I
Illiteracy
Incontinence
Infatuation
Infertility
Insomnia
Invalids
Irresponsibility
J
Jailbreak
Jargon
Jealousy
Jet
Lag
Jumboism
Junk
Food
Juvenile
Delinquency
K
Keloids
Keratomalacia
Kidnapping
Koilonychia
L
Labor
Union Problems
Lactation
Problems
Laziness
Legal
Problems
Lies
(Lying)
Lightning
Injury
Loan
Problems
Illiteracy
is a situation where a person cannot
read or write. In most Asian and
African nations, illiteracy is not
uncommon because there are no proper
facilities like schools and colleges
in the rural and remote areas. Some
people speculate it is better to do
some kind of manual jobs instead of
studying some courses. Many people,
who are illiterates, dont want to send
their children to school because they
want their children to help them in
the farms or in their workplaces. They
would think that the children should
learn their occupations, whatever they
are and education is not important.
Some other parents would wish to send
their children to school but have no
means to do so or the school is very
far from their homes. Some people dont
know that illiteracy is bad for the
children. Many people in different
nations are computer illiterate too.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
The
governments of all the nations, where
illiteracy is high, must leave no
stone unturned in helping the people
to be literate. They should run
programs for adults so that they can
read and write. There are other
countries, which have literacy
programs that are not reaching every
adult. The government should also
reward illiterate adults who are still
trying to learn. It is to make a
mandatory rule for all children to
attend school, whether they like it or
not. Most countries, that are
economically strained, should be
helped by UNICEF and other charitable
agencies with finance to run schools.
Particularly children in remote areas
should be assisted so that these
children can go to school and study.
The government must discourage and
punish those guilty of using children
to work in mines, fields and
factories. They should ensure that
these children go to school. To
eradicate illiteracy, is not the work
of only the government but of every
person to do the little he or she can
in order to help. Everybody ought to
encourage the persons, who are not
literate, to learn to read and write.
Media like television and radio are to
be used to encourage all the
illiterates to become literate.
There
are many persons in many nations that
are literate but not computer
literate. There should be schemes and
short-term programs to make all people
computer literate because now-a-days
computers are used in every walk of
life.
Top
Incontinence
is lack of control of the body
discharges. Urinary incontinence means
that there is no control of the
urinary flow and the fecal
incontinence means there is no control
over defecation. Urinary incontinence
is generally very common in small
children and in the elderly. Urinary
incontinence is caused by infections
like urinary tract infection,
vaginitis, alcohol drinking, tumor in
urinary tract, weak sphincter muscles,
some drugs like diuretics,
antihistamines, and anti-psychotic
drugs. Fecal incontinence could be
caused because of various reasons like
weak sphincter muscles, traumatic
delivery (forceps delivery) and
episiotomy among women, anal surgery
or injury to the rectum and anus, and
Alzheimers disease. Children who are
below six years usually have some
incontinence of the feces and also
suffer from nocturnal enuresis, which
is bed wetting.
Management
For
urinary and fecal incontinence
patients should seek the help of
medical doctors. If it is urinary
incontinence due to urinary tract
infection or vaginitis, then it should
be treated accordingly. The patients
could be taught biofeedback
mechanisms, where they could control
and tighten their bladder muscles, and
tighten their sphincter muscles and
buttocks. If it is the nocturnal
enuresis for children, they should be
taught toilet training with motivation
and counseling to ensure that they
dont have bed-wetting incidences. They
ought to be rewarded for successful
nights. Serious scolding of children
will only aggravate the situation.
Motivating them to try to control
their bladder is more appropriate.
They should not take any fluids at
least three hours before going to bed.
Persons with urinary incontinence
should not ingest alcohol and
caffeine, which have diuretic effects.
For fecal incontinence, the patients
must visit a gastroenterologist. The
management would be based on the
underlying cause. Sometimes surgical
repairs may be needed or drugs may be
used. The patients could also be
taught biofeedback training, which
could help them.
Top
Infatuation
is an ardent love or admiration for
the member of opposite sex. A boy may
fall in love with a girl at first
sight without really knowing her
history and other information. There
are some boys who are infatuated for
some time with one girl and may then
lose the infatuation for that girl and
develop an infatuation for another
girl. They are very flimsy with their
infatuations. Infatuation mostly
affects teenagers but age has no
barriers for it. Old people can be
infatuated, adults can be infatuated
but the children that are quite young,
who know nothing of romantic love, may
not experience infatuation.
Infatuation, if it is an obstacle for
concentrating on other things, can be
a serious problem. If infatuation
leads to stress and concentration
problems, then it is an alarming
issue.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
It
is human tendency, especially during
teenage and even adulthood, to be
infatuated with the opposite sex.
However, that infatuation should not
be drawn into a stage where it
handicaps life.
Life should go on as usual and
that infatuation should not disturb
studies or eating habits or health
conditions. If the infatuation leads
to love, it is no problem, but if it
is only one-sided love and the other
person is not responding, then he/she
is wasting time and energy. I suggest
some points to escape infatuation or
to overcome it. The points are as
follows:
1.
It is okay to be infatuated
provided the other person responds and
reciprocates.
2.
If the person of the opposite
sex shows no interest, dont waste
time.
3.
Try to show your infatuation
subtly. Through conversation find out
if your love will be reciprocated. If
not, move on.
4.
Remember there are many girls
and boys in this world. It is like a
garden full of roses. If you try to
pluck one rose and you get pricked by
a thorn, forget that rose and try
another.
5.
Dont let infatuation or
emotions control you.
