Focus on your goals. (This does not mean "Berate yourself because you haven’t attained your goals yet.") We’ve found that it’s easiest to institute successful, healthy changes when you simply remind yourself why you’re doing it!

Imagine that you’re grocery shopping, walking down the frozen-food aisle past stacks and stacks of ice cream cartons in every imaginable flavor. Then you move into the dairy aisle and see all that low-fat yogurt (filled with sugary preserves), and finally, at the very end of the row, you see the cartons of plain nonfat yogurt. But look at all that wonderful sweet stuff!

Stop. This is where we’d like you to take a deep breath and remember what all the fat and sugar you’re passing up will do to you if you do indulge. This is the time to make an active, conscious choice – a choice, by the way, that does not have to limit you to plain nonfat yogurt: A tablespoon of Pritikin brand fruit spread or some fresh berries or half a sliced banana will transform your no-fat fare into something every bit as good as the fatty alternatives you’ve passed by. Give yourself a little pinch around the middle. Remind yourself of what your doctor said at your last visit. That’s what "self-motivate" means.

The next time you feel tempted by those chocolate-chip cookies that are just crying out for your attention, take a moment to review the reasons you want to change your diet: to lose weight, lower your cholesterol, reduce hypertension, feel more energetic, look years younger. Remember: You’re doing all this for yourself. You’re giving yourself a continuing gift no one else can make possible – the gift of good health.

*49/345/5*

WEIGHT LOSS/BODY-BUILDING

Cause

Acne is caused by the overactivity of oil-producing glands (sebaceous glands) in the skin. With the secretion of too much oil, these glands become blocked, and the subsequent accumulation of oil leads to the formation of pimples, blackheads and whiteheads. The greatest influence on the development of acne are hormonal changes during puberty and adolescence. Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that certain foods cause acne or make it worse. It also has nothing to do with hygiene, although good skin care can help avoid aggravation of the condition.

Clinical features

Acne most commonly affects the face, chest and back. In particular it can affect the brow, the nose and the chin. The pimples initially appear as red lumps under the skin, which soon form a head. Sometimes when the secreted oils reach the surface of the skin, the contact with air turns the pimples black, forming blackheads. In more severe cases cysts, filled with a cheesy material (sebum or oil) may appear, and become quite large and unsightly.

There are a few basic measures which can improve most cases of acne:

1. Wash the skin gently twice a day, morning and evening, with a mild soap. Do not use medicated soap, as this can be too harsh on the skin. Make sure the skin does not become too dry from overwashing. Do not scrub the skin.

2. Wash hair daily with a mild shampoo, and tie it back if it covers the face, or rubs against the neck. Do not apply greasy hair gels.

3. Encourage your teenager not to squeeze pimples or pick at his skin. As tempting as this may be, it can lead to permanent scarring, which is unsightly.

4. Do not cover pimples with makeup. This can aggravate the condition by blocking off the oil glands.

In addition, your doctor may recommend certain specific treatments, depending on the severity of the acne. These may include lotions or creams containing benzoyl peroxide, which helps to destroy bacteria. Sometimes antibiotics taken in small doses for several weeks may be helpful. In very severe cases of acne, a skin specialist may recommend the use of retinoic acid. Whatever the treatment, your teenager will need to have patience. Acne may take weeks or even months to clear up, and very often recurs periodically — a fluctuating pattern of severity is very common.

When to see your doctor

• if despite the above simple measures, the acne does not improve after 4-6 weeks;

• there are boils or cysts present;

• your teenager is distressed by the appearance of his skin and needs some reassurance that something can be done about it.

Prevention

Acne cannot be prevented. Attention to skin care as described above and a healthy, balanced diet may minimise the severity.

*290\90\8*

Anything we do can affect our sex life, and that certainly includes whatever drugs we take. It’s important to ask your doctor at least three questions about drugs. First and foremost: “Is this drug necessary?” Necessary, lifemaintaining drugs make up less than 10 percent of prescriptions written every year. Second, ask “Are these painkillers or sedatives necessary?” These drugs can have real affect on sexuality and usually do not deal with the health problem you are trying to solve. Finally, ask if better health habits such as regulating weight, exercising in moderation, and avoiding junk foods can reduce the need for some drugs prescribed by your doctor. You might also ask about the dosage and time of day you take drugs, because that can affect how the drug works and what the drug might do to your sexuality.

