Posted: under Cancer.
Many women are acutely aware of the effects of hormones on their breast tissue. Many complain of swollen breasts, heaviness, discomfort or even increased ‘lumpiness’ each month, before menstruation. This is the clearest demonstration of the fact that breast tissue responds to hormone fluctuations, and pre-menstrual problems affect around 65 per cent of women. Three types of cell in the breast are sensitive to hormones: those lining the milk ducts, the glandular cells in breast lobules, and contractile cells responsible for squeezing milk out of the lobules.
The hormones oestrogen and progesterone are responsible for the changes that happen in a woman’s body at puberty, during menstruation, pregnancy, breast-feeding and when going through the menopause. The hormone prolactin is responsible for stimulating breast tissue to make milk, and rising levels pre-menstrually may be partially responsible, along with oestrogen and progesterone balance, for breast tenderness at this time. Prolactin levels are high in breast cancer patients and may be an even more potent stimulator of tumour growth than oestrogen.
There is a complicated feed-back mechanism between the hormone control centres (the hypothalamus and the pituitary) as they interact with hormone output from the ovaries. This regulates the quantities of hormones being secreted at any one time.
Oestrogens are secreted by the ovaries, the adrenal glands, fat cells and, in pregnant women, by the placenta. Though oestrogen is usually referred to as one hormone, the term really refers to a group of hormones that have a similar action. There are several types of oestrogen but the three most important are oestrone (El), oestradiol (E2) and oestriol (E3), all of which have slightly different functions and effects. El and E2 are the strong oestrogens associated with an increase in breast cancer risk, while E3 is the milder, benign oestrogen, mainly produced during pregnancy, which is 1,000 times weaker than oestradiol.
Progesterone is produced by the ovaries, and in pregnant women by the placenta. There is only one progesterone hormone produced in the body, although there are many types of artificial progestogens synthesized by the pharmaceutical industry.
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Dec 30 2010
Posted: under Anti-Psychotics.
Each year you must pay city officials, social agencies, state agencies, insurance funds, police and tax losses to support the kinds of clients mentioned in this work. Instead of trying to maintain the status quo and implying that your social services should keep the shadow quiet because the taxpayers want this, consider the following. The shadow destroys cultures if it is not valued and its meaning not understood. Intensive care for the city shadow would mean learning about it and publicizing both its financial costs to the city and its message from another world about the future of our planet. Some of its present messages seem to be:
1 Trance states are important
Introversion is not a disease, but a corner of the personality waiting to be experienced by everyone. Not everyone needs to talk. Look into trances, examine them. In these states, the world itself is stopped and reconsidered.
2 The gods are still around
The city’s shadow shows that the archetypes of the Virgin Mary, Napoleon and Jesus are still around, though nobody takes much interest in them these days. Fantasy is important, for it teaches about the totality of being human. These savior figures and godlike experiences are channeled through the shadow because they are not welcomed by the collective. You don’t believe in these figures because you do not know yourself yet.
3 The shadow is a trickster
A message of the city’s shadow is to relax. It is important to be retarded sometimes, not to think but to focus only on feeling problems which everyone else skips over. The shadow is a trickster because it says that it is always time for vacation, time for more sex and fun. The shadow says to brag more, because by bragging we see parts of ourselves we do not take seriously now. The shadow says a good fight in the best of families sometimes clears the air. The city shadow says that we are crazy, the shadow is the healthy one.
The shadow wants to be cared for. He says, T am not interested in pain. I have no courage and am not a hero in life like you. I give up on life, I sometimes need to collapse, even commit suicide. I am sometimes a slow and timid outsider, won’t you wait for me? I have troubles. I am old, senile, sick and suffering and cannot make it alone. I am mad, addicted, violent, lonely and homeless. I have fits of jealousy and feel betrayed. You know me in yourself!’
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Dec 22 2010
Posted: under Anti-Infectives.
With international travel to more exotic locations becoming increasingly popular, clinicians are finding it necessary to become familiar with current recommendations for travel health safety. Immunizations are a “hot topic” of pre-travel preparation discussions, and they offer one of the best ways to reduce the risks of infections in travelers. A wide spectrum of safe, efficacious vaccines is available, which can help international travelers prevent many of the serious diseases that are absent or uncommon in their home areas. Travel vaccines generally fall into three categories: (1) routine immunizations, which are typically administered during childhood but which may need to be updated; (2) required immunizations, which are necessary for entry into certain countries; and (3) recommended immunizations, which may be useful, depending on the risks of exposure at the travel destination.
Advising travelers on vaccine-preventable diseases is increasingly becoming the responsibility of the primary care physician. The approach to vaccine recommendations should be based on a thorough assessment of the risks for travel-related illnesses, the time available before trip departure, and current knowledge of the epidemiology of vaccine-preventable diseases. Practitioners should also take into account the adverse events and contraindications associated with each vaccine.
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Dec 15 2010