Top
Infertility
is the inability of the woman to
conceive or the inability of a man to
assist in conception. What are the
causes of infertility? Men and women
both could have problems. Let me first
deal with the male problems. If a man
is infertile, it means that he is not
producing a sufficient supply of
sperm. Men who dont produce many
sperms suffer from oozospermia.
Sometimes, they may produce enough
amount of sperms but the sperms are
not motile or strong enough to move to
the fallopian tube to fertilize the
egg. A woman may be infertile for two
main reasons. The first reason is the
obstruction in reproductory tract,
especially in the fallopian tube. The
other reason is the inability to
ovulate. Usually the obstruction in
the fallopian tube is because of
tissue damage induced by infections
like gonorrheal infection. Sometimes
the use of intra-uterine devices could
produce infections or obstructions.
Pelvic inflammatory disease could also
produce infertility. It is very hard
to find out the cause why a woman is
not ovulating. Maybe it is due to
hormonal disturbances. Sometimes the
problem escalates as the woman ages.
If the woman is too obese or severely
underweight, there could be problem of
inability to ovulate.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
The
solutions for male problems:
If
a man is not able to produce enough
sperm, he may increase his sperm count
by not wearing tight underwear, or
living in a colder place. Some experts
believe that frequent sexual
intercourse just before ovulation can
help in spite of the lesser sperm
produced. During intercourse, because
sperms cannot live in the acidic
environment of the vagina, the male
must have deep penetration. If the
sperms are deposited near the cervical
opening, then the chances are more
that they will go up into the uterus
and on to the fallopian tubes. If
these solutions still do not assist
the man in bringing about conception,
then he should see a medical doctor.
Sometimes surgery could help if there
are structural problems of the testes.
It is best for a man to have sex a few
days during the ovulation time, which
is usually fourteen days before the
next menstruation.
The
solutions for female problems:
When
the problem is blocked fallopian
tubes, the infertile female must see a
doctor who specializes in treating
infertility. If it is a problem of
inability to ovulate, then drugs like
clomiphene citrate could be used in
oral form to bring about ovulation.24
Advice
for the infertile couple:
If
everything fails, then the couple
could go for test tube baby, which is
also known as in vitro fertilization
and embryo transfer. Here, the
procedure is very simple. The egg and
the sperm would be combined and
fertilized in a glass dish and later
inserted into the uterus. Another
technique is GIFT also known as Gamete
Intra-Fallopian Transfer, where the
egg and the sperm are directly
inserted into the fallopian tubes. If
this fails, then there is surrogate
parenting, where the embryo is
inserted into
another womans uterus, who acts
as surrogate mother or that woman
would be inseminated with the semen of
the expected father. Surrogating is
not advised if it involves the
insemination of the expected father,
as it is unethical. If there are some
uterus problems, then they could seek
the sister or a close relative of the
infertile woman as a surrogate but
this involves
ethical considerations. I do
not advise artificial insemination by
donor as it could be committing
adultery indirectly but it is okay to
have artificial insemination by the
husband.
Most
significantly, God controls fertility
and they ought to pray to Him and if
it is His will, He will bless them
with a baby. In the Bible one can read
the stories of how God shut up the
womb of Rachel and Sarah for quite
some time but they were later opened.
Hannah literally cried for many years
for a child and God did finally give
her a child. Everything is in the
hands of God. Pray and then try to use
some of the previously mentioned
techniques as well.
Top
It
is inability to sleep. Stress,
physical discomfort, environmental
conditions, alcoholism and smoking can
cause insomnia. Some health problems
that may cause insomnia are delirium,
depression, severe pain, asthma,
maniac disorders, hypothyroidism and
respiratory problems.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
The
solution to insomnia could be
psychological strategies and
medications. Anyone suffering from
sleeping problems should not watch
television in the bedroom or eat in
the bedroom. The bedroom should be
meant only for sleeping and if you are
married, to have sex. Do not sleep for
a short time during the day but only
during the nights. Do not drink
caffeine and smoke because this would
discourage sleepiness. Do not drink
alcohol because it might disrupt the
continuity of sleep. Do not drink too
much fluids in the nights because you
have to get up to urinate, which
spoils the continuity of sleep. For
some, drinking warm milk before sleep
can help. When you do vigorous
exercise during the day, it may tire
you and cause you to sleep in the
nights. Sedative drugs should be taken
with medical doctors consultation and
are usually meant for short-term.
Sometimes antihistamines can also help
to sleep.
Top
An
invalid is a person who is disabled or
very sick. Invalids cant depend on
themselves but they have to depend on
others to live. The paralysed patients
and cerebral plastic children become
invalids. There has to be a long term
care of these persons. They have to be
monitored and helped because they cant
really do much without the help of
others. So taking care of these
invalids could also be a problem for
those administering care.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
The
invalids must be cared with love and
patience. They must not forget their
medications. The invalid children
should be sent to special schools.
Those persons caring for the invalids
must have a lot of patience. They
should be grateful to God that they
themselves aren't invalids like their
wards.
So they should have a lot of
patience as they help them with their
baths and their meals and clean up
their discharges (urinary &
fecal). All this could be really
tiring and very discomforting. But as
you do all this you must show love to
the invalids. The person taking care
of the invalid should never curse in
her mind, If this invalid dies, my
headache will be over. Never make fun
of disabled persons. Try to help them
if you can.
Top
Irresponsibility
is a small problem but it begets big
problems. Everybody should be
responsible in his duties. If a man,
whose duty is to change railway tracks
manually, is irresponsible, then he
can cause major train accident where
hundreds and hundreds of people can
die. If the nurse is irresponsible in
her duties, it could cause the life of
the patient or could cause the spread
of nosocomial infections, that is,
hospital-acquired infections.
Everybody should be responsible as
irresponsibility could lead to
dangerous problems. Blaming others is
irresponsibility too.
