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THE FIRST MONTH

Activity

Baby actively thrusts arms and legs about willy nilly in a playful attitude. Movements of the arms, hands and legs are largely reflex actions. For example, when you rub your finger gently over the baby’s palm you will notice how the baby will automatically, reflexively grasp it with curled fingers. If the baby’s head is unsupported, it will flop backwards and forwards loosely. If left lying on the abdomen, the baby will try to lift the head or turn it to one side so that breathing is not obstructed. Supported in a sitting position, the baby may try to hold the head in line with the body for brief periods of time. Fingers are quite often kept clenched. If an effort is made to keep them open, the baby will automatically tend to close them. The baby may hold an object for a short time but generally drops it after a few seconds. There is a tendency to stare at things, but no effort made to reach out and grab them. The two eyes tend to be co-ordinated in their movements.

Talk

The baby tends to cry a good deal, this being a method of gaining attention as well as filling the lungs with oxygen. The baby also makes little noises in the throat. If spoken to, he or she tends to respond.

Mind

The 1-month-old baby prefers to sleep most of the time, being attentive for only about ten per cent of the time. There is little facial expression, and the baby tends to give a vague stare during waking hours. He or she seems to prefer patterns to look at, rather than be attracted by colour or brightness or size of objects; familiar objects, such as parents, tend to give a little excitement. However, at this age the baby cannot concentrate on any single object for long, tending only to pick it up automatically if it comes into the range of vision but readily letting it. slip out of view without making an effort to retain it—when a person walks past, for example. The baby tends to look up and down at objects, or from one side towards the centre of the line of vision. If objects reappear within a few seconds the baby may remember them.

He or she is quite aware of the desire for food and tends to expect it at regular time intervals and may object if it is not forthcoming.

The baby becomes alert to the value of crying for attention, likes receiving attention, and will tend to stop crying if held and cuddled, or if seeing familiar faces, such as mother’s. Reflexes tend to become more efficient and effective.

Relationships

The baby dislikes pain and will let you know about it by crying. He also responds to comforting, and ceasing crying quickly indicates the desire to be comforted when in distress. Occasionally the baby will react to a smiling face, and may return the smile; a familiar voice may also bring a response. The baby will tend to look at mother’s face, looking intently into her eyes, and if obviously distressed may quieten down. The response to changing a wet nappy is often remarkable.

Baby tends to adjust to the person holding him or her, to mould to the body for a more comfortable union; the little one may pluck at the person, curling fingers reflexively around parts of their body such as their fingers. During feeding the baby may suckle noisily, grasping at the breast and nipple actively.

There may be obvious recognition of parents’ voices, but for the most part there is a vagueness about the baby’s stares. He or she may lie impassively for many hours, and when awake tend to stare into space without obviously concentrating on anything. The baby tends to sleep, wake up, cry, make little noises and eat, in a very disorganized manner.

At this age, the baby likes to have two feeds at night and five or six during the day. There are two to four bowel actions each day.

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ENDOCRINE DISORDERS AND THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM: GLANDS WITH INTERNAL SECRETIONS

Apart from the genital glands and the pancreas which have been described elsewhere, the following glands belong to the endocrine system:

i. Pituitary

ii. Pineal

iii. Thyroid

iv. Parathyroid

v. Thymus

vi. Suprarenal

i. Pituitary: which lies in the sella turcica, is recognisable by iris changes in the brain sector, locally as follows—right iris 60-2′, left iris 58-60′—in the muscle zone.

There are no muscles in the brain, so the skeletal zone representing the base of the skull reaches as far as the blood zone. Thus, for example, in a case of fracture of the base of the skull the signs of damage are observed in the blood zone, here lying closer in towards the iris-wreath than would be the case with skeletal injuries of other parts. The bones of the cranial vault are represented in the skin zone.

The recognition of a disturbance of the pituitary is of greatest importance, since the pituitary is the regulator of all the remaining organs of internal secretion.

The disease-signs are shown as follows:

Lightening—as sign of over-activity, very often with a similar lightening in the areas for the corresponding sexual organs.

Darkening—as an expression of hypofunction, particularly affects the secondary sexual organs, giving rise to the clinical picture of hypophyseal obesity.

Pituitary tumours show clearly as dark tumour-signs extending width wise, as is characteristic of tumours of other organs.

