Causes contributing towards this condition are : anaemia ; worry, grief, fright, or other serious emotional disturbance ; malformation of the womb ; tuberculosis ; womb displacement; debility, especially after serious illness.

Treatment. � As regards treatment for amenorrhea, this should obviously be directed towards the rectification of the disease-condition responsible for the setting up of the trouble in the first place ; and treatment should be as for this primary disease-condition as outlined in the various sections of the present book (where it is due to malformation of the womb, personal advice from a Naturopath is advisable). Where there is no definite disease or bodily condition which can be adduced as responsible for the stoppage, or where it is due merely to a general all-round debilitated condition of the system, or to emotional factors, then a course of general health-building treatment, as that for Leucorrhea, given farther on in the present section, should be carried out.

If serious emotional disturbance, such as prolonged worry, grief etc., is concerned in the setting up of the trouble, then an initial period of quietness and rest will be essential to the carrying out of the treatment. A complete change of scene will also help greatly in securing the best results in these cases. All excitement, excessive mental strain, study, etc., should be avoided for some considerable period. (For the relief of pain in the pelvic region at the time when menstruation is normally due, see treatment for Dysmenorrhaea

The more the diet consists of denatured white-flour products, white sugar, refined cereals, much meat or other flesh foods, etc., during pregnancy, the larger does the foetus become in the womb, and the harder therefore does the process of childbirth become. If one adds to this the poor tone and development of the internal musculature of the modern woman, as a result of lack of exercise, unhygienic habits of living, and restrictive garments, then most, if not all, of the causes of the suffering experienced by the civilised woman of to-day in bringing children into the world will be readily understood.

It is generally assumed that the larger a baby is at birth, the " bonnier " and healthier it is ; but this is quite wrong. Examination of the babies of primitive women or of the offspring of wild creatures shows us that at birth the natural tendency is for the young to be little more than skin and bone, and with the very minimum of flesh on them. This is as it should be, as in this way the progress of the unborn foetus to the external world is made as easy as possible, with the minimum of difficulty to the mother. On the other hand, the more a child weighs at birth, above a certain minimum, the harder will it be for the mother to deliver it in comfort, because of the cramping and congestion that are bound to take place during the birth-process, through the undue size of the infant.

The weight of a baby should be about 6 to 7 lb. at birth; but we often hear of babies of 9 or even 10 lb. born, and we are informed of this fact with immense gusto by proud fathers and mothers. But imagine what that must mean to the mother, in agony and suffering, in striving to bring so large an infant into the light of day ! Such a child is covered with unnecessary fat and watery tissue, which is nothing more than waste matter really, and an impediment to health ; and it is not uncommon to find such infants shrinking in a few weeks to 2 or even 3 lb. less than the birth-weight, thus showing conclusively that it was not solid flesh they had on their little bodies (as their fond parents imagined), but just unhealthy tissue which had been built up as a result of the unwise feeding habits and general systemic toxicity of the mother during pregnancy.

Then again, to deliver a child properly, the muscles of the womb and pelvis generally must be in good condition, and they can only be so if plenty of walking and other exercise is taken daily, which most pregnant women do not do, in accordance with medical advice on the subject. They are told to eat what they fancy, and to do as little as possible during the period of pregnancy, and so it is surely little wonder that the woman of to-day dreads a confinement, because of the suffering she is likely to endure as a result of it, instead of welcoming it as an experience to be valued above all others in life by any true woman.

To make childbirth safe and easy, the great factor is proper diet. The idea of " eating for two," which is so prevalent, is as absurd as it is dangerous, as it is this which so often leads to the overfeeding resulting in an unusually heavy baby, with consequences often disastrous to the mother. The diet during pregnancy should consist of natural, vital foods, and as little as possible of the denatured food-products of our present era. The unborn child will require a large amount of organic mineral matter from its mother, for the purposes of bone and tissue building, and this can only be supplied through the agency of natural foods such as fruits, raw vegetables, wholemeal bread, milk, etc. White bread, sugar, meat, puddings, pies, etc., are very deficient in organic mineral matter, and it is because of this that so many mothers suffer after childbirth from loss and decay of teeth, general debility and other ailments, and often consumption (as pointed out in Section 8 in dealing with Dental Decay, and in Section 10 in dealing with Consumption. When the mother's diet is deficient in organic mineral matter, the mineral stores in her OWN tissues are filched from her by Nature for the purpose of building up the unborn child within her, and thus her health is progressively undermined at each succeeding childbirth, because the health of the organism depends to a very great extent indeed upon the amount of organic mineral matter present within it, as repeatedly pointed out in the present book.

