When we examine the matter closely, we can see that most of the common causes of anxiety concern our conscience either directly or indirectly. This is clear enough in matters of sex and aggression, and it is only a little less obvious in the conflicts concerning dependence. However, very simple problems of conscience can produce tension in quite a surprising fashion.

It is common clinical experience to find that patients are tense on account of some problem of tax evasion. It is usually not so much a matter of frank dishonesty, but rather a problem of stretching the loopholes of the law to such an extent that inner conscience becomes uneasy.

Sensitive, introvert people who have something of the perfectionist in them are often tense because their life seems to lack fulfilment. They become overwhelmed by the material values that they find around them only to become aware that they themselves are lacking in any spiritual goal. They feel a sudden void; and they are anxious indeed.

It is not necessary to go to Africa as a missionary to fulfil these inner needs. But every sensitive individual, man or woman, if he is to remain free from inner tension, must make for himself some way of life which satisfies these vague needs of conscience and idealism.

*46\57\2*

Actually, there is no miracle cure for arthritis! As a matter of fact, there is no specific, singular curative therapy for arthritis. No specific treatment, no specific diet, no specific bath possesses curative properties which can cure arthritis. The cure is accomplished by the healing power inherent in the body itself. The biological treatments only release and actively support this healing power, creating the most favorable conditions for repair, rebuilding, and re-establishment of health.

As I studied the actual cases, interviewed the patients, and observed the various biological treatments used to bring about these remarkable recoveries, I could not help but think that the miracle is not in the fact that these patients are cured, but that these biological methods, which can accomplish such extraordinary results, and which are so widely used in Europe, are virtually unknown in the United States!

This to me is a real miracle: That millions of arthritis sufferers in the U.S.A., hopeless and disillusioned in their despair, have never heard that such methods exist. They are in complete ignorance of the great developments which are now taking place in biological medicine.

It is a miracle, indeed, that the biological methods described in this book are unknown to the public in this country and that 13 million American arthritis sufferers are pacified by repeated, paid commercials which say, “There is no cure for arthritis”!

*2\176\2*

These are a type of syncope, but deserve a particular mention as the attacks are frequently misdiagnosed as epileptic seizures. Reflex anoxic seizures (also called pallid syncopal attacks) usually affect young children between 12 months and 4 years of age, but can affect older children and even adults. The attacks are always provoked by either a sudden fright, or unexpected pain. This unpleasant experience then stimulates a nerve (the vagus nerve) which causes the heart to slow down or even stop for a few seconds. As a result of this the child becomes pale, then limp, and may even have a brief clonic convulsion. Almost immediately the child will recover, may cry, and then appear sleepy. Within a few minutes the child is usually back to normal. These attacks do not damage the brain or heart, do not need treatment, and usually stop by the age of 5-10 years.

Breath-holding attacks-These attacks occur only in young children, aged usually between one and three years. The typical story is of a child who is frustrated, told off, or spanked. The child becomes angry or upset and will hold their breath. After a few seconds the child becomes blue (cyanosed) because of a lack of oxygen in the blood and loses consciousness, and becomes limp. Because of the reduced oxygen supply to the brain (as the child is not breathing) the child may have some clonic (jerking) movements and wet themselves. The child always starts breathing again and is back to normal within a few minutes. These breath-holding attacks usually stop by the age of 4-5 years.

*37\188\2*

This study of 48 persons afflicted with arthritis followed a model prepared by the San Diego Clinic Immunological Centre (SDC). It was not a double blind study. It would not meet the criteria of a formal medical trial conducted for publication by some premier medical journal. But then, that was not its intent.

The objectives of our study were primarily to determine if different types and severities of arthritis would require different dosages. In addition to the information gained directly at SDC, data were compiled from reports from several trusted professional sources that had no vested interest in the results. Data were also received from other medical clinics, medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, chiropractors, physical therapists, and other types of health care practitioners.

“Only about 15 percent of medical interventions are supported by solid scientific evidence … This is partly because only one percent of the articles in medical journals are scientifically sound …” That’s quite an admission for a man in his position.

