FAMIL Y HEAL TH AMILY HEALTH
THE NATION, SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2012
Coping with mental tiredness
T
HE human mind is amaz ing. The brain can run numerous functions simultaneously. If you have every prayed the way some Moslems and some Christians do with prayer beads, you find that while reciting a prayer formula, you are reflecting on some deep spiritual matter, and you are also controlling the beads is your hands. These are all conscious, voluntary acts. Alongside of these, the brain is also continually directing numerous involuntary acts such as the beating of the heart and maintenance of blood flow, breathing, digestion of food, production of hormones and many functions that scientists do not know about and may never get to know about. At any time, the brain is capable of carrying out numerous compatible functions. The brain unifies various aspects of life. If the brain is exhausted by some mental process such as prolonged intense accounting, intellectual work, or a learning exercise, this exhaustion might rub off on some other life processes controlled by the brain such as loving one's spouse, paying attention to the kids, relating well with colleagues, or treating a servant politely. Sometimes a person presents a shocking attitude, not deliberately, but as a reflection of mental exhaustion. In a competitive, fast-paced
Staphylococcal infection usually takes different forms, most often, an infected person may not be aware of having the infection, because he or she may not have any serious symptoms initially. Sometimes a victim may be having some common ailments, which he or she may just overlook as just an ordinary or common sickness. A very good example of this is someone having a recurrent malaria or typhoid fever, which always return after few weeks of treatment. The funny thing about this situation is that when such people go to the hospital or laboratory for test, all that will be revealed is that
world, we will always be faced with schedules, deadlines, emergencies, opportunities that must be snatched, problems that need solving, threats that make us unable to be at ease, and many processes that can precipitate mental exhaustion. We always need to be able to unwind otherwise other aspects of life can become casualties of the mental exhaustion. Taking breaks, resting, sleeping, changing activities to more physical activities, avoiding stressors, and having hobbies are some ways in which we can counteract mental exhaustion. General exhaustion including mental and bodily exhaustion or bodily exhaustion alone can result in stupor, a state of spent energies and unresponsiveness. However, unlike bodily exhaustion, over-activity of mental function can present in a state of hyperactivity of the nerves and hormones, restlessness, irritability, anxiety, and inability to sleep or insomnia. The human mind may get to a stage that it cannot recover calmness on its own. Peace can be acquired from outside of us, e.g. through prayer, from a supernatural source, or by the support of another person. Some persons have regained their balance by receiving counsel-
ling from appropriate experts. Certain drugs can tranquilize (can cause calmness). Many of them are dangerous drugs that should not be used without prescription by a doctor. They generally depress the brain. Tranquilizers are used in psychiatry. Drugs that pharmacologists refer to as major tranquilizers are drugs that promote behavioural tranquillity (emotional calmness) without sedating effects. They are used in psychotic disorders and primarily affect the mental state or mental functioning of a person. A person with chronic mental exhaustion can develop a mental disorder that may necessitate clinical attention. A psychiatrist would need to assess the mental state and treat the patient as needed or as possible. Some people use drugs called sedatives, anxiolytics, and hypnotics. Sedatives and anxiolytics are drugs that produce drug-induced calmness by depressing brain and nerve functions and excitement. Anxiolytics reverse anxiety and anti-anxiety drugs block anxiety build-up. Hypnotics enhance the initiation or maintenance of sleep. Persons that are often under high pressure to perform beyond the ordinary (celebrities, executives, etc.) tend to resort to these drugs to help them calm down or sleep after a period of stress. Overdose of such drugs leads to excessive depression of the brain and central nervous system. Many drugs in these categories can easily be abused and have been involved in accidental coma and deaths from overdose, from drug interactions with other drugs or foods that the user takes simultaneously,
or simply from inadvertent risks taken in the use of these drugs. Alcohol in a moderate amount can calm one down and help relaxation. Cannabis (marijuana) also produces this kind of effect in moderate amounts. Nicotine (from tobacco) also has a calming effect. There are many over-the-counter drugs that do not require a doctor's prescription and are used to induce calmness or sleep, e.g., certain anithistamines. Many popularly used sedative and hypnotic drugs belong to the class of drugs called benzodiazepines which includes Valium®, Klonopin, Prosom®, Rohypnol®, Ativan®, Librium®, Restoril, and Xanax (all trade names). Some of them may be purchased without a prescription. One should not use these drugs chronically because one would become dependent (feeling one needs them to be normal) and would suffer from withdrawal symptoms if one lacks access to such drugs. For people who have to routinely go through mental tiredness because of the nature of their occupation, the best remedies include taking breaks to rest, sandwiching mental work with physical activity (such as watching television, cooking, gardening, cleaning, sports or games, making phone calls), and sleeping well (routinely and adequately). Drugs are a last resort when things have gone out of control. Dr. ’Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA. For any comments or questions on this column, please E m a i l bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 07028338910
Terminator called staph they are malaria parasite positive. Such people will continue wasting their hardearned money on treating malaria without any appreciable result. In some cases a victim of staph may not have any defined symptom, but such a person will feel unwell, restless, and constant headache. When such person goes to hospital for medical check up, nothing will be revealed and such a person is said to be medically fit. But within themselves they know that they are not okay.
