SOCIAL OSMOSIS

Osmosis is the movement of water molecules across a semipermeable membrane from a region of low solute potential to an area of high solute potential. This is a biological phenomen that explains how a solid material like cube sugar dissolves from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration through a semi-permeable membrane.

In everyday terms, it is apparent that when a tea bag is put in hot water, the soluble contents of the tea bag spreads throughout the hot water. This process is called diffusion by scientists. In the same way, when the spread of the solid molecules (which is the content of the tea bag in our example) is through a surface that is not totally permeable, the process is called osmosis.

In the socio-cultural set up of a given society, traditions and cultures from aliens keeps on entering and going out of the society. Since society is dynamic, social osmosis is always on-going. In comparing social osmosis to physical osmosis, it must be noted that before every culture accepts a foreign culture, there is always a number of obstacles that the foreign culture would face. Any attempt to force a foreign culture on a given people ends up with disastrous results.

The most reasonable means of explaining the cause of social osmosis stems from the days of the Tower of Babbel in Genesis 11. This was a point where the languages (and effectively the cultures of people) were confused by God. After that point, it is noticed that individuals began to live in groups that were significantly different in terms of their cultural practices.

JACOB AND SOCIAL OSMOSIS

After God called Abraham, He gave him a distinct culture and social system that was different from all the peoples who lived around him. Jacob also ended up getting the blessings of Abraham and he began to live according to the codes of God. In Genesis 34 when Dinah was raped by Shechem, Shechem was moved to marry her so he came and asked Jacob for her hand in marriage.

Shechem’s father made the move but Jacob gave him a condition of absorbing them into their family through social osmosis. In this proposal, Jacob and his sons told Shechem and the males in his family to be circumcised. This was their obstacle to being absorbed in the Abrahamic culture!

MOSES

After several centuries in the land of Egypt, the Israelites became numerous and they needed to be controlled by a set of laws. After the exodus, Moses gave the Israelite community a set of laws which was a set of principles that absorbed the Israelites to the Abrahamic covenant.

JESUS CHRIST

For many centuries, the law was for the Jews alone. When Jesus Christ began his ministry, he gave the touching parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37 that proposed that a man should move with anyone he could move with irrespective of his religion or creed. This changed the concept of social osmosis amongst the few saved ones (who were then Jews). At this point, it became clear that one had to make compromises on the culture of people around them but make sure that he kept his customs intact to prevent persecution from God. This is method of social osmosis preached by Jesus Christ is what most nations are using to prevent discrimination in most nations of the world.

THE APOSTLES

After Peter got the vision in Joppa that the Gospel would be preached to the Gentiles, the process of social osmosis became pronounced. Since Christianity separates spirituality from issues pertaining to the state, it was absorbed into the culture of the nations where it was preached. This usually led to disagreements and persecution and this attempted to stop the social osmosis process of Christianity.

THE ROMANS

When the Gospel was accepted by the Romans after long periods of persecution, the Romans began to spread the religion through various means. Amongst them is the use of miltary force. The method the Romans used was quite interesting. It is summed up in the following steps:

1. The organisation of a powerful and strong army.
2. The mapping up of a territory that they wanted to conquer
3. Invasion with a huge indomitable army
4. Imposition of a Roman government in the territory, resident in a castle that could protect them from angry locals for a period of time (to enable military back up to be summoned in times of an uprising).
5. Levying of huge taxes to made it impossible for the local people to gather enough money to begin a rebellion.

Traditionally, the Romans were ecclectic in religion (they had many religious beliefs as Africans do today). However, when they accepted Christianity, the church was funded by the state. Branches of Roman Catholic churches were set up in the provinces that fell to the Roman Empire. Through this, many Europeans and territories in the Roman Empire had their peoples converted into Christianity and their customs were gradually influences to change into purely Christian practises. This was usually complemented with legal systems that had roots in the Laws of Moses.

ISLAMIC CONQUESTS

Mohammed, who some Jews even recognise as the ‘Ishmaelite whose teachings would assist in the fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant’ began to rise mightily in the AD 600s. Mohammed’s teachings blended religion with the state since he believe that Islam was a way of life but not a mere religion. After his death, other successors began to spread the religion of Islam in two arms; one as rulers of states and two as religious disciples of the teachings of Prophet Mohammed.

The process of spread of Islam was tightly bound to the jihads of the mainly Arab Muslims. Their policy was to invade a nation, rule the people and in some cases, give them two choices; either to practise of Islam or die. Many argue that the early Islamic patriarchs were just behaving like the Romans. However, the only critical difference between the early Islamic patriarchs and the Romans is that the Romans conquered before Christianity came into the scene later on whereas the Muslims conquered whilst they were still Muslims! This issue on the procedure of social osmosis used by the Romans and the Arabs has been the centre-point of many debates concerning terrorism!

