Inside John's Head

Phytooestrogens, Menopause,

2011-12-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

Phytoestrogens come from the greek word literally meaning 'female steroid hormones relating to plants'.
They work in a milder way than oestrogens made by the body to maintain the menstrual cycle and protect against bone loss after the menopause. Some women reported to me that lowering their wheat intake reduced muscle aches during the menopause. It is possible that wheat proteins (gliadins) become antigens or irritants in the bloodstream and trigger the immune system to over respond.

Oestrogen from animal fats
A major source of oestrogen is cows milk. Fats concentrates oestrogen so women on constant low fat diets including skimmed milk are denying themselves the benefits of oestrogen. Cows are milked when their oestrogen levels are high. In effect they have more milk than they need because the calves have been taken away. It is like expressing milk instead of breast feeding. Milk, especially in the form of yoghurt, is a nutritious food that provides retinol (we turn it into vitamin A), calcium, vitamin D and whey proteins such as casein. Pasteurising makes casein harder to digest. Unpasteurized milk is highly nutritious but must come from herds free of TB, it carries a theoretical risk of E. coli and salmonella.
If a young person has severe acne it is highly likely that they cannot tolerate milk proteins. I had terrible acne for many years and finally concluded after a cream tea in Devon that milk was the culprit. Avoiding cows milk for a year cured the intolerance to milk. However I found that sheep and goats milk cheeses were well tolerated. Oat milk is more suitable for a man than soya milk. A 2010 study done in Greece on sheep and goat's milk found no pesticide residues. Goats fed on red clover would be a great source of natural oestrogen.
In Pembrokeshire we met a farmer who made cheese from unpasteurized milk. He said that he used a different rennet to mainstream cheese producers. I found that unpasteurized cheese and milk was fine, no reaction at all.
Animal fats are not in themselves bad for you, but fats do store toxins including some chemicals and preservatives from the food chain. That is why the Inuit in Greenland and northern Canada are subject to the highest levels of environmental pollutants. Fats also concentrate hormones and store vitamins, for instance: A for the skin and tissue repair, E good for the heart, circulation, hormone control, K good for blood clotting and strong bone formation and D that helps calcium uptake, bones, skin and protection against bowel cancer and bowel diseases. Animal fats are partially saturated which means that when you roast the meat they do not change much or degenerate. Roasted meat with the fat is an excellent source of energy.
Meat from wild game, free range hens, ducks and geese, and wild boar or venison contains higher quality omega 3 fats that not only give you energy but also repairs your body.

Oestrogen from vegetarian sources
Red clover is a great crop to dig into the ground if you are growing organic vegetables. It is a great source of nitrogen and of oestrogen. You can try it as a supplement for menopause symptoms.
Linseed are a good source of lignin. The gut breaks it down into oestrogen like substances. They also provide soluble fibre that flushes out the bile duct and gall bladder. A positive study on hot flushes used 40g a day. Always crush linseed before consumption or chew it well. Personally I find it unpleasant if soaked. Crushed linseed go off more quickly so buy it whole and keep it in a cool, dark place within its sell by date. Throw it away if it tastes and smells like a cricket bat!
Lentils, chick peas (tahini and humous) and soya are good sources of oestrogen.

Chakras, wheel of life,

2011-10-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

In yoga last night our teacher introduced the idea of Chakras. A Chakra is a wheel of energy that resides in particular parts of the body. Some schools of thought identify 7 Chakras, associated with the coccyx, the testicles or ovaries, the solar plexus, the heart and so on. We practised our yoga with the idea of opening each chakra in turn and releasing the pent up energy. By associating a colour we could concentrate on the colour and at the same time repeat a sound. As a practicising craniosacral therapist I look for physiological blockages in the body that form barriers. With the hands and fingers placed gently and carefully as a fulcrum, a therapist finds that the clients brain resets the parameters and starts to release blood or craniosacral fluid or lymph or whatever through that blockage. The result is often relaxation, a sense of lightness, healing of tissues and increased mobility. To me that is a physiological change that is measurable. What puzzles me about Chakras is that we are taking an ancient Hindu way of assessing the body and using the terminology but we don't know if anything has really happened. Personally I find that yoga gives the benefits of a stronger more flexible body, a calmer approach to life and a more reflective personality.

In the class when we came to the pelvic chakra, the colour bright orange, I found myself thinking; What shape is a chakra, is it a wheel or a ball? If it is a ball then is it like a garden water feature or does it rotate on an axis. If there is one chakra for the testicles or ovaries what happens if you have your ovaries taken out or one bursts? or if you have one burst. Has the chakra gone with it or been thrown out of balance? Don't you need two chakras, one for each organ? The colours associated with them sound very much like the colours that Neurolinguistic Programmers use. Perhaps NLP borrowed them from Hinduism? The power of imagery is strong and does change our approach to life.

Paddling a canoe on a river gives you the chance to observe the main current as it swings into eddies behind rocks, branches or bridges. The water strongly flows one way then flows into the space created by the obstacle filling it up and flowing the other way. Between the two flows you can see and feel swirls of current called vortexes. They look remarkably like the idea of chakras. Perhaps a chakra is simply an eddy line between the energy current that flows down the spine and the currents that flow back up through the fluid movements in the human body? The Hindu concepts introduced the Ida, the cooling energy that flowed down the left side of the spine and the Pingala the heating energy that flowed up the right side of the spine. I find an distinction between left and right artificial but what they are saying is that the two energies interweave with each other. Fritz Frederick Smith points out that the Western concept sees the spine as a rod with a series of curves. Bend the curve one way and you introduce a rotation. Bend it the other way and you introduce another rotation. This makes the idea of chakras as moveable not sited in one place but changing with the changing positions of our bodies.

Chakras could also co-incide with nerve junctions or an intersecting bundle of nerves called a plexus. The sacral plexus, the lumbar plexus, the mesenteric plexus and the Pekinje fibres in the heart are anatomical terms that did not exist in Hindu mythology so they used terms that were familiar to them.

What surprises me is that in the West we love to think of ideas that sound mysterious and life changing, they make us feel good about ourselves. We don't seem to question whether these ideas are limited in their scope and could benefit from recent huge strides forwards in how our brains work.

Keeping chickens

2011-04-15T02:24:00.000-07:00

if you want laying hens choose a smaller bird usually a first cross hybrid. A hen is any female bird. A chicken is a domesticated bird. Pure breeds tend to be heavier and consume more feed but put on weight faster. Layers produce best in their first two years so choose pullets if you are starting off.
Their biggest dangers are disease, foxes and rats.
Hens are messy so be careful if you think they can range free in the garden. Their pooh can carry salmonella, e. coli and the gut contains campylobacter, all dangerous food poisoning organisms. Ducks carry even more salmonella. Be careful if you have young children.
If you want them to stay healthy the water supply must be fresh and not allow them to step into it. Food should come from a feeder not just thrown onto the ground. Or only throw a little never allowing it to go mouldy.
They also need grit or shell sand in the scratching soil. Grit keeps the crop healthy and allows them to digest their food. Sand containing shells is ideal as it contains enough calcium to keep the eggshells strong.
At night chickens will roost according to their pecking order or hierarchy. If you have a cockerel it will choose the top perch. Other hens will choose perches according to their size and dominance. Give them a choice.
Foxes can devastate a flock and will kill indiscriminately. If the hens are free range they must be shut in at night.
Hens need dry, clean nesting boxes to produce healthy eggs. Ducks lay anywhere and their eggs are often dirty. Nor do their have a membrane inside the shell. Rats will steal eggs if they can. Signs of rats are grease marks, big droppings and chewed wood. Only metal plates in key areas can keep rats out. Leaving food on the ground and water out is a sure way to encourage rats.
Once a year hens will go into moult for up to 2 months. Their feathers look scrawny and fall out. Don't worry they are simply renewing and resting. They will go off laying for a while; they simply need water and healthy feed. Seaweed is a great feed if you wash off the salt first. They will pick through for insects and shells.
Hens also need light to produce eggs. Light stimulates the pituitary gland which in turns stimulates follicle stimulating hormone which in turn releases the eggs into the oviduct. Their ideal lighting for laying. We used to keep them in the Orkney Islands with continuous natural light in mid-summer and hardly any in mid-winter. I put a timer in the hen house and found by experiment that 15 hours of daylight gave us the maximum egg laying potential.
Although a chicken will lay for many years their greatest potential is the first two years. If you are commercially minded and feed conscious it would be best to cull them in the third year or when production drops off (excluding the moulting time). If you keep a cockerel you can breed your own but be aware that not everyone likes a fertil egg with a little spot in it. Some breeds often go broody. We used to keep a bantam that loved to sit but hardly ever produced eggs. The sex of the bird is determined by the temperature of the breast. She produced 8 cockerels in a row, she was a hot bird!
Cockerels grow fast but eat a lot. I could cull them at 6 to 8 months making a great table bird.
Some cockerels like Marans, (grey speckled with spurs) can be very aggressive. I always carried a bamboo cane to fence them off. If you want to cull a bird, go quietly into the hen house at night. Creep up behind them, grab the legs and swing them upside down. They will remain quiet. place two fingers behind the head and hold the body with the other hand. Quickly dislocate the neck. This is instantaneous with no blood and no panic. Drain the blood out before plucking and cleaning. Some people steam or singe the feathers before plucking. If you want a Halal bird hold the neck downwards, twist it and cut the artery with a knife. The heart will naturally pump the blood out and give you clean meat. Be aware that the gut it the most dangerous part for food poisoning organisms. Avoid cutting into the gut and avoid piercing the green or yellow gall bladder.
In summary decide whether your chickens are mainly going to be pets or whether you need the eggs.
Do you want them for the table? If so choose pure breeds. Do you want them for laying? If so choose golden comet, black rock or White leghorns for white eggs. If you want chocolate brown eggs choose some Marans.

Canoeing on the rivers Wye & Usk, February 2011

2011-03-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

In February the canoeists and kayakers descend on the Welsh rivers before the fishing season restricts access to these wonderful waters. Four of us set off from Builth Wells. Two people, Chris and Alison, I had never met before. They turned out to be great company. It's amazing how quickly you bond when you are so dependent on each other for your safety, your health, and the strong teamwork needed to paddle rough water. Chris hitched a ride in Joanna's boat. Alison and I paddled solo in our lighter boats. We covered about 20 km of the beautiful river Wye. Most of it was too wide to scout ahead so we cautiously took each rapid as it came. There is a famous slot called Hell Hole, the name is designed to strike fear into newcomers to canoeing. I sent Chris an E mail the night before to let him know that I have never seen an incident at Hell Hole, but other rapids make groups complacent. Sure enough, three of us took a long swim not long after the start. Alison competently took charge. Once on the bank we took off our outer clothes off, swung them around, squeezed them out and put them back on again. By the end of the afternoon we were all paddling more confidently and feeling warmer.

On Friday evening we joined the rest of the group at a Bunkhouse in Brecon.
The Canal Barn Bunkhouse, Brecon
Mainstream is a group of canoeists, mainly Christians, who love to meet outdoors and enjoy God's wonderful creation together. Anyone is welcome if they don't mind getting wet.

The second day we paddled the Usk from Sennybridge with a group of kayakers. Some were nervous simply looking at the river. Some were old hands. Everyone supported and helped each other out.

It was great to see how quickly everyone talked and shared their lives with each other. Every job got done without complaint. People were free to go to the pub, spend time alone or join in with a time of worship in the evening. We were privileged to have Peter Hollingsworth with us. He shared some songs that he had written to well known tunes.

On the Sunday most of the group took a shorter day. Three of us chose to spend longer on the river Usk, covering 18 km to Crickhowell. Once we had past the get out point the river grew bigger and simply got better and better. In the end the sun came out to round off a glorious weekend.

One reflection on the weekend is how when the adrenaline is flowing we can't always distinguish between excitement and fear. One friend was a very competent canoeist but still felt afraid. We covered their boat as best we could but in the end you have to ask yourself, What is the worst that could happen? Has it happened yet? Personally I take that fear emotion and drill it down into my non-conscious. I rehearse success in my mind and make no room for so called failure. Failure might simply be a long swim. Even that can be turned into a brilliant memory and a great story.
Thanks to everyone for such a supportive weekend.
Contact Chris for more information about Mainstream

For help with pain & injuries & to save money on your residential bills & business overheads

Repetitive strain injury, tennis elbow, golfer's elbow

2011-02-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

This last week three people have come to see me with tennis elbow. Tennis elbow is an inflammation of the tendons that originate from the outer bone on the elbow. It is often caused by holding the hand or forearm in the same position for long periods of time. In all three cases the people had been holding an
i phone or blackberry in their left hand for long periods of time while keying in with their right hand.

What is It?
In your hands the little finger (pinkie) and the thumb are mainly served by muscles in the hand itself. The three middle fingers are served by muscles in the forearm. If you believe in design that is very clever because it gives you a palm to hold things with. The forearm muscles have long tendons that run through the carpal bones in the wrists. There are 8 carpal bones that glide over each other. With repetitive use the tendon sheaths might become inflamed (tenosynovitis - inflammation of the synovial fluid in the sheath), or become 'gritty' (tendonitis - inflammation of the tendons). If your muscles are held in a shortened state for too long they become 'ropy' and lose their ability to stretch. They pull strongly on the tendons that attach them to the bones in the elbow causing golfer's elbow (on the inner elbow), or tennis elbow (on the outer elbow.
Causes - gripping or holding something for too long, cocking the wrist back too far in the back swing for golf, holding a tennis racquet with too small a grip, very small repetitive movements.

