HEALTHY BONES, HEALTHY BODY: BONE LOSS

Over the course of your life, you go through four phases of bone development. For the first part of your life, you build bone. You then have a relatively short plateau phase, when you’re maintaining the bone mass you’ve built up at basically peak levels. As you age, resorption overtakes formation, giving you a third phase, this one of bone loss. The fourth stage is also one of loss, but with the additional complication of formation and deposition slowing down (as well as breakdown picking up).Throughout infancy and childhood and into young adulthood, your bones are growing longer, wider, and thicker, and getting denser (phase one). Adolescence is a particularly busy time for your bones, as the sex hormones that drive puberty also spur bone growth. Half of all bone is made during the teen years. Even after you stop growing taller (and your bones stop growing longer), bone mass still increases as long as formation stays ahead of resorption. By the time you are 20, 90 percent of your bone mass is set. You still build, slowly, for a few more years, and reach peak bone density in your mid to late 20s. You generally stay there for about a decade (phase two).But by age 35 or so, you start phase three. Just about everyone begins to experience a slow decline in bone mass—0.5 to 1 percent a year—as resorption proceeds faster than deposition. For women, there is a drastic increase in the rate of bone loss for the first five to ten years after menopause—jumping to 3 to 5 percent lost each year—because of the decrease in estrogen (for women not taking hormone replacement therapy) and progesterone. Postmenopausal osteoporosis shows up in women between the ages of 50 and 65, generally. It is no surprise that the fracture rate accelerates greatly ten to fifteen years after menopause.Women who undergo surgical menopause (having their ovaries removed) lose twice as much bone as other women at menopause, because even after menopause the ovary produces a small amount of estrogen, along with other hormones important to bone health. Women who have a hysterectomy but keep their ovaries also lose bone at an accelerated rate (though not as quickly as women with no ovaries), probably because the uterus makes vitamin D, which is necessary for healthy bones. Rapid bone loss may begin a year or two before your period actually stops, especially in the spine (and other trabecular bone). In fact, the rate of hip fractures rises dramatically for women in their early 40s, well before the average age of menopause. Over a third of premenopausal women lose bone faster than even the expected rate of loss, and for them, taking action is particularly important.Men, too, have an acceleration in bone loss, but not until much later, around ages 60 to 65, probably connected to the decrease in testosterone. Without additional complications, they never lose as much as women do in menopause, but still, losing 1 percent of bone mass a year really adds up.Eventually, the rate of loss slows again (for women) to about 1 percent a year throughout the rest of their lives, putting men and women on an equal footing by that point. But now you have an additional problem (phase four): your rate of bone formation is slowing down too, so you have more to contend with than just overenthusiastic bone breakdown. We absorb less calcium as we get older and make less vitamin D, meaning that bodies have less in the way of raw material to work with in building bone. On top of that, the older we get, the poorer our overall diets tend to be, for a variety of reasons. Combined with lower than optimal levels of hormones, low bone density becomes a serious risk.Over an average lifetime, a woman loses 30 to 40 percent of her total bone mass, and a man about 20 to 30 percent. By age 80, many women have lost two-thirds of their skeletons. Because trabecular (spongy) bone is softer to begin with, most bone loss begins there. Loss in the spine begins as early as the 20s. Cortical bone is denser to begin with, and loss there generally doesn’t occur at all until after age 50. Overall, more trabecular bone than cortical bone is lost. In the years just after menopause when the most bone is lost, women lose about 10 percent of their cortical mass and 25 percent of their trabecular bone mass, before the rate of loss slows again, and end up with a lifetime decrease of about 35 percent of cortical bone and 50 percent of trabecular. It is the dramatic decrease in trabecular bone (predominant in the spine) that causes women to shrink—losing up to 6 inches of height by the time they are 80. Men lose about 25 percent of the total of both kinds of bone over their lifetimes.After bone loss starts, each decade increases your risk of fracture about one and a half times. A high rate of bone turnover puts you at increased risk regardless of your bone density, and low bone density most certainly ups your risk. The younger you are when your bone loss begins or quickens, the higher your risk of fractures will be later in life. That’s just another way to say it’s never too early to start on the 6-Week Bone Density Program. It is also never too late.*16\228\2*

SEIZURES AND EPILEPSY IN CHILDHOOD: UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHILD’S TESTS – AMBULATORY EEG MONITORING

