OUR BODY'S COMMUNICATION SYSTEM: CIRCULATORY, NERVOUS, MERIDIAN

Our body which is made up of approximately 37.2 trillion cells do not exist and act alone. Each of these cells in our body works in a perfectly orchestrated manner. What enables each cell to function in an organized manner so that the body works as ONE and not 37.2 trillion individual cells is communication between the cells.

This article tries to expound in a simplistic manner, the infrastructure of this communication namely, the circulatory system, the nervous system and the meridian system. Whereas the circulatory system and the nervous system can be scientifically proven and verified by studying anatomy and physiology, the meridian system is more abstract. However abstract does not mean it does not exist.

Try proving 'wind' to someone who has never experienced or used wind before. Wind is defined as moving air due difference in air pressure. But air is not wind and wind is not air. Wind is moving air. The operative word is 'moving'. You can never prove the existence of wind by sampling wind in a container and study it under a microscope. Nevertheless this never stops the sailor from sailing or the boy from flying the kite or windmill from turning. The usefulness and power of the wind are harnessed for immediate use even though the user has not proven the existence of wind in the lab under the microscope. Perhaps the instrument to study 'wind' has been wrong from the start.

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

We eat our food. Food gets digested. The digested nutrient is carried by the blood to the whole body by the blood (plasma). The nutrients reach the cells. The cells metabolize the nutrients. The metabolic wastes produced by the cells are then carried by the blood (plasma) to the liver and kidneys for detoxification and excretion outside the body as urine and feces.

We breathe air that contains oxygen. The oxygen is mixed with blood in the lungs. The oxygenated blood (red blood cells) is then carried to the whole body and delivers oxygen to every living cell in the body. The cells use the oxygen to metabolize the nutrients. Subsequently carbon dioxide is produced as a metabolic waste. Carbon dioxide is then carried back to the lungs by the blood (red blood cells) to be expelled in the exhaled air.

• This system consists of the heart as the pump. Blood is the fluid acting as the carrying vehicle. The arteries (blood flowing away from the heart), veins (blood flowing towards the heart) and capillaries (a network of the smallest unit of blood vessels where arteries and veins meet) are the conduit in which the blood flows.
• The blood components (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, plasma) carries nutrients, oxygen, pathogens, chemical toxins, heavy metals, dead cell debris, metabolic waste towards (veins) and away (arteries) from the heart.
• The blood baths all the cells of the body to deliver nutrients and oxygen and to collect the metabolic wastes and carbon dioxide. Heavy metals, chemical toxins and pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungus and parasites) are transported in similar fashion also.
• The speed of blood flow is 40cm/s (Aorta), 15cm/s (Vena Cava), 0.03cm/s (Capillaries).
• Food poisoning, gas poisoning, and venom from bites all takes effect in a few seconds because that is how fast blood travels.
• The traveling speed depends on the force from the heart as a pump.

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

There is a loud bang and you recoil in split second from the unexpected sound. You see an object flying towards your face and in a split second you shut your eyes, turn your face away and hold your hand in front of your face in an attempt to avoid the impact of the object to your face. Unknowingly, your finger touched a very hot glass of water and in a split second, you withdraw your hand automatically without thinking consciously. You are accidentally pushed from behind and you lost your balance and falls face forward towards the floor. In a split second, you managed to extend your arm in front of your body and avoid hitting your head on the floor.

All the above examples illustrates how fast and spontaneously the body reacts as a reflex (without thinking), in a perfectly coordinated manner to save the body from danger. One system activates the other in a split second and all this is possible thanks to our nervous systems that communicates via electrical impulses. The speed of nerve impulse is approximately 1000cm/s and that is 25 times faster than the blood circulation. That explains the instantaneous effects of electrocution as compared to poisoning which may take minutes to hours.

The nervous system is also linked to other bodily systems for a more rapid and efficient response and thus terms such as neurovascular, neuroendocrine and neurohormonal are coined. The nervous systems provides the speed needed for communication between the sensory organs (eyes, ears, skin, smell etc), the central nervous system (brain & spinal cord) and the effector organs (muscles, heart, lungs, intestines, iris etc).

THE MERIDIAN SYSTEM

Your Qi and its circulation

The meridian system consists of pathways or channels where Qi flows. So what is Qi circulation? There is a network of invisible pathways (diagram below) called 'channels' (sometimes known as 'meridians') spanning your whole body according to the theory of Chinese medicine which has been an integral part for healing by the Chinese for thousands of years. This meridian map although deemed ancient, has been used by the German and Russian physicians in designing modern equipments which manipulates the flow of Qi using electromagnetic waves, lasers, infrared, shockwave, radiofrequency, ozone, platelet rich plasma plorotherapy (PRP) instead of the more traditional acupuncture needles and moxibustion.

Qi- the energy flowing through the channels- is much less dense than matter, so you cannot see it. It is nevertheless essential to your well-being. Qi is originally created from the combination of the air that you breathe with the food you eat. This mixture then goes through several refining process to become the Qi that moves through your channels. The Qi in your channels connects to and nourishes your organs.

The channels and Organs

You can compare the channels and Organs to the Google Map of a country. The first thing you would probably notice are the roads. Some of these would be large dual carriageways where cars and lorries move from one major town to another. Other smaller roads give people access to more remote areas. The network of roads is similar to the network of channels that extend throughout your body.

