IUDS, ÒÀ M P Î N S AND EXERCISE AS POSSIBLE FACTORS INCREASING RISK OF ENDOMETRIOSIS
IUDs
It has often been assumed that use of an IUD (intrauterine device) would be associated with an increased risk of developing endometriosis because IUDs increase the menstrual blood flow by 50% to 100%. This presumes that the amount of retrograde menstruation is also greater. The studies so far have produced no clear evidence of the role of IUDs in the development of endometriosis.
Òà m p î n s
Opinions differ widely as to whether or not the use of tampons affects a woman’s likelihood of developing endometriosis. Some believe that tampons act as a barrier to the vaginal menstrual flow which thereby promotes retrograde menstruation. Others believe that tampons act as a wick which promotes the vaginal menstrual flow and thereby reduces the amount of retrograde menstruation. There is also the belief that tampons have no effect on the vaginal menstrual flow.
The only two studies published to-date have found no evidence to suggest that the use of tampons leads to an increased risk of developing endometriosis.
Exercise
One study has found that women who exercised regularly were less likely to develop endometriosis. This effect was limited to women who had begun regular exercise before the age of 26 and who exercised for more than two hours per week; the effect was most marked in women who engaged in vigorous exercise such as jogging or aerobics.
It is thought that this protective effect is due to the fact that regular vigorous exercise usually lowers the oestrogen levels in the body which in turn reduces the amount of oestrogen available for the growth of the endometrial implants.
Association with other diseases
For many years there has been some speculation by doctors that women with endometriosis have a higher incidence of other chronic health problems, particularly allergic conditions, such as hay fever and eczema, and auto-immune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Unfortunately, only a couple of small studies investigating this topic have been published to-date: they found that women with endometriosis had a higher incidence of yeast infections and allergic conditions, particularly food sensitivities and hay fever, but were unable to show an association of endometriosis with any auto-immune diseases – probably due to the limited number of women involved.
Interestingly, these studies also found that more women with endometriosis reported that they had suffered from glandular fever.
*14/41/5*
PREVENTIVE MEDECINE: THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF STRESS
These are many and profound. When an individual, whether with justification or not, finds a situation stressful, his or her body undergoes a ‘fight or flight’ reaction. This is a primitive response seen in all animals but most animals don’t meet life-or-death situations that trigger off this response very often. The problem with human beings is that their way of life has set them up to perceive many things as stressful and they react biologically to stimuli that do not affect the animal world generally. This occurs partly, of course, because humans are so complex emotionally and psychologically. The body’s reactions to stress are:
• The hypothalamus (a part of the brain) initiates a number of hormonal changes.
• The pituitary gland is activated by the hypothalamus and in turn activates the adrenal glands
to produce more adrenaline and non-adrenaline. These powerful hormones do many things
but the main ones are:
• The heart beats more powerfully and faster
• The pupils of the eyes dilate
• The blood pressure rises
• The muscles tense
• The breathing rate increases
• Blood is directed from the digestive system and the skin to other more vital functions
• Blood flow to the kidneys is reduced so as to reduce urine output
• Saliva dries up
• The liver releases stored glucose for energy
• The immune system (which fights infection) shuts down temporarily
In the average stressful situation these changes are temporary and normality resumes after the stress-inducing situation is past. However, for many of us in the West today many or all of these changes become an almost permanent feature of the way our bodies work, as one stressful event follows another. This produces symptoms such as:
Headaches
Dizziness
Sweating
Coiled legs
Hair twisting
Finger drumming
Clenched fists
Nail biting
High blood pressure
Allergies
Ulcers
Skin rashes
Depression
Unreasonable fears
Breathlessness
Little interest in life
Poor appetite
Nervous tics and twitches
A fear of becoming ill
Poor self-esteem
Difficulty in relaxing
Difficulty with concentration
Hunched shoulders
A worried frown
A gripped thumb
Clenched teeth
Insomnia
Blurred vision
Swallowing difficulties
Sex problems
Heartbeat irregularities
Indigestion
Backache
Colitis
Irritability
Disturbed sleep
Fatigue and tiredness much of the time
A tendency to cry
Aching shoulders and neck muscles
Food cravings between meals
Smoking or drinking to calm yourself
Feeling neglected or let down
Feeling a failure towards others
Rarely laughing
Feeling uncomfortable touching or being touched
None of these conditions is a ‘disease’ in itself but a combination of several reduces the quality of life and many of them together can reduce a person almost to the point where he or she is unable to cope with everyday life. Many of these conditions will be dealt with more fully in the body of the book and even though there are other reasons for many, if not most, of them stress is probably the commonest.
