Health News and Information

We have to take the matter a step further, to show the effect of disorders of the alimentary tract on the tissues of the skin. The direct relationship between the “sea-water,” of the body in which all of the cells live and function, and the digestive system is quite obvious. In the stomach the food is broken down and prepared for assimilation, and it is then taken to the “sea-water” for the final exchange with the cells. In this way the cells are nourished and relieved of their waste products. The blood and the lymph act as carriers between these two important systems, and disturbance of the one is soon felt in the other.Of all the organs in the body the stomach is most open to abuse. It is at the mercy of our appetites, and all the mistakes we may make, in both the quality and the quantity of our daily food, are immediately inflicted upon the stomach. It may be distended by overeating, it may be irritated by the use of spiced foods, it may be upset by taking foods too hot or too cold. In these and many other ways the normal function of the stomach may be disturbed. The result is that digestion is turned into indigestion, and the whole body suffers as a consequence – not least of all the skin, which, as we have pointed out, depends on the integrity of the digestive process.It is inevitable that indigestion should lead to disorders of the bowel function, and further complications are then likely to follow. When the digestion in the stomach is carried on in normal conditions the work that has to be done by the colon is very much simplified; but if there is constant indigestion the acid and undigested foodstuffs which pass into the bowel are likely to cause all kinds of troubles, not the least being an irregular and difficult action of the bowels, i.e. constipation, which has been named the “universal complaint.”When this state of affairs occurs then the other eliminating organs of the body come under greater strain, and the skin is particularly affected. The important balance between the intake of nutriment and the elimination of the waste products has then been disturbed, and the whole system will be under the strain of retaining the toxins of its own activity to a point where it enters the danger zone of disease.
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Cold A cold spray of the type used on athletes produces dramatic but brief relief. It cannot be caused by cooling the deep tissue that is damaged. The provoked impulses arriving in the spinal cord set off a temporary inhibition of the cells transmitting the injury signals.HeatThere is no doubt about the generally comforting, relaxing effect of overall heating, as witnessed in the Roman caldarium and the modern sauna. It is a standard treatment for anyone’s anxiety. A quite different treatment is local heat. In the words of T. S. Eliot:
Here comes the nurse with the red hot poultice, Slaps it on and takes no notice
The nurse may take no notice but the patient certainly does and shifts attention. Attention distraction is the basis of counter-stimulation. A third Cold A cold and quite different intention of heat therapy is to increase circulation and thereby to speed up the end of inflammation. Ultrasound and microwave therapy were invented for this purpose to heat deep tissue. The use of ultrasound will be described in the next chapter as an impressive example of a proven placebo effect.Gentle massage Delightful.Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationWhen I had discovered that the input from large, low-threshold sensory afferent nerves reduced the response of animal spinal-cord cells to an input from injury-detecting fibres, Sweet and I tried in Boston in 1967 to produce the same effect, first on ourselves and then on patients. We knew that a small electrical stimulus preferentially excited the large fibres so we superimposed a gentle tingling sensation on top of the painful area. When this can be achieved, it produces considerable relief of the pain. We extended the method to direct stimulation of nerves and of the spinal cord, but the most common use is to try to produce the effect by simple electrodes on the skin. It is no panacea but it works.*60\219\2*

Dose1 The lowest dose which can control the symptoms should be used. It should not be continued beyond four weeks.2 Long-term chronic use is not recommended.3 Treatment should always be tapered off gradually.4 Patients who have taken benzodiazepines for a long time may require a longer period during which doses are reduced.5 When a benzodiazepine is used as a hypnotic, treatment should, if possible, be intermittent.Precautions1 Benzodiazepines should not be used alone to treat depression or anxiety associated with depression. Suicide may be precipitated in such patients.2 They should not be used for phobic or obsessional states.3 They should not be used for the treatment of chronic psychosis.4 In case of loss or bereavement, psychological adjustment may be inhibited by benzodiazepines.5 Disinhibiting effects may be manifested in various ways. Suicide may be precipitated in patients who are depressed, and aggressive behaviour towards self and others may be precipitated. Extreme caution should therefore be used in prescribing benzodiazepines in patients with personality disorders.*89\326\8*