These two consequences of inadequate pumping function lead to all of the symptoms associated with heart failure: shortness of breath (dyspnea) and fatigue with exertion; shortness of breath at rest and especially when lying down (orthopnea) because of fluid accumulation in the lungs; swelling or accumulation of fluid in the feet, legs, and trunk; and general fatigue. Because many of the symptoms of heart failure are caused by congestion of the tissues and lungs with fluid, it is often called congestive heart failure.

With mild heart failure, you may not have any symptoms while sitting and resting. You may not be short of breath until you engage in physical activity. With severe heart failure, you may experience distress even at rest, including shortness of breath, pale skin color, coolness in the arms and legs, and blue color of the lips, fingers, and toes (cyanosis). These symptoms may become worse when you lie down.

With severe heart failure, you are also prone to various irregular heart rhythms and may experience palpitations or syncope. Another symptom with advanced heart failure may be what is termed “Cheyne-Stokes” respiration, which is characterized by alternating periods of slow breathing with pauses and periods of rapid, deep breathing.

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ALLERGY TO DIFFERENT foods and chemicals is a well recognized phenomenon. Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician who lived in fifth century BC, and is generally regarded as the ‘father of medicine’, was, perhaps, the first to record a case of stomach upset and skin urticaria in a person who had taken milk. Another Greek physician and medical writer, Galen, in the second century A.D., described a case of allergy to goat’s milk. Numerous reports of allergy to different foods are available. The ingestion of foods to which the child is sensitive may produce a variety of symptoms, which include itching and swelling of the lips, sores in the mouth, vomiting, gaseous distention, diarrhoea, urticaria and headache. The same food may produce symptoms in a particular season, while it may not in other seasons. A lot depends on the combination with other allergenic factors.

Symptoms of allergy to food may appear either immediately, or several hours after the food is consumed. In the latter case, it becomes difficult to identify the allergen.

Food allergy is more common in infants and children. As the child grows older, he is exposed to many more environmental factors, and it may be that he is sensitive not only to foods, but also to pollens, dusts and moulds.

*36\260\8*

Mumps

Until 1968, mumps was a common viral disorder among children. That year a vaccine became available and the disease seemed to be largely under control, with reported cases declining from 80 per 100,000 people in 1968 to less than 2 per 100,000 people in 1984. But between 1985 and 1987, mumps rates again surged due to public apathy and increases in numbers of unvaccinated children. Today the incidence of mumps, as well as of many other childhood diseases has begun to level off. Failure to vaccinate children due to public apathy, misinformation, and social and economic conditions is responsible for the rise. Approximately one half of all mumps infections are not apparent because they produce only minor symptoms. Large numbers of mumps cases are never reported, so actual incidence rates may be higher than indicated. Typically, there is an incubation period of 16 to 18 days, followed by symptoms caused by the lodging of the virus in the glands of the neck. The most common symptom is the swelling of the parotid (salivary) glands. One of the greatest dangers associated with mumps is the potential for sterility in men who contract the disease in young adulthood. Also, some victims suffer hearing loss.

Chicken Pox (VZV) and Shingles

Caused by the herpes zoster varicella virus (VZV), chicken pox produces the characteristic symptoms of fever and tiredness 13 to 17 days after exposure, followed by skin eruptions that itch, blister, and produce a clear fluid. The virus is present in these blisters for approximately one week. Symptoms are generally mild, and immunity to subsequent infection appears to be life-long. Although a vaccine for chicken pox is available, many believe that it is not necessary and fail to vaccinate their children. Many children still contract the disease. Scientists believe that after the initial infection, the virus goes into permanent hibernation and, for most people, there are no further complications. For a small segment of the population, however, the zoster virus may become reactivated. Blisters will develop, usually on only one side of the body and tending to stop abruptly at the midline. Cases in which the disease covers both sides of the body are far more serious. This disease, known as shingles, affects over 5 percent of the population each year. More than half the sufferers are over 50 years of age.

