Herbal medicine: does it work?

Posted on March 6, 2017 by David Lawrence Preston

Most healing approaches involve ingesting various substances that alter the biochemistry of the body in some way. Humans have always taken various substances believing they have a remedial effect. In times gone by, most of these were found in the natural world. Nowadays they are equally as likely to have been conjured up in a laboratory.

Herbal medicine

Herbs have always played a role in physical and emotional wellbeing. Many well known herbs have been found to have potent antiseptic, antibacterial and medicinal qualities. They can help prevent ill health, cure minor ailments, bring about a feeling of wellbeing, energise and relax. Some have great nutritional value too, e.g. containing vitamins, minerals and trace elements, easing digestion and elimination. Many are easily grown in a garden or window box.

Herbs can be used in many ways – infusions, tisanes, tinctures, creams, poultices and ointments etc. Their oil is extracted for massage, aromatherapy and inhalations or simply a pleasant, relaxing bath.

Herbal medicine uses exclusively plants and plant extracts – or does it? Not totally. Most come from flowers, stems, root, bark and so on, but Chinese herbs can also include animal and reptile parts including tusks, horns and hoofs and the much-prized seahorses.

Does it work?

A 2007 study by Guo et al [1] began by stating that ‘evidence of efficacy for some herbal medicines, but by no means all those in common use, has increased substantially in the past 29 years.’

The authors went on to point out that most studies were of the classic type where standard doses of single herbs are administered and results compared with a control group given a placebo. But herbal medicine, like most holistic medicines, is simply not prescribed in this way. It is holistic in approach. It aims to treat the whole person and repair the underlying causes of disease, not just deal with symptoms.

It is widely recognised that the sorts of trials used by the pharmaceutical industry and endorsed by governments around the world are unfair on holistic medicine precisely for this reason.

‘There is a sparsity of evidence regarding the effectiveness of individualised herbal medicine,’ write Mr Guo and his colleagues as if they have proven that herbal medicine is useless. But they did not. They could equally have written that there is a sparsity of evidence that it doesn’t work, and plenty of evidence from centuries of use that is does. For example, everyone knows rubbing a nettle sting with a dock leaf brings relief, camomile or valerian are great for disturbed sleep, St John’s Wort is clinically proven to help with depression, garlic for colds, lavender and eucalyptus for blocked noses, peppermint as a pick-me-up, fennel seed for digestive troubles, licorice for constipation and so on.

The burden of proof is much greater for natural medicines than for the pharmaceutical industry. Personal experience is mistrusted as if it counts for nothing. You can imagine what would happen if a group of herbal practitioners published a study on such flimsy foundations and concluded that herbal medicine is effective and can be highly recommended!

Herbal medicine can be powerful, effective and side-effect-free in trained hands, but of course there are no profits to be had by the big pharmaceutical companies for products that can be found in the natural environment or grown in a window box!

©FGATT, 6.3.2017

[1] R Guo, PH Canter and E Ernst, ‘A systematic review of randomised clinical trials of individualised herbal medicine in any indication,’ Postgrad Med J 2007; 83:633-637 (at www.postgradmedj.com)

206 bones, 640 muscles, 60 hormones and 70 trillion cells!

Posted on February 18, 2017 by David Lawrence Preston

Do you ever stop to think about how amazing and wonderful your body is?

We have 206 bones, 640 muscles and 60 different hormones. On average, the heart beats 101,000 times a day and circulates 6,800 litres of blood. We breathe in 23,000 times a day, excrete half a ton of waste per year, and are constantly shedding and replacing our cells. The reproductive system alone produces 500 billion new cells per day. In total, it takes around 70,000,000,000,000 cells to make an adult human – and there are 200 different types of cell in the body.

The body lives around 70 years on average, but not uncommonly over a century. It can survive in the Arctic, the marshes, the mountains and the Sahara. Usually it lives in communities, but can also survive alone. It’s a truly miraculous thing!

Moreover, human beings have consciousness, intelligence and memory, thoughts (60,000 per day), emotions and dreams. We are much more than collections of bones, muscles and organs enclosed within a stretchy membrane (skin). And our functions are governed by much more than a mass of grey matter housed in the space between our ears. We stay alive because the body’s metabolism provides physical and chemical energy, and because different systems in the body work together in harmony, each depending on the other, perfectly regulated.

Can you imagine 200,000 chemical reactions taking place every second in every single cell? The body is not just an assembly of cells, it is a complex system of tissues with different tasks and functions. It also contains – or is part of – the most complex information system. Every single function is ruled by complex information exchange processes.

Alarmingly – the medical fraternity has not yet come to terms with it! AcuPearl uses the latest knowledge of the biofield, that field of energy and information that regulates the body’s functioning, to support health and wellbeing. Research is ongoing. We are about to enter a new era of advanced energy medicine!

©AcuPearl.co.uk, 18.2.2017

Visit www.AcuPearl.co.uk for further information.

Health and Beliefs

Posted on November 1, 2016 by David Lawrence Preston

No serious medical practitioner can now deny that mind and body are one. In the 1980s scientists such as Dr Candace Pert proved that thoughts travel along the nerves to the muscles, organs and tissues, influencing the process by which cells are renewed and that meanwhile, cells continually send messages to the brain.

