We can learn to control pain in very much the same way as tension and anxiety, and this includes pain from organic as well as psychological causes. But before describing the self-management of painful conditions I shall discuss with you some particular aspects of pain. This will make it easier to understand exactly what we [...]

The narrow oesophageal passage suddenly balloons out into a strange shape a bit like a football. This is the stomach, and is a repository for all food eaten. It may take a large amount of food, and digestion continues rapidly in this area.

The stomach wall is lined with very important glands which produce two vital [...]

Unfortunately, many of the above facilities are not yet available due to lack of funding, the relative lack of which also affects opportunities for research, and for attracting young researchers into the field. Epilepsy is, unfortunately, not regarded as important as many other clinical disorders when it comes to allocating funds for research. With the [...]

During a recent five-month period, the Journal of the American Medical Association (253:2843) reports, six children in a Texas rural community were affected by a rather rare lymph node cancer, known as Burkitt’s tumor. Usually fatal, this tumor first appears in the neck, jaws or throat of its victims, but later spreads throughout the body.

Similar [...]

Symptoms

Marked delay in achieving speech Continued stuttering or stammering

Home care

Speak to and listen to your baby in order to encourage speech.

Correct a child’s speech gently, but never punish or ignore the child for incorrect speech or try to make the child practice speaking.

Do not get angry or anxious if the child stutters, and don’t let [...]

1.     Never introduce perfume, talc, cosmetics, flowers, mothballs, insect sprays, tar paper, or camphor into the bedroom or its closets.

2.     Never store anything under the beds.

3.     Enclose any woolen clothes which are kept in the bedroom in a plastic zipper bag.

4.     Keep the bed away from a central air-heating outlet (if [...]

Suffering a miscarriage is one of the most devastating things that can happen to a woman – and to her partner.

Not only have you and your partner suffered a loss but you will obviously be worried about why it happened. You may be concerned that it was somehow your fault or feel that the doctors [...]

Mental strain

Mental strain. Dr Bates, the man who became famous through his eye exercises to promote healthy vision, considered that most defective vision is caused by mental strain, and that a nervous temperament with a tendency to mental tension and rigidity of thought is the cause of most cases of serious visual deficiency. Whilst there [...]

Ask questions

Help yourself become well-informed by talking to your doctor, attending sessions run by self-help groups and using the resources offered by women’s health services.

Read as much as possible about endometriosis and talk to other sufferers. This will not only keep you well-informed but remind you that you are not alone.

Take control

It is your body [...]

Dangers of fire

•    Always keep a special watch on children and elderly people when fires and heaters are in use. (Remember, it is illegal to leave a child under the age of 12 in a room with an open fire.)

•     Keep portable heaters away from furniture and curtains and in a safe [...]