*52/72/5*
FEED YOUR BODY RIGHT: HE HIT THE ROAD TO WEIGHT LOSS SUCCESS
Rob Christie credits a cooler with helping him lose 60 pounds.
A fortysomething entrepreneur from Shreveport, Louisiana, Rob had been thin for most of his life. That changed when he decided to start his own business. Soon, he was practically living in his car, hustling from one sales call to the next. When he grabbed a bite to eat, it was usually at the nearest fast-food restaurant.
Five years and hundreds of cheeseburgers later, Rob was severely overweight and out of shape. His low point came the day he found himself lying in bed, unable to move because of intense back pain. “I knew my lifestyle and the extra weight were contributing to the problem,” he said. “Right then, I committed to getting my health back.”
His first step was to make an appointment with a personal trainer. With the trainer’s guidance, Rob began a regular fitness program consisting of two 30-minute strength-training sessions each week. That prompted him to overhaul his eating habits.
That’s when he bought a cooler.
Before hitting the road, he enjoyed a low-fat breakfast of oat-I meal and fruit at home. At dinnertime, he ate a balanced meal con-I sisting of lean meat, plenty of vegetables, and a modest serving of pasta or another starch. All the while, he was continuing his twice-weekly workouts.
In just 6 months, Rob dropped 60 pounds. One year later, he’s a fit and muscular 205. “Losing that weight and getting in shape has increased my energy level tremendously,” Rob says. “I feel 25 instead of 45!”
WINNING ACTION
Stock up for road trips. Rob’s strategy really works. Whenever I’m traveling for business or pleasure (at least 100 days a year!), I always make sure to put something healthy—a V8, a Clif Bar, a banana, or pretzels—in my briefcase or travel bag. I feel better knowing that I can eat nutritious low-fat foods, and I get there more relaxed because I don’t have to wait in long food lines.
*45\89\8*
DRUGS THAT CAN PREVENT MIGRAINE ATTACKS
There are various drugs that, taken regularly, can prevent migraine attacks, or at least reduce their frequency. Beneficial effects may not be apparent until they have been taken for several weeks.
In conventional migraine treatment, these are not generally prescribed unless migraines are fairly frequent and severe, and other measures have been tried without significant success. Those ‘other
measures’ might include reducing stress, avoiding situations that trigger migraines, and avoiding foods such as chocolate, cheese, red wine and citrus fruits. By extension, it would seem reasonable to investigate food intolerance, using an elimination diet, before starting on (or continuing with) these drugs.
12A Serotonin antagonists
Serotonin, or 5HT, is a chemical messenger produced by the blood platelets that is known to play a part in migraine. Drugs that block the receptors for serotonin seem to help prevent migraine. Some of these drugs also act as antihistamines. The main drug used is pizotifen (Sanomigran) which is generally safe but can cause weight-gain and drowsiness in some people. Methysergide (Deseril) is equally effective, but it can, very rarely, cause serious side-effects with lasting damage. Anyone taking it should have close medical supervision. It is advisable to stop taking the drug for 1-2 months twice a year, to check that all is well.
These drugs block (3-receptors for adrenaline, the hormone that produces the ‘flight or fight’ reaction. Their main use is in other diseases, principally heart disease, and it is not entirely clear how they help to prevent migraine.
Some of these drugs block the effects of adrenaline generally and they should not be taken by asthmatics, since they have the opposite effect to (32 bronchodilators (see section 4A). The ones in question are nadolol (Corgard), propanolol (Angilol, Apsolol, Berkolol, Inderal LA) and timolol (Betim, Blocadren). Others are more selective, only affecting (3-receptors in the heart, and they can be taken by asthmatics, although good medical supervision is needed. The principal drug of this type is metoprolol (Betaloc, Lopresor).
