Information on popular complementary and alternative medical topics

Diarrhea
Diarrhea is quite common after treatment of cancer through chemotherapy. Occasionally, it is also a symptom of cancer itself.
Natural Remedies: Buttermilk can be used to control this condition. It helps overcome harmful intestinal flora. It should be taken with a pinch of salt, two or three times daily for treating this condition.
Fenugreek seeds have been used for a long time as a natural medicine for diarrhea and gastrointestinal spasms. Half a teaspoon of these seeds, taken three times a day, often produces quick and marked relief.

Constipation
Constipation may occur due to lack of appetite, inactivity, change in diet and intake of pain-killers.
Obstruction or blockage of the bowel is most often caused by cancer of the large bowel. It usually starts slowly with an occasional attack just like colic pain, in the abdomen. The pain is often accompanied by loud bowel sounds and swelling of the abdomen. The symptoms of complete bowel obstruction are colicky abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
Constipation may become so complete that the patient is unable to pass even wind.
Natural Remedies: Constipation can be treated successfully by taking daily warm water enema. This condition can also be overcome by liberal intake of fruits in the diet. Fruits very effective in curing constipation are grapes, pear, papaya and guava.
Spinach is another valuable remedy for constipation. Raw spinach contains the finest organic material for cleansing, reconstruction and regeneration of the intestinal tract. Raw spinach juice taken at the rate of half a litre daily can cure the most chronic cases of constipation within a few days.
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Rabies
International travelers are often unaware of the risk of rabies during their trip. Canine rabies remains endemic in the Indian subcontinent, China, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, parts of Indonesia, Latin America and Africa. Globally, less than 10% of persons undergoing rabies post-exposure prophylaxis for an animal bite receive appropriate therapy. Pre-exposure rabies vaccination should, therefore, be considered in travelers who
- Plan a prolonged (more than 30 days) stay in a country where rabies is endemic.
- Travel in remote areas.
- Engage in activities that might involve working near animals or that could attract animals (e.g., cycling).
- Cannot report an exposure if bitten (young children).
In the United States, there are intramuscular formulations of the rabies vaccine adsorbed (BioRab, BioPort) and purified chick embryo cell vaccine (RabAvert, Chiron) and both intramuscular and intradermal formulations of the human diploid cell vaccine (Imovax, Aventis Pasteur). All three types of rabies vaccines are considered safe and efficacious. Pre-exposure rabies immunization consists of three 1.0 mL doses of one of the rabies vaccine formulations given on days 0, 7, and 21 or 28. Adverse effects of the vaccine include headaches, myalgias, and localized lymphadenopathy. Travelers should be given basic information about what to do if they are bitten. After a high-risk bite, persons who underwent pre-exposure vaccination still require local wound care and two additional rabies vaccine doses (on the day of the bite and on day 3), but administration of rabies immunoglobulin is not necessary. Those who are bitten and who have not had prior rabies immunization must receive five doses of a rabies vaccine formulation on days 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28 as well as undergo inoculation with rabies immunoglobulin.

