Sometimes the child can become quite frightened during a tantrum, probably because he feels out of control, and appears genuinely distressed. On these occasions you should simply hold the child for a few minutes, until he is back in control. Even during this period it is important not to reinforce the behaviour by being too warm and affectionate to the child. Furthermore, there should never be a reward for the child at the end of the temper tantrum. For example, a child may have a tantrum after his parents have insisted that he tidy up the toys, or perform another task. Once the tantrum is over and the child has regained composure, you should gently guide him back to the original task. If this is not done, then the child will very quickly learn that the way to avoid doing things is to have a temper tantrum.

If parents can manage a child’s temper tantrums correctly, then they will be able to manage successfully most of the other difficult behaviours that are an integral part of childhood. If they unwittingly allow the child to use repeated temper tantrums to get his own way, there is a good chance that the child will continue to use temper tantrums, or variations of them, as a way of relating to parents, other adults and peers. It will be likely to interfere with social learning, relationships and learning to deal with frustration.

When to see your doctor

You may want to speak to your doctor or another health professional to ‘coach’ you about behaviour management techniques. It is very often helpful to have somebody to support and encourage you during what is often a taxing time. Occasionally the family doctor will refer you and the child to a paediatrician or psychologist for more specialised advice.

Prevention

It is unlikely that temper tantrums can be totally prevented — they are a normal part of growing up. However, parents can certainly do much to make sure that they are not prolonged or made worse and that there are no associated behaviour problems, by handling the tantrums appropriately in the way suggested above. A commonsense, low key approach will usually work.

*182\90\8*

Do you remember a bully, a “meany,” some child who just seemed to have it in for you? There seemed to be something about you that resulted in a monstrous reaction on the part of this one particular child. You might have sprinted with terror past his house, snuck down the alley on the way home from school, done anything to avoid direct confrontation with this one child.

One husband reported, “His name was Carl. This kid hated my looks, my name, my clothes, my walk, my parents, even my dog. I have never been so afraid in my life, not even in the war, as I was afraid of Carl.”

“She was the meanest girl. She gave the word ‘bitch’ a bad name. She put me down to everybody. I hated her. I wished she would die. I’ll bet she became a gossip columnist.” This wife frowned, reliving her anger as she described this love-map imprint.

The same-gender conflict and fear gets on our love map, a danger zone that is reflected in our choice of a partner and in our day-today working and loving. Think about conflicts with people at work, about conflicts with certain family members, and try to relate these relationships to your love map. You will see that these maps influence all living.

*82\97\8*

Sudden death is always a possibility following a heart attack and the risk is greatest in the first few hours, decreasing over the following 48.

The cause of death is usually due to the development of an abnormal heart rhythm.

Damage to the heart muscle may make electrical conduction through the heart unstable.

There are a number of abnormalities of rhythm but the one causing death is ventricular fibrillation.

The best way to prevent or treat this is for the person to be under the care of trained medical or paramedical personnel.

Coronary care units have been established in all public and most large private hospitals. The person with the suspected heart attack is admitted to this special ward and is monitored by having a continuous electrocardiograph displayed on screens.

*409/71/1*

An epileptic woman who stops taking drugs because she becomes pregnant is at risk of having convulsions. The convulsion with the associated lack of oxygen during the fit may, in itself, be dangerous to the foetus.

Besides, most women do not know they are pregnant until four or six weeks after conception.

The developing foetus has already been exposed to the drug and stopping it when pregnancy is confirmed may be too late, if in fact, the drug does have harmful effects.

All life is a risk and, at the moment, it appears there is a greater risk to the baby if the epileptic woman stops her medication during pregnancy than if she continues it.

*155/71/1*

Symptoms are often vague to start with. The first may be blood in the urine, and the patient might not seem very ill. Sometimes the amount of urine passed is less than normal, and the patient may seem to gain weight quickly as fluid is retained. There may be slight headaches, feeling off colour, tummy upsets and a mild fever.

Sometimes as the disease progresses, more serious symptoms may occur, as the blood pressure rises and adversely affects the brain. The child may become restless and vomit, and mental vagueness, convulsions, visual disturbances and coma are possible. These complicated forms are uncommon, but if any of these symptoms take place, urgent medical attention is essential. Sometimes as the disease worsens, the heart may be affected and the kidneys become more severely involved.

Treatment

Prompt medical attention is essential with any abnormal urinary symptoms. Blood in the urine needs immediate investigation by the doctor. Although a large number of children appear to recover completely, a certain number develop a longer illness, chronic nephritis. Often hospitalization is necessary.

The important fact is for the parents to be aware of the seriousness of kidney disorders and make certain the child receives prompt attention if showing any of the sinister symptoms that may indicate kidney disease.

*84\87\2*

Fortunately babies receive a fairly high level of immunity (in built protection) from their mothers, and for their first several months are fairly resistant to these onslaughts. Breast-fed babies continually receive protective factors from the mother, which add to this normal protection and keep it going.

But sooner or later this comes to an end, and the baby then has to face these hostile enemies, who are ready and waiting for a new victim.

