THE ECOLOGY UNIT IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF ALLERGIES: COMPLICATIONS OF TREATMENT

The complications of this hospital regimen are strikingly few. Occasionally, a patient may decide voluntarily to leave the hospital during the fasting period. This may be the result of an inordinate fear of fasting, the iron grip of some addiction, or an inability to cope with the withdrawal symptoms. There have been a few such instances in which patients left in the midst of acute reactions, following the feeding of a suspected food.

Pregnancy is no problem, however, and pregnant women have been successfully fasted for a few days. Diabetics can also be handled, although in advanced cases the fasts cannot be complete.

In all, patients ranging from young children to elderly people have fasted in our program. Although reactions to foods can be troublesome, it is important to note that no deaths or irreversible complications have ever resulted from this program. Contrast this record to that of conventional medicine, with its emphasis on surgery, radiation, electroshock, and drug therapy. The clinical-ecology approach to chronic illness is logical, effective in many cases, and, above all, safe.

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CALCIUM AND OSTEOPOROSIS

Nowadays, with so much emphasis being put on the need to reduce the fat in our food and to increase our dietary intake of fiber and bulk-producing vegetables, care must be taken to avoid a deficiency of calcium.

Fat-containing dairy products, especially milk and ice cream, used to provide us with most of our calcium, whereas the vegetables and cereals, which we are now taking in their place, bind with calcium in the intestines and thus interfere with its absorption, Medical World News (25#12:41) reports. The net result, if we are not careful, is a calcium deficiency that leaves our bones weaker and more brittle than usual and unusually prone to be fractured, even in response to minor trauma.

While no one denies that low fat and high fiber diets benefit us by greatly reducing our liability to heart disease and stroke, we must take care to compensate for the decreased availability of calcium they bring about. We can help ourselves by taking, in addition to our one vitamin-mineral pill a day, half a gram (500 mg) tablet of calcium carbonate three times daily (or four times if one is big) as well.

It is important to note that it matters when we take these tablets. Since the calcium in pills can only be absorbed if there is a normal amount of acid in the stomach, the Journal of the American Medical Association (257:541) reports that older people, whose stomachs no longer produce much acid, cannot benefit from taking calcium between meals. Taken with food, however, calcium is absorbed, regardless of the lack of gastric acid.

Another article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (247:1106) emphasizes that taking calcium alone is not enough and, even in optimal amounts, can do nothing to prevent the bones from becoming osteoporotic in people who are inactive. Both exercise and calcium are needed to restore osteoporotic bones. Because exercise (e.g., walking two miles every day) can be difficult or impossible for those who have already become disabled by osteoporosis, prevention is truly better than cure.

Also, according to the Mayo Clinic Proceedings (61:116), it has been discovered that the density and amount of calcium in an older woman’s spinal bones correlates very closely with the strength of her back muscles. Thus, it is believed, older women may be able to protect themselves against collapse of the spinal bones by regularly performing exercises that increase the tone of the back muscles. Although it will take many years to obtain final proof that this works, it is reasonable for women to perform daily back exercises (sit-ups or with a rowing machine), so long as they do not overexert or hurt themselves.

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HEADACHES IN CHILDREN

Symptoms: Pain, ache, or throbbing in any area of the head.

Home care:

Give aspirin or paracetamol to relieve pain.

Apply cold compresses to the forehead.

Have the child lie down in a dark room.

If the headache is accompanied by nasal congestion, antihistamines or nose drops may ease both conditions. Warm compresses may also help.

Try to identify any source of stress that may be causing headaches. Comfort and cuddle the child whose headache may be due to emotional factors.

See the doctor if the headaches persist.

Precautions

-    Get medical help immediately if the child has a sudden, severe headache, especially if it is accompanied by any of the following: fever, extreme weakness or collapse, severe vomiting, stiff neck, or confusion.

-    If the child has recurring headaches that become more frequent or severe, consult the doctor.

-    Your information about the child’s headaches will be important to the doctor. Note where the pain is located, when it occurs, what circumstances seem to provoke it, how long it lasts, if there are also other symptoms, and whether or not the headache responds to pain-relieving medication.

Headaches are probably as common in children as in adults and have as many or more causes. Fever and strong emotions (anxiety, fear, excitement, sadness, and worry) account for about 95 percent of all headaches in children. Less common causes of childhood headaches are high blood pressure, head injuries and concussions, tumours and inflammation of the brain (such as meningitis, encephalitis), bleeding inside the skull, sinusitis, eye strain, and psychiatric problems.

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