Herbal Health

Although many over-exposure allergies can develop from a sudden massive exposure to a given substance (for example, by being overcome by fumes during an industrial accident, or getting smashed on a particular alcoholic beverage while tired or suffering from a cold or ‘flu), over-exposure allergies can develop slowly over a longer period of time. The continual eating of a given food, especially if it is a refined food such as white bread, can give us an allergy to wheat. In this case eating the white bread day in, day out, wears out the digestive enzymes in the wall of the small intestine and the liver, causing the semi-digested food to be absorbed into the blood. A semi-digested food is a foreign body and is recognised by an over-sensitive immune system as an allergen.

Because the digestive enzymes are made from vitamins and minerals, the cells need vitamins and minerals to replace enzymes that are wearing out. Refined foods (white bread, canned and frozen foods, processed meats, take-away foods) don’t carry the nutrients they need to build replacement enzymes. Thus malnutrition contributes significantly to over-exposure allergies. It is significant that stress and malnutrition go together—most highly stressed people skip meals altogether and so completely miss out on their vitamins and minerals.

The slow drip-feeding into the blood of the toxic waste products, particularly acetaldehyde, from the yeast Candida albicans, can produce over-exposure to this chemical over a long period of time. Allergic reactions thus ensue.

Cyclic allergies are those that develop as a result of over-exposure to a food, chemical, pollutant, fume, gas, pollen or grass. Cyclic allergies account for 95 per cent of all allergies (the remaining 5 per cent are fixed) and can usually be overcome if you haven’t been exposed to the allergen for too long. The majority of cyclic allergies begin as a result of over-exposure to a chemical or food. Many children are born with a cyclic allergy as their mothers were suffering from a cyclic allergy during pregnancy. As time goes by the sensitivity can spread to other foods and chemicals and on to grasses, pollens, dusts, yeasts, fungi and dust mites. Ninety days’ avoidance of the allergenic substance is usually enough to desensitise the body to that substance.

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‘Not only will men of science have to grapple with the sciences that deal with man, hut—and this is a Jar more difficult matter— they will have to persuade the world to listen to what they have discovered. If they cannot succeed in this difficult enterprise, man will destroy himself by his halfway cleverness.’

Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970

An allergy is an over-reaction of the body’s immune system in its efforts to protect the body against what it (the immune system) perceives to be a threat. When resistance is down, sensitivities are up and allergies easily develop.

The immune system is the body’s main line of defense against invading foreign substances that can damage it. It is made up of the white blood cells, known as lymphocytes. These are clumped together in lymphoid tissue, which is found in the spleen, the lining of the small and large intestines and the lymph nodes of the neck, armpits and groin. The lymph nodes are well evident during periods of infection when they swell up arid are frequently referred to as ‘swollen glands’.

When a foreign substance enters the body, the lymphocytes become sensitised by its presence and produce special proteins, called antibodies, which circulate in the blood until they make contact with and destroy the foreign substance.

Collectively, these foreign substances are known as antigens and may come in many different shapes and forms—viruses, bacteria, fungi, toxic chemicals from polluted water and air, and the preservatives and colourings in artificial foods. Evidence suggests that the major toxin (acetaldehyde) released into the blood by the yeast Candida albicans is a potent antigen.

In rendering the antigen harmless to the body, the antibodies have given us an immunity to that antigen. Once sensitised by an antigen, the lymphocytes remember that antigen and, in some cases, are able to successfully produce antibodies against it for the rest of our lives. In this way we enjoy lifelong immune protection from that substance. The diseases measles and chicken pox are good examples. Once contracted in childhood, our resistance to them usually becomes so great that they seldom bother us again through life.

Unfortunately, not all immune systems function perfectly all of the time. Sometimes there are imbalances in the immune system (resulting from imbalances in the body’s metabolism) that give rise to excesses in the immune reaction. These excesses cause side effects and these side effects are known as allergic reactions.

Allergic reactions occur when there is an excess of histamine released into the blood and tissues.

