Mens Health Blog. Medical Blog

Depression
Depression is very common in cancer. The older patients are especially prone to this disorder. They suffer from an acute sense of loss and inexplicable sadness, loss of energy and loss of interest.
Natural Remedies: As a rich source of magnesium, bananas have been found beneficial in the treatment of depression. Researches have shown that increased magnesium intake results in less anxiety and better sleep. Other rich sources of magnesium are nuts, beans and leafy green vegetables.
The use of apples is also considered valuable in depression. The various chemical substances present in this fruit, such as vitamin B1, phosphorus and potassium, help the synthesis of glutamic acid, which controls the wear and tear of the nerve cells. At least one apple should be eaten daily with milk and honey. This will act as a very effective nerve tonic and recharge the nerves with new energy and life.

Insomnia
Insomnia or sleeplessness is quite common in cancer patients. This may result from depression and stress and anxiety which are usually associated with cancer.
Natural Remedies: Lettuce is an effective remedy for overcoming sleeplessness as it contains a sleep-inducing substance known as ‘lectucarium’. The juice of this plant has been likened in effect to the sedative action of opium without the accompanying excitement.
Milk is very valuable in insomnia. A glass of milk, sweetened with honey, should be taken every night before going to bed to treat this condition. It acts as a tonic and a tranquilizer. Massaging the milk over the soles of the feet has also been found to be effective.
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Premenopausal women are unlikely candidates for heart attacks, except for those who suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, or kidney disease, or who have a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol levels. Family history and smoking can also increase the risk for premenopausal women.

The Estrogen Element
Once her estrogen production drops with menopause, a woman’s chance of developing CVD rises rapidly. A 60-year-old woman has the same heart attack risk as a 50-year-old man. By her late 70s, a woman has the same heart attack risk as a man her age. To date, much of this changing risk has been attributed to the aging process, but some preliminary evidence indicates that hormones may play a bigger role than once thought. Recent results from the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions (PEPI) study, a longitudinal study of how various hormone replacement therapies (HRTs) affect cardiovascular risks, indicate that HRT may reduce CVD by as much as 12 to 25 percent. In this study, HRT seemed to reduce a woman’s risk for CVD by raising HDL cholesterol levels and lowering LDL cholesterol levels. Even when their total blood cholesterol levels are higher than men’s, women may be at less risk because they typically have a higher percentage of HDL.
But that’s only part of the story. It’s true that women age 25 and over tend to have lower cholesterol levels than do men of the same age. But when they reach 45, things change. Most men’s cholesterol levels become more stable, while both LDL and total cholesterol levels in women start to rise. And the gap widens further beyond age 55.
Before age 45, women’s total blood cholesterol levels average below 220 mg/dl. By the time she is 45 to 55, the average woman’s blood cholesterol rises to between 223 and 246 mg/dl. Studies of men have shown that for every 1 percent drop in cholesterol, there is a 2 percent decrease in CVD risk. If this holds true for women, prevention efforts focusing on dietary interventions and exercise may significantly help postmenopausal women.
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First, separate the virus from a sense of punishment. Lisa states: “What I say is, it’s a virus, not a punishment. I didn’t get the virus and my husband did. Does that make me good and him bad? That’s ridiculous. Everyone got this virus like my husband did: being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The virus does not set out to “get” anyone. It has no brain, no judgment, no ability to pick out who is worthy and who is not. The virus has nothing whatever to do with punishment. Nor does anyone set out to get infected with the virus. The behaviors that put most people at risk for the virus may well be behaviors that are directed by biology, and in any case, are not the result of a conscious intention. No one makes a conscious, informed decision that they will become gay or will use drugs.
Understand that guilt, except when it keeps you from repeating mistakes, is a remarkably useless emotion. Feeling guilty means worrying about something you cannot change. Whether people knowingly ran a risk or not, the past is beyond anyone’s power to change. Guilt keeps people captured in the past and prohibits them from doing what they can to improve the present. Guilt uses emotional energy that would be better used on the real problems of life.
Balance guilt by understanding your own worth. Ask yourself, outside my worries, who am I? A pastor who has had experience with people with HIV infection asks people, “What else besides the things you feel guilty about are you? What do your friends like about you? They tell me, ‘That I helped them move the piano, that I had some good kids, that I was a good friend.’” Sometimes the pastor had to remind his parishioners what is good about them: “One man with HIV was having trouble with guilt and thought he was all bad. I had to remind him he was our church organist, and when he played, he would rock the timbers of the church with music.”
