Archive for August, 2006

The Abdomen

Abdominal troubles of advancing years are much more significant than those of youth. Within the abdomen, the factory of the body, any organ may have difficulty, but these organs, their functions and diseases are very vague to most people and study of them is very enlightening.

Examination of the Abdomen

Examine the bare abdomen in a well lighted room, before a full length mirror, in both standing and reclining positions.

1. Observe the abdominal skin for a yellow discoloration, called jaundice, frequently associated with gallbladder and liver disease.

2. Observe the hair growth over the chest and abdomen. An abundance of hair popularly indicates manliness in male,
but masculine hair distribution on the female may mean ovarian or adrenal gland difficulty.

3. In lying-down position, we normally can see our toes. If the abdomen rises to block this view then it is abnormally enlarged. If a “spare tire” can easily be lifted, it is possible that we are overweight.

4. Examine the skin for visible blood vessels. A few fine veins and skin blemishes are usually present at the age of fifty, but large vivid veins may signal cirrhosis or similar liver disease.

5. Feel the abdomen-the fifty year old skin should have a doughy firmness. A tight shiny skin in a ballooned-up abdomen may mean excessive fluid or tumor growth inside

Fig. 73. The abdominal region is the vague container of vague organs. Its many diseases and many symptoms produce multitudes of confusing complaints. It is actually easily understood with a simple study of its mechanics. The abdomen is the factory of the body. Food enters here, is ground up and chemically digested. The useful part is absorbed into the body, but the useless portion is separated and thrown out as waste. It is the most efficient factory in the world.

and if a “pit” remains after firmly pressing the finger into the skin, abnormal swelling is present, possibly indicating heart or kidney disease.

6. While lying down, feel the abdomen above the navel. The normal abdomen slopes downward from the ribs, both sides are alike, and no tenderness is present. Tender enlargements in the right side may signal liver, gallbladder or right kidney disease. Enlargement in the left side could indicate disease of the stomach, left kidney or spleen. It is difficult to feel these organs separately or accurately.

7. Feel the abdomen in the navel region. A mass in this region of any size is distinctly abnormal and could be a tumor growth of the intestines, colon, or even of the major blood vessels themselves. Enlargement at the navel which appears when standing and straining, but disappears when lying down, is likely to be a rupture (hernia).

8. Feel the abdomen below the umbilicus or navel. It is normally not tender or painful in any way. A definite soreness suggests possible disease such as appendicitis, bowel difficulties, or ovarian difficulty in the female. A movable ball-like mass in the lower abdomen of the female could mean growth of the ovaries or uterus.

Liver gall bladder
Stomach
Colon
Intestine bladder
Appendix

Fig. 74. The open abdomen appears complicated. The stomach, intestine, and colon make up the alimentary tract where digested food is absorbed. The chemical processes involved are still poorly understood, but continue to function anyway.

9. In the standing position observe any visible enlargement in the lower abdomen. Strain purposely and note any protrusion which appears just to the side of the pubic bone. This is likely a hernia or rupture, which is usually not painful and often falls back into the abdomen on lying down.

Keywords: Skin, Head, Eye, Ear, Cancer, Face, Lips, Teeth, Thyroid, Chest, Breast, Lungs, Heart, Nail, Asthma, Tongue, Neck, BP, Migraine, Scalp, Eczema, Shingles

Angina Pectoris Pain. Angina Pectoris is a well-known heart chest pain. Like all heart pain, it is due to heart arteries that do not bring enough blood to the heart muscle while it is working. The pain is felt when the heart is working hard and demanding more blood, such as walking uphill, walking or running too fast, and during severe emotional upsets.

The heart artery in angina pectoris is narrow because of a

Fig. 72. Pain of Angina Pectoris. Pain is felt in the heart muscle because its blood supply is reduced by a heart artery which is clamped down or in “spasm.” “Spasm,” which narrows or closes the artery, is related to work (e.g., walking up hill), tobacco and emotional upset. Often a little alcohol helps to relax the condition. Tobacco is restricted in nearly all cases.

temporary spasm of the artery itself and this temporary feature distinguishes angina from the permanently narrowed artery of arteriosclerosis. Relaxing this constricted artery, and allowing it to dilate, allows more blood to be delivered to the heart muscle again and the pain of angina pectoris is relieved.

Ordinarily, patients with angina pectoris have a so-called emotional nature, with possibly intensified spasms of the artery. Because of this, they are usually advised against factors such as tobacco, which stimulates the body and blood vessels. Many doctors forbid their patients any tobacco with the first symptoms of angina pectoris, and following this, heart pain may be completely relieved.