All these drugs have certain side-effects, including cold hands and feet, disturbed sleep, stomach upset and wheezing. If dry eyes or skin rash develop this should be reported td the doctor immediately as it can indicate a severe reaction to the drug. The drugs should not be stopped abruptly, but gradually withdrawn.
Clonidine
Clonidine is used to lower blood pressure and when taken at low dosage (Dixarit) it can prevent migraine in some patients. It is a relatively safe drug, but some patients may suffer from drowsiness, dizziness, dry mouth or insomnia.
*440\180\8*
UNEXPECTION ALLERGIC CROSS-REACTION: CROSS-REACTIONS BETWEEN PLANT PRODUCTS
Many of those who are allergic to birch pollen cannot eat hazelnuts. This is not particularly surprising, since birch and hazel belong to the same plant family. What is unexpected is the cross-reaction seen between birch pollen and apple – a very high proportion of those with birch hay-fever are allergic to apples. It is thought that this is due to small molecules called phenols that are widely distributed in plant products. The suggestion is that apple and birch just happen to have the same sort of phenol, despite their unrelatedness. There are other odd cross-reactions between different fruits and vegetables which may be explained in the same way.
Shellfish
Some people seem to be sensitive to both crustacean shellfish and molluscan shellfish. Why this should be is a mystery – it is unlikely to be a cross-reaction, in the conventional sense, since the two groups are not at all closely related. Biologically speaking, they are as similar to humans or birds as they are to each other. Again, the use of an imprecise name for both groups -’shellfish’ – is a confusing factor.
For certain people, it may be something other than the shellfish themselves causing the problem. Toxins acquired from their food, or the preservatives that are liberally added to shellfish might be to blame.
*393\180\8*
PREPARING FOR THE ELIMINATION DIET: SORT OUT OTHER PROBLEMS
The idea of the elimination diet is to create a period of ‘silence’ in which you can listen to your body answering specific questions. Any sort of background noise is going to confuse you, so you need to eliminate other things that cause symptoms before you start. The three main items to consider are airborne allergens, hyperventilation and chemical sensitivity.
You should suspect airborne allergens if your symptoms include asthma, hay-fever, a year-round runny nose or congested nose (rhinitis), red, watery or itchy eyes, sinusitis, or recurrent ‘colds’. Eczema and urticaria may indicate allergens in the air that land on the skin – or things that touch the skin directly. Consult pp64-5 for likely sources of trouble. Avoidance measures are described on pp66-8. Put these into effect for a few months before starting the diet.
Hyperventilation is suggested by dizziness, faintness, tingling in the hands and feet, numbness, spaced-out or confused feelings, shortness of breath and a variety of other symptoms. A full list is given on pl56. It appears that hyperventilation often accompanies food intolerance, but it can sometimes be the sole cause of symptoms.
There are no typical symptoms reported for chemical sensitivity, but most people who react generally know that they do because certain things always make them feel ill – travelling by car, smelling perfume or swimming in chlorinated water, for example. Complete avoidance is difficult, but try to clean up your environment as much as possible, and wait for about two weeks before starting the elimination diet, so that you can assess the effects of doing this.
If you respond to any of these avoidance measures, however slightly, they should be continued throughout Stages 1, 2 and 3 of the diet.
*346\180\8*
WHAT CAUSES FOOD INTOLERANCE? REBECCA’S STORY
Rebecca began to have problems with severe sore throats when she was in her teens. At the same time she suffered ‘swollen glands’ (swelling of the lymph nodes) producing painful lumps in her groin, armpits and neck. The pain was often so bad that she had difficulty in walking. She also felt bloated, with a noticeable puffiness around her face and neck, and she suffered spells of dizziness when she would sometimes pass out. Eventually her tonsils were removed, but this did not bring much improvement: her throat was less sore, but it was still painful and swollen. In her early twenties, Rebecca married, and although she was very happy with her new husband, her symptoms began to get worse. She frequently felt as if she had flu
coming on, with aches and pains, headaches and swollen glands. Severe catarrh, recurrent mouth ulcers and stomach pains were also making life difficult.