Cholera
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by the toxigenic gram-negative bacillus Vibrio cholerae serogrcup O1 or O139. Infection is typically acquired by ingesting contaminated food or water in endemic areas such as the Indian subcontinent, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The risk of cholera to travelers is so low (0.001% to 0.01%) and the protection of presently available vaccines is so poor that vaccination is believed to be of little benefit. Furthermore, the only licensed cholera vaccine in the United States has been discontinued because of its frequent adverse effects and brief and unreliable immunogenicity. Travelers to cholera-affected areas should be advised to avoid high-risk foods, especially poorly cooked or raw seafood.
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Dandruff, or seborrhea, is a common condition characterized by flaky scaling of the scalp. Genetic factors play a role in determining who will suffer from dandruff, and climate can cause the onset of dandruff or more persistent symptoms (dandruff is more severe in winter when indoor air is dry). A yeast normally found in hair follicles may be responsible for many cases.
Symptoms similar to dandruff can be caused by psoriasis, poison ivy, poison oak, lice, eczema and ringworm (see index for these topics).
What you can do
Use a dandruff shampoo (such as Head and Shoulders, Sebutone,    Denorex, or one with salicylic acid) daily or every other day until symptoms improve.
Once the dandruff improves, continue using dandruff shampoo twice a week to keep it under control.
For severe scaling and redness, your doctor may prescribe medication containing fluocinolone acetonide or triamcinolone acetonide to be rubbed into the scalp twice a day.
Imidazoles, or anti-yeast compounds, may be effective in treating severe dandruff in some cases.
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Japanese encephalitis virus is an arboviral infection that is prevalent in the Indian subcontinent, China, Korea, Japan, and other Southeast Asian countries. It is transmitted by day-biting mosquitoes from May to October in endemic temperate areas and year-round in tropical regions. The majority of human cases are asymptomatic, but in rare cases, the virus can cause severe encephalitis with residual neuropsychiatry sequelae. The case-fatality rate is 30%.
Japanese encephalitis vaccine (JE-VAX, Aventis Pasteur) is not recommended for all travelers to Asia. The overall risk of Japanese encephalitis in areas where the virus is endemic is less than 1 case per million travelers. However, this risk increases with travel to rural areas and a longer duration of stay. In general, the vaccination should be offered to individuals who plan to remain for 30 days or longer in endemic areas during the transmission season, especially if travel might include rural areas. Vaccination should also be considered for short-term travelers who may experience heavy exposure to mosquitoes, such as those who engage in extensive outdoor activities or visit areas of epidemic transmission.
Primary immunization in persons 3 years of age or older consists of three doses of 1.0 mL each given by subcutaneous injection on days 0, 7, and 30. An accelerated schedule, in which doses are given on days 0, 7, and 14, can be used when departure is imminent. A single case-control study has measured the vaccine’s efficacy to be 91% after two doses. A booster dose may be given 3 years after the primary series it continued exposure in high-risk areas is expected.
The last dose of vaccine should be administered at least 10 days before trip departure to ensure an adequate immune response and to have ready access to medical care in the event of a delayed adverse reaction. Fevers, headaches, and myalgias are the most common adverse reactions reported by vaccinees. However, generalized urticaria and angioedema of the face, lips, or oropharynx have occurred within minutes to as long as 2 weeks after immunization. Patients with a history of allergic disorders (particularly to bee venoms and medications) appear to have a greater risk for developing adverse reactions to Japanese encephalitis vaccine. The safety of the vaccine in pregnancy has not been determined. Pregnant women who must travel to an area where the risk of Japanese encephalitis is high should be vaccinated when it is felt that the risks of immunization are outweighed by the risk of infection to the mother and fetus.
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The mental status examination is one of the techniques used by psychiatrists and other mental health workers. The purpose is to guide observation and assist the interviewer in gathering essential data about mental functioning. It consists of standard items, which are routinely covered, insuring nothing important is overlooked. The format also helps mental health workers record their findings in a fashion that is easily understood by their colleagues.
Three aspects of mental functioning are always included: mood and affect, thought processes, and cognitive functioning. Mood and affect refer to the dominant feeling state. They are deduced from general appearance, what the client reports, posture, body movement, and attitude toward the interviewer. Thought processes zero in on how the client presents his ideas. Are his thoughts ordered and organized, or does he jump all over the place? Are his sentences logical? Is the content (what he talks about) sensible, or does it include delusions and bizarre ideas? Finally, cognitive functioning refers to intellectual functioning, memory, ability to concentrate, comprehensions, and ability to abstract. This latter portion of the mental status examination involves asking specific questions, for example, about current events, definitions of words, or meanings of proverbs. The interviewer considers the individual’s education, life-style, and occupation in making a judgment about the responses.
If the alcohol counselor can get some training in how to do a simple mental status examination, it can be helpful in spotting clients with particular problems. It can also greatly facilitate your communication with mental health workers. Just telling a psychiatrist the fellow you are referring to him is “crazier than a bedbug” isn’t very useful.
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If you or your children have a chronically stuffy nose, you may have one of the five disorders listed below. All are correctable using modern surgical procedures.