In the iris, the pituitary area lies opposite the suprarenal area, indicating the close connection between these two organs. When one of these glands is shown in the iris, indicating abnormal disturbance, then one considers the possibilities of cure. If both organs are registered then the slightest condition must be attended to.

ii. Epiphysis (pineal): according to many other authors, the gland has its place in the iris according to the indication made on the topographical chart. I can give no iris sign for

disturbance of this gland.

iii. Thyroid gland: shows in the right iris at approx. 14′-17′ and left iris 43′-46′ in the sixth minor zone. In the case of hyperfunction, a lightening of the area appears. A thyroid hypofunction is recognised by a darkening of the area.

Clinically, there is more or less a definite picture of myxoedema with hypofunction, which in its lighter forms is more widely distributed than is generally diagnosed. In thyroid disturbance the heart can register in sympathy, and the heart area must be thoroughly scrutinised. In most cases one finds lacunae, eventually in association with white lines. Therefore, appropriate cardiac medicinal support should not be omitted. A close connection also exists between the thyroid and the abdomen (Premenstrual syndrome).

iv. Parathyroid glands: as is well known, the parathyroid glands lie behind, or near to the thyroid glands, and so we also find the iris signs in the thyroid gland areas, rather nearer to the iris-wreath. The signs are very difficult to recognise. With these organs one rather relies upon the clinical symptoms of tetany: von Recklinghausens disease, and also the significance of the contraction-rings in the iris.

v. Thymus gland: the thymus gland shows its sign in the following areas—right iris 43′ approx., left iris 17′ approx.—in the fourth and fifth minor zones. In the same place, though rather more peripherally (fifth minor zone) lies the mammary gland position. One may easily

distinguish these two signs since the mammary gland itself only develops fully when the thymus has atrophied.

vi. Suprarenal glands: these glands, whose functions have only in recent times been fully investigated, have their areas next to the kidney areas directly adjacent to the iris-wreath—right iris 30′-32′ approx., left iris 28′-30′ approx. If the suprarenal areas are lighter, then the indication is one of over-activity. We find these signs in rheumatic conditions together with an overlay in the entire muscle zone of whitish to yellowish clouds.

A dark weakness-sign (lacuna) in the suprarenal area indicates a suprarenal insufficiency. If these conditions have already occurred, one also finds besides the suprarenal sign, a lacuna in the heart area and a large dilatation of the iris-wreath.

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THE MIND’S RESPONSE TO ANXIETY

When more messages are arriving than the brain can properly handle, we have anxiety. Our mental apparatus becomes keyed up in an effort to cope with the situation. There is an increase of available mental energy, and this mobilized energy of the mind provides the force which produces all the various psychological symptoms of anxiety.

In its mobilized state, the mind becomes very alert, too alert, so that all the time it- seems to be searching for the cause of its own disquiet. There develops a pathological over-alertness, and as a result the mind reacts to very minor stimuli which would not normally produce any response at all. Thus a noise which would normally go unheeded causes the anxious person to start. Then he feels irritated and upset in the knowledge that he has overreacted to a matter of little consequence, and his inner tension is further increased.

This over-alertness shows itself in many ways. The individual is on the lookout all the time. He is fidgety and cannot let himself go off guard. He cannot rest because his mind keeps him alert even when there is no need for it. It becomes hard to sit and watch television without getting up from the chair to relieve the tension within him. To relax and sit still becomes a near impossibility because all the time he is plagued with this distressing over-alertness of the mind.

We see, then, that this over-alertness is a natural result of anxiety. Sometimes, however, another type of reaction takes place so that the anxious individual is in no way over-alert, but on the contrary appears to be dulled and apathetic. This reaction may occur when the individual is confronted with overwhelming disaster on either a national or a personal scale. He is struck dumb. He is in a daze, unable to think or to move. Even when some purposeful action on his part would minimize the disaster, he still does nothing. This is a common reaction in times of war, particularly in the civilian population. It is seen in personal calamity as when an individual suddenly sees his home burned or his family killed in a road accident. This reaction is so

completely different from the primary response to anxiety by over-alertness that it requires some explanation. It comes about by the overactivity of the self-regulatory mechanisms of the body. There is a surge of anxiety with its accompanying over-alertness, but if this were too great the body would be overwhelmed and unable to respond effectively. To prevent this, the

self-regulatory mechanisms come into play and inhibit the anxiety reaction. It is thus the overreaction of the inhibiting mechanism that causes the individual to be dulled, apathetic, and unable to take effective action.

