Health News. Lots of resources and information

Duphaston has been used to treat women with endometriosis in Australia for over 25 years. It has also been used to treat a variety of other conditions, including amenorrhea (absence of periods), dysmenorrhoea (painful periods), PMS (premenstrual syndrome) and abnormal uterine bleeding.

Duphaston is a progestogen (synthetic progesterone) which is very similar to the naturally occurring progesterone produced by the ovaries.

Duphaston is manufactured by Ethnor in the form of small, white tablets, each of which contain 10 milligrams of Duphaston. It is sometimes also known by its chemical name, dydrogesterone.

How Duphaston works

It is not known precisely how Duphaston eradicates endometrial implants because, unlike the other drugs used in the treatment of endometriosis, it does not stop menstruation and it does not usually stop ovulation at the dosages that are most commonly used. It is thought that Duphaston probably works by inhibiting the growth of the misplaced endometrial cells in some way, causing them to gradually waste away.

Dosages of Duphaston generally used

There are several approaches to the use of Duphaston for the treatment of endometriosis. The dosage recommended will depend largely on the practices of the gynecologist and, to a lesser degree, on the severity of the condition and the woman’s response to the treatment.

The majority of gynecologists will recommend 10 to 30 milligrams of Duphaston daily (one to three tablets daily) for six to twelve months. A few gynecologists will recommend taking the tablets cyclically from the 5th to the 25th day of the menstrual cycle each month for six to twelve months.

At these relatively low dosages most women will continue to menstruate and many will continue to ovulate regardless of whether the Duphaston is taken daily or cyclically.

In contrast, some gynecologists will recommend significantly higher dosages of Duphaston because they believe that the treatment is more likely to be effective if menstruation is stopped. These gynaecologists will generally recommend 30 to 60 milligrams of Duphaston a day (three to six tablets a day) for six to twelve months. The dosage recommended will usually depend on the response to the drug, the final dosage usually being the minimum required to stop menstruation and ovulation.

Although the usual length of treatment with Duphaston is six to twelve months there is no evidence that prolonged or repeated courses cause long-term side effects.

You should make an appointment to visit your gynecologist about six to eight weeks after you start your course of Duphaston so that you can discuss how the treatment is progressing.

Thereafter, you should visit every two to three months for the remainder of your course of Duphaston.

Duphaston can only be supplied under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for endometriosis if you have been definitely diagnosed during a laparoscopy or laparotomy and if your doctor fills in a special prescription form known as an ‘Authority’. If this is done one month’s supply of Duphaston will only cost you the maximum cost of a script under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme as opposed to its full cost.

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Like the TCAs, antidepressants of the MAOI class raise the levels of crucial neurotransmitters, but they do so in a different way, by inhibiting the action of an enzyme called monoamine oxidase. This enzyme breaks down certain compounds in the blood. By keeping monoamine oxidase from doing its job, the drug allows higher levels of certain neurotransmitters to circulate.

Studies show that two MAOIs, phenelzine and isocarboxazid, effectively reduce or eliminate bingeing. The dosages are the same as those used in treating depression. Drugs of this class pose a somewhat greater risk of side effects, such as lower blood pressure, agitation, or sleep disturbances, than do the TCAs.

There’s another problem with MAOIs. Because they interfere with enzyme action, they affect the body’s ability to break down an amino acid called tyramine. Too much tyramine floating around in the bloodstream can cause problems related to high blood pressure, such as excruciating headaches, internal bleeding and even death.

Certain foods contain high amounts of tyramine. The list includes cheeses, wines, beers, pickled herring, liver, yeast extract (including brewer’s yeast), salami, pepperoni, bologna, yogurt, and fava beans. A patient should only take an MAOI if she understands the risk involved and agrees not to eat any foods containing tyramine.

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Everyone in Regina Owens’s life understands that nothing interferes with her workouts. After all, it was this kind of passion and devotion that enabled her to lose 65 pounds and reduce her dress size from a 22 to a 10.