Spiritual
Solutions
It
should be inculcated from childhood
that we should be responsible for
whatever we are supposed to do. We are
not to take it for granted that others
are going to do our chores because
irresponsibility can cause more
problems. The Bible declares in Song
of Solomon 2:15, The little foxes spoil the grape.
It is not really the big foxes that
spoil the grapes but the little foxes.
Little things like irresponsibility
can cause major problems in the world.
Let us, therefore, be responsible,
whether as a teacher, secretary,
janitor or student. Everybody should
be responsible for his/her work. If
the janitor doesnt keep the things
clean, there is the probability that
it will not look very aesthetic and
can also cause the spread of diseases.
If a gardener is not responsible then
the plants could die. Hence, no matter
what the work is, everybody should be
a responsible person. Don't blame
others. Anyone who is not responsible
should be seriously punished so that
others would not take heart and follow
his/her irresponsible example. All who
are responsible for all their duties
would be rewarded someday.
Top
From
time to time you will know through
television or radio or read in the
news that there was a jailbreak in
some place. Why do jailbreaks happen?
The reasons could be impotent security
system, poor infrastructure as well as
disloyal internal individuals working
in the jails, who have some kind of
connection with the prisoners or with
outside criminals and sabotage the
security. Most prisoners desire to
escape from their prisons while others
attempt to do so.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
First,
the government of any nation should
make the jail conditions pleasant but
not too pleasant. When jail conditions
are pleasant then some prisoners will
not want to escape. The infrastructure
should be good and foolproof in order
that prisoners cannot escape from
jail. All the staff working in the
jails must be honest and loyal
persons. If one hires dishonest staff,
chances are that one-day there will be
a jailbreak. If the jail staff are
earning about two thousand dollars a
month, which is about twenty four
thousand dollars a year and a don or
famous criminal is placed in the
facility and he offers him one million
dollars to assist him to escape; it is
quite likely that after considering
that he will never be able to make
that kind of money in his life time,
the jail worker will try to help this
criminal to escape. Hence, trained
persons who are loyal to their jobs,
who will not be tempted no matter how
low they are on cash, but would uphold
their duties, are to be employed in
the prisons.
Anyone
guilty of helping prisoners to escape
should be severely punished. The
prisoners who escape must be harshly
punished so that other prisoners will
not venture to escape when they hear
of the report. The rules and
regulations should be extremely strict
within the prisons because there are
some visitors who would talk to the
prisoners and cleverly send some
knives, hack saw blades and the other
equipment, which could help to escape,
through food and other items. As some
prisoners are even smuggling in cell
phones to communicate and mastermind
further criminal activities outside,
there should be stricter security
measures.
Top
Jargon
is a strange or unintelligible
language; it is a confused outlandish
language or dialect. Many people use
words, which dont make any sense. In
different disciplines, there could be
jargons, which is not understood by
the non-disciplinary people. Hence,
the problem of jargon may affect
persons that do not belong to the
particular discipline or faculty.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
Do
not use unintelligible language, which
would confuse people. If one is
speaking to an English audience and
suddenly he uses some words, which are
in his vernacular language, it could
cause confusion. Some people might use
some Latin words or other words in
churches and may call it speaking in
tongues but to others it might be a
jargon. They may not understand a
thing. If I say, Shambalam katam dalam,
the words would be gibberish to the
persons reading my book. Anyone who
gives a speech or writes something
should do so in a manner that is
clearly understood by others. Let us
not use jargon when it makes no sense
to others. There are some difficult
terms in the medical language but when
there are used while speaking to
non-medical individuals, those terms
become jargon to them.
When a medical term is used,
one should explain to the person what
it is or else it would be a medical
jargon.
Please see appendix I if you do
not know medical terms used in this
book.
Top
Jealousy
is a hostile attitude towards a rival
or one believed to have an advantage.
Jealousy is the brother of pride.
Jealousy
could be a serious problem because it
could cause distrust and intolerance.
The Bible says in Song of Solomon 8:6,
Jealousy is cruel as the grave.
Jealousy could cause more problems
like hatred, battering or harming
someone or even murder. It could also
lead to indiscrimination against women
by men and to racism.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
If
one is jealous of somebody because of
his/her singing talent, it will be of
no use since bitterness would make the
person sadder. Instead of being
jealous of the person's talent one
could praise that person's talent or
one could make a decision that he/she
could strive to do as well as the
person or even better. Do not harbor
jealousy and pride as they may have
synergistic effect. Jealousy only sows
seeds for hatred and sometimes murder.
We ought to some how curtail the
growth of jealousy and not let it
grow. If you are jealous of somebody's
beauty or disposition, think that if
you were in that person's shoes, how
you would feel if others were jealous
of you. Would you like it? Not likely.
Top
Jet
lag is a condition where one has
travelled by aeroplane and crossed
time zones and feels sleepy or tired.
Suppose you had left the Eastern world
and reached Western world, there may
be a difference of 9-12 hours. Since
it was night-time for you in Eastern
world you may fall asleep in the
daytime, or you may be awake in the
night because it was daytime in
Eastern world. This poses a problem
for many persons for a few days.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
To
fix or avoid the sleepiness because of
jet lag, you have to expose yourself
to bright light. The pineal gland,
which is in the brain, produces a
hormone known as melatonin, which will
induce sleep. If you're exposed to
bright light, then the melatonin may
not be produced and you will not feel
sleepy. But if you are in a dark and
cold place, melatonin would be
produced and that would induce sleep.
In the nights, eat lightly.
Sometimes, you may not have any
appetite but eat a little any way as
this may be the case for a few days
until your body gets used to it and
you may not have further problems.
