Female Sex Glands and Mensturation - Ovulation

THE FEMALE SEX GLANDS

 Like the testes, the two ovaries have more than one function. They produce the ova, or eggs; they also secrete hormones needed for both reproduction and feminine characteristics. The ovaries lie in the front part of the abdomen, below the navel, and each is connected with the uterus by a fallopian tube. 

The ovarian hormones are estrogen and progesterone. They are produced in small amounts before puberty and after menopause, and in abundance during the childbearing years, the period when a woman has her regular monthly cycles.

MENSTRUATION AND OVULATION

 Menstruation involves the discharge of the extra blood and tissue built up in preparation for conception but not used. Cycles vary among women and even in the same woman, but generally the time from one menstrual period to the next averages about 28 days. Doctors customarily count the first day of menstruation as day 1 in a cycle. During the first 14 days of the cycle, the ovary contains a follicle, a small hollow ball about the size of a pinhead. Within the follicle is an egg. The follicle grows during the two weeks until it becomes about as large as a pea. 

As it grows, it produces estrogen. Follicle growth as well as the menstrual cycle in general is under pituitary gland control. On about day 14, stimulated by the pituitary, the follicle bursts and the egg is discharged from the ovary to enter the fallopian tube on its way to the uterus. If sperm are present in the tube at this time, fertilization may take place in the tube. The fertilized egg then continues its journey to the uterus where it implants itself on the wall of the uterus.

Meanwhile, the ruptured follicle from which the egg carne is transformed into a yellowish, solid ball, now called the corpus lute urn, or yellow body. The corpus luteum produces a second hormone, progesterone. Scientists now know how to make synthetic hormones to control ovulation. Contraceptive pills imitate the natural body processes in preventing ovulation, as discussed elsewhere in this book. 

Estrogen and progesterone help build up the lining of uterus, making it thicker and providing it with a rich blood supply to feed the unborn baby. During the last 14 days of the cycle, the two hormones are produced by the corpus luteum. The fertilized egg secretes a hormone that causes the corpus luteum to persist in producing estrogen and progesterone from the fertilized egg is necessary because at the end.Pregnancy has not occurred, the corpus luteum degenerates and its retions stop. 

With cessation of hormone production, the rich blood supply built up in the uterine lining sloughs off and menstruation occurs. Menstruation and menstrual difficulties are discussed in detail elsewhere in this book.

MENOPAUSE

 Menopause, or change of life, is as natural for women as menstruation is. There should be no dread of it: nothing more disastrous occurs than the tapering off and cessation of the monthly cycle. True, some changes, natural ones, occur. Estrogen secretion is reduced. The follicles no longer release eggs. Menstruation stops, suddenly or gradually. 

After menopause is well established, in about a year, there should be no more bleeding. Be certain to consult a physician immediately if bleeding or spotting occurs, since this may signal cancer or an- other disorder requiring prompt treatment. Actually, unfounded fears are to a large extent responsible for the emotional disturbances some women experience during menopause. 

Certain physical symptoms may occur because of the glandular changes taking place. If they become troublesome, they may be relieved by hormone treatment. We discuss menopausal symptoms more fully elsewhere. 

MYXEDEMA-SIMPLE GOITER-Pregnant women

MYXEDEMA

 In this condition produced by thyroid under functioning, the patient is sluggish physically and mentally, cannot stand the cold, sometimes develops a tongue so large and thick that it sticks out of the mouth. Treatment, by administration of thyroid hormone, usually brings marked improvement. Some babies are born with thyroid deficiency. 

Any child who seems to be developing too slowly-for example, in following objects with his eyes or holding his head erect-should be checked by a physician for thyroid deficiency. The earlier such a child is treated, the better the chances for normal development.

SIMPLE GOITER

 To function normally, the thyroid must have iodine. Lacking sufficient iodine, it cannot produce the normal quantity of hormone. In an effort to compensate, the gland enlarges until a noticeable lump may appear in the throat. The swelling, or goiter, may become large enough to interfere with breathing or swallowing. 

Thyroid hormoneconsists of about 65 percent iodine, but the amount of iodine needed in food to avoid goiter is small. Iodized table salt-an amount no more than ordinarily used with meals-is enough, even in areas where the soil is completely lacking in natural iodine. Too much iodine may cause a skin eruption. 