The mind can make us ill, and it can make us well. A state of peace and well-being creates healthy cells; anxious states do the opposite. Negative thoughts can give rise to all manner of conditions. Beliefs are simply collections of thoughts to which give sanction, so be careful what you think and say about your body. If you hear yourself saying, ‘You’re a pain in the neck’ or ‘this is a real headache’ don’t be surprised if you get one!

In her book, ‘Positive Thinking,’ Vera Pfeiffer relates the incredible tale of a convicted murderer in the United States who chose to have his wrists cut rather than go to the electric chair. The poisoned was blindfolded, a warden traced across his wrists with a feather. He died instantly. There are similar stories of African tribesmen when witch doctors pointed a ‘magic’ bone at them. It’s not the bone that killed them, but their belief in the power of the witchdoctor.

If you are unwell and don’t believe that you will recover, your belief (not the illness) can prevent you from getting well. Norman Cousins, who cured himself of a terminal illness after doctors had given up on him, wrote:

‘Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is.’

Those who believe that illness is a sign of failure on their part or a punishment for mistakes made in this and previous lives heal the slowest of all.

What we can learn from placebos

Placebos are pills and potions with no active ingredients (i.e. ‘active’ in the conventional sense). They are often used in clinical trials as ‘controls’. One group takes the test drug, the other a placebo, and the outcomes are compared. It is not unusual for the improvement to be similar in both groups. Some patients even get the same side effects from placebos as if they had taken the actual medication.

The main factor in successful healing with placebos is the belief of the patient, hence the size, shape and colour of the tablets influence results, as does the healing procedure. Anything that makes the treatment seem more credible, such as the doctor’s bedside manner, improves the placebo effect. Placebos are least effective when the patient is unconscious or unaware of what is going on.

Placebos tell us something important about the mind-body connection. They are rarely used these days because doctors consider it unethical to tell patients a pill has an active ingredient when it hasn’t. Pity. How much potential for safe, effective healing is being lost?

The biochemical revolution has almost run its course

Understanding the relationship between beliefs and health will be among the greatest advances in medical science in the coming century. The biochemical revolution of the last sixty years has almost run its course and will one day – soon – be seen as ‘old medicine’ as doctors look elsewhere for solutions to intractable medical problems.

©David Lawrence Preston, 1.11.2016

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Are you dependent on pharmaceuticals?

Posted on July 20, 2016 by David Lawrence Preston

The drug companies are trying to make us dependent on them. Today’s drugs don’t just treat the health conditions we have, but are sold to us just in case we develop illnesses we don’t yet have.

A good example is statins. Statins are claimed to reduce cholesterol in the blood which, they claim, reduces the risk of heart attacks, angina and strokes. These claims are based on the premise that high cholesterol is a major factor in heart attacks, yet 75% of heart attack victims have normal levels of cholesterol! The manufacturers recommend that they be given to people with ‘normal’ levels of cholesterol, as if ‘normal’ has become ‘risky.’ Obviously it is profitable to convince us that we are at risk and that taking their drugs reduces that risk.

Like all drugs, statins hey have side effects, e.g. fatigue, headaches, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, muscle pain and forgetfulness. There is no such thing as a totally safe chemically-based medicine.

Dr Gary Greenberg’s book, ‘Manufacturing depression: The History of a Modern Disease’ argues the same happens with antidepressants – drug companies falsely advertise their benefits and ignore their side effects. They have persuaded us that huge numbers suffer from depression when in fact they probably do not. For example, before Prozac was launched in 1986, only 100 people per million were diagnosed as depressed; today 100,000 per million, a thousand-fold increase.

What should we make of reports that pharmaceutical companies are currently working with academics to develop drugs that regulate the body’s circadian clock so they can control jetlag and treat some sleep disorders?

Does the pharmaceutical industry have us under mass hypnosis? It dominates the medical journals and spends huge sums on research. Its approach to medicine is virtually unquestioned in medical schools where the next generation of doctors are trained. Its products are heavily marketed, it spends a fortune sales promotion, especially with medical professionals, and successfully challenges any approach to healing that does not serve its interests (e.g. most forms of natural medicine).

Pharmaceutical companies are engaged in a search for pills that everyone can take as preventatives, not just those who are ill. They’re talking the general public with them, believing they could have a longer, healthier life. In fact, most welcome it.

But drugs do have their place

But despite all this, drugs do have a place. They can bring quick relief, and sometimes are essential. For instance anti-rejection drugs are essential in organ transplants, and many with serious psychological conditions like schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder can have a reasonable quality of life that would be impossible without them. Similarly thyroxin helps patients with under-active thyroids live a normal life.

It’s something of a cliché that doctors are too quick to reach for their prescription pads rather than explore health problems from a more holistic point of view. Personally, I’ve found that doctors vary considerably in this respect. In the practice I attend, one of the doctors is over-hasty to prescribe, but one of the others takes a different approach and often appears reluctant to prescribe until other avenues have been explored.