Usually jet lag is more common when
people travel from Eastern world to
the Western world or from hot
countries to colder countries. When
people travel from colder countries to
hot/tropical countries, jetlag is not
much of a big problem. They may feel
little sleepy but because of the
bright sunlight in the Eastern nations
they would not have much of a problem.
Top
Jumboism
is an interest in possessing or owning
big things. There are people who like
to possess only big things, whether it
is a big house or a big car. Is this a
problem? For some it is, because it
involves spending a lot of money
buying big things and moving big
things. Others may consider you as
crazy because everything you want must
be big.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
Owning
big things or jumbo-sized things is
not necessarily all that great. We
should not be proud of the things that
are big. We are to own small things in
life too. We must not lose our minds
in order to own only big things and
waste money buying big things. A Texan
went to London and stayed in a hotel.
He asked the manager of the hotel,
"How is it that your hotel is so
small? It is the size of my closet in
my house in Texas!" Then he
looked out the window and remarked,
"Your swimming pool is so small.
It is the size of my bath tub!"
The Texan continued belittling
everything in the hotel. The manager
wanted to fix him up for his pride and
craze for big things. The next day,
when the Texan returned to his London
hotel, after visiting various places
in London, he found a tortoise under
his pillow. He called the manager and
shouted, "What nonsense is this?
How come, there is a tortoise under
the pillow?" The manger replied,
"Sir, that is not a tortoise, it
is a bed bug!" In this
illustration the Texan was put in his
place because he felt that everything
should be big. We must, therefore, be
willing to settle for smaller things
also.
Top
Food
that is very high in fat and
carbohydrates can be junk. Fast food
is also junk food.
If you daily eat diet that has
too much fat, rich in carbohydrates
and does not contain high fibre and
nutrients like vitamins or minerals,
it can cause problems like obesity,
atherosclerosis, diabetes and
hypertension. It can also lead to acne
vulgaris, constipation and colon,
prostate and breast cancers.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
Many
people eat junk food because it is
cheap and also tasty. Whether you
attend school or work, if you carry
food with you then the chances are
that you will not indulge in junk
food. If you prepare your own food,
you will not want to have junk food.
But most people are very busy and have
no time to prepare food. So how do we
solve this problem? It is better to
have some bread, peanut butter, jam,
pastry and some fibre rich cereals.
These can be carried and be eaten in
your offices or in educational
institutions. Eating junk food once in
a while may be okay but daily
consumption can give rise to serious
health problems. Eating junk food just
to save money is not the principle to
follow. If you think that by ingesting
junk food, you are saving time and
money, think of the adage, Penny wise,
pound foolish, which is not a cliché.
If youre trying to save a few pennies,
then you are going to waste a lot of
pounds later because you may develop
obesity, hypertension, diabetes and
problems like cancer of colon,
prostate or breast.
Top
Delinquency
is conduct, which is not in accordance
with accepted behaviour or the law of
the land. Juveniles are persons who
are not adults. There are many cases
of juvenile delinquency in the world,
especially in the Western nations. The
teenagers and children are involved in
drug addiction, stealing, lying,
murder and all kinds of other problems
in society. Sometimes they simply want
to disobey the law for the heck of it.
They just want to do anything they
like without any authority telling
them what to do and what not to do.
Juvenile delinquents are not a small
but big problem in the society.
Spiritual
Solutions
The
solution should start from birth. The
moment the child is able to understand
what is to be done and what is not to
be done, they should be trained in
such a way that they will not be
involved in doing anything contrary to
the acceptable laws of the land. If
the child does something that is
against accepted behaviour, he should
be corrected. The child is not to be
abused and beaten mercilessly but the
child should be corrected with strict
discipline. If the child is not
corrected firmly, that child will
inevitably be a juvenile delinquent.
The Bible advises in Proverbs 29:15, The rod and reproof gives wisdom,
but a child left to himself brings his
mother to shame. This statement
has not become hackneyed. But it is a
maxim. Hence, the child must be
corrected and reproof should be given.
If the children are taught in school
that the parents have no right to
reprimand and spank them, then
children will become braver to disobey
the laws.
The juvenile delinquents must
be punished harshly. If they are
treated as juveniles and not as
adults, then more innocent persons
would be killed by other juvenile
delinquents as they are aware that
they will not be treated as adults.
There are students who take guns to
their classes and kill their peers or
teachers that they dislike. All these
things are being encouraged further
because severe action is not being
taken against these youngsters.
Since
the time the Bible and prayer were
banned from public schools, the
children had no spiritual guidance of
how to behave as good citizens of the
country and juvenile delinquents have
multiplied geometrically. The Bible
and prayer should be re-introduced to
public schools.
In
summary, I am making some
recommendations to prevent juvenile
delinquency:
1.
Teach the children, from
childhood, what is correct behaviour
and what is not.
2.
If the child makes any mistake,
he should be reprimanded or rebuked
firmly and sternly.
3.
Prayer and the Bible should be
brought back to the public schools to
avoid problems. They are to love and
fear God.
4.
All the juveniles that are
guilty of a felony are to be treated
as adults and not as juveniles.
5.
The delinquents must be
severely punished and the sentence
should be so strong that it would be a
deterrent to other juveniles.
6.
All juveniles should attend
prayer meetings and worships, where
they should be taught how to behave in
society and how to love and respect
other people.
7.
Juveniles should be shown love
and not be despised.
Top
Keloid
is an overgrowth of fibrous tissue. It
can be shiny and dome shaped. It is a
thick scar or an overgrowth of
fibroblastic tissue that usually
arises in areas of injury, surgery or
sometimes spontaneously. Keloids
usually are seen behind the ears,
neck, and chest. It might sometimes
result from severe acne vulgaris.