THE PRESENT SITUATION

Presently in our era of democracy and freedom, the only method of social osmosis is the proper use of information as a weapon. It is only by the use of diplomatic techniques and a very wise method of absorption that the message of a particular culture can be spread far and wide.

THE GHANA-NIGERIA SAGA

Citizens of these nations look very much alike in many aspects of their lifestyles and cultures but when it comes to mixing, the barriers of social osmosis are quite pronounced. Many Nigerians work together with Ghanaians with no problems in Europe, America and elsewhere in the world but in their homes, they mix amidst so many disagreements.

The apparent difference between Ghanaians and Nigerians seem to lie in their value systems. The commonest is the observation that many Ghanaians believe in working on the little details to achieve much whilst many Nigerians believe in working on much because when the ultimate is achieved, the little details would be take care of! These reflect in the attitudes of most citizens of these two nations. However, this appears to be a symptom of social osmosis and will die out with time. This prediction is rooted in the fact that there was a huge disparity in the mentality people in the south of Ghana or Nigeria saw people from the north of their countries. However, after almost 50 years of their nationhood, people in Ghana and Nigeria are uniting.

SOCIAL OSMOSIS IN THE CHURCH

With the Ghana-Nigeria saga, it takes maturity to deal with people from other nations. Most Ghanaians and Nigerians at the top in churches have learnt how to respect and honour their members and subordinates. However, amongst the members, there seem to be tensions and immaturity amongst them. This is seen by the fact that people from one nation refuse to sing songs from other nations and also the refusal of some citizens to relate with people from another nation. These could be solved in a number of ways like:

1. THE PRINT OUT OF POPULAR SONGS DURING SPECIAL OCCASIONS: Certain songs from one dialect that would be sang could be written down on papers and distributed on special ocasions. These would cause people who can read to try to sing songs in other languages. For a start, the words of Yoruba hit songs like Kilo Leshe, Anosibitoga or His Name is Jesus could be documented alongside the Akan songs Ayeyi wura and Onyame Kokroko to promote co-operations.
2. SOCIAL ACTIVITIES like businessmen’s groups could formed to promote tighter knit communication amongst people in a certain class of the church to interact since they are likely to have the same level of spiritual maturity.
3. FORMATION OF A DEPARTMENT IN CHARGE OF THE INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS AND SOCIAL NEEDS OF INDIVIDUALS: This could promote rent and business deals for multi-national members in the chruch.