In the process of focusing on your own worth, guilt usually fades away. People come to like themselves for who they are. Some people speed up the process by getting help from a therapist. During therapy, they deal with the attitudes and behavior, often left over from childhood, that make them feel guilty. They learn to feel comfortable with themselves and free themselves of their old, useless burden of guilt.

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As we all know, prescription drugs can be expensive and often have a number of side effects, some immediate, some that show up much later. In recent years, the interest in alternative treatments for ailments has grown into a multi-billion-dollar business as people look for answers that are less expensive, less intrusive and more consumer friendly. As reports of toxic side effects of some drugs and distrust in medicine in general proliferate the media, people have turned to herbs as both a cheaper and natural alternative. But there’s actually little known about herbal remedies. What is their risk for causing cancer, birth defects, fertility problems, or other long-term health problems? Also, because the manufacturing of herbal remedies is not monitored and regulated as carefully as drugs, you may or may not get the potency that’s listed on the label. With herbal remedies, the environment is definitely one of Buyer Beware! Perhaps a more appropriate warning is Consumer, Be Aware!
But what’s wrong with leaning on them to help you make it through the day if you’re feeling low on energy or a little stressed, anxious, or depressed? Maybe nothing. Maybe something. Two popular “treatments” people are opting for these days are St. John’s wort and kava, both supposed “remedies” for depression. While anecdotal stories of mood-altering herbs like St. John’s wort and kava look promising, little empirical evidence supports their effectiveness in battling minor depression. Here’s the bottom line on the two most popular mood-altering herbs.

St. John’s ort
St. John’s wort didn’t become popular until the mid-1990s, when it catapulted from an obscure folk treatment for wounds and “melancholy” to a trendy street-legal antidepressant. The bottom line?
-    Although St. John’s won appears to help about half of those with mild to moderate depression, little solid research has looked at whether it’s useful in treating severe depression or whether it can “chase the blues away” or smooth out life’s ups and downs.
-    There are no studies on the long-term safety of taking St. John’s wort. Short-term side effects seem to be mild, though it can cause an inflammation of the skin.
-    Researchers have little information about possible drug interactions with St. John’s wort.

Kava
Kava can be traced back to special rituals of the people living in the South Pacific, who, on special occasions, would serve a mood-altering beverage brewed from the ground-up roots of the kava kava tree. This “treatment” is now as close as your local supermarket or health food store. The bottom line?
-    Kava appears to relieve some of the symptoms of clinical anxiety. According to a new, unpublished study, it also relieves some of the stress of ordinary living.
-    There are no studies on the long-term safety of taking kava every day.
-    If you take kava, don’t drink alcoholic beverages. If you take prescription drugs, check with your doctor before taking kava.
-    Don’t take kava if you’re under 18, are pregnant or nursing, or plan to operate heavy equipment, cautions the National Nutritional Foods Association, a health food and dietary supplement industry trade group.
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Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)
Functions:
Sources:
Causes of Deficiency:
Growth; enzyme production; makes cortisone and sex hormones; needed for the absorption of other B vitamins; helps the body excrete lactic acid; helps stabilize blood sugar levels
Widely available in the diet; wholegrains, vegetables, animal foods, brewer’s yeast, royal jelly
Lack of other B vitamins, dirty colon, colon disorders
Deficiency Signs and Symptoms:
Low blood sugar, headaches, chest infections, lowered antibody production, sore joints, poor muscle co-ordination, premature greying of the hair, gastric ulcers, tingling and numbness in limbs, cramp
Folic acid
Functions:
Sources:
Causes of Deficiency:
Deficiency Signs and Symptoms:
Essential for normal metabolism; helps make red blood cells; keeps hormone levels stable; helps PMT and tiredness
Green leafy vegetables, liver, kidney; made in the bowel
Dirty colon, old age, pregnancy, antibiotics, poor diet
Severe deficiency: Anaemia, psoriasis, sore tongue, digestive problems some forms of psychosis.
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In a recent survey, parents of children who had epilepsy were asked to list the things that concerned them most. Their top ten worries were these:
1. Whether their child might die in a seizure
The chances of this happening are very small. I can not say that they are non-existent because, very rarely, people unfortunately do die during a prolonged grand mal seizure. However they are usually young male adults, very seldom children. With any other type of seizure the risk is negligible.
Worrying that death during a seizure might happen will make your life miserable. Instead make sure that you know what to do if your child does have a prolonged convulsion, so that if an emergency arises it does not turn into a catastrophe.
