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Overview

Crohns disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract that can trigger serious health issues and have a significant negative impact on a person’s overall quality of life. Though Crohn’s disease generally affects the small intestine, additionally, it may manifest within the mouth, wind pipe, and belly.

Symptoms

Crohn’s disease signs and symptoms vary, and can include anorexia, abdominal pain, looseness of the bowels, fever, flatulence, and harmful weight loss. In certain cases, intestinal bleeding can also occur due to ulceration of the intestinal tract lining. Crohn’s disease is compounded by the fact that it may often result in poor absorption of nutrition, leading to a lack of nutrients that can exacerbate symptoms. Health sapping autoimmune reactions can occur because Crohns disease causes the immune system to attack food particles as if they were foreign organisms. This type of autoimmune reaction can further debilitate individuals suffering from Crohn’s disease, making them fragile, and vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

Causes

Crohn’s disease can be the result of a variety of factors, including poor diet and nutrition, food allergies, unbalanced levels of hydrochloric acid, impaired immunity, bacterial infections, lack of exercise, “leaky gut” syndrome, pharmaceutical drugs, and stress.

Diet and Nutrition: One of the main causes of Crohn’s disease, along with other gastrointestinal problems, is a diet plan high in in a commercial sense processed foods, refined carbs, and unhealthy fats, and which contains an abundance of chemical additives as well as preservatives whilst lacking adequate amounts of fiber. Such a diet plan, which is unfortunately all too typical of the way lots of people eat in the usa and other developing countries, not just places a great burden about the gastrointestinal tract, it may also result in serious lack. All of these elements combined can result in excess acidity in the GI tract, indigestion, poor absorption of food nutrients, “leaky stomach” syndrome, a buildup of toxins, and autoimmune reactions, all of which can cause the actual gastrointestinal system to become swollen and ulcerated.

Food Allergic reactions: Food allergic reactions, while often overlooked or even misdiagnosed by conventional physicians, are an additional common cause of Crohn’s disease, in addition to many other conditions. If you suffer from Crohn’s disease, or any other gastrointestinal disorder, it is very important that you be tested for food allergies as well as sensitivities. Typical allergy-causing meals include milk and dairy products, wheat, gluten (a component of wheat products), corn, as well as chocolate, but any food has the possibility to cause food allergies.

Unbalanced Hydrochloric Acid Levels: Muriatic acid (HCl) is released by the stomach to assist in the digestion of food. Many people suffer from a lack of HCl manufacturing, however, which can be responsible for impaired digestion and poor absorption of food nutrients, and can eventually affect the areas of the digestive system where Crohn’s disease happens. Similarly, too much HCl manufacturing can result in over-acidity, causing heartburn, gas, and ulceration of the lining of the mouth, esophagus, belly, and intestines.

Impaired Defense Function: Impaired immunity can also cause or contribute to Crohn’s disease, along with other GI disorders due to the relationship between reduced immune performance and poor absorption of nutrients from food. Additionally, poor defenses can also result in an increase in poisons within the intestinal tract, as well as cause autoimmune reactions that attack cells of the intestinal lining, leading to ulcers as well as inflammation. Autoimmune reactions are said to be associated with both Crohn’s disease and colitis.

Bacterial infections: Infections brought on by bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses all negatively affect overall gastrointestinal health. Airborne viruses and bacteria such as Epstein-Barr virus, Cytomegalovirus, Pseudomonas, Chlamydia, and Yersinia enterocolitica are especially common in sufferers of Crohn’s disease. In addition to releasing toxins into the GI tract, these infectious microorganisms can cause autoimmune reactions, “leaky gut” syndrome, and poor absorption of nutrients. In addition, dysbiosis, or overgrowth of unhealthy intestinal bacteria such as Candida albicans, the primary cause of candiasis can also occur.

Lack of Exercise: Failure to exercise regularly can result in diminished production of digestive system and pancreatic enzymes, as well as hydrochloric acidity (HCl), all of which are essential for healthy gastrointestinal function and which, if lacking, can lead to a wide variety of gastrointestinal disorders.

Pharmaceutical Drugs: The following drugs can all cause or exacerbate various gastrointestinal disorders, including Crohn’s disease: Accutane, Alka-Seltzer Antacid and Alka-Seltzer Pain Reducer, Anturane, Genuine Bayer Pain Killers, Bayer Aspirin, Bayer Regular Power Enteric Pain Killers, Bufferin PainTablets, Ceptaz, Clinoril, Cuprimine, Ecotrin Enteric Coated Aspirin, Feldene, Ilosone, Lamprene, Leukine for IV Infusion, Lopid, Marplan, Meclomen, Novantrone, Paraplatin, Piroxicam, Prokine v. Infusion, Retrovir, Rynatuss, Supprelin Injection, Suprax, Ticlid, Tolectin, Toradol Injection, Trecator-South, Trilisate, and Voltaren.

Stress: Chronic as well as poorly handled stress has a direct effect on the gastrointestinal system, and has long been linked by scientific research to a wide variety of GI disorders, including Crohn’s disease, because stress results in elevated acid production and impairs overall digestive function.

Natural Remedies

Aromatherapy: The essential oil of basil can help to relieve symptoms.

Ayurveda: Ayurveda physicians deal with Crohn’s disease by training their patients on how to better handle stress, using tools such as meditation. In addition, they test for food allergies and parasites, create diets customized to each patient’s specific metabolic needs, and employ herbal treatments and nutritional supplements, such as acidophilus (to protect against dysbiosis), boswellia (to reduce irritation), cumin, garlic, ginger, and a rich supply of omega-3 natural oils which have been proven to act as natural anti-inflammatory agents.

Detoxification Therapy: To relieve irritation of the GI track, consider administering an enema containing butyric acid 2-5 times per week. (Add one tablespoon of butyric acid to one quart of tepid to warm water.) Butyric acid helps to reduce inflammation of the intestinal walls.

Diet: Healthy eating is very important. Consume plenty of real filtered water and eat fresh, natural fruits and vegetables, and complex whole grains, such as amaranth, quinoa, and organic free-range meats, chicken, and wild-caught fish.

Avoid all commercial, processed, fried, and nonorganic food, as well as alcohol, espresso, sugars, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, food dyes, milk and dairy products, wheat and wheat products, and refined carbs. Do not consume saturated, trans- hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated fats and oils. Instead choose from virgin coconut butter/oil, extra virgin olive oil, high lignin flax seed oil, and unrefined hemp seed, walnut, and sunflower oils.

Nutrition and diet are key factors in the healing and removal of imbalance as well as disease. For a complete, nourishment packed, whole-foods eating plan, browse the Natural Cures Healing Diet. Also, for many plagued with Crohn’s Illness, a raw food diet can be extremely beneficial; for other people, raw food may not be the best option. Each person reacts differently depending on their individual chemistry and the depth of the condition being healed. To learn more, read about the Raw Food Diet. Several books are available to give you a larger overview of exactly how eating uncooked and raw foods may be the perfect recovery path. (Begin with the recommended books section.) You are able to print out these full content articles on the different diets for easy reference.

Avoid: Just about all processed, smoked, canned and breaded meat, fish, seaweed, processed cheese, seeds, potatoes, yams, parsnips, chick peas, bean seedlings, soybeans, mung beans, fava beans, in addition to all cereal grains in all forms, including wheat. Avoid whole milk, and all items commercially made from milk, dried milk powders, buttermilk or acidophilus whole milk, commercially made yogurt, bitter cream as well as ice cream. Don’t consume soymilk, instant tea, coffee, espresso substitutes, ale, cornstarch, arrowroot, chocolate, carob, bouillon cubes, instant soups bases, any kind of product made with refined sugars, agar-agar, carrageenan, pectin, catsup, molasses, corn and walnut syrup, any flour produced from legumes, and baking powder.

Eat: Clean or frozen, preferably natural meats, poultry, wild caught fish, organic eggs, natural milk and products made from natural milk such as cheeses, homemade yogurt prepared at low temperatures and dry curd cottage cheese. Choose from a wide variety of freshly prepared, preferably natural vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are the primary stay of the food plan. Don’t consume any canned foods with the exception of salt-free canned red salmon, white albacore tuna or sardines, just on occasion. Daily juicing of fresh green vegetables is an important addition for healing and offers deep dietary nourishment. With this and all illness, providing yourself with the most supportive nutrients possible is of primary importance.

Follow this diet plan for as long as your symptoms continue. Adherence can be challenging, however maintenance is important to obtain the desired results.

Herbal Medicine: Helpful herbs consist of agrimony, bayberry, chamomile, geranium, goldenseal, lemon balm, marshmallow root, peppermint, plaintain, wild yam, and valerian. The standard herbal remedy Robert’s Formula is also suggested, consisting of comfrey, Echinacea, geranium, goldenseal, marshmallow root, poke root, slippery elm, and wild indigo.

Homeopathy: Useful homeopathic treatments include, Aloe, Allumium sativa, Arsen. Alb., Belladonna, Cantharis, Colchicum, Merc. Sol., and Nux vomica.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the process of using water, ice, and steam and alternating between hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Treatments consist of full body immersion, steam baths, bathhouses, sitz bathing, colonic cleansing and the application of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for dealing with a wide range of problems and can easily be used in your home as part of a self-care plan. Many Naturopathic Physicians, Physical Therapists and day spas use Hydrotherapy in their treatment.

There are many at-home hydrotherapy treatments. For Crohn’s disease we recommend soothing baths 2-5 nights per week to help relieve symptoms of colitis, as well as alternating hot and cold water packs placed over the belly and upper abdomen. Make sure you seek the recommendation of your alternative health care practitioner before going through these procedures to make sure they are appropriate for you.

Juice Therapy: Useful liquid remedies consist of aloe liquid; wheatgrass juice; cabbage, pawpaw, and carrot juice; carrot and apple juice; and carrot, beet, and cucumber juice. You may also drink the juice of half a lemon with warm water, particularly in the morning, followed by any of the juice combinations above. Avoid just about all citrus fruit juices, however, because these can significantly aggravate your symptoms.

Lifestyle: If you smoke, stop, and also avoid contact with secondhand tobacco smoke. In addition, learn to effectively cope with and handle stress. Also try to get some exercise regularly.

If you are presently taking pain killers or additional NSAIDs, consider replacing them with safer, far better natural remedies.

Nutritional Supplements: Useful nutritional supplements include vitamin A, beta carotene, vitamin C, calcium supplement, magnesium, potassium, and zinc oxide, taken in a multi-vitamin formula. Essential fatty acids, particularly omega-3 natural oils, are also recommended.

Stress Relief: Learning how to reduce and properly manage stress is essential with regard to helping to protect against Crohn’s disease. Stress reduction techniques are also very helpful for coping with emotions such as anger, depressive disorders, and hopelessness that can worsen symptoms. Holistic health practitioners help their patients accomplish stress reduction through the use of various mind/body treatment techniques such as biofeedback, hypnotherapy, and rest exercises.

Deep breathing is another form of stress management that can be highly effective. There are many ways to meditate. Among the easiest is simply to sit in a chair with your eyes closed as you focus on your breathing. Try this for 5-10 minutes twice daily and gradually extend every session to 20-30 minutes. To enhance your efforts, focus on mentally repeating a peaceful phrase any time you inhale and exhale, permitting all other thoughts to occur and pass without becoming involved in all of them. At first, this may seem difficult, however with committed practice you will eventually find yourself capable to do so while experiencing greater degrees of relaxation and peace.

Alternative Expert Care

The following therapies can also help to prevent and relieve crohns disease: Ayurveda, Psychophysiological Feedback Training, Neurotherapy, Bodywork (Feldenkrais Technique, Reflexology, Shiatsu, Therapeutic Contact), Craniosacral Therapy, Environmental Medicine, Enzyme Therapy, Fasting, Flower Essences, Guided Imagery, Hypnotherapy, Mind/Body Medicine, Naturopathic Treatments, Neural Therapy, Osteopathic Treatments, Oxygen Therapy, Qigong, Tai Chi, Chinese medicine, and Yoga exercise. (See Resources for additional information regarding these and other Alternative Treatments)

Description

A cough is a sudden, explosive expulsion of air from the lungs, usually brought on by the need to discharge something from the air passages. Productive coughing brings up mucus (referred to as sputum or phlegm) while a good unproductive, dried out cough doesn’t.

