Health related information and news from around the world.

In boys, masturbation is defined as genital self-touching associated with erection and increasing excitement moving rhythmically toward a climax. In girls, masturbation also comprises rhythmical self-stimulation with indications of pleasure and climax. It may begin as early as the first or second year, but more commonly occurs after the third year. Kinsey and his coworkers reported orgasm in both boy and girl infants in the first six months of life. They based their conclusions on adult observations of a sample of children being sexually stimulated and achieving a climax. Approximately half the sample of twenty-two boys achieved climax by age two, with gradual increases in successive years. Similar findings are reported for girls, but the data are based on both observation and adult recall. Orgasm is reported for twenty-three girls under age three, four of them less than one year of age. A composite account of climax in the infant male follows:

the behavior involves a series of gradual physiologic changes, the development of rhythmic body movements with distinct penis throbs and pelvic thrusts, an obvious change in sensory capacities, a final tension of muscles, especially the abdomen, hips, and back, a sudden release with convulsions, including rhythmic anal contractions—followed by the disappearance of all symptoms. A fretful babe quiets down under the initial sexual stimulation, is distracted from other activities, begins rhythmic pelvic thrusts, becomes tense as climax approaches, is thrown into convulsive action, often with violent arm and leg movements, sometimes with weeping at the moment of climax. After climax the child loses erection quickly and subsides into the calm and peace that typically follows adult orgasm. It may be some time before erection can be induced again after such an experience (Kinsey, Pomeroy, and Martin).

Masturbation to orgasm in a girl, age three, the youngest reported by Kinsey and his associates is described by the child’s mother:

Lying face down on the bed, with her knees drawn up, she started rhythmic pelvic thrusts, about one second or less apart. The thrusts were primarily pelvic, with the legs tensed in a fixed position. The forward components of the thrusts were in a smooth and perfect rhythm which was unbroken except for momentary pauses during which the genitalia were readjusted against the doll on which they were pressed; the return from each thrust was convulsive, jerky. There were 44 thrusts in unbroken rhythm, a slight momentary pause, 87 thrusts followed by a slight momentary pause, then 10 thrusts, and then a cessation of all movement. There was marked concentration and intense breathing with abrupt jerks as orgasm approached. She was completely oblivious to everything during these later stages of the activity. Her eyes were glassy and fixed in a vacant stare. There was noticeable relief and relaxation after orgasm. A second series of reactions began two minutes later with series of 48, 18, and 57 thrusts, with slight momentary pauses between each series. With the mounting tensions, there were audible gasps, but immediately following the cessation of pelvic thrusts there was complete relaxation and only desultory movements thereafter (Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin and Gebhard).

Masturbation to orgasm, by various techniques, was also reported in younger female infants (Bakwin). A seven-month-old girl masturbated by pressing her body against her rag doll:

“… from time to time would throw the doll on the floor, lie down on top of it, and rhythmically press her body against it . . .”. Another infant, at five months, “would press her legs together, lift them and bear down, and her face became flushed”. Still another, at fourteen months, “would cross her legs, grunt, and get red in the face. After some seconds or minutes she would relax, break out in perspiration, and appear exhausted”. The follow-up data on these girls indicated that masturbation in early infancy was not associated with behavioral disability later. In two of the infants, masturbation gradually diminished, but in the third who was routinely punished for self-stimulation, it continued and apparently increased.

Pelvic thrusting movements begin in the first year, mainly when the infant is held close and cuddled. The majority of infants respond reciprocally to holding and cuddling, sometimes with pelvic thrusting. Since sex play is rarely permitted in our society, the continuing occurrence of pelvic thrusting rehearsals is not known. In a society which permits sexual play in children, as the Yolunga of Arnhem Lane in Australia do, pelvic thrusting may occur as children are falling asleep together (Money and Ehrhardt).

*13/187/5*

Some men insist on digging their graves with their teeth. Look how many diabetic men ignore recommendations for staying healthy, eat precisely the wrong food and blithely accelerate their demise.

