Health and medical news blog

Wheat germ oil is high in polyunsaturated fatty acids and these play an important part in the development and maintenance of healthy body cells, as well as in the protein metabolism. They also contribute to the therapeutic solution of the problem of cancer. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, also known as essential fatty acids, promote internal oil oxygenation and, generally speaking, benefit the entire metabolism.

In the second place, wheat germ oil is important because of its valuable vitamin E content, which has also been called the fertility vitamin. Expectant and nursing mothers should take wheat germ oil regularly. Experience has shown that vitamin E is useful in helping to overcome a tendency to premature birth and miscarriage, since a deficiency in this vitamin is often found to be the cause. An extended course of wheat germ oil can help to prevent these unfortunate occurrences.

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Before you decide to try out a Schlenz bath in your home, you should first get to know the exact method as used in a recognised Schlenz bath centre, to enable you to become familiar with all the relevant details. The bathtub used for Schlenz baths is generally longer than an ordinary one and should preferably be made of wood. But in modern homes this is rarely the case, so that a conventional enamelled or plastic bathtub will have to do. It is also necessary to remember that the head will have to be immersed, too, so that you will have to bend your legs a little in a shorter tub.

Since the head is submerged as well as the rest of the body the warmth will be equally distributed over the entire body and congestions towards the head will be avoided. A Schlenz bath will therefore give no trouble at all, even though you may not be able to stand an ordinary hot bath. Keep the mouth and nose just out of the water so that you can breathe. On the other hand, as this position is uncomfortable and difficult to maintain for any length of time, attach a belt at the top end of the bathtub, or a strong cloth, for use as a support for the head. Rest the head on this support under the water, leaving only the mouth and nose above it. To begin with, keep the water temperature at 36-37°C (97-98 °F), that is, blood temperature; but be careful not to let the temperature drop. For this reason, it is important to have some hot water ready to add as necessary, letting the temperature rise to at least 38°C (100.4°F). Before taking the bath, drink one or two cups of hot herbal tea – lemon balm, peppermint, elder or goldenrod. Add a few drops of Crataegisan if your heart is a little weak.

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Since horseradish is one of the healthiest seasonings there is, it should be used much more in the kitchen. It is rich in vitamin Ñ and is the best known dietary remedy for scurvy, only raw sauerkraut being equally effective. Horseradish has a regenerative effect in cases of dysbacteria and helps to overcome functional disorders of the pancreas. It is a good seasoning agent for diabetics, being curative at the same time. If you use it as a seasoning in the spring, in small amounts but regularly, it will help in the fight against ‘spring fever’.

It has recently been discovered that horseradish contains a considerable amount of antibiotic substances, including a kind of penicillin, which explains why horseradish syrup (see below) is so effective in cases of throat diseases. Also because of its antibiotic properties horseradish tincture is of great benefit when treating wounds that are not healing well or are forming proud flesh. Even when other remedies have proved ineffective, horseradish tincture will not only bring relief surprisingly quickly, but will actually cause the wound to heal.

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This attractive plant with its thick stems or branches and leaves is somewhat similar to the tobacco plant. However, its axillary flowers, dull brown to dark purple in colour, indicate that it is neither the tobacco plant nor the ground-cherry (Chinese lantern), but belladonna, the medicinal as well as deadly nightshade.

The ripe, shiny black berries often entice children to pick and eat them – with fatal results. Many a child has had to pay with his young life because of being tempted. On the other hand, in considering this plant we cannot overlook its many benefits, even though we are aware of its poisonous properties. As is true of people, plants can have good and bad characteristics, and this is the case with belladonna. It is known to have killed people, but it is also famed as a life-saver.

Belladonna is partly responsible for the rediscovery of the homoeopathic principle of similarity. Dr Hahnemann once found himself completely at a loss as to what remedy to prescribe for a sick woman, until an unconscious child was carried in to him.

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In the spring, when the snow has melted and the warm wind thaws the ground, life once again begins to stir in Mother Nature’s womb. On sunny slopes, steep paths and even on disused refuse heaps, the green, finely serrated leaves of the nettle appear. Hardly anyone notices it, but it quietly grows while using its juices to produce a medicine that can bring health to many, and even save lives. If only people knew about the benefits of this plant and used it. Many a sufferer of tuberculosis would not have died had he but gone out of his way to gather nettles and avail himself of their goodness. How many children might have had their waxen looks changed and their red cheeks restored, if only their parents had realised what wonderful medicinal value the despised nettle has ta offer! Much hard-earned money would not clink unnecessarily into the pharmacist’s till, if young nettles were used as a restorative every spring.