There is of course a biochemical component to the body. We know how powerful changes in biochemistry can be. E.g. alcohol affects biochemistry, including mechanical stability, mental functioning, speech and behaviour. But we are also mental and energetic beings. 99.999% plus of our bodies are empty space, waves and particles spinning at great speeds to form atoms which form molecules and cells.

Any medical approach that does not take account of the body’s natural rhythms and energy flows and the impact of the environment on the human biofield will one day be as redundant as leeches are today.

©David Lawrence Preston, 28.7.2016

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History of Bioenergetic Healing

Posted on June 9, 2016 by David Lawrence Preston

Bioenergetic healing is nothing new. Many ancient cultures recognised an energy field within and around the body. Nowadays the latest scientific insights – especially those gained from quantum physics – are being applied to a better understanding of the body’s energy field and the information fields that direct it.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

TCM has played an important part in the history and development of bioenergetic healing. It dates back at least four thousand years, and is a radically different way of understanding human health, physical function and the causes of disease than its Western counterpart. For instance:

Whereas Western medicine sees the body as a stand-alone entity, in TCM, it has an intimate relationship with its environment.
TCM is focussed on the person as a whole, rather than the disease alone.
Western medicine tends to see the body as a collection of inter-dependent and inter-related parts; to the Chinese, it is a complete system with a set of interconnected sub-systems.
At the heart of the TCM healing model is the flow of energy, ‘qi’ or ‘chi’, through the meridians. Disease is viewed as a lack of harmony or disruptions in qi. Practitioners try to influence the delivery and control of this subtle energy.
Western physicians focus on the form and structure of the body and measurable organic changes; their Chinese counterparts are more concerned with function. They apply treatment to improve the functioning of the whole body, not just the faulty parts. Thus when Western practitioners speak of ‘blood’, they are referring to the red liquid that flows through the veins and arteries of the body; the Chinese concept of ‘blood’ relates to the flow of energy through the body associated with the bloodstream.
TCM seeks to address the root cause of illness rather than merely treating the symptoms.

Yin and Yang

Central to Chinese thinking is the notion of balance. Health is seen as a balance of two opposing forces, Yin and Yang, complementary opposites within a greater whole. Yin is the female, inhibitory energy, static, cool, calming and intuitive, while Yang is the male excitatory energy, dynamic, stimulating and logical. Everything has Yin and Yang aspects which interact.

Meridians

Meridians are central to TCM. They are the energy channels along which qi flows. In TCM, illness is caused by energy blockages or disturbances and the aim of all treatment is to restore this flow. Qi can be augmented by thoughtful living and depleted by adverse environmental factors. Entry points to the meridians are best known as acupuncture points (or acupoints).

There are twelve main meridians. Each bears the name of, and roughly corresponds to, one of the twelve Zang Fu (organs). Zang are the solid organs; Fu the hollow organs. In addition, there are eight ‘extraordinary’ meridians, which are considered to be storage vessels of reservoirs of energy not associated directly with the Zang Fu.

Even though meridians cannot be ‘seen’, their existence has been demonstrated over and over again and there are a number of explanations for how they work. But any method does not become better simply because science is able to explain it. Meridian-based therapies have flourished for centuries because people have found them effective.

Methods of Treatment in TCM

Although Western and Chinese medicine are difficult to reconcile in principle, they may be used concurrently; indeed, this is often the case in modern China. The most important treatment methods in TCM are:

Herbal medicine: Chinese ‘herbs’ consist not only of plants, but marine life, reptiles, insects and minerals. About 80% of Chinese herbs are plant-based. They may be taken in a variety of forms – teas, pills, tinctures and so on. There are three broad types:
- Superior herbs – for multiple diseases
- Tonics and boosters
- Herbs for specific ailments
Acupuncture (see below).
Dietary therapy: using natural foods for healing instead of medications.
Other prescribed treatments may include:
- Tui na massage – applying pressure using the fingers, palms and thumbs on points related to the central and autonomic nervous systems.
- Cupping – drawing out pathogenic factors from affected parts using a vacuum cup.
- Moxabustion – applying heat to the acupuncture points.
- Qigong exercises, which use slow graceful movements and controlled breathing techniques to promote the circulation of qi.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture involves inserting fine needles into ‘acupuncture points’ along the meridians and stimulated by gentle movement and sometimes a weak electrical current to restore the flow of energy. Acupressure has the same purpose, using finger pressure rather than needles. Nowadays, lasers are also used instead of needles.

Acupuncture is now practised world-wide, and while the placebo effect works as an analgesic in 30% of cases, acupuncture has proven to work in 70 – 80%.

Scientific basis

For a long time Oriental Medicine was regarded in the West as an esoteric theory, but now it is seen as verifiable science. Meridians have been mapped using thermal imaging, electronics, radioactivity etc. and increasingly they appear as channels of biochemical, electrical and subtle energies, high-speed highways for information carrying and interchange.

Science is beginning to acknowledge that chemistry, although successful at explaining many of the mechanisms of the body, does not adequately explain its integrative workings. Both TCM and bioenergetic healthcare are integrative in the truest sense: they combine physics, chemistry and biology and use the information network in the body that conventional biology knows next to nothing about.

