Complementary & Alternative Medicine Directory � Natural Therapy Advice � 01256 463899

Archive for the ‘kinesiology’ Category

Hard facts to swallow on aspirin as doctors warn of dangers

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Bitter pill: Aspirin prevents blood clots - but can also cause bleeding

A new study by The Lancet shows that aspirin should no longer be used to help prevent cardiovascular disease. What does this mean if you’re taking aspirin? The Mail on Sunday’s expert looks at the findings.

Q: What did the new research on aspirin show?

A: The study by The Lancet looked at a large number of people who were advised to take aspirin to help prevent cardiovascular disease - strokes and heart attacks. In the past few years, doctors have advised aspirin for two groups of patients who are highly likely to have a heart attack: the first because they have risk factors such as diabetes or obesity (what’s called primary prevention), the second because they have already had a heart attack (secondary prevention). The study showed that aspirin should no longer be used as primary prevention.

Q: Does that mean it is dangerous?

A: All medication has potential side effects and we know that taking aspirin long-term can cause bleeding from the stomach, although the risks are small. Since the benefits seen in primary prevention were negligible, it is felt that the risks of bleeding outweigh the potential benefits. For those who have already had a heart attack or stroke, the benefits are well established and far outweigh the small risk of bleeding.

Q: Can I just stop it if I am taking it for primary prevention?

A: It is a good idea to discuss it with your GP in case there is anything specific to your medical history that would mean you should continue.

Q: What does aspirin actually do?

A: Aspirin works to prevent heart attacks and strokes by stopping blood clots that are often the cause. There are cells in your blood called platelets which stick together to make clots. Aspirin is an ‘anti-platelet’ drug and prevents this happening. This action also causes the bleeding.

Q: What else is aspirin used for?

A: Aspirin is an extremely useful drug. As well as being anti-platelet, it is good for lowering temperature and is helpful in inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. It is widely used as a painkiller, and in soluble form can be highly effective at the onset of a migraine.

Q: Who should not take aspirin?

A: Anybody with bleeding problems such as haemophilia or with stomach ulcers must never take aspirin. Caution would be advised in those with asthma, gout or kidney problems.

Q: Can children take aspirin?

A: Children under the age of 16 should not be given aspirin. There is a serious, often fatal, condition called Reye’s syndrome which was shown to be linked to giving aspirin to feverish children. For this reason children are no longer given aspirin. For pain relief and fever in children, use ibuprofen or paracetamol.

Q: Can pregnant women take aspirin?

A: Only on the advice of a doctor. It is sometimes prescribed by obstetricians for specific conditions; otherwise use paracetamol when pregnant.

There are many natural alternatives to Aspirin and Paracetamol, both as painkillers and also as preventative measures that can reduce your chance of suffering from a stroke or heart disease.

Call our advice line for details about what appointment types might be appropriate for you

on 0845 4638901 or 01256 463899 or e-mail us: clinic@naturaltherapyadvice.co.uk

Tags: aspirin, heart, stroke
Posted in General, Homeopathy, Nutrition, kinesiology | No Comments »

‘Seafarers’ disease’ scurvy on rise among children due to lack of vitamin C in diet

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

By Daniel Martin Daily Mail reporter - 07th November 2009

Wounds cannot heal properly, and old scars reappear. There is internal haemorrhaging and left untreated, victims will die.

Conservative health spokesman Stephen O’Brien, who uncovered the figures, said: ‘It is shocking that this disease of 17th-century pirates is on the rise again in 21st-century England.’

Ursula Arens, of the British Dietetic Association, said it was not possible to say how the children were getting scurvy: whether it was from a poor diet, or as a by-product of other diseases such as cancer.

‘There may be examples of children just living on bread and jam and nothing else because of poverty,’ she said.

‘It is such an unusual thing now that perhaps it is something that many GPs would not be able to diagnose.’

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: ‘Families in lower income groups tend to consume less vitamin C in their diet.

‘The Department of Health promotes consumption through its “five a day” campaign and Healthy Start, which provides free vitamin supplements for beneficiaries.’

Natural Therapy Advice can offer various appointment types to help access your child’s nutrient levels and whether there are any deficiencies and also guide you to make good dietary changes and suggest effective supplements, where they are needed.

Call us on 0845 4638901 or 01256 463899 or e-mail us clinic@naturaltherapyadvice.co.uk

Tags: vitamins
Posted in Nutrition, kinesiology | No Comments »

Call for fewer hysterectomy ops BBC News article Aug 09

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Heavy periods can cause a lot of pain for some women

Too many women may be undergoing hysterectomies for heavy periods when alternative treatments should be considered first, a study suggests.

An audit of 51,500 women in England found large variations in the type of surgery done for the condition. Overall, four in 10 women had a hysterectomy, but regional figures ranged from 25% to 54%.

Experts said women may not be given enough information about the treatment options available. Heavy menstrual bleeding, also called menorrhagia, can be caused by conditions such as endometriosis, fibroids and hormonal imbalance, and can severely impair a women’s quality of life.

