The Blessings of Functional Medicine

Tony Pics for SA BookTHE BLESSINGS OF FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE

The human body functions much as a temple. Within its hallowed walls dwells the divine spirit that created and maintains it, and which all body-cells serve. A temple typically has columns that hold it up. The columns of the body temple are the functional systems that manage life in the body and facilitate the processes involved in transforming minerals and vital amino acids (vitamins) into the building blocks of the temple. These processes are what comprise our metabolism.

Our metabolism is a twofold creative process that includes the building up (anabolism) and tearing down (catabolism) of the various structures in the body – for one thing to keep them in good repair and working order. It also includes the chemical processing and conversion of foods into energy.

There are ten of these functional systems:
Endocrine System (hormonal glands),
Nervous System (brain, spinal chord & nerves),
Circulatory System (heart and blood vessels),
Respiratory System, (lungs and bronchial)
Lymphatic System, (thymus & lymph glands)
Genitourinary System (includes reproduction)
Digestive System, (liver, stomach, intestines)
Skeletal System, (bones & joints)
Muscular System, (ligaments & muscles)
Integumentary System (skin and fascia).

Cellular Level Health Care

At the macroscopic level, these systems are comprised of organs and glands, arteries and veins, connective tissues and ligaments, muscles and bones, fluids and marrow. At the microscopic level, all of this functional anatomy is comprised of cells, trillions of them, each one a living organism with systems identical in their functions to those in the larger body they comprise. In other words, cells breathe, eat, excrete waste, grow, reproduce and die. The cell is the basic unit of life in the body. As the cells live and die, so does the physical body. It is important, then, to maintaining cellular health and function.

This is essentially what functional medicine is all about. As its self-defining name implies, functional medicine concerns itself with the function of cells, organs and systems in the body, and the means and methods by which abnormal function may be normalized. Function is at the core of every condition known to medical science. There is not one disease, for example, that does not have at its root cause the failure of one or more organs and/or systems to function normally. Therefore, it follows logically, as well as clinically, that the correction of malfunction leads to healing and recovery.

This is not merely theory. It has been proven out over and over again in clinical settings throughout the civilized world where the natural approach of functional medicine is being used in the treatment of the whole person and not merely the disease. Chiropractic and clinical nutrition lead the way in the field of functional medicine.

Allopathic & Functional Medicine’s Forte

The treatment of disease is the forte of allopathic medicine, which uses drugs and surgery to intervene in the disease process and to relieve its painful symptoms. The restoration of function, and therefore of health, is the forte of functional medicine, which uses natural forces to support the healing process and thereby address the cause of disease. Both bestow their unique blessings, especially when and where they are allowed to work together. Our work is all about removing interferences to normal function in the body.

Wholistic Health Care

Wholistic health care concerns itself with the whole person and the various factors that go into manifesting healthy function in the body. For example, Chiropractic concerns itself with the correction of nerve impingement in the spine to free up the nerve supply essential to normal communication between the brain and the body’s parts and, therefore, normal function. Clinical Nutrition addresses the balancing of blood and body chemistry, both of which are essential to normal function. Bio-Energetic Synchronization Technique (BEST) helps to restore normal function in the body as well as in the mind by removing interferences in the sub-conscious mind and feeling realm in the form of memories of past trauma. These memories can actually be “erased” so that they no longer trigger defensive emotional reactions that keep a person’s physical body in a stress response mode.  In a stress-response mode, the body cannot heal itself nor grow its health.

So, we can see how wholistic (or holistic) health care is more about treating the whole person than about treating disease and pain with “alternative medicine.”  We are more than vitamins and minerals, muscles and bones, organs and blood vessels. We are whole persons. 

Energy Medicine

A whole person is made up of spirit and matter.  The matter of our bodies is shaped and maintained by spirit, namely the spirit of Life.  In Chiropractic philosophy we call this spirit Innate Intelligence and see it as a part of Universal Intelligence (God, if you prefer).  The Innate Intelligence of the body runs the whole show without the input of our educated intelligence, but not without its cooperation.  It knows exactly what’s going on in the body at all times, including what it needs in the way of external help and assistance in correcting deficiencies and structural damage and mis-alignments (such as in the joints and spinal column).  We have learned how to access this information through Kinesology (muscle testing). This in Energy Medicine at its practical best.

Contact Reflex Analysis (CRA)

Contact Reflex Analysis, System Strength Analysis, Nutritional Response Analysis are all energetic methods of “reading” the body’s systems and communicating with its Innate Intelligence, which is more than willing to share with the practitioner information that will guide him in determining an appropriate approach to resolving health issues. This is a non-invasive procedure that is a hundred percent accurate.  I’ve been using CRA for many years and have never found it to be inaccurate.  It not only lets me know what to do but also in what order of priority.  It is truly a gift from God.  There is no question one cannot obtain an accurate answers to with muscle testing when one’s intentions are right and honorable.

Attunement — Vibrational Healing

I offer an energy-healing service called Attunement.  Although Attunement is not a healthcare modality as chiropractic and clinical nutrition are, it does help mend, clarify, and enrich the connecting substance of pneumaplasm with our core spirit and thereby bring about peace, order and harmony within. When body, mind, heart and spirit are functioning harmoniously together, there is peace and harmony in the physical body. In a climate of peace and harmony, the cells of the body are able to function without disruption and interference. This essentially is what vibrational healing brings to the health care field. Everything we do in our service is done for the sole purpose of restoring normal function in the body so the body can heal itself.

How Vitamins Support Function

Vitamin A – supports the function of the eyes and immune system (infection control), the gums and nervous system, and the healing of skin. It’s necessary to cell metabolism, respiration and blood cell generation (platelets).

Vitamin B – supports the function of the heart and blood vascular system, the adrenal glands, the pancreas in producing insulin and digestive juices, and the nervous system. It stimulates and promotes appetite and normal digestion, promotes growth and vigor, and is necessary for carbohydrate metabolism and cell respiration, for normal pregnancy and lactation, and in maintaining muscle tonus.

Vitamin C – supports the function of the adrenal glands, the connective tissue, and the bones. Essential to health and integrity of endothelial tissues (raises resistance to infections), proper development of teeth, to oxygen metabolism, and to blood cell regeneration. It also maintains proper blood-clotting time.

Vitamin D – supports bone regeneration. Essential to proper mineral metabolism; absorption from alimentary tract, utilization and excretion of calcium and phosphorus. Necessary to successful pregnancy and lactation; for normalizing and reducing time of labor; to maintain blood platelets at normal level; to normal respiratory function. Maintains bone growth, muscle tonus and increases strength of capillaries.

Vitamin E – supports the skin, endocrine system (pituitary), heart, and sex-hormone production. Necessary to prevent irreparable sterility in male. Necessary to maintain mental alertness, growth and vigor. Possibly to prevent carcinoma. Necessary to resistance to infections.

Vitamin F – (Essential Fatty Acids) transports calcium from the blood into bones and tissues; necessary to cell respiration, hair health, and to brain function; supports prostate; converts sunlight into Vitamin D in skin.

Vitamin G – is one of the Vitamin B factors and supports circulation and brain function. Necessary to growth and development and cell respiration. As a growth stimulus, promotes normal repair processes and thereby delays senility. Necessary to blood regeneration.

Vitamin K – is not a single nutrient, but the name given to a group of vitamins of similar composition. The two main groups of vitamin K that occur naturally are vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) and K2 (menaquinone). K1 is found in many vegetables and K2 is produced by bacteria. It is more popularly known as a blood coagulant.  However, it appears vitamin K, and vitamin K as MK-7 in particular, plays an important role in keeping calcium in the bones and out of the arteries. (Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD – see her article for important information about Vitamin K)

Note: Standard Process product labels prefix the vitamin with the word “Cataplex,” as in Cataplex A. This is due to the fact that vitamins do not stand alone in foods but are accompanied by complex co-factors that facilitate their function and preserve their integrity.  Commercially processed supplements do not afford these same benefits. This is why I use Standard Process wholefood supplements.

How Minerals Support Function

There are 12 organic minerals and some 72 trace mineral that support the function of vitamins and the production of enzymes in the body. They also conduct energy into and throughout the body.

Calcium – supports the bones and teeth, helps with blood coagulation, reduces neuromuscular irritability, facilitates and provides fuel for muscle contraction and nerve conduction in the heart muscles.

Magnesium – supports tooth formation, enzyme activation, nerve conduction, and muscle lubrication.

Sodium – plays a large role in acid-base balance, osmotic pressure, blood pH, muscle contractility and nerve transmission.

Potassium – plays a role in muscle activity, nerve transmission, intracellular acid-base balance and water retention, and energy management. It assists in escorting glucose into muscle cells for energy.

Phosphorus – in closely associated with Calcium and its functions with bone and teeth formation. It is used in establishing and maintaining acid-base balance, is a component of nucleic acids and is involved in energy production.

Iron – assists in the formation of hemoglobin and myoglobin, contributes to the production of certain enzymes and iron-sulphur proteins.

Fluorine – is used in bone and tooth formation. Chlorine – is used in acid-base balance, osmotic pressure, blood pH and kidney function.

Silica – plays a role in the alchemical production of bone tissue through a process of “biological transmutation.” It may also play a role in memory storage, similar to that of the silica microchip in the computer.

Manganese – is essential to the function of the Pituitary, the tone of ligaments and cartilage, and plays a component part in the makeup of certain enzymes.

Sulphur – is an antibiotic that also helps with joint motility.
Iodine – is essential to the production of thyroid hormones for metabolism, growth and development.

The seventy-two or more trace minerals play empowering roles in the balancing of body chemistry, especially with the hormones. Just to site a few:

Selenium, found in wheat germ oil, plays a key role as part of the Vitamin E complex in the cardiovascular system.

Chromium promotes the utilization of glucose by the muscle cells, thereby supporting the glucose tolerance factor in the bloodstream.

Molybdenum is a transitional metal that forms oxides and is a component of a coenzyme essential to the activity of enzymes involved in preventing toxic levels of sulfite, xanthine and aldehyde (such as formaldehyde) in the blood stream.

Gold is essential to balanced and clear mental function. Silver is a protective element against pathogens, such as harmful bacteria and viruses.

Levels and Ratios Critical

These elements of the mineral kingdom are not only present in a healthy body, their levels and ratios to one another are critical to maintaining healthy function, strength and vitality in the body. Calcium is in critical ratio to Phosphorus, Magnesium and Potassium; Sodium is balanced by Potassium; Copper and Zinc need to be in balanced ratio, as well as Sodium and Magnesium, Copper and Iron. The degree to which these minerals are present in their proper levels and ratios, the body is healthy. To the degree they are not, the body is sick and dying.

While Copper intensifies cellular activity, activating estrogen in cell proliferation, Zinc, which activates progesterone and testosterone, cools it down. The body contains two to three grams of Zinc, found mainly in bones, teeth, hair, skin, the liver, muscle, leukocytes and in the testes. It plays a role in skin integrity, enzymes, wound healing and growth.

Whole Food Supplements Best – Function the Key Factor

Seeing as how vitamins and minerals  depend on one another for balance and orderly function, it becomes obvious that they are best taken into the body in whole-food form and not as isolated fractions, whether “natural” or synthetic, in “high potency” commercially prepared supplements.  They’re not “natural” if they are not part of their natural environment where they can best function, and are essentially and functionally drugs as they are designed to stimulate or suppress rather than nourish. As such they really should be under the control of a regulatory agency and prescribed and administered by licensed healthcare professionals.

Therapeutic foods, such as those Standard Process provide practitioners, are best administered by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  SP’s products can only be obtained in this manner. ❧

This concludes this reprint from Health Light Newsletter archives. This article was first published in May of 2007 as the last hard-copy publication and marked my semi-retirement from 45 years of practice. I thought it might be helpful to publish it in my blog for many more to benefit from it.  Until my next post,

Here’s to your health and healing.

Anthony Palombo, DC, ACN (Applied Clinical Nutrition)

Email: tpal70@gmail.com

Visit my HealingTones.org blog for interesting and inspiring considerations around subject that pique my interest, such as the current article “Sonic Geometry and the Music of the Spheres.”

For deeper and inspiring reading on the body as a temple, you may like to review my book Sacred Anatomy.

Food Our Medicine — Medicine Our Food

As to diseases, make a habit of two things — to help, or at least, to do no harm.

As to diseases, make a habit of two things — to help, or at least, to do no harm.

Greek Physician, Scientist and the Father of Medicine wrote these profound words of wisdom that really were meant to steer medicine in a more natural direction. 

Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well. Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food. But to eat when you are sick, is to feed your sickness.  — Hippocrates (460 BC – 377 BC)

I lifted the following article with picture from a post by Veganism on Face Book.  Lots of good information here. Enjoy!

Food as MedicineFood is medicine and organic fruits and vegetables take center stage in achieving ultimate health and longevity. Morally and ethically, what is on the end of your fork clearly defines your approach to compassion, your environment, your health and well being. The following foods are valuable in sustaining your health, embracing life and avoiding surgeries, prescription drugs and the inevitable .