But then, most of us do this. We know very well what we shouldn’t eat but we can’t stop ourselves. What most of us don’t know is what we should eat to protect ourselves.

Nutritional scientists are now interested in the protective role of phytochemicals, which are non-nutrient factors in food. They are plant-based chemicals and are different from macronutrients such as proteins and carbohydrates and micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals.

Nutritional scientists think phytochemicals may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, some cancers and other health problems like migraines and menopausal symptoms. The health-promoting use of plants has been part of food cultural folklore for centuries, and in the case of some medical conditions, phytochemicals can almost be used as pharmaceuticals. This is not surprising, as many important drugs available today were, at least initially, derived from plants. Nutritional scientists say that in the future we may be able to prevent or delay the onset of diseases by ensuring an adequate dietary intake of these non-nutrient factors.

The attractive colours, smells, flavours and textures of food might in themselves be signals of health benefits. Take carotenoids: these are natural pigments responsible for the brilliant red, orange and yellow colours of edible fruits and vegetables. Most of these have anti-oxidant, anti-cancer and immunity-boosting effects.

Colourless compounds like salicylates are found in delicious food such as grapes, dates, cherries and apricots and have an aspirin-like effect on the body, providing protection against cardiovascular disease, stroke and, probably, bowel cancer and Alzheimer’s.

There are more than 12 categories of phytochemicals, all of which have beneficial effects. If only we knew what to eat, we could munch our way into an excellent old age.

So what does an internationally acclaimed expert on nutrition eat? Mark Wahlqvist, professor of medicine at Monash University and president of the International Union of Nutrition Sciences, is in his late 50s. He has spent his life steeped in nutrition. More than 30 years ago, he married a fellow medical student who is Chinese and since then has been eating a predominantly oriental diet in the evenings. Dinners are rice based, with an emphasis on green leafy vegetables. About three nights a week there is torn and the other nights lean meat or fish. He drinks liberal quantities of Chinese tea with his evening meal and drinks little alcohol -perhaps three or four glasses of wine a week.

At home there are bowls of fresh fruit and mixed nuts that he eats freely. He says people shouldn’t be afraid of the fat in nuts because it is not bad fat and it comes with many other nutritional benefits.

Conscious of the need to increase his vegetable intake and not particularly partial to salad, he consumes lots of vegetable soup. He frequently also enjoys a peasant Greek dish based on lentils and tomatoes with his Greek neighbours. If he eats out, it is often at a Japanese restaurant.

Professor Wahlqvist starts his day with a breakfast of oat porridge, bananas and low-fat milk. If he has bread, it is soy and linseed bread without a fatty spread. He never uses spreads.

Lunch, at work, is usually whole-grain bread with tuna or salmon and vegetables and low-fat yoghurt. He walks, jogs a bit and tries to get to the gym once a week. At 182 cm, he weighs in at 90 kg and feels well.

Rather than digging, he is using his teeth to put as much distance between himself and his grave as possible.

Almost every week, somewhere in the world a new study trumpets the benefits of eating plant matter. Broccoli reduces death from heart disease in post-menopausal women; high consumption of tomatoes lowers the risk of prostate, lung and stomach cancers; broad beans and mushrooms may help prevent bowel cancer: these are just a few examples.

Always looking for short cuts, we have a tendency to try to get these plant benefits quickly, from a bottle. Instead of eating a bowl of vegetables, we take supplements and extracts. But we never get the full benefit this way. What we get in a skin, we’ll never get in a bottle.

There are two possible explanations for this. It is possible that vitamins only do their work against cancer when they are sitting in a piece of fruit next to the elusive X factor. It seems that in the body, vitamins and the X factor work together to help protect us against cancer. But we don’t know what the X factor is and so cannot add it to the vitamins in the bottles.

The other possible explanation is that vitamins have nothing to do with cancer at all, except that they hang around the same place as the X factor, or even a series of X factors. There may well be something else in fruit and vegetables that we either have not discovered or have found but have ignored that protects us against cancer. We concentrate on vitamins because that is what we know.

