The skin is a complex part of our bodies. Throughout our lives it needs constant attention. Babies get nappy rash, birthmarks and eczema, children suffer measles, chicken-pox, warts and impetigo, teenagers endure acne, pimples, cold sores, blisters and athlete’s foot, dermatitis, allergies and psoriasis occur in adulthood. As we age the skin dries, varicose veins [...]
Interestingly, the earliest systematic 20th-century study of the effects of St John’s Wort on depression was inspired by the observation that Hypericum is a light-sensitive substance and that rats given Hypericum and then placed in bright light appeared to become more activated. To date there is only one study on the use of St John’s [...]
An even more advanced case was presented by Frederick Eccleson, a student. Eccleson was on the Dean’s List—the negative Dean’s List for failing students. Although bright, he was flunking out of the scientific institution he had entered with such great expectations a year before. In high school, Eccleson’s heart would suddenly beat at an incredible [...]
Theodore Muysenberg came to me with a suspected dust allergy. He was treated with extracts of house dust, a procedure commonly employed to desensitize patients to this source of allergic reaction. Soon after receiving his injection, however, he would be overcome with headache and fatigue and would have to lie down in my office until [...]
A fracture, a broken bone, and a fractured bone are all terms for the same condition. Since children’s bones are still growing, their fractures are different in some ways from adult fractures -especially in very young children. For example, broken bones heal more quickly in children than in adults. Also, any fracture that heals in [...]
You may remember that cholesterol production begins with the molecule called acetyl-CoA. A number of metabolic reactions occur, until finally an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase is required to convert a substance called HMG-CoA into mevalonate. Statins work by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, thereby they inhibit mevalonate production. Mevalonate is a precursor to several substances, [...]
Up to 40 per cent of couples’ infertility problems can turn out to be on the man’s side but the focus is still, generally, on the woman. From the beginning your partner should be involved in finding out what is preventing both of you from getting pregnant and tackling the problem – it could well [...]
Nearly half a million guys die from cardiovascular disease each year-more than the next eight leading causes of death combined. Scary stuff, right? It doesn’t have to be. Quite simply, your cardiovascular system is an amazingly powerful and resilient engineering marvel. Consider the statistics: About the size of two clenched fists, your heart pumps roughly [...]
Depending on the population studied, between 2 percent and 1 percent of teenage females have had anorexia. Bulimia is more common. Estimates range from upward of 1 percent of adolescent and young adult females in the general population to 4 percent of female college students. Typically, anorexia strikes between the ages of fourteen and eighteen; [...]
For Rosemary Chiaverini, weight loss and gain had been a lifetime struggle. “I tried everything short of getting my stomach stapled and my mouth wired shut,” says the 50-year-old Sherman Oaks, California, resident. In 1995, when she reached 241 pounds, she decided to join Weight Watchers. There, she learned the principles of healthy eating and [...]