Symptoms

Different cough sounds might be signals of different, underlying difficulties. If your coughing persists, look for the assistance of an experienced health practitioner.

Examples of coughs consist of: Constant, severe coughing with thick mucus production, which may signal chronic bronchitis (respiratory disease often associated with smoking or passive smoke exposure).

A very dry cough with symptoms of fever and fatigue may signal an approaching severe bout of acute bronchitis. (Virus-like bronchitis usually has a persistent cough which disturbs sleep.)

Dry coughs that usually become worse throughout the night may signal a bronchospasm (temporary narrowing from the bronchi, the larger pipes of airways) that can be associated with asthma, infection, or allergic reactions.

Allergic coughs may occur with a runny nose and wheezing, or begin following eating certain foods or at different times of the year.

Coughing up blood is not a good sign (hemoptysis). If blood appears in the sputum it may be as a result of ruptured blood vessels in airways, lungs, nose, or the throat. It may be nothing serious but it is also possible it is a severe condition, therefore it is imperative to be evaluated by a doctor to be certain. Blood may appear as bright red, rusty-brown blotches, or pinkish. In the event you are experiencing blood in your phlegm, an X-ray of the chest may be recommended. If X-rays show irregularities, if you are over 40 and/or perhaps a smoker, and have coughed up blood before, you may need a bronchoscopy. A bronchoscopy is a process which allows direct viewing of the lung area by insertion of a soft, flexible pipe with a camera attached to the end. One-third of individuals undergoing this procedure are found to have no underlying health problems.

Coughing associated with changes in posture suggest lung abscess or even other severe diseases, while coughing related to eating might suggest serious swallowing or even trachea problems. Coughing because of exercise or cold temperatures may signal asthma.

In young children, coughing combined with inflammation of the respiratory tract, can cause the airways to narrow so much that it creates a hoarse metallic cough called the croup.

Continual short, moderate, dry coughs in the spring might signal hay-fever. Coughs or secretions associated with a dry, barking cough may signal an infection in the trachea, while pneumonia (lung inflammation secondary to infection) usually creates painful hacking and coughing with specks of blood in the phlegm.

Cancer of the lungs or respiratory tract might produce a small cough at first which will continually get worse with mucus that is blood-specked.

Phlegm (expectorated matter) produced by coughing can signal different things. White, yellow, green or even brown phlegm can imply that you have an infection. Blood in phlegm signifies the infection is getting worse and requires the immediate attention of a doctor. A gritty material in phlegm may signify a serious condition of the lungs called broncholithiasis, which is an inflammation or obstruction caused by calculi (stones, usually formed by mineral salts) within the bronchi.

Other Causes: Hacking and coughing may also be due to a simple illness such as an upper respiratory infection or common cold, or may signal a more severe illness. It can also be caused by environmental irritants (smoke, dirt, pollens), mucus dripping in the rear of the throat, be a sign of nervousness, or perhaps be a symptom of an underlying health disorder.

Be aware: Important questions your doctor might ask about your cough to help determine what it might signal include: How long has the cough occurred? Did it start suddenly? Has this changed recently? What factors make it worse? What time of day does it most frequently happen? Is your cough accompanied by the production of mucous? If so, exactly what color is the mucus? Have you been experiencing other pains or symptoms? Is your cough associated with work or even exercise? Treatment of your cough depends entirely on the underlying cause.

Caution: Coughing is an important signal from your body and should not be suppressed. Any long-standing or intransigent coughing should receive professional medical treatment. Although home treatment is safe and effective for minor short-term coughing or coughs associated with mild infections, if you experience anything beyond this, you must see a doctor.

Organic Cures

Aromatherapy: Inhale the steam of thyme, benzoin, eucalyptus, frankincense, myrrh, pepper mint, sandalwood, lavender, or juniper essential natural oils. Add a couple of drops of the essential oil of your choice to water, bring to a boil, and then simmer. Place your head over the pan of simmering water, covering your head with a towel and inhale for 10-20 minutes.

Diet: Eat whole-foods, especially plenty of raw vegetables and fruit. Also avoid mucus-producing foods, such as sugar, salty meals, dairy products, and starches. In cases of dry cough unrelated to other conditions, umeboshi plum paste can be very soothing.

You can also make a cough syrup with 8oz. of warm pineapple liquid and two tsp. of honey. The bromelain in the pineapple juice is activated by the honey. As a substitute, mix the juice of one lemon with two tbsps. of glycerine, and 12 tsp. of honey and stir prior to each use. Take 1 tsp. every 30 minutes, reducing as needed. (Don’t refrigerate.)

Another useful home remedy is to slice an onion over a deep dish and cover with honey, letting stand overnight. The next morning, strain the combination of juice and honey and take 1 tsp. 4-5 times throughout the day.

Herbs: Coltsfoot, horehound, and mullein are safe and effective for children and adults. Use as an infusion at least 3 times a day until your symptoms abate.

For a dry annoying cough, make use of an infusion of marshmallow leaves.

For coughing with mucous, make a tea with ginger powder, and a pinch of cinnamon added to a cup of drinking water. In addition, gargle a solution made from one pinch of sodium and two pinches of turmeric powder added to glass of water.

For chronic coughs, mix one part sesame seed products (black seed products if possible) with one part shatavari. Include ginger and raw sugars for taste and take one oz. daily.

Flower Essences: Crab Apple can be helpful if your coughing is due to an infection.

Homeopathy: For dry coughs: Belladonna, Aconite, Drosera, Bryonia, Phosphorus, Hyoscyamus, rumex, and spongia. These last 3 remedies should be taken alone, not in combination with other treatments.

For reducing coughs: Ipecac, Merc sol., Pulsatilla, Kali bich., as well as Kali carbohydrate are all helpful remedies.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the application of water, ice, steam and hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Treatments include full body immersion, vapor baths, bathhouses, sitz baths, colonic irrigation and the application of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for dealing with a wide range of problems and can easily be used in the home as part of a self-care program. Many Naturopathic Physicians, Physiotherapists and Day Spas use Hydrotherapy as part of treatment. All of us suggest several at-home hydrotherapy treatments. Please seek the advice of your alternative health care practitioner before attempting these methods to make sure they are appropriate for you.

*Purified water is important for any hydrotherapy treatment. Treatments for purifying bath water include clear instructions and recommendations.

Liquid Therapy: Consume plenty of organic fresh fruit and vegetable juices. Warm pear juice with cinnamon, cardamon and cumin is a very helpful for coughs that aren’t serious in nature.

Nutritional Supplementation: Zinc lozenges, vitamin A, vitamin C with bioflavonoids, vitamin E, and folic acid are all useful for soothing and relieving coughing.

Alternative Professional Care

If your symptoms persist despite following the remedies listed above, seek the assistance of a qualified health professional. The following professional treatments have been shown to be useful for dealing with and relieving the signs and symptoms of coughing: Traditional Chinese medicine, Acupressure, Used Kinesiology, Bodywork, Chiropractic, Detoxification Therapy, Environmental Medicine, Guided Imagery, Magnetic Field Therapy, Naturopathic Treatments, Neural Treatment, and Osteopathy. (See Glossary for descriptions of these Alternative Therapies.)

Description

Corns are painful, hardened, cone-shaped areas made of thickened skin. They occur as a result of increased development of the corneous layer of your skin (hence their name). They are primarily located on the feet and between the toes.

Calluses, localized injuries, inflammation, infection, or even poor circulation can all manifest signs and symptoms similar to corns. However, corns, when cut away with a razor-sharp instrument, have a clear translucent core, which is exactly how you can be sure if you suffer from them.

Symptoms

Corns may only hurt in response to pressure or they may hurt continuously for no apparent reason.

Causes

The hardest corns occur primarily on the toes, while softer corns typically occur between your toes. Prevention is key and is accomplished by eliminating undue stress on parts of the foot. Assessment by a podiatric physician, osteopath, or chiropractor is of the utmost importance. A professional can evaluate foot gait, the actual role of other joints such as the pelvis in foot pressure problems, possible shoe issues, and any other potential causes.

Proper treatment includes wearing properly fitted footwear. Even if your podiatrist fixes your corn problem, the underlying cause still must be determined and addressed. Sufferers with repeating corns and calluses need ongoing treatments by a podiatric physician. Patients with poor blood circulation from diseases such as diabetes may also require additional care.

Natural Cures

Aromatherapy: Lemon and verucas essential oils applied to the affected area can relieve pain brought on by corns.

Blossom Essences: Save Remedy Cream® applied topically can also be useful.

Herbs: Apply a salve made from calendula petals two to three times a day. This will quickly soften the actual tissue and it also acts being an anti–inflammatory.

Homeopathy: Graphites, Silica, and Antim crud are helpful homeopathic remedies to help relieve corn symptoms.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the process of applying water, ice, steam and alternating cold and hot temperatures to restore health. Treatments include total body immersion, steam baths, saunas, sitz baths, colonic irrigation, and the application of warm and cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for treating an array of conditions and can easily be used in the home as part of a personal-treatment program. Many professionals including naturopathic physicians, physical therapists, and day spas use Hydrotherapy as part of their treatment routines. We suggest trying several at home hydrotherapy remedies. Please seek the advice of an alternative healthcare practitioner prior to undergoing these treatments to ensure they are right for you.

*Purified water is essential in any Hydrotherapy remedy. Remedies involving purifying bath water offer clear instructions.

Nutritional Supplementation: Vitamin A and vitamin E can both be applied topically and taken orally. EFA’s are also recommended, particularly omega-3 oils.

Topical Treatment: Apply Aloe Vera, peroxide gel or rub castor oil on corns twice daily.

Alternative Professional Care

If your symptoms persist despite following the remedies listed above, seek the help of a qualified health professional. These professional therapies have proven useful for dealing with and reducing the signs of corns: Chiropractic, Magnetic Area Therapy, Naturopathic Medicine, Osteopathy, and Reflexology. (See References for descriptions of these alternative therapies.)

Description

Convulsions are involuntary contractions (single or perhaps in a series) from the voluntary muscle tissue caused by unexpected uncontrolled changes in the electric activity from the brain.

Types

Febrile seizures are typical in children between the ages of six months and five years. Signs include: Twitching, jerking, loss of consciousness, and fever. Febrile seizures often run in families, usually are not serious, and occur in one out of every twenty children. If your child is experiencing these symptoms, seek immediate medical attention.

Signs and symptoms

Convulsion symptoms may be mild, characterized only by slight muscle twitches, and light tingling. Serious symptoms include violent whole body jerking, intense fear, possible hallucinations, and occasionally a lapse of consciousness (a grand mal seizure). Seizures that reoccur are often a sign of epilepsy.

Cause

Convulsions or seizures may be attributed to a number of health problems, such as stroke, brain tumors, alcohol and drug withdrawal, metabolic disturbances, neurological disorders, and head trauma. All possible causes must be ruled out and addressed before convulsions can be treated.

*If you are experiencing convulsions, seek immediate medical assistance.

Natural Remedies

Aromatherapy: Lavender, sage, and neroli can help relax the body after convulsions.

Diet plan: Eat wholesome well-balanced foods at regular intervals. Children who suffer from convulsions should not be allowed to consume large meals because this contributes to seizures. Instead, consume small meals throughout the day. Avoid all stimulants such as coffee, soda or sugar. Aspartame (NutraSweet®) should also be avoided, as it has been implicated in some cases of seizure.

Flower Essences: Rescue Remedy® after seizure and for associated emotional/mental says.

Herbs: Asafetida, mugwort, skullcap, and valerian root can be helpful for causing calm.

Homeopathy: Cuprum fulfilled., Belladonna, and Cicuta can help reduce symptoms as well as linger after effects of convulsion.

Nutritional Supplements: There are several nutritional deficiencies that can contribute to seizures. These deficiencies include folic acid, niacin (vitamin B3), thiamine (vitamin B1), vitamin B6, vitamin D, copper, magnesium, manganese, as well as selenium.

