Category Archives: Health

Health Topics

Diet & Nutrition

Posted by David on

Our health is significantly influenced by our diets and the nutrition we receive (or don’t receive) from them.

This is also one of the most challenging areas to find any quality information on, with new diets appearing on a regular basis, and contradictory evidence being reported in magazines and newspapers, which only adds to our general confusion.

One author with an extensive scientific background in this field, T. Colin Campbell, has fortunately written a book which cuts through the confusion surrounding diets and nutrition, and presents us with the actual scientific research data so we can clearly see what a healthily diet is, and what it can do for us.

The first part of the book introduces “The China Study”, which is the most exhaustive diet study ever carried out on real people.

Secondly the author addresses the commonest diseases found in our western culture, i.e. diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease etc., and shows their links to our modern western diet.

Thirdly, the book details what exactly a healthy diet is based on the masses of available scientific evidence.

Finally, the author asks the question, how come we don’t know this already? With some disturbing results.

This is no fad diet book endorsed by the latest hot celebrity, but a factual account of what constitutes a healthy diet from someone with four decades of research experience in the field of nutrition.

This highly recommended book is probably one of the most important you will ever have the opportunity to read.

The China Study:
The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health
by T. Colin Campbell

USA Books UK Books Canadian Books

© David R. Durham

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Red Wine

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Red wine is good for you (in moderation).

Which is good news for wine drinkers.

It can help to protect against strokes, reduce the risk of heart disease and inflammatory diseases such as sepsis, appendicitis and peritonitis.

For More Information: WDDTY – Full Articles

Cheers!

© David R. Durham

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Travel Vaccinations

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Since I am planning a trip to China, I thought I’d have a Hep. A virus vaccination, since it seems to be widely recommended when traveling to S. E. Asia.

I dutifully booked myself into a specialist travel clinic (MASTA) in London to have this vaccine, only to be ambushed by a nurse who insisted on giving me a full consultation.

Twenty minutes later another six vaccines I ought to have, had been sincerely recommended.

Apart from the possible shock to my immune system of having that many inoculations in such a short time and their potential side-effects, my concerns were accentuated by the fact that they advised me that where I was traveling to was a ‘High Risk’ malaria region. Which had not come up in any of my travel research to date.

I tactfully thanked the nurse for her advise, and declined.

Further research confirmed that where I plan to travel has no malaria risk.

What also concerned me is that this seems to be a classic sales ploy, one of using an authority figure (i.e. a nurse) to ‘recommend’ (i.e. sell) as many vaccinations as they can. As a non-medically qualified person – who am I to argue?

This also raises broader interesting questions on how exactly do we assess risk in our lives?

Clearly there are valid scenarios for having the appropriate vaccinations before traveling to certain parts of the world. But these need to be given where the motivation is due to a tangible risk, not just monetary gain or self-protection from being legally sued.

For an alternative view on travel vaccinations: What Doctors Don’t Tell You

© David R. Durham

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Bio-Ethics

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Going hand-in-hand with the advances in biology and its many new applications, are questions of an ethical nature.

Ethical considerations lie at the root of many personal and social decisions we make. At its most basic level ethics concerns itself with what we consider to be good and bad, and how we should live and behave in our communities.

In the field of genetics, for instance, it may become technically feasible to genetically clone a human. Whether we should or not is an ethical consideration.

With many of these issues, there often is not a simple right or wrong solution. Which isn’t to say that a simple solution cannot be imposed by a legal ruling or a religious doctrine.

Potentially the most fascinating and intellectually challenging aspects to this comes from within the plurality of a liberal society. After all, this currently is where the majority of scientific discoveries are made, and not in the intellectual vacuum of a theocracy.

The sheer pace of bio-technological innovation is a further complicating factor. Many of our ethical beliefs on what is permissible are derived from both our current social framework and our cultural heritage. The social institutions we use to define our ethical stance, especially from a legal perspective, are often worked out at a much slower pace than the innovations in biology and medicine.

