Abortion

Abortion is the expulsion of the fetus either through induced or natural means.  I am discussing induced abortion.  The supporters of pro-life definitely think that abortion is a serious problem in society.  Whereas the supporters of pro-choice contemplate that abortion is not a problem at all.  As you can see, there is a dichotomy of people who see abortion as a problem and others who dont see it as a problem at all.  The pro-choice people believe that life does not begin in the uterus; the fetus is not alive, so when there is an abortion, they say there is no killing of any life.

On the other hand, the supporters of pro-life consider that life begins in the uterus, therefore, when a fetus is aborted, a life is taken or killed.  Hence, it is a serious problem.  Now how do we get over this problem of abortion in the society? Well, were to look at different aspects before we decide what ought to be done.  

Non-Spiritual Solutions

The supporters of pro-choice think that the solution to abortion had already been found.  On January 23, 1973 the Supreme Court in the case of Roe versus Wade decided or gave a verdict that, in the first trimester the pregnant woman on advice of a doctor can medically terminate a fetus.  However, during the second and third trimesters the state has to give permission for abortion.¹ Thus, the supporters of pro-choice consider that the solution had already been given by the Supreme Court in the United States of America for abortion to be legally performed.  Nonetheless, the supporters of pro-life think that the Supreme Court wrongly passed the verdict.

The pro-lifers believe life starts in the womb.  After about four weeks of gestation, the heart begins to beat and they perceive that life has already begun.  The pro-lifers believe that abortion should not be conducted in any given situation.  They believe what the Bible says in Exodus 20:13 Thou shall not kill.  They say that when one aborts, it is killing, so one cannot play God and take somebodys life.  The pro-lifers also quote Jeremiah 1:5 where it tells us that the Lord had chosen the prophet Jeremiah from the womb of his mother.  With this text the pro-lifers argue that God chooses people or creates life in the womb itself therefore, abortion cannot be conducted.  Im not taking any sides on either pro-abortion or anti-abortion. Im just going to give the reasons for either side choosing their stance.

The reasons for abortion are several. The health of the mother is of the utmost importance.  If a woman has an ectopic pregnancy (the fertilized egg is implanted in the fallopian tube and the pregnancy develops in the fallopian tube), it is detrimental to the mother because the fetus grows in the fallopian tube.  As the embryo or the fetus grows in the fallopian tube, it becomes really dangerous to the mother. If it were not surgically removed, the mother would die. The other reasons for abortions are fetal abnormalities like hydrocephaly and anencephaly, and chromosomal aberrations detected through amniocentesis such as trisomy 18, trisomy 21 (Downs Syndrome), fetus with Philadelphia chromosome, that is 22p-, which could lead to leukemia. All these conditions are the reasons for abortion.  Still other reasons are rape or incest.  All these cases could warrant an abortion.

The reasons against abortion is that one should not take life; abortion methods are very inhumane; the mother may have a lot of physical complications such as hemorrhage and fistulae; and once abortion takes place, the pregnant woman cannot conceive again or it may lead to spontaneous abortions.  The other reason is psychological complication like PAS (Post Abortion Syndrome). The woman who experiences abortion would experience nightmares and have suicidal tendencies. It is also said that when one aborts, one is playing God and that should not be done.   One other reason is that the unwanted baby can be given up for adoption. To conclude, the solution is purely in the hands of the pregnant woman. She should decide with her relatives, friends. 

Spiritual Solutions

Pray to God to guide her decision in accordance with His will.  If the mothers health is in jeopardy, like in an ectopic pregnancy where there is no way that the fetus would be viable, there should be an abortion otherwise the mother would die too.  Conditions like incest and rape require the seeking of advice and constant prayer for insight into Gods will with regards to having an abortion. We cannot say that abortion is 100% right or 100% wrong.  It is in the hands of the pregnant girl or woman whether or not she should undergo an abortion.

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 Accidents

There are different types of accidents: road accidents, fire accidents, accidents in the sea or in the air, accidents at home, and accidents out in the open.  There are different causes for different accidents.  In fact, the word accident means something that has happened without any premeditation or planning.  We can identify some of the causes for its manifestation but some we cannot know. When an accident takes place on the road, sometimes that accident has no particular cause.  It is just that when a person was driving, he may have had a flat tire or brakes failed, which sent the vehicle out of control and into an oncoming vehicle.  It was not premeditated, it was not the fault of the driver, it was nobodys fault, it just happened.  Sometimes, however, we may be able to identify a cause. A driver might drink alcohol and when he drives he may not be in his total senses and may then cause an accident.

When there is a gun in the house, a licensed firearm, of course if it is not properly hidden from the children, it may be stumbled across and while playing with it, may cause an accident.  Do not keep licensed guns within childrens reach.  Sometimes licensed guns can be a temptation to adults who may consider homicide in a fit of anger or commit suicide in a state of utter depression.  Hence, it is not advisable to keep guns in the house. 

 Non-Spiritual Solutions

Regarding the solutions of any accident, always remember, Prevention is better than cure.  It is better to prevent an accident than to find a cure after the accident has taken place.

             Road accidents: Do not drink alcohol and drive. It is easier said than done. Many people know better and still continue to drive under the influence of alcohol. There should be stricter law to punish those guilty of drinking and driving.  Whether it is road accidents or airplane crashes or accidents on the sea, the concerned management should take extensive measures of precaution.  When the weather is very icy, windy or a hurricane is developing or there are other weather problems, management needs to decide not to permit an aircraft to take off if it is really detrimental to the lives of the passengers.  The airplanes, ships or vehicles on the road should be properly maintained.  If vehicles are not well maintained, this could lead to faulty driving, tire blowouts, brake faults, disconnection of car parts and eventually an accident.

              Another piece of advice regarding road accidents is, whenever possible, drive during daytime.   Avoid driving long distance during the night.  Driving in the night, when ones vision is limited, leaves opportunities for serious accidents.  Research has shown that more serious accidents have occurred during the nights than during the day. Road rules should be followed.  In fact, when you apply for your drivers license, you should learn all the road rules in order to pass the exam. Once you have passed the exam you must not forget those rules and from time to time, you should browse through the book of rules.  At times we may forget some of the rules while driving so its good to brush up on them and adhere to them.  While driving, wear your seatbelt at all times even for a 1-minute drive.  Cars should be bought with airbags and those without should be fitted with airbags.  Baby seats should be used to transport infants on the backseat of the car.  Motorcycle riders must wear helmets.  Helmets can save lives.  They may not prevent an accident but they can save lives.  When you find a person or persons involved in road accidents, try to help either by calling emergency services or transporting the injured.  Regarding fire accident, do not leave a matchbox where children can find.  Always check gas stove tubes.  Smokers are not supposed to throw cigarette butts just anywhere.

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Acne Vulgaris

          This is formation of pimples especially on the face, neck and chest. Persons between ages 13-35 years suffer from acne vulgaris problem.  Even persons outside this age group may also suffer from this problem but the condition is less severe. But it affects the teenagers mostly, which may be an irritation to them.

          Sebaceous gland increases sebum production during the teens life because of increased hormonal levels, especially androgen, which in turn gives an oily appearance and predisposes the particular individual to acne.  Personal hygiene could also contribute to this problem.  With good hygiene, acne vulgaris will be less severe but with poor hygiene, it will intensify because the sebaceous gland ducts are blocked by dirt when they produce sebum, hence giving rise to more acne.  High fatty foods like butter and oils also predispose a teenager to acne. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

We cannot completely avoid acne vulgaris in the teen years because of large increases in hormonal levels, especially during puberty.  We can however, cut down on the production of acne.  Persons with acne problems must maintain good personal hygiene.  When the face is washed and kept clean, the ducts of the sebum are well cleared and are not blocked.  The person should not be exposed to a lot of stress and strain because during this time, more hormones are produced.  Persons with acne problems must eat less fatty foods.  Teenagers might speculate that they are eating less fat than their friends who have no acne problems at all, and how come they are suffering? Thus they may reason food doesnt really have anything to do with acne.  However, for some people that may eat a lot of fat, acne may not be a problem because they are not susceptible to it.  Others who are susceptible to acne should cut down on fatty foods irrespective of whether or not their friends eat high fatty food and do not suffer. They should avoid junk food as much as possible.  The affected person may not be able to prevent the acne but can decrease the presence of acne.

If the acne is very severe, the patient should see a medical doctor.  Topical antibiotics have been found to reduce acne especially comedone lesions.  Benzoyl peroxide is also helpful in treating acne.²

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Adulterations in Foods

Grocery traders who have no scruples in life try to earn more money for less quality and quantity. They try to adulterate food, for example, some merchants add small stones or paddy or other small substances to rice grains so that the weight of the rice will increase and they would get more money for less of the actual product.  We have to be aware that adulteration really does take place.  In the United States of America, the Food and Drug Administration monitors and tries to ensure that there is no adulteration in foods.  In many developing countries however, the adulterations are rampant and dominant.  There are adulterations in many   food items like lentils, cereals, and oil.  As long as it can be done, the unscrupulous merchants and food handlers do it. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

Always check with other shoppers.  Regular shoppers at various places are more likely to be able to inform you of unscrupulous merchants and their grocery stores.  When somebody reports that a particular grocery store is guilty of adulterating foods, do not go there to shop.  If you wish to help others, you should not just avoid that particular supermarket, but report them to higher authorities.  There are a lot of milkmen who add water to the milk in order to gain more profit.  One can purchase a lactometer that can detect how much percentage of milk is in the product or if any water has been added.  There are a few milkmen that when they are told that water has been added, they do no accept the facts.  A particular woman told her milkman, Look, you are always adding water to the milk.  The milkman refused to admit it and said to the woman, You have to prove that Im adding water to the milk.  You cannot just accuse me or Ill be upset.  One fine day the woman found proof and confronted the milkman.  He asked her Okay, where is the proof?  The woman said, When you add water, at least add clean and pure water because here is a fish which was in the milk.  And she showed him the small fish, which was found in the milk.

To be on the safe side, when in doubt that some adulterations have taken place, avoid the distributor of that particular food item. When you know that food adulteration is going on, tell your friends and others to avoid that particular store. In doing so, you are helping others.  And when buying rice and you find small stones or dirt, complain to the manager of the grocery store and cause them to check it out from their supplier. If they dont check it out, the next step is to simply avoid that store.  Only when unscrupulous people have a dent made in their profits, will they be forced to stop the adulterations in food.

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Aging Problems

Aging is a natural phenomenon.  There are many theories regarding the aging process.  I am just going to mention only two. One theory is Free Radical Damage.  Free radicals are produced because of oxidative process in the human body.  They are highly unstable because they have unpaired electrons.  They inflict damage on cells because of instability. The other theory is Genetic Program Theory.  Genes control the aging mechanisms of the body.³ As you grow older and older; the mitosis (multiplication) of the cells slows down, which in turn, causes the cells to age. For more information, read my book  Dr. Stevensons Book on Preventive Nutrition.

Progeria is a rare genetic disorder where there is premature aging.  Patients of progeria usually die by 10-12 years.  This disorder shows that genes do have a control over aging.  There is another genetic disorder known as Huntingtons chorea.  Even in this disorder, we see that genes do control aging.  The signs of aging are wrinkles on the skin, white hair or baldness; especially people that are becoming senile may lose hair and their memory.  When people age, the bones lose minerals like calcium and become brittle and are highly vulnerable to fractures. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

One cannot stop the aging process because genes are programmed in such a way that aging will take place.  In order to die, apart from accidents and diseases, we have to age and aging can cause natural death. However, we can slow down the aging process.  Through our lifestyle we can slow down aging by exercising, maintaining a good diet, and avoiding diets that cause diseases. We can slow down aging, if the diet has antioxidants like vitamins E and C and carotenoids and the micro mineral selenium. Antioxidants help to remove free radicals in the body.  For more details read my book Dr. Stevensons Book on Preventive Nutrition. We must ingest more fruits, which were the diet in the Garden of Eden and also a part of the diet for people before the flood and people lived for a long time before the flood. We should eat more vegetables, whole grains and enriched grains rather than high fatty foods and junk food.

When we do a lot of exercise, we tone our muscles and strengthen our bones and we can avoid fatigue, which people who dont exercise, tend to suffer from. Then, we would have less worries and stress. More worries and depression can cause the graying of hair.  If you are very worried about wrinkles, my advice is that it is better to grow old gracefully but if you think wrinkles are a problem, you could have a face-lift and any other form of cosmetic surgery. The cosmetic surgeon would cut away the extra skin by pulling it back over your forehead and chipping off the extra skin.  If gray hair is a serious problem for you, it is suggested that you dye the hair to cover the whiteness with black or brown dye to match your skin tone. Remember that hair dyes are carcinogenic.  However, learn to age gracefully.

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Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a serious problem. There are many people who are addicted to this problem.  However, many do not realize that it is a problem.  Some think that it is a social habit;  others think that alcohol is good to drink when one desires to have fun.  An alcoholic said I had drank three bottles of whiskey everyday for the last 25 years and I can still give up alcohol anytime I want.  Here is a man that says he can give up alcohol after 25 years of drinking.  He has not accepted that he is an alcoholic and he has the problem.

There are many people who believe that moderate drinking of alcohol is okay and that it not a problem. Nonetheless, remember that one drink will lead to another drink and will make a person, an alcoholic.  Hence, we have to identify whether we have problem with alcohol or our relatives and co-workers have alcohol-related problems. After we find out who has the problem, we should help them get over the problem.  Alcohol is very addictive and it is very hard to give up alcoholism. Alcoholism is the cause of many social problems like incest, rape, domestic violence, homicide, suicide, road accidents and chaos and confusion in the society. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

First of all, the alcoholic has to agree that he has a problem.  If the person thinks that his love for alcohol is not a problem, it is hard to solve or treat the problem.  The person needs to accept the fact that he is an alcoholic

Some of the De-Addiction centers give alcohol to the alcoholic in reduced amounts that he might slowly make him kick the habit, or some drugs are administered that may cause him to become nauseated ad even vomit when alcohol is ingested.  However, when medication wears off, he can easily go back to drinking again. The person should have the inclination or the willpower to give it up.  Friends, spouse and others should also be there in support for the alcoholic to give up alcohol.

