What is True Health?

By Rachel Mascord BDS (Hons), Dentist, Five Dock, Sydney.

For most of my life health was something that I pursued, thinking that I did not have it, and that if I did have it, my life would be nothing short of amazing and I would be able to sit back and cruise through anything, free from all worry and care.

From the time of being a very little child I was sick, almost all of the time. I had bad croup as a baby that developed into very bad asthma as a 4 year old. This caused a lot of alarm in my family. My mother wanted so much for me to be healthy, that health started to feel like that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – a prize somehow beyond reach.

What did I think health was? What did I imagine it would bring me? Somewhere along the way I had developed a sense that it meant I would be very robust and tough, able to withstand anything that life threw at me – a sort of Superwoman-like capacity to handle life and its physical challenges.

As I got older and able to fund my own pursuit of that elusive health notion, I entered a rambling journey that had me engaging with many and various doctors, and when that failed, through the strange world of alternative therapists. I ate bizarre foods, juiced undrinkable concoctions, grew my own wheat grass and supplemented myself, took on eccentric practices…yet health eluded me and I became sicker and sicker. In my version of what health was, my body became my enemy, a dysfunctional mass of tissues, deeply flawed and wrong at its most fundamental level. In pursuing this notion of health I entered into a war against myself. Continue reading “What is True Health?” →

Simple Lifestyle Changes Help Heal Hyperthyroidism

By Carmel Reid, Somerset, UK

I am an engineer, and I have come to realise our bodies are amazing pieces of engineering, with extraordinary delicacy in the way our various systems keep our bodily functions in balance, and I have come to truly appreciate the exquisite instrument we live inside every single day!

In 2002 I was noticeably breathless at the smallest exertion, like climbing a flight of stairs, and my major muscles were weak – with my arms I could not lift my own body weight on parallel bars at a children’s playground and with my legs I could not stand up from a squatting position and my hands were very shaky. My GP checked me for asthma by inviting me to blow into a tube, but I had been attending singing workshops and my lung capacity was pretty good, so he suggested I might have a thyroid problem and gave me a blood test, thinking, as I was overweight at the time, that my thyroid was underactive.

As it turned out, my thyroid was hyperactive; I had a swelling on the right side of my neck and a radioactive iodine test showed a ‘hot nodule’ in the thyroid gland. Then in 2003 on a visit to the gym, my heart rate showed up at 166 on the cycle machine, and a further visit to the doctor gave me a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation. He explained that hyperthyroidism can cause weakening of the major muscles (which explained my weak arms and legs) and can also cause atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rhythm). This can lead to clots forming in the heart, which can then cause a stroke, and he recommended I take aspirin to thin my blood.

Continue reading “Simple Lifestyle Changes Help Heal Hyperthyroidism” →

Esoteric Medicine: is it complementary or alternative medicine and what’s the difference?

by Eunice J Minford MBChB MA FRCS Ed, Consultant Surgeon, N Ireland

I used to think that complementary medicine and alternative medicine were the same thing. I have come across others who speak of them as one and the same thing as well. The words are used interchangeably by many, and both often get tied together in the abbreviation ‘CAM’ – to refer to all things complementary and alternative in the world of medicine.

I was also very dismissive of anything that was in any way alternative/complementary and basically anything that was not mainstream medicine, and which had not been verified scientifically as I understood it. I viewed them, as many medical doctors do, with contempt and considered them all to be a waste of time and potentially dangerous if they prevented people getting access to ‘real medicine’. I had heard stories of people refusing medical treatment and who insisted on the ‘alternative’ path – only to end up dead when their cancer was of course not cured by the ‘alternative’ treatment. So it would be fair to say I was pretty staunchly against anything that had the label of complementary or alternative, as to me they were all in the same bag!

At that time I was of course very much in the arrogance of the medical/scientific consciousness, which thinks that doctors and scientists are the only ones who understand the body, illness and disease and treatment, and that unless people have been through the rigors of a bona fide medical and scientific training, then they basically have no right to make any claims as to the workings of the body – even their own. Continue reading “Esoteric Medicine: is it complementary or alternative medicine and what’s the difference?” →

Studying the Eye with University and Universal Medicine

by Cherise Holt, 31, Nurse, Australia

As a part of my University studies this week, I’ve been learning about the common visual disorders of the human eye. To understand the concepts, we begin by exploring the normal function – the anatomy and physiology – of the eye itself. From the delicate lid that supports and protects the eye from harm, to the way the eye is held and supported by the body to remain in shape, in place and in harmony with its surroundings and functions.

I learnt about the pupil, the black spot in the centre of the eye that we so often see change size – constrict and dilate – depending on the light that is around us and in our view. It was here that I learnt something totally amazing…

Continue reading “Studying the Eye with University and Universal Medicine” →

Taking a sick day – what did I learn from it?

By Gina Dunlop, teacher, Brisbane

On my morning walks I connect with nature around me, which I love to do. I hear the birds singing, observe the lush magnificent trees, bushes and grasses, smell the fragrance and feel the entire embrace of nature around me. It is beautiful.

