Consumers regularly assume that these products are not harmful because they believe that they are approved for safety by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But although the FDA classifies cosmetics (dividing them into 13 categories), it does not regulate them. A FDA document posted on the agency’s World Wide Web home page explains that “a cosmetic manufacturer may use any ingredient or raw material and market the final product without government approval.” (This is with the exception of seven known toxins, such as hexachlorophene, mercury compounds, and chloroform). Should the FDA deem a product a danger to public health, it has the power to pull a cosmetic product from the shelves, but in many of these cases the FDA has failed to do so, while evidence mounts that some of the most common cosmetic ingredients may double as deadly carcinogens.

Examples of products with potential carcinogens are: Clairol “Nice and Easy” hair color, which releases carcinogenic form aldehyde as well as Cocamide DEA (a substance which can be contaminated with carcinogenic nitrosamines or react to produce a nitrosamine during storage or use); Vidal Sassoon shampoo (which like the hair dye, contains Cocamide DEA); Cover Girl makeup contains TEA (which is also associated with carcinogenic nitrosamines); Crest toothpaste which contains titanium dioxide, saccharin, and FD&C Blue # 1 (known carcinogens).

*42/165/1*

The popularity of big breasts is evidenced by current slang terms which stress large size and by the diversity of products manufactured and advertised (generally falsely) to increase breast size. Women who are influenced by cultural trends which emphasize the desirable breast profile tend to think that breasts come in two sizes: too small or too big. While small-breasted women might envy their D-cup sisters, women with big breasts have been known to complain about the attention their large breasts garner or about related or resultant physical problems (like shoulder or neck strain). Plastic surgery to increase or decrease size or otherwise alter the appearance of the breast is not infrequently resorted to. Such operations are not without their own risks, however; for example, in the early versions of silicone implants to enlarge breast size, the implants sometimes moved from the breast and caused problems. It must also be realized that sensation may sometimes be permanently lost if nerve endings are severed during surgery.

Although cultural attitudes may value one breast profile over another, women continue to have breasts that vary a great deal in size and appearance from one woman to the next. Often a woman’s two breasts, like her two feet or her facial profiles, will also vary in appearance, with the left breast usually being the larger of the two. As is the case with the genitals, the size of the breast is irrelevant to its capacity for sexual sensitivity. The areola is the most sensitive area, but breast response in general varies from individual to individual. In some women, small hairs grow in the cleavage between the breasts or around the areola.

Regular breast self-examination, in order for a woman to become familiar with her normal breast texture and thus be able to detect the appearance of unusual lumps or other changes, is an important element of preventive health care. A woman is less likely to be fearful about or avoid performing this procedure when she recognizes that self-detection (which usually means early detection) of possibly malignant changes depends on her familiarity with her own body.

*109\265\8*

Eighty-five percent of smokers either have tried to quit or would like to quit, but 75 to 90 percent return to smoking after any single attempt. Many are reluctant to even try because they fear failing. However, each time you try increases the chances that you will succeed. The average person takes three or four tries to quit before achieving sustained abstinence. You should think of each relapse not as a failure but as an opportunity to learn. In this way, the circumstances leading to relapse can be avoided or changed in the future.

Deciding to “tough it out” does not work well over the long term. Part of your abstinence program will be to change your patterns and thoughts associated with smoking. Start by getting rid of the cigarettes and ashtrays in your house. Make it inconvenient to respond to your urge to smoke.

It often helps to analyze when you smoke and what cues you to smoke and then to identify behaviors that you can use to replace smoking. For example, if you have the urge to smoke during telephone conversations, find something other than smoking to replace that behavior. Something as simple as doodling on a notepad that you keep by the phone might help.

*277\252\8*

As if the negative side of HOLLY is ingrained in the human mind from the very birth and comes to surface even at a very immature age can be discerned from the jealousy of a 3-year old child to his new-born brother when he has to share the parent’s love with the new arrival. He shows his protest by refusing to eat or by hitting the new born.

