“IMPATIENS” people are self-willed and would prefer to work entirely by themselves and get things done at their own-pace without outside interference, forgetting that every person is a part of the great whole and in the final analysis we all depend upon each other, including those whose lot is to move slow.

The main characteristics of the negative Impatiens state.

1. Are internally restless and under mental tension due to other people working slowly.

2. Finds it hard to wait for things to take their course.

3. Takes the words out of the mouth of others from impatience.

4. Talks so fast while giving instructions that they are hardly assimilated fully.

5. Unnecessary hurry in all walks of life.

6. Cannot tolerate slow working by others—would snatch a piece of work from the worker’s hand to do it faster.

7. Prefers to work alone, at his own pace.

8. Easily flares up and just as quickly calms down.

9. On the physical side, short-term exhaustion; sudden hunger because of fast consumption of energy due to fast pace; sudden pain due to nervous tension, nervous indigestion, hot flashes.

Sometimes, a very irritating red rash appears on the body of a person when he is impatient, cross and irritable.

An infant would immediately get colic if nursed from an irritated mother’s breast.

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Once upon a time it was believed that epilepsy was forever. In those olden days, only fifteen to twenty years ago, physicians were taught never to discontinue anticonvulsant medicine. They were taught not to discontinue the drugs before puberty, because seizures might increase in frequency at puberty, and you were never sure when puberty might start or when it would end. After puberty came driving, and you wouldn’t want to stop medication before that, because the child might never be able to get a driver’s license. Then physicians were urged not to discontinue medication because the individual was driving. In those days, it was said: “Eventually people will stop taking medicine on their own. Then, if they have a seizure, it will not be the doctor’s fault.”

NONE OF THOSE OLD TEACHINGS WERE TRUE!

With this old philosophy, many people were kept on medicine for many years, and some are still taking it.

Now we know that:

• Most children outgrow their epilepsy;

• Most children who are free of seizures for two years gradually can be taken off medicine by their physician and will remain seizure-free;

• Many adults do not need to take medicine forever.

Now we know that 75 percent of children who have been free of seizures for four years will remain seizure-free as the medicine is slowly

discontinued. Seventy-five percent will also remain free of seizures if they are taken off medicine after being free of seizures for only two years. Now we can even predict which of these children are likely to remain free off medicine and which are likely to have recurrent seizures if the medication is discontinued.

Remember: Before you begin to worry about having your physician discontinue medication, your child must be seizure-free for at least two years.

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Eye checks

Everyone with diabetes should have regular, preferably annual, visual acuity and retina checks. Your retina can be examined either with an ophthalmoscope after dilating drops have been put into your eye (the effects of these can be reversed after the examination) or with a special infra-red camera. The retinal camera produces a Polaroid picture within a few minutes, and because it uses infra-red light no dilating drops are needed.

If minor changes are found, all that is needed is a reassessment of your glucose balance and more frequent checks. If you have more severe changes, laser treatment is used with the aim of encouraging regression of proliferative vessels and preventing further new vessels forming. Laser treatment is usually carried out by an ophthalmologist and may have to be repeated. Anyone on treatment with normal blood glucose levels is less likely to develop retinopathy than people with high glucose levels. Lesions (microaneurysms, hemorrhages or exudates) may also regress if control is improved after retinopathy has developed, though it is obviously better to try to prevent them from appearing in the first place.

Cataracts   These are more common among people with diabetes than in the general population. They are caused by deposits in the lens of the eye which block vision. They can be treated by removal of the eye’s lens, which has become opaque. This is replaced either with an implanted lens, or are given contact lenses or glasses. The operation has an excellent success rate. If you have diabetic retinopathy as well as cataracts, your ophthalmologist may have to treat the cataract before the extent of the retinopathy can be seen. Nowadays it can sometimes be removed          as a day-case procedure.

See your doctor

If you notice any change in your vision, see your doctor at once. Although cataracts and diabetic retinopathy may be the reason for a change in your vision, the most common cause is a high blood glucose level or a changing blood glucose level. This alters the focusing properties of the lens temporarily, causing blurring. The blurring disappears once your blood glucose level is controlled, so do not waste money on new glasses until you are sure that any change in your vision is not caused by glucose problems. Always bear these points in mind:

1.   Tell your doctor immediately if your vision deteriorates.

2.   The commonest cause of visual change in diabetes is high or changing glucose levels. Do not buy new spectacles when your glucose control is poor.

3.   Regular eye checks can detect diabetic retinopathy at an early stage.

4.   Diabetic retinopathy is treatable.

5.   Diabetic retinopathy may be prevented by good glucose control.

6.   People with diabetes may develop cataracts: they too can be treated.

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