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Energy in the biological cycle originates from the sun. Plants convert solar energy to chemical energy through a process called photosynthesis. Humans then eat plants and/or animals which also eat plants. From these we obtain the calorie/containing components or macronutrients known as carbohydrates, proteins, fats and alcohol, which contain stored energy. These are then broken down by the body’s cells to provide energy. The thickness of the arrows also illustrates the ease with which each nutrient is converted to energy or stored as fat in fat cells, a thicker arrow indicating easier conversion.

The body’s cells trap the chemical energy released from food in a high-energy compound known as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which is stored in small quantities in every cell. When energy is needed (say to transport glucose into the cell), the ATP gets broken down to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), thereby releasing the energy needed for the cell’s processes.

Energy derived from fat, carbohydrate, a protein and alcohol is used in the body for catabolic processes which are involved in the break down of cell tissue and for anabolic processes which build up cell tissue. If protein is called upon to fuel these processes, the basic protein units (.amino acids) are first converted to glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis. In addition to supplying the energy for these processes, the four nutrients, but especially protein, can also be the building blocks for growth, such as when muscle size increases with exercise. The sum total of energetic events which occur in the body, i.e. anabolism plus catabolism, is known as metabolism.

To provide the energy for these events, the body has three major reserve energy stores; glucose which is stored in the liver and muscle as glycogen, protein which is stored primarily in muscle, and fat, the majority of which is stored as depot fat, subcutaneously, around the internal organs and intramuscularly.

Eventually all energy is reduced to heat, therefore the energy produced by living organisms is measured in terms of heat production as kilocalories (kcal). One kilocalorie is defined as the amount of heat energy required to raise 1 kilogram of water 1° Celsius (C) at 15°C. The energy values of food are measured in a similar way through direct calorimetry where a food item is placed in a chamber called a ‘bomb calorimeter’ and combusted in a vat of water. Using the conversion formula above, the rise in water temperature is recorded as kilocalories. The four basic food components have the approximate energy values per gram.

It is important to understand the abbreviations of terms as these are often confused in the popular press. What the lay person usually refers to as T calorie’ is actually 1000 calories’, or 1 kilocalorie’. One real calorie is actually a very small unit, and hence it is multiplied by 1000 to give a kilocalorie (or kcal). This is sometimes also referred to as 1 Calorie (spelt with a capital C). New metric measures also confuse the issue with 1 cal being equivalent to 4.184 joules, or 1 kcal being equal to 4.184 kilojoules (notation ‘kJ’). To round off the figures, 1 kcal is generally regarded as being equal to 4.2 kJ.

*37\186\4*

A hernia means that something is being pushed through a hole. During the last few months of pregnancy, the male baby’s testes which sit close by the kidney begin to descend. They pass via a hole or canal in the front wall of the abdomen, down in the pubic or inguinal region (as it is called) and slip into the scrotum, the sac on each side of the penis, where they remain for the rest of the individual’s life. During this journey, they drag with them a thin sheet of tissue which is continuous with the lining of the abdominal cavity. Normally the canal through which they pass closes up before birth, and the lining, called the tunica vaginalis, seals off around the testes and the rest also simply seals off.

Inguinal hernias

Occasionally, things do not go as planned. The tiny canal may not close off. Also, the lining may not seal off. This means that both are open. The result is that the contents of the abdominal cavity may be forced through the canal into the scrotal sac. In minor cases, this will appear as a bulge in the groin. It is usually worse with standing, coughing or straining (for example, when a bowel action is occurring). Often the material flows back and forth through the hole, vanishing if the boy lies down. But sometimes in bigger hernias, the material may penetrate right down to the scrotal sac, and it may stay there.

The main fear is that it may gradually swell and be trapped by the neck of the canal which suddenly becomes tight. If it is a piece of bowel, a sudden surgical emergency called a bowel obstruction may occur. Food is no longer able to pass along the bowel. The blood supply may be cut off. Unless there is an operation immediately, the bowel may turn gangrenous and the boy become acutely and dangerously ill.