All these problems came to a head when she was 25 and they moved house. Looking back, Rebecca thinks it was the stress of moving which precipitated a crisis in her state of health. All her symptoms became more frequent and more severe, and she felt as if her body was ‘totally out of control’. She also developed some new problems, including aching joints and bouts of severe depression. She had to give up her part-time job and even simple tasks around the house became impossible.
Rebecca had seen many different specialists over the years, and none had been able to do much for her. But at this point she heard something about ‘food allergy’ from a friend, and asked her family doctor if he thought this might be worth investigating. The doctor was sceptical but made an appointment for her to see a specialist, who put her on a strict diet, starting with a three-day fast. Then she went on to a diet of lamb, pears and mineral water. Within a week she felt so much better that she could scarcely believe it. Almost all her symptoms had gone, except for a few aches in her joints. ‘I had been ill for so long, I’d forgotten what it was like to be well – it was an amazing feeling,’ she recalls.
The long process of testing foods then began. Eventually Rebecca identified the following culprits: most types of additives, wheat, oranges, lemons, butter, strawberries and alcohol. Eating any of these would produce swollen glands, depression, headache, stomach pains, aching joints and general flu-like symptoms within a few hours. It took her a long time to test all foods and establish a workable diet, but she now enjoys very good health and can eat a variety of foods. She can even tolerate small amounts of wheat and her other culprit foods occasionally, but has to avoid additives.
Cases like Rebecca’s are rare but they raise some interesting questions about what causes food intolerance. The swollen lymph nodes suggest that her immune system was affected by her reactions to foods, even though her symptoms were not those one would associate with allergy.
*298\180\8*
THE CLASSICAL ALLERGIC DISEASES: HAY-FEVER
Pollen, produced by plants and carried on the wind, is the most notorious of the airborne allergens – it causes the symptoms known to doctors as seasonal rhinitis and conjunctivitis and to the rest of the world as hay-fever. Not all
hay-fever sufferers respond to the same pollen, and the timing of the symptoms will depend on which pollen is the culprit.
Mast cells in the nose and eyes respond to the proteins in the outer coat of the pollen grain. The mediators that are released cause inflammation of the delicate membranes, which the hay-fever sufferer experiences as red, itchy, watery eyes, and a runny or congested nose. Some people also suffer from itching in the mouth or ears. Irritability and fatigue may accompany these physical symptoms, although whether these occur as a direct effect of the allergens on the nervous system, or simply a secondary effect of the unpleasant physical symptoms, is debatable.
Food can probably contribute to hay-fever, though pollen is always the major allergen. Some people find that by avoiding particular foods they reduce their sensitivity to pollen, and a lucky few lose their hay-fever symptoms altogether. Sensitivity to foods can also mimic hay-fever, if the foods concerned cause rhinitis and are only eaten in the summer, or in much larger amounts then.
*47\180\8*
SYMPHOSAN – A TRIED AND TESTED REMEDY (INTRODUCTION)
Symphosan consists of a mucilaginous tincture prepared from the fresh, raw Symphytum officinale, a hairy boraginaceous plant, and various other fresh plant tinctures.
Years of experience have shown that Symphosan, when taken orally, is excellent for treating inflammations of the stomach and intestinal linings. However, even more important is its external use. Applied as an ointment, it will alleviate gout and pains in the joints which manifest themselves when degenerative changes in them begin to occur and a grating noise can be noticed when flexing the joints.
It is important to adopt a strict natural diet as well, for the cure must come, in the first place, from within the body. Gratifying results can be achieved with this treatment if the patient is willing to follow it faithfully. There is no reason for arthritis sufferers to lose hope if they use Symphosan and plan a well-regulated diet. In this way, the degenerative progress of arthritis or gout can be arrested, as has been proved in long-standing cases where all other therapies had failed.
*707/28/1*
STRAINED LIGAMENTS AND SINEWS, SPRAINED ANKLES – INTRODUCTION
There is a way to alleviate the pain and restore to normal any sprains and strained ligaments in the quickest possible time. This is what you must do.
This treatment will relieve the pain after only a short time, perhaps within a few days, and it is therefore better than suffering pain and not being able to walk for 4-6 weeks or even 2-3 months.
Finally, warmth is necessary in the case of all bruises and internal injuries of ligaments and muscles. So see to it that the affected parts of the body are kept warm at all times.
*663/28/1*