Women need to be informed of the risks and benefits of each surgical option before decisions are made.

It is estimated that around one in 20 women aged 30 to 49 years old go to their GP each year because of heavy periods.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) say women should be given full information about the range of treatments available before considering irreversible operations such as hysterectomy. But the researchers said the variation shown in their study suggests this is not happening.

If you suffer from heavy periods you may want to look at the nice guidelines on their website www.nice.org.uk . There are CAM alternatives for heavy periods such as Nutrition, Homeopathy, Acupuncture and Osteopathy, all available at NTA. Most therapists find their approach very effective at helping this condition.

Tags: Acupuncture, Add new tag, heavy periods, Homeopathy
Posted in Acupuncture, General, Homeopathy, Nutrition, Osteopathy, Uncategorized, kinesiology | No Comments »

Natural Treatment For Psoriatic Arthritis And Sjorgens Syndrome

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

As an holistic therapist my views and beliefs are sometimes met by strangers with a healthy dose of skepticism, a fair bit of eyebrow raising and occasionally a ‘full on belly laugh’. That is until they get to know me better or learn about my personal journey.
From the early 80’s I was a serious over-achiever and workaholic who was naive enough to believe that was something to be proud of. I set up and ran my own successful graphic design and marketing company, burned the candle at both ends and judged anyone else who couldn’t work through the night, party like a demon and still be ‘bright as a button’ at a 7.30am breakfast meeting to be… well frankly ‘lame’. I believe I often shamefully coined the phrase ‘lead-foot’ aimed at well adjusted people who worked 9-5, went to bed before midnight and only danced the night away at weekends.
After 25 years of behaving like ‘wonder woman on speed’ my body started giving me gentle warning signs to change my life. These I of course ignored and continued on my quest as turbo charged multi tasker… “What on earth are you doing here?” said my producer when I turned up on set to direct a music promo for a dance track on a building site 5 hours after a general anaesthetic… “Don’t be so ridiculous, why wouldn’t I be?”. I can look back at that with great humour now and realise completely it was of course ‘I’ that was being ridiculous.
It will come as no surprise to the ‘wise ones’ reading this that eventually I was literally ’stopped in my tracks’ and forced to look at the unbalanced and unsustainable life I was living.
Having ignored several years of aches, pains and various health inconveniences I finally had to wake up to the news that I was not indispensable, indestructible or indeed immortal. One day in early 2000 I literally took to my bed, didn’t get out of it much for close to 3 weeks and acknowledged (at last!) that I was seriously unwell. At close to 6 stone, unable to walk, use my arms unaided with only enough energy to ’shallow breath’ I gave in and went to seek medical help.
The prognosis was not good. My specialist diagnosed chronic psoriatic arthritis and sjorgens syndrome - two (so called) incurable dis-eases (auto immune dis-ease) and advised me that if I ‘did nothing’ at worst I would fade away in agonising pain or at best be in a wheelchair in 6 months. He was extremely understanding of my preference for holistic and complementary medicine but insisted they ‘were not strong enough’ and the problems were too severe to consider anything other than orthodox intervention which included Steroids, Anti-inflammatories, Methyltrexate (chemo) and heavy duty pain killers. Once they had stopped working (which they always do) Cortisone injections and various further toxic medications along with more drugs to combat the side effects of long term treatment.
He is a marvelous doctor and I have great respect for his skills as an orthodox practitioner, however the ‘lose-lose’ scenario he had presented me with was, I decided, a ‘win-win’ opportunity. As I had nothing to lose, I decided to ‘put my money where my mouth is’ and put my faith in my ‘inner physician’. I’d always enjoyed exceptional good health and vitality and this was a chance to see if my belief in natural medicine was well founded. At the time I genuinely believed I could feel my lifeforce literally ‘fading away’ and my instinct was that the chemo and other toxic drugs would ‘kill me off’ - albeit after a short time of being pain free and able to walk/live some kind of life.
Much to the horror and dismay of my partner at the time (he and some close friends feared I had some form of cancer and were relieved that a specialist had offered me treatment and was positive about improvements to my health) I went straight to see a trusted friend, the respected and renowned acupuncturist and practitioner in Chinese Medicine, Maura Bright. She agreed and supported my views and sent me to see the Kinesiologist Alexandra Rehlinger at her practice.
Within 6 months of seeing Alexsandra I was walking without sticks, had put on weight and could feel my strength and vitality returning.
Now, years later I have studied and qualified myself as a professional Kinesiologist, live a wonderful and balanced life which includes the gym and swimming (first time I tried doggy paddle at the hydro pool I defied the laws of physics and went backwards - so weak the pool filter blew me around like a leaf!). I still consider myself a ‘work in progress’ and OK, I probably won’t be joining an all women 750 mile cycling marathon of Cuba or climb Skafel Pike any time soon… but as I’ve done those things already… who cares! I am happier, more grateful and content than I’ve ever been in my life. I have never taken any kind of pharmacuetical drug or undergone any type of orthodox treatment and I am truly thankful I did ‘listen’ (finally!) to the voice of my ‘inner physician’.

