Leukemia and Complimentary Therapies

As a reflexologist I note with interest its inclusion in this list of useful therapies. Acupuncture is listed, not Homeopathy which has been useful in healing many conditions. However the researcher seems to have some bias towards what are called ‘alternative’ therapies. How can one research anything if a bias is present? How will you find the truth? Research is too often focused on maintaining the status quo, with a goal of producing drugs that require continued use. Truth is, there are many true stories of people who have lived to tell, that they have healed (vs. ‘managed) from any number of conditions – where the ‘experts’ said it couldn’t be done, note Norman Cousins, one very well known case. Optimum care will come when people are free to choose therapies of their choosing and we respect what is good in various approaches.
The abstract is listed below, read on…


Is there a role for complementary therapy in the management of leukemia?

Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2009 Sep;9(9):1241-9
Patients with leukemia often seek additional treatments not prescribed by their oncologist in an effort to improve their cancer treatment outcome or to manage symptoms.

Complementary therapies are used in conjunction with traditional cancer treatments to decrease symptoms and side effects associated with cancer or cancer treatment, and to improve patients’ overall quality of life. Complementary therapies are distinct from so-called ‘alternative’ therapies, which are unproven, ineffective and may postpone or interfere with mainstream cancer treatment. Complementary therapies are pleasant, inexpensive, nonpharmacologic and effective. For patients with leukemia, the complementary therapies that are always appropriate include mind-body interventions, such as self-hypnosis, meditation, guided imagery and breath awareness. Massage and reflexology (foot massage) decrease symptoms with effects lasting at least 2 days following treatment. Acupuncture is very beneficial for symptom management without adverse consequences. Physical fitness with regular exercise and healthy dietary habits can significantly decrease side effects of cancer treatments and may prolong survival. Botanical extracts and vitamin supplements may interfere with active cancer treatments, and should be discussed with the oncologist or pharmacist before use.

Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1429 First Avenue, NY 10021, USA.

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Reflections

“It is no measure of health to be adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
– Krishnamurti

When perspiration smells like cheese

OK I made up the question.  Still let’s have a look at it from a homeopathic perspective.

Question:

Lately, my husband has started sweating profusely when he is asleep.  His sweat has a strong cheesy smell. He is showers regularly so that is not the problem.  Is this serious?

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A Homeopathic Look

I’m not speaking to the, is this serious question, as I am not an medical doctor.  Let’s take a peek at this situation from a homeopathic perspective.

I decided to repertorize these few symptoms and see what comes up.  Look below.  Of course, other factors have to be taken into consideration to make a remedy decision.
Cheesy perspiration, could also be close to “fetid” and “offensive”, but I like this rubric since it quite distinct and in the person’s own language.

Perspiration
ODOR, cheesy, (8)

Perspiration
PROFUSE (224)
night (97)

Based on this limited information what homeopathic remedy might you suggest for this individual?

For a doctor’s perspective on the question read here.

Mantra Meditation Gayatri mantra

This beautiful chant will help soothe and heal. Enjoy.

Gayatri Mantra Meditation (Deva Premal)

Children seriously affected when a parent suffers from depression

The article below outlines some of the challenges that are thrust on a child when a parent is sad or depressed. Homeopathic care (with a qualified homeopath) can offer solutions to those seeking an alternative to allopathic care. Homeopathy is of help for the entire family and as the article below suggests, health services must help the whole family. Visit our site, continuumwellness.org and contact us for more information.

Children seriously affected when a parent suffers from depression

Life is hard for the children of a parent suffering from depression. Children take on an enormous amount of responsibility for the ill parent and for other family members. It is therefore important for the health services to be aware of this and have support functions in place for the whole family, and not just for the person who is ill. This is the conclusion of a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Registered Nurse Britt Hedman Ahlström has examined the way in which family life is affected when a parent is suffering from depression. Nine families, including ten children and young adults between the ages of 5 and 26, and eleven parents were included in the study.

