Parkinson’s disease is named after the doctor who first identified it in the early nineteenth century. It is also known as paralysis agitans and shaking palsy. The disease, which affects the nervous system, has a slow onset and usually occurs in people over sixty, although some cases occur as early as forty.
Parkinson’s disease is caused [...]
We are witnessing a burgeoning of interest in herbal medications, as well as evidence of St John’s Wort at work for men and women with a wide variety of different problems and in different situations. Some are taking it on their own, others at the recommendation of herbalists and practitioners of alternative medicine, and yet [...]
Barry Carter was a terror. At eight years of age, he had been a difficult child for as long as his parents could remember. For years he had thrown temper tantrums whenever he could not get his way, but when the family moved into a new house he became increasingly tired, listless, and irritable. When [...]
One of the most ironic features of the chemical-susceptibility problem is that it is often begun, or at least perpetuated, by doctors themselves. To a large degree it can be considered an iatrogenic illness, that is, one that is induced by medical treatment.
The vast majority of drugs are synthetic and almost all of these contain [...]
A dislocated hip occurs when the thigh bone is out of its proper place in the hip socket. Before or after birth, a baby’s hip socket may develop too shallowly. Eventually, the thigh bone (femur) dislocates from the socket, either before or at the time the child begins to stand and walk. The condition may [...]
If you wait for something funny to happen to lift your spirits and lengthen your life, you may be frowning a long time. In these serious times, you have to be proactive about soliciting joyfulness, says Dr. Lee Berk of Loma Linda University School of Medicine. “You have to push your behavior,” he says. “When [...]
Normally, if you are to have an operation for breast cancer, you will be admitted to hospital the day before, to allow time for blood tests and a chest X-ray to be done. Bone scans, liver scans and other specialized ’screening’ investigations are no longer carried out for all patients.
There has been a trend over [...]
In the past it was often claimed that endometriosis could be prevented if women had frequent pregnancies early in their reproductive life. But it is now well documented that early and frequent childbearing does not necessarily protect a woman from developing endometriosis as many women have been diagnosed after they have had their children.
So far, [...]
The first thing to do when trying to combat stress is to read the preceding parts of this section of the book. Start by improving what you eat, by taking more exercise, by breathing better, by getting more and better-quality sleep and by changing your lifestyle and attitudes. Even if you do nothing else and [...]
“We need you in San Francisco in 48 hours,’” shouts Rosanna Pit-tella, mimicking her job’s frequent and urgent demands for air travel. “Usually, I’d go by the seat of my pants and come home with 10 extra pounds.”
She’s exaggerating, of course, but not by much. At one time, the 41-year-old consulting-firm director and mother of [...]