To get the maximum benefit from vitamins, we need to go to the right source – the greengrocer.

*107\105\2*

Without realising it, many executives regularly slip into a state of semi-dehydration. This happens particularly to those who drink moderate amounts of coffee or alcohol, smoke or travel a lot by air.

The problem with dehydration is that it is a little-recognised but potent risk factor for stroke, and highly stressed executives, who are vulnerable to stroke anyway, don’t need any extra risk.

Anything that makes the blood thicker is a risk factor for stroke. If the viscosity of the blood increases, it becomes sluggish and more predisposed to clot. Smoking thickens blood. In response to less inhaled oxygen, the body produces extra red blood cells, which in turn make the blood thicker.

Caffeine and alcohol are well-known diuretics and cause a loss of fluid. This reduces the water content of the blood and consequently thickens it. Dehydration in the dry and artificial environment of a plane is common, especially among those who take long-haul flights.

The danger of dehydration is that it can trigger the process that culminates in a stroke even in people with perfectly healthy blood vessels. Clots usually do not form inside healthy arteries because they have a high velocity of flow. Clots can form in healthy veins, however, because in veins there is relative calm.

All that is needed to start a venous thrombosis is one small precipitant. Just as a grain of sand acts as an irritant in an oyster and causes it to form a pearl, so a tiny precipitant in a vein can cause a large clot. But while it takes the oyster years to produce a pearl, a clot can form during one flight from Australia to the UK.

Once a small clot has formed there is a cascading effect and it grows rapidly. And one clot begets another: once it has formed it is recognised as an abnormality in the vessels, adjacent factors clot onto it, and so it expands.

When a well-known 60-something Sydney executive saw the size of his venous clot he was astounded. It was as long as his thumb. The man fit perfectly the description of a dehydrated executive, smoking 70 cigarettes a day, drinking 14 cups of coffee, never touching water and constantly travelling by air.

In the week before the clot declared itself, the executive had been flying to or from Melbourne every night. Early the following week he was sitting at the kitchen table at home in Sydney having a cup of coffee and chatting to his wife when he began to feel strange. ‘Wafty’ was how he described it. A few minutes later he could hear and understand everything his wife was saying but could not respond. ll couldn’t articulate or think. My thoughts wouldn’t come together and I felt my brain closing off.’

A venous clot can form anywhere in the body but in his case it had formed in the main vein draining his brain. The clot caused back pressure, which meant freshly oxygenated blood couldn’t get in to service his brain.

Suddenly, he turned the colour of liver and passed out, only to regain consciousness in the ambulance on the way to hospital.

There, he was given medication to dissolve the clot and strongly
advised to quit smoking and drinking coffee and not to fly long THE DEHYDRATED EXECUTIVE

Without realising it, many executives regularly slip into a state of semi-dehydration. This happens particularly to those who drink moderate amounts of coffee or alcohol, smoke or travel a lot by air.

The problem with dehydration is that it is a little-recognised but potent risk factor for stroke, and highly stressed executives, who are vulnerable to stroke anyway, don’t need any extra risk.

Anything that makes the blood thicker is a risk factor for stroke. If the viscosity of the blood increases, it becomes sluggish and more predisposed to clot. Smoking thickens blood. In response to less inhaled oxygen, the body produces extra red blood cells, which in turn make the blood thicker.

Caffeine and alcohol are well-known diuretics and cause a loss of fluid. This reduces the water content of the blood and consequently thickens it. Dehydration in the dry and artificial environment of a plane is common, especially among those who take long-haul flights.

The danger of dehydration is that it can trigger the process that culminates in a stroke even in people with perfectly healthy blood vessels. Clots usually do not form inside healthy arteries because they have a high velocity of flow. Clots can form in healthy veins, however, because in veins there is relative calm.

All that is needed to start a venous thrombosis is one small precipitant. Just as a grain of sand acts as an irritant in an oyster and causes it to form a pearl, so a tiny precipitant in a vein can cause a large clot. But while it takes the oyster years to produce a pearl, a clot can form during one flight from Australia to the UK.