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‘Even your body knows its heritage and its rightful needs and will not be deceived. And your body is the harp of your soul, And it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.’

Kahlil Gibran. The Prophet

As a 23-year-old woman living in the 80s, I have, like many other people, tried to eat well and get some exercise. The media had made me very body conscious, and if I didn’t keep my weight down, I became depressed, felt unattractive and my self-esteem plummeted. In order to keep it down, I had to eat very small amounts. I became convinced that I had a fat-storing metabolism and to keep my weight down I had to eat very little.

Like many women, I have agonised over my body, spending literally hundreds of dollars on cellulite treatments, and there have been many years of not a morsel passing my lips without a calorie count. Looking back on it, it was an awfully stressful, anti-social way to be treating food. You could say I was at war with my body.

At 60 kg in July 1987, I decided to go on one of my severe diets, which consisted of cereal and skim milk for breakfast, Ryvita, salmon and salad for lunch and steamed vegetables for dinner. By November I had lost 6.5 kg. I experienced weakness and hunger pains, but the psychological high I was on overrode feelings of drowsiness and lethargy.

At this time, I was studying part-time and had taken over the job of Section Head in a nursery caring for children under three years of age. Wanting to achieve recognition from my colleagues, I set myself the task of getting the nursery into good working order. Basically, I put my needs last and burnt the candle at both ends. I began a downhill run and by March 1988 I had deteriorated physically and mentally and needed a week off work for what the doctor diagnosed as stress. The week off work helped alleviate the severe headaches and back pain, but on returning to work I still did not feel 100 per cent better.

I spent the Easter weekend at my parents’ property on the outskirts of Bathurst, and all Mum’s lovely cooking went down very well. So well, in fact, that within three weeks I had gained the 6.5 kg I had lost and kept off over a nine month period. I was unable to start dieting again; I was tired of it all. Depression set in severely.

I was also extremely sensitive and emotional. I would snap at people without meaning to. Regarding the poor concentration and loss of memory, I can tell you, when you’re twenty-three and find it impossible to recall one bit of conversation you had ten minutes earlier, it’s very scary.

At the time I consulted Phil Alexander in May 1988, I was beginning to doubt my professional capabilities. Talking to Phil was very encouraging. Yes, he told me, I would recover, my symptoms would be alleviated; but I must rest, as I was suffering from stress as well. He told me that my sinusitis and resultant bad breath was of physiological, not psychological, origin and gave me a referral to an allergy clinic for tests.

Although I wasn’t allergic to any foods, I was allergic to moulds, house dust mites, grasses and pollens. Phil placed me on the Anti-Candida Program, with the prescribed drug Nystatin to kill off the Candida yeast over-growth in my body, and a vitamin supplement to help balance my out-of-kilter metabolism, unbalanced by my many years of crash/semi-starvation diets. To think that for years I thought I was doing the right thing by my body. How wrong I was!

The meals set out for me were incredibly substantial and I thought I would put on weight. Not so at all. Although the first week of my Anti-Candida Program was unpleasant, with headaches, sinusitis and stomach pain (all Candida yeast withdrawal symptoms), I lost 2.25 kg of fluid in five days, as I had more of a fluid problem than a fat problem. After a fortnight I felt 100 per cent better and had lost another 1.5 kg. I was sitting down to beautiful meals each night and I was very hungry in between meals. There was no bloating associated with eating and my metabolism was speeding up considerably. As well as sticking to the program religiously, I kept my house free of mould and dust and made sure I got plenty of rest.

By the time I went back to see Phil, after four weeks on my program, I was so excited I literally bounded into his office so eager to tell him how wonderful I was feeling, how much energy I had. I had lost 4.5 kg altogether, and the high I was experiencing was indescribable, very different from the highs I had experienced when I had lost weight before.