In addition to the immediate legal considerations of whether it is permissible to to turn off a life support system, even though that system’s technology could keep the person alive, the questions raised here can cause us to reflect more deeply on who and what we are as humans.

Broadening this out from the intensely personal to a society at large, then some fascinating social issues arise from the continued innovations in bio-technology. For instance, if life threatening hereditary illnesses can be vastly reduced, what impact does a population which will potentially live longer have on the earth’s resources, on prejudices against the elderly, on financial markets and on government social planning.

Advances in biological sciences are presenting us with many opportunities to reconsider and reflect on issues such as: The relationship between the individual and the group; the gap between the haves and have nots; our value perceptions of what constitutes health; the allocation of healthcare resources; who we bring into this world and who we let leave … and many more.

If you would like to explore this topic further, here are some resources:

1. Biomedical Ethics:
A Multidisciplinary To Moral Issues In Medicine And Biology
Ed. David Steinberg M.D.

USA Books UK Books Canadian Books

2. Bioscience Ethics, by Irina Pollard.

USA Books UK Books Canadian Books

3. DNA: Promise & Peril, by L. L. McCabe and E. R. B. McCabe.

USA Books UK Books Canadian Books

© David R. Durham

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On Death & Dying

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As an exploration of some of our key emotional responses to dying, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s book On Death and Dying, initially published in 1969, remains one of the most fascinating observations and reflections of this final phase of our life.

For ease of discussion, Dr Kübler-Ross suggested there were several common stages we go through in the death process: Denial and Isolation, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.

These stages are not hard and fast, for instance some people will start at depression, whilst others may not go through all five stages at all.

By listening to, and encouraging others to do the same, Dr Kübler-Ross highlighted an important need of the dying. That is their need to be listened to and to be heard.

When the opportunity of listening to the dying is taken, it helps them psychologically and emotionally during their dying process, and it also assists those close to the dying person in coming to terms with their loss.

All in all a thought provoking and highly recommended book:

 

© David R. Durham

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Reiki & Chakras

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When healing someone with reiki techniques, special emphasis is often given to our main energy centers, called chakras.

The word chakra simply means wheel or disc. And they help to store, balance and distribute energy around our bodies. There are seven main chakras which are addressed in a reiki healing session. These seven main chakras run vertically through our body’s trunk and into our neck and head.

Located at the base of our spine is the first chakra, called the Muladhara (root chakra) is our foundation and links us energetically to the earth.

The second chakra called Svadhistana (Own Dwelling Place) is located between the genitals and naval, and it is the center for our sexual energy.

Moving up our body, the Manipura (Dwelling Place of Jewels) is located in our solar plexus area and it is an energy associated with personal power.

In the centre of our chest is our heart center called the Anahata (That Which Is Ever New). This energy relates to our compassion, self-acceptance, relationships and internal balance.

The 5th of our chakras is the Vishuddha (Purest of Pure) and it is located at our throat level, and it is concerned with communication and self-expression.

In our forehead, between the eye brows lies our Ajna (Command) chakra, which is associated with our vision and imagination.

And our 7th chakra is located at the crown of our head and is called Sahasara (Thousand Petalled Lotus) and it relates to our wisdom and spiritual levels.

Reiki healing aims to unblock these chakra centers and balance the energy flows between them.
Source:
Reiki And The Seven Chakras, by Richard Ellis. 2010, Random House Press.

To learn much more and experience real reiki for yourself, Click Here for a comprehensive and fascinating online reiki masters course.

© David R. Durham

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Wealth & Health

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There is an old Chinese saying that health is wealth. Within English speaking westernised cultures, the acquisition of wealth itself has become the dominant way of living, with sometimes disastrous results on many people’s health.

In his fascinating book Affluenza, psychologist Oliver James outlines the frightening correlation between self-centred capitalism and emotional ill health.

He defines Affluenza as a set of values which increase your vulnerability to emotional distress. Where emotional distress is defined as depression, anxiety, substance abuse and personality disorders.

