The Wonder and Magic of Natural Medicine
I am continually amazed by the effectiveness of natural medicines. Having been a practitioner and ‘user’ for 16 years, I have seen many different kinds of conditions partially to totally reverse with the use of the simplest of natural substances.
We are talking about things of the earth, the ‘medicine people’ of the Native Americans, who regarded plants as their relatives. I remember in school we were exposed to “Alterative” herbs – herbs that increase the digestive and eliminative function of the body. Examples are: Arctium lappa (burdock), Taraxacum officinale (Dandelion), Stelleria (chickweed) or Rumex crispus. A lot of these herbs are considered weeds; they grow up between the cracks in the sidewalk and are considered a nuisance by homeowners, gardeners and road maintenance crews. Our teacher said: “Don’t you see how persistent these plants are. Even in the face of technology they insist on coming up where they are most unwanted, as if to say ‘You need us, don’t ignore us’”! She stressed that they were some of the most needed yet most neglected herbs in the herbarium.
But for the lack of time, certain knowledge and experience, we could all go out into the wild world and pick our own medicine. Like our bodies, the wild things of the earth are made of the same “stuff” as the earth, moon and stars. These green friends are geared to the functioning of our bodies because of that similarity of origin. Because herbs help to rebalance the body’s function, at times the same herb can be used for both hypo- and hyper-functioning. They seek to swing the organ back to normal homeostasis (balanced function) much like a pendulum on a grandfather clock eventually establishes a neutral position.
In terms of action, I witnessed a tincture of Panax ginseng, and Eleutherococcus senticosis markedly improve the energy level of a 42 year old female runner/working mother. I have a 56 year old neighbor with Diabetes mellitus who now has practically normal blood sugar levels after some diet changes and the addition of, again, Pananx ginseng. I also treat a 50-year-old man, in Sacramento, who is confined to a wheel chair due to Guillain Barre Syndrome. He has been experiencing problems with electrolyte imbalance, hypertension and Diabetes. This is not an uncommon picture for people in the U.S., but it is complicated by the fact that he is in the wheel chair, has difficulty getting to the grocery store, has little income and doesn’t really cook. We worked out a treatment plan for him focusing on diet change: legumes and whole grains, as much fresh vegetables as possible, as well as, a limited amount of fresh fruits; and a grouping of herbs/supplements that has been specially formulated to support heart action, ease hypertension/edema and provide a lot of electrolytes. After 3 days on this plan he is already feeling a lot better.
Cell salts are homeopathic preparations of the 12 salts that make up the body itself. They were first isolated by burning a body and analyzing it’s mineral content. These common salts (like sodium chloride, table salt) can stimulate the body to reabsorb bone spurs or exostoses, remineralize bones (after breaks or localized atrophies – like those following limb immobilization). I have seen cell salts reduce ‘brain fag’ in students and those whose minds are overloaded with information, making it difficult for them to sleep, for instance. I have also seen cell salts reduce the tendency for the skin to chronically form boils.
Natural foods also come from the earth. In Chinese medicine, foods are used as medicinal regimen. Diet, in general, is very important, since we eat 3 times a day. What we choose to eat can either worsen, or improve, our health, though diet alone usually takes longer than other medicinal substances (i.e. herbs, homeopathics) to act therapeutically. As I have written in previous articles, in general, I espouse the use of Eat Right for Your Type, by Dr. Peter D’Adamo, also a Naturopathic physician. He suggests that we would all do better eating the type of foods that our forebears adapted to and ate eons ago. He and his father put 50 years of research in to the theory; I been party to some great successes with the use of the specific diets. None of the diets contains any processed foods, anything that does not come directly from the earth. The book establishes a rationale for lining people up more with the MacDougall/Ornish/Pritikin (low fat, high complex carbohydrate, moderate protein) group or the Zone/Sears/Atkins (higher fat, high protein, low complex carbohydrates) camp. I have seen weight loss (50 pounds is not uncommon), disappearance of panic and gastrointestinal symptoms and more recently something that surprised even me. I had a 45-year-old woman come into my office, the mother of 9 children, one still nursing, who complained of extreme fatigue. I assumed her fatigue was more due to the wear and tear of multiple (and unending) pregnancies and dealing with that many children. I put her on a program of high potency multi-vitamins, adrenal support and suggested the Blood type diet. She reacted negatively to both of the supplements, but found that her fatigue improved immensely by avoiding tomatoes, wheat, dairy and meat. This is a woman who could not walk from one end of the house to the other without getting winded.