BLUEBERRIES POWERFUL ANTIOXIDANTS

The dye that is released from the blueberries’ skin may well be the most valuable nutrient the fruit has to offer. The pigments in blueberries and also in red crops such as cherries, plums, and red cabbage are powerful antioxidants. They have been determined to be a much-heralded chemical warrior against heart disease and also cancer. Blueberries actually have the highest antioxidant capacity because of their large anthocyanin concentration.

Antioxidants in our food can save us from virtually everything. Most of our health misfortunes are due to the perversity of oxygen. Our cells are perpetually besieged by toxic forms of oxygen which have been proved to have fierce destructive powers. So far scientists have linked destructive oxygen reactions to at least sixty different chronic diseases, as well as to aging itself. Oxygen free radicals can attack DNA, the genetic material of cells, causing them to mutate, which is a step on the path to cancer.

RED CABBAGE A POWERFUL DETOX FOOD

Red cabbage is a good source of phytonutrients that help to detoxify pollutants and other carcinogens that most people are exposed to on a daily basis. Like other cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, it’s high in glucosinolates, compounds which are metabolized by the body to form powerful cancer fighting chemicals known as isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates activate the liver enzymes that break down carcinogens, allowing them to be safely eliminated from the body. People who consume high quantities of cruciferous vegetables have been shown to have a lower risk of certain types of cancer. Red cabbage is also a good source of indoles, compounds that may reduce the risk of breast cancer by altering estrogen metabolism.

RED BEETS HAVE ANTI-CARCINOGENS

Red Beet is unique for its high levels of anti-carcinogens and its very high carotenoid content. Red beets are high in carbohydrates and low in fat and it is an excellent source of folic acid. It is loaded with antioxidant that helps the body against heart disease, certain cancer especially colon cancer and even birth defects. Betacyanin is the pigment that gives beets their red color; this pigment is absorbed into the blood corpuscles and can increase the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood by up to 400 per cent. Don’t throw away the green leafy tops as they can be cooked like spinach and are also rich in beta-carotene, folic acid, chlorophyll, potassium, vitamin C, and iron.

BEET ROOT FOR LEUKEMIA

Beet root is a traditional treatment used for leukemia. Beet root contain an amino acid betaine which has an anti cancer properties. Red beet therapy, consisting of consumption of approximately two pounds of raw, mashed beets daily, has been favorably reported for cases of leukemia and tumors (includes cancer). Research also shows that beet juice can help inhibit the development of colon and stomach cancer. It is believed that red beets when eaten regularly may help against certain oxidative stress-related disorders. The fiber in red beets helps reduce serum cholesterol by 30 to 40%.Beets can help in normalizing blood pressure.

BEETS FOR HEALTHY ARTERIES AND VEINS

Beets helps to keep the elasticity of arteries, when consumed regularly it can help prevent varicose veins. The iron content of red beets, though not high but is of the finest quality that makes it a powerful cleanser and builder of blood. This is the reason why beets is very effective in treating many ailments caused by toxic environment and surrounding.

BEETS HAVE FOLIC ACID NEEDED IN PREGNANCY

Beet root is recommended for pregnant women because it contains folic acid that can help lower the risk of spinabifida and other neural tube defects in newborn infants.Beet juice helps stimulate the function of liver cells and protect the liver and bile ducts. Beet juice is highly alkaline which makes it effective in the treatment of acidosis. Drinking beets regularly can help relieve constipation. Beet juice and carrot juice when combined is excellent in the healing gout, kidney and gall bladder problem. You can tell that I love beets, I eat and juice at least six beets and the tops everyday religiously. One of my nicknames at the health food store that I frequent is “beet-man.”

CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES DETOXIFY THE LIVER

Vegetables that are members of the cruciferous, or cabbage, family not only contain fiber and many vitamins and minerals (including antioxidants) that promote optimal health, they also contain sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol. These phytonutrients have been shown to stimulate enzymes in the body that help the liver remove carcinogens (and other toxic chemicals) and deactivate a powerful estrogen metabolite that promotes tumor growth.

STOP TUMOR GROWTH IN THE BREAST — ANTI-CANCER FOOD

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, various components in cruciferous vegetables have been shown to stop tumor growth in the breast, uterine lining, cervix, colon, lung, and liver and according to studies monitoring diets, eating calciferous vegetables can lower ones risk of getting prostate cancer. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, mustard greens, radishes and mustard greens.

KALE FOR THE EYES

Kale is absolutely rich and abundant in calcium, lutein, iron, and Vitamins A, C, and K. Kale has seven times the beta-carotene of broccoli and ten times more lutein. Kale is rich in Vitamin C not to mention the much needed fiber so lacking in the daily diet of processed food eating Americans. The “Icing on the Kale” are the naturally occurring all important phytochemicals sulforaphane and indoles which research suggests may protect against cancer. Let’s not forget the all important antioxidant Vitamin E. Rest assured kale spares nothing in providing one with much needed nutrients and associated health benefits. The naturally rich sulfur content of kale deserves a bit more discussion.

Science has discovered that sulforaphane, helps boost the body’s detoxification enzymes, possibly by altering gene expression. This is turn is purported to help clear carcinogenic substances in a timely manner. Sulforaphane is formed when cruciferous vegetables like kale are chopped or chewed. This somehow triggers the liver to produce enzymes that detoxify cancer causing chemicals, of which we all are exposed on daily basis. A recently new study in the Journal of Nutrition (2004) demonstrates that sulforaphane helps stop breast cancer cell proliferation.

BEANS ARE COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES

Beans are an often-overlooked source of incredible health benefits. – They have a lot of carbs, leading people to believe they should be avoided and seen as a weight gain risk only. Nothing could be farther from the truth though, as research has shown that the carbohydrates found in most beans are of the complex variety.

Complex carbohydrates are not contributors to any sort of weight gain, instead providing the brain and muscles with a lot of good, stable energy supplies. Beans actually contain a wider variety of healthy nutrients than most foods. These include calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, magnesium, folate, and alpha-linolenic acid. These nutrients work together on several key areas of the body promoting total health.

SOURCE OF COMPLETE PROTEINS

Beans also happen to be good sources of complete proteins, which is rare in plants. Plants, while having many different nutrients, often lack complete proteins of any kind. This is unfortunate, as protein is a vital ingredient to the healthy and normal functioning of the human body, and the most readily available sources of protein have negative effects on the heart. Beans, however, are plentiful in protein. Most of the commotion that beans are generating in the scientific community has to do with the fact that they are showing to provide protection from many of the most feared and lethal diseases plaguing Americans today.

Studies done in universities have shown that eating beans on a regular basis reduces a person’s risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity. Sometimes the reduction in risk is substantial. The risk for heart disease, for example, may be reduced by as much as 22%. Beans help to curb hunger, and offer the body valuable sources of ready energy that it can burn quickly and effectively. Because of this, beans boost energy levels, and as a result, promote weight loss.

POWERFUL LITTLE FOOD

Beans are powerful little foods that have been ignored for far too long. Associated with Carbohydrates and gas, current studies have done a wonderful job of increasing our understanding of this plentiful food and revealed it to be packed with important nutrition. The benefits that can be attained from eating beans are as varied as all of the nutrients they contain, but what is important is that many of these benefits help to protect people from some of the most feared illnesses of our times. i eat beans regularly, both sprouted and cooked. I only buy organic beans in bulk and the ones that I fine the most nutritional is adzuki, mung and garbanzo.

WHOLE GRAINS PROVIDE UNIQUE ANTIOXIDANTS

Whole grains offer vitamins and minerals, plus high levels of antioxidants and other healthy plant-based nutrients. Whole grains contain protective antioxidants in amounts near or exceeding those in fruits and vegetables. They also provide some unique antioxidants not found in other foods. Studies have shown that eating more whole grains may help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. New studies show that whole grains may lower triglycerides, improve insulin control, help in weight management, and slow the build-up of arterial plaque. Optimal whole grains are hulled barley, wheat berries, buckwheat, rye, spelt, quinoa, black rice and brown rice. Quinoa and buckwheat are actually fruit seeds but look like grains so I call them grains. They are powerfully nutritional loaded with protein and calcium among lots of fiber and many other nutrients.

Tony picVisit my HealingTones.org blog for more interesting and extraordinary articles. This issue features: “The Shaman’s Gift of Healing.”

Here’s to your health and healing,

Anthony Palombo, DC, ACN

Picture of Hyppocrates by Shakko.

The Affordable “Disease Care” Law

Tony's picture 2 from Peggy THE AFFORDABLE “DISEASE CARE” LAW

With all the fuss going on over “Obamacare,” I’ve just got to get up on my soapbox for this blog post.

While listening to some of the political talking points and patients’ viewpoints on the current health care crisis a few days ago on television, one woman with MS decried the fact that her drugs alone cost her $4400 a month, and I thought: “Oh My God! This is what we’re getting ourselves into with this so-called Affordable Health Care program!” — a misnomer if there ever was one.  It would be more accurate to call it “Affordable Disease Care,” because that’s what it provides: care for those who have diseases, for whatever the reasons and causes, mostly related to unhealthy lifestyles, poverty, and environmental pollution. 

Just for a perspective on how this pans out where the rubber meets the road: it will take 44 of us paying our minimum $115 monthly Affordable Health Care premiums to pay for this woman’s drugs — drugs that do not even “cure” her MS and restore her health, but that merely treat the symptoms of her disease so that she can go on living a lifestyle that has resulted — and continues to result — in MS.  Now, you tell me what’s wrong with this picture.

But, then, that’s why so-called “health insurance” was invented in the first place — by a group of hospitals during the depression, by the way:

It was during the Depression that hospitals banded together to offer prepaid coverage to citizens. Prepaid hospital coverage was a way for hospitals to avoid the financial failure that befell the banking industry. The approach worked so well that doctors followed suit a few years later and Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations were born. Little did anyone know that the seeds for runaway costs eighty years later had been planted. (THE HISTORY OF HEALTH CARE COSTS AND HEALTH INSURANCE — A Wisconsin Primer by LINDA GORMAN, PH.D.)

Read the article. It’s very enlightening. The primary motive was to make sure hospitals and doctors got paid for their services to the sick — not to the healthy.  So it really should be called “sick care insurance.”  And they won’t let any of us real health care professionals in on their racket. Well, after fighting for inclusion and insurance equality, licensed chiropractors are allowed to dip into the money pool, but only to treat backaches and neck injuries along with disorders related to misaligned spinal vertebrae (known as a “subluxation complex”) — in other words, muscular-skeletal disorders. Diseases can only be treated by an MD and then only with drugs and surgery. Natural medicines, like herbs and therapeutic supplements, are not allowed. An MD’s scope of practice is limited to disease care. Therefore, natural medicines that contribute to health are not covered by any insurance policies that I’m aware of, certainly not by Medicare. Medicare will not pay for chiropractic maintenance care either. The chiropractor, in order to get a relatively puny amount of compensation from Medicare, has to say that the monthly spinal adjustment some of us like to have just to maintain our health is for a “new injury,” even though it isn’t.  You see, one has to be a little bit dishonest in order to play the game. 

Oh, yes, the system can be manipulated and is on a daily basis.  It’s a racket on both sides of the playing field.  We even call it the “health care arena.” It’s all a big and expensive game for which the spectators pay premium dollars every month — plus a co-payment — in order to be allowed into the arena.  Of course, they have to have a treatable disease in order to actually get out on the field and get passed around like a football while the doctor-players dip their hands into the insurance pool each time they pass or run the ball.

IT’S A COLLUSION AND UNHOLY ALLIANCE  

Do you actually believe that medical science will ever find a “cure” for all the diseases they’ve invented in order to have a legitimate reason to play in the healthcare “field” — another game term — and collect a fee from the spectators’ pool of insurance monies — not to mention running the risk of cutting off the billions of research dollars it gets in government grants to find a cure for cancer and alzheimer’s ?  Not on your life.

In case you have forgotten, the “government” is US, you and me, whether we’re paying an insurance premium or not. Our tax dollars go towards keeping this game in play — along with all the dollars collected in countless marches against breast cancer, diabetes and every other disease we can think of that lets us believe we are doing something by paying to walk in order to end disease on the planet.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!

For one thing, it would collapse the nation’s economy. Yes, I’m being deliberately facetious and critical. But,then, critical thinking is what we all need to exercise these days if we are to affect real changes in health care.  First, let’s call it what it is: disease care. Then let’s start demanding that insurance companies start including honest and real health care in their coverage.  I’ve heard that the state of Washington has been requiring insurance companies to pay for alternative health care for several years now. I don’t know how their doing with their law or even if it is still being enforced. Any of my readers know?

Now, let me get real here.  After all, we live in a less-than-perfect world. Disease is a fact of life as life is now lived by humans on the planet, and I am truly thankful we have developed coping methods and technology to help us traverse the toxic and dangerous terrain we have created on the surface of our planetary home among the stars. We simply could not make it without the help of our wonderful and dedicated ER doctors and nurses who get us through traumatic crises we would otherwise not likely survive. Every time I think of my by-pass operation of 2003 I thank God for the blessed surgeon who held my heart in his hands and grafted new veins and arteries into it so that I could live to see another day, another year, another decade now. God bless him and his team.