In everyday life we see the spectre of this ignoble negative HOLLY state at every turn of life—a man doubting the fidelity of his wife, a business house felling jealous on the success of a rival business house, a business partner doubting the integrity of the other partner because of his better financial position; a man envious or jealous of a friend because of his beautiful wife; the hatred of the management towards the ever-increasing and unjustified demands of the labour unions, and the resentful obedience to the tyrant of the helpless weak person. In the international field we see the negative HOLLY state playing havoc to the safety and prosperity of the mankind, resulting in so many destructive wars—cause: mutual distrust between nations.

Let us therefore admit that where positive HOLLY state is an ideal for mankind, negative HOLLY state is the most common factual state in every day life. Even on the spiritual side. One seeker of truth is envious of the other for having reached a higher state. So long as a person is in the negative HOLLY state, he is unhappy, always ‘Burning Inside’ with some negative feeling.

When a person is under the influence of the hydra-headed negative Holly state, it sometimes become difficult to choose one or two remedies which could cover the whole case correctly. Many remedies state their claim at the same time.

*117\308\8*

Though estrogen was what I recommended first, Daphne was opposed to taking HRT. When she was 55 and a few years into menopause, she had a bone density screening that showed she had moderate to severe bone loss. She had been taking medication to control her thyroid for many years, which probably accelerated her bone loss well before her body’s estrogen levels dropped off and she had her last period. Daphne had also struggled with anxiety and depression, and although there are no double-blind, placebo-controlled studies proving a direct link between those conditions and bone density, I believe continual stress of any kind—especially something as severe as chronic emotional disruption—is hard on your bones. There are plenty of gold-standard studies demonstrating a crucial connection between the health of your mind and your body generally, and I see no reason why your skeleton would be exempt.

The good news for Daphne was that a simple lab test that assesses fracture risk and rate of progression of bone loss—independent of current bone density — was smack in the middle of the normal range. With a reasonably low risk of fracture and a reasonably slow rate of loss, then, she had a chance to improve her general health along the lines of the program outlined later in this book, and find out if that would help her bones sufficiently, before she reached a crisis point. She decided to take alendronate to make sure her situation wouldn’t deteriorate’ and she showed excellent improvement very quickly. So Daphne was able to remain committed to helping herself without using supplemental hormones.

*34\228\2*

Because our feet are so far away from the rest of us, there is a tendency to forget about them. But if you have diabetes you must look after your feet as carefully as you do your face.

Mavis closed the front door and staggered into the sitting room with her shopping. She collapsed onto the sofa and pulled off her new shoes. “My feet are killing me,” she gasped as she put them up and reached for a cigarette.

Two weeks later, her feet were killing her. The blisters from her new shoes had become infected, the infection had spread up her legs and she had developed septicemia (blood poisoning). Fortunately, good control of her diabetes and large doses of antibiotics saved her life. An operation to bypass her blocked atherosclerotic leg arteries and restore her circulation saved her legs. Her husband threw away her cigarettes and her new shoes.

Diabetes causes circulatory problems and the arteries which supply the feet can become furred up (atherosclerotic). Diabetic nerve damage often affects the feet causing numbness. This means that you may not realize that you have injured or rubbed your foot, or that your shoes do not fit. If you have joint problems in the feet or other reasons for your foot to rub on your shoe or abnormal pressure areas to develop, ulcers can occur at the pressure sites. If your blood glucose is high your body cannot fight infection as well as it should. All these factors combine to cause ulcers, gangrene and infections. In the most severe cases the only solution may be amputation of the foot or leg.

Foot care is a part of basic diabetes self-care. Keep your feet clean and wear socks/tights which cannot rub inside shoes which fit comfortably from the start. Trim the nails straight across, smoothing the corners so that they cannot dig in. Check your feet every night and seek help immediately if you notice anything wrong. Most problems are minor and can be treated rapidly. Neglected minor problems are what cause major problems. Be especially vigilant on holiday.

*39/102/5*

Often when cholesterol tests are performed laboratories will indicate, in addition to total, HDL, and LDL cholesterol readings, the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol. Although nearly all experts now agree that it’s far more important to look at total cholesterol and LDL levels than at this ratio, there’s still so much talk of ratios that it’s helpful to understand what they mean. Also, if your total cholesterol is over 160 mg/dl, the ratio is a useful way to assess your risk for coronary heart disease.

