A vast number of medications are available on prescription or over-the-counter. It would be impossible to list all medications and their possible side effects here. Your doctor can provide you with information about any medication that your child is taking.
All medicines are potentially poisonous if not taken according to directions. Always keep medicines out of the reach of children, preferably in a locked cupboard.
If your child is taking medicine, give it to him at the specified times and he accurate with the dosage (amount). Use a measuring spoon or cup — do not guess the amount. If you forget to give your child a dose, give it as soon as you remember, and give the following dose at the correct time. Give the medicine for the exact period of time advised by your doctor — this advice is based on scientific research, not on a whim. Do not suddenly stop giving the medicine when the child is feeling better, unless it is on the doctor’s advice.
Any particular medicine should only be used by the person for whom it has been prescribed. It is not safe practice to borrow medicines from other people, not to give them to others. Do not give your child’s medicine to his brother or sister without consulting your doctor. This can be life-threatening. Some children can suffer serious side effects from even a small amount of a seemingly harmless substance.
Some medications interact with others, that is, they are not compatible with each other and may produce serious side effects. Always check with your doctor if your child is taking more than one medication at a time. All medicines have generic, or common, chemical names but are marketed under various brand names, which vary from country to country. The one medication may be marketed under different brand names. The brand names are usually printed in larger letters. Check the small print for the generic name.
Always discard medicines that are past their ‘use by’ date. This expiry date is always written on the container. Do not dispose of them in the rubbish. Take them to your chemist for disposal, or flush them properly down the toilet.
Remember that if you need to take any medication during pregnancy or when breastfeeding, this should be monitored by a doctor. Most medications should be avoided at these times, no matter how innocent they may seem, as they can be harmful to the baby. Always check with your doctor before taking any medication.
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There are no guarantees that our children will turn out to be perfect — children are after all human! But, giving our children the best possible chance in life is what we all wish for as parents and there are certain things we can do, even before the birth, to prepare the road ahead and maximise our child’s chances of being healthy and well-adjusted.
Looking after yourself during pregnancy is the best start you can give your unborn child. This chapter does not try to be a complete guide to pregnancy and childbirth. It focuses on those aspects of pregnancy that are important to your child’s health.
Pregnancy is the ideal time to prepare for your baby’s arrival and for your approaching parenthood. After your baby is born you will be busy looking after both of you, as well as the rest of the family, in many cases. Take advantage of the time you may have before the baby is born to read about childbirth, babies and parenting. Talk to other parents, relatives, your doctor and your maternal and child health nurse to familiarise yourself with both the emotional and practical aspects of parenthood. Do some research and find out in advance what sort of services are available in your local area such as nappy wash services, creches, babysitters and home help.
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Young Adulthood: Telling It Like It Feels vs. Telling What You Feel Like Telling
You have traced the courtship ritual in our culture, and have learned that vulnerability has received a bad name. Instead of learning to value people because they are vulnerable, fragile, open, and disclosing, we learn to think of them as foolish and immature. We see them trying too hard and showing too much of themselves. A key lesson for super marital sex is to be able to open it all up, to share every feeling as you feel it. The real outside world doesn’t allow this openness, but it is available to you in the privacy and safety of your own marriage place. The young adult must resolve this conflict, take the risk, get hurt, bounce back, and eventually learn that only through vulnerability will lasting love and fulfilling sex be possible.
Adulthood: The Saneness of Sameness vs. the Quest for Newness
From early childhood, we learn that new is always better than old or used. Same is not as good as different, unique, or unknown. We learn that variety is the spice of life. At this adult phase of development, we must learn to countermand these cultural orders, to learn to value sameness, reliability, predictability, history, and a long-lasting, predictable sexual relationship.
Somehow a cultural myth evolved that people must “sow their wild oats” before they can “settie down.” Sexism has translated this myth to males doing the sowing and females avoiding the reaping. Finding someone to love, to have sex with over a long time does not have to follow anything else. Those people who negotiate through this stage learn the lesson that movement toward love does not have to include a sally into promiscuity.