I tell my patients to be thankful for their doctors and the drugs they are taking to help them through their health crisis while they embark on a new path to health and wellness with alternative health care and lifestyle changes.  But they know and we all know that taking drugs is not the way to go in our health care. I certainly hope the young lady with MS finds her way to an alternative health care practitioner so that she can let go of her expensive drugs and toxic lifestyle.

HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES ARE ABUNDANTLY AVAILABLE 

We’ve got to find another way, and we have in fact made huge inroads into healthier lifestyles and natural healing technologies. Real health care is abundantly available today.  It’s just not covered by medical insurance, and I’m sure it won’t be covered by the Affordable Health Care Law. For now, we have to pay for it out of our own pockets. But, after all, isn’t my health my responsibility? It’s certainly not yours, nor the government’s, nor the insurance industry’s for that matter. Nor is it my doctors’ responsibility. It’s mine and mine alone. If we each took care of our own health, there would be no need for disease care insurance. 

A RADICAL SHIFT IN CONSCIOUSNESS IS UNDERWAY

What I am really talking about here is the need for a radical shift in the way we think about and go about the care of our health, of our precious and faithful bodies. It’s a change in consciousness that is required so that, as we each one awake and contribute into the mass consciousness our own enlightenment and perspective, we help blaze new paths to freedom from disease.

There is an awakening taking place in human consciousness and it will continue to expand and fill the collective human mind and heart with light and love for truth so that those in positions to offer collective leadership and assume responsibility for collective programs that facilitate whole-health care and healthy lifestyles will continue to have realizations that open up new and affordable ways of doing things on the planet. It’s already happening, as my wife and I were acknowledging at the dinner table just yesterday. It’s just happening “under the radar” of today’s media. It’s all over social media and the web. The new paradigm is now well in place. 

THERE’S NO MIND-MADE SOLUTION TO THE MIND-MADE PROBLEM

Is there a solution to the problem we’re facing with our current health care delivery system? I don’t see one. Every new solution seems to produce only more problems in this mind-made world. The ultimate solution is individual assumption of personal responsibility. Until that happens, we can, at best, create stepping stones and bridges to the other side, away from sick care and toward true health care. All it takes is a little interest and education.

I would make one suggestion, and that would be to put in place a requirement in our Affordable Health Care Law that, in order to engage the system, a person would have to show that he or she has first engaged a healthy lifestyle and is doing something to educate him/or herself about alternative health care and sound nutrition. Even then, it would only work in an honest world where people are awake to the way the natural world works in according to natural laws.

“NOTHING’S WRONG. EVERYTHING MATTERS.”

A friend penned those words in a poem. Disease is the body’s natural adaptation to the insults and injury brought on by an unnatural lifestyle. There’s nothing wrong with it. It keeps our species from extinction by helping us adapt to an increasingly toxic and anti-life environment. It is we with our toxic lifestyle who are out of harmony with Natural Law, and we reap the consequences and pay with our good health and very lives to maintain that disharmony. At the rate we are going, we may not be able to adapt fast enough and our species may yet go extinct unless we make radical changes soon.

Some people say alternative health care is expensive. No it isn’t. Sick care is what’s expensive, increasingly so. That’s why that hand-full of hospitals and doctors invented sick insurance back along the way. Their’s was a vision of things big and far. Real health care is affordable and far less costly than drugs and surgery. It’s safer, too. One simply has to get beyond the fear barrier and let go of one’s false sense of security and dependence on drugs. All insurance salesmen know that fear is the driving force that closes the sale in the absence of wisdom and informed decision making. That’s why I have never in my working years bought health insurance, nor professional liability insurance for that matter. I simply would not buy into a fear-based system. The only two so-called “malpractice” law suits ever filed against me in my early years of practice were suddenly dropped when the assailants found out I didn’t have liability insurance. And the only health care insurance I’ve ever owned and used is Chiropractic and wholistic health care. My heart by-pass surgery was a gift from God. Thank you, God, and Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. For that matter, all doctors are gifts from God.

Now, of course, I have Medicare to cover any catastrophic health crises I may encounter in my ageing body. It was a blessing to have when I had a worn out knee replaced a few years ago. I take no medications. Nada. Instead, I take a handful of Mother Nature’s medicines of wholefood supplements every day prescribed by a colleague in Houston whom I visit regularly for my health care. I also exercise moderately and eat sensibly. Don’t need much food to maintain my level of activity anyway. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Not too many of my clients even do that. I also sleep eight hours at night and do things I enjoy — like writing these blogs, reading a good novel, singing with the Masterworks Chorale, cooking, gardening and traveling with my wife and traveling partner. Above all, I find it essential to maintain a spiritual practice to nurture my Soul’s inner life, such as meditation and attunement. After all, physical substance is shaped, nourished and maintained by spiritual substance. “As above, so below. As within, so without.” A conscious working connection with Source within is essential to the health of the whole person.

ABUSE IS INEVITABLE

Abuse is inevitable in systems where billions of dollars are pouring in from the masses. Even Medicare is abused by doctors who know darn good and well that an old person is not going to benefit that much by a hip replacement. My own ageing mother was a case in point. She had hip replacement in her 80’s at the expense of the taxpayers but was too weak to go through rehab and never really walked well again after the surgery, which was, at best, but an expensive aspirin. Between a pace maker and joint replacement, Medicare paid out over thirty-thousand dollars to her doctors and the hospital before she finally used up all her physical substance just surviving to the over-ripe old age of 90. Did her doctors take advantage of Medicare? It appeared so to me. She could have easily been allowed to end her earthly journey honorably at 80 and avoid her last decade of medical disease management. It seems we do things nowadays just because we can and because it’s covered by insurance. What ever happened to allowing the natural process of dying as an honorable way of leaving this world? Does medicine have the right to interfere with that process? Does it have the right to a monopoly on health care, and now to a government subsidized protection plan for that monopoly? Because that’s exactly what the Affordable Health Care Law is. This law says that Americans must have sick care insurance or pay a penalty. Given the current dietary habits and lifestyles of most Americans, it’s really not a bad idea.

The insurance industry itself will eventually collapse, as all dishonest and abused systems must. I think it’s a telling sign that unless the young and healthy sign up for it, Obamacare will not be adequately funded by the people. Many young Americans are apparently opting for the penalty in lieu of the monthly premium. Makes good sense to me. We may yet be forced to return to embracing an honorable death as an alternative to a life of disease management. It is, as one health author put it some years back, “cheaper to die.” Of course, the best alternative by far is health and wellness care.

Well, that’s my contribution to the current conversation on health care. Just one doctor’s viewpoint. You’re welcome to share yours. Until my next post, here’s to your health and healing!

Anthony Palombo, D.C.

Visit my HealingTones.org blog for more thought-provoking articles on transformation and spiritual ascent.

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Alzheimer’s: Type 3 Diabetes?

Tony's picture 2 from PeggyYou may be watching your waistline, or perhaps thinking about your blood sugar level, while eating that piece of cake or pie. But it’s your brain you might best be thinking about.  

Here’s a very informative article by Chris D. Meletis, N.D. I’ve excerpted from the May 2013 issue of Whole Health Insider:

Alzheimer’s: Type 3 Diabetes?

. . . Researchers are establishing a strong link between blood sugar and brain health to the point where they’re calling Alzheimer’s disease “type 3 diabetes.” There’s also a link between diabetes and other forms of memory problems, including vascular dementia and mild cognitive impairment.

Studies consistently show a two to 3.4-fold increased risk of vascular dementia and a 1.8 to two-fold increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease in older people with diabetes.  Many studies also show that you’re 1.5 times more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment — a condition known as predementia – if you have diabetes.

Diabetes is thought to account for six to eight percent of all cases of dementia in older people. Additionally, people who have diabetes are 50 to 75 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, and people with Alzheimer’s disease have a higher than normal tendency to develop type 2 diabetes or impaired fasting glucose.

Scientists looked at 15 studies that investigated the link between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Fourteen of those studies found that the two conditions were related, and in nine of those studies, the link between the two conditions was statistically significant. Smoking and hypertension — when they existed along with diabetes — increased the risk of Alzheimer’s even more.

As fascinating as these statistics are, what’s really eye-opening is the many reasons why impaired blood sugar is so damaging to your brain.

This Is Your Brain on Sugar

When researchers first began to suspect there was a link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s, they wanted to know why this connection existed. Their search led them to two peptides — chains of amino acids that form proteins.

One type of peptide, known as amyloid beta, is found in Alzheimer plaques in neurons of the brain — and in the pancreas of diabetic patients. The other peptide, amylin, is found in both the pancreas and the brains.

In one study, researchers found that same hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease — amyloid beta — in both the brains and the retinas (which is considered an extension of the brain) of diabetic patients. Specifically, the researchers looked at brain-cell-damaging toxins — known as oligomer– produced by amyloid beta. Oligomers are responsible for causing Alzheimer’s-related memory loss.

Insulin plays an important role in the formation of memories. And when oligomers attach to neurons, they knock out the insulin receptors from the neuron’s surfaces, which causes insulin resistance in the brain.

Normally, after eating, an increase in sugar in the bloodstream signals the pancreas to boost levels of insulin, which in turn signals cells to remove sugar from the bloodstream so that the cells can use the sugar for energy. Insulin resistance occurs when cells fail to respond to insulin’s signal to allow glucose into the cells. This causes the pancreas to secrete even more insulin. Over time, the elevated insulin levels aren’t enough to compensate for the higher blood sugars, and the result is high blood sugar or diabetes since glucose can’t get into the cells.

Diabetes causes even more oligomers to build up in the brain and retina, which makes neurons even more insulin resistant. If glucose can’t get into the cells, the brain is starved of the fuel it needs to function. Without glucose, your brain would work about as effectively as your car when it runs out of gas. The brain composes only about two percent of the entire human body mass. Yet, 50 percent of glucose use in the body occurs in the brain. The majority of the brain glucose is converted to ATP energy so that your brain cells can work properly and your memory remains in top shape.

The brain needs a balanced amount of glucose to function effectively. The problem occurs when the body is subjected to too much glucose and other forms of sugar such as sucrose and fructose. Too much of these sugars and it overwhelms your body to the extent that your body keeps producing more and more insulin, which ultimately loses its effectiveness, and results in the insulin resistance mentioned above. This is why, when mice with Alzheimer’s disease are fed excessive quantities of glucose, amyloid beta levels increase.

Tangled Taus

Tau proteins are another culprit to blame for the connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s. When tau proteins clump together, they form neurofibrillary tangles, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers don’t know for sure whether these tangles actually cause Alzheimer’s, but they definitely play an important role in the development of the disease.

Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) modifies these tau proteins in the brain in such a way that they begin clumping together, causing them to form neurofibrillary tanqles.”

The Inflammation Link

Inflammation is another link between Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Inflammation triggers the production of amyloid beta and increases the risk of the vascular disease associated with dementia.

Inflammation in the blood vascular system is caused by insulin which erodes the inner wall of the vessels. Cholesterol is sent in from the liver to coat the scratches in the vessels so they don’t leak. This results in atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) that leads to poor circulation and coronary heart disease.

Low-grade, systemic inflammation also is linked to diabetes as well as the cognitive decline that occurs in diabetics. One study reported that higher levels of inflammation markers such as C-reactive protein were associated with lower cognitive performance.

Not the Brain You Were Born With 

Diabetes results in changes to the brain’s structure — including more frequent brain lesions, and wasting away of an important area of the brain — compared to people who don’t have diabetes.

Scan_Pic0008

And it’s not only the structure of the brain that changes during diabetes. The blood-brain barrier becomes more permeable as well.  The blood-brain barrier separates circulating blood from the extracellular fluid of the central nervous system. This is because the brain is very choosy about what it allows inside of it. The blood-brain barrier keeps bacteria and other large molecules that don’t belong from entering the brain while allowing in glucose, hormones and other substances the brain needs to function.

When the blood-brain barrier isn’t working properly, it allows amyloid beta to slip through into the brain. The ability to allow amyloid beta proteins into your brain is controlled, in part, by a receptor for advanced glycation end products — better known as AGEs — which are produced in excess in diabetes and prediabetes.  AGEs form as a result of a protein or fat molecule combining with a sugar molecule.

AGEs are easiest to understand when you think of them in relation to the browning of food. When you toast a slice of bread, the browning of the bread is the result of AGE formation in the food. This same process occurs in your body during blood sugar spikes. The more diabetes or insulin resistance disrupts your blood sugar, the more AGEs that form in your body. And, therefore, the more amyloid beta that can get into your brain and damage your neurons.

Starving the Brain

Some research shows that during diabetes and insulin resistance, the brain is being starved of the insulin it needs to function. Yet, even while high levels of insulin are saturating the body during prediabetes, the brain becomes deficient in insulin because overproduction of this hormone weakens insulin receptors at the blood-brain barrier. This results in reduced amounts of insulin transported to the brain.

This spells disaster for brain function, since insulin enhances memory and learning. Insulin deficiency in the brain also is involved in cerebral vascular dysfunction, inflammation, oxidative stress and the inability of neurons in the brain to repair themselves.

Are Genetics to Blame?

Researchers have discovered a gene that may explain the link between Alzheimer’s and diabetes. They found that the gene, present in many Alzheimer’s disease cases, affects the insulin pathway.

