| |
The
maternal instincts of a woman arise almost entirely from
the female hormones within her body. These hormes are
produced in a pair of almond-shaped organs, known as the
ovaries. They are situated deep within the pelvis, one on
each side of the uterus or womb.
The two major female hormones are estrogen and
pro-gestrone. These hormones give the woman strength and
stamina and are largely responsible for the peculiarly
feminine shape of her body. The ovaries start producing
large quantities of estrogen, the dominant female hormone
when a girl reaches about 12 years of age. This enables
her to grow rapidly and develop into a normal young
woman. The commencement of menstruation at this time
heralds the reproductive phase of her life, when she can
have children. This phase may last for about 35 years.
The menstrual flow is connected with the female function
of ovaluation or the passing of the egg cell or ovum from
the ovary to the womb ready for fertilisation. It is a
provision of nature to cleanse the inner surface of the
womb and enable reproduction to take place normally. The
flow normally lasts for about four days and has a rhythm
of 28 days.
The main problem relating to menstrual flow are painful
menstruation, stoppage of menstruation and excessive
menstruation, besides pre-menstrual tension which is
discussed in the next chapter (84). These disorders are
quite common, but they are not normal. Healthy women,
living according to natural laws and eating diets of
natural foods do not suffer from the monthly ordeal. Most
menstrual disorders are caused by nutritional
deficiencies which lead to deficiency and improper
metabolism of the female sex hormones. These disorders
are now discussed briefly.
Dysmenorrhoea : Painful menstruation or dysmenorrhoea, as
it is called in medical parlance, is a very common
occurrence these days. This disorder is traceable to a
debilitated and toxic condition of the system in general
and of the sex organs in particular due to a wrong diet,
wrong style of living and nervous exhaustion. The pain
may be felt either two or three days before or
immediately before or during the flow.
Pain starting two or three days before the flow usually
shows that the ovaries are not functioning properly. This
is a glandular misfunction and a carefully planned
natural diet will usually put matters right. For local
treatment, hot sip baths on alternate nights for a week
before the period is due will be highly beneficial.
Between periods, cold hip baths will increase the tone of
the ovaries.
Pain immediately before the flow commences is indicative
of uterine flexion, which means that the position of the
womb is abnormal. A professional examination should be
arranged to ascertain the position of the womb and
corrective exercises undertaken under professional
advice. Uterine flexion often occurs in women who are so
thin that they have lost internal fat and the ligament,
on which the womb is suspended. General treatment along
dietetic lines is essential along with corrective
exercises.
When the pain occurs during menstruation, it usually
means that the womb itself is inflammed. This condition
can be relieved by proper attention to diet and hot hip
baths just before the period is due and cold hip baths
between the periods. The hot hip bath is generally taken
for eight to ten minutes at a water temperature of 100 o
F which can be gradually increased to 120 o F.
The cold hip bath should be taken for 10 to 15 minutes at
a water temperature of 50 o F to 65 o
F.
Amenorrhoea or stoppage of menstrual flow : Stoppage of
menstruation is natural during pregnancy and at the
menopause, but abnormal at any other time. It is true
that some women have very infrequent periods but this
seems to be peculiar to their particular type and cannot
be termed as stoppage. If , however, the periods have
been quite regular for a number of years and then
suddenly stop or the cycle becomes frequently
interrupted, it denotes a debilitated and devitalised
condition of the system, especially of the sex organ.
Causes contributing towards this condition are anaemia,
worry, grief, fright or other serious emotional
disturbances, malformation of the womb, tuberculosis,
displacement of womb and debility, especially after a
serious illness.
The treatment for amenorrhoea should be directed towards
the rectification of the disease-condition responsible
for causing the trouble in the first place. Along with
this, a course of general health-building treatment
should also be carried out. If serious emotional
disturbance has caused the trouble, an initial period of
quietness and rest is essential to the treatment. All
excitement, excessive mental strain and study should be
avoided for a considerable period.
Menorrhoea or excessive menstruation : Profuse menstrual
flow is common in certain women and usually denotes a
blood deficiency, especially blood calcium. A variety of
causes may be responsible for this trouble, but toxic
condition of the system is at the root of the matter. It
is essential to keep the patient absolutely quiet and
confined to bed. The bottom of the bed should be raised
10 cm to 13 cm. IN case of excessive bleeding, a gauze
may be inserted in the vagina as a temporary measure.