*58\142\2*

Signs and symptoms

The symptoms of lead poisoning vary with the age of the child and the amount of lead that is in the child’s body, and are difficult to identify because they may build up gradually. Symptoms may include poor appetite, vomiting, constipation, extreme irritability, slow mental and/or physical development, aggressive behavior, seizures or convulsions, personality changes, clumsiness, or symptoms of anaemia – paleness, tiredness, weakness, breathlessness, and fainting. In severe cases, the child may become unconscious.

A routine blood or urine test will not detect lead poisoning. Before the problem can be diagnosed, the doctor must suspect that lead may be causing the child’s symptoms. Specific laboratory tests are then done to measure lead content in the blood and urine.

Home care

Parents should be alert for changes in a child’s behavior. Also, watch to see if your child has a habit of putting nonfood objects in the mouth and swallowing them. This habit, which is called pica, can result in lead poisoning. Check your home and yard for sources of lead. If your house was built before 1950, the paint and plaster should be tested for lead content.

Precautions

• If you are remodeling an older home, and especially if you are burning, scraping, or sanding paint and plaster inside the house, you may be releasing lead into the air. Pregnant women, infants, and small children should live elsewhere until the work is completed and the dust is cleaned up.

• Anyone who works in an occupation that involves exposure to lead should be especially careful about bringing home lead-containing dust on work clothes. Such occupations include lead smelting; storage battery manufacture, repair, and recycling; automobile assembly; automobile body and radiator repair; and others.

Medical treatment

Treatment for lead poisoning is called chelation therapy. The doctor prescribes a drug that combines with the lead in the body and draws it out of the body tissues where it is stored. The lead passes out of the body in the urine. A special diet or a change in diet may also be prescribed. Of course, this treatment will not be effective if the child is still taking in lead. The source of lead must be identified and removed first.

*144/84/5*

This is an extremely important component of protecting yourself against heart disease. We have always known that people who eat lots of fruit and vegetables are healthier and live longer than those who don’t; now scientific research is discovering the reasons why. You may remember that cholesterol itself is not much of a problem to your health, rather it is oxidized (damaged by free radicals) cholesterol that causes all the damage to your artery walls. If you don’t get enough antioxidants in your diet, there will be a lot of free radicals in your body, causing harm to your cell membranes, DNA, artery walls, and the various fats in your bloodstream. Antioxidants help to counteract the damaging effects of free radicals in our body. Free radicals occur naturally in our body, but toxins in our environment greatly increase the amount of these damaging substances.

Antioxidants found in foods, vitamins and minerals

A large Harvard University study in the USA of men and women found that people who eat eight or more servings of vegetables and fruit per day have a 20 percent lower chance of suffering heart disease than those who eat less than three servings. This study showed that every little bit helps, because for every one serving of fruit or vegetables per day, the risk of heart disease dropped by four percent!

It is important to eat as wide a variety of fruits and vegetables as possible, as they each have their own unique benefits. Try to include as many different coloured fruits and vegetables as possible; make sure you include some leafy vegetables, some stem vegetables and some root vegetables. Consuming one raw vegetable salad each day is essential; many vital nutrients are destroyed by cooking.

Consuming plenty of plant foods will lower your blood C-reactive protein level. People who are fit, not overweight and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables have lower blood levels of this substance.

The power of juicing

One easy way to include more fruit and vegetables in your diet is through raw vegetable juicing. You will need to use a juice extractor and consume the juice as soon after making it as possible, as valuable nutrients are lost quickly once the juice has been made. Store bought vegetable juices in glass bottles or cartons are not a substitute because they are not raw juices. Fruit juices should be avoided, as they are far too high in sugar. You should be predominantly juicing vegetables, with a little fruit thrown in to improve the taste. Juicing vegetables breaks down the fibrous components and makes the nutrients present much easier to digest and more available to the body. There is very little effort required by your body to obtain the goodness in the vegetables. Unfortunately, with all the chemicals and stress we are exposed to these days, an average intake of fruits and vegetables is not enough to protect us from disease; juicing is essential! Juices are rich in so many essential nutrients, including vitamin C, beta-carotene, folic acid, Â vitamins, vitamin K, potassium and magnesium. There really is no excuse not to consume them regularly.

