Alcohol and sexual relationship

Too much alcohol eventually decreases sexual potency, as it does health in general. A well-balanced diet, enough rest, and general care of the body, as discussed elsewhere in this book, are essential to your health, of which your sexual health is an important part. It is obviously hazardous to try to decrease sexual desire by exhausting yourself or eating so little as to feel generally below par. Let us add that there are no special foods that increase or decrease potency. 

When abstinence is necessary, keeping busy and avoiding erotic stimulation as much as possible may relieve sexual tensions. Is intercourse ever dangerous or harmful? It is dangerous when either partner has a venereal disease. Intercourse, as well as other forms of close contact, should be avoided during contagious illness of any type. Certain non-contagious diseases make intercourse unadvisable or even dangerous.

Anyone who is not in good health should discuss this matter frankly with his or her physician, who will be able to decide whether or not coitus is permissible. However, we want to make the point that it is often possible to prevent undue strain or overexertion for one or both partners by using certain positions during intercourse. 

We know of couples who have abandoned sexual relations because the wife could not tolerate the weight of her husband, or the activity was too much for the husband's heart. They had the misconception that it was not "nice" or "right" or "normal" to use positions for coitus that would overcome their difficulties. While most people in our culture assume one position for intercourse, this is only a matter of custom.

There is absolutely no reason to consider those over 40, worry unduly about such an episode and develop a "fear of failure" cycle. It is the fear, not the aging that leads to their chronic impotence. What if a husband wishes sexual relations when the wife is not in the mood? Assuming that she is not disturbed by unsettled problems outside the bedroom and that she is not withholding sex as a kind of punishment, the fortunate fact is that a wife can participate in sex as a loving partner even if she is not in the mood. Often, the fact that she is giving pleasure to her husband is enough to change her mood, to transform passive acceptance into active desire. 

Gum disease progresses in stages-pyorrhea-Plaque

Gum disease progresses in stages

 It starts with gingivitis, in which the gums become inflamed, swollen, and tender. Left uncontrolled, the inflammation advances and the gums begin to stand away from the teeth so that pockets are formed which harbor bacteria and pus. 

This ispyorrhea. As pyorrhea progresses, fibers holding the teeth in their sockets weaken and gradually the bone supporting the teeth is destroyed, and the teeth become loose and are lost. What starts the process?.There is now evidence-thanks to the brilliant work of many investigators, notably Dr. Sumter Arnim of the University of Texas, Houston- that, just as in tooth decay, bacteria are involved.

Clinging to the teeth and working on food particles to produce acid, bacteria also produce a material-a film called plaque-that covers them over, allowing them to work undisturbed. Plaque not only furthers decay; it triggers the formation of tartar, or calculus. 

And it is calculus that, spreading down below the gum line, irritates the gums, starts up inflammation and gingivitis, and opens the way for pyorrhea and gum disease progression. "Calculus cannot form unless plaque is present," says Dr. Irving Glick- man, Chairman of the Department of Periodontology at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. "It's important for a dentist to remove calculus once formed; but it's also vital for the individual to minimize formation. In no other field of medicine can the patient so effectively assist in preventing and reducing the severity of disease.

Other factors may enter into decay and gum disease. In some caries- rampant individuals-those with far more even than the bad-enough average of decay-poor nutrition or faulty saliva flow may play a role; dentists can correct both. Faulty bite may help foster gum trouble; this can be corrected. But it is now clear that against both decay and periodontal disease, effective home care to prevent plaque formation is a prime weapon of prevention.

And more and more dentists are taking time to educate patients in proper home care methods. Recently, one of us spent two and a half months visiting such men in and around more than a dozen cities and in small communities. It was gratifying to see them lift bits of plaque from patients' teeth and place them under special microscopes so the patients could see for themselves the teeming colonies of bacteria in the plaque. 

Plaque on the teeth is invisible, but these dentists reveal it to patients graphically with a simple tool, a disclosing wafer. It's a small tablet containing a harmless vegetable dye. Chewed up, it stains the teeth temporarily, but only where the plaque is. 