Mature Adulthood: Us vs. Me
The term “inclusivity” refers to sharing activities and life endeav¬ors. This phase of sexual development requires striking a balance between autonomy and individual identity and finding such identity with someone while he or she is finding his or her own. Watching a lovely sunset can be a strong individual, almost spiritual experi¬ence. It can also provide for a sharing, a mental, emotional sharing or telepathy. The balance of independence and interdependence is the challenge of mature adult sexuality.
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Hypertension means high blood pressure and not excessive anxiety or nervous tension.
Blood pressure is the pressure of the blood inside the arteries which carry the blood from the heart to the tissues.
When the heart contracts and forces blood out into the already filled arteries, the pressure rises. This is systolic blood pressure. When the heart is at rest, the pressure inside the elastic arteries is the diastolic pressure.
The difference between the two readings is the pulse pressure. The normal range varies considerably, being low in children and young women, and tending to rise with age.
The common belief that blood pressure should be 100 plus your age is not really true.
The normal range of systolic pressure is about 100 to 145 and the diastolic 60 to 90. It normally rises with exertion, exposure to heat or cold and with emotion, and these changes are more marked in the systolic pressures.
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Pyrimethamine appears to be the most successful drug in the treatment of toxoplasmosis when it is given in conjunction with one of the sulpha drugs although sometimes sulphonamide is used alone.
Some of the broad spectrum antibiotics are also effective. Pyrimethamine may cause vitamin  and folic acid deficiencies and so these essential food factors may need to be given at the same time.
Cortisone and its derivatives have been used to reduce the inflammation, when the eye is involved.
Because of wide publicity given to this infection, many women are anxious to know if their unborn baby will be at risk. A blood or skin test should reveal whether a woman has come into contact with the parasite.
If she does have antibodies in her blood, it appears her foetus is safe and unlikely to develop the infection, even if the mother again comes into contact with the parasite.
Those women who have negative tests would be wise to avoid contact with cats during their early pregnancy. They place themselves particularly at risk if handling trays that may contain cat faeces or gardening in soil contaminated by the faeces. It appears that the parasite may be able to live in suitable soil for about a year.
Some experts believe that most cases of human infection come not from the cat but from eating infected meat which has not been properly cooked. Those who like their meat rare run a considerable risk from a variety of infections. Freezing is unlikely to kill the parasite, whereas adequate cooking does.
There is as yet no vaccine available for immunisation against this disease.
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Also known as biochemical tissue salts, the medicinal use of these simple mineral compounds was developed by Dr Wilhelm Schuessler in Germany in the 1870s. He placed particular emphasis on the balance of minerals in the body and the onset of disease and identified 12 salts which were vital for general health and self-healing. If the mineral balance in cells was just right, Schuessler reasoned, diseases do not occur. Schuessler concentrated his efforts on the healing of everyday illnesses like colds and muscular pain, skin rashes and allergies.
Today these compounds are widely used by homeopaths but may be prescribed in a slightly different way to the Schuessler remedies, in keeping with the homeopathic principle of like curing like. The salts are known by an abbreviated name, such as Calc. fluor. for Calcium Fluoride and Kali mur. for Potassium Chloride, and are usually dissolved under the tongue. People suffering from lactose intolerance should note that lactose is often used as a binder in tissue salt powders and tablets (see Homeopathy). Tissue salts are also made up in combinations to treat different aspects of various problems.
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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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Any dementia-causing neurological condition can slowly rob you of things you take for granted-like language, memory, judgment, even your ability to make sense of what you see or where you are. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and perhaps the deadliest. The estimated four million American adults who have it suffer any combination of those cognitive losses, usually starting off with seemingly insignificant memory lapses.
There are genes that predispose you to Alzheimer’s. A family history of any kind of dementia puts you at higher risk. Other risk factors include a history of depression, alcohol abuse, or thyroid disease. Here are some ways to bolster your odds against this ailment.
Get smart. An idle mind is Alzheimer’s playground. “Well-educated people seem to show signs of Alzheimer’s less often,” says Linda Hershey, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology at the State University of New York at Buffalo and chief of neurology at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, also in Buffalo. “Education has a protective effect.”
