Mens Health Blog. Medical Blog

‘What I felt wasn’t just ordinary itching. I felt as if insects were crawling around on my skin, especially around my abdomen. I would wake up in the night itching like mad, which was another reason I didn’t sleep so well.’

‘An unexpected benefit of HRT has been that my skin has looked so much better. It was beginning to get noticeably thinner, and quite dry and flaky, and that in itself made me suddenly feel about 10 years older – but I’m not trying to look like a film star!’

Improved skin texture is a visible — and welcome — result of taking hormone replacement therapy.

Skin consists of two principal parts: a thin outer layer called the epidermis, and a thicker lower layer called the dermis. Within the dermis is a substance called collagen, and this becomes thinner as oestrogen levels fall, causing the skin as a whole to become thinner. This could be because collagen increases the moisture content of the skin and ‘fills it out’. Collagen is lost from the dermis most rapidly in the years immediately after the final period, with up to 30 per cent being lost in the first five years, and about 2 per cent a year after that.

As the thickness of the skin depends on its collagen content, skin condition is related more to the number of years since the menopause than to actual age. Once oestrogen is restored, the collagen starts to increase; where conditions such as thin skin, dry flaky skin, and skin that becomes easily bruised are caused by low oestrogen they are almost always reversible within the first six months of taking HRT. This improvement doesn’t continue indefinitely, and balances out after about two years of treatment. However, although skin texture improves significantly, there is no evidence that HRT slows the development of wrinkles!

Not only can good skin improve a woman’s self-esteem, it can also be an indication of the state her bones are in. Collagen is also present in bone and, if collagen is being lost visibly from the skin, it is also probably being lost invisibly from the bones. Women with transparent skin are much more likely to have osteoporosis than women with opaque skin. If your skin appears to be getting noticeably thinner, it might be a good idea to talk to your doctor about osteoporosis.

A skin condition that quite a few women suffer from during the early days of the menopause is known as formication. The name comes from the Latin formica, meaning ‘ant’, which aptly describes the feeling you may get of insects crawling just underneath or on top of your skin. It doesn’t produce a rash, but the itching can be maddening, and can wake you up in the night. Formication is probably caused by changes in the nerve endings, and the condition can be helped by HRT.

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In severe cases of primary dysmenorrhoea (painful periods) the pain can be stopped by suppressing ovulation. Drugs such as the contraceptive pill or NSAIDs with anti-prostaglandin activity may be useful.

Painkillers are widely used to deal with this pain and a variety of non-drug approaches may also help. Weekly acupuncture has been shown to ease painful periods in 90% of women, with a 41% reduction in the use of painkillers. This approach may be attractive to women who want to handle their menstrual pain without medication, either because it is no longer effective or because of unacceptable side-effects. There is also evidence that lifestyle changes such as stopping smoking can reduce menstrual pain. Women treated non-surgically for painful periods report increased physical activity levels a year after starting treatment, but the majority are negative about the prospect of continuing on with their nonsurgical efforts at pain relief.

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This supernatural experience can sometimes be very real during dreaming and it may not be easy to tell what is real and what is a dream. My daughter Melinda told me about a dream she once had. We had been playing billiards the night before and she lost. That night she dreamt that she was pushing the billiard ball with her teeth and tried to get it into the side pocket of the billiard table. She tried so hard that her front tooth became loose. She touched her gum and there was blood on her hand and the tooth fell out. She was not frightened as somehow she knew she was in a dream. She made a conscious effort to wake up, as she thought if she could wake up and look in the mirror she would see that her tooth was still there. Still asleep, she dreamt that she woke up, and pinched herself just to make sure. She felt relieved and looked in the mirror. To her horror the tooth was still missing. The rest of the dream was vague and hazy. When she was telling me this dream, she still touched her teeth to make sure the dream was really over. Dreams can be so real, that pinching yourself and feeling the pain does not imply that you are not still in the dream. Sometimes I wonder if there is anything you can do to tell for sure whether you are actually in the dream or the real world.

Throughout the ages, philosophers have marvelled at the reality of dreams. A sleep researcher, G. W. Leibniz, talked about a dream consciousness lasting the life of a man. In other words, we are two people, going side by side, one in the dream state and the other in the waking state. The Nobel Prize winner, Bertrand Russell, went one step further, and stated that real life was actually the dream and waking life a persistent nightmare.