Keloids are more frequent in the black
race. They are a problem for some
persons because they do not have an
aesthetic value as they maybe behind
the ear, on the side of the face or
the neck, and they can be easily seen.
If the keloids are somewhere in the
chest or back region, clothes will
cover them.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
The
affected persons should see a
physician. First option is that the
doctor may use corticosteroid
treatment. If a corticosteroid
injection is administered to the base
of the keloid monthly, the keloid
might flatten. Sometimes this doesnt
work. Second option could be surgical
excision but once it is performed,
chances are that another keloid will
form where the surgery was done.
The
third option could be laser excision.
By using laser, it can be removed and
after that there should be
intra-lesion injection with a
corticosteroid to prevent recurrence.
Usually this drug that is given is
triamcinolone acetonide.25
This drug should be given under
doctors supervision.
The
best way to prevent keloids is to
avoid injury. Persons who are prone to
keloids must avoid injuries. If they
are forming keloids, it is best that
they do not play games that could
cause them injury or do jobs that
could lead to injury because keloids
usually form wherever there is injury.
When surgery is done, instead
of stitches, clips can be used during
surgery to close up the skin. With the
clips the keloid formation is to a
lesser extent. Therefore, if you are
prone to keloid formation, ask the
surgeon not to use stitches but to use
clips to close the skin, if possible.
Top
Keratomalacia
Keratomalacia
is ulceration of the cornea. The
cornea becomes softened and ulcers are
formed in the eye. Keratomalacia is
formed because of deficiency of
vitamin A. It can strike vulnerable
people who are basically found in
Southeast Asia where people eat rice,
which is devoid of carotene. It
affects mostly small children below
six years. It will lead to blindness.
Treatment
The
affected persons should see
ophthalmologist. Oral vitamin A
palmitate in oil would be
administered. But blindness due to
keratomalacia is irreversible. For
more information, see my book, Dr.
Stevensons Book on Preventive
Nutrition.
Top
Kidnapping
is an act of forcefully taking
someone, usually from a rich family,
and then demanding ransom. It also
means to carry or detain someone by
unlawful force or fraud with the
intention of getting ransom, in the
form of money or political favour. Why
do people kidnap? Because they want to
be rich overnight. The kidnappers
choose persons who are easy targets
and who belong to rich families.
Nobody would kidnap persons from a
poor family because it is of no use.
The kidnappers may take visitors as
hostages for political mileage.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
With
the problem of kidnapping, prevention
is better than cure. If people are
rich, they should be careful that
their children are not left
unsupervised. The smaller children
should have escorts to take them
wherever they need to go. If they are
really rich and hold political offices
they need to have security guards for
their homes and their children who are
attending school. They should not
travel without security. They are to avoid
travelling to lonely places and also
avoid travelling during the nights as
much as possible. The wealthy people
should not disclose their wealth to
close relatives or friends because
sometimes it is a known person who
will conspire and kidnap the children
or the head of the house.
What
should be done when a person has
already been kidnapped? In most cases
of kidnapping, the kidnapper/s is/are
known person/s. So what they would do
is, in spite of getting the ransom
money, they may consider killing the
victim because the victim is usually
able to identify them and would
eventually tell the police who the
kidnappers were. Therefore, extreme
caution is necessary to handle this
situation. Most kidnappers will ask
the relatives of the kidnapped victim
to bring the money to a designated
place and they would always insist
that they do not contact the police.
However, the family should contact the
police. The first goal in trying to
solve kidnapping is that relatives of
the victims should verify that victim
is truly alive. This is very
important. In some cases they would
have already killed the kidnapped
person but they would still demand the
money, so make sure that the kidnapped
person is alive. Sometimes they may
record the victims voice on a tape and
then they would kill the victim; then
every time the victims relatives ask
for proof of the victim being alive,
they would play that tape to make
believe that the victim is alive.
It
is not good to go it alone because if
you do, the chances are the victim
could get killed in the process or
lose all the money and still not get
the victim back. It is always good to
contact the police and other
officials. The police assigned should
be experienced in dealing with
kidnapping cases because such cases
are very sensitive ones. Always try to
delay the payment of the ransom money
as much as possible for more planning
and more time to organize things well
are needed in order to catch the
kidnappers and save the victim.
Lastly, but very important, pray to
Lord Jesus because if it is His will,
the kidnapped person will be released.
Keep praying and dont panic. Pray for
Lord Jesus mercies to be showered on
the victim so that he/she will be
saved. Pray also for kidnappers that
they will change their lifestyles.
Top
Koilonychia
Koilonychia
is the spooning of the fingernails.
The nails are in the form of a spoon
as there is a depression in them. This
is usually due to iron deficiency
anemia.
Treatment
Iron
tablets or supplements should be given
daily to the patients who have the
spooning of nails. The diet should be
rich in iron, like liver of the
chicken or goat and dark leafy
vegetables. Prevention is better than
cure. Hence, diet rich in iron should
be ingested from childhood.
Top
It
is good to have labor unions because
the employers cannot exploit their
employees. However, among the labor
unions, there are some problems.
Sometimes there is no unity among the
laborers because some are secretly in
support of the employers. Because of
labor union elections the members
might be divided. Perhaps persons who
have lost in the elections might have
some antagonism against the candidates
who may have won the election. When
there is a strike called by the labor
union against the factory or industry,
the low class laborers will hardly
have food to eat if the strike goes on
for a long time, whereas the labor
union leaders will not suffer much
since they are all rich and have a lot
of money in the banks. They have
luxury cars like Mercedes Benz and
BMW, whereas the poor lower class
employees may not even have food to
eat. Some of these low class employees
may want to go to work because they
dont have money and the labor union
leaders would send goons or hire
criminals to beat them up or even kill
them because they are not obeying the
dictates of the labor union. Sometimes
the labor union strikes run into many
months and the employers have no
problem because they have a lot of
money, mobile assets and immobile
assets, whereas the ordinary employees
will suffer because there is no work.
