Herbal Health

Linus’s Legacy

Though the Daily Value for vitamin Ñ is only 60 milligrams, esteemed researcher Linus

Pauling took thousands of milligrams of this powerful antioxidant every day, convinced it would fend off everything from the common cold to cancer. Though Pauling himself lived to be 93, clinical evidence is still inconclusive about what vitamin Ñ can and can’t do.

“We have found that high levels of vitamin Ñ seem to protect against cataracts as well,” says epidemiologist Paul F. Jacques, D.Sc, associate professor of nutrition at Tufts University. “But we still need more research to understand what levels are beneficial for most people. So far, it looks like more than two times the Daily Value.”

Until we know more, a study at the National Institutes of Health indicates that we need 200 to 500 milligrams of vitamin Ñ a day to keep our systems vitamin C-saturated (we lose vitamin Ñ when we urinate). But since it’s easy to get vitamin Ñ from food, experts recommend looking for a supplement with about 200 milligrams.

Folic Acid Frenzy

A once-overlooked  vitamin, folic acid has been shoving its way into the spotlight during the past several years-first as a protective agent against life-threatening birth defects of the brain and spine, then as a potential defender against heart attack and stroke.

The U.S. Public Health Service recommends getting the Daily Value of 400 micrograms of folic acid every day, which can be tough unless you eat a lot of greens, drink fortified orange juice, or eat fortified foods. “Food manufacturers are soon going to be fortifying flour and flour products with folic acid much in the way they add thiamin, niacin, and riboflavin today, which should lead to improvements in heart disease rates,” Dr. Tucker says. But until you see folic acid appear on food labels, a multivitamin/mineral supplement containing 400 micrograms of folic acid may help keep your heart healthy.

While you’re supplementing folic acid, you may also want to add vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 into the mix, Dr. Tucker says. “There’s a concern that by taking a lot of folic acid, you can mask a vitamin B12 deficiency, a potentially debilitating condition that becomes more common as we age and our bodies stop absorbing vitamin B12 as well as they should,” she says. In addition, people who have diets low in folic acid also tend to run low in vitamin B6, another  vitamin that lowers homocysteine levels. So if you’re going to supplement one, you might as well supplement all three. Dr. Tucker recommends looking for a multi with up to 10 milligrams of vitamin B6 and with 6 to 25 micrograms of vitamin B12.

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1. Do you feel fat, even though you know (or others have told you) that you are thin?

2. Have you lost a significant amount of weight, especially recently?

3. Have you restricted food intake through dieting or fasting?

4. Do you burn off energy through excessive exercise?

5. Do you have urges to binge?

6. Have you “purged,” either through vomiting or laxative or enema abuse?

7. Do you set dieting “goals,” then reach them, only to set yet another goal?

8. Do you think about food constantly?

9. Do you feel uncomfortable eating in front of others?

10. Do you turn down spontaneous invitations to eat in places other than your home, say, in restaurants or at parties?

11. Do you have set routines you feel you must follow during a meal? If you don’t follow them do you get angry or tense?

12. Do you take very small bites while eating, or do you count your bites?

13. Do you insist others eat while you resist eating?

14. Do you make a point of weighing yourself or looking in the mirror several times a day?

15. Does your mood depend on how much you have eaten? Are you happy if you eat nothing, sad if you eat anything at all?

16. Are you more socially isolated than you were, say, three months ago?

17. Are you a perfectionist? Are you overly critical of yourself?

18. Do you ever feel depressed or sad for a long time for no identifiable reason?

19. Are your menstrual periods irregular-not occurring every 25-30 days, or occurring an average of fewer than ten times a year for the past two years?

20. Do you feel cold all the time, or need extra layers of clothing?

21. Have you experienced low blood pressure, dizziness, or fainting spells recently?

You can use this test to raise your awareness about the possibility of serious problems.

Remember, eating disorders can only be treated successfully if they are detected early, and the earlier the better.

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When Sandra Youse was 23, her doctor told her that she would not live to see 50. At the time, she weighed 400 pounds.

“Everyone in my immediate family is overweight,” says the Salisbury, North Carolina, resident. “And in my extended family— among grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins—there are lots of health problems. Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are pretty common.”

Even with her doctor’s dire warning, Sandra didn’t get serious about slimming down until 10 years later. By then, she had gained almost another 100 pounds, reaching her top weight of 491 pounds.

“In those 10 years, I had made some halfhearted attempts at dieting, but they weren’t successful,” Sandra recalls. “I reached a point where I was tired of being so heavy. And because of an inheritance, I finally had the money to do something about it.”

In February 1997, she entered Structure House, a weight-loss facility in Durham, North Carolina, about 90 minutes from her home. “I went there on the advice of friends who were familiar with the Structure House program,” she says. “They really believed that it could help me.”