THE RESULT OF JOSHUA'S DISOBEDIENCE

THE RESULT OF JOSHUA’S DISOBEDIENCE
God delivered the Israelites from the hand of the Egyptians and led them into the Promised Land. Before they entered the Promised Land, God gave the Israelites a firm commandment and this is spelt out clearly in Deuteronomy 7:2 that;
And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them:This commandment backed the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 15:18-21 that
15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:15:19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,15:20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim,15:21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
The scripture in Deuteronomy 7:2 was a direction of God that had to be followed to fulfil the promise of Genesis 15:18-21. However, because Moses could not lead the Israelites to the Promised Land, Joshua was given the mandate to lead them.
JOSHUA’S MISTAKE
In the year 1406 BC, Joshua entered the Promised Land with the Israelites. In Joshua 9, the Gibeonites came to Joshua with a deception. They said in Joshua 9:9-11 that
9:9 And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,9:10 And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth.9:11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.Joshua mistakenly made a covenant with the Gibeonites in verse 15 which says "And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them."
Later on, Joshua found out that the people had tricked him. However, because of the covenant that was made in Joshua 9:15 which was directly against the commandment of God in Deuteronomy 7:2, Joshua could not kill them as the Lord had commanded.
Verses 26-27 says
9:26 And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.9:27 And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose.
The elders of Israel therefore concluded that the Gibeonites should become hewers of wood and carriers of water. They lived as slaves under the Jews for the generations that followed. They were not allowed to intermarry with the Jews because of their roots.
After the reign of King Solomon, Israel was divided into two; there was the Northern Kingdom and Judah in the south. Generally, the people in the Northern kingdom, which was dominated and described by God in the prophecies as Ephraim were called Israelites. The people of Judah became known as the Jews amongst the international community.
THE RESULT OF THE ‘MERCY TREATY’
In the year 586 BC, which was 820 years after Joshua signed the treaty, Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian Army conquered Jerusalem. The people of Judah were taken captive first and then the people of the north were taken away later. In this conquest every able bodied Israelite and Jew was taken as a slave to Babylon.
The few who were left in the land were the poorest of the poor in the land. These poorest of the poor were the people who were involved in the worst menial jobs like carriers of water and hewers of wood. They were the descendants of the Gibeonites who had tricked Joshua into entering into a treaty with them.
Whilst the Israelites were in exile in Babylon, these remnants of the Gibeonites intermarried with the local Canaanite tribes and they continued to worship idols in the Holy Lands. This was probably because they felt they had no portion in the blessings God had promised the Israelites so they got closer to their neighbours who were more comfortable with idol worship.
With time, some of the Israelites came back home and they intermarried with the remnants of the Gibeonites who had also intermarried with foreigners. Some of the descendants of these marriages formed a proportion of the population of the city of Samaria.
The descendants of these Canaanites, Gibeonites and Samarians lived in the midst of the Israelites and they continued to practise strange religions. After Roman Rule, Jerusalem finally fell to Islamic rulers from the Arabian Peninsular in AD 638.
The Arabs converted the descendants of these people Joshua had refused to kill. The Jews were however adamant. They refused to convert to Islam and many had to be killed, pay excessive taxes or leave the Holy Lands totally. Most of the Jews ended up in Europe as minorities and a few stayed back and they were oppressed by their former slaves.
By 1900, the Turks or Ottoman Empire was controlling Israel. They had little value for the lands and most of the rent of the local inhabitants of the area were farmed by peasants who were descendants of these Gibeonites Joshua failed to kill who were mainly converted to Islam. At that time, nobody in the region had a plan of consolidating the people into a nation so after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and British victory in the 1st World War, Britain was given the mandate to rule over the former territory of Israel.
In the 1920s, the Wahabbi tribe of Arabia, led by the House of Sauds waged a large scale war and conquered the tribes of the Arabian Peninsular. They formed the state of Saudi Arabia and established a monarchy.
Also, the Hashemites who were Britain’s allies in the 1st World War were given the territory east of the Jordan to rule. As the years rolled on, the 2nd World War broke out and the Jews were persecuted. Over six million Jews were killed by 1945 when the war ended.
After the heat of the war, the Jews began to mobilise themselves into group to return to their home in the Middle East. When they returned, there were tensions between the local Palestinian Arabs who can trace their roots to the days of the Gibeonites. The British who were controlling the territory called the Israelites and the Arabs to the negotiating tables on several occasions. Whereas the Jews said they wanted to build a modern Israeli state, the Arabs said they hated the Jews and they only wanted them dead.
Finally, war broke out. People from 12 Arab nations sent support to the local Arabs of Palestine. However, the Israelites stayed strong and they fought back strongly. The armies from foreign Arab nations withdrew. Jordan made an offer to take up all the displaced local Palestinians but they objected. These local Palestinians continue to live in the midst of the Israelites. Whereas Israel continues to build its modern state, the Palestinians who are the seed of the Gibeonites continue to pursue their dream of killing all the Jews as they promised in 1945.
Now, over 3,000 years after the disobedience of Joshua, in the view of showing mercy, the descendants of the Israelites are paying the price dearly.
OBSERVATIONS
Disobeying God’s commandments brings a curse.
A curse that results from disobeying God’s commandments last for thousands of years
The longer a curse from disobedience stays, the more difficult it is to break it.
Until a curse from disobedience of God is broken, it will continue to fight you until you stop it.
No matter how unpleasant a commandment of God may be, one has to obey it
When it is time for war, showing mercy has serious consequences.
References
The False Prophet, Ellis Skolfield
The Haj, Leon Uris
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia.