Deviated Nasal Septum
The wall that divides the inside of our nose into right and left sides is called the nasal septum (septum means a partition). If this wall is crooked, i.e., if it encroaches on one side of the nose or the other, it is called a deviated (off course) septum. If the septum deviates too much, it can actually block the flow of air through one side of the nose. On rare occasions, it can deviate in both directions, causing symptoms of stuffiness on both sides of the nose.

Cleft Palate
The palate is the roof of your mouth. When it does not develop properly, it leaves a large opening in the roof of the mouth. This causes the nose and the mouth to connect abnormally, and results in many different problems for someone so affected.

Choanal Atresia (Bilateral)
The term choanal (funnel) refers to the shape of each side of the nose from the outside toward the throat. The term atresia (no hole) refers to the lack of an opening at the end of this funnel. Someone with bilateral choanal atresia has no opening into the throat for either of the nasal passageways, and no air can pass through the nose to the lungs. Choanal Atresia is a life-threatening situation for an infant.

Pharyngeal Stenosis
This is a very uncommon disorder in which the pharynx, located at the back of the nose and the top of the throat, is abnormally narrowed. Just as in a pinched pipe, such narrowing does not permit normal flow of air or fluid through the nose.

Benign Tumors
There are a variety of abnormal but not cancerous (benign) growths that can occur in the nasal passageways. These may block the flow of air through the nose on the side in which they occur. Nasal Polyps, balloon like swellings of the lining of the nose, are the most common of these.
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As attention shifts to pain, alertness appears. There is something wrong. Alarm bells ring. Action stations! Muscles tense and the body stiffens to a ramrod. Unknown to the victim, these overt changes are part of a massive reorganisation of many parts of the body. The heart and vascular system get ready for action, the hormone system mobilizes sugar and alerts the immune system, the gut becomes stationary and sleep as an option is cancelled.
The eyes, head and neck turn to inspect where the pain seems to be located. The hands explore the area. Muscles are contracted to learn what makes the pain worse and what eases it, and to seek a comfortable position and then hold it. The end result is a body fixed in an overall pain posture. Muscles are in steady contraction and, as time goes by, some muscles grow while joints and tendons deteriorate because this frozen posture itself sets off local changes. The vascular and endocrine systems hold their emergency state if pain is prolonged, but these systems are not evolved to cope with this prolonged stress state. The quiet gut demonstrates its inactivity as constipation. Perhaps worst of all, sleep is impossible and chronic pain patients become completely exhausted. Even intermittent sleep deprivation drives the strongest of us into pretty peculiar ways of thinking, as any doctor on night duty and any parent with a new-born baby know. Patients with chronic pain reach their wits’ end as their grim experience is prolonged.
Clearly, this state of affairs needs therapeutic attack. The key word is relaxation and much ingenuity has been used. The problem is to override a natural defence mechanism that has a protective role in brief emergencies but becomes maladaptive when prolonged. Drugs that inhibit the overactive muscle are commonly prescribed but they are sedative and intellectually flattening. After a while, patients refuse them or become zombies. Physiotherapists have many ways of relaxing muscles and of re-establishing movement in frozen zones. First, they have to overcome the patients’ natural fear that movement which produces pain does not necessarily increase the injury, and that lack of movement which seems at first to prevent pain eventually acts to prolong pain. Yoga and the Alexander technique are examples of posture training. Relaxation is not easy and training methods are needed. One successful version, ‘bio-feedback’ training, provides the patient with an electronic indicator of the amount of contraction in a muscle and allows the patient to judge, second by second, their success in relaxation. The patient has to learn how to relax and how to prolong the effect into real life outside the training sessions. Sleep follows relaxation hut it may need help of its own, so no-one should resist tablets until they can sleep on their own.
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A range of physical therapies are used in the management of various types of pain. Some are of value in the treatment of cancer-related pain.
