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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Whether your doctor is enthusiastic about HRT or not is quite closely linked to how long ago he qualified. Most older doctors hardly studied even the menopause at medical school, and HRT not at all. A survey in Brighton, Sussex, showed that of doctors who qualified in the 1950s, none prescribed HRT in a given [...]

A hysterectomy is often seen as a last resort by women who have uterine or menstrual symptoms that are making their lives, including their sex lives, a misery. Chronic pelvic pain and protracted menstrual bleeding, for example, may mean that prior to a hysterectomy a woman’s sexual needs and those of her partner are not [...]