HERBAL REMEDIES AS ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES: GINKGO BILOBA

If you’re like many people, you have probably heard of the reported “miracle memory-enhancing” qualities of ginkgo biloba. Ginkgo biloba is actually an extract from the leaves of a deciduous tree that lives up to 1,000 years, making it the world’s oldest living tree species, one that can be traced back more than 200 million years. The ginkgo was almost destroyed during the last ice age in all regions of the world except China, where it is considered a sacred tree with medicinal properties. Today, ginkgo leaf extracts are among the leading prescription medicines in both Germany and France, where they account for nearly 2 percent of total prescription sales.
Purported benefits are many, and ginkgo biloba is used to treat depression; impotence; premenstrual syndrome; diseases of the eye, such as retinopathy and macular degeneration; and general vascular disease. In particular, it has been shown to improve short-term memory and concentration for individuals with impaired blood flow to the brain due to narrowing of vessels or clogging of key arteries. A Harvard-based study of 202 men and women with mild to moderately severe dementia caused by stroke or Alzheimer’s disease was among the first to promote ginkgo in the United States. After 1 year, the group receiving ginkgo experienced significant improvement in cognitive performance (memory, learning, reading) and had better social functioning (carrying on conversations, recognizing familiar faces) than those in the placebo (non-ginkgo) group. Much of this improvement was believed to be due to the antioxidant properties of the herb, as well as to the blood-thinning properties that seem to improve blood and oxygen flow to clogged blood vessels. Whether this herb works for people with normal blood flow remains largely unexplored. Claims that ginkgo will improve short- and long-term memory in the typical person are not scientifically based.
Most nutritional experts and physicians recommend that people who are considering using this herb take a 40-milligram tablet three times a day for a month or so to determine whether there is any improvement. If there is none, continuing to take this supplement is largely unwarranted.
Also, remember that disturbing memory loss or difficulty thinking, regardless of age, should be checked by a doctor to determine underlying causes.
Because the main action of ginkgo appears to be as a blood thinner, it should not be taken with other blood-thinning agents, such as aspirin, vitamin E, garlic, ginger, the prescription drug warfarin (trade name: Coumadin), or any other medications that list thinning of the blood as a potential side effect. Doing so could increase risk of severe hemorrhage in case of accidents or emergency surgeries or in the event of a stroke or aneurysm. Other reported side effects among a very small number of patients include stomach upset, headache, and dizziness, as well as allergic reactions.
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THE AWAKENING OF GRATITUDE

You are tired and decide to go to your bedroom. There is your bed in front of you. It is cold outside but you have a roof over your head and own many other things that millions do not have at all. You remember the pictures you have seen, pictures of refugees with nothing but the clothes on their backs. You still have it quite good. So why be sad? How many people go on living without a bed, or even a room, of their own. Poor people, herded together somewhere in the world, feeling cold and afraid, hungry people with no way out of their predicament – these thoughts cause you to reflect on what you have and can be grateful for. It is wrong to take everything for granted. Indeed, even the air you breathe suddenly appears to be worthy of gratitude and so does the peace and quiet around you. You feel it surging through you with a warming kind of joy and you go to bed feeling content.

You are still alone, your family has not come in yet, and they cannot know what has gone on in your heart and mind. You pull up your blanket, still deep in thought, comfortable in the calmness surrounding you. You fall into a sleep that has not been so good and restful for a long time – and all because of those moments of peace and quiet, solitude and gratitude you had enjoyed before closing your eyes. The healing powers at our disposal would make our stressful times much more endurable if only we could recognise and use them.

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TAKING HEALTH INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN BUILDING A HOUSE – SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND SUBSEQUENT DISCOVERIES

Watching animals in their habitat can help you appreciate this point. You will notice how careful they are in choosing a spot where they want to spend the night, and where they intend to build their burrows, nests or whatever. You will never see wild deer choose wet and marshy ground to sleep on. No fox or marmot will built its den in wet marshland. Even dogs and cats are often quite choosy when it comes to selecting a place to sleep if given the opportunity. A dog will not stretch out on a concrete floor, even though it may provide a cool spot on a hot day.