The Ayurvedic System

Ayurveda is the ancient Indian system of medicine which views disease as an imbalance in the vital energy prana (the equivalent of chi). It is at least four thousand years old.

In Ayurveda, individuals are characterised by their body types – vata, pitta or kapha – each a result of certain body defects or ‘doshas’. Each dosha is associated with the way the individual processes vital energy, and each individual has a unique combination of doshas. Disease arises from an imbalance of one or more of the doshas and treatments are designed to restore this balance. Herbs, dietary therapy, mineral extracts, surgery, exercise, massage, sweating, meditation and yoga are among the treatments applied.

Ayurvedic medicine continues to prosper in India and despite the scepticism of the mainstream medical community has attracted greater interest in the West as a result of the works of authors such as Dr Deepak Chopra and Dr Amit Goswami.

The Chakra System

Chakras are subtle energy centres located at the main branches of the nervous system. They absorb life-energy from sunlight and distribute it to the tissues and organs of the body. According to the healing traditions, anything that causes a disturbance of the flow of energy through one or more of the chakras can cause illness.

There are many chakra systems around the world, however, the best known and most widely practised is the Ayurvedic system. There are seven major chakras, each with different qualities, and each associated with a colour, function and set of organs.

The Aura

The aura has long been recognised as an energy field that extends beyond the body, consisting of multiple bands of energy (auric layers or auric fields). It extends beyond the physical form much as a magnetic field radiates from a magnet.

Although most of us cannot see them with the naked eye, we are aware of others’ auras at a subconscious level. A healthy aura attracts and energises us, whereas a dull aura has the opposite effect.

A Selection of Popular Bioenergetic Healing Methods

Crystal healing

Crystals (or gemstones) have been used to help clear and balance the chakras for thousands of years. Every stone vibrates at a different frequency, so there are crystals for every chakra. In addition, they appear to respond to the intention of the user, i.e. can be ‘programmed’ by holding it in one’s hands and meditating or visualising an intention, although there is no widely accepted scientific evidence to verify this.

Dowsing

The most common form of dowsing employed by energy healers uses a pendulum. When held and allowed to swing freely, a pendulum will respond to the electro-magnetic frequency of a chakra. In skilled hands, it may be used to diagnose energy weaknesses and distortions.

Hands-on healing

There are many types of hands-on healing. The laying on of hands has long been used as a form of energy transfer. In recent years a variety of forms, such as ‘Therapeutic Touch’ and ‘Quantum Touch’ have been developed, many claiming excellent including pain relief and reduced stress and anxiety. Critics suggest that nothing happens beyond the placebo effect, but experiments with plants and animals (which are not influenced by beliefs) suggest that the effect is real.

A popular form of hands-on healing is Reiki. Reiki is an energy healing system which involves the channelling and delivery of ‘universal life energy’ through the practitioner into the body of the patient. It works at the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels, and claims to balance bodily functions, release blockages and suppressed emotions, strengthen the immune system, clear toxins and release pain. Like many energy treatments, Reiki can be delivered at a distance, can be used for self-healing or treating others, and also claims to work with animals.

Reiki is thousands of years old, but was revived and popularised by the Japanese physician, Dr Mikao Usui at the beginning of the 20^th Century. Instruction in Reiki is widely available.

Kinesiology

Kinesiology is an energy-based healing system using the principles of TCM. The practitioner tests the strength in various muscles to identify problem areas, then restores balance within the body, relieves energy blockages and helps the body to cleanse itself of toxins.

Healing with light and colour

We are literally beings of light. Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Györgyi concluded that light striking the body alters the basic biological functions involved in digestive processing, enzymatic and hormonal interactions. Dr Jacob Liberman, a pioneer in the therapeutic use of colour and light, says we are living photocells. The body gives off light of all colours, takes it in through our physical being and emits and receives light through the subtle energy bodies.

Light has used for healing for thousands of years, for instance, the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians were well acquainted with it. Recent research has demonstrated the power of light for healing, for example, sunlight has been shown to stimulate the pineal gland (which acts as the body’s light filter) to produce melatonin, which promotes sleep, rest and happiness. Light is known to affect a number of brain centres, such as the cerebral cortex, limbic system and hypothalamus.

In recent times, light therapy has proved effective for conditions such as SAD – seasonal affective disorder – a form of depression sometimes referred to as the ‘winter blues’.

Another aspect of light healing is colour therapy. Different colours have different wavelengths, so choosing the right colour is crucial. Red light helps wounds heal more quickly, blue light can kill bacteria and ultraviolet light can sterilise air and water. Colour healing may prove to be of great benefit in treating a wide variety of ailments.

Magnets

Magnets were used in healing by the Ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Greeks, among others, and their use has continued ever since.

The physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) was one of the first to suggest that the Earth itself is a giant magnet. Later, Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), best known as a flamboyant hypnotist, used magnetic passes over his patients to correct imbalances in the body’s ‘magnetic fluids’ and bring about healing. Samuel Hahnemann, founder of Homeoepathy, and Louis Pasteur also experimented with them.

