If your child can see things clearly close up but distant objects seem blurred, it is likely that he is short-sighted.

Cause

Short-sightedness is due to the length of the eyeball from front to back being greater than usual. This interferes with the way light is reflected from the back of the eye, distorting the image transferred to the brain. Short-sightedness can run in families. Contrary to popular belief, reading a great deal does not cause shortsightedness.

Clinical features

Short-sightedness tends to become worse as the child approaches adolescence. You may notice that your child always sits very close to the television, or holds a book very close to his eyes while reading. If he sits at the back of the class, he may complain that he has trouble reading what is written on the blackboard.

Treatment

Children with short-sightedness invariably need to wear glasses. These are prescribed after a thorough eye test and need to be checked every year, as vision tends to change as the child grows. Adolescents may prefer to wear contact lenses.

When to see your doctor

If you suspect that your child is short-sighted, see your doctor who will refer him to an eye specialist for tests. If your child is having learning difficulties, it is a good idea to get his eyes checked.

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I don’t plan on letting any guy have it unless he is really special. I might give it to a guy if he shows he loves me, but not just because he wants it. They lie anyway, and they will say they love you. You have to be sure before you give it to them.

SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL

You make it sound as though intercourse is a gift. It is really something you do with someone else for joy, closeness, and love in a| relationship that you think will last a very long time. It’s for you, too, not just your lover. Intercourse is an exchange of feelings emotionally and physically, something for both people to enjoy. It is n0t a thing you give to someone, it is a process of life you share with someone. Doing it for someone is not intercourse, it’s just “course.” The “inter” part of intercourse is what is important, and that means together, between. You can’t tell you love someone by whether or not you have had intercourse with them and you shouldn’t hold intercourse out as something to be earned. You will only end up being hurt, because when the boy thinks he has to earn it, he won’t be thinking of you, he’ll be thinking of it. He might try to make making love a goal, and then the lies and manipulation start.

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I knew I would pay for it. I masturbated when I was a kid and I continued it into marriage. Now I just don’t enjoy sex. This is my punishment, I guess.

HUSBAND

This man guesses wrong. Masturbation cannot cause any trouble for anyone unless it is engaged in against one’s own moral sanctions. It is an excellent educational opportunity, can lead to intense orgasms and a degree of psychasms through imagery, and is one way to develop sexual comfort and sexual self-esteem.

One problem, though, is that men tend to masturbate incorrectly. They try to get it done quickly, and their posture, technique, process, timing, and stimulation are all wrong. It does not train them for interaction with a partner but rather to “get off” or to “get rid of tension.” For men and women, masturbation offers an excellent opportunity for learning about the body, but may end up teaching a lesson of guilt, hurriedness, and secretiveness about sex.

The fact is that masturbation is separate from other forms of sexual behavior. It is not something that is done because you don’t have a partner, because you can’t find a partner, or because it must be done to be “good at sex.” It is not something that means that sex with your partner is not as good as it should be. Masturbation is one form of sexual stimulation, and if it is an option chosen with comfort and a sense of self-enhancement, it is generally helpful to sexuality in all areas of life. If you don’t masturbate, it means one thing: You don’t masturbate. It is not a sign of a hang-up or deficiency. It is no big deal unless we make it so. It probably gets too much good press and too much bad press, and it needs much more truth in advertising. It is a human sexual option.

Masturbation, or at least pleasurable self-exploration, can teach much about the F and R areas (and the G and Ñ areas in women). It can teach about the types of orgasm, about psychasms. But it teaches nothing but negative lessons if you feel badly about yourself for doing it.

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This is another critical point in fasting. You can ruin most of your achievement, if you subject your body to a food shock. Your sub-conscious mind may not believe you the next time you fast. Without realising it, you may train it to expect a shock, rather than work spontaneously and purify itself with maximum efficiency.

Your body is now pure. Your mind developed in many directions. Treat them both with care and attention.

In the first day of breaking the fast,

start by eating small quantities of liquid food. Try to treat your body as that of a newly born baby.

Eating one spoon of natural yoghurt (no flavours !!!) is a good start. Include fresh fruit, but chew it very intensely. Eat very small quantities (baby size), but do so quite frequently, every hour or two for example. Squeezing fresh fruit juices and nectars will provide you with an excellent food. Continue drinking at least 2-3 litres of water. You may add honey to the (lukewarm) water if you wish.

Some experiences felt on the first day can be quite memorable. After fasting, you are very sensitive and your instincts are very sharp. Not only you will find food to taste differently. To your surprise you may discover some ordinary food like bread to be more toxic than others (natural yoghurt for example), especially if you take it as your first bit of food after fasting. The sensation after swallowing the first bite of such food can be compared to the one you experience after having an alcoholic drink. The major difference is that such a sensation lasts only a few seconds.

Do not eat anything in the evening. Drink water, with honey if you like.

In the second day of breaking fast,

Eat little, mostly in a liquid form. Cooked oats, semolina and other cereals, natural yoghurts are OK. Eat fruits several times a day. Drink at least 2-3 litres of pure water. Do not eat meat, fish or eggs.

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This disorder tends to arise in the middle or late years of life. Each attack begins suddenly, usually with a buzzing in the ears and then severe giddiness.

It may be so severe that the person feels he is being thrown to the ground.

Consciousness is rarely lost. Nausea and vomiting are common.

The giddiness, nausea and vomiting are the same symptoms which occur with motion sickness due to a temporary disorder of the balance due to external motion.

The attacks last from 15 to 60 minutes but it may take the sufferer hours to fully recover.

Most attacks come on without any precipitating factor or any prior warning. They may occur during sleep.

Associated with the attacks of giddiness is a slowly developing nerve deafness and accompanied with the deafness is this condition of tinnitus or ringing in the ears which is often only noticed under quiet conditions.

The disorder can affect both ears.

The diagnosis is usually made on the history which involves those three factors of periodic giddiness, deafness and tinnitus.

The initial treatment is by drugs. Sedatives may be useful also a variety of the anti-histamine or anti-allergy drugs.

If those measures fail surgery must be considered.

Modern surgical procedures which have been made possible by the operating microscope can overcome the giddiness without damaging the auditory nerve and therefore preserve the hearing.

*499/71/1*

Like alcohol, cannabis is an intoxicant and has similar effects on mood and the appreciation of time and distance.

It is not regarded as physically addictive as there are no withdrawal effects when the drug is not continually used. It may cause psychological dependence and regular use does have profound and well-documented effects, both on physical and mental health.

Those who use the drug in a happy atmosphere with friends may feel good and relaxed. Those who use it when flat and depressed may find it intensifies these feelings or it may induce hallucinations or a psychotic reaction.

Regular use, daily or even twice weekly, may lead to considerable apathy. This can influence school work, tertiary study or one’s job. Apathy and lack of drive can lead to poor food intake and poor personal hygiene and this can then adversely affect health.

Although there are laws which prohibit driving while under the influence of any drug, it is hard to obtain convictions unless substantiated with proof such as a blood alcohol level. It is difficult to obtain a conviction unless the level is so high that the person was obviously so affected that he could hardly stand without assistance, let alone drive.

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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.

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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.

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