If you suspect that something like a piece of dirt or an insect has entered your child’s eye, try washing out the eye first by rinsing it thoroughly with water. With your child lying down, hold a cup filled with water just above the eye and pour it into the eye. Repeat this for several minutes, and encourage your child to blink a lot while you are doing it. Examine the eye carefully to see if the object has been dislodged, checking inside both upper and lower lids. If you can still see the object try to remove it very carefully with a moistened cotton swab. If unsuccessful after a couple of tries, cover the eye with a gauze pad and see your doctor immediately. If you cannot see anything in the eye, but your child still complains that there is something in it, see your doctor.

Splinters of glass or metal in the eye require first aid and immediate medical attention.

*267\90\8*

In school they taught us to always have contraception available. They said you could end up pregnant if you start kissing and stuff and don’t have protection.

FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY

Being old enough to have sex means being old enough to be totally! responsible for yourself and your behaviors. That includes not having children if you don’t want or can’t handle them. If you are not ready for children, you are not ready for intercourse. But don’t think that just because you kiss and are feeling romantic that you should! automatically think of intercourse and contraception. I tell all of the young people I talk to that they should not have intercourse until they are married. Plain and simple, just don’t do it. Touch, hold kiss, and love, but no intercourse. If you have learned a lot about contraception, you are really far ahead because that’s very important knowledge. If you have learned that you must or almost automatically will have intercourse because you are a sexual person,! you have learned the wrong lesson. Such sex should not mean intercourse. No matter what you hear, self-control is just as important as birth control, and contraception never replaces self- and partner responsibility. Saying no is an excellent contraceptive.

*303\97\8*

I used to be so stiff, like a stick. Now I’m sort of stiff and sort of limp, too. I’m not hard like I used to be.

HUSBAND

If there is one Mr. Myth that has caused more trouble for men and women than any other, it may be the myth that an immediate, long-lasting erection is the key to sexual fulfillment. Men have lied about their erections, worried about them, exaggerated about them, made jokes about them, mocked other men about them, celebrated and magnified them in all forms of art, and given them all types of names.

The medical establishment has accepted this orientation. New implants are now available. There is now an injection that causes temporary erection. Firm penises are becoming a major industry. Urologists who once ignored or dismissed the sexual concerns of their male patients now find it financially wise to keep up to date on keeping men up.

The penis is more sensitive when it is flaccid. Erections were designed in our evolution to allow for quick and easy insertion of the penis for conception, not for pleasure. The blood that engorges the penis to firm it also renders it somewhat less generally sensitive except in certain specific areas. Erections are actually only neurological reflexes that have little to do with complete sexual fulfillment. They have little to do with fertility, with psychasm, or even with all types of orgasm. Our attitudes about erection have become more rigid than the organ itself can ever be.

Erections do not signal arousal or interest and can be present when there is no sexual interest at all. Erections are reflexes, not only to our thoughts and feelings, but also to aggression and even bladder pressure

Men who fail to have “erections” are sometimes called “impotent.” A diabetic man came to me, stating, “I have absolutely no erection. Well, maybe just a little, but nothing to write home about. My doctor wants me to have special tubes put in or maybe a harness-type thing to hold it up.” Following several weeks of counseling with his wife present (the wife had never been consulted by the physician), he stated, “Now I don’t know why I was so fixated on that. I’m having more fun than ever.” The wife added, “Me, too. And you know what? You are more erect now.”

“Really?” questioned the husband. “I never really noticed.”

Physicians have believed for years that diabetes, blood pressure medications, and other situations can “destroy sexual response.” This is not true. Many things affect circulation to the penis, but firmness is only one and a relatively insignificant dimension of sexual interaction.

*130\97\8*

7-th day of fasting

In my experience, this is the most difficult day. Some people may experience such difficulties on 4-th or 5-th day of fasting. Your body enters into a higher level of purification. Everything which was easy to dispose is already gone. Now your body is getting ready to expel toxic deposits which are much more difficult to metabolise, and usually are more toxic too.

Your best strategy is to perform an enema in the morning (or in the evening of the previous day) and increase the intake of water during the day. Depending upon how you feel, you may have to perform another enema in the evening. It is not only the quantity of the waste in the bowels that is now important. The stuff in your intestines is now extremely toxic, and you want to flush it, thereby minimising the chance of the secondary absorption. Try to use pure water to make the enema solution.

8-14 day of fasting

No food. Water only. You should feel great. Your body just got rid of a huge amount of the most urgent waste deposit during previous days. Your natural instincts and healing have been awakened.

Go to work as usual.

