Medical Weblog

Low blood pressure seldom causes true illness. Diseases in which chronic low blood pressure occurs are also rare. All these cases combined are so few in number that they would hardly warrant consideration if it were not for the fact that many people consider themselves disabled because their blood pressure is low, and arrange their lives accordingly. They worry for no adequate reason.

Although the average blood pressure of a group of young adult males is about 120, a certain percentage will have blood pressures of 100 or even 90. In most instances, they are perfectly healthy and are just the low normals of the general population. In fact, persons whose blood pressure tends to be somewhat below the average are apt to live longer than other people.

There are some persons with low blood pressure who have symptoms such as dizziness or faintness, especially when they are changing their positions. These cases are very rare.

In other rare instances, low blood pressure may be associated with definite diseases such as Addison’s disease and inadequate thyroid function. In these cases, the primary disease that causes the low blood pressure usually produces so many other symptoms that the disease is recognized even before the low blood pressure is observed.

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Almost everyone has parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts who are beginning to get along in years. If you are one of my younger readers, you can learn how to make the later years good ones for the old people you love. The best way to rob the prospect of retirement and old age of its terrors is by seeing elderly people who are well and happy.

Remarkable progress has been made in adding years to life. This tremendous increase in life expectancy is due in great part to the fact that such diseases as cholera, typhoid fever, smallpox, diphtheria, and yellow fever have been practically eliminated. The greatest reduction in mortality has been in infants. However, the mortality of people over 75 was reduced by one fifth during the first half of this century.

How old is old?

I am frequently impressed by the great mental and physical differences between patients of the same age. Old age does not arrive suddenly when you reach 65. Like other periods, it depends on what went before. For this reason, gerontology, which is the scientific study of the process of ageing, does not limit its studies to a single age group.

Many of us are accustomed to think only of the limitations and liabilities of old age. We tend to overlook the physical, mental, and emotional assets of this stage of life.

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A baby does not need to be dressed up; in fact, he will be more comfortable in his nightgown with a wrapper or sweater over it when he is out of bed. Do not bundle him up too much. If he wears a cap, be sure it is a light, knitted one so he can breathe through it if it slips down over his nose. Do not use a pillow in his bassinet or basket. Tuck the sheets and blankets securely under the mattress.

Let him sleep on his stomach most of the time. His head may become flattened on one side if he is accustomed to sleeping that way —but this will not be permanent. Incidentally, if his head is egg-shaped, that will not last, either. The soft spot on the top of his head (the fontanelle) is tough, so you can touch it safely.

Change his napkins when they are soiled; when they are wet, change them if he fusses or if you are picking him up anyway. Shake soiled napkins into the toilet before placing them in a covered pail of water. Boil them or wash them in very hot water with a mild washing powder, rinse them thoroughly, and dry them outdoors if possible. If you detect an ammonia-like odour on the napkins, be sure to boil them, using a napkin bleach in the last rinsing water; this will help prevent napkin rash. Many women prefer to use a professional napkin service.

When you pick your baby up, support his body by putting one of your hands under his head and the other lower down. When you carry him, hold him on your shoulder with his head leaning over it a little so it will not bob backwards. He will need support of this kind until he is about three months old.

Every baby is bound to be exposed to some germs, but do not expose him to unnecessary ones. The fewer people outside of his family circle with whom he has contact, the better. He does not need visitors. There should be no kissing from visitors and no visitors with colds or sore throats. Be very firm about this.

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Many of these illnesses are not hopeless, although their severity may make them appear so. New methods are constantly being discovered to restore mental health to people who used to be regarded as incurably insane. The various forms of psychotherapy I described earlier in this chapter are used on psychotic persons when their condition is such as to make it feasible.

Adjunctive therapies

Such therapies are very useful in the treatment of psychotic people. In addition to occupational therapy, psychotics have been helped by music therapy and by hydrotherapy (wet packs, immersion in warm water for several hours at a time, and so on). Psychodrama, like play therapy, provides a means of communication for persons who are not up to the more articulate forms of expression.