Each day, Regina rises at 4:30 A.M. for a 5-mile walk. In the evening, after work, she packs herself and her kids in the car and drives 30 miles to a gym. While she lifts weights for an hour, her kids do their homework.

“Yes, I’m obsessive. But at least the whole exercise thing is a healthy obsession for me. That hasn’t always been so,” says Regina, a 46-year-old housing director from Eustis, Florida.

Indeed, before Regina latched on to exercise, she was eating too much and abusing sleeping pills—her ways of coping with the emotional strain of a difficult marriage. Turning her life around required that she pursue health as obsessively as she once had those destructive behaviors. “I needed to do something positive, and I needed to do it wholeheartedly,” she says.

She began by taking long walks around a lake near her home. During those walks, she thought about her problems and her desire to change. Within a few months, she was averaging between 8 and 10 miles a day. She began eating better, too, by reducing her fat intake, restricting sweets, and learning to control her compulsive snacking. She took up weightlifting and studied to become a certified trainer, which she now does as a sideline.

“To succeed, I knew I had to go at it full force,” she says. “Later, my motivation came from seeing my body go through this incredible transformation. I got leaner and fitter.

“Once that started happening, my workouts became something I needed to do,” she says. “Now, if I don’t get my workout in, I don’t feel like my day is complete.”

WINNING ACTION

Work with your personality, not against it. Concentrate on turning negative obsessions and behaviors into healthy passions and choices. Be obsessive, but in a positive way, if that suits your personality. If you’re more laid-back, focus on making small changes. Find the style that works for you.

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FOLIC ACID

Folic acid is a member of the B family of vitamins. Functions: vital for a healthy immune system • important for metabolism of RNA and DNA, protein synthesis and formation or red blood cells • many of folic acid’s functions are associated with vitamin B12.

Deficiency signs and symptoms: irritability • forgetfulness • dementia • mental retardation • anemia • inflammation of nerves

• spinal cord damage • loss of energy • loss of appetite and weight

• diarrhea • vomiting • indigestion • sore mouth and tongue

• weakness • cervical abnormalities • poor growth in children

• congenital malformations in babies.

Folic Acid’s enemies: excessive boiling of food • food processing

• heat • alcohol.

INOSITOL

Inositol is an unofficial member of the B family of vitamins. It is not generally regarded as a true vitamin because it can be manufactured in the body.

Functions: important for nourishment of the brain • helps prevent build-up of fats in liver and other organs • has mild antianxiety effects • helps control blood-cholesterol levels • helps maintain healthy hair.

Deficiency signs and symptoms: insuffcient data available. Inositol’s enemies: excessive boiling of food • food processing • alcohol • coffee.

PABA (para aminobenzoic acid)

PABA is an unofficial member of the B family of vitamins. It not considered a true vitamin for humans. Functions: has a certain value as an antioxidant (protects cells against damage caused by inappropriate combining with oxygen). Deficiency signs and symptoms: deficiency in animals can lead to anemia, as well as premature graying of the hair.

PABA’s enemies: excessive boiling of food • food processing • alcohol.

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I’ve found Meditative Relaxation to be especially helpful for my arthritic patients. I have them spend extra time relaxing their painful and/or swollen joints. A person with arthritis in the knuckles and fingers of the right hand, for example, adds this to the second part x»f the Meditative Relaxation: eyes closed, breathing slowly through your nose, picture your right hand with your mind’s eye. Focus on the five knuckles … and the thumb and fingers … of your right hand. Now, with your mind’s eye, see your right little finger. See your little finger and little-finger knuckle. Concentrate on your little finger and knuckle as the feeling of relaxation enters the knuckle … spreads up through your finger … from your knuckle … through your little finger … front, back and sides … to the tip of your little finger. Now, with your mind’s eye, see your right ring finger and ring-finger knuckle. Concentrate on your ring finger and knuckle as the soothing feeling of relaxation enters your ring-finger knuckle. From the knuckle the relaxation moves up to your ring finger … all the way up your ring finger … front, back and sides … to the tip. Now, with your mind’s eye, see your right middle finger and middle-finger knuckle. Concentrate on your middle finger and middle-finger knuckle. Concentrate as you feel the cooling, soothing relaxation enter your middle-finger knuckle. From the knuckle the relaxation moves slowly up your middle finger … from your knuckle … through your middle finger .. . front, back and sides … all the way to the tip of your finger. Next is your index finger and index-finger knuckle. See your index finger and index-finger knuckle with your mind’s eye. Concentrate on your index finger and knuckle as the great feeling of relaxation and loosening enters the knuckle. From the knuckle it slowly spreads to your index finger … up your finger . .. front, back and sides … all the way up your finger to the tip. Now concentrate on your right thumb and thumb knuckle. Focus on your right thumb and thumb knuckle. Feel the relief as the relaxation moves into the knuckle … from your knuckle into your thumb … up the thumb … front, back and sides … all the way up your thumb to the tip.

