How Your Food Causes illnesses and remedies

THE FOOD YOU EAT IS THERE 

someone food or class of foods with special value for preventing disease? The science of nutrition has much to offer for health but it does not take the form of a panacea food or food combination. The one fact that stands out most clearly as new advances are made is that except for certain specific problems-disease states for which special diets have been definitely established as helpful-the healthiest diet has two basic characteristics: it is balanced and it is varied.

NEW REASONS

FOR BALANCE AND VARIETY One of today's most exciting research stories have to do with investigations into the role of trace elements in health and disease. It has long been known that an amount of iron that would bulk up no bigger than a couple of nails stands between us and suffocation, for iron is an essential part of the blood substance hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to body tissues. But it now seems that many other elements in minute amounts-each constituting at most 1/10,000 of body weight and very often far less- may play significant roles.

Recent studies have suggested that lack of adequate zinc in the diet can delay wound healing and may be a factor in diseases of the arteries. In one investigation, zinc supplements were given to some Air Force men who had undergone surgery. Their surgical wounds healed in less than half the time required in other men who had had the same surgery but did not receive zinc supplements. The results not only demonstrated zinc's role in speeding healing; they suggested that the diet of these airmen may well have been Zinc-deficient.  

Building General Health as Preventive Therapy In a later study, investigators treated with zinc supplements a group of patients who had skin sores that refused to heal. Of the 17 patients in the group, 11 were found to be deficient in zinc, and in all 11 the chronic skin ulcers healed with zinc treatment. The remaining was not zinc- deficient, and although they received the same treatment, their wounds still did not heal. Although the relationship between zinc deficiency and hardening of leg arteries that can block circulation and cause gangrene is not clearly established, some patients who were deficient in zinc and had advanced degeneration of the arteries have shown improvement with zinc therapy. 

10 ways to check your Medication is Proper or Not.

If a patient is receiving hydrocortisone and then is given either an antihistamine or a barbiturate, the hydrocortisone effect is lessened. If a patient is taking an antihistamine for an allergy and uses alcohol, the result may be central nervous system depression. If a patient is using alcohol and takes a barbiturate, there is a marked increase in the effect of the barbiturate, which has been responsible for many deaths. An understanding of the complex details of drug interaction is some- thing for a doctor to be aware of and make use of, not for a patient to worry about. And the point of mentioning the subject here is simply this:

If you are already taking one or more drugs for a condition, when you see a physician about a new condition let him know what you are taking. If you are taking drugs under a physician's direction, get his advice even on such a seemingly simple matter as whether it will be all right, if you develop a headache or a cold, to take aspirin or other agents to make yourself more comfortable.

PROPER USE OF MEDICATION 

Although most sick people benefit from their contact with the treasure chest of modern medications, the experience is unhappy for too many. Much of the unhappiness could be avoided by common sense procedures based on awareness of the realities of diseases and medications. The rules are simple and few:

1.       Take medications on your own only for the most minor conditions, and seek medical advice if there is no clear improvement within a day or two.

2.        A Special Word about Medicine Taking If you are using a medication prescribed by a physician, do not take any medications on your own for some other problem unless you have been informed they will cause no trouble.

3. When you seek medical help for a problem, leave it up to the physician to determine whether you really need medication or whether it may be wiser, in a particular situation, to let the body use its defenses to overcome the problem-for the body often can do exactly that. Don't be in a rush to take something, to pressure the physician to give you some- thing. Make it clear to him that you understand that sometimes no medicine is the best medicine.

 4. Follow the physician's instructions to the letter when he gives you a prescription. Get it filled immediately. Take exactly as directed-in the prescribed dosage, for the prescribed length of time.

5. If you notice any untoward reactions while taking a medication, let your physician know immediately. A side reaction may not be serious -or it may be. If it's the latter, prompt measures can ameliorate it.

6. Do not save leftover drugs.

7. Ask your physician to instruct the druggist to label the bottle or other container of any medication prescribed with the name of the medication. You will find that more and more doctors today believe strongly in this. It can be a safety measure, helping you to avoid mistakes in taking medication.

8. And if trouble should arise during the course of taking the medication. If there should be an accidental overdose, if a child should happen to get hold of the medication and use it, the immediate identification of the compound may well help to prevent fatality.

Moreover, your knowledge of what you are taking can come in handy if you have to consult another physician while your own is away.

9. Safeguard medication. Never leave any, including aspirin, standing around on a dresser or a table. Return it to the medicine cabinet immediately after use. A medicine cabinet should be kept closed and locked. It's a good idea, especially in any household with children, to have a medicine cabinet equipped with a combination padlock, or a drug safe or chest with combination lock. Your druggist can advise you about obtaining one at reasonable cost.

10. Teach your children to properly respect medications. Do not tell a child that medicine is like "candy" because it tastes good. Instead, even at a very early age, teach him that medicine is to help overcome illness, and that it doesn't matter whether he likes it or not, it is something he must have when sick to make him well, and never at any other time. 