In the modern era, research continues in countries such as Russia, India and Japan, and there has been a resurgence in the use of magnetic therapies in recent years in the West.

Reflexology

Reflexology involves applying pressure or acupuncture to specific zones on the feet, hands, scalp or ears to influence the various organs and systems of the body through the meridians. It has been known about for several thousand years in Africa and the East. Increasingly practitioners are using concentrated coloured light and laser pens applied to the reflexology points.

Sound therapy

The science behind sound therapy is well established. Sound is frequently used alongside other modalities. There are many form of sound therapy – music, toning, mantric chanting, tuning forks applied directly or indirectly to the patient’s body, vibro-acoustic beds and chairs, and so on.

Resonance occurs when an object vibrating at its own unique frequency begins to vibrate at the same frequency as another object, and entrainment when multiple systems resonate together. Every individual generates his or her own personal harmonic (vibratory range).

Some notes or tones can be harmful, while others can heal. For example, ultrasonic energy can decalcify and soften bones and sounding a tuning fork has been shown to dissolve cancer cells.

Bioenergetic healing has a great past – and an even greater future!

©David Lawrence Preston, 9.6.2016

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Nothing in this article substitutes for professional medical advice. Always consult a doctor if you have any health concerns that may require diagnosis or treatment.

‘The only difference between most drugs and poisons is the dose’

Posted on May 18, 2016 by David Lawrence Preston

‘If you push the understanding of the physiological basis of medicine far enough, you’ll come to a point where you can no longer defend it scientifically, that you must take it on faith.’

Dr Mehmet Oz

Few people realise how new drugs are ‘invented’. Many come about by accident by trial and error. Many are discovered by accident. A good example is Viagra. Viagra was invented for angina, a heart condition. In tests, researchers noticed a strange side effect. Marketing people quickly realised they had a saleable product on their hands, completely unrelated to its original purpose!

The effects of drugs are not selective. Often the makers don’t know what a drug will do until they trial it. Side effects often come to notice only when a drug is launched onto the market (e.g. thalidomide).

The truth is, there is no such thing as a totally safe medicine, or one we know everything about. By their very nature they are designed to interrupt and change a biological process. The question is – what risks are we willing to take?

Drugs are mass produced. They take little account of individual differences. No-one knows precisely what a drug will do to an individual until they take it. Sometimes (e.g. Viagra) the effects are completely unexpected.

Shortcomings of drugs

The Hippocratic Oath compels doctors to do no harm. If this were taken seriously, how many pharmaceutical medicines could be prescribed? A few? Ore the majority? Many drugs are unpredictable and highly toxic. What if every doctor knew of alternatives which work just as well or better?

Actually, most doctors are aware of their shortcomings. One said that the only difference between most drugs and poisons is the dose. Their shortcomings include:

Affordability – many people in the world’s richest countries can’t afford them; many poorer countries can’t afford them either. Some, like Hungary, are funding research into alternatives because they cannot afford them and don’t want to be held hostage by the multinational drug companies.

Tolerance – with any drug, you build up tolerance. The more you take, the more you need to get the same effect.

Side effects – read the information leaflet that comes with any prescribed drug, and you will see a long (and sometime shocking) list of its possible side effects. E.g. Paroxetine, a SSRI, has been blamed for causing chronic hepatitis, seizures, suicidal tendencies and abnormal bleeding. Thalidomide (its dramatic effects when first prescribed half a century ago are well-known). Seroxat is estimated to raise the suicide rate by a factor of eight among those who take it, and for this reason is no longer prescribed in several countries including the UK. Indeed, between 2002 and 2010, eight drugs were withdrawn in the UK due to harmful side effects, including Seroxat, Vioxx, Ribonaband and Celebrex. Sometimes the authorities show a marked reluctance to take a product off the market even after it has been suspected of being dangerous. For example, a drug claimed to relieve diabetes, Avandia, was still on the market three years after it was shown to kill 19% of those who took it![1]

Addiction – there is no difference in effect between addiction to illegal drugs like heroin or cocaine and addiction to prescribed drugs such as painkillers. The only difference is that the latter are easily available from any pharmacist over the counter. One – codeine – is an opiate, coming from the same family as heroin!

Suppressing ST symptoms using drugs can cause LT illness. Symptoms have a purpose – to bring our attention to a deeper problem.

Drugs can distort diagnoses. When a drug comes out to address a particular condition, suddenly many more people come forward claiming to have that condition.

Pharmacological drugs do have a role to play. Sometimes they are all we have, and sometimes they offer a quality of life that would be impossible to some without them (e.g. many sufferers of serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder).

BUT RATHER THAN CONSIDERING THEM THE NORM, SHOULDN’T WE BE LOOKING FOR ALTERNATIVES AS A FIRST RESPONSE?

