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When your body is poisoned, overloaded with excess food and toxins, your mind at all levels (from the sub-conscious to the super-conscious) is forced to assist emergencies arising in yarious organs of your body. This is an extremely low level of activity of the mind (a fight for survival), perhaps the lowest possible.

To understand better what I am talking about, I give you an example.

Consider that your house is on fire. Without any hesitation, you will direct all your undivided attention and efforts to this emergency. You will try to extinguish the fire, save as many items of value from the house, save yourself, your family and other people in danger. Your mind will be totally engaged in the emergency operation.

It is quite easy to imagine, that it will be impossible for you under such circumstances to direct your mind into a more subtle mode or to creative activity like writing a book, solving complex problem or programming your computer for example, when your house is on fire and you and your family are in danger. Imagine your boss phoning you in the middle of the fire with some ideas for you to work on. You will simply cut all conversation and attend the emergency immediately.

Now let us go back to your body. If it is not pure enough, your mind is busy attending “fires” in various organs. You feel dull and become tired quickly. You have difficulties concentrating. If your body is in the “healing crisis” (simply speaking you feel sick), the least you feel like doing is thinking. You simply cannot think ! Any request for thinking hard is like a telephone from your boss during the fire : your higher mind cuts all communications.

Similar effects can be observed after large meals, when you overload your body with food. According to medical science food should give you energy. But instead, you feel tired and sometimes even sick. Your mind is slow and tired too. Any request for thinking hard, returns as feeling of being sleepy and ready to rest.

In the other extreme, people aiming at the highest possible activity and development of the mind (to the point of complete enlightenment and unification with the entire universe) have to have very pure physical bodies. Masters of yoga in the Himalayas hardly eat anything at all.

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So what do we do if the airconditioning unit in our building harbors a legionella organism?

I don’t think we yet have the answer. The risk of infection appears to be small.

There are certainly worse diseases in Australia carrying considerably more risk than causing 27 cases over a two-year period, and we accept them without panic.

It would appear to be impracticable to test all air-conditioning units in all of our public buildings to see whether they harbor any germs.

We just do not have those sort of testing facilities, but, even if we did, and even if large numbers were shown to harbor the organism, the risk appears to be small, and we have, as yet, no technology to eradicate the germ from this area.

Research has shown the organism may also be present in other collections of water, and it may well be that these are more important than air-conditioning units.

Time will undoubtedly lead to further explanation about this new (or old but previously unrecognised) germ, and how it can affect our health.

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The question of consent may be waived in an emergency if the doctor, to save the life of his patient, carries out treatment.

Most of the problems arise with minors and are concerned with the doctor’s suggesting a form of treatment, such as blood transfusion, with which the parents cannot agree.

In these circumstances, in most States, the law allows the doctor to move to have the child declared a ward of the State and then to seek permission to carry out the procedure.

This may not be acceptable to those parents who have a moral objection to the treatment, but does seem to satisfy majority public opinion.

The wishes of the parents cannot be automatically over-ruled; the doctor must obtain a second opinion and be able to show that his treatment is necessary to save life.

Some doctors are worried by the threat of later legal action should they accede to the wishes of their patient and withhold treatment which may be standard in the circumstances.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have prepared a standard release form waiving their rights to sue for negligence when they have withheld permission for treatment, such as transfusion, which the doctor considers necessary-

This approach is an attempt by the group to make known their wishes and to co-operate with the medical profession without compromising what is to them a fundamental belief.

A doctor may disagree with their beliefs, yet he must respect their right to hold and to practise them.

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What can I do to prevent endometriosis? Although endometriosis is rarely life-threatening, it affects life on two very critical levels—well-being and fertility. Women are often surprised by the differences they can make in ending the misery of endometriosis.

• Believe you cm make a difference. You will learn what you can do to alter your condition within these pages, but you must believe, in your heart, that you can do it. Then you have to take the first step. Beginnings can seem formidable and the goat may seem far away. Keep up your energy and motivation to reach the goal of offsetting the symptoms of endometriosis, reducing the pain, and, possibly, curing the disease and preventing its recurrence. This is challenging, but it can be done by taking one step at a time.

• Change your diet. Endometriosis responds so well to dietary changes, it must be part of standard treatment, along with medication, as indicated, for each woman. The endometriosis recovery diet follows shortly. It is based on evidence that certain foods, vitamins, and minerals affect both pain from menstrual cramping and hormone levels. The diet concentrates on putting your body in balance nutritionally and reducing pain the natural way Put very simply, it requires you to cut down on sugar, salt, and fat and increase your intake of complex carbohydrates, certain vitamins, and fiber.