Incarceration is the term given to a hernia that will not easily slip back into the body. Obstruction occurs when the passage of food is blocked. Both are serious and need prompt medical attention.

If there is a visible inguinal hernia on the left side, there is a 50 per cent chance there will also be one on the right side, even though it may have not yet put in appearance. On the other hand, for some strange reason, if there is a hernia on the right side, there is only a 10 per cent chance that a hernial sac will be present on the left side too! Don’t ask why—nobody knows. It’s just one of those strange quirks of life.

Hernias can also occur in females, and are related to development of the ovaries and their descent. They are most likely to be present on both sides if present.

Treatment of inguinal hernias

There is only one form of treatment for hernias, and that is by surgery. This is usually carried out at a time when the child is in good health. The hernia is reduced (as the doctors say)—that means the contents are pushed back into the abdominal cavity where they belong. The canal is stitched up securely, and usually recurrences do not take place. It is a successful operation and may prevent serious consequences.

If complications have already occurred, and the bowel has become incarcerated and strangulation (obstruction) taken place, it may be a matter of urgency to operate before serious irreversible damage occurs with the bowel.

Sometimes incarceration can be corrected manually by pushing the bowel back towards the abdominal cavity. With strangulation, the abdomen becomes distended, and there is vomiting and the signs of bowel obstruction. Surgery may quickly relieve the symptoms and the condition.

Incarceration is fairly common in children under the age of one year. Strangulation tends to follow incarceration. Any lump noted in the groin should be reported to the doctor promptly. Do not leave it there, hoping it will vanish. Most cases will not, and a serious emergency may occur when most inopportune.

Scrotal swellings (hydrocele)

A swelling in the scrotum is fairly common in babies, particularly the newborn. Fortunately, most disappear on their own accord by the age of six months. Some persist, or may recur during childhood.

The cause is similar to hernias. Instead of sealing off at birth, the tunica vaginalis which surrounds the testes still communicates with the abdominal cavity. The connection may only be minimal, but it allows fluid to accumulate in the scrotum, and the swelling may be large. If a torch is shone into the swelling, it appears as a large fluid-filled bag. Sizes may vary tremendously.

Treatment of hydrocele

Treatment must be carried out by the doctor and the sooner this is done the better. If left, pressure may damage the testes. Simple removal of fluid by a needle will give temporary relief. But in any case that does persist, surgical intervention will bring about a rapid and complete cure. It is not a major operation.

Umbilical (navel) hernia

Another fairly common site for hernias is the navel, referred to then as an umbilical hernia. This means that the umbilical ring has not closed up at birth. Before birth, the baby received nutritional needs and oxygen via the umbilical vessels attached to the placenta. This large organ (which became the afterbirth at the time of confinement) was firmly secured to the side wall of the mother’s womb. It had access to the mother’s blood supply, and here exchanges of food, oxygen and other vital needs took place.

Soon after birth, when the umbilical vessels became redundant and oxygen was received via the baby’s own lungs and food via the baby’s own mouth, the umbilical ring usually closed down. Occasionally this did not happen. So, with a persisting hole present (covered only by an outer layer of skin and some fat), with any straining of the abdomen the contents tend to be forced into the weak area. Therefore, a swelling may occur at the navel.

This is most evident if the child is straining (having a bowel action, or trying to pass urine, or crying or yelling). In fact, the hernia can sometimes become large. Some fearful parents are terrified lest the whole thing explode with an almighty bang. I assure you this never happens. On other occasions, the covering can look awfully thin, and even turn a bit blue.

However, none of the hazardous events occur as might take place with inguinal hernias. No incarceration of the bowel contents, no strangulation, no bowel obstruction. These are seldom if ever reported.

Treatment of umbilical hernias

The treatment consists of not treating it. The majority are cared for by the body itself. The umbilical ring invariably closes down of its own accord, with no interference.