If you feel that lack of food is indeed making you quite uncomfortable, you can add a teaspoon of natural honey to your water two or three times a day. Notice how little is required to restore complete comfort of your body and mind.

Use the increased efficiency of your mind to do some useful creative work. It is not uncommon to write an article or even a book in just a few days.

*29\96\8*

Prosper Meniere, a physician to the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb in Paris described the condition that bears his name in 1861.

This is a disorder which affects the organ of balance located close to the inner ear. Twelve pair of nerves arise direct from the brain rather than the spinal cord and control structures mostly in the head and neck.

The eighth cranial nerve consists of two separate parts, the auditory and the vestibular.

These differ in their function and in the area of the brain to which they are connected.

The end organs, that of hearing and balance, lie close together but have separate functions.

True Meniere’s disease involves balance and hearing.

There are paroxysms or sudden attacks of vertigo or giddiness associated with a progressive deafness and tinnitus or ringing in the ears.

Meniere’s syndrome is a term applied to periodic attacks or vertigo without tinnitus.

The cause of this disease is unknown but is believed to be a degenerative process.

*498/71/1*

Cannabis has been used as a social drug for as long as alcohol.

It found a place in medicine as a sedative and mild pain reliever but was abandoned because its behavioral effect was so unreliable.

Those who advocate its use claim it is less dangerous than alcohol and say that there is not yet enough scientific evidence to prove its dangers.

That isn’t true. The active chemical in cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The dried leaves, the stems, flowers or resin may be used.

Marijuana is the weakest form of cannabis. It is usually smoked. The other stronger forms of cannabis are also usually smoked, often with tobacco.

Most people who try it for the first time experience little effect. Some may feel giddy or even vomit. A few may feel light-headed with tingling of the hands and feet. This may be followed by a feeling of euphoria.

It usually takes about five marijuana cigarettes (reefers or joints), smoked all at once or over a week or so, to raise the level in the body sufficiently to experience a “high”. The drug is stored in the body in fat and is slowly excreted. Sixty per cent may still be present in the body after a week and 10 per cent after 48 days.

*241/71/1*

Although no conclusive data exists yet, many doctors and nutritionists feel they are going in the right direction by recommending limited intake of arachidonic add and supplements of gamma-linolenic add, or GLA, to women with endometriosis.

Arachidonic add is an essential fatty acid that is linked to inflammatory conditions, as is the case with endometriosis. What does this mean to you? Inflammation is often mediated by prostaglandins. Knowing this, many doctors are suggesting to patients that they eliminate foods containing this add, which is found in dietary sources of saturated fat, such as butter, animal and organ meats, and lard. It is also possible to alter the balance of arachidonic add by taking another oil to counteract its effect. This is where linolenic acid comes in.

Found in sources as diverse as mother’s milk and cold-pressed safflower oil, gamma-linolenic add, or GLA, is one of the body’s more essential fatty adds. It is most important for the woman with endometriosis, both as a possible pain inhibitor and as an immune system strengthener.

GLA is made in the body from a conversion of vitamin F, or linolenic add, which is the basis of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins E2 and F2 Alpha have been linked to uterine contractions producing menstrual cramps, while GLA, called prostaglandin El, may offset some of the worse symptoms of the opposing prostaglandins. In a number of studies, it was also found to oppose the constriction of blood vessels, prevent blood dots, and prevent cholesterol buildup in the arteries. It has also been tried experimentally to help alcoholics over their addiction and to reduce some of the irritation of eczema.

Suggestions for daily intake: Take one to two tablespoons of safflower, walnut, or nutritional linseed oil (not the commercial variety used for varnishes) a day, preferably on a fresh tossed salad, flavored with herbs. Follow with a tablet of vitamin E to help absorption. GLA is also available as evening primrose oil—cither the essence of oil or in 500-mg tablets. You should be aware that this oil is very costly (approximately thirty dollars tor 180 tablets) and may not be much more effective than a daily salad with the above-mentioned oils.

*67\43\4*

The susceptibility to sun-induced damage also depends on one’s skin type. This is largely governed by the amount of pigment in the skin, and one’s ancestry. Those individuals with a darker skin have more protection than those with a fair skin. Similarly, those with skins that tan easily are more protected than those who burn rather than tan. Races with a black or brown akin are much less likely to suffer from sunlight-induced problems than the Caucasians, with their light-coloured skin; they are certainly not exempt, however, from the deleterious effects of prolonged sun exposure.