No other plant can equal the nettle as a remedy for anaemia, chlorosis, rickets, scrofula, respiratory diseases and, especially, lymphatic problems.

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From this analysis it is evident that silica, as the predominant element, is mainly responsible for its curative effect. Horsetail tea has a diuretic effect, stimulating the kidneys; it also helps to cure haemoptysis (the spitting or coughing up of blood), whether it comes from the lungs or the stomach. There is only one other remedy that can compete with horsetail in alleviating this condition and that is tormentil extract. Silica is of great importance in the regeneration of the tissue, as is calcium. Diseases of the respiratory tract (the lungs, bronchial tubes and pleura) and the glandular system likewise depend upon silica for help. Hence an infusion of horsetail or an extract from the fresh plant will be most beneficial. There is only one other plant so far known that contains more silica than horsetail and that is the hemp nettle (Galeopsis dubia), with 72 per cent. These silica-containing plants are also very good for the skin and shave grass baths are frequently recommended for the treatment of various skin diseases.

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Every plant contains various minerals, vitamins, ferments, enzymes, oils, resins and mucilage. All these components in their natural proportions have a specific effect on the body.

In many places it is still customary to make a herbal tea or infusion in order to treat health problems. In fact, this is the oldest form of preparing herbal remedies. Unfortunately, however, an infusion only utilises the water-soluble properties of a plant.

Tincture

The preparation of a tincture using alcohol as a base, as opposed to water in the case of an infusion, is more advisable, since in addition to the water-soluble substances, those soluble in alcohol, such as resins, oils and other specific active ingredients (for example arnicin and petasin), will be extracted. What is more, an alcoholic tincture keeps well and can also be diluted, that is, to obtain homoeopathic potencies. The body is able to assimilate substances contained in an alcoholic solution better than those dissolved in water. In times gone by, only dried plants were used in the preparation of tinctures but today fresh plant extracts are preferred, since they contain a higher concentration of the active ingredients.

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It is important that the skin care you practise protects and benefits the skin rather than damages it. The reason why I raise this point is the great number of cosmetics on the market and the persuasive advertising used to sell them. Unfortunately, only very few of this host of products really are kind to the skin. You see, the term ‘skin care’ only applies correctly to products that protect the skin, are good for it, keep it healthy, indeed, even heal and rejuvenate it. Only skin that functions properly can remain healthy and reflect freshness, perhaps even youthfulness. This requires, first and foremost, good circulation, for this alone guarantees adequate nourishment of the skin.

The second factor to consider is the importance of stimulating the skin’s ability to breathe, or at least ensuring that this is not impaired. Cosmetics that block the pores prevent the skin from breathing properly. Such products include powder, certain other cosmetics and many creams containing fat, filling materials and stabilisers which the skin is unable to absorb. If the skin is not treated in the right way, it will begin to look withered and will age prematurely.

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I am aware that virological institutes are working frantically to find an antidote for the ultramicroscopic villain. It is hoped, and it would be good fortune if this hope could be fulfilled, that the search will be successful and that many people will thus be spared great suffering. But what can one do before medical science discovers a specific remedy?

Protection against the virus can only come from the help we give the body by leading a healthy life and by improving and strengthening its general condition.

For this reason the intake of food rich in vital substances, vitamins and minerals, is essential. The food of modern civilisation actually weakens the body, undermines the defences and hinders the system from deploying its forces and displaying its regenerative powers in the first place.

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One of the most serious factors in the development of cancer is stress, that is, worries and anxieties. The extent of its influence is, of course, closely linked to our mental attitude, whether we give into negative thinking rather than being positive and optimistic whenever we feel depressed. Worries and anxieties are detrimental to the liver and have been a contributory cause of cancer for thousands of people. There is nothing more harmful to the life of our cells than continuous or repeated mental stress. Indeed, it poisons the blood and lymph and undermines the very life of the cells to a greater extent than some of the other factors listed above, even when taken together.

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