As regards the feeding of children after birth, this is dealt with in the Appendix at some length. The diet of the mother for the first two days after confinement should be just fresh juicy fruits with perhaps a little cold or just warm milk ; a salad with thin wholemeal toast and butter, with a little stewed fruit to follow, may be added the next day; and then the diet should be gradually extended day by day thereafter, until it approaches the pre-natal diet before mentioned. Milk puddings and " mushy " foods in general should be strictly avoided, and if constipation is present, the warm-water enema should be used. No aperients.

With regard to the pre-natal diet, it is essential that no white bread or white-flour products should be eaten ; no sugar, jams, confectionery, pastry, etc. ; no puddings or pies; no heavy, greasy, or stodgy foods ; no fried foods; and very little meat or other flesh foods. Strong tea, coffee, and alcohol should be strictly avoided ; also condiments, pickles, vinegar, etc. If the foregoing advice is taken to heart and acted upon by the expectant mother, then she need h?/'/little fear as to the outcome of her efforts in bringing a further new life into the world to help share its joys and burdens.

Treatment. �Treatment for displaced womb must consist mainly of correct diet and exercise; diet to remove any intestinal causes of the trouble, and exercise to build up the internal musculature of the body. Of course, any tendency towards tight lacing, constant stooping, heavy lifting, etc., must be carefully guarded against, once a natural regime is undertaken, as these will automatically tend to hold up the success of the treatment.

The sufferer should begin with from four to seven days on the all-fruit diet outlined in the Appendix. This should then be followed by the adoption of the full weekly dietary, also outlined therein. Further short periods on the all-fruit diet should be undertaken at monthly intervals as necessary (say two or three consecutive days each time).

During the first few days of the treatment the bowels should be cleansed nightly with a warm-water enema or gravity douche, and afterwards as necessary; whilst, where constipation is habitual, the rules for its eradication given in Section 9 should be put into operation forthwith. The daily dry friction and sitz-bath given in the Appendix should be gone through regularly every morning, in conjunction with the breathing and other exercises given therein. A hot Epsom-salts bath should be taken once or twice weekly where at all possible.

For toning up the structures surrounding the womb the hot and cold sitz-bath described in the Appendix is also of great value, and should be taken three or four nights weekly where possible. Lying on a couch with the legs raised higher than the rest of the body is very helpful indeed in relieving pain and discomfort from a displaced womb, and this should be done for from half an hour to an hour two or three times daily. (The feet should be raised about eighteen inches by placing cushions under them.) When this is not possible, the patient can sit on a chair with the feet on another chair facing. The more this can be done during the day, the better will it be in every way.

It has been emphasised already that exercises for strengthening the abdominal muscles are most helpful in naturally correcting womb displacement, and a set of exercises which can be specially recommended for this purpose are to be found in a book by Harry Clements, N.D., D.O., called Treating Hernia by Postural Adjustment and Exercise, price 5s. 3d. post free from the Health for All Publishing Co. These exercises are really most valuable for cases of womb displacement too, and every sufferer is advised to get the book therefore.

Great care with the future diet is most essential in all cases of womb displacement, because of the part so often played in the setting up of the trouble by distension of the intestines and an over-filled colon ; and it is always best to under eat rather than overeat in all these cases. Whenever there is any distension present during the treatment, a fast for a day or a day on the all-fruit diet should soon set the trouble right. No heavy or stodgy foods should be eaten, and especially no puddings or pies or milk puddings. Fruits and salads MUST form the bulk of the dietary.

Measures very useful for relieving pain during an attack are hot and cold compresses and the hot and cold sitz-bath. When applying the hot and cold compresses, a towel should be wrung out in hot water and applied as hot as can be borne, then, when the parts are thoroughly heated, it is removed, and a towel wrung out in cold water applied ; repeat if necessary. This can be done as many times during the day as required, and can be applied to either the painful area or the lower spine. The hot and cold sitz-bath is described in detail in the Appendix, and will prove most beneficial in many cases of Dysmenorrhaea. If a hot and cold sitz-bath cannot conveniently be taken, the hot sitz-bath alone will be most helpful very often. The hot sitz-bath is made by placing about five inches of hot water in an ordinary bath or in a hip-bath. The patient just sits in it for from five to ten minutes. Always finish off by sponging with cold water.