A good example is a patient after reading our article on staphylococcus infection and the symptoms, came to our office to complain that he has been to different hospitals for various tests which all revealed nothing. After carrying out some series of tests on him in our office, he was diagnosed to be having a heavy growth of staph. aureus and he was treated and today he is staph free and a happy man. Staphylococcus is a very complex disease, apart from being contracted sexually or as a toilet infection; there are some other ways of getting infected. If you have contracted any form of disease in the past like, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, candida (yeast infection), urinary tract infection (U.T.I), etc, which you may have treated but not totally cured, could lead to staph infection. So my candid advice to anyone that has any form of venereal disease or any disease at all should go for complete treatment and cure to avoid staph setting in. When you wake up in the morning and you usually feel •Some kind of numbness in your joints, limbs or fingers or •You always have internal heat, •Rumbling within your stomach •Some worm like movement within your body then you need to go for serious body examination. All the above-mentioned situations are part of the normal symptoms of staph infections that don’t have any thing to do with other
diseases. Most of the other symptoms are one way or another related to one disease or another that is why in most cases of staph infections a victim may not be aware of what is really wrong with him. Staph infection spreads through the blood stream, that is why the effect is felt on every part of the body system, when it spreads to the bones and joints particularly those of the arms, legs and spine it forms abscesses. This is usually what causes arthritis or oedema and if care is not taken it could lead to affected area becoming permanently stiff. If staph infection spreads to the lungs it can cause staphylococcal pneumonia, if it spreads to the inner lining of the heart it results into bacterium endocarditis (which is a serious condition that can cause permanent damage to the heart). Too much intake of antibiotics for other ailments can result into staphylococcus of the colon; if the infection spreads to the brain it could cause insomnia, which could lead to mental disorder. Not all cases of people with mental disorder or psychiatric problems are spiritual, because a situation where by a victim of staph of the brain could not sleep for days or weeks will automatically lead to a mental imbalance. Another problem of the spread of staph to the brain is epilepsy (falling sickness) that is marked by disturbed electrical rhythms of the central nervous system and is typically manifested by convulsive attacks usually with the victim becoming unconscious.
53 Coping with diseases with Prof. Dayo Oyekole
Genital herpes
H
ERPES is a generic name for a group of viruses that cause a variety of diseases. The ailments people generally associate with herpes are those that produce small blisters on the skin, which open and are replaced by a crust before they heal completely. Genital herpes is caused by a virus called herpes simplex (HSV2), which causes crusted sores, commonly around the lips and mouth (“cold sores”) and the genitalia. The infectious condition itself is also known as herpes simplex. The virus is intermittently present in the mouth of healthy carriers and is spread by personal contact; genital herpes is spread by sexual contact with an infected person and is a venereal disease. Although some forms can be transmitted through the air or by contact with infected articles (especially towels) used by someone with active herpes, infection usually occurs through direct physical contact. An attack begins with itching of the skin in the affected area, quickly followed by redness and swelling. Within a few hours fragile blisters (vesicles) appear and rupture to exude a sticky serum like fluid which rapidly crusts. Unless secondary infection with bacteria occurs, the lesions heal without scarring within about a week. Because herpes blisters individually are the size of a pinhead or smaller, they may not be easily visible. Generally, the affected area will be red, tender, and mildly to severely painful. Fever, headache, and general malaise may also be present. Genital herpes infections may cause a painful cervicitis (inflammation of the cervix) in women, with ulceration and a vaginal discharge. The results of recent research studies have suggested that women who develop herpes cervicitis may have an increased risk of developing cancer of the cervix in later years. The condition is now seen as a reason for regular screening by Pap smears, which can detect early cancerous changes at a stage when treatment is simple and curative. In men the genital infection is usually less severe. However, those whose immune response is impaired (such as cancer patients, HIV/AIDS sufferers or organ transplant recipients) can be very susceptible to herpes infection. Genital herpes may be passed from a pregnant woman to her baby during delivery. Babies infected during birth by their mothers’ active genital herpes are very likely to die or suffer severe brain damage because they have little or no resistance to the virus. Once the virus enters the body, in stays there for the rest of the person’s life, unless a natural remedy is applied. Recurrent attacks may occur, usually during periods when the person is feeling run down, anxious, or depressed, before menstruation, or after sexual intercourse. In holistic lifecare, the best prospect of prevention and total cure of genital herpes is in going back to nature in terms of personal hygiene, protected sexual contact and use of potent herbal remedies. Also, a body kept healthy by proper nutrition and exercise has the best chance of keeping the virus under control. The holistic remedy being suggested for total cure of Genital Herpes is a combination of natural extracts of Eugenia caryophylatta, Citrus lemonis, Euphorbia unispina, Hypericum perforatum and Echinacea augustifolia. For further information and consultation on Holistic Lifecare research and services, especially on Blood Infections, Infertility, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Chronic Debilitating Conditions as well as mental and social problems, please call on: 0803-3303897 or visit: Mosebolatan Holistic Lifecare Centre, Adeyalo Layout, Ogbere-Tioya, Off Olorunsogo Express Bridge, Ibadan. Website: www.holisticlifecare.com. Distance is no barrier, we can send remedies by courier if need be. We also have facilities for accommodation, admission and hospitalization in a serene and homely environment.