Yet, of the two types of Alzheimer’s disease — type 1 and type 2 — only type 1, which accounts for five to 10 percent of Alzheimer’s cases, is genetic. This type of Alzheimer’s often develops at an earlier age. The rest of the cases, 90 to 95 percent, are type 2 and aren’t connected to genetics.

Interestingly, this sounds a lot like diabetes as well, doesn’t it? Of the two types of diabetes — type 1 and type 2 — type 1 accounts tor five percent of all diabetes cases, with 95 percent of diabetes falling under the type 2 classification.

30-DAY CURE OF TYPE 2 DIABETES

Type 2  “insulin resistance” diabetes can be cured in 30 days simply by abstaining completely from foods that spike insulin — starches and sugars.  These include Irish potatoes (french fries), white and brown rice, pasta, all flour products, such as white bread, biscuits and pastries, and what are now labeled “Gluten Free” products (made from rice flour).  These foods are high on the glycemic index, which mean they spike insulin.

The rationale for this cure is simple.  Since the receptor sites for insulin on the cells are all taken — or else damaged and even destroyed by insulin, leaving no sites for more insulin hormones to “park” and deliver their sugar-fuel to the cells — one needs to use up all the sugar in the loading zones of the cell receptors first before any more sugar can be delivered.  By putting a hold on more insulin production, triggered by starches and sugars, the amount of insulin hormones with their loads of sugar in the blood stream is gradually diminished, giving the cells a chance to repair and replace damaged receptor sites. This takes about 30 days.  After 30 days one can then return to a sensible and moderate consumption of complex (whole-food) starches and sugars.  But one must take care so as not to crowd the receptor sites again with more sugar-bearing insulin than the cells have receptor sites for.

It goes without saying —  but I’ll go ahead and say it — along with the 30-day fast from sugar and starch, daily exercise is essential to the burning of sugar by the cells. Just a 20 to 30 minute brisk walk will do the job.  You have to use up what sugar you already have in the cells and what’s waiting in the blood stream to be delivered before you take in more.  It just makes good sense.

Improve Your Diet, Boost Your Memory

The research linking Alzheimer’s and diabetes means that the key to having a good memory resides in your stomach. Commit to eating a healthy diet free of sugary foods and sodas. Choose whole wheat bread and pasta over white, refined products. Stick with healthy sweeteners such as xylitol and stevia that don’t raise your blood sugar levels.

Honey need not be discounted as it is a great food, especially locally gathered honey that has not been heated to a level that kills the enzymes. Maple syrup is also a good choice and is lower than honey on the glycemic index.

Chromium, cinnamon and Gymnema sylvestre are good choices for supplemental blood-sugar support. An analysis of the medical literature found that chromium reduced glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), which is a measure of blood sugar control, as well as fasting blood glucose levels.” Gymnema sylvestre also reduced HbA1c levels in two small trials, while other studies showed cinnamon improved fasting blood glucose.

In my practice, I often call chromium “will power in a bottle.”  That’s because by balancing blood sugar, it also helps reduce the cravings for sweets that occur when your blood sugar is low.

You’ll want to consider supplementing with 1-6 grams of cinnamon, 600 mcg of  chromium and 200-800 mg of Gymnema sylvestre per day.

Put the above strategies into practice and you’ll not only reap all the rewards of having balanced blood sugar-you’ll keep your memory sharp, too.

I use Medi-Herb’s Gymnema in my practice.  It’s from Australia and it’s pure and very powerful.  One a day is usually sufficient to balance blood sugar, whether it’s high or low, and reduce your sugar-craving. You can order it from me by email — ($19/40 tablets, $53/120 tablets.)  I would also recommend CATAPLEX GTF by Standard Process Labs for your Chromium supplementation ($13/90 tabs), along with DIAPLEX ($37/150 caps) to nourish the health of your pancreas and enhance your sugar metabolism.  My email address is tpal70@gmail.com.

Until my next post, here’s to your health and healing,

Anthony Palombo, D.C.

Visit my HealingTones.org blog for more of Walter Russell’s writings. Current theme is accessing knowledge directly from the Universe and God.

DR. MELETES’ REFERENCES:

1. Samaras K, et al. Ther Adv Endocrinal Metab. 2012
Dec;3(6):189-96.

2. Kfoppenborg R, et aI. Eur J Pharmacol. 2008;585:97-108.

3.Kim B, et at J Alzheimers Dis. 2012 Dec 19. [Epub ahead
of print.]

4. Vagelatos NT, et al. Epidemiol Rev. 2013 Jan 21. [Epub
ahead of print.!

5. http://www.newswise.com/articles/
type-ii-diabetes-and-the-alzheimer-s-connection.

6. Bitel CL, et aI. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. October
2012;32(2):291-305.

7. Fehm HL, et at Prog. Brain Res. 2006;153:129-40.

8. Liu F, et al. Brain. 2009;132:1820-32.

9.  Shah K, et al. Int J Mol Sci. 2012 Oct 3;13(10):12629-55.

10. Takeda S. Nihon Shinkei Seishin Yakurigaku Zasshi. 2012
Nov;32(5-6):239-44.

11. Acharya NK, et aI. J Alzheimers Dis. 2013 Feb 6. [Epub
aIlead 01 print.]

12. Kuwahara H. et al. Brain Nerve. 2013 Feb:65(2):145-51.

13. Ewald CY. et al. Genetics. June ” 2012;191(2):493-507.

14. Nahas R. Canadian Family Physician. June
2009:55(6):591-6.

Seven Glands for Seven Spirits, Part 5: The Blessings of the Pancreas, page 2

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10)       __________________________________________________________

Tony's picture 2 from Peggy

This quote from Malachi above is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I don’t know why. It just resonates inside. In a certain way it says that when you give your all into what you do, you will realize the greatest blessing in return, which is what I want this post to be about: being the greatest possible blessing to one’s world.

 We’ve been talking about the pancreas  and we’ve seen how this organ-gland provides a twofold blessing to the body’s digestive and energy systems.  In this post I would like to spend some additional time with the spiritual, or vibrational, aspect of the pancreas as a sacred center for the indwelling of the Spirit of Blessing. Here is the fifth verse of my poem “The Seven Spirits of God”

I am the Spirit of Blessing

I uplift the elements of my world through my Creative Process

So they might become part of my body

I provide realization for my world

THE CAPACITY TO KNOW AND EXPRESS SPIRIT

We are not just incarnate in these physical bodies.  They provide us with specific vibrational pathways for the expression of our creative juices and the delivery of our gifts of spirit.

The sacred endocrine center of the pancreas provides us with the capacity for spiritual expression, an experience of Third Plane Being. From this plane, our hearts, empowered by our feeling realm, rise to give us the capacity to discern and express spiritual essences, such as joy, thankfulness, praise, forgiveness and enthusiasm. Here spiritual things are spiritually discerned. This includes the awareness of the presence of spirit, specifically one’s own presence as a spirit being—an angel, in other words. The spiritual substance generated at this sacred site is fine enough to rise up and begin providing a medium for the transmission of the radiant emanations of spirit from Fourth Plane Being, where the One I Am stands in the midst of the “Seven Golden Candlesticks” described by John in the Book of Revelation:

 And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. (Rev. 1: 12-16)

In Sacred Anatomy I go into profound detail correlating this description of the One standing in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks with the seven endocrine glands and the “seven spirits before the throne of God,” which John also saw in his ecstatic vision.  Reading this passage sowed the seed of inspiration that led to my writing this meditative journey through the physical body’s sacred anatomy. 

A SPIRIT OF BLESSING

The pancreas provides us with a window through which we may pour out a spirit of blessing into our worlds by making possible the realization of creative ideas and intentions.  It’s a matter of putting our whole heart and desire into our dreams or intentions with deep feeling and assurance—not that our dreams will be realized but that the are already realized. John describes these spirits as “angels” and the seven seals as “churches,” meaning they are sacred and therefore to be used by the angel for creative purposes.  The spirit of this hormonal center empowers the realizations of creative ideas, just as its enzymes and hormones empower the release of energy from the foods we consume.  The pancreas is a power center very intimately associated with the solar plexus.

These seven glands are seals by virtue of the awful power they have the potential of releasing when opened.  Their chemistry, when released, can bring about blessing or cursing, depending on the quality and nature of the spirit we express through them. The spirit of cursing is the shadow side of the spirit of blessing.  If maintained for a length of time, it has the potential of releasing outbursts of destructive energy, such as anger, into our field of creation, as well as the “plague” of diabetes into our body temple.  Chronic complaint and anger are harsh vibrations that destroy the delicate cells of the pancreas that produce insulin for blood sugar management.  On the other hand, as  we maintain an attitude of gratitude and joy, the Spirit of Blessing can deliver its gift of uplifting energy and health. 

The realization of spiritual seeds sown in love is the gift of the angel of this church.  With realization comes awareness that I am a creator being, an angel incarnate, one with the One standing in the midst. I am the blessing being poured out through my window of heaven into the world. Being still and lifting my heart and mind heavenward, I may come to know that I am an aspect of the One Great Spirit of God, which has need of nothing. Therefore, all things necessary for my presence and service on Earth are provided by my Father in heaven whose unconditional and irresistible love draws into my temple the substance of the Great Mother of Creation to provide “meat in mine house”—flesh and form for all that I shall ever need to live a creative and fruitful life. All that is needed is already present with me now and will manifest as needed . . . in abundance. 

BALANCING SACRED ENERGY

When I contemplate the form and function of the body-temple and all its intricate and interacting parts, knowing that here before me and with me is a manifestation of a heavenly design which is perfect, of the very principles and laws that govern all of Creation, I begin to see, with the eyes of my heart, replicating patterns of both structure and function within and all around me in the natural world.

A beautiful example of this type of contemplative visioning can be known studying the manner in which energy is held in a state of balance by various mechanisms of checks and balances for efficient and effective creativity. In my last post we considered the balancing of energy harvested from the foods we take into our bodies, a function of hormones secreted by the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas.  We saw how there are at least three types of these islet cells. Beta cells, the most common type, produce insulin to regulate blood glucose. Alpha cells produce an opposing hormone, glucagon, which releases glucose from the liver and fatty acids from fat tissue; these favor insulin-release and inhibit glucagon secretion. Delta cells produce somatostatin, which inhibits insulin and glucagon secretion. Then there are small numbers of F cells which  secrete a pancreatic polypeptide, which slows down nutrient absorption.  So we can see there are a number of chemicals and hormones produced in the pancreas that check and balance one another.

MASCULINE AND FEMININE ENERGIES

All energies, of course, originate in the One Source and are initially divided into the duality of the masculine and feminine, possessing positive and negative charges. They all start out as one radiant current of love.  They then divide into two sacred forces that are designed to work together creatively so long as they are balanced.

The balancing of sacred energy, both in the individual body and in the collective body of mankind, is accomplished by bringing the masculine and feminine energies into a place of accord where they work together in a spirit of love and cooperation. The feminine energy of the heart realm brings a nurturing sweetness into the mix, along with intuitive insight and deep feeling and passion for empowering the creative process. The masculine energy is more mental and brings such elements as logic and reason, along with mental calmness for clear and positive thought and action.

Imbalance occurs when either one of them becomes overly dominant and controlling. For example, should the masculine seek to dominate and control the feminine, she is shut down and withdraws her sweetness and empowerment.  Or should the feminine energy be in reactive turmoil over external events, her empowering energies are dissipated outward, leaving nothing with which the masculine energy can blend, or partner and dance, in co-creative ventures. The energy level quickly drops in a relationship. It drops in the individual, as well, and in the collective body of mankind, by reason of the same dynamics at work between the masculine and the feminine energies.  

This happens when we suppress our feelings and allow our goal-driven minds to control our expression and action, never minding important feedback our gut feelings may be giving us.  It happens when our feelings are upset and cloud our thinking and vision. It happens when the achieving spirit of competition allows no room for the heart to explore its intuitive sensing that arises from simply being present and available to the impulse of spirit and pure spontaneity.  It happens when the feminine uses her seductive wiles to lure the masculine away from his mission and purpose, but only if he can be so seduced. It happens in patriarchal systems of above-down government based in fear that substitute governance by love from within in a more natural system of partnership and co-creation.   

As these two sacred energies are brought together in a state of balance and harmony, a beautiful song of blessing is poured out of heaven into the world. 

If you would like to pursue this meditation further and in depth, then I recommend your send for a copy of my book, Sacred Anatomy.  The hyperlink will take you to ordering information. This concludes our consideration of the pancreas as a center for sacred energy in the body temple. Our next consideration will be of the adrenal glands as powerful centers for the Spirit of the Single Eye.  Until then, be a blessing and heal your world.

Dr. Anthony Palombo

Visit my HealingTones.org blog for inspirational reading on the current event of “Fourth Density Apocalypse 2012.”  The current post is about the “Wanderers,” and exciting read. 

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Seven Glands for Seven Spirits, part 4: The Blessings of the Pancreas

The Pancreas and Duodenum

THE PANCREAS—BOTH ORGAN AND GLAND

Returning to our consideration of the endocrine glands and the spiritual essences behind their purpose and function, let’s take a holistic view of the pancreas and its dual role as both gland and organ.  I’m going to touch on the blessings of the pancreas as well as the results of abuse of this precious member of our “sacred anatomy.” 