2. Whether the child will suffer brain damage or become insane
Seizures themselves, provided they are not prolonged, do not cause brain damage, though it is possible for a child who has such severe seizures that they frequently fall over to suffer head injury and subsequent brain damage.
3. Whether the child might become insane
Seizures do not lead to mental illness, with the exception of a few adults and even fewer children who develop a very rare complication of a short mental illness after a run of generalized seizures. This illness usually only lasts for one or two weeks before the child returns to normal. However, it is such a very rare occurrence that it should not even figure on your worry-scale.
4. Guilt, because parents think that they may have done something to cause the condition
It is very common for parents whose children have epilepsy to blame themselves. You have to remind yourself that you had no responsibility for your own genetic make-up and thus no responsibility for the genes that you pass on to your children. It is no one’s fault; it is just the way things are. Overcoming these feelings of guilt is all part of you coming to terms with your child’s epilepsy. Unless you do come to terms with it you cannot help your child to do so.
5. Frustration at not knowing the cause of the seizures, especially if they have been given no adequate explanation
This is a situation which really need not arise nowadays. It is certainly much less common than it used to be, because of the marked improvement in neuroimaging technology which allows a much more detailed view of the structure of the brain and its function. Doctors can now discover the cause of epilepsy in about 90 per cent of cases. Even if you have not been told the cause of your child’s epilepsy, the chances are that your doctor knows. If he does not, ask to be referred to a specialist.
6. Worry about the development of emotional or behavioural problems in the child
Some children with epilepsy do behave badly and have emotional problems. So do some children without epilepsy. Remember that this kind of problem is not usually due to the epilepsy alone. It is more likely to be caused by the way the child’s epilepsy is handled in the family and at school, by the attitude of other children, or by the medication that the child is taking. These are all factors over which you have some control. Never assume that any problem your child has is because of their epilepsy. If you do, you may never look for the true cause, which may be bullying by classmates, an unsympathetic teacher or falling behind in schoolwork — any one of the myriad of reasons that any child has for periods of unhappiness, and which can lead them to behave badly. Once you have found the reason, enlist the help of your doctor or the school in tackling the problem.
7. The impact that the epilepsy may have on the child’s future career
There are only a few clear-cut limitations on the employment of anyone who has epilepsy. Your child may never become an HGV driver or a pilot, for example, but, on the whole, predictions about a child’s future career can only be made when the cause of their epilepsy is known and they have had a proper assessment by a neuropsychologist. Once you know what their intellectual attainment should be, and what their strengths and weaknesses are, you will be in a better position to help your child make realistic choices about their future.
8. The stigma of epilepsy, and the prejudice the child may have to face
Unfortunately no one can control other people’s ill-founded beliefs and prejudices. Your child is bound to meet them sometime; what matters is your child’s ability to believe that prejudice is the result of ignorance or stupidity and is no reflection on them personally. Your child will largely adopt and reflect your own attitudes. If you have always tried to talk frankly about their epilepsy and give them a positive attitude towards it, you will go a long way to counterbalance other people’s prejudices.
9. School problems, especially the effects on learning and memory of epilepsy and medication
Epilepsy and, more usually, the drugs used to treat it, can have an effect on learning and memory. Sometimes a change of medication can make a huge difference, so talk to your doctor if you think the drugs your child is taking are slowing them down. When your child goes to junior school, and again when they enter secondary school at 11, they should be assessed by a neuropsychologist so that everyone concerned knows what the child is capable of and, without having unrealistic expectations of them, encourages them to reach their full potential. Some children will do very well and have no difficulty; others may need special help.
10. The difficulty parents find in having a social life outside
the family
This problem may operate on several different levels. It may be that the child can not be left by the parents. Or it may be that the parents feel that they can not leave their child – a very different matter. The obstacle may also be the parents’ feelings about the way other people view them; they may feel so uncomfortable or defensive about their child’s epilepsy that it makes social contact difficult for them. Or it may simply be that the parents’ lives have become so bound up with caring for their child that they have little time to keep up old friendships or to make new ones. They may, in fact, have got out of the habit of having a social life.
There are partial solutions to all these problems, though it is unrealistic not to accept that without help or the means to buy help in, it can be very difficult for those few parents whose children have very severe epilepsy to develop some sort of life of their own. Social services may be able to arrange respite care, and some social services benefits may allow you to employ help and thus get some freedom.
