Артрит – Arthritis

If we were to offer some friendly advice to men who are focusing on this aspect of the surgery, it would be this. Think about what’s really important! The primary goal here isn’t to preserve potency, but to get rid of the cancer in a careful but thorough way. Please keep that in mind. Men can remain potent even if one bundle is removed, and can still have normal sensation, sex drive, and orgasm even if both bundles are removed.

There is no way for the surgeon to know for certain beforehand whether or not the bundles can be spared; only during surgery is it truly possible to see where the cancer is. If the surgeon decides to preserve the nerve bundles, the tiny branches that connect the nerves to the prostate are divided carefully. If, however, one or both bundles must be widely excised, the nerve bundles are cut near the urethra and beside the rectum.

Next, the surgeon goes to work on the prostate, making a cut to separate it at the bladder neck, which links the bladder to the prostate. The seminal vesicles and vas deferens on both sides are also removed. The goal here is to remove as much surrounding tissue as possible along with the prostate. Finally, the surgeon must carefully rebuild the urinary tract, hooking up the bladder once again to the urethra and urethral sphincter, which is responsible for urinary control (this reconnection is called an anastomosis). The surgeon uses sutures, or stitches, to narrow the bladder neck so it matches the size of the urethra. The Foley catheter is left in place after the operation.

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On the other hand, the benefits of watchful waiting aren’t that clear for younger men with localized disease—men who probably could be cured if they act in time. The biggest disadvantage here is patient is being watched. If you are in otherwise good health, have localized prostate cancer, and a life expectancy longer than ten years.

Which form of treatment is best for your There are two good choices – radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy.

Radiation therapy’s great advantage is that not surgery . Therefore, it’s an ideal form of treatment for men who are older, or who have cancer that is too advanced to cure by surgery. The big advantage of radical prostatectomy is that there is no better way to completely eliminate cancer that is curable. The best candidates for radical prostatectomy are men who are young enough and healthy enough to live.

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A better question might be, «Which treatment is right for me?» There are several important considerations here: Your age and overall health, the stage of cancer, the side effects associated with different treatments, and finally—most importantly—your own wishes.

When prostate cancer is localized in men with a life expectancy of 1o years or more, the goal for treatment is cure. This sounds obvious, until we remember that when prostate cancer is advanced, cure is no longer an option. In other words, if we don’t remove the disease or treat it effectively when it’s localized —if the cancer gets outside the prostate—we can’t stop it.

The big advantage of radical prostatectomy is that there is no better way to completely eliminate cancer that is curable (see above). The disadvantages are the side effects—namely, the risks of impotence and incontinence. And radical prostatectomy is not «a walk in the park.» It is major surgery, and the body must be in strong enough shape to handle it.

Radiation therapy’s great advantage is that it isn’t surgery. But its major disadvantage, especially for the younger patient, is that its ability to control the cancer may not last forever. Many studies have suggested that with standard radiation treatment—external-beam therapy—there is a strong likelihood that a prostate biopsy a few years later will be positive. These studies have also suggested that the likelihood that PSA will be in the undetectable range ten years after radiation is only 10 percent. In contrast, a large study at Johns Hopkins showed that the likelihood of PSA remaining in the undetectable range ten years after surgery was 70 percent.

In choosing the treatment that’s best for you, it’s important to try for a balance between effectiveness and side effects. More information on each of these choices follows in this chapter, and the next chapters cover these treatments in significantly greater detail.

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Now is the time for some plain speaking, so here goes: At the top of this list should be men who are too old or too ill either to undergo the rigors of treatment or to live another ten years—long enough for such treatment to be worthwhile. Also in this group should be men who don’t want to experience the side effects associated with «definitive,» or curative treatment; men who are diagnosed with stage T3, T4 or N+ (C or D) disease who don’t yet have symptoms; men whose prostate cancer is truly incidental and not yet something to worry about (some men with stage Tia or Ai cancer, and men with stage Tic disease who have low Gleason scores and low PSA densities.

The advantages of watchful waiting include its initial freedom from side effects and, at first, the financial break—it’s the cheapest option because there’s no expensive treatment to pay for.

Watchful waiting doesn’t mean «do nothing,» and it doesn’t mean your doctor has written you off—it means you get treatment for specific symptoms when you need it. This can mean hormone treatment or spot radiation to ease bone pain; it can mean a TUR or other procedures to bring relief when the prostate cancer becomes large enough to obstruct the urinary tract; it can mean a host of options aimed at tackling specific problems, prolonging life and easing pain.

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How do you know if you have prostate cancer? Don’t wait for symptoms to show up, because for early prostate cancer, there aren’t any. By the time a man has noticeable symptoms of prostate cancer, it’s probably too late to cure it. To make matters worse, all of prostate cancer’s symptoms can be attributed to other causes. That’s why the American Cancer Society recommends that, after age 50, men undergo a yearly digital rectal exam and take a yearly PSA test, a blood test that measures levels of PSA (prostate-specific antigen), a key enzyme made by the prostate. Men at higher risk—men who have a strong family history of prostate cancer or who are of African-American heritage—should begin this testing at age 40.

PSA is prostate-specific, not cancer-specific. You can have prostate cancer and still have a low PSA level; about 25 percent of men with prostate cancer do. And, just because you have a high PSA does not necessarily mean you have prostate cancer; many men with high PSA levels don’t. It just means that you have some sort of prostate trouble— maybe BPH, maybe prostate cancer, maybe an infection—and that you should see a urologist to find out what kind of problem you have.

No treatment decision should be made on a lone PSA reading. PSA’s partner in diagnosis must be a digital rectal exam, and then, if either is abnormal, ultrasound and biopsy should be performed. Together, the rectal exam and PSA can do far more than each tactic alone.

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It’s usually younger boys and girls who ask these sorts of question. When we first heard questions like these, we have to admit that we were a bit shocked that boys and girls who were so young seemed to be asking questions about whether they were ready for sex. However, when we talked further with the very young boys and girls who asked these sorts of question, we realized that the reason they were asking them was often because they had very mistaken ideas about physical intimacy. Some of them seemed to think that kissing or being physically close in other ways happens almost as soon as you get involved with someone, or at least very

quickly – perhaps even before you’ve had a chance to get to know each other. Some seem to think that going on a date means you have to, at the very least, kiss the person goodnight or perhaps go further. Some even seem to think that having a boy-friend or girl-friend automatically means that you’re going to have sexual intercourse with that person.

These things just aren’t true, but it’s easy to see how a young person could get these mistaken ideas. In the books we read, it often seems as if two people no sooner meet than we turn the page and find them madly kissing each other. In the films it sometimes seems as if two perfect strangers no sooner look at each other than the next thing we know they’re having sex. Or on television programmes two people will be going out on their first date in one scene and in bed together in the next!