Blueberries fight cholesterol

Researchers have discovered that the compound pterostilbene, found in blueberries works as effectively for lowering LDL “bad” cholesterol as the cholesterol lowering drug ciprofibrate. Ciprofibrate is in the class of cholesterol lowering drugs called fibrates; it is effective for lowering cholesterol but causes muscle pain and nausea in some people. Pterostilbene stimulates a receptor protein in liver cells which is responsible for lowering cholesterol and other blood fats. Blueberries do not cause any side effects, are delicious, high in fibre and help to protect your heart.

*47/53/5*

Soya

Soya is a very versatile, natural vegetable protein which can make a useful alternative to cow’s milk if you are animal milk intolerant or find that it causes skin problems or sinus trouble. Buy organic to make sure it is not genetically modified and make sure the milk is sugar-free. Soya milk can be used in cooking in the same way as you would use cow’s milk and you will find you then cannot taste the difference between the two.

Tofu which is soya bean curd can be used in stir-fries, soups and also desserts and again buy organic to make sure it is GM free. It is available in most supermarkets and health food shops. Avoid TVP (textured vegetable protein) because of the amount of processing needed to make it into a meat substitute.

Dairy Produce

Buy organic dairy produce, available from most supermarkets, to avoid the harmful effects of growth hormones, antibiotics and chemicals that may have been absorbed from the animal’s foodstuffs. If you have a milk allergy or intolerance, try sheep’s or goat’s milk or a non-animal drink like soya milk or rice milk. Buy live yogurt containing the culture Lactobacillus acidophilus — organic if possible.

Oil/Fat

Use butter (organic if possible) and unhydrogenated margarines (available from health food shops). Look for cold-pressed, unrefined vegetable oils like sesame, sunflower and safflower, and use extra-virgin olive oil for light cooking.

Hot Drinks

As a substitute for coffee, try Caro and Caro Extra, Bambu orYannoh which are grain ‘coffees’ and contain various combinations of ingredients like barley, rye, chicory and acorns. Good alternatives to tea include herb teas, fruit teas, Rooibos (caffeine-free South African tea), decaffeinated tea, or Japanese bancha (twig) tea.

Cold Drinks

Use real unsweetened fruit juice. Watch out for cartons or bottles with ‘fruit drink’ on the label because this means that something else has been added. A recent analysis of fruit drinks showed that many contained only 5 per cent fruit, while the rest was made up with water, sugar and additives.

Also be cautious of the flavoured spring waters. They appear healthy enough but many contain sugar.

Water is the simplest and most natural drink of all. Our bodies are made up of approximately 70 per cent water which is essential for every bodily process. We can survive without food for about five weeks but we can’t go without water for longer than five days.

Try to drink around six glasses of water a day. Use these glasses of water to replace other less healthy drinks you might normally choose. For instance, you could start the day with a cup of hot water and a slice of lemon, a wonderfully refreshing drink and excellent for the liver.

Convenience Foods

Most pre-packaged convenience foods contain high levels of additives and preservatives so they are best avoided. However, even with the best will in the world, I know this is not always possible. So, when you do feel you have to buy convenience foods, check the labels carefully, go for organic options where available, and keep your consumption of such foods to a minimum.

*41/73/5*

Helpful things to prevent headaches and migraines include:

1. Stop smoking.

2. Come off the Pill.

3. Stop drinking tea and coffee.

4. Cut out alcohol.

5. Stop eating sugar.

6. Cut out tyramine-containing foods such as chocolates, yeast extracts and yeast products, liver, sausages, broad beans, pickled herrings and cheese.

7. Cut out histamine-containing foods such as sauerkraut, salami and sausage meat.

8. Don’t eat oranges-they contain substances that can precipitate migraines in some people.

9. Avoid foods containing additives such as tartrazine, benzoates and sodium glutamate.

10. Avoid wheat-containing and milk-containing foods.

•    Noise and annoying surroundings can also cause headaches.

•    True migraine can often not be prevented, unfortunately, as many sufferers know. Look through the triggering factors above and see if you can avoid at least some of them in your life.

•    If during the summer months or in hot environments you tend to get headaches, be sure to drink more watery fluids. Aim to keep your urine pale yellow.

•    Cluster headaches may be helped by anti-migraine medications. See your doctor.

•    The answer to tension headaches is to learn how to relax.