Supplementation with amino acids such as taurine, dimethyl glycine, and/or DL-glutamic acid has been shown to beneficial, because they contain B6, the mineral magnesium, and manganese. Working with a qualified nutritionist is essential when creating a nutritional plan dedicated to ridding the body of convulsions.

Note: Omega-6 essential fatty acid supplementation can trigger or exacerbate convulsions caused by temporary lobe epilepsy. In addition, any supplementation plan should be approved by healthcare practitioner caring for the convulsion patient.

Alternative Expert Care

If your symptoms persist despite following the advice listed above, seek the assistance of a competent health professional. The following professional therapies have all proven useful for treating and reducing the symptoms of convulsions: Acupressure, Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Environmental Medicine, Guided Imagery, Light Therapy, Magnetic Field Therapy, Naturopathic Medicine, Osteopathy, as well as traditional Chinese Medicine. (See Glossary for descriptions of these alternative treatments.)

Overview

Conjunctivitis, or pink eye, is so named because it is an irritation of the conjuctiva, which is the mucus membrane layer that outlines the eyes and eyelids. This inflammation causes the eye to have a pinkish appearance.

The signs of Conjunctivitis

In addition to the pink color around the area of irritation, symptoms of conjunctivitis consist of pus discharging from the irritated area, itchiness, pain, swelling, and your inability to tolerate bright lights. The eyelids may also crust together after being shut for long periods of time, such as after resting or sleeping.

Causes of Conjunctivitis

The primary causes of conjunctivitis tend to be allergies, infection, poor diet plan, nutritional deficiencies, and stress.

The use of pharmaceutical medicines can also cause conjunctivitis, as well as other types of vision problems. Included in this are antihistamines, diuretics, oral birth control methods, steroids, chlorpromazine, digoxin, ethambutol, gold (accustomed to treat joint disease and lupus), haloperidol, hydroxychloroquine sulfate, as well as tetracycline.

Natural Cures

Ayurveda: According to Ayurvedic theory, the majority of vision problems are due to digestive complaints. Attention to normal eye exercises, as well as consuming herbs such as amla, licorice, and triphala, along with a diet full of organic foods along with abundant quantities of antioxidant rich vegetables such as carrots and spinach.

Diet: Consume a diet of natural whole foods, along with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Anti-oxidant vegetables such as bell peppers, carrots, celery, parsley, spinach, tomato plants, yellow squash, and dark-green leafy vegetables, such as chard, collards as well as kale. Fresh fruit high in anti-oxidants include berries, especially the darkish rich colored berries, purple and red grapes, apples, cherries, mangoes, melons and citrus fresh fruit. Organic egg cell yolks will also be recommended because they are rich in carotenoids, an important class of anti-oxidants. It is best to eat soft, rather than hard prepared egg yolks to protect the heat sensitive valuable carotenoids. Soft boiled, poached, sunny side upward, or uncooked eggs would be best.

Raw eggs may be eaten if they originate from a reliable organic source and are washed prior to cracking. Salmonella travels on the shell from the egg as well as enters the egg from the outside, so washing eggs with hot sudsy water minimizes exposure.

Avoid all processed and fried foods, sugars, refined, simple carbohydrates, alcoholic beverages, and harmful hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. Whole milk and dairy products should be eaten sparingly, and preferably raw and natural. Avoid conventional flesh foods and overcooked/barbequed meats. Additionally, test for food allergies and sensitivities and eliminate those meals that check positive.

Also, be sure to consume plenty of real, filtered drinking water throughout the day, at least half your body weight in ounces, to help flush out accumulated particles in the eye drainage stations. Proper hydration is also required for maintaining the actual suppleness of the eyes’ contacts. Fresh raw green juices are also an essential addition to one’s every day food plan. See the recipe area for eco-friendly juice suggestions.

Eye Exercises: The following eye exercises are helpful for preventing as well as reversing the majority of types of vision problems.

Rest your eyes for five minutes every thirty minutes to an hour, relaxing your gaze as well as staring into space.

Blink your eyes regularly. This decreases eyestrain.

Consider regular breaks throughout the day to breathe seriously for a few minutes, coupled with neck and shoulder stretching. This helps to ensure that your eye muscles receive adequate levels of oxygen.

To help reduce face tension, yawn in an exaggerated fashion. Doing this helps to stretch and unwind your facial muscles.

Cover your vision with you hands for five minutes as well as breathe seriously. Do this every one to two hours.

Spend 20-30 minutes each day rapidly switching your focus from near to far. An easy way to get this done is to secure your finger six to eight inches from your eyes. Focus on it for any moment, after that focus on an object in the distance. Keep altering your focus from near to much. This is an excellent way to exercise your eye muscles.

Roll your eyes all the way down and up in a complete circular motion for 5 minutes, three to five times a day.

Pin the sheet of reading material to the wall and read it from 2 feet away (or closer if you need to). Each day, step even further away from the wall. With regular practice, you will eventually be able to read the exact same material from across the room. If you are nearsighted, reverse this process, starting because far away from the sheet associated with paper because you need to be, then slowly shifting closer every day until you’ll be able to read it standing only a few inches away.

Liquid Therapy: Drink 16 ounces of carrot juice and/or even carrot juice combined with pure celery, cucumber, parsley, and spinach in two divided doses (eight ounces per serving) every day.

Nutritional Supplements: Useful nutrition include vitamin A, vitamin B complicated, vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, flavonoids, lutein, D-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), riboflavin, selenium, taurine, zeaxthanin, and zinc.

Way of life: Avoid rubbing your eyes together with your hands as well as fingertips, particularly if your hands are unwashed. Regular eye massaging can cause the conjunctiva being irritated as well as inflamed, and may also expose your eyes to harmful infectious agents for example bacteria and viruses.

Chinese medicine (TCM): Based on TCM theory, most eyesight problems are due to diminished lean meats function. To restore healthy liver function, traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners combine Acupuncture with dietary changes and traditional Chinese herbal treatments, such as ginkgo biloba as well as ginseng.

Optional Professional Care

The following professional care treatments have all demonstrated an ability to be helpful for preventing as well as treating cataracts: Detoxification Therapy, Environmental Medicine, Magnetic Therapy, and Naturopathic Medicine. (See Glossary for descriptions of these alternative treatments.)

Overview

Colitis is a chronic inflammation disorder of the colon (lower intestine) that may cause severe health problems in addition to a significant negative impact on an individual’s overall quality of life.

Symptoms

Colitis symptoms vary, and can include anorexia, abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, fever, flatulence, and/or unhealthy weight reduction. In some cases, intestinal bleeding also occurs due to ulceration of the intestinal lining, and can result in bloody diarrhea. Colitis is compounded by the fact that it can frequently result in poor absorption of nutrients, resulting in nutritional deficiencies that may further worsen symptoms. Health sapping autoimmune responses also occurs as a result of colitis. This is because when one has colitis, cells split off from the intestinal walls and the immune system responds as if they were invading microorganisms. In addition, colitis is often accompanied by leaky gut syndrome causing undigested food contaminants to enter the blood stream which the immune system again identifies as dangerous invaders. Such autoimmune responses may further debilitate people suffering from colitis, leaving them fragile, frustrated as well as susceptible to anxiousness and depression.

Causes

Colitis can be caused by a variety of elements, including poor diet and nutrition, food allergies, unbalanced levels of muriatic acid, reduced immunity, bacterial infections, lack of exercise, “leaky gut,” syndrome, pharmaceutical drugs, and stress.

Diet and Nutrition: One of the main causes of colitis, as well as other intestinal disorders, is a diet high in commercially processed foods, processed carbohydrates, harmful fats, and one that contains an abundance of chemical additives and preservatives while lacking sufficient amounts of fiber. Such a diet, which sadly is all too typical in the United States and other developing countries, not only places a huge burden on the gastrointestinal system, it can also result in serious nutritional deficiencies. These factors combined can lead to excess acidity in the GI tract, heartburn, poor assimilation of nutrients, buildup of toxins, and autoimmune reactions, which can cause the colon to become inflamed and ulcerated.

Food Allergies: Food allergies, while often overlooked or wrongly diagnosed by conventional physicians, tend to be another standard reason for colitis, as well as many other conditions. If a person suffers from colitis, or any other intestinal disorder, it is crucial that they be tested for food allergies and sensitivities. Common allergic reaction-causing foods consist of milk and dairy products, wheat, gluten (a component of wheat products), corn, and dark chocolate; although any food has the potential to cause food allergies.

Imbalanced Muriatic Acid Levels: Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is secreted by the stomach to aid in the digestive function of food. Many people are afflicted by a lack of HCl production, which is responsible for impaired digestion and poor absorption of food nutrients, and can eventually affect the colon, where colitis occurs. Likewise, an excess of HCl production can result in a state of over-acidity, causing acid reflux, flatulence, as well as ulceration of the colon coating.

Impaired Immune Function: Impaired immunity may also cause or contribute to colitis, as well as other GI disorders because of the relationship between diminished immune function and poor absorption of nutritional elements. In addition, poor immunity can also result in an increase in toxins within the gastrointestinal tract, as well as cause autoimmune responses that attack the cells of the intestinal coating, leading to ulcers and irritation. Autoimmune responses have been shown through research to be linked to both colitis and Crohn’s illness.

Infections: Infections caused by germs, fungi, and parasites all adversely affect general gastrointestinal health. In addition to liberating toxins into the GI system, infectious organisms can cause autoimmune reactions, “leaky stomach” syndrome, poor absorption of nutrients, as well as dysbiosis, or over growing of harmful intestinal flora such as Candidiasis.

Lack of Exercise: Failure to exercise regularly can result in reduced production of digestive and pancreatic enzymes, and hydrochloric acid (HCl), all of which are necessary for healthy intestinal function. If lacking, a wide variety of gastrointestinal disorders can result.

“Leaky Gut”: “Leaky gut” syndrome refers to a condition caused by damage to the stomach as well as intestinal coating, specifically the mucosa. As a result of this harm, undigested meats, and numerous microorganisms that normally stay within the GI tract enter into the bloodstream. This in turn, causes the immune system to overreact, producing antibodies that attack the cells of the intestines. As well as GI disorders, “leaky gut,” syndrome has additionally been linked to rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and ankylosing spondylitis.

Pharmaceutical Drugs: The following drugs can all cause and exacerbate numerous gastrointestinal disorders, including colitis: Accutane, Alka-Seltzer Antacid as well as Alka-Seltzer Pain Reliever, Anturane, Genuine Bayer Aspirin, Bayer Plus Aspirin, Bayer Normal Strength Enteric Aspirin, Bufferin Analgesic Pills and Caplets, Ceptaz, Clinoril, Cuprimine, Ecotrin Enteric Aspirin, Feldene, Ilosone, Lamprene, Leukine IV Infusion, Lopid, Marplan, Meclomen, Novantrone, Paraplatin, Piroxicam, Prokine I.V. Infusion, Retrovir, Rynatuss, Supprelin Injection, Suprax, Ticlid, Tolectin, Toradol IM Injection, Trecator-SC, Trilisate, and Voltaren.

Stress: Chronic and poorly managed stress has a direct effect on the intestinal system, and elevated stress levels have long been linked by medical research to a wide variety of GI disorders, such as colitis, because of how tension results in elevated acid manufacturing and impairs overall digestive function.

Natural Cures

Ayurveda: Ayurveda physicians treat colitis by teaching their patients how to better manage stress, using tools such as deep breathing. In addition, they screen for food allergies and unwanted organisms, create diet programs tailored to every patient’s specific metabolic needs, and utilize herbs as well as nutritional supplements, such as acidophilus (to protect against dysbiosis), boswellia (to reduce inflammation), cumin, garlic, ginger, and fish oils, a rich source of omega-3s, which have been proven to act as natural anti-inflammatory agents.

Detoxification Treatment: To relieve inflammation of the GI track, think about administering an enema 2-5 occasions per week with a solution containing butyric acid. (Add 1 tbsp. butyric acid to 1 quart of warm water.) Butyric acid helps to heal inflammation from the intestinal wall space.