Ambulatory monitoring is usually performed with a small tape cassette worn on the belt and attached by small wires to EEG electrodes pasted to the scalp. These cassettes can record EEG for twenty-four hours without a change in the tape. When the person wearing the monitor has an “episode,” or feels the warning of an episode, he can push a button; a mark will then be made on the cassette tape. For children it is important to have an observer record the time on the machine and also any suspected or unusual behaviors, data to be correlated later with any abnormalities appearing on the recorded EEG.Reading twenty-four hours worth of EEG paper would be cumbersome and time-consuming, but the tapes can be played at sixty times the normal speed with the technician or doctor listening for the characteristic sounds of seizures. If such abnormalities are heard, the tape is slowed down and the EEG tracings displayed on a videoscreen for further analysis. This then becomes an efficient method of screening for EEG abnormalities and seizures.While ambulatory monitoring permits recognition of major brain wave abnormalities, such as generalized spike-wave seizures, it is not, however, precise enough for pre-surgical evaluations. There are also a few additional drawbacks and limitations to the ambulatory monitoring test. Because the child being monitored is usually at home, and because it is not uncommon for one or more of the electrodes to become loose or unglued without anyone knowing, the monitoring may yield less than accurate reports. It may be impossible to interpret any episodes that occur if not all of the electrodes are working. True to Murphy’s Law, it is invariably the critical electrode that malfunctions.It may be difficult to tell what is a seizure and what isn’t. If the tape is scanned rapidly, brief events may be missed unless they have been identified earlier by the child or the observer. That is why it is so important for an accurate diary to be maintained during the recording. Also, if events are occurring infrequently, they may not occur at all while the child is being monitored. Thus, ambulatory monitoring is impractical for assessing rare events. Ambulatory monitoring is not for everyone; in selected cases, however, it can be useful.*86\208\8*

THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OFF DRUGS OR DRINK: USE THE STRENGTH OF RECOVERING ADDICTS-USE THE PHONE

At your first meeting, the other people there will offer you their phone numbers. Take them. Take every single phone number you can get and use it.
You may feel: T shouldn’t ring. They were just being kind. They won’t want to be bothered.’
This is the kind of thinking that interferes with your recovery. People who gave you their phone numbers did so in expectation that you would ring them. You are helping them to remember when they needed help.
And it is the phone that will give you a lifeline at the times you are not at meetings. You can ring if a craving suddenly hits you at work. You can ring first thing in the morning before you go to work. Or you can ring last thing at night, when you are perhaps alone and frightened.
Pick up the phone instead of picking up drugs or drink.
This is an NA and AA saying that has kept many an addict and alcoholic clean and sober. But the idea is to pick up the phone before, not after.

*79\116\2*

FALSE REMEDIES FOR ARTHRITIS: TO THE SPA, FOR MINERAL WATER

Perhaps you are a believer in spring water, or mineral water. They, too, are classified as laxatives and are called “good for arthritics.” Many misled people afflicted with arthritis flock to the spas . . . in order to be near natural sources of mountain water.
My research indicates that the only relief they receive comes mainly from the relaxation. It’s not the water, it’s the rest and vacation. And, at a spa, perhaps the victims have a more balanced diet than they are accustomed to eating. Except for these benefits, the soothing powers of physiotherapy and hydrotherapy can be vastly overrated.
Heat Applications
Also under the heading of physiotherapy come the superstitions of hot-water bottles, rags dipped in kerosene, burnt feathers and red flannels. All these provide bodily warmth. So does sun bathing. But . . . the dangers of heat applications and too much sun bathing are great. For arthritics, the sun may “bleed out” the very oils you are trying to save in your bodily joints. Unless your diet is correct— and contains goodly supplies of the right oils—be careful how much sunning you do.
Temporary relief may be obtained by vitamin D synthesis and blood-vessel dilation due to sun rays. But we’re looking for a permanent recovery.
Oils are the Answer
To counteract the bleeding of oils by the sun is another reason you should use cod-liver oil. More and more medical authorities are beginning to agree that cod-liver oil is valuable.
Dr. Marie and Dr. Strumpell, and other famous twentieth-century physicians, viewed cod-liver oil as an ally in arthritis therapy. Instead of irritating and inflaming your organs, it has the power of synthesising new, reparative tissue while lubricating the joint lining.
*60\146\2*

THE BASICS FOR SAFE NON-TOXIC CLEANING SOLUTIONS (BAKING SODA; WASHING SODA)

One of the best ways to improve the quality of your indoor air is by cleaning without toxic chemicals. As an added bonus, ounce for ounce homemade cleaning formulas cost about one-tenth the price of their commercial counterparts. It’s easy and safe.
A commonly available mineral full of many cleaning attributes, baking soda is made from soda ash, and is slightly alkaline (its pH is around 8.1; 7 is neutral). It neutralizes acid-based odors in water, and absorbs odors from the air. Sprinkled on a damp sponge or cloth, baking soda can be used as a gentle nonabrasive cleanser for kitchen counter tops, sinks, bathtubs, ovens, and fiberglass. It will eliminate perspiration odors and even neutralize the smell of many chemicals if you add up to a cup per load to the laundry. It is a useful air freshener, and a fine carpet deodorizer.
A chemical neighbor of baking soda, washing soda (sodium carbonate) is much more strongly alkaline, with a pH around 11. It releases no harmful fumes and is far safer than a commercial solvent formula, but you should wear gloves when using it because it is caustic. Washing soda cuts grease, cleans petroleum oil, removes wax or lipstick, and neutralizes odors in the same way that baking soda does. Don’t use it on fiberglass, aluminum or waxed floors—unless you intend to remove the wax.
*31/165/1*