Sometimes,
when the employers secretly try to
hire other people to do the work, the
employees would fight against them who
were employed to do the work secretly.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
My
first advice is to the employers. The
employers should try to be transparent
and try to help the employees. From
time to time, they need to raise the
salaries of the workers provided their
company or the factory industry is
financially sound. The employers must
take a father-son relationship
approach towards their employees. When
they always try to dictate terms and
do not communicate properly with the
employees or labor union officers then
it could give rise to problems. The
labor union leaders must also be very
courteous and kind to the members of
the union. If they call for a strike
and find that other members are
suffering because the strike is being
stretched for too long then the labor
union should try to help them out by
giving some money or food or other
items to the lower class employees of
the company. They should not be
selfish to think only of their
families and luxuries.
The
labor union leaders should not hire
criminals and goons to suppress the
lower class workers who are trying to
secretly do some work for their
employers. Instead of hiring goons and
threatening and causing fear among the
lower class workers it is good to help
them. When the labor union leaders
mitigate the troubles of those low
paid workers, they would not secretly
go and work. The candidates who have
lost in the labor union elections
ought not show any hatred towards the
persons who won but should unite with
them and work for the unity of the
labor union. The goal of the labor
union is not to be selfish but to
share and ensure that every worker is
benefited. Some of the members of the
labor unions, especially leaders,
should not have a tie-up secretly with
the employers and try to deceive the
other members of the union. There
should be an attitude of mutual
respect between the employees and
employers at all times.
Top
Lactation
is a process of secretion of milk from
the mammary glands. Lactation is also
used for the period when the infant is
nourished by breast milk. There are
certain problems with lactation. Some
of the women in the Western countries
do not want to breast-feed their
infants but prefer to bottle-feed
them. Breast-feeding could have both
advantages and disadvantages as can
bottle-feeding. There are more
advantages for breast-feeding than for
bottle-feeding. For some women, they
may not have enough milk initially.
Some may be anemic or under-nourished.
Occasionally, some women experience
leakage of the breast milk and/or have
engorged nipples.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
I
would advise any mother to breast-feed
their infants at least initially. In
the first few days, the mother
produces colostrum in the breast milk,
which contains the antibodies that
could help the baby to fight
pathogenic micro-organisms. The
mothers milk would also help the baby
because it is invariably sterile and
at the correct temperature. There is
also a good bond between mother and
infant as a result of the
breast-feeding. Another advantage, the
milk comes from pretty vessels. The
disadvantage of breast-feeding could
be that there wont be much freedom for
the mother to feed the child,
especially while traveling or while in
front of other people in a public
place. The woman may sometimes be very
bashful to feed in front of others.
Bottle-feeding will not create the
bond between the mother and child. An
advantage of bottle-feeding is the
baby can be fed anywhere at any time.
But the nipples and the bottles need
to always be sterilized and warmed to
the right temperature.
The
more the breast is suckled by the
baby, the more oxytocin hormones can
be released, which stimulate the
breast cells to produce milk. A few
women may have engorged nipples and
that could be solved by feeding the
baby more often and if there is pain
it is wise to have some cold
compresses placed on the breasts and
nipples. The lactating mother should
increase her protein intake by 20
grams and daily diet by nearly 500
calories. Calcium ought to be ingested
about 1200 mg per day because she is
producing a lot of fluids. She must
drink at least 2 liters of pure water
daily. If the lactating mother is
taking drugs like chloramiphenicol and
anti-histamines, or alcohol and
caffeine, and if she is smoking, then
she should not breast-feed the baby
because this could negatively affect
the health of the baby. Breast-feeding
could act as a contraceptive but is
not foolproof, thus while
breast-feeding one should use other
contraceptives to prevent pregnancy.
Condoms are advised for fathers and
not oral contraceptives for mothers
since they could affect the baby and
sometimes cause reduction in milk
production.
Top
Laziness
is a state of being indolent. This
problem is not about person who suffer
from chronic fatigue syndrome but
about persons who just like to laze
around or be indifferent. There are
many students that are slothful to do
their homework while there are some
teachers who are lazy to correct and
evaluate the test papers. There are
many workers who are lazy to do their
jobs and others who are sluggish to
search for jobs but would want to stay
on welfare or just roam around without
a job. Laziness is not weariness
caused by fevers or infections like
typhoid. It is about people who are
lazy in spite of being in good health.
Spiritual
Solutions
Lazy
people should realize that they are
lazy and it is a problem for them and
for others. If they do not reason that
they have a problem, it is hard to
give them solutions. Others should
prevent this laziness getting any
further. People who are slothful will
have socio-economic problems, whether
in study, work or in their personal
lives. The Bible states in Proverbs
6:6, Go
to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her
ways and be wise. The sluggard or
lazy person should go to the ant and
see how it works without a ruler or
guide and is able to provide its food
and stores food during summer. They
should not borrow or beg for money but
try to be independent and do some
work.
Most
lazy people will become economically
poor. Proverbs 24:33-34 says, Get
a little sleep, a little slumber, a
little folding of the hands to sleep
so shall thy poverty come like one
that traveleth and thy want as an
armed man. In order to have a
life, which is worth living, we ought
not be inert but work hard no matter
how much we are paid and not sleep or
be sluggish all the time. We should
detest being unemployed. Of course
there are many people who look for
jobs but are unable to find jobs. To
those persons I suggest not to give
up. Perhaps you could work somewhere
voluntarily to gain experience for a
future job. It may not be particularly
rewarding in the beginning but will
give you needed experience. However,
someday in the future, someone will
employ you. Romans 2:11 also says, Not
slothful in business yet in fervent
spirit serving the Lord. If we are
to serve the Lord we should not be
slothful in any business, whether it
is working in a garden or working in
an office as a secretary or working in
an academic situation as a teacher.