INFERTILITY

INFERTILITY
The International Council on Infertility Information Dissemination (INCIID) considers a couple to be infertile if:
· they have not conceived after 12 months of unprotected intercourse, or after 6 months if the woman is over 35 years of age. The reduced duration for women over 35 is because there is a rapid decline in fertility after this age and help should be sought sooner.
· there is incapability to carry a pregnancy to term.
Infertility affects approximately 10% of people of reproductive age 15% of couples. Roughly 40% of cases involve a male contribution or factor, 40% involve a female factor, and the remainder involve both sexes.
Healthy couples in their mid-20s having regular sex have a one-in-four chance of getting pregnant in any given month. This is called "Fecundity". There are some health insurance companies that cover diagnosis of infertility but frequently once diagnosed will not cover any treatment costs.
CAUSES OF INFERTILITY
There are two types of infertility, Primary Infertility and Secondary Infertility. Primary Infertility occurs when a couple cannot conceive their first child. Secondary Infertility is where a couple have one child but find it difficult to conceive a second child.
FEMALE INFERTILITY
Factors relating to female infertility are:
· General factors
o Diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorders, adrenal disease
o Significant liver, kidney disease
· Mental factors, mainly Hypothalamic-pituitary in nature:
o These are mainly issues connected to the brain and the portions that stimulate sexual activities and activites in the environment. The pituitary glands secret hormones that promote human growth and sexual functions whilst the hypothalmus regulates activities in the body. The major disfunctions in these two systems lead to the following;
o Kallmann syndrome
o Hypothalamic dysfunction
o Hyperprolactinemia
o Hypopituitarism
· Ovarian factors
o Amenorrhoea: Absence of Mestrual periods
o Polycystic ovarian syndrome: Extremely Irregular Menstrual Cycle
o Anovulation: This reduces levels of a protein in the blood, the sex-hormone binding protein, leading to higher levels of free testosterone circulating in the bloodstream.
o Diminished ovarian reserve: Reduction in certain hormones necessary for pregnancy to occur
o Luteal dysfunction: Dysfunction of a certain cell in the ovary
o Premature menopause
o Gonadal dysgenesis (Turner syndrome): Inability of the ovary to produce eggs
o Ovarian neoplasm: A cancerous growth in the ovary
· Tubal/peritoneal factors
o Endometriosis: a condition in which tissue resembling the lining of the womb, the endometrial tissue, is present in an abnormal position in the body, that is, outside the womb. In endometriosis, tissue resembling the endometrium can be found in various unusual locations in the body, but most commonly in or around the ovaries, vagina, pelvis, abdominal scars, and the small and large intestines.
o Pelvic adhesions: This is where there are fibrous adhesions in the fallopian tubes which prevent the safe passage of the egg.
o Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID, usually due to chlamydia): These are mainly sexually transmitted infections and veneral diseases.
o Tubal occlusion: Closure or blockage of the tube
o Tubal dysfunction: The tube failing to perform its natural function.
· Uterine factors
o Uterine malformations: Increase or abnormal sizes of the uterine usually in the form of tumors.
o Uterine fibroids (leiomyoma)
o Asherman's Syndrome
· Cervical factors
o Cervical stenosis: Abnormal narrowing of the cervical canal or passageway
o Antisperm antibodies: an antibody is any of the millions of normally occurring protein molecules that are produced in the body of cells called lymphocytes and act primarily as a defence against invasion by foreign substances. If an antibody is against sperms, it will destroy all sperms that move in the female reproductive system.
o Insufficient cervical mucus (for the travel and survival of sperm)
· Vaginal factors
o Vaginismus: involuntary spasm of the muscles in the vaginal wall. This occurs when attempts are made to introduce an object into the vagina, for example, during sexual intercourse, insertion of a tampon, or when a doctor or nurse attempts to perform an internal examination. This occurs as a result of emotional conditions for example where a woman has been raped before.
o Vaginal obstruction: This results from the slipping or falling out of certain organs that must be intact to allow conception. There are four possible causes; three of them are natural and one is acquired through veneral diseases like gonorrhoea.
· Genetic factors
o Various intersexed conditions, such as androgen insensitivity syndrome: Where a person has both male and female hormones and characteristics.