        I am suggesting some methods on how to get over alcoholism:

(1)               Do not go to places where it is easy to acquire alcohol (bars, homes of friends who drink a lot, etc) and do not keep alcohol at home.

(2)               Anytime you have the desire to drink alcohol, have a soft drink or fruit juice as a substitute for alcohol.

(3)               Do not associate with persons that indulge in drinking alcohol.

(4)               In case you do take a drink, dont give up hope and start drinking alcohol all over again.

(5)               Seek the advice of a non-alcoholic friend like an elder but dont seek the help of a person who drinks.

(6)               Dont think that you havent had a drink for a month and therefore you are no longer addicted and attend parties where alcohol is served.

        When you have successfully given up alcohol, you should assist your friends who still have alcoholism as a problem through your testimony. Remember for alcoholism, prevention is better than cure.  A Chinese proverb states, First the man takes the drink, then the drink takes another drink, and finally the drink takes the man.  

Spiritual Solutions

    In order for a person to solve the problem of alcoholism, he should seek help from God. There are countless therapists who have tried to help a lot of alcoholics but they have returned to the same problem. Hence, one of the best ways to give up alcoholism is to depend totally on the power of the Holy Spirit.  When the Holy Spirit takes control of the alcoholic and he surrenders his will to the Holy Spirit, then I am 100% sure that the person is going to be able to give up alcohol.  If you choose to give up alcoholism without the help of God and just with the help of your friends and doctors, the chances are that you may be returning to your old habit again.

     Seek the help of Holy Spirit and pray to Him. The Bible clearly advices against alcoholism.  There are many people who use the Bible by pointing out that Lord Jesus turned water into fermented wine, so what is wrong if one drinks alcohol?  Nothing can be farther from truth. Lord Jesus did not turn the water into fermented wine but He turned it into fresh grape juice. Paul advised Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23, Drink no longer water but use a little wine for thy stomachs sake and thine own often infirmities. Many take this text out of context and say Paul advised Timothy to drink fermented wine or alcohol.  This is grossly incorrect.  The Greek work for wine is Oinos. Now Oinos could mean either grape juice or fermented wine. Paul meant grape juice. Grape juice has tartaric acid, which is good for stomach problems. There are many texts in the Bible that condemn drinking alcohol. Proverbs 28:1 says, Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived is not wise.  Some Christians say whoever drinks alcohol does not sin but is just not wise but Galatians 5:21-22 clearly states that people who drink alcohol will not enter the kingdom of God. Ephesians 5:18 says, Drink not wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit of God.  Habakkuk 2:5 declares, Yea also because ye transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied Here, it clearly states that when you drink alcohol, you are transgressing and committing a sin. If these texts are not enough, here is another. But they also have erred through wine and through strong drink and are out of the way states Isaiah 28:7. This text again informs that we commit sin if we drink wine or alcohol. Hence, the persons who drink alcohol must repent and surrender their lives to Lord Jesus. 

              All of us know the evil effects of alcoholism. Proverbs 23:29-35 details about the problems of alcoholism the society and the alcoholics will face.  Theyll all have sorrow, theyll cause sorrow and theyll have redness of the eyes.  It clearly states that at last alcohol will bite like a serpent.   Therefore, we need strong laws to abolish alcoholism.  When there is no strong law, people will continue to drink and cause more problems in the society. However, to be on the safe side, we should not ingest alcohol. Everybody knows that alcohol has some detrimental effects on health.  Alcoholism will lead to cancer and cirrhosis of the liver and can predispose one to oral and esophageal cancers.  Apart from that, the persons who drink will lose their balance and will not be in their right senses. Therefore, let us help one another to give up alcoholism.

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Allergies

Allergy is a condition where there is hypersensitivity in an individual to foreign substances.  Allergies are actually caused by hypersensitivity to foreign antigens, in other words, allergens.  Let us look at the allergens that could cause allergies or hypersensitivity. Allergens can be inhalants like pollens, spurs, animal products like fur, saliva and urine, dust and the droppings and excretion of insects. The foods that can cause allergies are milk, eggs, shellfish, peanuts, soybeans, eggplant, tomato and wheat. Of course, these food items vary from individual to individual that suffer from allergies.

Even some drugs, when ingested, can cause allergic reactions. Such drugs are tetracycline, aspirin, some when injected can cause allergies like penicillin and it can sometimes cause anaphylaxis. Other allergens that come in contact with the skin are like perfumes, cosmetics, jewellery, buckles and hair dyes.

Non-Spiritual Solutions

It is better to prevent than to cure the allergies.  It is best not to come in contact with those allergens that can cause allergies.How does one know what allergens cause his allergy? The patient himself can find out through trial and error. If a patient is still unsure of what he is allergic to after trial and error, then there are tests to detect IgE antibodies. The first one is the Vivo test, which is a skin test. In fact, the patient should go to the doctor who specializes in allergies and have the skin test done. The other is the Vitro test for IgE antibodies for which serum is used. Once this test is done and the cause is found out, it will help the doctor to diagnose, treat and prevent the allergy.

         When you know what it is that you are allergic to, you have to completely avoid them. If a person is allergic to pollen, then he or she should not have any contact with pollen. If other people are allergic to animal fur or excretion and dust they have to avoid them in order to escape from allergies. Remember allergies are chronic and may be life long so you have to avoid them. Some patients of asthma get an attack, which may be triggered by climatic conditions, especially when it is cold. Those persons should not live in cold areas. Also, if the person knows what foods (i.e. shellfish, eggs and peanuts) cause their allergies, then they are to avoid them.

           What should be done during allergy attack?  The only way is drug therapy. The patient should consult a doctor who specializes in treating allergies and follow his instructions carefully. Usually the drugs, which are given, are dependent on the cause of the allergy. For example, Cromolyn is a drug used as a bronchial inhaler or as a nasal spray. Then there are other drugs like antimediator drugs like antihistamine drugs, which inhibit the histamine receptors. Examples of those drugs are terfenadine and astemizol.⁴

           Of course, if theres an anaphylactic reaction the person needs to be immediately hospitalised.  My advice is prevention is better than cure. Avoid all the allergens that are cause your allergies. If you dont know for sure which allergens cause your allergies, it is best to have either the Vivo or Vitro test done to find out. The sooner you find out, the better it is for you.

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Amnesia

Amnesia is a disorder, which causes partial or total inability to recall experiences in the past. In other words, amnesia is memory loss. Usually amnesia is the result of some form of illness, some drugs or because of injury to the brain. It could also be caused by cerebral impairment and bilateral lesions in the brain. With aging, many persons gradually lose their memory. First, they cannot recollect names, then maybe they cannot recall birthdays and later they wont remember their distant relatives. As you age the brain slowly becomes impaired. Sometimes memory loss takes place because of delirium.  See the topic Forgetfulness also.  There I have discussed about forgetfulness where no organic, structural conditions and trauma cause it. 

Management

The patient should be taken to visit a neurologist. Amnesia can be treated depending on what caused it to occur. For example, when it is amnestic syndrome, thiamin would be given as supplements to the patient and if it is because of chronic alcohol use, then alcohol use should be stopped. Some of the memory loss due to cerebral degeneration may not be correctable like Alzheimers disease. Then the only way is to help the patient to live under supervision and make the person comfortable and help them as much as possible.

To know how not to forget see the topic Forgetfulness where tips are given by me to remember better.

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Amputation

When there is a need to amputate, whether the fingers, the hand, the toes, the feet or the legs, it is a very serious psychological and physical situation that one has to undergo. Actually the doctors and surgeons would try to do anything to save a limb but when they cannot save the limb and it is dangerous to the life, they have no choice but to amputate it. The severe mental tension and the severe depression that goes along with amputation are profound. It is not easy to undergo amputation and individuals who had an accident and became unconscious are devastated when they regain consciousness and find out that they had lost a leg or arm in the accident. Many amputees get depressed, some become suicidal and others may become so despondent and suffer from delirium and may have problems in recollecting the past.   

Management

First of all, when one has an accident in which a finger or hand is cut, immediately the cut hand or severed finger is to be put into a sterile plastic bag. Next the plastic bag and its contents are to be placed in an icebox. By putting it into a plastic bag, then into an icebox, one would be preserving the limb. Immediately the affected person and his severed limb has to be rushed to a hospital for surgery. Disease like gas gangrene, when it has affected a part of the body, for example the leg, and if it is not amputated, then clostridium perfringens bacteria would eventually spread to the other part of the leg and then a major chunk of the leg would be amputated. Gas gangrene could even cause death; therefore, the patient should not be penny wise, pound foolish but have the amputation performed. Hence, amputation could be a solution to save life. Ones life is more important than a particular organ/limb. When the limb is amputated, the patient should have already been prepared for what may occur after the procedure because it is not easy for an amputee to live normally without proper counseling. The patient should know that after the amputation, the person might have excruciating pain especially when it involves a large bone.   The patient would be given painkillers to ease the pain. The surgeons also sedate the person in the first few hours or days after the surgery. The patient should also know that not only is depression a problem but he may also suffer from phantom limb pain. It is a pain felt as if it was coming from amputated limb. So he has to learn to live with this situation.

He should be told that all amputees could be rehabilitated. There are artificial hands and legs, which are know as prostheses, which can help them to regain their ability to walk or handle. They, however, need to have the willpower and the inclination to learn how to use them. By the way, it cannot be done overnight but slowly. The main factors are the willpower of the person and his inspiration to go on with life. In fact, a particular parachute jumper lost both legs after an accident but he decided, as a double amputee, he was going to have prostheses and jump again from aeroplanes. It took guts, willpower and Gods help to overcome all difficulties, and after several months, he jumped with his parachute from the aeroplane and landed with both his prostheses intact. So this type of stories can inspire amputees. The person ought to be properly counselled before amputation and after amputation. He should be constantly motivated and inspired. He should also read the Bible, pray to Lord Jesus for willpower and strength.   He should also remember if he lives a good life and when Lord Jesus returns, he will receive new limbs in heaven.

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Anger

What is anger? Anger is a strong feeling of displeasure. It is rage or fury, in other words indignation. Usually it shows antagonism. Who has a problem with anger? Is it the employer or the employee; the teacher or the student; the child or the elderly person? We must first identify who has got the problem. Is the problem with ones self or with others, with the husband or the wife? There are some people who are short-tempered but they never admit that they suffer from anger. Whereas other people know they have a problem with anger but just dont feel the need to do anything to solve it. There are others that have problem with anger, but try as they might, they are not able to control anger. One may say, This is my nature so you will have to bear with me yet if that same person is at the receiving end, his anger will shoot up ten times the actual anger that he usually displays.

What causes anger? We find that people tend to get angry as a result of suffering from diseases. One such example is people who are hypertensive, they become angered and irritated by little and trivial things. People who are stressed all the time, down hearted and depressed can easily be provoked to anger. Any situation, which makes them sad or upset, can trigger anger. Persons who belong to type A personality can suffer from anger problems because they try to be perfect and are highly ambitious. They are invariably restless.  People who belong to choleric temperament tend to be angry because they always want to be dominant and hate to be dominated. In Proverbs 15:1 it says, Grievous words stir up anger. So sometimes when we address people roughly or answer them in a way, which is not pleasing, they can be upset. Individuals, who maintain faulty diet and eat salty and high fatty foods, can suffer from atherosclerosis, which can lead to high blood pressure. This high blood pressure or hypertension can cause persons to be upset and stressed all the time. Proverbs 14: 35 also expresses, The kings wrath is against him that causeth shame. To amplify this: Anyone who does not do his duty or is irresponsible and is not diligent in his work will cause others to get angry. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

We should not make purchases when we have no money because lack of money can cause people to get upset and angry. We should cut down diets, which are high in fats, and we should avoid large salt intake. We should have a high fiber diet so that this will help prevent from suffering atherosclerosis, which in turn may help us in a way not to become hypertensive and not become angry. We should not try to dominate others all the time but we should be prepared to always live in humility. 

Spiritual Solutions

To find solutions to anger, we have to return to the Bible because the Bible has solutions on how to control anger or avoid anger, and it also tells what is better than anger. Proverbs 15:1 states, A soft answer turneth away anger Hence, when we talk to people with respect and in a manner that is not hurtful to others, it can turn away wrath. We should have good understanding to avoid anger and know when to get upset and when not to.  Proverbs 14:29 admonishes, He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding and he that is hasty of spirit exhalteth folly. Therefore, we should be understanding and slow to wrath because that is what God wants us to do. We should try not to get angry. What about those that get angry perpetually? We should advise them about the folly of getting angry but if that infuriates them more, it is best to simply avoid them. What if a husband or wife and student or teacher are so angry that they are beyond reason? The student cannot advise the teacher but he or she could send a card to the teacher with the quotation from Proverbs 16:32, He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Thus, when you give a card like this it may assist the teacher in understanding that he or she is angry without a cause and it is not good. Maybe the wife can quote some Bible scriptures to her husband or the employee can quote some Bible scriptures that speak on humility to his or her employer. Of course there are some unscrupulous persons, who when they receive such cards, may become all the more upset. At that point, all you can do is pray. Pray to Lord Jesus for them, that they may be controlled by the Holy Spirit in order to get rid of their anger.

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Anorexia Nervosa

Usually individuals who suffer from anorexia nervosa are pre-teens and teenage girls. These girls have a fascination to remain extremely thin. This is a psychological problem. Either they want to remain extremely thin or it is a form of rebellion against their parents for strict upbringing. They think that when they dont eat properly and are starved they are actually punishing their parents and teaching them a lesson. Nothing can be further from truth. They are not punishing their parents but they are punishing themselves by starving their bodies. These individuals do not eat and do everything to avoid food and remain extremely thin. They are actually emaciated.

If forced to eat by their parents while at the table, they may trigger vomiting when they get to their rooms or to the rest room. They throw up everything that they have eaten. In so doing they are making themselves weaker and slim. These anorexics usually have low blood pressure and sometimes brachycardia. Some of these teens will not experience menarche (the first menstruation), while other teens that have experienced menstruation, will suffer from secondary amenorrhea because of the constant starvation. Secondary amenorrhea is a condition in females where their monthly periods have ceased.   

