Different guys need different amounts of sleep. So how do you know how much is right for you? Sorry, there’s no standard formula. But there are tests you can take to find out. And don’t worry: They’re strictly pass-fail.
The feelings test: Drowsiness during the day or early evening is a dead giveaway that you need more sleep. The problem is that you may never slow down long enough to find it out. So schedule some quiet time and pay attention. “If you fall asleep reading or just sitting quietly before your usual bedtime, you’re not getting enough sleep,” says Dr. Michael Stevenson of the North Valley Sleep Disorders Center.
The alarm clock test: Did you use your alarm clock this morning? “Anybody who answers yes to that question is at least partially sleep-deprived,” says Dr. Michael Bonnet of Wright State University School of Medicine. The idea is that if you’re allowing yourself the right amount of sleep, you should wake up just before the alarm goes off.
“Start going to bed a half-hour earlier this week, and if your alarm is still waking you up, keep going to bed a half-hour earlier each week until you find the point where you don’t need an alarm,” Dr. Bonnet recommends.
The max-out test: Next vacation, do some sleep research on yourself. A common study technique is to put volunteers in bed for 10 or more hours a night for weeks at a time to see how long they’ll sleep when they have more time than they need to do it. Try it. When you wake up, see how long you slept. That’s how much sleep you need, says Dr. Timothy Roehrs of the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center. If you’re like most study subjects, it’ll be around 8 hours.
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The most common type of gall-stone is made of cholesterol and is the result of altered bile metabolism produced by dietary changes in the West. It is difficult to be sure exactly how common gall-stones are because many produce no symptoms at all and are discovered by chance on X-ray or at autopsy. However, accurate enough figures enable us to say that the proneness to gall-stones of westernized countries varies between 30 and 60 per cent-the highest figures being from Chile, Sweden and Czechoslovakia. Third World countries have much lower figures, for example: Uganda 3 per cent; Thailand 4.4 per cent; and Ghana 0 per cent. A survey of hospitals in Africa, India, Arabia and New Guinea confirmed that gall-stones are extremely rare in the rural parts of these countries. On the other hand, in the urbanized black population of Johannesburg, gall-stones are quite common (12 per cent in elderly women).
Since World War II there has been a worldwide increase in the number of people undergoing surgery for gall-stones. The increase has been between 2.5 and 6 times, depending on the country. There has been an increase not just among older women -the most susceptible section of the population-but also among young people and in men. This suggests that whatever is causing gall-stones has increased its influence since the last war.
All this evidence suggests that gall-stones are directly related to a western way of life. It is also interesting that people with one of four other western diseases are much more likely to have gall-stones. These other conditions are obesity, diabetes, diverticular disease and hiatus hernia. A woman with gall-stones has on average put on more weight since maturity than one without, even if she is not seriously overweight.
The common factor between all these conditions is the over-consumption of refined foods and of high-energy foods. A reduced calorie intake is the best treatment for maturity onset (Type II) diabetes as we have seen; it also reduces harmful blood fats and is slimming. But-more to the point when it comes to gallstones-it results in a lowered concentration of cholesterol in the bile and so in fewer gall-stones. Wild animals rarely have gall-stones but they can be made to have them by being fed artificial diets such as our western diet. Of all the dietary factors that have been studied in the laboratory and clinical trials the lack of dietary fibre and too much sugar and white flour are the main culprits. Increasing the intake of these reduces the likelihood of an individual forming gall-stones.
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Vicki Rogers Givens adores chocolate. She craves chocolate. She eats chocolate. And she has still taken off 70 pounds.
How has she done it? By being choosy about her chocolate treats.
Ever since she was a child, Vicki, an administrative assistant from Indianapolis, has fought the battle of the bulge. In college, she reached 225 pounds, the most she has ever weighed.
These days, at age 42, Vicki is a fit 155 pounds. She says that she reached her goal weight by making smart food substitutions that save calories and still satisfy. For example, if she gets the urge to eat something salty, she chooses pretzels over potato chips. In restaurants, she orders baked potatoes instead of french fries.
Some of Vicki’s smartest substitutions happen when those chocolate cravings hit. “Instead of high-fat chocolate chip cookies, I eat a handful of chocolate animal crackers,” she says. They do the trick with far less calories and fat. Other favorites include fat-free chocolate pudding, Fudgsicles, and hot chocolate.
It took Vicki only a year to hit her goal weight. She feels that she succeeded because she feeds her cravings instead of starving them. But she feeds them with smart choices.
Who says you can’t outsmart a sweet tooth?
WINNING ACTION
Want chocolate? Then eat! If you crave chocolate, go ahead and indulge. After all, this sweet treat may actually be good for you. According to researchers at the University of California, Davis, chocolate contains flavonoids, compounds that may help protect against heart disease.But try to sticLwith something low-fat and low-calorie, as Vicki does. You may yearn for a huge bowl of triple-chocolate-chunk ice cream, but low-fat chocolate yogurt with a drizzle of chocolate syrup will probably do the trick.