•    Hangovers can be prevented by following this list of tips. Drink a pint of water or other non-alcoholic drinks for every two pints of beer or two ‘shorts’ you take. Take an antacid in the morning to settle your stomach. Take 1 g vitamin Ñ with the water you drink last thing at night-the vitamin will help your liver to cope with detoxifying the alcohol. Take a simple pain-killer if you have to. Don’t mix drinks. Don’t drink alcohol to cure a hangover (‘hair of the dog’) because this only makes the final effects worse.

•    Avoid foods that give you headaches.

•    Have your eyes checked by a good optician just in case poor eyesight could be giving you tension headaches.

•    Have your blood pressure checked if you are over 40 and have repeated headaches for which you can find no explanation.

•    Massage your scalp. A US researcher has found that he can prevent headaches by a special hair-brushing technique. It involves massaging the scalp, which could, of course, be done with one’s fingers, but he found better results using a hairbrush. Use a natural brush which is stiff but not as rigid as a typical hairbrush. Synthetic bristles are too sharp when moved across the skin. Ideally the brush should be one that can be held in the hand comfortably. When buying a suitable brush use it on the skin on the back of your hand to test it. Move it in small circles to make the skin move but not so as to cause an abrasion or irritation to the skin.

The next thing, having found a good brush, is to make the scalp massage a regular part of your everyday routine, spending 90 seconds on it, morning and night. Starting at the temple just above the eyebrow, press the brush against the skin and rotate it in small circles so that the upper part of the circle goes towards the back of your head. Move up the skull with each pass from front to back of your head so that after three circles you are at the top of the head. Continue these small circles all over the scalp right down to the hair line.

*162/72/5*

Here are some quick glances at the key emotional issues every patient confronts at some time and to some degree:

Feelings of fear: Like a broadcast from a powerful pirate radio station, fear, especially the fear of fatness, overwhelms and blocks out every other emotional signal. In therapy we work on decreasing these fears so that the patient can pick up other signals-joy, anger, even sorrow.

An important part of the process is talking about inner feelings that may never have seen the light of day. It’s natural for people to suppress powerful fears, keeping them buried or vague so as to avoid having to deal with them. Sometimes, though, just articulating fears or “bad” feelings decreases their power. Giving them a name empowers the patient to make a conscious effort at overcoming them.

Strangely enough, a patient may fear not just failure but success as well. She worries that succeeding at something means people will demand more of her-more than she feels she can deliver. At a deeper level, fears of success may come from separation fears connected with fantasies of competing with a parent-figure. The very fact that individual therapy provides an intense relationship with another human being in itself reduces another dominant fear: the fear of intimacy.

Feelings of anger: For a woman in our society, expressing anger and aggression-natural feelings- can be taboo. Thus even when she is genuinely, righteously angry, she often swallows her feelings. But suppressed feelings erupt in other ways, like air in a balloon that’s being squeezed. As Tina’s story demonstrated, an eating-disordered person takes it out on herself through food. As she learns the art of assertiveness, her fear of her own anger decreases.

Feelings of depression: Depression and eating are closely linked. Bingeing may in fact be a person’s misguided attempt to treat her depression, using food as medicine. In many cases, feelings of depression are what drive the patient to seek help in the first place. Therapy can help point out that, although a bout of depression can be draining, there are better ways of coping with it than eating.

Therapy explores where the depression comes from. What’s more, it introduces alternative methods for dealing with it. Even simple suggestions can sometimes be helpful. I ask my patients to remember the “Three N’s”: Say NO to unreasonable demands. Do something NEW. Do something to NURTURE yourself. Of course, it’s important that we distinguish between the feeling of depression and the clinical syndrome of depression. The former is a response to temporary situations; the latter is a psychiatric illness, for which effective medical treatment is available.

Feelings of being fat: Feeling fat though actually being emaciated is so common among anorexics that, as we’ve seen, it’s one of the diagnostic criteria for the disorder. Patients need to learn that feeling fat is a genuine part of their illness-the feeling is really there, no doubt about it. It’s just distorted. It’s another example of a crossed wire in the emotional circuit. However, simply confronting the patient -”Look in the mirror! You’re not fat!”- doesn’t work. Better to find out what being fat means to her, and how she interprets this distorted feeling. As patients learn to recognize and trust their feelings, they see a clearer image of their body shape and size. As one recovering patient told me, “I feel like I got a new prescription for my emotional contact lenses.”