Management

The anorexics must be psychologically treated. They should be actually treated by psychiatrists or trained counsellors. The psychologist or psychiatrist will try to find out what is the etiology of refusing to eat food. What are psychological and social reasons would be found out.  Once they identify what factors are involved, then they can slowly try to remove the factors or give them inspiration and reasons to eat well and stay healthy. After they have received psychological treatment, they may slowly begin to eat. Anorexia Nervosa is chronic. Sometimes, after being advised by a psychologist they may eat for a few weeks or months only to return to the same old problem. Thus, the anorexia nervosa patient should be constantly monitored and always helped by their parents. They should not be reprimanded, shouted at and scolded but with love and care should be shown the importance of why they should eat well.

Apart from psychological advice, the patients could be given some drugs that would enhance their hunger or appetite. They could also be given some vitamins and mineral supplements and tonics, which would improve their health. They could also be given tranquilizers or sedatives, which could help them to forget the problem, which is causing them not to take care of their bodies but to punish their bodies. Hence, a combined treatment of psychological counseling and good food and drugs could help them, along with the love of friends, relatives and parents. Finally, the anorexics must pray to God to solve their incorrigible problem.

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Anxiety

Anxiety is a fearful concern. It is an abnormal and overwhelming sense of fear or doubt concerning a particular thing or matter. Why do people experience uneasiness on a particular anticipated event like an examination, speech competition, sporting event or a talent show? What really causes this problem? One thing may be that the person has no experience in doing that particular act like singing or giving a speech. They may be afraid of the audience. Students may be afraid of the outcome of the exam, whether they will do well or not or whether they will fail or pass. It is an apprehension or uneasiness of the mind. Naturally, the causes of anxiety differ from person to person and also what the person is anticipating. The major underlying cause of anxiety is panic.

A few persons suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. They have sudden attacks of panic, which could last for a few minutes. They could have palpitations, hot or cold flashes, difficulty in breathing, severe sweating and some become fearful of dying. Usually the panic attacks are frequent among persons between 15-24 years of age and maybe less than 1% of the population suffers from this problem.⁵ Incidentally when people drink too much alcoholic beverages, they may suffer from anxiety. Of course, initially the alcohol may provide temporary relief but as they keep drinking it becomes worse. Then there are persons who are hypochondriacs and will always suffer from anxiety. Some persons, who have social phobia, dont want to meet people in crowds, or others have fear of people in open public places. Now we have to identify who has the problem. Do your children have the problem, your wife or your husband or your employees or yourself? Who has the problem? Next, how do we deal with this situation? 

Management

Persons suffering from anxiety can be managed by psychological and drug therapies.  The management also depends on what is causing the person to panic. If a person is suffering from agoraphobia (fear of public places), then the person will avoid going to public places. One would have to slowly de-train this person and the person will have to go to public places with his or her best friend, close relatives or parents.  They could try places with few people, then slowly try places where more people are found. Some people, to avoid their anxiety, eat a lot of food (overeat) and become fat. Some tell fat people are more anxious than thin people. To this I disagree. Both fat and thin people have their anxieties. Some fat people may be anxious about why they are fat and some thin people are anxious that they are too thin. Patients who drink alcohol should avoid drinking it. Those who eat too much when they are anxious ought to be advised not to do so. And patients should be with friends who have deep concern for them and would do anything to help them out to overcome anxiety.

Drug therapy would help them; especially hypochondriacs or persons who are suffering from generalized anxiety disorder and with severe panic attacks. The patients should be taken to psychiatrists.  Usually these people are sedated under severe attacks of panic. They would be given drugs. Sometimes a combination of drugs and psychological treatment are better than only one of them. Some of the drugs that are generally prescribed are diazepam and buspirone.  These drugs ought to be taken under the prescription and supervision of a medical doctor. One should not self-treat the problem because of side effects that may occur. One thing is for sure; the patient should always be monitored and helped by other people. The person should learn some relaxation techniques like deep breathing exercises, must go out into nature or to relax in some cool place where he is not exposed to any stressful conditions or environmental situations where it can trigger a panic attack.

Above all, he or she must pray for the Holy Spirit to take control of his or her life to relieve him or her of anxiety problem.

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Atheism

There is a sizable chunk of people in the world who do not believe in the existence of God. They believe there is no God because they follow the adage seeing is believing. Remember, seeing is not necessarily factual. We have never seen our great, great grandparents but we do know that we had great, great grandparents.  We have to believe that there is a supernatural power that sustains us to live.

There are individuals who are so scientific that only when they see some tangible proof would they believe. There are many things that are beyond the explanation of science. For example, parapsychology is the study of supernatural effects that are beyond the physical laws and explanations of science.  Some persons are possessed with demons, ghosts haunt some houses and things can move here and there on their own. For example when one puts a mango on the table that same mango on the table may later be found on top of the terrace. How did this mango travel and defy the law of gravity when nobody picked up that mango and put it on the terrace? Thus, there are some events in the world that are beyond the laws of physics and science.

We should help these atheists with love and show them that just as how we cannot see the wind but believe and feel it is there, we can believe in God. The problem now is, why did they become atheists? Probably they had bad experiences so they became atheists. Maybe their loved ones died of cancer or from an accident and they thought there is no God in this universe to save their loved ones. We have to find out the causes as to why they have become atheists in order to help them. 

Spiritual Solutions

First, we need to speak to the atheist with love and kindness. Next we need to find out why they became atheists. What are the reasons? Once we find out what the reasons are for them becoming atheists, then accordingly we could advise them. Suppose they became atheists because a loved one had died, then we can explain to them that when a potter makes a pot, he sometimes changes the pot to his own liking or sometimes he breaks it and melts the pot again to make another. In the same way God does what is good for us. Probably the person died at a young age because at that time he would have died in Lord Jesus and when He comes the second time he will rise to go to heaven. If a person hadnt died, he may have become a bad person in the society, would have died later and he would have lost heaven. One really does not know why the person died, hence, we are to help the relatives out and give advice in a loving manner. Of course, it is not God who brings trouble. Satan brings trouble. Satan can cause accidents, tragedies and death if we do not follow Gods commands. God is not the author of bad things, Satan is. God permits them but we really do not know why God permits these things to happen.

There are some atheists that need scientific proof for everything. For such people we have to explain to them that there are countless things that are happening, and are beyond scientific explanation. For example, miracles!  A person who has brain cancer may be given one month to live by the doctor. He may have his church members pray for him while he prays and fasts for himself and God has healed that person. When that patient returns to the doctor and a CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography) scan is done and compared with the results of the previous CAT scan, there is no trace of the cancer. How do you explain why the cancer disappeared? The previous CAT scan showed that there was cancer but in the next scan done after the miracle, there is no presence of cancer. How do you explain this? There are many things we cannot explain. As I mentioned before, if a mango is placed in a house haunted by evil spirits, the mango would be on top of the terrace. How did the mango arrive there? There are many things that we cannot explain by the physical laws and scientific laws. There are many things that are happening supernaturally. You know, all atheists, when in a sinking boat or a crashing plane would call on any Supernatural Being just to save their lives.

An atheist boldly stated, "I'm an atheist, thank God." This statement is an oxymoron. This could mean that the atheist is thanking God for being an atheist, which means he is paradoxically admitting that God exists. It is innate for everybody, in a life and death situation, to call on a Supernatural Being just to escape the problem. Once the problem is gone, then some are back to square one. The Bible says in Psalm 53:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." Anyone who is able to think should wonder how could the universe be brought to existence and continue to exist; the planets are not crashing against each other; the whole world is not destroyed; and all the plants and animals have not been destroyed or become extinct. Why is there physical order on the earth? There is someone supernatural who is controlling it. Some people become atheists because some Christian preachers teach that hell fire burns forever and ever. When some people grow up with this idea, they begin to hate God and believe that there is no God in this universe because no God would do this type of sadistic burning forever. But those preachers actually misunderstand the Bible because in Malachai 4:1 it states, For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven and all the proud, ye, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble. And the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch.  It clearly states that the wicked would be burnt as in an oven and they shall become stubble, which means they shall become ashes. And it also says that the fire shall leave them neither root or branch. This means, when neither root nor branch is left, they will be burnt completely. It is not eternal burning of the fire but it burns and consumes and leaves no root or branch.

In order to bring the love of the almighty good God to the atheist, I am suggesting some points below.

1.      Find out the reason why they became atheists.

2.      Whatever the reasons are, show them that Holy Bible is an inspired book.

3.      State to them that the laws of science do not explain some things such as parapsychology and miracles.

4.      Show the creative power of God and how lives are being changed. For example, how murderers have been converted and have become disciples of Lord Jesus.

5.      Always show kindness and love even if the atheist talks harshly. Do not give tit for tat.

6.      Pray for the atheist so that the Holy Spirit will control their lives and change them.

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Bad (Profane) Language

Nowadays, some children learn 26 bad and vulgar words before they have learnt the 26 letters of the alphabet. When you see adult movies these days, every other sentence is packed with expletives and vulgar words. In fact some movies have the F word in almost every sentence. After seeing these movies people think it is normal to use the F word and other expletives. They reason that if they do not use these words, they are not  macho men and for them it is very essential that they use these words.

Some use expletives, bad language and swear to show off that they have already mastered English. Some people think that when they use these vulgar words, it is not a drawback but a sign of their social development and a mark of fashion.   We are to find out why people are using these bad words and what is influencing them to use them. We are to show that speaking bad language is definitely wrong. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

We are to teach children from childhood that they should not use bad and vulgar language. We should not only tell them not to use bad words but we should also be examples to them by not using bad words. A wife said to her husband, "Honey, our three year old daughter is using bad language." The husband asked, "What do you mean bad language? What did she say?" The wife replied, "She said, 'Which bloody fool took away my toy?'" The husband replied, "How did she learn that bloody language?"

Conspicuosly, the father himself had been using the term bloody and the daughter started using it. We have to show the children by our exemplary lives. And also the decent members of the public should protest the use of these vulgar words in movies and on TV. Even if you do not use these words, when you switch on the television and these words are being used, the children tend to pick tham up. We should ensure that bad words are not being used at work and at school. The films and movies that we watch should not contain these bad words. Using bad words is not a sign of machoism or a mark of social or physical development, but rather, it is that of uncouth culture. Persons who are obsessed to use bad words all the time suffer from coprolalia. It is an obsession to use profanity or bad words 

Spiritual Solutions

When we look at the Bible, Lord Jesus clearly said in Matthew 5:22, Whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca! shall be in danger of the council. But whoever shall say, thou fool! shall be in danger of hell fire.' Lord Jesus admonishes that if we use bad words, then were actually committing sin.

Again in Matthew 5:37, He says, But let your communication be yeah, yeah, nay, nay for whatever is more than this cometh from evil. So Lord Jesus, who is creator of all of the universe and us, advises us not to use obscene language in our communication. Sometimes, when we say to people, Don't use bad words, they fight and resent our advice and they proceed to use all the more bad words. So after reading my advice, if someone still insists on using bad words, then let him go ahead and help himself. Yet remember, the Bible instructs in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments for it is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil. Thus if one wants, he or she can still use profane words but always remember that God shall bring every word you say into judgment whether it is good or bad. Therefore, let us not use bad and vulgar language and be examples to our children so that they wont use bad language.

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Baldness

People are trying to find a cure for baldness because they reason that baldness is a serious problem. What causes baldness? It has been postulated that a gene on the Y chromosome is responsible for baldness. Of course, baldness runs in families. If the father carries this gene that causes baldness in his Y chromosome, chances are his sons would also be bald. Apart from the genetically inherited baldness, there are other types of baldness. The name for baldness is alopecia. Alopecia means loss of hair. Some scientists do agree that the cause of simple baldness is not fully understood, whereas others agree that baldness is limited to males, who have baldness running in their families because of the genetic problem. Baldness is often associated with aging too. As a person ages he might lose hair. Some have baldness in an U shape others have the baldness in a M shape. Alopecia areata hair loss is loss of hair in defined areas, usually the scalp or the beard. Alopecia cicatrisata is irreversible loss of hair associated with scarring generally on the scalp.          

Male pattern alopecia is loss of scalp hair, genetically determined and androgen dependent, beginning with frontal resistance and it tends to progress towards the back of the head. Some scientists theorize that alopecia among males may be polygenic or autosomal dominant. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

The treatment for alopecia areata could be potent topical steroids. Studies have shown that systemic steroids have been effective but this cannot be used for a long time because of side effects. For genetically controlled baldness from father to son has actually no cure. People from the smallest county to the biggest city in the world are trying to find a cure for baldness. There are many people who are selling herbs and different concoctions and tonics for the growth of hair. As a matter of fact, there is no drug or tonic that can cure baldness. Here is an episode to show you that indeed there is no complete cure.

A man was selling a pill to cure baldness. He usually booked town halls where he gave a speech and sold the pills to the people. Usually the town halls were packed with half bald, quarter bald and fully bald people. In fact, there were some children and teenagers who were not bald but desired to take the pill as a prophylactic measure because their fathers were bald headed men. In one of the town halls where he was showing the wonder pill, the pill fell on the floor. This man who claimed to have a cure for baldness bent down to pick up the pill. In the process of bending down, his head hit against the microphone and the wig that he was wearing fell off. All the people in the town hall now found out that the man who was selling the wonder pill, which would cure baldness, was himself a fully bald headed man. Then they realized that this man was cheating everybody by selling this pill because he himself was bald. The pills that he was selling were utterly useless and they were as good as garbage. He was obviously fooling everybody. So they beat this man up for cheating the public. In this illustration, it shows that there is no cure for baldness. Hence, what is the solution for baldness?  First, one could wear a wig in such a way that it is not very conspicuous. Second, one could have hair transplant. If one undergoes hair transplant, one could cover baldness to a certain extent. Another thing to consider is that one should not be afraid of baldness. There are a lot of intelligent and talented bald people. One can live confidently with baldness without masking it. Perhaps, by looking at a bald mans exemplary life and the fact that he is not afraid of baldness, other men who are bald may be inspired.

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Belching

Belching is also known as eructation. It is involuntary release of gas from either the stomach or the esophagus.

