Weight loss and diet plan for a healthy lifestyle.

The lymphatic system is responsible for keeping the body fluids, the blood fluid and cerebrospinal fluid, in order. The total amount of fluid accounts for approximately 60 per cent of our total body weight. But the lymph has yet another important and vital function. Not unlike a police force, the lymph cells (lymphocytes) must combat and destroy all invading organisms that enter and endanger the body tissue. We are referring here to bacteria, which are more or less injurious or dangerous, depending on the type. For example, if you cut yourself, or a rusty nail penetrates the skin, millions of bacteria enter the body through the wound as if through a broken trap door. The fine, outer lymph vessels are perhaps not strong enough to resist the intruders and the bacteria continue their advance into the nodes of a centre. The centre then calls up the defences; the vessels expand and we feel a swelling in the area of the armpit or the groin, for example. The swelling can become as large as a hen’s egg. If the lymphocytes, phagocytes, wandering cells, and whatever other names the defence forces may have, cannot handle their task, the lymphatics become inflamed and swollen. They become very sensitive to pressure and can be seen as red lines. This condition is called blood poisoning (septicaemia, toxaemia), even though the toxins are actually still contained in the white bloodstream of the lymphatic system. In fact, if all toxins and bacteria were passed on to the red bloodstream, no one could survive his childhood because of the many poisons that would enter the blood.

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Stinging nettles are another excellent source of calcium. Gather young nettles in the spring, chop them very finely or put them through a mincer, then mix into a salad. They can also be finely chopped and sprinkled over boiled and mashed potatoes or other dishes that you would normally garnish. No one will even notice that it was not one of the more common garnishes. You can also sprinkle some over soup just before serving, or spinach. It is important, however, not to cook the nettles. In these ways you can obtain your regular supply of nettles, a first-class source of calcium phosphate, vitamin D and other important minerals.

Years have passed since I gave this advice about nettles in my monthly publication Gesundheits-Nachrichten (Health News) and later heard from many Bernese country women who had been delighted with the way their children responded to nettles. They said that the children once again had rosy cheeks and seemed to have recovered their health and resistance – all due to this simple remedy. So why don’t you adopt this inexpensive method of increasing your calcium intake? Why buy expensive medicines when there is another way that is open to everyone if only we make a little effort and give a little thought to the matter? In fact, doing so will cause less bother than giving the constant attention and treatment calcium-deficient children need, because there is always something wrong with them. Calcium deficiency makes children susceptible to catarrh, with every cold draught posing a threat. And when an infectious disease goes round they are usually the first to catch it. That is why prevention is better – and cheaper – than cure!

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Much has been said and written about the significance of calcium for our bodies. Calcium is one of the most important minerals in the human body, and the most plentiful in it. Without calcium, neither our bones, our teeth, nor the greater number of our body cells could exist. Hence the need to eat plenty of foods containing it. What is more, calcium plays an important part in our body’s resistance to infectious diseases, especially diseases affecting the respiratory organs. Children who lack calcium are prone to infectious diseases, quickly develop swollen glands and are unable to ward off primary infections. When the body is deficient in calcium there is a constant struggle to fight sickness. Nature provides us with a good comparative example. Meadows that are short of lime always have a quantity of moss growing in them. If, however, you give them a lime dressing, you neutralise the acidity of the soil and the moss disappears. Parasitic plants thrive in calcium-deficient soil. From this we can draw a parallel to what goes on in the human body. Where there is a calcium deficiency all sorts of diseases, especially the infectious kinds, will thrive. Of course, this fact has been known for a long time and various calcium preparations are on the market. But all those phosphoric, carbonic and lactic acid combinations of calcium have actually failed to serve their purpose. Calcium deficiency continues to be a problem.

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Once a person has moved, if the attacks do not recur after a year or two, he can then consider moving back to his former home without misgivings. As a rule, once the asthma has been cured it is not likely to return if the person decides to live again in the area where it first occurred. Young asthmatics, especially, should be given this opportunity, since it can make a significant improvement to their well-being.

If, however, the bronchial asthma is a result of an old, improperly treated lung condition, it will be more difficult to obtain a successful cure. This is yet another reason why chronic conditions of the respiratory organs should be avoided at all costs. Negligence and indifference are dangerous. Such illnesses should be treated the moment they first arise and the treatment continued until a complete cure has been achieved, or else they may lead to bronchial asthma that is extremely difficult to cure.

