What Are The Benefits Of The Mediterranean Diet?

The Mediterranean Diet is more than a diet; It is a lifelong living style. You have to adopt it, as a religion. Decades ago, it was the natural way of life of many people around the Mediterranean Basin, especially in Spain, Italy and Greece. High activity, Mediterranean nutrition, anti stress attitudes and not much money shaped a culture that can be declared soon Immaterial Human Heritage by UNESCO. Nowadays, these circumstances have changed in the mentioned countries, but many responsible people are still keeping or returning to what is considered to be the healthiest diet in the world.Traditionally, Western Europe has two broad nutritional approaches - the Northern European and Southern European. The Mediterranean Diet is Southern European, and more specifically focuses on the eating habits of the people of Crete, much of Greece, and southern Italy. Today, Spain, southern France, and Portugal are also included; even though Portugal does not have a Mediterranean coast.

What does the Mediterranean Diet include?

• Lots of plant foods
• Fresh fruit as dessert
• High consumption of beans, nuts, cereals and seeds
• Olive oil as the main source of dietary fat
• Cheese and yogurt as the main dairy foods
• Moderate amounts of fish and poultry
• No more than about four eggs each week
• Small amounts of red meat each week (compared to northern Europe)
• Low to moderate amounts of wine
• 25% to 35% of calorie intake consists of fat
• Saturated fat makes up no more than 8% of calorie intake

The Mediterranean diet is known to be low in saturated fat, high in monounsaturated fat, and high in dietary fiber.

Even though Dr. Ancel Keys (USA), who was stationed in southern Italy, publicized the Mediterranean diet, it was not until about the 1990s that the Mediterranean diet was widely recognized and followed elsewhere by nutritionally conscious people.

Compared to other Western diets, the Mediterranean diet was seen by others as a bit of an enigma. Although fat consumption is high, the prevalence of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer and diabetes has always been significantly lower in Mediterranean countries than northern European countries and the USA.

The T4 Euthanasia Program in Legal History of Germany

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           Action T4 (German: Aktion T4) was the name used after World War II for the Euthanasia Program in Nazi Germany officially spanning September 1939 until August 1941 but continued unofficially    until the demise of the Nazi regime in 1945 and even beyond, during which physicians killed thousands of people specified in Hitler's secret memo of September 1, 1939, as suffering patients "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination".

Although officialy started in september 1939 it is stated that Euthanasia Program (Action T4) initated with a sort of trial balloon with the instruction of Hitler to Karl Brandt in late 1938 to valuate the euthanasia petition of a little boy, who was actually killed in July 1939.Hitler also instructed Brandt to proceed in the same manner in similar cases.  The foundation of the Committee for the Scientific Treatment of Severe, Genetically Determined Illness in order to prepare and proceed with the massive secret killing of infants took place in May 1939 and the respective secret order to start the registration of ill children, took place in 18 August 1939, three weeks after the euthanasia of the mentioned boy.
From the official Nazi files, there is evidence that during the official stage 70,273 people were killed. The Nuremberg Trials found evidence that German and Austrian physicians continued the extermination of patients after October 1941 and evidence that about 275,000 people were killed under T4. More recent research based on files that were recovered after 1990 gives a figure of at least 200,000 physically or mentally handicapped people that were killed by medication, starvation, or in the gas chambers between 1939 and 1945.

Bundesarchiv Bild 152-04-28, Heilanstalt Schönbrunn, Kinder

            The name T4 was an abbreviation of "Tiergartenstraße 4", the address of a villa in the Berlin borough of Tiergarten which was the headquarters of the Gemeinnützige Stiftung für Heil- und Anstaltspflege, bearing the euphemistic name literally translating into English: as Charitable Foundation for Cure and Institutional Care. This body operated under the direction of Philipp Bouhler, the head of Hitler's private chancellery,and Dr. Karl Brandt, Hitler's personal physician. This villa no longer exists, but a plaque set in the pavement on Tiergartenstraße marks its location.

The "euthanasia decree", written on Adolf Hitler's personal stationery and dated 1 September 1939, reads as follows:
               " Reich Leader Bouhler and Dr. Brandt are charged with the responsibility for expanding the authority of physicians, to be designated by name, to the end that patients considered incurable according to the best available human judgment [menschlichem Ermessen] of their state of health, can be granted a mercy death [Gnadentod]."