            Belching could be caused as a normal reflex after food when the esophagus sphincter is relaxed. Belching is a normal reflex but when a person has this too often then there is some kind of problem and belching is not etiquette. It could be nauseating to others who either hear your belching sound or smell the belched up air.

             Most of the belching is from swallowed air. There are some people who suffer from aerophagia; where they constantly swallow air, especially when they are nervous or anxious. Other persons that may experience belching problems are those who chew gum, smoke, drink carbonated beverages and eat high fatty foods or simply overeat. It can cause some problems like distension and abdominal pain. The swallowed air, apart from causing belching, it can cause flatulence, which is leaving of gas. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

            We can solve belching by preventing it. How do we prevent it? We can prevent belching by trying to remove the causes. If a person is constantly swallowing air, then the person should avoid the swallowing of air. Some of the points to remember to avoid belching are as follows:

1.      Do not drink carbonated beverages.

2.      Do not chew gum.

3.      Do not smoke.

4.      Do not drink any liquid through straw.

5.      Do not be nervous and anxious because it may cause more swallowing of air.

6.      Do not eat high fatty foods or overeat. 

If you are already suffering from belching then for some antacids work well and for others they wont work. Again, my advice is that prevention is better that cure. Therefore, follow the advice I have given to avoid belching.

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Biding Farewell

For most people, biding farewell, especially to loved ones, is too painful. In some Asian countries, people become so emotional, cry loudly and they become very depressed. In Western countries, they may not show their emotional state but they might be sad at heart. When you bid farewell to persons, it depends on how much you love them and the place where you had lived. If you love the people and the place too much, it is very hard for you to say goodbye. If you have allergies in a area because of climatic conditions and pollutants and the people are allergic to you; and  you dont like the food you eat there, youd be actually longing to get out of that place. So biding farewell for some may not be a problem because they disliked the people and the place anyway. Who has a problem with biding farewell? Children going to the dorms; when the teacher finds another job; or the student is graduating and has to bid farewell to his classmates and his teachers. And any individual leaving behind his or her loved ones. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

Take it easy when you bid farewell! It is easier said than done.  It is hard to bid farewell to the people whom you loved so much and who cared for you. That is, however, a part of life. Biding farewell is one of the things you must do in life. It should not be a problem provided you would return, especially if it is your girlfriend or your wife that youre to leave. And if you have no emotions of sadness because you are leaving your wife or girlfriend or another loved one, there is something wrong with you. If you dont have enough love for the person, biding farewell will be easy but if you love the person a lot, biding farewell could be a problem. Always remember the longer the distance, the more the love grows and the more you will appreciate the person. When you are away from loved ones it is actually increasing love towards that person because you will miss that person each day. When you are away from that person you will know what you are missing in that person. So in a way biding farewell could increase the love and affection you have for that person.  When you bid farewell, you always long to return after some months or a year to see how the person is and the changes that have taken place in that area. Thus biding farewell may allow you to appreciate things better because while youre living there, you may not appreciate certain things but when you return to that place after a long time, you may appreciate and find a lot of changes.

I know, some people would say to you Do not cry when I leave but if you cannot control crying, then cry as much as you want. One drawback of crying is that, when the loved one sees your crying face, the last thing he or she would remember is your crying face because a last impression is also a lasting impression. But when you smile and bid farewell, the loved one will remember your smiling face. If youre crying and biding farewell, theyll remember your crying face. If you can avoid crying, then fine. But if you cant help crying then go ahead because it is better to express yourself than to bottle up your emotions inside. To see your relatives and friends one day in the future will also give you happiness, so the longing will add an icing on the cake of your happiness.

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Bites

I am discussing the bites of venomous lizards, spiders and other animal bites.  Snakebites are discussed elsewhere in this book.  The gila-monster lizard and the bearded lizard are known to be venomous.  The gila-monster lives in the South Western USA and is also found in Mexico, whereas the bearded lizard is mostly found in Mexico.  The symptoms and signs of venomous lizard bite include intense pain, edema and swelling of the lymph nodes.  It can cause other symptoms like weakness, sweating, and thirst.⁶

As a rule, most of the bites from spiders are venomous but some of the fangs of the spiders are too short and fragile to penetrate the skin of human beings. By the way, there are some spiders, which you are to be extremely careful of. They are the widow spiders, funnel web spiders, tarantulas and wool spiders. Nation like Australia has alarming problem with spiders. In fact, the people of Sydney have to live daily with funnel web spiders. Not all poisonous spiders venom has been studied, therefore, not much is known about the venom of various spiders in the world. The bite of widow spider usually causes sharp pains, muscular rigidity in the abdomen, shoulders, back and chest. It also causes dizziness, headache, edema, and  pruritus.⁷ 

Management

The management regarding the lizard bite is that as soon as one is bitten all the venom is to be sucked out of the wound because no anti-venom is commercially available. The wound should be properly cleaned and disinfected. The patient should be rushed to hospital.  The patient would be treated symptomatically.

 If it is a widow spider bite, first of all, ice should be placed on the bite to reduce pain. The patient should be transported immediately to a hospital. Try to catch the spider that bit the person because it is good to know which species of the spider bit the person, so that the patient can be given the correct anti-venom. Anti-venom should be given as soon as possible to an individual who is been bitten by a venomous spider.

If it is a dog bite, cat bite or a camel bite, one should make sure that animal had received anti-rabies vaccination.  If one is not sure that the animal had anti-rabies vaccination then it is better for that person to have the anti-rabies vaccination because there is no cure for rabies. Ensure that the wound is disinfected and properly cleaned. Always remember for the dog bite, cat bite or any wild animal bite anti-rabies injections should be taken since there is no cure for rabies. The anti-rabies vaccination should be given within 24 hours of the bite. The best thing is prevention. When you know that a dog or some other animal could bite you, always take preventive methods. See also zoonosis in this book. If a human has been bitten by another, he or she needs to take a tetanus toxoid injection to avoid tetanus disease because of the bite.

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Blindness

The exact definition of blindness is highly debatable because there are many different definitions. WHO has recommended blindness to be visual acuity of less than 3/60 or its equivalent. WHO also added that it is an inability to count fingers in daylight at a distance of 3 meters.⁸ Of course, the persons with the problem of blindness cannot read what I am discussing about blindness and its management. However, the people who can see and read could help the ones that are blind or partially blind. Let me first deal with the etiology of blindness. There are many reasons why a person could be blind. One such example is cataract (opaque lens) that could cause blindness. Trachoma, which is caused by the bacteria chlamydia trochomatis, is another. Under nutrition of vitamin A could also cause blindness. The lack of vitamin A could first cause xerosis of the eye; next it could lead to bitots spots and later to keratomalacia, which could lead to irreversible blindness.

            Even severe condition of diabetes could lead to blindness. Injuries to the eye, which could happen while chopping wood, chipping stone, burning some material and while playing games with certain objects, could cause blindness. Blindness is quite prevalent. There are more than 30 million blind people in the world. The highest                rate of blind persons per hundred thousand inhabitants is in Saudi Arabia where it is 3000 per hundred thousand inhabitants. The lowest rate is 51 per hundred thousand inhabitants in Belgium.⁹  

Management

It is best to prevent blindness than trying to cure it. To prevent blindness, we must have primordial eye care. That is, from the time the baby is born until the time of death, there should be good care of the eye. Every time when there is a routine medical examination, the eyes should be checked for any kind of eye problem. During the elementary school, high school and college education, there should be regular eye check ups along with the other medical examination to completely avoid eye problems. Whether it is conjunctivitis, diplopia, partial blindness or night blindness, they all can be avoided once there has been constant check ups over the years in ones life.

However, when a person is irreversibly blind, what is the management? Of course, it is easy to give counsel but for a blind person who had been seeing and later became blind because of an accident or keratomalacia, will find it really difficult to live as a blind person. The blind person should learn to read Braille language. The person should try to get a guiding dog to assist him in walking or he must have a white cane to help him walk and identify himself as being blind. The blind person should try to be as independent as possible because the more dependent a person is, the more the persons assisting him would get tired of helping. Some who help the blind may even curse the blind person in their minds. Hearing stories about great blind people, such as, Fanny J. Crosby and Helen Keller, could inspire blind persons. Their stories could inspire the visually impaired persons to live a normal life and not be depressed and despondent about their blindness.

Of course, the blind person should know his or her limitations. A blind person cannot dream of driving a car all by himself on the road. Everybody has got to know his or her limitations and the blind person is no exception. Let me illustrate. A person who can see well and a blind person were debating what they could do to help the existing technology. The man with sight told he would try to take an aeroplane to the moon without using a rocket while the blind man told he could take a rocket to the sun. The man with sight said How can you take a rocket to the sun? The sun is a ball of fire and before you reach the sun you would burn to ashes. The blind man replied, Well, Id take the rocket during the night time. This illustration may be amusing but we should know what can be done and what cant. The counsel, which Im suggesting cannot be read by blind people because it is not written in Braille but those that can see can help the blind people to be always happy in spite of their sorrows. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

One good thing is that the Bible speaks in John 9:6 where Lord Jesus said, I am the light of the world. So He is the light of the world and we all need His light. Blind people do not have to worry for too long because if they lead a righteous life and die, later when Lord Jesus comes to resurrect the righteous to take them to heaven, the blind will have their eyesight back. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christs coming is not too far.

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Bribes

Taking bribes is a very, very grave and rampant problem. Bribery exists in practically all countries in the world. In some countries, bribery is so conspicuous, while in others the bribery practice is done on the sly.  Persons from many walks of life have to face bribery at some point in their lives. Bribery is predominant in the police force of many nations. Getting reservations on trains is always tied to bribery in India. Passing traffic license examinations and road tests may be fair in some developed countries but there are many instances where bribery plays lead role in getting license through illegal means in other countries. Some fruits of these briberies are seen in accidents caused by people who cannot drive well because they have bribed their way to getting their licenses. In some places, bribes are given to pass license examinations while in others, persons try to avoid traffic tickets by bribing the traffic cops. Some engineers and businessmen give bribes to get contracts. Some rich persons have no problem in giving bribes at all, but this really hurts the poor individual who cant afford to give bribes.

Some are of the opinion that giving bribes is no problem but taking bribes is a problem. This opinion is actually ironic. If a person believes that taking bribes is a problem but giving bribes is not a problem, it is paradoxical because in giving bribes you are actually causing someone else to take a bribe. Hence, this is only increasing the problem. Some persons claim that they take bribes because their salaries are so low and bribery is a second income to maintain themselves and their families. The Bible tells us in Psalms 26:9-10, Gather not my soul with sinners nor my life with bloody men. In whose hands is mischief and their right hand is full of bribes. Here the Bible refers to the persons who take bribes as bloody men and sinners, thus taking bribes is actually a sin. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

The best solution for bribery is to have stringent laws to prohibit and abolish bribery. Apart from having stringent laws to prohibit bribery, they must also have severe punishment to punish the offenders. The saddest part is that, the ones who are supposed to enforce laws against bribery are sometimes themselves guilty of abetting bribery or are in fact, themselves, taking bribes. In a situation like this, it is very hard to solve the problem. To solve bribery problem, where it is highly predominant and very apparent, is still more difficult because from the grass root level to the highest level of officers in the land could be guilty of taking bribes. So how do you solve or plug this problem? It is very difficult, not impossible though. To inhibit this bribery it must be dealt with from the highest office.  There is no use in making laws against only the persons at the lower ranks of the administration to stop taking bribes whereas the highest officer still continues to take bribes. The highest officers do not take bribes directly; they go through the clerks to take the bribe, lest they are caught. They would escape while the clerk would get caught. In order to avoid this, there must be serious punishment that even the persons who want to help higher officers would become afraid to do so.

It is always good to stop a bad thing from happening from the early stages of childhood. Every time students are admitted in a prep school or high school, they should voluntarily pledge to themselves or take an oath not to take bribes. When they are under a pledge or oath from childhood then their lifestyles will be such that they will have nothing to do with bribes. Of course, we should not coerce the children to take the anti bribe oaths but we should tell them the evil effects of bribery.  Make no mistake, we all make mistake of being selfish at some time or the other but it is rich to share than not to share and be rich. When they complain that everybody does that, they may be placing themselves in a place where it is hard not to take bribes. There should be anti-bribery squads, which should be responsible for catching the culprits by lacing the currency with invisible ink so that when the person takes it, the squad members later can come and catch them red-handed. There could also be undercover men who would act as likely bribers and should take some photographs, minus the flash, or do something else. Once these people are caught, they should be exposed completely in the newspapers and television that they may be ashamed and embarrassed so that others wont want to be in the same situation. 

Spiritual Solutions

The Bible clearly tells us that if we take bribes, we are perverting judgement. In 1 Samuel 8: 3 it says, And his sons walked not in his ways but turned aside after lacquer and took bribes and perverted judgement. The solution is, if we want to have good and fair judgement, we should not take bribes. Therefore, we should pledge not to take or give bribes. If we give bribes, were only encouraging others to take bribes.

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Budgeting Problems

People, especially the ones with smaller income, have difficult problems in budgeting their expenses and their income. Some families have a hard time paying rent, electricity, water and phone bills, meet the food expenses and to take care of the tuition fees of the children, and if they have a car, to maintain the car. Of course, for people who are extremely rich (stinking rich), there are absolutely no problems of budgeting because in a way, theyre actually wasting money and some of them dont accept that wasting money is a budgeting problem. They think,  We have so much money, it is our business to spend it as we like. So wasting money, to them, may not be a problem but to a sensible man it is a kind of budgeting problem because it is wasting the money down the drain. There are always unseen problems, even when youre having a hard time to balance your income, like:

(a)     Your car needs to have new tires

(b)     You have an accident and the insurance will not cover the expenses immediately because they have to do a lot of investigation and by then you are stranded.

          Thus, there are various problems where you have to meet those problems with finances. How do we solve budgeting problems? 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

The solutions to budgeting problems are not easy. One solution to one family or person for a budgeting problem may not be a solution to another mans budgeting problem. The solutions could be basic and simple. 

