Health News. Lots of resources and information

Let us look at the so-called ‘store-front window of the pain supermarket’ to see the range of individual treatments, their advantages, disadvantages and factors which would prevent their use as well as their approximate costs and where these treatments can be obtained.

Take for example, Mary, 33, an ex-kindergarten sister, who had exhaustively sought relief for a chronic back pain problem.

‘Mismanagement by the medical profession has made my life miserable with unbearable pain for the past five years!’ was how she angrily described her problem.

Mary had a long history of lower back pain which had involved two operations in which the individual vertebrae or spinal bones were fused together. Despite the operations on her lower back she was dissatisfied about the continuing level of pain and how it was disrupting her life.

She also complained of severe pain in the neck and shoulders. Her misery was made complete by deterioration of the cartilage at the back of both kneecaps known as chondromalacia patellae.

When admitted to hospital, her pain symptoms were related to her long-term orthopaedic problems and what she described as ‘the lousy cards life’s dealt me’.

After her surgery things had gone spectacularly wrong, with numerous post-operative complications including wound infection. When her knees began to fail, she began swimming to relieve the-pain. But the swimming brought on a painful condition of both shoulders — ‘frozen shoulder’.

She was then re-admitted to hospital where she was told that her original fusion operation was a failure. The second fusion operation was carried out in an attempt to correct the pain in her lower back.

This was as unsuccessful as the first operation in relieving her pain and she was then referred to a psychiatrist. Shortly after this she became acutely suicidal with homicidal thoughts towards her child.

Mary was transferred from a private hospital to the in-patient pain programme with a three-month history of depressive symptoms including persistent lowering of mood, tearfulness, difficulty in getting to sleep, waking early, loss of energy, poor appetite, a weight loss of seven kilos and loss of interest in everything, including physical activity. She had also ‘frightened off her treating psychiatrists — so difficult was she to

manage. b

Initially, Mary was very prickly, with a caustic tongue, very difficult to manage and very defensive, suspicious and hostile towards doctors after her past experiences.

After her first week in the pain program she was still difficult but coming around to the viewpoint that she might as well try any last resort to climb out of the depths that she had fallen into due to her chronic pain experience.

The breakthrough for Mary came with one of the main features of the pain program — patients being given the opportunity to experience a number of different techniques including laser acupuncture.

Within the first few sessions she noticed an improvement in her pain levels. She reported that her pain was becoming more and more acceptable and within the four weeks of the pain program she had minimal levels of pain.

Now, instead of depressing everyone, Mary was a general inspiration for new in-patients. On discharge, she was having weekly treatment. After six months, she had progressed to having treatment monthly.

Today she has continued to improve. Her previous constant demands for pain medication and treatment became far less and her relationship with her husband and son are greatly improved.

She is still taking medication but it has fallen to controllable levels. She is very happy with the results of the treatment and has now gone back to being involved in a kindergarten part-time.

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Migraine headaches are classically described as ‘excruciating’. In many cases, these are thought to be an allergic reaction to some types of food such as citrus fruit, cheeses, peanuts and red wine.

Acute migraines are sometimes accompanied by nausea and double vision and are usually described as being ‘a high intensity, throbbing sensation’.

They are normally experienced on one side of the head, usually the same side during each attack. Some experience what is known as ‘prodromal symptoms’. That is, flashing lights, nausea and sometimes tingling in parts of the body before the beginning of the actual head pain.

Commonly these headaches last from one to several hours and respond to sleep and appropriate and early treatment.

Less common variants can last for up to several days at a time. In some sufferers the headache can be experienced on both sides of the head. The headache may be accompanied by severe disturbances of bodily sensation — numbness and tingling — and even paralysis.

Parts of the vision of the affected eye may be lost causing partial vision in the affected patient. In some the nausea can be extreme with nothing able to be held down.