How drugs Interacts with our body mechanism? And Outdated Medicines

OUTDATED MEDICINES

 If your physician has prescribed a drug for you and instructs you to discontinue its use before the supply is all gone don't save what is left over for another time. Discard it. It may seem like a waste to throw away expensive medication; actually, it is an important safety precaution. Some drugs lose potency with time; some gain potency. Either way, their use after a lapse of time can be dangerous.

 Moreover, it has become clear that some drugs, in the process of aging, not only change in potency; they undergo marked chemical changes that can make them dangerous. Not long ago, for example, physicians at three New York hospitals reported on several patients who had suddenly experienced nausea and vomiting and then developed symptoms like those of diabetes. The trouble in each case was traced to chemical deterioration of an antibiotic, a tetracycline, taken long after it should have been thrown away.

DRUG INTERACTIONS 

when one medication is being used, the addition of another sometimes can be helpful but sometimes can be harmful. When two agents used in concert do not harmonize, the interaction or interference can cause trouble. Moreover, even effects on dosage requirements must be considered when two or more medicines are being used. Recently, for example, a patient who had had a heart attack and recovered from it was released from the hospital. 

Ten days later, an alarming condition developed. While in the hospital the patient had received an anticoagulant medication as part of treatment-a compound aimed at preventing clotting. At home, he continued as directed to take the same compound in the same dosage. But now the drug was thinning.

 The blood too much

 Something had changed. It had indeed: in the hospital, the patient had been given phenobarbital upon retiring. The sedative, in the course of its activity in the body, had stimulated certain liver chemicals which broke down the anticoagulant faster. At home, without the phenobarbital, the anticoagulant activity continued longer and was more potent. In effect, without the sedative, the patient was getting an overdose of.

The anti-coagulant

The matter, once understood, was quickly adjusted. But it illustrates what is coming to be virtually a new science in medicine, concerned with understanding and taking into account inter- actions between medicines. This, of course, is not the place to go into complex technical details. 

But as indications of how important interaction can be, here are some recent findings: When a patient is taking aspirin, addition of an anticoagulant drug may lead to bleeding. If a patient is receiving a medication such as amitriptyline for mental depression and is also given guanethidine for high blood pressure, the antihypertensive activity of the latter is lost. 

How much is drug overdose? How to measure medicine intake?

With many common sleeping medicines, it is possible to get a 3/4 grain size as well as 1-1/2 grain so

that one of each may be used. For Amy talit there is also a 1 grain size, which many women find is just the right amount. Some men like to take two of the 1 grain capsules and find that this dosage gives them a pleasant night's sleep. 

Delicate assaying of dosage is often possible with liquid medications -for instance, tincture of belladonna, an old standby for stomach cramps and indigestion. Some doctors say, arbitrarily, take 15 or 20 drops.

The expert therapist uses a different approach. His instructions to a patient may go something like this: "1 want you to get the full effect, which is just short of the beginning of toxic symptoms which are dryness of the mouth and blurring of vision. 

So start with 15 drops just before each meal and at bedtime. Then, each day, increase by 1 drop so Ih.,1 you will be taking 16 drops four times a day the second day, 17 A Special Word About Medicine Taking / 41 drops the third day, and so on. Keep increasing until you notice one of the toxic symptoms.

Then drop back by 1 drop each day until there are no toxic manifestations. You may settle on 18 drops or you may need 22, or some other amount. The strength of the tincture may vary slightly from drugstore to drugstore, and sometimes the size of the drops varies too. 

Once you have standardized the dosage you need, keep it and use the same bottle and get the prescription refilled by the same• drugstore." Thus, what seemed like a simple prescription turns out to be some- thing of a scientific experiment. But for you, such experimenting to find exactly the right dose you as an individual need may mean the difference between having and not having disagreeable dyspeptic symptoms. 

Administering Drugs with care - Preventive adverse and side effects

First read the label when you take the drug container from the medicine cabinet; read it again when you take the drug itself; and finally, read the label a third time when you put the container away. That last reading is an extra check to make certain you read the label properly the first two times. If you did happen to make a mistake, you have a chance to do something about it at once.

  

TRICKS FOR PROPER DOSAGE made by machines that produce attractive roundedness

 For the most part, are more attractive-looking and less expensive than those that were made individually by a druggist to a special prescription of a physician. The trouble with machine-made articles of medicine, as with mass- produced clothes, is that tailoring to each individual's needs cannot be built in. Thus, it's known that the amount of medicine required varies almost directly with the weight of a person.

