but your child should only use them when he has reached an age when he can be responsible for their care and cleaning.

You may like to write the prescription for your child’s glasses here, just in case he loses them.

Date of examination………………………………………………………………………

Prescription Strength: Left Eye …………………….. Right Eye ……………………..

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My boyfriend and I have done almost everything. Sorry about that,

Mom and Dad, but you said we should be honest. We have made

out and all that, but we never did it, the real thing. He wants to, but

I stop him from having intercourse. It’s a real battle sometimes.

FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL

I think the best thing you could have done is be able to talk about this with your parents, so you shouldn’t apologize. I’m sure they thank you for letting them be a part of this important area of your development. You made a mistake, though. You said that you haven’t done “it,” like touching, kissing, holding, and allowing each other to touch and be touched was not the real thing. You will find as you get older that touching, holding, and kissing are the best, most enjoyable part of sex. Intercourse is for having babies and is one way to be very close, but mere is nothing at all that makes it more arousing than other closeness. The reason everybody talks about it so much and makes it sound so much more exciting is that it seems forbidden, more grown-up. It really is for marriage only anyway, because it requires planning on being together forever before you do it. Remember, too, that intercourse is not something for boys or men, it is for loving people. Talk to your boyfriend about this. Just because you choose not to have intercourse at this time does not mean you don’t want to have intercourse.

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You keep asking us to touch and talk. When do we get to do it?

HUSBAND AT FIFTH VISIT TO CLINIC

It’s funny. Intercourse has a whole new meaning now. It’s like it is a part, not an end, of our sex.

SAME HUSBAND AT TWELFTH VISIT TO CLINIC

Insertion of the penis into the vagina is necessary only for conception. Even then, full insertion may not always be necessary. Another major super marital sex lesson is that penis-in-vagina intercourse is totally unnecessary for sexual fulfillment.

Intercourse has had excellent P.R. We are taught early and repeatedly that anything short of intercourse is foreplay, preliminary to the main event. Actually, intercourse is reported as unsatisfying for more than half of sexually active people in the United States. Men and women report more intense sexual response to masturbation, at least from a physical point of view.

Our language of sex contains words such as “mounting,” ‘ ‘humping,” and other mammalian concepts from our agrarian history. The industrial revolution brought such terms as “screwing,” “drilling,” and “balling.” The space age may bring terms such as “blasting,” “orbiting,” “re-entry,” and “burn.” The future may hold robotic sex, even remote-control intimacy. We have many more terms for intercourse than for intimacy in sex.

I have treated hundreds of couples with fertility problems. In their efforts to conceive, they have nearly destroyed their sex lives. They have been treated mechanically, from medicines that affect sexual interest to sperm samples and other medical maneuvers that take sexual intimacy totally out of its loving context. Fertility experts are becoming aware of this problem and referring couples to my clinic to balance the medical intervention for conception.

Super marital sex’s posture of the future involves an entirely new view of what intercourse can be, one free from the mechanical dimensions emphasized in the earlier sex perspectives.

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Before fasting.

Prepare a supply of pure water. Pure means exactly that. Note, that tap water usually contains chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals from pipelines, traces of herbicides, pesticides, solvents etc. and preferably it should not be used for drinking at all. Spring water from a safe source is probably the best. If no spring water is available, collect enough rain water, preferably in the country, where the air is clean. Alternatively well filtered water could be used.

2 days before fasting

Eat only light food, mostly fruit. No meat, no fish, no eggs. No alcohol. Drink at least 2 litres of water. Eat breakfast and lunch only. Skip dinner. Vegetarians could skip this preparation and go to the next phase.

1 day before fasting

Eat only light food, mostly fruit. No meat, no fish, no eggs. No alcohol. Drink at least 2 litres of water. Eat breakfast and a light lunch only. Skip dinner.

In the evening make an enema.. This is the single most important step. Never attempt fasting without making an enema first. The

reason is quite simple. Before fasting, your body expected a new load of food to digest and absorb every day. When your intestines are full, and you stop eating, some of the food waste is absorbed back into your bloodstream. This will cause extra poisoning, because the body absorbs the toxic waste, which was prepared for excretion.

