One of the barriers that we often encounter with our ISD patients, and that you probably noticed in our description of Barbara and Dan’s persist-resist battles and most certainly in the caustic crossfire between Frank and Liz, is too much anger. There is a good chance that this barrier is operating in your relationship if:
• Your attempts at communication quickly lead to knockdown, drag-out fights with a lot of yelling, screaming, criticizing, or even throwing things.
• The angry feelings you or your partner express are out of control or an overreaction to the situation at hand.
• Bitter, hurtful arguments are repeated time and time again but never seem to resolve the problems that lead to them.
• Resentful, hurt, and angry feelings linger long after the argument itself ends.
• One partner’s passive anger blocks communication. More difficult to identify than the explosive fury we just described, quiet anger takes the form of withdrawal, “forgetting,” coldness, being subtly uncooperative or blatantly doing the exact opposite of what is asked, walking away from a conversation, or otherwise creating a silence that cannot be broken. Howard, for instance, acted out his anger in this way each time he made light of Judy’s concerns, did a chore in what she called a “half-assed” manner, or completely ignored what she was saying to him.
Regardless of the form it takes, if you and your partner cannot get beyond your anger, you will not be able to solve your sexual problem—and on some level you will not want to. You may have to work through the relationship problems—perhaps with the help of a psychotherapist—before you can tackle the sexual ones.
*142\261\8*

Plant breeders are creating new hybrids of evening primrose plants by means of carefully controlled hand cross-pollination of the best available plants.
Each parent plant selected for hybridization carries some of the target characteristics of the ideal variety. This process takes years of observing closely to see how each new hybrid performs and carefully measuring the oil yield after the cross-pollination.
When a new hybrid is produced that looks promising, it must be reproduced and multiplied for several generations before anyone can be sure that a stable new variety which gives consistent oil yields of a high quality has been produced.
With plants grown for their seeds, the new hybrid had to be a crop which could germinate more quickly and evenly than the wild types. In its wild state, germination is unreliable. In fact, the evening primrose plant has many unsuitable characteristics in its wild state. Some of the wild evening primroses can shoot up, or ‘bolt up, too early and be cut down by the winter frosts or else fail to grow quickly enough in the spring and produce no seed. So another requirement with a hybrid was to develop a plant in which the tall stems bearing the flowers, and later the seed pods, should start to grow neither too early, nor too late.
The aim of the plant breeders has been to produce a hybrid with the most consistent yield of GLA. At the moment the GLA content in the oil of the hybrids is around 9%. This is the oil composition on which almost all the human research has been performed.
The highest yield of GLA comes when the seeds are mature. Another weakness of the wild plant is that the flowers of the evening primrose bloom in succession over a period of two or three months. Seed pods form each day, which means that a single plant could well be carrying some mature pods, unripe pods, freshly opened flowers, and even immature flower buds. So plant breeders who have been working on the evening primrose hybrids have been aiming for plants carrying the maximum number of mature pods at a given time for the best possible seed yields and the highest GLA content in the oil. In its wild state, the evening primrose yields an oil which varies greatly in quality and the amount of GLA is hopelessly inconsistent, some types giving far too little to be effective. So it has only been by a rigorous plant breeding programme that a few new varieties have been developed which have all the characteristics needed for a seed oil crop and which give a consistently reliable high quality GLA yield of around 9%.
Completely new varieties of evening primrose have been specifically bred by Efamol and that company has been granted Plant Breeders’ Rights – the equivalent of a plant patent – in the UK and the USA.
Now, new hybrids of evening primrose are being grown in various parts of Britain, in Spain, Hungary, the USA, and other parts of the world. When farmers want to diversify, and move into more unusual crops than wheat or corn, they are choosing the evening primrose.
A bonus for farmers is that the rate of multiplication of the evening primrose is very high – one kilo of seed multiplies into 1000 kilos for the farmer. But then it takes 5000 of the tiny seeds to make just one capsule of evening primrose oil!

Quality control
A uniform seed is used, and farmers are advised on how to get the best results from the evening primrose crop. Batches of seed are routinely analyzed to make sure no contaminants have got in, and that the GLA content conforms to the specification.
The oil is routinely analyzed and checked, and similar stringent checking goes on during the extraction and encapsulation processes, to make sure of a pure, high quality yield with exactly the same amount of oil in each capsule.
Evening primrose oil is maintained in the same state as it occurs naturally in the seeds: clear, pale yellow, natural oil with no additives, colouring or other processing. It is sold mostly in clear gelatin capsules, and the only thing that is added in some brands is Vitamin E, which prevents oxidation of the oil.

*4/60/5*

Glucosamine sulfate is one of the best-documented alternative treatments for osteoarthritis and is widely used in Europe. Double-blind studies involving a total of over 1,116 people have found that it can reduce pain and improve mobility. There is reason to believe it may be chondroprotective, but no direct proof as yet exists. The proper dose is 500 mg 3 times daily. Glucosamine is nontoxic and causes very few side effects other than occasional digestive distress. Pain relief usually begins in 2 to 4 weeks and reaches maximum effect in 8 weeks.
Chondroitin sulfate is also widely used in Europe for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Controlled studies involving a total of over 450 participants have found that it can reduce pain and improve mobility. There is also evidence that chondroitin sulfate may slow the progression of the disease. The proper dose of chondroitin sulfate is 400 mg 2 to 3 times daily. Chondroitin appears to be very nontoxic and seldom causes any side effects other than occasional mild stomach upset. Generally, it is sold combined with glucosamine.
According to double-blind studies involving more than 1,000 people, S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) can reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis as effectively as low doses of anti-inflammatory medications. It may also protect cartilage from damage, although this has not been proven. The usual dose of SAMe is 400 mg 3 times daily. Once symptoms improve (usually at about 4 weeks), the dose can be reduced. A maintenance dose of as low as 200 mg per day may ultimately suffice. SAMe appears to be a very nontoxic substance, but some people develop digestive upset if they take the full dose all at once. To avoid this problem, some experts recommend starting at 400 mg a day, and then working up.
According to 12 double-blind placebo-controlled studies involving a total of over 500 participants, fish oil can reduce symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. However, fish oil is not known to modify the course of rheumatoid arthritis like some standard medications. A typical dose is 6 capsules (1 g each) of fish oil daily. Fish oil takes as long as 6 to 12 weeks for the full effect to be noticed. It may not be safe to combine fish oil with blood thinners such as warfarin (Coumadin) and heparin.
*91/306/5*