The pancreas, depicted here embracing and being embraced by the duodenum, the first twelve inches of the small intestines, offers an enormous blessing in the body temple.  That blessing is twofold: as an organ of the digestive system and as a hormone gland of the endocrine system.  Most of the body of the pancreas serves as an organ and is taken up in the production of enzymes and alkaline rich digestive juices that are used in the process of digesting the foods we consume.  Pancreatic enzymes help break down proteins into amino acids, the building blocks of tissues, and start the process of converting carbohydrates into simple sugar for energy. 

(You can click on the pictures to enlarge them for a closer look at details. Artwork was generously provided by my brother-in-law David Stefaniak) 

An Islet of Langerhans

Embedded in its spongy tissues are tiny glands that produce insulin, among other chemistry.  They are called islets of Langerhans after the young scientist who discovered them, Paul Langerhans.  Insulin is a hormone produced by Beta cells in the islets. It escorts sugar to the cells as fuel for energy.  It “parks” on a designated cell receptor site and delivers its sweet package. These tiny endocrine glands are located toward the tip of the tongue-shaped pancreas as it stretches out toward the spleen on the left side. They make up from one to two percent of the pancreas mass. They have five different cells: Alpha, Beta, Delta, PP, and Epsilon cells.  An interesting feature of the Beta cells is their electrical connection with each other but not with other cells.  It is the Beta cells that are destroyed in the case of diabetes mellitus (Type 1, or insulin dependent).  

Let’s talk about the abuse of this precious organ-gland first—and we’ll take up this entire post to have a thorough look at what we might be doing to cripple the pancreas and short-circuit our health.  Let’s look at dietary factors first.  

THE CURSE OF CORN SUGAR — aka “HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP”

The statistically rapid rise in diabetes mellitus and obesity in America is nothing short of alarming. Two thirds of Americans are overweight and one-third are obese. The unfortunate—and really criminal—aspect of this epidemic is in the fact that we could have easily prevented it.  The criminals are the manufacturers and processors of synthetic sugar, glucose (dextrose and corn sugar—also known as “high fructose corn syrup”). No other sugar, including honey, is capable of causing diabetes, even when fed in large amounts to animals.  According to research done at the University of Frankfurt in 1953, “the addition of 10 to 20 grams of honey to the usual diet of diabetics DID NOT disturb the sugar balance.

The culprit is alloxin which was found to quickly destroy the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans without disturbing any other body tissues.  When incurable diabetic test animals are needed for experimental use, they are given alloxin to destroy their islets of Langerhans. 

This begs the question “are we getting alloxan in our foods?”  The answer is yes, with definite certainty. Alloxan is formed by the action of oxidizing agents such as chlorine, chlorine oxides, etc. on xanthine, a normal constituent of tissues (muscle, liver, pancreas, thymus, spleen) and of urine, which carries zero to one percent, and of common foods like cereals, malt and yeast, and of meat foods.  The artificial sweetener Splenda has a chlorine molecule as a carrier for sucralose. 

Xanthine is a synergist of vitamin E.  It facilitates its function in protecting the genes of the chromosome of the cells from oxidation and enzyme damage.  It also seems to facilitate the elimination of excess cholesterol from the liver.  Vitamin E is the primary nutrient in wheat germ, and it is destroyed by commercial food-processing practices.

Dr. Royal Lee, who founded Standard Process Labs in Palmyra, Wisconsin, did extensive research on Vitamin E and the impact bleaching of wheat flour has had on human health.  Here’s just one of his findings dated as far back as 1948, indicating how long we’ve known about the harmful effects of refined carbohydrates, such as bleached white flour, on our health.

Since these poison chemicals destroy both the xanthine and the vitamin E of the cereal germ, it is of interest to learn that xanthine can reduce the need for vitamin E in animal feeding tests. (Reported in Nutrition Reviews, Jan. 1948, p. 118.)  In fact, we might legitimately consider xanthine as a member of the vitamin E complex. A xanthine compound — theophylline — is used in medicine to relieve heart symptoms of vitamin E and G deficiency. And xanthine is found associated with E and G vitamins in wheat germ.

CHLORINATED WATER AND WHITE BREAD, AMERICANS’ POISONS

The obvious next question would be “where might we find chlorine and chlorine oxides in our foods?”  Well, all municipal water is treated with chlorine to poison the bacteria—and unless you live in Milwaukee where the chlorinated water is filtered through activated carbon to eliminate the chlorine in a 15 million dollar treating plant (thanks to Milwaukee’s breweries, the city’s best water customers, who can’t make beer with chlorinated water as it poisons the yeast) you’re getting daily doses of chlorine if you’re drinking municipal water right out of the tap.  

Where else?  In all white flour products, white bread being the largest consumed white flour product in the American household.  How do you think they make whole grain wheat flour white? With bleach made from chlorine dioxide, a patented process non the less.  Chlorine dioxide succeeded nitrogen trichloride (AGENE) after its patents ran out and it was conveniently eliminated by the FDA when it was found to cause fatal epileptic reactions in dogs. It, too, functioned as a bleach and bug killer by releasing free chlorine, so it is quite probable that the action of flour bleaches in predisposing humans to diabetes and obesity has been adversely impacting the public health for the past sixty or seventy years since the 1940’s.   

Glucose (corn syrup) causes low blood sugar as well as diabetes, which leads to a predisposition to heart disease, lassitude, brain fatigue, high blood pressure, overweight, irritability, and mental depression, to list the findings of a 1950 report.  This tells us how long we’ve been enabling these “diseases” in America.  (They’re not actually “diseases” but simply the symptoms of malfunction in the body caused by abusive dietary practices.) This is criminal behavior on the part of everyone in the food industry from the processors of synthetic sugars on up to the Food and Drug Administration.  

Dr. Lee says this about that: 

In dealing with foods, the Food and Drug [FDA] long ago set up the principle that ANY added poison in ANY food was too much.  It is regrettable that principle cannot be the guiding force in government instead of commercial expediency — and political expediency.

THE EMOTIONAL ASPECT OF DIABETES

There are other ways of destroying the endocrine function of the pancreas.  There is the emotional component, for instance.  All of the endocrine glands are controlled and nourished by spirit. They have no direct connection to the controls centers in the brain. Spirit exerts a vibrational influence upon their hormonal secretions.  The pancreas is particularly influenced by our emotional climate and expression.  It is thought to be the vibrational gateway to and from our emotional realm.  What’s going on with us emotionally—the quality of energy flowing through our hearts, in other words—directly impacts the functions of the pancreas—as it does all seven glands— both as a digestive organ and as an endocrine gland.  Just as fear shuts down our immune system, negative emotions such as resentment, envy, grief and attitudes of complaint and criticism, held for long periods of time, gradually shut down the endocrine cells in the pancreas.  

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that these negative destructive emotions block out the flow of the positive creative spirit of love, which in the pancreas is differentiated as the “Spirit of Blessing.” We’ll spend more time with this aspect in my next post.  Suffice it to say that an attitude of blessing and a sweet spirit foster a healthy pancreas.  Contrarily, an attitude of cursing and a bitter and complaining spirit foster an unhealthy pancreas, simply by virtue of the fact that they exclude the presence and flow of loving energy.  Love nourishes the body.  Hate, resentment, envy and grief deprive the body of vibrational nourishment.  Without the cohesive vibration of love, the body cells start disintegrating and falling apart from one another. 

I vividly remember a neighbor years ago, when I was a young man, whose husband passed away.  She wasn’t that happy a person even before his death, but afterwards she fell into a slump of grief and depression for a very long time, probably fear as well in her loss of what was likely a more stable and secure life with him around. He ran a shop and she didn’t work, to my knowledge.  Within the year of his passing, she developed diabetes and very shortly thereafter passed away.  I always felt, even at that early age in my life, that her lengthy grieving led to her undoing.  Grief is a natural and essential phase of letting go of a loved one.  But one has to let go and stop grieving eventually, or else one’s life essence will be drained away, which I feel happened with this lady.

We’ll continue in a more uplifting consideration next post.  Until then, be a blessing and change your health . . . and the world. 

To your health and healing,

Tony's picture 2 from Peggy

Anthony Palombo, D.C.

Email: tpal70@gmail.com 

Follow my blog to get automatic email notices from WordPress of new posts. Also, visit my HealingTones.org blog and enjoy the current series of articles “4th Density Apocalypse 2012.”  I always enjoy reading comments on my articles and appreciate the time my readers take to send them along in the comment feature.

References: Dr. Royal Lee, Vitamin News, Part of the Royal Lee Library Series, Published by The International Foundation for Nutrition and Health.

Artwork by David Stefaniak

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Understanding “Fibromyalgia” Part 4: The Chronic Stress Factor

THE HORMONE FAMILY

Before we talk about chronic stress, there’s something we need to understand about the endocrine system and hormones. So, let’s talk about hormones first.

Hormones, I’ve learned, are a family and cannot be isolated and treated separately.  This is likely why “hormone therapy” is the best we can come up with in treating the symptoms of hormone dysfunction.  In medical science, we do not yet know how to restore function to hormonal glands when they malfunction—or, if we do, we’re not taking that route. The sole approach we’re taking with medicine today is the prescribing and ingesting of synthetic hormones, and in some cases the surgical removal of the malfunctioning gland altogether.  Rather barbaric, I’d say, and a testament to our horse-and-buggy approach to sickness and health yet in this the twenty-first century.

Of course, “natural hormone replacement therapy” is now available. But we’re still putting the hormones into the body instead of correcting the malfunction. The old axiom can be applied here: “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach him  how to fish and feed him for a lifetime.”  You can give the body hormones or restore normal function to its own endocrine system. If you give the body hormones, the demand is taken away and the glands will not be called into action to produce their hormones.

FUNCTIONAL ENDOCRINOLOGY

Here’s were “Functional Medicine” comes into the health care arena to save the day—and our sacred endocrine system.  I’ve taken a few seminars in what is called “Functional Endocrinology” and, believe me, it’s a comprehensive and truly wholistic approach to balancing body chemistry. It also requires specializing, so I would encourage you to seek out an alternative practitioner who specializes in Functional Endocrinology and Clinical Nutrition, or a least uses muscle testing for system strength analysis, such as Contact Reflex Analysis or Quantum Reflex Analysis, in determining functional deficiencies and appropriate nutritional and herbal support.

THE STRESS RESPONSE AND THE “HPA AXIS”

In functional endocrinology we have what is called the “HPA Axis” (Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal).  These are the head coordinators of your endocrine family and are at the core of all hormonal activity, the most common of which is the “fight or flight” stress response.  Here’s how that works. The hypothalamus apprises the pituitary gland about conditions in the body and around it.  It’s the clearing house for information coming in through the five senses via the central nervous system.  It says if it’s hot or cold, dangerous or safe, turbulent or peaceful in your world—including your physical body, your closest and most personal world. The pituitary gland received the information via chemical messengers from the hypothalamus and proceeds to send out a hormone precursor to the adrenal glands (as it does to all the glands) for further hormone production.  The adrenal glands receive the precursors and squirts adrenalin into the blood stream to empower muscle cell activity.  The blood vessels contract and the muscles get ready to act on your command. This is so with all cellular activity in the body. Every cell in your body needs adrenalin to function properly—or to function at all. 

If the stress response is not shut off for a length of time—weeks and months—the stress becomes chronic. Chronic stress is a known contributor to fibromyalgia, as well as Chronic Fatigue (CFS), which is often caused by hypothyroid function. The adrenal and thyroid glands share a close relationship in the hormone family.  The stress response triggers the production of adrenalin to get the muscles moving for flight or fight in the face of a threat—real or imagined.  If a person doesn’t fight or flee from a threat and the threat is not removed, the adrenalin is not used up. 

Adrenalin, like all hormones, becomes a toxin if not used up or removed from the blood stream and muscle tissue.  It is used up in physical exercise.  It is broken down by enzymes and removed by the lymphatic system—which also depends on exercise to move lymph fluid through the tissues and on to its final destination at the left subclavian vein just above the heart where it enters the blood stream.  From there it is sent with the blood to the liver and kidneys to be filtered out and eliminated.  If this doesn’t happen and the adrenalin remains in the tissues, two things happen. One, the adrenal glands are shut down by the pituitary gland, which gets the message from the hypothalamus that there’s no need for more adrenalin as the muscle tissues are saturated with it.  Two, adrenalin, a steroid hormone called “cortisol,” is the bully of the hormone family if it doesn’t get its way.  It wrecks havoc in estrogen chemistry balance and interferes with thyroid function.  