The same reaction may occur in less dramatic form. The student when confronted with an important examination usually reacts to his, anxiety by being so keyed up from over-alertness that the mind is flooded with too many thoughts that are often not well related to the problem on hand. In such circumstances it is not uncommon for the opposite reaction to occur. His mind goes blank, and try as he will, relevant thoughts to the problem simply will not come. We can now understand this paradoxical reaction to anxiety as due to the overactivity of the inhibiting mechanism. In a mild chronic form, over-inhibited anxiety may make the individual tired, listless, dull, apathetic, and unable to get going in his ordinary daily tasks. Because of his lack of initiative in doing things, such a patient often complains of depression. Furthermore he may say that he feels guilty because of his inability to work; but this reaction of inhibited anxiety is distinguished from true depression in that there is no real moral self-accusation as when the conscience is offended.

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MEDICAL TESTS FOR CHILDREN: ECG AND EEG

Electrocardiogram (ECG)

An electrocardiogram, or ECG, is a recording of the electrical impulses of the heart. These impulses are what makes the heart beat in a regular rhythm. To make such a record, an ECG machine is attached to the patient with electrodes, metal plates that are placed on the arms, legs, and chest. These electrodes pick up the electrical impulses that move through the body. The impulses cause a needle in the machine to move on a piece of paper, as the paper moves through the machine. Where the needle touches the paper, it makes a line. The physician studies the pattern on the paper to see if the heart rhythm is normal.

The ECG does not hurt the patient, but it is important for the patient to stay very still while the recording is done.- All muscle movements, not just movements of the heart muscle, are caused by electrical impulses. Therefore, any movement can affect the ECG recording and give an inaccurate picture of the heartbeat.

An ECG is done to check for irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias), an enlarged heart, heart valve disorders, heart malformations, and many other heart disorders. The test can be done in a doctor’s surgery or an out-patient laboratory.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

An electroencephalogram, or EEG, is a recording of electrical activity in the brain. It is a painless procedure similar to an ECG. The metal plates known as electrodes are attached to the patient’s head and to an EEG machine. The electrodes pick up the brain’s electrical impulses. These impulses activate a needle, which traces the pattern of the impulses on a piece of paper moving through the machine. The physician compares the pattern on the recording to patterns of normal brain activity, and determines if there is an abnormality. Recordings from opposite sides of the brain can also be compared to see if the patterns match.

An EEG is done to test for epilepsy, brain tumours, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), and other brain disorders.

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BOWLEGS AND KNOCK-KNEES IN CHILDREN

Bowlegs and knock-knees are two conditions in which the legs are not as straight as they are in most persons. In bowlegs, the legs bend outward so that the knees are farther apart than usual. In knock-knees, the legs bend inward so that the knees are closer together.

Theoretically, when a child stands straight, the ankle bones should touch or almost touch each other, and the knee bones should touch or almost touch each other. With an infant lying on the stomach or back, the legs can be pulled straight with the toes and knees pointed straight ahead to determine whether the bones of the knees and ankles come together. If ankles touch but the knees do not, the child can be said to be bowlegged. If the knees touch but the ankles do not, the child is knock-kneed.

By these standards, however, all infants, children, and adults are bowlegged or knock-kneed to some degree, so you should not become alarmed. Most infants appear bowlegged until they walk. Then when they start to walk, they walk “cowboy” style. This condition usually corrects itself by age two. Most preschoolers stand knock-kneed, especially if they are plump. This condition also corrects itself.

True bowlegs and knock-knees either are due to rickets (vitamin D deficiency) or are inherited. Once common 50 and more years ago, rickets is now rare. An unusual form of bowlegs, often occurring only on one side, is Blount’s disease, in which the top of the tibia (shin bone) becomes deformed.

Signs and symptoms

Have the child stand with the legs straight and the toes pointed forward. Then observe if there is any distance between the knees or ankles. Remember that any distance between the ankles or the knees varies from person to person and that these differences are usually normal. If you think that there might be a problem, ask your doctor.