Although consuming iodine does not cute a simple goiter, it will prevent one and will stop an existing goiter from enlarging further. Anyone with even a small goiter should have medical attention for it. 

It is especially important for expectant mothers who live in regions such as the Rocky Mountain States, the Great Lakes Basin, and the Upper Mississippi River Valley, where the soil is lacking in iodine, to follow doctor's orders about the amount of iodine they need. Insufficient iodine in the diet may cause a mother to produce a child with thyroid deficiency.

However, most pregnant women develop a slight enlargement of the thyroid, and this should cause no undue worry. 

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM 

The endocrine glands differ markedly in appearance and are widely separated in the body. The pituitary is a round mass about the size of a large green pea, attached by a stalk to the brain stem. The thyroid, deep in the throat, has been likened to a small oyster, though it is beefy red in color. Attached to the thyroid are the parathyroid-generally four, although there may be more or less-which somewhat resemble BB shots. 

The adrenals, rising like mushrooms from atop the kidneys, are two in number. Each consists of a core, the medulla, and a casing, the cortex. The pancreas, lying against the back wall of the abdomen, might appear at first glance to be no endocrine gland at all, since it has a duct leading into the intestine. But in the tail and elsewhere it also has a few tiny segments, called islets, which form an endocrine gland, pouring their secretions into the bloodstream. The gonads, or sex glands, consist of testes in men and ovaries in women. In addition, there are the pineal gland in the upper back part of the brain, and the thymus which is found below the thyroid in young people. and withers away.

Very little is known as yet about the pineal and thymus

 The hormones these glands send through the blood to various parts of the body act like messengers (the word hormone comes from the Greek word meaning to excite or stir up). The hormones do not actually create processes; instead they give the orders for certain processes to speed up or slow down. And the endocrine glands form an interdependent system. In a sense, they can be likened to a family in that what happens to one affects the others.

 If one gland is removed, the functioning of all others is altered. Similarly, if the functioning of one increase so its secretions increase, others are affected. This is one reason why it can be dangerous to dose oneself with a hormone, glandular tissue or extract, or whatever it may be called, (or the purpose of reducing weight, getting rid of .'X oo ",,, hair, developing the breasts, becoming more virile, or for any other reason. 

As an example of how the glands work together, the pituitary secretes a hormone that moves through the blood to the adrenals to stimulate the latter. In turn, the adrenals secrete a hormone that travels to the pituitary and signals the latter to slow production of the adrenal-arousing hormone. Actually, the pituitary secretes hormones to stir up each of the other endocrine glands, and each gland responds in the same way. Until recently, it was thought that the pituitary was the "master" gland. But it is now evident that the pituitary is no all-powerful monarch on its own. It is connected to the floor of one of the ventricles in the brain called the hypothalamus. 

Eye care - How to wash your eyes?

Eye care

It is not necessary to routinely wash the eyes, since nature has pro- vided for cleaning through the tear glands. 50 don't use eye drops or wash your eyes daily with any solution. Incidentally, boric acid does not deserve its reputation as an antiseptic for the eyes. All you need do to keep your eyes clean is to wash the skin around them, using a clean personal washcloth. 

Avoid rubbing your eyes with your fingers. Eye Injury You can't be too careful in guarding your eyes against accidents at home, work, and play. Impress the need on children. And always see a physician immediately if an eye has been hurt, since delay can mean blindness. One serious injury is that resulting from sun eclipses. There are still too many adults as well as children who are unaware of the danger, and many eyes continue to be damaged because of failure to view an eclipse properly.

For proper viewing, let the sun shine through an opening in one piece of cardboard onto another piece, where it will produce an image you can observe in safety. 

Keep the sun at your back. Commonly, of course, dirt, cinders, and other bits of foreign material get into the eyes. Remember that in children, especially in the excitement of play, a foreign body in the eye is often quickly forgotten, but some hours later there may be sensitivity to light, beginning redness, and a tendency to keep the lids closed. It's important to suspect a foreign body even though a child may not remember it. Blindly trying to wash out a foreign body may do little good.

The object may be trapped in small folds which the washingfluid does not reach. Pull the lower lid down and have the child look upward. This tends to open folds in the lower part of the eye and may reveal the object. To find an object under the upper lid can be more difficult. Have the child look downward while you hold the lashes of the upper lid and turn it inside out over an index finger. When objects lodge on the cornea, they may be more difficult to locate. If there is obvious irritation and yet no object can be found, it is advisable to have the child seen at once by your physician. 

