ITCHING

Itchy skin may be due to a variety of causes. The commonest reason for excessive itching is dry skin. Other causes include eczema, insect bites, allergic reactions or hives, scabies, or psoriasis. Treatment always depends on the cause of the itching, and if you are in any doubt whatsoever it is advisable to check with your doctor before trying any creams or lotions.

JAUNDICE IN CHILDREN

If your child has jaundice, you will notice a yellowish hue on his skin, and the whites of his eyes (the sclera) will also be yellow.

Cause

The commonest cause of jaundice in older children is an infection of the liver called hepatitis. Other causes are very rare.

Clinical features

As well as the obvious yellow hue of the skin and the whites of the eyes, a child with jaundice may have dark yellow urine and pale-coloured stools. His skin may also be itchy.

Treatment

The treatment of jaundice in children also depends on the cause and severity of the illness. We encourage you to discuss all aspects of treatment with your doctor.

When to see your doctor

A child with jaundice should always be seen by a doctor, especially if he is unwell, or drowsy.

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WHAT IS IMMUNISATION AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

Immunisation is a technique in which a killed or weakened strain of a bacterium or virus is given to a child or adult, in order to build up the body’s defence against a particular infectious disease. After immunisation the person develops antibodies. These are special proteins that recognise and fight these same diseases when they try to invade the body.

WHY IMMUNISE YOUR CHILD?

Immunisation protects your child against certain diseases which can be life-threatening. World-wide programs attempt to eradicate these diseases. A good example of this is smallpox, which used to kill many thousands of children and adults all over the world. In the 1970′s smallpox was wiped out entirely by a very successful immunisation campaign. Other serious infectious diseases have been brought under control by immunisation programs. These include:

• diphtheria

• measles

• mumps

• pertussis (whooping cough)

• poliomyelitis

• rubella

• tetanus

• haemophilus B (HIB).

These are the diseases against which you should have your child vaccinated. It may save your child’s life one day. Due to the success of immunisation programs, many of these diseases are rarely seen today. This does not mean your child no longer needs to be immunized against them. Parents often forget that only a short time ago many children became very ill and even died because of diseases such as polio, which used to occur in epidemic proportions.

It is vital from the point of view of the community that all children are immunised. Non-immunised children are certainly at far greater risk of being infected with these diseases and, because they lack immunity, they risk serious complications and even death. Non-immunised children also help to spread infection in the community, and make eventual eradication of the disease virtually impossible. It is vital to inform your doctor or maternal and child health nurse if your child is not immunised, so that special care may be taken during outbreaks of certain infections.

The benefits of immunisation far outweigh any risks. Give serious thought to the consequences — for the child and the community — of not immunising your child. We strongly urge you to have your children fully immunised.

Many misconceptions surround the issue of immunisation, and some parents refuse to have their children immunised. If you are still unsure, talk to your doctor before making any final decisions and discuss any doubts you may have.

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I am wigged out, flaked out, spaced out, dead. After sex, I just am drained. I need the intensive-care unit. It’s always a long time before I can have, even think about having, sex again.

HUSBAND

It almost seems like having sex decreases our sex life. When I have it, I just don’t want to have it again. I feel like all the energy is gone then.

WIFE

One hundred and nine men and 59 women reported that their refractory periods seemed longer than other times in their life. When we run cold, there may be a tendency to overdo it when we finally find the time and energy for sex. When we become contemplative, we also lengthen the refractory period by avoiding behaviors that may lead to re-arousal. Since the cold reactor is in a perpetual emotional refractory period, it seems logical that such a life orientation would enter into the sexual system.

What about your own sexual system? In terms of this new diagnostic system, what types of problems is your sexual system experiencing at this time? Don’t deliver a verdict. Think about your sexual functioning to determine who is the matter with the sexual system. You are not assigning blame or responsibility for the problem, for each partner is responsible for self. It means understanding that it is “who,” not “what,” that matters in achieving super marital sex, the who of the combination of you both. It is how we are and who we are as people who relate that really matters.

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Count up the number of items that you scored to the right of the 5 (6,7,8,9, or 10 scores that you circled). Do not add up the values, just count the actual number of items to the right of 5. The sample couple you have been following throughout this chapter, and whose quotes you have been reading, had seven numbers to the right of 5 and both husband and wife scored exactly the same. You would expect that from a couple that is compensated, stuck in a chronic system of interaction.

Next, count up the number of items you circled to the left of the

5 (0, 1, 2, 3 or 4). Again, both spouses in oar example scored identically, and they each circled three numbers to the left of the 5. Subtract the number of times you scored to the left of 5 from the number to the right of 5, and you have your sexual-system score. It is possible to have a negative score not in meaning but in the interpretation of your scores. To understand the meaning of your score in this new systems context, place it on the following line:

ACCOMMODATING MARRIAGE SYMMETRICAL MARRIAGE»» ««COMPLEMENTARY MARRIAGE -10 9876543210+123456789 10

If your score fell in the minus range, your sexual system is functioning in the symmetrical mode at this time. You tend toward an egalitarian, romaticized, nonsexist, balanced relationship. If your score fell toward the plus side of 0, you tend toward a more separated, sexist marriage that has less balance than the symmetrical marriage.