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It is important that your diet be made up of foods that are rich in calcium and vitamins. You should eat plenty of salads, including, for example, white and green cabbage, carrots, beets and all greens; these are the best sources of vitamins, minerals and calcium. With regard to fruits, berries, particularly organically grown strawberries, are a rich source of calcium..

It is equally important to eat wholefoods and organically grown foods, for example, wholegrain or wholemeal bread and plenty of dishes made from whole wheat, whole rye and brown rice. If sugar is used at all, it should be unrefined, raw brown cane sugar, never white. Honey, grape sugar, raisins, currants and other sweet dried fruits are even better than brown sugar, which retains only part of the original goodness found in the raw sugar cane juice. Natural sugar is quickly changed into glycogen. In fact, even a weak liver is able to digest fruit sugar.

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Caesarean section is the delivery of a baby through an incision in the mother’s abdomen and uterus. Most historians believe the name has no association with the birth of Julius Caesar. The operation was used centuries before his time in an effort to save unborn babies whose mothers had died during labour. The Roman law governing the procedure was known as Lex Regia, later changed to Lex Caesaria
(the Caesar’s Law) and this is thought to be the origin of the modern name.

Before the Second World War caesarean section was used only as a desperate last resort because of its high complication rate. One hundred years ago, more than nine out of ten mothers died after the operation: now the death rate is one to two in 10000, and usually occurs in mothers for whom it is performed because they are too ill for labour. Since 1940 improvements in surgical and anaesthetic techniques and the availability of antibiotics and blood transfusion have made caesarean section a safer option in circumstances where mother and baby would be at risk from a difficult vaginal delivery.

During the 1980s there was some controversy about the increasing rate of caesarean delivery: up to four out of ten deliveries in some parts of the USA. In Australia the present rate is close to one in five deliveries, and there has been public and professional concern about whether so many caesarean deliveries, with their accompanying physical, psychological and financial costs, are justified. Are some doctors (and parents) choosing caesarean delivery rather than waiting to see if vaginal delivery can proceed safely? It’s impossible to answer this question because the circumstances in every case are different. If you’re advised to have a caesarean delivery, whatever you’ve heard about the controversy may raise doubts in your mind. You must discuss your uncertainties with your doctor.

Elective caesarean section

About half of all problems that need caesarean section are discovered during pregnancy so that the operation can be planned. This is called elective caesarean section. Common reasons include:

• placenta praevia, where the placenta is attached over the cervical outlet and would lead to severe haemorrhage during labour

• previous caesarean delivery, where the reasons for doing it still exist

• some cases of breech presentation, especially if the mother’s pelvis is smaller than average, if the mother is over 35, or if it is the first delivery

• severe pregnancy-induced hypertension

• some cases of diabetes or Rhesus incompatibility, when vaginal delivery can’t be risked

• rarely, when there is obstruction in the pelvis, such as a fibroid, or if there is certain knowledge that the mother’s pelvic outlet is too narrow to allow the baby’s head to pass through.

If caesarean section is elective, your doctor will explain why and how it will be done. You should discuss with your doctor whether you’ll have it done with epidural block (which means that you’re awake and see and hold your baby the moment it’s delivered, and that your partner can be present for the delivery if you both wish) or general anaesthetic.

Emergency caesarean section

This is done when problems arise during labour, such as:

• foetal distress due to lack of oxygen in the first stage, indicated by change the foetal heart rate. If allowed to go for long, lack of oxygen could lea foetal brain damage or death

• haemorrhage during the first stage labour

• obstructed labour

• failure of labour to progress because cervix is not dilating.

Emergency caesarean section is often d with general anaesthetic when the needs to be delivered as quickly possible.

Maternal recovery is usually slower caesarean than after vaginal delivery, though there may be some delay mother-child bonding if a general anaesthetic is needed, there’s no evidence this has any bad effect on the long-term relationship.

Many women are sadly disappointed their baby must be delivered by caesarean, especially if it is done as an emergency and they don’t have time to adjust to the idea. Of course we would all prefer to have normal deliveries, but some babies need to be helped into the world and no one wants to take any risks. In many pregnancies caesarean delivery can be life-saving for both mother and baby, or can prevent serious illness.