Heart and Blood circulatory system protective care

 PROTECTIVE CARE There is much you can do to guard the health of your heart and circulatory system. Contrary to what many people believe, the heart is a tough rather than delicate organ. Surgeons have successfully closed stab and other wounds of the heart; they have repaired the valves within the heart and corrected malformations. Protected by the tough ribs, the over- lying lungs, and its own surrounding membrane, the heart is rarely dam- aged by a blow. This fact should be reassuring to parents of football players, boxers, and other athletes. Guarding the health of the heart does not mean trying unduly to spare it.

Heart that a practice now accepted as a safeguard-a gradual return, after an actual heart attack, to active, even strenuous exercise-would, only a decade ago, have been considered medical malpractice if a doctor had prescribed it. Today, many cardiologists advise patients after heart attacks to get moving-to begin slowly, with extreme caution, gradually increasing their activity. With a gradual, well-tailored, well-supervised program, there is little or no danger of overstraining the heart. Many ex-heart cripples now are even playing strenuous games such as handball. It is now realized that such slow, gradual, progressive physical training can help the heart develop an increased network of blood-supplying vessels, sometimes a greater network than it may have had before the heart attack, and there is increasing evidence that such training may substantially reduce the risk of another attack. However, there are limits to the amount of strain that should be placed on a middle-aged, old, or damaged heart, particularly sudden strain. If you have been leading a sedentary existence, and now, wisely, you decide you need to increase your physical activity and overall physical fitness, you should by all means check with your physician first and, with his guidance, based on the health of your heart and whole circulatory system, map out a program which will lead gradually to your goal. 

Pulse blood system blood distribution blood pressure

THE PULSE You have undoubtedly noted physicians-and perhaps you have done the same yourself-place a finger on the radial artery ,It the wrist to "take" the pulse. The pulse is caused by the impart of blood on the arteries as the heart beats. It provides useful information about the strength and regularity of blood flow. Generally, for a person in good health, the pulse may speed up from around 70 a minute to more than 120 after vigorous exercise, but then, within three minutes, should return to the original value. There may be some quite normal deviations from average beat, deviations too from the beat with vigorous exercise, and deviations from the average interval required for return to the pre-exercise rate. If you have any doubt in your own case, you should check with your physician.

BLOOD PRESSURE Blood pressure is the force exerted against the walls of arteries as blood flows through. With each contraction of the ventricles, which is called a systole, there is a spurt of blood and this increases blood pressure. During the art of the cycle when the ventricles are not contracting, called the diastole, the pressure decreases. Thus, there is always pressure of blood, highest during systole and called the systolic pressure, lowest during diastole and called diastolic pressure. These pressures can be readily measured with an instrument, the sphygmomanometer (see page 24). And, as the discussion under high blood pressure indicates (page 596), measurement of pressure is an important means of determining the health of the heart and circulatory system.

BLOOD DISTRIBUTION The circulation of blood-so often dismissed as "blood from the heart into the arteries, to the tissues, then back to the heart through the veins" -is, in the human body, a really intricate and marvelous process. For it is remarkably adaptable. When blood moves from the heart into the aorta, it is at a speed of about 15 inches a second. Almost immediately, distribution around the body begins through arteries branching off from the aorta. From the smallest arteries, even smaller vessels called arterioles branch out. From the arterioles, blood flows to the smallest of all vessels, the capillaries. The capillaries transport blood to individual cells; and through microscopic spaces in the capillary walls, oxygen and other supplies are diffused to the cells and, in return, waste materials move into the blood- stream. The capillaries connect with venules, tiny vessels of the venous return system, which run into veins. The veins carry the blood to the great venae cavae, large vessels which empty into the right atrium of the heart.  

The Skull and Spinal Column

THE SKULL The skull is made up of 22 flat or irregular bones. Fourteen are facial, including those for cheeks, jaw, and upper bridge of the nose. Air spaces, or sinuses, in many of the facial bones serve to reduce the weight of the skull. Eight bones form the cranium, which protects the brain. There are additional bones in the head area: the hyoid, to which are attached the muscles that move the tongue; and the auditory ossicles .