MALE INFERTILITY
Factors relating to male infertility include:
· Pretesticular causes
o These are causes out of the testicles.
o Endocrine problems, these are disorders that affect the organs connected to reproduction i.e. diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorders
o Hypothalamic disorders, mental sutuations i.e. Kallmann syndrome
o Hyperprolactinemia
o Hypopituitarism
o Hypogonadism due to various causes
o Drugs, alcohol
· Testicular factors
o Genetic defects on the Y chromosome
§ Y chromosome microdeletions
o Abnormal set of chromosomes
§ Klinefelter syndrome
o Neoplasm, e.g. seminoma Tumors
o Idiopathic failure: Arising from no cause
o Cryptorchidism: Where the testes do not descend to the sac
o Varicocele: Where certain veins in the testicles become enlarge. This can be corrected by surgery.
o Trauma: The result of a bad past experience.
o Hydrocele: Disorder in which serous fluid accumulates in a body sac (especially in the scrotum)
o Mumps: Acute infectious disease caused by virus, similar to the one that affects the salivery glands.
o Testicular dysgenesis syndrome: Infertility within the testicles, thereby producing no sperms at all.
· Posttesticular causes
o This mainly affects the transportation of the semen from the testes out of the penis.
o Vas deferens obstruction
o Infection, e.g. prostatitis
o Retrograde ejaculation: The semen expelled in a frequency and direction that makes it flow to the wrong places.
o Hypospadias: An abnormal condition in males in which the urethra opens on the under surface of the penis
o Impotence: Inability of a man to make love
o Acrosomal defect/egg penetration defect: Acrsome is a process at the anterior end of a sperm cell that produces enzymes to facilitate penetration of the egg. Where this enzyme are non existent in the male sperm, it is impossible to conceive.
· Smoking
o According to a study conducted by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine smoking is one the most prominent factors contributing to low sperm count in men.
Some causes of male infertility can be determined by analysis of the ejaculate, which contains the sperm. The analysis includes counting the number of sperm and measuring their motility (ability of individual sperms to move by themselves and independently) under a microscope:
· Producing few sperm, oligospermia, or no sperm, azoospermia.
· A sample of sperm that is normal in number but shows poor motility, or asthenozoospermia.
In the majority of cases of male infertility and low sperm quality, no clear cause can be identified with current diagnostic methods. It has been speculated that random mutations of the Y chromosome may be an important factor. As the human Y chromosome is passed directly from father to son, it is not protected against accumulating copying errors, whereas other chromosomes are error corrected by recombining genetic information from mother and father. This may leave natural selection as the primary repair mechanism for the Y chromosome. Microdeletions in the Y chromosome have been found at a much higher rate in infertile men than in fertile controls and the correlation found may still go up as improved genetic testing techniques for the Y chromosome are developed. (Existing test kits for Y chromosome microdeletions with PCR markers cover only a tiny fraction of the chromosome's 23 million base pairs and therefore very likely still miss most mutations. The gold standard test for genetic mutation, namely complete DNA sequencing of a patient's Y chromosome, is still far too expensive for use in epidemiologic research or even clinical diagnostics.)
COMBINED INFERTILITY
In some cases, both the man and woman may be infertile or sub-fertile, and the couple's infertility arises from the combination of these conditions. In other cases, the cause is suspected to be immunological or genetic; it may be that each partner is independently fertile but the couple cannot conceive together without assistance.
UNEXPLAINED INFERTILITY
In about 15% of cases the infertility investigation will show no abnormalities. In these cases abnormalities are likely to be present but not detected by current methods. Possible problems could be that the egg is not released at the optimum time for fertilization, that it may not enter the fallopian tube, sperm may not be able to reach the egg, fertilization may fail to occur, transport of the zygote may be disturbed, or implantation fails. It is increasingly recognized that egg quality is of critical importance and women of advanced maternal age have eggs of reduced capacity for normal and successful fertilization.
SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS
MALE INFRETILITY
The history should include prior testicular (penis) insults (torsion, cryptorchidism, trauma), infections (mumps orchitis, epididymitis), environmental factors (excessive heat, radiation, chemotherapy), medications (anabolic steroids, cimetidine, and spironolactone may affect spermatogenesis; phenytoin may lower FSH; sulfasalazine and nitrofurantoin affect sperm motility), and drugs (alcohol, marijuana). Sexual habits, frequency and timing of intercourse, use of lubricants, and each partner's previous fertility experiences are important. Loss of libido and headaches or visual disturbances may indicate a pituitary tumor. The past medical or surgical history may reveal thyroid or liver disease (abnormalities of spermatogenesis), diabetic neuropathy (retrograde ejaculation), radical pelvic or retroperitoneal surgery (absent seminal emission secondary to sympathetic nerve injury), or hernia repair (damage to the vas deferens or testicular blood supply).
FEMALE INFERTILITY
Female infertility occurs when the woman does not conceive after one year of attempting to become pregnant. Other signs and symptoms depend on the underlying cause of the woman's infertility.
DIAGNOSIS AND TESTS
MALE INFERTILITY