*326\97\8*

WIFE

This wife assumes her husband’s projected image of her and becomes the pure, motherly, sisterly person in her husband’s life rather than his equal partner. This wife feels elevated to a pedestal, lonely and on display. She senses that her husband sees other women as more sexual and sees her as a “nice woman.” She adjusts by either filling the madonna role even more or tries, usually in vain, to compete with the vague image of a “loose” woman. Both attempts fail because she is neither. She struggles unsuccessfully to find her lost sexual identity because she is looking for it through her husband’s eyes rather than her own. Her love map is being drawn for her. The madonna/whore and lover/playboy dichotomies play themselves out in male/female sexual interaction. They are extreme routes on the love maps formed in a punitive, hypocritical society. They are labels that hamper the development of adult sexual maturity.

*153\97\8*

I’d say we spend about ten minutes together alone per day. When we finally get in bed for the night, we are too tired to do much that takes too much time or effort. There is too much taken out of us to have anything left to put into us.

HUSBAND

If it is true that we reap what we sow, then marriages are in big trouble, for we sow very little into our relationships proportionate to what we put into our jobs and other activities. If we put as much time in our working as we allow for our loving, we would end up unemployed or bankrupt. We raise our children, go to work and work hard, help our parents, maintain our cars, paint and clean our homes, but American marriage is similar to a neglected child, a child expected somehow to take care of her- or himself. Marriage in America is underfed. We seem to be searching for intimacy, but the harvest is meager for lack of planting and nurturing.

Take the following mini-test that I gave to the thousand couples and you will see what I mean by the priority problem.

*13\97\8*

Elderly women may sustain fractures of bones from even simple injuries. A common fracture in women is a break in the radius, the major bone of the forearm. A fracture of this bone, just above the wrist, is called a Colles’ fracture.

A fall may result in a fracture of the neck of the femur or thigh bone. This can occur in both elderly men and women, but is far commoner in women. Crush fractures of the vertebral bodies of the spine are not uncommon in elderly women.

These can follow from carrying heavy weights and one cause is from grandmothers lifting and carrying grandchildren.

Elderly women who carry heavy loads from the supermarket can also suffer a crush fracture of the vertebra, usually affecting the bones of the thoracic or chest spine. These fractures cause considerable pain, but require no specific treatment beyond rest.

The deformity from wedging of a crushed vertebra leads to the prominence of the upper back which has been called the “widow’s hump”.

*521/71/1*

While this also is thought to be an auto-immune disease, some researchers believe it to be a hypersensitivity reaction to infection, particularly to recent infection with the streptococcus germ. This is the common cause of tonsillitis and the skin disease, impetigo.

Rheumatic fever, which affects the joints and sometimes the heart, and acute nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys, are believed to be hypersensitivities to the streptococcus.

Cortisone can relieve the acute symptoms of polyarteritis but does not appear to alter the course of the disease.

There are a number of other collagen disorders, perhaps the most important of which is Giant Cell Arteritis.

This is a sub acute inflammation of the larger arteries and the temporal artery which lies in the scalp is the most commonly affected.

This form of collagen disease affects the elderly, usually at around 70. There is often a slow, insidious onset, with fever, tiredness and weight loss. The temporal artery may become thickened, easily felt and tender. While this is the most noticeable feature, many other arteries of the body may also be affected.

Early recognition is important, as the retinal arteries which supply the eyes may be involved and this can impair vision.

Cortisone is most effective in this condition. Early treatment results in settling of the inflammation with relief of symptoms, and can save the sight.

*265/71/1*

In the past, tests to check whether there was some serious underlying disorder were somewhat complicated.

Doctors now know that a thorough history of the child, how the problem has presented itself, plus a history of the family, can give most of the clues.

A few simple blood tests as well, should be enough for the family doctor to be able to reassure the parents that no real problem exists.

True haemophilia or haemophilia A, which was present among many descendants of Queen Victoria, is due to an absence of factor VIII in the blood. This deficiency is inherited, but is sex linked. It is carried by females and may appear in their sons.

Haemophilia B, or Christmas disease, is due to a lack of factor IX and is also sex linked in inheritance.

Correct diagnosis as to whether a bleeding disorder is present, will lead to the proper treatment if it is needed.

Purpura is a form of bleeding tendency which, in most cases, is acquired rather than inherited, and is usually temporary.

*13/71/1*