See your entire right hand with your mind’s eyes. Hold that picture in your mind. Feel how relaxed your fingers and knuckles are. Keep your mind focused on that great feeling. Silently tell yourself that the fingers and knuckles on your right hand are relaxed.

Meditative Relaxation can be adapted to suit your specific needs. Do the complete session for the entire body, then adapt Part Two, as I’ve just done, to cover your special problem areas. You can focus in on muscles, joints or any part of your body you desire. One of my patients, an office worker, spends extra time relaxing her neck, shoulders, upper and lower back. These are the muscles that tighten up and hurt when she becomes stressed at work.

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BROWN RICE, BARLEY AND OTHER GRAINS

Alone, mixed or added to other foods, whole grains make a tasty, nutritious meal. A bowl of grain can be the basis for a meal. Just add a little bit of chicken or fish, along with your favorite seasonings. Mixed grains with steamed vegetables is a great high-fiber, low-fat, no-cholesterol meal.

To cook grains, bring water to a boil and stir in grain. Let water boil again, then reduce heat to simmer and cover. Check water level occasionally, adding more if necessary.

One of my favorite dishes is a mixture of brown rice, barley and couscous with pressed garlic and a few sesame seeds. It’s a nutritious, high-fiber, low-fat taste treat.

SPROUT AND RICE SALAD

1 sweet red pepper

1 scallion

1 carrot

2 cups brown rice, cooked, cooled 1/2 cup lentil sprouts

1/2 cup mung bean sprouts

1/2 cup azuki bean sprouts

1/4 cup sunflower seeds, raw, unsalted 1/4 cup raisins

several sprigs parsley

Clean vegetables. Chop red pepper and scallions, and grate carrot. Spread cooked rice evenly on a dish. Mix the sprouts, sunflower seeds and vegetables in a bowl, then spoon over rice. Sprinkle with raisins, and garnish with parsley.

Serves 4.

SAUTEED CARROTS AND ONION IN BARLEY AND MILLET

1 onion 1/2 carrot

2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup barley, cooked

1 cup millet, cooked 1/4 cup raisins

dash of cayenne pepper

Wash vegetables. Chop onion and shred carrot. Saute onions and garlic in water. Mix barley, millet and raisins in a bowl; add onions, garlic and carrot. Season with cayenne pepper, or other spices, to taste.

Serves 2.

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Beta carotene and the other carotenes are called “provitamin A,” because they can be converted to vitamin A inside your body. Provitamin A is the plant form of vitamin A. When you eat meat, fish, dairy and poultry products, however, you take in preformed vitamin A.

I tell my patients to get most of their vitamin A from beta carotene, rather than preformed vitamin A. Why? Because to get preformed vitamin A from, let’s say, meat, you’re forced to swallow a lot of fat, cholesterol and who knows what chemical additives.

When you obtain beta carotene from carrots, broccoli, cantaloupes and other fruits and vegetables, however, you’re eating a lot of vitamins and minerals, with only small amounts of fat and absolutely no cholesterol. Besides, the beta carotene in foods is not toxic, but large doses of vitamin A (preformed vitamin A) may be toxic.