Most machine-made capsules and pills are made for a standard person of about 150 pounds so they are apt to contain just a bit too much for most women, a bit too little for most men. Doctors have learned how to adjust dosages even with the limitations of machine-made medicines. For example, consider pills of phenobarbital often prescribed for nervousness, tension, headaches with a psychogenic component. Phenobarbital is commonly available in 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2 grain sizes. Suppose phenobarbital in 1/4 grain dosage is prescribed for a woman and it helps her tension but makes her just a bit too forgetful and drowsy to do her work properly.

The doctor tries 1/8 grain, but that doesn't help her tension enough. The solution lies in going back to the 1/4 grain dosage and proper use of a fingernail file. The patient is instructed to consider a tablet as a circle, and to gently file away one fourth of the circle, to get a tablet that is just halfway between 1/8 and 1/4 grain sizes. 

Usually, the patient "plays around" a bit and finds just the right tailor made size for her needs. When it comes to capsules-especially of sleeping medicines such as Nembutal, Seconal, and Amy talit's a help to learn how to take apart a capsule gently and pour out a portion to adjust the dosage to individual needs, then rejoin the capsule.

 Many people find a standard 1-1/2 grain capsule ineffective; on the other hand, when they take two capsules, they may experience hangovers. One full capsule and half of another may be the right dosage. 

Penicillin overdose side effects! How to avoid it?

A Special Word about Medicine Taking of many people that if a little is good, more is better. With potent agents, excessive dosage can produce real trouble. Similarly, under dosage can cause problems. Inadequate antibiotic dos- age, for example, carries its own risk. One common example is the patient with a "strep" throat who takes penicillin, improves, stops treatment, then gets the sore throat back again.

Once more, he takes some penicillin but not the full prescribed amount. Again the sore throat dis- appears only to recur after a short time. And so a disease that can be eradicated by continued administration of penicillin for eight to ten days is converted into one that drags on with repeated remissions and relapses. Physicians have, in fact, long suspected that many failures of anti- biotic treatment stem simply from failure of patients to keep taking medication as prescribed. A recent study uncovered disturbing evidence that many parents may be risking their children's health by failing to make certain they take their medication as long as necessary.

Actually, in acute "strep" infections, penicillin treatment for 10 days is considered essential to prevent rheumatic fever. Yet in a follow-up of 59 children for whom a 10-day course of penicillin had been prescribed, investigators found that 56 percent of the youngsters had stopped taking the drug by the third day, 71 percent by the sixth day, and 82 percent by the ninth day. When a doctor prescribes medication, the first thing to do is to get the prescription filled immediately. The value may be lessened, or even lost completely, if you delay.

Then follow directions of the doctor to the letter. If you are not certain you understand them, ask him for clarification-even for instructions in writing as to exactly what you are to do. Take all the medicine pre- scribed, not some amount you arbitrarily settle on. Don't decide, if you begin to feel better, that you can stop or reduce dosage. Sometimes, illnesses require several prescriptions. Very much worth noting here is an old principle taught to nurses: read every label three times. You can use that principle to advantage at home. 

How to manage Infections, overdoses, side effects in modern medicine

Friendly bacteria keep under control harmful organisms that also are natives of the digestive tract. When friendly bacteria are killed off in large numbers, there is less competition for the harmful residents and they have a chance to multiply. The result may be super infection-a new and different infection that develops as a result of another's being treated. Again, the super infection is often mild and disappears once antibiotic treatment stops. 

But super infection sometimes can be severe.

What it comes down to is this: use of potent modern medications, not only antibiotics but many others, involves a calculated risk and alertness. Ideally, the physician uses them after careful consideration and upon arriving at the decision that the good to be gained outweighs any risks along the way-and uses them with caution, keeping alert to the earliest indications of any new trouble from the drugs which he may be able to overcome by change of dosage, switch of medication, addition of other medication, or when necessary discontinuance of treatment.

One of the major problems, though, has been the insistence of many patients upon willy-nilly prescription of medication. They may demand penicillin, for example, for a cold or any fever. They have the feeling that a visit to the doctor is not complete unless the doctor "gives" them something. Too often, this has put physicians on the spot; and to please patients, some have prescribed medication against their better judgment.

So far as your own health is concerned, you can do much to preserve it not just by seeking timely medical advice but by taking it-by avoiding insistence upon medications, by indicating to your physician that you are aware of the values and also limitations of medications, the need to use them wisely not indiscriminately, to use them when they are required and not otherwise.

DOSAGE PROBLEMS

A man who took double the prescribed dose of an anticoagulant-a drug that, in effect, acts to thin the blood to prevent clot formation-found himself in the hospital a few days later with severe nosebleedsand vomiting of blood.

 A woman with bronchial asthma was admitted to the hospital with heart palpitations after she had used, contrary to instructions, an isoprenaline (isoproterenol) spray repeatedly for several hours. Another patient, a 29-year-old man, who had decided to take 50 percent' more than his prescribed dose of a cortisone like drug, came- to the hospital with changed personality, considerable weight gain from fluid retention, and other effects.