REATMENT OF ALCOHOL PROBLEMS: ALCOHOL ABUSEAlcohol abuse is similar to alcohol dependence (alcoholism) except for the absence of physical dependence, that is withdrawal and/or tolerance. Practically speaking, alcohol abuse can be considered to be present when there is a pattern of alcohol problems and the sense that alcoholism is “just around the corner.” Alcohol abuse may be present in an individual even if loss of control is unclear because there may have been no efforts to control or moderate alcohol use. If physical dependence and loss of control have not occurred, then moderation of drinking practices from a physiological standpoint is possible. However, depending upon the person’s social situation and life circumstances, this may still represent a monumental feat. Consider the college student who is heavily into the partying and drinking set. Changing drinking patterns will require marked changes in the student’s circle of friends, daily routine, and choices of recreational activities. To achieve this magnitude of change will require the client be engaged in more than a Dutch uncle talk!To do this, to our minds, requires that the individual be engaged in some formal alcohol treatment, which involves alcohol education, individual counseling, and participation in a group with others in the same situation. Monitoring the individual’s efforts to moderate alcohol use and avoid future problems is imperative. Through this process, in a number of cases, evidence may mount that there is loss of control, or preoccupation with drinking. Therefore abstinence and alcoholism treatment is now needed. In essence, if efforts to address alcohol abuse are unsuccessful, the diagnosis of alcoholism can now be made.*95\331\2*

ASTHMA: TRAPS FOR THE UNWARYNow for the moment you’ve been waiting for, when you can start playing detective to your own body: innocent heir to generations of genes and perhaps not-so-innocent victim of assaults dating back to childhood.The Pulse TestAlthough it has some shortcomings, the pulse test is a simple screening procedure that may at least provide some insight into the problem to the alert patient and therapist. Unfortunately, some people regard it as a conclusive test rather than a pointer in the right direction.Muscle and Kinesiology TestsThese can be very useful and accurate, provided the relevant measurements are taken very carefully. The muscle test consists simply of asking someone to hold their arm out and resist any pressure you apply to the arm to force it down. After noting how difficult or easy (if you are much bigger and stronger) it is for you to do this, you place a small amount of the substance to be tested under the patient’s tongue and wait a few seconds. Then you repeat the exercise. If the patient is allergic to the substance, he or she will notice immediately that it is much harder to resist the pressure applied to the arm. Unfortunately the test has some pitfalls and requires very careful administration.Elimination Testing: Avoidance-Challenge Tests Avoidance-challenge tests are probably the simplest to perform and, if carried out accurately and with the proper preparation, can give a great deal of information. The biggest point in their favour, of course, is that they can be performed by anyone at home without outside assistance.The Provocative Fasting-Challenge TestsIn the fasting-challenge test, the patient is asked to go home and fast totally for four days. Once again, care must be taken to drink only distilled or purified water and avoid exposure to chemicals such as perfumes, aerosol sprays, gas heaters, tobacco smoke, car-exhaust fumes, polishes and so on, and air-borne inhalants such as dust and mould spores. By this method, your body gets into a pristine state in which its response to an offending substance will be swift and dramatic.On the fifth day you start to eat, carefully re-introducing, one at a time, each member of the avoided food family until some or all of the original symptoms return.The Cytotoxic TestThe name ‘cytotoxic’ is taken from the Greek word for cell (cytol), and the test is designed to find if a food may be toxic to the cells in your body. Most experts in allergies and environmental medicine have stopped using this test in all but a few special cases, because the cost is not often justified by the results. Since the procedure is very convenient we still use it occasionally with children or people who are unable to try any sort of diet.A little blood is collected and parts of it are placed on a slide which is coated with a specific food. Well over 100 different foods, as well as some chemicals, can thus be tested from a single sitting by the patient. A technician then examines the way in which cells are damaged by contact with various foods and the reaction is graded with plus signs (+). One plus signifies a borderline likelihood that the food is toxic, two plusses indicate a slight probability, three a moderate one and four a stronger probability.This is where the problem begins. First, the results depend heavily on the skills, experience and even the