Home care

In most cases, no home care is needed. To prevent rickets, all children should receive about 400 international units of vitamin D daily. This amount is found in many commercial infant formulas and in most commercial milk. Some vitamin D is present in breast milk, but the amount varies. If your child is being breast-fed, ask your doctor whether the child is receiving enough vitamin D.

Precautions

• If you think your infant or child is bow-legged or knock-kneed, watch to see if, after several months, the condition worsens. If it does, consult your doctor.

• Do not use orthopedic shoes without your doctor’s prescription.

• Do not give your child vitamin D supplements unless your doctor has prescribed them. Overdoses of vitamin D can be harmful.

Medical treatment

In most instances, your doctor will examine your child and then prescribe no treatment—except to wait and watch. X rays of the knees may be required as well as blood tests for rickets. Use of orthopedic shoes or night splints is rarely necessary. For Blount’s disease, braces or corrective operations on bones may be required.

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ALCOHOL IN DIABETES

The Australian dietary guidelines suggest that alcohol intake should be limited. In diabetes there are additional reasons why intake should be limited.

1.     Alcohol may affect blood glucose levels.

2.     The effects of too much alcohol may be similar to the symptoms of hypoglycemia. (It may be important for friends to be aware of this.)

3.     Many alcoholic beverages contain significant amounts of carbohydrate.

4.     All alcoholic beverages are high in energy. This is important where weight control is a problem.

5.     Alcohol may induce high blood fat levels and would need to be avoided if this were a problem.

A moderate intake of alcohol should not affect your diabetes. The following points should be kept in mind.

1.     Don’t drink on an empty stomach. Food in the stomach will help slow the rate of absorption of alcohol from the stomach.

2.     Choose beverages with a low carbohydrate content – Spirits, Dry Wines, Dry Sherries, Dry Vermouth.

3.     For a longer drink mix with low carbohydrate drinks: Diet Coke, LoCal Lemonade, water, Soda Water, Natural Mineral Water, artificially sweetened Tonic Water, LoCal Dry Ginger, Diet Pepsi.

4.     Avoid using alcoholic beverages with high carbohydrate content – Sweet Wines, Sweet Sherries, Sweet Vermouth, Liqueurs, Port and Stout.

5.     Beers – all varieties contain carbohydrates (including diabetic beer). A low alcohol variety however contains less alcohol, is lower in energy and would be better.

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LIVING LONG: ALL IN THE FAMILY

Though many hospitals are equipped with Orwellian, high-tech equipment that can read your genetic legacy from a single drop of blood, the easiest way to know what’s in your genes is to look at your family tree, says Dr. John J. Mulvihill of the University of Pittsburgh. “You can definitely see your prominent risk factors in your family history,” Dr. Mulvihill says. “And we’re learning more all the time. Ten years ago, we didn’t think there was any family linkage to prostate cancer. Then people started talking about it and uncovered a strong family connection. The problem is that most men don’t know their family history.”

Worse, even when they do know, most don’t give it a second thought. Of the 58 people interviewed for one study, nearly half of those having family members who suffered from heart disease or cancer did not believe that their family history had any bearing on their own risk. And men were much less likely than women to think that having a family member afflicted with cancer was relevant to their own risk for the disease. Despite their disbelief, studies show clear connections. In Japan, for instance, researchers comparing 363 people with colorectal cancer with an equal number of people who were cancer-free found that those having one first-degree relative (a parent, sibling, or child) with colorectal cancer had almost twice the risk of developing the disease as those with no family history of colon cancer. In a similar Canadian study, researchers found that 15 percent of 640 men with newly diagnosed cases of prostate cancer had at least one blood relative who also had the disease, while only 5 percent of 639 men who did not have prostate cancer had any family ties to the disease.

And almost nowhere is family history a stronger link than it is for heart disease. As mentioned earlier, just inheriting one tiny bit of faulty DNA from both Mom and Dad can double your risk for developing heart disease In the final analysis, we’re all likely to be at genetic risk for something, concludes Reed E. Pyeritz, M.D., Ph.D., professor of human genetics, medicine, and pediatrics at Allegheny University of the Health Sciences in Pittsburgh. “I’m fairly convinced that, to some degree, all disease is genetic. So far, the major common diseases to which we’ve identified genetic links include Alzheimer’s disease; arteriosclerosis and all that comes with it, like heart disease, hypertension, and stroke; diabetes; and, of course, most forms of cancer. There’s surely more to come.”

