May 21st 2009 · Read More · No Comments
All children will exhibit distress the first time they are separated from their parents, especially from the mother as she is usually the primary care-giver. The first time that separation occurs is when the baby is put down to sleep. The repeated and inevitable separations that follow are an important part of the developmental process for the young child. If the separations are properly handled, the child will develop the independence and self-confidence that will enable him to develop appropriate relationships with care-givers and other adults, and allow him to learn from new situations. If there continues to be significant anxiety every time a child is separated from parents, or from familiar and comfortable surroundings, then this may have a harmful effect on the child’s social development.
Separation obviously involves the parents as well as the child, so it is a mutual process. There is enormous individual variation in the manner and ease of separations, and this is determined by attributes of the child and attitudes and feelings of the parents.
A child’s individual temperament characteristics will affect the intensity and duration of the distress that occurs. A child who is intense, fearful or has a negative mood will probably make a big fuss. On the other hand some children have a more ‘laid back’ temperament which will make it likely that they will have a less strong reaction. However, while a child’s temperament will often determine the strength of the reaction to the departure of the parents, it is likely to be the reaction of the parents that will determine whether separation issues continue to be a problem.
All parents bring to their relationship with their child their own set of attitudes, fears and emotions that are a function of their own life experiences. There is great variation amongst parents in their self-confidence, their perceived level of competence as parents, their anxiety level about themselves and their children, and so on. There is also variation in the degree to which parents can tolerate crying or other signs of distress in their children. Some cannot bear the thought of their child being upset, and spend much time and effort trying to protect the child from events that may cause them distress. Others know that it is important for a child to learn that life is not a bed of roses, that it is inevitable that he will face situations that cause upset, and that learning to cope with these situations is an important part of growing up.
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May 18th 2009 · Read More · No Comments
Making allowances is not giving in; it is working with the disorder. Doing nothing is giving in. In the early stages of recovery, making allowances helps us to reduce the amount of pressure we feel. Making allowances indefinitely means we are not putting ourselves under enough pressure!
Another example of an allowance is breaking down the time we know we will have to spend in any given situation. It may be a business meeting, it may be an evening with friends, it may be doing the shopping. It could be anything.
If we know something will take two hours, work with the first hour first. Don’t even think about the second hour. If it is too difficult and our anxiety level doesn’t settle down, we can leave after the first hour. Usually by the second hour we are not even aware the first hour is over, because we have become involved with what we are doing, and not with the anxiety and attacks.
In the beginning there may be times when we feel we will have to leave a situation. If it becomes too difficult to manage, then leave, not with a sense of failure, but accepting that this time it was too difficult. A sense of failure defeats us, not only in the short term but also in the long term. Accept it and let go of the worrying. There will be other times when we will be able to do it as long as we keep practising.
We become ultra-sensitive to ourselves, and tend to think other people’s reactions towards us are as intensified as our own. In fact, a situation which we consider devastating is either unnoticed by other people or is quickly forgotten by them. Don’t add unnecessary stress by worrying about what people have thought or will think. It is not important. Recovery is.
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May 18th 2009 · Read More · No Comments
When children make developmental strides, it can send them into disequilibrium—and sleep is disrupted. This can affect a child in several ways. He may be so excited about learning a new skill that he has a hard time settling down—he may even be driven to practice skills in his sleep. During normal arousal, instead of going right back to sleep, the new “stander” stands in his crib. It may be easier to understand if you relate it to yourself: think about a time you were learning a new skill—when you were dreaming at tennis, going over that shot you missed, or worrying about the match next day.
Mastering one skill brings a child quickly to the next frustration. When stands in her crib, she may cry desperately because she hasn’t yet learned how to get herself down. She needs you to help until she can help herself again, needs a little extra reassurance, so separation difficulties are common.
Dealing with developmental sleep issues may be particularly frustrating because parents do not have control over a child’s development. Sometimes only “cure” is allowing the development to continue on its own with encouraging messages from you. It helps to recognize that the transition probably be short-lived. Overreacting and doing too much can only prolong problem if she becomes dependent upon your help to go to sleep.
Although each child is an individual, there are guidelines and Ü information that apply to all. Table 3 summarizes the affect of development sleep. With this foundation, you can begin to look at the specific is concerning you about your child.
