OUR ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

Whenever I see a new book out by Dr. Shealy, MD, PhD, and Neurosurgeon, I wonder if there are body systems left that this founder of the American Holistic Medical Association and president of Holos Institute for Health, has still more developments to write about. This new one is about The Endocrine System.

In this latest book he gives warnings of the major physical stressors as follows: The first group he details is the physical chemical, emotional, or electromagnetic stressors beyond the safe reserves of any given individual. Oh dear, is that why so many of us begin to worry when we need to bring up a needed word that we have not used for some time.

Here are the major physical stressors: Inactivity – being inactive is as stressful as a broken leg: physical or chemical injuries, sunburn or other burns; and Excess heat or cold.

The major chemical stressors are: Sugar, corn syrup, corn fructose, Caffeine; Monosodium glutamate (MSG); artificial trans-fats; Excess phosphorus, especially from soda pop; Mercury (fillings) all artificial foods, flavourings, and dyes. Deficiency of any essential-vitamin or mineral include: Iodine (medical,) magnesium, B6, D3, and C.

Emotional stressors include: Fear; Anger, Guilt, Anxiety; and Depression.

Electromagnetic stressors include 60 cycle energy, TVs, clocks, fluorescent bulbs, radios, refrigerators, furnaces, computers, cars, airplanes, high power lines, wiring in homes, telephones, cell phones and Nuclear energy contamination. For further information: ARECatalog.com

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

In my last Blog dated August l5th I mentioned that my old energy was starting to kick in and I
was enjoying getting my home back in shape again. I don’t think I tried to do too much in one day but when I retired that evening I noticed my neck, upper arms and chin were beginning to really itch. Next day I am at the doctor’s office asking what was happening. “You have shingles,” she said. “Hurry over to the drug store and get this prescription for VALACYCLOVIR HCL. Take six tablets each day – two at each mealtime for a full week. The faster you can start the better, because it will begin working and reduce your itching and pain.”

The doctor helped me get on her scales and they registered l00.1 pounds, even with my jacket and shoes on and told me that at 5 foot 7 inches I had to gain weight and start to eat five times a day with small ones between the main meals.

In her Blog “Cicero Sings” my niece says that oregano oil will take the itch away from a mosquito bite. She keeps oregano oil on hand for other stings like wasps. Perhaps it would also take the itch out of shingles. The lady in a nearby condo says her shingles became so itchy she had to take pain killers which had other deleterious effects. I am thinking of trying out the oil of oregano oil.
Addendum Thursday, August 26: I tried the oil of oregano and it worked fine for me, but try it on a small spot first. it seems to work for so many things. The girl demonstrating it said she puts it on a sore throat and it works for that also.

UPDATES ON PNEUMONIA

The first feeling of weakness that pneumonia causes arrived for me late in June. I see I have posted only three blogs since then. I guess the walk-in doctor was right when he said I could be in for a six week recovery period. Today I felt the strength seeping back in my system and am trying not to crowd any unnecessary tasks into the day.

One person e-mailed me to let me know that he had pushed himself a little too soon and that gave him a setback. The first day I noticed my problem was on June 24th which had been the first real hot day of this summer. On the way to a good-bye farewell service I rode in three different cars and had forgotten how allergic I was to air conditioning, especially if the unit had not been cleared after a half year of it not being in use. It happened once before when my husband did the same thing to himself. Our guest riders in the back seat had requested more cool air. My husband directed cool air past himself to our guests so it would bypass me because he remembered how allergic I was to it. That air conditioning unit had not been cleared yet for the summer season and he also became ill and could not attend the family reunion the following day. This is just a little warning for those who may have already weakened their lungs from chemicals required in their place of employment. Even this very day the people who live in the Soviet Union near Moscow, have suffered from the smoke from their forest fires and many lives have been lost.

In studying more about the most nourishing foods for any recovery I was delighted to hear a noon program from CBC radio about the importance of eating more fresh uncooked foods for building better health. One of the callers was my niece from Kamloops. It was so interesting to hear her clear musical voice tell about the raw food group she usually attends each month. The group of fifty or more share recipes and learn more about improving health as they learn together. Another caller told of his experience of having a number of operations that could not cure his stomach problem. With no criticism to our medical system he then tried the change of using at least 85% uncooked foods and for him it was the solution to his problem and he is back at work. I called a former neighbour and asked if they had any fresh fruit for sale. He brought me a box of apricots and a supply of fresh garden vegetables. He would take no money because he said he and his wife often spoke about how we had helped them get started when they moved across the road from us and gave them fresh fruit and invited them to graze their few horses in our pasture when their grass became low.

THE HEALING PROCESS

The doctor said it would take at least six weeks for the body to work out its healing process. My “borrowed daughter” has been with me for two weeks and was a wonderful uplift. Her own mother passed away from pneumonia after only one day in the hospital. I’ve had a little time to catch up on reading books on the subject. Here’s the experience of a student who had entered his first year of medical school - now a doctor.

Dr. George Ritchie died from pneumonia and was pronounced dead in a Texas hospital at age 20. In the darkened hospital room he “woke up” and wandered the halls of the hospital. No one seemed able to see or hear him and at that moment he did not realize he was dead. He wandered back into his hospital room and looked at his bed. A body lay there covered with a sheet and only a hand of the inert form under the sheet was visible. To his confusion and horror he recognized his fraternity ring on the hand. He thought, “I was planning to be going home for Christmas soon to be with my family and now I will not be able to see them again, I was in a precarious position, discouraged and frightened.” He tried without success to reenter his body and again without success to pull the sheet from the body and his hand went right through it. Ritchie wondered what to do and where to go. He saw the old body but was no longer a part of it and he felt in total isolation. At the moment of his greatest distress the room began to fill with light and he thought the dim hospital light was getting brighter. The light continued to grow in intensity beyond description. Immediately following the arrival of this intense light a powerful voice was heard. “STAND UP,” the voice said, “YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE SON OF GOD.”