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It is probable that you have had your tension or anxiety symptoms for some time. Do not expect them to disappear overnight following your first trial of relaxing mental exercises. You probably think it strange that I should give such a warning. But it is necessary. Experience has shown that many people tend to give up very easily. When I have personally been showing patients how to do it, and if they falter and show signs of giving up without a fair trial, I have been able to encourage them to keep going; and the vast majority have been well rewarded for doing so. But with you it is different. I can only be with you in spirit. Do not expect too much too quickly. It does not come all at once, neither the relief of your symptoms nor even the mastering of the techniques of mental relaxation.

In this respect it is well to remember that very dramatic changes in one’s mental state, either for the better or for the worse, are in themselves evidence of instability. Be content with a slow and steady improvement.

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This “simple” and cheap remedy is used more than any other drug by millions of arthritis sufferers. The main reasons for this are: (a) aspirin is inexpensive; (b) it is easily available without prescription; (c) it is generally believed that aspirin is completely nonhabitual and harmless; and (d) it eases pain and makes the patient feel more comfortable.

Because of the above reasons aspirin is so extensively used that it is a perennial remedy and a habitual routine of virtually all arthritic patients. They use it in progressively increasing amounts and many become so dependent on aspirin that they can hardly live without the drug. Arthritics must account for a big portion of the 18 million pounds of aspirin sold in the United States yearly. Over 15 tons of aspirin is consumed every 24 hours!

I wish people were better informed about how much damage this “harmless” drug can cause.

There is a general agreement among medical practitioners that aspirin is a toxic substance which has many alarming side effects.

Technically known as acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin—and many other patented drugs which feature aspirin as a main ingredient—can cause severe poisoning and result in pathological changes in the brain, liver, and kidneys.

Used over a long period of time aspirin may depress the production rate of the immune bodies of the organism and thus undermine the body’s own healing powers. By masking symptoms of the acute stages of arthritis, it leads the patient to a false sense of security and actually contributes to conversion of the disease to a chronic stage.

The Journal of the American Medical Association has reported that even small doses of aspirin can cause cardiac weakness with excessive pulse rate, edematous swelling of the mucous membranes, irregular pulse, and occasionally albuminuria (albumin in urine) .

Other toxic effects of aspirin are a tendency to bleed and delirium or a state of incoherency, restlessness, and confusion.

Aspirin is also known as a vitamin antagonist. It is especially antagonistic towards vitamin C and destroys huge quantities of it in the body.

This should be enough to make it clear that aspirin is far from a harmless little friend of the arthritic, as it is pictured by advertisers. Since it can cause many serious side effects and its only “good” property is in masking the symptoms, it should be evident to everyone that this remedy should not be used if the arthritis sufferer is looking for a real betterment of his condition.

The public health authorities are beginning to realize the danger of the indiscriminate use of aspirin. At a recent Surgeon General’s Workshop on Prevention of Disability from Arthritis a suggestion was made “to attempt to curtail the advertising claims of salicylate derivatives so commonly heard on radio and television.” It was, however, agreed that such an action should come from the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Deceptive Practices.

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Breathing in and out too fast and too deep is one bodily way in which, like palpitations, anxiety is manifested. This response seems to be particularly common in adolescent girls. If continued for more than a few minutes, excessive carbon dioxide is removed by the lungs from the blood, which becomes correspondingly alkaline. This affects the levels of calcium in the blood, and, in turn, the conduction of nerve impulses and the contraction of muscles. The net effect is that the subject experiences painful tingling in the hands and toes, which become flexed and contracted in a cramped posture. The lack of carbon dioxide also produces a feeling of light-headedness, and the total picture may be confused with a seizure. Treatment is simple and dramatically effective. A paper or polythene bag is placed (temporarily!) over the patient’s, nose and mouth, so that she re-breathes her own expired air, rich in carbon dioxide. The body chemistry and clinical state rapidly return to normal.

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CETYLMYRISTOLEATE: At room temperature cetylmyristoleate is a liquid wax. It can be digested only in the alkaline environment of the small intestine. Cetylmyristoleate is a large molecule. These molecules have a strong affinity for each other and tend to clump together in large impenetrable masses. This results in a very small surface area relative to its weight and volume. Only the surfaces are exposed to the digestive process. Since that is only a very small percentage of the whole, very little gets digested, giving unaltered cetylmyristoleate a very low level of bioavailability. This is true of virtually all waxes. Faecal analysis indicates that they pass through the digestive system virtually undigested.

CMO: To get an efficient and effective orally administered product, it was essential to raise the digestibility and resultant bioavailability of cetylmyristoleate. Consequently, we had to develop proprietary pharmaceutical processing methods that employ cerasomal technology. The resulting product, now a waxy solid rather than a liquid, was appropriately named

cerasomal-cis-9-cetylmyristoleate, and trademarked as CMO.