The cities and towns can be compared to the Organs of the body. Often a road is named after the town it leads to. I come from Damai and in that town there is a Jalan Damai. In the same way the channels are named after the Organs they join up with.

Roads are vital links that bring supplies into the cities and towns. Sometimes roads become blocked. Most commonly nowadays this is due to traffic jams, but it can also to an accident, a fallen tree or sometimes construction works like Jalan Lintas highway currently. There might also be a food shortage, so that nothing is available to reach the cities or outposts. In both of these cases the residents become desperate when they do not have provisions they need. If provisions are cut off for a long time, worse problems occur and looting and violence can even result.

Similarly, when the channels in the body become deficient or blocked, the organs are starved of vital Qi. If this continues for a long period, sickness may manifest physically, mentally or spiritually. A problem affecting the Qi pathways alone is called a 'channel problem' in Chinese medicine.

Sometimes problems in urban areas are not due to poor road access but because there is unrest or pollution in the towns and cities themselves. The Organ of the body can be affected in much the same way. Rather than being weakened by lack of nourishment from the channels, they can be influenced directly by bad diet, pollution, injuries or emotional problems. In this case the cause of an illness is called an 'Organ problem'.

The 'Western' medical doctor sometimes unwittingly describe a clinical symptoms which is hard to explain by anatomy or physiology but clearly illustrates the connection between the channels and Organs. Here are two examples. When patients are having heart problems, they often have pain radiating down the left arm to the left little finger. This could be easily explained by the fact that the acupuncture channel of the Heart travels down the little finger. Another puzzle is why people who have headaches often feel nauseous at the same time. An acupuncturist understands that this is because many headaches are caused by an imbalance in the Gall Bladder. The Gall Bladder channel has numerous pathways traveling over the head and Gall Bladder problems can also lead to a feeling of nausea.(Refer diagram below)

Of course what I just mentioned was not taught in a conventional medical school. But in clinical practice I cannot help but agree with the existence of such meridian systems although I cannot prove it scientifically. Nevertheless that will not be an obstacle for me to benefit my patients who has not been successful with conventional therapy, thus an 'integrative' approach is used to solve clinical problems. Fundamentally, irrespective of conventional or integrative therapy, any healer should 'First do no harm' in whatever approach of treatment.

 

QI

What is Qi?

Qi is the energy that underlies everything in the universe. If it is condensed it becomes matter or if refined it becomes spirit. The Chinese character for Qi shows the 'vapour'  or 'gas' given off during the cooking of rice.

Qi is variously called ki in Japan, prana in India and rlun in Tibet. It has also been translated in various other ways including 'influences', 'life force', 'breath' or 'vital energy'.

To a practitioner of Chinese medicine the theory of Qi is important. If you tried to see particles of Qi through a microscope you would not find it, but the restoration of its balance is vital to restore a patient's health. Everything that is living, moving and vibrating does so because this invisible substance moves through it. The reason that your blood circulates, your limbs move, your stomach digest food and your hair grows is because you have Qi activating everything in your body. Your Qi gives you vitality. Without it you would no longer be alive.

The Qi inside your body is created from the combination of the food you eat and digest via your Stomach and Spleen and the air you breathe into your Lungs. In fact Chinese medicine considers Qi to be so important that a Chinese text called the Nan Jing states: 'Qi is the root of all human beings'.

THE FUNCTIONS OF QI

Qi has five main functions. It moves, transforms, protects, warms and holds or contains.

Qi and movement. Qi create all involuntary and voluntary movement such as the beating of your heart, the continuation of breathing while you sleep and the ability to move your body from place to place or your thoughts from subject to subject.

Qi and transformation. Qi enables your food to be assimilated, air to oxygenate your blood and information to be taken in and digested. All processing in the body and mind comes about as a result of the Qi's transformative function.

Qi and protection. Your defensive Qi allows you to have a strong immune system, leading to the ability to resist disease. If people easily succumb to infections this may be because their protective Qi is weak.

Qi and warming. Qi keeps your blood at a stable temperature. Humans are warm-blooded and warmth is essential to the maintenance of good health.

Qi and containment. Qi allows all of your Organs, tissues and blood vessels to remain in their correct position, ensuring their continued ability to function healthily.

DISHARMONIES OF QI

If Qi goes out of balance it becomes either deficient or stagnant.

Deficient Qi. If your Qi becomes deficient this will result in an inability to remain vital and energetic throughout the day. If plants are not nourished they wilt. Without enough Qi you can also wilt and feel increasingly feeble. As a result you can easily become depleted and lethargic and will not have enough energy to get through the day. Other symptoms include breathlessness, especially on exertion, a weak voice, poor appetite and spontaneous sweating.

Deficient Qi can also cause 'sinking Qi'. This can lead to prolapsed Organ because the Qi no longer holds them in their correct position.

Most people who are ill have some underlying Qi deficiency although it may not be the main reason for their problem.

Stagnant Qi. If the normal flow of Qi becomes blocked this is called 'stagnant Qi'. Stagnant Qi often occurs in a limb if you injure yourself. In this case the instinctive need to rub the area will enable your Qi to move once more. Qi also stagnates when you hold back your emotions, especially anger. In this case you could have a variety of different symptoms that include depression or mood swings, pre-menstrual tension, digestive problems, and lump or 'plumstone' throat. These symptoms can all be caused when people do not express themselves.