Phil was pleased for me and instructed me to carry on as I was. During the second month my appetite decreased a little and I no longer needed rice wafers in between meals. It was at this time that I came down with inflamed back muscles, due to heavy lifting. As rotten as I was feeling physically, I still felt mentally well and made sure I didn’t spend my days off work feeling sorry for myself. I kept busy with sewing and recovered rapidly without the aid of prescribed drugs from my doctor. I wondered if 1 would have recovered as well two months earlier, before my program.

To sum it all up, after being at war with my body for four years, I am discovering what it is like to have energy, not feel over-stressed, feel restored after a good night’s sleep and be happy. When people ask me if the program is working for me, I tell them that I am an entirely different person from what I was two and a half months ago. That is the absolute truth too! I feel attractive, confident; my self-esteem is riding high and I am learning not to compare myself to other women, to love me and my body for what it is.

I am discovering new, tasty nutritious meals and there are no guilt feelings attached to sitting down and eating a beautiful veal and veggie casserole. Farewell to calorie counting forever!

What is so exciting for me is that I am still in the healing process. I have some way to go, but I am already reaping the benefits. People are commenting on how well I look -my skin, my hair, my eyes. My parents are thrilled and relieved to see that, at last, the answer to my problem has been found. My boyfriend tells me how attractive I have been looking lately and I know my state of physical, and mental/ emotional health will improve more. Like my newly found love of cooking and eating, I am exercising more because I have the energy and really want to. I don’t feel I have to -there is now a challenge to be the healthiest person I can. My current exercise is martial arts and I love it more now that I am on my anti-allergy program. I feel better than I did when I lost weight on a diet at the ladies’ gym and was doing four aerobic classes a week, as well as weights.

I shudder to think what would have happened to my health if I had not investigated further the real cause of my complaints. I’m sure I would have crash dieted more, and in doing so deteriorated more, perhaps irreparably. I stick with this program and take it seriously, and so 1 should. This is my life and my body, the only one I have been given. I will not break this program.

Realising how biochemically different I am I would never again pick a diet that doesn’t have the research and experience of a practising physician backing it. Never again would I skip a meal. When I see young women skipping meals and eating minuscule amounts, I now try to explain what they are doing to themselves. They don’t listen, because they think they know it all, and know their body’s needs just like I thought I did.

Thanks to the expertise and knowledge of the author of this book, I am learning to love me, and love my body for what it is. I am healthy, alive, vital, energetic and attractive. I am indebted to Phil Alexander for all his help in making what really is the ‘new me’.

I hope readers will see me as a success story and an inspiration to overcome their complaints.

As I re-read my words, the excitement and challenge builds up in me more. I really believe in what I am doing. It all may be hard for you to comprehend, it is even hard for me sometimes, but if you have success in overcoming your allergies, you will understand the message I am conveying.

Paula Jackson, 1988

POSTSCRIPT—1990

Paula is still fit and well though she’s been through a rough patch that saw her health decline for a while. Like so many people who’ve regained their vitality, Paula began to embrace life with great enthusiasm. Too much enthusiasm in fact. She burnt herself out. Tiredness, aches and pains, fluid retention and confusion began to return. Not because of allergy and Candida infection this time, but because of fatigue. Paula, like so many others, believed her new found energy was boundless and in an effort to make up for lost time began doing all those things she was too tired to do before. Admittedly pre-wedding nerves and adjusting to married life played it’s part but the major cause of her symptoms was overdoing it.

We human beings have a very short memory of matters pertaining to our former ill health. We easily forget what it was like to be down and Paula fell into this trap. She now realises that although the spirit may be willing the flesh has limitations. She has now learned to pace herself by recognising her particular early warning symptoms of stress and slowing down before these symptoms become full blown.

UPDATE—1995

Paula is now 30 and feeling better than she did at age 19. She’s married, pregnant, works part time and has a healthy two-year-old boy who shows all the signs of being an advanced, even gifted, child. All this she attributes to her continued adherence to the Metabolism-Balancing Program and supplements. She maintains high energy levels, trouble-free pregnancies (no toxaemia) and optimal weight levels during and between pregnancies. The learning experience of overcoming her previous illness has put her in tune with her body and there has been no return of her Candida and allergy symptoms.