Treatments include:

Massaging the forearms very deeply and slowly yourself, or by someone else
Placing an ice cube or two on the tender area until it melts
Drumming with your hands and wrists to loosen them up and use the forearm muscles
Acupuncture, laser or ultrasound
Changing your habits to avoid static positions; muscles hate stressed inactivity
Trying to learn to swap hands for different tasks
Opening up your hands and fingers strongly e.g. ten times, numerous times a day

Karyn's erratic learning journey: Instinct v presence of mind

2011-02-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

Karyn's erratic learning journey: Instinct v presence of mind

Pliny the Elder

2010-09-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

This morning Marilyn called me to look out of the bedroom window. A heron stood on the lawn with a large goldfish in its mouth. That goldfish was my friend. For years I fed it every day and watched it grow from a tiddler into a magnificent specimen. I loved the way that it rose to the wheatgerm pellets that I threw into the pond. The heron struggled to lift off from the lawn and sat on a rooftop working out how to gulp its huge prey down into its gullet. I could only watch in despair.
Pliny was a Roman general who put together as much of the existing knowledge of his day. He always travelled with a book or someone to read him a book. he claimed in his writings to have consulted 20,000 works of knowledge. In practice he had consulted 37,000 works including art, natural history and astronomy. Pliny saw nature as beneficent towards human beings but sometimes cruelly unaware of them. He saw nature as infinite, human beings as finite. For instance by examining the beauty of insects we could become aware of the majesty of nature. We were at the centre of nature but at times our curiosity to us beyond our boundaries. We always had to keep in mind that by exploiting natural resources we could damage the earth. He insisted that we had to be useful to nature. If we acted out of greed we were exploiting our resources.
How relevant to modern day are those views? The BP oil disaster and many tanker spillages show us how human greed goes way beyond human need. What a calling he gave us to live within our resources.

Early learning of new born babies

2010-09-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

Having a grand daughter is a strange experience. You find yourself loving the baby as much as you love your own children. You see hints of behaviour and mannerisms that reflect your own family genes, a fraction of recognition there. When a man sees his own child it reassures him to see likenesses in her face. he will bond more deeply to the child if he sees something of himself in her. Carrying her around I have been telling her things in French and German. A friend called Rose who understands child development told me that she is not ready for that yet. According to one of Melvin Bragg's contributors a baby can hear 600 sounds when they are born. That number is selected down to about 60 sounds by 12 months. A baby will pick up any language but their ability to learn other languages will be enhanced if they have heard the rudiments of their own language first. When they start to show dominance of one hand over the other they are ready to start with the next language, and the next...That could be at about 18 months.

At first the baby will listen and cry in different tones. From working with many children in craniosacral therapy I have heard a baby growl or grizzle, (gurning in Scotland). We have all heard that shriek of real pain like colic, or felt them muzzling away to find a source of milk. Babies try out all kinds of facial expressions. After about 10 weeks the vocal chords stretch and the voice box descends into the larynx. They lose the ability to swim naturally under water. Indeed they would choke after that until they learn to swim properly.

It still amazes me that a new born baby is a fully grown human personality that has just dropped in on the world. They are blessed with a super computer for a brain. Computers as we know, run on solid state electronics. The human nervous system is far more adaptable because it runs in a fluid medium. Each nerve pathway has junctions called synapses. Electric currents shoot down a pathway, meet a synapse and jump the gap by means of neurotransmitters like acetyl choline. Each type of neurotransmitter can alter the way that the messages jump the gaps. Computers have a long way to go to match the human brain. Even our belief that we are either left brain logical thinkers or right brain intuitive thinkers is challenged by the brain. There are approximately 300 million connections between the left and right sides of the brain. You can alter your left or right dominance by training your other hand to perform tasks. Initially a baby will hold its hands in the centre, in its mid line. As it reaches out to grasp objects it brings them back to the mid line again. By doing this they are establishing their spacial map or proprioception. The cerebellum or 'little brain' co-ordinates where we are in space and how to balance our movements.

The Lockerbie Bomber, cancer, handling pain

2010-08-20T02:45:00.000-07:00

A large part of media analysis takes the view that most decisions made by people in power, turn out in hindsight, to be wrong. The families of the Lockerbie victims naturally want full justice to be done. Many of them are furious that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was allowed to go home to die with a prognosis of 3 months to live. What the media do not analysise is that by releasing him on compassionate grounds, the Scottish Government gave him something to live for. Had he stayed in prison he might well have lived for 3 months or so. Going home to a welcome from his family and the attention of people who cared for him as a person gave him hope, joy, and a future - all the qualities that enable the human race to survive against all odds.

Over the years a number of my patients have or have had cancer. One man who came to see me for an unusual muscle condition had prostrate cancer. He was not given long to life. Whether it was the treatment on the muscle condition, or of improving blood flow, his prostrate cancer incidentally made a dramatic improvement. The consultant told him that he was not going to die of the cancer, so he got married. He was 82 when he first came to me.
Another man had a terminal prognosis from a respiratory condition. He is still alive and kicking. He asked the consultant what was the longest someone had ever lived after being diagnosed with the condition. The consultant said, 14 years. This man has cheerfully decided that his life expectancy is 14 years less the time he has had it already.
People say to me, "You not only treat me but you give me hope." So often they go to see health professionals who say things like, "What do you expect? Its your age." "You'll be in a wheelchair if you try to have children", (that lady now has two healthy children). "Its arthritis, there is nothing you can do." "Stop going to the gym, its too dangerous to exercise" (that man is now training for tri-athlons)." Its a disc prolapse or collapse, we are not going to operate, there is nothing you can do." "It is a frozen shoulder, it will take 18 months to heal." All of phrases have been used by people many times. In most instances we have seen a return to good health in far shorter times than if they had accepted the bad news and resigned themselves to it. As health professionals we need to take care to avoid transferring our own frustrations onto the people who come to us for help and advice. Sun Simiao wrote in his Essential Prescriptions,
"Whenever a physician treats an illness, he must quiet his spirit and settle his will. He must be free of wants and desires, and he must first develop a heart full of great compassion and empathy."1

The human spirit is far stronger, deeper and more creative than most of us can imagine. Some people survive the worst of experiences. Others succumb to the smallest accident. Dr Judith Trager wrote a book called, The Worst Is Over: What to Say When Every Moment Counts--Verbal First Aid to Calm, Relieve Pain, Promote Healing, and Save Lives She positively talked people in crisis into a process of healing. Through positive suggestion, people who were bleeding from an artery at a road accident could make their bodies bleed just enough to cleanse the wounds, then stop when they needed to preserve their blood. They could focus their minds on the help that was going to come, not on the prospect of imminent death. When I came home after my own major accident I met someone called Simon. He too had a serious accident. The first thing that he told me was, "Healing starts in the mind. You tell yourself you are going to heal and you will." He had been hit by an articulated truck, broken numerous ribs and lost his spleen.
How to Handle Pain
When you are injured start by completely resting. Calm down your heart rate by controlling your breathing. Allow your mind to take on board where you are now and what tissues are injured. Examine yourself both physically and mentally. Imagine you are the doctor or paramedic. Ask yourself, Where does it hurt? What hurts? Does it feel like sort tissues or hard tissues?muscles, bones, organs, ligaments, nerves or connective tissues? Does the pain come and go? Does it lessen with painkillers or do they make no difference? Does stretching help or make it worse? Can you localise the pain by saying to yourself, "I am not in pain; the pain is in me. It is not going to last; it is temporary. Someone has had it before so they can help me. There was a time when I was not in pain, What has changed in my life to bring on the pain?
Now start to visualise what is happening in your body. The troops are arriving at the source of the pain. Special red blood cells called platelets plug the leaks. Special white blood cells called leukocytes and eosinophils arrive to fill up the area with healing chemicals such as bradykinins (they create inflammation). As the inflammation reaches a limit over 2 to 4 days the macrophages (lit. 'big eaters') arrive. They digest the toxins and by products of inflammation. Over a period of weeks the new collagen cells proliferate and remodel into scar tissue. The bones heal with a lump called callous. Skin cells recover with some scarring, muscles rebuild but not as elastic as before.
Chronic pain is harder to handle but you can develop strategies to manage it.
What slows down the healing process
Taking too many anti-inflammatories or steroids. These drugs mimic the body's response to stress but in much larger doses than we produce ourselves. Take only enough to see you through the worst of the pain. Omega 3 oils (DHA and EPA) have an anti-inflammatory effect (take 3 a day). Turmeric, chilli, fenugreek, bromelain (extract of pineapple core) are all anti-inflammatory.
Getting your joints manipulated in the first four days. In the first 4 days the tissues are repairing and almost plastic in their make up. Strong manipulation can be very harmful at this early stage. Gentle manipulation and lymphatic massage or acupuncture are very soothing and promote healing.
What speeds up the healing process
Use covered ice if the skin is not broken. Ice limits excessive inflammation and constricts the blood vessels. Later they dilate and improve blood flow. For small areas try rubbing an ice cube directly on the skin it until the cube melts. If the skin is broken you must concentrate on cleaning the wounds and possibly taking anti-biotics or using them directly on the skin. Grit, saliva and mud are all sources of infection.
Gently massaging around bruising but not directly over it clears the bruising. Blood in tissues is an irritant that slowly disperses through the lymphatic vessels. The lympathics link in chains back to the heart. Their main collection areas are the back of the ankles, the inside of the thighs and groins, under the diaphragm behind the oesophagus or food pipe, down the sides of the neck, under the armpits and alongside the breasts, then finally back into the venous return to the heart under the left collar bone. Massaging through lymph glands clears inflammation faster and promotes neutrophylls or white blood cells to detox the body.
Listening to music, unwind, do what you enjoy.
Take anti-oxidants and eat highly nutritious foods.
Rest then stretch and rest again.
Keep asking questions about your pain but don't assume that because someone is a professional they have the answers. Your own body has the answers and a treasure chest of healing chemicals to cope with emergencies.
Keep a positive attitude, you will heal, you will get better. Keep company with positive people and those who make you laugh when you yourself are healing. Watch anything that makes you laugh.
Go for massage, gentle manipulation, acupuncture or any other therapy that has helped you in the past.
Take up a new hobby, sport, or interest, get involved with others. It helps them and takes your mind off your self.

Increase your energy and integration through yoga breathing

2010-08-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

Our yoga teacher Toby gave an interesting homily, or talk with a meaning, this evening. He talked about the word 'yoga' being related to the word for 'yoke'. A yoke implies being joined together, the union of two ideas, causes, souls or whatever, going in the same direction. Jesus Christ had the same idea when he said, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, let me teach you because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls."

B.K.S. Iyengar talks about yoga being the union of the individual self with the universal self. Carl Jung had the idea of a individual unconscious that connects with a collective unconscious mind through dreams, common experiences or tendencies to behave in a certain manner. These are called archetypes. Hinduism likens us to islands of ideas connected by a deep ocean.

When I commuted to London for 11 years I used to dream up inventions. It was not possible to fulfil them but slowly I saw some of them come to fruition by others who put their minds and resources into the ideas. From this experience I came to believe that there is a collective wisdom in humanity that some of us tap into. Foolishness is often an inability to listen to or act upon advice.

Toby felt that the role that yoga played for us was to unite the mind with the body. By bringing the mind and the physical practice in the body together we coud both focus and calm the mind. The force that links the two is the breath. The breath itself is under both voluntary and autonomic control. We have such a strong instinct to breathe that we do not need to think about it. However we can control the breath through pranayama or yoga breathing exercises. There is nothing strange about these exercises. They simply bring the body under the control of the mind. There is a simple exercise to let you practice in my video on the neck and the diaphragm.

Improve your neck and breathing

Most people who have asthma, IBS, acid reflux, hiatus hernia, gall bladder pain, or heart conditions have a shallow breathing technique. By steady practice you not only help your digestion but improve the oxygen levels in your muscles. I often see long distance cyclists who improve their stamina by breathing more deeply. Our other yoga teacher Andreas Wren puts it very clearly when he says that the first move we every make is an in-breath and the last move we ever make is an out-breath. Its what we make of our life in between that matters.

Living with Warfarin, INR,

2010-08-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

Before reading this please be aware that I am not a doctor. I am writing this because I have first hand experience of a heart condition that meant I had to be on warfarin for over a year. Please check any information or agree any changes to medication with your doctor first.

If you have been affected by a blood clot, stroke, DVT (deep vein thrombosis), or heart arrythmia (irregular rhythm) or heart condition such as atrial fibrillation, you might be put onto warfarin (Coumadin). Irregular heart beats could produce turbulence and lead to bits of heart valves breaking into the bloodstream. Blood clots are formed when platelets get "stuck" in the capillary system or the arteries start to harden as they degenerate. Calcium is also needed for them to form.

Warfarin thins the blood by inhibiting the action of an enzyme that converts vitamin K to an active form.
It has a stronger action than aspirin or clopidogrel which inhibit platelet activity. Once you are put on warfarin the level in your bloodstream must be measured at least weekly until you are stable and know your own levels. Testing might then be reduced to fortnightly. The level must not be altered rapidly. It is a bit like steering a barge on the canal. The barge takes a while to respond, if you move the tiller too far it will hit the bank. Blood clotting rates are measured as an INR (Internation Normalised Ratio). A therapeutic dose is normally between 2 and 3, (or 4 if you are waiting for an operation).

Warfarin will have a stronger effect if you take non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like neurofen or aspirin. It might also have more effect if you are on metformin for diabetes. Some anti-biotics also reduce vitamin K levels in the blood. Bromelain which is extracted from pineapple core might increase its effect. Grapefruit or grapefruit juice is an active substance that can increase the effect of medication. High levels of anti-oxidants like vitamin C might affect the level.

More importantly, foods that contain vitamin K will reduce the effect of warfarin. If your diet regularly includes green leafy vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and spinach you might reach a stable level on warfarin without having to make changes, the dose will be higher. But if you change your diet frequently it will be harder to stabilise. Foods that are very high in vitamin K are alfalfa sprouts and watercress. There were times on warfarin that I simply had a craving and ate a whole bag of watercress. It is as if my body needed to stock up again. Green vegetables (and cauliflower, oranges, tahini and honey are also good sources of calcium). Calcium is needed for blood clotting and muscle function. You might be led to believe that you must not eat these foods at all. Taking these foods is not harmful, but stopping them or changing your diet might lead to a change in your INR levels.