The old ideas of taping the sides together is worthless. Do not shove a marble or a two cent coin into the hole and tape it there either. This idea belongs to the Dark Ages. It has no place in modern medical care, so do not try it.

If the condition seems to be getting worse (which is unusual but occasionally happens), see the doctor. Some instances need a surgical repair. But be directed by the doctor in these matters, and follow the doctor’s advice. The child may be referred to a paediatric surgeon for further investigation.

Other hernias may occasionally occur in other regions, but they are relatively uncommon and unimportant. However, any abnormal swelling in any part of the body (abdomen or elsewhere) should be examined by the doctor. This is a general rule for all parts of the body.

*58\87\2*

Little by little, babies grow up and commence looking around for more solid food to fill their needs. So, at breakfast time gradually phase in soft fruits, such as a banana either mashed with some water or milk or, later on, peeled so that the infant can eat it without your help. (Independence soon sets in!) Also, you may offer some softened cereal or porridge, some of yours to begin with. Try sieving it for the first few days.

Purchasing special baby foods is usually unnecessary, and many are relatively expensive. On the other hand, you may offer the baby these if you wish to, and many different varieties are available. I must admit that my four children all loved their tinned foods, and even now (aged over 21 years) still dig out a tin from the pantry occasionally. As I’ve often said, habits started in babyhood often persist. Food is no exception.

Babies usually love sucking a crust, or piece of toast, or a rusk. Be careful to supervise this and do not leave the baby alone, for a chunk may inadvertently slip down the windpipe and cause trouble.

The baby will soon start using a cup—you can show him the first few times, and he will rapidly follow the idea and soon become expert. Offer water or unsweetened orange juice.

At lunch-time, offer some meat moistened with warm water. Later on, offer a piece of meat to suck. Or perhaps a largish chicken bone with meat hanging to it. Give soft fruit or pieces of vegetable such as tomato. Eggs are very useful and highly nutritious—you may spoon feed the baby with soft-boiled egg, or you may prepare a small sandwich from chopped-up or mashed-up hard-boiled egg.

Evening meals may consist of cooked meat and vegetables. Add minimum or no salt or sugar to the food. If you are cooking the baby’s food with the family meal, take it out first before adding salt or sugar to the rest of the family’s food. It is best to offer vegetables separately, rather than mixed up in a messy hotchpotch. Unsweetened stewed fruit, plain dessert, custards or yoghurt are suitable. The baby will like something to chew on, so offer foods similar to those recommended for lunch-time. Adequate fluids are necessary, so always offer water.

Gradually, as babies thrive and grow longer and heavier, they will want to increase the range and amount of food eaten. They will usually let you know when they are hungry and when they have met their needs. Little by little, their food intake and variety will become very similar to that of the rest of the family. Making a baby part of the family circle is important, and the sooner the child eats the same type of food the better. It is easier for the cook and it means that the baby is gradually taking his or her place in the social setting of the family.

*11\87\2*

Morning sickness is characterised by nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. It usually occurs during the early months. About 60% of pregnant women suffer from morning sickness at some stage of their pregnancies, and some actually vomit. Morning sickness is most common between weeks 5 and 8 of pregnancy, but can persist to week 16.

Morning sickness gained its name because the most common symptom is a feeling of nausea upon arising. There are no established causes of the illness, although many believe that hunger makes a significant contribution. Metabolic changes resulting from pregnancy have also been suggested as causal factors. In unusual cases pernicious vomiting can develop in pregnancy and should not be confused with the relatively mild symptoms of morning sickness. Although this affects only one woman in 200, it can cause dehydration and weight loss and treatment for it must be sought.

The treatment of morning sickness involves a number of approaches. A cup of tea and a slice of toast eaten in bed before arising is sufficient to allay the symptoms in many women. Peppermint or raspberry tea are also recommended. Raspberry tablets can be substituted if preferred. Most effective of all is ginger, either fresh or in tablet form, but it should not be taken in the last few months of pregnancy as it may cause colic in the unborn child.