The T4 program is thought to have developed from the Nazi Party's policy of "racial hygiene", the belief that the German people needed to be "cleansed" of "racially unsound" elements, which included people with disabilities. According to this view, the euthanasia program represents an evolution in policy toward the later Holocaust of the Jews of Europe.

The idea of enforcing "racial hygiene" had been an essential element of Hitler's ideology from its earliest days. In his book Mein Kampf (1924), Hitler wrote:

He who is bodily and mentally not sound and deserving may not perpetuate this misfortune in the bodies of his children. The völkische [people's] state has to perform the most gigantic rearing-task here. One day, however, it will appear as a deed greater than the most victorious wars of our present bourgeois era.

Facts about Intercourse during Menstruation

         Sex during periods is a matter of personal preference and cultural beliefs. Medically, it is safe to have sex during your period as long as you don't use it as a ticket to have unprotected sex.
       Deciding to have sexual intercourse requires knowledge about both the male and female reproductive systems, STDS, and birth control. Sex can become even more complicated when it comes to deciding when and where to do the deed; in particular, you may find that you or your partner want to have sex during your menstrual period. But is sex during your period safe? Here are some answers to a few of the most common questions regarding period sex. 

Is it Safe To Have Sex During Your Period?
Many men and women worry that having sexual intercourse during a woman's period is unhealthy. Though frowned upon in many cultures and faiths, sexual intercourse during menstruation is entirely normal and completely healthy.
Worries about this act generally stem from societal misconceptions about menstrual blood: most girls are taught from a young age that their menstrual blood is unclean and "dirty," and therefore should be hidden and contained at all times. However, menstrual blood is an entirely natural bodily fluid, and does not in anyway affect a man's penis or a woman's reproductive tract. As long as you are engaging in safe and protected sexual intercourse, it is entirely alright for you and your partner to have sex during your period.

Benefits of having sex during menstruation:

• Sex may help relieve pre or post menstrual symptoms if you get an orgasm
• Endorphins released during an orgasm are natural painkillers and mood lifters, which can allay cramps, headaches, mild depression, and irritability associated with periods
• Some women also claim enjoying sex more when they are menstruating because of the feelings of fullness in the pelvic and genital areas

Clinical Aspects of Priapism -[Abnormal Persistent Erection of the Penis]

Introduction

Priapism is defined as an abnormal persistent erection of the penis. It is an involuntary prolonged erection unrelated to sexual stimulation and unrelieved by ejaculation. As with many medical emergencies, the saying "time is tissue" holds true for priapism. This condition is a true urologic emergency, and early intervention allows the best chance for functional recovery.

Pathophysiology

Priapism is the result of persistent engorgement of the corpora cavernosa of the penis, originating from a disturbance in the mechanisms that control normal penile detumescence, depicted in the image below. In most cases, the ventral corpora spongiosum and glans penis remain flaccid.


Two types of priapism are generally described.
           ^Arterial high-flow priapism usually is secondary to a rupture of a cavernous artery and unregulated flow into the lacunar spaces. This rare type of priapism is usually not painful and results from penetrating penile trauma or a blunt perineal injury.
           ^Low-flow priapism is usually due to full and unremitting corporeal veno-occlusion where venous stasis and deoxygenated blood pools within the cavernous tissue. Prolonged veno-occlusive priapism results in fibrosis of the penis and a loss of the ability to achieve an erection. Significant changes at the cellular level are noted within 24 hours in veno-occlusive priapism, whereas arterial priapism is not associated with fibrotic change.

Lesbian and Gay Parenting

    
         The APA Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns Office has worked since 1975 to eliminate the stigma of mental illness which has been mistakenly associated with same-sex sexual orientation and to reduce prejudice, discrimination, and violence against lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. Major functions of the office include support to APA's Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns; liaison with the Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues (APA Division 44) and with other APA groups that have an interest in lesbian, gay, and bisexual concerns; policy analysis, development, and advocacy for APA policy; technical assistance, information, and referral to APA members, other professionals, policymakers, the media, and the public; and development and dissemination of publications and other information on lesbian, gay and bisexual concerns in psychology.

The Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns Office is housed within the Public Interest Directorate, which works to advance psychology as a means of promoting human welfare. Other programs within the Public Interest Directorate work on issues related to AIDS; adolescent health; aging; children, youth and families; disability; ethnic minorities; urban issues; violence; women; and workplace health.