In recent years, researchers have developed an astounding array of protective methods for keeping baby free from many of the more serious potential invaders. These are readily available to all babies in this country in the form of immunization. This gives each baby a flying start in life; it ensures a high level of immunity, right throughout life, from some of the terrible life-threatening germs that are still around.

Many infectious diseases are spread simply from person to person. Often this happens by droplet infection. A person with the disease may cough or sneeze, in so doing imparting an enormous number of germs into the surrounding air. Anyone who comes into this radius may pick these germs up and, if personal resistance is low, subsequently contract that illness. In those of a young age group, when their normal body resistance is not high (after mum’s immunity is no longer available), then there is a high level of susceptibility to these germs.

Many are caused by viruses—extremely minute germs. Others are caused by germs called bacteria—these are ones that are larger. We often have suitable treatment in the form of antibiotics that will effectively counter bacteria. But the viruses still have doctors baffled, and at present very few antibiotics are available that will destroy them.

As a general rule, children are more susceptible to the infectious diseases than adults. In older persons, there has been built up a fairly high level of immunity, often from a previous attack of the disease or from constant contacting of small doses of the germs over a long period of time.

In most cases, a reasonable-sized infection yields a fairly high level of resistance to subsequent bouts. It does not give total protection for every infection; but if subsequent attacks do occur, they are usually far less severe.

Many of the childhood infectious diseases are fairly mild. Many may be treated at home with fairly simple measures available to most parents. Others need the doctor’s attention.

As a general rule, never fail to call the doctor if your child appears to be ill, is not obviously responding to your home medications, or if the condition is worsening.

*35\87\2*

Lead, once a major domestic pollutant as an ingredient in house paint, is now pumped into the air in vehicle exhaust or found in soil contaminated by industry. In children, high lead levels are thought to be responsible for a lowering of the intelligence quotient, loss of concentration and hyperactivity. Workers in certain industries run a high risk of lead poisoning. These include zinc miners, petroleum plant workers, car mechanics, sheet metal workers and those dealing with explosives. Lead poisoning results in nervous disorders and stomach and brain related illnesses. To avoid its effects, workers should wear appropriate protective clothing. Parents can have their children’s blood lead levels tested and may consider moving to an area of lower contamination if levels are high. Avoid walking, cycling or jogging in heavy traffic or wear a face mask.

Insecticides, fertilisers, bleaches and blooms of toxic algae affect many of our waterways and can seriously affect our health. Even within our reservoirs, the fluoride and chlorine added to the water to kill bacteria are themselves under a health cloud. Try to drink the purest water available to you and invest in a good water filter. Otherwise, always drink from the cold tap as hot water has sat still in a tank and in pipes and will contain more metals.

Chemicals are not the only pollutants of the atmosphere. Concern is mounting over the dangers of electromagnetic waves to human health, particularly to those living in the vicinity of high voltage power cables. The links between television and computer screen emissions and conditions such as cancer, nervous disorders and cataracts are being investigated. Sit at least 2.5 metres from a television screen and if possible, fit a shield to the screen of your computer.

*34\69\2*

Dyslexia varies in severity. Some of the problems dyslexics may have include: confusion about whether they are right-handed or left-handed; difficulty learning to tell time or remembering the order of days, months, or seasons; hyperactivity; problems with language; difficulty telling left from right and up from down; coordination and balance problems; problems with memory; and seeing letters and numbers reversed.

Dyslexia is diagnosed by a series of tests of visual perception, memory, and space and time perception, and by medical and psychological evaluations. A child who has the symptoms of dyslexia may have a disorder or disease of the central nervous system, problems with hearing or vision, or emotional problems, rather than a learning disability. The possibility of a physical or psychological cause for the problem must be ruled out before a diagnosis can be made.

Home care

A child with dyslexia needs special support and help from the family. However, the child does not need to be over-protected. The child should be challenged as well as encouraged. Finding a balance is not an easy job. The child’s teachers and doctor may be able to help parents work with a dyslexic child. The situation can be hard on the whole family, so a parent needs to be sensitive to how the problem may affect the dyslexic child’s brothers or sisters. They may need extra attention or professional help.

Precautions

• If your child seems to be intelligent but has unexpected problems with reading, the child may have dyslexia. The sooner the problem is identified, the easier it will be for the child, so get professional help as soon as possible.

• Rather than consider the child a failure, encourage him or her to develop new skills.

Medical treatment

There is no cure for dyslexia. If the child has physical or emotional problems as well as dyslexia, these will probably be treated first. Then a treatment plan will be made to work on the reading problem. The plan may be developed by a team of educational professionals, in consultation with the child and the child’s parents, doctor, and teachers. The plan will include special education and training for the child based on his or her particular problems and strengths.

*58/84/5*

Not so. “Your physical responsiveness is altered to a degree, but not radically,” says Dr. Brauer.

So if you want to have sex for the rest of your life, don’t focus on your physical changes. Focus on the things you can do to make sure that you keep having sex for the rest of your life.