There is a very important difference between the liquid form and the solid form. As a solid, CMO now resembles a crystalline structure that shatters in the alkaline confines of the small intestine. These shattered particles form a netlike mesh with enormous surface areas, allowing immensely greater digestive efficiency. Furthermore, the reticulated cleavage faces range between 0.9 and 1.0 microns in diameter, which accesses biological uptake mechanisms not available to either larger or smaller particles. Research shows that the body is 40 to 200 times more receptive to particles of this size. This is what makes CMO much more bioavailable and effective than other products. And it is our exclusive proprietary processing methods that make it so.

CETYLMYRISTATE: It’s pathetic that we even have to bother with this one. Myristate, as opposed to myristoleate, has virtually no immunomodulatory properties. Thus, it has essentially no effect on arthritis or any other autoimmune disease. The best that promoters of these products (often as cheap as $3.00-$4.00 a bottle wholesale) can come up with to describe their stuff is something like “a free floating myristate.” Nobody here can figure out what that means. And the producers won’t clarify. If you can figure it out, please clue us in.

A NOTE ON “VEGETABLE” SOURCES: Edible Oil and Fat Products, clearly lists only four sources for myristoleic acid, the substance needed to produce any form of myristoleate, including cetylmyristoleate. Those sources are beef tallow, butterfat, chicken fat, and sheep tallow. Period! Its extensive listings clearly show that there are NO VEGETABLE SOURCES, not even coconut or soybean oil as some have tried to claim. Any claim that cetylmyristoleate can come from a vegetable source is fraudulent.

A CAUTION ABOUT SYNTHETIC PRODUCTS: Synthetically produced cetylmyristoleate contains a large amount, probably 50%, of trans type cetylmyristoleate. The trans type molecule is unnatural to the body and causes physical damage by disrupting cellular membranes. Even in some so-called “natural” products there remains a trace of toxic residue left from harsh processing. Because it is a completely natural product, CMO has absolutely no trans molecules, and there is no toxic residue because no toxic substances are used in any stage of its processing.

We hope this helps you understand the difference between products, and that there is only one genuine and effective CMO.

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Symptom

Flat, dome-shaped, or protruding skin growths that can be up to a centimeter long and vary in color

Home care

If a mole requires treatment of any kind it will be necessary to see a doctor.

Precautions

-    A doctor should see any mole that is bleeding or crusting, changing color, or growing rapidly. The doctor should also be consulted if a mole has been partly removed by accident, or if the color is extending into surrounding skin.

-    Most moles are noncancerous. However, a type of mole known as pigmented nevus can become cancerous; this mole (unlike other types) is present at birth and is dark in color and very large.

-    Moles cannot safely be burned off by the following methods: electrocautery, acids, dry ice, or liquid nitrogen. The doctor must remove them completely, if necessary, with a scalpel.

-    No child is completely free of moles; some children develop many of them during childhood.

Moles are benign (noncancerous) growths on the skin. They can be flat, dome-shaped, or protruding. They vary in color from tan or brown to blue or black, and in size from one-half to one centimeter or larger. Moles are rarely present at birth; they develop during childhood. No child is totally free of moles, and some children develop hundreds of them.

It’s very unlikely that any mole will become cancerous (malignant). However, one exception to this is a type of mole called a pigmented nevus. This mole, which is present at birth, is extremely large (several centimeters wide) and dark and a mole of this type can become malignant.

Signs and symptoms

Moles are easily recognizable, but if the doctor is in any doubt about a growth on the skin a laboratory examination of part of the growth may be necessary. Examination of an entire mole under the microscope may be needed.

Home care

If a mole requires any kind of treatment, it will require medical, not home, care.

Precautions

A mole should be seen by a doctor if:

• It has been partly removed by accident;

• It is bleeding or crusting;

• It is changing color or growing rapidly;

• If the pigment (color) is moving into the surrounding skin.

Medical treatment

If the mole shows any of the characteristics listed above under “Precautions,” the doctor will remove the mole surgically. Any pigmented nevus probably should be surgically removed because of the possibility of a malignancy. Moles must be removed completely with a scalpel. The surgery will leave a scar of some sort. Moles cannot safely be burned off by a procedure called electrocautery, or by acids, dry ice, or liquid nitrogen. Moles are sometimes removed for cosmetic reasons.