Exhaustive scientific research and subsequent discoveries have brought to light many aspects of bioclimatics, electromagnetic waves, electric fields and other things that sensitive persons have always experienced reactions to but had no plausible explanation for. Our ancestors based their approach on experience and observation, taking into account many of these things even though they probably knew nothing of their exact nature. We still do not have all the explanations, but modern technology and science have come up with many a revelation that years ago had been perceived instinctively or intuitively, or simply on the basis of supposition.

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MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS – CORRECT DOSAGE (PART 2)

We can see, therefore, that the intake of the miracle substance iodine has to be measured carefully, for both deficiency and excess mean trouble. Thus, to avoid harm, it is imperative to give iodine only in high potencies of homoeopathic dilution.

Some years ago, since the Swiss and the inhabitants of other land-locked countries often displayed signs of iodine deficiency, Dr Eggenberger from Herisau, a noted goitre specialist, supported the idea of adding iodine to common salt. This was meant to help those people in Switzerland who tended toward goitre, but it caused those with a tendency to Graves’ disease having to put up with an increased heart beat and other unpleasant side effects.

Sea salt and sea water both contain iodine, and for many people these can have the effect of a specific medicine. But those who have a predisposition towards Graves’ disease will find it better to take the small amounts of iodine found in plants, which will give them no trouble.

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WHOLE WHEAT AND OTHER CEREALS – WHEAT GERM (VITAMIN E)

Provided there is no physical disability, vitamin E often acts as an aid to conception when a woman eats foods rich in this vitamin. Due to its high content of vitamin E, wheat germ is the single most indicated item for this therapy. Every 100 g (4 oz) of wheat germ contain as much as 30 mg of pure vitamin E.

Wheat germ is one of the best remedies that can be recommended to help overcome a tendency to premature birth. In fact, if pregnant women were to eat sufficient wheat germ or take wheat germ oil capsules, the painful experience of miscarriage could often be prevented.

Brucellosis (undulant fever, Bang’s disease) has been successfully treated with vitamin E preparations and there is no better specific remedy than wheat germ and wheat germ oil for this purpose. For years, farmers have observed that feeding their cattle with good bran, which contains wheat germ, reduces the incidence of brucellosis and abortion. The results of experiments in which cattle suffering from brucellosis were fed with wheat germ have confirmed that sufficient quantities of vitamin E in time enable the body to build up resistance to the germs which cause this disease.

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VITAMINS – VITAMIN E – THE FERTILITY VITAMIN (HISTORY)

The Roman gladiators had no idea about hormones and vitamin E, but they knew from experience that they became more energetic and efficient when they ate bulls’ testicles the day before their contests. No doubt it needed clear thinking and some degree of biological understanding to come to this conclusion. Not infrequently it was mere chance, an acute observation or clear and logical thinking that led to discoveries that serve us today in our quest to rectify errors in nutrition that plague us in the form of deficiency diseases and avitaminoses.

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MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS – THE SYMPTOMS

There is no doubt that multiple sclerosis is a progressive disease of the central nervous system. It rarely strikes before the age of twenty or after the age of forty. Women sometimes fall victim to it after giving birth and men after an accident or a neglected infectious disease. The first signs of illness may also be a disturbance in the sensory nerves, especially in the feet. The patient gets the feeling of walking on cotton wool and runs the risk of stumbling on uneven ground. After the attack on the sensory nerves there follows a disturbance of the nerves controlling movement, a paralysis of the limbs. A little while later, the patient begins to drag his legs, walking stiffly. In accordance with the focus of the disease, the feet and lower organs or the arms and hands, perhaps even the jaw muscles and facial muscles are involved. When the intestinal muscles or the bladder sphincter are affected or put out of action, the condition is indeed serious. As the disease progresses, the muscles of the mouth and the vocal cords can become involved, causing impairment of speech. Pain is not always present and when it is it is rarely unbearable. There may be inexplicable periods of remission, with the symptoms subsiding; or there may be a sudden worsening of the condition, a relapse. The disease may go on for decades and it is not surprising that a lot of patience and mental energy is needed, both on the part of an MS patient as well as his family and those who take care of him.