That said, the vast majority of families never face anything like such a difficult situation. Often there is no reason why a child with epilepsy can not spend time apart from their parents if sensible arrangements are made with a friend, relative or babysitter. Parents may feel guilty about being away from their child, or may feel no one else is capable of looking after their child properly, but these feelings are usually unrealistic. Epilepsy support groups are a good way for parents to wean themselves out of the house into an environment where other people will be understanding and sympathetic to the way they feel. A child’s epilepsy can not and should not become the whole focus of the parent’s life. It is not fair on the parents, neither is it good for the child.
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Diabetes is the sugar disease. Diabetics have too much sugar circulating because their pancreases do not make enough insulin, a vital hormone. Insulin prepares your body’s cells to absorb sugar (glucose) for energy. In the absence of insulin, the sugar piles up in the blood system.
The sugar does its damage to the body’s many enzymes. These chemicals carry out the intricate chemistry of the body. Some researchers believe that an overabundance of sugar in the blood allows the excess glucose to stick to enzyme molecules. An enzyme molecule coated with sugar will stick to other sugar-coated molecules. When that happens, the clumped enzymes fail to do their jobs.
Such a chemical catastrophe can shutdown many organs of the body, especially the kidneys, eyes, and nerves. In turn, battered nerves can lead to sexual impotence, severe leg pains, and blindness.
For at least three decades, diabetes experts argued about the need for keeping the blood sugar levels low and close to normal -the same level as non-diabetics achieve without injecting insulin. Pioneering diabetes specialists tried it out on a few patients to see whether low sugar levels could be won with injections of synthetic insulin, diet control, and exercise.
Diabetes patients found the new approach arduous. The system called for sufferers to measure their sugar blood levels four or more times a day. Fortunately, in the 1980s, electronics manufacturers were able to create a blood sugar machine no bigger than a pack of cigarettes. It worked beautifully.
The patient had to stick a sharp needle into one of his fingers. A drop of blood formed on the digit. The patient transferred the red liquid to a small paper stick. He then put the blood-soaked rod into the machine. In about a minute, the sugar reading came up on a small screen.
Depending on the number on the screen, a diabetic could inject more insulin, do some exercise, or have something to eat. It seemed like a thankless and difficult task. But enough diabetics did it to encourage the doctors to do a 10-year study on what is now called “tight control.”
“I can think of no other disease where patients can play a more active, direct role in their own care and its outcome,” says Dr. Phillip Gorden, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The institute financed the research. Self-management was the key, and the massive experiment was on its way. It was called the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT). It involved 1,421 patients and cost $160 million. Half the patients, chosen at random, followed the standard treatment. They used the sugar machine to check their blood sugars once a day and took one or two insulin injections daily.
The other half, the experimental group, strived for tight control -blood sugars in the normal range. They measured their blood four or more times daily, taking at least three injections of insulin a day. For some patients who found four injections a day too difficult, doctors prescribed insulin pumps, which deliver a fixed amount of insulin below the skin.
The idea was not to take more insulin but to deliver it in a way that more closely mimics the body’s release of the hormone and to adjust the insulin doses -and sometimes diet and exercise -when sugars are too high or too low. This required working closely with diabetes educators and dietitians.
The result: The tightly controlled group had a 76 percent lower incidence of diabetic eye disease than the other group, 60 percent less nerve damage, and up to 56 percent fewer kidney problems.
Until now, doctors were not certain what caused the complications.  Some held to the theory that the crippling effects of diabetes came from defects in body tissues that were part of the basic disease process. Others said it was from the abnormally high blood sugar levels. Dr. Oscar B. Crofford of Vanderbilt University, chairperson of the study, says, “The DCCT proved for the first time that complications of diabetes can be prevented by such intensive diabetes therapy.”
The culprit was the abnormally high sugar level.
The DCCT study involved only Type I diabetics. It’s the Type II diabetics whose sometimes “casual” approach to diabetes puts them in jeopardy. Dr. James Gavin III of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Maryland, says, “There is no such thing as ‘a little touch of sugar.’ Diabetes is serious – whether you take insulin or not. And the DCCT shows us clearly that, to prevent complications, it’s important for all people with diabetes to bring their blood sugars close to normal.”
Diabetes specialists hope that tight control will also prevent heart attacks and stroke, both of which are very common with diabetes.
Tracy Sankstone, a receptionist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, developed diabetes at age 2. She was the first patient in the experimental group of the DCCT, which began in 1983. She reports, “Doing four blood tests and four or more shots a day was tough in the beginning, but I’m used to it now. I feel great, I don’t have any complications – and I don’t want to get them.”