Sometimes these patients are advised on the use of alcohol as a medicine. In the form of whiskey, alcohol is noted for its ability to relax the arteries of the heart and help dispel the pain of angina pectoris. Heart pain probably is most often caused not just by one, but rather a combination of diseases. Actually, some authorities believe angina pectoris pain rarely occurs without the presence of arteriosclerosis, and others believe that real heart attacks also rarely occur without the presence of some arteriosclerosis. Thus, the easy separation of heart diseases on paper is not quite so clearly defined within the chest wall. We may study the types of heart pains and learn to distinguish them from pains which are not coming from within the heart. It is felt moreover, that such a study will prompt the individual to visit his physician regularly even before any heart pain should make itself felt.

Heart diseases are most difficult to deal with. If this were not so, we should not have so great a number of physicians dying of heart diseases each year. It takes the best of medical brains, with the help of laboratory tests, to deal adequately with genuine heart disease. While things to do, and things not to do for the individual, may be very important in his routine way, total evaluation of the heart patient and his activities must finally be dictated by his physician.

Keywords: Skin, Head, Eye, Ear, Cancer, Face, Lips, Teeth, Thyroid, Chest, Breast, Lungs, Heart, Nail, Asthma, Tongue, Neck, BP, Migraine, Scalp, Eczema, Shingles

Arteriosclerotic Heart Disease Pain. Arteriosclerosis is our second type of heart disease to cause chest pain. In this disease, the heart artery probably along with other arteries of the body, has a much thickened and roughened wall, which may greatly reduce the inside channel of the artery. This narrowed coronary artery channel allows a flow of blood through it which is insufficient to maintain the heart in a satisfactory and well-nourished state. We can now see why the name “coronary insufficiency” is sometimes used instead of arteriosclerotic heart disease.

Arteriosclerosis causes a good deal of narrowing in the heart artery of some people, and very little in others. Since the insufficiency of blood to the heart will therefore vary, the pain produced will also vary. With just a little arteriosclerosis, heart pain

Fig. 71. Pain of Arteriosclerosis. Pain is felt in the heart muscle because the blood supply is greatly reduced by the diseased and narrowed heart artery. The disease is termed arteriosclerosis (artery-sclerosis), which gradually closes and narrows the artery until it can’t carry enough blood. The undersupply of blood to the heart (ischemia) results in pain of possibly severe degree.

may not be noticed at all unless great exertion or hard work is undertaken. Then, the hard-working heart may demand two “or three times more blood, but if its narrowed arteries cannot deliver this great an increase, pain will develop. We are allowed therefore, to work our hearts only in proportion to the size of our “coronaries,” and their ability to carry blood, because with further exertion, pain will be definitely felt. A few people have such severe arteriosclerosis, that their narrowed heart arteries cannot deliver sufficient blood to the heart even while they are resting, and when even rest itself is too much effort for the heart “rest pain” in the chest results. Immediate medical care is necessary for these hearts or the future is dark indeed.

Keywords: Skin, Head, Eye, Ear, Cancer, Face, Lips, Teeth, Thyroid, Chest, Breast, Lungs, Heart, Nail, Asthma, Tongue, Neck, BP, Migraine, Scalp, Eczema, Shingles

Heart Attack Pain. What can we say of the pain in the “heart attack?” We know now that all heart pain is due to a lack of blood supply to the heart muscle. In the heart attack, a blood clot has plugged one of the heart coronary arteries to reduce the blood supply. For this reason the heart attack is sometimes called a “coronary” or “coronary thrombosis.” If most of the plugged

Fig. 70. Pain of Heart Attack. Pain is felt in the heart muscle when it is deprived of its blood supply. The supply is reduced or blocked by a clot in the heart (coronary) artery. “Coronary thrombosis”-or “coronary” for short-means a heart artery is blocked by a blood clot. Almost invariably, pain is felt behind the breast bone. From there it may appear to travel into the arms or neck. Heart attack also has other symptoms, such as difficulty in getting the breath (dyspnea), a feeling of pressure on the chest (orthopnea), and perhaps nausea and vomiting.

heart artery is still functioning well, with the blood clot plug out near its end, then only a small portion of heart muscle will be deprived of its blood supply, and the pain will not be very severe. A new pathway of small arteries called a collateral circulation, usually will build up about this area in approximately six weeks to two months. Thus, a mild coronary goes on to recovery. We may remember national figures or personal friends who have gone through such an experience.

The other side of the picture in heart attack is more foreboding. If one of the heart arteries is plugged with a blood clot near its beginning, a large portion of heart muscle will be deprived of blood. In this case a major portion of the heart cannot go on, and the patient will die. In such cases, the frequent story is that “he dropped dead on the spot.”

Suppose, however, a heart artery is plugged with a blood clot somewhere between its beginning and end, approximately in its middle. In this case, everything depends upon how much heart muscle is put out of function by lack of blood supply. If the remaining, well-nourished heart can do the whole job, and will also lend some of its blood supply to the deprived heart region, the patient probably will go on to recovery. Otherwise, this patient’s outlook is poor.