Making the enema cleanses the intestine, and the body, sensing nothing to absorb, enters into a self-purifying mode of operation.

After the enema go to bed early. Your body is already in a self-cleansing state and will continue to cleanse itself when you sleep.

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Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world and of the Australian states Queensland, with its abundant sunshine heads the list.

This is because of the damage done to the fair skin of most Australians, unequipped by nature to deal with the climate of this continent.

Most of the skin cancers are only locally malignant and rarely spread. The exception is malignant melanoma. This is a cancer of the pigment producing cells of the skin, the melanocytes.

These cells are also found in the retina, the film of nerve endings in the eye which receive the light impulse and in the meninges, the covering tissue of the brain. Melanoma can occur in these areas as well.

This form of cancer is increasing throughout the world and over the last 35 years it has increased some 300 per cent in men and some 600 per cent in women. Why this is so is unknown.

Most melanomas occur in a pre-existing pigmented mole but a few develop from melanocytes in the skin where no previous mole was visible.

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Many cancers are thought to arise because of the effects of the environment on the body.

This environmental effect is more than just the effects of industrial pollutants. It involves a lot of other factors such as physical causes, dietary, behavioral and cultural influences.

The first cancer group contains those cancers believed to be caused by well defined external factors. These are mainly tumors of adults and involve the skin, the respiratory tract, the upper digestive tract, the liver, pancreas and bladder. It also includes cancers of the womb and the blood-forming organs.

Personal habits are believed to be the major cause. These include cigarette smoking, alcohol use and sunbathing.

These factors cause 25 to 50 per cent of cancers in men in different populations.

All studies show the great effect of cigarette smoking not only in itself causing cancer but also of combining with other things such as alcohol and asbestos in increasing the risk.

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Meditation was brought to the western world from India by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the guru, or spiritual leader, who taught a mind-control technique known as TM, or transcendental meditation. Unlike yoga and acupuncture, which are rooted in more religious connected systems and philosophies, meditation is considered a natural approach to reducing stress, inducing therapeutic healing, and expanding awareness. TM’s relaxation techniques help alter brain waves, control heart rate, stimulate circulation, decrease muscle tension, and lower the levels of blood lactate levels. A natural byproduct of inefficient cell metabolism, lactate levels in excess have been linked to chronic overproduction of adrenaline, anxiety attacks, and high-stress living. Researchers investigating TM’s beneficial qualities reported cases that included reduction of high blood pressure, improvement of asthmatic conditions and gastrointestinal problems, fewer sleep disturbances, and even improvement in learning ability and general mental health.

This is quite a menu of benefits. How does TM work to effect such a range of changes? To meditate, one sits with eyes dosed, feet flat on the floor, most preferably in a silent room, although many practitioners can mediate in public places, including planes, waiting rooms, and doctors offices. To help bring about the paradoxical state of deep rest with increased wakefulness, you must shift your awareness inward and tune out the environment. This sensation has been likened to that near suspension of complete consciousness before calling asleep. To aid in concentration, some people picture an imaginary spot on their foreheads and focus on that; others may disengage from the outside world by either silently or vocally repeating a word that has been especially selected for them by a TM instructor. This sound “syllable,” such as the widely used “om,” is called a mantra.

TM is a good relaxation technique, thought best practiced twice a day for about fifteen minutes each time. It may help the woman with endometriosis and sufferers of premenstrual syndrome, too.

If you are being treated by a doctor for endometriosis, it is always advisable to let him know about any alternate choices you want to make in your health care. This helps him to better monitor your condition and facilitate healing.

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To avoid the sun would be to exist without one of the great pleasures in life. However, as with most enjoyable things, overindulgence may result in severe and irreversible damage.

The sun is really a powerful star made up of gases at an incredible surface temperature of 6000° Celsius. Although it is 150 million kilometres away from the earth its vast energy, in the form of electromagnetic radiation, reaches us in one minute. Outside the earth’s atmosphere, direct exposure to sunlight would be fatal, due to the lethal effect on living cells of large doses of X. gamma, and short ultraviolet rays. Fortunately, we are protected by the absorbing or scattering effect of dust particles, moisture droplets, and ozone in the atmosphere.