Potentially you can get a glimmering of why I consider natural medicines so wondrous and magical. They were provided for us to use by the bounty of the Creator – we have been given all we need.
To see for yourself how these simple gifts of the earth might assist you and raise your level of health, please call Ellen Potthoff, D.C., N.D. at (925) 603-7300 or e-mail her at Natdoc@jps.net.
Your Immune System, Friend or Foe?
Ellen Potthoff, DC, ND
I noticed the first sheen of yellow/green almost fluorescent material on my car yesterday. Yes, it is that time again when Mother Nature renews herself, bursting forth with blossom, bloom, and POLLEN. Now on the face of it, pollen grains, which are so small you have to use a microscope to see them clearly, would seem like an innocuous sort of thing. But, not to immune systems that are sensitized to them.
Your immune system protects you from internal and external invaders. Internally, metabolic wastes, toxic products of gut bacteria, pre-cancerous and frankly cancerous cells are constantly being sought out by the surveillance mechanisms of your immune system, and destroyed. Externally, the immune system neutralizes the effect of bacteria, viruses, and any other foreign invader.
Your immune system is made of many components – lymphatic tissue (lymph nodes, thymus, spleen, and tonsils), white blood cells, specialized cells (macrophages, mast cells, etc.) and specialized chemical factors. The lymphatic vessels drain metabolic waste products from the tissues to the lymph nodes where pac-man like macrophages gobble up foreign materials including bacteria and cellular debris. The spleen and the thymus release many potent immune-system enhancing compounds.
T lymphocytes (i.e. killer T cells) are a type of white blood cell that is partially responsible for cell mediated immunity. Cell mediated immunity is particularly important in the resistance to infection by mold-like bacteria, yeast, fungi, parasites, and viruses (like Herpes, Epstein-Barr and Hepatitis causing viruses). This form of immunity is critical in protecting the body against the development of cancer, auto-immune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and ALLERGIES. B lymphocytes, the white blood cells that initiate antibody production in response to viruses, bacteria, yeast and other micro-organisms, are also part of the cell mediated immunity system.
Allergies, like hayfever, occur when the body encounters something foreign, antibodies are produced by the B lymphocytes, and when that substance is contacted once again, the antibodies mount a defense of the body, histamine is released from the mast cells, and your allergies are off and running. Why would your immune system respond to something as innocuous as a grain of pollen? Because it is already so overloaded that it starts to hyperfunction.
Proper functioning of your immune system is critical to your good health. Conversely, your good health is critical to supporting the immune system. Stress management, appropriate lifestyle, exercise, wholesome diet, nutritional supplementation, glandular therapy and the use of plant-based medicines are all part of a comprehensive approach to restoring immune function. In addition, your mental state has everything to do with your immune function. According to the new branch of medicine called psychoneuroimmunology, the mind has a profound effect on the health or disease state of the body. A positive mental attitude can be useful in improving the function of the immune system.
There are two ways to reduce the allergic threshold: reduce exposure to airborne allergens (things one is allergic to), and, reduce intake of food allergens. In addition, adopting a healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce allergies. In a recent study of 706 Japanese factory workers, it was demonstrated that a healthy lifestyle reduced IgE (allergic antibody) levels, while unhealthy lifestyle increased IgE levels. Lifestyle factors that tended to increase IgE levels included poor dietary habits, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and increased feelings of stress.
You can take an anti-histamine to suppress the release of histamine in response to having hayfever. That will work in the short run. But what are the consequences in your body? Essentially you are suppressing the normal function of your body. The naturopathic point of view would be to improve the function of your immune system by the steps listed above, reduce exposure to airborne allergens and reduce intake of food allergens. In that way you would improve the function of the nervous system by unloading it.
Fortunately, there are some herbal and supplemental medicines that can be very useful in a hayfever situation. They are not magic bullets that “get rid of” your hayfever, but they are helpful. The first is Urtica dioica (stinging nettles). It has been found in scientific study to reduce or eliminate the experience of hayfever symptoms in 60% of the people involved in the study. In addition, vitamins B6, B12, C, and E, magnesium, and flavinoids, carotenes and selenium can be useful.
The most important thing, in working with your allergies, is to improve immune function and decrease the likelihood your immune system will even respond to pollen in the first place. Have a wonderful Spring and enjoy all the beautiful flowers!
Ellen Potthoff, D.C., N.D. is available to help you with allergies or any inappropriate function of your immune system. Please call her at (925) 603-7300 or e-mail her at Natdoc@jps.net.