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Linda, a 32-year-old public hospital cleaner slipped on a wet floor and struck her knee. Although she was able to get up with some difficulty and continue working for the rest of the day, she slowly developed more severe pain in her knee. After several months, and having experienced a number of occasions when the knee gave way beneath her, she was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon.
He performed an arthroscopy — passing a thin fibre-optic instrument into the knee — and removed some cartilage and damaged tissue from the back of the kneecap.
It was thought that this procedure would probably alleviate the condition but some months after the operation Linda’s knee was extremely painful. She had also developed a burning sensation in the skin above the knee and had noted that the pain was now present whether she was walking or at rest.
More X-rays were taken and it was decided to do a further arthroscopy. On this occasion it was noted that the back of the patella, or kneecap, showed an erosion, or damage, of the cartilage which normally exists to ensure smooth passage of the kneecap over the thigh bone.
Linda’s damaged cartilage was removed during the arthroscopy and an assurance was given that she would have no more pain. But by then the knee had swollen to several times its normal size and she was only able to walk short distances, with great difficulty.
Meanwhile, she was finding it difficult to look after herself, let alone her family and she had not worked for six months. Linda was then referred to a pain clinic for assessment and treatment. Upon examination it was noted that the affected knee was several degrees cooler than the normal knee. She was also unable to flex or bend the knee in any normal way. It was decided to perform thermography. This confirmed the presence of a reflex sympathetic dystrophy affecting her knee.
Linda was initially treated as an out-patient with an antidepressant medication and TENS therapy. But the depression was so severe that it was eventually decided to admit her to the in-patient program for further treatment and assessment. In the meantime, she was also referred to an orthopaedic surgeon who was an expert in the assessment and treatment of reflex sympathetic dystrophy. He agreed that the treatment Linda was receiving was probably the most appropriate under the circumstances.
During her stay of four weeks in the in-patient program, Linda was taught relaxation techniques and was encouraged to become more active. As part of her rehabilitation, she was to swim regularly and to walk as often as possible.
Meanwhile, her depression was controlled by appropriate medication, the antidepressant Surmontil and also Rivotril. She was seen by an occupational therapist who showed her how to maximise the use of her limb without pain or disability.
By the time she left the in-patient program, Linda was coping extremely well with her pain. She had accepted the fact that there was probably no further surgical intervention that would help her. She had accepted that surgical procedures might even worsen her condition.
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How do you know if you have chronic pain? What are the conditions that cause chronic pain and prompt someone to seek help?
Descriptions of pain vary greatly: ‘A river of ice in the arm,’ said a patient with a brachial plexus injury. ‘The pain is excruciating — just like having a tight metal cap over my entire scalp. I even dread combing my hair,’ said Jill who had suffered chronic headaches for 10 years. ‘All vertebrae feel as though they’re moving on one another as if there’s no gristle between them,’ said Max with a three year history of low back pain.
Chronic pain is a disease that is complex both in its causes and the symptoms it produces. It can originate in the muscles, the ligaments and the supporting tissues of the joints, or in the arterial or the nervous systems.
Pain can be triggered in different ways. There could be an initial trauma (an injury) which in turn leads to emotional problems and then to the awareness of pain. Some chronic pain sufferers may well worsen their problems with the treatments they seek. Often, pain is increased by the development of adhesions formed as a result of scar tissue attached to healthy tissue after one or more surgical operations.
Further problems occur when excessive dosages of multiple inappropriate medications, sometimes prescribed by more than one physician are taken. (Some see up to six different practitioners and are found to be taking as many as three different antidepressants and several tranquillisers as well as anti-convulsant medication. No wonder they feel sick!)
Pain can sometimes result from the adverse reactions these drugs have on one another and on the body’s system and can sometimes be completely eliminated by rationalising the medication.
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Since Selye’s research, scientists have found that stress provokes a number of even subtler chemical changes in the body which may have profound physical and mental health effects. For example, medical researchers are now certain that stress triggers chemical changes in the brain. Particularly sensitive to such emotional strains are the concentrations of potent chemicals called neurotransmitters. These act as messengers between nerve cells. They include: serotonin, epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline), acetylcholine and dopamine. In a Stanford University study, rats were forced to swim in 4 degree C water for three minutes. Later examination of their brain tissue showed that levels of norepinephrine had fallen 20 per cent and epinephrine between 30 and 40 per cent. Scientists have also discovered that the body produces its own painkillers, morphine-like chemicals called endorphins. Stress boosts the production of these analgesics, thus raising the pain threshold.
Because stress alters the body’s chemical balance, it seems to influence the development of many diseases,including psychiatric disorders. Depression has also been associated with low levels of two neurotransmitters — serotonin and norepinephrine.
Stress has been found to severely affect the body’s immune system. Researchers have also discovered that chronic stress inhibits the body’s production of its own cancer-fighting cells, including natural killer cells, T-lymphocytes and macrophages. A remarkable chemical triggers the body’s stress reactions — corticotropin releasing factor (RTF), which is produced in the hypothalamus, a powerful but tiny structure sometimes called the brain’s ‘brain’.