USING EVENING PRIMROSE OIL FOR HEART DISEASE TREATMENT

Evening primrose oil and blood pressure
This is the pressure at which the heart pumps blood into the major arteries. If the blood pressure goes too high, it overtaxes the heart and blood vessels. People with high blood pressure run a greater risk of experiencing arteriosclerosis, heart failure, stroke, and kidney disease.
Tests on both animals and humans have shown that essential fatty acids reduce arterial pressure. Evening primrose oil has been shown to bring down the blood pressure in animals with high blood pressure. In preliminary studies on humans with high blood pressure, evening primrose oil (given as Efamol) was considered more effective in lowering blood pressure than much higher doses of other polyunsaturates.

Evening primrose oil and vascular obstruction
Diets rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids may not only arrest the progression of atheroma, but may actually reverse it, allowing the obstruction to be cleared. Taking a supplement such as evening primrose oil would be worthwhile even for those people whose cardiovascular system is already damaged. In a group of people with intermittent claudication due to vascular obstruction, evening primrose oil was found to improve their exercise tolerance.
Evening primrose oil helps in two ways. Firstly, because the GLA in evening primrose oil converts easily to DGLA, and it is likely that many of the beneficial effects of essential fatty acids in cardiovascular disease may relate to an accumulation of DGLA. Secondly, evening primrose oil converts to PGE1 which is a potent vasodilator – it widens the peripheral blood vessels. PGE1 has produced dramatic improvements in patients with vascular spasm due to Raynaud’s syndrome, and also to relieve angina.

Drugs and cardiovascular disorders
Evening primrose oil works physiologically rather than as a drug, and with none of the side-effects of drugs. The fact that it works physiologically rather than pharmacologically is proved by the fact that evening primrose oil does not lower cholesterol in those people with normal levels of cholesterol – it acts through natural processes to regulate cholesterol metabolism.

Fish oils
Fish oils have had a remarkable success in trials with patients suffering from angina, hyperlipidaemia, and those having suffered a heart attack. A number of studies have shown that when you add fish oils to your diet, cholesterol levels are lowered and there is less clumping together of platelets.
So it is a good idea to take a brand of evening primrose oil which already contains fish oils, or to take a supplement of fish oils in addition to evening primrose oil.

*4/60/5*

DIABETES: APPLYING FORMULA FOR PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS ACHIEVEMENT

• First, arrange to talk with a registered dietitian who is experienced in developing meal plans for people with diabetes. Your doctor or local hospital or diabetes association can refer you to a qualified dietitian. This dietitian will find out from you what your food preferences and eating habits are and will then make recommendations about a meal plan that will benefit you and fit your lifestyle.
• Second, start a regular exercise programme to go along with your new diet. Discuss this programme with your doctor, and check with an exercise “expert” concerning the how- to’s. Remember, you’re never too old to do some kind of physical exercise, even if you haven’t done anything physical in the last thirty years.
A reduced kilojoules diet plus exercise is the most effective way to cut excess kilos and keep them off.
• Third, learn all you can about nutrition, food selection and food preparation. Libraries and bookstores are jam-packed with up-to-date information on these subjects.
• Fourth, attempt to learn why and how you got in the habit of overeating. Review your lifestyle and eating habits. Do you use food as a reward (as your mother did when you were a child)? Do you use food to make yourself feel better (when you look in the mirror and feel sad about your body)? If you can determine the whys of overeating, you can then plan changes in your eating programme and begin to build new, improved eating styles.
• Apply your new knowledge when you visit the supermarket, when you prepare foods and when you sit down to eat at the family (or restaurant) table.
• Learn how your body (blood glucose levels) reacts to specific foods by measuring your blood glucose. Use this information when selecting and eating meals.
*13/210/5*