That’s all the bad news. The better news is that studies show these genetic risk factors can be largely offset by making appropriate lifestyle changes or by seeking early medical help in some cases.

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HEART SAVING TIPS: EXERCISE IS VITAL

We all know that exercise is good for us, but you may not know just how much it can save your life. If someone could bottle the positive effects exercise has on our bodies and sell it as a drug, they would make a fortune because we’d all be taking it! Interestingly enough there was a weight loss supplement on the American market called “Exercise in a Bottle”; the US Federal Trade Commission has permanently banned the manufacturer of this supplement from marketing products for weight loss because of false and unsubstantiated claims made about this supplement. There’s nothing like the real thing!

Exercise has the following benefits for your heart:

•    It makes your heart muscle stronger, so that it can pump more blood with less effort.

It helps you maintain a healthy weight by speeding up your metabolism and increasing your muscle mass.

•    Reduces your chance of having high blood pressure.

•    Strengthens your immune system and improves your ability to fight off infections.

•    Exercise reduces LDL “bad” cholesterol and triglycerides, and is one of the few ways you can increase your HDL “good” cholesterol.

•    It improves glucose tolerance, thus reduces your chance of developing Syndrome X and diabetes.

•    Exercise helps you cope with stress and reduces anxiety and depression. It reduces tension, anger and fatigue, and helps to lift your spirits.

•    Exercise improves your self esteem and makes you more motivated to eat well and look after yourself well.

•    It causes your artery walls to release nitric oxide, which dilates your blood vessels, improving blood flow; reducing inflammation of the artery walls and reducing the tendency of blood clots to form in the arteries.

•    Exercise makes you smarter! Yes it’s true; studies have shown that exercise helps thinking and decision making abilities, and speeds up brain activity.

•    It helps you to live longer.

Clearly exercise is one of the easiest, least expensive things you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease. An ideal amount of exercise would be 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week. If you can’t fit it all in one go, you can split this into two or three sessions. For example, two fifteen minute walks would be just as good. If you don’t have time for formal exercise, you can still stay active by gardening, doing vigorous housework, walking to the shops instead of driving, taking the stairs instead of the lift, going out dancing, or having energetic sex. Find some way to be more active; it will be well worth it.

If you have diagnosed heart disease it is vital that you check with your doctor before starting an exercise program.

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LIVING LONG: THE QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY

Legend has it that young James J. Kilroy was like any other working stiff in the 1940s, loading freight ships day in and day out. Then one day he had a flash of how he could be just a little bit more. Chunk of white chalk in hand, he scrawled, “Kilroy was here” on a mother lode of crates full of blue jeans waiting to sail to harbors across the globe. When that slogan- generally accompanied by a face peeking over a wall-started popping up around the country, including such inaccessible places as the Statue of Liberty’s torch, the once-anonymous Kilroy achieved immortality.

“We all have a little Kilroy in us,” says Dr. Walter M. Bortz II of Stanford University School of Medicine. “We want to leave a legacy to show we were here. We have an inherent want for immortality. And that’s a healthy thing.”

There are a whole lot better ways to have your name live on than etching your John Hancock on a bathroom wall. Many can actually leave the world a better place. Others are just plain fun. So strap on some of these suggestions and rocket into eternity.

Sign a donor card. “The absolute best way for anyone to live on after their death is to make an organ, tissue, or whole-body donation,” says Dr. Kenneth V. Iserson of the University of Arizona College of Medicine. “There is a dearth of organ donors in this country, and the need for transplantable organs and tissues is enormous-and getting bigger.”

The number of people who have died while waiting for available organs has increased more than 2 1/2 times during the past eight years, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing in Richmond, Virginia. And every 16 minutes, a new person is added to the national transplant waiting list. Donor families consistently report that they feel their loved one is living on in someone else through their organ donation. Considering that about 25 different organs and tissues are transplantable, that’s a lot of immortality.

You can get a donor card from a local or regional organ or tissue bank, or you can fill out a donor card when you renew your driver’s license. Even if you have the sticker on your driver’s license, doctors most likely will still check with your family before donating your organs.