You may have heard ‘once a caesarean, always a caesarean’. With modern surgical techniques, this is not necessarily true. Many mothers who have had a previous caesarean delivery may safely have a subsequent vaginal delivery, provided the reason for caesarean no longer exists or doesn’t recur in the next pregnancy. Ask your doctor about your future chance of vaginal delivery.

The most important result of pregnancy is a healthy outcome. Without the safety of modem caesarean delivery we would have to accept a higher rate of foetal and maternal loss, as our grandparents did. So don’t feel a failure if you need caesarean delivery: if a healthy baby is delivered, your pregnancy has been a success.

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The circumstances in which women decide to terminate a pregnancy are enormously varied. The decision to have an abortion is never without some соnflict, and for some women and some couples it is a very painful choice.

Unwanted pregnancy

Women usually experience a mixture of powerful feelings when an unwanted pregnancy is confirmed. If it’s you, you maybe overwhelmed by anguish, fear, anger and sadness. You mightn’t know how to decide what to do or whom to turn to for help. You may fear the reactions of your partner, family and friends. You may also be afraid of parenthood or of abortion and its consequences.

You may be angry at yourself and your partner for not being careful enough about contraception, or because your contraception failed. And you may feel sad because you may want to be pregnant but know that your present circumstances are quite wrong for having a baby and supporting it properly.

The first step in sorting out your feelings is to talk the matter over with someone you oust: your partner, family, a close friend, your doctor or perhaps all of these. Be prepared for different reactions and advice from different people, and a range of opinions that may help or hinder you in deciding what to do about the pregnancy. Though you will take into account the views expressed by those who are important to you, the final decision must be your own: value judgments of others have no place in your choice.

If you decide on abortion, the next step is to see a doctor for advice or to make an appointment at a clinic that provides pregnancy termination – you don’t need a doctor’s referral for this. All clinics and most hospitals provide abortion counselling.

When the foetus is at risk

The decision for abortion has a very different emotional impact, often much more painful, if your pregnancy is planned and wanted but when something has put the foetus at risk of birth defect. It may be that you’ve taken certain medicines before you realized you were pregnant, or that you’ve had an infection known to be a danger (such as German measles or toxoplasmosis) during the early weeks. Or perhaps antenatal diagnostic testing has shown that the foetus is genetically or otherwise defective.

When antenatal testing was introduced, not much thought was given to the emotional side. It was thought that women would welcome the tests and gratefully accept abortion if a defect was found. It soon became clear that some women rejected both. The tests were refused by those whose feelings or beliefs would never allow them to consider abortion. Others who might have been prepared to abort an unwanted pregnancy chose to accept a child born of a wanted pregnancy, even at high risk of birth defect.

Most large hospitals now provide antenatal and genetic counsellors. If yours doesn’t, speak to your doctor. You should be given clear, unbiased information about any possible defect, the range of disability it could cause and the degree of risk in your case. If you decide on abortion, you will usually be offered counselling after the procedure as well as before. This can be a great help in working through your grief, which can be profound after a wanted pregnancy is terminated.

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Most often these occur during or soon after insertion and are related to the skill of the inserter and the care with which the risks of using an IUD have been assessed.

Explusion Contractions of the uterus can sometimes push an IUD partly or completely out through the cervical canal into the vagina. This is most likely to happen soon after insertion, especially if the device was inserted during menstruation. Subsequent expulsions are most likely to occur during a period. Sometimes expulsion may not be noticed. This is why women are advised to check pads and tampons, and at the end of each period to feel for the strings at the cervix.

The expulsion rate varies from 5 to 20 per hundred in the first year of use. Different rates depend mainly on the size and type of device used, the size and shape of the uterus and whether the IUD has been correctly inserted.

Lost strings Sometimes the strings can’t be felt or seen at the cervix, even though the IUD may still be in the right position in the uterus. There are several reasons why this may occur.

• The woman may be pregnant. As the uterus enlarges (even slightly) the strings are drawn up through the cervical canal.

• The strings may be coiled up in the canal or within the uterus. This can be checked by feeling in the canal and uterus with special string-retrieving instruments.

• The IUD may have been expelled. If it’s still in place it can usually be felt with a uterine sound. Ultrasound examination will confirm whether the device is missing or still in place.

If the IUD is still in the right place, it may be easy to bring the threads back into the vagina. If not, you must decide with your doctor whether or not the IUD should be removed.

