Directory of health resources for healthcare professionals.

Hanging around the house in your underwear stinking of cheap booze and cigars, eating artery-clogging fast food, and yelling at the television-not exactly the picture of a man primed to defy death by squeezing every last drop out of life. But as it turns out, neither is focusing solely on improving your emotional outlook or adopting an outlandish cure or two.

“Let’s put it this way: You’ll never be able to cut open a vitamin E capsule, sprinkle it over a hot-fudge sundae, and not have to worry about the sundae,” says Dr. Lichtenstein. To beat heart disease, “you may have to make major fundamental adjustments that become habitual. Accept that taking care of your heart is going to be a lifelong project.” But it’s really not as difficult as you might think it is. Here’s how it’s done.

Know your risk. It’s true. Some guys have all the luck (thanks for the reminder, Rod Stewart). And some guys have higher risk factors than others. For example, you’re at risk for heart disease if a first-degree male relative (like a brother or your dad) under age 55 or a first-degree female relative (like a sister or your mother) under age 65 has suffered a heart attack. If you have both, naturally you’re at a higher risk. Got diabetes? High blood pressure? High cholesterol? Low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol? Do you smoke? All six? Your risk is higher still. “Those are your major risk factors, and once you have your cholesterol measured, some kind of decision can be made about just how much risk you have. But you really can’t tell until you’ve had your cholesterol checked,” Dr. Lichtenstein says.

Cut your total cholesterol. You’ve heard it so many times, you’re starting to think LDL stands for “lower, dummy, lower.” But bear with us. Reducing the “bad” LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol generated by your diet and raising your “good” HDL cholesterol with exercise can dramatically cut your risk for heart disease. As you probably know, LDL is called the bad cholesterol because it can penetrate artery walls, narrowing vessels and choking off blood. What you may not know is that research has shown that vascular disease patients who cut their total cholesterol by about 20 percent reduced their heart attack risk by two-thirds, says Dr. DiBianco.

“This helped convert soft, vulnerable plaques into more stabilized plaques that are less likely to break off and clog arteries,” Dr. DiBianco says. According to the American Heart Association, your goal should be to try to keep your total cholesterol under 200 milligrams per deciliter. Borderline high cholesterol is 200 to 239 milligrams per deciliter, while high cholesterol is over 240 milligrams per deciliter. One of the best ways to lower your cholesterol is to eat less saturated fat, the kind found in meat and dairy products, says Dr. DiBianco.

Bring down your blood pressure. Here are some more numbers that can help add up to a healthy heart and a longer, more active life. When checking your blood pressure-once or twice a year should do-look for a reading of 120/80 millimeters of mercury (pronounce it “120 over 80″ just like they do on your favorite hospital drama). That’s considered normal. A reading above 140/90 should be of concern. And when your blood pressure is over 160/100, it’s definitely too high, says Dr. Pickering.

Stop smoking. If you don’t want to give up cigarettes for your own heart’s sake, do it for your sweetheart’s sake. A seven-year study of 353,180 women and 126,500 men who had never smoked found that those who lived with smokers had a roughly 20 percent greater risk of death from heart disease.

*86/36/5*

The Family Perspective

I would be hard pressed to think of a patient whose family life had no direct bearing on the way her disorder developed. Volumes have been written on the role of family dynamics in anorexia and bulimia.

Some patterns that have been identified in certain eating-disordered families include an overemphasis on appearance, social isolation, emotional rigidity, and the inability to resolve conflicts. However, there is no such thing as a “typical” eating-disordered family. The same dynamic that triggers an eating disorder in one person may allow another to thrive. In Chapter Eleven we’ll learn more about the family’s influence on eating disorders, and how family therapy can be a vital component of treatment.

The Sociocultural Perspective

To sociologists, eating disorders result from the extreme value our culture places on thinness. Through advertisements, TV programs, and magazines, thinness has become a kind of social currency, a means of exchange between people. The hidden message: Thin wins.