Long Term Effects of Warfarin (Coumadin)
Tiredness is a common side effect. My suspicion is that it lowers calcium uptake and leads to energy loss in muscles. Frequent bruising at the slightest knock, break down of capillaries around the eyes and nose, in the legs and all signs of too high a dose for too long. Nose bleeds are another sign of capillary breakdown. A blow to the head could lead to a haemorrhagic stroke (a bleed in the brain). If you have a sudden severe "thunderclap" headache the physician must be informed that you have been on warfarin. The biggest long term risk is osteoporosis. I suspect that the increase in hip and other fractures from falls could correlate with increased numbers of elderly people on warfarin. As long ago as 1975 scientists isolated a substance called osteocalcium from the bones of chicks. Vitamin K acted as a catalyst to start bone formation around this protein framework.

Conclusion
Doctors have to weigh up the benefits of a mediation against the risks of its side effects. In my case I am glad that I took warfarin, unpleasant though it was. It enabled me to have numerous complex heart procedures that led to a great improvement in my energy levels. It is up to you, talk with your own GP or specialist physician.

Cracked Heels, dry feet, hard skin

2010-07-26T00:46:00.000-07:00

Wearing sandals with no socks, walking in bare feet, canoeing and wading in the mud or sand, all lead to cracked heels and feet. You take your feet for granted until they cause you pain. Then you are desperate to find someone to help you. Infection and the lack of sensitivity are the main dangers. Keeping your feet clean is obvious but it really helps. A number of soldiers come to see me for help with their aches and injuries. The last SAS training involved 3 weeks of exercises. One day recently they had to walk for 40 miles carrying over 70 lb (32 Kg) packs and a rifle. The latest qualifying training co-incided with the Tour de France. One soldier said to me that the cyclists would have cold baths, masseurs every night, calorie measured food intake and a host of support for drinks. The SAS trainees had to go to the canteen at night or eat army rations and expend about the same energy as the Tour de France cyclists.
It is obvious, but keep your feet clean and moisturise. We use light olive oil for massage, you could use it every day. On a trip take some alcohol hand gel, tweezers and a needle, remove any tiny splinters. Try the inner pith of citrus fruits if you have no gel. Grapefruit works particularly well. If my heels crack when I am away I use superglue, dribble a little on, let it dry then add a little more. An emery board or pumice stone keeps the dry skin smooth. The best foot cream that we have come across is:
Scholl, Cracked Heel Repair Cream. It is brilliant.
Find someone to give you a foot massage or reflexology. Practice yoga balance postures or simply balance on one foot when you are waiting for someone. There are 26 bones in each foot and 72,000 nerve endings. Your feet form a tripod between the big toe, the cuboid in the outer border and the calcaneus in the heel. Pain in one big toe can be caused by stubbing the toe or other damage. However numbness in the big toe can indicate nerve root entrapment. It could relate to the nerve that comes out below the 5th lumbar vertebra in your back. If you are local to Milton Keynes we can treat that problem with success in most cases
Someone said to me recently that I was the first person to give them a really deep foot massage. They called it an "X ray massage."
Bunions are formed when the big toes are damaged or the arches in your feet start to collapse. The big toe is pushed over into or under the other toes and you walk by rolling off the inside of your big toe not the front of it. If your piriformis muscles in the pelvis are short the feet will externally rotate. You develop the "Charlie Chaplin walk" which is inefficient. That can be cured by muscles energy techniques and piriformis stretches.
To test whether your arches still have some spring in them look at your feet when you are standing. Do they have arches or not? Then sit with your legs dangling. Is the arch higher or are they still flat? If the arch is higher you still have some spring in them. You can work on that and strengthen them. If the arches are still flat you will need orthotics to support them. Podiatrists call orthotics, orthoses (from the Greek, orthosis - making straight).

Caeder Idris, Dolgellau, Mountain Navigation

2010-07-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

Peter Cliff wrote a book called Mountain Navigation. In it he has a chapter called, "If Lost".
He writes, "The really bad one is where you don't even know which mountain you are on. In this case work your way downhill following streams, as these tend to lead eventually to habitation; and read this book again!" I have done that, but streams tend to follow the shortest route down. There is nothing worse than following a stream in icy conditions, only to find that it drops over a frozen precipice.
Normally you are temporarily not sure exactly where you are; well that happens to me sometimes. Here is some advice. Before you start look at your compass and lay it on your map. One of the scales will fit the map. It might even say 1:50000 or 1:25000. That tells you how many kilometres you intend to walk. If you are with others try Naismith's group rule. You will walk at 4 km and hour or 1 km in 15 minutes, plus 40 minutes for every 1,000 feet (300 metres) that you climb. Make the downhill sections 4 km an hour unless you are a fell runner. If you are really fit you might walk at 5 km an hour plus 30 minutes for every 300 metres climbed. Keep your breaks fairly short and take your compass bearings when you are somewhere sheltered, not when you are hanging onto your ice axe to avoid being blasted off your feet.

If you are not quite sure where you are take a compass bearing straight down a slope. Ask yourself, Where could this slope be on the map. Does the compass bearing fit the slope that we are on? In our case the bearing I wanted us to walk on went straight over a cliff. That indicated we were not quite in the right place.

Walk back to where you last knew you were. Have a close look at the features to see if you recognise them. Grazing sheep might just move. My daughter Zoe was not convinced by the assertion that the sheep were below us when we came across a slope.

Wear enough clothes especially a hat and gloves. I tried walking Caeder Idris in a gale and pouring rain wearing socks and sandals. That worked OK but the trousers did not work. most Rohan trousers are made of polamide which is nylon. It doesn't keep any heat in at all when it is wet. Goretex jackets need your body heat to push the moisture out through the fabric. If your hands are blue and your body heat has gone the Goretex doesn't work and you get wetter. It's best to wear a bit more. Many cases of hypothermia happen because people are dehydrated, and don't eat soon enough. We sometimes forget to drink enough when it is cold and wet.

Rheumatoid arthritis

2010-07-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory condition in the blood circulation that damages synovial (fluid bearing) joints. It is different to osteo-arthritis in that it tends to affect the base of the thumbs on both sides. Osteo-arthritis affects weight bearing or joints that have been damaged in the past. It might only affect one side. During a flare up you could feel heat or swelling in some joints.
Some accepted causes are:
1) Auto-immunity - the body reacts to antigens in the bloodstream by forming immunoglobulins. Tests would include looking for an immunoglobulin that is specific to IgG. Immunoglobulins engulf bacteria, viruses, allergens and antigens. Antigens are protein substances that cause the immune system to react. Rheumatoid arthritis is an over reaction in which the immune system starts to inflame the synovial joints and break them down over a period of time. (Synovial means 'like an egg'. It refers to the slippery fluid that lubricates your joints).
Antigens might include undigested proteins that come through the walls of the gut into the bloodstream, (known as leaky gut syndrome). If you think about most of the reactive foods that cause intolerance they contain proteins. For instance egg whites, milk casein, wheat gluten, soya proteins, brazil nuts. Intolerance is different from allergy. If you had an allergy say to shellfish like prawns, coconuts or to peanuts you would react quickly in a matter of minutes to hours. Your lips might swell and feel numb. You might feel tingling, nausea. You might develop a skin rash or itchiness. The immunoglobulin reaction is often IgE related. Intolerance however takes longer to develop. The antigen in the food has to reach the bloodstream and lead to an immunoglobulin IgG reaction. That might take between 12 and 72 hours. You need to remember this if you are keeping a food diary. Examples might be a persistent cough due to a reaction to yeast or to hazelnuts or a reaction to white fish, carrots or garlic.
Avoiding one food at a time and keeping a diary
2) Genetic - some families have a disposition to inflammatory arthritis of which rheumatoid is one. Ankylosing spondylitis, scleroderma, lupus erythematosis, Reiter's syndrome, psoriatic arthritis are other examples. They are less common in under developed countries which might point to food allergies or environmental factors. Sexually transmitted diseases can lead to some forms of inflammatory arthritis.
3) Infections from bacteria, mycoplasma (bacteria without a cell wall), viruses, or fungi.
4) Major stress in your life or a sudden change of circumstances has a dramatic effect on your immune system. It can tip your body into a state of emergency. Stress management can help you combined with a course of acupuncture.

Conventional medical treatment is quite crude. It relies on masking the pain and suppressing the immune system with steroids. Steroids are the body's emergency drugs. They have a wonderful effect at first but are extremely hard to come off and cause unpleasant long-term side effects. It is better to find someone who will help you to examine possible allergens or infections.
For more information or specialist help with treating the disease refer to the Breakspear Medical Group Ltd.
http://www.breakspearmedical.com
If you want help with musculoskeletal effects and commonsense food approaches book with us for an appointment: info@johnperrott.com

Dervla Murphy, Madam Guyon, Richard Bach,Esther Ranzom

2010-07-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what motivates you? Do goals fire you into action? Do you lay out your list of tasks for the day and steadily work through them? Can you picture yourself completing all of those tasks?
Our daughter Zoe has just off to Portugal having won yet another prize at work. Whatever goal they set her she exceeds it. She organises her time and her team to achieve the most they can in a day with the most amount of fun and reward thrown in. Earning money can be very appealing not for what it is, but for the opportunities it gives. Too many people have been deluded into pursuing things that money cannot buy. In Dervla Murphy's book, Silverland she quotes a Buryat friend called Todo (p.162), "People forget now what has been known for thousands of years. It's good to have enough money, bad and dangerous to have too much. Very rich people are not free; they live in their own sort of Gulag.

On the other hand there are those of us who dream. We create something in our heads that when the ingredients are combined gives a moment of perfection. Some of us are fortunate to look back to a happy childhood and try to recreate what it is we had. Others of us look forward to a future of security and safety. The past has gone, we can do nothing about it. The future is all we have. The present has not fulfilled our dream.

I live somewhere in-between; I dream, but not big dreams. There are moments in the day that I think, this is a dream come true. It might be on my yoga mat holding an asana that I had never held before. It might be soaking up the warmth of the sun with friends and family, surrounded by beautiful colours. It might be a serendipitous discovery of something knew, an insight or revelation that comes to me. It might be a feeling in the body of strength and energy. Once I was paddling to the Old Man of Hoy with my friend Chris. I looked at his blonde hair, like a Vikings. Behind his yellow boat the 1100 foot sandstone cliffs rose out of the deep water glinting in the sunlight. A black fin cut through the surface between our boats.
We rose and fell on the huge sea like tiny corks. It put me completely into awe like a dream. All we could do was to keep on paddling by the seat of our pants, allowed for a few hours into this magnificent world untamed by mankind.

What is it that you dream? Richard Bach said in, The Gift of Wings, "I never knew anyone who having held onto a dream and worked towards its fulfilment has not one day found that dream to come true." That might be hard to digest for those of us who lack opportunities in life, but how many of us turn down opportunities when they come. Esther Ranzom always finds a way to give, to help others when they need it. But she also believes that when an opportunity comes your way you take it. I find that if you have a hunch to train in something, to educate yourself along a line that interests you, one day you will be presented with an opportunity to explore and use all that you have spent years learning.

In many things you appear to fail, or not yet succeed, depending on whether you are a half cup empty person or a half cup full person. Yet nothing of what you have attempted will be wasted if you hold onto it.

The mystic Madam Guyon was locked away for a time but she could still look upwards to the stars. Her view was not limited by her walls. "Two prisoners looked through the prison bars. One saw the earth, the other saw the stars. " What do you see?

Wilderness camping

2010-06-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

The wilderness drifts its way through many towns without the inhabitants ever knowing. A dog walker catches a glimpse of three canoeists quietly slipping down the river Tweed as it flows to Berwick on its way to the sea. A few months ago Joanna and her son Tom asked me if I would guide them on a trip by open canoe. We set off late one afternoon from Innerleithen, leaving her car and trailer in a small clearing by the river bridge, just before the traffic lights. The river was so low that we poled the canoes for many miles between bouts of paddling. Curious horses watched us; snipe rose to their erratic flight; common merganser ducks fussed and shooed away their broods. Late that evening looking for level ground for a camp site we found a park near Galashiels. A car turned up and I wondered if a warden had arrived to tell us what to do. Instead a man got out with his children and put up a tent in the park. In the morning he gave me the rest of their milk for our own journey. In this part of the Scottish borders everyone is happy to talk, their curiosity aroused by our journey.

The next day a fresh headwind rose to cool the sunshine. We paddled, poled, and waded, pulling the boats down the rocky shallows. We inspected and shot rapids and weirs. This one at Melrose was rocky.

Merkatoun proved an interesting rapid. We shot it in turns, covering for each other.

The tricky part was a hard paddle to the right. Tom went for it.

and Joanna thought about it.

By supper time we had spent 12 hours with the boats. A Canadian canoe is about the same area as a yoga mat. You live in that space for several days, carrying everything that you need, gazing out at the world from your small territory.
The grounds of Floors Castle looked inviting for a level campsite.

Cooking supper across the river on the beach below an old battlement of Roxburgh Castle we tried to avoid any disturbance or trace of our being there.

Roxburgh was built by King David and taken by the English in 1174 A.D. We rose early and slipped away before anyone was about.

Tom and I had bought one day tickets for trout fishing. Salmon fishing is expensive but the trout beats are let to local clubs at a low rent.

I took an ice axe for digging a toilet so we lashed it to a milk bottle full of stones and water. It make a great anchor for the canoes. I taught Tom how to cast a fly line and of course he caught a fish.

