Acne is perhaps the most common chronic skin disease. It is an inflammatory condition of thesebaceous ( that is fat or grease) glands and hair follicles usually found on the face, the neck, chest and shoulders. Nearly eight out of ten young people between the ages of 12 and 24 suffer from some degree of acne. It is closely related to the disturbance in the hormones experienced at puberty.

Alcoholism is also one of the serious social problems. It often brings poverty and certain amount of crime and results in material unhappiness and broken homes. It also leads to numerous traffic accidents. Alcohol is not a product found in nature. It results from decomposition and as such belongs to a family of poisons.

An ‘allergy’ can be described as sensitiveness of the body to a substance which does not normally affect other persons. There are innumerable substances in the environment which can cause mild to violent reactions in many people. These reactions range from true allergies due to intolerance of certain foods and substances, to those resulting from pollution.

Anaemia, which means " lacking in blood ", is among the most common diseases affecting human beings. It denotes a shortage of rich red blood cells and colouring matter and usually results from consumption of refined foods. The blood flowing in our veins and arteries is really living tissue.

Appendicitis is the most common of all serious intestinal disorders. It refers to an inflammation of the vermiform appendix. It presents itself in acute and chronic forms and affects both the sexes equally. This disease now accounts for about half the acute abdominal emergencies occurring between the ages of 10 to 30 . It is more frequent in developed countries than underdeveloped countries.

Arteriosclerosis is one of the most common diseases of the blood vessels. It refers to a thickening of the walls of the arteries due to the presence of calcium or lime. It has become a common ailment in modern times, accounting for much of the disability and high death rate among older people.

The word ‘arthritis’ means ‘inflammation of joints’. It comes from two Greek words, athron meaning joints and its meaning inflammation. It is a chronic disease process. In the early stages, the whole body is usually involved and one or two joints may become completely deformed, leaving the patient handicapped and somewhat weakened.

Asthma is an ancient Greek word meaning " panting or short- drawn breath." It is the most troublesome of the respiratory diseases. The asthma patient gets frequent attacks of breathlessness in between which he is completely normal.

Backache, one of the most common ailments, is widely prevalent these days due to sedentary living habits and hazardous work patterns. The psychological conditions associated with emotional stress, which bring about spasm of the muscles, may also cause backache. As the back bears the weight of the entire body it gives way when it has to carry an extra load in the case of persons who are overweight.

Bronchitis refers to an inflammation of the mucous membrane lining the bronchi and bronchial tube within the chest. It is a breathing disorder affecting the expiratory function. In most cases, some infection also occurs in the nose and throat. It is a disease endemic to cold, damp climates, but may occur anywhere.

The word ‘cancer ‘ comes from the latin "carcinoma" meaning crab. It is the most dreaded disease and refers to all malignant tumours caused by the abnormal growth of a body cell or a group of cells . It is today the second largest killer in the world, next only to heart ailments. The term covers more than 200 diseases.

Puberty is the beginning of the adolescence. The height increases and the long bones grow more rapidly giving “leggy” appearance. They are clumsy. Parents pay much attention to whether or not their child is pretty. Parents feel that the child is weak and therefore they feed costly tonics. But these don’t work. A high protein and vitamin containing diet should be given at this age. The boys and...

ex Education (Here and elsewhere in this book the term “Sex Education” is loosly used and it means “Sexuality Education.”) Sex education is defined as an educational programme aimed at promoting the individual’s fulfillment, both in personal living and in his family and social relationships, by integrating sexuality in total personality. Sex education is a lifelong process of acquiring information...

Adolescents gather information about sexuality from friends and through the print and electronic media. Often this information is wrong and unscientific. They have a great curiocity and concern about the sexuality of their own and of the opposite sex. Adolescents often have neither access to accurate information on the issues related to sexuality and sexual health, nor solutions for their...

‘Adolescence’ is the French word derived, from ‘adolescere’, which means growing up. It is the age group of 10 to 19 years. Since every individual is different and develops in his/her unique way, it is difficult to fix a particular age group. The bridge between the childhood and the adulthood is adolescence. The beginning of adolescence is known as ‘puberty.’ It is marked by menarche (first...