Surgery-Surgery is most frequently required for orthopaedic complications and visceral obstruction. Ablative endocrine surgery for hormone-sensitive tumours has been largely replaced by hormonal and pharmacological therapies.
Internal surgical fixation is indicated for pathological fractures of long bones and should be considered in situations where there is a high risk of fracture. Internal fixation will provide prompt pain control and will allow more rapid mobilisation and rehabilitation of the patient. Where the responsible metastases are adjacent to a joint, such as the hip joint, replacement arthroplasty may be required for pain control.
Pain secondary to gastrointestinal, biliary or urinary obstruction can be relieved by various surgical procedures.
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The following is a suggested healthy eating plan for men. It will give you some ideas for choosing appropriate foods throughout the day to maintain your energy levels and provide you with all the essential requirements. I have included mostly simple meals that are quick and easy to prepare or purchase.
Men generally crave more proteins and carbohydrates than women and often reject women’s tendencies to introduce more vegetarian foods and salads into their diet. Men often feel the need to supplement this kind of diet with ‘fillers’ – the breads, pastas and potatoes they’ve been used to eating in the past. Men still crave these foods and seem to feel satisfied only if they have these carbohydrates in their diet.
Including some carbohydrates is fine but you need to choose quality carbohydrate, such as wholemeal or grainy breads, or couscous and brown rice. Potatoes left in their jackets are a favourite with many men but should be accompanied by other vegetables and a quality protein. Rice noodle dishes with plenty of vegetables are also a good option.
Thick soups in winter filled with grains such as barley, buckwheat or rice with split peas and lots of vegetables are great Tillers’. Whatever you choose, avoid resorting to pizza and other fast foods, which contain little nourishment and lots of unwanted fat, hidden preservatives and additives to make you irritable!
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This is a curious and poorly understood tumor of the blood vessels that got its name from the person who first described it over a century ago, Moricz Kaposi, a Hungarian dermatologist. At that time KS was generally a tumor of the leg occurring in elderly men of Ashkenazi Jewish or Mediterranean descent. A KS tumor is purple or black in color and painless. Over years or decades, KS tumors in these men grew slowly in size and number, but seldom caused serious consequences. KS in people with HIV infection behaves differently: the tumors grow more rapidly and appear in parts of the body other than the legs, including the internal organs.
These tumors can appear any place on the skin. They can also occur in the gastrointestinal tract, where they cause abdominal pain or diarrhea; in the lymph glands, where they occasionally cause painful swellings in the neck, under the arms, or in the groin; in the lungs, where they cause shortness of breath, coughing up sputum, or collections of fluid that reduce breathing capacity; in the brain, where they cause seizures; and in the liver. KS may also occur on the roof of the mouth. KS is unusual in that the tumors grow simultaneously at different places both on the skin and within internal organs.
KS is second only to PCP as the initial AIDS-defining diagnosis in people with HIV infection. Although KS occurs without HIV infection, it is approximately twenty thousand times more frequent in people with HIV than in those without. Probably between 20 and 25 percent of all people with AIDS have KS, but the frequency is substantially greater in gay men than in other groups with HIV infection. KS was also more common in people with AIDS in the early stages of the epidemic than it is now, for reasons no one knows. Some feel that the epidemiology of KS suggests that it is a sexually transmitted disease and that the safer sex practices widely adopted by gay men in the early 1980s in response to the HIV epidemic account for the reduction in cases.
The prognosis is actually quite good, possibly because people whose KS is their first
AIDS-defining condition have less severe immune suppression. Many people simply have tumors that persist or that increase in size and number. For this reason, treatment may not be necessary. Treatment is usually done for cosmetic reasons or for relief of any unpleasant symptoms.

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