If food, fluid or breath becomes blocked or travels in the wrong direction this is called 'rebellious Qi' and can cause symptoms such as vomiting, belching or a cough.

(Adapted from 'The Acupuncture Handbook' by Angela Hicks)

CAFFEINE: OUR MOST POPULAR STIMULANT

By far our most popular (and least harmful) addictive drug, caffeine is the stimulant in coffee, tea, chocolate and cola drinks. It is also added to some painkillers, cold medications, weight-loss supplements and drugs that aid mental alertness.

Within a few minutes after caffeine is ingested, it is absorbed from the small intestine into the bloodstream and carried to all the body's organs. It speeds the heart rate, stimulates the central nervous system, increase the flow of urine and the production of digestive acids, and relaxes smooth muscle, such as those that control the blood vessels and the airways.

HOW IT HARMS

May cause insomnia. Ingestion of caffeine late in the day can result in a sleepless night, and excessive intake can lead to caffeinism, a syndrome marked by insomnia, feelings of anxiety and irritability, a rapid heartbeat, tremors and excessive urination. These symptoms abate, however, with the gradual withdrawal of caffeine.

Irritates the stomach. Caffeine, especially in coffee, increases the production of stomach acid; people who suffer from reflux or ulcers should limit caffeine consumption.

Reduces calcium absorption. Caffeine reduces calcium absorption, which can increase the risk of osteoporosis, especially in older women.

Can cause withdrawal symptoms. Sudden withdrawal can often cause headaches, irritability and other symptoms that vary in severity from one person to another.

Aggravates heart conditions. People with some types of heart-valve disease are very often advised to forgo caffeine altogether because it can provoke heart palpitations or other cardiac arrhythmias. Caffeine can also prompt a modest, temporary rise in blood pressure and speed up the heart rate.

HOW IT HELPS

Provide boost of energy. For many people a cup of coffee helps them 'get going' in the morning, and coffee or tea breaks during the day give them a boost when energy lags.

May reduce cancer risk. More then three cups a day may lower women's risk of developing the most common skin cancer by 20 per cent. Caffeine may also cut men's risk of dying from prostate cancer.

Wards off depression. Consuming at least two cups daily could reduce women's chances of becoming depressed by up to 20 per cent.

Enhances athletic performance. The stimulant in caffeine enhances mental performance by increasing alertness and the ability to concentrate. Studies confirm that 250 mg of caffeine (about two cups of strong coffee) increases endurance, presumably because caffeine increases your ability to burn fat for fuel.

May help control diabetes. A study of more than 14,000 people in Finland found that women who drank three to four cups of coffee a day cut their risk of developing diabetes by 29 per cent. For men, it was 27 per cent. Researchers aren't sure why, but they suspect that the antioxidants in coffee help your body to deliver insulin.

Knocks down migraines. Although caffeine may trigger migraine in some people, when a migraine strikes, a few cups of coffee may help relieve the pain. Caffeine is so effective at helping to shrink swollen blood vessels in the brain, it's one of the key ingredients in over-the-counter migraine medicine. Very soon, I may not even need to prescribe medicine for migraine. I'll just ask our patients to go next door to enjoy a cup of freshly brewed coffee. DamaiMedic Klinik & Surgeri will be having a Coffee House as our new neighbor soon.

Who should limit consumption?

The following people should limit coffee consumption to one or two cups a day. Tea and other caffeinated beverages may be okay.

• Ulcer sufferers
• Heart patients
• Older people with hypertension
• Women who are pregnant, nursing or have osteoporosis
• Migraine sufferers

THE BOTTOM LINE

• Caffeine is a double-edged sword. It has both benefits and drawbacks. For example, it can trigger or help alleviate migraine headaches.
• For most people caffeine is safe, but if you have ulcers, heart disease, hypertension or osteoporosis, or are pregnant or breast-feeding, you should limit your consumption or avoid it entirely if you can. 

(Food that Harms Food that Heals)

INFECTION AND CANCER

Cancer can happen because of an infection by a virus, bacteria or parasites:

• Hepatitis B & C can cause liver cancer (Hepatocellular Carcinoma) (Maupas and Melnick,1981)
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) can cause cervical and head and neck cancer (Bosch et al, 1995)
• Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can cause Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) and Burkitt lymphoma (Thompson and Kurzrock, 2004)
• Malaria infection may interact with EBV to increase risk of Burkitt lymphoma (Brady et al, 2007)
• Schistosomal infestation can cause bladder cancer.
• Helicobacter pylori can cause stomach cancer

It is estimated that 18% of all cancers are caused by infections.(That is almost 1 in every 5 cancers!).

By treating or preventing the infections (through improved hygiene and public health measures, vaccination and screening), cancer occurrence can be reduced by 26% in developing countries. (Parkin, 2006)




   

NO SWEETS, NO MEAT, NO DAIRY, NO REFINED FOODS

The vast majority of cancer patients who achieve reversal of their cancers eliminates sweets (sugar), meat, dairy products, and refined foods from their diets in order to help themselves heal. 