The other side of the coin: Fat is failure. Chubby children suffer cruel teasing by their schoolmates-teasing that can become the trigger for an eating disorder. Fat people are the targets of jokes and whispered comments. Some find the doors to advancement closed. The cultural pressure to be thin can make feelings of insecurity, self-doubt, or unworthiness much worse.

Other trends stoke the fire. The modern changes in women’s place in society and the lack of models showing how to fulfill those roles add to the problem. A girl whose mother was “just a housewife” may suddenly find herself, at adolescence, expected to become a “superwoman,” adept at juggling career, family, and personal needs. Some women may lack the skills to cope with-or resist-these demands, including the demand that one must be thin. By submitting to these pressures, they hope to show they are worthy, that they can set and reach goals, and that they deserve respect.

*18/35/5*

Devoutly religious, Theresa Giffin says that her relationship with God has been her salvation from a lifetime of weight problems.

“I had tried everything available to lose weight,” she notes. “I took pills. I fasted. I got a tummy tuck. I did it all. And each time, I’d regain what I lost—and more.”

But for Theresa, prayer succeeded where pills, fasts, and surgery had failed. It happened one day when a coworker left a 2-pound box of chocolates on her desk.

Theresa took one piece, but she knew that wouldn’t be enough. “It was my very favorite candy, and I thought I wouldn’t be able to stop,” recalls the 51-year-old nurse from Fall Creek, Oregon. “So I whispered a little prayer: ‘God, you know that I want to eat this whole box of candy. You have to help me!’”

In an instant, Theresa’s desire for chocolate vanished. “It had no smell, no taste,” she says. “It was like a piece of cardboard to me.”

Theresa joined Weigh Down Workshops, an international program that advocates weight loss through prayer. She credits this approach with her weight-loss success.

Now, every time temptation hits, Theresa says a little prayer. In little more than a year, she lost 87 pounds. j pi

WINNING ACTION

Create your own intervention. When you feel that overwhelming surge of emotions sending you off on a binge, stop it in its tracks. Like Theresa, you can pray. Or you can do what I do: Before I start stuffing myself with food, I say to myself (or sometimes out loud), “Stop, slow down, and think!” Usually, that’s enough to help me switch gears, so I can do something—anything—else.

*72\89\8*

In the quiet time during relaxation imagine you are holding on to the string of a large balloon. There is a basket on the bottom of the balloon. Without straining to remember everything, put into the basket anything that has ever hurt you since before your birth: lack of love, rejection, failure, hurtful things people have said and done, grief, pain, frustration, anger, feelings of worthlessness, guilt, shame, or anything else lurking around. Now raise your hand briefly in a conscious attempt to let go of the string, and watch the balloon float out of sight. It may take several weeks to get some particularly hurtful things into the basket, but when you have managed it you will feel the release.

Sharing the ‘basket’ experience at the end of the session is helpful in two ways. Fellow feeling in the group is cemented by the realization that we all have similar hurts and insecurities, and also the person who is unwilling to relinquish the past hurts can use the group as a ‘sounding board’ to reflect his or her own thoughts in order to discover why there should be reluctance to let go. Often there is laughter during this sharing time. One man amused a group by saying, ‘It was a struggle, but I got my mother-in-law in the basket this week.’

If you are a private person and do not want to share your feelings it is still a useful exercise.

Be patient with yourself if you suffered a bereavement or other sad experience whilst you were on tranquillizers. You may have to work through those feelings again as you withdraw, even if you feel rationally that the experience is in the past.

*62\49\8*

Urinary Symptoms

Frequency, burning, and incontinence are reported. Again, investigations usually prove negative. Treatment for infection is ineffective. If your doctor confirms there is no infection, drink plenty of water and be patient. Young and old, men and women, sometimes have slight (and temporary) urinary incontinence during withdrawal.

Influenza-like Symptoms

If you experience headaches, sore throat, stuffy nose, burning skin, it may be that you are cutting down too quickly. Some people recognize that they have had these symptoms for years. The influenza they experienced several times a year was when they ran out of pills, or forgot to take them on holiday. Many people remember a flu-like illness when their pills were stopped on admission to hospital for routine surgery. The symptoms always disappeared when they resumed taking their pills.