©David Lawrence Preston, 18.5.2016

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[1] Source: What Doctors Don’t Tell You, e-bulletin, 2^nd March 2010, www.wddty.com

Traditionally, healing substances have come from nature

Posted on May 16, 2016 by David Lawrence Preston

Humans have always ingested substances for healing and good health. Some of these improve the digestion process, such as prunes and high fibre products. But there are others too. Many foods have healing properties, e.g. honey and lemon for colds, garlic as an antiseptic, an apple a day…. Then there are herbs, valued for their healing properties in almost every society around the world. In some cultures, they even eat soil for healing!

What do these all have in common? They all change the body’s chemistry. And we all know how powerful changes in our biochemistry can be.

Medical biochemists (including most Western doctors) see illness primarily as an unhealthy change in our biochemistry. For them, healing is about finding where the body chemistry is out of kilter and correcting it by introducing some substance whose chemical properties bring about the healing.

Nowadays its usually drugs, but traditionally, healing substances have come from nature. Herbs, for instance, can be taken in their natural state, made into tinctures, tablets etc or smoked.

Natural healing substances

Water’s healing properties too have long been recognised. One should drink sufficient to maintain the body’s healthy functioning. A useful guide is 1/30 of ones body weight in kg expressed in litres. For instance, a 60 kg person 2 litres of water a day and a 75 kg person 2½ litres. Fruit juices and herb teas count, but not animal milk, carbonated drinks or beer.

Diet too is vital. Diet has a huge impact on health; a change of diet can restore health. The Greek philosopher Hippocrates wisely advised us to let our food be our medicine and our medicine be our food, advice that should never be ignored. That’s why many people take supplements to ensure they get the right amount of vitamins and minerals.

Food with high water content, grown outdoors in sunlight, is healthiest. Our system is designed to bring light to the organs. When observed under the microscope, light, natural wholefoods are seen to emit more light than processed foods.

Healthy diets also eliminate or at least minimise hidden toxins (chemical preservatives, colourings, refined starches and sugars, heavy metals, flavourings, etc.). Toxins, especially heavy metals, block biochemical functions. They are stored mainly in fat cells and can be tackled through detox regimes.

Also many people have to watch their diet due to food allergies (a modern ailment?).

Pharmaceutical Drugs

Today we take our healing doses in concentrated form – i.e. drugs. Drugs are the conventional healing method in the West. Indeed, they are synonymous with modern medicine. They come to us thanks to the same industrial chemical conglomerates and the same type of thinking that brings us pesticides, chemical fertilisers, weedkillers and genetically modified tomatoes.

Originally most drugs were simply highly concentrated forms of plant essences and other natural substances. Only recently have synthetic drugs been developed in laboratories and unleashed on the world. Biochemists try to isolate the active chemical ingredients in substances known to have healing properties and turn them into pills, liquids etc. to be ingested, rubbed on or injected. These include hormones. So pervasive has this approach become that drugs have become synonymous with mainstream western medicine.

And they work! Sometimes and for some people. With or without side effects. Some of the time.

But isn’t it better to stick to natural methods wherever possible?

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Consciousness and Healing (2)

Posted on May 7, 2016 by David Lawrence Preston

In a previous blog, I observed that the discovery long ago that we could heal ourselves was a great step forward in human evolution, and the healing methods used at each stage of our advancement are a direct result of the consciousness which prevailed at the time. Healing consciousness is about how we experience healing; our awareness of the healing process and what healing could be. It also says a great deal about our view of what a human being actually is and what it means to be human.

I have identified seven levels of consciousness in healing – the mechanic, the naturalist and the microbe carrier are the first three; in this blog I discuss the next two, the biochemist and the mind-body healer.

Level Four: the biochemist

Biochemical consciousness is the prevailing medical mindset in the West today. In the media, finding a ‘cure’ for any condition is synonymous with inventing a new drug or, more recently, manipulating the genetic makeup of the body in some way. Biochemical consciousness assumes that human beings are basically cocktails of chemicals and we function by means of chemical reactions. Some neuro- scientists think that even our thoughts are just manifestations of chemical reactions.

Healing is therefore reduced to adjusting our biochemistry like a cook adds a little more salt or spice to improve the food. Manipulating genes falls into the same category.

Biochemical consciousness encompasses not only drugs, but also anything ingested with the aim of altering the biochemistry of the body. Thus biochemical and natural consciousness overlap, since natural remedies such as herbs and dietary supplements have the same function. Once, drugs were simply extractions of the active ingredient of a natural substance; nowadays they are more likely to be artificial chemical compounds synthesised in a test tube, then tested to see if they have the desired result.

This is hit and miss medicine par excellence – it takes no account of individual differences, its effects are indiscriminate, and the side effects are often worse than the disease it’s supposed to cure. Moreover, it is prohibitively expensive; most of the world’s population simply cannot afford it. And it is manipulated by commercial concerns often at the expense of other, more suitable modalities.

Drugs do have a place, of course. Many people enjoy a better quality of life than would be possible without them. But how often are hard-pressed doctors too quick to reach for the prescription pad when there are better, less harmful alternatives? How often are drugs merely suppressing symptoms while masking the real cause?

