The Health Detectives

Having heard an interesting talk about acupuncture a few days ago by Chris Ashdown at The Ark, haverfordwest, it prompted me to write some words of encouragement along the preventative thinking line!

Acupuncture which has been well tried and tested (handbooks date back some 5000 years, no I haven’t added an extra 0) looks at the whole person’s life as do many of us in natural therapies. Interestingly the chinese doctors were only paid for WELL patients… I think that would focus some practices in the NHS!  They would look at whether people were living appropriately for the ‘seasons’ of the year … or of their life, with the over all aim of conserving their ‘Chi’ or energy reserves to be in good health for life, not just youth! The chinese system talks of different chi from that we are born with (ancesteral) which is really hard to replace once lost, so has to be conserved by living appropriately. Then there is the energy we do (or don’t) get from our food, and so on.

Chris gave a winter example that we can all relate to – winter is the season of drawing in energy and not expending it unwisely, its when animals would hybernate for example, and NOT be rushing round flat out christmas shopping and wrapping presents into the night after a full on day’s work and a further hammering from all the xmas sweets and alcohol. Basically it’s when our energetic body wants to be curled up in a blanket by a fire with no big demands until Spring, so that  the whole cycle of growth and energy can start again.  How TRUE!

So we all know the pressures but what of the health consequences? Having drained our reserves, we all know people who get run down, get a bad cold or flu over xmas (when their adrenalin stops keeping them going as soon as they have reached xmas and done all the preparations)… and often soon afterwards many more people feel depressed. Again this can be the biochemical burnout taking hold. The immune system is often compromised and this has many effects, and even things we may not think of, such as effecting night sweats, photosensitivity (over sensitive to day light or electromagnetic sources such as computer screens and mobiles), and perhaps allowing existing imbalances such as gut fungus and candida, parasites, IBS , and our defenses in general to suffer.

If we are depressed biochemically it is hard to motivate ourselves to do useful energy measures such as exercise or good diet that takes a little more time and planning. In come sugars and quick to grab things that perhaps further upset the gut balance – hello bloating, headaches, constipation and insomnia. We can so easily set off a long chain reaction and find ourselves living at half our physical potential.  Watch out spouses.. this won’t help our sense of humour.

Chris explained that in some traditional hospitals you would be sent for different treatments depending on your level of need (or the state you had got yourself into!) They would look first at the food you are eating and the situation you are in – sleep, pollution, lifestyle etc. Then they might give you some foul tasting herbs to deal with immediate issues, like parasites, before sending you for acupuncture for deeper rooted energy and meridian imbalances which effect the running of the whole system. I guess without Chi we are like robots rather than human beings ?!

Oh and there are even hospitals with tree lined avenues for patients to do their daily ‘prescribed Qui Gong’ exercises which work on specific health systems, organs and conditions! A prescription for exercises – now that would be a useful lesson over here – so if any of you want to check out the little films which show you qui gong exercises – basically you get well gradually by doing these standing still postures daily – so not strenuous at all, the link is http://www.qigonghealingarts.org/qigong-exercises/master-lam-kam-chuen-free-qigong-videos/

But for now – looking after your whole system at this time of the year is going to set the tone of what the spring and summer can bring you in your life. So reboost your system by nurturing and perhaps consider having a thorough health MOT with us over the next month at The Ark, Haverfordwest.  We can see where you are biochemically and even energetically, and work with you to make sure 2012 is a year where you won’t have to face the challenging economic and employment situation in an already depleated state.

Don’t worry if you are not local to us – we will certainly do MOT’s at a distance if you send us a HAIR SAMPLE – see else where on this site for details – its fast and easy to send in your form and a hair sample, and we will test it as fully as we test patients in person – but please put as much detail as possible on your form. If you need supplementation it’s better to know now, so that it would have a chance to rebuild you well before spring when you will want to be enjoying a new year! You are not alone – we have all been over doing things and are now busy picking up the pieces for a spring clean of our health. Now… where did I put my Vit B2 ?

To your very good health!

It is sad to hear so many accounts in our clinics of how episodes of depression have blighted great chunks of our patients’ lives.

There are often tears because it’s a shock and relief all rolled into one, to finally shed some light on past experiences while getting a better understanding of how our bodies got in that state. Sad because what all too often turn out to be simple blockages of chemical pathways, have resulted in symptoms that have had a major impact on whole families - depression, suicidal tendencies, infertility, ovarian cancer - just because a few little breakdown reactions could not happen, leaving an imbalance of hormones.