The electromagnetic energy coming from the sun is comprised of a wide range of radiation which may be arranged according to wavelengths, which are measured in nanometers (nm). This radiation Includes X-rays, which are the shortest, and ranges through gamma rays, ultraviolet rays, visible light and infrared waves to radiowaves, which are the longest. Most of this radiation Is in the form of X, gamma and short ultraviolet rays, which fortunately never reach the Earth.

Ultraviolet rays range between 200 and 400 nm. UVC below 290 nm is filtered out before reaching us, and we are left with the suntan-bequeathing radiation UVB and UVA, which makes up less than 1 per cent of the total solar energy. UVB (290-320 nm) is a slightly shorter wavelength than UVA (320-400 nm), and therefore docs not penetrate the skin as deeply. Visible light, a longer wavelength again, penetrates even more deeply than UVA (its ability to penetrate the skin can be seen by shining a torch light through the skin of the webs between the fingers). Sunlight, as we receive it, consists more of visible light and infra-red radiation than ultraviolet radiation; these affect our skin also.

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Oestrogen is produced in the ovaries, and causes changes to occur in the breasts, uterus (womb), cervix, vagina, skin and hair, blood, bones, and even the mind. It affects so many parts of a woman’s body that it is not surprising that we really notice the changes that occur when the level starts to fall at the time of the menopause.

All of the essentially ‘female’ organs contain oestrogen receptors, which respond to the presence of oestrogen in the body. This means that, while oestrogen levels are normal, the breasts are firm and full; the walls of the vagina are thick and elastic, and able to secret mucus (especially during sexual intercourse); skin texture is firm; and bones are strong. Oestrogen also keeps blood vessels healthy, produces a feeling of wellbeing, and contributes to sex-drive. During those periods of a woman’s life when her oestrogen levels are high (especially during the middle months of pregnancy), she will look and feel absolutely terrific. ‘Glowing’ and ‘radiant’ are words typically used, reflecting the feet that a woman’s hair is lustrous, her skin blooms, and she radiates a feeling of wellbeing and contentment. After the baby is born, some women’s oestrogen levels fall so low that their hair and skin suffer badly, and the feeling of wellbeing may be replaced by postnatal depression.

The other important hormone of the female reproductive cycle is progesterone; it is produced each month by the ovaries after ovulation (the production of an egg) has taken place. The main functions of progesterone are to prepare the womb for a fertilised egg (ovum) and to maintain pregnancy. Progesterone works with the oestrogens to cause the lining of the womb to thicken in preparation for a fertilised egg. If fertilisation does not occur, the lining of the womb comes away in the form of the monthly period.

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Although cancer of the ovary is less common than cancer of the cervix or endometrium, it is by no means rare. About 900 women in Australia receive this unwelcome diagnosis each year, with most of those affected aged in their sixties, seventies and eighties. On average, about one Australian woman in every 100 will develop ovarian cancer during her lifetime. It is more common in women with infertility problems and also in some families, and less common in women on the contraceptive pill. Because few if any symptoms may be apparent early on, the cancer is usually at an advanced stage when it is diagnosed. At present only 15-25% of diagnoses are made when the cancer is limited to the ovaries. The result is that ovarian cancer is among the most lethal of the cancers affecting women. Less than a third of women survive five years from diagnosis.

Until recently, an early diagnosis — with the cancer localised in the ovaries — was usually the result of an examination for an unrelated problem. New blood tests are, however, being developed that are capable of detecting evidence of some types of ovarian cancer. Advances in ultrasound imaging techniques also offer hope that an early warning system for ovarian cancer will become available in the near future.

The cause of ovarian cancer is uncertain, but studies indicate that women with a close relative who has had the cancer (a sister, mother or daughter) and those with a history of fertility problems are at increased risk of developing it Pill users seem to be at lower than average risk. The surgical removal of both ovaries (oophorectomy) is usual even if only one ovary seems to be diseased. A hysterectomy may be suggested because of the proximity of the uterus to the ovaries. However the desirability of a hysterectomy has to be weighed up for each woman. Chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and sometimes both, may be helpful.

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