The diagnosis of infertility begins with a medical history and physical exam. The provider may order blood tests to look for hormone imbalances or disease. A semen sample may be needed. The volume of the semen is measured, as well as the number of sperm in the sample. How well the sperm move is also assessed.
The cornerstone of the male partner evaluation is the history. It should note the duration of infertility, earlier pregnancies with present or past partners, and whether there was previous difficulty with conception.
A complete examination of the infertile male is important to identify general health issues associated with infertility. For example, the patient should be adequately virilized; signs of decreased body hair or gynecomastia may suggest androgen deficiency.
The scrotal contents should be carefully palpated with the patient standing. As it is often psychologically uncomfortable for young men to be examined, one helpful hint is to make the examination as efficient and as matter of fact as possible.
The peritesticular area should also be examined. Irregularities of the epididymis, located posterior-lateral to the testis, include induration, tenderness, or cysts.
FEMALE INFERTILITY
Diagnosis of infertility begins with a medical history and physical exam. The healthcare provider may order tests, including the following:
· an endometrial biopsy, which tests the lining of the uterus
· hormone testing, to measure levels of female hormones
· measurements of thyroid function (a thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH)level of between 1 and 2 is considered optimal for conception)
· laparoscopy, which allows the provider to see the pelvic organs
· measurement of progesterone in the second half of the cycle to confirm ovulation
· Pap smear, to check for signs of infection
· pelvic exam, to look for abnormalities or infection
· a postcoital test, which is done after sex to check for problems with secretions (not commonly used now because of test unreliability)
· special X-ray tests
Diagnosis of infertility should be made by physicians who are fellowship trained as reproductive endocrinologists. Reproductive Endocrinologists are usually Obstetrician-Gynecologists with advanced training in Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility (in North America). These highly educated professionals and qualified physicians treat Reproductive Disorders affecting not only women but also children, men, the postmenopausal woman. These specialized professionals treat primarily, infertility for both sexes.
Prospective patients should note that reproductive endocrinology & infertility practices do not see women for general maternity care. The practice is primarily focused on getting their patients pregnant.
TREATMENT
· Fertility medication which stimulates the ovaries to "ripen" and release eggs (e.g. clomifene citrate, which stimulates ovulation)
· Surgery to restore patency of obstructed fallopian tubes (tuboplasty)
· Donor insemination which involves the woman being artificially inseminated with donor sperm.
· In vitro fertilization (IVF) in which eggs are removed from the woman, fertilized and then placed in the woman's uterus, bypassing the fallopian tubes. Variations on IVF include:
o Use of donor eggs and/or sperm in IVF. This happens when a couple's eggs and/or sperm are unusable, or to avoid passing on a genetic disease.
o Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg; the fertilized egg is then placed in the woman's uterus as in IVF.
o Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) in which eggs are removed from the woman, fertilized and then placed in the woman's fallopian tubes rather than the uterus.
o Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) in which eggs are removed from the woman, and placed in one of the fallopian tubes, along with the man's sperm. This allows fertilization to take place inside the woman's body.
· Other assisted reproductive technology (ART):
o Assisted hatching
o Fertility preservation
o Freezing (cryopreservation) of sperm, eggs, & reproductive tissue
o Frozen embryo transfer (FET)
· Alternative and complimetary treatments
o Acupuncture Recent controlled trials published in Fertility and Sterility have shown acupuncture to increase the success rate of IVF by as much as 60%. Acupuncture was also reported to be effective in the treatment of female anovular infertility, World Health Organisation, Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Trials (2002).
o Diet and supplements
o Healthy lifestyle
PREVENTION AND EXPECTATION
MALE INFERTILITY
Some cases of male infertility may be avoided by doing the following:
· Avoid drugs and medications known to cause fertility problems, like steriods and some antifungal medications.
· Avoid excessive exercise.
· Avoid exposure to environmental hazards such as pesticides.
· Avoid frequent hot baths or use of hot tubs.
· Avoid tight underwear or pants.
· Eat a diet with adequate folic acid, and vitamine C and Zinc loaded food.
· Get early treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
· Have regular physical examinations to detect early signs of infections or abnormalities.
· Keep diseases, such as diabetes and hypothyroidism, under control.
· Practice safer sex to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.
· Take a lycopene supplement.
· Wear protection over the scrotum during athletic activities.
FEMALE INFERTILITY
Some cases of female infertility may be prevented by taking the following steps:
· Avoid excessive exercise.
· Avoid smoking.
· Control diseases such as diabetes and hypothyroidism
· Follow good weight management guidelines.
· Get early treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
· Have regular physical examinations to detect early signs of infections or abnormalities.
· Limit caffeine and alcohol intake.
· Use birth control to prevent unwanted pregnancy