There’s only one answer: deal with the stress factor.  Fight back or flee the situation.  Preferably, resolve it.  Now, you can’t always do that, especially if the stress factor is your job or your marital relationship.  You may need both—for a while anyway— so, denied a successful resolution, you stand or sit there in a state of quiet desperation while chronic stress sets in.  This sends a message to your hypothalamus that you’re not going to do anything about the stress.  A cascade of failures ensue:

  1. The hypothalamus gets confused and frustrated, or at best incoherent, and may simply shut down.
  2. This leaves the pituitary gland without clear and coherent instructions on what hormone precursors are needed by the family members of the endocrine system to make their hormones.  An incoherent pituitary gland spells confusion and depression for the brain.
  3. The thyroid gland falls off in its production of thyroid and parathyroid hormones, directly impacting your metabolism.  You gain weight and lose bone density.
  4. The thymus gland doesn’t get the feedback it needs about outside invaders and the possible need for an immune response.
  5. The Beta cells of the pancreas  (Islets of Langerhans) don’t know how much insulin to make to keep blood sugar balanced, resulting in hypo and/or hyperglycemia.
  6. The adrenal glands just shut down leaving you with restless nights and no stamina during the day.
  7. Finally, the sex hormone glands (the gonads) go haywire without the pituitary gland’s stimulating hormone precursors—the menstrual cycle loses its regularity and your libido shuts down in the absence of any desire to reproduce your stressed-out self.  Survival, not reproduction, growth and healing, is your body’s primary interest at this point.

You get the picture, I believe.  A family feud breaks out among your hormone glands—all because your hypothalamus is confused and your adrenal glands are exhausted. The result is pain and more pain and a complete lack of energy.  (I won’t repeat the diagnostic terms medicine has for these conditions so as not to re-enforce mental fixations that get in the way of healing.)

OXYTOCIN TO THE RESCUE!

There is one out.  Relax, throw your shoulders back, smile and be thankful for your circumstance . . . that you have a circumstance!   A thankful attitude releases oxytocin into the blood stream which disengages the stress response. So does a hug and a hand shake. So, find someone to hug—or just hug yourself— and shake hands with someone, anyone! Get that oxytocin flowing 🙂

CLINICAL NUTRITIONAL TO THE RECOVERY

While medicating for pain and and pep, consider this protocol as a general program until you can find a clinical nutritionist who can evaluate your need more specifically. This protocol will begin giving you back your life and your bubbling personality. The products are all by Standard Process and Medi-Herb. Divide dosages between morning and evening meals,  or between three meals if you’d rather.  

  1. 4 Hypothalmex tablets – ($24/60 tabs)
  2. 4 Symplex F tablets (women),  Symplex M (men) – ($17/90 t)
  3. 4 Black Current Seed Oil pearls – ($15/60 pearls)
  4. 8 Drenamin tablets – ($11/90 t)
  5. 3 Adrenal Complex for adrenal exhaustion – ($21/40 t) 
  6. 3 Thyroid Complex for hypothyroid – ($26/40 t)

To that add these for general wholefood nutritional support: 

  1. 6 Catalyn – ($11/90 tabs) 
  2. 6 Min-Tran – ($6/90  t)
  3. 3 Trace Minerals B12 – ($15/90 t)
  4. 3 Tuna Omega 3 Oil pearls – ($20/120 pearls)

Drop me an email and I’ll have the products drop-shipped directly from Standard Process within a few days.*  The cost for a 30-day supply of the above products with a 10% blog-readers discount is $280.  You will feel so good after taking these therapeutic foods for a month that you will re-order every month for two more months.  After this 90-day intensive therapy period, dosages on most supplements can be reduced to maintenance levels for the next 9 months.  Stay with this program for a year if you want to reap its full benefits.  We’re talking balancing your body chemistry and not just treating the symptoms of hormone imbalances for the rest of your life.  

*Drop-shipping applies to orders within the USA.  Postage and handling for out-of-county shipping will apply.

TOTAL PROTOCOL SUMMARY

1. First, detoxify. Do a 21-day total body purification using the Purification Kit by Standard Process. The cost: $240.  Repeat this purification program every 4 months for a year, then twice a year thereafter.

2. For gouty arthritis and fluid retention, abstain from highly seasoned and high purine foods (turkey, pork, heavy beef, lentils, dried beans, avocados, and beer) and take the following: 

  1. AC Carbamide  – 3 capsules with a tall glass of purified or spring water three times a day to support the kidneys in removing uric acid from the blood and excess fluid from the tissues. ($18/90 caps)  
  2. Iodomere  – 2 tablets with meals (6 a day) for thyroid support and to help the kidneys take up fluid. ($19/90 tabs) 
  3. DermaCo herbal – one or two tablet per day to help maintain a normal level of uric acid in the bloodstream. ($28/40 tabs) 

3.  During and after the 21-day purification, support your lymphatic system with daily brisk walks or rebounding exercise and take the following:

  1.  Take 10 drops of Lymphapar sublingual 3 times daily for 7 days then once daily for 90 days. ($14/1 oz bottle. You’ll need 3 or 4 bottles.  Email me and I’ll send you some as this is not an SP product.) 
  2. Add to that 1 Cal Amo tablet with each meal for 30 days. ($12/90 tabs)
  3. Take 4 Allerplex capsules twice a day to help get rid of metabolic waste and histamines, particularly from the lungs and bronchial tubes. ($24/150 caps)

 4.  Next, support your immune system with the following supplements over the first 90 days:

  1. Echinacea Premium (2/day)
  2. Immuplex (6/day),
  3. Thymex (6/day),
  4. St. John’s Wort (2/day) – Contraindicated with life-dependent medicines as it detoxifies drugs in the liver.
  5. Astragalus (2/day)  

5. Support the stress-response and hormone system as detailed above.   

Take this in steps and stages, and don’t rush the process.  You didn’t get fibromyalgia or CFS overnight.  Allow one month of correction for every year of chronic illness after going through a 90-day intensive.  It takes that long to turn a deteriorating health pattern around and build an integrating health pattern. And, above all, be patient—and aim to maintain an attitude of gratitude! 🙂

This completes my consideration of  fibromyalgia.  I will resume my series “Seven Glands for Seven Spirits” with the next post.  Until then,

Here’s to your health and healing . . . and a happy and healthy holiday season.

Dr. Anthony Palombo

tpal70@gmail.com

Visit my second blog, HealingTones.org, for intriguing thought around the current cosmic event, “4th Density Apocalypse 2012, Part 3: The Ascension Process.” 

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Understanding “Fibromyalgia”—Part 3: The Immune Connection

Tony Pics for SA BookThere’s an old proverb that says: 

“If you make people think they think, they will love you. If you make them think, they will hate you.”  

I trust that you will not hate me for helping you think for yourself on matters as personal and intimate to you as your health.  

THE IMMUNE CONNECTION

Let’s talk about the immune connection to “fibromyalgia.”  We’re talking about infection, a crucial step in the healing process. Without infection, we would quickly succumb to the ravages of toxic metabolic waste and invasive pathogens upon the body cells.  Sounds like what “fibromyalgia” is all about—the ravages of toxic metabolic waste and invasive pathogens upon the body cells, which calls up an immune response to create an infection.  

I’ve just made another “thought-process interrupt.”  We automatically think of infections as something “bad” and a thing to “fight.”  What I said above calls for different thinking—and that’s my intent in writing this blog: to help us think again and anew about dis-ease and health, but mainly about what we’ve called “disease.”

Notice I hyphenate that word when I use it, because there is no such thing as “a disease.”  We’ve been programmed to think there is and that “disease” is our enemy that needs to be fought and destroyed with man-made chemical bullets, bombs and “surgical warfare.”  But we’re only shadow boxing.  Where diseases need to be gotten rid of is in human consciousness, where they are being  invented, labeled and “cured” (as in preserved). That’s what you do when you cure something.  You preserve it.  Well, we need to stop curing disease and start supporting the healing processes of the body, which alone knows what to do about what we call “disease.” 

There is a dis-ease created by such things as inflammation and infection.  They don’t feel good. We’re not at ease with pain, and that’s as it should be, all things considered.  Pain keeps us from hurting ourselves even further with inappropriate lifestyle activities. It should cause us to ask “Why does that hurt?” rather than “How can I get rid of this pain?”  Pain is an alarm. You wouldn’t turn off the smoke or fire alarm.  You would first look for the fire and seek to put it out. The smoke alarm will automatically shut off when the fire is put out and the smoke cleared out of the house.  It’s the same with pain. 

Our immune system creates fires all the time in order to burn up toxic waste.  The only sensible thing to do is support it so it can do its job more quickly and efficiently.  Fevers are life-savers and are not to be suppressed. They need to be allowed to burn at moderate temperatures (100 – 104).  More than that is dangerous and should be brought down with cold applications to the head especially to prevent brain damage.  Covering the body with blankets to help break a sweat will often break a fever. 

So, let’s talk about supporting the immune system.  Here’s its mechanism of action in medical terms.  Read it first then I’ll break it down to help you understand it.

Cytokines mediate and control immune and inflammatory responses. Complex interactions exist between cytokines, inflammation and the adaptive responses in maintaining homeostasis, health, and well-being. Like the stress response, the inflammatory reaction is crucial for survival and is meant to be tailored to the stimulus and time. A full-fledged systemic inflammatory reaction results in stimulation of four major programs: the acute-phase reaction, the sickness syndrome, the pain program, and the stress response, mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system.

Phew! That’s a mouth-full.  First, let’s understand what “cytokines” are.  Here’s the Wikipedia definition:

Cytokines (Greek cyto-, cell; and -kinos, movement) are small cell-signaling proteinmolecules that are secreted by numerous cells and are a category of signaling molecules used extensively in intercellular communication. Cytokines can be classified as proteinspeptides, or glycoproteins; the term “cytokine” encompasses a large and diverse family of regulators produced throughout the body by cells of diverse embryological origin

Simply stated, these are the messengers that alert the body’s immune system that the body has been invaded by harmful pathogens or free radicals.  They mediate and control immune and inflammatory responses, just as it says.  There is the “Redox Signaling Molecules,” for example. They play an important role in the body by activating antioxidants and turning on the immune response naturally to restore and maintain homeostasis—balance.

Watch this 5-minute video clip put out by ASEA as it contains a graphic demonstration of how cytokines work.  Just bear with the promo for their product, although it represents a remarkable scientific breakthrough in the healthcare field, and I use the product myself and in my practice.  This is important information to help us understand such modern-day health issues as “fibromyalgia” and “chronic fatigue syndrome.”

As you can see from the clip, the message has to get through to the immune system or else the invasion of pathogens and free radicals and the vulnerability of the cell walls will go unnoticed by the body.  

IMMUNE ALLIANCE, NOT SYSTEM

Let me explain the so-called “immune system,” which is a misnomer. We do not “have” an “immune system” as such, although the thymus gland, spleen and bone marrow play pivotal roles in producing immune-response cells to deal with “non-self” toxins in the body.  What we do have in an immune alliance which involves all the organs of the body, especially the organs of elimination, which includes the skin, by the way.  So, just keep that in mind in your approach to supporting your “immune system.”  For example, if you simply take antibiotics, pharma grade of natural, without doing something to clean out the metabolic waste with herbs, for instance, then you’ll end up crowding your lymphatic system with too much to handle on its own.  

I’ll often give a client Congaplex or Thymex, “natural antibiotics” put out by Standard Process Labs, to support the body’s immune-response to strep and staph infections respectively.  In a day or two the client often comes down with sinus congestion or swollen lymph nodes.  This tells me that the lymphatic glands are congested, so I’ll back off from supporting the body’s immune response and start supporting its elimination system.  

Standard Process and Medi-Herb provide superior products for this purpose, even natural antihistamines, like Antronex,  Allerplex, and Fen-Gre  to break up congestion in the sinuses and lymphatic glands, and ResCo, Broncafect, and PulmaCo to help clear out congestion in the bronchial tubes and lungs.  A company by the name of Energique also provides a product called Lymphapar, which almost magically opens up the lymphatic glands—very helpful with lactating mothers, for which this sublingual homeopathic was formulated.  These are all non-invasive, non-toxic, “natural medicines.”  They are also quite affordable when compared to the escalating cost of drugs.  Unfortunately, they are not covered by most insurance policies. 

Invariably, a “virus” appears on the scene from seemingly out of nowhere to scavenge the debris left by dead cells that gave their lives putting out the fire of infection.  That’s what they are and what they do—and they do appear to come from out of nowhere because they are simply normal cells of the body that have been transformed, morphed, and re-programmed as scavengers to clean up the mess left by the immune response, which I think is simply amazingly ingenious.  So, we can then turn our attention to helping the body clean house so as to eliminate the necessity for the viral activity.  This includes viruses that originate outside the body.  They are still scavengers and they will not invade your body tissues if there is nothing there for them to scavenge. This emphasizes the importance of Fall and Spring full-body purification rituals.  

Immuplex and St. John’s Wort help the body respond to viral infections.  Herbal teas are helpful in eliminating waste.  Bowel, liver and kidney detox products are plentiful.  All one has to do is use them.  Standard Process has a complete full-body Purification Kit with all the nutrients needed to clean out the body’s systems and tissues. Email me for product acquisition.  My readers enjoy a 10% discount on all supplement orders. *

ECHINACEA & IMMUNE-RESPONSE MODULATION

When we are sick we usually think in terms of “stimulating the immune system.” Well, that may or may not be the right call.  It’s far better to think in terms of modulating your immune response. Modulation simply entails balancing the immune response, which will be under-active where infections persist and over-active where autoimmune conditions persist, such as AIDS and rheumatoid arthritis.  