Sandra stayed at Structure House for 11 months. While there, she received individual counseling to help her confront and cope with some painful issues from her past. “I learned that many people use food to avoid dealing with their problems and that I was one of those people,” she says. “I had been overeating since I was a child.”

As Sandra began to address her own issues and learn more positive ways of handling them, she was better able to control her eating habits. “Through counseling, I learned that eating couldn’t solve my problems—that I had to find other ways of coping,” she says. “I started talking with friends, telling them what I was thinking and feeling. If a friend wasn’t available, I’d write down my thoughts instead.

“The ultimate goal of counseling is to resolve the underlying problem,” Sandra continues. “That actually makes things harder for a while. There were times when I got so overwhelmed with my issues that I had to step back and take a break. But eventually, I’d move on.”

By the time she left Structure House in January 1998, Sandra had lost 138 pounds. She continued to follow the eating-and-exer-cise guidelines that she had been given, and once a week, she made the 90-minute drive to Durham to meet with a Structure House counselor. “Losing weight was tougher on my own than at Structure House,” she says. “It definitely wasn’t a straight line. I’d make some progress, then take a couple of steps backward.”

But Sandra was determined. In a little more than a year, she took off another 130 pounds, dropping to 223 pounds.

Sandra, now age 36, would like to lose another 70 or so pounds. To that end, she continues to eat healthfully and exercise regularly, and she sees a counselor every week. The therapy is excellent, she says, and it has helped her tremendously in dealing with the issues that contributed to her weight gain in the first place.

“People constantly tell me what an inspiration I am and how I give them hope,” Sandra adds. “But I couldn’t have done what I did if I hadn’t learned to face my problems.”

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CT scanning

Computerised Axial Tomography or CAT scanning, also known as CT scanning, is a highly sophisticated X-ray technique which literally uses computers to take X-ray slices of parts of the body.

This technique is specifically indicated in the assessment of damage to the spinal column. It is particularly useful in assessing damage to the intervertebral discs. It also establishes whether there is pressure on the nerve structures relating to the spinal cord.

The value of such studies is at times questionable because up to one-third of patients without pain have abnormal findings with such tests.

EMG ( electromyographic testing)

Electromyograms are tests of nerve conduction to assess how well the nerve does its job. Together with physical examinations they are sometimes useful to pinpoint organic causes of pain complaints.

Such tests can be useful to find damage to nerves, muscle problems, joint inflammation, and imbalances of fluids in the body.

Many pain syndromes, however, are difficult to define and are not well described in medical textbooks. Some of these problems include the pain associated with inflammation of muscles or myofascial pain syndrome, temporo-mandibular joint or TMJ syndrome, and some of the severe pain syndromes caused by damage to the autonomic nervous system.

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The ultimate treatment may be surgery to clear away obstructing bone — laminectomy, or to remove the discs — discec-tomy, or to join bones to prevent movement between the vertebrae — fusion. However these procedures should only be carried out if there is overwhelming evidence that severe damage or pressure is occurring to the spinal cord or the nerve roots.

Treatments which should certainly be considered prior to surgery, except in emergency cases, include TENS, acupuncture, hydrotherapy, physiotherapy and psychological methods of gaining coping skills.

Medications used in the treatment of back pain include antiinflammatory drugs, antidepressants to modify pain awareness, tranquillisers and other muscle relaxants and some simple pain relieving medications.

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Some people begin to think of themselves as ‘chronic invalids’ punished by occupational disability and a ruined social life. They may become housebound, adopting a sick role and believe their pain is a warning signal and that they have a significant amount of physical illness despite all medical reassurance. The combination of sick role, health anxiety and resistance to reassurance makes these patients difficult to treat and to rehabilitate.

The pain patient typically uses a number of pain-killing drugs simultaneously, and often a bewildering array of other medication. Chemical dependence is frequent — particularly with the use of pain-killers containing narcotic derivatives such as codeine and propoxyphene such as Digesic and Codral Forte. They have had usually more surgical procedures, often without success, and are constantly searching for a physical cure. Because the patient’s income is usually less than he or she would have earned, the standard of living is often reduced, which puts additional strain on the family.

The pain patient often uses their affliction to tyrannise the family, playing the role of a chronic invalid and arousing guilt feelings.

Pain’s toll in terms of human suffering is remarkable. Of course, there’s no way to price misery. But billions of dollars are spent on medical care or on lost productivity. The chronic pain patient has had medical and surgical costs ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.The record perhaps goes to a 40-year-old labourer, ‘Hector B’, who had 40 pain-operations costing $450,000 — all originating from an injured back which eventually led to:

• A cordotomy — a division of pathways in the spinal cord to give relief from intense pain.

• An amputated leg.

• Phantom limb pain.

• Cingulotomy — a brain operation that cuts nerve tracts in an attempt to control pain.