Tags: Complementary, psoriatic arthritis
Posted in kinesiology | No Comments »

Allergy Elimination Technique - NAET

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

(Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique) is a non invasive, holistic method of identifying the presence of an allergen and subsequently removing it. Developed from a mix of Eastern and Western medical principles, it removes energy blockages in the body caused by the allergy, hence allowing the body to regain its natural balance.

An allergen is very simply something that the brain sees as a threat to the body’s wellbeing. It disrupts the energy in the body and will eventually lead to an allergic reaction. This reaction may be seen as a rash, hay fever, or in extreme cases, anaphylactic shock. However allergens can contribute to a number of illnesses and complaints which include asthma, eczema, migraine, cardiac arrhythmia, joint pains and arthritis, through to chronic fatigue.

Allergens can affect us on a number of different levels;

physical
chemical or nutritional
emotional

All of these can have equally devastating effects. NAET uses kinesiology to identify if an allergen is present in the body and then treats it accordingly. The body often has a number of subtle allergens disrupting it at a low level, which will each be treated individually. Once an allergen is treated, it must be totally avoided for 25 hours, prior to re-testing and re-introduction. Severe allergenic reactions will require several treatments before a practitioner will suggest any form of re-introduction.

NAET is safe for use on all individuals, and can be used to treat babies, through to the elderly or disabled.

Tags: allergy, alternative health basingstoke, Complementary
Posted in kinesiology | No Comments »

Kinesiology: It works for me

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

From The Times

Spotting the worms: One teenager’s acne was so hideous that she refused to look in the mirror or go out socially. Then she tried kinesiology

by Lisa Grainger

“I was becoming desperate,” she says. “I felt as if I couldn’t go out because, even if I put on make-up, I couldn’t cover it.” It was her mother who suggested kinesiology: an alternative therapy that had helped her own joint problems. “By then I was willing to try anything,” Clayton says, “even though I knew nothing about it.” She now feels that visiting Janice Bryant in Bromley was a life-changing experience.

After Bryant had taken notes on Clayton’s medical history, lifestyle and eating habits, she laid her fully clothed patient on a bed and ran tests for half an hour. The first test involved applying light but firm pressure to the body’s 14 muscle groups. A healthy muscle should be able to resist the light pressure effortlessly, Bryant claims. If a muscle struggles to “hold” the pressure of the fingers, she believes that it indicates a weakness in one of the body’s organs. Bryant explains that in kinesiology all the body’s organs are linked via nerve endings to specific muscles and, therefore, problems with a muscle always point to troubles in the corresponding organ.

In Clayton’s case, Bryant claims the weak muscles were at the top of the leg, in the lower back and at the top of the thigh. All these, apparently, “pointed to a problem in the gut area”. Then Bryant carried out further “tests” to determine precisely what was ailing Clayton’s colon — by putting glass vials on her body.

“This is the bit where people have problems understanding kinesiology,” says Bryant. Vials containing the “energy” of vitamins, minerals or parasites are placed on the body, usually on the stomach. In fact, Bryant herself really doesn’t know what is in the vials — they are made up for her elsewhere. But, she says: “If there is a deficiency in one of the organs, of a particular mineral or vitamin, or if there is the presence of a parasite, the muscle groups connected to that organ will react to the ‘energy’ in the vial.

“In Lynsey’s case, muscles connected to the colon became rigid when we laid on the vials for pinworm. Parasites in the colon sensed the presence of parasites in the vial, as if drawn like magnets,” Bryant claims. Further tests confirmed that Clayton was passing bundles of pinworms, and that these were secreting a huge amount of toxic waste which was affecting her skin.

Bryant gave Clayton a herbal remedy made of grapefruit seeds, called Biocidin, thought to kill parasites, and advised cutting out sugary foods, wheat, dairy products and caffeine, to detoxify the colon and clear a yeast intolerance. She was told to drink eight glasses of water a day to cleanse toxins through the skin.

Over the next eight months, Clayton saw Bryant three more times for treatment. She was prescribed psyllium husks, wholesome food, vitamin supplements and antioxidants. Although, after the first treatment, Clayton’s skin was, “redder and more sore than ever before”, after five months of treatment she saw a big difference. “I might have had a breakout or two,” she says, “but compared to what I’d had before, a few spots felt fine.” She started to wear make-up again, and to go out socially. “I felt like a different person,” she adds, her skin now glowing and clear.

Five years on, she sees Bryant three times a year for check-ups. “She tests for the kinds of things doctors don’t look for — such as bugs you might have picked up from your food.”

Bryant says Clayton’s skin complaint is common and simple to treat. “Eight out of ten skin complaints are related to high levels of toxicity in the body as a result of parasites,” she claims. “We worm our cats and dogs, but for some reason not ourselves, although our food is contaminated by soils which are full of parasites.” As for Clayton, she is sold on the therapy. “I eat much more healthily, drink more water, and haven’t needed anything for my skin since. What else can I say?”

Tags: Acupuncture, alternative therapies, Complementary
Posted in kinesiology | No Comments »