Young children may become distressed by any acute or prolonged illness in one of their parents. Some will entertain a fantasy that the parent may die. Parents need the child to visit. Often the presence of grandparents or other members of the extended family provides important continuity and security for the child during this period. [...]

Let’s now stop assuming that you have plentiful supplies of any painkiller and get onto the most common obstacle to good pain relief. As I have already indicated, the usual reason for people suffering from poorly controlled cancer pain is that their doctor fails to prescribe enough of a strong enough painkiller. Because all strong [...]

There is no bone damage, but the ligaments around the vertebrae (spinal bones), are stretched or even torn. Subluxation or partial dislocation of the small joints between the vertebrae bones may occur. This may cause pressure on the nerves as they leave the spinal cord. Damage to the intervertebral discs may also occur. The vague [...]

The bacteria are usually excreted in the faeces and contaminate food by being transferred to the hands after using the toilet and then to the food being handled. Contamination of water supplies from human excreta is the main method of spread of other bowel infections, such a cholera. Gastro-enteritis, where there is usually nausea, vomiting, [...]

Pain with periods is called dysmenorrhoea. tbe commonest form is primary dysmenorrhoea wmeh occurs in the absence of any abnormality of the pelvic organs. Occasionally pain can be the result of some inflammatory process and then the treatment is directed to that cause. We are not certain why women suffer from pain with periods, but [...]

Potentially curative treatment, or treatment with curative intent, are truthful expressions that are sometimes incorrectly shortened to ‘curative treatment’. This last term wrongly implies that all patients having the treatment will be cured. Potentially curative treatment is treatment that is capable of completely and permanently curing a cancer. Some potentially curative treatments actually do cure [...]

Does the area under the curve give a true picture of the blood sugar responses? Why not use just the peak value? The area under the curve is thought to reflect the sum total of the glycaemic response, not just the one time point given by the peak. Statisticians recommend use of the area under [...]

Currently there is controversy in health circles about whether weight-training or resistance training (RT) has benefits for fat loss and fat loss maintenance, either independently, or over and above that which may be achieved through aerobic exercise. Resistance training is a standard form of fitness training in most commercial fitness centres. Yet it is a [...]

There is also a range of other less obvious problems associated with obesity, and particularly abdominal obesity. One of these is obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). OSA is an interruption to sleep caused by blockages to the windpipe producing breathing disruption. The problem is often characterised by heavy snoring. Typically, there is a period of snoring [...]

Milk, especially goat milk, has been held in high repute, especially in Hindu countries, as a potent virility food. The exceptional property of milk is explained by the fact that protein is an extremely important nutrient for normal sex functions. Milk protein, casein, is the highest grade of protein known to man. Furthermore, milk proteins [...]