We have been very moved to witness the realisation for some that if they had not been treated heavily with medications such as Lithium, giving horrendous tremours, and drastic treatments, even electric shock treatments, instead of some simple hormone rebalancing, their memories of their past would have been a lot less tangled.

When anxiety or depression shows up during our testing, we look hard to see exactly where the chemistry is blocked in connection with those problems. The body is intricately designed to be well. The many enzymes involved in making and breaking down different substances in our bodies, so that we have what we need to do all the various jobs in our body, are very specific in their needs. They like to have the right acid/alkali environment, the right vitamins and minerals - or they go on strike!  And people get a whole range of symptoms, from weight gain to blood sugar problems, spots and migraines, painful periods, terrible tempers, hot flushes as well as anxiety and depression. Take your pick.

It is amazing to think that so many conditions may have a common cause or two; the lack of the right environmental factors for our friends the enzymes to do their job description. So it’s not surprising that people we put on vitamin B12 for example, or zinc or buffered vitamin C, find it hard to believe that it can be all they need. No wonder they struggle with the idea after years of swallowing 10 to 20 different tablets A DAY in some cases to be told that not only will two or so remedies cover all those issues but could after a short time actually correct the problem and no longer be needed!

It’s not just the patients that have to learn to accept new ideas and possibilities about healing. The doctors it seem need quite a stretch to stop shouting “Placebo!” and “No written evidence… clinical trials… we don’t accept anecdotal evidence..”

Well, you and we all are the anecdotal bit rejected by much of the mainstream medical establishment -although perhaps we could ask our doctors, who call alternative medicine success stories “placebo”, while documenting in numerous clinical studies the evidence of “the placebo effect”, one simple question: How come people notice improvements often after short periods on “our placebo side effect free remedies” while they often don’t get better and often get worse after the pharmaceutical doctors hand out placebos?

But if a treatment approach by doctors with medicines has not solved the problem (such as depression and inability to cope)  without bad side effects such as memory loss, severe tremours, anxiety - to quote our clinic patients just this week -  could they not actively seek to treat other aspects of the biochemical balance, such as hormones, instead.

Please do contact us or look on our events page for details of our “STRICTLY HORMONES”  talk and demo – and invite anyone you feel is affected by any of the issues in this post or the list of typical complaints on our website.  There may only be a few nutrients or minerals in the way to feeling much better in yourself.

…Or anything in between…. our hormone or endocrine system plays a key role in a surprising range of our body functions. It includes many hormone producing glands, such as the thyroid, pituitary, pancreas, ovaries and many more. Many patients come to the clinic with symptoms of hormone imbalance - from tiredness to problems getting pregnant, bad periods, sleep disorders, blood sugar issues, hot flushes and outbursts of emotion.

Many people are experiencing ‘hormone hell’!  But take heart! This system has the potential to bring people back into feeling on top of things - and not just to  drag them down into a real battle.

Some diseases, such as the oestrogen dependent cancers, have their roots in the imbalance of just a couple of hormones and these same hormones can mean someone cannot get pregnant, or if they do, cannot stay pregnant. Or if they get as far as giving birth, other glands’ underperformance can mean they can’t feed their baby naturally or they may experience post-natal depression.

So why not take charge of this amazing system within your body and plan for those predictable rites of passage, such as getting pregnant or going gracefully through the menopause with a re-balanced efficient hormone system.

Keeping your body clear of harmful excess oestrogens can protect you from more serious hormone dependent illnesses later on. And how can we finish a post on hormones without acknowledging the numbers of you who come with thyroid worries and are often upset to have been told that once on thyroxine always on thyroxine. Cheer up! Once the hormone system (which includes the thyroid gland) is brought back into proper working order, the thyroid can do its job again, and we would not expect anyone to need to remain on thyroxine unless they have had their thyroid removed! Clearly the sooner you check your endocrine system the better.

You can get your hormone system checked by The Health Detectives at any of our clinics in Pembrokeshire  so make your hormones part of your health MOT and ring us to book a testing session. You can also have your hormones checked by sending us a hair sample – so let your hormone-hounded pals know help is at hand!  Have a good month!