Lifestyle Choices

Actinic keratoses(AKs) are flat or slightly raised, sometimes red, scaly patches which appear on the background of sun-damaged skin — especially on the face, the scalps of balding men, the backs of the hands, arms, chest and back. Since they are rough to the touch, AKs are often more easily diagnosed by feel than by observation. They are especially prevalent on fair-skinned people who continue to develop AKs even long after discontinuing sun exposure. AKs are pre-malignant skin growths that can develop into squameous cell carcinomas. They must therefore be treated straightaway, either by cryosurgery or chemotherapy using Effudex (5-fluorouracil) or Actinex (masoproco) cream. These creams cause the skin to become markedly inflamed for at least one week, but there is also some decrease in wrinkles as a bonus! (more…)

The word eczema is derived from a Greek word meaning “to boil out”, a description of the family of itchy skin conditions which begin with redness and swelling, often followed by blisters and oozing, then scaling, and finally thick, leathery, frequently painfully cracked skin. Several categories of eczema exist, the most common of which are atopic dermatitis, hand dermatitis, and nummular dermatitis. (more…)

Birthmarks

It would be logical if all birthmarks were present at birth. This is not always the case. Some marks appear in the first few days of life but others can be delayed by months or years. In these cases it is thought that the fault resides in the skin from birth but only reveals itself when some other factor acts as a trigger. An example of this is the unusual problem called Becker’s nevus. It has the appearance, usually on the shoulder, of a large light brown patch, often with some coarse dark hair in it. It is first seen at puberty and is triggered by rising hormone levels. Salmon patches or stork bites derive their name from the old fable about babies being delivered down the chimney by a friendly stork whose beak has clasped the human bundle by the nape of the neck. These marks are seen in about a quarter of the population. Sometimes they are thought to have appeared in adult life but it is only that some new hair style or hair disease has revealed a patch that has really been present since birth. (more…)

Early Warning Signs of TSS

If you develop any of these symptoms during or just after your menstrual period, tell Mom immediately and see your doctor:

• High fever
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Sore throat
• Aching muscles
• Lightheadedness
• Rash (resembling sunburn)

Remember, TSS can be serious, even fatal, but not if it’s caught in time and treated. So if you have any symptoms that worry you, don’t keep them to yourself. (more…)

What is the Cause of Hair Loss?

There are many causes. The most simple is that of poor circulation in the scalp, hair breakage from poor treatment or overprocessing, and temporary illness or stress. Other reasons include hormonal imbalance, underactive thyroid, drugs, and poor diet (specifically too little B vitamins, vitamin C, zinc, sulfur, and iron). If you find you are losing your hair at a rapid rate, don’t panic. There is a strong link between anxiety and hair loss, and a temporary excess shedding of hair at the telogen stage can be made much worse by worry about it. Instead, go through the process of elimination to discover possible causes and then seek whatever treatment is necessary to help correct the excess shedding. Start by asking yourself the following questions.

Are you taking any medication? The Pill or estrogen in hormone- replacement therapy is a common cause for thinning hair—thinning that is usually corrected in a few weeks after stopping it. Anti-coagulants, cortisone, and diet pills such as amphetamines are other offenders, as is boric acid, which occurs in many common proprietary products, from ointments for cuts and burns to eye baths. Thyroid medication can also be the culprit. So can simple aspirin, if you take as many as one or two a day. (more…)

Depression is very common in a mother after the birth of her child. Some mothers notice depression only at this time and at no other time in their lives. The reasons why depression is so much more common soon after giving birth are bothcomplex and conjectural, but can be conveniently divided into two groups: physical stress and emotional/psychological stress. Depression after childbirth generally takes one of three forms: maternity blues, postnatal depression, or post-natal psychosis.

These usually start two or three days after birth. You may quite suddenly get weepy and irritable, and then just as suddenly, you are out of them. They are very common and do not usually lead on to any longer-lasting depression.

This occurs after about 10 per cent of births. It may start soon after birth or it may start after an initial few weeks of happiness and high spirits. It is a common experience to feel more emotionally vulnerable for four to six weeks after giving birth —you feel more open and sensitive to everything. This period of greater openness is often remembered with pleasure, but sometimes, after four to six weeks, the physical and emotional demands of looking after a child twenty-four hours a day begin to get a mother down, and you may feel grey and exhausted for many months or even a year or more. A minority of mothers will go into a more severe depressive process which occasionally lasts years. (more…)

These drugs can be useful in dark grey, black or white depression. Sixty-one out of 93 different studies have shown them to be more effective than placebo (tablets with no effective drug) in double blind trials (the patients and the doctors not knowing who was taking anti-depressants and who placebos). This is a significant finding, since placebo drugs are themselves fairly effective in reducing almost any kind of symptom. The drug is called “tricyclic” because the chemical structure contains three “circles”. More recently drugs of the same group but with four “circles” have been synthesized, called “tetracyclics”. (more…)

Total fasting is dangerous as are crash (fast) diets. Crash diets that bring about weight loss by dehydration of only 5 percent in forty-eight hours have been shown to reduce the individual’s working capacity by as much as 40 percent. The practice of making weight in athletics, whether by dehydration, induced vomiting, or starvation diets, is dangerous to health and should be condemned (see Concept 13 on weight control and Concept 19 on dehydration). Much of the weight lost on such fad diets is valuable lean muscle mass.

Pill popping, hormone injections, and powder and liquid diets havt little value in long-term weight control programs and present many health hazards. When in doubt, avoid diets that: (more…)

1. Binge-eating disorder

This is a recently classified disorder in which people have frequent episodes of compulsive overeating, but unlike those with bulimia, they do not purge their bodies of food. During these food binges, they often eat alone and very quickly, regardless of whether they feel hungry or full. They often feel shame or guilt over their actions. Unlike anorexia and bulimia, binge-eating disorder occurs almost as often in men as in women.

2. Endometriosis

This increasingly common condition is one of the major causes of infertility, and causes many women much distress and pain. The endometrium is the soft tissue that lines your uterus. Normally, (more…)

Apart from helping in your daily skincare, natural ingredients can also help in healing specific skin problems you may have. Here is a list of helpful remedies for the whole family:

Acne

More than just a spot or blemish, acne is an inflammatory condition often brought about by a sensitivity to androgen (male) hormones in the body. In mild cases blackheads and blemishes are present and in more severe cases you find inflamed pustules and cysts. Acne sufferers often carry a higher bacterial content on their skin and experts suggest that it could be this bacteria and its reaction on sebum (oil) levels in the skin that are affected when you are under stress, as stress seems to be a contributing factor. (more…)