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Probably the single common thread amongst all causes of stress is change. Sudden change, especially if it is disagreeable or untimely, precipitates stress. This could be:
Personal loss: death of a loved one or a friend, separation, divorce, etc.
Change of job: especially if it results from trouble at work, getting fired or change of a boss.
Monetary problems: debts, loss of steady income, budget problems, etc.
Illness/injury: this may result in stress, or be the effect of stress.
Change in the family structure: e.g., pregnancy, childbirth, migration of children, disruption of a joint-family, etc. Retirement: this is a common, but often unrecognised cause of stress.
Happy events: e.g., sudden lottery, a big promotion, or a daughter’s marriage are happy events, but can induce stress.
ARE SOME PEOPLE MORE PRONE TO STRESS?
Yes. Some people are less proficient with coping. As an example, children who are overprotected may be poorer at coping with stress in adulthood. The ability to cope with stress is inborn to some extent. But like any good behaviour it can be learnt later in life.
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One of the goals of pain management during pediatric procedures is to make the child comfortable so that the child (and parents) will not dread the subsequent procedures. Thus, success is not a matter of merely restraining the child sufficiently to allow the procedure to be performed. Consider measures to control pain and anxiety an integral part of patient management. It is imperative that aggressive pain management be part of the initial diagnostic evaluation, since this may help prevent future difficulties with these and other procedures.
A.    General principles In general, avoid unnecessary tests.
Consolidate blood work so that all necessary studies are obtained at the same time; use central lines when possible.
Persons performing a procedure should have a documented level of skill, and there must be appropriate supervision of less-experienced operators.
B.    Environment
Major procedures (e.g., bone marrow aspiration, lumbar puncture) should never be performed in the patient’s bed.
The environment of the treatment room should be relatively calm.
Encourage a parent (or parent substitute) to attend the procedure and to participate actively in assisting the child. Do not demand that the parent restrain the child in any way. Instead, the parent should provide comfort or lead the child in any of a variety of distracting behavioral interventions.
C.    Behavior management
Use age-appropriate behavior management techniques. For infants, this may include stroking, swaddling, or use of a pacifier. Older children may be managed with distraction, story telling, bubble blowing, or hypnosis.
A full review of these techniques is beyond the scope of this chapter but may be found in McGrath (1990).
D.    Sedation
Follow the standards for administering, monitoring, and documenting conscious sedation as developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics or the American Society of Anesthesiology (see Bibliography). Patients should have nothing by mouth (NPO) for clear liquids at least 2 hours before the procedure and NPO for solid foods at least 4-6 hours before the procedure. There must be a time-based record that documents vital signs and the level of sedation at appropriate intervals. Monitor all patients for pulse oximetry, blood pressure, heart rate, response to verbal command, and adequacy of pulmonary ventilation. Electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring may be indicated for patients with significant cardiovascular disease.
E. Pharmacologic intervention
Warning: Before administering a sedative or opioid agent, ensure the immediate availability of oxygen, naloxone, flumazenil, and resuscitative equipment for the maintenance of a patent airway and support of ventilation. Pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and pulse oximeter measurements should be monitored by a person specifically assigned to this task.
1.    Age 0-6 months
a.    Apply local anesthesia with EMLA cream by occlusive
dressing at least 1 hour before performing the procedure. Infiltration of the deeper tissues with 196 lidocaine is helpful. Buffering of lidocaine with NaHC03 (9 parts lidocaine: 1 part NaHC03 USP) may alleviate some of the burning discomfort associated with the lidocaine injection. For procedures performed without EMLA cream, use buffered 1 % lidocaine for the skin as
well as deeper structures. The dose of lidocaine should not exceed 5 mg/kg (0.5 mL/kg).
b.    Consider using a 22-gauge lumbar puncture needle for both bone marrow aspiration and lumbar puncture.
c.    The use of opioids and sedatives for conscious sedation with this age group may be difficult. If analgesia is deemed necessary, consider small doses of a single medication. Consider completing the procedure under general anesthesia or deep sedation by an anesthesiologist.