*10\69\2*

The anxious patient cannot sit still. He fidgets and wriggles about. He cannot settle to the task in hand; he starts one job but feels uncomfortable, leaves it and starts something else. He is less restless when there is something definite that he has to do, so he is more comfortable at work than at home. On weekends, in spite of happy relations with his family, it is common for him to wish for Monday so that he can go back to the fixed routine of work.

Sometimes people feel that they will be better if they take a holiday and have a good rest. Of course, these patients are at their worst in such circumstances because they have lost the ability to relax and take it easy. Other people with anxiety are benefited by such a holiday, but when restlessness is a feature the anxious patient only returns more tense and frustrated than ever.

A forty-seven-year-old foreman wrote for an appointment, and described his restlessness in these terms.

“I have an inability to relax, nervous tension, anxiety complex and constant apprehension, I cannot sit [without a flush of anxiety] in meetings, church, theatre, dentist’s chair, barber’s chair, public transport, or as a passenger in a motor car . . . My flush of nervous tension makes me leave whatever I am attending . . .”

*13\57\2*

If you want to feel what a muscle is like when it’s relaxed, start by recognizing what it’s like when it’s tense. Probably the easiest muscles to tense and relax are the muscles in your hands, so that’s where we’ll start.

Relaxing your hands, arms and shoulders-Clench both your fists as hard as you can, holding them up in the air. Now you’re ready to relax. Keep up the tension in your hands as hard as you can while you take a deep breath through your nose, counting to three slowly. Now blow out your breath through your mouth as though you were blowing out three candles, set one behind the other in front of you. As you blow, release the tension and let your fists drop and your hands fall back on the bed (or the sofa, or the floor or wherever you are). It will be a great relief to be without all those tight sensations in your hands and wrists. Lie still and check that all the tight, aching feelings have gone or are going. If they’re still there after a couple of minutes, clench your fists again and repeat the process. Then get your friend to check how relaxed you are. A really relaxed hand is absolutely floppy. The fingers curl into a natural curve. If you are on your own, prop up a mirror so you can see yourself and check on the position of your hands. After a while, your hands, lying on the bed, will begin to feel quite heavy.

Now relax your arms. Lift your hands and arms off the bed and tense them right up to the shoulders. You will feel the tension in your elbows, which will seem to be trying to push their way through from the outside to the inside of your arms. You’ll probably ache along the inside of your upper arms, too, and across your shoulders. Take your deep breath, blow out your three candles and let all the tension in your arms go so that they drop back heavily onto the bed. If you’re really relaxed all the tight aching sensations should soon start to melt away. Get your friend to check that your arms are relaxed by gently lifting them up and supporting them with both hands. A relaxed arm is floppy and quite heavy to lift. Lie quietly and check that there isn’t any tight, uncomfortable feeling anywhere along the length of either arm.

At this stage, tackle your shoulders. Most of us hunch our shoulders just a little bit, most of the time. It’s a sure sign of tension, but we don’t usually recognize what we’re doing. If you now hunch your shoulders right up into your neck as far as you can, you’ll feel tension in the back of your neck, under your chin, and down your back along both shoulder blades. Once again take a deep breath, tensing your shoulders as much as you can, and then breathe out, blowing through your mouth. Let your shoulders drop as though your arms were falling out of their sockets. Now drop them a bit further still.

You might well find that you’re not comfortable on your pillows now, and you’ll need to get your friend to readjust them. You may need to wriggle around a little until you’re comfortable again. When you’re settled, check that your hands and arms and shoulders are still relaxed.

*8\177\2*

In the mid-1950s, William Petersen came to me as a patient, complaining that eating a single commercial apple would cause him to have a severe headache. Petersen was fed on apples twice in my office after having avoided this food for a week, and on both occasions was struck with searing attacks of head pain. I naturally diagnosed him as allergic to apples.