Diet: Because what we eat plays such a key role in the curing as well as prevention of Colitis, we have included this broadened article The Organic Cures Healing Food Plan, which can be printed out for a simple reference.

Changing your diet

Choosing to upgrade to a healthier diet is among the most life-changing decisions you can make, and something that in this day and age is essential to both prevent and reverse sickness. This means choosing to eat a variety of foods aimed specifically at healing and avoiding those meals that can undermine your recovery process or cause stress to your digestive system. Natural healing foods taste delicious, and have a higher degree of nutrients as well as energy than the typical foods eaten on the standard American food plan.

Be Patient

Throughout the first month or two, allow for the gradual transition from your typical way of consuming, to an organic whole foods plan. Be gentle, yet ruthless with yourself, realizing that what you eat has a significant effect in your energy levels, your general health, as well as your ability to recover.

What to Consume

Vegetables

Eat the freshest natural fruits and vegetables available, with a strong emphasis on steamed, raw, or even juiced darkish leafy vegetables such as kale, collards, chard, bok choy, spinach, along with other regional vegetables. Choose from a broad range of vegetables, rotating your selection as well as experimenting with a multitude of fresh periodic produce. Broccoli, squash, tomatoes and avocados are great basics. Use lettuces of every color and form to create salads of great variety. Eat as many raw and lightly steamed vegetables and fresh salads as you can absorb.

Note: For anyone with digestive problems such as Colitis, pureed vegetables are an excellent option. Eating blended foods is less work for the body because your meals are already partly broken down. Although it is unneeded to chew blended food, it is still important to move each bite of food around in your mouth prior to swallowing to activate saliva’s role in digestion.

Meats

Enjoy a fist-sized serving of protein for each meal, which translates to around 2-6 ounce of ideally organic proteins. Non-vegetarians might choose from free-range poultry, preferably turkey, wild-caught fish which is low in mercury, and lean bison, lamb, and cow. Depending on your individual needs, consider limiting your consumption of organic red meat to one helping every four days. It is crucial to only consume red meat that is organic, due to the toxic build up stored in the fat of meat. Fish such as blue seafood, cod, Greenland halibut, mackerel, and wild-caught salmon are excellent sources of both wholesome protein as well as fats. Avoid the following: Farm-raised salmon, because of the antibiotics and chemical dyes they include; tuna, which is high in mercury; and seafood, which contain a high degree of contaminants.

Excellent organic vegetarian protein sources include free range eggs, tempeh, occasional tofu, legumes and beans, especially red dried beans, French green lentils, and black, aduki and mung beans. When preparing beans for best flavor and simple digestion, we recommend soaking them overnight in purified water, draining and then rinsing the beans prior to cooking. Small servings of drenched and rinsed nuts and seeds, such as hemp, pumpkin and sunflower seeds are specifically beneficial. Flax seeds make great additions to smoothies, and also can be ground as well as dehydrated, or even low-heat baked into delicious crackers.

Complicated Carbohydrates

For sustained power, eat complex carbohydrates such as legumes, red potatoes, yams, and whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat or millet. We suggest limiting your overall carbohydrate consumption to 30% or less of the foods you eat at mealtime. This means increasing your vegetables as well as protein quantities if necessary, in order to balance out the complex carbs.

How to prepare and season your food

Steam vegetables in purified water until somewhat tender, or lightly sauté in avocado oil, water or shoyu. Enjoy homemade soups, and try pressure cooking for speed as well as nutrient retention, especially when tinkering with legumes as well as beans.

Ocean Salt is an important addition to the diet, and should replace commercial or refined table salt. Additional seasonings include a multitude of fresh or dried herbal treatments, gomasio, powder or chopped sea veggies, such as dulse, and other interesting powders or shakes and condiments found on health food store shelves. Garlic, ginger, cayenne, chili and all other types of peppers, and onions can be used regularly for their great flavor and immune-improving properties.

The preferred oil to cook and/or bake with is uncooked, organic avocado oil. Extra virgin olive oil, high lignin flax seed oil, or hemp seed oil can be drizzled on steamed vegetables, cooked whole grains, and used as the base for homemade salad dressings. Many health stores have an uncooked nut butter called tahini, which consists of pureed sesame seeds; tahini is a delicious healthy plant fat, and makes a great base for salad dressings, dips or spreads.

Dietary Boosts

Live Cultured Foods

Live cultured foods are a delicious and valuable add-on to your diet plan. Eat raw, live cultured vegetables such as unpasteurized sauerkraut, kim chi, and cultured dairy products such as yogurt as well as kefir. Be sure to choose organic dairy products, and choose raw dairy whenever possible. (Look for the soon to be completed recipes with regard to Kefir and yogurt making.)

Vegetable Juices

Freshly made vegetable/ fruit juices add an effective nutritional boost to your food plan. Juice produced from a wide variety of vegetables are delicious, and essential to recovery, and a great preventative tool when utilized as a continuing supplement to any diet plan. See recipe section for ideas.

Sea Vegetables, Asian Foods and Broths

Asian foods such as miso, ume plum, and a wide array of sea vegetables are fantastic nutrient rich foods. Ocean vegetables vary in flavor and texture, making them fun to experiment with. Miso makes a delicious flavoring in greens dressings, dips, sauces, spreads, and as the classic, miso soup.

Healing broths are packed with delicious life-enhancing minerals and may be sipped like tea or eaten as soups. Make a delicious vegetable broth simply by cooking an abundance of clean organic vegetables in pure water. Miso soup, strained vegetable broth, broths from the seaweeds wakame, hijiki, and kombu, and fish and meat broths, are easy to digest, which makes them especially valuable for any bloating.

Water

Throughout the day, drink plenty of pure filtered water. Avoid drinking – as well as swimming, and taking a shower in – unfiltered tap water, as plain tap water contains chemical toxins and pesticide residues that can settle in high concentrations within our organs.

Allergic Reaction Testing

Get tested for potential food allergies and sensitivities, and avoid all meals to which you’re allergic or even sensitive. Common allergy-causing meals include milk and all dairy products, soy, chocolate, corn, and wheat products. Consider a rotation diet or even elimination diet in order to further reduce the likelihood of food allergies, especially if you can’t get tested right away.

What to Avoid

Processed Sugar , Flour, Artificial Food, Soya Foods

Eliminate all processed sugar and sugar products, simple carbohydrate foods such as commercial white flour found in white breads, bagels, muffins, pastries, cookies and pastas. Also consider omitting whole grain, whole wheat and whole wheat byproducts from your diet for many months. Whole wheat is a highly allergic food, and can be the root of a wide variety of digestive system troubles. As the weeks go by, notice if you feel better; if yes, consider eliminating whole wheat for a year, giving your aggravated digestive system a long earned break. Selecting alternatives such as spelt, kamut, and rye will give the body a rest from eating whole wheat and can offer a major energy boost.

Choose to eat a minimum of processed soy products. By far, the best of all soy meals are fresh or frozen edame and tempeh, the fermented soy product that is actually less prepared and easier to digest than other soy products. Stop eating all “junk” and processed foods, as well as just about all foods that contain artificial ingredients, additives, colorings, flavorings, and preservatives (such as carrageenan, BHA, BHT, salt nitrite, sulfites, saccharin, artificial sweeteners, and cyclamates).

Inorganic Dairy, Excess Caffeine or Alcoholic beverages, Hydrogenated Fats

Stay clear of inorganic milk and dairy products, including yogurt and cheese. When consuming dairy, always select organic milk products, and if possible, in the raw form. Toxins are stored in fats, so choosing natural is especially important in the case of dairy and beef.

Minimize your consumption of coffee and other caffeine dependent products, for example soda and coffee. Avoid commercial non-herbal teas, and excess alcohol. Do not consume saturated, trans- hydrogenated or partly-hydrogenated fats and oils. Margarine and shortening are made from these and should be eliminated.

To minimize symptoms of colitis, eat little meals throughout the day, rather than following the traditional three large meals per day regimen. To protect against colitis, make sure that your diet consists of abundant amounts of natural dietary fiber, but if you already suffer from colitis, avoid fiber-rich meals, as they can further irritate the intestinal tract lining, making your signs and symptoms worse.

For many plagued with colitis, the raw meals diet might be extremely advantageous; for others, raw food may not be the best choice. Each person responds in a different way based on their individual chemistry and the depth of the situation being healed. To learn more, find out about the Raw Food Diet plan. You can print this full article for simple reference. Several books are available to give you a bigger overview of exactly how eating uncooked and live foods might be the perfect recovery path. (See the recommended publications section.)

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet – A dietary strategy that has been discovered to be effective within the majority of colitis cases is known as The Specific Carbohydrate Diet. It had been developed by Elaine Gottschall, M.S., in order to help her four year-old daughter heal from colitis symptoms, and is based on the research of the late Sidney Haas, M.D., who discovered that the majority of gastrointestinal problems are caused by an imbalance of carbohydrates in relationship to the microorganisms that naturally occur in the gastrointestinal tract.

According to Dr. Haas, when this relationship becomes out of balance, the microorganisms become uncontrolled and discharge toxins, leading to poor absorption of food, and especially poor digestion of carbohydrates, a staple of the traditional western diet. To reverse this trend, Haas, and later, Gottschall created the rigid dietary regimen that comprises the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Based on her study of hundreds of patients with serious gastrointestinal problems, Gottschall finds that the diet can deliver complete outcomes in as little as 3 weeks, but only if it is totally adhered to. The eating guidelines are as follows:

Avoid: All prepared, smoked canned or breaded meat, seafood, seaweed, prepared cheeses, seed products, potatoes, yams, parsnips, chick peas, bean sprouts, soybeans, mung beans, fava beans, as well as just about all cereal whole grains in any form, including flour. Avoid milk, and all products made from whole milk, dried whole milk powder, buttermilk or acidophilus milk, commercially prepared yogurt, sour cream and frozen treats. Do not consume soymilk, instant tea, coffee, coffee alternatives, beer, cornstarch, arrowroot, dark chocolate, carob, bouillon cubes, instant soup bases, any item made with refined sugar, agar-agar, carrageenan, pectin, ketchup, molasses, corn and maple syrup, and any flour made from dried beans, and baking powder.

Consume: Fresh or frozen, preferably organic meats, poultry, wild caught seafood, organic eggs, organic whole milk and products made from organic milk such as cheeses, homemade yogurt prepared at low temps, as well as dry curd cottage cheese. Select from a wide variety of freshly prepared, ideally organic vegetables. Vegetables and fruits are the main stay of this food plan. Do not use canned foods with the exception of sodium-free canned red salmon, white albacore tuna or sardines, and only sometimes. Daily juicing with fresh green vegetables is an important addition to healing while offering heavy nutritional nourishment. With this and all illness, providing yourself with abundant supportive nutrients is essential.

Follow this diet provided your signs and symptoms persist. Adherence can be challenging, but maintenance is essential to obtain the desired results.

Herbal Medicine: Useful herbal treatments include agrimony, bayberry, lavender, geranium, goldenseal, lemon balm, marshmallow root, peppermint, plantain, wild yam, and valerian. The traditional herbal remedy Robert’s Formula is also recommended, and includes comfrey, Echinacea, geranium, goldenseal, marshmallow extract, poke extract, slippery elm, and wild indigo.

Homeopathy: Useful naturopathic remedies consist of, Aloe, Allumium sativa, Arsen. Alb., Belladonna, Cantharis, Colchicum, Merc. Sol.,and Nux vomica.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the process of using water, ice, steam and alternating between hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Remedies include full body immersion, steam baths, saunas, sitz baths, colonic irrigation and the application of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective with regard to treating an array of conditions and can easily be utilized in the home included in a personal-care program. Many Naturopathic Physicians, Physical Therapists as well as day health spas use Hydrotherapy as part of their treatment. Soothing baths 2-5 nights per week can help to relieve symptoms of colitis, as can sitz baths, and alternating cold and hot water compresses placed over the abdomen.

