Although the cause of SIDS is not known, research over recent years has shown some links between SIDS and a number of factors. If attention is paid to these, then it may be possible to reduce the chances of babies dying in this way. In fact, it has been suggested that the reduction in the incidence of SIDS worldwide is due to the publicity that has been given to these risk factors. They include:

Sleeping position There is now very strong evidence that babies put to sleep on their stomach are at increased risk for SIDS. Babies should be put to sleep on their back or side, with the lower arm well forward so that they do not roll over onto their tummy.

Don’t let the baby get too hot Babies get too hot if they are covered with too many blankets. If the baby has a cold or a fever, then even fewer blankets are needed. Do not wrap the baby too tightly — let the head and arms move freely. Bonnets for the baby will increase body temperature and are not recommended for sleeping. Do not use ‘bumpers’ in the cot — they restrict the flow of fresh air around the baby’s head, and may increase the temperature; the same applies to soft pillows. Make sure the room is not overheated.

Smoke-free environment Smoking is associated with an increased risk of SIDS. Parents should not smoke during pregnancy (it causes other problems for the unborn baby as well) or in the same room as the baby. Ask others not to smoke near the baby. Keep the baby in a smoke-free environment.

Breastfeed baby if possible Breastfeeding may reduce the risk of SIDS, although the evidence is not conclusive. Breastmilk is the best food for babies, and helps protect against infection.

Remember that the vast majority of babies do not succumb to unexpected death in infancy: 499 out of every 500 infants do not die of SIDS.

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Before you become pregnant it is advisable to have a general check-up. This will include measuring your blood pressure, testing your urine, and probably a blood test to check whether you are anaemic, and whether you are immune to rubella. If you contract rubella while you are pregnant, your baby is at risk of developing serious heart defects and problems with sight and hearing. You may decide that you would also like to have an AIDS test. If you don’t know whether or not you are at risk for AIDS, discuss this with your doctor. If you do require rubella immunisation, you should not become pregnant within 3 months after the vaccine, as it may be harmful to the baby. You may also wish to discuss the possible need for genetic counselling if you have any concerns about hereditary diseases in your family.

If you have any pre-existing condition such as diabetes or epilepsy, it is wise to consult with your doctor before you become pregnant. It is vital that your condition is as stable as possible and you will require careful monitoring throughout your pregnancy to ensure your own safety as well as your baby’s. If you are taking medication, discuss its effects on your pregnancy, if any, with your doctor.

*43\90\8*

Whenever you want time to slow down, try some super sex. Make sure you “make time” for this opportunity, then ignore time altogether. As I pointed out earlier, all sexual problems as described by the early sex perspectives were related to a timed orientation to sex. When we free ourselves of this limitation, we have all the time in the world for loving and living.

All disease relates to disorders of time. We are too rushed or too bored. We hurry or we feel trapped. When our blood rushes to keep up with the demands we place on it, our blood pressure goes up. When we eat too fast, our stomach gets sore. When we control time, we control illness.

Another point the couples raised regarding “time for sex” was the issue of priorities. When we divide our life ihto segments, few of which are related to what we really want to do, we find ourselves watching the clock for “permission” to finally “do our own thing.” If we are clear on our priorities, and most of what we do relates to what we want to be doing, time ceases to be the single controlling factor.

I have presented papers at conferences on substance abuse and the relationship between my work with sexuality and drug use. I report that my interviews indicate that much, if not most, of the substanace abuse I have heard about from my respondents relates to their attempts to “buy time,” to stretch out and intensify life experience. Even if they seek a “rush,” it seems to be in the attempt to get more out of every moment. Perhaps if we all learned to listen for the ticks of our internal clocks, we could take time into our own hands. We could be the hands of time.

*234\97\8*

Patients with extensive cancer sometimes have symptoms which can be overcome temporarily by an operation. For example, pain and inability to walk due to a fracture through a cancer deposit in the thigh bone can be corrected by strengthening the bone with a steel pin and plate. Weakness and numbness of the legs due to a cancer deposit pressing on the spinal cord may be reversed by relieving the pressure surgically. Pain and vomiting due to blockage of the bowel can be treated by surgically bypassing the blockage, usually by creating a colostomy.