Live within your income

           Your expenses should not be more than your income. If you reason that you could borrow money from friends, relatives and others, and would solve your budgeting problems you may be dead wrong because it could increase more problems. It could lead to animosity if you do not pay up what you have borrowed. Do not take loans unnecessarily because all loans come with high interest and some day, at some point in time, you will have to clear those loans. 

Know your limitations

         If you have an old Toyota car and your budget is not enough, you cannot buy a Mercedes Benz or a BMW. One ought to be aware of ones limitations. 

Organize your budget

           Prepare a form to write all your regular expenses. When the form is ready, make several copies so that every month you can fill it up. Usually, the form should contain spaces to write the expenses of various bills like phone, water, and electricity, the car expenses, the childrens tuition, food, clothes and furniture expenses. Apart from all these expenses, you should save some money and when you add up all these expenses, it should not exceed your income. You should always save some money in spite of all your difficulties because there is always some kind of emergency in the form of health problems, emergencies or something else. Of course, in some countries, there is insurance to cover health problems but in some poor countries, there is no insurance. Some companies do not provide any health insurance coverage. So always remember to have some money to be kept aside. And do not keep the money in your home, like under the pillow or in the cupboard because you will be tempted to use it. Try to save the money in fixed deposits. If you save all the money in a regular savings account, you can always withdraw it at any time but when it is a fixed deposit in a bank, you will only be able to withdraw it when the term expires. It is therefore best to keep some money in a savings account and some in a fixed deposit. 

Be practical

           Be practical and dont live in a fantasy world where you dream of having the best clothes, car and facilities in the world. Try to live in reality. Don't waste money on lottery tickets. The probability of winning a lottery bumper prize is one in a million. If lottery tickets would make many persons very rich, then all the lottery ticket vendors and hawkers would have become millionaires long ago and they would have stopped selling the lottery tickets. If you cant really balance your budget, look for a second job. The second job should not eat up your family time or expend all your energy but if you can cope, then do find a second job. 

Spiritual Solutions 

Follow Biblical principles

          Dont love money too much because the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10, The love of money is the root of all evil  Women, dont live with a common-law husband because when the going gets tough, he will just walk out of your life, leaving you high and dry. Always try to marry someone who fears God and makes family life as a major priority. It is best to pay tithe (one tenth of the salary) to God. More often than not, God will bless anyone who is faithful in offering tithe to God in a church. See Malachi 3:10 in the Holy Bible. Finally, this solution is found in 1 Timothy 6:4, where it advises, But godliness with contentment is great gain. Let us be content with the income we receive and be God-fearing, and live within the budget.

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Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is a disorder where there are repeated episodes of binge eating after which the person may feel guilty and would try to induce vomiting, use laxatives and diuretics or would fast later. Of course, bulimia nervosa is different from anorexia nervosa, that is, the patients of bulimia nervosa usually are of normal weight whereas the patients of anorexia nervosa are extremely emaciated and thin. Both the disorders affect females mostly. Usually the symptoms of bulimia patients are that they will have erosion of dental enamel of the front teeth or would have painless salivary gland enlargement. They would also have fluid and electrolyte disturbances. 

Management

            The management of bulimia nervosa is based on two approaches of treatment. One is psychotherapy and the other is the use of anti-depressants. An experienced psychologist or psychiatrist who has treated bulimics in the past should give psychotherapy. He would identify what makes them eat so much and feel guilty later. Then he would advise them that they should change their behavioral attitudes. The other approach is to give anti-depressants in order for them not to be depressed. Of course, a few other persons suffer from binge eating problem, where they eat like crazy and would not vomit or purge later on. Since they are just depressed, they want to eat like crazy. Such persons should be treated for obesity and instructed that every time they are depressed, they should not go on to binge eating.

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  Cancers  

Cancers are malignant tumors. Cancers can be divided or classified into two major categories. One category is solid malignant tumors and the other, leukemia and lymphomas. Cancers can also be classified on the type of tissues. Cancers that involve epithelial tissues are known as carcinoma. Cancers that involve connective tissues are known as sarcomas. Cancer is a dreaded problem. For some individuals, the moment they hear the news from a doctor that they are suffering from cancer, their lives are completely devastated and shattered. In the underdeveloped nations one out of every three persons could develop cancer if they live to seventy. In USA one out of every two to three could develop cancer.¹⁰

This cancerous problem is not only devastating to the patient but it also affects the patients whole family, relatives and friends. The lives of significant others may be plastered with sadness.  For cancer patients, where there is not much of a prognosis like different leukemias and lymphomas, it is still all the more devastating and crushing.

The causation of cancer is highly complex. There are many factors inter-playing in the cause of cancer. Some cancers are idiopathic, which means the causes are simply not known.  Some types of causes are known as induced causes. Induced causes result because some carcinogens are acquired through lifestyle.  Nicotine and carbon monoxide can be carcinogenic for lung cancer. Alcohol can be carcinogenic for cancer of the liver. There are many types of carcinogens that can lead to cancers. We can also group the factors, which can cause cancer as environmental factors, and such examples are tobacco and alcohol. Risk factors like ingesting smoked fish and jerk chicken can play a role in stomach cancers. High beef consumption may contribute to bowel cancer and highly fatty foods can make a person susceptible to breast cancer and prostate cancer. The chemicals such as arsenic, benzene, asbestos and polycyclic hydrocarbons are carcinogenic. There are some viruses that can cause cancers.  They are like hepatitis B virus, the Epstein-bar virus, the human T cell leukemia virus, which is associated with adult T cell leukemia and lymphoma.¹¹ Some parasite infections can also put a person at risk. One such example could be schistosoma, which could abet to cause carcinoma of the bladder. Other environmental factors like strong sunlight, radiation, medications (artificial estrogens) and pesticides are contributors to some cancers. Some genetic factors have also been suspected to contribute to the etiology of cancer, like Downs syndrome children can be susceptible to leukemia. Then individuals who inherit Philadelphia chromosome, which is 22p-, can also develop leukemia.¹²             For more information on cancers, please read my book Dr. Stevensons Book on Preventive Nutrition.  

Management (Both Non-Spiritual & Spiritual)

            An oncologist is a doctor, who specializes in treating cancers. He is the ideal person to treat the cancer patients. The treatment of cancer could include chemotherapy, which are anti cancer drugs, radiation, surgery, graft (bone marrow graft for leukemia patients) and therapeutic nutrition. The therapeutic nutrition should be followed as advised by the doctor and the dietician. The patient should strictly adhere to the advice of the medical doctor and take his/her treatment regularly. One of the reasons that a few patients do not want to receive the treatment is because of the severe side effects. The chemotherapy can cause abdominal pain and loss of taste and radiation can make them very sick and make them lose hair in the long run. Some surgical patients will have problems with the pain. The overall complication of cancer patient is severe pain. Pain due to cancer can occur in two ways:

a)      Cancer may directly attacks the nerves, therefore, there is intense pain.

b)      The cancer/malignant tumor is becoming bigger, invading bone and other tissues and pressurizing blood vessels, and causing pain.

      By the way, I am adding another aspect to management, which is prayer to Lord Jesus Christ who is the greatest Healer. When a patient takes all types of the treatment and dont depend on God, he will not usually have fast recovery.  However, the patient who takes the regular treatment be it chemotherapy, radiation or surgery and who prays to the Greatest Physician called Lord Jesus Christ, can be healed if it is His will. There are miracles, where the doctors have completely given up hope on cancer patients but were cured of cancers as a result of prayers. There was an instance in which a man was diagnosed to have had brain cancer and the doctor told that he would live only for six months.  But he and the church members prayed to Lord Jesus.  Now that man has been living for eighteen years and there is no trace of the brain cancer.  It is incredible! This is the miracle of Lord Jesus Christ. This goes to show that miracles do take place.

    The cancer patient must not pray to God, Dear God, You heal me first and then Ill give my life to You. Rather the patient should pray, Dear God, if it is Your will, please heal me, but I do believe if it is Your will, You can heal me.

    Friends and well wishers should make the patient happy at all times and the patient should always be occupied. The cancer patient should be involved with a club, church and should continue his daily life as usual and not be alone. The moment the patient loses the will power to live, the cancer can rapidly take over and cut short his or her life. Hence, the patient must not lose the will power but must fight out progression of the disease as long as possible.

   The ones who have not yet been diagnosed as having symptoms of cancer, should know that early detection can save their lives. When one enters some hospitals, he or she would find posters, which gives the seven warning signs of cancer. It is an acronym of CAUTION; each letter stands for a particular symptom of cancer.

i)                    C-- Changes in bowel/bladder movement

ii)                   A-- A sore that doesnt heal

iii)                 U--Unusual bleeding or discharge

iv)                 T--Thickening of lump in breast or else where

v)                   I--Indigestion or difficulty in swallowing

vi)                 O--Obvious change in wart or mole

vii)               N--Nagging cough or hoarseness

     

         Therefore, if you have any of these signs, dont procrastinate because if you do, youre only shortening your life span. Go immediately to your family doctor and get that sign diagnosed if it is cancer or not. Now, I am advising those who do not have cancer. One out of every two persons could develop cancer, irrespective of what their health status is.  That means the very fact that we dont have cancer today means it is the greatest miracle performed by Lord Jesus. Permit me to illustrate this further. When somebody suffers from cancer, he or she will ask the pastor and the other church members to fast and pray. The cancer patient wouldve prayed, God please heal me. If You heal me then I will not smoke, drink alcohol, will not commit adultery or will not fornicate. The patient would make all kinds of promises in the prayer. When he or she is healed through a miracle, he or she would uphold the promises and would not fornicate or commit adultery, smoke or drink alcohol but lead a good life. What Im trying to drive home is that the very fact that we dont have cancer is a miracle. We dont have to wait for cancer itself to strike us and then we promise not to smoke and drink alcohol, not to fornicate or commit adultery and any other sin. When we dont have cancer, it is the greatest miracle. Therefore, why cant we, when we experience the greatest miracle (not suffering from cancer), pledge not to smoke or drink alcohol in all its forms, not to commit adultery or to fornicate or not to do any other sin but give our lives totally to Lord Jesus.

         Remember that the very fact that we dont suffer from cancer is a miracle. Psalms 150:6 declares, Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord, praise the Lord. We have breath and this breath, right now, is not cancer tainted. It is a good breath that is cancer free. So let us realize that the very fact that we have been by passed over by cancer is the greatest miracle in our lives and we should completely surrender our lives totally to the will of the Lord Jesus because He has done a miracle in our lives. We should pray everyday for every cancer patient to be healed. We should give all the support we can to cancer patients.

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Carnival

     Persons who are very close to God, who read and follow the Bible, and who pray daily reason that carnival and wild spring break celebrations are abominations. Persons who are not religious minded, who are not spiritual, think that carnival is not a problem at all. To them, it is basically a fun festival where they can just drink and dance, enjoy themselves and be merry. But let us look deeply into this problem called carnival. In all the Catholic countries, carnival was started as a ritual just before Lent season. They would have all the fun and then during the Lent season they would fast and pray. However, the very purpose of Lent is actually defeated. It is like one is dancing with the devil, having the carnival, drinking alcohol and doing obscene sexual things. The dances in the carnival are actually dry sex movements. These dances are seen, not only by people on the roads or from their houses, but also on television. It is like dancing and feasting with the devil and afterwards trying to ask Gods forgiveness. Its like murdering a person or raping a woman and then telling the dead body or the rape victim that you are sorry.

      Persons argue that carnival brings people together. There is unity and gladness and therefore, carnival should not be treated as a problem but as a solution to other problems in the society. Let us dig even deeper into this problem. We cannot conduct a referendum or a democratic vote on how many think or feel carnival is a sin and an abomination and how many speculate carnival is okay in the society. And if most people vote that it is not a problem then carnival can be excused. If people are to judge on the basis of democracy, then that cannot be termed as ethical or unethical.

      We must not go by what people picture carnival to be. We should find out how God views carnival to be. Let me illustrate an example of a carnival in the Bible. When Moses went up into Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, the Israelites according to Exodus 32:6 sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. In other words, the Israelites were having a carnival. And what did God do to these people? God cursed all these people that were involved in the carnival. The very same day when the children of Israel were involved in the carnival, at the foot of that mount three thousand people were killed. The Bible goes on to say in the same chapter, verse 32 and the Lord plagued the people. Hence, we should not see carnival as what others see as, whether its a problem or not, but how God sees it.

    When God sees carnival as a problem, then it is 100% a problem.  How can you do all that sexual hip moving business; the kinds of improper dressing, exposing the breasts and being scantily dressed? How could those glorify Lord Jesus Christ? This is definitely a problem. In fact, they are crucifying Lord Jesus again. This is not the way to celebrate Lent and Easter. This is not the way to glorify Lord Jesus. Make no mistake, carnival is evil and sinful. 

Spiritual Solutions

    Solutions to the problem of carnival is not easy because if the government of a nation supports carnival, there is nothing much we can do. We should at least protest to the government for allowing carnival. We should decently object to the practice of carnival. The government gets money through tourism and is trying to make as much as possible. So are some business entities and the television stations. They dont realize that when God withdraws the Holy Spirit from those guilty governments, companies and television stations, they will collapse sooner or later. But it is the grieving presence of the Holy Spirit that still enables them to survive.  But the Holy Spirit will not be lingering too long with the people and companies who are mocking and blaspheming the name of Lord Jesus.

    To open the eyes of those that still think carnival is okay, let them look at the nations where the citizens do not celebrate any carnival. Those nations have less crime problems, less domestic problems, fewer divorces, and hardly have any common-law unions. But the countries that have carnivals and spring break celebrations have high rate of murder, robbery, drug addiction, alcoholism, incest, premarital sex and rape. There are no strong family ties and there is a lot of sexual immorality going on in those countries where carnival exists. Therefore, the ones who believe that carnival is wrong have to do their part by writing against it in the newspapers. Unfortunately, some newspapers refuse to publish this kind of letters. But we must try to protest in whatever possible means and we should never take part in carnivals and spring break celebrations. We should further tell the younger generation not to take part. It is worse now that they are having carnival for juveniles and training the small children to behave like dogs. My only advice is we can protest and pray to God. My last solution to the problem of carnival is found in II Chronicles 7:14 where it states, If My people, which are called by My name shall humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear their voice from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Let us unite, pray and protest, so that carnival will not be conducted.  Let us not crucify Lord Jesus Christ again on the cross by having carnivals and also wild spring break celebrations.