Kelso is a lovely town. The old market square is a great place to sit and eat take aways from the bakery. You would think that you were in France. Sir Walter Scott, who went to the grammar school said, "it is the most beautiful if not the most romantic village in Scotland". A Lidl store provided a top up for our water. The Town hall has a tourist information desk. We took half a day around the town before setting off again into the headwind. Kelso was the only weir that we decided was unsafe to shoot. You can exit just above the weir on the left, or on the left below the first road bridge called Rennie's Bridge. The original had been washed away in the floods of 1797.

The river widened as it dropped through a series of weirs, all shootable. Sand martins flew in and out of their nests feeding their young on the wing. Swallows and swifts dived over the water. Black headed gulls and cormorants took their fill. Oyster catchers, sand pipers and curlews conducted their noisy orchestras.
Dog walkers and fisherman alike all stopped what they were doing to chat and ask how far we had come.

The pools under these bridges would be a fisherman's dream. Large salmon or sea trout slid beneath our canoes.
Slowly Coldstream campsite came into view just before the town on the right. The river had been our companion now so we chose to paddle past the town and found a perfect site on the left bank. With a saw we cut the driftwood that we carried into short lengths. It quickly made a fire, the glowing embers perfect for cooking. Tom and I had taken bivvy bags. Jo took a tent that afforded her privacy. Midges can be a nuisance but eating at least a clove of garlic a day puts them (and everyone else) off. Eating fresh grapefruit and rubbing the inner pith on the skin also puts them off. The pith contains hyalauronic acid which is used in high quality skin cleansers. Taking vitamins also helps your sweat to smell repellent. B vitamins change your sweat and vitamin C and MSM act as anti histamines without making you sleepy.

I had no stove so sawing driftwood into short lengths made a quick cooking fire.

It was midsummer's day, this view looked back to Coldstream at nearly 10 pm.

On the Sunday we set off for the final haul to Berwick on Tweed. The river widened. The fish leapt straight out of the water as if in mockery. No fishing is allowed on a Sunday. A pair of eagles circled above their eyre high in the trees. The fresh river turned to the salt marshes of the estuary. The numbers of Bewick Swans increased. I counted 14 at one time. The wind freshened again as if to give us a final challenge. Reluctantly we completed our journey as the tide was falling. Between the two road bridges in Berwick there is a sea wall on the right. You can haul canoes up the stone steps and leave them on the grass. We left my car on the trading estate with permission, by a manager of a business.

The Tweed is a wonderful river. In Scotland you have a right to navigate and wild camp. Politeness, respect and leaving no trace of litter or campfires goes a long way. Remember that Salmon fishermen have paid a lot of money for the privilege of their beat. Wait for them to see you. Ask them which way to go and paddle silently past them.

For me the pleasures lay in great companions, sharing a son for a few days, (I have two lovely daughters). There was no obligation to train or coach anyone, yet the skills and confidence of my companions came on leaps and bounds. There was no element of competition or prize winning and no deadline except to reach Berwick on Sunday. We were humans being in the wilderness not human beings competing in the wilderness. A group of young women once asked Hamish Brown to advise them on what they needed for a trip into the wilderness. He was tempted to offer his services as a guide but he wrote back to say that all they needed was a bus ticket.

Useful Kit
In this target driven society saving weight costs an arm and a leg. I buy the best I can and make do with the rest.
Some kit can save your life: a quick drying Buffalo or Montane fleece, an air breathable Goretex bivvy bag, a down sleeping bag, (provided you keep it dry).
For canoe camping a tent can be a nuisance. You wake up either hot and sweaty or cold and damp. The breeze under a tarp or over your bivvy bag dries your kit out.
5 coloured dry bags help you find your stuff, one for day time, for night time, one for valuables, one for day food, and a barrel for the rest.
A saw helps to cut driftwood short for a quick fire. It also helps to clear branches that obstruct fishing, cut poles for a tarp or cut someone out of a boat in emergency.
An ice axe digs a toilet in stony ground, acts as an anchor (with a milk bottle and stones attached), and acts as a belay point for rescues and abseiling.

For cold, wet feet I might invest in some socks from:
http://www.chillcheater.com
For camping equipment and good advice try:
http://www.theoutdoorshop.com/
If you want a reflective book on walking in the hills look out for:
Hamish's Mountain Walk by Hamish Brown. I heard him speak when we lived in the Orkneys. He has also put poetry together into collected works.

Yoga, psoas, hip flexors, dislocated patella, Sciatica, BP Oil leak, contentment

2010-05-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

Nearly did not go to yoga on Saturday. Monday and Tuesday were both hip openers, hard on the groin when you have had a double hernia operation. Guess what he concentrated on - hip openers and groin stretches; came home feeling like John Wayne after a long ride on a horse.

Saw a few people over the weekend. You can tell by the sound of urgency in their voice whether they really need to see you now. A lady had mid back pain for three months. After lots of tests and seeing specialists the conclusion was gall stones. Even the orthopaedic specialist thought it was nothing to do with the joints or muscles. Two weeks after the operation she had exactly the same pain. It turned out to be short hip flexors, especially psoas and a rib that was a fraction out of place. There are some major nerve ganglions (or junctions) right underneath the rib heads. the psoas muscles interlock with the cross shaped tendons of the diaphragm into the ribs between the kidneys. The diaphragm acts slightly upwards and the psoas muscles act downwards.

A young woman came in panic and great pain about her knee. The meniscus was stuck and she could not straighten the leg. You have to work very firmly and gently with knees. A few months ago she had come with her father because of the other knee. She had been to the drop in centre with a severely swollen knee. The doctor on duty had examined it and told her to take a hot bath. I have a great respect for doctors but it takes a nose dive when someone gives the wrong advice. The knee cap was completely dislocated. We sat her up straight with her father behind her to shorten the quadriceps. I took the leg into strong traction and worked for 35 minutes to ease the patella (knee cap) back into place. My colleague Vanya had to wipe away the sweat that was dripping off my forehead. We cooled it down and it has been fine every since.

Someone else came with sciatica. Sciatica is pain, tingling, electric, fuzzy feeling, deep aching in the back of one or both legs, running from the gluteal muscles, down the back or outside of the leg, into the calf muscles and sometimes to the foot. It can affect the toes especially the big toe. We will talk about it another time. Tell me if you have found ways of relieving sciatica.

The thought occurred to me that perhaps BP will never block the oil leak. We love to blame someone, but it happened to be them not some other oil company. As human beings we need to accept the responsibility for poisoning our planet. Using non recyclable laminated plastics in packaging, being lazy about recycling Constantly buying and throwing away plastics, using our cars without a second thought or offering lifts to others are all ways that we put pressure on companies like BP to keep that oil spewing out of the earth for our convenience.

We had a couple in their eighties round for tea tonight. It struck me how content they were. Yet the other In laws of the same family are suffering. What is the difference. Both men started on the same job level. This one was a rep for a timber merchant and worked until he was 70 years old. The other man had higher ambitions and drove himself to earn a lot more money until he was a director of his company. He travelled the world with his wife and made many friends in exotic places. Then he suffered panic attacks and could not travel any more. He could hardly drive his Range Rover and lost all his confidence. It was a kind of M.E. Perhaps M.E. affects driven people more than contented people?

"Ambition is a hard task master."

Who has the better quality of life now? When my mother died my dad decided that he would sell his perfect house with the perfect garden. Perfection became a burden to him. Most of his life he and his wife had acquired possessions. (They had 10 teapots!). He went off around the country on National Trust trips, walked a bit with the ramblers, or sat in the pub at lunchtime and waited for the group to arrive, found himself a lady friend who would go to the teashops with him and buy the most expensive meals there. He would drink half a bottle of wine with his grand children and do all of the things that he had not been allowed to do when he was married.

He died at 92 a contented man.
ps if you want to buy a bargain flat in Warwick have a look at:
http://flatinwarwick.wordpress.com

Oils that heal the body

2010-05-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know what all this fuss is about low fat diets. I eat a high fat diet and can't put on an ounce of weight. Butter, lovely stuff, who would want margarine? Olive oil, I dunk bread in it and pour it on my toast. Hemp seed oil, yummy great for the tummy, cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, pecans all full of oil and great energy foods. Extra virgin oil means that it is extracted from the first pressing without heating above 60 degrees centigrade.

The only things you need to watch are:
Never eat "roasted, salted nuts". I used to visit the factories where they are "roasted". Peanuts, almonds, pistachios or macadamias are cleaned of all the crud that is sticking to them from the fields or being dried in someone's back yard. They pour the nuts into boiling vats of oil, deep fry them, drain the oil, spray them with 6% salt then finish them off with a glazing oil, what a way to ruin perfectly nutritious food that kept our ancestors going through the winter.

The other factor to avoid is salt. Try Meridian peanut butter, just peanuts, no salt or palm oil. Or try Wholebake original 9 seed bars, they will keep your energy levels going. Did you know that peanuts have more fibre in them weight for weight than prunes? Nuts and seeds will regulate your blood sugar levels.

Another great oil for cooking is Carotino Healthier cooking oil. It is made from red palm and rape seed oil, both very stable when heated. Stable oils do not hydrogenate when heated.

Oils are the only source of the vitamins A, E, D, and K. A helps the skin, E helps the blood and the heart, D helps the digestion and protects against diverticulitis, crohns disease and colon cancer, K helps to clot the blood and to build and replace the bones. People on fat free diets are asking for trouble.

The Thyroid, Hyoid bone and the scalene muscles

2010-04-16T00:46:00.000-07:00

The thyroid gland sits just below the projection under your chin. It secretes hormones that regulate your temperature and the rate at which you burn energy. There is another gland surrounding it called the parathyroid. It secretes hormones that regulate the balance of calcium in your bloodstream. Too little and calcium is borrowed from the reserves in your bones. Too much and calcium is deposited into your bones. Above the thyroid is another U shaped bone called the hyoid. It is the only floating bone in the bone and anchors your tongue muscles. You can glide it from side to side if you hold it deep under your chin.
The hyoid is a place where we sometimes hold memories of the past. For instance if you have been accidentally "throttled" say by the chin strap of a helmet you might hold a fear of someone taking you around the neck. A skilled therapist can release that fear by gently holding the hyoid while you are in a supportive setting. There is a muscle between the hyoid and thyroid and between the thyroid and sternum / clavicle (collar bone). If you tip your head right back you can stretch the front of the neck but it will not affect the action of thyroid. However if you tip your head right back while placing the tongue on the roof of your mouth and stretching your tongue upwards you will release the tension in the muscles under your jaw. Making silly faces in the mirror by jutting your jaw out will stretch the platysma muscle that covers all of the front of your jaw. Also try placing your fingers just over your collar bone into a very tender area. Lift your jaw and turn your head. That stretches the scalene muscles. The scalenes help with upper chest breathing. The nerves and blood supply to the arms runs between the front and middle scalenes. That is called the brachial (meaning arm), plexus (meaning nerve bundle).

Arthritis, osteo-arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis

2010-03-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

This is a reply to someone who said that their neck felt worse after treatment.

I am really sorry to hear that your neck is feeling worse. When arthritis is present it is very hard to know how much treatment to give. In an effort to give value for money and not prolong the number of sessions, we sometimes over treat. The result can be soreness in the short term but hopefully more freedom of movement in the long term. The same applies to the shoulder. Osteoarthritis in the neck results from a loss of disc height and limited movement of the facet or gliding joints. If the facets do not move for a long time the neck starts to form osteophytes or new spurs of bone. They act like splints to limit the movement. You cannot see them except under x-ray. You need to keep your neck as mobile as possible and look at nutritional factors, including supplements. If I was suffering myself I would keep on stretching as best I can by trying to reach each shoulder with my chin and by a sort of chicken move, gliding the head back and forwards. This is active therapy. Passive therapy is to allow someone else to move the head and neck, but of course this can be painful in the short term.

Osteo means bone, -arthros means joint, -itis means inflammation.
Osteo-arthritis is essentially poor nutrition to a joint that might have been damaged by an accident, twisting or other trauma. It occurs more in weight bearing joints like the knees and the last joint in the fingers.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory condition that flares up more often under times of stress. It is a sign of an over active immune system. A number of factors can affect the immune system:

Stress, anxiety, uncertainty, major shock, sudden news or change of circumstances
Previous exposure to allergens as a child
Food intolerances or intolerance to bee stings, cosmetics, chemicals
Slow recovery from a viral illness

Rheumatoid conditions tend to affect synovial joints on both sides of the body. Some people find a degree of relief from avoiding common allergens or stimulants like shellfish, dairy, wheat, eggs or soya, caffeine, anaesthetics. It is best not to remove something from your diet unless you are sure that you are reacting to it. Loss of essential nutrients and malnutrition might be the result.
Exploring triggers in childhood might help.

Some food supplements or anti-inflammatory herbs might help. Supergest and probiodaily from Higher Nature help digestion. Astaxanthin and blackcurrant is a supplement with an anti-inflammatory action.
If I have treated someone with inflammation from sciatica for instance, I suggest that they take 1 or 2 astaxanthin a day to calm down the inflammation. Cholesterol containing plaque in the arteries could be the result of inflammation. Astaxanthin comes from the algae that flamingos eat. They obviously have a strong protection against the effects of the sun. Glucosamine is an ingredient found in the fluid in the joints. Some forms like glucosamine sulphate are poorly absorbed. Glucosamine hydrochloride is much better absorbed. Chondroitin is a large molecule that sometimes helps to work with glucosamine. One person I know found that chondroitin with manganese in it helped him. Good oils in the diet also help to repair the body. MSM is a supplement that contains sulphur. Sulphur bonds to amino acids to make quality proteins. MSM acts to repair collagen the proteins that glue the body together. Incidently be careful about steroid injections. They dramatically cut inflammation inside joint capsules, but interfere with collagen production in the tendons.