Before agreeing to this sort of surgery, you need to be very clear about what the proposed operation can and cannot achieve. Firstly, these operations cannot and do not have any effect on the cancer itself. Very little of the cancer is actually removed. If you have extensive cancer before one of these operations, you will still have extensive cancer after it.

*249/40/1*

An examination of the urine under a microscope may show evidence of kidney damage; and X-ray of the kidneys may show changes in their structure or function.

An electrocardiogram of the heart can reveal if the raised pressure is causing a strain on the pumping chambers of the heart.

Sometimes more sophisticated tests are necessary to diagnose such rare tumors as a pheochro-mocytoma, which occurs in the inner part of the adrenal gland, the medulla, where the hormone adrenalin is produced.

The doctor using an instrument known as the ophthalmoscope can look into the eye and see the blood vessels running over the retina, the layer of sensitive nerve endings which are stimulated by light.

This is the only area of the body where blood vessels can be directly seen and changes occurring in these reflect what is happening to other arteries in the body. Changes in these vessels indicate what damage is done by high blood pressure.

Blood pressure is recorded by an instrument known as a sphygmomanometer. A cuff is wound around the upper arm and air is pumped into it. The pressure is raised above that of the blood in the arteries and this obstructs its flow.

*437/71/1*

Why can some people drink all their lives, yet never have trouble while others become addicted?

We are still not sure why but it is certainly not due to lack of willpower. The alcoholic drinks the way he (or she) drinks because he can’t drink any other way. He knows the consequences, yet he still drinks and, when he drinks, he and his family suffer. Alcohol seems to affect him differently from others. Perhaps he has an “allergy” to alcohol.

There is now some evidence that there is a definite inherited tendency to develop alcoholism, at least in men. The same pattern cannot be detected in women.

It has been well known that men whose fathers were alcoholic had a greater tendency than the average to become alcoholics. This was thought to be due to the behavioral effect and example of the parent. But it appears this is not so.

Adopted boys with a non-alcoholic father who grow up in a home with an adopted alcoholic father do not show an increase in alcoholism, but boys whose natural father is alcoholic and who grow up in a home with a non-alcoholic father do have a greater incidence of the problem.

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Endometriosis is a complex disease, most often affecting women with complex lives. In the past ten years there has been a startling increase of reported cases among women who have postponed motherhood to pursue careers or simply to bring home needed additional income. Although this ailment is not restricted to women who put professional achievement first (endometriosis can strike teenagers as young as thirteen, women with children, even women who have had hysterectomies), cases are significantly on the rise among career women.

In simpler cultures where age-old, traditional women’s roles are still abided by, women bear their first child at an earlier age. They then breast-feed their child, conceive a second child, and the cycle begins again. Over their life-spans, women who have borne children at a younger age, or who eventually have larger families, are found to be less frequent victims of endometriosis. Statistics from medical experts in underdeveloped areas tend to bear this out. Over the last twenty years, however, as personal achievement for women in developed countries has become more defined by professional gains than by creating and rearing a family, the incidence of endometriosis has increased.

A different vision of her place in the world is one way the contemporary woman is set apart from her more traditional counterpart. A second yet equally significant difference is the number of menstrual periods today’s woman will experience. By bearing more children at an earlier age and by breast-feeding them between pregnancies, the traditional woman has about ten to fifteen times fewer menstrual periods than today’s career woman. Such a woman, in other words, has about 55 periods during her lifetime as compared with a woman who does not bear a child and may thus menstruate 550 times until menopause.

Although endometriosis is directly linked to menstruation, its cessation by pregnancy is not a cure for the disease, as less-informed medical specialists once believed it was. Endometriosis is very insidious and may, ironically, spare women who would appear to be very likely candidates—childless career women— while it cripples others with less characteristic profiles.

*7\43\4*

Whatever ‘facial therapy’ you indulge in at the beauty salon, be it bio-peeling, cathiodermie, deep cleansing masks, electrotherapy or oxygenation, to name only a few, all you will obtain is one-and-a-half hours of physical relaxation accompanied by a feeling of well-being. Any appearance of rejuvenation exists only in the eyes of the beholder.