In real life things don’t usually happen quite like this. In real life a romantic relationship usually goes through several steps or stages of physical closeness before things get to the point of having sexual intercourse, if indeed the relationship ever goes that far. In real life it usually takes at least some time before a relationship ever gets to the point where two people are having intercourse. Moreover, in real life many romantic relationships, especially the ones we have when we’re young, never do get to the point of having sex. In fact, many relationships never go beyond the holding hands or goodnight kiss stage, if they go even that far.

So please don’t be confused by what you read in books or see on TV or in films. Going out or having boy-friends or girl-friends doesn’t mean that you have to have sex or kiss or even hold hands. Above all, remember that when it comes to romance and sex, you’re in charge and you don’t have to do anything that doesn’t feel right for you.

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Crushes is yet another topic that always comes up when we talk about the kind of sexual and romantic feelings young people may have during their growing-up years. Having a crush means having sexual or romantic feelings towards a certain, special someone. Many young people develop crushes. Having a crush can be very exciting. Just thinking about or catching a glimpse of the person you have a crush on can brighten your whole day and you may spend delightful hours imagining a romance with that person.

Sometimes young people develop crushes on someone who isn’t vey likely to return their affections – a film star, a rock singer, a teacher, another adult or a friend of an older brother or sister. This sort of crush can be a safe and healthy way of experimenting with romantic and sexual attractions. These crushes are ‘safe’ because, no matter how much we may pretend otherwise, deep down we know that this unattainable person won’t really return our affections.

So we don’t have to worry about real life problems like what to say or how to act. And, because we’re making it all up, we’re free to imagine things turning out the way we want them to, without worrying about whether that person will like us back. In a way having a crush on someone unattainable is a way of rehearsing for the time in our lives when we will have a real romance.

But having a crush on someone unattainable can also cause a lot of suffering. One year some of the girls in our class developed crushes on a certain rock star. They plastered their bedroom walls with posters, wore badges with his face printed on them, pored over fan magazines, and generally had a great time sharing their feelings about him with one another. When the rock star got married, they were, naturally, somewhat disappointed, but one girl was more than disappointed. She was really upset. She had become too involved in her crush and the rock star’s marriage was devastating for her. If you find yourself developing a serious crush on someone unattainable, it helps to remind yourself from time to time that your crush isn’t very realistic and that this person isn’t very likely to return your affections.

Not all crushes are unrealistic. You may develop a crush on someone near your own age who you actually know through school, church, temple or some other group. If that person is interested in you, the crush can be especially exciting. But yearning after a person who doesn’t return your affections can be painful. If you find that your crushes are causing you problems, it helps to find someone – a friend, a parent, a teacher, another adult or a counsellor-with whom you can discuss your feelings.

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Most males are born with two testicles. Every once in a great while someone is born with only one. Sometimes a man or boy could have an injury or accident that could crush one testicle so badly that it has to be surgically removed.

If a man has only one testicle, the other testicle takes over for the missing one and produces enough sperm so that he’ll still be able to make a woman pregnant. His sex life and everything else about him will be completely normal.

What is an undescended testicle?

Before a boy is born his testicles are up inside his body. After he is born, they descend (come down) into his scrotal sac. Sometimes one or both testicles don’t descend and then the boy has what doctors call an undescended testicle. (At times, cold weather, a cold bath, excitement or extreme physical activity will cause one or both of a boy’s testicles to retract, that is, to draw up close to his body, for a while. But this is a temporary condition. It’s not the same as an undescended testicle.)

No one knows what causes an undescended testicle, but doctors do know how to cure it. Sometimes the doctor can use medicine to make the testicle descend; at other times it’s necessary for the boy to have an operation.

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This is another common STD, which can cause symptoms similar to those caused by gonorrhoea. The information on gonorrhoea also applies to chlamydia. Females are even more apt to be asymptomatic (without symptoms) with chlamydia. Like gonorrhoea, untreated chlamydia in females may lead to PID, infertility and other serious medical problems.

Genital herpes-This STD is caused by a virus known as herpes virus type II, or HV-2. The chief symptom is painful, blister-like sores in, on or around the sex organs. There may also be pain on urination, fever and flu-like symptoms. Genital herpes is incurable – that is, there is no medication that will rid the body of the virus. However, a person doesn’t always have the sores; they go away on their own, usually in, at most, a couple of weeks, but the virus remains in the body. It retreats deep into the body and usually comes back to the surface from time to time, causing new outbreaks of sores. A person can pass the disease during an outbreak and also for a period of time before and after an outbreak, so herpes sufferers must take special precautions to avoid passing the disease to others. Genital herpes is serious because there’s no cure and because having the disease increases a female’s chances of getting pre-cancerous and cancerous conditions of the cervix (the lower portion of the uterus which protrudes into the top of the vagina). Women who have genital herpes should have a cervical smear test every year to detect any changes in cells. If a woman has an attack of genital herpes when she is due to give birth, she might have a Caesarean section.

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How effective a method is at preventing pregnancy is another important consideration. No method is 100 per cent effective. People sometimes become pregnant, even after sterilization, though this is rare.

However, there are some methods-the contraceptive sponge, the rhythm method, spermicidal pessaries and spermicidal creams and jellies when used alone (without a cap or diaphragm) – that aren’t very effective even if a person always uses them exactly according to instructions. For this reason, these methods should not be used by people unless they really wouldn’t mind if they became pregnant. These methods are not recommended for people who absolutely don’t want to become pregnant.

With the exception of the methods we just mentioned, the other methods listed in the contraception chart are quite effective, provided they are used properly and consistently. How effective these methods are depends on two things: on the method itself and on the user of the method. Most of the time, unplanned pregnancies are a result of the fact that people have failed to use their methods properly or at all. Even when people use their methods absolutely correctly, unplanned pregnancies can still occur because sometimes the method itself simply fails to do its job. For instance: a woman might ovulate despite the fact that she took her pills on schedule; a diaphragm might become dislodged during intercourse; a condom might break or leak, allowing sperm to get into the vagina; and so on.

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I relax by listening to soft New Age music, and that helps me drift off to a good relaxing sleep which enables me to wake up refreshed and in good shape to face the new day. I like Yanni. I think he’s brilliant.

There are two types of music that are relevant to cellulite reduction – energy music and music for relaxation.

• Energy music

Music that picks you up is what you play through earphones when working out on a treadmill, and believe me the dance beat, that funky bassline and the relentless drum machine can keep you working like nothing else.