*21\67\8*
May 18th 2009 · Read More · No Comments
Here are a few do’s and don’ts for friends or relatives of someone who has fits. First of all, try not to panic. As I’ve said, fits usually last only a few minutes and your friend or relative is not likely to die while having one. When a fit starts, remove any hard or otherwise dangerous objects from nearby. Don’t hold the person in an attempt to stop the jerking movements. Don’t try to force his or her mouth open with a hard object—this is likely to do more damage than the biting of the tongue you are trying to prevent. Loosen any tight clothing, especially around the neck and chest. Once you can do this without causing injury (usually once the jerky movements have stopped), turn your friend or relative onto one or another side with his or her face pointing slightly downwards, until he or she comes to. This position ensures that the person’s tongue is not blocking the air passages and that any fluid in his or her throat and mouth drains out. I suggest you ask a nurse to show you how to place someone in this position, so that you feel confident about it. Don’t offer anything to eat or drink until your friend or relative has come to completely. Keep him or her nice and warm and respect his or her need to have a good sleep afterwards. That’s not so difficult is it? I hope you don’t feel quite so nervous about it now that you have some idea of what to do.
*217/40/1*
May 15th 2009 · Read More · No Comments
Heart attacks have become the number one killer in the highly developed countries.
Yet they were uncommon before the Thirties. Fortunately we may have seen the peak, because there was a decline in the Seventies.
Why this has happened is not yet clear, but it may be that, at last, we are beginning to do something about the causes of artery disease which underlie the heart attack.
The heart is a pump, pushing oxygen-containing blood around the body, through the arteries, to nourish the tissues.
The heart muscle itself (myocardium) has a rich blood supply and 20 per cent of the blood pumped by the heart goes to supply the heart muscle.
The aorta is the main artery leading from the heart. A short way from where it starts, the coronary arteries branch off the aorta and enter the heart.
Atheroma is one form of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
Fatty material is laid down in the thin membrane lining the inner wall of the artery. This builds up much of the same as rust builds up inside a water pipe and narrows it.
*405/71/1*
May 15th 2009 · Read More · No Comments
It has been shown that in most of the pregnancies that end in miscarriage there is a low level of the hormones — oestrogen and progesterone in the mother’s blood.
But the giving of extra hormones does not seem to influence the outcome of the pregnancy.
Many years ago large doses of oestrogen were given when a miscarriage threatened.
Unfortunately, it has been shown that a few female children born from such pregnancies who were subjected to high doses of oestrogen during their foetal development have developed cancer of the vagina in their teens or early twenties.
This treatment was abandoned years ago as ineffective.
It was replaced by the giving of the other hormone, progesterone, either by injection or in tablet form.
But in a few cases, female children showed some signs of masculinity, due to the conversion of the progesterone into male-type hormones.
A comprehensive trial of these types of drugs was found not to be effective.
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May 8th 2009 · Read More · No Comments
The skin is the largest single organ in the human body. It comprises up to 15 per cent of the total body weight, and if more than about one quarter is destroyed, by burns for example, then the body cannot survive. As well as being an extremely waterproof, air-tight, and remarkably supple barrier, the skin is also the living interface between man and his environment.
Indeed, the skin is as important an organ as the heart, lungs or brain. Its principal functions are protection, sensation, and heat regulation. Every living thing, however, is fragile and perishable; everything which functions can break down. The skin is no exception, and being in direct contact with the outside world, it is continuously exposed to all manner of injury. When you consider that it is susceptible to diseases resulting from various internal disorders as well, it is not surprising that its equilibrium, threatened from within and without, is precarious and easily upset. Care is required to keep the skin in good condition, and this requires some knowledge of the skin’s nature and needs.
The skin is a complicated membrane composed of various layers containing a variety of glands, blood vessels, nerves, lymphatics, muscles and appendages. The most superficial layer is known as the epidermis, which is made up of a mosaic of cells varying in thickness from 0-1 millimetre on the eyelid to more than 1-0 millimetre on the sole of the foot. The average thickness would be about that of this page. The deepest cells make up what is known as the basal layer, which is only one cell thick. This is the layer where cell reproduction takes place, and the regrowth of skin occurs. It normally takes about one month for a cell born in the basal layer to be shed as a used and dead cell at the surface. Within this important basal layer of the epidermis are scattered the melanocytes, which are the important melanin or pigment forming cells of the skin. These, according to then-quantity, dictate the colour of a person’s skin.
