TotalHealth Magazine

Neural Therapy is one of the treatments I use most in my practice because it is a method of treatment that works with the nervous system (neural means nerves). More specifically it works with the autonomic nervous system, which is the wing of the nervous system that is not under conscious control. It is the part of the nervous system that controls things like heart rate, digestion, liver metabolism, breathing, kidney perfusion, and the function of other organs. Neural Therapy can help restore optimal function of these organs by supporting optimal function of the nerves sending information to and from them.

There is no doubt that the most important treatment for Celiac Disease and Grain Sensitivity is a gluten-free diet. However, in most cases it takes more than the avoidance of gluten for optimal health to be achieved. There are several Naturopathic treatments available to help restore the health of people with Celiac Disease and Grain Sensitivity. In this week's column we will focus on Intravenous Nutrient Infusions.

The approach used in conventional medicine to treat Celiac Disease is simple and straight forward. In fact, there is only considered to be one treatment for Celiac Disease according to most conventional medical sources. This treatment is the complete avoidance of gluten-containing foods and food products. In the vast majority of cases it is believed that the avoidance of gluten will bring significant improvement in symptoms within a few weeks. However, this diet is not to be followed until a biopsy of the small bowel biopsy confirms the diagnosis of Celiac disease.

It takes on average 10 years for someone to be accurately diagnosed with Celiac Disease. This is in part because many medical practitioners are not looking for Celiac Disease and in part because of the less than perfect testing methods.

Celiac Disease is considered by many to be an extremely rare condition and therefore is not often considered as a possibility. However, in North America, Celiac Disease affects somewhere between 1 in 100 to 1 in 200 people. This means that between 5 to 10 people in a group of 1000 will have Celiac Disease. That's not too rare if you ask me or anyone suffering from the symptoms of Celiac Disease. Unfortunately, most of these people will be unaware for many years if they ever do get an accurate diagnosis.

When I moved into my current home in Pacific Palisades, California, nearly 20 years ago, I was searching for nontoxic resources: paints, carpeting, and other furnishings. My search was mostly met with odd looks and raised eyebrows (ah, the olden days!). So I was overjoyed to find Mary Cordaro, just starting out on her path as a consultant on healthy, green home building and remodeling. She spoke my language! She became my non-toxic home guide to whom I referred friends and patients over the years: those with allergies, or simply, interested in green, non-toxic living. Mold, volatile chemicals, indoor and outdoor pollution—you name it, she’d have a resource.

Focus on Health…

• Today’s clothing industry is a seven trillion dollar a year industry that uses an astounding 8,000 synthetic chemicals;
• Consumers have the mistaken illusion that synthetic fibers in clothing are safe;
• For over half a century people have been reacting negatively to chemicals interacting with their skin causing disorders like infertility, respiratory diseases, contact dermatitis and, yes, even cancer;
• The more synthetic clothing you wear, the greater your risk of absorbing toxic chemicals that can precipitate health conditions most often not attributed to synthetic fibers.

If you’ve ever seen someone having an asthma attack, you know it’s not pretty.

And, according to those who suffer with it, it can be one of the most scary experiences in life.

What Is Asthma?
Asthma comes from Greek words meaning either “panting” or “sharp breath.” It’s a chronic disease that affects the pathways that carry air in and out of your lungs. Those airways become inflamed and very sensitive to any of a variety of substances (in air, food, the environment) that are irritating or allergenic. That’s one reason asthma is so often linked to allergies.

A few weeks ago, I shared my general concepts of Green Medicine involving three components: the use of dietary, nutritional and natural substances (what I call our personal green), living in a clean home and office (our local green) and working to keep the greater world in which we all must live clean for the health of us all (our global green). In this article I take a look at asthma—a specific, epidemic and potentially dangerous problem, particularly as the disease occurs in children, the most vulnerable of us all, and walk you though my “Green Medicine” approach to this disease.

There is a definite substantiated connection between allergies and asthma. Studies indicate their underlying mechanisms may even cause each other. Up to 38 percent of patients with allergies have been diagnosed with asthma, and 78 percent of those diagnosed with asthma have allergies. Both as a physician and as a former allergy and asthma sufferer myself, I’ve witnessed the tie between the two conditions.

I have believed for years they are all related to an overgrowth of a very common organism found in every one of us in our digestive tracts: Candida albicans. In my practice, I routinely and successfully guide allergy and asthma patients through a nutrition plan that dramatically reduce or completely eliminate their symptoms. I’ll touch on highlights of that plan, but first a few words on the individual conditions.