Some people ask, «If I can dance all night, how come I’m not fit enough to run around the block?«. Well, it’s the music that makes all the difference. People exercise fantastically when listening to the music they enjoy.

• Relaxation music

New Age music (‘music of the future’) – sometimes called Ambient or Discreet Music – is a genre often associated with synthesiser minimalists like Brian Eno, Kitaro, Klaus Schulze and Rainer Bloss. This is just one of many forms of relaxation music readily available.

Music from across the centuries is just as good. How about Vaughan Williams, Mahler, Mozart’s Tlie Magic Flute, Tele-mann? That’s relaxing music too, catering to a different taste.

When it comes to CDs, you really can get anything you want: jazz, Celtic, World Music (try Baaba Maal), reggae or if you prefer the music of nature sung without human interference, try the songs of Humpback Whales. Use music to your advantage, it’s a great motivator.

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Fruit Juice

• Real fruit juice

If it’s real fruit juice, it will say so.

If it’s 100% fruit juice, that is such marketing plus that those words will be splashed all over the label. Similarly, the real thing will boast ‘no preservatives, no artificial colouring’ where you won’t be able to miss those words. The same applies when you purchase a drink in a juice bar – if they’re ‘all natural’ they certainly let you know.

Beware: ’100% pure fruit juice’ does not necessarily mean the contents are only 100% fruit juice; it may mean that the percentage of fruit juice in the container is 100% pure. Read the fine print.

• Contains fruit juice

Other drinks admit that they contain only a percentage of fruit juice.

For example ‘Pine Coconut Fruit Drink’ contains 35% fruit juice as well as reconstituted pineapple juice, coconut milk powder, food acids (330, 332), vegetable gum (440), flavour, vitamin C (300) and water.

Why not drink the real thing?

• Contains no fruit

Some drinks contain no real fruit, just colouring and flavouring. Just like ‘empty’ foods, these are empty drinks.

Unless the sugar rush makes it all worthwhile, you’re better off drinking pure water. Somehow, these drinks make you thirsty!

Vegetable Juice

Like fruit juices, vegetable juice contains varying amounts of the real thing. Tinned tomato juice probably contains a percentage of reconstituted tomato juice as well as sugar and salt.

The best vegetable juices are home made. Treat yourself to a new juicer, and drink your vegies! Pop these vegies in the blender and make your own V8: tomatoes, carrots, celery, beets, parsley, lettuce, watercress and spinach.

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You can’t go wrong if you eat good food. How can you?

The whole idea of consuming food is to nourish all the systems and the organs of the body. Nourish your bones, nourish your muscles, nourish your brain, nourish your heart and lungs, nourish your liver, your pancreas and your kidneys.

Eating and drinking are for energy purposes. Firstly, food and drink provide all the nutrients your body is going to need for survival; from warding off viral infections to repairing your tissues after a cut, clearing up a bruise or mending a bone after a break. Secondly: to provide sustenance and energy for the activities of the day ahead. That’s the real reason why food and water should go into the body.

You get your energy from your food. Fuel your body correctly. Choose the right fuel and you will get good performance. We do as much for our cars so it’s the least we can do for ourselves. Don’t be frightened to eat the right foods.

You don’t have to make a commitment to eating raw foods and vegetables all day every day, seven days a week for the rest of your life. But you will need to include a percentage of wholesome food every day for the rest of your life – because that’s how we were originally designed, and our bodies rebel when we eat otherwise.

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There are plenty of good diaries around: in fact, you probably use a loose leaf time management system. Main diary companies include Daytimers, Filofax, NGT, Poco Profile and Debden — and you can pay $60-$100 for a stylish leather bound system with a good brand name. Alternatively, for $25 you can purchase a Stylofax, from an Australia Post Shop and newsagents.

You can even purchase a $10 cheapie from Discount Shops. Any of the above will do the job of recording your program.

If you carry your diary with you everywhere, you will enjoy many advantages:

• You’ll have your telephone/address book on hand,

• You can jot down appointments,

• There’s an Ideas Section, planners, and all sorts of personal data,

• And most important of all for the purposes of losing cellulite – you can keep tabs on your eating and exercise habits by writing in your diary when it’s convenient.

Turning a time management system into a weight loss diary is very easy indeed. The fact that these little diaries are extremely versatile has nothing to do with it, because all you need do is rule one line down the page (see ‘Time Management Diary Page’). This separates your ‘day book’ from your ‘weight loss section’. Bookmark it and keep it up-to-date.

If you are serious about cellulite loss you should monitor your progress.

Health-Wealth Computer Programs

Not everyone likes time management diaries. I have a friend who simply prints an A4 calendar month-to-a-page from a computer and that’s how she keeps tabs on everything.

She jots down the must-do and must-pay information, and says it’s great for weight loss program jottings too. It costs only the price of the paper and is specific to the task.

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We all want things – although only some of us actually get what we want.

People who get what they want are called ‘achievers’ and ‘go-getters’ – but those who do achieve understand that it was no big deal. Like going for a drive, you get a good map, pursue it and you’ll reach your destination. Achievements are exactly like that.

In this instance your ‘destination’ is to lose cellulite, but the mind must first perceive before the body will achieve. The mind, therefore has to answer the fundamental question which is, ‘How badly do you want this?’ Let’s be honest now:

• Do you want only the easy route and the miracle cure?

• Do you want to see how things work out before making a full commitment?

• Or, do you really want to persist with your program until you win for life?

THE EASY ROUTE:

There’s nothing wrong with any opt tort but it’s good to understand your real motives before you start. Some people who read this book will be content to do no more than eat herbal tablets while persisting with their current eating habits and no exercise program. And there’s nothing wrong with that, if it’s a logical decision, not a character weakness.

Some people who have done no more than eat cellulite-loss tablets swear they have had reasonable results, and I am pleased for them.

However, I see it another way. I see those tablet purchases as an expensive way to cover-up, rather than fix, a significant problem. But if you’ve told yourself at the planning stage: «I’m only interested in the Band-Aid solution, thanks», then that admission will probably save you a subscription to a fitness centre or a yoga course that deep down you never planned to attend.

You don’t need to know the truth about cellulite, if all you want is a herbal remedy – or even a surgical solution.

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Tinnitus is an internal noise in the ear, generally described as buzzing, whistling, ringing, roaring or hissing. It may be constant or intermittent and is often accompanied by deafness.

It is worthwhile allowing a chiropractor/osteopath to see if your cervical spine is in any way involved. We have had some successes with this condition, especially at the onset of the trouble.