Echinacea herb is probably the most effective modulating botanical in Mother Nature’s cornucopia of natural medicines.  Medi-Herb, a sister company to Standard Process, has the very best Echanicea product in their Echinacea Premium—and it can be taken daily as a preventative, by children and adults alike, to keep the immune response balanced and poised to act appropriately in response to infections and autoimmune issues.

Not all Echinaceas are equal.  For example, the root of the augustifolia plant has more goodies for the immune system than the flowers of the purpurea plant.  Traditional Echinacea is made from the flowers, which is why people who are allergic to plants of the daisy family have a sensitivity to traditional Echinacea (made from Echinacea Purpurea flowers).  Echinacea Premium by Medi-Herb is made from the root of the Echinacea angustifolia.  The natives in Australia, where Medi-Herb manufactures its products, would pass over the flowering  purpurea plants and dig up the root type augustifolia plant, which resembles a carrot, because they knew it worked better than the flower type plants.  

Master Herbalist Dr. Kerry Bone of Medi-Herb has discovered that it’s the high concentrations of alkylamides that impact the immune system and not the polysacharides, as traditional European herbalists believe.  Echinacea Premium combines the roots of Echinacea angustifolia and Echinacea purpurea to enlist properties unique to each one in supporting the immune system. The following are some of it benefits: 

  • enhance immune system function (particularly non-specific immune function)
  • support and promote normal interferon production
  • support and promote healthy white blood cells
  • support healthy immune response following stress, sudden changes in weather or temperature
  • encourage healthy upper respiratory tissue
  • support and maintain healthy throat tissue
  • support healthy lymphatic system function
  • stimulate the body’s normal tissue support and renewal function.

For maximum benefit, combine Immuplex and Echinacea Premium in your supplement protocol for immune response modulation and support. Email me for product acquisition and dosages.  

And friends, you just need to stock up your “Natural Medicine Cabinet” with these products if you’re going to make the break from pharmaceutical drugs and start supporting your body’s immune system naturally.  In this day and age, supplementation with wholefood nutritionals and herbs is unavoidable.  And  I walk my talk. Personally, I take up to 30 different supplements daily. That’s about 60 pills and capsules, a handfull at each meal.  But that’s not much when I compare it to the three plates full of food I eat daily—and these are essences of wholefood concentrates designed and prescribed to reverse the “disease” process by balancing body chemistry—not “vitamin supplements,” which I strongly advise against.

For a personal consultation, email me for my telephone number and to schedule a time.  My fees are very reasonable.  We’ll talk more about the inflammatory and stress response systems in connection with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, which includes the thyroid’s involvement, in my next post.  Until then, 

Here’s to your health and healing,

Anthony Palombo, DC, ACN

Email address: tpal70@gmail.com

*Network marketing products, such as ASEA and Nopalea, are not included in this discount.

Visit my HealingTones.org blog for inspirational articles about sacred energy.  The current series theme is Fourth Density Apocalypse 2012: The Science of Ascension. 

 

 

 

Understanding Fibromyalgia,Part 2: Its Etiology and Cure


THINK “OUTSIDE THE BOX” TO FIND ANSWERS

There’s a saying that we will not solve problems by thinking at the same level as the problem. We have to think at a level above that of the problem.  This saying is most applicable here.  We have to think outside the box of orthodox medicine, wherein the diagnoses of ill conditions originate, in order to find answers.  Not the conditions themselves, but the labels we’ve placed on them in medical science. So, let’s step outside this box to take a look at this condition called “fibromyalgia” and see if we can understand it and find solutions for healing.

So far we’ve established that the label of “fibromyalgia” is a “wastebasket” diagnosis, a catch-all for numerous symptoms, primary of which are pain and inflammation.  We’ve come to understand that pain and inflammation trigger a healing response in the body, the inflammation itself telling you that you are okay, even with the pain. Nothing is “wrong” with your body.  It’s working fine.  A healing process is underway.  All you can do is support it and try to discover what is inflicting the injury to your cells that’s creating the pain that’s triggering the inflammation and eliminate it.  

Inflammation is normal—as long as it doesn’t last a long time where it becomes chronic inflammation, which means the body has accepted it as part of the status-quo and adapted itself to its necessity. . . mainly because the triggers of pain have not been eliminated.  When the triggers of pain have been removed, those things that are bringing on the assault to your body’s cells, the necessity for your immune system’s inflammatory response and the subsequent need for a healing process has also been removed.  This essentially is what the “cure” of “fibromyalgia” entails.

DEALING WITH THE PAIN

Before you shut off the pain with pain pills, consider this. If you shut off the pain you stand the risk of shutting down the healing process as well.  Deal with the triggers of the pain, what is assaulting your body cells and injuring them and making them holler “STOP!”  Your body’s healing process may not kick in if the brain isn’t getting the pain signal.

You can deal with the pain using natural solutions that also address the condition and support the healing process.  Here are a few you can start applying as you back off your pain medication:

  1. Boswellia Complex by Medi-Herb, a great anti-inflammatory, especially effective with inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract.  It comes out of Australia where world-renown master herbalist Kerry Bone developed the very finest line of herbal preparations and brought them here via Standard Process Labs, its affiliate company.  It’s a bit pricey at $55.50 for a 90-tablet bottle, but well worth it.  Medi-Herb products are only available through licensed health practitioners.  I offer my readers a 15% on all Standard Process and Medi-Herb product orders.
  2. Tuna Omega 3 Oil—Oil, especially fish oil, is nature’s coolant and insulator.  Omega 3 oil insulates the cell against oxidation and will cool down inflammation. The quality of the oil is critical as oil easily goes rancid during processing where heat is used.  Standard Process takes great care in processing their oils.   Their Tuna Omega 3 Oil is the very finest of all fish oils on the market. 
  3. Calamari Omega3 Liquid—A natural anti-inflammatory oil especially effective with joint pains and arthritis.
  4. Nopalea (“No-pah lay’ uh”)—a tasty wellness drink sourced from the fruit of the Nopal cactus that thrives in the Sonoras Desert of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.  It contains nutrients that can help the body reduce inflammation, detoxify, relieve many types of pain, promote optimal cellular health and energy.  You can obtain it from me or order it online at www.sonoranbloom.com/14348092 . ($40 for a 32 oz bottle plus S&H)
  5. AC Carbamide —another remarkable Standard Process product for dealing with pain caused by acidic body fluids, such as in gouty arthritis, because it acts as a buffer for uric acid.  What carbamide actually does is enhance the flow of fluid through the tissue cell walls. Therefore it acts as a natural diuretic which does not leach out Potassium, which pharmaceutical diuretics do.  It’s reasonably priced at $18 for 90 capsules and $48 for 270 capsules.

POSSIBLE CAUSES AND TRIGGERS

1. Toxicity:  from chemicals and food additives, the most common and offensive one being aspartame, present in all diet drinks. (Click on the word to read my blog post on it.)  Get it out of your diet altogether. Use Stevia instead.  I use Green Leaf because it doesn’t leave an aftertaste.  There’s nothing wrong with raw sugar and honey in moderation, unless you have a weight problem and/or a sugar issue, as sugar and honey do spike insulin. Insulin carries glycogen to cells for energy, which is stored as fat when not burned up by physical exercise.  Other food additive, such as preservatives, color and flavor enhancers, are toxins that become “free radicals” in the body.  Free radicals are molecules with atoms that need an electron or two to stabilize them.  They’ll get what they need from your cell walls, making the cells vulnerable to oxidation and invasion by bacteria and viruses. You can hardly get away from these free radical toxins, but you can protect your cells from damage by consuming food rich in antioxidants and supplementing with fish and wheat germ oils and other antioxidant supplements. * (See footnote below for details and a list of foods.)

2.  Food sensitivities: sometimes erroneously called “food allergies.”  The most common ones are wheat and corn gluten and dairy.  “Gluten Intolerance” is widespread, as evidenced by the increasing number of gluten-free products in the marketplace. It’s the protein in these foods that get into the blood stream through an intestinal wall that has become eroded and “leaky,” as it is often characterized.  A “leaky gut” can be the way that undigested proteins get into your blood stream and trigger an inflammatory response.  The gut can be repaired. 

You can rule out food sensitivities quite simply by eliminating suspect foods from your diet for a couple of weeks and then adding them back in to see how you feel eating them as opposed to how you felt abstaining from them.  If you notice a difference, then you can be sure that your intestines are permeable.  Eliminate those foods that make you feel bad until your gut is repaired.  

The gut can be easily repaired with enzyme therapy and a wonderful herbal product by Medi-Herb, Gut Flora Complex.  There’s no fast fix. This takes time, sometimes up to a year, depending on the extent of the erosion. Raw okra provides mucous digesting and tissue repair enzymes.  Mucous is made of undigested protein that has become acidic and eats away at the lining of the intestines.  Standard Process Labs makes an effective product called Okra Pepsin E3. The Vitamin “E3” part is the healing aspect of this product, so I emphasize the uniqueness of this wholefood formula. Enzyme therapy consists of taking enzymes on an empty stomach so that the enzymes are used up repairing the intestinal wall rather than in digesting foods.  Proteolitic enzymes in Multizyme  and Zymex II from Standard Process will complete the digestion of the protein in the mucous and digest any parasites, another cause of “leaky gut.” Standard Process and Medi-Herb products are available through my office.

3. Insulin can trigger inflammation if there’s more in the blood stream than the cells of the body can use in a day’s time, a condition called “hyperinsulism.” Cells have receptor sites (parking spots) for insulin molecules to deliver their packages of glycogen (blood sugar) to the cells for energy.  When those receptor sites get filled up, the insulin molecules can’t park, so they stay in the blood stream where they can irritate and erode the walls of the blood vessels. This causes inflammation that triggers a healing and repair process to keep the blood vessels from leaking.

The Cholesterol Patch vs Statin Drugs

The body uses fat to plug the leaks until the vessel wall can be properly repaired.   Cholesterol is the name given to this fat, and plaque is what the patch is called. With a little critical thinking one can see how by removing the trigger for the excess insulin you remove the necessity for the cholesterol patch and the extra cholesterol production by your liver, which we are not wise in preventing with Statin drugs. The body does not make mistakes and produce cholesterol for no good reason.  Adding Statin drugs is an insult to the body’s innate intelligence . . . and it damages the liver and causes leg pains with extended use.

A 30-day Cure for “Type II Diabetes” 

Insulin is spiked by sugar and starches, so one can back away from these spikes.  By the way, what I’ve just described is what is labeled “type II diabetes” or “insulin-resistance.”   This can easily be remedied by abstaining completely from insulin-triggering foods for 30 days: all refined carbohydrates, white rice, pasta, white flour products, Irish potatoes (red new potatoes are okay), sugar, and sweet fruits (red grapes, prunes and plums are okay).  This will free up insulin receptor sites on the cells.  After 30 days you can resume eating all of these foods—except refined carbohydrates, which should be avoided by everyone. This is simple and doable by anyone with the will and determination to take an active role in one’s healthcare and wellness.

Chromium and Gymnema Sylvestri 

Another factor can be a lack of receptor sites due to a deficiency of chromium, a trace mineral used to create insulin receptor sites, found in few foods we consume on a regular basis.  It’s in Brewer’s Yeast.  It wouldn’t hurt to simply take a chromium supplement, such as Cataplex GTF by Standard Process (the GTF stands for glucose tolerance factor derived from nutritional yeast, a very important distinction to look for in choosing a chromium supplement).  

The herb “gymnema sylvestri” is used plentifully in Australia to manage blood sugar, and Medi Herb again comes to the rescue with its product simply called Gymnema.  Support to the pancreas is easily administered with the supplement Diaplex by Standard Process. Include some whole food Cataplex B to insure the production of insulin if you are insulin deficient.  “Insulin dependence” is another limitation altogether, but then, again, you can control the level of blood sugar with Gymnema and thereby reduce your daily dose of insulin.  Do this only with your doctor’s supervision.  He may not approve, so you may need to assert your preference and autonomy by saying “I want to do this.  Will you help me?”  If your doctor will not participate with you, then simply find a doctor who will. 

Here, again, it is necessary to be bone honest about how important of a role the label “diabetes” is playing in your life, defining your very sense of self.  If your body is having a problem handling sugar, that does not make you a “diabetic.”  You are still a human being with a free will and spirit.  Why settle for anything less—a medical diagnosis, of all things—for your identity? It does make a difference in your consciousness how you perceive yourself. Here’s where the primary changes can take place in order to change your reality. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” 

Heal Dis-ease in Consciousness First 

Miracles happen when changes occur in consciousness, and one of the limitations in consciousness preventing the “cure” of diabetes and other so-called “incurable diseases” is the very belief that they are entities in themselves and that they are incurable.  No disease is incurable! Diabetes, like Fibromyalgia, is not an entity, except in someone’s consciousness, which means that it is an illusion.  It doesn’t exist, except as a diagnostic term, a word that describes a condition of deficiency and malfunction in the body. Deficiencies and malfunctions can be corrected.  “Diseases” cannot be “cured” because they are not entities in themselves, no more than darkness is something. Darkness is nothing.  It’s the absence of something—light!  In exactly the same way, disease is nothing.   It’s the absence of something—health!    