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As a result of being unable to respond to problems which would normally have top priority, the over-stressed person might become apparently hopelessly disorganized, ignoring important decisions and busying himself with trivia.

For example, an over-stressed company general manager has to make some significant response to a real threat of industrial action from employees in a factory where a workmate has been killed accidentally. The union is concerned over safety procedures. The manager knows full well that a whole section of the factory is potentially unsafe and really needs rebuilding. However, the Board of Directors has made it clear that the company is just surviving, and the general manager knows that the extra expenditure to fix up the factory floor will be the trigger for closing down the business and result in the loss of many jobs, including his own. To make it more complex, the dead employee was clearly defying normal safety procedures, and the crisis might in fact be negotiable with the union.

However, the general manager has just come out of hospital following an operation for suspected cancer, and his wife’s father has just died. He is suffering from stress breakdown symptoms.

The day he is to meet with the union representatives, he seems not to be able to arrange an agenda for the meeting, but instead is preoccupied with ringing up to order more paper clips for his office.

The big problems appear not to be noticed, appear not to ‘register’ as important, as top priority, but the person instead reacts to little problems as before. When this behaviour is not recognized as due to stress breakdown, wrong assumptions may lead to totally inappropriate responses from others.

The spouses of over-stressed people might complain that the over-stressed person seems to have changed his priorities, or is deliberately ignoring the glaring needs of the family. Misunderstanding this symptom can lead to people feeling emotionally hurt at the apparent about-face in attitudes of the stressed person. ‘He’s so callous, doctor, and he just doesn’t care anymore. He thinks more of taking that dog for a walk than he does about helping me since I had my heart attack!’

It is obvious that a person who is switching off in response to major problems and strong stimuli is not capable at that time of organizing his life in such a way as to reduce the stress he is experiencing. A person in these circumstances needs to be rescued by someone else who will help that person get out of the increasing mess he finds himself in.

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IT CAN be very embarrassing when you have to shake someone’s hand when that hand shows a fungal condition. This usually displays itself in the palm of the hand, where the skin feels hard and is of a reddish, cracked texture. Fungal conditions can be persistent and difficult to treat. They often start on the hands, or sometimes on the feet, as in the case of athlete’s foot, or on some remote areas of the skin. They can be recognised by skin eruptions, inflammation, and cracked skin.

Not so long ago I had a patient with a fungal condition on the hands, and whatever I recommended, no progress was made. I mentioned this case to my old teacher, Dr Alfred Vogel. He told me that at one time he had visited the Javaras, an Indian tribe, where he had noticed many incidences of skin fungi, and went on to tell me how they treated their people: there, in the wild, originated today’s remedy, Spilanthes.

Spilanthes Oleracea or Paracress is a fresh herbal preparation to be used externally in cases of fungal conditions and infections. For a fungus within the mouth, this is also a wonderful remedy. In such instances, Spilanthes can be used as a mouth rinse for the inflammation of the mucous membranes, when it is recommended that at least 40 or 50 drops are used. For skin fungal conditions, including those under the finger- and toenails, it is advisable to dab Spilanthes on the affected areas two or three times a day.

Usually when I treat a patient for a fungus, I recommend the use of Petasan and Molkosan, both remedies from the Bioforce range. Molkosan is produced from fresh Alp whey, by a natural fermentation process. It contains all the important minerals found in fresh whey, such as magnesium, potassium and calcium in a concentrated form. Molkosan is also rich in natural dextrorotatory lactic acid, which in health-oriented nutrition, as well as natural healing methods, has a specific significance. Molkosan can also be used in the preparation of salad dressings, but for therapeutic purposes I recommend that twice a day, half a teaspoonful is drunk diluted in half a glass of water. This is beneficial for a healthy intestinal flora, and for any external skin condition, even for minor cuts and abrasions, but also for a persistent condition like athlete’s foot. This condition can be very difficult to treat, but even here Molkosan has proved helpful.