Some years ago, I went through this distressing sensation myself. I was astounded when I discovered that on lying down, I had a most annoying noise inside my head that I couldn’t lose no matter what I did! Several neck treatments later, over a period of six weeks, the noises subsided.

Other causes have proved to be a malocclusion of the jaw and another is a need for cranial adjusting as the temporal suture is stressed. All of these causes are well worth exploring.

Employers are now supplying ear protectors for those people exposed to industrial noise, such as jack hammering, which can bring on the trouble, as can the sound of a close-range gunshot or the noise level of rock concerts .Young people, however, are rarely sensible about protection from the extremely loud popular music today. Nerve damage is permanent and has to be prevented. We must become responsible for looking after ourselves.

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If there is the added complication of brachial neuritis, this is best handled by an adjustment of the joint where the nerve irritation is located, together with localised therapy in the elbow.

Epicondylitis is an inflammation of a part of the elbow. It is not an easy pain to treat as the muscle inserts into the bone (called the humerus) at this point. The fibres are torn at the very part that should be strong to take the weight of lifting.

The injury is best supported by an elastic guard as you seem to bump it at every turn. Certainly I use acupuncture but the therapy takes quite a long time. It requires the co-operation of the patient so that the area does not become aggravated by overuse.

People are so impatient with this injury. Repetitive action can bring it on. The classic case is the tennis coach who says, ‘Right, let’s just work on your backhand.’ Twenty minutes later, pain is a reality. Another cause of this condition is when a player changes the tennis racquet weight without adequate prior strengthening of the forearm muscles. Car mechanics can also get into trouble, as can anyone who does intricate jobs using the forearm muscles in awkward movements. So you see, it is not only suffered by tennis players. Cortisone injection, commonly used, is such a cruel treatment for this condition. Initially, the cause of the pain should be diagnosed. There could be several problems, needing slightly different therapies.

Osteopathic adjustment of any rotated muscles in the forearm can be initiated straight away. Only after therapy is completed do we give strengthening exercises. If exercises are given first, it often prolongs the healing time.

Acupuncture is a gentle start to treatment, and often few visits are needed. Ultrasound is another soothing therapy, popular with my patients over the years. It is a deep heat that comforts and starts healing the torn muscle fibres. By all means use an elastic supporting elbow guard if you insist on using the elbow. But don’t allow this sort of help to delay the correct treatment.

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Such a long word for the jaw! But most joints are named after a combination of the two bones that articulate with each other.The mandible is the jaw bone and the temporal bone is above the ear. Put them together and what have you got? The TMJ.

When we chew, it should be an even action of both sides. Trouble starts when the teeth are out of alignment and don’t sit comfortably on top of each other. It can happen through a fist fight, or a hit on the side of the head in a car accident.

The result of this joint being out of alignment can be devastating. Headaches certainly, a spaced out sensation, memory loss, ‘clicking’ in the jaw, snoring, temporal neuralgia, tinnitus, earache, poor concentration, unexplained eye trouble. Tooth fillings can inexplicably fracture due to the exertion of uneven pressure.

The sight of people putting up with gaps in their teeth gives me the horrors as I imagine what is happening to their mouth and head. The suffering they will go through concerns me greatly as the teeth move and other symptoms develop which are difficult to diagnose.

My advice is to ask your chiropractor to assess your spine. If all is well there, then ask for a referral to a dentist who has done the extra study. Not all of them are skilled in this area. (Beware of the dentist who decides to drill the teeth down instead of building up the opposite side. It can jam the jaw into a worse state.) Sometimes a mouth plate at night is all that is needed. Your chiropractor will refer you to the dentist of his choice, as he needs to work in partnership with him.

Acupuncture relaxes all the muscles in this area, as do hot packs or towels. The joint can be gently adjusted by several techniques simply and speedily. But the expert chiropractor/osteopath needs to assess the TMJ first.

Recently a lady came in with a painful jaw. She had bent over to lift up her three-year-old. He had, in the joyful exuberance of youth, jumped up at the same time and ‘collected’ her on the jaw as perfectly as any boxer. She saw stars and had to sit down with tears in her eyes.

The treatment was simple: adjusting her neck back into alignment and applying dry heat to the jaw before freeing it up. A bit of acupuncture and a lot of sympathy – a similar incident had happened to me when my son was an energetic

two-year-old!

Headaches can occur if you chew on one side of your mouth only, or suffer from a clicky jaw.

Peter’s story-A few year’s ago I began to experience headaches at fairly regular intervals, usually at weekends, and occasionally on Mondays. At first I thought they were just random occurrences and any concern unwarranted. However after several weeks of this, I began to wonder. It was becoming increasingly uncomfortable and I noticed that the headaches were accompanied by neck pain, especially when I bent my head back. The overall feeling was as if someone had hit me on the head with a baseball bat.

Moreover I was also being disturbed by loss of appetite and a feeling of biliousness. On some occasions I was forced to He down and be as still as possible.

I had various tests for failing eyesight, strange lumps in my brain or was it just ingrown toenails? But I was generally pronounced fit with rarely even a cold to complain about, and 20/20 eyesight.

At the time a friend was visiting a chiropractor getting his neck straightened. It sounded like torture but seemed to give him relief from headaches. Stupidly, I just let the message go over my head. I began to get used to having this pain once a week and accepted it, by popping the odd headache tablet.

However, my wife got sick of my moans and groans, and after I started suffering a chronic build-up of stress, finally packed me off to her chiropractor.

Acupuncture immediately relieved my stress and I began telling about my

long-standing headaches. My neck was examined and it was found that the muscles were as stiff as old canvas. They began to loosen up as soon as my neck was adjusted. It made sense that my headaches were due to strained neck muscles as the pain had radiated from there and localised at the left eye.

I also remembered that a few years earlier I’d had several teeth removed from both jaws and these were replaced by plastic teeth. This confirmed that a loss of the ‘true bite’ was responsible initially and that the only permanent cure would be to have the bite corrected.

The chiropractor referred me to a dentist specialising in temporomandibular dysfunction and he gave me the full treatment. He traced the pain areas, and measured my lack of bite in relation to where my teeth were.

He concluded after lots of checks that my mouth was out of ‘whack’ and definitely contributing to the pain. He reset the plastic teeth on my denture and, after remoulding my plate to a more comfortable bite, I noticed that my headaches reduced immediately and soon disappeared altogether.

TEAR DUCT (BLOCKED)-The treatment for this condition doesn’t have to be surgery. Success has been achieved by seeing if there is a neck strain that needs an adjustment. Sometimes the problem can be solved with acupuncture. There is an ear point called ‘internal secretion’ that literally ‘turns off the tap’. It can also be reversed to turn on the tap. People generally wouldn’t think to consult a natural therapist for this condition but often it is the simplest solution.

