This is the excruciating aftermath of an adult’s bout with shingles — or herpes zoster, the same virus that causes chicken-pox in children. The virus appears to lie dormant in a nerve root for decades in some people and later appears, sometimes in response to stress or to physical upset. This infection also produces rashes [...]
A criticism of medical training is that specialisation has led to each specialist tending to adopt a tunnel-vision approach. Thus, anaesthetists treat chronic pain with nerve blocks. Surgeons cut nerves or remove vertebral discs, according to their special interest. Psychiatrists either use psychotherapy or tell patients they are imagining the pain. Doctors often prescribe narcotic-based, [...]
According to the American Academy of Social Physicians, two-thirds of consultations in the United States are prompted by stress-related symptoms. The cost of such symptoms in absenteeism, company expenses and lost productivity have been estimated at between $50 billion to $75 billion a year — more than $750 for every worker. The indications are that [...]
Pain is as old as time itself. Some of our ancestors must have been profoundly mystified by pain associated with disease. An attempt was made to explain this as an intrusion into the body by evil spirits, or objects, thus requiring their removal by extracting the object, exorcising demons or placating the Gods. The Ancient [...]
There can be several different causes for urticaria (also called nettle-rash or hives) of which allergic reactions are just one. Where allergy is at the root of urticaria, it is probably the mast cells found in the lower layers of the skin that cause the problem. When they degranulate, the mediators released have a powerful [...]
A nursery-school teacher recently told me that her eyesight had deteriorated so that she could no longer read even when wearing her glasses. Several months earlier she had started taking Ginkgo biloba regularly, about thirty drops every morning and night. When she tried her old pair of glasses again she was amazed that her sight [...]
To combine just any kind of herb or extract with another, hoping that eventually one may be lucky and suddenly invent something outstanding, is clearly the wrong thing to do. There are certain herbs and other natural remedies which, when combined, tend to harm rather than benefit the system. To ascertain the overall effects and [...]
It is understandable that the indigenous peoples of, for example, Africa, South America and the South Sea islands enjoy a better skin function than people who have to wear thick clothing all the time; the native people in hot climates often walk around wearing very little clothing, if any, and their bodies are in constant [...]
We are no longer absolutely in the dark when it comes to treating cancer. There are some biological means that help to normalise the body’s weakened defence system without causing undesirable side effects. It is now understood that cancer, the disease, is not restricted to a tumour, that is, a localised problem; rather, it is [...]
Avitaminosis, as well as a deficiency of other vital substances, seem to be strongly implicated in the development of cancer, but research in this area is still inconclusive. Metabolic disorders, for example chronic constipation and constant fermentations in the intestines as a result of dysbac-teria, are also very damaging. Lack of oxygen plays a decisive [...]