PREVENTIVE CARE OF THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

PREVENTIVE CARE OF THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM 

It has been said that we are what our glands make us. That, of course, is an oversimplification. Other factors enter the picture-but the glands do, indeed, have a vital role, influencing structure, function, and personality. What everyday care is required to prevent disease of the endocrine system? Everything that contributes to good general health contributes to good health of the endocrine glands. 

That includes sound nutrition; it includes proper exercise and other physical activity, which have a stimulating effect on many of the glands; it includes the avoidance as much as possible of excessive stress and strain, which may debilitate glandular functioning. If you suspect at any time that you may have a glandular problem, don't toy with the idea or attempt self-treatment. 

Let your physician consider the problem, make any necessary tests, arrive at an informed diagnosis-and then, using the constantly growing knowledge of endocrinology and growing stockpile of therapeutic aids, provide treatment.

 The sooner any endocrine disorder is discovered and properly treated, the more likely the prevention of debilitating conditions and complications. Some specific things to do : To protect the islets of Langerhans so they will secrete insulin normally, two items are important. First, keep your weight normal; obesity promotes diabetes. 

Second, use as little refined sugar as possible. We urge, too, that you read our section on diabetes and make certain that at your periodic medical checkups tests for diabetes are included. To protect the thyroid gland, use iodized salt, especially if you live away from the seacoasts. To protect the ovaries and testes against venereal disease, see our discussion of gonorrhea (page 580). 

To help assure the health of the adrenals, get reasonable amounts 'of physical activity which can provide normal stimulation for these glands. There is no primary protection for the pituitary, parathyroids, and other endocrine glands. See the Index for listing of diseases of these glands and what can be done for secondary prevention. 

Male Impotence

MALE IMPOTENCE

 Inability to have sexual relations is a complex problem. It may result from a disease of the testes or of the pituitary. Some nervous .system disorders cause impotence. In most cases, however, the testes and entire endocrine system are normal and the problem is trace- able to emotional disturbances or psychoneuroses. Such men may be helped by a family physician who understands emotional disorders. 

If necessary, the family physician may suggest help from a specialist in psychotherapy. Sterility, the inability to beget children, occurs in some men who are not impotent. It may be due to failure, for many possible reasons, to produce enough sperm or sperm active enough to reach and fertilize the female cell. 

While only one healthy sperm is needed for fertilization, and 300 million or more are usually released in an ejaculation, the journey to reach the female cell is so hazardous that many lively ones are required to ensure that a survivor gets to the right place at the right time. Ways have been found to help many men with sterility problems, as discussed elsewhere in this book. 

Stomach and health problems- Digestive system

The one problem:

The stomach wound refused to heal completely. St. Martin refused any kind of operation that might close the stomach wall, preferring instead to get along with bandages in place of an intact wall. He did get along remarkably well, and cooperated with Beaumont, who decided to take advantage of the unfortunate situation to make some observations. It was this work that led to the isolation of hydro- chloric acid in the stomach. And from it came many other findings. Beaumont was able to note, for example, that the stomach became flushed with blood when St. Martin became angry and that it also moved about with considerable energy during anger.

Organic diseases-including ulcer, cancer, virus infection, food poisoning, and many otherscan, of course, affect the digestive system. You can protect the digestive system by taking many simple, sensible pre- cautions. For one thing, you can be sensible about the food you eat. If you know that some particular food does not agree with you, you should avoid it. If you happen to be a person with a sensitive colon, it may be that raw vegetables or fresh fruits trouble you. Some people are bothered unduly by such gas-forming foods as radishes, cabbage, cucumbers, and eggs. 

Alcoholic beverages may cause great difficulties for some sensitive people, leading to diarrhea or cramps in some and belching in others. Excessive smoking can upset the stomach.

The list of possible trouble- makers is long; individual sensitivities vary greatly. You need to, and can, be your own "alimentary tract detective." You should, of course, eat a balanced diet. Since such a diet will contain well-proportioned amounts of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, without an excess of any, it will put less of a strain on anyone particular digestive function. 