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Allergies, autoimmune diseases and infections all create a lot of inflammation in your body. People with autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis are much more likely to have a heart attack than the general population. You are also more likely to have a heart attack during or soon after having an infection, such as the flu or pneumonia. Sometimes people with chronic hidden infections such as gum disease, Helicobacter pylori or infection with cytomegalovirus are more prone to heart disease.

If you have a hyperstimulated, overworked immune system, it is likely that you have elevated levels of C-reactive protein. Immune cells also release a host of inflammation-promoting chemicals called inflammatory cytokines. Some of these include interferon, interlukin-6 and interleukin-10. As well as causing tissue damage, and the symptoms specific to various immune disorders, these chemicals all promote irritation and damage to your endothelium, or inner lining of your arteries.

To improve the function of your immune system you can:

• Avoid eating foods you are allergic or intolerant to:

If you are continually exposed to something you are allergic or intolerant to, it acts like a poison in your body. Your immune system is continually fighting to counteract the effects of this food, and in the process produces a lot of chemicals that have damaging effects in your body. The foods that most commonly produce allergies/intolerances are dairy products wheat, gluten, eggs, tomatoes, soy and oranges. Possible symptoms you may experience if you have a food allergy/intolerance include:

• Abdominal bloating

• Skin rashes

• Foggy brain and poor concentration

• Fluid retention

• Headaches

• Joint or muscle aches and pains

• Irritable bowel syndrome

• Mood changes, anxiety or depression

An elimination diet that is guided by a naturopath or nutritionist is recommended to pinpoint your allergies. Many people with these symptoms have leaky gut syndrome, and this must be treated.

• Eat raw foods to nourish your immune system:

It is very important to eat fresh raw foods every day. Raw foods contain enzymes and nutrients which cooking may destroy and they take very little effort to digest. It is important to eat at least one raw vegetable salad each day; try to vary the vegetables you use and have a variety of different coloured vegetables, as they each have different healing properties. Raw fruit is an excellent snack. As well as getting vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from fruit and vegetables to keep free radicals under control and prevent the oxidation of cholesterol, you obtain a lot of fibre from these foods, helping to remove cholesterol via your bowels.

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 Vitamins

The  vitamins are water-soluble which means you lose them when passing urine.

Vitamin B6

Research has shown that giving B6 to women who have trouble conceiving increases their fertility. In one study a group of women who had stopped having periods because of a hormone imbalance were given vitamin B6 for three to four months. Some of the women started to have regular periods again.

And in another study, 12 out of 14 women who had been trying for up to seven years conceived after taking vitamin B6 daily over six months.

You should take up to 50mg a day.

Your partner should take up to 50mg a day.

Vitamin Â12

Vitamin B12 is vital for cellular reproduction and a number of studies have shown its potential for increasing male fertility.”6 In one study in the 1980s, men with low sperm counts were given vitamin B12 each day and over a quarter of them improved by more than five times.

You should take up to 50mg a day.

Your partner should take up to 50mg a day.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is another powerful antioxidant. Like selenium, it plays a protective role in the body and benefits both male and female fertility.

With some couples, the woman is ovulating so her tubes are not blocked, and the man is producing a good quantity of sperm, yet the sperm cannot penetrate the egg, so there is no fertilisation. This is obviously a major problem and, in cases of poor fertilisation, even where the sperm count is good, doctors may have to resort to ICSI.

However, an intriguing piece of research looked at men who had good sperm counts but low fertilisation rates during IVF treatments. These men were given vitamin E each day. One month after starting treatment, the fertilisation rate had increased from 19 per cent to 29 per cent. These findings suggest that the antioxidant activity of vitamin E may make sperm more fertile.

Like other antioxidants, vitamin E combats free radicals. (Linked to cancer, coronary heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and premature ageing, free radicals speed up the ageing process by destroying healthy cells.) High levels of free radicals in semen can cause sub-fertility so it is important that any sperm problems are corrected by ensuring an adequate intake of antioxidants.

If you have been told you have unexplained infertility I would recommend that you and your partner take vitamin E supplements. And if you have had a miscarriage you should take a vitamin E supplement because it prevents abnormal clotting.

One study, published in 1960, showed that giving vitamin E to both partners resulted in a significant increase in fertility.120

If you are over 35, and have been told that your fertility problems are caused by your age, then you are also likely to benefit from taking vitamin E. Studies show that adding antioxidants, such as vitamin Ñ and vitamin E, to an animal’s diet significantly reduces age-related ovulation decline. Another study concluded that ‘these findings may have direct implications for preventing or delaying maternal-age-associated infertility in humans’.

You should take 300-400 IU a day.

Your partner should take 300-400 IU a day.

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