For the first few days the diet should consist only of
milk and raw vegetables. No stimulants should be taken as
they tend to increase the flow. When the bleeding has
stopped, great care should be taken to avoid over
exertion or straining the body in any manner. A full
nature cure diet should then be adopted using fresh
vegetables raw salads twice daily. As a long term
measure, what is needed is a scheme of treatment which
will thoroughly cleanse the system of toxic material. Treatment
The various
disorders relating to menstrual flow are indicative of
the low level of a woman’s health and a toxic
condition of her sex organism, which has been brought
about by wrong habits of living, especially wrong dietary
habits. These disorders are made more deep-seated and
chronic by modern medical efforts to deal with them
through the suppressive agency of surgery and drugs. The
disorders being systemic in origin, can be tackled only
by treating the system as a whole so as to remove the
toxicity from the body and build up the general
health-level of the sufferer.
To undertake such a scheme of all round health-building
treatment, the sufferer from menstrual disorders should
begin with an all-fruit diet for about five days. In this
regimen, the patient should have three meals a day of
fresh, juicy fruits, such as apples, pears, grapes,
papaya, oranges, pineapple, peaches and melon. No other
foodstuff should be taken; otherwise the value of the
whole treatment will be lost. However, if there is much
weight loss on the all-fruit diet, those already
underweight may add a glass of milk to each fruit meal.
During this period the bowels should be cleansed daily
with a warm water enema.
After the all-fruit diet, the sufferer should adopt a
well- balanced diet on the following lines :
Upon rising : A
glass of lukewarm water mixed with the freshly squeezed
juice of half a lime and a spoon of honey.
Breakfast : Fresh
fruits such as apple, orange, grapes, papaya, banana and
milk.
Lunch : A
bowl of freshly prepared steamed vegetable such as carrot
, cabbage, cauliflower, swuash, and beans, two or three
whole wheat chappatis.
Mid-afternoon : A
glass of carrot juice or sugarcane juice.
Dinner : A
large bowl of fresh green vegetable salad using all
available vegetable such as carrot, cabbage, cucumber,
tomatoes, radish, red beets and onion and mung bean
sprouts.
Bed-time snack : A
glass of fresh milk or an apple.
The diet factor is of the
utmost importance. Fruits and salads ,nature’s
body-cleansing and health-restoring foods, must form the
bulk of the future diet alongwith whole grains, nuts and
seeds, especially in sprouted forms. Frequent small meals
should be taken instead of few large ones to prevent low
blood sugar which is common during menstruation. The
foods which should be avoided in future are white-flour
products, sugar, confectionery, rich cakes, pastries,
sweets, refined cereals, flesh foods, rich, heavy, or
greasy foods, tinned or preserved foods, strong tea,
coffee, pickles, condiments and sauces. Smoking, if
habitual, should be given up completely as it aggravates
menstrual disorders.
A further short period on all -fruit , say two or three
consecutive days can be undertaken at monthly intervals,
according to the need of the case. The morning dry
friction and cold hip baths should form a regular feature
of the treatment. All cold baths should however , be
suspended during the menstrual period.
Certain remedies have been found useful in menstrual
disorders. Cooked banana flower eaten with curd is one of
the more important of such remedies. The banana flower
appears to increase progesterone hormone and reduce the
bleeding.
Beet juice has been found very effective for menstrual
disorders. It should be used in small quantities of 60 to
90 grams, at a time two or three times a day in these
conditions.
Coriander seeds are highly beneficial in the treatment of
excessive menstruation. Six gramsof these seeds should be
boiled in half a litre of water. It should be taken off
the fire when only half the water remains. Sugar candy
should be added to it and the patient should drink it
when it is still warm.
Ginger has been useful in menstrual disorders. A piece of
fresh ginger should be pounded and boiled in a cupful of
water for few minutes. The infection sweetened with sugar
should be used thrice daily after meals as a medicine for
dysmenorrhoea, and amenorrhoea due to exposure to cold
winds and taking cold baths.
Sesame seeds are also useful in menstrual disorders. Half
a teaspoonful of powder of these seeds taken with hot
water twice daily acts excellently in reducing spasmodic
pain during menstruation in young unmarried anaemic
girls. Its regular use, two days prior to the expected
periods, cures scanty menstruation. Warm hip bath
containing a handful of bruised sesame seeds should be
simultaneously taken alongwith this receipt.
Safflower seeds have also been found to be beneficial in
the treatment of painful menstruation. A decoction
prepared by boiling two teaspoonfulsof powdered seeds in
120 ml. of water should be given as a remedy for this
condition. Dried flowers mixed with confection of rose
can also be given as a medicine for this purpose.
[index]
|