Why cannot eat sugar?
There has been a lot of talk about sugar and cancer, and for a good reason. It is an indisputable fact that cancer cells consume (i.e., metabolize) sugar (glucose) at a much faster rate than normal cells do. This is precisely how a PET scan (positron emission tomography) works: first, you drink a glass of glucose [FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose - a radioactive drug) tagged to glucose to make a radiotracer], and then the scan detects where that glucose is being metabolized the fastest in your body. Those glucose "hot spots" are the areas in your body that are most likely cancerous. While researchers are still not clear whether a high-sugar diet causes cancer, what we do know is that once cancer cells are in your body, they consume anywhere from ten to fifty times more glucose than normal cells do (O. Warburg, 1956). Therefore, it makes logical sense for cancer patients to cut as much refined sugar from their diets as possible, in order to avoid "feeding" their cancer cells, and instead rely on the glucose found naturally in vegetables and fruits.

The connection between cancer cells and sugar was first discovered in 1920s by a doctor named Otto Warburg. Dr. Warburg won a Nobel Prize for discovering that cancer cells get their energy and breathe (i.e., respirate) differently than healthy cells do. Specifically, he noticed that cancer cells get their energy by breaking down unusually large amounts of glucose and that they also breathe without oxygen (known as "anaerobic" respiration). Healthy cells, on the other hand, break down a much smaller amount of glucose and breathe with oxygen (known as "aerobic" respiration). What's interesting is that cancer cells will still breathe anaerobically even when there is plenty of oxygen around. This led Dr. Warburg to hypothesize that cancer cells must have something wrong with their mitochondria, since that's the part of the cell where aerobic respiration takes place in healthy cells. The point is, cancer cells behave differently than healthy cells do, and one of the key differences is that they require lots of sugar in order to function. Therefore, cutting refined sugars out of your diet may be a key way to help "starve" a cancer cell.

Why must avoid dairy products?
There are two main reasons why cancer patients should reduce or eliminate dairy products from their diet. The first is that dairy is the breast milk of another animal, which means it is packed with hormones and proteins meant to make a baby calf grow- not humans. (Incidentally, we are the only species on the planet that drinks the breast milk of another animal.) What's more research has shown that the main protein in cow's milk, called casein, makes cancer cells grow, both in petri dishes and in lab rats. In fact, researchers have found that they can turn a rat's cancer on or off simply by feeding, or not feeding, it casein (Dunaif and Campbell, 1987). 

The second reason why dairy products should be avoided if you have cancer is because dairy products contains unhealthy chemicals such as bovine growth hormones, antibiotics and pesticides.

Finally, it is important to remember that dairy products do not provide us with any nutrients we cannot get elsewhere, even though TV commercials may try to convince us otherwise. For example, we can get just as much calcium from leafy greens and turnips and just as much protein from beans and nuts. Taken together, the evidence is mounting to show that dairy may be cancer promoting, whether due to its inherent casein protein or to the bad things we add on it during production. That is why so many cancer patients drastically reduce or eliminate their dairy consumption, at least until their cancer is completely gone.

Why cannot eat meat?
There is an argument that we humans are designed for a diet that consists of only 10 percent meat, which ideally should be wild, lean meat. Today, our diet consists of 15 percent meat. On the other end, proponents of the Paleo, or "caveman," diet would argue that humans were designed to eat 20 to 40 percent meat. Regardless of what humans were eating thousands of years ago, at present we are dealing with the modern disease of cancer, and the fact remains that scores of large-scale, well-designed scientific studies have linked regular consumption of meat, especially red meat, to many types of cancer (M.Salehi et al, 2013). In fact, one study showed that eating just two servings of meat a day quadrupled a woman's risk of breast cancer recurrence (J.R.Hebert et al, 1998). 

In addition to these alarming findings, the meat, poultry, and fish industries have the same issues as the dairy industry when it comes to the unhealthy additives of artificial growth hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and omega-6 fats. And, as with dairy, there is no nutrient in meat that you cannot get from other sources. For example, vegetarians can get plenty of protein by eating beans along with whole grains and all the iron they need from beans and seaweed. 

Why cannot eat processed foods?

Cancer patients who are attempting to eat right in order to reverse their cancers should reduce or eliminate refined foods, especially refined grains. A refined food product such as bread is made with wheat that has been converted from its original plant form (the fruit of the wheat plant, or wheat berry) and pounded into a fine flour, which is then mixed with yeast and sugar and baked into a loaf. This results in bread that has a very high glycemic index, meaning its carbohydrates are very quickly converted into glucose- which, as we know cancer cells love. What's worse is that eating high-glycemic foods, such as bread, pasta, flour, or any quick-cook grain, not only gives cancer cells plenty of glucose to feed on but also creates high insulin levels in your blood, which is yet another condition strongly linked to cancer (Gunter and Leitzmann, 2006). 

Therefore, in order to keep blood sugar and insulin levels low and stable, refined foods should be reduced or eliminated altogether. Try instead to eat carbohydrates in their whole forms. Your body digests whole grains much more slowly than refined grains, which helps to keep your blood sugar and insulin levels low. In addition, whole gains have more fibers and vitamins than refined grains do (Q.Sun et al, 2010). Perhaps most important, eating whole grains has been consistently linked with lower cancer rates (A.Schatzkin et al, 2007). Examples of whole grains include brown rice, rye, quinoa, whole barley, and wheat berries. For bread, you could try sprouted-grain bread, which is denser and has much less sugar per slice than both white and whole-wheat bread.

