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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 to nurses from [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Dietary experiments with monkeys have now clearly established that vitamin C helps to prevent inflammation and recession of the gums. Even when the vitamin C shortage is not severe enough to cause any other signs, normally harmless trauma leads to redness, swelling, bleeding and “pocket” formation of the gums around the roots of the teeth.

Of [...]

 
Signs and symptoms

It is difficult to be certain that an infant or toddler has a sore throat because the child cannot communicate, but swollen glands in the neck or difficulty swallowing are clues. Determining the cause of a sore throat depends on the results of a throat or other type of culture; on a complete [...]

All eyes need good light if they are to work well and without strain. This particularly applies to older eyes. A recent study of visual acuity in fifty-six old people (average age 76), both in their homes and in a controlled clinical setting, found that general levels of lighting were often so poor in the [...]