We must love what we are doing.
If we dont love what we are doing,
then we tend to be lazy. A student who
is given an assignment will be
indolent if he hates that assignment.
He should love what he does. The
teacher would be indolent if he or she
doesnt enjoy marking papers, when exam
papers are to be marked. The teacher
is to be happy when evaluating papers.
The parable of the talents told by
Lord Jesus in the gospels also reveals
that if a person is lazy, he will be
cast into outer darkness, where there
will be weeping and gnashing. Hence,
lazy people can lose salvation and end
up being damned in hell when Lord
Jesus comes the second time. Some rich
peoples children, become are very
sluggish because in their homes they
have servants, cars and all the luxury
things possible. These inert children
will not find true happiness in spite
of possessing riches and wealth.
Seest
thou a man diligent in his business?
He shall stand before kings. He shall
not stand before mean men, states
the Holy Bible in Proverbs 22:29. Any
one who is diligent in his work will
inevitably be promoted to work in high
places and be blessed.
Top
Legal
matter relates to the law. What is
legal in one country may not be legal
in another country. The legal problems
differ from country to country. In
some countries you can do something
and go free because it is not a crime
whereas in other countries it may be a
crime. For example, in some Middle
East countries you cannot drink
alcohol because it is illegal but in
the Western countries you can drink
alcohol because that is legal. The
legal facilities, legal aids, and the
systems of law and their difficulties
and loopholes vary from nation to
nation. I will discuss some general
solutions to some legal problems.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
Since
the legal problems vary from country
to country I cannot mention the
solutions to various legal problems.
However, the general rule is that if
someone is accused of breaking a law
of the country and is arrested, the
arresting officer should tell him his
rights. The accused has the right to
advocate and to appeal his case.
Sometimes, the person being arrested
could ask for a duty counsel even if
he doesnt have a lawyer. The duty
counsel should give his counsel or
expertise free of charge until the
first court appearance. By then the
accused could seek for his own lawyer.
Some
of the citizens of a country, when
they are extremely poor and cannot pay
for an advocate; the government should
provide counsels who would fight for
their cases because they dont have the
money to hire advocates. One problem
with legal procedure is that once it
goes to trial it can drag on and on
and on. The legal systems in many
countries are frustrating and
sickening. If a person has been
witnessed murdering someone else, that
person may go free if he has a
brilliant lawyer who can make black
into white and vice versa. Most law
systems in the Western world have
loopholes and the lawyers can bypass
them. Sometimes, the lawyer that is
defending the person who is guilty of
some serial murders will deliberately
try to delay the matter in the court
so that his sentencing or execution
may be delayed. Occasionally the
guilty person himself, if he knows
some laws of the land, would change
the lawyers from time to time so that
his sentencing or execution can be
delayed as long as possible. A
condemned prisoner is not executed
until twenty or thirty years and by
that time he may have escaped or may
have died of natural causes. There are
a lot of legal problems, where most
guilty persons of murders are not
really punished. They are released on
bail or on parole and without a shadow
of doubt they will commit murders
again.
There
is a lot of debate in the world
regarding capital punishment. In most
Asian countries and some African
countries, capital punishment is
followed. In many of the Western
countries capital punishment is not
followed but some of the states in the
United States practise capital
punishment. There are a lot of human
rights groups that fight for
prisoners, rapists, murderers but some
of these human right groups completely
forget the victims and their relatives
suffering and agony. Notice how
executing a person after twenty or
thirty years is actually useless. It
should be done soon after the judge
gives the verdict that the felon
should be executed. Once the person
has exceeded all appeals (appeals must
not drag for years), execution should
take place immediately. The capital
punishment is good in a way because it
will act as a deterrent to others who
would rape and kill.
Spiritual
solutions
The
Bible warns in Ecclesiastes 8:11, Because the sentence against evil is
not executed speedily, the hearts of
men are fully set to do evil
continually. This text clearly
shows that because the sentences are
not speedily executed many criminals
continue to commit more rapes and
murders. Therefore, capital punishment
should be put into place and should be
enforced as quickly as possible and
not after ten or twenty
years. Whenever the accused is
not fully proved to be the killer, or
there isnt enough evidence as yet,
that person can be imprisoned. The
person that has been proven to have
raped and murdered others must be put
to death immediately. The appeals
should not take years but should be
over in a few months.
A
lot of Christian pastors and others
say, Lord Jesus told that if one slaps
you on one cheek, show the other, so
we should not follow capital
punishment but show leniency to
criminals. Those pastors daughters are
not raped or their sons and daughters
are not murdered, hence, it is easy
for them to say so. The Bible says
that vengeance belongs to God but good
people in authority are empowered by
God to impose the necessary punishment
to the criminals and murderers. The
Bible declares in Revelation 13:10, He that killeth by the sword must
die by the sword. It also
expresses in Matthew 26:52, For
all they that take the sword shall
perish by the sword. Persons who
kill other persons should also die. So
let us not reason that there should be
no capital punishment and we should
show love and mercy. Rather we should
support death sentence for these
criminals otherwise there would be
more murderers and rapists. In
whichever nation where capital
punishment is executed speedily, there
is a very less crime rate inevitably.