And it is a life-style which places an excessively high value on financial and material wealth, on physical appearance and on wanting to be famous.

At the core of the problem is that we have become obsessed (almost hypnotised) with measuring ourselves and others through the distorting values of Affluenza. This happens to such an extent, that we can end up defining our happiness in terms of what we do not have and measuring ourselves against people we can never be.

Ironically, it is most prevalent in western English speaking cultures where the mantras of self-centred capitalism rule. These are cultures where the values of being human have been replaced by measurements of having.

When we focus on being as an internal state we can interact more fully with our world, without the need to obsessively control or destroy it. And when we focus on having, we begin to intellectualise the world we live in and to create an internal and external distancing. As a result we create a never ending cycle of irrational consumption in order to fill the void.

This consumption is irrational in the sense that it fails to differentiate between our genuine needs and externally created wants. Where the externally created wants are generated for us by advertising, marketing promotions and mass media.

A highly recommended book:

Affluenza: How to be successful and stay sane, by Oliver James

USA Books UK Books Canadian Books

 

© David R. Durham

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Reiki Healing

Posted by David on

Reiki is a system of healing which activates our natural life-force energy towards greater health and vitality.

Reiki is highly effective on its own, and is an ideal complimentary therapy working seamlessly in conjunction with other healing modalities. It is a non-invasive therapy which has no unwanted side-effects.

It is often taught in two in two stages or degrees. First degree reiki is concerned with understanding life-force energy (or Ki), and how to help to balance it. Much of this work concerns the main energy centers of our bodies, known as chakras.

If you are new to these concepts, then a fair degree of trust and letting go of old concepts may be required on your part.

The next learning stage called second degree reiki, introduces reiki symbols, which can be used to empower our thought and being. There are three key symbols.

The first is the power symbol, which works with our intention. The second is the emotional / mental symbol which is the key to our unconscious. And the third reiki symbol relates to distance healing, and it represents time and space.

Source:
Reiki And The Seven Chakras, by Richard Ellis. 2010, Random House Press.

To learn much more and experience real reiki for yourself, Click Here for a comprehensive and fascinating online reiki masters course.

© David R. Durham

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Lavender

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Lavender is one of the most popular of essential oils.

It is found in aromatherapy, fragrances, soaps, fabric softeners etc.

The reason is that lavender has many beneficial properties including emotional balancing, antiseptic, antidepressant and general calming effects.

And because of its calming effects on our nervous system, it can help to relieve us of excess stress and anxiety. It can also be used to reduce depression, and help with headaches and insomnia.

With its antiseptic qualities it is very beneficial for a wide range of skin conditions.

Lavender can also help to reduce muscle aches, and is recommended for joint problems.

The good news is that correctly applied, it has few if any side-effects.

Source:
Change Your Mood With Aromatherapy, by D. W. Brown, 2010.
Teach Yourself Series (Hodder Education).

© David R. Durham

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Aging V

Posted by David on

The reality of our aging touches all of us, and when beginning to explore this topic as mentioned in the first blog in this series, it has many different aspects: Personal, family, social, economic and scientific.

For instance, who is it that ages? Are our mental and physical aging different phenomena? What are the social, economic and environmental costs of our living longer? And so on.

One of the most aggressive proponents of dealing with aging and not simply accepting it as the way it is, is Dr. Aubery de Grey.

In his fascinating book called Ending Aging, he explains how his thinking process shifted on the often complex subject of biological aging. So, rather than only focusing on understanding the metabolic process which creates our aging, what if we sought to understand and to address the damage which aging causes to our bodies.

This paradigm shift in thinking, which moves away from the seemingly endless complexity of the underlying biological processes, to the relatively simpler issues of damage management is explained in detail in his book.

Running alongside this approach is also the concept that addressing the aging issue is not only about adding digits to our total age. It is also concerned with reversing the side effects of aging, so we live healthier and active lives for longer.

To find out more …

Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime by Aubery de Grey with Michael Rae

USA Books UK Books Canadian Books

 

© David R. Durham

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