A similar, but much more serious case was presented by Eleanor Wyckham, an overweight middle-aged woman. Two years before entering the Ecology Unit, Mrs. Wyckham had been hospitalized for depression. She had attempted suicide twice and had been given electroshock therapy. In her case, the treatment was ineffective and caused some memory loss.
Mrs. Wyckham was one of those patients who was aware that her problems stemmed in part from food. «I’ve reached the point where I am afraid to eat any longer,» she said, before entering the Ecology Unit. «Once I start eating, I feel as if I simply cannot stop.» She alternated between binges of eating and fasts or all-fruit diets. Her favorite food in the world, she said, was peanut butter—this was the one item she could not do without. She also loved bread, baked goods, and in fact anything with wheat in it. She had eaten wheat addictively since childhood, when her mother, who was interested in nutrition, became convinced of the virtues of whole wheat bread. She therefore plied her daughter with large amounts of this staple. Mrs. Wyckham, who had a family history of alcoholism, likened herself to an alcoholic, too—in her craving for bread and peanut butter.
She entered the hospital in a very depressed state. After five days of fasting, she was much less depressed. Not surprisingly, in her food test she had a severe reaction to peanuts (as well as to lamb). More unexpected was the fact that she passed the wheat test with no trouble—which shows that food allergies cannot always be pinpointed on the basis of histories or «hunches.» She did have moderate reactions to yeast and milk, however, which are often components of bread.
Mrs. Wyckham was then retested on some of the foods to which she had had no adverse reaction, but this time to foods which had been purchased in a commercial market. There was a definite increase in her depression, after a few such meals. Through the avoidance of incriminated foods, Mrs. Wyckham was able to control both her depression and her weight problem. This points to the fact that the Rotary Diversified Diet (Chap. 18), although not specifically designed as a weight-loss diet, can be helpful in that regard for the overweight patient.
The patients described in the preceding cases appear to have become sicker gradually, after a long period of cumulative exposure to chemicals and foods. Sometimes, however, a preexisting condition is suddenly made much worse by a massive exposure to an allergy-causing substance.
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Those who worry about passing flatus (rectal gas) must understand that it is quite normal to do so, Drug Therapy (17#10:76) reports. Everyone experiences this problem to a certain extent, and the amount of gas is excessive only when it causes physical discomfort or bloating of the abdomen.
Gas is produced in the colon (large intestine) by bacteria that ferment the sugars and other carbohydrates which fail to get digested and absorbed higher up in the intestinal tract. One of the more common causes of this embarrassing problem is lactase insufficiency (milk intolerance), a condition in which certain people are incapable of digesting lactose (the natural sugar in milk) because they lack the necessary sugar-splitting enzyme, lactase.
Lactase insufficiency victims can now take the missing enzyme by mouth in the form of the product Lactaid. This is available in drug stores and does not require a prescription.
Other common causes for fermentable sugar reaching the colon include the consumption of wheat, oats, potatoes, or corn in excessive amounts. Some fruits (apricots, bananas, prunes, and raisins) and vegetables (beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, and onions), contain indigestible carbohydrates, too, and are notorious sources of excessive gas.
However, people differ enormously in how much of these foods they can eat without experiencing this problem. Furthermore, everyone changes in this regard from day to day, and these differences depend upon variation in the types and number of bacteria living in the colon. For those who continue to be plagued by too much gas despite dietary adjustment, one can attempt to reduce the number of the offending colonic bacteria with a short course of antibiotic treatment (a doctor’s prescription is needed for this).
First, though, it is worth trying to inhibit the excessive fermentation by taking some charcoal pills by mouth. Activated charcoal (available in most drug stores) is not only a good poison antidote but reduces the bloating and cramps due to excessive intestinal gas, the American Journal of Gastroenterology (81:532) reports. In-both settings, charcoal works because it absorbs and inactivates many other substances, including gases. This is much less expensive and does not require a doctor’s prescription. By taking some charcoal every day, which is not expensive and does not require a doctor’s prescription, one can soon rid oneself of the discomfort and embarrassment of intestinal gas.
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Signs and symptoms
Swollen, slightly tender lymph glands are a symptom of illness or infection. If glands continue to swell, become painful and more tender, and redden the overlying skin, the glands themselves may have become infected. If the node is killed by the infection, it breaks down into pus, which may erupt through the skin as would a deep-seated boil.
Home care
Mildly swollen glands usually require treatment only for the disease or infection causing the swelling. Note which lymph nodes are swollen, look for the cause, and treat that disease or infection.
If lymph nodes are greatly enlarged, very tender, and red, see your doctor.
Precautions
• In infants, swollen glands in the neck (and sometimes other locations) usually require a doctor’s treatment because infants have a limited resistance to diseases.
• Any lymph node that continues to increase in size and tenderness or that becomes reddened needs a doctor’s attention.
• Healthy children have visible lymph nodes the size of fresh peas or smaller in the sides of the neck. These may become especially noticeable when the child turns the head; they are normal.
Medical treatment
Your doctor will seek the cause of swollen glands by conducting a complete examination of all sites of glands as well as the spleen and liver. The doctor may also order a blood count, mononucleosis test, and, in severe cases, chest and kidney – X rays, bone marrow examination, and test of sedimentation rate. Your doctor will treat the disease causing the swollen glands and may treat the glands themselves by prescribing antibiotics. An infected gland may be opened and drained or removed either as treatment or for a biopsy (culture and examination).
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