We suggest a number of at-home hydrotherapy treatments. Make sure you seek the recommendation of your alternative health care practitioner before undergoing these procedures to make sure they are appropriate for you.

Juice Therapy: Useful juice remedies include aloe liquid; wheatgrass liquid; cabbage, pawpaw, and carrot juice; carrot and apple juice; as well as carrot, beet, and cucumber juice

Lifestyle: If you smoke cigarettes, stop, as well as avoid contact with secondhand cigarette smoke. In addition, learn to effectively deal with and manage stress. Also try to exercise regularly.

If you are presently taking pain killers or additional NSAIDs, think about replacing them with safer, more effective natural remedies.

Emotional Aspects: Colitis, along with just about all digestive disorders can be triggered through unexpressed feelings, especially frustrations that are stored in your gut. If you are not comfortable expressing verbally or through physical movement, these emotions can settle into the body as discomfort in the gut. Withheld emotions are a common cause of Colitis, so it is valuable to embrace the nature of your Colitis by asking yourself if your emotions are expressing themselves via your bowels.

If this is indeed the case, look for support from a trusted or highly recommended source, to support a deeper understanding of your emotions. Emotional expression goes hand in hand with actual expression, and the movement choices can be highly useful, especially movement therapies such as NIA or Yoga Treatment.

Nutritional Supplements: Useful nutritional supplements include vitamin A, beta carotene, ascorbic acid, calcium, the mineral magnesium, potassium, and zinc, taken with a multivitamin pill/multimineral formula. Essential fatty acids, especial Ω-3 oils, are also recommended.

Tension Management: Understanding how to decrease and correctly manage stress is important for helping protect against colitis. Stress reduction techniques are also very helpful for dealing with emotions such as anger, depression, and hopelessness that can exacerbate symptoms. Alternative health practitioners help their patients accomplish stress reduction through the use of numerous mind/body medicine techniques, for example biofeedback, hypnotherapy, and relaxation exercises. Deep breathing is another type of stress management that can be helpful. There are many methods to meditate. Among the easiest is simply to sit comfortably in a chair with your eyes closed as you focus on your breathing. Do this for 5-10 minutes twice daily and gradually extend every session to 20-30 minutes. To enhance your time and efforts, concentrate on psychologically repeating a peaceful expression each time that you inhale and exhale, permitting all other thoughts to arise and pass without getting involved in them. At first, this may seem difficult, however with committed exercise you will eventually find yourself capable to do this while experiencing higher degrees of calm and serenity.

Alternative Professional Care

The following therapies can also help to prevent and relieve colitis: Ayurveda, Psychophysiological Feedback Training, Neurotherapy, Bodywork (Feldenkrais Method, Reflexology, Shiatsu, Therapeutic Touch), Craniosacral Therapy, Environmental Treatments, Enzyme Therapy, Fasting, Blossom Essences, Led Imagery, Hypnotherapy, Mind/Body Treatments, Naturopathic Treatments, Neural Treatment, Osteopathic Treatments, Oxygen Therapy, Qigong, Tai Chi, Chinese medicine, and Yoga exercise. (See Resources for additional information regarding these and other Alternative Treatments)

Overview

Both the common cold and the flu are among the most common health issues. Each year, around half of all Americans encounter at least one cold, and 40% will develop the flu, also called influenza. Both health conditions display the same signs and symptoms, with the main difference being that virus symptoms are often more severe, last longer, and can end up being potentially fatal.

While conventional, drug-dependent medicine places emphasis on suppressing cold and flu symptoms with prescription and over-the-counter medications, practitioners of natural medicine look to address and correct the reasons individuals become vulnerable to colds and flu, particularly focusing on revitalizing the defense mechanisms. These approaches also provide the additional advantage of being free of harmful side effects, unlike therapeutic drugs, such as many well-liked over-the-counter medications that contain the common ingredient phenylpropanolamine (PPA) which has resulted in a number of fatal cerebral vascular accidents. In addition, the widespread use of antibiotics to deal with colds as well as flu are not only worthless—since antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections, and both colds and flu come from viruses—they may also cause supplementary infections and impair bowel function, causing you to be weaker and much more susceptible to various other serious illnesses.

Typically, every year at the start of flu season, flu alerts appear in the media, along with recommendations that people receive an annual virus vaccine. The value of this kind of vaccines is questionable, however, and many people who receive them come down with the flu anyway. Moreover, there is growing medical evidence which suggests that the ingredients in flu vaccines may actually be harmful, and capable of causing serious damage to the immune system. For these reasons, professionals of organic, alternative methods recommend a health program that can significantly improve your capability to resist colds and flu or, if you do develop them, quickly recover from them.

Types

There are a number of types of common colds and flu, but all of them are due to respiratory system viruses, mainly a strain of virus known as rhinoviruses. Colds fall under two main categories; head colds as well as chest common colds. Either class of cold, if left untreated, can lead to more severe respiratory conditions, such as bronchitis and pneumonia.

There are literally hundreds of different virus strains. In contrast to colds, which can strike any time of year, virus outbreaks are generally seasonal , usually happening in late autumn and during the winter. For this reason, the time in which flu epidemics occur is often referred to as “flu season.” The flu may also result in bronchitis or even pneumonia, along with other serious diseases, such as croup, encephalitis (irritation of the mind), myocarditis (inflammation of the heart), and Reye’s syndrome, an illness that primarily strikes kids and which affects the brain and liver.

Symptoms of Common Colds and Flu

The difference between cold and flu symptoms is one of level. As a general rule, virus symptoms tend to be more severe and last longer, when compared with colds. The most common symptoms of each condition are body aches, cough, fatigue, headache, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, in addition to dry, sore, and/or rigid sinuses that may make inhaling and exhaling difficult.

A fever is another common symptom, and is more likely in cases of the virus. Diarrhea and vomiting also occur.

Ironically, although conventional medicine looks to control coughing, runny nose, and sneezing, these reactions are actually healthy and a part of your body’s attempts to cleanse itself from the infectious viruses and toxins that cause colds and virus to develop. Fever is another efficient immune response, and should be allowed to run its course naturally, except in cases of a fever that surpass 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Mucous buildup can also be part of the defense response as the body attempts to prevent multiplication of the invading virus. As the virus becomes engulfed in mucus, it is then expelled by the body in the form of phlegm. In general, this kind of immune responses are completely ignored or misunderstood by conventional physicians. As a result, the traditional medications they prescribe hinder this process as well as further deteriorate the defense mechanisms, causing colds and flu to last longer than they might otherwise.

Causes of Colds and Virus

Both common colds and flu are mainly caused by infections. However, being exposed to such viruses does not mean that you will develop a cold or virus. In addition, the seriousness of the signs and symptoms a person develops if he or she does contract a cold or virus can vary dramatically. For example, 3 people subjected to the same virus to the same degree might have 3 completely different reactions towards the virus. One person may not develop any symptoms, the second person might have a mild cold that only lasts for a couple of days, yet the third person might wind up bed-ridden with the virus and go on to develop pneumonia. It is the health of your defense mechanisms, not the viruses on their own that decide if you will develop a cold or flu as well as, if so, exactly how mild or even severe your symptoms are going to be. This is a theory that is understood by practitioners of alternative medicine, however mostly ignored by conventional doctors. Therefore, relying on conventional medical methods to treat and stop colds as well as flu may most often result in failure. As the late Emanuel Cheraskin, Maryland, DMD, the pioneering integrative physician, declared, “It is time to put to rest the idea that germs jump in to people as well as cause diseases.” Exactly what matters isn’t the virus, however, but the internal health of your body.

Other professionals of natural medicine point out that colds and virus may end up being one of the methods of detoxification the body uses to free itself of poisons in order to bring itself back to a state associated with health and stability. Based on these two perspectives, it is easy to see that attention needs to be placed on the various elements that can cause you to have a weak immune system and therefore be more likely to develop a cold or flu. The primary factors that weaken immunity and increase inclination towards colds as well as flu tend to be allergies, poor diet, tension, and the use of certain pharmaceutical drugs.

Allergic reactions: The primary allergic reactions associated with a heightened likelihood of developing a cold or flu is food allergic reactions that increase your body’s production of mucus. The most typical offenders are whole milk, wheat, and by products containing these. Such foods have a high mucus content and bring about allergic responses that further increase mucous production, while simultaneously deteriorating your immune system and increasing the risk of respiratory system infections.

Pharmaceutical Drugs: Based on the Physicians’ Table Reference the following drugs may all improve your risk of developing a cold or flu: Actimmune, AeroBid Inhaler Program, Aerobid-M Inhaler System, Alferon N Injection, Asacol Postponed-Release Tablets, CHEMET (succimer) Capsules, Intron A, Lopressor HCT Tablets, Nipent Injection, Permax Tablets, ProSom Pills, Rowasa Anal Suppositories and Rectal Headgear Enema, Videx Tablets, Powder for Dental Solution, as well as Pediatric Natural Dental Solution.

Tension: Stress is estimated to be a primary factor in more than 95% of all disease conditions, and is particularly responsible for increased susceptibility to the most popular colds and flu. When you’re experiencing stress, your body releases hormones that cause your thymus gland to shrink. Because the thymus gland helps to maintain a strong immune system, as it reduces, your immunity is lessened, thus increasing your risk of cold, flu and viral infection. Among the most common causes of tension are frustration, anxiety, depression, divorce, the death of a loved one, fear, job loss or a new job, moving to a new location, and nervousness. Lack of or sleep is also a major source of stress. Whenever you fail to get enough healthy rest, your body’s natural killer (NK) cells, an important part of your immune system, can be impaired, making it easy for invading viruses and other pathogens to enter the body.

Natural Remedies

The key to treating common colds and virus is to increase your body’s defense activity. The following organic therapies will help you accomplish this goal safely and effectively.

Traditional Chinese Medicine: Acupuncture helps to restore your system’s supply of ATP (adenosine triphosphate, which is produced in all cells and responsible for energy) as well as cortisol, a hormone essential for properly adapting to stress. Both of these results help to improve immune function. TCM can also help to balance and improve digestion, endocrine gland function, and also the health of the lungs and other organs, all of which also help the body fight off and resist cold and flu infections. In addition, acupuncture treatments can help prevent colds and flu.

Aromatherapy: Add any of the following essential oils to a pot of hot water: Camphor, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, pepper mint, pine, rosemary oil, or tea tree essential oil. Cover your head with a towel and bend over the pot, inhaling deeply.

Ayurveda: Professionals of Ayurveda medicine deal with colds as well as flu by helping your body to eliminate indigestible toxins, which attract viruses and impair immune performance. The herbs used to achieve this include ginger, cayenne pepper, black spice, long spice, and basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), all of which stimulate digestion. Patients are also advised to drink lots of warm water throughout the day, as well as ginger tea, in order to break up mucus and phlegm. Ginger tea can easily be prepared by adding several slices of fresh, raw ginger extract to boiling water, and letting the mixture steep for 20- 30 minutes before drinking. In cases of colds or flu with a dry cough, adding bits of licorice extract to the blend is advised.

Chiropractic Care: Many cases of colds and virus occur due to dysfunction in the nervous system because of spinal misalignments, which can considerably decrease immune function. Chiropractic care adjustments help to correct this issue. It can also be useful for people who tend to be susceptible to regular congestion as well as ear infections due to misalignments of the backbone along the neck and near the cranium. Additionally, chiropractic adjustments help to increase the overall working of the endocrine system, including the thymus gland, which can become impaired because of misalignments between your shoulder blades.

Diet: To improve your ability to resist colds and virus, emphasize fresh, organic veggies, such as celery, leafy greens, onions, and orange squash, which are consumed raw or even lightly steamed. You can also make fresh vegetable juices as well as soups, which will help the body remain in a rather alkaline state, free of acid. Also make sure to drink lots of water throughout the day, and avoid mucus-developing foods such as milk and dairy products, whole wheat, and most whole grains (millet as well as brown grain are suitable exceptions). Additionally eliminate all processed meals, selecting organic whole foods and free range chicken, poultry, and meat.

