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Health Disorders

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Cancer & Nutrition • Heart Problems • Chiropractic Care • Miscellaneous

Cancer & Nutrition

Q: "My mom was daignosed with breast cancer 7 years ago. Since then it has metastisized to her brain, liver & lung. She has been undergoing extensive treatment that is helping to prolong her life, but we have now come up against another road block due, possibly, to gamma knife radiation. She is experiencing some necrotic tissue damage in her brain, which is causing severe swelling. I was told possibly something on the lines of microlactin may help because it's an anti inflammatory, and should not react with the chemo she takes weekly . Do you think it may help?"

A: Ow! I'm so sorry to hear of your mother's heath problems. Please contact Ed Bauman at Bauman College. Ed is a nutritionist who works specifically with cancer patients. He also trains nutritionists to work with patients.

Ed has helped patients of mine who have needed advice on what to use in addition to standard medical care for cancer. Try this phone number: 707-795-1284. If it doesn't work look up Bauman College in Cotati, CA.

Heart Problems

Q: "I have been diagnosed with an electrical problem with my heart which is causing me fatigue. My doctor put me on Homocysteine Rudux from Nutri-West for this problem. Is there anything else that I can do to help myself feel more energy and get over this problem?"

A: Hawthorn berry has been used for centuries for heart problems. You might also try magnesium and carnitine. But please, better than that, check out HeartMath.com. They are an organization that works with people with heart ailments, such as arrhythmia, etc., to regulate their electrical patterns. I think you will find their work very gratifying.

In addition, check out Taoist Ways to Transform Stress Into Vitality by Mantak Chia. Here you will find a healing exercise for the heart.

Q: "For the past six months I have severe episodes of heart palpitations and sometimes a speeding heart beat, my hands and arms go numb, I can't breathe. This happens especially at night when I start to fall asleep lying on my left side or on my back. Lately I have pains in my chest. I have been to the emergency room several times and they and my doctor have found nothing wrong with my heart. They think it is possibly Panic Disorder and prescribed antidepressants but it made the condition much much worse. I am 25 years and have been under extra stress for the past year or so, there is also history of mental disorders in my family so it is possible Panic Disorder is the cause, but why does it get worse with medication? Please help, what can I do to alleviate this? I can not sleep at night and am very frustrated, scared and depressed.

I have the vitamins, Total YST Redux, Total VIRX, and Total Liver D-Tox I received from my chiropractor. He said that possibly this could help. So far I have had no positive results. I also read that you are not supposed to take Selenium with Vitamin C, that it decreased the absorption of Selenium but the two are combined in the vitamin. Is this true?"

A: These are certainly serious problems and you need some local help. Please call Health Coach Systems at 800-463-2701 to find a well trained doctor in your area.

There are so many possibilities for what can be causing your problem. You need a good diagnostician in your area to help you. But I will give you a few suggestions that may help.

On the web contact HeartMath.com. This organization helps people with abnormal heart rhythms to normalize their heart function using only self-reflective type techniques. Here is a synopsis: Relax and feel a sense of love or appreciation for someone, something or some event in your life. Let that feeling spread into your heart (if you are having abnormal heart rhythms you are probably acutely aware of the location of your heart). Continue to hold that loving, grateful energy in your heart for six minutes. If you slip into other thoughts, don't worry. Just gently bring your attention back to what is loving and fill your heart with a sense of gratitude. You can do this as often as you need to throughout the day, especially before you go to sleep at night.

I produced an audio tape, The Inner Smile, from a Taoist tradition that can help you to focus your energies in this way.

Generally we get into trouble because of trauma, toxicity, or insufficiency. You need to have some good diagnostic work done to help you overcome this serious problem. Trauma can be physical or mental. Perhaps there was some past trauma that happened to you when you went to bed at night that won't allow you to rest now because it it just under your conscious memory. EMDR, a type of psychotherapy, or hypnosis with a trained psychotherapist can be helpful in this regard.

I wish you the best of success in finding answers to your problems. Sometimes, the problems are simple. But often, there is a lot of complexity in solving serious health issues even though the steps may be simple, when clearly laid out.

In addition, the supplement GABA can be very helpful for Panic Disorder. It relaxes your body, while giving you a sense of well-being. Take a minimum of 2 grams per day, between meals.

P.S. Don't worry about the selenium/Vit C issue. It's not that significant in your situation.

Chiropractic Care

Q: "Perhaps you could advise me, I have a swollen trapezius and a tender sternocleidomastoid on my left side. This sometimes results in sort of a sore throat or "tightnesss'. I am frequently tense and my shoulders want to touch my ears. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it!"

A: Sounds like some visits with a good chiropractor could help you with the musculoskeletal as well as inflammatory side of things. You can check out the web sites for the American College of Chiropractic or the California Chiropractic Association for a referral in you area or best yet, ask friends who have received care from doctors they respect and trust.

Q: "I have systemic Lupus and I am on 1 and 1/2 of Plaquenil (200 mg) a day and 200 mg of Sulindac a day. After the examination my chiropractor sold me IMMUNO PLUS and DTX - ALRGY. I am concerned with the alcohol contents in these bottles. Can you please give me some insight on this situation."

A:Your DC gave you supplements to support immune system function since Lupus is an auto immune disorder and perhaps he or she noticed signs of allergy in your system. I cannot speak for these products I don't use them. Yours is not a simple health issue. There are many things to consider. You might try to find a Health Coach in your area by calling 800-463-2701, if you don't feel like you're getting a complete enough approach to your health concerns.

Q: "I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS). What are the chances of getting relief by going to a chiropractor for low back pain and sciatica, or will they even treat MS patients?"