Top
A
lie is not telling the truth. Persons,
who are lying to escape from problems,
do not realize that the more lies they
tell the more problems they are
creating. Children tell lies if they
are scared of parents or to get
certain things done or to escape
punishment. Some individuals have an
obsession to lie and they have
uncontrollable urge to tell lies.
Those persons are known as
pathological liars.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
When
children tell lies during childhood
and if they are not reprimanded, when
they grow big, they will still tell
lies. When children see their parents
telling lies, they too would tell
lies. Parents should also correct
themselves if they are telling lies.
When students tell lies in the
classroom, the teachers should correct
them. The teachers themselves should
not tell lies, lest they be bad
examples to the students. Some persons
lie in court because they are paid to
do so, irrespective of taking an oath.
Some are professional liars.
The
pathological liars are those who cant
help themselves but invariably tell
lies. Drug addicts also tell lies just
to hide their drug addiction but they
tell such unintelligent lies that they
are easily caught. There was a man who
was a pathological liar. He kept lying
of how he visited many nations in the
world even though he never stepped
outside of his county not even once.
When his friends asked,
"Did you see Britain?"
He replied, "Yes and Britain is a
lovely country!" Somebody asked,
"Did you visit India?" He
said, "Oh, yes I did and its a
beautiful country!" Others asked,
"Did you go to Africa and see
Ghana?" And he responded,
"Yes, and there are very nice
people there." So he kept on
telling lies to people that he visited
many nations. One friend asked him,
"Hey, I think you must know a lot
about geography." The
pathological liar replied, "Yes,
I have been to geography and it is a
beautiful country!" This
illustrates that this person is such a
pathological liar that he didn't even
realize that his lies were going to
reveal him and show his ignorance too.
A pathological liar should seek help
from psychological counsellors and
psychiatrists to help him to give up
lying. When one lives dishonestly by
lies, his life lies with endless
troubles unerringly.
Spiritual
Solutions
In
fact, the ninth commandment of the Ten
Commandments, which God gave to man,
is Thou
shall not bear false witness against
thy neighbour. We are breaking the
ninth commandment if we tell lies.
When we fear of God we will not tell
lies because we dont want to break His
commandments. In Proverbs 6:16-19, it
talks about seven abominations, which
God hates, and one of those seven
abominations is a lying tongue. God
hates lying tongues. Proverbs 12: 19
states, "But
a lying tongue is but for a moment."
There is no use in lying
because one day the truth will come
out. There is also no point in telling
lies as one lie leads to another. To
call a trickster or liar a weasel is a
veracious insult to all the weasels.
Some
people think it is great fun to tell
lies and cheat other people. But just
imagine if someone told lies to you
and he got away, how would you feel
when you find out that he told you
lies? The Bible reveals to us in
Ephesians 4:25, Therefore,
putting away lying, speak every man
truth with his neighbour for we are
members one with another. We
should love telling the truth
irrespective of whether or not it may
cause us harm but it would actually
please God and it would cause things
to work out better for us. The Bible
tells us in Revelation 21:8 that all
liars would be cast into hell fire, so
let us not tell lies. All who tell
lies must seek the help of Lord Jesus.
They must pray that He will help them
to get out of this habit. It is not
easy to give it up on their own but
with the help of Lord Jesus they can.
Top
Lightning
is a discharge from cloud to cloud. It
is also a discharge of electricity
from cloud to earth. It is beautiful
to see but it is not pleasant to come
in contact with. When a person is hit
by lightning, then the person will
suffer from severe burns, shock, and
even death. Sometimes lightning could
set a whole field or a house on fire.
What is to be done if a person is hit
by lightning?
Management
Any
victim with lightning injury must be
immediately resuscitated if the person
is not breathing. As a matter of fact,
the first thing to be done is that the
lightning victim should be removed
from the place where the lightning
struck because the area may be struck
again. Remove the person to a safe
place and resuscitate him. Next, if
the person is not resuscitated,
immediately take him to the nearest
hospital. Actually lightning has a
high voltage and can cause severe
electrical burn injuries and also
causes nervous system injury and
sometimes multi-system damages. The
medical doctors would treat according
to the damages in the body.
In
case of lightning, prevention is
certainly better than cure. When there
is lightning it is best not to go
outside but if you must, it is better
to be inside a car because its tires
are resistant to the electric shock
and will ensure it moves quickly to
the ground. All buildings must have
lightning conductors especially in
lightning prone areas. When trying to
find shelter, do not take shelter
under large trees because the trees
could conduct lightning and could
transfer it to the persons under the
tree. Rather do so in buildings where
there are lightning conductors.
Top
Loan
is something leant. It is money leant
from banks to people at an interest.
Try to avoid taking loans as
much as possible because loans can
cause problems too.
If a person takes a loan and he
does not pay in a specific time then
he is guilty of violating that loan
agreement.
All loans come with an interest
rate.
Sometimes when somebody take a
loan from a person and cannot repay,
the person will try to hide from the
lender.
There are some extreme cases
where the borrower murders the lender
because he was not able to repay the
loan. Student loans will become a
problem if students do not repay them
or do not study well.
Non-Spiritual
Solutions
It
is better not to take loans, but if
you are going to take loans make sure
you can repay them.
You can take loans from banks
in order for you to buy something.
This is because it is not
possible for certain persons to buy a
car or a house that is highly
expensive.
However, you make sure that you
can repay that loan within the
specific time or else you could be
charged or be imprisoned, and your
things would be confiscated and the
interest would increase.
My advice to people who lend
money or give out loans is not to give
loans to persons of questionable
character because they will take loans
but will not repay.
The people who give loans
should not exploit the people by
charging high interest rates.
The students who take loans
must study hard, graduate and repay
the loans much before the stipulated
time.
Top