Herbs: Herbs have long been used by most world cultures to treat and prevent colds and flu, because of their ability to stimulate immune performance, and their antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-catarrhal properties. Herbs that can also improve immune function include astragalus, echinacea, goldenseal, licorice, as well as St.John’s Wort. Goldenseal is also excellent for helping to reverse irritation of the mucous membranes.

Garlic (Allium sativum) is another excellent herbal remedy for colds and flu. For best results, take garlic clove in higher doses. High-quality garlic capsules are more efficient in this regard than garlic cloves because they provide more concentrated doses associated with allicin, garlic’s active ingredient, which has been shown to improve immune function and to stimulate the production of flu antibodies.

According to Jonathan Wright, M.D., a holistic doctor, the following herbal combination method is also superb for both colds and flu: Cayenne pepper, Echinacea, myrrh, osha (also known as Porter’s lovage), and red-colored clover. This particular combination can be taken as a tea (3-5 cups daily) or as a tincture (30 drops of every herb, four times daily).

Homeopathy: Useful naturopathic remedies in regard to colds and flu include Aconitum napellus, Allium cepa, Belladonna, Baptisia, Eupatorium perfoliatum, Natrum muriaticum, Nux vomica, and Viscum album (mistletoe), an homeopathic remedy that can be used both orally or by injection.

Another popular homeopathic fix for colds as well as flu is Oscillococcinum, which is widely used within Europe. For best results, at the onset of your symptoms, take six pellets dissolved underneath the tongue, every six hours. As with other naturopathic remedies , avoid eating or drinking for 30 minutes before and after.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the process of using water, ice, steam as well as alternating between hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Treatments consist of full entire body immersion, steam baths, bathhouses, sitz bathing, colonic irrigation and the use of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for dealing with a wide range of conditions and can easily be used in your home as part of a self-care program. Many Naturopathic Physicians, Physical Therapists and day spas make use of Hydrotherapy in their treatment. We suggest several at-home hydrotherapy treatments. Make sure you seek the recommendation of your alternative health care practitioner before undergoing these methods to ensure they are appropriate for you.

Hyperthermia: Hyperthermia involves artificially creating fever in the body for the purpose of boosting defense function. Hyperthermia can be an impressive method of eliminating toxins and heavy metals, in addition to infectious viruses and bacteria that cannot survive in raised body temps. We recommend several at-home hyperthermia remedies. Please seek the advice of your alternative health care practitioner prior to undergoing these sweat-inducing procedures to ensure they are appropriate for you.

*Pure water is essential for any hydrotherapy and hyperthermia treatment. Remedies involving purified water offer clear instructions.

Juice Therapy: The following liquid combinations is a good idea: carrot, beet, and cucumber; carrot, beet, tomato, green pepper, as well as watercress; carrot and celery; carrot as well as spinach; as well as lemon, lemon, pineapple, dark currant, elderberry juice. With regard to added advantage, you can include garlic, ginger, and/or onion in any of the above juice combos.

Nutritional Supplements: The following nutrients can be extremely helpful for dealing with common colds and flu: Vitamin A (avoid using if pregnant), ascorbic acid, zinc (30-50 mg, daily), selenium (200-800 mcg, once per day), and D-Acetyl-Cysteine, or NAC (600 mg, twice per day). Other useful nutrients include colloidal silver, colostrum, thymus extract, and beta-1,3-glucan.

The late Robert Atkins, Maryland, founder of the Atkins Diet and an acclaimed alternative physician, suggested the following nutritional formula, which he recommended taking every hour for approximately ten dosages during the first day of cold or virus symptoms:

Beta carotene: 5,000 IU

Vitamin A: 300 IU

Quercetin: 80 mg

Zinc oxide: 25 mg

Vitamin C: 500 mg

Calcium supplement pantothenate: 80 mg

Citrus fruit bioflavonoids: 80 mg

Selenium: 30 mcg

Magnesium: 15mg

Garlic clove capsules with allicin: 160 mg

Folic acid: 400 mcg

Dimethylglycine HCL: 20 mg

Pyridoxine HCL: 4 mg

Riboflavin: 2 mg

Copper mineral (chelate): 1 mg

Niacinamide: 15 mg

As a common preventive measure, Dr. Atkins suggests supplementing with this particular formula daily and up to 3 times per day for people who were really susceptible to common colds and flu.

Topical Treatment: To treat head colds, spray your throat and nasal passages with witch hazel.

Optional Professional Treatment

The following treatments can also be helpful for treating and preventing colds and virus: Alphabiotics, Applied Kinesiology, Biofeedback Training and Neurotherapy, Detoxing Therapy, Environment Medicine, Energy Medicine (Gentle Beam Electrical generator), Fasting, Flower Treatments, Guided Imagery, Magnetic Field Therapy, Orthomolecular Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, as well as Oxygen Therapies (hydrogen peroxide, ozone). See Resources for additional information regarding these and other optional therapies.

Description

Cold sores are small, frequently recurring blisters that may appear any place around the mouth, and are caused by the virus herpes simplex 1 (HSV1). Groupings of cold sore blisters are called a cluster.

Symptoms

The first outbreak of cold sores might be accompanied by virus-like symptoms, along with fever, neck pain, lymph node enlargement, and fatigue, or it might go undetected. Typically, repeated outbreaks can appear weeks or even months following the first outbreak, however it almost always is less severe and shorter than the first episode. Repeated outbreaks usually start with a burning feeling that is rapidly followed by blisters that itch and can be very sore. Within a few days or weeks, these burst, dry, encrust, and disappear. Although the infection can remain in the body forever, the number of outbreaks tends to drop over a period of years. They can be managed and in some instances eliminated.

Cold sores are very contagious, and can end up being spread from the mouth to the genitalia via oral sex.

Cause

Herpes virus is the cause of herpes. HSV causes blisters on the mouth and in genital herpes virus in, around or on the vaginal area. Even though once you contract the herpes virus it is for life, you can stop outbreaks. They can be controlled and in some instances eliminated.

Almost all people experience cold sores at least one time throughout their lives. Following the first assault, the virus remains dormant in nerve cells, and can be reactivated later by stress, colds, warm weather, anxiety, nutritional deficiencies, or even other ailments, especially ones with accompanying fever. Extended cold sore outbreaks may occur in people suffering from compromised immune function or in people who have high stress levels.

Herpes zoster, Coxsackie virus, low thyroid, and health issues that suppress immune function can all contribute to cold sore outbreaks, and should be addressed before long-term relief can be achieved.

Natural Cures

Aromatherapy: Geranium, lemon, chamomile, tea sapling, and/or rose essential oils applied topically can help speed the healing process.

Diet: Eat a whole foods diet. Eat plenty of fresh green salads, raw and steamed vegetables, cultured, fermented products such as yogurt and sauerkraut. Refrain from eating milk products, sugar, whitened flour and other processed foods. Avoid citrus fruits, including pineapple. Purchase organic whenever you can and only eat organic animal protein.

Drink plenty of fresh pure water daily.

Blossom Essences: The most useful flower essences for coping with the accompanying emotional or mental tension of cold sores are Save Remedy®, Save Remedy Cream®, and Crab Apple.

Herbal treatments: Herbs that boost your potential to deal with cold sores by strengthening the immune system include the tinctures of Echinacea, Siberian ginseng, nettle, and goldenseal. Combine in equivalent parts and take a ½ tsp. of this mixture three times a day. You can also externally apply diluted tincture of myrrh or calendula. Licorice root tincture used topically has been shown to inactivate herpes simplex contaminants and hinder the growth of the virus.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the process of using water, ice, steam and alternating cold and hot temperatures to maintain and restore health. Remedies include complete body immersion, steam bathing, saunas, sitz baths, colonic irrigation as well as the application of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for treating a wide range of conditions and can easily be utilized in the home as part of a self-treatment program. Many Naturopathic Doctors, Physical Therapists and day spas use Hydrotherapy as part of their remedy treatments. We recommend several at-home hydrotherapy treatments. Please seek the advice of your alternative health care practitioner before undergoing these types of procedures to make sure they are appropriate for you.

*Purified water is essential for any hydrotherapy treatment.

Lifestyle: Manage stress and stay rested.

Nutritional Supplementation: There are many optional cures in regard to herpes outbreaks. Choose from these options. During outbreaks use L-lysine cream applied on the blisters, and M-lysine supplements (four grams daily for the first four times, then five hundred mg 3 times daily for just two weeks) taken orally. Please note: Don’t take L-Lysine on a daily basis, however, as it may produce an imbalance among additional amino acids. If continual every day lysine use may be the only way for you to prevent repeated attacks, then you definitely must make diet modifications. First get rid of all wheat products, replace with other whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, and buckwheat in your diet and decrease amino acid lysine into scaled-down dosages, used with a complete spectrum amino acid blend. Additionally, ask your alternative health care practitioner about amino-acid user profile testing. Other useful nutrients to help prevent and treat cold sores are vitamin B complex, vitamin C with bioflavonoids, vitamin E, and zinc gluconate. Acidophilus bacteria and thymus extract can also help, as the flavonoid quercetin, that has been shown to hinder the herpes virus.

Note: The two amino acids most important in healing herpes infections are lysine and arginine. Arginine stimulates the growth and duplication of the herpes virus, while lysine inhibits it. What`s essential is the number of arginine to lysine. The larger the arginine to amino acid lysine ratio, the more herpes virus is likely to grow. Conversely, if amino acid lysine is higher with regard to arginine, the growth is actually inhibited. Dark chocolate, peanuts, the majority of cereal whole grains, nuts, and seeds have more arginine compared to lysine.

Topical Ointment Treatment: Use vitamin E cream or saturate gauze with vitamin E essential oil and apply for 15 minutes over the area of outbreak.

BHT, a natural food preservative, put into an alcohol solution is another effective topical ointment solution.

Fast Acting Herpes Virus Protocol

This is a natural cure for herpes. This protocol works best before breakouts occur however, you can still get fast results when a breakout is underway by substituting Hydrogen Peroxide in regard to DMSO:

Buy the following supplies, available at the majority of health food stores or even online sources:

DMSO-

Food Grade Peroxide

Laurea Plant

Red Marine Algae

Lysine

Calcium

Stable Liquid Air

Apply the thin layer of DMSO to the afflicted area, the soles of your feet, and your lower back three times daily. Do this when you initially feel a breakout may be underway, before an eruption occurs. If you are already broken out, use food-grade Hydrogen Peroxide rather than DMSO. Apply peroxide by dabbing region with a thoroughly clean cotton swab.

Take Laurea, Red Sea Algae, amino acid lysine and calcium supplements according to instructions on content label, twice daily. Look for amino acid lysine in a quick acting tincture formula. These products can be found at a well-stocked health food stores.

Eat high amounts of fresh green salads, and uncooked steamed vegetables. Avoid dairy products, sugars, white flour and other prepared foods. Buy organic whenever possible, especially when selecting animal proteins.

Caution: When applying DMSO on the body use of thoroughly clean fingers and thoroughly clean cotton swabs. Be careful because whatever material comes in contact with DMSO gel is absorbed rapidly and absorbed deeply into the body. Avoid contact with dirt until the area is completely dry.

Alternative Expert Care

If your symptoms persist despite following the measures listed above, seek the help of a qualified health professional. The following professional therapies have all been proven to be useful for treating and reducing the symptoms of cold sores/herpes: Biofeedback Training, Cellular Therapy, Innovative Visualization, Energy Medicine , Environmental Medicine, Guided Imagery, Homeopathy, Magnetic Field Therapy, Naturopathic Treatments, Nutritional Therapies, Orthomolecular Treatments, Oxygen Treatment (Hydrogen Peroxide Therapy (IV) as well as Ozone Treatment, which inactivates herpes 1 and promotes skin healing, high effectiveness), Mind Area Therapy, as well as traditional Chinese Medicine. (See Glossary for descriptions of these Alternative Therapies.)

Caution: The drug acyclovir is typically prescribed (both by mouth and topically) to treat herpes blisters. However, it may cause a rise in signs and symptoms when it is discontinued. In addition, antiviral drugs can be hard on the body and particularly the liver, using natural, alternative treatment approaches is recommended.