One lady, treated with this problem, couldn’t believe how much better she felt generally, as well as having her tear duct unblocked in a couple of treatments.

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It should be remembered that sinusitis is only a symptom and that an overview must be obtained. In my experience, often all that’s needed is a neck adjustment, and the sinuses drain immediately. Cranial adjusting (internal mouth adjustments) is often used to free the sinuses and drain the antrums.

Acupuncture is effective for sinusitis using some needles in the ear and around the nose and neck. But eliminating any structural cause is important in the long run. Feel your neck for tenderness or soreness.

Sinusitis attacks can be caused by intolerance to dairy products and wheat breads. Then there is the sinusitis caused by allergic reactions:

There was a case where a man had severe sinusitis after being around glues in his factory. He didn’t have to sell up to solve the problem. We raised his immune response. His successful treatment involved high doses of vitamin A, calcium ascorbate, zinc and the herbs hydrastis, horseradish, fenugreek, and garlic. These were taken for three months and now the aroma of the glues hardly affects him. A low resistance has to be built up slowly.

Another allergenic reaction:

I was surprised once by the case of a lady almost drowning in her own phlegm at night. I tried all I knew. I was baffled. Then she rang and told me that as soon as the doctor changed her high blood pressure tablets, her sinuses dried up overnight!

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It is important to understand that the shoulder is the most mobile of all the joints in our body, but it pays the price by being the easiest to dislocate or sprain. It is really a girdle and it depends on many muscles working together for its stability.

When the shoulder is hurt, it is not a simple task to realign all the soft tissue involved. Chiropractors check for neck faults as the nerves from there supply important muscles and tissue through the shoulder and down the arm. A neck adjustment if needed shortens treatment time considerably.

Many a painful incident can make an amusing story.

I’m thinking of Judy who went up into the roof to haul down a trapped possum. Trying to handle the frightened, aggressive animal, she slipped through the girders of the roof. Her daughter was highly amused at the sight of her mother hanging by the shoulders, feet dangling into the living room below. She pulled her mum out by the arms while breaking up with laughter.

It took several treatments to reposition her painful shoulder muscles, Judy’s husband, although normally a loving man, was not amused by the hole in the ceiling, and had little sympathy for the suffering wife. This was an acute injury that responded well to immediate therapy.

The dangers of delayed treatment.

A sixty-year-old woman, living alone, presented with a painful shoulder that she suffered for nine months, during which time she had been given the best medical care.

First the doctor had given her an anti-inflammatory tablet which she took religiously for weeks even though her stomach had reacted to them. Then she had two months of heat-pack treatments from a physiotherapist. Finally she had visited an orthopaedic specialist who had (thankfully) said that the joint was too bad for an operation.

On assessing her shoulder joint, I was appalled to find that months of futile treatment had allowed her shoulder girdle to waste. The muscles at the front of the shoulder into the ribs were wasted as were those of the shoulder itself, together with the muscles at the back of the rib cage.

She was a dejected mess, physically and psychologically. She couldn’t fasten her bra at the back or lift her arm to comb her hair and it was near impossible to take her dress off over her head. She couldn’t do so many of the little things that make life acceptable. She was depressed and in constant pain.

I assured her that to continue to move the shoulder was important. We started osteopathic treatment which meant encouraging blood flow to all the muscle fibres between the ribs and down the arm.

All the neck muscles had to be worked and drained of acids accumulated in the tissue through lack of adequate movement. Strapping the shoulder for three days each week was a great comfort and stopped the grating sound that made her feel distressed and insecure. That aided greatly in her healing over her six weeks of therapy. Without pain, she was then able to keep moving the arm to develop the muscles again on her own.

With the kind of treatment described above, it is normal for the tissues to secrete lactic and uric acid residue resulting in a rash.

Invariably, the patient will say, ‘Am I allergic to your oils?’ The answer is no, as the non-itchy skin reaction indicates the muscles are eliminating waste products and the soreness is decreasing. Movement is then easier, and we are on our way.

Understand that muscles do more than just move joints and stimulate blood supply: they also drain away the waste products by muscle action. If not, accumulation occurs and calcium is deposited. Also the joint can dry out if it is not nourished. Using a hot pack only for months is soothing but not curative and an operation to scrape the bone is better prevented if possible.

A difficult case sees me using acupuncture and moxibustion. After acupuncture, the look on the patient’s face as they leave with a warm moveable joint makes the effort worthwhile. The needles are inserted in the hand, elbow and shoulder with great effect in relieving the pain. Heat helps in this instance.

Every therapy helps. Homoeopathies recommended are:

Bryonia for those who feel better for rest.

Hypericum for pain from injured nerves.

Rhus tox for joints that are better for movement.

There are many others depending on the patient’s personality and individuality.

*50\19\2*

A serious danger of these discoveries is that people gain a false sense of security if they are found not to have the gene. Feeling safe, they may forgo measures to prevent and detect early cancer, and they thus risk developing the same type of cancer. No test will become available in the foreseeable future, if ever, that will guarantee freedom from all cancer risk.

If you had, for example, colon cancer, your children could screened for the gene for hereditary nonpolyposis cancer. Even they are found not to harbor this gene, they are still at risk developing colon cancer from one of the many other genes (most still undiscovered) that can cause it. Your children can be born without any genes predisposing them to colon cancer, but с develop abnormalities that lead to cancer because of exposure cancer-causing agents.

The ability to pinpoint people at risk for different types of a cancer will inevitably have a great impact on health care economics and politics, and transform the insurance industry whose fundamental principle is shared risk.

These exciting discoveries can lead to disappointment if t hopes for preventive and curative measures for the type of cane are not fulfilled.

*45/32/5*

Are There Any Vitamins or Other Pills I Can Take to Prevent Cancer?

At this time, there is no pill or vitamin that will prevent cancer in general. You can call the Cancer Information Service on 131120 to check whether any clinical trials are investigating a medicine or therapy that will help prevent the recurrence of your type of cancer or the development of another cancer known to be associated with your type. Your oncologist or doctor can keep you informed of these studies, too.

What If I Am Embarrassed to Tell My Doctor about Various Over-the – Co u n t e r Preparations I Am Taking to Prevent Cancer?

Many people take over-the-counter to help prevent cancer or treat other conditions. Too often, people neglect to tell their doctors about these medicines, either intentionally or unintentionally. Doctors are aware that many people self-medicate with nonprescription pills and tonics. The more information your doctor has about you, the better the care you will receive. If you tell doctor about your self-prescribed medications, your doctor

•can take this information into account when evaluating a problem

• can warn you of potential problems or dangers to you

• can advise you about a more effective or safer way to use the over-the-counter medications

•can adjust your prescription medications, if necessary.