Did you see what I just did? I did a “thought-interrupt”—a flip in perspective— a consciousness update.  Did you do it with me? That’s what really counts and what gives this blog its value as an educational medium.  Now, I wonder what would happen if we were to remove the illusion of disease from our consciousness? Stopped giving health conditions diagnostic labels?  Do you see where we might actually be able to start reading symptoms in terms of deficiencies and malfunctions and understand what we might do to correct them if we were not preoccupied shadow-boxing “disease”?

DETOXIFY, DETOXIFY, DETOXIFY. . . AND MOVE!

I highly recommend a total body detox and purification at least three times during the year, preferably every three months.  Standard Process offers a 21-day Purification Product Kit which includes all the products you will need plus a comprehensive guide booklet.  Your cells are swimming in their own acidic metabolic waste.  Little wonder they hurt.  They are in so much pain that they are committing suicide.  It’s called “apoptosis” but it’s nonetheless suicide. Dying and decaying cells add to the toxic waste.  Lymph glands become congested with too much to handle.  Lymph depends on muscle movement for its circulation and pain is making exercise difficult.  But just a 20 to 30 minute walk four times a week and preferably every day would suffice.

Write me for the full-body detoxification program and the Purification Kit. It’s very easy to do and absolutely required at the onset of your adventure in restoring your health.  You’ll lose ten to twenty pounds as a bonus.  Just do it. 

We have a little more to cover on possible causes and triggers and this post is already long and dense enough. So, we’ll continue next week and complete this special then return to our Seven Glands for Seven Spirits series.  Until then, here’s to your health and healing, 

Dr. Anthony Palombo

Visit my HealingTones.org blog for an engaging consideration of “Fourth Density Apocalypse 2012” 

Write me at tpal70@gmail.com for personal attention to your situation.  My consultation fee is very reasonable, and product acquisition easy and fast.

*An antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons or hydrogen from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals. In turn, these radicals can start chain reactions. When the chain reaction occurs in a cell, it can cause damage or death to the cell. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions. They do this by being oxidized themselves, so antioxidants are often reducing agents such as thiols, ascorbic acid [Vitamin C ], or polyphenols…. For example, honey; most legumes; fruits such as apples, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, pomegranate, cherries, cranberries, grapes, pears, plums, raspberries, aronia berries, and strawberries; and vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, celery, onion and parsley are rich in polyphenols. Red wine [resveratrol], dark chocolate, white tea, green tea, olive oil, argan oil, bee pollen and many grains are sources. Ingestion of polyphenols occurs by consuming a wide array of plant foods.  (Wikipedia). 

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Understanding Fibromyalgia, Part 1: The Consciousness of the Sufferer

If we’re going to address this condition holistically, we must start with the consciousness of the sufferer and his or her understanding of what “fibromyalgia” actually is and how it has tended to define one’s identity, as many chronic diseases tend to do. We also have to do some critical thinking around our current healthcare system, the context in which this condition has been diagnosed, and begin to allow a change in consciousness to occur there as well. 

The word itself—which simply means aching muscle fibers— is a new name for what old folks today used to call “rheumatism,” or “la rheumatise” as the Cajun folk called it back when I got out of Chiropractic college in 1963 and opened my first practice in Crowley, Louisiana.  It’s a body ache that just won’t go away. You just hurt all over, and that’s not anything new.  In other words, it’s an old ailment with a modern diagnostic label.  

The only difference is we have a whole lot more pain-producing assaults to our bodies in the form of chemicals in our foods, water and air, than were around fifty years ago, not to mention mental and emotional stresses we didn’t used to have.  Then there’s the latest threat to our health and sanity in the form of Genetically Modified Organisms in corn and other food staples, such as fruits and vegetable.  All this to say we have many more toxins for our immune and elimination systems to process in body-minds that are a lot more stressed—and a lot less active physically but more active mentally.  All this bears on our predisposition to dis-ease.  

THE PROBLEM WITH A DI-AGNOSIS

I emphasize the word “diagnostic” to bring attention to the unpublished meaning of that word.  The dictionary gives this Greek derivation: [dia-, through, between + gignoskein, know], and defines it as an act of “distinguishing.”  But I prefer the one I heard some years ago at a motivational seminar: “di-, meaning two, and -agnostic, meaning not knowable”  When you ache and don’t know what it is, only you don’t know. That’s one.  When you take your condition to a medical doctor, he tells you he doesn’t know what it is either.  Now you have TWO who don’t know, only the doctor puts a name on it, mainly because that’s what you went to him for . . . and  he needs a legitimate condition to prescribe a drug for and get paid by the insurance industry to treat.  Now you have a diagnosis you can set your mind at ease with—at least it’s not “cancer”—and something new to tell all your friends and neighbors about. 😮  

One medical author actually writes that if people didn’t “demand” a name for their conditions, they would get well much faster—and that’s no joke.

Of course, I’m being facetious.  After 50 years in this work, which can be frustrating at times but, nevertheless, rewarding, I feel I’ve earned the right to interject a bit of humor into the otherwise heavy and futile undertaking health-care has become. People are perishing because of a lack of real vision. My purpose for blogging here is to hopefully bring some vision to the end that people will stop perishing. 

Sad as it is, that’s about where we are in our so-called “health care” and modern-day medicine, with 75% of medical diagnoses being wrong—and people sacrificing their lives every day at the research altar of the pharmaceutical industry—60,000 deaths worldwide from a simple pain pill before it was pulled off the market in 2004, not to mention those dying daily from contaminated steroid shots administered to relieve pain!  Tens of thousands die annually from medical mistakes, hospital-acquired infections, and “iotrogenic” (doctor-caused) diseases. 

The best medical specialists are only 25% right in their guesses about health conditions and their causes and treatments . Medicine does not deliver health and it never will.  It’s not “health care.” It’s disease management—and we do, unfortunately, still need to manage human disease and suffering—such as “fibromyalgia” and “chronic fatigue syndrome”—so I don’t want to come off as being ungrateful for drugs and surgery, certainly not for our well-meaning and compassionate doctors.  But what an indictment upon our way of life—or rather of dying—in the twenty-first century, and upon modern-day medicine!  Drugs are simply not the way to go.

Am I passionate about this blatant failure on the part of our healthcare delivery system . . . and the government’s continued support of it with our hard-earned tax dollars?  You bet I am!  I understand that research dollars are becoming harder to come by in the wake of decades of medical science’s failures to deliver on its promises to find cures for human diseases if we just give them more money and time.  It’s about time we wake up!

So, I will back off from calling chronic aches and pains “fibromyalgia” because, like all other diagnostic terms, it has become yet another mental fixation that people believe in with religious fervor.  Some time ago I learned that you cannot talk a diabetic, for instance, out of his or her pet topic of conversation.  Besides, it’s one of the four diseases that it is illegal in this country to “cure.” 

But, enough about human-nature antics.  People are suffering from pain that has no knowable cause  . . . to medical science, that is.  Not so. Everything in the world of effects has a cause that is knowable. We just have to put our critical-thinking caps on to figure it out.  That’s what chiropractors and other natural health care practitioners are good at.  So, let’s look at this modern-day plague, for which medical science loudly proclaims in its literature:  “The cause is unknown.” ___________________________________________________

EVIDENCE THAT HEALING IS UNDERWAY

1. PAIN AND INFLAMMATION 

It’s inflammation, pure and simple.  Inflammation is the first stage of the healing process.  It’s natural, in others words. Pain is the trigger for the healing process and inflammation is your first indication that you’re okay in spite of the pain.  The healing process is underway.  Support it . . . and find and eliminate the external and internal causes of the pain that triggers it. That’s all we can do.  The body heals itself.  It has an innate intelligence that automatically heals and repairs damaged and sick parts.

Read this excellent article by Dr. Samuel N. Grief, MD on the subject of inflammation for a better understanding of this mechanism of the healing process.

2. REPAIR AND INFECTION

The second phase is repair, which may include infection if the debris from damaged and dying cells is not eliminated properly. That debris is called “metabolic waste” in physiology.  If not eliminated, it becomes acidic.  Acid burns cells, and that can be quite painful.  It’s a toxin and needs to be cleansed out of the body tissues.  Infection is how the body deals with toxic waste.

That’s where alternative and natural healthcare can help with herbs and exercise, along with some Eastern Medicine techniques, such as Acupuncture, which is very effective in intercepting pain signals and opening up stuck energy pathways in the body—which is also what chiropractic spinal adjustments offer.  Spinal adjustments open up neural pathways between central control in the brain and peripheral tissues and organs in the body.  Pathways that carry vital signals and messages of the intelligent innate healing power of the body. Chiropractors have historically proclaimed the truth that “The power the made the body can heal the body.” Homeopathy and Naturopathy are also natural healing methodologies that offer totally harmless ways of supporting the natural healing processes of the body.

Tissue repair is done simply through a process of protein syntheses and cellular apoptosis (suicide) and replication.  Simply put, a cell sees that a neighboring cell has died so it replicates itself to replace the missing cell.  Innate intelligence at work! See this fascinating process in some of my earlier blogs on the Life of the Cell and Protein Transcription listed in the Archives of this blog. Also my articles on Bone Remodeling and The Healing Process published back in May and June of 2011.

3. SCARRING

The third phase of the healing process is scarring to fortify damaged tissue fibers.   For that process to work, building blocks are needed in abundance, and enzymes are called upon in greater demand to do the repair work. They are the workhorses of the body.  Here is where healthful dieting and nutritional therapies can help.  Raw foods supply us with enzymes, vitamins and minerals—provided they are organically produced in humus and mineral rich soils.  Otherwise, supplementation with enzymes and healing nutrients is absolutely necessary.

4. STRENGTHENING & REHAB

The next step for the injured person is  strengthening and rehabilitation, to break up the scaring so that new cells can come in and replace the collagen tissue where possible, and to strengthen the repaired tissues. This is where stretching, physical exercise, therapeutic massage, and physical therapy can help.

5. NUTRITIONAL AND HERBAL THERAPIES

This is also where nutritional and herbal therapies come in handy—and there are some remarkable products available to alternative healthcare practitioners today.  These natural healing  sciences are called by such names as “Trophotherapy” and “Phytotherapy.”  Trophotherapy includes the use of whole food supplements as therapeutic foods (“nutraceuticals”) that supply all the ingredients the body needs to repair and strengthen tissues, help the immune system process infection efficiently, and restore normal function to muscles, bones, organs and glands.  Phytotherapy includes the use of phytochemicals and herbs to supply natural medicines that act as catalysts for chemical processes, aid in the infection-fighting process and in the production of energy, as well as helping the body adapt more easily to environmental stress.  This work is called “Clinical Nutrition” and its rationale is to reverse the disease process and support the healing process.  

Doesn’t this kind of critical thinking  sound so harmonious and resonant with logic and reason? Don’t you just love the healthy sound of these words? They take us up toward health and life rather than down toward disease and death.  I love this work. 

We’ve come a long ways in our research and utilization of Mother’s Nature’s cornucopia of healing nutritionals and botanicals (herbs,  etc.) . . . and this is true health care research.  Research that delivers the goods of health as opposed to masking the symptoms of disease with drugs.

6. POSSIBLE CAUSES AND TRIGGERS

When I asked my Standard Process representative for some input for this post—he’s a Naturapath—here’s what he emailed me in response:

Yikes …you could write a book.  As you know it is a wastebasket diagnosis, a cluster of symptoms, and not definable by any marker other than tender point index.  I think finding the root causes and triggers is the real key to relief.  Also, as many practitioners will attest, a lot of long-term sufferers really don’t want to get completely better as the label of  “fibromyalgia” becomes their badge of honor or ingrained in their identity.  

His last comment echoes what I said earlier in this post. The problem, as well as the solution, lies within the sufferer and his or her consciousness.  That is both barrier and key to healing all physicians face daily in their clinics.  The Holistic approach takes this into account and addresses the healing of the person rather than the disease. Change is hard for those who don’t want to let go of what has defined them for so long, many for years.

Here are some of the known root causes and triggers for “fibromyalgia”:

  • Low thyroid function resulting in slow metabolism, the rate of energy metabolism and the breaking down of molecular structure (catabolism) and the building up of tissues (anabolism). 
  • Toxicity – especially aluminum
  • Post viral mitochondria dysfunction, resulting in “chronic fatigue,” another catch-all label
  • Un-diagnosed infective viral agents, such as Lyme disease, chronic staph and strep infections.
  • Food allergies, such as corn and wheat gluten, and dairy.

I will address each one of these areas in my next post, including known remedies and powerful, natural anti-inflammatory agents, such as the fruit of the Nopal cactus that thrives in the Sonoran Desert of southwest USA and Mexico, now available in a juice called “nopalea” put out by the innovative company TriVita. Until then, here’s to your critical thinking on health and healing,

Anthony Palombo, D.C.
Note: I’ve interrupted my series “Seven Glands for Seven Spirits” in order to bring you this special on Fibromyalgia and to honor a request from one of my blog followers. Your requests and comments are encouraged and always welcome. Thank you!
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