In the middle ear-hammer, anvil and stirrup-which respond to sound waves hitting the eardrum with a lever action that transmits the waves to the inner ear.

THE SPINAL COLUMN The spinal column-a flexible stack of vertebrae-serves to support the head and trunk and also to protect the spinal cord, which extends down- ward from the brain. Each vertebra is shaped like a circle with the back side of the circle made up of a solid cylinder of bone. Running through the hollow part of the circle, the spinal cord shoots out branches of nerves that go to various parts of the body. As they stack toward the skull, the vertebrae gradually decrease in size. The vertebra just above the sacrum at the base is a heavy, large bone with large projections on each side and at the back, to which muscles and ligaments are attached. At the base of the skull, the top vertebra is a delicate bony ring with small protuberances. Between each vertebra and the next is a spinal disk-a circular cushion of connective tissue and cartilage about one-half-inch thick. Each disk has several layers of tough, fibrous rings and a softer nucleus in the center. 

Strenth Of Human Body and Medical records - Modern day health hazards succeeding

 THE BASIC STRENGTHS OF THE HUMAN BODY 

A FASCINATING case in medical records is that of an 80-year-old man who some years ago stepped off a curb in Boston, was hit by a truck and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where, within an hour, he died. Upon autopsy, even the physicians were astonished by what they found. The man had had almost every known major disease, including several that, individually, might have been potentially deadly. 

His blood pressure had been grossly elevated, so much so that his heart had almost doubled in size under the burden. He had generalized arteriosclerosis, or hardening of arteries. Tuberculosis had left marks on both lungs. Chronic kidney disease had destroyed large portions of both kidneys. He had had severe cirrhosis of the liver. Even more astonishing was the report of the man's wife: He had been no invalid; instead, he had been active until the day he was killed and had complained of nothing.

His is an extreme and encouraging example of the reserve powers and adaptability of the body. There are many other examples: The 7-year-old boy who survived a plunge over the 160-foot-high Horseshoe Falls at Niagara after the boat in which he was a passenger capsized in the river above the cataract. The workman who fell 150 feet from a chimney scaffold, landing on his left side near the base of the chimney, creating an impression 8 inches deep in the earth, bouncing over a 30-degree slope toward a concrete retaining wall, then dropping another 10 feet to a lower level. He fractured his jaw, both ankles, complained of chest pain for less than 36 hours, re- covered rapidly-surviving an impact that might well have crushed an airplane.  

There was also the hammer thrower, a world record holder, who while warming up to compete for a place on the U.S. Olympic team pulled a back muscle. Desperate, he persuaded a physician to give him an injection of novocaine and let him compete; he whirled out a foot throw to finish second and get his place on the team.

 In Olympic team trials, too, a swimmer won a place by qualifying in the 800-meter relay while still sore and still bandaged six days after an appendicitis operation. It is also reassuring to view the spare capacity of the body-what one can live without if necessary and, in some instances, even live without comfortably. Half the brain is a spare. This has been shown in cases of serious brain damage caused by strokes and head injuries, with loss of memory, language, speech, even understanding. Although damaged areas remain damaged, other areas can be trained to take over their function. 

Smoking problems and healthcare

No HEALTH problem in our time has commanded more attention than smoking. The issuance of the official Surgeon General's Report in 1964 constituted a major scientific and medical event and began a public and medical concern that continues. Despite the concern, however, one third of the women and half the men in the United States still smoke cigarettes. 

Deaths from diseases associated with cigarette smoking continue. A large proportion of health resources and money must be devoted to trying to treat such diseases. But there are encouraging events. As many as 1.5 million people a year recently have been abandoning smoking.

Among them, fortunately, are young and middle-aged men who are at particularly high risk of premature death from lung cancer and coronary heart disease. Also hopeful is evidence from a Public 

Health Service survey indicating that while 29 percent of boys and 15 percent of girls at age 17 are regular smokers, this represents a significant reduction in the proportion of young people taking up smoking. And school systems across the country are emphasizing educational programs on smoking and health in the hope of creating a "smokeless generation."

The evidence about the dangers of cigarette smoking to health is now overwhelming. In the words of the Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service, smoking "is the greatest preventable cause of illness, disability and premature death in this country."