Studies show that obesity promotes higher estrogen levels, which increase die chances of endometriotic cysts. Women on vegetarian diets have higher levels of estrogen and cholesterol in their stool than meat-eaters. Essentially, all the fiber they are eating helps eliminate excess estrogen and cholesterol from their bodies. This is one reason why you need fiber.

• Reduce stress. Stress-related accidents and illnesses account for about three-fourths of the time lost on the job. Why does this happen? Stress attacks start a domino effect in the body. Stress is far more than a pyschological irritant. During hard stress, the lymph glands shrink; the cortisone level is raised as the adrenal glands release more of this hormone and impair immune system functioning; blood pressure rises; the heart works harder; and the body, in sum, is left open to infection or stress-related disease.

There is much dispute about stress’s affecting or creating endometriosis. Some see the disease as a combination of known and unknown factors, all of them within the body itself—whether it is genetic predisposition or links to hormone production. These people, many of them sufferers of endometriosis, do not believe that stress has any real bearing on the condition, arguing that this places too much responsibility and “guilt” on the patient. Others, like myself, believe that this disease is connected in some way to the effects of counterproductive stress, such as fatigue, overwork, disruptive environments, discord among family members or friends, worry about money, career, love, and security for the future.

Dr. Christiane North nip an obstetrician and gynecologist and co-founder of a group practice. Women to Women, in Yarmouth, Maine, concurs. “I almost never sec a patient with endometriosis who does not have a number of adverse factors in her life, which may have affected the onset or progress of the disease.” she told me. As a woman doctor treating women, she says, “I feel strongly that stress is most definitely a component.”

Dr. Northrup thinks it is helpful for women to “rethink their goals” and do some “inner searching.” What does she mean? “Modern women want their lives to be an organic whole,” she said. “Ideally, this means home life is consistent with work life, rather like an intermeshed flowing whole. I think it’s common for working women to be hard on themselves and add the self-induced pressures of wanting that harmony and balance, myself included.

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Both hair and nails are derived from the epidermis, and both consist of the same dead tissue—the protein, keratin. Because of their derivation from the epidermis it is not surprising that diseases affecting the skin may affect the hair and nails as well. In addition, there are a number of disorders which are peculiar to the hair (including the scalp) and nails.

Hair loss may be temporary, when it is usually called alopecia; or it may be permanent, when usually called baldness. The most common form of temporary diffuse alopecia is that associated with the following conditions or circumstances:

acute mental stress

severe illness or injury

following pregnancy

stopping the oral contraceptive pill iron deficiency various hormonal deficiencies certain drugs rapid weight loss In these cases the hairs in the resting phase are the ones which are usually lost. As such the hair loss is temporary, and will right itself once the precipitating cause has been corrected.

Alopecia areata, where the loss is localized to one or more well-defined areas, is the most common type of hair loss seen in medical practice. There is sometimes a family history of it, and there appears to be a genetic association with some other conditions (known as auto-immune diseases) such as vitiligo (pigment loss), pernicious anaemia, and either over or under active thyroid disorders. There is often psychological stress or some emotional deprivation some weeks prior to onset. Although alopecia areata occurs at all ages the majority of cases are in children and young adults. It is estimated that there are about 100000 sufferers in Australia.

With this disorder patches of hair may be lost from any part of the body, although hair loss is typically limited to the scalp and beard areas. Symptomless bald areas up to a few centimetres in diameter develop, which may coalesce and produce the loss of all scalp hair (alopecia totalis) or even of the whole body [alopecia universalis). In the stage of active hair loss, very short, broken hairs shaped like exclamation marks may be found. These are not seen in the conditions which may, otherwise, be taken for alopecia areata (such conditions as ringworm and secondary syphilis). The prognosis for alopecia areata is good in the majority of cases, with most patients growing new, often initially white, hair within six to nine months. The longer the alopecia lasts and the larger the areas affected, the worse are the chances of satisfactory regrowth.

Small areas of hair loss which show evidence of regrowth are best left untreated. When improvement is slow or where areas are large, topical corticosteroids may be useful. Occasionally, they may be injected into the areas to promote regrowth, but this effect may be transient. Recently, various irritants and sensitizers—such as DNCB—have been used in an attempt to stimulate hair growth. It is important for patients or parents to fully understand what is known about the condition and its varied course. Considerable reassurance is frequently necessary, and recently a number of self-help groups have been set up to enable those involved to help one another and to seek further help both from the Government and the medical profession.