Shock therapy

This method is often employed when a psychotic person remains out of contact with the real world. It has proved very effective, sometimes bringing about spectacular improvements, although frequently it must be followed by psychotherapy to be permanently effective. Electric shock and insulin coma arc the most frequently used forms of shock therapy. The person is rendered unconscious for a time by a carefully controlled electric shock or a dose of insulin, usually repeated several times a week.

Shock therapy has been successful in persons suffering from depression, particularly involutional melancholia, and in schizophrenia.

Medicinal therapy

Treating mental patients with medicines has opened a new era in psychiatry. This form of therapy not only has benefited the patients but has drastically changed the kind of care in mental hospitals and has steadily lowered the number of long-term patients. The savings are enormous, both for the individual patient and for the governments that build and maintain mental hospitals.

Tranquillizers can make belligerent, over-active patients manageable and responsive to other forms of therapy. Depressed patients may be treated with another type of medicine, the central nervous system stimulants, or mood-elevating drugs. The development of some of these medicines was spurred by reports of ancient methods of therapy with herbs and other natural growths.

For centuries, Rauwolfia serpentina, an Indian plant, was used lot-many illnesses, including mental diseases. Numerous compounds have been prepared from this plant, some of which are now used regularly to control agitated, violent patients.

Much research is underway to determine what changes in body chemistry accompany schizophrenia, as well as other serious mental diseases. If the significance of such chemicals can be determined and the chemicals then produced in the laboratory, control and cure of these widespread illnesses will become possible.

Psychosurgery

This differs from neurosurgery (operation on the brain, spinal cord, and nerve structures), which is undertaken to repair or correct physical conditions: to cure an infection, to remove a growth or some diseased tissue, or to repair an injury. Psychosurgery is performed for the purpose of altering the person’s mental and emotional state.

It had been observed that soldiers and others who had their brains wounded or injured in a manner that severed the connection between two parts of the brain (without injuring either part) underwent marked personality changes. There was a lessening of emotional reactions and of tensions. This is what the surgeon does when he performs a lobotomy; certain connections between parts of the brain are cut. This extreme form of treatment for patients with extreme symptoms is being abandoned in favour of drug therapy.

Another technique is deep encephalography, in which tiny electrodes are placed in specific regions of the front part of the brain. These areas are stimulated electrically, in an effort to alter abnormal circuits in the brain that may be causing mental illness.

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Corns

These are caused by pressure and may occasionally appear in places other than the feet.

Birth-marks

Pigmented moles and the vascular marks such as strawberry marks are types of birth-marks. Never attempt to remove either kind yourself. If they are disfiguring, they can be covered by a cosmetic preparation, or in many cases removed by a surgical operation. Your doctor may feel it is best to remove moles located on the palms, soles, or genitals. Any mole that starts to grow or bleed should always be seen by a physician.

Keloids and xanthoma

Both of these growths are non-malignant tumours. Keloids appear in scars and should not be cut out, as they usually reappear in the new scar tissue. A doctor can remove them with radium or dry ice although treatment is not always successful- Deposits of fat in the skin cause harmless yellow tumours (xanthoma) that can be removed by a physician if they are unsightly.

Keratoses

These soft brown spots appear in middle age. In the aged, they may be hard, in which case it is usually wise to have them examined by a doctor. They may need to be removed, as they may turn into cancers.

Warts

A virus causes warts. Do not attempt to remove warts yourself, for the only satisfactory methods of getting rid of them are not safe unless they are employed by a physician.

Cancer

Skin cancer may be less serious than cancer in any other part of the body, because it can be diagnosed and removed early—provided no time is wasted on dangerous home treatment. Always make certain that any new or changing growth Or lesion—a lump, ulcer, or wart—is harmless by consulting a physician.

Never neglect a skin disease

It is important to remember that in addition to the diseases mentioned above, a skin condition can indicate the presence of a deep-seated disease of the lungs, liver, heart, and many other organs of the body, including the endocrine glands. It can also indicate general poor health or vitamin deficiency. Always consult a doctor if anything unusual happens to your skin.

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