The accommodating marriage is a super sex marriage. It adapts over time. The score of this type of marriage would be near zero. This type of marriage has a high AC, or alternating capacity, going back and forth between symmetrical and complementary in response to external and internal needs in the overall marital sexual system. Like all systems, ease and balance seem healthier than disease and extremes, so a score around zero is the healthier score and a place for our focus throughout this book.

You now understand more about the systems approach and what is meant by super marital sex, a sex that goes beyond the limits of day-to-day patterns, holistically growing and changing with, for, and because of the partners’ interaction. How you find someone to form such a relationship with and how you discover such a relationship for your marriage requires integrating our marital “IQ”, Intimacy Quotient, from Chapter One and your sexual-system score from this chapter. I will show you in Chapter Three how the courtship ritual works in our society and how you can re-court your marital partner by a new set of super sex rules, how intimate systems are formed.

The couple we have been following managed to break their solidified pattern of male-dominated, female-compliant, distant, and misperceived patterns of sexuality and daily marital living. They did so through the steps you will learn in the following chapters. They learned about their own love experiences. They learned the loving. Most important of all, they learned that mutual responsibility within and for an ever-changing system of intimacy was vital to their own personal as well as their marital health. They continue to struggle together with this learning, loving, within a system that gives more room to grow.

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The scabies mite is not related to lice but, like them, it has also become common.

It is tiny, just visible as a small dot and spreads from person to person, usually by close contact.

It is common in families and among young people

who may share a bed with a friend. It may spread to nurses from infected patients and then be further spread, particularly in nursing homes.

The female mite burrows into the skin and lays her eggs, which hatch and the immature larvae move out on to the skin, mature, mate and so the cycle continues.

There are often no symptoms for one or two months. It takes this time for the body to become sensitised to the mite.

This sensitivity produces a rash and an itch, which is usually worse in bed. It involves the trunk and the arms and legs but does not occur on the head and neck.

The typical burrows are not easy to see and are more common on the hands and wrists. The rash usually consists of red and raised papules or bumps and there are many scratch marks.

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One group of drugs used in treating depression and other emotional troubles, such as obsessive-compulsive disorders and phobias, may have serious side-effects.

These are the mono-amine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI).

Mono-amines are chemicals which occur naturally in the body. Adrenalin, the main hormone which stimulates the body in the “fight or flight” mechanism, is a mono-amine. Certain other mono-amines are concerned with the transmission of nervous impulses in the brain.

There is an enzyme in the body, mono-amine oxidase, which breaks down these mono-amines. The MAOI group of drugs inhibits the action of the enzyme and allows the chemicals to act unrestrained.

This, apparently, is of benefit in treating emotional disorders. However, some side-effects may develop if certain mono-amines are in the diet.

The amino-acid tyramine occurs in many foods. It has a tendency to cause a rise in blood pressure, but normally the action is counteracted by the enzyme. When the MAOI drugs are taken the action may be blocked and, if these foods are taken, a dangerous rise in blood pressure, associated with severe headache, may occur.

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Down’s syndrome or mongolism is due to a genetic disturbance. Yet in only a few cases is it inherited.

Each cell of the human body contains 23 paired chromosomes on which are carried the genes, those chemical markers which determine who and what we are.

The germ cells, which are the ovum from the female and the sperm from the male, are different.

These cells contain only 23 single chromosomes. When they fuse at conception, the new individual then has 23 pairs, half from the mother, half from the father.

One chromosome, normally termed the X chromosome, determines the sex. A female has two X chromosomes whereas the male has only one X chromosome and a smaller and rather insignificant Y chromosome.

All ova contain X chromosomes but the sperm may have an X or Y and whichever one of these fertilises the ovum determines the sex. In Down’s syndrome there is an extra chromosome usually at number 21.

This is called 21 trisomy.

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First of all, what about the primary growth? Most often this is just a firm painless lump to start with. As it enlarges it may press on, or grow through, nearby structures. I’ll go through some of the possible early warning signs of cancer and we’ll see what causes them. Firstly, there is any unexplained lump or thickening that doesn’t go away or is getting bigger. These lumps are usually painless. Next, any sore that won’t heal. A cancer near the skin, or lining of the mouth, throat, bowel, bronchial tubes, bladder, womb, etc can break through these surfaces, at first just forming a raw area. If this is on the outside it looks like a sore that won’t heal. If it is inside somewhere the first sign could be abnormal bleeding from the stomach, bowels or vagina, blood in the urine Ploughing blood. Remember that blood coming from the stomach or upper bowel will come out as a very black motion, not red blood.

As the cancer enlarges it also puts pressure on, and may partly or completely block, nearby structures. If these are the bowel or bladder, a change in bowel or bladder habit will result. This can take the form of going either more or less often, change in consistency of the motion, an unusual amount of wind, looseness of the bowel, a feeling of needing to hurry to get to the toilet and sometimes pain on opening the bowels or passing urine.

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