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Despite all this knowledge, we are left with the conclusion of what a great puzzle pain is. Physicians too readily claim that pain is a reaction of defence — a fortunate circumstance which puts us on our guard against the risk of disease. There is a variable link between pain and injury. It is widely believed that pain is always the result of physical damage and that the intensity of the pain is proportional to the severity of the injury.

In general, the relationship between injury and pain holds true — a pinch of a finger produces mild pain while a door slammed on it is excruciating! But there are many instances where the relationship fails to hold up. For example, about 65 per cent of soldiers who are severely wounded in battle and 20 per cent of civilians who undergo major surgery report feeling little or no pain for hours, even days, after the injury.

In contrast, no apparent injury can be detected in about 70 per cent of people who suffer from chronic low back pain. The importance of pain for mankind’s survival becomes clear when we consider what happens to people insensitive to pain. They learn with difficulty to avoid damaging themselves severely. But they survive because they develop a language to communicate a problem. Many of them sustain extensive burns, bruises and lacerations during childhood. These injuries ultimately lead to the loss of limbs or joint function simply because they have no pain defence to injury or accident. It has long been known that if the nerves in a joint are missing, or defective, a condition develops in which the joint surface is damaged and the ligaments and other tissues are stretched. This particularly happens to joints such as ankles, knees, wrists and elbows. But there is still a puzzle. Even with normal people, injuries sometimes occur without pain. How is it that a finger can be chopped off in an accident and no pain is felt? Those who have experienced the passing of a kidney stone describe it as painful beyond any expectation that pain could be so intense. Similarly, there is the pain after the healing of an injury.

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A balanced approach is advisable in the case of asthma. Firstly, medicinal drugs may be necessary to control the immediate symptoms and make life bearable for the patient. Secondly, an effort should be made to identify airborne allergens. Some careful detective work, may help to pinpoint the culprits. Skin-prick tests can also be useful here, although they are not always accurate. Once airborne antigens have been identified they can be eliminated as far as possible from the home, using the methods described on p66. If something in the workplace is responsible for the asthma, either as an allergen or an irritant, every effort should be made to change to a different working environment. The asthma may get worse as the years go by, and as the bronchi become more sensitive they react to lower and lower levels of irritant – and they may begin to react to other, milder irritants as well.

After 6-8 weeks, the effect of eliminating airborne allergens and irritants can be assessed, and if there are still serious symptoms then it may be worth trying an elimination diet. Continue with the basic measures for avoiding airborne allergens while the diet is in progress. Where foods provoke asthma, it seems that skin-prick tests are not all that useful in identifying the problem food. So a diet – such as that described in Chapter Fourteen – is the only reliable means of diagnosis. In the case of babies and young children. Remember that children should not be put on an elimination diet without medical supervision. This is particularly important for anyone who has ever had a very severe attack of asthma, because there is a risk of death if a serious reaction occurs when a food is reintroduced. If you are testing foods at home, your doctor should be able to give you a supply of suitable medicine for use in a severe asthma attack.

If foods do turn out to be instrumental in the asthmatic attacks, then avoiding those foods entirely is the simplest solution. Where this proves too difficult or dull, then the drug, sodium cromoglycate, taken by mouth, may be of benefit.

Asthma is a complex disease which may not be entirely due to allergy. For this reason, not all asthmatics will be able to track down the source of their problems using the methods described, and some will have to rely mainly on drugs to control their symptoms. For this group, and indeed for all asthmatics, avoiding exposure to irritants such as smoke and fumes will help greatly. Certain jobs carry a very high risk of asthma because they involve exposure to particular chemicals – these are described on p63- Anyone with a history of asthma, even if they have been free of symptoms for many years, should try to avoid such occupations, because of the likelihood of precipitating asthmatic attacks once more.

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Pliny, writing in ancient Rome, as well as Gmelin in modern times, noted that Artemisia derived its name from the ancient practice of lining the shoes with the leaves to prevent tiredness. It is also said that Roman soldiers put mugwort in their sandals in order to ease their march into Helvetia.

People who have spent their holidays in the canton of Tessin, Switzerland, must be familiar with mugwort, for it is one of the toughest and most widespread weeds in that district. It is easily recognised because it reaches a height of almost 2 m (5-6 feet). Anyone not well acquainted with the various members of the Artemisia family might mistake mugwort for wormwood, as it resembles the latter in taste and smell.

The claim that mugwort relieves tired legs can be proved quite simply. After a long walk, bathe your feet in an infusion of mugwort and discover for yourself its soothing effect.

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Not every high elevation has the same merits. The southern Alps enjoy many more hours of sunshine than the northern range. For this reason plants do much better in the more southern areas than in the northern regions. In some of the latter areas they have only stunted growth before dying. Naturally, medicinal plants are also affected by these regional and climatic differences. For example, Solidago that has been grown in the higher Engadine has a better and stronger effect on the kidneys than that grown in the lower region of Teufen and, interestingly, that grown in Teufen is still better than any grown in the districts below an altitude of 500 m (1,500 feet).

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