In a nutshell
If you have cancer, your eating habits must change. If all the above facts fail to convince you that eating meat and dairy products is not good for cancers, at least understand what happens behind the scene of this meat and dairy industry...and if you are still a happy consumer after watching this video clip, it is really your personal decision.

(WARNING! The following content may be disturbing to some individuals. Viewer discretion advised) 

 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MEAT AND DAIRY INDUSTRY 

RADICALLY CHANGING YOUR DIET

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food

- HIPPOCRATES

Hippocrates, the Greek physician who is heralded as the founder of modern medicine, strongly believed that food has the power to adjust, re-balance, and heal the body.

We are indeed what we eat, because the cells of our food get broken down and transformed into the cells of our bodies. In addition, what we eat and drink directly affects our vessels and tissues, making them more or less inflamed depending on what we put into our bodies. To understand this concept, imagine giving a cup of coffee to a five-year old. After about 10 minutes, you would have no doubt that what we eat and drink directly affects our health.

Our health- and indeed our entire lives- can be seen as the sum of all our moment-to-moment decisions. This includes how we choose to eat and drink, think and feel, act and react, and move and rest on any given day. What makes food so powerful is that it is a very conscious decision. Will I choose a sugary cereal or oatmeal with fruit? Will it be the quick peanut butter and roti kaya or the longer-to-make fruit salad? For most people, there is a nagging doubt underlying these daily food choices, and it whispers, "Does this really matter? Does what I eat really have a vital impact on my health?" The cancer survivors whose lives are at stake- take that question to the next level. They ask themselves, "Can what I eat help my cancer go into remission?" The answer many of them find is YES.

Those cancer patients who experienced reversal of their cancers all tend to make the same four dietary changes. They are:

• GREATLY REDUCING OR ELIMINATING SUGAR, MEAT, DAIRY, AND REFINE FOODS,
• GREATLY INCREASING VEGETABLE AND FRUIT INTAKE,
• EATING ORGANIC FOODS, and
• DRINKING FILTERED WATER

DETOXIFYING THE BODY

Another common reason why cancer survivors choose to take vitamin and herbal supplements is to clear the body of toxins, such as pesticides, chemicals, heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, and parasites. While in many ways our world is cleaner than it has ever been, advances in technology have also replaced simple germs and bacteria with things like chemically engineered pesticides, heavy metals, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These complex chemicals, which are now ever present in our environment, send confusing messages to the body, leading to dysregulation at best and disease at worst.

One healer who believes cancer patients need to detoxify their bodies of any lingering bacteria and viruses is a man named Dr. Katsunari Nishihara from Japan. Dr. Nishihara has a theory that there is no such thing as an autoimmune disease. Rather, he believes that diseases such as arthritis, lupus, and even cancers are the result of bacteria and viruses that have infiltrated healthy cells. Therefore, what may look like the body incorrectly attacking itself (as in the case of autoimmune diseases) or what may look like cells suddenly going "crazy" as they replicate uncontrollably (in the case of cancer) is, in Dr. Nishihara's opinion, an indication that cells have been infected with either a bacteria or a virus. According to his theory, the body sometimes recognizes this infiltration and therefore tires to attack the infected cells, which is what we see happening in autoimmune diseases when the body attacks itself. However, sometimes bacteria or viruses are very skilled at hiding within cells (i.e. putting up chemical masks), and therefore the immune system walks right past them. We know this is what happens with the HIV virus, and Dr. Nishihara believes this is also what happens with cancer.

Dr. Nishihara's theory has some merit to it, as scientists already know that the H. pylori bacteria leads to stomach cancer and the human papillomavirus (HPV) leads to cervical cancer. Therefore, it is not so extreme to think that other bacteria and viruses might lead to other cancers; in fact, many scientists already agree with Dr. Nishihara on this point (P.S. Moore and Y. Chang, 2010). What is most interesting is the way which he uses this theory to guide his treatment of cancer patients.

He believes that a slightly low core body temperature- which can be caused by either stress or lack of movement (e.g., sitting at a computer all day)- weakens our cells by damaging their mitochondria. This opens the door for bacteria and viruses to infiltrate the cell and cause it to become cancerous. More specifically, Dr. Nishihara believes that, in the case of cancer, bacteria that are supposed to stay confined to the digestive tract (called enterobacteria) find a way to migrate outside the intestinal walls and infect mitochondria-damaged cells elsewhere in the body.

As a result of this theory, Dr. Nishihara works backward: He first treats the infection in the cells by prescribing specific antibiotics or antivirals that are tailored to each cancer patient. Next, to keep the digestive tract as free of bacteria and viruses as possible, he prescribes a special prebiotic supplement that contains bifidus factor, which is a substance that promotes the growth of healthy intestinal flora. 


After prescribing this important prebiotic supplement, Dr. Nishihara tries to prevent the cancer from recurring by repairing the mitochondria in his patients' cells. To achieve this, he tries to raise their core body temperature by recommending they eat only hot foods, drink only warm liquids, practice deep breathing, reduce their stress, exercise regularly, and get plenty of sleep and sunlight. Dr. Nishihara also recommends that his patients breathe as much as possible through their noses, because he believes the nose is better at preventing bacteria from entering the body than the mouth is. With this multifaceted treatment approach, including the important supplement of bifidus factor to help detoxify the body, Dr. Nishihara has helped many of his cancer patients have radical remissions.

