NUTRITION: There has been a tremendous change in our food pattern within the last 2-3 decades. These are, consumption of too much fat in diet with decrease in fibre contents, consumption of fast food, soft drinks, alcohol, smoking and sugar etc. These diet contribute to the development of diabetes in two ways. First quantitatively- those who eat more become obese and cause insulin resistance and impiared glucose tolerance and second qualitatively by effects of specific food (lack of fibre in diet. i.e. refined diet).

Efforts should be made to take a balanced diet and to prevent obesity.

STRESS :The role of stress and constitution as causative factor in diabetes in India has been discussed more in older literature than at present. It is very difficult to assess the stress. It is all the more difficult to assess the contribution of stress in precipitating diabetes in people with genetic susceptibility of the disease.

PARITY & GDM : (Gestational Diabetes Mellitus) : Several studies have suggested repeated pregnancies is related to the risk of developing diabetes. Blood Sugar becomes normal after delivery in women with GDM but they are associated with increased risk of developing diabetes (Type-2) in the subsequent years.

AGE & DIABETES: The prevalence of diabetes increases with age in India as in elsewhere. The maximum incidence of diabetes is in the 4th & 5th decades. Most studies show that prevalence of diabetes doubles if the results of population below 30 years are excluded.

Conclusion : The role of genetic and environmental factors (life-style changes, dietary habits, physical inactivity, obesity etc.) contribute powerfully to the explosion of Type-2 DM or NIDDM. As diabetes is increasing like an epidemic in India, effort should be made for primary prevention and provision of proper health services to reduce diabetic complications.

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Any discomfort, pain, thickening or lump in the breast of a man or woman or any discharge from the nipple, particularly a bloody discharge, should mean an immediate examination.

Difficulty in swallowing, loss of appetite, constant discomfort, nausea, diarrhea or the appearance of blood in the bowel movement should demand thorough investigation, including study with the X-ray.

Persistent pain in the bones in people of any age means either a serious infection or a growth. Immediate use of the X-ray will help determine the nature of the trouble.

Slight bleeding at irregular intervals from the female sex organs is a dangerous sign. Every woman beyond the age of 35 should have an examination once every year by the doctor to determine whether or not any changes have occurred. The Papanicolaou or “Pap” test involves taking a scraping from the cervix or mouth of the uterus and examining under the microscope.

Many new developments have been made in detecting cancer and in treating it. Still of primary importance are the application of surgery, X-ray and radium. For cancers related to the blood, such as leukemia, new drags have been found which can reduce the number of white blood cells. New types of irradiation involving the cobalt bomb and high-voltage have been applied for special forms of cancer. Cancer of the brain is diagnosed by the neurologist, and special radioactive dye substances have been found which localize in cancer tissue.

Radioactive isotopes are being used in the treatment of cancer, including isotopes of gold and strontium, and radioactive iodine is used in treating cancer of the thyroid.

Discoveries have been made relating to control of cancer, particularly of the breast and of the prostate, by hormone substances. The male sex hormone is used in cancer of the breast and the female sex hormone in cancer of the prostate gland.

A new operative procedure has been tried, consisting of the removal of the adrenal glands and also removal of the pituitary gland, to control rapidly-growing cancers.

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To most people arthritis means pain and stiffness in the joints. Indeed, if you trace the word arthritis to its Greek roots you will discover that it means inflammation (itis) of the joints (arthron). In practice the word is used to describe more than one hundred different joint disorders, many of which are not caused by inflammation at all.

There are several forms of arthritis which do begin as significant inflammation in the joints, and this inflammation causes damage to the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of these so-called inflammatory forms of arthritis. With RA, inflammation plays a major role in causing joint problems. This inflammation can bring about warmth and swelling in the joints in addition to significant stiffness and pain.

It is believed that the inflammation of RA causes other problems, too. People with RA often have such symptoms as fatigue, low-grade fever, decreased appetite, depression, and muscle aches along with pain and swelling in their joints. In fact, many people with RA say that they just don’t feel well. These people are describing malaise, a vague feeling of illness. This overall feeling of illness is common with RA because the condition is systemic, meaning that it can affect more than one part of the body. RA is also referred to as a chronic illness because it can last for months or years.

The joints involved in RA vary from one person to another. For example, some people have painful joints only in their hands, whereas others may experience pain in their knees or feet. One of the distinguishing characteristics of RA, however, is the particular pattern of specific joints that can potentially become affected. Those most commonly involved in RA are finger joints, wrists, elbows, shoulders, some joints in the neck, jaw, hips, knees, ankles, and feet and toe joints.  RA most often affects the body symmetrically, meaning that arthritis on one side of the body matches that on the other.