Ones ethnic origins therefore are most important in assessing the skin’s response to prolonged sun exposure. People of Celtic origin are statistically much more prone to irreversible sun damage. These tight-complexioned people, who are descendants of the Celtic natives of Britain. Scotland. Ireland and northern France, appear to have some biological defect which interferes with normal pigment production and the repair of sun-induced damage. Even amongst Celts, though, those who are blue-eyed and have a lighter complexion, red or blond hair and freckled skin, are more susceptible to sun damage than darker individuals of the same race.

*95\44\4*

If you still have your ovaries, you will continue to produce oestrogen. Without a uterus, however, you will have no periods, so you won’t be aware of the irregular and unpredictable winding down of periods that heralds the natural menopause. Eventually, your ovaries will start to produce less oestrogen, and you will begin to notice the typical menopausal signs, such as hot flushes. This will probably happen up to two years earlier than it might have done if you hadn’t had a hysterectomy because it is thought that the uterus may release certain hormones which control levels of oestrogen, and without a uterus these oestrogen-controlling hormones are no longer produced. Many quite young women stop producing oestrogen within two or three years of a hysterectomy, even though they still have their ovaries.

If you had just one ovary removed (a unilateral oophorectomy) you may continue to produce some oestrogen. If you had both ovaries removed (a bi-lateral oophorectomy) you will no longer produce any oestrogen; this operation produces an instant menopause. For this reason, ask the surgeon who performs your hysterectomy to discuss with you beforehand whether he will remove the ovaries, and if so, why. Many surgeons remove them at the time of the hysterectomy to ensure that they won’t become cancerous in later years. This is a valid medical point, but to remove otherwise healthy functioning ovaries can cause severe menopausal symptoms after the operation. If you have this operation before the normal menopausal age, the loss of oestrogen can produce a striking and rapid appearance of menopausal symptoms. These symptoms are so severe that it is almost certain that you will be prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) straight away. If you are not, ask for it, and be prepared to keep taking it until about five years or more past what would have been your normal menopausal age, that is until you are about 55, or longer if you get on well with it. The sudden fall in oestrogen also increases the risk of developing the serious bone disease osteoporosis.

A premature menopause – whether natural or surgical -is one which occurs before about the age of 45; some doctors say before 40. If you have a premature menopause you have a greatly increased risk of developing osteoporosis and also arterial diseases that could lead to heart attacks and strokes, and you should seriously consider taking HRT from the time your premature menopause or hysterectomy or oophorectomy occurs, and be prepared to take it until you are about 55. The National Osteoporosis Society reports that of women aged 60-65 who have osteoporosis, a disproportionately high number had a premature menopause.

*5\42\4*

Infections and surgical procedures are common causes of adhesions, which are filmy or thick strands of scar tissue that bind organs together. Adhesions can develop between the uterus, ovaries, bowel, bladder and rectum because of their proximity in the abdomen. Pain can occur any time that adhesions are stretched, for example during movement, a pelvic examination, sexual intercourse, passing urine or a bowel motion. If adhesions are constricting the ovary, pain may occur only, or mainly, during ovulation; if constricting the bladder, the pain may be intense when the bladder is full, easing as the bladder empties. Adhesions can also result in infertility by constricting the Fallopian tubes, covering or displacing the ovaries, or impeding the movement of sperm and egg or interfering with the growth of embryos. Ironically, while hysterectomy is sometimes successful in overcoming pain caused by adhesions, hysterectomy itself may be responsible for severe adhesions that result in long-term pain and intestinal obstruction.

The diagnosis of pelvic adhesions in a woman relies mainly on her history of infections or surgery and the nature of her pain. The diagnosis is usually confirmed by laparoscope although ultrasound can be useful in revealing adhesions surrounding the ovaries or bowel. If laparoscopy is performed in the presence of extensive adhesions it can result in puncture of the bowel, so great care must be taken with this technique and alternative methods (such as a mini-laparotomy) may have to be considered. (A mini-laparotomy entails a small incision through the abdominal wall to allow inspection of the internal organs. It is like a mini-Caesarean section.)

It is possible to remove adhesions without going to the lengths of hysterectomy in most women, and one of the most useful techniques is laparoscopic surgery. The laparoscope or viewing tube (for inspecting the internal organs) is used in conjunction with fine forceps which can hold the adhesions steady or break them with a blunt action, scissors to cut the adhesions, lasers to vaporise them, or high frequency electrical currents that produce heat and destroy them. In order to minimise adhesion formation, it is important that your surgeon is gentle and careful in his or her handling of the tissues, that techniques are used to prevent bleeding, and that solutions or

special membranes to reduce adhesion formation and other complications are used in the abdomen.

*20\198\4*