Perforation

The uterus may be perforated by the device (though the risk is very small) if the position and direction of the uterus were misjudged during the pre-insertion examination. It is also more likely to happen if the device is inserted soon after giving birth, especially if the woman is breastfeeding.

Perforation needs immediate action. If the IUD is not entirely inside the uterine cavity (that is, has gone partly through its wall), it won’t work properly. If the device has gone right through into the abdominal or pelvic cavities, it should be removed.

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Altered expectations of the roles of men and women in society has been one of the greatest changes since the Second World War. Mum is no longer portrayed wearing an apron in the kitchen in her role of looking after the house and kids. Unisex fashions and hairstyles have contributed to the changes in female and male stereotypes.

The majority of married women with children now work away from home. A man in the supermarket is no longer a rare sight: he may be doing the shopping because his wife is at work while he (because of redundancy, less earning capacity or role reversal) now does the ‘home duties’. When both partners work, some men are taking on their fair share of housekeeping and parenting chores, though my impression is that in most families it is still the women who are responsible for efficient household functioning and assignment of chores.

Even the advertisers are taking notice of pressure from female consumers for more realistic portrayals of women: we now see less of the stereotype whose only concerns are stain removal and keeping her hands soft. Not that these things aren’t important, but there’s much more to women’s lives!

Women are now doing things that were reserved for men 50 years ago: becoming heads of state, mechanics, engineers, surgeons, sporting pros, bankers, union leaders; travelling and going to theatres, restaurants, pubs alone; managing their own finances; making films: you name it.

Women are not the same as men (and vive la difference), but it’s great to see them gaining social equality though there’s still a long way to go, especially in employment opportunity and earning capacity. However, many women (and even more men) are ill-at-ease with women’s changing role in society. Some have deep philosophical or religious convictions that women’s traditonal role shouldn’t change. Others find it easier to slip into the traditional pattern.

Some have problems going against things we learnt as children: we know in our heads that the changes are in the right direction, but it feels somehow wrong when we do things differently from our mothers. So we try to fulfill both roles, which is like wanting to have your cake and eat it.

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Acne is an infection

Acne isn’t caused by harmful bacteria invading the skin. It won’t spread to other parts of the body: nor can it spread from one person to another. Medicated treatments (except antibiotics to reduce normal skin bacteria) are unnecessary and can inflame the skin further.

Blackheads are dirt

The dark colour of blackheads is due to the melanin pigment in skin cells, which darkens when exposed to air and light. No amount of washing and scrubbing will remove it, and is likely to make things worse.

Oily hair causes acne

Oily hair means that the sebaceous glands are draining well – the very opposite to the blocked ducts that cause acne. Fringes are not in any way connected with acne on the forehead.

Chocolate and other foods cause acne

Almost every food that tastes good has been accused of causing acne. In my youth it was tomato sauce (which we liked on our sausages). These days it’s fashionable to blame chocolate, sweet foods, fast foods, dairy products, fatty foods, citrus fruits, soft drinks, food containing ‘chemicals’ (is there any food that doesn’t consist of chemicals?) – just about everything except raw carrots and bean sprouts. And now that people are starring to enjoy eating raw vegetables, watch out – carrots and bean sprouts may be blamed next!

It’s been proved beyond doubt that diet has no effect on sebum production or acne. I expect you’ll say ‘That can’t be right – every time I have chocolate/ milk shakes/chips/cola I break out’. My theory is that it’s the stress of guilt from eating these ‘bad’ foods that leads to the outbreak, or perhaps we overindulge when we’re under emotional strain. But if you think your acne is better without them, avoid them of course.

It’s important at all times of life to eat healthily. A very badly balanced diet could aggravate a tendency to acne, and allergy to any food could act as a stress to make acne worse.

The more sunlight, the better for acne

Fresh air and a little exposure to the sun may help some acne, but too much sun causes skin inflammation that worsens it. The sun should be totally avoided during some treatments: your doctor, pharmacist or the pack instructions will warn about this.

People with acne shouldn’t wear make-up

Water-based make-up can do no harm, and is a good way of hiding blemishes while waiting patiently for treatment to work. It can be used over daytime treatment. Wash it off (gently) at night before putting on bedtime treatment. Oil-based make-up that must be removed with greasy cleansers should be avoided.

Acne is a teenager’s disease

Though it is more common and often more severe during adolescence, acne can occur at any time of life.

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