A: It is possible that chiropractic care would help relieve the pain you are experiencing in your low back and down your leg. You would need an evaluation to determine if it is a chiropractic problem which can be performed by any competent chiropractor. I don't think the condition of MS would deter a chiropractor from wanting to see you to determine if chiropractic care would benefit you. Then based on their analysis, they would let you know the type of program that would help you.

Q: "Is it safe to have chiropractic treatments when you have osteoarthritis in the thoracic spine and also in the sacrum?"

A: Yes. It is safe to receive chiropractic care with arthritis. Depending on the severity of the arthritis, chiropractic care may even reverse the degenerative changes to your joints especially if coupled with a corrective nutritional and exercise approach. Be sure to discuss your concerns and medical history with your chiropractor before beginning treatment.

Miscellaneous

Q: "Discouraged. It started 2 years ago with a bladder infection and infection in right eye only. Blood pressure went extremely high along with fast heart rate, which to date, I am still having problems regulating. I have been to a blood pressure specialist, to no avail. I have had 18 bladder infections along with the infection in the right eye over the past 2 years. the pain has gotten worse, like glass chards in stomach. I am starting to void now.I am on bactrim twice daily. My physican and I are looking into adhensive arachnoiditis right now. I have a bulging disc in my cervical spine. We don't know if it could be auto-immune or not. If you have any advice or suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them. I am so fatigued and frustrated."

A: Has your MD ever done a culture and sensitivity test to see if you actually have an infection and to find the therapeutic agent that will kill the infection if you have one?

You might have Reiter's Syndrome or Disease which is conjunctivitis, urethritis and possible other symptoms including arthritis. Men usually get this syndrome, but women get it also. If this is the case you don't have an infection but rather inflammation of those tissues.

Taking antibiotics over and over again won't fix you if this is the problem. Chronic antibiotic use damages mitochondria. These are the power houses of your cells. If your mitochondria are damaged you will be tired and it will be hard to recover. In addition, chronic antibiotic use leads to an overgrowth of yeast microorganisms. You may have heard of Candida -- a yeast infection. That can occur vaginally but also in any other tissue including system wide in the bloodstream.

There are genetic tests that use only saliva for the test sample that could tell us why you have chronic inflammation. These are done by Great Smokies Laboratory in North Carolina. You could work with me doing these and possibly other tests and for me to coach you back to health or you could call Great Smokies to find a doctor in your area who uses those tests and work with him or her.

My heart goes out to you Lori. Please let me know if I can help you further with phone or online consultation.

Q: "I had a sonogram done on my kidneys and have an 8 mm stone in my left one, lower part. The urologist says leave it alone since it's not bothering me and if they bust it up there's only a 50-50 chance of passing it all out. Other than drinking enough water to float the QE II, do you have any recommendations?"

A: People with kidney stones actually demonstrate a deficiency of calcium and magnesium. I would recommend that you get a calcium citrate supplement with magnesium, no other kind. In the health food store look for such a product produced by Ethical Nutrients. Stinging nettle is an herb regarded as good for the kidneys. You can drink it as a tea or take it as a tincture mixed with warm water. Eat a minimum of 5 servings per day of fruit and veggies, 10 servings would be better. (One serving =1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw produce.) They are alkalizing, and will help to change the acidic environment in which kidney stones form. If your urine is too alkaline, drink cranberry juice. You can check the pH of your urine with litmus paper. Avoid drinking cold beverages or those with ice in them. They are damaging to stressed kidneys. Also, stay away from frozen deserts, and beverages and foods with caffeine... too irritating to the plumbing!

Q: "I have a couple of questions. I have been working out for some years, but I've had an injury, and had to rest for almost a year. Now I've started back working out,and I feel this pain in the area of my armpit. I feel it only when I stretch my arm. Could that be lymph nodes swelling? What are lymph nodes swelling supposed to feel like?"

A: When lymph nodes swell, you will feel a lumpiness when you touch the area, kind of like swollen glands you get with a sore throat -- only much smaller in the armpit area. It might feel like pebbles under the skin. You could also feel tightness or restriction in the area of the swelling when you stretch. It might also feel painful to touch or massage of the area.

Worst case scenario, it could indicate cancer in your lymph nodes. Generally, cancer would be non-painful and immovable when you gently massage it. You might want to consider a visit to your health care provider for further evaluation of this area.

On the other hand, it could just mean that you haven't been physically active for a long time and the area is tight because of shortened muscles. If this is the case, daily gentle stretching would be the best action to take. A good stretch for that area would be to reach that arm up over your head straight up in the air then reach over to the side opposite of the restriction. If its very restricted and painful, you could walk your fingers up a wall. When you reach your maximum height you would gently press your body towards the wall to increase the stretch.

Q: "My friends are starting to avoid me. Maybe I'm just too moody. Should I take an antidepressant?"

A: If your depression is severe, that may be your only option. However, studies show exercise is sometimes more helpful for severe depression than medication. But if your depression is mild to moderate, here are some steps you can take to shake off that moodiness. 1. Make a list of all the good things in your life. 2. Carry it around with you. 3. Take it out and read it several times a day. 4. Look for new things to add to your list daily. An attitude of gratitude is one of the best antidotes for a bad mood. Clean up your diet. Cut out sugar and stimulants such as coffee, chocolate, and cola. If you are sensitive, you may need to avoid anything made from white flour or rice as well. Stimulants, as well as simple carbohydrates, are notorious for blasting your mood sky high then dropping you for a nose-dive. Eliminate or minimize alcohol. Try .3% standardized St. John's Wort in a 300-mg dose, 3 times a day. This herb is used preferentially to Prozac in Europe with fewer side effects. Kava Kava is another herb that helps to elevate mood. Check with a nutrition specialist before investing your money though, not all products are created equal.

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