Petersen was an inquisitive man, with a determination to understand why he reacted in the way he did. He lived in a nearby state which had a large fruit-producing belt. Upon returning home, working on a hunch, he slipped into an abandoned orchard and gathered some apples from the trees. These apples had not been sprayed or cared for in years. He picked about half a peck of sound ones and took them home. Surprisingly, he was able to eat these unsprayed, untreated apples with complete abandon: he ate three or four of them at a time, every day for a week. He had no headache or any other reaction whatsoever. He then reported the result of his experiment to me.

I therefore obtained my own source of unsprayed apples and tested Petersen on these in my office. Again, he had no reaction to unsprayed apples but responded with a severe headache to any commercial variety. Petersen went on to eat apples thereafter, provided he obtained them from uncontaminated sources. He didn’t have an apple allergy at all; he had something else, something which still did not have a name.

To extend this observation, in 1953 I obtained samples of apples sprayed with several major pesticides from the horticulture department of the College of Agriculture of the University of Illinois. By using these apples, as well as completely unsprayed and untreated ones, the problem of the “multiple fruit sensitivity” was finally worked out. The majority of the patients who reacted to these fruits were usually not allergic to fruit at all. What they were susceptibile to was the chemical pollution of fruit. The unsprayed fruit could be tolerated quite well, but the commercially available varieties, such as are obtained in supermarkets and fruit stores, caused chronic health problems such as arthritis, colitis, nervousness, and depression.

This observation raised a host of questions about health and sickness, questions which struck at the basis of much of Western technology.

How safe is our present chemical environment? To what extent does it contribute to chronic illness? How much do we know about the long-term effects of such by-products of “progress” as the chemical pollutants in the air of our homes and cities, chemical additives and contaminants in our foods, water, cosmetics, and drugs?

Supposedly these environmental chemicals had been tested and found safe.

However, there were serious questions to be asked about the validity of long-term toxicity studies carried out by government or industry. If only a minority of rats responded adversely to a chemical, were these results averaged out in the final report? What about the minority of people who are similarly afflicted? Were they being similarly ignored or lost in our statistical studies? These were important questions, since even if only one or two percent of the population were made chronically ill by daily exposure to such chemicals, this would still amount to two to four million people in the United States alone, enough to keep all our physicians busy for a long time. We doctors were the ones who had to deal with the unusual reactions, yet the medical profession seemed completely unaware of the potential danger.

Many of the chemicals in common use had become “profitable ventures” by the time anyone began to suspect that they were harmful. They thus became the focal point, individually and collectively, of defensive public relations operations by giant companies.

Indeed, some of the most troublesome chemical exposures have not been adequately described, and there is still no general knowledge of their potential hazards. The chief reason for this is that these materials have become integral parts of our current existence. Since they are so common, they are not usually suspected. Not being suspected, they are not usually avoided deliberately. Thus, not being eliminated either by chance or design, certain common chemical exposures remain unsuspected causes of chronic physical and “mental” illnesses.

There is an element of addiction to some of these chemicals, as well. Even though certain chemical exposures may be suspected of causing harm, avoidance is not only inconvenient, and sometimes expensive, but, because of the addictionlike responses that may be involved, sometimes the victims do not even wish to avoid exposure to the chemicals. Thus, understanding of this problem has been obstructed both by the constant nature of the chemical exposure and the self-perpetuation of the process.

I called this the chemical susceptibility problem, instead of the chemical allergy or sensitivity problem, to avoid prolonged and pointless debates over whether such small doses could cause classic allergic reactions. Whatever their name, such reactions were real and increasingly common, as many cases were to show.

*9\110\2*

Colic is any cramp-like, recurring abdominal pain. Colic has a variety of causes and may occur at any age. Most often, however, people use the term to refer to colic that occurs in infants.

Infantile colic, or “three-month” colic, is a specific problem that bothers 10 to 20 percent of babies. Colic is far more common in bottle-fed babies than in breast-fed babies. Colic starts during the first few weeks of life and lasts one to six months (an average of three months).