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How to prevent HIV infection

HIV is difficult to catch. Body fluids containing the virus must go directly into your blood or tissues through a break in the skin or body lining membranes such as the lining of the vagina or rectum. These fluids are:

• blood (including menstrual blood)

• semen

• fluid from the vagina and cervix

• breast milk.

The virus has been found in very small amounts in saliva, but there is little evidence that it has been passed on through saliva. Similarly, there have not been any reports of transmission associated with vomit, urine or faeces.

HIV is transmitted through:

• unprotected vaginal or anal sexual intercourse with an infected person

• injection with a needle or syringe contaminated with infected blood

• pregnancy, in the womb or during delivery, though less than one in five infants born to infected mothers are infected at birth

• breast-feeding, which doubles the risk of a baby becoming infected. The risk is less if the baby doesn’t have its mother’s milk for two weeks after delivery. This is because colostrum contains much more HIV than milk produced later.

Prevention seems straightforward. Never have any sort of injection with a needle or syringe that has been used by anyone else, and never have unprotected sex (that is without use of a condom) unless you are certain that your partner is not infected. These are the main risks. Also, we should all follow the habits of general hygiene that protect against the spread of all infectious diseases.

If you do accidentally come in contact with, say, the blood of an accident victim, don’t panic. It’s extremely unlikely that infection could occur under these circumstances, but if you’re worried, talk to your doctor about whether treatment or a test is advisable, even if only to reassure you that all is well.

Any woman known to carry HIV will have been well advised on how to prevent its spread to others and how best to look after her health.

The statisticians of the epidemic would be pleased if we were all tested so that the real prevalence of HIV infection could be known. I believe that such an enormously expensive exercise is at present unnecessary. Most women will know whether they have ever been at risk of infection.

Who should be tested?

If you have the slightest fear that you may have been infected, I would recommend a test so that you’ll know where you stand and not be wracked by uncertainly. Remember that over 99 of every 100 women at ‘high risk’ tested so far have been negative. Reasons for having the test include:

• if you had a blood transfusion between 1980 and 1985 in Australia. If you’ve ever had a transfusion overseas, ask your doctor whether you should be tested

• if you have ever shared needles or syringes

• if you have ever had a sexual partner whom you suspect may have had sex overseas, multiple female partners, any male partners or has ever injected drugs. Blood for the test can be collected by your doctor, any public hospital or at any sexual health or family planning clinic. Before taking the test, read the pamphlets (available wherever tests are done), which explain what the test and its results mean, and how you can avoid HIV. If you have any concerns about the test or whether you should have it, speak to a doctor, nurse or counsellor. You can be sure that any information you give when taking the test is confidential.

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Acute cystitis

In every case of suspected cystitis the diagnosis should be confirmed by laboratory examination of the urine to identify any bacteria and see what antibiotics will get rid of them. A mid-stream urine specimen should be collected before any treatment is started. However, you will usually be given antibiotics at the first visit, especially if your doctor has looked at your urine under the microscope and seen that it contains pus and blood.

It’s important to check with your doctor when the laboratory report returns to make sure that you’re taking the right antibiotic, which should start to relieve symptoms within 24 hours. Most doctors also like to confirm that the infection has cleared completely by a follow-up urine test after you’ve finished the treatment course; this is particularly important if you’ve had recurrent infections.

It’s also very important to complete the full course of antibiotics. If you have a tendency to develop thrush when you take antibiotics, tell your doctor so that you can have some antifungal treatment on hand.

Here are some other ways to relieve the symptoms of an acute attack while waiting for specific treatment to work.

• Drink as much water as you can to dilute your urine and help flush out the infection.

• Empty your bladder whenever you feel the urge: never try to hold on if you have a urinary infection. Be sure to completely empty the bladder each time.