The results show how the family’s daily life changes and becomes more complicated when a parent is suffering from depression. Uncertainty about what is happening has an effect on the daily life of the entire family. Depression also means that the parent becomes tired and exhausted, which then affects and weighs heavily on the children’s daily life. Depression changes the relationship between a parent and his/her children, since they no longer communicate with each other as they used to. Family interplay and reciprocity decrease. The depressed parent withdraws from the family, and the children feel that they have been left to themselves.

Daily family life becomes unfamiliar to the children

The family members try their utmost, both as individuals and together, to cope with the situation, so that daily life can be restored to a more manageable level. The children take responsibility for both the depressed parent, siblings and themselves, when they notice that the parent cannot cope.

“The toughest burden of responsibility that children take on is ensuring that the depressed parent doesn’t commit suicide. So children take on an extremely heavy responsibility by monitoring and keeping an eye on the depressed parent,” says Britt Hedman Ahlström.

For children, the parent’s depression means both a sense of responsibility and a feeling of loneliness The feelings of responsibility and loneliness include a striving and yearning for reciprocity with the parent, and for things to return to a state of normality.

“Even if the depression goes away for a time, the family is never entirely free from anxiety over it coming back. This means that there is a prolonged period of suffering associated with depression,” says Britt Hedman Ahlström.

Health services must help the whole family

Involving the entire family when a parent becomes ill is important, both for the children and the parents. It is essential to have a well-defined level of guaranteed care on how, when and from whom the families will get support. Psychiatric healthcare personnel meet people suffering from depression at an early stage, and therefore have the opportunity to focus the care on the family, in order to together identify ways of helping the family get through the depression.

“We need a new approach within the health services, in which the focus is on the family’s own perspective when a parent is suffering from depression. It’s vital to be aware of the whole family’s needs in terms of help and support, and not just those of the person who is ill. It’s particularly important to be aware of the children’s situation. Research can therefore focus on how to develop various ways of providing families with care and support, and introduce them into the existing organisation, as well as evaluating the consequences for the whole family, the parents and the children,” says Britt Hedman Ahlström.

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Reflexology Feels Good

I thought I’d share just how wonderful my feet feel! Yes, I give reflexology sessions, and I appreciate that people enjoy our sessions together and experience relief and healing. Well, I love when I can get a session in too. Many of the areas of the foot you can reach on your own foot, but it is not the same as you relaxing…and receiving. Also doing your own foot still leaves much to be desired regarding technique.

Benefits of Reflexology

Have you tried reflexology? I’m fortunate to trade sessions with another reflexologist, yea! But who is rubbing your feet? Foot reflexology offers an easy way to treat the whole body/mind. It is relaxing, boosts your circulation, immunity, helps you to detox and get in touch with your own body.

It is amazing how easy it is to ignore one’s own body. The standard protocol of if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, doesn’t tell the whole story when applied to the body. For example many deep seated illnesses have very few symptoms, there are symptoms, but they are subtle. If we ignore our internal energy systems, we increase the chance for a more serious breakdown to occur. To make a difference take a break, listen to your body. Learn the art of wise self-care. Prevention is worth a pound of cure…and then some.

Homeopathy, Children and Life, A Deeper Look

What I love about this article below is that it captures succinctly a number of key points of homeopathic philosophy.  For example, that you are not your illness.  That the origins of a ‘disease’ that you are experiencing *today* may have ancestral roots.  But whatever the cause of the problem it has something to do with inter-relationships of things in your world, your life and how it effected you.  I don’t have the name of the author, but the article appeared in “The Daily Mirror” 12/25/08, an Indian paper.  And read the Arsenicum case in the article, so cool.

A person is not simply a disease. Instead they are the totality of their physical and psychological characteristics. This totality is a dynamic and evolving system. In Homeopathy we recognize that our whole entire being is influenced not only by infections and day to day stresses but also our environment and our emotions and that of those around us.