Signs and symptoms

The signs of colic are seen in the typical behavior of colicky infants. A baby with colic cries for hours a day, particularly in the late afternoon and evening. The child pulls the legs up, clenches the fists, screams, and turns red. The child may feed briefly but soon stops feeding and returns to crying. Rocking and cuddling also stop the cries only briefly. In other respects, the infant is normal; the baby gains weight well, has normal bowel movements, and doesn’t spit up any more than most infants do.

A variation of this classical form of colic is the infant past two weeks of age who wakes frequently (every two hours or so), cries fretfully, takes one to two ounces of formula or a few minutes at the mother’s breast, falls into a fitful sleep, and wakens later to repeat this pattern.

Home care

First check for obvious causes of crying and discomfort other than colic. Look for diarrhea or constipation; loose nappy pins; severe nappy rash; a trapped arm or leg; whether the baby is too hot or too cold; or signs of illness – fever, nasal discharge, cough, reddened eyes, vomiting, hernia (a lump in the groin), or sores on the body. See whether your baby responds promptly to talking and cuddling and remains comfortable. A baby in pain can be distracted, but only temporarily. If breast-feeding, check that the mother’s nipples are not bleeding. Swallowed blood causes cramps. If a breast-feeding mother drinks too much cow’s milk, this can also cause cramps in the infant.

Offer your baby a feeding. If your baby drinks generously and falls asleep comfortably for several hours, the child was hungry, not colicky. Keep the baby partially upright in an infant carrier between feedings to be sure the baby is not regurgitating food in the oesophagus.

If colic still seems likely, applying gentle heat to the abdomen temporarily relieves the pain. First place a cloth nappy over the infant’s abdomen. Then place a heating pad (turned to “low”) on top of the nappy. Giving the child a pacifier may help. Also try inserting a glycerin suppository or lubricated thermometer to induce a bowel movement.

Precautions

• Make sure the formula is properly prepared.

• When bottle-feeding your baby, be sure that the nipple is kept full; this keeps your baby from swallowing too much air.

• Make sure the bottle’s nipple hole is large enough so that the baby can finish feeding in a reasonable time.

• Carefully burp the baby in different positions after each feeding.

Medical treatment

Your doctor will check for signs of illness, such as sores in the mouth or urinary tract problems. A urinalysis may be ordered. Your doctor also may recommend a change in formula to investigate the possibility that the child is allergic to the formula. A breast-feeding mother may need to eliminate all milk products from her diet to see if this is what is affecting her child. The doctor may also temporarily stop any solids already started to determine if the child may be allergic to certain foods.

*35/84/5*

• The prostate is part of the sexual apparatus of a man so it is only sensible to look at sexual activity as a cause of prostatic problems. Clearly a man’s sexual habits must influence the workings of his prostate.

The prostate produces fluid all the time which, having built up, needs to be discharged by ejaculation. The build-up appears to take approximately three days in the average young and middle-aged man and longer in the older man.

Finding that younger men are experiencing prostate problems which in the past were confined to the elderly has led various experts in the field to suggest that prolonged sexual excitement without ejaculation is bad for the gland. This is rather akin to the pelvic congestion that occurs in women who are aroused repeatedly but don’t have an orgasm-they too suffer from all kinds of pelvic and lower-back symptoms. Also, it is proposed that when such a man does ejaculate his prostatic contractions are poor and that he has a poor-quality orgasm with incomplete emptying of the gland.

Residual fluids degenerate in the gland and cause inflammation and need more muscle power to expel them next time.

No single type of sexual activity necessarily produces prostatic damage, but both excessive masturbation or intercourse and too little could do so. The answer must be to find your own sexual rhythm and be guided by how you feel. Certainly, long periods of abstinence from sex may produce prostatic fullness, tenderness and eventually infection which can be difficult to treat. Zinc supplements and regular emptying of the prostate both help.