WHAT YOU BELIEVE DETERMINES HOW YOU LIVE

I wonder if any of you have been humming to this catchy tune "Me, Myself & I" by Bebe Rexha & G-Eazy.

The bridge goes like this:

Oh, it's just me, myself and I
Solo ride until I die
Cause I got me for life
(Got me for life, yeah)
Oh I don't need a hand to hold 
Even when the night is cold
I got that fire in my soul

This is my personal opinion and I don't mean to be a joy spoiler. If you feel happy listening to the tune and it entertains you, well, go ahead and enjoy it. But if you are like me, wondering what this tune is all about, then please stay on.

This song reflects a lifestyle that many young people choose to live today. If you live according to the lyrics of this song (you can google the rest of the lyrics), it will be a matter of time before you get depressed. Seriously.

Well it might sound cool and liberated when you are humming this tune in your 30's. Try singing it in your 60's, it WILL sound very depressing and lonely.

Choosing to remain single for life does not mean the person is lonely. I have met people who are married but still feel painfully lonely. I have also seen single people who lead a very fulfilling life. You can be with many people everyday and having many friends and 'likes' in your Facebook yet you still feel terribly lonely. 

I once read somewhere that each of us is created with an emptiness in our souls that only the God who made it can fill it. Any attempts to put anything else inside that emptiness will result in a mismatch that you will inevitably sense. You will substitute one thing with another to fill that void but you will not feel complete until the God who created you fills this emptiness.

This feeling of emptiness and loneliness will lead to depression and physical diseases. This was mentioned in my previous post "The 4 pillars of Healing". Having a good relationship with God and with people is vital for inner healing and psychological well-being which then will positively influence the physical well-being.

Research has demonstrated that widowed men and women were two to four times more likely to die prematurely than those still married. For men over fifty-five, the death rate soared by 40% during the six months after the death of a wife. A famous study in Alameda County, California, found that marriage, close friendship, and voluntary membership in church or community organizations decreased the death rate from cancer, heart disease, and stroke, as well as the total mortality rate, for both men and women. The most socially isolated women in the community had a death rate almost three times as great as the most socially involved. More recent studies have demonstrated that men or women with heart disease are far more vulnerable to heart attack and death if they live alone, lack friends or family, or perceive a lack of emotional support from others. Women with early breast cancer have been found to live longer if they receive emotional support from close friends and family. (Leo Galland, The Four Pillars of Healing pg.87)

Back to the song, I don't know about you but I choose not to believe the lyrics because wrong believing will lead to wrong living and right believing will lead to right living.

I choose to believe what my God has promised in the Scriptures:

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you (Isaiah 41:10)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want... He restores my soul...Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) 

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted him, and I am rescued and my heart is full of joy. (Psalm 28:7)

STRENGTHENING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

You will be surprised if you have talked to cancer survivors and found that by far the most popular reason why they take vitamins and herbal supplements is to strengthen their body's own immune system so that it can find and remove cancer cells from the body.

This goes along with the underlying belief that, "To get rid of cancer, you must change the conditions under which it thrives." In other words, it is believed that cancer can grow and survive only in certain environment, such as one that is blocked with stagnant energy, lacking in oxygen, blood circulation and nutrients and also one that is filled with bacteria and viruses, and so on. Therefore, if you change the underlying conditions of the body, so those conditions become healthier, cancer cells will naturally die off.

The analogy of a moldy room is good to illustrate the point above. Imagine going into your room and finding mold everywhere, just as a surgeon sometimes opens up a person's body, only to find cancer everywhere. One strategy to get rid of the mold is to bleach the entire room, which will certainly kill the mold. This is similar to chemotherapy and radiation, which are both strong interventions that directly kill cancer cells. To continue the analogy, imagine that the bleach has worked and there is now no more mold left in your room- or no more cancer left in your body. Now your doctor says that all you can do is hope it never comes back.

The issue with this scenario is that the mold in your room is destined to grow back as long as the conditions under which mold thrives- such as darkness and dampness- are still present. However, if you were to bring UV lights into your room and constantly run a fan and dehumidifier, then the mold would not grow back. This is the idea behind "changing the conditions under which cancer thrives," and Cancer Care Management at DamaiMedic Klinik Kota Kinabalu helps patients to achieve that goal. The only catch is that the changes must be permanent, otherwise the minute you stop the fan, dehumidifier, or UV light, the old conditions will return and mold may once again grow. That is why patients need to make permanent changes to their lifestyles, in the hope to prevent cancer from ever growing again in their bodies.

HEALING CRISIS

We live in a high-tech world of bio nanotechnology today where stem cells and genetic engineering promise hope of curing chronic diseases and cancers. Many of us are skeptical that simply changing diet and activity level would have much effect on reversing diseases.

Most of us know that processed foods, smoking, alcohol, sleep deprivation, stress and lack of exercise is bad for health. But we still choose to live that way. Doing the right things for health seemed so hard for so many when it actually cost effective in the long run.

Losing health and treating diseases are expensive but most of us are on this path knowingly. Weird! We do what we do not want (living unhealthy), we want to do the good (live healthy), but we cannot do it. And we do the very thing that we do not want (living unhealthy) [Paraphrased from Rom 7:15-20]. This sounds like addiction! The same thinking and behavioral pattern occurs in all forms of addictions you name it; drugs, gambling, alcohol and sex. It seems like 'unhealthy living' is addictive. Why?