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Knowledge gaps about pain sensation, and its severity, existed until only recently. To a large extent, this was because most of the research was done on experimental animals rather than on actual chronic pain patients. There was thus no deep understanding of the difference between acute and chronic pain. (See Chapter 3 for a more detailed explanation.) There was also an over emphasis on pain’s physical and mechanical causes based on the widespread, but wrong, assumption that pain is purely a sensory experience. The emotional and psychological factors involved in pain were relegated to secondary importance.

Different definitions

Even specialists from different fields of pain management and research define pain in different ways. A recent international conference of pain specialists provided a fascinating range of definitions of the word ‘pain’.

1. Neurophysiologists understand ‘pain’ as being the appropriate response of specific pathways within a nervous system.

2. To experimental psychologists ‘pain’ is a behaviourial response to a stimulus.

3. Neurologists understand that ‘pain’ means the patient has perceived just that experience.

4. Clinical psychologists believe that an individual may complain of pain whether or not a physiological stimulus is identified.

5. Psychiatrists understand that ‘pain’ means a patient is in distress, which is expressed as a disagreeable somatic (body) sensation.

6. Acupuncturists usually define ‘pain’ as a complaint of a disagreeable sensation. The word pain is used to describe a subjective perception of distress. It is not a simple sensation like a primary sensation. Accompanied by a greater emotional response than any of these, pain is complex and subject to individual interpretation.

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T he word pain comes from the Latin word poena or the French word peine. It is important to realise there are many different types of pain. For example:

Jill’s trigeminal neuralgia

Jill had trigeminal neuralgia a lightning-like pain in the face and mouth, which is so severe that it makes some sufferers feel as though they want to kill themselves. ‘My pain feels like someone is jabbing my face with a red-hot electric needle. The worst thing about the pain is that it’s so unpredictable. I never know what’s going to set it off— swallowing, laughing, or talking. Even the smallest thing can set it off. I try to stay home and go out as little as possible.’I don’t use make-up. I don’t wash my face. I don’t even brush my teeth. Sometimes I don’t have any pain for days.Then I find myself starting to worry about when it may start up again.’

Mary’s post-operative pain

‘After surgery to remove the gallstones, I felt miserable. The pain near the incision was sharp. It seemed to spread all over my body. The nurses gave me some pills which took the edge off the pain and by about three days after the operation, the pain was mostly gone.’

Rudl with terminal cancer

‘At first, I didn’t mind the thought of dying, so long as it wasn’t too painful. But, then I began to worry about all those drugs they were giving me. They were making me groggy and confused. I couldn’t think properly or even feel like I was alive. There were times when I didn’t take the pills because I wanted to be alert for whatever was left of my life.’

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Because the mechanism behind true or ‘classical’ allergies is well understood, the potential for treating them with drugs is very good. The preparations used include corticosteroids (sometimes referred to simply as steroids, although they are not the same as the steroid drugs used by athletes) which have a general suppressive effect on inflammation, antihistamines which counteract the effect of the mediator histamine, and bronchodilators for use in asthma.

Although at one time there were serious side-effects associated with many anti-allergy drugs, the modern formulations have overcome most of these problems. The drug treatments now available are both safe and effective.

Before embarking on any other form of treatment, such as an elimination diet, it is important to weigh up the costs and benefits of that treatment as compared with using drugs to combat the symptoms. In cases where the symptoms are relatively mild, it may be better to rely on drugs alone. The decision involves a great many personal considerations, including, for example, the relative importance of food to the person concerned, their perseverance and will-power, and the number of meals that have to be eaten away from home. Nutritional needs also have to be taken into account. It is a decision that can only be made by the individual patient (or by the parents in the case of a small child) in consultation with the doctor concerned.

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This woodland plant with elegant sword-shaped leaves and delicate white flower bells not only brings joy to our hearts in the spring when we come across it on our walks, but also strengthens and stimulates this organ, albeit that few people are aware of it. As long ago as the Middle Ages, lily of the valley was held in high esteem as a heart medicine. Later, however, when the more potent digitalis, or foxglove, was discovered, lily of the valley fell into disuse. An English doctor, by the name of Withering, found digitalis in the tea mixture of an old woman herbalist who used it to cure dropsy. This happened in the year 1785 and digitalis has been used ever since.