• Many animal experiments show that vitamin E deficiency causes all kinds of abnormalities and problems in the sexual life and reproduction of animals. It therefore makes sense to eat foods rich in the vitamin.

• Natural substances occurring in wheat germ oil have proved valuable in animal experiments. It is an old belief among the peasants of the Balkans of Eastern Europe that pumpkin seeds are of value for prostatic well-being. Analysis of these seeds shows that they are rich in all the nutrients known to be of value to prostatic health. Other valuable seeds are those of the sunflower. These seeds contain the amino-acids glycine, alanine and glutamic acid. A study in the US of forty men with benign prostate troubles found that in 32 per cent of them their prostates shrank to normal size and there was some reduction in size in 92 per cent when they were given these amino-acids. The need to get up at night was reduced or eliminated in 72 per cent and urgent urination was relieved in 81 per cent. Men who received placebo capsules had no similar improvements. This study, rather than stimulating further research, has been largely ignored. Foods that are especially rich in these amino-acids are brewers’ yeast, milk, eggs, beef, liver, lentils, nuts and corn.

• Unsaturated fatty acids have been shown to be of value in benign prostatic enlargement. In a study of nineteen men with this condition who were fed unsaturated fatty acids, all had less residual urine at the end of the treatment and twelve of them had none. For thirteen of the nineteen the dietary change meant they no longer wanted to get up at night to urinate. Cystitis cleared up. Dribbling was eliminated in eighteen of them and in nineteen the size of the prostate gland went down. Lecithin is a good source of unsaturated fatty acids.

*7/72/5*

Correct, deep, belly breathing, says Dr. Hendricks, has been shown to:

•     Melt tension. It counters the shallow tight breaths produced by the instinctive fight-or-flight response that we find ourselves kicked into frequently.

•     Clarify and focus the mind.

•     Increase energy and endurance.

•     Clear unpleasant emotions. Two or three big breaths at the onset of an injurious emotion such as fear, anxiety, or depression are often enough to move it out of the body.

•     Help manage pain. (This is why it is taught in natural childbirth classes.) Do not hold your breath when in pain or anticipating pain. Instead, breathe – calmly, deeply.

•     Improve athletic performance.

•     Significantly lower blood pressure.

Deep breathing and breathing in general help in treating many modern-day maladies. “Breathing exercises are a major emphasis of the yoga classes I teach in Hawaii,” says Arthur Brownstein, M.D., medical director of the Princeville Medical Clinic and clinical instructor of medicine at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine in Honolulu. Breathing exercises are also a major component of the stress-management program taught to heart patients during the highly touted programs conducted by the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California.

Breathing exercises

The following are the basics of Breathing 101, as taught by Dr. Hendricks as well as Barbara Lang, who teaches Yogic breathing in an intensive medically supervised program for people with heart problems and other degenerative diseases.

Get past tense. Tense your abdomen. Relax your abdomen. Tense your abdomen. Relax your abdomen. Do this maybe a dozen times, until you are well aware of how a relaxed abdomen feels.

Give yourself a hand. Put your hand on your abdomen. Breathe slowly, comfortably, deeply enough to make your hand rise with each inhalation and fall with each exhalation.

Go for ribs. Keep breathing slowly, comfortably and into your belly. If you are truly breathing correctly, you will feel your rib cage expand to the side with each inhalation.

Move your spine. “Babies can lie in a crib all day without getting a backache because they move their spines with each breath,” says Dr. Hendricks. “We tend to hold ourselves more stiffly as we age.” With each in-breath, let your spine move away from the chair back (if you’re sitting) or away from the floor (if you’re lying on your back). On each out-breath, let it flatten against the chair or floor.

That’s your basic, healthy breathing. To remember to do it, associate the term breathe with normal everyday activities such as standing, sitting, or turning, says Larry J.

Feldman, Ph.D., director of the Pain and Stress Rehabilitation Center in New Castle, Delaware. Then, he says, taking healthy, deep breaths at intervals throughout your day will be as natural as, well, breathing.

*41/36/5*