The average American ratio of total to HDL cholesterol is about 5 to 1. For any given serum cholesterol, ratios below 5 are associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease and ratios above 5 with an increased risk. But what if your total cholesterol level were 150 and your HDL cholesterol level only 25? This would give you a total-to-HDL ratio of 6, yet your risk of heart attack would be extremely low because your total cholesterol level and your LDL cholesterol level are so low.

On the other hand, though, if your total cholesterol were 300 mg/dl and your HDL were 75, your ratio would be 4 – and if you were to look only at the ratio, your risk of cardiovascular disease might appear to be lower. But in fact your risk of having a heart attack would be much higher than average – even though your HDL and the ratio looked okay – because your total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol are too high. Of course, if someone with the same 300 mg/dl total cholesterol had an HDL of 25 instead of 75, the risk of a heart attack would be much higher still. Once you realize that diet has more of an impact on LDL and total cholesterol than it does on HDL, you’ll realize that focusing on HDL and the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol can be very misleading.

It’s important to understand, too, that whatever the ratio, it can give the wrong impression when HDL levels are low but total cholesterol and LDL are also low.

Keep in mind that a low-fat, low-cholesterol, high-fiber diet will maximally reduce your total cholesterol. Most of this reduction will be of the LDLs, but your HDLs may also drop. However, you shouldn’t be concerned over a drop in your “good” cholesterol level under these circumstances, because your ratio of total cholesterol to HDL will also tend to improve. A low HDL level only becomes more significant when your LDLs exceed 100 mg/dl, or when your ratio of total cholesterol to HDL is not improving. At that point you may want to consult your doctor, because you may still be at some risk for cardiovascular disease.

But rather than worry about a drop in HDL or an unfavorable ratio, it’s far better to focus instead on something you have more control over, such as lowering your total and your LDL levels – then you won’t have anything to worry about.

*11/345/5*

Selenium, a metal in our body, has three very important functions. First, selenium together with glutathione peroxidase is a major antioxidant and, as such, is a free radical scavenger. It enables organisms to survive with less oxygen. Second, selenium reacts with toxic metals to form biologically inert compounds. The metals that are toxic to our bodies but rendered harmless by selenium are mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. Third, there is a correlation between night vision and the selenium content of the retina; the higher the selenium content, the better the vision.

Rich dietary sources of selenium include organ meats such as liver, seafoods, and some whole-grain cereals (whole-grain cereals vary greatly in selenium content). It has been shown by G.N. Schrauzer and colleagues that the selenium content in pasteurized milk in Caracas, Venezuela, is ten times greater than that in milk in Beltsville, Maryland. Schrauzer and colleagues also studied the number of cancer deaths related to the amount of dietary-selenium intake from food consumption in twenty-seven different countries and nineteen different states in the United States. They have concluded that the higher the blood-selenium content, the lower the cancer incidence. The cancer incidence for each state correlates well with their selenium data. R.J. Shamberger has shown that selenium suppresses the development of skin tumors in animals. Shamberger and Willis have shown that in 1965, the higher the soil or crop level of selenium, the lower the cancer death rate in the United States and Canada. They also studied the population in several American cities and found that the higher the average blood selenium level, the lower the cancer death rate.

Another study demonstrates that rats depleted of selenium and fed a diet high in polyunsaturated fats developed breast cancer.168 My own research shows that selenium protects the cell membrane from attack by free radicals. Other research by R. Medina and colleagues shows that selenium fed daily to mice inhibits cancer from forming in them. The antioxidant property of selenium protects your body against cancer especially if your diet is high in polyunsaturated fats.

Several studies indicate that selenium deficiency corresponds to incidence of heart attacks.170-171 High rates of heart disease and heart attacks are evident in selenium-deprived children in China and in selenium-deprived adults in Finland. Deaths from heart attack are highest in Finland, New Zealand, and perhaps South Africa. These countries have widespread selenium deficiency compared to the United States. When selenium supplements are given to Chinese children, significant improvement occurs in their heart-disease rates.

Survival rates of offspring in animals is very sensitive to the amount of selenium in the mother. An average sow has four or five piglets per litter in areas of Finland with low selenium soil content. But when 0.1 milligram of selenium is added to the diet, the litter size increases to ten.