Definition

Cirrhosis refers to a group of persistent liver illnesses that cause irregular changes in the interstitial cells of the liver which leads to hardening and inflammation of the liver.
Cirrhosis may also refer to any organ that has chronic interstitial inflammation.

Signs and symptoms

As a result of cirrhosis, the liver becomes damaged and cannot carry out its many functions, such as storage and filtering of blood, manufacture of bile (which helps digest body fat and body fat-disolvable vitamins), production of bilirubin (which gives stool it’s color), and many metabolic functions like the transformation of sugar into glycogen. Glycogen is the form in which carbohydrates are stored in the body for energy; therefore, another traditional symptom of liver disease is actually extreme fatigue.

Cirrhosis of the liver usually has a long period in which there are no overt signs and symptoms. Early possible signs of cirrhosis are fatigue, itching, rashes, constipation, diarrhea, alternating color of stools, fever, and indigestion.

When cirrhosis manifests, its symptoms include abdominal swelling, pain, vomiting with blood, general inflammation, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin). Advanced stages of cirrhosis can lead to very serious symptoms that can result in coma and passing away.

Type

Another form of cirrhosis, known as biliary cirrhosis, initially affects the bile ductwork, then moves into the muscles, and is a disease of unknown causes. It is most frequent in females 35-60 years of age with 30% of victims discovering cirrhosis through blood tests. Fifty percent experience itching, allergies, and fatigue during the initial stages, which could occur months or even years before the real disease is actually identified. After diagnosis, it is often discovered that victims have enlarged livers and spleens. Other possible signs of biliary cirrhosis consist of clubbing of nails, yellow stools, as well as kidney, bone, and nerve disease.

Cause

Liver performance can be impaired by toxic poisons within the body. Most pharmaceutical drugs, if taken on a consistent basis, can also cause cirrhosis. If you are on medications, be sure to have your liver performance monitored regularly (every 3-6 months) by your personal doctor, and consider other healing alternatives that may reduce or get rid of your need for medications.

Extreme caution: Serious instances of cirrhosis require instant medical attention.

Natural Cures

Aromatherapy: Juniper, rosemary oil, and rose essential natural oils can all help stimulate liver performance.

Detoxification: Liver function can also be impaired by a toxic intestine. For this reason, intestinal cleansing and rejuvenation techniques may be extremely important. In serious cases, repeat the intestinal cleanse once every month, or as needed, and focus on health digestive nutrition for up to one year depending on the severity of your condition as well as your response to treatment.

Diet: Diet is extremely important in preventing and reversing all forms of liver disease, including cirrhosis. Eat a low-protein, whole-foods diet of an organic nature, including seeds, nuts, whole grains, beans, nut products, and goat or whole milk, and also eat plenty of leafy green vegetables. Avoid all alcohol and processed fats such as margarine, hydrogenated oils, as well as hardened vegetable fats. Instead, use fresh healthy oils such as extra-virgin olive oil. Also increase your consumption of meals high in proteins and potassium, such as nut products, seeds, plums, raisins, rice, wheat bran, kelp, dulse, brewer`s yeast, and molasses, and consume plenty of pure, filtered water. Avoid animal protein in addition to raw fish, and limit your overall intake of fish.

Also, avoid stressing the liver through overeating, drugs, eating a highly processed diet (particularly one full of processed fats, additives and preservatives), and foods high in animal proteins. Avoid chemicals which contain toxins and must be processed through the liver, these include alcoholic beverages, drugs, acetaminophen, insecticides, and other environmental chemicals. Toxins from Candida yeast microorganisms within the body can also contribute to liver problems, as can the use of contraceptives.

Herbs: Milk thistle is an excellent herb for the treatment of cirrhosis because it helps liver cells regenerate. It may be taken in the form of tablets or the extract called a glyceride. The actual dose is based upon the content of silymarin (the active ingredient of milk thistle) thus standardized extracts are more suitable. The typical dose range is between 70-200mg. of silymarin daily. The herb Picrorhiza kurroa isn’t as well-known as milk thistle, but has similar effects. Licorice can also be helpful. The Chinese herb bupleurum (chai-hu) may also be helpful, as can the herbal mixture of kutki (200 mg), shanka pushpi (500 milligrams), and guduchi (300 milligrams), with can be used by professionals of Ayurvedic medicine to boost liver perform. Take 1-4 tsp. of the mixture twice per day, following lunch and dinner.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the application of water, ice, steam and hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Treatments include full body immersion, vapor baths, bathhouses, sitz baths, colonic irrigation and the application of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for dealing with a wide range of problems and can easily be used in the home as part of a self-care program. Many Naturopathic Physicians, Physiotherapists and Day Spas use Hydrotherapy as part of treatment. All of us suggest several at-home hydrotherapy treatments. Please seek the advice of your alternative health care practitioner before attempting these methods to make sure they are appropriate for you.

*Purified water is important for any hydrotherapy treatment. Treatments for purifying bath water include clear instructions and recommendations.

Juice Therapy: The following juices can help the liver get rid of toxins: Beet and carrot juice with wheat grass liquid. To flavorize juice, you can add raw flaxseed oil and garlic to make it more tolerable.

Nutritional Supplementation: Lipotrophic nutrients are essential for aiding the livers function. These include vitamin C, vitamin E, silymarin, lipoic acid, and raw liver tablets. Additional useful nutrients include vitamin B complicated, vitamin B12, folic acid, niacin (in small doses, 10-30mg. 3 times daily ), liver glandulars, digestive system enzymes along with hydrochloric acid (HCL), ox bile extract, and the amino acids M-methionine, L–carnitine, L-cysteine, L–glutathione, and L–arginine.

Caution: For all instances of liver disease, do not use more than 10,000 IU of vitamin A daily and steer clear of cod and liver oil completely.

Alternative Professional Care

If your symptoms persist despite following the remedies listed above, seek the assistance of a competent health professional. The following professional therapies have been shown to be useful for dealing with and reducing the signs of cirrhosis: Traditional Chinese medicine, Cell Therapy, Detoxification Treatment, Magnetic Area Therapy, Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy, Naturopathic Medicine, Reflexology, and Qigong. (See Glossary for descriptions of these Alternative Treatments).

Overview

Chronic pain is considered to be the most typical health condition in the United States, with nearly 90 million Americans afflicted by chronic pain in some form. Unlike severe pain, which is usually short-term and provides a signal that lets people know they have a health problem in need of their attention, persistent pain tends to be of a continual nature, often lasting 6 months or more, and is not necessarily and indicator of a particular problem.

Examples of chronic discomfort include pain that continues after an injury or wound has healed, and chronic cases of arthritic pain, back pain, as well as muscle ache. Frequent headaches and migraines, as well as certain types of lingering discomfort that impact the body’s neurological system, is also common of chronic pain.

Symptoms

The main physical symptoms of chronic pain is lasting pain or even soreness in any part of the body, chronic stiffness and muscle tension (particularly in the back, neck, or shoulder blades), and/or recurring internal discomfort, such as headaches or intestinal discomfort that does not go away.

Reasons for Chronic Pain

Chronic discomfort is caused by prolonged irritation of nerve endings in your body that act as pain indicators. This lack of nerve endings can be irritated or stimulated by injury, inappropriately applied stress, exposure to excess cold or heat, stress, and wounds. Certain illnesses, including some forms of cancer, can also result in persistent pain. Unresolved emotional or even mental issues can also cause chronic discomfort due to the tension associated with all of them. Our early behavior and understanding patterns can also influence the way you perceive and respond to pain. In addition, pain medications, as well as other forms of pharmaceutical drugs, may also cause pain because of their negative side effects.

Food allergic reactions, inflammation, and a diet that creates an internal acidic pH condition, are also common and significant elements that can trigger or bring about chronic discomfort.

Holistic Method of Chronic Pain

While many traditional doctors often ignore the mental factors related to chronic pain, focusing exclusively on physical pain signs and symptoms, others address a person’s mental and emotional problems first, using the expectation that doing so will resolve, or at best minimize, the associated physical pain. Holistic health practitioners, by comparison, emphasize a treatment protocol that addresses the physical and psychological facets of chronic discomfort equally. Here are a few important things you can do based on this particular holistic approach:

Seek to understand all of the numerous factors, each physical, mental, and emotional that can potentially be contributing to your pain. Focus on how your pain signs and symptoms become triggered or are made worse. For example, if you suffer through back pain, do your signs and symptoms flare up or even worsen due to specific activities? And do you notice the worsening of the symptoms when you become anxious, angry, or find yourself feeling stressed? Understanding how to recognize your own pain triggers can help you develop a plan of action that will help you minimize them or avoid them altogether.

Natural Remedies

Acupuncture: Acupuncture has long been used by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine as an effective method for treating persistent pain. Lately, western researchers have discovered that TCM provides comfort and relief in one of two ways. First, acupuncture leads to the brain releasing increased levels of endorphins as well as enkepalins, which act as your body’s own organic pain killers. Elevated endorphin levels have also been found to be associated with feelings of happiness and relaxation which are very important to anyone suffering with pain. Additionally, acupuncture is capable of blocking pain signals generated in the brain. This means that regular pain triggers are not recognized by people who receive acupuncture remedies which results in a diminished level of discomfort. Researchers have learned that acupuncture accomplishes this because the nerve reactions that are triggered by TCM needles (as well as acupuncture massage) are able to get to the brain quicker than pain signals can, thereby shutting the door to them.

Even though hundreds of studies around the world have demonstrated acupuncture’s effectiveness with regard to treating pain for many years, it was not until 1997 that the Nationwide Institutes of Health (NIH) finally recommended acupuncture as a useful discomfort treatment. Among the areas that the NIH now recommends acupuncture for tend to be carpal tunnel pain, tooth pain, nausea caused by chemotherapy, pain that results from surgical operations, and tennis elbow.

Studies have shown that TCM is also impressive for treating arthritis, bursitis, and other inflammatory conditions, as well as headache, migraine headaches, and muscle and skeletal pain. It has also been shown to effectively relieve conditions associated with anxiety and depression caused by chronic pain, and can help those who are addicted to painkillers end their dependency on them.

Aromatherapy: For cases of muscular fatigue related to chronic pain, the essential natural oils clary sage, lavender, marjoram, and rosemary oil can just all be helpful. The fundamental oils of black spice, birch, and ginger are also useful for calming temporary flare-ups of discomfort.

Bodywork and Massage: Massage and other types of bodywork can be extremely effective therapies for reducing chronic discomfort. These types of therapies help relieve chronic muscle tension, which is usually an element of chronic pain. When muscle tissue are chronically tense, the body’s ability to eliminate biochemical waste by-products in the muscles and surrounding tissues becomes compromised, adding to the responsibility of chronic pain. Additionally, tense muscle tissue can cause poor circulation, resulting in increased levels of pain in the nerves as well as musculature that may eventually transfer to other parts of the body. In many cases, localized pain in the body may actually be due to tension and accumulated biochemical waste products in other areas of the body. For instance, chronic discomfort in the wrists can often be because of habitual pressure and muscle stress around the face and neck.

Massage and bodywork help to stimulate the removal of waste accumulation around the muscles and also help to improve overall circulation. Bodywork and therapeutic massage therapists are also skilled in locating stress trigger factors. By rubbing these factors, they can help restore muscle balance, in the process lengthening muscles that were shortened due to pressure, and helping the body to regain its overall symmetry. This, in turn, helps the body’s systems to function far more properly, while at the same time providing relaxation within the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, which plays a huge role in the way the body interprets and reacts to discomfort.

Biofeedback Treatment: Biofeedback allows people to become more conscious of exactly how and when they respond to tension. In the process, people who undergo biofeedback therapy can become better able to manage their physical responses, leading to greater emotions of relaxation and reduced overall tension. Biofeedback devices are electronic devices that keep track of a person’s body heat, pulse, and overall levels of muscle tension. Some devices are also capable of monitoring brain wave patterns, too. Often we are not conscious of how we tend to store stress and tension in our bodies. Biofeedback helps people to become aware of these processes and, in doing so, additionally empowers people to gain much better voluntary control over them, producing greater levels of relaxation. Eventually, with practice, people that receive psychophysiological feedback no longer need the devices to be aware of their physiological responses. Instead, they become in a position to recognize them on their own and they become able to regulate as well as change them at will. Research has shown that this ability, once learned through biofeedback therapy, can dramatically alleviate numerous pain conditions.