Those at the biochemists’ level of consciousness are still on the lower slopes of the mountain. They will never understand the higher levels unless and until a shift in their awareness takes place – but a shift towards the next level is already taking place among some health professionals. Top doctors are realising that many of the ills that plague the so-called advanced societies are stress related – and we know that stress is mainly a result of our beliefs and ways of thinking (there’s nothing new in this – the Greek philosopher Epictetus said as much 2,500 years ago). Hence Level Five.

Level Five: the mind-body healer

We’ve always known that there’s a close connection between body and mind. No-one doubts that anxious thoughts can give rise to headaches, muscle tension, impaired performance, an upset stomach and so on.

The evidence for mind-body consciousness is strong indeed. Firstly, there’s the placebo effect – the disturbing (to allopaths) fact that in some circumstances a pill or potion with no active ingredient is as effective as the best the pharmaceutical industry can offer. The medical mainstream dismiss placebos as illusory, even unethical, whereas in reality they tell us more about the ability of humans to heal than any amount of double-blind trials.

The second is the power of suggestion. Placebos are actually a form of suggestion. So are doctors’ waiting rooms, white coats, stethoscopes and prescription pads. But suggestion is most closely associated with hypnotists placing healing ideas and images in the subconscious mind of the patient. I can personally vouch for its effectiveness when used by a trained practitioner such as myself with the right person in the right circumstances. The great Milton Erickson, the inspiration behind Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) took this to a whole new level, and while we may congratulate ourselves that this knowledge is a recent discovery, it’s actually as old as our ability to smelt iron and build pyramids.

So why did the Western medical establishment ignore the mind-body connection for so long? Because of their blind reliance on the kind of science that confines itself to those things that can be observed and measured through the five physical senses (a case of limited consciousness if ever there was one). In a nutshell, you can’t see thoughts and you can’t measure their progress through the body. Hence there was no proof that the supposed causes and effects between thoughts and physical aspects were linked.

Then about thirty years ago, mainstream scientists such as Dr Candace Pert and the founders of Psycho-Neuro-Immunology (PNI) – Hans Selye, Robert Adye, Nicholas Cohen, David Felten and others – began to discover the bodily processes by which thoughts and emotions manifested as physical changes in the body. In Germany, Dr Ryke Hamer showed how an emotional shock can affect the physical make up of the brain and result in illness (he was banned from practising in his native Germany and thrown into to jail for some of his ideas, but not this one). Now, I believe, most doctors understand that many illnesses have a psycho-somatic component and some even believe that all illnesses are psycho-somatic in origin.

Patients who don’t realise their emotions affect the physical body will often fail to seek the right help, e.g. I once met a young man who suffered from serious eczema. He relied on creams to alleviate the condition (which was only partially successful), whereas anyone with half an ounce of awareness could see that the problem was emotionally driven.

Of course, mind-body healers work on the basis that we are shaped mainly by our thoughts and beliefs. Again, this is not a new idea: King Solomon said as much in the Hebrew Scriptures, as did the Buddha, Lao Tsu, Yeshua the Carpenter from Nazareth, Plato, Hippocrates, numerous Roman scholars, and the great psychologist himself, William Shakespeare.

Some go further than this and say we are our thoughts, but this is far from the whole truth. If we are our thoughts, which thoughts are we talking about? The ones I’m having now? Or this morning? Or yesterday? Or long ago?

We are not our thoughts. We are not our beliefs. We are not our emotions. Something inside is not only aware of our thoughts, but is aware that we are thinking and can observe the activity of thinking; is aware that we are experiencing an emotion and can observe its effects. There is even an observer who observes ourselves observing our thinking! Experience this, and we are perhaps then we are approaching pure consciousness.

Awareness, intention, attention, imagination and belief are the keys to mind-body healing. Taken in combination, they increase the effectiveness of all forms of healing. For instance, F.W. Alexander – best known for teaching his patients to stand, sit, walk, hold their heads correctly and so on – taught his patients and students mindfulness and affirmations to accompany each healing movement.

I sum this up in my I-T-I-A Formula – intention, thinking, imagination and action. When all of these are applied to any given situation, the results can be astounding.

Mind-body consciousness is much more than just healing the body, though. The Great Teachers always said that we manifest our experience of reality through our thoughts, perceptions, beliefs, emotions and so on – and today’s leading scientists (e.g. quantum physicists) agree. When we observe the world, all we see are billions of particles and waves moving and spinning haphazardly – what Deepak Chopra calls the ‘quantum soup.’ It is the attention and meaning we give them that brings them into form. Our minds – our consciousness – actually create the world we live in. And perhaps they create our bodies too.

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Antibiotics are flooding our planet with superbugs!

Posted on May 2, 2016 by David Lawrence Preston

‘It is folly to attempt to escape disease by attempting to destroy or escape germs.’

Dr H M Shelton (1885-1985)

Viruses and bacteria are held responsible for most of the world’s health problems. After all, microbes are deadly, aren’t they? Is it not scientifically proven that every disease has its microbes?

The germ theory of disease, which suggests that microorganisms are the cause of disease, is rarely questioned in medical circles. But wait – it’s not that simple. Microbes are everywhere – so how come we aren’t all ill all of the time? The answer is, microbes are not always harmful. They’re not even usually harmful. Evenso, it’s convenient for the bio-chemical industry to over-emphasise the influence of microbes because it helps increase sales.