Endometritis

Endometritis is infection of the lining of the uterus. It can occur after childbirth or after spontaneous or induced abortion, especially if the uterus is not completely empty of all fragments of the placenta. It is treated by antibiotics and, if necessary, removal of any retained placental tissue.

Endometritis is also part of PID.

Prolapse

When the structures that hold the uterus in place become weakened or abnormally stretched (usually during pregnancy or delivery), the uterus may drop down from its normal position. This is called uterine prolapse. The cervix may move further down in the vagina, and may even protrude through the entrance to the vagina.

As the uterus moves downwards, it pulls the vaginal walls and often the bladder and rectum with it. When the front wall of the vagina and part of the bladder sag downwards, it is called a cystocoele. When the back wall of the vagina and part of the rectum sag downwards, a rectocoele has formed. Either or both may bulge outside the vagina. If the perineum has been torn during delivery and not repaired, cystocoele and/or rectocoele can occur without uterine prolapse.

Not all women who develop prolapse of the pelvic organs have had children. Anything that increases pressure in the abdomen, such as chronic cough, chronic constipation and obesity, puts excessive strain on the pelvic supports and can lead to prolapse. Also, the pelvic supports weaken with age and with reduced production of oestrogen. Many women with prolapse find that symptoms will begin or are aggravated after the menopause.

Symptoms of prolapse

Symptoms depend on which organs are prolapsed and how much. A mild prolapse may not cause any problems.

Prolapse of the uterus can cause a dragging feeling in the lower abdomen and back, increased vaginal discharge and perhaps the feeling that something is coming out of the vagina. Symptoms are usually relieved by lying down.

If cystocoele is present, symptoms include difficulty in starting and stopping urination, urinary frequency, feeling that
the bladder needs emptying again soon after you’ve been to the toilet, and problems controlling the bladder. Recurrent urinary infections can result if the blade never empties properly.

Rectocoele can cause difficulty emptying the bowel, in spite of a constant feeling that the rectum is full and needs to
be emptied. Constipation can become a problem.

Treatment of prolapse

This depends on how severe the symptoms are and the extent of the prolapse Slight prolapse of the uterus without symptoms needs no treatment. Moderate uterine prolapse can often be helped by wearing a strong ring pessary in the vagina to hold up the uterus and to help lift associated cystocoele and rectocoele. If the supports of the uterus are so stretched that the uterus protrudes from the vagina, surgical repair is usually needed.

Mild and moderate degrees of cystocoele and rectocoele are often greatly helped by exercises and other physiotherapy to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor and improve emptying and control of the bladder and bowel. However, if these muscles are not only weak but also badly torn or otherwise damaged, surgery may be the only answer.

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Absence or underdevelopment of the ovaries is rare, and is due to abnormal combinations of sex genes. The most common is failure of the sex gene from the sperm to be transferred at fertilisation, resulting in a single X sex chromosome. This is called Turner’s syndrome. Because XX is needed for ovaries to develop and Y for testis development, people with Turner’s syndrome have no gonads, but have tubes, uterus, vagina and female external genitals. There may be associated congenital problems such as heart and bone defects, webbing of the neck and growth retardation resulting in short stature.

Without ovaries to produce oestrogen, none of the characteristic female developments of puberty can take place. If Turner’s syndrome is diagnosed (by tests showing abnormal genes and absence of ovarian hormones, and if the ovaries can’t be found by laparotomy), hormone replacement treatment must be given to complete development and so that health can be maintained during adult life. If a woman without ovaries has a normal uterus and vagina, menstruation will follow hormone treatment.

It is always very hard to explain to a young woman that she was born without ovaries or without a uterus, because it means that she will never be able to have children of her own. If the vagina is also absent, the prospect of needing surgery or the use of dilators to be able to have intercourse is an additional distress. Very sensitive counselling is needed to help overcome grief and to try to prevent sexual maladjustment.

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Most testing can be completed within few months. At the first visit your doctor will take a thorough medical history and will usually carry out on both you and your partner a general physical examination that will also include examining the reproductive system. This may indicate which tests you need. The reason for doing any test, what the test involves, its cost and the results will be fully explained to you: if not, ask.