Research with animals has shown that.stressful stimuli can be less damaging when regulated. Being in control of the situation seems to make all the difference.
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Pharmacopoeias, which were comprehensive lists of drugs compiled during the Renaissance period included practically every known organic and inorganic substance. One fourteenth-century recipe for relieving dental pain, for example, recommended combining gall of a cow, heart of a magpie, mouse fat, cow dung, lice and oil of cloves (the only active ingredient recognised in our time).
Patients have chewed, imbibed, sucked, or suffered treatment with crocodile dung, teeth of swine, hooves of asses, spermatic fluid of frogs, unicorn fat, fly specks, lozenges of dried vipers, powder of precious stones, oils derived from ants, earthworms and spiders, bricks,feathers, hair, human perspiration and moss scraped from the victim of a violent death. George Washington is a good example of the treatment lavished on the wealthy in the eighteenth century. When he had a throat infection, complicated by pneumonia, it was said that he was fortunate ‘he could afford the best medical care available’. This wonderful treatment consisted of a mixture of molasses, vinegar and butter. Vomiting and diarrhoea were induced. But still he lapsed. In desperation, his physicians applied irritating poultices to blister his feet and throat while draining several pints of blood. Then, mercifully, he died.
Also pity the British monarch, Charles II. He was treated by the best physicians of the day, using the multiple treatment methods then believed appropriate for treating pain. Many are now known to have little therapeutic value and some may have actually done more harm than good. The treatment given to Charles II as he lay dying in 1685 was:
‘A pint of blood was extracted from his right arm and a half pint from his left shoulder. This was followed by an emetic, sneezing powder, bleedings, soothing potions, a plaster of pitch, and pigeon dung was smeared on his feet. Potions containing 10 different substances, chiefly herbs, as well as 40 drops of extract of human skull, were swallowed. Finally, application of the bezoar stone (gallstones from sheep or goats) was prescribed. Following extensive treatment, the king died.’
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Eczema is a term that is often used rather loosely for a variety of skin conditions. Strictly speaking it means a red, itchy ‘rash’, which tends to flake and then ooze or ‘weep’ as it progresses. The disease is far more common in children, who usually compound the damage by constant scratching. Bacteria may infect the oozing skin and matce matters still worse, while prolonged scratching will cause bleeding.
In adults, oozing does not generally occur, and the skin tends to become thickened instead. Some doctors feel that these symptoms should not be described as eczema, although they are undoubtedly the counterpart of childhood eczema. They therefore use the term atopic dermatitis as a general description of both types of disease. In this book we will use eczema for both children and adults, since this is the most widely understood term.
There are several different kinds of eczema, but what concerns us here is the variety known as atopic eczema, which is seen mainly in atopic individuals. What distinguishes it from other forms of eczema is the pattern of distribution over the body. The red itchy patches usually start on the face, particularly on convex areas such as the cheeks and chin. In time the skin on the face heals and for some children this will be the end of their eczema. But for others the rash appears on the body, eventually settling in the folds of skin at the buttocks, knees, ankles, elbows and wrists. In severely affected cases, the rash may cover the whole body.
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Horsetail, or shave grass, is to be found as a rampant weed growing chiefly in damp clay and sandy soil, on railroad tracks, unfilled ground, on meadows and alongside paths in the fields. In former times this silica-containing plant was used to clean tinware in some areas of Europe. There are more than twenty varieties in Switzerland, although only Equisetum arvense is used for medicinal purposes. Some varieties are even poisonous, for example Equisetum heleocharis which contains a toxic alkaloid called equisetin. This variety is larger than the common horsetail and, like Equisetum palustre, a marsh plant, it should never be used as a medicinal herb. In the remote past shave grass grew considerably taller, attaining the height of a tree, as has been proved by fossilised specimens dug up from the earth.
Today we must content ourselves with the small, rather delicate plant. It has a finely wrought structure and it stands like a tender young fir, pliant yet tough. A flood can knock it to the ground and drag it from its roots, but the little horsetail takes root anew and stands erect. What gives it this toughness and resilience? If we analyse its ash constituents, we will find that it contains 60-65 per cent silica and 15 per cent calcium, with the balance of 20 per cent being made up of other minerals.
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For example, if we extract arnicin from the arnica plant, it will never have the same effect on the heart and blood vessels as the extract that has been made from the whole arnica root. The same principle applies to carrot juice. By using just the isolated carotene as a provitamin, it is impossible to obtain the same medicinal effect as it would by drinking the pure and natural juice. Pure lactic acid as found in sauerkraut also differs in its action from the whole sauerkraut, because the acid is associated with other substances in the fermented cabbage and these possess their own curative properties. Some of these intrinsic properties are still unknown.
These few examples show that the things nature provides in their unadulterated and complete state represent the best source of our remedies. Nature is and will remain the most reliable pharmacy. Anyone gifted with an awareness of what nature has to offer will not be disappointed in his search, whether he be a medical researcher or just eager to learn. Nature will be his willing teacher and will unlock the secrets of its marvellous healing powers.
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