Athlete’s foot is probably the most commonly known fungus disease and can be very widespread. The skin frequently becomes raw and eroded, with a burning and itching feeling, and, as a result of touching, it can affect the hands too. Readers who have first-hand experience of this skin disease are bound to agree that it is a difficult condition to treat. However, Spilanthes and Molkosan for external treatment, and Petasan for internal use, will be of great help.

Ringworm, or Tinea Favosa, also called ‘honeycomb’ or Porrigo Scutula, affects mainly the scalp, the nails, and a few other parts of the skin. It generally starts with some scaling and crusting and is likely to leave some scar damage. This condition also requires immediate attention and, again, I mostly recommend the use of Echinaforce and Urticalcin, as these remedies will help to get the condition quickly under control. If the scaly patches are itchy, dab the areas with Molkosan. This is also helpful for barber’s itch (or ringworm of the beard). Sometimes this condition starts very gradually, but once it has had a chance to establish itself, the inflammatory process can spread rapidly over the area covered by a beard. It can be a source of great embarrassment when the hairs become dry and brittle, break off, and nasty scaly patches become visible.

With any of the aforementioned conditions it makes good sense to provide some extra help for the immune system. Immunity is very important at the best of times, as an effective immune system provides the most effective defence against any foreign agents, which may attack the body in a variety of ways. Although the immune system is complex and capable of exerting multiple effects, the condition of the immune system does depend largely on how well it is looked after. Despite ample research into this aspect of our health, many questions still remain unanswered. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that the best way to build up and strengthen the immune system is the natural way. A balanced natural diet and the use of supplementary vitamins, minerals and trace elements will always help us to better withstand infections, fungi, viruses or parasites. If we could be sure that our diet was well balanced, we would not need to take supplements. However, doctors and nutritionists are in agreement that it is rare that all the basic requirements are provided in our diet.

In an excellent article in The Times of 6 April 1992, I read that the US Government has adopted 1990 dietary guidelines, urging an ambitious, varied meal plan: three to five servings daily of vegetables, two to four of fruit, as well as six to eleven containing bread, rice, pasta or grains. Despite all this dietary help, people still need supplementary vitamins, minerals and trace elements, largely because, due to modern agricultural methods, our food may not meet the nutritional requirements our modern lifestyle demands of the body. Fortunately the same article continued to state that, thanks to new research, ever more scientists now believe that traditional medical views on vitamins and minerals have been too limited. While researchers may not endorse the expansive claims of the hard-core vitamin enthusiasts, evidence suggests that nutrients play a much more complex role in assuring vitality and optimum health than was previously thought. Vitamins, often in doses much higher than those usually recommended, may protect us from a host of ills, ranging from birth defects and cataracts, to heart disease and cancer. Even more provocative are glimmerings that vitamins can stave off the normal ravages of ageing. It is revealing that this article put the emphasis on the use of vitamins. Certainly, to help the immune system, a healthy well-balanced diet is necessary, as well as, in many cases, the use of extra vitamins.

The same article also stated that food contains a myriad of obscure nutrients, such as phenols, flafones and luteins. This is something scientists cannot yet fully understand, much less put into a safe and effective pill form, and undoubtedly many more nutrients have not even been identified yet. Even if a full-service nutrient pill were formulated, it would probably not be able to satisfy some basic home desires, like hunger and the joy of savouring food. It is quite heartening to think that the time has arrived when we are ready to admit that an inadequate food pattern may demonstrate itself in skin disorders, indicating that internally something is deficient.

In the past, when the word immunity was used, it usually referred to the phenomena wherein, having been infected with a disease, it was unlikely that the same condition would recur. However, in recent years social problems, caused by specific infections, have become the topic of widespread discussion and speculation. Since then, immunity in general has become associated with the body’s defence mechanism, and not only for infectious diseases. As a result the importance attached to immunity has allowed a widening of the prophylaxis of therapy for many disorders. How an organism is maintained in a certain state depends on various mechanisms for its protection. Even external enemies will threaten life in an immunological mechanism. Immunological cells may be reduced both quantatively and qualitatively due to many factors, and we live in times when the immunological ability must be constantly reinforced. In this matter we can have considerable influence, if we are so inclined.