Do it or eschew it. The secret to healthy sex in your sixties or seventies and beyond is to have healthy sex in your fifties and forties and before. “It’s very difficult for a man who pretty much stopped having sex in his fifties to start it up again when he’s 75,” Dr. Brauer says.

That’s because sex is plumbing. The more the blood flows to the penis, the more it wants to. “If you stop having sexual relationships, the disuse leads to atrophy of the blood vessels in the penis and impairment of blood flow to the penis,” Dr. Vinik says. Translation: Your equipment shuts down, taking your sex life along with it.

Go solo. Those times in your life when you might be partnerless are no reason to let the plumbing back up. “I recommend that men maintain a certain frequency of erection and orgasm,” Dr. Brauer says. “At least two orgasms a week have been found to be associated with improved physical health and longevity. And that can be achieved with solo sex if that’s what it takes.”

You won’t be the only guy using masturbation to keep his equipment in working order.

“Two-thirds of married men are doing some kind of regular self-stimulation,” Dr. Brauer says. “That can and probably should continue throughout life.”

Ask for a helping hand. At 20, your erection may happen from just thinking about her disrobing. At 35, it may happen by watching her disrobe. At 60, it happens if she fondles your genitals, robed or not. “Direct stimulation is very important for a man in his middle or later years,” Dr. Brauer says. “And not only direct stimulation but continuous stimulation.”

That shouldn’t be a problem since you don’t often hear men grumbling, “What a drag. I have to put up with a lot of stroking and licking from her before the real action.” But Dr. Brauer suggests that you find tactful ways to instruct her on this since she may misinterpret the new requirement as an insult to her sex appeal.

Stay high and dry. Fact: You’ll deliver less ejaculate as you get older. And sometimes you won’t ejaculate at all, a change that’s considerately accompanied by less urge to do so. “Enjoy the process without feeling that you necessarily have to ejaculate to finish it off,” Dr. Brauer says. Having orgasms without ejaculating may allow you to have this sort of climax more frequently than if you did ejaculate, he adds.

Check your hormones. Your hormone levels don’t generally drop enough with age to cramp your sexual style. But sometimes they do, and you may feel the need to talk to your doctor about getting testosterone supplements, often in the form of a skin patch you apply to your body.

“If your testosterone levels are lower than average for your age, you may benefit from supplementation,” Dr. Brauer says. “In fact, some doctors believe that if your testosterone levels are lower than average and you are in your mid-thirties, supplements may be desirable. It may also be worthwhile to make sure that other hormones are also at a reasonable level. Other hormones to check are thyroid and adrenal since these, too, can have an influence on sexual interest and response.”

Call a mechanic. If technical difficulties beyond your control do keep you from getting erections in your later years, take advantage of some tools available for men with erection problems. The ideas of using a vacuum pump to draw blood into the penis, or injecting an erection-producing substance directly into the penis before sex, might have seemed weird a few decades ago but are now increasingly common among diabetics and others. A new device known as Muse inserts a rice grain-size soft pellet of the erection-enhancing substance called alprostadil one inch up the urethra. “It is helpful for some men with unstable natural erections,” says Dr. Brauer.

“For a certain number of men with erection insecurity, a mechanical device is wonderful,” Dr. Brauer says.

And in case you’re wondering, the shots are relatively simple. “During genital examinations, we give the patient a little pinch,” says Dr. Vinik. “When he asks what that was all about, we tell him that’s all he’ll feel when he gives himself the shot. It’s a piece of cake.”

*66/36/5*

Diabetes is undoubtedly an ancient disease and Galen, who lived in the second century and was the greatest medical authority in the Roman Empire, certainly described it. What most people do not realize is that he only saw two cases! The condition was further described in the seventeenth century in Europe, but it was rare until the eighteenth century, when it became a common disease among the English aristocracy. Obesity and diabetes emerged together as societies became affluent and ate more fat, oil, sugar, meat, wine and beer, together with refined cereals. In 1971 one researcher reviewing diabetes in the tropics wrote that, ‘The incidence of diabetes is likely to increase with urbanization or as the complexity of civilization takes hold of any racial group.’

Diabetes is not one simple condition, but a family of conditions. There are, however, two common types. The first (now called Type I diabetes) most commonly first occurs in children but can affect people of any age. Such people need insulin by injection – usually for life. This is a very rare condition among the children of many tropical communities and is also rare in Japanese children. Type II diabetes is the adult-onset type that usually, but not always, occurs in the obese (usually women). In both types genetic and environmental factors are important.

The cause of diabetes is as yet unknown but it has recently been suggested that a high intake of foods rich in high-fibre starch is protective and might even be a good treatment for diabetes. Trials have now shown that slimming on a high-fibre diet can ‘cure’ many cases of adult-onset diabetes completely. Other studies have shown that eating a high-fibre diet can reduce the need for insulin in Type 1 diabetes, and in certain trials patients have been able to stop taking insulin completely when eating the correct diet rich in unrefined starches. Obviously this all has to be done under the watchful eye of a doctor who is expert in diabetes-it is not a do-it-yourself treatment for diabetics.

*59/72/5*