2.    Age >6 months
a. Apply local anesthesia with EMLA patch by occlusive dressing at least 1 hour before the procedure. This may be supplemented by infiltrating 196 lidocaine intrader-mally and subcutaneously (to the level of the periosteum for bone marrow procedures); the dose of lidocaine should not exceed 5 mg/kg (0.5 mL/kg).
b.    With patients who do not have an established intravenous (IV) route and for whom an IV line would not otherwise be indicated, try the oral route first. With patients who already have an IV line in place, use intravenous sedation.
c.    Use a combination of a sedative (for anxiety) and an opioid (for analgesia) Sedatives alone are inadequate.
i.    Sedative
Give midazolam (Versed) IV solution: 0.2-0.4 mg/kg PO 20-30 minutes before the procedure or 0.05 mg/kg IV 3-4 minutes before the procedure. When deemed appropriate, midazolam can also be administered rectally at a dose of 0.2-0.5 mg/kg 5-10 minutes before the procedure. If intravenous access is available, half the original dose may be repeated if the child is not adequately sedated when the procedure begins. When using midazolam (or other benzodiazepines), flumazenil (Romazicon), a benzodiazepine reversing agent, should be available; the dose of flumazenil is 0.01 mg/kg (maximum dose 0.2 mg) by slow IV push. and
ii.    Opioid
Give fentanyl 0.001 mg/kg (1 pg/kg) IV over 1-2 minutes, 3-5 minutes before the procedure. Half the original dose can be repeated if the child is not adequately sedated when the procedure begins. or
Give morphine sulfate 0.15-0.2 mg/kg PO 20-30 minutes before the procedure or 0.05 mg/kg IV over 1-2 minutes, 10 minutes before the procedure begins.
d.    Consider transmucosal fentanyl citrate (Fentanyl
Oralet).
This transmucosal opioid delivery system has been shown to be useful as a single agent for painful procedures in children with cancer. The dose is 5-15 pg/kg with the unit dose chosen closest to that to be administered (100, 200, 300, and 400 pg sizes). The unit dose is sucked (must not be chewed) in the buccal pouch 15-20 minutes before the procedure is to be performed.
Do not administer with anxiolytics or other opioids. In general, this is not useful in toddlers, who may not be able to cooperate by sucking the lozenge, e. If efforts to produce conscious sedation are inadequate or if multiple painful procedures (e.g., bilateral bone marrow aspirations and biopsies) are to be performed, consider general anesthesia. Some clinicians advocate agents such as ketamine, propofol, and nitrous oxide as appropriate for use for conscious sedation in children undergoing painful procedures. All of these agents may best be used by anesthesiologists with specialized training in their administration and in appropriate support of the airway.
i.    Ketamine is a dissociative general anesthetic agent that has many well-known side effects that are potentially difficult to manage. These include hypersalivation, increased cerebral blood flow, disturbing hallucinations, and prolonged recovery periods.
ii.    Propofol is an intravenous diisopropylphenol general anesthetic agent that can easily result in loss of all protective reflexes, markedly decreases systemic vascular resistance, and can cause severe myocardial depression.
iii.    Nitrous oxide is a clear, odorless inhaled anesthetic agent that is analgesic as well as amnestic. It can be administered in oxygen and has been used for painful procedures as well as in emergency rooms. It can induce general anesthesia with loss of protective reflexes. In addition, it must be used with a dedicated scavenging system to prevent environmental
contamination.
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Reddish-brown in colour—and weighing on the average 1700 grams (three and a half pounds)—the liver is situated to the right of the stomach and astride the small intestine.
Like every organ in the body, the liver has duties that are varied and complex. Here is a summary of what the liver does:
Involved in maintaining water balance in the body.
Formation and secretion of bile.
Involved in anti-body formation.
Deals with blood formation.
Concerned with acid-base balance.
Detoxifies foreign organic compounds.
Concerned with some hormones.
Deals with enzyme action.
Participation in vitamin metabolism.
Metabolism of inorganic salts, carbohydrates, protein compounds.
And extremely important to arthritics— metabolism of oils!
So, now you can see why the liver is referred to as the pantry of the human anatomy.
More than 500 different chemical actions are known to take place in this gland. All this activity is fostered by the location of the liver, which gives it first choice of just about everything you eat.
Serving, as it does, as the gateway to circulation within our body, the liver can gobble up the choicest particles of our food—without any protest from the rest of our anatomy.
The exception to this dictatorship by the liver is dietary oil.
Any oil leaving your stomach does not necessarily have to enter this toll-gate known as the liver. The oil does have an opportunity to by-pass the greedy liver.
It is this chance to shuttle oils around the liver that arthritics should take advantage of. Certainly one organ should not be allowed to benefit at the expense of adding to our arthritis pains. If we have the common sense to maintain good eating habits, we can have healthy livers—and healthy cartilages and joint linings as well.
Here’s how. How to get oils past the liver . . . so they can lubricate arthritic joints. . . .
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