Chocolate Cake Recipe Making cakes

2010-03-09T03:28:00.000-08:00

I love making cakes. My mother taught me; she used to win the W.I. victoria sponge competition.
Here are some principles:

Bring all of your ingredients to room temperature before you start
Always sieve your flour and cocoa or any other powders.
Only use baking powder that is in date. Use if for cleaning surfaces or fishy pans if it is not.
Make the final blending in of dry ingredients very light. If doing it by hand use a metal spoon. If doing it with a processor only use the enough time to mix the ingredients.
You can lower the sugar content by adding water. For instance 150gm sugar plus 100ml (gm) water = 250gm sugar.
Personally I only use butter or if someone reacts to dairy, Pure margarine.
A cake is cooked when it smells cooked, when the top dips and springs back, when a skewer comes out clean.

Here is a chocolate cake recipe

Ingredients:

250gm flour, (s.r. or plain plus 3 tsp baking powder), 240gm light, soft brown sugar, 250 gm butter, 4 eggs, 60 gm cocoa powder and half a tsp baking powder mixed, 3 tablespoons of yogurt, a dribble of real vanilla essence (half a teaspoon). 200 gm plain chocolate, raspberry jam for the filling.

Method:

Sieve the flour and cocoa (and baking powder if used). Blend the butter and sugar until smooth. Dribble in some vanilla essence. Add the eggs, blend again, Add 3 tablespoons of yogurt, blend again. Add the flour and cocoa, blend just until smooth. Spread into 2 x 20 cm (8") baking trays. Bake for about 35 minutes at 160 degrees electric (gas mark 4). Turn out onto a rack. Spread the jam between the two halves. Either dab pieces of plain chocolate onto the warm cake and spread with a palette knife, or melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over hot water and spread it. Bon apertit.

Thoughts on Iyenga and Ashtanga yoga

2010-03-09T00:12:00.000-08:00

An enthusiastic friend encouraged me to go to an Iyenga yoga class last night. As we parked a number of people converged on the hall with trolleys or large bags, like fisherman on their way down to the lake. The hall was closely packed, warm and friendly. The teacher Sue, had just returned from India and was suffering from jet lag. She had a precise air, having been classical ballet trained. I liked her manner, very serious however, when it came to the teaching. I sweat a lot in yoga so as usual, stripped off the outer clothing for action. After 20 minutes I was cold. After an hour and a half I was glad of a woollen blanket to snuggle under for the final Shivasna or corpse pose, at the end.

Sue made some great points about warrior pose. Set up your back leg stiff and straight. Lift the toes of your front foot with your front leg straight. Then bend the front leg and place the toes down, keeping the same angle of bending. It activates the muscles in the pelvis.

At one point the teacher asked us to get ready for halasana or plough pose, then headstand. Looking around the room I felt distinctly out of place. People were tying straps around their arms and rolling up their mats in lots of foam blocks. I used to have them but most of them have gone to people with dodgy knees. Feeling like Mr Bean I folded up a tiny piece of fleece blanket as thick as it would go. Sue was obviously not happy at my intentions. She asked where my support was. I replied that we do not use them in our class. She said that it was obviously not an Iyenga class. Somehow we managed to cobble some blankets together. Doing shoulder stand with soft supports under the neck and shoulders was very uncomfortable. Newton's second law of motion says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you use soft supports you cannot achieve a strong lift. If you use a firm resistance you can achieve a stronger lift.

I can see the purpose of using blocks, straps and blankets to help people who are stiff, or give beginners a start. However, pulling yourself into position with a strap for instance, takes away from the inner banda that engages your core muscles to bring you into the asana. I cannot imagine coach loads of Indian yogis still carting their trolleys to classes after years of practice.

I came home feeling like I needed some exercise before going to bed. Iyenga yoga is fantastic if you want to set up your asanas precisely, thinking through how you go into and come out of the pose. What puzzles me is that Iyenga teachers look down on movement based flow vinyasas as less precise and therefore less pure forms of yoga. I am so grateful for starting with Iyenga, but much prefer the challenge and strength involved in Ashtanga. The teachers are more accepting that we are trying hard to improve our own inner standards, not trying to meet someone else's definition of perfection. Surely yoga is an inner journey to gaining control and harmony both inside and out?

Yoga Twists, fascia, DNA, the diaphragm

2010-02-10T05:44:00.000-08:00

Twists in yoga set up a rotation in the body by using a combination of opposing forces. They are hugely beneficial for cleansing the body of toxins and for flushing blood through the organs. The spine can roughly be divided into three parts, the neck, thorax (rib cage) and the lumbar (lower back).
The vertebrae in the rib cage are designed to rotate. The vertebrae in the lumbar are designed to flex and extend. The vertebrae in the neck are designed to do both.

The junction between the ribs and the lumbar is the most mobile part of the mid back. That is where most twists gain their maximum leverage. That junction (T12 / L1) lies right behind the diaphragm and between the kidneys. The diaphragm covers the stomach, important nerves to the abdomen, the gall bladder, liver, the kidneys, the spleen and a collection vessel for lymph glands. The major organs like the liver, kidneys and spleen act as a huge reservoir for blood.

Imagine when you are doing a twist that you are doing a liver squeeze, or that you are bringing your kidneys round or lifting them. It is like squeezing a sponge over the bath and filling it again with fresh water. Healthy kidneys for instance, can pump 1.2 litres of blood in a minute. You might notice after a good yoga session that your urine is darker or more in volume. That is the flushing action of the twists.

There is however a much wider benefit to twisting. Have you ever carefully examined the fibres of a rope?
Not only the main strands are twisting but also the fibres within the strands. A twisted rope is stronger than the individual fibres. The design of the human body uses the same principles to increase strength. Let me give some examples. Your pectoral muscles run from the where the first six ribs anchor to the sternum into the front of the top of the arm bone (the humerus). The insertion lies right next to the insertion of latissimus dorsi and teres major. Both pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi insert into a very small area by twisting the fibres at the last minute. That hugely increases the strength of the muscles as a whole. Another example is the achilles tendon. The achilles connects the calf muscles, gastrocnemius and soleus into the heel bone (the calcaneus). If you examine the fibres closely you find that they are twisted like a rope. Another example is the uterus. When contractions start how does the uterus force the baby down into the small pelvis through the cervix? First of all it sets up a battering ram known as "the waters". They open the cervix and cushion the head. If a well intentioned obstetrician breaks the waters too soon the head becomes the battering ram. The muscles of the uterus itself are twisted so that when the contract the head is forced downwards taking the body with it.

Finally let's think on a microscopic scale. Looking at the structure of DNA under an electron microscope you will see a double coiled helix structure. The human body itself is built on a foundation of a twisted rope. Even water going down a plughole forms a vortex or twisting action. I have always wanted to test which way the water goes down the plughole in the Southern hemisphere compared to the Northern hemisphere. As a boy I used to stir the bath the opposite way to see if I could persuade the whirlpool to twist the other way. I used to canoe with a friend down the Serpents Tail at Llangollen in North Wales. Once when I was following him he disappeared down a hole. He said later that he saw his kayak twisting down the whirlpool ahead of him. It is a wonder that we reached adulthood.

By setting up twists in yoga using opposing forces you increase the strength of individual muscles.
I use this principle when I am treating someone with an injury, the shoulder for instance. Sometimes the fascia constricts around the muscles and squeezes them into a tight space. They cannot fully stretch. By raising the arm and twisting you can unwind the fascia. You could use that principle in a class. Don't ask the class to simply raise an arm in Utthita Parsvakonasana for example. Ask them to swing the arm in front of the body then upwards. It is much easier because it unwinds the fascia in the shoulder.

Muscle Spasm

2010-02-09T02:32:00.000-08:00

Why do muscles sometimes go into spasm? There are lots of reasons:

Muscles are tiny spindles linked together by proteins that slide over each other. They are enclosed in a bag or sheath called fascia. It is the whitish elastic stuff that you see if you carve a leg or shoulder of lamb.
Muscles spindles need a nerve supply and nutrition. The nerve endings form a kind of flower spray arrangement into the muscles. Nutrition is supplied by good blow flow bringing glucose, sodium, potassium, magnesium, oxygen and water. There are tiny power stations called mitochondria inside the cells of the muscles. The power stations need energy. Enzymes convert nutrition into energy. Co enzyme Q 10 is one of the key enzymes that enable energy production. The unit or currency of energy transfer is ATP or adenosine -5- triphospate.

Muscle fatigue is caused by:
Poor circulation or blood flow
Overusing muscles that you are not used to using
Medications that affect the production of Co enzyme Q 10
Dehydration and low electrolyte levels
Poor breathing or anything that prevents oxygen from reaching the muscles (hypoxia)
Old damage to muscle fibres from past injuries
Diabetes or any other condition that affects the circulation
Damage to the nervous system that stops the muscles from relaxing. A stroke for instance will 'switch on' the flexor muscles that bend the joints.

Once when I was walking in the Bavarian Alps I suffered from heat stroke. After 8 hours of steep walking in hot sunshine I started to sweat profusely through my head. Being totally alone on a mountain pass I stopped to try and drink. I felt waves of nausea every time that I tried to drink water. In my first aid kit was a pot of soda bicarbonate mixed with salt. I made myself lick the dry mixture. Within a few minutes I could eat a bowl of muesli with rich Alpine milk. That and some water kept me going for another four hours of steep walking with a 20 kg rucksack. Next time I will leave more kit behind.

Muscles also go into spasm as a protective measure. If we suddenly slip when doing something we make tiny changes to the bones that anchor the muscles. The muscles are put under a sudden strain. The brain perceives that the ligaments that bind the joints together will be strain and splints the joints. The only splint available is the muscles. Ligament pain is acute and disabling. The body needs careful re-alignment to enable the muscles to relax. That is why I am never out of work!

How does acupuncture work?

2010-01-14T00:10:00.001-08:00

People often ask me, How does acupuncture work? The answer is that we do not really know. We do know however that it has an effect on 50-60% of people. I use acupuncture to relax a muscle group, improve blood flow and relieve pain in fascia. Fascia is the internal membrane that covers and links everything together in your body.
To help us understand we use models that place events into our our own framework of understanding.
With my linear Western mind that links cause and effect, I cannot understand the complex Chinese philosophy of medicine. There are no points of reference for me. I try to explain to patients in terms that they understand. For instance, imagine a group of computers on a network. One of the computer screens tells you that it cannot establish a connection to the network or to the internet. In most cases there is a physical reason. You go through all of the physical connections, take them out, push them in and it works again. You might have loaded new software so you uninstall and re-install it. But what if there is no physical reason? You want to know whether the computer can 'speak' to the router. So you try to 'ping the router' by sending a packet of information. Once the router recognises that computer's IP address it can start sending information back again until it has 'learned' what that computer needs. Once you have made a connection with the router (or hub), it is an easier matter to find the server on the internet or the other computers, or a printer.
Let's take the model into the body. The computers are the muscles or local fascia. The router is a part of the brainstem called the thalamus. The Server is the cortex or higher thinking brain. Muscles work in patterns of behaviour called engrams. They never work individually. However if a muscle or the nerve endings are damaged it does not behave in the same way as other muscles. An acupuncture needle acts as an irritant or stimulus to 'ping' the router. The thalamus passes on this information via the same pathways that pain stimuli run up the spinal chord. The brain responds by re-establishing connection with the local area. Chemicals called endorphins flood there and blood flow increases. The muscles start to switch on and off and the fascia relaxes. This could be called unlocking energy, increase of qi or any other term to show a change. MRi studies on acupuncture have shown that needles stimulate a part of the brain called the limbic system.
I never tell people what to expect during acupuncture. Some people say that they feel a dull ache like toothache in the muscle, a heaviness. Some people say that they feel a bubbly sensation as if air were being pumped in. Some say that it floods through the area to another more distant part of the body. Some people feel a deep sharp, electrical sensation. The needle might be too close to a nerve so I withdraw it a little. A person might feel sweaty and a little faint. That is a sympathetic nervous response.
Sometimes acupuncture acts as a trigger to stimulate the immune system or has a systemic effects. Systems in the body start to work again. Even the symptoms of hay fever can respond well.
Personally I find that combining acupuncture with subtle adjustments to the alignment of the body, massage, stretching and nutrition or selected supplements works far better than acupuncture alone.
You could use other models like a member of an orchestra playing a different tune to everyone else. You are only limited by your own imagination.

Statins, Cholesterol

2010-01-13T14:05:00.001-08:00

Statins are are drugs that inhibit a group of enzymes in the liver. The enzymes stimulate the production of cholesterol in response to demands perceived by the brain. Cholesterol is a much needed fatty acid that helps the body respond to physiological stress. Measuring cholesterol levels in the bloodstream gives us an indication of how much stress we are under. When we are under a lot of stress we make more cholesterol. If the level of cholesterol were a direct result of the amount that we consumed in our diets, vegans would have no cholesterol. Why? Because cholesterol is only found in meat and dairy based products. Sustained stress prompts the adrenal glands to make cortisol. The glands, which are pea sized organs next to the kidneys, also make androgens or sex hormones. Cortisol elevates fats in the bloodstream. The response is for the body to make macrophages (lit. 'big eaters'). The macrophages try to drive the fats out through the arterial walls leaving deposits of plaque containing cholesterol. This is very simplified but the implication is that because cholesterol was found in plaque therefore it must be responsible for clogging the arteries, therefore it must lead to heart disease. In come the role of statins. By preventing the liver from making cholesterol it must clear the arteries therefore lessen heart disease. Hmm, that sound too good to be true. So what else do statins do? As an holistic therapist I see a lot of people with pain including muscle spasm and weakness. Statins also inhibit the production of an enzyme called co enzyme Q 10. Co enzyme Q 10 helps the mitochondria or powerhouses in the cells to make ATP a currency of energy. Some people on statins find that their energy levels are wiped out leaving them with severe muscle weakness. That is good for my business, because I see more of them, but a tragedy for them. The heart muscles also need energy. For a number of years I suffered a heart arrhythmia. Treatment included six cardio version (electric shock treatment), and a left ventricle laser ablation. It was a 5 hour operation that threaded leads up from both groins to the heart and isolated the mis-firing cells by burning them off with a laser. When in hospital at the John Radcliffe in Oxford I interviewed the other heart patients (informally of course). Without exception they all had breathing problems as well. That makes sense because the heart is in the same cavity as the lungs. They would do well to learn prana or controlled breathing. The patients whom I listened to also said, without exception, that when the doctors put them on statins their energy levels were wiped out so they stopped taking them. Cholesterol is also used by the brain to make the synapses or junctions between neurones in the brain. Short term memory loss was another overlooked side effect.