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DANGERS OF THE TROPICS – UNSEEN DANGERS – PARASITES AND MICRO-ORGANISMS

For most people who visit the tropics, big game seems to be the main thing to be feared. Elephants, lions, tigers and crocodiles figure especially in our imagination and we may be fearful enough to believe that there is a wild animal lurking behind every bush. And of course we dread the snakes. However, the well-informed traveller will reassure us, knowing that wild animals are not really the great danger they are generally thought to be.

This knowledge is certainly a relief but it should not make us drop our guard. There are other threats, generally unnoticed but far more perilous than adventures with wild animals, and these stem from a variety of micro-organisms. What really makes the tropics dangerous are the things the scientist can see under a microscope and the doctor in a blood test, when examining an unfortunate traveller. A European, for example, may never have had an experience with certain micro-organisms, but what an unpleasant shock they can cause if through ignorance and carelessness he allows them to invade his body. How easy it is for a traveller to become infected and suffer the consequences of amoebic dysentery, a persistent and sometimes fatal disease. Yet one does not have to travel all that far to be in danger of contracting amoebic dysentery, as it can be caught in southern Italy, Greece and the Middle East. So if you live in a temperate zone and travel to such subtropical lands or islands, be very careful to avoid getting infected with amoebas.

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DISORDERS OF THE ENDOCRINE GLANDS

Those who put on weight although they eat very little suffer from impaired functioning of the endocrine glands. In my medical practice I have observed cases where the gonads as well as the pituitary gland and even the thyroid were responsible for obesity. If such functional disorders have been existing since youth, the gonads are generally underdeveloped or retarded as far as proper activity and

hormone production is concerned. In such cases, fat is often deposited on the hips and waist only and never on the arms and legs, so that these limbs are not excessively big. In women the breasts show considerable fat deposits instead of being the shapely glands they normally are. Sagging breasts, due to a malfunction of the ovaries, are often an additional worry of overweight women.

This type of obesity cannot be dealt with successfully either by dieting or any other kind of slimming course. Weight loss may be possible only if the causes are treated. This means that the gonads must be stimulated and the thyroid as well as the pituitary must be given attention. When choosing medication we will certainly want to turn to seaweed, especially as contained in Kelpasan, for reliable results. For detailed recommendations on regulating the functioning of the endocrine glands, which includes stimulating the ovaries and pituitary gland, please refer to the section on ‘Weight Control’ on pages 201-3. Bee pollen will be of additional help, since it is known to have a stimulating effect; but do not take it if your blood pressure is high.

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ECZEMA – AND OTHER SKIN ERUPTIONS: EXTERNAL TREATMENT

The complete external treatment for eczematous skin is therefore as follows:

In the morning swab the affected parts with undiluted Molkosan. If it is too strong and makes the sore places smart or burn excessively, dilute with a little boiled or distilled water. After this, powder the affected areas with Urticalcin powder. Make sure that it gets well into the cracks and scales. In the evening, dab the area once more with Molkosan, but instead of then using the powder, rub the affected parts with a little Bioforce Cream. For a change occasionally use St John’s wort oil on its own. Repeat these applications daily.

Any skin eruption requires internal as well as external treatment; therefore the following advice is also useful for skin disorders other than eczema, particularly psoriasis. It is important to improve the condition of the blood and the lymph. First of all take a kidney remedy, either Solidago virgaurea (goldenrod drops) or Nephroso-lid in daily alternation with Violaforce (heartsease drops). Secondly, take Biocarottin as a liver remedy and vitamin supplement. And thirdly, as a specific treatment, there is the ‘formic acid therapy’. This acid has to be given in form of injections, because if taken orally, it is partially transformed into carbonic acid on contact with the gastric secretions. The best results are obtained by giving hypodermic injections in the sixth and twelfth decimal potency, in alternation. During the first two weeks an injection should be given every third day, and then once every fourteen days, till the cure is complete.

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