SURGERY FOR EPILEPSY: THE RIGHT AGE TO OPERATE

The age at which you have epilepsy surgery usually depends on the type of lesion you have. Obviously, if seizures are caused by a malignant tumour this will be removed, if possible, as soon as it is discovered. But if the surgery is only for epilepsy, there is no urgency; it can be done whenever it is convenient for you.
Most surgery involves lesions in the temporal lobe, and here the age at operation does seem to make a difference to its success. It used to be thought that there was no advantage in carrying out surgery early, and that it was better for the patient to wait until he or she was adult. But now it is believed that on the whole, the earlier temporal lobe surgery is carried out, the better. People who have the operation before puberty are more likely to be able to give up their drugs completely after it, and less likely to suffer any subsequent deterioration, so that they will have a more normal personality and be more independent. It is not yet known whether early operation is an advantage for people who have frontal lobe seizures but it is likely that it may be.
However, age is no barrier to operation, and here again, thinking has changed. Neurosurgeons used to believe that it was not advisable to perform temporal lobe surgery on anyone over 40. The view now taken is that one can operate up to almost any age, though the older the patient the more hazardous the operation becomes.
*35\193\2*

THORACIC AND SACRAL SPINAL CORD INJURY

Thoracic Spinal Cord Injury
The thoracic spinal cord is protected by vertebrae that are stabilized by a marvelous anatomical bracing system – the rib cage. Because of this protection, thoracic spinal cord injuries are uncommon, but this region can be injured in shootings, stabbings, and severe accidents. Some patients require surgery to decompress the thoracic spinal cord, and surgery can be difficult because this part of the spinal cord is so close to the lungs and kidneys. Most patients need to wear a brace on the trunk after surgery, to provide extra stability to the healing vertebral column.
Traction is typically not needed, given the stability provided by the rib cage.

Lumbar or Sacral Spinal Cord Injury
With trauma to the lower back (sacral vertebrae); the injury often occurs in the cauda equina, not the spinal cord itself. If the injury involves the uppermost part of the lumbar vertebrae, the lowermost portion of the spinal cord, the conus medullaris, may be damaged. Injuries of the conus medullaris and the cauda equina usually cause weakness of the lower limbs and loss of bowel and bladder control.
These injuries often require surgery and external spinal stabilization, because the lower back has no bony protection to hold the vertebrae in alignment. Several kinds of external stabilization are used. The first is the thoraco-lumbar-sacral orthosis (TLSO), or “clam shell” brace. The TLSO is a custom-molded, form-fitting device that surrounds the body, front and back, extending from the upper back and chest down to the lower back and groin. It usually has Velcro straps so that it can be removed for bathing. For lesser degrees of external stabilization, various other back braces and corsets with metal stays are used. These are more comfortable than the TLSO but provide less support to the spine.

*9/156/5*

BACH FLOWER REMEDIES: WHITE CHESTNUT

WHITE CHESTNUT relates to the soul quality of tranquility and discernment.
In the positive White Chestnut state the person is quiet and calm in his mind. He has full control over his thoughts which he can channel in any desired pursuit. He is at peace within himself and unruffled by outside influences. He does not let his mind be perturbed in seeking solution of his problems. However, in the negative WHITE CHESTNUT state the mind fails to control the thoughts which run away as an unbridled horse. In turn the unbridled thoughts lead to uncontrolled actions.
When a thought, an experience, or an impression is so firmly fixed in mind that it cannot be removed, howsoever one wants to break loose from it—same thought, same experience, same impression, comes before the mind again and again (mind you the thought may even be removed for some time, but it will again be recalled), the need for White Chestnut is established.
You go to the office and get an undeserved reprimand from your senior. You come back from office, basking in the heat of that reprimand. “Why did he do it? What was my fault? What had I done to deserve that insult? Why? Why? Why? The same question percolates your mind and repeats day and night. You go to sleep at 10 p.m and wake up at 4 a.m, the same question churning in your mind. You cannot sleep. Your senior has discovered his mistake and has expressed his regret. You have said “It is alright”, but you have not been able to rid your mind of that sad experience.
The thought still haunts you and keeps your mind disturbed. The child has imitated the bad habit of winking his eyes from his school mate. He is not able to leave this habit, despite your persuasions and reprimands. You have watched your child talking to himself and making gestures with his hands, when alone and off his guard. He stops them when he finds somebody watching.
Your partner is very adept at making very good schemes, but fails to execute any scheme practically. In all the above cases, negative White Chestnut state exists. The brain is busy, rather over-busy all the time. It is churning out thoughts. But these thoughts are useless. They are not desirable. One likes to do away with them, so that the brain may do some constructive thinking. The brain is like a workshop which is kept busy day and night, turning out useless products and the poor factory owner is helpless to stop this production.
Apart from the fact that these persistent circling thoughts sap all energy and depress the spirit, they take the mind away from the present and the mental faculties fail in then function – the eyes do not see even when they are open (they stare without seeing) and the ears do not hear when spoken to.
This inattentiveness makes the person prone to accidents in the street or in the house.
*204\308\8*