Treatment. � As already pointed out in the remarks on venereal disease at the beginning of the present section, this form of venereal disease is readily curable by means of fasting treatment, which leaves no harmful after-effects and no possibility of infection to others behind it. As also pointed out in those same introductory remarks, Natural-cure practitioners in this country are debarred by law from giving personal treatment in such cases, but treatment by Naturopaths is quite legal in the U.S.A., and excellent results are being obtained there along these lines.

As explicit instructions re treatment are not permissible, the sufferer from gonorrhea is referred to the remarks on Syphilis, farther on in the present section. The treatment for both conditions is identical. As regards a general health-building plan to follow after recovery, the scheme of treatment for Hydrocele, given farther on in the present section, will give the most beneficial results.

Treatment. � Treatment for growths in the womb or breast should be in a Natural-Cure home or in the hands of a competent Naturopath where at all possible. Fasting, strict dieting, manipulation, sunray treatment, and all measures for cleansing and improving the condition of the system will be required in these cases. For only in this way can the morbid matter constituting the growth be removed from the system, by absorption and elimination. To undergo an operation for the removal of a growth in the womb may get rid of the growth for the time being, but it does not remove causes, and so there is nothing to prevent further growths occurring later on. That is the whole fallacy behind medical methods of treatment. Incidentally this explains why sometimes a growth appears in the womb after a growth has been surgically removed from the breast, and vice versa. The two structures are so intimately connected that suppressive treatment applied to one often directly affects the other.

As regards cancer of the womb and breast, the reader is referred to the remarks on Cancer made in Section 9 . In these cases early treatment is always imperative if the trouble is to be really overcome, otherwise the condition may be beyond cure. For those who cannot undertake personal treatment for growths in the womb or breast, the following scheme should be carried out at home. Even if it is not able completely to remove the trouble in certain cases, the treatment is bound to do a great deal of good.

Begin with a short fast for from three to five days (more if possible, and if the condition warrants it), as directed in the Appendix. Break the fast as also directed therein, and then the restricted diet given in the Appendix can be adopted for a further ten to fourteen days, after which the full weekly dietary also outlined therein can be begun. This full weekly dietary should be adhered to as strictly as possible from then on, with further short fasts and periods on the restricted diet, as necessary, at intervals thereafter, say every six weeks to two months or so, according to the severity (or otherwise) of the case.

During the fast, and after if necessary, the bowels should be cleansed nightly with a warm-water enema or gravity douche ; whilst if constipation is habitual, the rules for its eradication given in Section 9 should be put into operation forthwith. The morning dry friction and sitz-bath detailed in the Appendix should be undertaken daily, as also the breathing and other exercises. A hot Epsom-salts bath should be taken twice weekly where possible.

A hot and cold sitz-bath (details of which are given in the Appendix) should be taken every night, except on those nights on which an Epsom-salts bath is being taken, by those with growths in the womb ; those with growths in the breast should apply hot fomentations several times daily as follows : Wring out a towel in hot water, and apply for, say, two or three minutes, then remove and apply a second towel, and later a third. Then put on a cold towel to finish off. Always work in this order : three hot, one cold. Gentle massage of the affected breast, after each series of bathing, will also be helpful. Sun and air bathing, where at all possible, will be most beneficial too.

The utmost cleanliness with regard to the sex organs must be maintained, and where the growth is in the womb, a vaginal douche may be used two or three nights weekly. Use only warm water for this : no medicinal preparations whatsoever. Gentle massage of the abdomen and pelvic region will be very useful.

ALL COLD BATHING SHOULD BE SUSPENDED DURING THE MENSTRUAL PERIOD.

Future strict attention to the dietary is most essential, and fruits and salads � Nature's cleansing foods � must form the bulk of the food eaten. No white bread or white-flour products, no sugar, no pastry, puddings, or pies, no refined cereals, no cream, or greasy or heavy fatty foods, and no boiled or mashed potatoes are to be taken in future. Meat and other flesh foods can with benefit be left out of the dietary entirely, and their place taken in the weekly menus by eggs or cheese or nuts. All tinned and potted foods must be avoided, as also strong tea or coffee or alcohol, and all condiments, pickles, sauces, etc. The patient should have as much fresh air and gentle outdoor exercise, such as walking, as her condition will allow. Osteopathic treatment is strongly recommended.