Once a small clot has formed there is a cascading effect and it grows rapidly. And one clot begets another: once it has formed it is recognised as an abnormality in the vessels, adjacent factors clot onto it, and so it expands.

When a well-known 60-something Sydney executive saw the size of his venous clot he was astounded. It was as long as his thumb. The man fit perfectly the description of a dehydrated executive, smoking 70 cigarettes a day, drinking 14 cups of coffee, never touching water and constantly travelling by air.

In the week before the clot declared itself, the executive had been flying to or from Melbourne every night. Early the following week he was sitting at the kitchen table at home in Sydney having a cup of coffee and chatting to his wife when he began to feel strange. ‘Wafty’ was how he described it. A few minutes later he could hear and understand everything his wife was saying but could not respond. ll couldn’t articulate or think. My thoughts wouldn’t come together and I felt my brain closing off.’

A venous clot can form anywhere in the body but in his case it had formed in the main vein draining his brain. The clot caused back pressure, which meant freshly oxygenated blood couldn’t get in to service his brain.

Suddenly, he turned the colour of liver and passed out, only to regain consciousness in the ambulance on the way to hospital.

There, he was given medication to dissolve the clot and strongly
advised to quit smoking and drinking coffee and not to fly long

*82\105\2*

Parkinson’s disease does not strike only the elderly. One Christmas Peter M.’s friends gave him a carefully wrapped box. Inside he found animal intestines, a heart, a liver and a do-it-yourself medical book. Although the gift was a practical joke, which he took in good humour, it reflected a perception shared by his friends that he was a hypochondriac and was taking his health too seriously. The gift was designed to poke fun at his hypochondria and perhaps shake him out of it. These friends could not work out why he no longer joined in their activities and often seemed tired and low in spirits.

Peter, who was then a banker, would organise outings or weekends away for a few couples only to find he didn’t have the energy to participate. I’d arrange a bushwalk, but when the lime came to go, I was too exhausted to put one foot in front of the other, so I would stay back at the cabin and read.’ He didn’t know what was wrong.

He attributed the constant ache in his shoulder and back to old sporting injuries and thought the fatigue was just part of getting old. But he was only in his 4()s! After a while he realised his left foot was dragging and his left arm didn’t swing when he walked. Rather, it kept a crooked position, almost as if his thumb was in his belt. Eventually he sought medical advice. The first thing the neurologist did was run tests to eliminate the possibility that he had a brain tumour or had suffered a stroke.

With those two knocked out, it seemed clear that Peter had Parkinson’s disease. His symptoms then – fatigue, a frozen shoulder and a dragging foot-are classic signs. He has since developed a tremor, muscle rigidity and bradykinesia – a slowness of movement that he describes as being like walking through treacle.

He was 50 at the time he was diagnosed; however, he could trace his symptoms back at least 10 years. There is a misconception that Parkinson’s is an older person’s affliction: not uncommonly, it first appears in people in their 40s. There are Australians in their 20s who have it, and it is also known to occur in juveniles. Peter continued to work for 2 years after his diagnosis. The bank would have kept him on, but the stress of travelling to the city and dealing with the media and the public, as his job required of him, was too demanding.

‘One thing a Parkinsonian can’t lake is too much stress,’ he says. ‘It makes the symptoms worse. So you learn to avoid stress. Before I was diagnosed, I was already doing tins without realising it. I would avoid social occasions that involved meeting new people, and I thought it was just a change in my attitude to life.’

A positive attitude is an enormous help in coping with the disease. If men pace themselves and know their limitations, they can still function in a limited framework i I they have the right attitude. Men with Parkinson’s can display a wide range of symptoms, but one of the more common is impaired dexterity. A conscious effort may become necessary to cope with previously simple chores. Writing may get progressively smaller and less legible. One man could trace his Parkinson’s through the gradual deterioration of his handwriting on the stubs of chequebooks.