If you are going to take any medication you need to agree with your doctor what are the hoped for benefits and what are the side effects you are prepared to put up with. Your doctor has a difficult decision to balance the potential benefits against the possible side effects. Too many people tell me that they take a whole number of drugs but they can't remember what they are for. They might not know that some heart medication results in swelling of the ankles or a dry cough. In the end it is your body and it often tells you what it needs. You cannot go far wrong with avoiding altered, hydrogenated fats and processed sugars but eating the rest of your food slowly with confidence and enjoyment.

Repetitive Strain Injury, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

2010-01-11T03:24:00.000-08:00

People who work at computers or use hand or power tools, often suffer tingling in their hands, or pain in the wrists. Some canoeists suffer inflamed tendons in the wrist if they paddle for many hours in cold weather. A friend and I used to paddle for up to six hours in a day. He showed my how to paddle with a looser grip and open up my fingers between strokes.

Tennis players and writers suffer cramp and inflammation of the tendons in the forearm.

Pain on the outside of the elbow is called tennis elbow. Pain on the inside is called golfers elbow. A golfer might cock their wrist back too far if they cannot rotate their body far enough in the back swing.

Causes of Inflammation

First of all rule out underlying systemic causes. Pain from posture or repetitive strain often affects one side more than the other. For instance osteoarthritis might lead to swelling of the weight bearing joints for instance the last joints in your fingers, or your knees or hips. Pain from inflammatory conditions usually affects both sides of your body.

Ask your GP if they would do a blood test that included thyroxine levels and also check for

ESR (erythrocyte sedimention rate) or rheumatoid factor. ESR is a general test of inflammation in the bloodstream.

Rheumatoid factor is more specific. Inflammatory conditions usually affect joints on both sides of the body.

Posture at your desk

Make sure that your chair has short arms, if at all, so that you can sit close to your desk.

Your neck and shoulders are most comfortable if your elbows can rest close to the sides of your body with your forearms level.

Use a footrest if you cannot reach the floor.

Roughly speaking the top of your computer monitor needs to be level with the top of your head.

That makes your eyes look slightly downwards recruiting more eye muscles than looking slightly up.

If you look down for too long you will end up tilting your head forwards and strain your neck muscles.

Hold your arm out in front of you and make a fist. Your knuckles should just touch your screen.

Important blood vessel run up the inside of the vertebrae in your neck. They loop around at the top just before

entering a network of blood vessels around the base of the brain. If your head is always forwards the tense muscles

might rotate the bone at the top of the neck restricting the blood flow to the brain. This is a very common finding when I

help people who suffer one sided, migraine type headaches.

The nerves that supply your hands originate from the vertebrae in the lower part of your neck. They run between the muscles down

the side of your neck, under your collarbones and down your owns. Three nerves supply the hands and forearms.

If your first finger and thumb are weak and painful the median nerve is involved. It is often called carpal tunnel syndrome.

A syndrome is a collection of symptoms. The carpal tunnel is one of the grooves between your carpal or wrist bones.

More commonly the cause of the strain is in the pectoral muscles in the front of your shoulder and in the neck muscles.

If the pain or tingling is in your little finger (pinkie), and side of your 4th finger the ulnar nerve is involved. It runs through

a tunnel under your elbow. Resting on your elbows too long or overstraining your elbow are possible causes of pain.

Feel the bones at the base of your neck. If there is a 'step' and one protrudes that is another cause of ulnar nerve compression.

The third one is the radial nerve. It winds around the back of your arm bone in the shoulder joint, down the outside of your upper arm

and through your forearm. Pain in the outer, upper arm, around the elbow, in the forearm and weakness in straightening your fingers can all be

signs of radial nerve involvement. Also pain in the area between your shoulder blade and spine might come from a branch of the radial nerve.

What do you do about it?

Open your fingers wide regularly.

Rub one ice cube gently over swelling under the cube melts.

Change your posture and sitting position at work, take regular changes of activity, for instance stand beside a filing cabinet to sign or mark lots of papers.

Walk in your lunchtime, swinging your arms to exercise your shoulders.

Work on your breathing to open up your chest and diaphragm. (Yoga teachers are very good at helping you).

Carpal tunnel syndrome can be related to poor fluid movement in the body through shallow breathing patterns.

Strengthen your hands and shoulders. Swimming, rowing machine, Down facing dog (Adhomukha Svanasana) are all great exercises.

Learn to do press ups with your elbows brushing the sides of your body as you go down. Don't go down too low.

Do press ups against a door with your fingers spread wide apart is another great strengthening exercise.

Side stretching your neck muscles helps to relieve a stiff neck.

Try acupuncture.

If you are still suffering come and see me. We will gently manipulate these areas and go through the exercises very carefully. T: 01980 502015 E: jfperrott@googlemail.com

Low Glycemic Index Diet

2010-01-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly the carbohydrates in food are converted by digestion into blood sugar. The standard is glucose which has a glycemic index of 100. Other foods that contain carbohydrate are compared to glucose. the guide is not infallible. for instance fruits contain glucose, fructose and a little sucrose. Fructose is a low glycemic index sugar. However lots of processed foods and especially fizzy drinks contain refined fructose corn syrup. It might seem to be fructose but it acts like a very high glycemic index food spiking your blood sugar levels. Different types of rice vary in glycemic index. White basmatti rice is lower than Thai rice, fragrant rice, or sushi rice. Brown rice is lower than white rice. An Asian person trying to stabilise blood sugar levels would be better eating brown basmatti rice. It is more filling anyway so you are likely to eat less of it.
Other helpful changes could be to eat rye bread or part rye bread instead of white bread, eat dried fruit instead of soft melons, eat grapefruit, oranges and squeeze fresh lemon juice onto meat instead of drinking fruits juices. Avoid processed foods as much as possible. Their glycemic index is higher than foods in their natural state. Most foods that are low GI are also high in fibre.

Christians and Yoga

2009-12-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

Christians have strange views about yoga. Some of them have said to me, "I don't want to empty my mind; something might jump in." Or, "I don't want to get into that New Age stuff." Or, "I would not let them do yoga in our church hall." Or, "It might draw you into Eastern religions." Yet when I recommend yoga to others they cannot thank me enough once they get into the practice. It has thoroughly stretched them, sorted out their aches and pains and improved their posture and breathing.

So is there a basis in the Bible for the ideas and practice of yoga? Genesis Ch. 2:7 reads, "And the LORD God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person (or soul)." The strength behind all yoga practice is the prana or breath. By breathing slowly and deeply while you practice yoga you will not only provide plenty of oxygen to your muscles but make your physical practice all the more rewarding. The majority of people who come to see me with irritable bowel, mid-back pain, poor circulation, lymphoedema, tiredness and low energy have one thing in common. They do not breathe deeply enough. I teach them exactly the principles of breathing or prana that I have learned in yoga. Guess what? Their energy improves, their eyes clear as toxins are removed. Movement of lymph and venous blood improves, digestion starts working again, the gall bladder starts to work and they have more energy.

"Yoga is a path to find God"

Some people do find that yoga deepens their spiritual walk and we should respect them for that. Others simply use yoga stretches to improve their physical condition. Teachers vary in their approach. One of my teachers (Andreas of course) said recently, "If you think that you can find God through stretching your head down to your big toe you will be disappointed. All you will find is athletes foot."

The apostle Paul wrote, "I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." 1 Cor. 9:27. Paul was clear that his spiritual goals came first but he also brought his body into subjection. Yoga does exactly that if you practise regularly. It teaches you that you are in charge of your body. Too many Christians are inactive, unfit, complaining about their poor health and making every excuse to do nothing about. You should go some yoga sessions and bring your body into subjection to your mind. It will not do you any harm and might do you a lot of good.

What if when you go there is a little statue of a Buddha sitting in the corner? Yoga in practice originated in Hindu philosophy so there might be a Krishna instead. As it spread through northern India and on into China via the Silk roads yoga picked up Buddhist adherents.

In a previous chapter (1 Cor. 8) Paul discusses whether Christians should eat meat offered to idols or become vegetarians. He laid down a principle, that those Christian who have more faith can eat meat offered to idols. Those with a weaker faith might choose to abstain. In effect, he is saying that you are free to choose but don't make other Christians with a more sensitive conscience make themselves feel guilty. I have never met a yoga teacher who tries to force you into their philosophy although some come across quite strongly with their own thoughts.

Personally if a yoga teacher asks us to meditate I sit quietly do just that. Except that my meditation invites the presence of Jesus Christ and the Creator God. I don't object to saying the Om which is a Hindu name for God. It is a great sound that resonates through the chest cavity but means nothing to me as a name for God.

Having been to Iyenga, Hatha and Anusara yoga sessions I settled for Ashtanga. I call it 'Man yoga' because it mainly involves hard physical practice with few breaks. It fits none of the stereotypes where you think of people lying around relaxing. There are some great yoga teachers in Milton Keynes of all persuasions.

Here are some names whom I know and recommend,

Andreas Wren at Shenley Leisure Centre http://www.mkyoga.co.uk,

Toby at Axis yoga Newton Longville http://www.axisyoga.com,

Bridget Rooney Anusara yoga http://www.brigitteyoga.co.uk,

Debbie Twigger M: 07764 391687

Katie James: katiesarahjames@hotmail.co.uk,

Jenny Wong: jennywellbeing@gmail.com,

Helen Stephenson http://www.helenstephensononline.co.uk.

If you are a Christian and nervous about going to yoga I suggest that you try Axis yoga in the methodist church in Newton Longville. They meet on a Monday and Wednesday from 7.30 pm to 8.45 pm. The church has a pleasant setting with familiar posters around. Toby is not allowed to say the Om. His music is neutral, he welcomes beginners and draws them into the class. You will feel quite at home there then you can try other classes.

What Causes Back Pain?

2009-11-09T03:25:00.000-08:00

Specialists who treat back pain are missing something important. The back is like the spine of a corset that supports the trunk. A wise osteopath called Caroline Stone used to remind us, "Remember that people have a front." First we could ask, How does the back support the trunk? The backbone is a stack of bones called vertebrae. Muscles move the vertebrae but without the bones your body would collapse. Muscles attach to the bones by tendons. Ligaments are straps that join the vertebrae and limit movement. Tendons are more elastic than ligaments; they contain a protein called elastin. Ligaments contain more of a protein called collagen. You have 12 pairs of ribs hanging onto your back bones. The first rib start right at the top of your sternum (the breast bone), runs under your collar bone and round to the base of your neck. The last two ribs are attached to the spine but not to the breast bone. They are called floating ribs. The ribs protect your heart, lungs, stomach, spleen, liver and gall bladder, pancreas, kidneys, aorta (main blood vessel), veins and lymph glands. They give shape to your chest and support the breasts or pectoral muscles. Lower down the back your small intestine and colon have some folds of internal skin that attach to the back of the abdominal cavity. The folds of skin are called mesenteries, lit. 'middle intestines'. The bag around the abdomen is called the peritoneum, lit. 'stretched around'.

Any of these structures or organs could cause back pain. Some are more likely to cause pain than others. Ligaments for instance, are very pain-sensitive. Under an electron microscope they look like a matrix of fibres that crinkle and straighten but do not stretch very easily. In my experience the most common cause of back pain is muscle fatigue allowing the muscles weaken more on one side than the other. Muscle imbalance leads to ligament strain. Ligament strain leads to back pain. Of course there are lots of other causes. If you read a standard orthopaedic medical book they will tell you the causes that they see most commonly like disc injury, bone tumour, vertebral collapse, arthritis, bony spurs. In practice these causes are not very common. Other assumed causes like obesity, poor abdominal muscle stability are not common causes either. How often does a professional say, "lose weight and your back pain will go." It might be true of knee pain but not back pain. Muscle imbalance leading to pelvic asymmetry is a much more common cause of back pain. If the core abdominal muscles are out of balance back pain will get worse with pilates for instance.

Ticks, removing ticks

2009-08-09T23:28:00.000-07:00

Canoeing in Scotland

Ticks live in areas where deer are common, and amongst bracken.
They are tiny brown creatures that can move rapidly over the skin.

Try and wear light coloured clothing to help you see them.
Ask a close friend to check your skin if you have any doubts.
Carry fine pointed tweezers and avoid touching ticks with your hands. Wash your hands well afterwards if you have to remove them.
If you do find one biting you need to grasp the tick between the body and the skin and gently pull until the legs come out. Make
a note of the date you found it.
For more helpful information look at this website: http://www.oklahomapoison.org/general/tick.asp
If a rash appears between one and thirty days later you must see a doctor and tell them that you want to be tested for possible Lyme disease. I have treated several people who have had arthritis that affected them all over the body,
motor neurone disease (wasting of the muscles), and other nervous system disorders, and lung disease all of which we suspect came from tick bites.
I carry a plastic pot of alcohol gel to clean my hands after any risky contact, and after the toilet.