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Chaos

   Chaos is basically utter confusion. This sort of confusion and mayhem can take place during a strike, in a marketplace, fighting among sports spectators and during a festival. How do we try to ensure that the chaos is prevented or solved? 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

     If you know that a particular festival is going to result in with chaos, a particular strike is going to lead to chaos or a game or sports is going to have some problem, it is better not to attend that particular event. You certainly do not want to be a part of that chaotic situation. Now to solve a chaotic problem, there should be a large presence of the police. In fact, the police should expect the unexpected. Just because there was no chaos at the previous events does not mean that they should contemplate or come to the conclusion that there will be no chaos this time around. The police should always be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. The police should be in large numbers in situations like with striking students or workers.

      A teacher should see that students do not create chaotic conditions. Especially in a large school or college, students tend to make noise and some love to create trouble. Thus, in such cases the concerned authorities have to take precautionary methods by having more presence of teachers and enforcing strict rules and regulations. But once there is a chaotic condition, what should one do? In a chaotic condition, a person that is a good public scrupulous speaker should go up and speak to the crowd cleverly and psychologically lure them to his or her side. The first thing to do is calm them down when there is a chaotic condition in schools. Try to make good sense prevail. But in a chaotic condition in a school, talking rough and tough will make things worse and the students will become all the more chaotic. If the chaos is on the street or in the marketplace or during a strike, then the police must first use tear gas and other means to dispel the crowd. They should not open fire with bullets as this would stir up more violence. Start with milder means and try talking to the people because sometimes when we talk things over, better sense will prevail. If the police have used milder means and there is still absolutely no response, then they will have to use stronger means like rubber pellets and other things to dispel the crowd. Once the crowd has been dispelled, the police should assess what went wrong and see that this is not repeated.

    When there is mayhem in stadiums for a cricket match, football match or a baseball match, it may be caused by alcohol use. The basic problem is when alcohol and beer is flowing freely, when people drink, they lose their inhibitions and could act like animals. The game would also raise their adrenaline hormones and emotions. Hence, in matches like cricket matches, football matches or baseball matches, beer and other alcoholic forms should not be allowed. There should be no glass bottles and other things that can be hurled at other opponents or at the police. They should not be allowed to carry something that could be destructive or could be used as a missile. Again, in these chaotic conditions, preventive measures are always better than trying to control chaos later. Of course, individuals who are responsible for these kinds of problems ought to be punished.  Some unscrupulous leaders and politicians deliver great speeches on peace but had it not for them there would be no need for peace speeches. Persons who have some experience in crowd control should be involved to manage these problems.

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Common Cold

   Common cold is caused by viruses, especially rhinoviruses. A single virus is responsible for an outbreak of cold in many persons in a closed area. Common cold is also known as viral rhinitis. Some, when exposed to cold temperatures, may develop cold because they may be susceptible to upper respiratory tract infections. The persons who are suffering from excessive cold usually might be suffering from blocked or running nose, excessive fatigue, emotional distress and some might have fevers and some females have menstrual problems.  Some patients may develop secondary bacterial infections. 

Management

   For many patients of cold, a warm environment may give them some kind of comfort. Rest is advised. Anti-pyrexia drugs could be given if the patient has a fever. Generally, cold is treated symptomatically. Nasal decongestions would provide temporary relief. If the person has a cough, then the person should be treated for cough too. For some, if they have a runny nose, they need to take a lot of fluids. Actually, there are no potent drugs to treat cold. If a person has flu with cold, then it should be treated accordingly. It is prudent to take anti-flu shots to prevent flu.

    For some, eating a lot of citrus fruits might be helpful to them to prevent the common cold but it cannot be the case for all people. As a few number of individuals, in spite of ingesting citrus fruits, still catch a cold. Persons who have cold must wash hands to reduce the spread of infection and the mucus should be discarded properly.

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Coma

Coma is a state of unconsciousness where there is unresponsiveness to external stimuli. The etiology of coma could be because of many reasons. Trauma, intracranial tumors, drug and alcohol overdose, infections like meningitis and septicemia, could be causing coma. Other causes could be intracranial hemorrhage, thrombosis, epilepsy and metabolic abnormalities like diabetes mellitus (hypoglycemia & hyperglycemia). Most of the coma cases in the Western world are usually because of drug overdose or alcohol abuse.  Prolonged coma may lead to vegetative state and brain death.  Most patients in persistive vegetative state will die in months or years.

Locked In Syndrome is a voluntary response of eye opening or closing in response to a command but there would be paralysis of all motor activity of various limbs and other parts of the body. ¹³ 

Management

  Usually, when the patient is brought in a coma state to the hospital, the medical doctors would ascertain the cause of coma and try to revert the coma, if possible. The general goal of treatment would be air maintenance by having tubes through the nose or tracheostomy, treatment of shock, hemorrhage control if there is hemorrhage, passage of urine through catheters into urinary bags. The nurses would check temperature, respiration and BP very frequently.

    If a patient is brought in a coma state and it is suspected that it is caused by complications of diabetes mellitus, the medical personnel would usually look out for a diabetic card in the patients pocket or bag or ask the persons who brought the patient. Then blood specimen of the patient would be immediately tested for glucose analysis. If the glucose result shows that the patient is hypogycemic, the doctor would immediately give glucose through IV. If doctor finds that the patient is hyperglycemic then he would give insulin immediately. Suppose a diabetic patient is brought unconscious and there is no time for glucose blood test or no glucose test kit is available, what would be done?  If the doctor suspects that it is hypoglycemia, he would give glucose through IV for a very short while. If the patient becomes conscious then the patient had become comatose because of hypoglycemic condition. If the patient does not become conscious, that means it is not because of hypoglycemic condition and the glucose would be stopped immediately for the patient would die because he is already in hyperglycemic condition and instead, the patient would be given insulin. 

Spiritual Solutions

    My advice, to the ones whose friends or relatives are in coma because of head injuries or trauma, is not to give up hope. I have known some comatose patients who have spent many months in a comatose state and their doctors had given up hope that they would ever recover. However, there was a lot of praying and fasting to Lord Jesus to make them whole again. Eventually, the greatest physician on this earth, Lord Jesus Christ brought them back from their comatose state and they are as a matter of fact, living independently. Hence my advice to the those whose friends or relatives are in a comatose state not to give up but to constantly pray to God because nothing is impossible in Gods sight.

    But we should always pray saying If it is Your will, Lord, when asking God to bring him/her out of the coma state. The Bible says in Luke 18:27, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. In fact, some God-fearing persons have prayed for some comatose patients who were beyond hope but eventually they surfaced from that comatose state and are giving glory to God. Significant others of the patients must constantly go and speak loudly to them, play gospel music near their heads to inspire them. If the patients could be healed miraculously, this may motivate them to come out of the coma. Always talk to them and always be sure that the patients do not suffer from decubitus ulcers, that is, bedsores that could be formed because of the constant sleeping conditions. They should be turned from time to time.

     When you have prayed for a long time, and the patient had still remained in the comatose state, do not be discouraged. Continue to pray and ask Gods guidance of what should be done next. Dont sit near the comatose patient and start crying. Instead, talk to the patient with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Always pray that the will of God be done.   If the will of God is that the patient should die, then let it be so.  For the patient will be resurrected when Lord Jesus comes again, provided the patient was righteous before he/she became unconscious.

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Common-law Union

     Common-law union had basically been founded because of peoples way of speculating how a couple can live together without being married.  Several Western nations have approved the common-law union.  Who are the persons who usually approve these common-law unions through the law? They are the very persons who are guilty of not following Gods rules. These are the persons whose grandparents and parents or themselves are living or have lived in common-law unions. Let us not see if common-law union is a problem in the eyes of man but let us see if common-law union is a problem in the eyes of God. God clearly states that a man should leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). Basically, this institution of marriage was started in the Garden of Eden.

    In fact, there were two things, which were founded and instituted in the Garden of Eden. The first one is Sabbath keeping that is the Seventh Day Sabbath, and the marriage. God Himself conducted the marriage between Adam and Eve. Ever since, we can see that in the Old Testament and New Testament times, the ritual of marriage was followed.

   Of course, polygamy and concubinage were practiced in the Old Testament times as well. Jacob had two wives and concubines and Abraham had more than one wife. David had many wives and concubines too. Since they had so many wives and concubines then, many may reason that common-law unions today are okay to practise. However, this is not the way to be reasoned. Acts 14:16 states, Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own way. Here the Bible says that in times past, many people walked in their own way. Some people who support common-law unions may argue that during slavery in the Caribbean region, South America and North American countries, slaves had to live without marriage.  Hence, the descendants of those slaves are to live in the same manner that their ancestors lived. During slavery, these slaves had no choice but now we have freedom to choose between marriage and other alternatives. Why try common-law union when there is marriage, which is instituted by God. Therefore one should not quote the slavery times and the old times, but they should do the will of God. 

Spiritual Solutions

    How do we solve this common-law union problem? In Acts 17 v 30, it declares, Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. There were times when couples lived without marriage. There were times when God winked at that but now commands all men everywhere to repent. We should follow the divine institution that was started from the Garden of Eden, that is, the marriage. One might argue, that to conduct a marriage is itself a problem, since one has to bear the expenses of marriage and its very costly. This is an excuse that is lame. When a person dies, the relatives of the dead person would go to any extent of bearing the funeral cost, which is skyrocketing. They cannot argue that a funeral is too expensive and that they should do away with the body by throwing it into a ditch or on the road.  In the same way for marriage we have to have some kind of expenses, which we have to bear. But we could limit the expenses by having the marriage conducted in a small community or in a place where it is cheaper or we do not have to invite too many people because to prepare a marriage feast for them would be very expensive. We should always pray to God for helping out in finances. Though there are so many alternatives to marriage, yet God does not approve anything other than the marriage, which He had instituted.

    I am not saying that marriages havent got any problem. Marriage has problems but if you think common-law union has no or less problems then you are dead wrong.  The latter has more problems than the former. It is like a peanut falling from the pan into the fire. In common-law union, there is no guarantee that the spouses would stay together as long as death does them apart. The property of the common-law husband would not necessarily be inherited by the common-law wife in case of his death. The fact is that there are no guarantees at all for common-law union. Common-law union has no binding cement effect. One fine day they can get up in the morning and a spouse can tell the other,  Look, I have had enough. Im walking out of your life! And the spouse can walk off. But that cant happen in marriage so easily. Of course, marriages have problems like divorce because God was not the Head of those marriages anyway but common-law unions will lead to promiscuity. Adultery can be a problem within a marriage but the worse still is promiscuity. In fact, common-law union could be classified as fornication in eyes of God; Galatians 5:19 warns that all who are guilty of fornication would lose the kingdom of God.  I am not judging the persons living in common-law union because it is God who judges and not man. Let us do the things that please God because Revelation 4:11 says, for Thy pleasure they are and were created. We are all created for the pleasure of Lord Jesus, so let us not engage in common-law union but let us choose marriage and have the expenses very simple.

     There are many individuals who reason that a couple should know each other by living together before they get married. But knowing each other itself like that could lead to sexual intercourse without any marriage. Usually a man after enjoying sex with the woman after several months or years without marriage, would think in his mind, that this woman is a used up mango, all the juice is gone from this fruit, so let me go out for a fresh mango (a new woman). Then he would walk away because there is no obligation that he should stay with that particular woman. Marriage is always better than common-law union. We can do what ever we want but God should be honored. Proverbs 14:12 states, There is a way that seemeth right unto man but the end thereof is death. Thus if you think common-law union is right remember Proverbs 14:12. Just because our ancestors or grandparents have done it, doesnt mean that it is right. We have to do what God wants us to do.  We can repent if we are guilty, and do the pleasure of Lord Jesus, that is get married.

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Constipation

     It is the hardening of stools and incomplete or no evacuation of feces. There are many reasons why constipation occurs:

i)                    Faulty dietary habits like too much fatty food with no or less dietary fiber

ii)                   Drinking little amounts of water

iii)                 Ingestion of some drugs such as tranquilizers, sedatives, antacids, and calcium and iron supplements

iv)                 Depression

v)                  Some diseases like hypothyroidism, Parkinsons disease, hemiplegia and paraplegia. 

Management

      First of all, the diet should contain less fat and high fiber. Dietary fiber increases the stool bulk and aids its passage through the bowel. Please read my book, Dr. Stevensons Book on Preventive Nutrition, for I have advised how to actually prevent constipation with the diet. To treat constipation, there are a lot of laxatives but they should be used carefully under a medical doctors advice. The bulking agents are like bran and methylcellulose.

      Mineral oils also soften fecal matter resulting in more easily passed stool matter. For fecal impactation (stool is very hard), it is treated with enemas under a doctors supervision.¹⁴  There should be psychotherapy to help constipation patients with depression. Patients who are trying to be perfectionists and want nothing to do with unclean things may constantly take laxatives or enemas, but they actually deny the bowel the chance to function naturally. A psychiatrist should give them psychotherapy. With constipation, prevention is better than cure.

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Counterfeit Currency

    This counterfeit currency problem is rampant in many countries. In some countries, the offenders are punished severely and the problem is quite uncommon. There are a lot of persons who have no scruples and would go to any extent to cheat. They might turn one of their rooms into a printing press and they would print counterfeit currency just to become rich. And their counterfeit currency is almost as good as the genuine currency and it is hard to detect. Therefore, since this counterfeit currency could affect the common man, you should be aware so that you may not be cheated. Once you receive this counterfeit money unknowingly from these cheats and you try to spend it elsewhere, not only would you lose all the money but also there are chances that you could be arrested for not being able to defend yourself about where you got that money. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

    In nation like USA, if you want to know whether the dollar bills are counterfeit or not, there is a pen known as counterfeit currency detective pen. With this pen, if you make an X or some mark and it shows a light yellowish color, then the currency is good but if that pen makes a very dark color, then the currency is a suspect or fraudulent one. So if you are a businessman or running a grocery store or handling a lot of money, you must have this counterfeit currency detective pen. This pen should be closed immediately after use or else the ink will dry up and may not write properly. Another method is to see the currency against the light. Put the currency up to the light and see if there is a watermark and the thread line. If the thread line and the watermark are not found, definitely the currency is counterfeit.  If an individual has tried to cheat you with counterfeit money, then report that person to the police.