We can start by accepting the need and responsibility for a balanced and nutritional diet. We can decide to follow a sensible exercising programme. We can also judge if the level of stress we personally experience is acceptable or not. If the latter is the case, we can seek advice on how to deal with, or reduce it. Rest assured that by taking positive action the immune system will be reinforced. Moreover, preparations are available that have been devised for the specific purpose of strengthening the immune system, such as Imunoforce from the Bioforce range and Imuno-Strength, which I have formulated myself for Nature’s Best. Imuno-Strength is able to deal with viruses, bacteria and toxins, before they become established. Today’s world is full of challenges to our defence mechanisms. Some of these are under our control – such as the food we eat, the stresses and strains of work – others are not. These include environmental pollution by potentially toxic chemicals. In these circumstances it makes sense to help protect the integrity of our immune system by safeguarding our nutrition. Nature’s Best has been able to go one better with a special formula. As well as carefully selected amounts of vitamins and minerals known to be needed for proper functioning of the immune system, Imuno-Strength contains the herbs Devil’s Claw and Echinacea.

*29\147\2*

The purpose of this brief excursion into the evolution of human behavior is to suggest that we must be on guard to recognize the errors into which the human mind might easily slip. One error might be a failure to recognize opportunities for controlling disease. When we are faced with a disease organism, we may just want to kill it like an enemy rather than trying to control its biology in a more beneficial way. Another error might involve a more global view. Throughout our evolutionary history human enemies must have been invading from the outside. Mental imagery of invasion may have been favored by natural selection because it would have allowed our ancestors to plan for the attack. But when applied to disease control, the imagery may introduce biases. Invasion imagery was certainly appropriate for the disease epidemics that invaded the New World from the Old World, and one part of the Old World from another through the nineteenth century. It helps explain why at the close of the fifteenth century, the Italians called syphilis the French disease, and the French called syphilis the Italian disease. It also helps explain why influenza epidemics typically bear names such as Hong Kong flu and Spanish flu (at least outside Hong Kong and Spain). Influenza epidemics certainly do cross national borders, as did the AIDS pandemic. This border-crossing ability of infectious plagues has led many to believe that the greatest infectious threats will come from the outside. But we need to remember that our expectations are biased by minds that tend to visualize threats as invaders coming from beyond our borders. Perhaps the experts are looking in the wrong place. Perhaps the most menacing infectious adversaries are already here.

*29\225\2*

The cause of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome might be overgrowth of Candida in one person, a toxic colon in another. Another cause is one that many sufferers stubbornly refuse to acknowledge – an exhausted nervous system. They search and search for something ‘physical’ when the cause of the trouble is right under their noses, but what could be more physical than overstimulated nerves? They are part of the body too. In order to understand how tired nerves affect the bowel it is necessary to have some idea of how the nervous system works.

Understanding the Nervous System

The nervous system can be compared to a railway network; it provides lines of communication between various parts of the body, with the brain as the central station, the spine as the main line and the supply to the hands and feet as the branch lines. It is divided into the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.

The Central Nervous System

This controls voluntary movement and is responsible for all sensations in muscles, bones and joints. It is under the control of the will – you want to pick up a cup, you reach out your hand and do so. This system works well unless it is neurologically impaired or, in times of terror, paralysed with fear.

The Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system controls all involuntary muscles, including internal organs, and blood vessels. This system is under the control of the emotions, for example, anger will cause your blood pressure to rise, fear will make the stomach churn. It has two parts: the sympathetic nervous system, which has a stimulating effect, and the parasympathetic, which has a calming effect. When your parasympathetic nervous system does not work properly you become overanxious.

Think of the sympathetic nervous system as the express trains speeding along and the parasympathetic nervous system as the slow trains pottering along, taking time and enjoying the view. All the internal organs have two sets of nerves, one stimulating, the other quietening – remember this important point when you are arguing with your bowel.

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