Think about it: viruses and bacteria are present in our system 100% of the time. We are literally teeming with them. But only around a hundred bacteria are potentially harmful to us.

Moreover, the same microbes affect people differently. Some get ill, most don’t. So it can’t be the microbes alone that make us ill! Something else must happen – something to do with each individual.

There is nothing new about this. In his 1928 paper, ‘The Causes Of Disease, Herbert Shelton points out that germs are a cause of disease, but they do not constitute the cause of disease. The full text is available at http://naturalhygienesociety.org/review/0801/shelton-disease-causes.html

Medical science’s response to potentially harmful microbes centres on two approaches – antibiotics and vaccines. The first kills the microbes, the second aims to strengthen the body’s immune system to it is better able to withstand the invaders.

Antibiotics

The word antibiotic came from ‘antibiosis’, a term coined in 1889 by Pasteur’s pupil Paul Vuillemin, meaning a process by which life could be used to destroy life.

Traditionally antibiotics were natural substances that were used to inhibit other organisms. The ancient Egyptians, Chinese and Native Americans all used moulds to treat infected wounds, although they did not understand exactly how the antibacterial properties of mould treated diseases. Honey, lard, garlic, onions, wine and vinegar are also among the many other substances traditionally used for this purpose.

As Pasteur’s Germ Theory became widely accepted, it triggered a search for more effective antibiotics. In the late 19^th Century, Joseph Lister looked into the reasons why urine contaminated with mould would not allow bacteria to grow. Then two German doctors, Rudolf Emmerich and Oscar Low, grew the germs from infected bandages in a test tube and used this to kill other types of germ. This became the first antibiotic to be used in hospitals, but results were inconsistent so it was abandoned. However, the idea that the germs that could cause one disease could be the cure for another was not lost on he scientific community.

The biggest breakthrough came in 1928 when Sir Alexander Fleming noticed that colonies of the bacterium Staphylococcus Aureus could be destroyed by the mould Penicillium Notatum. At the time, the importance of his discovery was not recognised. Only in the 1940’s did the use of penicillin become widespread. Seventy years on, penicillin is still one of the most widely used antibiotics.

Until the 1990s, most antibiotics did a good job at eliminating infection. They were so effective that doctors were convinced they had solved the problem of bacterial infection once and for all. But what they hadn’t reckoned on was the over-prescribing of antibiotics to treat relatively minor ailments like colds and minor inflammations which unwittingly allowed bacteria to build up their resistance. It is now widely recognised that bacteria are continually mutating and multiplying into even more deadly strains and finding ways to beat our defences.

Microbes are intelligent. They are just as capable of defending themselves when their survival is threatened as we are.

Today the over-use of antibiotics – once seen as the ultimate cure for all infections – is a major health concern. ‘Superbugs’ like MRSA are impervious to our best efforts to eliminate them and some microbiologists fear that the problem has gone beyond our control. An estimated ten thousand people a year die from a hospital-acquired infection in the UK alone, of which 70% are from MRSA. An even more deadly strain, C-difficile, is on the rise, and a new bug, PVL, has already killed several people. And that’s in spite of a highly publicised government initiative to promote cleanliness and better infection management in hospitals.

The problem with antibiotics arises precisely because they are so effective. They are indiscriminate. They kill all bacteria with which they come into contact, good and bad alike. Many of the body’s functions rely on bacteria, so killing of the good bacteria makes the body more likely to succumb to harmful bacteria.

Just as worrying, antibiotics are widely used in factory farming. Virtually all animals are given them. Then they end up in meat, which contributes to our society-wide resistance to antibiotics. This is a direct result of factory farming: when animals are free to roam in large pastures, the risk of disease is much lower, so the ‘need’ for antibiotics is dramatically reduced.

That’s not to say that antibiotics don’t have a place in modern medicine. They have saved many lives and helped to restore many to full health. But they must be used correctly and sparingly, and anyone tasking antibiotics must be sure to replace the bacteria in the gut by taking probiotics.

The truth is, except in severe cases of infection, antibiotics make us more, not less, vulnerable to disease. Medics admit that bacterial resistance is growing faster than the ability of new antibiotics to control them. Bacteria divide rapidly and you only need one to mutate to start an epidemic.

In future, better ways of eliminating harmful microbes may be found. For example, a ten second blast of ultraviolet light correctly targeted has been shown to kill harmful bacteria. It is already being used in hospitals, and recent technological advances have made it quicker and more effective than before. Modern UV devices are as small as a mobile phone and far less messy to use than disinfectant and a cloth.

Similarly, sophisticated PEMF devices like the AcuPearl (www.feelinggoodallthetime.com) help strengthen the body’s natural rhythms and immunity at cellular level creating an environment which discourages microbes from taking hold.

Microbes exist for a reason. They share this planet with us and to eliminate them would be both impossible – and undesirable. Remedies designed merely to kill microbes are often ineffective in the long term and sometimes self-defeating since microbes fight back. That’s a hard lesson for some.

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