The pain in a heart attack is obviously present only while the patient is still conscious, but in heart victims who recover, severe pain in the chest may last for a day or more, accompanied by other symptoms as well. Modern medicine can do much to save the heart attack patient, but obviously, very little when his future is measured in minutes. Probably the best thing the patient with a severe heart attack can have is a clear conscience as he is about to meet the Master Physician very shortly.

Keywords: Skin, Head, Eye, Ear, Cancer, Face, Lips, Teeth, Thyroid, Chest, Breast, Lungs, Heart, Nail, Asthma, Tongue, Neck, BP, Migraine, Scalp, Eczema, Shingles

Heart Pain-The usual cause of heart pain is directly due to a too-small supply of blood to the muscle of the heart itself. This is hard to understand when we know that all of the body blood goes through the heart itself to be circulated. The fact is, however, that the heart muscle actually is receiving an under-supply of this blood for itself. The explanation is as follows: The heart pumps the blood out into the main artery called the aorta, which has small branch arteries directed backward, to pierce and feed the muscular wall of the heart. These heart arteries are the coronary arteries, and if for any reason they cannot carry the supply of blood required by the heart muscle at the moment, the blood hungry heart cries out in the only way it can-with pain. This makes heart pain understandable.

When pain in the chest is caused by the heart, it is nearly always felt just in back of the breastbone, but it may travel down toward the abdomen, up into the neck, or out through either shoulder or arm. The most common path for radiation of pain seems to be into and down the left arm. Heart pain may vary considerably in amount and length of time. While the production of heart pain is always due to a lack of blood to the heart muscle, the mechanics producing this lowered supply of blood may differ, and therein is created the several different types of heart disease attended by chest pain.

1. Heart Attack-sometimes called: “Coronary Thrombosis,” “Myocardial Infarction,” or “A Coronary.”
2. Arteriosclerosis sometimes called: “Coronary Insufficiency.”
3. Angina Pectoris known as: “Temporary Ischemia.”

Keywords: Skin, Head, Eye, Ear, Cancer, Face, Lips, Teeth, Thyroid, Chest, Breast, Lungs, Heart, Nail, Asthma, Tongue, Neck, BP, Migraine, Scalp, Eczema, Shingles

Heartburn may be very severe, but can usually be identified by several characteristics. It often becomes much worse soon after eating; it is sometimes relieved by standing up; it is frequently made worse by bending forward or by lying down. Heartburn is suddenly relieved with a drink of soda water, or sometimes even plain water, and this miraculously sudden relief is felt because the irritating acid in the esophagus was washed down into the stomach again.
This is a very common chest pain, and is often thought to be

Fig. 68. The name heartburn is misleading. The burning pain has nothing to do with the heart, but is felt in the area thought of as the “heart.” The source of “heartburn” pain is the swallowing tube (esophagus) which is “burned” by stomach acids washing upward toward the mouth. These stomach acids irritate the esophagus, causing intense pain. The patient may fear a heart attack, but is relieved when the acid is washed down with water, soda or milk.

coming from the heart. But when it has been present for a while, a person usually thinks of it as his “indigestion.” There is only one real danger here. When a person who has been accustomed to the pain of heartburn, really does have some heart difficulty, he is likely to confuse the two and to regard the real heart pain also as “indigestion.”

Pain in the chest may have its cause in the abdomen. These pains are relatively uncommon and are usually identified by the fact that they occur the same time after meals, or after certain types of food. The stomach, gallbladder, pancreas and some difficulties of the colon (discussed in another chapter) occasionally cause chest pain. It may take a careful physical examination on the part of the physician, to reveal the source of the pain, which will eventually be found to be outside of the chest itself.

As in all parts of the body, chest pain may be more imagined than real. This type of pain occurs in a group of people who have hypnotized themselves to think that they have heart trouble. Many explanations for this type of “heart trouble,” eventually come to be regarded as a lazy person’s excuse for his

Fig. 69. Heart pain varies greatly in intensity and duration. Its location, however, follows a fairly typical pattern involving the left chest, neck and inner surface of the left arm.

unwillingness to work, or to explain his failure at a certain work. Most of these people with imagined chest pain, who complain of heart disease for years, have had several good doctors tell them, that there is nothing wrong. However, the patient fears losing his good excuse (heart disease), above anything else, and therefore, the complaint goes on and on. These people rarely die of heart disease, but it may take a physician skilled in psychiatry to uncover this patient’s problem.

Keywords: Skin, Head, Eye, Ear, Cancer, Face, Lips, Teeth, Thyroid, Chest, Breast, Lungs, Heart, Nail, Asthma, Tongue, Neck, BP, Migraine, Scalp, Eczema, Shingles