In the case of children we can clearly see a link in the stresses surrounding their births and even conception going onto having a bearing in their “total health.”  In some cases this will be revealed by the child’s inability to gain weight, to sleep well or a recurring ear infection, craving certain foods and so on. Instead of looking within ourselves and the shadow side of our behavior and emotions we look for the quick fix to patch our children back to “health” with antibiotics and vitamins. This is not a true cure. We need to always consider the root cause. And more often than not it has its roots in the realm of emotions. Sometimes it is an emotion of an ancestor that we carry with us and keep reliving it.   Remember that all experiences we have leave an energetic imprint on us.

This brings me to a case I read of when a mother came to visit a Homeopath with her son who always woke up at 3 am. The mother had frontal sinusitis. The child seemed very agitated and in contrast the mother was calm and dressed all in black. Of course like most modern mothers she claimed her pregnancy was problem free and how much she had achieved during her pregnancy, but her child was presenting with much agitation and sleep issues. So the homeopath has to dig a little deeper to find out what had been going on during her pregnancy. Many months later the mother recalled that she watched the assassination of President Sadat on the television when she was pregnant. This apparently really shocked her and she was also able to recall that ever since then the baby moved around so much in her stomach. She put it down to him just being active and all boy! But through the Homeopathic lens of understanding we are able to see that this negative image was transferred to the unborn baby while in utero. The Homeopath prescribed a few doses of Arsenicum Albumen for the indication of the fear of death. The boy began to sleep through the night and became much calmer.

In today’s world a pregnant woman is exposed to so much negativity on a daily basis. For example, take the 24 hour news channels that allow us to relive disturbing and traumatic events on demand. We absorb these images and emotions and make it part of our psyche.  We have moved very far away from the days when pregnant women were revered and placed in calming and beautiful surroundings in order to imbibe feelings of harmony and joy to their children. Today even a child’ birth is scheduled in most parts of the developed world. Very little is left to the natural rhythms of the Universe. We have to find a middle path, a path on which we can enjoy the benefits of the modern world but not let it destroy our spirit.

In our busy world we seem to have forgotten that our physical body and our emotions are inextricably linked. In order to truly put our lives back in balance we need to look a little deeper than the superficial symptoms. We need to truly look at the dis-ease in our being.  In order to ascertain the fundamental cause of disease and then treat what needs to be cured it takes some self reflection. All the stresses of our day to day life impact our vital force.  In treating children we see how strong their vital force is and through Homeopathy you can maintain this vitality and enhance it.

Health Benefits of Chanting

The study cited below (Dec 2001) cites the benefit of reciting the rosary or chanting. The practices promote calmness and improve heart and lung function.
Reciting Ave Maria linked to a healthy heart
Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms: comparative study BMJ Volume 323, pp 1446-9

Reciting the rosary prayer or yoga mantras enhance some aspect of heart and lung function and might be viewed as a health practice as well as a religious practice, finds a study in this week’s Christmas issue of the BMJ.

Luciano Bernardi and colleagues recorded breathing rates in 23 healthy adults during normal talking, during recitation of the Ave Maria and yoga mantras, and during six minutes of controlled breathing.

Normal talking reduced the breathing rate more irregularly. Breathing was markedly more regular during controlled breathing, the Ave Maria, and the mantra. Both the Ave Maria and the mantra slowed breathing to around six breaths per minute, inducing a favourable effect on the heart’s rhythm.

The benefits of breathing exercises in the practice of yoga have long been reported, and mantras may have evolved as a simple device to slow respiration, improve concentration, and induce calm. Similarly, the rosary may have partly evolved because it synchronised with the body’s natural heart rhythms, and thus gave a feeling of wellbeing, and perhaps an increased responsiveness to the religious message, suggest the authors.

As such, the rosary might be viewed as a health practice as well as a religious practice, they conclude.

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