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Covetousness

The Bible says that covetousness is sin. As a matter of fact, the tenth commandment in the Holy Bible states that one should not covet anything that is his or her neighbors. As you drive along, you see a BMW or Mercedes Benz car and you decide that one day you will it, that is no problem. But if you covet, then it is definitely a problem. If there is a craving for another persons position or if you have an inordinate desire for another persons wealth or position, then you are brooding covetousness. 

Spiritual Solutions

It is best that one obey Gods command. When you love God with all your heart, soul and mind, you will not break His Ten Commandments. If you are covetous, you are breaking the tenth commandment which is Thou shalt not covet It is better to be content with what you have. Yes, you may have desires and ambitions that one day you will possess a very costly car and a big mansion. But if you have a craving for somebody elses mansion or somebody elses wealth, then youre actually suffering from the problem of covetousness. But if you have a desire and work hard to get yourself a good house or a nice dress or a car, that is fine. There is no problem with that kind of desire or that kind of wish.

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Criticism

   Criticism is a remark or statement made to find fault in a person, group or thing. Criticism can be divided into constructive criticism and destructive criticism. The destructive criticism is actually the problem. Constructive criticism used to improve someones life is okay. For some individuals, even if constructive criticism is making them unhappy and sad then there should be a better way to do that constructive criticism. There are some persons who love to criticize. These same people will hate others criticizing them. But who decides what is constructive criticism and what is destructive criticism? The person who is criticizing might be thinking that what he is criticizing is to be constituted as constructive criticism but the person being criticized may not muse that it is constructive but rather destructive criticism. So how do we solve this type of problem? 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

If youre always criticizing others, then it is better to have a look at yourself and put yourself in the persons shoes and be the recipient of the criticism. Would you be happy to hear it? Would it make you comfortable? When criticizing someone, always think about whether or not it would make you comfortable if you were in that persons shoes. If you think that it wont make you happy, then dont criticize. When you have nothing to do, at least talk good about a person, instead of criticizing.   

Dont be blinded to the fact that criticism should not be a way of life. If you cannot say something good about somebody, then don't criticize anyone at all. It is better to say nothing than to criticize. Suppose you criticize a person constructively, ask the person if he was offended. If that person was offended then dont criticize the person again. Dont be a critic always. When you have to critically analyze something, there is no problem, but when it is a critical analysis of some other person then that will not be in a good taste. Dont make it a habit to always find fault with others. Thats how some persons who are proud and disgusting always want to find fault without any evidence. So criticism is not good.

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Cults

   There are many cults in the world. The members in the cult may not assume that their cult is a problem. Whereas the other people on the outside would think it is a problem. The relatives and the significant others of the members of the cult would think that it is a problem; for example, the Moonies. The members of the Moonies may not think that they belong to a cult but whereas the significant others and the relatives of the members of the Moonies would think that Moonies is a dangerous cult. Another cult is the Brethren. The members of the Brethren cult completely cut off their relationship from parents and misinterpret the Bible that the enemies are from within the family. The parents and the relatives of the members of this cult do not even know where they live since they lead a very poor and shabby life. Rastafarianism is a cult too. But the members of the cult are fighting to prevent it being called a cult. A cult is a collection of people who have no set and organized beliefs and practices. Most cults may not last many years or centuries. Sometimes the cult disintegrates and dies out or becomes splinter cult groups. 

Non-spiritual Solutions

    The persons who want to join a cult, first of all, should investigate if the cult has any good philosophy of life. Most cults are founded by immoral individuals who have selfish intentions or who want to cheat other people and become rich by keeping the members in the dark. In fact, all school children should be taught the evil effects of cults. From childhood they are to be taught that a cult is not good because they have no organized set of beliefs and it is an organization which is led by one man who may not be mentally sound or who might be a very cunning person.

    From the beginning, if they learn the evils of cults then it is easy for them not to join cults later. The government of any country should study the evil practices and beliefs of cults and then should firmly and vehemently take a position to ban those cults. Of course, there are a lot of nations where democracy is the mode of rule. These cult members would take it to the courts if the government tries to ban their cults. Therefore, the parliaments must pass sound rules and wise regulations so that a lawyer, who fights for the cults, cannot twist them. For example, satanic cult encourages sexual orgies and human sacrifices. This satanic cult should be banned. The guilty ones must be punished severely. As this severe punishment could itself act as a deterrent for persons not to join this type of cults.

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Dandruff

         Dandruff is formation of white scales, which are shed from the scalp of the head. Many people, young and old, male and female, suffer from dandruff. Since it affects a lot of people, something is always done to rectify this problem. Dandruff could be caused by poor hygiene. Some people have excessive dandruff while others  have very little but whatever the case may be, the problem has to be rectified.

Non-Spiritual Solutions

   To rectify it, personal hygiene should be attended to with a daily bath and thorough washing of hair. For some the dandruff problem is chronic, so there is no easy method or shortcut to get rid of dandruff completely. Using of shampoo is basically the same concept of personal hygiene. There are many who even after using these shampoos still have dandruff. There are some shampoos that are anti-dandruff but even that will not work for some persons. If you wash your hair daily with or without shampoo, the problem may be managed but the result will not be permanent. If you wash your hair it does not mean that the dandruff will not appear again.

Some people leave it because it is too much of a problem and they cut their hair. Some males, by completely shaving the hair off their heads, are not allowing the dandruff to accumulate. However, as the hair keeps growing, the dandruff would accumulate so one has to shave often. Females with dandruff problem, should keep their hair short. Too much hair is a problem to wash and, therefore, getting rid of the dandruff is automatically a problem. Have your hair cut short and wash it every day. Now some men dont like to wash their hair every day because as they wash their hair, more hair keeps falling out. This is another problem too. If a person doesnt want to wash the hair daily and want to still get rid of dandruff, then to resolve is tough because when he/she doesnt wash the hair often, dandruff will accumulate. This is a situation where the following adage is true, You cant eat your cake and still have it. In order to get rid of dandruff the washing of hair should be done often. If that is not done, the dandruff accumulates. There is no other way, shorter or easier, to get rid of dandruff.

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Deafness (Hearing loss)

 The etiology of hearing loss or deafness depends on the type of hearing loss. The hearing loss can be classified as conductive hearing loss, sensory hearing loss and neural hearing loss.

Conductive hearing loss could be caused by obstruction in the ear tube (i.e. cerumen or wax could be impacted). Sensory hearing loss could be the malfunction of cochlea. It could also be as a result of noise trauma, loud music for a long term and aging. Hearing loss because of aging is known as presbycusis.  Neural hearing loss is caused by lesions involving the eighth nerve.¹⁵ A person who cannot hear should be called a hearing impaired person and not a deaf person.

Management

The treatment for hearing loss would depend on the cause. The person suffering from hearing problems should see an ENT specialist. The ENT specialist would treat according to the cause. For example, if hearing loss were because of cerumen impactation, then the ENT specialist would remove the impacted cerumen. Hearing could then be restored. But one should not try to remove cerumen at home because there is a danger of puncturing the eardrum, which would completely worsen it. The people with hearing loss must not procrastinate treatment; rather they should pay attention so that they can get treated early. For patients whose hearing loss cannot be corrected by medical therapy or through surgery, they could be the benefited from hearing application. There are a lot of modern day hearing aids, which are free from distortion and can amplify to make the hearing better. The hearing aid must be properly selected in order to help the person with the hearing loss. We now have digitally programmable hearing aids. Patients can attend clubs for hearing loss and also school for the hearing loss. They could also learn the sign language and lead a normal life and be independent after mastering the sign language. If they have speech problem, sign language can also help.  

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Death of A Loved One

Death is one of the worst problems man has to face. Life is uncertain but death is sure. Death will come to us one day or another, today or tomorrow, sooner or later. In fact, the Bible says in Romans 6:23, The wages of sin is death Because of sin everybody has to die. It is very painful for anyone to lose his or her loved ones. It is painful to see anyone dead. When somebody dies, especially suspiciously, a post-mortem has to be done because there are several cases where later on it was found that the person was murdered. Hence, when the cause of death is not really known, it is always nice to have a post-mortem done. It would be painful for the family members to see a post-mortem done on their dead relative but it is always good to have a post-mortem performed when the cause of death is unknown. There are a lot of funeral expenses involved and worst of all is the depression and the sadness that go with death. Another problem is when a person dies what happens to him/her, where will he/she be, will that person go to hell or heaven or will the persons soul roam in space. Thus, where are the dead? 

Spiritual Solutions

     First of all, when a person dies, the cause of death should be known. The cause of the death should be known especially when the death is suspicious. This is important so that the relatives and others would be taking precautionary measures in order that kind of death wouldnt be repeated, if possible. Suppose the death was because of alcohol then others should take precautions in not drinking alcohol. If it was because of heart attack, which was caused because of high cholesterol food and smoking, then the relatives and others should take precaution that they do not repeat the same mistake.

     If a person was close to the dead person, the death could be shocking and devastating. The death could be devastating if the death was sudden like an accident or a heart attack than in comparison of a person who was having a terminal illness or slowly dying. If persons want to cry after they have lost a loved one, they are to go ahead and cry because they should not bottle up their emotions in their minds. In ancient days they usually hired some professional criers to cry when somebody died. By the way, those had to shed artificial tears; in fact, they usually used cut onions in order to bring tears. If one really desires to cry, he or she can go ahead and cry, but not for long. Lord Jesus told His disciples when Lazarus died that he was sleeping. In John 11:13 Lord Jesus refers to Lazarus as not dead but asleep. Lord Jesus will resurrect the righteous dead when He comes the second time. He stated in John 11:25, I am the resurrection and the life and he that believeth in Me though he were dead yet shall he live. Hence, all who believe in Lord Jesus should not worry because He is the resurrection and life. When He comes the second time, He will definitely resurrect all those who are dead in Him. Psalms 116:15 says, Precious is the death of his saints and Proverb 14:32 declares, The wicked is driven away in his wickedness but the righteous have hope in his death, Therefore, all who die in Lord Jesus have hope and there is nothing to worry about. It is just that they have gone away before us and they are sure of their salvation but we who are living are not sure about our salvation. We should be concerned about living a godly life cause we do not know when death will snatch us away.

      We are the ones who are   supposed to be worried because we are not sure of our salvation unlike those who have gone before us who were sure about their resurrection. God doesnt really take lives unnecessarily. Ezekiel 18:32 says God has no pleasure in death of him that dieth, God in His own sweet time takes the life which He had given and righteous people die earlier than others because of the wickedness of the land.  In a way, death is sweet for the ones who had suffered severe pain, discomfort and torture in their lives. When Job was suffering, he mentioned in the book of Job 3:21, Which long for death but it cometh not. We should not cry too much for the dead as Jeremiah 22:10 advises, Weep not for the dead When a loved one dies let the relatives be sad for a short time and not for long because Lord Jesus is coming very soon as King of kings and Lord of lords and they would see their loved ones in heaven.

    Where are the dead? There are many people who believe that when someone is dead, he/she goes straight to heaven or hell. Now, because some pastors preach that, doesnt mean that it is true or if the majority believe so, it must be true. The Bible articulates in Ecclesiastes 9:5, For the living know that they would die, but the dead know not anything neither have they any more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. The Bible clearly tells us the dead know nothing, so when they have died they dont to go to heaven or hell. When a dead person is cremated, the ashes would be thrown into a river by the relatives but whatever the case may be the dead now nothing. The pastors and others, who believe that as soon as the good persons die they will go heaven, usually back up their belief from Luke 16:19-31, where a parable about a rich man and Lazarus is mentioned. It talks about how Lazarus had died and gone to Abraham in heaven; thus, this belief was erroneously conceived, that is, when a good person dies, he/she goes straight to heaven. This belief is not true and has to be humbly aborted because Abraham himself never went to heaven and is waiting for the resurrection day. Lord Jesus was only telling a parable to bring about a moral lesson to help the poor and was not discussing about the state of the dead. However, this is the only parable where a name had been mentioned because in all the other parables of Lord Jesus there were no names mentioned. The Holy Bible expresses in Psalms 115:17, The dead praise not the Lord, nor any who go down into silence. We see the dead praise not the Lord, so if Abraham was dead and went to heaven and if Lazarus was dead and went to heaven, they would be praising the Lord in heaven but the Bible says they do not praise the Lord since they are dead.

    God had made the human life by making man from the dust of the ground and He gave His breath to him and man became a living soul. According to Genesis 2:7, God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Thus, when man dies the breath of man goes back to Him and the body goes back to dust in the earth because dust shall return unto dust. When Lord Jesus comes the second time He will give back the breath of life to those who died in Him. First Thessalonians 4:16 expresses, The dead in Christ shall rise first, so if all the righteous dead are in heaven, then there is no need for the dead in Christ to rise. Hence, the dead dont go to heaven or hell but become dust till the coming of Lord Jesus.

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Delirium

  This is basically a confusional state where the person is fluctuating in his thoughts and cognitive behavior. The symptoms often fluctuate; the consciousness is accompanied by disorientation in terms of time, place, and person. They do not pay attention as the condition worsens during sun down. The causes of delirium could be because of underlying brain disease like dementia. This could be more common in the elderly people. Hypoglycemia, cerebral infection, cerebral hemorrhage, meningitis, sepsis, urinary track infection and viral infection could cause confusion in the brain of the affected person. 

Treatment

The patient should be taken to a medical doctor and after the underlying cause is identified, he would be treated. If the delirium is caused by hypoglycemia and it is treated then the person will surely regain his normal senses and would be oriented. When the person is suffering from infection like meningitis and it is treated, the patient would get back to his/her normal orientation.

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Delusion

  It is actually a false idea or belief that could not be characterized by reasoning or by any other means. The person would hold on to his/her delusive belief. Delusion of grandeur is discovered in a person who has belief in his own greatness. Depressive delusion is feeling a sense of unworthiness. 