But even if you dropped out of school, it’s not too late to build up your brain against Alzheimer’s. Dedication to mind-challenging hobbies like music, cards, or drawing will help, according to the Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia at the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine. The only requirement is an active mind.
Relieve brain pain. A toxic protein in Alzheimer’s patients’ brains actually stimulates inflammatory reactions that contribute to cell loss. “You could possibly slow that process by taking an anti-inflammatory pain remedy like ibuprofen,” Dr. Hershey says. “Just like this drug helps reduce inflammation in your joints, it helps the same way in your brain.” In fact, studies have shown that any of the non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (that is, aspirin, ibuprofen, and the like) help. But Dr. Hershey cautions that you should ask your physician before taking these drugs, as they can cause serious side effects.
Take vitamin E. When Columbia University researchers looked at Alzheimer’s sufferers, they found that those who took vitamin E in the middle stages took about a year longer before requiring institutionalization. That doesn’t mean that vitamin E can prevent Alzheimer’s. Also, this study’s dosage was much higher than what most doctors would recommend. In fact, taking high doses of vitamin E has the potential to cause neuropathy, according to Dr. Hershey.
“Vitamin E presumably works because it’s an antioxidant and, therefore, the enemy of free radicals that can damage brain cells in people with Alzheimer’s,” Dr. Hershey says. “A free-radical scavenger like vitamin E can slow down the process.” And so can other antioxidants, research indicates, including ginkgo and vitamin Ñ. But again, before you add a vitamin E supplement to your diet, Dr. Hershey advises that you speak with your doctor.
Watch your head. Trauma, especially combined with a predisposing gene, increases your risk for Alzheimer’s. It can happen from one severe head injury or various blows to the noggin over the years. “If you have the gene, head trauma can make the symptoms show up earlier,” Dr. Hershey says.
Check the pressure. High blood pressure is usually associated with other kinds of dementia, but at least one study at the University of Illinois has found a hypertension-Alzheimer’s link. Fifteen years after having their blood pressure tracked at age 70, those in the study group who developed Alzheimer’s turned out to be those with higher blood pressure readings.
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Routine maintenance for the human body can help prevent many of life’s unpleasantries, and just as women have health concerns that should be addressed
in regular doctor visits, so do men. For men, those concerns include blood pressure, cholesterol levels, the health of their hearts, their activity levels, and as they reach middle-age and late-life years, specific tests to detect prostate cancer, colon/rectal cancer and heart disease.
In addition to an electrocardiogram or heart stress test, blood pressure monitoring, cholesterol blood test, immunization, and counseling and discussion, which all follow the same guidelines as women’s checkups described earlier in this chapter, men should also perform a monthly testicle self-examination for soreness, lumps and swelling. Starting at age 40, men should also have a digital rectal exam— a physical exam of the rectum and prostate to detect signs of cancer or prostate disease—every year.
Doctors recommend that men between the ages of 20 and 40 should perform a self-examination of their testicles about once a month to look for lumps or swellings that may indicate cancer. Self-examination (in addition to your doctor’s periodic examinations) is important because testicular cancer, which is the most common cancer in young men, is one of the most easily curable of all cancers if detected early. The best time to perform the examination is during or after a bath or shower when the scrotal skin is relaxed. Here’s what to look for:
1) A lump in either testicle.
2) Pain, swelling or tenderness of either testicle.
3) Ulceration of the scrotal skin.
Here are the steps involved in the self-examination procedure:
1) Standing in front of a mirror, look for obvious lumps or swelling of the scrotal sac.
2) Examine each testicle thoroughly and gently with the fingers of both hands by rolling the testicle between the thumbs and the fingers. Feel for any lump or abnormality in texture or contour. A normal testicle is oval and firm, but not hard, and has a regular surface.
3) Locate and identify the epididymis at the top and back of the testicles (the ropelike structure which collects the sperm). The structure may feel firm but should not be confused for an abnormal lump. Consult your doctor if it is tender or swollen.
Other danger signals to report immediately include a heavy feeling in the testicles, a dragging sensation in the groin, or a sudden accumulation of blood or fluid in the scrotal sac.
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