Although the English physician lames Parkinson first described the disease in 1817, its cause is still unknown and there is still no single scientific test for it. Diagnosis is made on symptoms. Parkinson himself thought the disease might stem from rheumatism or bowel inflammation. Victorian doctors thought it resulted from sexual overindulgence. Another theory was that areas of the nervous system wore out at different times and some people just happened to wear out a specific section of the midbrain.

Over the years there have been dozens of new ‘cures’ for the disease, from blood-letting to hemlock to vibrating chairs, but none has worked.

The estimated 30 000 Australians who suffer from Parkinson’s have limited options. Drugs have helped thousands and kept them well for 5 to 10 years. In addition, surgical procedures once considered difficult and risky have now been refined and can restore quality of life to people severely affected by the side effects of long-term medication.

*59\105\2*

Dr Douglas Drossman was waiting for his patient to arrive. Three times the man had cancelled, but this time he had promised to keep his appointment.

As an international expert on irritable bowel syndrome, Dr Drossman understood the reason for the cancellations.

The man, a mid-40s property tycoon, was suffering so badly from an irritable bowel that he was afraid to leave his home in the US Midwest and fly to Dr Drossman at the University of North Carolina.

At one time the man had travelled around the country on business, enduring the bloating, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea that commonly accompany the syndrome. But unexpectedly, at a very public moment, he’d had an episode of incontinence. He’d survived the embarrassment, but when it had happened again he’d made a decision to retreat to his home and conduct all his business from there.

For 2 years he’d hardly ventured out and had eaten as little as possible. His numerous attempts to have his diarrhoea treated had failed.

To Dr Drossman, who has psychiatric as well as gastroenterological training, this man’s condition had a large psychological component. His anxiety about not being able to control his diarrhoea in public had become a problem in its own right. He had ‘catastrophised’ his condition and believed he was helpless to remedy it.

Not only did the anxiety keep him at home, but it also perpetuated the diarrhoea. The man was caught in a vicious cycle. He did, however, manage to keep the appointment with Dr Drossman and explain that once the cramping began he could not control himself for more than 2 minutes.

Dr Drossman look a behavioural approach. lie sent the man to the cinema with instructions that he sit within a 2-minute walk of the bathroom.

With reluctance, the man agreed, and was surprised to find that the proximity of the bathroom reduced his anxiety. He watched a full-length film without experiencing a single cramp. As this type of exercise was repealed and expanded, he gradually regained confidence. Eventually he gained 20 kg and was back travelling.

Psychological factors are also thought to play an important role in other gut disorders, such as reflux, inflammatory bowel disease and ulcers.

Irritable bowel syndrome, which has also been known as spastic colon, mucous colitis and nervous bowel, affects about 10 per cent of adult Australians. It can last for years and is notoriously difficult to treat because of its wide range of symptoms. While it may cause uncontrollable diarrhoea, it may also cause painful constipation. Some men seek help because their bloating and gas are affecting their work. To avoid embarrassment, they frequently have to leave meetings to relieve themselves.

While there is no universal treatment, a combination of diet modification, stress management and medication is usually used.

In China, herbal medicines have been used as a remedy for this condition for centuries. When the herbal remedies were tried on patients in Sydney, the outcome was striking. Those who received the 20-herb combination did two to three times better than those who were given a placebo.

This trial was the first placebo-controlled trial in the use of Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome in the world. Previous studies in China had not been performed to the same rigorous standards.

During the trial, 116 patients received treatment for 16 weeks. While 33 per cent of those on the placebo reported an improvement in their symptoms, more than 70 per cent of those receiving the herbs said they felt better.

The principles of Chinese medicine are different from those of Western pharmacology. Western practice typically involves looking for a single active ingredient, extracting it and using it as a drug. Chinese practice involves looking for the synergy among a number of ingredients. While some herbs in a combination may not act directly on the body, they may boost the function of other herbs being used.

The 20 herbs used in this instance are not easily identifiable in the West. One, for example, is the root of the white peony flower, which contains chemicals that relax smooth muscle.