*35/32/5*

The body is an extremely complex organism. Your mind plays a role in how your body functions. Some research-oriented psychologists and psychiatrists, and a few immunologists and other specialists have speculated that you can affect how well your body fights cancer by visualizing the hoped-for results, just as you can affect how accurately you throw a ball by concentrating on the process. No study to date has shown any significant effect on cure
rates or rates of recurrence through visualization. However, visualization in some people does cause measurable improvement in medical problems such as pain, migraine headaches, insomnia and muscle spasm.

Visualization is a wonderful tool for people in whom it helps alleviate physical and emotional symptoms. As for your cancer, visualization can help decrease negative stress and give you some sense of control.

Patients often complain that doctors focus right away on the physical problems, ask countless questions, and never have enough time for explanations or for just a normal conversation. Many patients recoil at the idea of preparing a list of questions and problems, feeling that they should not be treated like a car being brought to the shop. Or they worry that a list would make them look like a hypochondriac. Patients understandably want to feel that they are being treated like a whole person.

The purpose of each follow-up visit is for you to get your needs taken care of and for the doctor to be certain that everything is being done to ensure that you do as well as possible. In order for you to receive the best care, you and your doctor must work together as a team. Your job is to describe your problems and explain your concerns as clearly as possible. Most people do this best with some advance preparation.

Like everyone else, doctors face time constraints. What you may interpret as abruptness may be your doctor’s attempt to be organized, so that the information obtained is complete and accurate and so that your most serious problems are addressed. A vague, unstructured discussion or a focus on one issue may make you feel better emotionally but divert your doctor from the important issues.

Your oncologist is trying to understand your medical situation, find the best solutions to your medical problems, and prevent new problems from occurring. Most oncologists truly care as much about your emotional well-being as about your physical well-being, but focus primarily on the physical in order to maximize the chance that you are physically well enough to deal with the emotional. From a practical viewpoint your doctors are the only people who can address the major medical issues (as opposed to nurses, social workers, counselors, and so on). If they do not take care of these questions and problems, no one else can. Also, if oncologists did not maintain some distance and objectivity, they could not make the best medical decisions for you.

At the beginning of each of your visits, you are like a mystery person. Even if your doctor has been taking care of you for years he or she has to figure out what your problems and concerns an that day in order to address them. And, as with any mystery, the more clues you provide, the faster and more accurate will be you doctor’s solutions.

If you just show up for your visit and expect to sort through your problems and questions while your doctor listens, or if you expect your doctor to figure out your problems and question: through doctor-directed questions, you may spend most of the visit just figuring out what your problems are.

It is much easier for everyone if you tell your doctor, «I have had some cramping in my stomach and have noticed some blood in my bowel movements for the past three weeks,» than if the doctor has to keep prodding: «Are there any problems?» «Yes.’ «Can you tell me what the problem is?» «My bowel movements are different.» «How are they different?» «I think there has been some blood in them.» «When did this begin?» «Let me see . . . today is June 12, so it must have been two … no wait, it was about three weeks ago.» «Do you have any pain?» «Yes.» And so on.

What Is Maintenance Therapy?

Some cancers are not curable but can be held in check with maintenance therapy. This usually consists of lower-dose medication taken indefinitely that

• slows down or stops the growth of the cancer

• is fairly well tolerated

The goals of maintenance therapy are to

•preserve a disease-free state (help prevent recurrence) after remission is achieved

•help prevent progression of persistent cancer when curative therapy is not available

•help prevent progression of persistent cancer and minimize complications from persistent cancer when curative therapy is too risky

• buy time while waiting for more effective or less toxic therapy

• promote physical and psychological comfort

What Is Remission?

Remission is the absence of any detectable sign of your cancer after restaging tests are completed. «Remission» is used synonymously with «complete remission.»

Remission is not the same as cure. Your remission can last for one month, one year, one decade, or the rest of your life. You must remain in complete remission for a length of time specific for your type of cancer to be considered cured. Many people achieve complete remission but are not cured.

What Is a Durable Remission?

A durable remission is one that lasts for a long time. How long «long» is depends on the usual expectations for your type of cancer and is a subjective notion. A durable remission is not the same as a cure.

For example, if you have a type of cancer that usually recurs within five years of achieving remission and you have been in remission for eight years, you are deemed to have a durable remission. If your type of cancer usually recurs within one year of remission and you enjoy three years of remission, this is felt to represent a durable remission.

*6/32/5*

We need to start by dispelling a few myths about migraine. This important point was mentioned earlier: Migraine is not just a. severe headache: it is a special type of headache. Nor is it necessarily a severe headache; many sufferers have relatively minor headaches, but the associated symptoms indicate that without doubt they are suffering from migraine.

Another misconception is that those with migraine are frequently incapacitated by it. While this may be true for severe cases, there are many who have an attack only once or twice a year. There are also many others whose attacks are not severe or disabling enough to prevent them working. This doesn’t mean that those who have frequent severe attacks of migraine are putting it on – far from it. The headache of migraine is one of the worst types of pain known to man, and in its fullest form is completely incapacitating.

Attitudes towards migraine vary according to which part of society you are in. Some groups of society think that migraine is an intellectual’s disease. Other groups believe that migraine is a manifestation of psychiatric illness. Both attitudes are wrong! Migraine attacks people of all socio-economic groups. There is no link with having a high IQ and no direct link with being neurotic (though quite understandably, people with frequent severe migraines can become anxious or depressed as a result).

Perhaps the most surprising fact of all about migraine is that probably only fifty per cent of people suffering from it have ever consulted their doctor about it. Almost more remarkable is that a very large percentage of patients with migraine only ask their doctors about it once, and then don’t go back. It seems that many migraine sufferers don’t realise what can be done for them and resign themselves, unnecessarily, to their fate.

The point of all this is quite simple – the medical profession can now do a great deal to curb developing migraine attacks and to prevent attacks occurring. If you haven’t yet consulted your doctor about your migraines, then please do, because it may make a considerable difference to the quality of your life.

*5\20\2*

Of course, your doctor will diagnose your headaches in a slightly different way, because he or she has the advantage of being able to examine you as well.

However, don’t be misled. Many patients think (wrongly) that the examination tells the doctor everything, and that a diagnosis without one means it’s probably wrong. In fact, almost the reverse is true. With headaches it is mainly careful, painstaking questioning that leads to the most accurate diagnosis. Perhaps your doctor finds out the critical information that the headache came on suddenly, like a blow to the back of the head; or else that the headache comes on if you miss a meal; or, maybe, there’s a background of marital discord or stress at work. It’s a bit like detective work, piecing information together until it all clicks into place.