ADVENTURE

ADVENTURE

An adventure is an activity that is comprised of risky and uncertain experiences that are undertaken at least in part for the sake of physical or emotional excitement. According to two psychologists, Yerkes and Dodson, adventure creates physiological and psychological arousals that can be interpreted as negative (for example fear) or positive (for example flow). In other words, when one enters into a risky and uncertain experience, he either fears for his life or adapt to suit the situation.

Amongst most people, particularly the youth, adventure is undertaken for the purpose of fun and excitement. In this context, people do dangerous things that they know can jeopardise their lives but because of the taste of fun, excitement and retelling to other people, they undertake them willingly.

THE BIBLE AND ADVENTURE

In the Bible, many incidents took place that was more of adventure. Some of the incidents ended up being disastrous whilst others were profitable:

ADAM AND EVE

This couple were blessed but when Eve was lied to by the serpent, her eyes led her on a journey of adventure. She ended up eating something that was forbidden, not for the purpose of disobeying God but trying something new and unusual to see what happens, to feel what it feels like to be on the same level with God.

LOT

Lot was connected with Abraham but because he wanted to see new and more exciting things, he moved and settled in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. At the end of the day, he lost everything in the fire that destroyed the cities.

POTIPHAR’S WIFE

This was a woman after sexual pleasure. She was married to a soldier who was trained to have special skills in protecting the most important citizen of the most powerful nation of the world at that time. It is apparent that Potiphar was strong and powerful but she wanted to experience the excitement of sex with a 17 year old man and bear the risk of sleeping with a boy in the home of her powerful husband without being caught by anyone.

ACHAN

This was a man who stole what was meant for God. From records, the people from the tribe of Judah were the richest in Israel in those days. Achan was from the tribe of Judah but he hoarded certain things meant to be put in the temple of God not because he had nothing but because he wanted to take a risk that would put him ahead of the rest and probably get something to talk about with his contemporaries.

SAMSON

Samson was a prophet by birth. He was called on to marry in Israel but for the sake of adventure; taking risk and experiencing unusual things, he married a Philistine woman. It is also on record that Samson slept with a number of prostitutes not because there were no women in Israel but because he wanted to take the risks for the sake of adventure.

DAVID

This was a man who took a lot of risks, some of which were positive and some of which were negative. Positively, David trusted in the Lord. He used the anointing to go before Goliath and fight him when everyone believed he would die but he survived. He engaged in a lot of battles but he survived because of the glory of God on him. On the other side, David’s crave for adventure caused him to count the people of Israel when it was against the will of God and also, he slept with a woman he knew not when he had over ten wives all in the name of adventure.

SOLOMON

He loved adventure so much that he ended up taking very civil adventures that made him marry 300 wives and also get 700 concubines.

THE LEPERS

In II Kings 7:3-12, certain lepers took a big risk and entered the camp of the Syrian army in a time of acute hunger. These lepers went to the camp in search of food when they knew very well that there was a likelihood that they could die but they went ahead. However, they survived and ended up saving themselves and the people of Israel.

GEHAZI
He sought for adventure in a major international issue between Israel and Syria. He took a gift rejected by Elisha, the prophet at the centre of this case in the name of enjoying them only to be cursed.

JESUS CHRIST

The second temptation of Jesus Christ by the devil was more of a test of his sense of adventure. In Luke 4:9-11, the devil took Him to Jerusalem and set him on a high point of the temple and told Him to jump down if He was truly the Son of God. This temptation was just to test the sense of adventure of Jesus Christ. However, He resisted this and refused to show off His powers as son of God

In today’s world, this trick of the devil continues to be used to destroy lives all over the world. Many young people become drug addicts, social deviants and criminals because of their taste for adventure. It begins with ‘can you do this’ ‘who can do this?’ ‘how can?’ amongst peer groups and this ends up carrying people beyond their bounds.

In other cases, particularly in secondary and tertiary institutions, when younger students enter, they look at the lifestyles of the older students particularly the worst in character and imagine how it feels to live their lives. After a few years in the institution, particularly after the first year, these young students begin to experiment the lifestyles of the older students that were negative. They end up becoming social deviants. It is through this crave for adventure that certain bad habits remain in some institutions forever.

After hitting the most negative limits, people begin to form groups and cliques within which they can discuss and brag with the things they could accomplish and go unharmed. For example in a group of marijuana users, they are likely to discuss how they smoked in a group and escaped police arrest. In a group of young drivers would gather to discuss the time they were able to move from one spot to another driving at full speed. The list goes on and on.

Adventure is certainly the key to the destruction of the morals of many young people. It is interesting to note that people who were victims in the Biblical adventure cases were mostly young people who wanted something new to talk about with their peers! With a strong control of adventure amongst the youth, many problems in society would be curbed.

On the other side, it appears that no one has undertaken an adventure in the name of God and failed. Anyone who took a step with God ahead of him ended up being successful. Notable amongst them was David who survived many battles in the name of God until he died at an old age.

