Catherine is a 51-year-old teacher. She had a pain in her right leg for 2 years. The pain was mainly in her groin and calf, normally after walking. Her right foot felt hot and the whole leg was often swollen, especially in the evenings. Various examinations didn't show anything wrong and the consultant said it was lymphoedema. In terms of modern medicine, lymphoedema is caused by damage or disruption to the lymphatic system. One function of the lymphatic system is to drain excess fluid from t...
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Robert, a 59 year-old joiner, suddenly started having a heart problem 18 months ago. He was soon diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (a condition with irregular heart rate), then had two cardioversions (electric shock treatment). Unfortunately, both of the two sessions just worked temporarily then the symptoms came back. When came to see me, Robert was having palpitations and short breath. Even walking could make the symptoms worse, not to mention any physical work. He felt so tired and was st...
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Karen, a 38 year-old estate agent, had intermittent palpitations for a number of years. Though sometimes she could feel the fast and irregular heartbeat herself, no obvious heart problems had been caught by the Electrocardiograph examination. The palpitations often came when she felt tired and stressed, and was accompanied with short breath, hot flushes and lethargy. She had a lot of night sweats which could be so bad that she had to change her pajamas and bed sheets. The left side of her bac...

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My friend Colin is 82 years old and lives on his own. He had a heart attack during Christmas in 2010 and was kept in hospital for a week, diagnosed with myocardial infarction. Since then he sometimes had short breath and mostly it could ease off itself. But one night in October, he had a more severe one which made him very panicky, so he phoned me to ask for help. When I got to his house, he had just called the ambulance. He was sitting on the bed side panting. His chest was full of bubbling ...

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