Having said this, the importance of the physical examination should be stressed, because there are one or two items that your doctor will certainly want to check. What the doctor examines will vary according to the answers you’ve given to the

questions asked. For example, if the history is highly suggestive of sinusitis, then your doctor may only need to press on the bone overlying the sinus to confirm the diagnosis. A thorough examination of the muscles or nerves would be unnecessary. On the other hand, these will need to be examined if your story points towards a slipped disc in the neck.

The sort of examination your doctor gives you depends upon the symptoms and the history. Some or all of the following may be necessary – blood pressure measured, temperature taken, examination of the movements of your neck to see if you can bend your neck properly, not just forwards but also from side to side. You may be examined for trigger spots and painful areas in the muscles of the neck and back, and your spine may be checked. Your doctor may also examine your temples – to discover whether or not there are prominent pulses and tender arteries -investigate the power you can develop in your arms and legs, tap your reflexes, and even tickle the bottom of your feet! (This is a very quick way to tell whether you have had a stroke or a similar brain injury.) Finally, your doctor may look into your eyes, test your pupil reflexes, press against the bones in your face to see if they’re tender, look at your teeth, and check the way your mouth closes.

The combination of history-taking, examination and appropriate prescription may deal with your headaches fully. As we discussed earlier, your response to the treatment is also an important diagnostic pointer. In just a few cases the doctor may be unsure of the diagnosis and under those circumstances will use the resources of the hospital laboratory and X-ray department.

*3\20\2*

‘Diagnose first, treat second.’ This statement may appear obvious, but it’s very easy to make the mistake of treating symptoms (such as pain or nausea) without getting to the root of the condition or disease causing the symptoms. Treatment is much more effective if there is an accurate initial diagnosis!

It’s all too easy to treat a headache with a couple of aspirins, without stopping to think why that headache is occurring. Then, when the headache doesn’t go away, you can’t help but wonder if you should increase the dose … and then you’ve fallen neatly into the trap. Diagnose first, treat second means that you stop to think before you reach for those painkillers, even on the first occasion.

However, diagnosing the cause of your headache may not always be easy, because there can be so much overlap between symptoms. For example, headaches caused by neck problems can sometimes imitate a migraine; temporal arteritis (an inflammation of the arteries in the forehead) can produce a headache similar to one that has arisen from tension; and arthritis in the neck can mimic tension headaches. Unfortunately, there are few hard and fast diagnostic rules: knowing the site or type of pain may not be enough to tell you its cause. Accurate diagnosis of the source of your headaches will probably depend not upon one specific symptom, but on carefully balancing the importance of a number of different symptoms and observations.

Here lies a trap for the amateur doctor! When reading a medical book like this, it’s all too easy to come up with the worst possible diagnosis, and then force your own symptoms to fit it. This is the ‘medical student syndrome’. When medical students start to learn about disease they often try to self-diagnose their own aches and pains – usually with disastrous results. Every medical school health centre has a constant trickle of students who have convinced themselves (usually erroneously) that they are about to die from some dreadful disease.

Nevertheless, do make sure that you consult your doctor about your fears. He will be able to see things in a much more balanced light. It is, of course, possible that you are right in your suspicions – but the vast probability is that you won’t be, so don’t worry unnecessarily.

The last thing you should do is use this book in isolation, self-diagnosing your own headaches and then blithely self-medicating yourself. If you’re having trouble with headaches and you haven’t been to your doctor, then make an appointment, discuss your problems and ask for advice. By all means use this book to point yourself in the right direction. And if you’re worried that you have a particular disease, do specifically mention it to your doctor. Once you have discussed the situation and, if necessary, had an examination, listen to the diagnosis and take note of the advice. Doctors have the knowledge, the experience and the objectivity to treat you properly. It’s hard to be objective when the patient is yourself!

So let’s get down to working out what might be the underlying cause of your particular headache.

Although the site of the pain and its pattern can often point to a particular diagnosis, in practice it doesn’t always work out that way; the same source of headache doesn’t produce identical types of pain in everyone. For example, tension headaches often produce pain in the forehead, or a feeling of pressure over the top of the skull. On the other hand, some muscle-tension headaches can produce pain centring over one eye (a type of pain which is more usually associated with migraine). So how do you know which is which?

Because headaches can be so variable there is no one symptom which allows us to make a firm diagnosis. Instead, it’s a matter of finding the pattern of illness which seems to fit most of the facts. The type of pain may point towards two or three possible diagnoses; the time it comes on may point to a slightly different set of possibilities; the things that start it off, to a third group of alternatives; and the accompanying symptoms to a fourth.; put them all together and you may find a single diagnosis which is common to all these groups, and it is this diagnosis which should be top of your list of possible causes.

Obviously, it’s nice if everything points in the same direction – and doctors do like to try to make one diagnosis which covers all the symptoms. On the other hand, this isn’t always possible in the case of headaches.

Because the symptoms of headaches are so variable, rather than producing just one flow chart to identify the cause of your headaches, I’ve created several diagnostic charts and lists. Work through them one after the other. If you get some common answers then you’re probably heading in the right direction. On the other hand, if you get a group of different possibilities it can mean one of several things:

•    Perhaps the source of your headache is producing symptoms in a less common way

•    Maybe you’ve got more than one cause for your headache

•    The possible causes of your headache may need to be sorted out by doing some special tests, for which you will need to see your doctor.

Armed with your answers, consult the relevant chapter of this book, describing the causes of headaches in much greater detail. You may well find that this extra detail allows you to pinpoint the cause of your headache more accurately.

But what if you can’t? Well, don’t forget that several causes of headache can be operating at the same time. Be prepared to have one main diagnosis and one (or even two) secondary diagnoses. It’s quite common to find that causes of headaches multiply together – so a patient whose headaches are caused mainly by arthritis of the neck may also find her headaches are made worse by stress and tension; migraine and tension headaches often work together in this way, too; and someone with high blood pressure may also, quite coincidentally, have a bad neck from an old whiplash accident.

But diagnosis doesn’t stop here. There is a further diagnostic tool: if the treatment works it confirms the diagnosis. (That is assuming, of course, that the treatment is not a catch-all method such as taking high doses of painkillers.) Similarly, if a specific treatment doesn’t work, it may mean that the diagnosis is not as accurate as you supposed. However, this advice needs to be handled with care, because people don’t always respond to the same treatment in the same way. For example, many migraine sufferers find great relief by using metoclopramide (together with a simple painkiller); others find this of no help at all, and prefer one of the ergotamine preparations. The response to treatment can help us to confirm the diagnosis, but it isn’t always specific.