Bugs Bunny isn’t the only American hero who knows the value of Super Foods. Popeye is always eating spinach, which contains large amounts of beta carotene. I don’t know if spinach will make your muscles grow, but I can guarantee that the beta carotene in spinach will give your “doctor within” a boost. We don’t have a cartoon hero who eats sweet potatoes, but perhaps we should, because sweet potatoes are also high in beta carotene. (Sweet Potato Man?)

Beta Carotene Against Cancer

Beta carotene is a new part of cancer prevention and treatment programs. Exciting research conducted in this country and abroad indicates that beta carotene reduces the general risk of cancer in humans, especially cancer of the lungs, larynx, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, prostate and urinary bladder. Even if you smoke, beta carotene can help protect you against lung cancer. But please, do not use this as an excuse to smoke. There is no good reason to smoke.

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There is a disease that is well known to doctors, although it does not feature much in medical textbooks. It is called ‘thick note syndrome’. Those who suffer from it are waiting-room regulars, and they have been referred to innumerable consultants for further examination – which is why their medical notes are so voluminous. Their symptoms are usually minor ones, but very varied, and they affect many different parts of the body – they may have headaches, indigestion, diarrhoea, aches and pains, rashes and a host of other problems. In most cases, no physical disorder can be found to explain them.

It is generally assumed that patients with ‘thick note syndrome’ are suffering from psychosomatic illness (which is discussed in the next chapter). But as food intolerance has become more widely recognized, doctors have begun to realize that many of these people may be sensitive to food. Multiple symptoms, affecting any and every body system, are a key feature of this disorder.

The second part of this chapter looks at each of those symptoms in turn, while the first considers the general features of food intolerance. Because so little scientific research has been done on food intolerance, much of what follows is based upon general impressions gained by many different doctors treating large numbers of people. This is not hard evidence, from a scientific point of view, but it is all we have to go on at present.

Given the controversial nature of food intolerance, many of the statements in this chapter might be disputed by some doctors. Ideally, we should qualify each contentious statement, but this would make the chapter very long and ponderous. We have therefore summarized the arguments over food intolerance in the previous chapter. On the basis of the evidence presented there, we believe that the case for food intolerance is very strong, and the present chapter is written from that viewpoint.

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The normal strain of work stimulates the circulation and, with it, the entire metabolism, so that the body is kept resilient and healthy. Of course, a normal and healthy metabolism also produces wastes, resulting in a feeling of tiredness when these waste products reach a certain concentration. This symptom of tiredness should always be met with rest and relaxation, even by young people who are usually able to work 8-10 hours a day with ease. A healthy, properly nourished body experiences the sensation of pleasant tiredness in the evening, and 7—9 hours of sleep, the exact amount depending on our individual needs, will be quite enough to restore a feeling of refreshed well-being. We will then be able to carry out our duties quite happily the following day if our body has had sufficient rest during the night.

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Professor Jaeger devoted much time to the question of fibres, or materials, some fifty years ago. The main point of the arguments current at that time was whether silk, wool or cotton were to be preferred. Dr Lahmann of Dresden, at the ‘White Hart’, joined in the controversial debates on underwear and fibres. Those who had the money wore silk, which was considered the healthiest fibre of all. Depending on its quality, wool may cause itching and not everyone can wear it next to the skin. In particular, women in the change of life and after are usually very sensitive and cannot stand wool; it may be that even cotton causes itching and they have to resort to buying expensive pure silk lingerie, which produces no reaction and feels pleasant to the skin.

The Arabs and Bedouins living in the desert prefer to wear wide, flowing woollen clothes and coats as a protection against the heat of the day and the cold of the night. Cotton had many opponents at first, but in time it came to be accepted and established itself as a good, inexpensive material, especially as a substitute for linen, which was much more expensive. Eventually, cotton began to replace linen more and more.

All these fibres are produced by nature, yet each one has its own characteristics and qualities. Wool and silk are better insulators than cotton and linen, making them more suitable for winter weather and cold days. Interestingly, however, silk is also pleasant to wear in the heat of summer because it has a cool feel.

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