There are plans for the commercial production of this 20-herb preparation.

*34\105\2*

Benjamin Franklin was wrong. His famous maxim that ‘early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’ has no basis in fact.

While it might give early risers a sense of moral superiority, it gives them no practical advantage over those who rise late.

When epidemiologists in the UK tested the accuracy of this maxim on 1200 people, they looked at sleeping patterns and classified people as larks and owls. Those who were in bed before 11 p.m. and up before 8 a.m. were larks, while those who fell into bed after 11 p.m. and rose after 8 a.m. were owls. In terms of health, wealth and cognitive performance, the owls were no worse off than the larks.

What makes a critical difference is the quality and quantity of sleep larks and owls enjoy.

Restful sleep unbroken by heavy snoring, episodes of sleep apnoea or other nocturnal disorders can work miracles. It rests the body and allows muscles to recover from constant use during the day. It allows the metabolism to slow and the immune system to repair damage and fight infection. Sleep also triggers the secretion of growth hormone. During a good stretch, testosterone production rises too.

When sleep is fragmented and truncated over long periods, growth hormone secretion is affected. There is an established link between this hormone and obesity: as growth hormone decreases with broken sleep, the chances of gaining weight increase.

Bad sleep also affects testosterone levels. Army recruits who were deprived of sleep for an experiment displayed a marked drop in testosterone. Testosterone is an important factor in male libido. Men with low levels of this hormone have little interest in sex. They have even less interest if they are also tired and grumpy.

The genuine value of sleep can be seen clearly in the consequences of sleep deprivation.

Sleep deprivation is a well-known form of human torture. It breaks people mentally and then it breaks them physically. I deprived of sleep, animals develop skin rashes and immune problems, lose weight and are unable to control their body temperature. Ultimately, it can lead to premature death: rats, for example, will die after 40 days of severe sleep deprivation.

It would be unethical to subject humans to long-term sleep I deprivation in order to study its consequences, but shorter studies have shown that the first effects on humans of sleep deprivation are psychological. Initially, people become irritable. Later, they start displaying cognitive impairment and their executive and higher-order functions deteriorate. Next their memory slips, their visual-spatial perception is affected and they begin taking more risks and making more mistakes than usual.

Biologically, their ability to control their blood-sugar level is compromised and their sensitivity to insulin increases. Immune function, blood pressure and heart disease can also be adversely affected by lack of sleep.

Snoring disrupts sleep and increases men’s risk of heart attacks, and sleep apnoea intensifies this risk. Severe apnoea, which causes sleepers to stop breathing for a few seconds repeatedly throughout the night, can put extreme stress on the heart. Men who stop breathing between ten and fourteen times an hour during sleep have a risk of heart disease more than four times higher than that of the general population.

There is increasing evidence that sleep apnoea is linked to hypertension and an increased loss in brain cells, resulting in early senility.

Men suffering sleep apnoea may wake with a headache or feeling as if they had too much to drink the night before. As the day progresses they feel sleepy, can’t concentrate, yawn a lot and have difficulty finishing sentences. There are treatments for apnoea (mentioned in the section ‘Quieter Sleep’ on p. 23), just as there are things you can do yourself to improve your chances of getting better sleep.

Go to bed and get up at regular times.

Maintain sleep hygiene by ensuring you have a comfortable bed and a dark, quiet room that is the right temperature.

Create calm: avoid conflict before sleep, and don’t work or watch TV in bed.

Avoid things that interfere with sleep, such as evening caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and rich foods.

Watch your liquid intake before bed: a full bladder will wake you.

Exercise (but not strenuously) late in the evening: taking a

gentle walk 1 or 2 hours before bedtime can be productive.

Establish a bedtime routine: help yourself to get into the mood for sleep by bathing, brushing your teeth, setting the alarm etc.

Men who struggle to fall asleep and who walk the floors at night should be aware that eventually they will collapse into sleep. The human drive for sleep is so strong that it is impossible to keep a person fully awake and alert for more than 3 or 4 days.

*10\105\2*