But on this one particular morning I could feel my body was aching in many places; I felt heavy and it was pretty hard going.

I contemplated how all those things in nature I was observing were in optimum health and function. Sure, there may be the odd injured bird or animal, but overall everything was functioning spectacularly. My body, a human being on this planet, is a living part on this earth as much as everything else – so why wasn’t I feeling spectacular also? What had I been doing that meant I had a body that wasn’t functioning to the best of its ability and was quite frankly feeling run down and exhausted? Continue reading “Taking a sick day – what did I learn from it?” →

Healing Inflammatory Bowel Disease

By Stephen 

Back in 2000 as a fairly healthy – or so I thought – 22 year old, I started to develop a problem. When I went to the toilet I would notice blood in my stool. I did what most adult males would do and I ignored it, hoping it would go away. Later that year it became more of an issue as it was affecting my ability to play football – now that was a real problem, so I went to the doctor.   I got tested and was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease – possibly Crohn’s Disease – at this stage in a mild form, but who knew how it might develop.

To deal with the symptoms I was put on medication, but in doing so I had a resolve, a determination within me. I accepted the need for the medication as this condition wasn’t going to clear on its own, but I also felt certain that I could regain my health in the long term through the choices I made, mainly with regards to changing my diet and managing my feelings of stress and anxiety. Continue reading “Healing Inflammatory Bowel Disease” →

Gallstones – more to it than the five F’s?

By Eunice Minford, MA FRCS Ed, Consultant General Surgeon, N.Ireland

Gallstones are quite common (25-40% of the population have them) and they can cause a variety of medical conditions. However, it is only the minority of patients (10-20%) with gallstones that develop symptoms requiring removal of the gallbladder – many people live with gallstones without even knowing they have them and without any symptoms. Some conditions caused by gallstones, like pancreatitis, can be quite serious and even life threatening. Much more commonly, patients present with pain in the right side or across the top of their abdomen, often associated with nausea and vomiting. Some people notice it is brought on by eating fatty foods in particular, as the gallbladder is involved in digestion of fat – it stores bile and contracts to release bile into the gut when we eat a fatty meal. The pain can occur when a gallstone gets lodged, preventing the passage of bile from the gallbladder into the bile duct and gut.

Being a surgeon myself, it was not difficult to self-diagnose gallstone disease when I first developed symptoms about 10 years ago. I had been out for a meal and had eaten too much, along with having a particularly rich chocolate dessert. It tasted yummy at the time, but several hours later when I was in agony my body was saying something else! I eased the pain and the nausea by making myself sick – off-loading what was clearly an over-loaded system.

Over the next couple of years I had intermittent attacks, often precipitated by eating something that was too fatty.

Continue reading “Gallstones – more to it than the five F’s?” →

Why are patients called patients?

by Dr Anne Malatt, Ophthalmologist, MBBS, MS, FRANZCO, FRACS, Australia

Why are patients called patients?

Most practitioners call their customers clients, but doctors call theirs patients.

Why is that?

Is it because they spend so much time waiting patiently for care – that waiting to see a doctor or waiting for a hospital procedure is an exercise in learning to be patient?

………… Continue reading “Why are patients called patients?” →

Vaccination – why do we react?

by Judith Andras, health practitioner and store manager, Germany. 

I have been vaccinated recently (for tetanus/diphtheria/polio/pertussis). And I would like to share here about adverse reactions, as there is so much discussion about this.

Initially I felt resistant to vaccination and I avoided the subject, see my previous blog about this: Vaccination – more than just self-protection.

I chose to vaccinate because I felt that it was the responsible decision to make, for the whole community.

After I had the injection, my arm was hurting and releasing a lot. What it felt like was something very old had been stored there and was now being released. Continue reading “Vaccination – why do we react?” →

Serge Benhayon – one man has changed everything

by Julie Snelgrove, Teaching Assistant, Somerset, England, UK

I first met Serge Benhayon 9 years ago, and the impact on myself and family has been profound. As a result we have made great changes, and had we not, I am sure life would be quite a mess by now.

The areas that have most been impacted are:

  • the care and attention I now bring to myself, thus having
  • a positive effect on my health and wellbeing and feeling of self worth,
  • how I relate to my family and
  • my attitude towards conventional medicine.

I attended my first presentation by Serge Benhayon at a time in my life when I was in overwhelm and exhaustion, though to myself or most outsiders this did not seem the case. I was a single mother with two young children, and was driven in fulfilling this role ‘perfectly’. All my time was dedicated to them, 24 hours a day, as they were being homeschooled. This meant I had no job and was reliant on my ex-husband financially. I had just completed training to be an alternative therapist, as I had been against conventional medicine since around the age of 15 – though for no particular reason, other than thinking it had nothing to offer other than making people sicker. Consequently I used many alternative medicines to manage my health. I even refused to go to the doctors for antibiotics or painkillers when I was seriously ill or my children were unwell.

When I first met Serge Benhayon I heard him talk and be very positive about conventional medicine – something I had never come across ever in any complementary therapy presentation.

Continue reading “Serge Benhayon – one man has changed everything” →