Feelings about control: Because her life is chaotic, the anorexic focuses all her energy on controlling what she eats. Often this means controlling everyone else around her too. In time the disorder controls her. A bulimic “controls” eating by skipping meals; when she binges, she tries to reassert control by purging. In therapy we work to restore a sense of healthy control over eating.

Distorted thinking: The need to be in control often leads to certain limited ways of thinking-everything becomes “black or white,” “all or nothing.” Individual therapy offers the patient a chance to explore other ways of thinking. If she says, “I know that if I gain an ounce I’ll go on and gain thirty pounds,” we’ll talk about why she feels her only alternatives are extremes. The goal is to help her rediscover balance and moderation in thought as well as behavior.

Poor self-image: Susie Orbach, a well-known eating disorder therapist, believes that “low self-esteem” is much too mild a description of this symptom; self-hatred is more accurate. She has a point. Patients are often so perfectionist that one mistake, one little slip, can shatter them. They feel like failures because they can’t meet their own impossibly high standards. Therapy allows a patient to experiment with feelings, to take risks. In scaling back her standards to a more realistic level, she discovers that a mistake needn’t destroy her, that she isn’t a horrible, rotten person after all. A therapist helps by praising the patient for her success rather than being overly critical of her failures.

Social failure: Patients often have difficulty making friends or feeling comfortable around other people. These feelings may contribute to the development of an eating disorder. What’s more, once the disorder has taken hold, these feelings can help maintain and reinforce the anorexia or bulimia. Fear can make a patient avoid situations that pose the slightest risk of rejection. Making and keeping friends is a skill, and like other skills people need to learn it and practice it. Therapy can help patients do so. After all, no one rides a bicycle very well the first time she tries.

*85/35/5*

Irma Toce arrived in America from Holland in 1987—healthy, fit, trim, and looking for adventure. Her goal was to work for 3 months, travel around the country, and go back home. The reality was that she fell in love, got married, and stayed in the United States.

And somewhere along the line, she gained 80 pounds.

While most of these dramatic life changes were a bit a of surprise, her weight gain was not. “I married into an Italian family that loves to eat,” Irma says. “And I stopped walking as much as I used to in Holland.”

By 1997, her weight had peaked at 240 pounds. She was depressed, had no energy, and hated what she saw in the mirror. It was a sharp contrast from Who she was the decade before. “I couldn’t believe what had happened to me,” she says. “I knew that I had to do something and make a change. A big change.”

With Dutch determination, she set her goal for 160 pounds, her wedding-day weight. But she kept her plan a secret. “I stopped eating cookies and started walking 5 days a week,” she says. “I didn’t tell anyone—not even my family.”

Within 2 months, she lost 10 pounds. People noticed. Unable to hide her efforts, she confirmed “diet” speculations. “The support that I got was unbelievable,” she says.

Clients and coworkers told Irma how wonderful she looked. A friend who baked cookies for her agreed to prepare just one special chocolate chip cookie a week. And she finally started eating three meals a day. “Before, I would skip breakfast, then snack my way through the morning and afternoon, stopping only for lunch and dinner,” she explains.

On sunny days when Irma didn’t feel like exercising, her eldest stepdaughter would encourage her to take a walk. When chilly fall weather provided another convenient excuse to skip her stroll, her husband bought her a treadmill.

Irma started to feel better about herself. Suddenly, everything changed for the better. “I even started to laugh at jokes again,” she says.

Three years later, Irma was down to 170 pounds. She’s still 10 pounds shy of her goal, but she’s confident that she’ll hit her wedding-day weight soon. Her advice to others who want to slim down is, “Stay positive, and don’t talk yourself down. If you blow it once in a while, get right back on track. Just take it one day at a time, and don’t be too hard on yourself. After all, you’re worth it!”

WINNING ACTION

Spread the word that you’re trying to lose. According to a University of Pittsburgh study, those supported by friends and family have a 95 percent chance of slimming down successfully. What’s more, they are twice as likely to keep the extra pounds and inches off.

*139\89\8*