When we are pleasuring ourselves with 'unhealthy living', we are oblivious to the end results of sickness and eventually death because it feels so good that we do not want to stop if there is no reason to do so. A sudden change to 'healthy living' would cause displeasure, pain and discomfort that we want to immediately revert back to the pleasuring sensations and maintain the status quo of 'unhealthy living'. This is what we call, "HEALING CRISIS".

When the body experiences dramatic symptoms of cleansing as a result of improved organ function and immune efficiency, it is referred to as a healing crisis-"healing" because it expels toxins and brings about improvement in health, "crisis" because the symptoms associated with toxic removal can be dramatic.

The symptoms of the healing crisis are the same as those of a disease crisis (illness). For this reason, the healing crisis is greatly misunderstood and often believed to be an illness that must be treated to restore health. The healing crisis is a positive event, a sign of improving health. Unfortunately, many people mistakenly view it as a disease crisis. One is the result of the body overcoming disease, while the other is the result of the body succumbing to disease.

The Body's Power to Heal
All natural methods of healing are based on the concept that the body is capable of curing just about any illness if it is given the opportunity- that is, if negative influences such as environmental toxins, emotional stress, malnutrition and etc. are removed.

The body has an amazing capacity to heal itself. When we get a cut, tear a muscle or get bacterial infection, the body immediately goes to work to repair the damage. We develop symptoms (fever, mucus discharge, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, etc.) to fight and remove harmful substances. The body knows what to do in every case.

When an injury or localized infection occurs, the body quickly initiates an inflammation response, an important part of the healing process. Inflammation is a process by which blood circulation in a particular area is greatly increased. This allows for the rapid influx of defending white blood cells into the affected area, Damaged cells are removed, along with any infectious organisms that may be present. Healthy cells in the area are stimulated to quickly begin multiplying to replace the damaged cells removed by the white blood cells. This way, the injured or damaged parts of the body are healed.

Similarly, cancerous or degenerative cells are also removed. All of us have cancerous cells in our bodies. The reason we all do not develop cancer is because the immune cells quickly remove these cancer cells before they become too big.

When the immune system is overworked or when nutrients essential for the production of healthy white blood cells are lacking in our diets, our immune system cannot adequately do its job, sickness and diseases results. If the white blood cells are just barely able to keep daily toxins and pathogenic invaders in check, poisons are easily trapped in tissues and build up over time. These poisons can disrupt normal cellular activity, causing degeneration and further burdening the immune system. Good diet and lifestyle choices are the keys to maintaining a strong immune system.

Treating Symptoms
Treating symptoms is easy, convenient for patients and good business for physicians because of the rapid turn over. But is this how healing is supposed to be?

Symptoms are not the cause of the disease; they are only the body's response to it. Suppressing or masking the symptoms will not cure the disease. Taking a pain killer will not cure a headache, it only numbs the nerves so that the pain is not felt. The cause of the headache remains. Taking cough medicine does not cure chest colds. Sleeping pills will not cure insomnia. Antidepressants will not cure depression. Cortisone steroid will not cure arthritis. Anti-hypertension will not cure hypertension. When the cause of the problem is not removed, medications must be used regularly to suppress symptoms. This is the current healthcare (or rather sickness-orientated) system unfortunately. Removing the symptoms brings about a false sense of well-being and perpetuates the attitude of getting a quick fix to solve medical problems. Drugs provide quick relief to many symptoms of illness but don't do a thing about curing the problem.

Drugs by their very nature are toxic to the body and add to the toxic body's load, often making health worse. All drugs have side effects! Natural healing methods focus on the cause of the problem and so their effects on symptoms are not as dramatically noticeable as drugs. When used properly, natural methods cause no adverse side effects, nor do they load the body with harmful toxins.

Symptoms associated with common illnesses are part of the body's natural cleansing process. When our bodies become dangerously overloaded with toxins, our immune systems weaken and we become vulnerable to infectious organisms. When we become sick, our body is telling us to rest so it can focus its healing energies on housecleaning (detoxification). Symptoms of sickness- runny nose, fever, diarrhea, nausea, sneezing, coughing, loss of appetite, etc.- are all process of cleansing.

The symptoms we often regard as sickness are are in fact the protective mechanism that keeps us healthy and alive. There is always an underlying cause for every symptom. That should prompt the physician to investigate further. Sometimes doctors know the causative pathogen and treat specifically and sometimes doctors do not know what is the cause and the empirical treatment approach is adopted.

A healthy protective system and process of detoxification such as fever, urination, opening bowels, sweating, coughing, sneezing, tearing, pimples and boil eruptions are always on standby mode to 'cleanse' the body. These symptoms becomes a 'disease' when the process FAILS to rid the body of the offending agents and toxins. As the result, these symptoms persist and affect more systems until it overwhelms the whole person. That is what we commonly regard as being sick.

Therefore it is crucial for us to understand the distinction between a healing crisis and a disease crisis for appropriate action to be taken.

To put in simply:

DISEASE CRISIS is the process associated with illness and the body's efforts to remove disease-causing agents and restore health. If the body is weak and unable to overcome illness, death or permanent disability may result. In a disease crisis, the body is struggling to remove toxic levels of poisons and microbial infestation in an effort just to survive.