Make a carbon copy. Though God knows it shouldn’t be your only motivation, one of the benefits of having children is that you leave behind a living legacy. Your kids will not only carry on your tale about that 36-inch walleye you reeled in last summer but also pass on the only part of you that is truly immortal-your genes.

“The bottom line in life is that for a species that reproduces sexually, immortality has already been achieved through its genes,” says Dr. S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Chicago.

If you should decide to reproduce, you want to be sure that you’re passing along healthy, undamaged genes. You can help protect those mighty little mailmen of immortality by not smoking and by getting plenty of vitamin C, say experts. Studies show that nicotine damages sperm and reduces sperm count. Vitamin C, on the other hand, has been shown to protect the little guys from free-radical damage.

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PREVENTIVE MEDECINE: PSYCHOSEXUAL PROBLEMS

Sexuality is simply one aspect of a person’s personality and women who get pregnant when they know they shouldn’t often have some kind of psychosexual problem of which they may be unaware. The types of psychosexual disorder involved are numerous. An example of one of the commoner ones is a woman who believes that reproduction is the only justification for sexual pleasure. Such women may have had several babies yet deny that they are interested in sex. A second category includes those women who unconsciously believe that sex is sinful and that pregnancy is a punishment for their sin. This means that there must be a risk of pregnancy if they are to enjoy sex. Other women believe that sex is something done to them by a man and is therefore something for which they have no responsibility, so they don’t bother with contraception because to do so would be a contradiction. Many young women who believe that love is the only justification for sex refuse contraception until they are sure of the man (as a kind of denial that they are having sex) and get pregnant in the intervening time. Some women who don’t accept their sexual drives deny them consciously yet unconsciously try to indulge them (by getting drunk, losing control and then getting pregnant, for example). A small proportion of women cannot tolerate any sort of contraception because they feel guilty enjoying any form of sexual pleasure. Some women are so filled with shame about their sexual drives that they don’t seek contraceptive advice. Another common fear is that to accept effective contraception is to open the floodgates to promiscuity. Such women (especially when they are unmarried) refuse all contraception and then get pregnant. Some women are unconsciously incited to pregnancy by their mothers (who want a baby for themselves) but then regret the conception when it has occurred.

Lastly there is the teenage girl who has just started having intercourse. Such adolescent girls frequently refuse to accept that their status has changed and even though they are not virgins can’t bring themselves to accept the fact and continue to live with the fictitious belief that they are virgins. Many such ‘part-time virgins’ say that they are better able to keep up the lie to their parents and themselves that they are virgins if they don’t use contraception. Such a girl believes she is still a virgin (albeit a part-time one) and for this reason doesn’t really need contraception. Such a delusion in a part-time virgin unfortunately leads, all too often, to unwanted pregnancies.

Clearly an apparently simple thing like an unwelcome pregnancy is in fact enormously complex, and the unconscious mind plays a substantial part in almost all the mechanisms I have outlined. Consciously the woman says she doesn’t want to be pregnant. Contraceptive services are one of the most widely publicized and available of all the preventive services, yet still unwanted pregnancies abound.

Similar situations operate in all kinds of other health areas-not just those to do with sex. At certain times in our lives we might have an unconscious need to be ill as an escape from something or as a way of gaining attention or being cared for. A smoker may have quite unconscious needs for oral gratification, as does many an over-eater and no matter how good the preventive medical information is, nor how good his or her motivation, little progress can be made until the individual can confront and understand the underlying psychological drives that make him or her smoke or eat. Similarly, a man with a poor sense of his male self-esteem who smokes because he considers it manly to do so may be quite unable to stop smoking until this part of his personality can be satisfied in other ways.

It is only by confronting the psychological realities that it is possible to begin to understand why it is that even in the face of good information and motivation, most of us find it difficult or impossible to modify our behaviour in a way which prevents disease. And in this respect social class has little or no part to play-we are all ruled to a variable extent by unconscious motives and drives over which, by definition, we have no control until they are brought into the conscious mind and confronted.

Whilst we frequently hear that ‘prevention is better than cure’ hardly anybody behaves as though he or she believes it and it has now become such a piece of fashionable cant that it should be relegated to the waste-bin along with ‘health is better than wealth’ and other such empty phrases. Not until the medical and health educational fraternity come to terms with the reality of people’s health needs will prevention ever be anything other than a subject of lofty rhetoric.

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