The midges can be fierce. The following ideas have all been tried: obviously insect repellent, rubbing mint, aloe vera sunscreen, Avon Cosmetics cream, lavender or tea tree (diluted not neat),
taking B complex vitamins and vitamin C. B vitamins make your sweat unpleasant to midges and vitamin C acts as an anti-histamine. Personally I take MSM as well.
Eating garlic helps you but not everyone else. Eating half a grapefruit a day and rubbing the inside of the skin (the pithy stuff) over your skin. It is quite good as it saves
you having to wash.

European Health Insurance Card

2009-07-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

This card replaces the E 111 that we used to use for medical treatment abroad. You can apply on-line but you have to very careful which website you use. If you search for EHIC you will be directed to a government site that charges you nearly £10- for the priviledge of using it. I suggest that you use another site http://www.ehic.org/requirements.html. On this form you simply say that you are renewing an old or expired card. That is exactly what you are doing if you replace the E 111. There is no charge for the card using this site.

Cholesterol

2009-03-31T08:09:00.000-07:00

Cholesterol

You have been your doctor. They say that your cholesterol is too high. You need to reduce it urgently. You are a little anxious to say the least. What do you do?

Scaring people by telling them their cholesterol levels is a red herring. Cholesterol is something that can be measured and lowered through drugs called statins. That makes a fortune for pharmaceutical companies and the doctors and scientists who developed them. Statins might open up the arteries and reduce heart disease or stroke but by some other mechanism than simply reducing cholesterol. Before you consider statins try flushing your body of unwanted fats and changing your lifestyle to lower the stress on your body.

The real culprits are too much salt, processed food, food eaten in a hurry and not digested slowly, lack of exercise, too much processed sugar like refined fructose corn syrup or processed glucose, too much alcohol, too much stress in your life putting pressure on the systems in your body, smoking or recreational drugs, too many stimulants like drinks that fire you up then leave you exhausted and angry. (It is said that if an animal is tired it takes a rest, if a human being is tired they take a stimulant). Simply making sure that you give enough time to sleep will take some of the demands off your body.

If you want to take some practical steps to clean your body stop eating processed food. Change the fats you consume. Use Benecol, Pura, Flora or butter and reduce the amount. Eat plant fats in preference to animal fats. Cut all of the fat off meat. Eat outdoor reared chicken and pork instead of red meat. It is easier to remove the fat from chicken and pork than from beef. Squeeze fresh lemon juice onto lamb, it helps to digest it and the vitamin C releases the iron. Cut out bought pizza with plastic cheese on top and too much salt, cut out pies, salty processed foods and eat real food, prepare your own lunch at take it to work. Take a large spoonful of oatbran on your cereal. Take a large spoonful of wheatgerm a day as well. Try a teaspoon of linseed or linseed (flax) seed oil a day (don't soak it simply crunch it). Snack on plain cashews, almonds, pine nuts, unsalted pistachios, oatcakes, dried unsulphured apricots, organic carrots. Eat lots of green vegetables, watercress, broccoli, courgettes, lettuce, cabbage, colourful fruit like fresh mango, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, grapes, red grapefruit. Drink at the most one smoothie a day. Don't overdo the fruit. There is a lot of fructose that might upset your digestion.

What is the thinking behind this advice? Benecol and plant fats contain phystosterols. They help to flush out unwanted fats. Oatbran, oatcakes and linseed contains soluble fibre. It helps to clean the bile duct that leads from the gallbladder. Regularly take a spoon of lecithin (extracted from soya). Lecithin helps to dissolve cholesterol in the bile duct. Egg yolk also contains lecithin so eat up to six eggs a week.

Other plant fats include low salt peanut butter, palm oil, avocados, dessicated coconut and coconut oil, almonds and almond oil, plain, unsalted cashews, extra virgin olive oil.

What is cholesterol and how does it act?

"Chole" means bile; "sterol" means solid; "-ol" comes from alcohol. So cholesterol is a waxy, bile alcohol. It is a repair substance that the body uses for plugging leaks in the plumbing. It insulates the faster conducting nerves. It helps your brain to make connections. It is used to make hormones to cope with stress and help sexual arousal. It was found when the arteries of dead people were examined. Other substances like calcium were there as well. When your body is under stress the blood vessels get inflamed and leak. Cholesterol is a waxy substance carried around in fatty / protein molecules. The fatty / proteins plug the leaks. Macrophages (lit. 'big eaters') come along and engulf the mixture turning it into plaque or hardening of the arteries. The macrophages drive the plug into the artery walls leaving porridge like plaque. Cholesterol is not the cause of plaque it is the consequence of inflammation. Inflammation is the body's attempt to repair damage. The answer is to tackle the causes of damage not cholesterol. The nations with the highest cholesterol (around 7.1) are the Austrians and the Swiss. The ethnic group with the lowest cholesterol (around 4.5) are the displaced aboriginal tribes in Australia. The group with the lowest rate of heart disease are guess who? The Austrians and the Swiss. Possibly because they have more cohesive social groups and live amongst beautiful mountains affects their stress levels. The group with the highest rate of heart disease are the Aboriginal Australians. Read the book "The Cholesterol Cure". In his book Dr ... puts the view that stress on whole groups in society leads to stress in their bodies. His view is that overwhelming stress is the major factor in heart disease. The original findings of substances in the blood vessels including cholesterol, was done on young men who had died in the Vietnamese war. You could not ask for a more stressful effect on the body than being in a war.

Other causes of inflammation

The answer is not as simple as stress. South West Scotland had extremely high levels of heart disease. Displacement of whole communities was a factor when the tenements were cleared. However Scotland is also the home of deep fried everything from haggis to mars bars. In the Orkney Islands where we used to live, you could catch wonderful wild brown trout in the lochans. If you visited Balfour's restaurant in Evie you would find those beautiful trout, deep fried in batter.

Hydrogenated or Altered Fats are another factor

Oils are liquid at a cool temperature; fats are solid, monounsaturated fats go waxy when cold.

Oils include sunflower, rape seed, soya, almond, flax seed. Fats include lard, most animal fats. Monounsaturated fats include duck or goose fat, olive oil, peanut butter, coconut, safflower.

Overheating oil alters it chemically into hydrogenated fat. You could call them altered fats. They are unusable by the body and block the action of helpful fats. They turn into flabby cells clogging up your blood vessels. In brief, your body does not need processed, hydrogenated fats.

If you are going to fry food or roast potatoes it is healthier to use duck or goose fat, lard, coconut oil or butter. Lower the temperature if you fry with oil. For instance add a little water if you are cooking mushrooms, onions or garlic. It keeps the oil at boiling not frying temperature.

Your body needs cholesterol. If you don't eat it, your liver and other cells will make it, (unless you are on statins). Good sources are eggs, prawns and other shellfish. The older you are the more important cholesterol becomes. An older person, especially female, is more likely to die of liver disease, mental dysfunction or cancer if their cholesterol is too low. Don't worry about cholesterol. There are more important things in life to keep your attention.

Anaerobic Exercise

2009-03-04T02:48:00.000-08:00

Your body has two ways of burning energy: aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic or with oxygen is much more efficient. Fast sprinting, cycling, paddling or rowing uses glycogen and creatine phosphate to burn anaerobically (anaerobic means without oxygen). Immediate fuel or glycogen is stored in your muscles and your liver. Anaerobic exercise is very inefficient but when uses wisely can increase muscle bulk and power. You might be doing it already but 30 second bursts at full power with recovery periods of 90 seconds will build muscle power. With conditioning you can increase your maximum bursts to 2 minutes with 6 minutes recovery. The recovery periods are essential; otherwise you will exhaust yourself by depleting your resources. The by-product is lactic acid that increases muscle acidity causing pain and stiffness.

Some athletes take creatine phosphate to increase power. Initially it increases water levels in muscles. A higher dose followed by a maintenance dose is recommended if you use it at all. Personally I use a mixture of L carnitine and alpha lipoic acid. Studies show that this combination maintains muscles rather than turning to fat when exercise levels are lower. Many injuries that I see come from ex-sports people who have let their muscles de-condition and turn to flab.

Aerobic conditioning or endurance sports increase the strength of your heart muscles in particular the left ventricle. That is the chamber that ejects the blood into the bloodstream.

Carbohydrates are your main energy source. A habit for many athletes is to top up carbohydrates just before or during sports. There are drawbacks to this approach. By taking in high energy drinks you release insulin into your bloodstream. That diverts adrenaline from energy production. It also diverts water from muscles convincing your stomach that food has arrived. Sports drinks during hard exercise will dehydrate your muscles. It is better to drink water. Cola type drinks are too acidic possibly increasing muscle soreness. I knew of an Asian sportsman who developed the beginnings of diabetes because he was taking in sports drinks just before hockey matches. His doctor was wise enough to think through his diet and drinks, knowing that Asian people are more prone to diabetes.

The time to take on carbohydrate is straight after an event. Re-fueling with carbohydrates within an hour will replenish your muscle stores of glycogen ready for the next event. Caffeine helps absorption, a cup of tea or coffee with something sweet is ideal.

If you are going to take on carbohydrates you need to give your body time to absorb them. For instance a tin of Devon custard or Ambrosia creamed rice 90 minutes before a race would be a high energy source that your body could use. Stick to foods that you are familiar with or you will upset your digestion.

David Perrott - Warwick, England, 1916 - 2008

2008-12-28T13:54:00.002-08:00

David died peacefully this morning in Warwick hospital. He was 92 and full of years. Our final memory is of a man peacefully sleeping and slipping away. We need our beliefs in an afterlife at these times. Life seems such a short time in relation to eternity. All actions that are done with love have eternal value. David certainly loved. The minister from St Paul's in Warwick said that he always remembered him with a smile on his face. After his heart operation two years ago he was grateful for every day on this earth. They were all a bonus. We all have stories of him, his kindness and generosity, his willingness to hold possessions lightly, his interest in and recognition of everyone he met, his mischievous humour, his stubbornness that kept him alive. Even in hospital it was not possible to feed him or find a vein to replace the drip that had to be removed. Perhaps the medical books need to be revised. They say that a human being can survive for only three days without water. David survived 11 days without food and 7 days without water. When we returned to his flat my sister Liz offered me his pot of vitamins. I hunted through his cupboards and found calcium with vitamin D, garlic capsules, fish oils, Senior ABC vitamins, selenium, glucosamine, joint complex. No wonder he passed away so with grace and dignity. His body will decay very slowly in the mortuary. Thanks Dad for being such a great example. You knew how to love life and when to let go. You gave everyone who wanted to say goodbye a chance to see you. We all loved you. One of my daughters said tonight that you were the greatest grandad she could have; you were the greatest dad too.

John Perrott

Understanding stroke

2008-12-28T13:54:00.001-08:00

David Perrott - coming to terms with dying

2008-12-25T10:26:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks my family have been coming to terms with my father dying. He is 92. His philosophy of life included maintaining his independence, keeping himself out of debt, accepting what happened to him in life; knowing that something good always comes out of something bad. He was wise in his advice. One of his grandchildren Zoe, asked his opinion about a boyfriend of hers. He was seventeen years older than Zoe. Dad said that when it came to long term relationships or marriage you had to think about the later part of life not just the early part when you are, "In love". Many men died sooner than women. If you choose someone much older the likelihood is that that you are choosing to spend much of your later life on your own; unless of course you are fortunate to meet another companion. You needed to share your values. Zoe asked her boyfriend what were his moral values. what mattered the most to him. He replied that being successful and having money were the most important. Those are not uncommon values. She simply did not share them, so they decided to split up.

He had a couple of falls in the last two months. Old people do fall and stumble. In dad's case it was possibly a minor stroke. There are two kinds of stroke and ischaemic one and a haemorrhage. Ischaemic strokes suddenly cut the blood supply to part of the brain. They are caused by small blood clots. A haemorrhage is a bleed into the brain. Even aspirin or sodium diclofenac gave dad nose bleeds so he was more susceptible to bleeds. In hospital he was bright, cheerful and optimistic. A nurse said that she remembered him from two years ago when he had a heart operation. she said that he was a real gentleman. He had another fall the night before he was due to leave. This time a massive bleed pushed his brain over to the side. he completely lost consciousness for days. the pupils of his eyes were pinpricks. That was 8 days ago. It was almost impossible to find a vein to bring fluids into his body. On Christmas Eve I spoke to him as we did every day. I told him about one of his grandchildren going for ski lessons at Milton Keynes Xscape building. He opened one eye, looked at me and smiled a broad grin. Now you can see his eyes move if you gently lift his eyelids. Every day he is weaker and more dehydrated. His breathing is laboured. But there is nothing else much wrong with him. The hardest part is knowing what he wanted out of life and respecting those wishes. To him the ability to walk was an essential part of his independence. he kept his own flat, washed his own clothes, pulled his shoes on with a pair of pliers, did up his buttons and tie with a piece of wire, replaced light bulbs, made minor repairs and modifications to his flat. The great thing that we met was his kindness. He collected the papers for the flats in his block. He called in every day to see his friend Brenda. Her grip was weak and his was strong. He opened the car door. she drove the car. That got them to Probus, Masonic functions, the shops, Recorded music society, National Trust retirement fellowships and a few years ago; trips to National Trust properties.

Now we are faced with Dad as he is; in his present condition. He has not eaten for 9 days. He has had no water intake for 5 days. It is not possible to insert a needle into his veins. They are too difficult to find. Yet he is still alive. During the war he commanded 450 men in the signals. They laid copper cabling from Calcutta to Rangoon fighting in the Burmese jungle under Japanese occupation. He is used to deprivation. The dilemma of dying is not how the person copes. It is how the relatives cope. We put on a brave face, a practical face, an emotional face, a nostalgic face but the people who express the pain and grief are those who are left behind.