One condition that is often confused with RA by patients and physicians is osteoarthritis (OA), also called degenerative joint disease (DJD). OA is quite different from RA. For one thing, OA is much more common than RA, affecting about sixteen million Americans alone. In fact, nearly all of us will develop OA to some degree as we get older. The joint distribution pattern of OA is different from that of RA, but some joints can be affected in both conditions. This is one of the causes of diagnostic confusion between the two forms of arthritis. Furthermore, some people have both OA and RA.

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The Calendar Method

A woman who uses the calendar method keeps track of her fertility cycle for at least 8 months. She charts the beginning and ending of each menstrual cycle and the occurrence of each ovulation (usually on the fourteenth day of the cycle). By subtracting 18 days from the total length of her shortest menstrual cycle, the woman can estimate the beginning of her fertile period and, by subtracting 11 days from the total length of her longest menstrual cycle, she can estimate the end of her fertile period. As soon as the woman knows she is entering her fertile period, she and her partner should abstain from sexual intercourse until it is safe for them to resume sexual relations.

Basal Body Temperature Method

A woman who uses the basal body temperature (BBT) method takes her temperature every morning for 3 to 4 months. She does this in order to pinpoint the days on which her temperature drops slightly and then increases. The BBT of most women drops slightly before ovulation and increases by 0.4°F to 0.8°F between 1 to 3 days after ovulation. Since the days between ovulation and the temperature rise are a woman’s most fertile days, she and her partner should avoid sexual intercourse during that time.

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Overeating tends to be an emotional response to something. You are using eating to mask other issues in your life, just as alcoholics use alcohol, drug addicts use drugs (this includes prescription drugs), sex addicts use sex, compulsive gamblers use gambling, and shoppers shop, shop, shop. That’s why just telling you to eat less would, quite honestly, be of little benefit to you. Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No to Drugs” slogan was well intentioned, but it overlooked the complexity of the problem. Like drug addiction, overeating is a complex problem for which there is no easy solution.

“Eat less, exercise more” is the correct advice, but not effective because it is too simplistic. It does not take into consideration the multitude of factors that prompt individuals to overeat. I want you to understand the why behind this behavior. Reach deep within yourself and ask, “Why am I eating so much?” If you can determine the reasons for your obsessive behavior, you are much more likely to be able to modify it.

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The master of all selling points in beauty advertising has got to be one that promises increased collagen production. And with the critical role that collagen plays in the beauty of the skin, it’s not that difficult to understand why. I hate to be the one to deliver this news, but the only ingredient known to stimulate collagen production is retinoid, famously found in Retin-A and Renova. The scientific data behind retinoid has proven that it penetrates deep into the dermal layer where the collagen resides. Other studies have also demonstrated, with less definitive results, that vitamin C can increase collagen synthesis.

ARE THESE PORES MINE FOREVER?

They’re as annoying as mosquitoes on a summer night but, unfortunately, the 20,000 pores that are spread out across your face can’t simply be swatted away. Basically, people with oily skin tend to have larger pores than those with normal to dry skin, but large pores and oily skin don’t necessarilygo hand in hand.

An excess of large pores often results in skin that looks rough and uneven. As we age and lose collagen, this decreased elasticity results in the enlargement of the pores. I always explain it to my patients in this way. Think of a straw (the pore) floating upright in a puddle of jelly (the skin). As the jelly starts to melt, the straw loses its balance. Using this analogy, it makes sense that stimulating the collagen in the skin can result in firmer skin and a smaller pore. Pores can never be eradicated permanently, but a combination of alpha hydroxy and glycolic acid can help them be less prominent.

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The diet for health and vitality is high in antioxidant foods, which have been shown to help prevent cancer. Incorporate this into your life, along with some exercise and relaxation such as meditation for 20 minutes a day.

An extract of green tea (Camellia sinesis) contains an active anti-tumour agent called epigallocatechin gallate. Take two tablets, two to three times a day, of the recommended dose of the standardised extract (5 g).

A lycopene extract, which is made as a standardised extract from tomatoes, has been found to be a powerful anti-oxidant and has specific anti-cancer properties in relation to prostate.

Lycopene

Lycopene is a red carotenoid that gives tomatoes their colour. Unlike many other carotenes, lycopene cannot be converted into vitamin A. Instead it accumulates in I;   various tissues of the body, especially in the prostate and the testes where it exerts its anti-oxidant effect.

Other anti-oxidant/anti-cancer foods and herbs are rosemary, turmeric, flaxseed oil, selenium, fish oils, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, and vitamin B12 with folic acid. You can obtain tablet forms of most of these substances; ask you naturopath for the dose suitable for your needs.

An anti-oxidant herbal tablet made from St Mary’s thistle, turmeric, rosemary, grape seed and green tea is a must for my cancer patients.

After any cancer treatment, keep the immune system boosted by such herbs as astragalus and cat’s claw.

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