Some of the following tests may be advised.

Starting a basal body temperature chart This is cheap, easy and no risk. If it shows that you’re ovulating, it’s reassuring and tells you when intercourse is most likely to result in conception.

Sperm count (semen analysis) This is the simplest test, needing only a sample of semen to be sent for examination. You’ll be given instructions on how to collect the specimen. Semen analysis is usually done early and may be repeated two weeks later if the first count is low. Sperm counts that are temporarily reduced, for example by a bout of high fever, will have returned to normal after about three months.

Blood tests for hormones If a woman’s blood contains the hormone progesterone during the second half of her menstrual cycle, that’s strong evidence that she has ovulated.

Hysterosalpingogram (HSG) This is an X-ray of the uterus and tubes, to see whether the shape of the uterine cavity is abnormal or there is tubal blockage.

Laparoscopy This is a surgical procedure in which the uterus, tubes and ovaries are inspected.

Hysteroscopy This is to check the shape and lining of the uterine cavity.

Falloposcopy This is to inspect the interior of the tubes.

Post-coital test (Sims-Huhner test) Within a few hours of having sex during the fertile phase of your cycle, some mucus is taken from the cervix and examined under the microscope immediately to see whether sperm are present and surviving.

Sperm migration test This is also called the mucus penetration test. Mucus from your cervix is collected during the fertile phase. The rate of progress of your partner’s and donor’s sperm through your mucus are compared with their rate of progress through a donor’s mucus.

Not all these tests may be necessary. The result of one test may suggest certain other tests such as looking for sperm antibodies, genetic tests, and biopsy of the testis, ovary or lining of the uterus. If no abnormality is found, it means that the subfertility is due to something we don’t know about reproduction.

Many people are distressed by the intrusiveness of the tests, and by a sense of being judged on their results. One woman expressed her anguish:

There is no inner recess of me left unexplored, unprobed, unmolested. Now when we haw sex I think that what used to be beautiful and very private is now degraded and very public. I take my charts to the doctor like a child bringing home a school report. Did I
do well? Did I ovulate? Did I have sex at the right times?

If you can air these feelings with your partner, doctor, counsellor or others in the same boat, you may feel better about them.

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Conception

A new life begins when an ovum is fertilised by a sperm. Of the 200-400 million sperm in an ejaculation, only around a hundred make the 10-12 cm journey (which is believed to take about an hour) through the cervix and uterus to the outer part of the tube, and only one of these penetrates the ovum.

There’s more to conception than fertilisation. The fertilised egg, a single cell, must then travel down the tube to the uterus, dividing into many cells on the way to form a fluid-filled ball called the blastocyst. About three to four days are spent on the journey from fertilization to implantation site. Here the blastocyst buries in the lining of the uterus (endometrium). Within hours the placenta begins to form and conception is complete.

It’s believed that not every fertilised ovum implants. During if through the tube, the cells formed by its division release a protein called Early Pregnancy Factor (EPF) that changes mother’s immune response so that embryo won’t be rejected. EPF can be detected after ovulation in the bi women who don’t conceive.

For convenience, how far pregnant you are is stated in weeks from the beginning of the last normal menstrual period (LMP), which for most women is a certain date. It also marks the date when the egg began to mature. However, the LMP date is two weeks before the time of fertilisation, and about three weeks before the time of implantation.

The average time from LMP date to delivery is 40 weeks – about 10 days more than 9 calendar months. Pregnancy is divided into three stages, called trimesters, of roughly three months: the first trimester is from the LMP date to 12 weeks; the second or middle trimester is from 13-27 weeks; the third or last trimester is from 28-40 weeks.

A simple way to work out your expected date of delivery (EDD) is to add 10 days and 9 calendar months to the first day of your LMP date. For example, if your LMP date is 15 July, your EDD will be 25 April. In fact, only 5 per cent of women deliver on the EDD, but 80 per cent deliver within 10 days either side of it.