Avoid rapid eating; the stomach works overtime in trying to handle a meal you did not take time to eat properly-and it may start sending out distress signals. None of us can be entirely free of tension. We're all subject on occasion to "nerves." But we can see to it that we make mealtime a reason- ably pleasant, relaxed time, as an aid to both enjoyment of food and its better digestion. 

Alcoholism and Sexual Problems

 Almost all had sexual problems. Whatever the causative factors of alcoholism may turn out to be, one thing is clear from a practical preventive standpoint: without excessive consumption of alcohol there cannot be alcoholism. Perseverance at drinking heavy drinking is required to establish the addiction. 

Alcoholism is no sudden visitation. The person who becomes alcoholic builds up to it, and often does so quite gradually, unaware that he really is beginning to drink to excess and then that he is drinking more and more to excess. Significantly, there have been surveys of highly intelligent, heavy- drinking business executives to determine what they consider excessive drinking-and always, it appears, the definition of excessive drinking turns out to be several drinks more than the heavy drinker personally consumes.

Some of these men have indicated that they see nothing excessive in drinking as much as a fifth of whiskey a day. Unless they have specific guidelines to follow, it would appear that even intelligent people who have moved far along the road to alcoholism may not recognize the fact. In an effort to provide such guidelines, the Life Extension Foundation in New York, a nonprofit organization de- voted to improving the health of business executives through preventive measures, has produced the following for its executive clients which deserve repeating here.

 Any drinker, the Foundation suggests, can con-sider that alcoholism is approaching:

1.        If two or three years ago a half hour before dinner was set aside for a drink and now this has stretched to two hours and four drinks.

2.        If two or three years ago dinner was anticipated with pleasure and now there is little interest in food and sometimes dinner is completely omitted.

 3.       If two or three years ago cocktails at lunch were for business entertaining only and now one or two are routine.

4.        If two or three years ago weekend consumption was little more than that of weekdays but now drinking is started in the morning and continues more or less all day. 

Sensory organs and alcoholism-dizziness-unconcious state of brain- effects on memory

Sensory Organs and alcoholism

The potency of an individual drink is, of course, determined by the percentage of alcohol it contains. Commonly, alcoholic content is measured by "proof," a term indicating concentration by volume. The proof number is actually twice the percentage of alcohol-so that 86 proof Scotch, for example, is 43 percent alcohol. While there are variations between individuals, generally these are the effects of various blood concentrations of alcohol.

Sensory organs in the mouth and digestive tract are stimulated; blood circulates more rapidly; and there may be feelings of well-being. Bodily warmth is experienced; inhibitions begin to disappear; the drinker talks freely. Some dizziness may be felt; judgment and memory now are affected. Reaction time has slowed considerably; the drinker may be gay but somewhat wobbly. 

There may be some boisterousness, lack of self-control, unjustified confidence in the ability to drive and do other tasks. In some states, this is considered legally to be drunkenness. At this level, the drinker has little if any conscious control left. For the average drinker, this level is induced by 6-7 ounces of whiskey. It produces incoherence, confusion, inability to walk normally. 

If the drinker is still conscious, he needs help even to stand up; bladder control is lost. The drinker now may alternately sleep and wake to vomit, is unable to understand what is said to him when he is awake. When this level of blood alcohol is reached, the drinker is unconscious.

While it is possible to become drunk quickly, sobering up takes much longer. Most of the alcohol in the body is handled by the liver. There it goes through a chemical process, oxidation, in which its energy is released as heat. A feeling of warmth is experienced at first but the heat is quickly lost through the skin. Some alcohol also is oxidized or burned off in the lungs; and some is removed through sweat and urine. 

Alcohol -What is INTELLIGENT DRINKING and UNINTELLIGENT DRINKING?