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The modem focus of eating plans for sustainable fat loss is a decrease in total dietary fat and an increase in the proportion of complex carbohydrates, followed in importance by a decrease in total energy intake. When assessing diet plans, these basic criteria need to be kept in mind. It is also important for health professionals providing advice to those seeking fat loss to know just how this is best achieved and to have an understanding of how popular diet plans manipulate the facts. The following is a review of some general diet plans.

Low-energy diets. These diets aim to provide 800-1200 kcal/day which is substantially lower than the resting metabolic rate of even very lean adults. The associated risks of the diet will decrease as the energy intake increases, but one of the main problems is dealing with hunger on these diets. The use of appropriately advised physical activity programs to support these diets is highly recommended.

When these reduced-calorie diets are based on regularly available foods rather than fortified products, there is a small risk of micronutrient inadequacy. Supplementation may be recommended, which would seem to defeat the purpose of creating a lifelong achievable plan that is nutritionally adequate. The needs of pre-menopausal women for iron and all women for calcium may not be met by these diets.

Many of the commercial weight loss organisations base their programs on this type of diet and include interventions in the form of a client attending a centre, a group meeting in community settings or home-delivered meals. The ready availability of frozen, pre-packaged meals for dieters in the supermarket is an area of concern, as these have little relevance to an overall rat loss strategy and are not concerned with nutritional adequacy.

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There are many reasons why hysterectomies are carried out, the most common being fibroids and unexplained heavy menstrual bleeding. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare studies indicate that fibroids account for about 6500 (22%) and heavy menstrual bleeding for about 5300 (18%) of the estimated 30 000 hysterectomies performed in Australia each year. In the US, fibroids are said to be responsible for as many as 30% of hysterectomies and a further 20% are due to excessive bleeding of uncertain cause. Other major reasons given for the hysterectomies performed in Australia are prolapse (7-21% depending on the type of hospital and State in which it is located), endometriosis and adenomyosis (6-23%), cancer (1-12%) and pelvic inflammatory disease (2-8%). Multiple reasons are given for the remaining hysterectomies.

While information is available about the number of women who have hysterectomies and the underlying reasons, much greater uncertainty surrounds the women who consider the option of hysterectomy but decide against it. It is probable that these women number many, many thousands.

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A television documentary recently reported an unusual case of insomnia in England. Loughborough University advertised for people who thought they did not need to sleep to come forward to join in a sleep research study. So people who were short sleepers volunteered to be tested under laboratory conditions. At night they were allowed to lie in bed to rest and their brain waves were monitored continuously. There was a man who claimed that after an accident causing head injury a few years earlier he did not sleep at all. He also claimed that he was functioning normally and did not feel worried when he was lying awake. Brain wave recordings showed that he slept only four minutes during the three day study.

The study findings suggest that perhaps the brain is programmed to sleep periodically. The man who did not have the need to sleep after the head injury may have had his brain reprogrammed in such a way that sleep was no longer required. Maybe in hundreds or thousands of years from now we will be able to reprogram the brain so that we will have the choice of not having to sleep at all. There is a Chinese saying, ‘Life is not as long as it seems, as half of it is spent sleeping’.

It is possible that there are other biological functions, yet to be discovered, which only happen in sleep. We have only just started to study sleep as a science, and sleep laboratories have been around only in the last 50 years. We are certain that we are only scratching the surface of the science of sleep and that there is much more to discover, for there are still many unanswered questions and why we need to sleep is one of them.

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The ready availability of reliable oral contraception has undoubtedly been a significant factor in relieving tens of thousands of women of tension and anxiety. On the other hand the advent of the contraceptive pill has brought tension and guilt to many women who might otherwise have been free of it.

If a woman believes that contraception is morally wrong, or if she is forbidden by her church to use it, and if she follows her conscience in these matters and does not use it, she may still suffer considerable mental tension arising from her knowledge that women all around her are using contraception. As a result, she is constantly under temptation in a manner in which other women are not. This is shown by the way in which many such women do in fact take the pill for a while, then feel guilty about taking it and stop. Then they take it again, and in the same way discontinue it; and so it goes on.

The position of course is much more difficult when husband and wife see the problem of contraception from different points of view. In such cases the unfortunate woman may have contraception forced upon her without consideration of her inner feelings at all.

It is not uncommon for couples who have religious doubts about contraception to feel that sexual withdrawal is less of a sin than chemical means of prevention. But this half measure only leads to further anxiety. There is still the tension from feelings of guilt, and added to this the woman is tensed fearing that her husband will not withdraw in time. In addition, the fact of withdrawing just at the moment when biological fulfilment demands deepest penetration

produces tension in both man and wife. This of course has been known for centuries and was considered by Freud as an important cause of anxiety.