enthusiasm of the technician. The bias of the laboratory promoting the test may also influence the eventual outcome. Here is what a world expert on cytotoxic tests, Dr Robert Pottenger Jr, has to say:… It is important to choose a reliable, unbiased lab with good, responsible technicians, because if he or she only gives a quick glance to the test preparation, there is a risk in making false positive readings. A careful, time-consuming study is required in equivocal preparations.The ALCAT Test (Antigen Leucocyte Cellular Antibody Test)This is the latest and most accurate cytotoxic test, but in my experience it is still not accurate enough to be used as the sole means of identifying food allergies or intolerances without corroborating evidence from challenges.ConclusionSo, cytotoxic tests are not very useful tools for a definitive diagnosis and even less useful for the implementation of any therapeutic regimen. While the original cytotoxic test is quite unreliable even as a screening method, the ALCAT test appears to be a much more useful screening procedure, especially for children or adults whose time constraints do not permit other, more involved, methods.Fortunately there are other techniques by which food sensitivities, allergies and intolerances can be measured, and they also provide the method to either desensitise the patient or neutralise the allergy.The Radio Allergo Sorbent (RAST) Test for Food AllergiesAnother blood test sometimes used for food allergies (although it is much more accurate for Candida, inhalants and some chemicals) is the RAST test which measures specific (IgE) antibodies’ responses to food fragments. There is very little chance of this test giving a false positive, although the patient may not be aware of any symptoms associated with ingestion of that particular food.The Intradermal or Sublingual Challenge Test This is the most accurate of all food and chemical allergies tests. It consists of asking the patient to grade the severity of his or her symptoms. These estimates are then used as a benchmark. Then a concentrated solution of the suspected substance is applied under the tongue. Various physiological responses, such as the pulse rate, can then be measured and, of course, one notes the onset or aggravation of symptoms.The Cell-Mediated Immunity (CMI) TestProbably one of the most important tests, the CMI is also known as the ‘Multitest’. It allows the doctor to know if a patient is ‘anergic’ — that is, unable to mount a response/defence against some organism or factor. This is a clear indication that the immune system is in trouble and often most other allergy tests will be negative, in spite of the patient being affected, sometimes dramatically, by ingestion or exposure to the substance in question. It is a negative correlation test; in other words, it is significant when there is a negative or low score.*41\145\2*

BASIC FORMS OF DIABETES MELLITUSIn general, two basic forms of diabetes mellitus exist. One form occurs mostly in adolescents, and the second later in life. The first is called juvenile, or growth-onset, diabetes mellitus, and the second form is called maturity-onset, or adult, diabetes mellitus. The difference between these two types is very interesting. The adult form of the disease is usually characterized by a gradual onset, and studies of the blood and pancreas in these persons typically demonstrate the presence of insulin, but in decreased amounts. These findings are compatible with the long-held theory about the origin of diabetes mellitus in that the disease is due to a premature wearing out of the pancreas with its resultant decrease in insulin production.In the case of juvenile onset diabetes, examiners were surprised to find that some patients with this disease, shortly after its onset, had a normal amount of insulin circulating in their blood and that their pancreas also contained normal, or greater than normal, amounts of insulin. In a period of months, however, insulin completely disappeared from their blood and from their pancreas. This finding led to the postulation that there might be something present in these young people that was using up an abnormal amount of insulin, with the result that the pancreas becomes exhausted from over-stimulation and finally is unable to produce any insulin at all. This unknown agent could be a substance in the body that combines with insulin to prevent it from acting in a normal manner, or perhaps another organ in the body, such as the liver, might remove the insulin from the blood before it has a chance to function.Another characteristic of this disease is its tendency to occur in relatives of persons who have the disease, or to be inherited. Relatives of diabetics have a chance of developing diabetes two and a half times greater than that of the general population. This inherited disease may first show symptoms at any age. A grandparent may have the disease, and then diabetes may occur in a grandchild during early adolescence. Finally, the child’s parent may develop the disease several years after it appeared in the child.*2/309/5*