To sum up, try to look at the overall picture and see where it all leads -symptoms, signs, tests and response to treatment. If the majority of answers point in the same direction, you should look up the details of this illness; only if you find no clear answers should you look at the alternatives.

*2/20/2*

Of the symptoms that concern patients most, headaches come high on the list. Headaches are the most common cause of pain seen by family doctors, and although only a small percentage are due to any serious disorder, the fear of underlying disease causes a great deal of anxiety, especially among those who’ve suffered from headaches for a long time.

Although the vast majority of headaches aren’t dangerous, a few are due to serious underlying disease; and the remainder may not go away unless you do something to prevent them. The trouble is, how can you be sure which is which? It’s not always easy.

Even when you know the cause of your headaches, there are still many problems. Your headaches may not be lethal, but they still hurt; they’re frustrating; they’re an inconvenience; they may stop you working properly; and for those who have recurring headaches, coping with the pain and trying to prevent further attacks can be a sizeable and exhausting problem.

Most headaches are like this: not always sinister, but always painful, debilitating and frustrating – a real spoil-sport of a complaint, interfering with both work and pleasure. Sometimes your GP or a specialist can help; for example, in the case of migraine, where a wide range of drugs is now available both to treat the attacks, and to stop further ones occurring.

But, at other times, orthodox medicine seems to have less to offer: there may be no serious underlying cause, but that doesn’t mean the headaches will necessarily go away. Often headaches are related to aspects of your lifestyle that your doctor has little or no knowledge of – the type of pillow you use; your dentures; the car you drive; or the lighting conditions at work.

Sometimes your doctor is able to reassure you that there is nothing seriously wrong and that you ‘only’ have a tension headache. Unfortunately, this doesn’t take away the pain, but it does leave you confused, thinking it’s your fault you’ve got headaches, yet perhaps not wanting to bother the doctor any further.

Many patients with chronic headaches end up like this – suffering, but not always able to get any real, lasting or satisfying help, and puzzled because what seems to trigger off the headaches on one occasion doesn’t always trigger them off on another.

In short, headaches can be a real pain – and that’s where this book comes in. We’ll show you why you’re getting headaches, explain what is going on, and, most importantly, tell you what you can do to stop them. And believe me, there’s a lot that can be done.

Let’s get things straight from the start – a headache is a symptom, not a disease. Headaches can occur for many different reasons and each type needs to be treated according to its cause. A few of the underlying causes are dangerous – meningitis or stroke, for example. Headaches like these need prompt diagnosis and treatment. But don’t become alarmed; most headaches aren’t life-threatening, just painful and annoying. If you’ve suffered from headaches for a long time it’s much more likely that your headache is unpleasant, without being serious. On the other hand, it’s very important to sort out which kind of headache you have, and to make sure that if urgent treatment is needed, you get it.

We all know people who say they’ve never had a headache in their lives. Lucky, aren’t they? For many others, a headache is merely an occasional annoyance -unpleasant, but nothing more. Unfortunately, some people are affected much more than this. Either they get headaches more often, or their headaches are so intense and debilitating that they affect the quality of their life. It’s no joke to have regular migraines. With a headache of this intensity work is impossible and enjoyment out of the question. The knowledge that next week may bring the start of another attack merely adds to the unpleasantness.

A few statistics will show the extent of the problem. Nineteen out of twenty of us get headaches at some time or other. Men and women of all races are equally affected, but, interestingly, older people seem to get them less often. Every fortnight, one in four of us will have a headache bad enough to need painkillers. One in three attacks begins at work, and headaches are a common cause of absenteeism. At least one third of migraine sufferers have to stop work when an attack begins, and most migraine sufferers think that their quality of work and their careers have suffered as a result of their migraines.

Most headaches are caused by one of three things: minor viral infections, migraines and tension. Because minor headaches (those that respond quickly to painkillers) are so common, most of us don’t go to the doctor when we get one; but of those patients whose headaches are serious or persistent enough to make them consult their GP, one in five will be referred to hospital.

As well as being painful, and in some cases debilitating, headaches are upsetting. If you frequently suffer from headaches, there may be a nagging thought at the back of your mind. Is this the tip of the iceberg? What does it mean? Is there something seriously wrong? Uncle Jim had a headache and he was dead in three months from a brain tumour. How do I know I haven’t got one, too?

Even if the cause of your headaches has been sorted out satisfactorily, there is still the problem of living with the frequent pain and the disruption to your lifestyle that they can cause. What do you do when you have migraines associated with your menstrual cycle, when you know that every month you’ll have another three days of misery, vomiting your guts out, with what feels like a piledriver inside your head threatening to split your brain apart? How do you cope emotionally with this, never mind hold down a job, with the frequent absences from work that having migraines implies?

And what about the man or woman who gets frequent tension headaches? Knowing that they’re ‘only’ caused by tension helps – to a point. At least you know you’re not dying. Small consolation, because you often feel as though you are, with that nagging pain that goes on for days at a time, apparently totally resistant to painkillers. Nothing the doctor gives seems to help, except perhaps tranquillisers. How do you feel about being on those all the time? Or not having the tranquillisers, and getting the pain instead? Is there an alternative?

If you have recurrent headaches, then this book is for you. It will help you to sort out what’s likely to be causing them; why headaches like yours occur; and what you can do to stop them. With patience, most headaches can be treated very effectively. Some are helped by orthodox medical or surgical treatment, others with self-help techniques; some can be alleviated with complementary therapies, and some types of headache are best treated using a combination of all three methods.

*1\20\2*

By the age of 15, nearly 100 per cent of boys have masturbated (and, as one commentator has said, those who haven’t are liars!). The proportion of girls who masturbate is lower in each age group, but in recent years the proportion is increasing.

It is now accepted by all but a few fearful people that masturbation is a normal sexual outlet and an important sexual learning process, and the anxiety that masturbation will lead to moral or physical decay has declined. Despite this, many adolescents who masturbate feel guilty because they fear that their parents will punish them, and because of inaccurate memories of the dangers of masturbation as discussed by their peers in whispered conversations. The myths which surrounded masturbation have been largely discredited, but they still cause anxiety and guilt.

Despite our knowledge that masturbation is healthy, and that nearly all people masturbate, most people are still ashamed to let it be known that they masturbate. When asked they become reticent and defensive. They are reluctant to tell their friends, lovers, or mates. This is an example of the way in which a normal pleasurable activity has been debased by societal condemnation.

*50/16/113*