In the initial consultation at a beauty salon, the client is usually informed of her skin type, pH factor, open-pore situation, pigmentation and of the blackheads present, all of which tends to dispose a person to take a course of treatment. In fact these ‘problems’ are quite normal to the make-up of skin. Beauty salon establishments are a hoax, perpetrated by big business at the expense of women. However, if you have the time and money for such luxuries, the time spent would at least be relaxing. Use the beauty salon as an escape to a world of fantasy; have a face and body massage, and let your face be caressed by strange pieces of electronic equipment. The constant chat of the beautician becomes almost hypnotic, and you soon start believing all the cosmetic jargon. The applications, creams and potions are soothing, the astringents tingling. As a rule these treatments are not harmful, and the feeling of being pampered and mothered is comforting. Some people may find cold medical facts too clinical, and to such these hours spent at the beauty salon are likely to have more appeal than a visit to a doctor or counsellor.

*33\44\4*

The trend is away from ‘dieting’ and ‘calorie counting’ and in the direction of an ‘eating plan’ which is compatible with a long-term lifestyle change. In general, we will talk of food selection rather than a diet. In cases of obesity-related disease or extreme obesity, a restricted diet may be necessary, however the term ‘diet’ generally has negative connotations. Selecting appropriate foods with minimal restriction is a sensible goal for fat loss.

Eating for fat loss is essentially little different to that for eating for health, as described in the Healthy Eating Pyramid. Food selection should focus on generous quantities of breads, cereals, fruits and vegetables; moderate amounts of protein such as meat, fish and dairy products; and only small amounts of fats, sugars and salt.

The emphasis in both fat loss and healthy eating plans is a reduction in dietary fat and an increase in complex carbohydrates and fibre. For more information on other aspects of eating for health, the reader is encouraged to consult other texts.

The emphasis on a reduction in dietary fat does not disregard total energy. As we have described, fat intake is the main determinant of total energy intake. However, minor reductions in total fat and significant increases in other calories will lead to an overall increase in total energy and thus weight gain. This often happens when a person has been ingrained with the thinking that sugars, bread, potatoes and pasta are fattening. Those previously ‘blacklisted’ foods suddenly become good ‘fat-free’ foods and are over-eaten in large quantities.

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Relaxation techniques are now used extensively for the control of chronic pain. Many women with endometriosis coupled with chronic pain have forgotten how to relax. It is not a new skill but one that needs to be relearnt. It will take time and practice, but once mastered it will not only give relief from pain but will also offer a general improvement in your total well-being.

Pain is a vicious cycle. It causes fear, tension, stress and anxiety which leads to muscles tightening, which in turn aggravates the pain. An increase in blood pressure and heart rate may also occur. More energy is used up when a woman is anxious and tense and this may lead to feeling drained and exhausted.

If the cycle of pain, tension, more pain and exhaustion can be broken, then it should eventually result in a reduction of pain.

Most people develop tension throughout their lives as a reaction to some type of stress. You need to learn how to release your tension and develop the ability to relax. There are several ways of developing relaxation skills. Here are two examples of relaxation techniques that you may like to practice.

Controlled breathing

This is one of the oldest and simplest relaxation techniques. With this method you can relax tense muscles, slow your heart rate and lower your blood pressure.

Choose an area where you will be alone and undisturbed for about half an hour. Find a spot where you can sit or lie in a well supported, comfortable position.

Close your eyes and try to relax your body. Now take a breath slowly and deeply through your nose and out through your partly-closed lips. Concentrate on the rhythm of breathing in and out and feel your tension begin to melt away. Try to maintain this slow, deep, rhythmic breathing for fifteen minutes. It is recommended that this breathing technique be performed daily to gain maximum relief.

Progressive muscle relaxation

If your muscles are tense and tight as a direct consequence of your pain then muscle relaxation can be helpful.

When practising muscle relaxation you should again choose an area where you will be undisturbed for about twenty minutes.

Start by taking slow deep breaths and then concentrate on curling up your toes and tightening them as hard as you can. Maintain this tension and tightness in your toes and feet for about ten seconds. Then relax the feet completely and you will notice how the toes uncurl and your feet become heavy. Feel the contrast between when your muscles are tense and when they are relaxed.

Gradually move up your body, systematically tensing and relaxing the muscles of your legs, thighs, buttocks, abdomen, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, jaw and face.

As you continue to work through this regime you will again notice the contrast between muscle tension and relaxation; with practice you will be able to relax your muscles when they tighten in response to pain.

*78\83\2*