 

HEALING CRISIS is the process associated with heightened cleansing and cellular rebuilding. It is a sign of improving health and results in better health as disease-causing factors are removed. Healing crisis only occurs to the degree at which the body can tolerate without injury and therefore will not cause harm.

The 4 Pillars of Healing

Ancient system of healing approach sickness as a problem of balance and relationship, the result of disharmony between the sick person and his environment rather than the product of specific disease.

Similarly, Hippocratic tradition constitutes detailed clinical observation and an attempt to cultivate techniques of healing that work in concert with the forces of nature, restoring to the body its natural harmony of function. The Hippocratic  physician cared not about the disease but about the patient as the a whole, striving "to know what man is in relation to food, drink, occupation and which effect each of these has on the other." Dietetics was the cornerstone of Hippocratic therapy. The Hippocratic approach dominated Western medicine for almost two thousand years.

The disease process is not caused by the microbe alone. In the case of tuberculosis, people who are infected with the bacteria do not always develop the disease. When the immune system is strong, the bacteria is imprisoned by the white blood cells. The tubercle is not a product of the bacteria, but a defense thrown up by the host. When immunity falters, the bacteria escape. Impairment of the host's immunity is as important for the development of tuberculosis as is the microbe itself.

The physician's task was to support the body's natural healing processes. Signs of sickness is not the manifestation of the disease but the manifestation of the body's attempt to heal itself.

Medicine was about disease, not about health or longevity, and the physician's task was to discover, in life, through physical signs, what organic lesions were present in the patient's body.

Rudolf Virchow, Germany's "Pope of Pathology", established the cell as the ultimate unit of sturcture and function in the body and initiated the movement that traced sickness to cellular dysfunction. However, Virchow resisted the temptation to localize disease within the cell and believes that the social conditions under which patients lived to be more important determinants of health than the tissue changes he saw through the microscope,

Louis Pasteur, the father of microbiology, demonstrated that the conditions of life, not the microbe alone, are the cause of disease with his chicken experiment. Both chickens were injected with the deadly anthrax bacteria. One bird exposed to cold temperature before infection (died), another kept at warm temperature (lived).

Functional Medicine aims to restore the balance between the sick person and his environment. It is not merely suppression of disease. Functional medicine strives to improve the physiological, emotional, cognitive and/or physical function of individuals, sick or well. Restoration or enhancement of health is the aim. The principles that guide the restoration of health are different from the principles that guide the suppression of disease.

Disease suppression therapies have a role to play in medical care, but their importance has been exaggerated.

The 4 Pillars for the Restoration of Health:

1) RELATIONSHIP: social support is linked to health and mortality. Satisfying relationship may buffer the impact of stress, lowering the levels of chemical mediators, decreasing the strain on mind and body. The rewards of friendship may include an increase in self esteem and with it a boost to perceived self-efficacy. A high level of self-efficacy improves an individual's ability to cope with symptoms, adopt healthful habits, and cooperate with medical treatment.

2) DIET and regulation of the daily cycle of rest and exercise.

3) ENVIRONMENTAL hygiene: a major determinant of health and sickness.

4) DETOXIFICATION: The supply of enviromental toxins, chemical and microbial, appears endless.

The human body has many natural defenses against environmental toxicity. These include:-

• The constant shedding of the skin and the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, which slowly dispels environmental toxins from the body.
• The activity of protective immune response that limit the attachment of toxins to the surfaces of the lungs or the gastrointestinal tract.
• Enzymes systems in the liver that destroy toxins and prepare them for excretion in the bile or the urine.
• Enzymes that repair damaged cells and promote healing.

Traditional approaches to detoxification are fasting, purging, and herbal remedies to "cleanse" the intestinal tract.

Elie Metchnikoff (Noble Prize winner for Medicine in 1908) was the first modern scientist to study the notion of intestinal toxicity. He theorized that intestinal bacteria cause senility and degenerative disease by producing toxic chemicals called ptomaines, which are absorbed into the body. He advocated yogurt with "friendly" bacteria called Lactobacilli, would inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria.

Toxins that enter the body from the intestinal tract are directly transported to the liver, which is the chief site for detoxifying enzymes in the body. Strategies for supporting and directing liver detoxification will offer great potential as innovative treatments.

To maintain or regain your own health, understand and actively support the Four Pillars of Healing:

• Nurture relationships with others. Commit some time each day to give your undivided attention to a friend or family member.

• Involve yourself in a group activity that is meaningful to you and enjoyable.

• Eat regular meals with people you care about. Avoid snacks or meals in front of the television. Especially avoid the salty high-fat snack food.

• Exercise regularly with at least moderate intensity for thirty minutes a day or more. Brisk walking is a good start. Do it with a friend.

• Get enough sleep at night so that you can awaken without an alarm clock.

• Reserve 15 minutes or more for quiet, focused relaxation every day.

• Become aware of the environmental hazards in your community and your job.

• Keep to a minimum your use of alcohol and drugs, including medical drugs.

• Consume a nutritious diet that is rich in "detox" vegetables like broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, avocado, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage, and in nuts and seeds. Add sea vegetables and green onions as condiments.

(Adapted from Leo Galland's "The Four Pillars of Healing")