However, in recent times, we are beginning to realise that we have wrongfully neglected lily of the valley and that the plant that produces the most dramatic effect is not necessarily the best one. After many years of using digitalis as a heart medicine we have come to know some of its side effects. For example, we know now that digitalis is cumulative, which means that it remains in the heart muscle for quite some time and so prolonged treatment may seriously damage the heart. Lily of the valley, however, does not pose the same danger, since within four hours the glycoside, the active substance, is broken down by the body, although its medicinal effect continues for much longer.

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The whole, dried plant can also be made into a powder, which in turn can be used to produce tablets. The advantage of a powder and tablets is the fact that they retain all the plant’s substances, including the ashes. On the negative side, sensitive ingredients are lost in the drying process, although the minerals, oils and resins remain fully effective. Remedies taken in powder and tablet form are ideal for use as laxatives and to stop diarrhoea, as well as to aid the digestion and eliminate worms. Papaya preparations are a good example in this respect.

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No one likes to have skin blemishes, yet it is not uncommon for young people to have a problem with spots, especially at the age of puberty. A spotty face can even create an inferiority complex if all lotions and creams fail to help. This is another reason why the problem of impure skin should be tackled at the roots. The recommendation to be careful about what one eats and adopt an appropriate diet is not always received with appreciation, but it is necessary, since the trouble is basically the result of ingesting the wrong food.

If you suffer from spots it is of the utmost importance to reduce your intake of fats by half or three-quarters. What is more, take great care to avoid heated fats and oils, animal fats being especially detrimental. Cakes, biscuits, pastries, and all other sweets should be left out of the diet altogether or at least drastically reduced. Eggs, particularly boiled eggs, omelettes and other egg dishes are like poison for impure skin. Only fresh, soft white cheeses such as cottage cheese or quark are digestible, but no other kind of cheese. Raw vegetables, natural brown rice, potatoes boiled in their skins, cottage cheese and horseradish are nutritive and remedial and contain plenty of essential vitamins and minerals. Hot spices tend to make things worse. Some external remedies that have proved very effective are Echinaforce and Molkosan; one day apply Echinaforce to the affected area, the next day use Molkosan, and continue in daily alternation. Apply a little Bioforce Cream to any patches of dry skin. For internal treatment take Violaforce, a tincture made from heartsease (wild pansy), and also Echinaforce.

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Besides the fruits mentioned in the article, the patient should also eat avocados, papaya, and perhaps bananas – fruits that are available all the year round.

A well-known tennis player came down with AIDS, and was diagnosed as such by the doctors of St Vincent hospital. This same person was completely cured by means of a special diet high in vitamins but low in protein, a protein-free fruit diet. Today he plays tennis with the same verve and vitality as he did before.

There is no doubt the AIDS disease has scared many, above all the young, making them rethink and modify their ethical views, especially their attitudes towards sexual morality. And I appeal whole-heartedly to doctors and dieticians to try everything in their power so that something positive rather than alarming will soon be reported by the media.

Remember, nature is bound to have a way, but it must be sought. And he who seeks can expect to find a solution.

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Thousands of pages have been written about cancer, yet our critical questions remain practically unanswered. Histologists with their modern ultramicroscopes or electron microscopes have so far not been able to tell us why a healthy cell becomes a cancer cell. It is for this reason that the early diagnosis of cancer is so difficult. Public information and lectures often make cancer appear to be a simple and straightforward problem and, for example, women over forty are encouraged to visit the doctor for a regular check-up. The doctor keeps telling them that there is no reason to be anxious, that everything is in order – and the women lose their fear of cancer. Then, quite suddenly, and in spite of the doctor’s reassurances, a woman notices a hard lump. She rushes to a specialist who asks, with a slight tone of reproach in his voice, ‘Why did you not come to see me sooner?’ When she answers that the family doctor has been checking her regularly for years the specialist is naturally embarrassed and worried. Indeed, cancer is a difficult problem even for a capable physician and his efforts to prolong a patient’s life can often be in vain.

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