Management

   The patient with delusion should be taken to a psychiatrist. To manage delusional disorder is not an easy one. Patients are paranoid that they are being followed, poisoned or infected, someone loves them, or their loved one is deceiving them. Basically, the treatment is psychotherapy. There should be a good effective relationship between the patient and the psychiatrist so that the patient could express clearly, what he thinks. If he is quite aggressive and wants to take revenge, then he must be hospitalized. Anti-psychotic drugs would be given to suppress the symptoms.

    Patience with this patient is needed because reasoning would not easily change this person. Through love and care, the patient should be de-trained of his delusional thoughts.

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Dental Problems

The usual dental problems are caries, gingivitis, periodontal disease, tooth ache and denture problems. 

Management

It is better to prevent than cure these problems. Good oral hygiene should be maintained. Brushing and flossing should be regular routines in our lives. For teeth problems, a dentist should be visited promptly without any delay.

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Depression

    Depression is a state of dejection. There are many risk factors for depression. The risk factors could be familial history where their grandparents, fathers or mothers had bouts of depression. People who have an inclination to alcohol or drug abuse could always be depressed and after post partum (after delivery of a baby) or after an abortion, women sometimes go into depression. When patients suffer from a long-term disease that is debilitating, it may also trigger depression. Depression can lead some persons to commit suicide. There are persons who get depressed because of guilt feelings, while others may get depressed according to seasons. 

Management

The patient should visit a psychologist or psychiatrist. A thorough psychoanalysis would be conducted on the patient by the psychologist or psychiatrist to find out why the patient is depressed. After finding out the causes, they must be avoided or treated. The psychiatrist would also prescribe antidepressants. If alcohol or drug abuse is the cause, the patient would have to be slowly de-addicted. If patients are lonely, with no social support, then they should be given some kind of help where some social workers would work with them. They could seek the services from a social club too.

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Devil Possession

      The person suffering from devil possession should be carefully studied because some mental disorders could be wrongly classified as devil possession. Therefore, one has to first find out if the person has a mental disorder or if it is devil possession to resolve it. If persons are suffering from mental problems such as schizophrenia, delusional disorders, manic-depressive psychosis then they should be treated in mental hospitals. If it is devil possession then they should be dealt by righteous pastors/bishops/exorcists.

     Usually if it is devil possession, you would notice a few traits. 1. The possessed person has extraordinary strength. In fact, the Bible tells in Luke 8:24 about a person possessed with the devils. Though he was chained, he used to break the chains as if they were some kind of thread. He used to cut himself and cause wounds but he never really got sick. So devil possessed persons have extra ordinary strength. 2. The possessed person can recall correctly about many things that occurred in the past or even in present experiences of other persons whom they are not acquainted with. But persons with mental disorder do not have great strength and can neither recall the past events of other persons nor those of themselves. 3. The voice of the possessed person will change. In a female, the voice will have a deep & loud bass sound. 4. It is very hard to sedate the persons with drugs, when they are possessed. Women are more susceptible to devil possession than men because of following reasons: more fearful, more doubtful, more submissive and easy to dominate. 

Spiritual Solutions

     The Bible clearly tells us that in the name of Lord Jesus we can cast out devils (Luke 10:17). Only people who are extremely pious, close to Lord Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit can cast out devils. Persons whose lives are not in tune with God cannot cast out devils. The Bible relates in Acts 19:14-16, about seven sons of a man named Sceva who tried to cast out devils in Lord Jesus name but the evil spirits leapt on them and beat them up because their lives were not right with God. People who do the will of Lord Jesus will not be possessed by the devils hence, let us not give the devils the chance to possess us by doing His will & obeying His 10 Commandments. The possessed is to be asked (made to repeat the prayer) to repent of all sins and the exorcist must fast & pray, have all sins forgiven before the exorcism. When a devil leaves a man after possessing him, then the man should allow the Holy Spirit to control him. Otherwise, the same devil can bring more devils who are more wicked than himself to possess him. The condition of that man would be worse than the first.

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Diabetes Insipidus

  Diabetes Insipidus is caused by the lack of vasopressin hormone, which is normally produced by posterior lobe of the pituitary gland. Because of this disease, there is an increased flow of urine and great thirst in the patient. 

Treatment

The treatment is to use desmopressin as nasal spray, which contains the hormone vasopressin.¹⁶ When a synthetic one of this anti-diuretic hormone vasopressin is administered, this problem is managed.

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Diarrhea

Diarrhea is a rapid and frequent movement of watery fecal material from the bowel. The causes of acute diarrhea could be due to infections of pathogenic microorganisms (like viruses, bacteria and protozoa). The causes of chronic diarrhea could be because of diseases such as Crohns disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome and AIDS.  

Management

The patient ought to visit a medical doctor without delay. The patient should not self-treat with drugs. The doctor would treat the patients according to the cause of the disease. The patient should take a lot of fluids with salt and sugar to rehydrate the body. The patient must eat liquid diets like soups. The patient is to strictly follow medical advice.

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Diseases  (Major)

Please go to Diseases--Causes, Symptoms & Treatment page in this website for details. The diseases are AIDS, Alzheimers disease, arthritis, asthma, diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, hepatitis A, hypertension, malaria, multiple sclerosis, myocardial infarction, pneumonia, psoriasis, syphilis, TB, and vitiligo.

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Disobedience

It is natural for us to disobey when we dont like what we are being told. But God told us in the fifth commandment Thou shall honor thy father and mother... We are to find out why people disobey, and why students dont obey the teacher.

Why does a child refuse to obey parents? Why doesnt the employee want to obey the employer? Why does a motorist on the road refuse to obey the traffic rules? Why does the man on the street refuse to obey the police? We have to find out the reasons why people dont want to obey and find solutions to the problem of disobedience. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

            Once the causes are known for a person not wanting to obey, one can find the solution. A student doesnt obey the teacher when she says Do not come to class late, because he is stubborn. May be he is not able to obey because he lives far from the school or college and he may also have transportation problems. Sometimes the student deliberately disobeys the teacher because he has no respect for the teacher and doesnt like him/her. He may also enjoy not obeying the teacher as he tries to find out what steps the teacher would take in dealing with him. There are some persons under the influence of alcohol who lose all their inhibitions and they may not obey when a traffic police tells them to stop. Some deliberately break a red light for the heck of it. 

Spiritual Solutions

When a child does not obey the parents, they have to follow what the Bible says. The Bible says, Spare the rod and spoil the child (Proverbs 13:24). The Bible does not mean beating the child black and blue or abusing the child. It simply means to correct the child. We have to correct the child when that child is very small because Proverbs 22:6 states, Train up the child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. We are to correct the child with love. When the child is taught to obey from early childhood, when he grows up he would still obey the laws of the land. Children that are disobedient should be corrected. Because this is not followed we have problems. In Western nations where the children are not corrected properly, there is a high sexual immorality, gun violence in schools and a lot of murder and rape cases.

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Doubt

   When a person always doubts, he is usually called a doubting Thomas. The disciple of Lord Jesus, that is Thomas, had always doubted. We know that there are some individuals who always doubt. Doubting can lead to mistrust and to a state of unhappiness. One should not doubt facts. 

Spiritual Solutions

We have to first of all trust in God. We should not doubt God. Of course, we can doubt some of our fellow men who are not honest, not sincere, and who are not persons of integrity. If we trust the persons who have no scruples we can be cheated. In God, we should have no doubt. When Lord Jesus told Peter to walk on the water, Peter doubted and when he doubted he began to sink. We should believe that Lord Jesus could save us provided we do His will. We should not doubt like Thomas. Lord Jesus said, Blessed are the ones who believe, even if they dont see. In Matthew 21:21 Lord Jesus said, Verily I say to you, if you have faith and doubt not, he shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree but ye shall also say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be cast into the sea and it shall be done. Here when He spoke about the mountain being cast into the sea, He was only speaking figuratively. When you do His will and have no doubt, God shall bless you more abundantly.

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Dowry

Dowry is an act of giving something (money, things or property) to the bridegroom by the parents of the bride. It is a big problem in some of the Asian countries like India. Dowry creates more problems for the girls parents because they have to expend a lot of money, apart from the marriage expenses. They may even have other children to take care of and this dilemma would only invite more economical and social problems. 

Non-Spiritual Solutions

There should be a legislation to ban the dowry system. Because of this dowry problem, some mothers-in-law have burnt their daughters-in-law to death because the daughters-in-law failed to come up with the entire dowry. Sometimes the parents of the bride would promise to give money later on and they would fail to keep the promise. This, in turn, would make the parents of the bridegroom to take revenge or the husband himself may torture or kill his wife. Basically the bridegroom has married the bride, not because of love, but because of love of money. A husband would kill his own wife just because of a dowry predicament. Usually the dowry is paid in money or in kind like gold, car, scooter, fridge or a washing machine. The mothers-in-law, when they burn their daughters-in-law, dont realize that one day their own daughters would become daughters-in-law for other persons. They have not considered how it would feel if their daughters were burnt. When mothers-in-law try to hurt their daughters-in-law, they should think of their own daughters. If they dont have daughters, they must think of their sisters or their mothers. These mothers-in-law must realize that when they were daughters-in-law if they were burnt, then they would not have become mothers-in-law in the first place.

The ones who are guilty of torturing or harming their wives or daughters-in-law for lack of dowry, should be thoroughly punished by either very long jail sentences or capital punishment. These punishments could act as deterrent to put a halt to all the dowry offenders. Sometimes the dowry victims should report the culprits to the authorities otherwise theyll repeat the evil. The dowry offenders should be exposed and their stories reported in the newspaper or on television since they would be brought to shame and embarrassment.

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Drug Addiction

   Drug addiction is a serious state of compulsive desire to take drugs and to completely depend on them physically and psychologically.  The drugs usually taken by the addicts are stimulants (cocaine), depressants (barbiturates), hallucinogens (LSD), cannabis (marijuana) and narcotics (opium).  The reasons why individuals take them are peer pressure, depression, to get high, experimentation and to escape from problems.   Finally, they continue to take these drugs because they are addicted.  

Management

         When physical signs like needle marks on arms & legs, puffy face, dilated pupils, unusual laziness & shaking of body parts and behavioral signs like sudden drop in grades, extreme privacy, telling lies and stealing stuff from home and being paranoid are noticed, parents are not to procrastinate but seek professional help for their children. Once confirmed the drug addicts must be treated and if necessary be admitted to a drug de-addiction center.  Detoxification and psychotherapy are conducted.  Then the addict should be properly rehabilitated.  As recurrence is very high, they are to be morally supported. For the dilemma of drug addiction, prevention is better than cure.  To know about the repercussions of drug addiction please read my novel, Dr. Jonah Stevenson's Novel: The Truth of Untrue Love.

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Dying

      When a doctor tells you that you have only a few months to live and he cant do anymore, that news will be shattering to you. The predicament of dying is quite serious. How do you face death when you know that you are dying? Or how would you converse with a person who knows that he is dying? Suppose one does not know that next day he will die, and then he wouldnt worry all night. He would sleep well and the next day he would drive and be killed on the road in an accident. But that wasnt a problem to him earlier because he didnt know that he was going to die. But what if one is suffering from a terminal disease and he knows that he is dying? It is an alarming problem. How does one tackle this? 

Management

We have to believe in Lord Jesus as our Savior. We should leave everything in His hands because He is the Creator and the Redeemer. He is like a potter. The pots, which are not good, He might destroy them or make new pots. If it is His will that we have to die, then we have to die. By the way, it is easier said than done but we should not be worried. Lord Jesus said in John 11:25, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me though he were dead yet shall he live. Hence, if you know that you are dying, you should not worry. But there are many persons, whom I know, that doctors told were going to die and yet they didnt die for they fasted and prayed and were healed. God will not forsake anyone, more so a dying one.

When the doctor tells a particular patient that he has a few more months to live, he should not give up hope.  One must fast and pray and ask others to fast and pray. The more the people pray, the better. James 5:16 expresses, The prayer of a righteous man availeth much. We must also ask righteous people to pray. If it is the will of God then definitely the Lord will save a sick persons life. For example, the sickness of Hezekiah, which is recorded in Second Kings 20:1-11 in the Holy Bible. Here, Isaiah told Hezekiah that he would die but Hezekiah went and prayed and as it was the will of God he was given fifteen more years to live. When you know that you are dying, ask if it is Gods will that your life be spared and if it is Gods will then your life will be spared. If it is not Gods will, you have to humbly prepare to die because God creates and takes life.

But you or me should not die with any fear because Lord Jesus will resurrect you or me provided we had followed His will in our lives. The most important thing is that we must die in Christ, not out of Christ.

My advice to the dying ones is to never lose the inclination or will power to live any longer or else death will knock your door quickly. Another piece of advice is to keep a pet like a dog to keep company, since it can be a source of comfort. Sometimes friends and a few relatives can forsake dying persons but a pet dog will not do that. But arrangement must be made so that after death, another person can take care of the pet.

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Dyslexia

It is a condition where there is difficulty to learn, read and to spell correctly.  The exact cause is not known.  However, babies born pre-term and babies whose mothers had intra-uterine problems during pregnancy may develop dyslexia.  There may be genetic predisposition too.  

Management

The patients of dyslexia must be thoroughly examined by medical doctors. They should be shown a lot of love and care.  The individuals working with them must possess a lot of patience and experience to deal with them.  Dyslexics must not be discouraged, as some dyslexics have excelled in games and Olympics.

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  Dyspnea

Dyspnea is a sensation of breathlessness. It could be a result of many conditions. Dyspnea could be caused because of pulmonary dysfunctions. Non-pulmonary disorders that may cause dyspnea are heart disease like heart failure and angina pectoris, shock, anemia, hyper metabolic state, anxiety and abdominal distention.

 

Management

     If you are suffering from dyspnea, you should not procrastinate and wish that it would go away. You should go to the doctor and get help as quickly as possible. Especially if it is a symptom of angina pectoris or heart attack because there is no time to lose. The treatment depends on the cause of the disease.  The medical doctor will treat according to the cause of dyspnea.  For example, for angina pectoris, glyceryl trininitrate is given sublingually.

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