*46\49\8*

It may be that the drugs artificially raise the blood sugar levels and therefore low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) could be expected on withdrawal. Even if this is not so hypoglycaemic symptoms are often present in anxious people. The condition is not serious and is easily controlled by a sensible eating plan. Many have said that some of the withdrawal symptoms, e.g. shaking inside, confusion, and panic attacks improve if they do not allow themselves to get very hungry. You will see from the diet that sugar is not the answer to hypoglycaemia but it can be used as an emergency measure until a meal is possible. Carry glucose tablets, chocolate or sweets, particularly if you are driving or in any situation that needs concentration.

The following diet is an example of an eating plan that helps to keep the blood sugar stable. It is only a guide and not something to become over-anxious about. Many have found it greatly reduces the craving for sugar, or the desire for odd foods.

*25\49\8*

1. Symptoms are less severe.

2. Better if you have a stressful job or domestic life.

3. Better for long-term users if hospitalization is not possible.

4. Gives time to adjust to deep emotional problems (if they exist).

5. General health can be improved at the same time, and therefore make withdrawal easier.

6. May be the best way for the person who has always been severely anxious.

7. Reduces risk of going back on pills.

SLOW WITHDRAWAL TABLES

These are only a guide. Where they show unequal dosage work out which part of the day you need the higher dose. Unless you are accustomed to only one dose per day, divide the daily dose as evenly as possible. By doing this you will avoid sudden drops of the level of the drug in the blood.

*9\49\8*

Moulds

Damp houses and other buildings (eg churches, church halls) provoke symptoms. Raking up fallen leaves, handling compost, or spending time in a greenhouse, cellar or conservatory also tend to make symptoms worse. So does mowing the lawn, if grass-clippings were not collected up after mowing last time – these will have grown moulds which are stirred up by mowing again. House-plants, Christmas trees, damp straw or hay and domestic humidifiers are other possible sources. The symptoms may appear only in midsummer or late summer and autumn -or may worsen at this time.

Pet dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, hamsters, mice etc

Symptoms may not appear until many months after the pet is acquired -sometimes as much as a year. In very sensitive individuals, clothing that has been in contact with an animal can trigger an attack. Traces of animal danders (skin particles) can linger in a house where pets have lived previously, even if carpets are removed. Old horsehair sofas or mattresses can affect someone who is sensitive to horses.

A brief exposure to an animal can cause symptoms that persist for up to a week. The symptoms may be mild and transient when the animal is actually there, with a more severe, delayed reaction that sets in later.

*77\180\8*

There is no doubt that honey and its medicinal value were known as far back as biblical times, as it is mentioned in a number of ancient records. Honey is the best form of carbohydrate and is easily absorbed by the body. What is more, experience has shown that honey increases the medicinal effect of natural remedies that are good for the respiratory organs. If you want to take advantage of this fact, simply add the indicated number of drops of a given remedy to a teaspoon of honey or to warm water sweetened with honey. Sipping this honey water together with the remedies will enhance their effect; for example, in cases of catarrh or disorders of the bronchial tubes or lungs, the prescribed medicines will have a much faster and stronger effect if taken with honey. It is for this reason that the pine bud syrup Santasapina contains honey.

*886/28/1*

There are certain instances, usually in cases of chronic ailments, where it is advantageous to apply clay and cabbage poultices alternately. Since we know that clay disperses and cabbage draws together, the alternating actions will produce effects similar to those of a counter-irritation. This is often desirable in chronic rheumatic and arthritic conditions.

Taken internally, clay has a remarkable effect on diarrhoea and inflammation of the intestinal mucosa. Whatever medication is taken for these problems, it should be added to clay water.

Everyone could profit physically from an intestinal cleansing twice a year and the best clay to use for this purpose is the white, sand-free kind, although yellow clay is suitable too. Such a course of treatment should last a week at a time.

*850/28/1*