Beneath the epidermis is the dermis, which is 20 to 30 times thicker than the epidermis and rests upon a thick pad of fatty subcutaneous tissue which acts as a shock absorber and heat insulator. The dermis is extremely important, being made up of specialized connective tissue. Broadly speaking, it is composed of two sorts of fibres. The majority are grouped bundles, forming undulating, interlacing bands, and are composed of a special protein called collagen. Intermingled with these is a network of other fibres, which are thin, sinuous, and elastic, and composed of a protein called elastin. These fibres make up only 2 per cent of the connective tissue, the remainder consisting of what is called ground substance. This is the gelatinous material between the fibres, which is produced by specific cells known as fibroblasts. It is a unique material comprised of proteins, sugars, and electrolytes. The amount of ground substance is greatest in the embryo, and from then on it gradually diminishes until old age, when very little remains.
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May 8th 2009 · Read More · No Comments
The G.I. factor has far-reaching implications for diabetes. Not only is it important in treating people with diabetes, but it may also help prevent people from getting diabetes in the first place and possibly even prevent some of the complications of diabetes.
Type 1, or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, occurs most commonly in children and young adults. In this type of diabetes the pancreas does not produce enough insulin and insulin injections are needed to replace the insulin deficit. Fifteen per cent or people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes;
Type 2, or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, typically occurs in older adults. These people are usually overweight and their insulin does not work properly. Tablets or insulin injections may be necessary to treat this type of diabetes. Eighty-five per cent of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.
There are many factors that can affect your blood sugar levels. If you have diabetes and you are struggling to control your blood sugar level it is important to seek medical help. How much exercise you do, your weight, stress levels, total dietary intake and need for medication may have to be assessed
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May 8th 2009 · Read More · No Comments
Summary of main points.
• Accurate measurements of body fat, mass and distribution require a variety of techniques and there is no one entirely satisfactory measure.
• A combination of measures is usually necessary to determine health risk.
• Validity, reliability and sensitivity of measures are an important indication of their worth.
• BMI is a good measure of body mass; waist circumference of fat distribution; skinfolds are useful measurements in the hands of experienced operators and with thon severely obese.
• New measures of central fat, such as abdominal diameter, may have important uses in the future.
Typically, the most commonly used measure of body fatness has been body weight. This is then compared with a table of ‘ideal weights’ prepared by life insurance companies on the basis of actuarial data, relating weight to the risk of an early death or to average weights in the population, and some measure of overweight calculated on the basis of population figures.
The advantage of weight is that it is a simple, accurate and reliable measurement. For individuals, significant changes in weight over the long term usually reflect significant changes in body composition. However, weight is often not a true reflection of obesity—particularly in those in the population (e.g. athletic males) who might have high body density due to muscular structure—nor a good indication of health risk, because measures of weight (in contrast to body fat distribution) do not correlate highly with illness risk. Height is, of course, a confounding factor and hence the calculation of body mass index, or BMI, which corrects for height, has become the norm.
More recently, it has been realised that BMI is also not always a good representation of fatness, again because of the bias against those with a high body density (i.e. those with a high fat free mass to fat mass ratio, FFM:FM). Hence there has been a recent move towards new measures of total body fat and fat distribution, including the better use of simple anthropometric measures such as height, weight and circumference measures. There has also been a move to develop cost-effective machines which accurately measure fat, in contrast to body mass.
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May 8th 2009 · Read More · No Comments
This occurs when a young baby (usually under the age of six months) which is apparently healthy, suddenly dies for no obvious reason while peacefully sleeping in its cot at night.
It is now more often referred to as ‘Sudden infant death syndrome’ or ‘Sudden and unexpected deaths in children syndrome’.
The cause is still in dispute, although many theories have been put forward, and each week medical journals offer more ideas. Viral infections, the baby drowning in its own carbon dioxide (seems more common if the cot sides are covered in), lack of vitamin E, immunodeficiency, immunization, diabetes, aerosols, the house dust mite sensitivity, cows’ milk that is too strong, cardiac changes, allergies, over-heating, pressure from a dummy, head colds, inhaled milk from a burp when the stomach is full, a reduction in the mucosal defence of the respiratory system, body cooling, and lack of magnesium have all been incriminated at some time. There may be many causes, and some or none of the above may finally prove to play a part.
At present, it is repeated, the cause is still unknown. It appears to be less common in breast-fed babies which may indicate that there is some deficiency in the baby’s resistance factors. Most autopsies do not offer any reason for the unexpected happening. They are often put down to a sudden unexplained infection. Most health departments are now carrying out fuller investigations in the hope that a cause and cure may be discovered.
*80\87\2*