SCHISM

SCHISM

Schism is defined as “division of a group into opposing factions”. In the Judaeo-Christian setting, the main schism point of the Judaism and Christianity can be identified at time after the crucifixion where the New Testament states that the High Priest and the other Elders bribed the Roman soldiers who saw the resurrected Christ to state that Jesus Christ was still dead. Though the bribery of the High Priest is not proven, the faith and belief of anyone in this issue effectively spells out his or her faith. However, I personally believe that the Jewish people are a race special to God which He wants to protect and conserve to the end of time. Therefore, I stand firmly to condemn every form of Anti-Semitism of any kind. Christianity has and will always be the best mechanism to transport Gentiles to God.

In the Christian Church, the Great Schism is a term that refers to both the break away of the Church into the East and the West in 1054 and also the break within the Western when three popes simultaneously claimed to be popes around 1400.

THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCHES

This break came about because of the influx of Germanic practices to the Western Church and the sustained use of Hellenistic or Greek practices in the Eastern Church. This leaked into the political set ups of the East and the West. Although the Eastern Church recognised Rome as the capital of the Church and the power of the Roman Emperor, they despised the command of the Pope and the Roman Church. In the time of Pope Leo IX, the demands for subordination of the Eastern Church to the Roman Church were amplified.

In 1043, Patriarch Michael Cerularius became Patriarch in the Eastern Church at Constantinople. He began a bitter campaign against the Latin churches in the city and closed down all of them. His campaign was against the use of unleavened bread in the Latin churches and the filioque, a portion of the Nicene Creed that was changed to include the statement “I believe in the Holy Spirit which proceeds from the Father and Son.” Patriarch Michael Cerularius had support of the Hellenistic church because the change in the Nicene Creed was made by the Pope and the Romans without consulting the Eastern Church and secondly because it reflected teachings of the Trinity which most of the members in the Eastern Church objected.

The Church in Rome sent a Cardinal to Constantinople. The Cardinal concluded that Patriarch Michael Cerularius was simply narrow minded so he was excommunicated from the Church. This act was interpreted by the Church in Constantinople as an excommunication of the whole church! Patriarch Michael Cerularius formed a Synod responded in kind by also excommunicating the Pope and the rest of the Roman Church from the Church. This mutual excommunication stayed in force from 1054 until it was abolished in 1965 by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I.

THE WESTERN CHURCH

In 1378, a new pope was supposed to be elected one man who had so much charisma and love amongst the Roman people was elected because the masses threatened to riot if he was not selected. That man was finally selected. His name was Pope Urban VI. As Pope, Urban VI put up an erratic behaviour. In line with this, the Cardinals who elected him withdrew their support saying that he was chosen out of duress. They then selected a new Pope, Clement VII.

Pope Urban immediately excommunicated Clement VII as well as the Cardinals who elected Clement. Pope Urban began a new College of Cardinals of his own. Clement moved to Avignon in France and won the support of the French King. In no time, each king in Europe gave support to either of the two Popes.

Finally, the Council of Constance was formed between 1414 and 1418 and they demanded the resignation of both Popes. Eventually, Martin V was elected Pope and he ruled universally as the Pope of a unified church.

This Schism in the Western Church led to two things, first the Concillar Theory and ultimately, the Protestant Reformation. The Concillar Theory stated that in an issue where the Pope cannot act immediately, a council should sit and take a decision that would be binding on the whole church.

These two incidents set a great precedence for:

Dealing with perceived insubordination in the church
Succession of a successor.

The use of excommunication in the church must be undertaken carefully. These two cases were all as a result of the hasty excommunication. From these landmark cases it can be inferred that excommunication in matters that are not universally and conclusively illegal can lead to break ups of churches, no matter how big it might be. This calls for careful inquiries and exhaustive investigations of matters that occur within churches.

Sometimes beliefs that people bring up in church are divine and these beliefs must be allowed to exist side by side with the known doctrine of the church by careful monitoring and supervision of the people at the top. Power in the church tends to corrupt. Peter exhibited this very sign the very moment when Jesus declared that he will be the rock on which He will build His church. Peter in the following chapters began to exhibit his personal beliefs by standing against the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This abuse of power is common with many people when the get church position. This calls for close contact and regular monitoring of people who are put in charge of units in churches. However, because beliefs from subordinates are not always wrong, it is always prudent to question subordinates whenever they exhibit new traits and correct them when required.

Also, in case of succession, the problem mainly arises when the leader in charge has charisma and all it takes to do all the work. In that case, the followers follow without thinking of tomorrow. So in the absence of the leader confusion becomes rampant. It is therefore a good idea to put in place checks and balances for the future when the leader is not present.

Sources
Microsoft Encarta