 INTELLIGENT DRINKING

There are some people who believe that to touch alcohol at all, to take even the first drink, are to invite possible disaster. But there are many, including knowledgeable physicians, who believe that intelligent drinking has much to recommend it. Intelligent drinking is a matter of timing as well as moderation. The time to drink is at the end of the work day, not at lunch and not after dinner. Cocktail time, provided it involves an unhurried drink or two, can be a pleasant time. It can foster relaxation, especially if the atmosphere is quiet, peaceful. It can ameliorate some of the tensions of the day -in effect, ringing down the curtain on the work day, opening the way for a relaxed dinner and relaxed evening. Intelligent drinking of this sort, if your regular preventive medical checkups indicate that you have no health problem, is not likely to be a health hazard.

 UNINTELLIGENT DRINKING

It has been said that the road to alcoholism is an easy one to travel. And, indeed, some rules, seemingly facetious but not really so, have been suggested.

1.        Start each day right-by taking a drink as soon as possible after you get up.

 2.       Whenever you feel depressed or have a problem, take a drink or two. If you are alone, take more; who will know?

3.        If you take one drink and then feel like having another, and then another, you are on the right track. Keep it up.

 4.       When you serve drinks to guests, be sure to sneak a few snorts for yourself between regular servings.

5.        If you want to get up nerve or bolster your self-confidence, take a drink to get rid of your inferiority complex.

6.        Don't just take a cocktail or two before dinner; keep it up after dinner.

7.        No matter how many drinks you have had, if you can lie flat on the floor without holding on, you can regard yourself as OK. 

Despite their seeming facetiousness, these rules make an important point: It is easy for some people to slip into uncontrolled drinking and to delude themselves that it is still intelligent drinking or harmless drinking. 

Alcoholism -Perils and precautions to take - How to come out alcoholism?

Alcoholic Drinking

THIS IS not a Prohibition treatise. If you drink alcoholic beverages-and it is certainly possible to do so intelligently and, in our opinion, rewardingly-it is important from the standpoint of preventive medicine to understand certain facts.

Drinking can begin moderately and remain moderate, and all will be well. But the number of people who fall into the trap of excessive drinking, who end up as alcoholics with a disease serious in it and serious because of other grave health problems it can trigger, has been increasing. Alcoholism ranks today as the fourth most important health problem in the United States, afflicting between 5 and 6 million persons, and exceeded in importance only by heart disease, mental illness, and cancer. One of every 13 adult males over 20 years of age is an alcoholic.

There are many women alcoholics-an unknown number because they come less to medical and public attention. Only 3 percent of the total alcoholic population is on a Skid Row. Alcoholics are to be found in every walk of life, in all occupations, races, and social strata. Drunkenness is only the most obvious manifestation of alcoholism. A slow, insidious, malignant disorder, alcoholism is a major cause of death in the 35 to 65 age group. The life expectancy of alcoholics is 10 to 12 years less than that of others.

Common causes of death include liver and heart failure, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, accident, suicide, and acute intoxication itself. Many if not most heavy drinkers are poorly nourished. One reason is that alcohol may dull the appetite so that food is forgotten after several drinks. In addition, alcohol can irritate the stomach lining, and the resulting pain may make the thought of eating repulsive. 

Drinking heavily and failing to eat properly, the alcoholic suffers malnutrition though taking in several thousand calories daily (each fluid ounce of alcohol has an Drinking energy content of 150 calories-"empty" calories which provide no sustenance for body tissues).

Delirium tremens may follow an excessive siege of drinking. This can be a temporary disorder, lasting several hours to a week, during which the victim talks incoherently and usually has visual and aural hallucinations, sleeps with difficulty, experiences nightmares. But for a person already seriously weakened by malnutrition, the DT's can be fatal. Chronic alcoholics are about eight times as likely to fall victim to cirrhosis of the liver as other people. 

The liver degenerates, sometimes so seriously that function ceases completely and the victim dies. Excessive drinking can have nervous system effects, producing painful nerve inflammation as well as impairing memory and intellectual powers. Resistance to infection is impaired, so that lobar pneumonia, for example, is more often fatal among drinkers than among nondrinkers.

Alcoholic psychosis-serious mental disturbance-constitutes about 5 percent of all mental illness. Unhappily, too, alcoholism affects not only the victim but Spouse and children as well, often leading to emotional or psychosomatic illnesses among the latter.