Comprehensive men's sexual health information, tips and news about men's sexual health.

The most commonly accepted theory is that it is due to an infection with an unknown virus during childhood in genetically susceptible individuals.

It is believed the virus lies dormant for many years before either directly or by some immune process causing the disease.

The half-closed eyes of the late Aristotle Onassis were very obvious in most published photographs of him.

Those eyes are probably the commonest sign of the disease from which it is alleged he suffered — myasthenia gravis.

This unusual disorder occurs in all races and in both sexes. It is characterised by abnormal muscle weakness which tends to affect one group of muscles more than others.

The cause is unknown but it is thought to be one of the auto-immune diseases, where the body, as it were, becomes allergic to its own tissues and makes antibodies which fix on and then destroy those tissues.

The thymus seems to be somehow involved in the disorder. This poorly understood organ lies in the upper chest, in front of the heart and lungs. It is large in childhood and slowly decreases in size, so as to be hardly noticeable when the chest of a mature or elderly adult is opened at operation or autopsy.

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The coming of winter is dreaded by those who suffer from chilblains.

Chilblains, or perniosis, is one of those minor illnesses which are not regarded very seriously by doctors, but which can cause severe discomfort to the sufferer.

This condition is due to the action of cold, damp weather on skin which is particularly sensitive to its effects.

The superficial blood vessels in the skin appear to be over-sensitive to the cold. They dilate, and the blood does not flow fully through the tissues, which then suffer from lack of oxygen.

The skin develops blotchy red or bluish areas which thicken, and are usually intensely itchy.

They occur on the exposed parts of the body, such as the nose, the hands, the feet and lower legs.

The disorders of superficial circulation such as chilblains appear to be much more common in women than in men, but why they occur at all is not fully understood.

Sometimes the skin breaks down over the chilblain and ulcerates, due either to scratching or to lack of nutrition from poorly circulating blood.

This may lead to secondary infection, and in treatment it may be necessary to use antibiotics both locally and generally.

In treatment, however, the most important element is to keep the affected part warm, and this can be done by the wearing of gloves, thick socks, stockings or boots.

The direct application of heat, such as exposing the part to an open fire or radiator, only makes the condition worse.

Drugs, unfortunately, are of limited use.

Calcium, either in tablet form or by injection, has long enjoyed a reputation as being useful in treating chilblains.

How it acts is not certain, although some people do obtain considerable relief.

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Are you concerned about taking up too much of the practitioner’s time? He or she probably is busy and he or she certainly has a lot of other patients. That’s the practitioner’s problem, not yours. There is only one of you and it is vital that you make the right decisions about yourself. You can’t do that without all the information and you need however much time that takes. If you need time by yourself or with family and friends to think things through, don’t hesitate to say so and ask for another appointment. Don’t be pressured into making far-reaching decisions on the spot. It is extremely rare for the situation to be so urgent that you can’t take a few days to make a decision. Don’t worry about inconveniencing your practitioner. You are paying for your practitioner’s services and he or she is there for your benefit, not the other way around.

f)0 you feel that if you ask too many questions the practitioner will label you as a ‘troublemaker’? This can happen. I would say this: a practitioner who would call an anxious, responsible, questioning adult a ‘troublemaker’ is not the sort of person I would trust to give me unbiased information and advice, let alone make decisions on my behalf. If your practitioner is like this, then all the more reason for insisting on enough information to make decisions yourself. Alternatively, you may well think it is a very good reason to find another practitioner. I certainly would.

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The relationship between the incidence of skin cancer and exposure to sunlight has been firmly established, chiefly due to two significant observations. Firstly, skin cancers are more prevalent on those areas most continuously exposed to the sun. such as the face and ears. Secondly, the overall incidence of skin cancers is much higher in those areas of the world where there are many months of high intensity solar radiation and there is a tradition of sunbathing (Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world).

It has also been established that some people are genetically prone to develop skin cancer. Persons with blue or green eyes, fair or red hair, and pale skin—notably Irish and other Celtic peoples—are especially vulnerable. Ireland has the world’s largest skin cancer death rate after South Africa and Australia, even though Ireland is in a latitude that receives less than half the ultraviolet radiation of either of the other countries. The overall incidence of cancer amongst Caucasians in the United States is 15 times greater than for Negroes. For predisposed individuals of Celtic ancestry, living in potentially sun-intense countries, such as the United States, South Africa, and Australia, skin cancer is a real hazard, although there is a considerable latent period between the time of damage and the appearance of the consequences. This may in fact range from 10 to 30 years.

It is estimated that about half a million people will develop skin cancer this year in the United States, and that more than 5000 of them will die of it this year alone. Australia has a significantly higher incidence of skin cancer than the United States, and medical authorities estimate that one out of every five Australians will develop some form of it.

Skin cancer, like all cancers, is marked by the uncontrolled growth of certain cells. There are three common forms of skin cancer, named from the cells from which they develop. The most common is the basal cell carcinoma (B.C.C. U which rarely spreads to other tissues. The next most common is the squamous cell carcinoma (S.C.C.), which does spread or metastasize, and may arise from a pie-cancerous lesion known as a solar keratosis. Finally, there is the highly dangerous melanoma.

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‘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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