Schrauzer maintains that the average selenium intake of the American population is only one-half of the amount required “for optimal protection against neoplastic [cancer] disease.” The average American diet contains between 50 and 160 micrograms of selenium per day, depending on area of residence. The recent recommendation by the National Research Council for selenium consumption is between 50 and 200 micrograms per day, but Schrauzer concludes from his studies that at least 300 micrograms of selenium per day are needed for cancer protection. Selenium toxicity occurs after prolonged ingestion of 2,400 to 3,000 micrograms of selenium per day.

Obviously, selenium is not the only factor involved in cancer development or its progression, and it would be unwarranted to consume a great deal of selenium every day thinking that it alone would prevent cancer. However, depending upon where you live, you could take supplemental selenium in the amount of 100 to 200 micrograms per day, assuming that you are living in an area with an adequate selenium content and assuming that you are eating a well-balanced diet. Vegetarians, dieters, and people living in areas of the country without adequate selenium stores will require about 200 micrograms of selenium per day. A study shows that a total of 500 micrograms of selenium per day is safely tolerated by people in Japan. Organic selenium, as found in certain yeasts, is better than inorganic selenium for supplementation because it has less systemic toxicity at high concentrations, it resists chemical changes, and it is stable during food processing.

*32\360\2*

As a doctor, my challenge is to distinguish true cases of hypersomnia from the chronic, low-level fatigue and tiredness that sometimes afflict people who, while basically normal, may be bored, restless, or otherwise unhappy. I must also sort out those patients who are simply unaware that they are not getting enough sleep to meet their daytime needs. Often these are people who hold two jobs, or who cram their days so full of activities that they do not allow sufficient time for sleep. Yet another type of patient excluded from the DOES category is the “healthy hypersomniac,” the person who simply needs more sleep than other people—possibly as many as fourteen hours. These long sleepers may not complain of excessive sleepiness, but, like their short-sleeping counterparts discussed in the previous chapter, they may experience some kind of psychological fallout if they think of themselves as abnormal or experience social isolation as a result of their sleep patterns.

Among the questions I might ask you to determine if DOES is a problem in your case: is your feeling of sleepiness constant, or does it appear only at certain times? When do episodes of sleepiness occur? In what ways does the sleepiness affect you: do you take naps, for example, or struggle constantly to stay awake? How well do you function generally during the day? I would also conduct a number of clinical tests in order to rule out such causes of excessive sleepiness as hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, drug abuse, metabolic disorders, even brain tumor. If none of these pathologies could be identified, then I would be reasonably certain you had a true disorder of excessive sleepiness.

*132\226\8*

The second category of heart problems concerns the valves, which, like the parts of any machine, can malfunction in a variety of ways. As we have seen, blood must follow a programmed route and not flow back and forth. Once it has passed a certain point, on it must go, to return only when it has been full-cycle through the circulatory system. This is where the one-way action of the various valves is of paramount importance. Valve disease can give the heart surgeon many hours of repair work before the valves are set back in working order.

Contrary to popular belief, the commonest heart disease, taken worldwide, is either narrowing or leakage of the valves caused by rheumatic heart disease. Rheumatic heart disease is the sequel to rheumatic fever, which in turn results from an initial streptococcal infection (streptococci are a type of bacteria). The disease produces inflammation in the heart muscle and valves and can be quite severe, especially among children and teenagers. Fortunately, the incidence of rheumatic fever has declined in those countries where antibiotic treatments are readily available – but that still leaves many parts of the world with a young population at risk.

Valves can be impaired in other ways – as a result of syphilis, for instance – or a patient may simply have a congenital deformity of the valves, or may have acquired this as a sequel to coronary thrombosis. Whatever the cause, the effects may prevent the valve from opening fully (stenosis – ‘constriction’), or may stop it closing properly, allowing blood to leak back after it has come through, a condition known as incompetence. Both conditions present the heart with an unhealthily large workload. It has to pump harder to force blood through a stenosed valve or to maintain proper flow if blood is seeping back.

There is a further complication for people with a malfunctioning valve: they can sometimes succumb to infection of the valves, endocarditis. The infection is usually caused by bacteria and is often a consequence of receiving dental treatment. So, before they have their teeth treated, susceptible patients should take a precautionary dose of antibiotics.

*8/353/5*