Confirming pregnancy

Gone are the days when we had to rely ; on an examination three to four weeks after a missed period to diagnose pregnancy. Pregnancy tests have become increasingly sensitive over the past decade. The developing placenta begins to produce pregnancy hormone within 24 hours of implantation. The newer blood tests can detect this hormone from the ninth day after ovulation, four to five days before your period is due. New urine tests (including some home tests) can confirm pregnancy from the eleventh day after ovulation. However, because it’s generally hard to be certain about the exact day of ovulation, results of these tests are not reliable until the date your period would have been due. And if for some reason you ovulated late (say, three weeks after the LMP date), a false negative result could come up for several days after the next period is due.

Apart from your burning curiosity, or if you’ve previously had problems very early, there’s generally little point in testing for pregnancy before or for a week or so after you miss a period, except for making changes in your lifestyle to safeguard the pregnancy: if you intend to give up smoking (you should!) and be careful with alcohol and other drugs (including medicines) when you’re pregnant, it’s best to do so as early as you can.

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Some people don’t like the term ‘cervical barrier’, claiming that the word ‘barrier’ has a negative value and shouldn’t be used in association with sexual intercourse, which is concerned (we hope) with closeness. The alternative suggested ‘intra-vaginal occlusive devices (or pessaries)’ seems rather a mouthful to me and equally off-putting, so I shall use ‘cervical barriers’ to refer to the various types of intravaginal diaphragms and cervical caps. I believe the term is apt, as diaphragms and caps act as mechanical barriers that prevent sperm from mixing with cervical mucus and entering the cervical canal.

History of cervical barriers

Like condoms, cervical barriers have a colourful history that goes back for thousands of years. Many early cervical barriers incorporated something to act as a spermicide. The ancient Egyptians left descriptions on papyrus of a contraceptive pessary made of crocodile dung and honey. Women in the court of Louis XIV placed wads of cotton waste in their cleavage before dinner. At the end of the evening the wad, by this time well soaked with wine, was transferred to the vagina. Casanova is reputed to have given his partners a squeezed half lemon to cover the cervix. And Mae West used a pink satin rose petal!

The first rubber diaphragm appeared late in the nineteenth century and later evolved into a thinner, more pliable latex device with a flat steel watch-spring built into its rim. This became known as the Dutch cap because of its popularity with advocates of contraception in The Netherlands.

Attitudes to cervical barriers

Cervical barriers have never had easy acceptance. Those who opposed contraception in any form denounced the diaphragm even more loudly than condoms and withdrawal. Women controlling their own fertility – what was the world coming to! The first doctor to publish a book for the public about cervical barriers (The Wife’s Handbook, 1887) was struck off the

British Medical Register. Marie Stopes, the British firebrand advocate of cervical barriers, was involved in a court action for pornography for her efforts to provide information. Bitter controversy also raged in the USA. However, after 1920 diaphragms and caps gradually became more available for those who dared and knew where to get them.

During the Second World War all rubber manufacturing was diverted to the war effort, and cervical barriers became unobtainable. As recently as 1943 Marie Stopes recommended (as wartime emergency make-shifts) sponges, powder puffs or plugs of wool soaked in oil, soapsuds or vinegar, and even a child’s rubber ball cut in halves.

After the war cervical barriers were widely recommended by family planning providers, and reached peak popularity at the end of the 1950s, being used by about 12 per cent of Family Planning Association clients in the UK. With the advent of the Pill and IUDs in the 1960s, caps and diaphragms came to be considered an old-fashioned, bothersome method. This is not surprising: instructions for their use had become so complicated, compared with the ease of the newer methods, as to put off all but the most stalwart.

Since about 1980 cervical barriers have had a bit of a ‘comeback’. Women dissatisfied with other methods or worried by ‘scare’ reports of possible side-effects of hormones and IUDs have given the diaphragm or cap a try and found it easier than they had imagined. Simplified instructions for their use have helped make cervical barriers more acceptable.

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