There is yet another important social side-effect of the widespread use of the contraceptive pill. Girls who have been sexually promiscuous in the past are now relieved of much of their anxiety. However, the ready availability of the pill has undoubtedly led many girls into promiscuity who would have otherwise been continent. Many of these young women suffer nervous tension not from doubts about taking the pill itself, but from moral qualms about their new way of life.

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Most studies of the anti-depressant effects of St John’s Wort have used 300 mg three times per day. In my experience with using many other anti-depressants, however, I have been impressed by the wide variation in dosage required by different people. To some degree, this relates to the ability of a person’s liver to break the antidepressant down into inactive substances, which are then excreted.

This ability varies tremendously from person to person. To some extent, one can get an indication of how sensitive a person is going to be to a new medication by reviewing that person’s sensitivity to medications in the past. The amount of medication needed is often not related to the size of the person being treated and I have been impressed over the years by small women patients who have been able to tolerate enormous dosages of anti-depressants, in contrast to very large men who have been sensitive to tiny dosages.

I believe that there will be a range of optimal dosages for St John’s Wort as well. A good practical way to begin treatment is to start with approximately 300 mg a day, with breakfast, for a two to three days, followed by 600 mg a day (300 mg each at breakfast and lunch) for a further two to three days, followed by 900 mg a day (300 mg each at breakfast, lunch and dinner). As Kira is sold in the UK in 135-mg tablets, this would mean starting with two tablets per day, then increasing to four (two tablets twice a day) then six (two tablets three times a day). Then stay on this dosage for several weeks unless side-effects require reduction in dosage. The reason to begin with a low dosage is that whereas therapeutic effects often take weeks to appear, the side-effects of any antidepressant may occur very soon after taking it. If this should happen, one is always better off having taken a small rather than a large dosage. In addition, it sometimes takes a while for your system to get used to a new medication, and gradually increasing the dosage gives your system a chance to adjust to it.

Taking medications with meals reduces the likelihood of developing gastro-intestinal side-effects such as nausea, indigestion or abdominal pains, which may occur with St John’s Wort. The meal will not interfere with the effects of the treatment in any way. If you should develop side-effects after increasing the dosage to, say, four 135-mg pills a day and the side-effects are mild, try to remain on that dosage for at least a few days. Side-effects may settle down within a few days. If you increase the dosage without waiting for this to happen, it will most likely make the side-effects worse and discourage you from staying on the medication. It may turn out that the current dosage will be just right for you. Alternatively, if this dosage proves to be too low, once the side-effects diminish sufficiently you may be able to increase the dosage at a later time if you need to.

Taking a medication three times a day can be quite inconvenient. Somehow the midday dosage often gets missed out. It is generally much easier to the take medications twice a day, and some people have found that a twice-daily dosage of St John’s Wort (four 135-mg pills at breakfast and two at dinner) works well for them. One or two of my patients developed indigestion when they have used the herb in this way and found that taking it three times a day with meals completely resolved that side-effect. If you should happen to forget the midday dosage, however, it is preferable to double up the evening dose rather than missing one dose for the day, bringing the day’s total to six 135-mg St John’s Wort tablets. Because no one is sure of what the active ingredients are in St John’s Wort, it is impossible at this time to say what the best dosing schedule really is; more research is required to answer this question. At this time, I recommend that you start using St John’s Wort three times a day and, later on, after you have established that it works for you, it may be worth experimenting with different dosing schedules. It is possible that for some people, like the man whose wife mixed his St John’s Wort in with the breakfast vitamins, a once-a-day schedule will prove to be sufficient.

Just as it is possible that some people will not need six 135-mg St John’s Wort tablets per day but may respond fully to two or four tablets, so others may require more than six tablets per day. It is probably worth staying on six 135-mg tablets per day for at least five weeks before deciding to increase the dosage. In one study of more serious depression, 1,800 mg of Hypericum proved to be as effective as a conventional anti-depressant and the researcher running the study remarked that the frequency of side-effects did not appear to be greater than he had encountered on the more conventional lower dosage of 900 mg per day. It would be surprising to me if, just as with other anti-depressants, different people did not end up needing different amounts of Hypericum and I would encourage you and your doctor to experiment with different dosages up to 1,800 mg (approximately 13 135-mg tablets per day) provided you do not experience any particularly unpleasant side-effects and provided you give the lower dosage of 900 mg (six tablets) a fair trial of five to six weeks before increasing the dosage.

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