Might BDD also involve certain brain regions—for example, regions that are rich in serotonin? That is, can subtle anomalies in certain brain structures be identified? Recent brain-imaging techniques have greatly advanced the search for abnormalities in brain structure and functioning in a variety of psychiatric disorders. To my knowledge, only one brain imaging study of [...]

If you have children it is a safe bet that you want them to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Apples, peaches, apricots, pears and many vegetables are regularly sprayed with daminozide, a pesticide accused of causing cancer. Children weigh less than adults and are also biochemically more sensitive and potentially at least more [...]

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a syndrome of inflammatory disease of the female upper genital tract, particularly the fallopian tubes (salpingitis) and other adnexal structures. The major sexually transmitted infections which may cause the initial episode of PID are gonorrhoeae and chlamydia. The pathogenicity of the genital mycoplasmas including Ureaplasma urealyticum and other organisms is [...]

Aseptic arthritis associated with genital tract infection is the commonest cause of acute arthritis in young adults. Reiter’s disease is a syndrome characterised by reactive arthropathy, eye involvement and urethritis. It usually follows infection with С trachomatis. It is IS times more common in men than in women and is manifested by urethritis with one [...]

Combating Dermatitis In another big advance, dermatologists have learned to control allergic skin inflammation, or contact dermatitis. For 14 years, Renate Charbonneau, a hairdresser in Milwaukie, Oregon, suffered unknowingly from chemicals in acid permanent-wave solutions. They caused severe eczema on her hands. Cortisone ointment relieves the pain, she says, adding, “By avoiding the acid perms [...]

The overall function of the kidneys is to maintain the normal composition and volume of the blood. This is accomplished by four interrelated activities. (1) Wastes of metabolism are excreted. These include urea, uric acid, creatinine ammonia, sulfates and other products of metabolism, and toxic substances. (2)  The amounts of fluid and electrolytes that are [...]

Of all the tasks of childhood, there is perhaps none that raises more anxiety for parents or causes more dread than toilet training. What should be the most natural thing in the world often turns into a dramatic struggle between parent and child. The more the parents want their child to be trained, the more [...]

There are some new operations for reconstructive surgery that are “one step” and do not require lengthy or multiple hospitalizations. Take some time first, and then consider that possibility if you think it might be helpful. As with the tubes they put in men’s penises for erection, there is no “need” to do so. Such [...]

William Masters and Virginia Johnson observed the sexual behavior of 382 women and 312 men for a total of 10,000 individual sexual-response cycles. Their courageous and pioneering work not only provided long-needed medical knowledge about sexuality, but allowed the public and medical acknowledgment that sexual problems were a part of many, if not most, sexual [...]

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, has struck terror into many of the population and may well have caused many people unnecessary worry. First described in 1981, there have been around 6000 cases since in the United States. Unfortunately, nearly 70 per cent of these are dead within two years. The high risk groups in [...]