“Out of that brilliant light stepped the most amazing being I have ever seen,” Dr. Ritchie said. “The hospital walls totally disappeared and I saw in detail every minute of my life from the time I was born to my twentieth year, every thought, deed and event, as the soul judged itself and the spiritual lessons it learned. A question arose, “What did you do with your life. Have you loved others as I am loving you, unconditionally, each thought and intention. There was no question that the guide through this experience was Jesus. He was unlike the pictures I have seen in stained glass windows in our churches. He had strong shoulders, the most powerful male I have ever seen.” Dr. Ritchie is still living and further information can be found about his life and work in the book “The Place We Call Home” by Robert J. Grant at your local bookstore, library or A.R.E. Press, Virginia Beach, Va. 23451-2061.

SPEAKING LOUDLY WITH SILENCE

It seems the body knows its needs at a subconscious level and can reorganize itself from its silence within. The next morning my memory gradually came back and I could recall the events of the previous day. My grandson had taken me to the emergency hospital and I was placed with others already in the emergency overload section. After five days I was rolled from my spot and another bed rolled in immediately.

I’m taking a bit of time off from blogging. I was diagnosed with pneumonia and I am supposed to try to regain my weight and according to the doctor it will take a few weeks for me to heal. At five foot seven I should weigh more than a hundred pounds so I am working at it. The ladies in my condo building here have brought me soup and other gifts and I appreciate their kindness so much. Some even phone and ask if I need anything at the store, bought groceries and picked up my antiobiotic prescription for me. We have a certain family feeling here and I am so grateful. A friend from Alberta is coming tomorrow to be with me.

Later: Indeed my "Borrowed daughter" from Alberta arrived on Sunday and will stay with me for two weeks. She is cooking great meals for me and I am gaining strength. Her husband is the manager of a hardware store in Alberta so he had to hurry back.

THE END OF A PERFECT DAY

My two sisters from Kamloops and the husband of the younger one arrived near noon. They had already eaten on the way so I laid out fruit as we shared a little catch-up time on family news as they prepared to leave for the farewell good-bye service of a mutual friend. “I understand it wouldn’t be wise for you to go to the service with that bronchial cough to dispense throughout the area but since your doctor’s on vacation until the l2th of July, your choice is a walk-in clinic or the emergency and I’ll drive you to the door of either one since the B.C. Nurse Line has given this advice.” said my sister’s husband. In earlier years I once asked him why he found time to include us two extras at various gatherings and he replied that he had no sisters and considered us his as well and knew that we three enjoyed each other as good friends. My husband died of Parkinson’s disease after our marriage of 54 years during which his job required using chemicals that are now banned. My older sister had decided to spend her life in a needy area of Africa. Before leaving by ship she took a brief course in dentistry to use along with her missionary work during her more than 50 years in Ivory Coast. She relieved many hundreds of people in the outback of this country who had no other recourse for painful dental problems. The only anesthetic she used was a gargle of salt water. One man was so delighted to get rid of his aching tooth, he rushed from the little stool that was Helen’s dental chair, always placed under a shady tree, gave her a big multi coloured wet hug as he wished her every blessing in the Koran which included many children.

I decided to take the opportunity to go to the walk-in clinic at the Fruit Union Plaza so Lloyd dropped me off where I asked near a safe lighted corner as a steam of traffic thundered on. There were walk signals ahead where I crossed this main highway. At the walk in clinic I told Dr. Clark my tummy didn’t want to keep food down leaving me with a feeling of weakness although my cough seemed better to me. He did a push test of the lungs and pinpointed the area where I may have slipped a gear while coughing and set up an x-ray for me “Your body is sick, lacking fuel and needs fixing and is calling for help. Healing takes time and will occur as you take more care about eating basic foods more often. Dr. van Zyl works too hard and I’m glad to see she is vacationing. She can read the x-rays next week.” added Dr. Clark. After arriving home I found myself four hours later still dressed and in bed with the phone ringing and calls waiting on the answering machine. More tomorrow as I tell you about my lost hours.

START ANYTIME ON ANTI-AGING

Growing research suggests that adopting healthy habits can significantly alter the course of aging even if you’re older than middle age. Many of the same benefits as people who have been active all their lives, according to a recent Swedish study of over 2,000 men. “The older you are, the more important lifestyle choices become,” says Robert Palmer, M.D., clinical director of geriatric medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

As more people live into their 80s, 90s, and beyond, researchers are asking what it takes not just to survive but to thrive. In the Journal of Gerontology explored the secrets of successful aging by following 2,432 older men and women for a decade. Those who aged with little disability tended to have a moderate-to-high income. Their lifestyle choices also helped set them apart. They didn’t smoke, drank in moderation, maintained a positive outlook, and reported less stress.

Your brain needs a workout just as much as your arms and legs. Education and an active work life when younger can help ward off dementia later building a cognitive so that small losses in function are not as noticeable. A recent study found that while career success in midlife boosted, so did staying motivated, working hard and being dependable. A 2009 study in 2009 of 500 men and women 75 and older, and published in the Journal of Neurology found that they could delay cognitive decline by participating in mentally stimulating activities such as reading, writing, doing puzzles and participating in group discussions, and playing games or music.