Chiropractic: Chiropractic care is an excellent treatment for relieving and, oftentimes, eliminating pain caused by pressure in the musculoskeletal system. The reasons why chiropractic care is successful in this area are 5-fold:

Chiropractic care has the capacity to release pressure on the nerves, including pinched nerves.

It also helps to ease compression in important joints.

As a result of a chiropractic realignment, muscles tend to be stretched and restored to their proper length, and tension and muscle spasms caused by constricted muscles are released.

Chiropractic adjustments result in greater elasticity and stability within body tissue and structures, making it a perfect treatment for injuries to these areas of the body.

As the chiropractic care adjustments take hold, you will feel reduction or elimination of pain back and forth between the spine and central nervous system and the corresponding internal organs.

Chiropractic specialists typically assess issues related to a patient’s lifestyle, atmosphere, and mental/emotional factors that may be contributing to his or her pain, providing guidance and self-care workouts that can help calm such affects. Many chiropractic specialists are also skilled nutritionists and will work with patients to determine whether dietary or even nutritional deficiencies are contributing to their problems. Hobbies, work habits, relationship problems, and other issues, such as environmental illness, can also be examined.

According to chiropractic theory, many times discomfort in the body is a result of misalignments in the spine, called subluxations by chiropractors. Subluxation causes stress on the nerves that operate along the length of the brain stem and spinal-cord to impact all of the body’s other systems. When subluxation exists, the communications and impulses of pain to the body’s internal organs can become compromised, resulting in diminished lack of feeling and organ function. In addition, subluxation can cause joints and ligaments also to become out of alignment, resulting in hard and tightened muscles that become much more sensitive and susceptible to discomfort, and chronic spasms.

Detoxification Treatment: Discomfort symptoms in many cases are due to or exacerbated by stored toxins in the body which originate from our environment and/or even the foods we eat. A common supply of toxins is dental amalgam fillings, which are 50% mercury, a highly poisonous substance. With time, mercury vapors escape the fillings to become swallowed and stored in body tissues and internal organs. As toxins build up in the body, eventually the body’s detoxification systems are unable to properly handle them. The end result is that the toxins may become lodged in the body’s tissues and internal organs, causing them to function improperly, to the point where discomfort develops.

Due to our toxic environment, holistic practitioners will often recommend that individuals suffering from persistent pain be tested for toxins. When they are present, an effective course of detoxification therapy is produced by the health specialist. Common personal-treatment methods of detoxing include a natural diet plan, colon cleanses (see Cleansing and Detoxing for more information), juice fasts, dry saunas, as well as enemas. Alternative professional treatment approaches consist of chelation therapy, colonics, environment medicine, and orthomolecular treatments.

Diet: Diet and nutrition are both essential aspects of a treatment plan for persistent pain, just as they are for those other illness conditions. One of the primary reasons for chronic pain, and a significant contributor to many of chronic illness conditions, is inflammation. Inflammation can be the result of a diet that is too acidic, creating an acid pH state that is an ideal breeding ground for the various microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, unwanted organisms, etc.) that may affect our overall health. It is also often caused by allergy symptoms to the meals we consume. Therefore, the dietary goal of anyone suffering from chronic pain should include eating plenty of organic, plant-dependent foods, especially dark, abundant green vegetables that help create an alkaline (non-acidic) state in your body. Eliminating sodas, coffee, milk, and alcoholic beverages and drinking plenty of real, filtered water is also suggested. You should avoid all sugar and simple carbohydrate foods (white bread, pasta, etc.), and focus your diet on non-allergenic foods instead. Also avoid foods that are high in harmful saturated fats. Included in this are dairy products, red meat, hydrogenated oils, and shellfish, as well as margarine and shortenings. Commercial fruit juices should also be avoided, due to their higher sugar content.

The bulk of your diet plan should emphasize organic, raw and gently steamed veggies. Sprouted seeds and nuts are also recommended, as are the majority of fruits (eaten away from other foods), walnuts, and dates. Likewise incorporate organic, free-range poultry and cold-water seafood that is not farm-raised.

Additionally, you will need to figure out if you have any food allergic reactions or breathing difficulties, which many people do. Common allergy-causing foods include wheat, corn, peanuts, soya, tomatoes, shellfish, dairy products, and chocolate, although any foods or meals substance could possibly cause an allergic reaction. Should it be decided that you are allergic to certain foods, you will need to eliminate them from your diet for at least three months, so that you can give your body the opportunity to detoxify as well as replenish itself. After this 3-30 days period, you can reintroduce a few of the foods to which you were sensitive to, one at a time. When they cause absolutely no further reaction, you can begin to incorporate them in your diet again, consuming them a maximum of once every 4-7 days. (A good rule of thumb to follow, no food should be eaten any more frequently than every 4 days. This is known as a rotation diet and can significantly reduce your danger of developing food allergic reactions.)

Energy Medicine: Energy treatments involve utilizing or stimulating the body to heal by interacting with the bioenergy that surrounds all living matter. Power medicine offers two fundamental categories: Dynamic therapies which are similar to the Biblical concept of “laying upon hands,” for example Reiki, Recovery Touch, as well as Therapeutic Touch, all of which may significantly enhance pain signs and symptoms, and which may be taught to patients as a form of self-treatment, as well as being provided by expert energy healers.

Guided Symbolism and Visualization: Guided symbolism and visualization involve the focused charge of creativity to stimulate healing. One of the fastest developing areas in neuro-scientific mind/body medicine, guided imagery and visual images not only enable patients to have more control over their pain signs and symptoms, they can often also allow them to discover underlying psychological and psychological issues associated with their discomfort that must be resolved. Here is a simple and efficient visualization physical exercise you can use to help manage your pain:

Close your eyes as you seat yourself in a comfy chair (you may also perform this particular exercise standing). Take a couple of, deep, calming breaths, removing your awareness from just about all external stimuli. To help you unwind, focus on your breathing as you inhale and exhale. Now imagine your pain appearing before you in your mind’s eye. Allow yourself to see it as it seems to you–for example, if your pain is severe, you might see it as a burning fireplace. Instead of this sensation, understand that you are in charge of this scene and call upon your innate healing abilities to recover your pain. Using the same instance, imagine a downpour of cool, soothing water as it extinguishes the actual painful fire. As the flames are doused, feel the way the pain also lessens. With more experience, simply remembering this physical exercise can help to provide immediate relief of your pain.

Another typical guided symbolism approach to managing pain is to imagine yourself having a dialogue with it. To do this physical exercise, again close your eyes and obtain relaxed mental state. Then imagine your own pain standing before you, letting it take any form that seems most appropriate. Rather than fearing or resenting this, start to take part in a conversation with it, mentally asking it what it is trying to tell you. Via such dialogues, many sufferers who have practiced this exercise have been surprised to discover the actual answers they needed to heal.

A variation of the exercise suggested by mentioned mind/body professional Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the College of Massachusetts Medical Center. He advises patients with discomfort to simply observe their discomfort symptoms as they arise. In doing so, based on research by Dr. Kabat-Zinn, patients become detached from their pain which helps them experience their discomfort differently and less painfully.

Flower Essences: Flower remedies are superb for coping with the psychological issues related to chronic pain, such as anxiousness, depression, despair, anger, as well as hopelessness. Save Remedy is an all-purpose remedy you can use to help deal with any type of disease or pain condition.

Homeopathy: Useful naturopathic remedies for helping to relieve pain symptoms include Arnica, Belladonna, as well as Rhus. Tox. Calendula cream applied topically over painful areas of the body can also be helpful.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the process of using water, ice, steam and alternating between hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Remedies include full body immersion, steam baths, saunas, sitz baths, colonic irrigation as well as the application of warm and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective with regard to treating an array of conditions and can easily be utilized in the home as part of a self-care program. Numerous Naturopathic Physicians, Physical Therapists and day spas use Hydrotherapy as part of their treatment. We recommend several at-home hydrotherapy remedies. Please seek the advice of an alternative health care practitioner before undergoing these types of procedures to make sure they are right for you.

Hyperthermia: Hyperthermia involves artificially creating fever in the body for the purpose of improving immune performance. Hyperthermia can be a highly effective method of eliminating toxins and heavy metals, as well as infectious bacteria and viruses that can’t survive in elevated body temperatures. We suggest several at-home hyperthermia treatments. Make sure you seek the recommendation of your alternative health care specialist before undergoing these sweat-inducing procedures to make sure they are appropriate for you.

*Purified water is essential for any hydrotherapy and hyperthermia treatment. Remedies involving purified water offer clear instructions and recommendations.

Hypnotherapy: Hypnotherapy, which is endorsed by the American Medical Association as a pain treatment, works by helping patients master their internal resources for recovery. It also might help patients understand deeply-rooted problems that may be contributing to or causing their pain.

Hypnosis is also extremely effective for resolving the anxiety and worries that can frequently affect patients with chronic pain, and can regularly uncover and resolve past traumas that might be associated with their symptoms. Among the pain conditions that hypnotherapy has been able to treat are abdominal discomfort, back pain, discomfort from burns, pain caused by headaches and migraines, as well as joint pain.

Magnetic Therapy: Magnet therapy has been employed by organic healers for many centuries as a means of reducing and healing pain signs and symptoms. According to William H. Philpott, M.D., one of the world’s top experts in magnet treatment, this type of cure has many uses, one of which is pain relief. Dr. Philpott recommends the negative field produced by magnets and magnetic devices be employed to treat pain because of its ability to quickly and effectively resolve the metabolic dysfunctions that may cause pain. Contrary to public opinion, magnet therapy is not a painkiller in the direct sense. Rather, it disrupts painful metabolic processes, returning the body to a pain-free state.

Magnet therapy may also flood swollen cells and tissues with oxygen, and also shift acidic pH levels to a healthier alkaline state. In addition, it can also coax the body into producing more melatonin and growth hormone, both of which help to stimulate the body’s healing and reparative mechanisms.

Neural Treatment: Neural treatment was developed in Germany in 1985. It involves the use of a local anesthetic, for example lidocaine or even procaine, which is injected into the body to clear out disturbance in the body’s bioelectrical program. In doing so, neural therapy can help to get rid of energy blockages, alleviate chronic pain signs and symptoms, and even heal injuries.

According to German scientists, at least 40% of all persistent pain signs, symptoms, and disease, are directly caused by blockages or even interferences in the body’s bioelectrical network. These types of disturbances produce what are known as disturbance fields. Through injecting local anesthetics into acupuncture pressure points, glands, scars, muscles, and areas of anxiety located along the autonomous central nervous system, practitioners of neural treatment are able to get rid of such disturbances. In the process, cells as well as tissues recuperate their proper bioelectric capabilities, and become better capable of getting rid of stored congested toxins and wastes. In a nutshell, the cells as well as tissues return to normal function, speeding healing and considerably reducing or even eliminating discomfort.

Neural therapy is particularly efficient for treating conditions associated with pain that affect the actual nervous system.

Supplements: In addition to the above dietary measures, the following supplements are also suggested: Vitamin C, vitamin E, evening primrose oil, Ω-3 fish natural oils, and the amino acid DL-phenylalanine, all of which can provide your body with improved pain-fighting capacity, and reduce and prevent inflammation. Acidophilus, bifidobacteria, digestive and proteolytic enzymes, in addition to rice-based protein powders are also helpful. Raw organic whey protein, though hard to locate, can be obtained and can be used as an option to rice-based protein powder.

Alternative Professional Care

These therapies can also be useful for dealing with chronic discomfort: Acupressure, Used Kinesiology, Craniosacral Therapy, Environment Medicine, Thoughts/Body Medicine, Osteopathy, Oxygen Treatment (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy), Prolotherapy, Qigong, Reflexology, Rolfing, Tai Chi, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Trager Work, and Yoga exercise.