 A conviction shared by medical and health agencies has been expressed by the New York State Commission of Health: "No other single factor kills so many Americans as cigarette smoking .... Bullets, germs and viruses are killers; but for Americans, cigarettes are more deadly than any of them. No single known lethal agent is as deadly as the cigarette." Smoking is a certain irony in the history of tobacco use. American Indians, early explorers discovered, smoked tobacco in pipes for ceremonial silicoses, and believed it had some medicinal values. 

How Much Sleep is essential? Age and timings of sleep

HOW MUCH SLEEP?

 Sleep is essential, but the amount required varies. The usual sleeping time for the adult is eight hours, but some people need less, some need more. Everyone has heard the story of Thomas A. Edison sleeping only two hours a night-and the romantic picture of Edison working on through the night to invent the electric light bulb suggests that any of us, strong willed enough, could cut down on sleep and have more time to become famous and rich. The fact is that Edison, though protesting that sleep was a loss of time and opportunity, was concerned about getting his own quota of sleep, according to his own diaries.

He napped often, and frequently drifted back to sleep for another hour or so after waking in the morning. Some physicians are firmly convinced that if shortchanging yourself on sleep does not catch up with you quickly, it will, and there will come the day when you suddenly appear to lose your energy, become prone to ailments, and suffer a general deterioration of health. There is no simple answer to the question of how much sleep is best. The essential test is whether you feel rested in the morning and have enough energy to carry on the day's activities.

Eight hours, as we have noted, is an average figure. If you do very heavy physical work or extremely exacting mental work, you may need more. Children need more sleep than adults since they are growing fast and are very active. Old people often have been thought to need less sleep; this is not necessarily true. They may need more, depending upon their activity and health. It could be a most worthwhile exercise to make your own investigation into your sleep needs, on the simple basis of experimenting to determine how much sleep makes you feel good, how much less makes you feel out of sorts, irritable, fatigued. 

Excercises and Muscle activity - Benefits and precautions.

In addition, the well-exercised body requires a smaller amount of muscle activity for a given physical performance than the untrained body. Many studies indicate not only a lower incidence of heart attacks among the physically active than among the sedentary but also a greater likelihood, when a heart attack does occur, for the physically active per- son to recover. One possible reason is that exercise appears to promote the development of supplementary blood vessels which can take over the burden of nourishing the heart muscle when a coronary artery is blocked in a heart attack. 

In a recent study to try to explain why physical exercise may ward off heart attacks, investigators at the University of Oregon Medical School and radioactively tagged cholesterol to animals. Because of the tagging, they could follow what happened to the cholesterol. (It is a high level of blood cholesterol that is thought to foster development of atherosclerosis, the pile-up of fatty deposits on blood vessel walls that may shut down blood flow to the heart muscle, producing a heart attack.)

The Oregon workers found that the more the animals exercised, the more cholesterol was broken down; the less exercise, the higher the levels of cholesterol in the blood. In Israel recently, a special program of activity has been set up for men who have had actual heart attacks. 

In the program, exercise is gradually intensified until it becomes quite vigorous, including jogs along the Mediterranean Sea. The program is carried out under close medical super- vision. Dr. Daniel Brunner, its director and Associate Professor of Physiological Hygiene at Tel Aviv University, reports that many of the patients now are more fit than before their heart attacks-and more fit than non-trained people of their age who have not had coronary artery disease.

ACTIVITY AT ANY AGE That even elderly people, men in their 70's, can regain much of the vigor and physical function of their 40's through carefully planned physical activity has been demonstrated by a University of Southern California investigator. In the program, in which exercise is prescribed with the same care as a physician prescribes medications, 69 men aged 50 to t\7 have been working out one hour three times a week. 

Their closely supervised regimen includes calisthenics, stretching, swimming, and jog- at the end of one year, these were the results expressed in terms of: blood pressure improved by 6 percent; body fat 4.8 percent; oxygen consumption increased by 9.2 percent;  

 arm strength increased by 7.2 percent; and nervous tension reduced by 14 percent. It would be an invitation to disaster for older people and, for that matter, for younger people to rush pell-mell into vigorous activity after long years of sedentary living without having a thorough physical checkup first and without undertaking activity on a gradual, progressive basis under medical supervision. But there is growing support now for the concept that proper physical activity can help the aged and can even delay the aging process, prolonging the active years, retarding and possibly helping to avoid some degenerative diseases.