Dad learned the precious lesson of letting go when his wife Betty died. She tried to control his decisions in many ways. The relationship was closely interdependent. Even though she died of an "accidental aortic aneurysism" she knew roughly when she was going to die. She was so precise about it that she tied the house, cleared the loft and designated some of her possessions. She knew that she was not going to see in the millenium. Dad even found a note under the Christmas pudding with instructions on how to cook it. Soon after she died he cleared his own possessions, sold what he could and gave away the rest. He bought a McCarthy and Stone retirement flat in Warwick with no garden to maintain and moved in. His time of freedom to make choices had come so he made them. Picking up her social calendar he enlarged his own horizons. Off he went on coach trips around the country. He even went off to the British Virgin Islands to give away a young bride of much loved relatives.

When we get married we exchange one kind of freedom for another. Before we had the choice of what to do at weekends, where to go on holiday, how to keep our house or flat, where to spend our money. Once we are married we enter a new kind of debt; the debt of loving and being loved in a possessive way. Before we could "go out with our friends" and come home not entirely sure how we got there. Now there is someone waiting, watching the clock, listening for the door to open. To the person who strives for "freedom" that kind of love seems to be a tie. Yet we enjoy the benefits of love when they are freely given. In dad's struggle to maintain his independence there is one thing that he could not take, the need for others to control him. He had faced in for his married life and he was not going to give in again. You could have called him stubborn, perhaps he was, but it was that very stubbornness that kept him alive.

Tennis elbow

2008-11-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

Tennis Elbow is a troublesome condition. The pain is caused by inflammation of tendons that anchor muscles of the forearm to the outer side of the elbow. Pain in the inner side is called golfers elbow. Let's try and understand what is happening. Take a look at your hand. You notice the hollow palm that allows you to grip. Your hand is cleverly designed by the way the muscles are placed. The muscles that operate your little finger and thumb are mainly in the hand itself. (There are two muscles that lift your thumb outwards). The muscles that operate your three middle fingers would take up too much space if they were in your hand. They run from your elbows down into the hand through long tendons. Gripping a racquet tightly, cocking the wrist, constant small movements of a computer mouse, typing with the wrists too low lead to shortening of these muscles. The constant tiny amount of pulling on the elbows inflames the tendons. The elbow and triceps muscle (chicken wings on some people) are served by a nerve from the neck called the radial nerve. Sometimes golfers cannot rotate their upper bodies far enough on the back swing. They compensate by cocking the wrist to make for the lack of rotation. That can lead to golfers elbow. The solution is to work on rotation or twisting of your rib cage.

Treatment includes stretching and exercising the muscles in your forearm. Stretches are hard to describe, but try opening your hands wide, spreading your fingers at frequent intervals. Try a loose drumming action with your wrists.

Acupuncture helps, so does deep massage along the muscles of your forearm. They feel quite fibrous when you or someone else starts to work through them. Ultrasound or laser help, short frequent treatments work more effectively. The muscles on the outside of the forearm are attached mainly to the bone called the radius. The radius rotates around the ulna which is underneath. Sometimes the muscle contraction pulls the head of the radius slightly out of alignment. Treating this is very satisfying. If this is the cause I have seen tennis elbow improve dramatically after only one session. Treatment will also include decompressing the motor nerves (especially the radial nerve), as they emerge from your lower neck. This is not painful but helps to raise the potential of your nerves to increase energy to your muscles.

Avoiding recurrence

The most important thing that you must do is to identify what aggravates your tennis elbow and change what you are doing. Using a roller ball or tracker mouse, changing your mouse hand once a week, exercising your shoulders, improving your posture, using a gel pad or lowering your keyboard, fitting a sleeve on the handle of your tennis racquet, changing to a lighter racquet are all positive changes that you can make.

If the condition is left untreated it becomes a repetitive strain injury or syndrome (a syndrome is a set of symptoms).

Wholefood Diets

2008-09-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

The wholefood movement grew out of the belief that eating food in as near a state to the original will do you more good. You will experience more energy and live a longer more healthy life. The idea is that hunter gatherers went about collecting berries, nuts and seeds in season, and killing animals for food only occasionally. Sweet foods like honey were a highly prized treat that made the risk of climbing trees, or roping down cliffs a risk worth taking. Farmers came into hunter gatherer territories and had to justify taking their land. Inuit, Athabaskan, Nisga, Masai and other Aboriginal tribal communities have had to justify their existence in the face of colonisation. Read the book by Hugh Brody called "The Other side of Eden", if you want a fuller story.

For 16 years I worked in the wholefood industry. the obvious escapes many people's attention. For instance, food comes from soil, animals, bushes or trees. We used to visit apricot farmers in Turkey. I asked them why organic unsulphured apricots contained more stones and grit than sulphured apricots. They said that they dried them on the soil instead of cotton sheets to absorb the heat from the ground. We encouraged them to change their practice to avoid harming our customers. So what was the industry like 20 years ago? You would be surprised. Our immune systems were stronger simply because we were less protected from insects and vermin. Cashew nuts looked grubby and nibbled simply because they were grubby and nibbled. Sesame seeds had tiny insect droppings in them simply because the growing countries harboured an awful lot of cockroaches. Moist figs and apricots smelt fermented and crawled with mites simply because they were fermenting and crawling with mites. Mites themselves don't cause much harm. It is what they leave behind that causes the stomach upsets. Nuts went mouldy simply because mould spores were already present. Nuts sometimes tasted off because they were off. Here are some tips for choosing wholefoods:

Remember that most of the farmers have only one crop a year. Think of the part of the world were they are grown. Find out when they were harvested, add two months and you will probably be buying new crop nuts, seeds or fruit.

Avoid sales: special offers, two for one, they are probably selling off last year's stock.

Buy your Christmas fruit as late as possible. The retailers will sell off older stock first.

Look carefully at the colour. For instance light and dark walnuts might be a mixture of this year's and last year's crop.

Slipped or Bulging Disc

2008-09-17T03:56:00.001-07:00

I run manual handling courses. The participants look together at the causes of back pain. Here are some of their comments: Back pain is caused by poor posture, lifting things badly, twisting, over-stretching, badly designed beds or soft chairs, wrong shoes, body shape - for instance a long back, musculoskeletal diseases, osteoporosis, type of job, stress, depression, pregnancy, overweight, falling, accidents. All of these comments are valid but the groups never mention the most common story that people with back pain are told - the slipped disc. The story is that some of the gel from the disc or cushion between your vertebrae is pressing on a spinal nerve and causing pain that radiates through the back and across the back of your pelvis. In my experience only about 1 in 100 people who come to see with severe back pain suffer from this condition.

The bulging disc does not particularly lead to back pain. More commonly it affects the buttocks, back or outside of your leg or calf muscles. It might cause numbness to a big toe. If you lose feeling when you go to the toilet, or lose bladder control you must go to hospital as a medical emergency.

Bulging discs are not the cause of back pain. they are the result of a long series of events that start with the list that the manual handling course people rightly point out. To live with the story of a herniated disc is to take health out of your control. It is important to remember that you are responsible for your weight, your fitness, your posture, the way you do your job, sports, hobbies, your choices of diet. Just about everything in your life can come back under your control.

Conception Childbirth & Infertility

2008-04-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

As an osteopath women often came to see me with pelvic problems. Some common factors emerged. They either had back pain or sciatica. They had difficulties in pregnancy or giving birth. Emergency caesarians were sometimes needed. They had symphysis pubis disorder (SPD) in pregnancy. This condition is a softening of the ligaments that join the pubic bones putting a strain across the groin. It leads to lack of stability & difficulty in walking. In studying the anatomy of the pelvis and through helping hundreds of women I discovered that osteopathic treatment can not only relieve back & hip pain or some causes of sciatica, but also help improve the chances of fertility. A number of women found that they became fertile not long after osteopathic treatment or that they did not experience severe difficulties in pregnancy or childbirth.

Tesco's Value

2008-04-30T04:09:00.000-07:00

A friend called Deanne did not like her own friend's choice of boyfriend. He was too much into himself. Deanne said, "Men come into a few categories. There is Tesco's finest. Then there is Tesco's Basic. Then there is Tesco's value. Then there is Lidls." I disagree about Lidls. You find lots of good value bargains in there if you keep dropping in.

Energy Medicine

2008-04-18T01:33:00.000-07:00

One of my daughters kindly bought me a CD on relaxation. The voice on the tape told me to breathe deeply and to experience an energy shower every day. I like a shower but I could not understand what she was on about. We took the tape back. It got me thinking about energy. We hardly think about energy until we feel that we have not got any. We expend energy by work and lose it as heat. So every day we need to replace the lost energy. Where does it come from? Ultimately it comes from the sun. Light travels in tiny units called photons. Sometimes photons act like particles, sometimes like waves. Energy also arrives as heat. Plants take up the energy and convert it by photosynthesis. Either we, or animals eat the plants, or we eat the animals. Plants store energy as either starch or as sterols. Sterols are fats. Ergosterols are plant fats (ergo means work). Cholesterol is a type of human fat. Humans also store energy as glycogen. Glycogen is found in muscles and in the liver. How much energy you feel depends on your ability to convert food, and stored energy into work and heat. People who train their bodies to use energy become very efficient at converting it.

School Exams

2008-04-12T23:50:00.001-07:00

If you don't know the answer make it up and hope for the best, is a reasonable approach to exam questions. Here are a couple of creative answers,

"Flirtation makes water fit to drink. It removes particles like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists."

As a physiotherapist I like the following:

What is the fibula? "It is a small lie."

Near Misses make the best stories

2008-04-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I saw an e mail asking for someone to help lead a Duke of Edinburgh Gold group. Someone else had responded by the time I had cleared the weekend. The leader still invited me to go as it would be great to share the group. It was one of my favourite stretches of white water, the upper river Wye. The Wye and Usk Foundation are a charity that manage the two rivers. They work hard to build the stocks of salmon, trout and coarse fish. I phoned the administrator Angela, to check the access situation. She said that there was a right of navigation below Hay and an access point at Glasbury. From March 15th there was no access above Glasbury. The only exception was if the river level was above the red line on the depth gauge at Erwood. I packed my boat and camping stuff for the 100 mile journey. Early the next morning I phoned the organiser to ask whether he had checked the access situation. It was news to him as he assumed that canoeists had the right to paddle the river. I disagreed and said that I probably would not come. It left me with a dilemna. If we took a group of young people on water that pushed their abilities, what if something happened? Where would we stand with insurance liability? Their parents would show us no sympathy if, for instance, one of them suffered a head injury. The insurance company might claim that we were paddling water that had no rights of access, therefore we were not covered. The leader was prepared to follow his understanding of the Welsh Canoeing Associaton guideline: paddle anyway and be polite to fishermen. What kind of example would we set to the young people? Given all of these questions I decided not to go on two grounds. One is is safety; another is the example that we set to young people.

Later in the day I thought, well the canoe is on the car so I might as well use it. However there is a snag. None of the rivers that I normally paddle have an access agreement. My wife suggested Derbyshire but I cannot think of anywhere where I could go for a last minute paddle. Over 90% of the rivers in England and Wales are denied to canoeists between March and October. Is there a difference between a quiet paddle on our own and leading a group down water with lots of fun and some risk? I think that there is a difference.

This evening I checked the webcam at Erwood for the river Wye. At 8 am it had been above the gauge; by 12 noon it had dipped below the gauge. Does that mean that having driven 100 miles I could have paddled from 8 am to 12 pm but had to leave the water for the afternoon? No, because canoeists are only allowed on the river between 10 am and 4 pm. The situation for river access is heavily weighted in favour of anglers but note this: the close season for coarse fishing starts on 15th March. That should give us 3 months of uninterrupted paddling until 16th June. It does not, because coarse fish are thought to be spawning & the trout and salmon season has started. I am a fisherman & a canoeist. As a fisherman I find a canoe to be a fantastic way of reaching swims that are not normally accessible. In the winter I cut branches that block the river, remove fishing tackle and trim back nuisance branches. Most of the fishermen in Scotland have a different attitude to those in England and Wales. Paddling once on the Tweed, the river that straddles the border we passed a ghillie and his client. He ran towards me gesticulating wildly after I had shot a natural weir in their swim. I stopped a little puzzled. Seeing that I had a bowsaw in my boat he asked if I could cut a troublesome branch that was sticking up out of the water. Reaching deep down I cut the branch below water level. It would have needed a JCB to remover. Now what disturbed the fish more. The ghillie & his client were so delighted that they showed us a beautiful place to camp in the grounds of a stately home.

Fisherman might rightly argue that they pay good money for sections of river or beats, that allow them to quietly search for the fish. In comparison canoeists pay a nominal sum to a national body. Canoeists might argue that they would respect access agreements if they were fair. In Belgium for instance there is a rule that canoeists paddle between certain times. That keeps the hire companies with their inexperienced groups off the water at key times.

Coming back to the safety issue. My memory of group canoeing and of Duke of Edinburgh trips is that unless the preparation is done very carefully, anything that could go wrong does go wrong, not just to trainees. Four times I personally have suffered hypothermia. Once I rescued a tipsy sea kayaker who fell out of his boat. The "victim" was rushed off in a Landrover to a warm bath and rehydration. I was left on the beach in my swimming trunks and cagoule at that stage beyond shivering. On two other occasions I was taking part in canoeing assessments as a leader. On one more occasion I had completed the four star assessment run by a hard taskmaster off the coast of the Orkney Islands where we used to live.

Another experience of things going wrong was on a walking trip. As a gold assessor I took an independent role to the groups. However I made it clear to the supervisor that I was not happy with the route that the gold groups intended to take. It involved a traverse of huge scree slopes the day that snow melted, loosening the rocks & boulders. We comprimised in that I guided the boys group, the girls took a lower level route. Half way through the day I had to find a way down a particularly steep boulder strewn slope. I asked the boys not to follow me if it was too steep. They could not see an alternative route so they followed me. Boulders dislodged from their boots. I saw them flying down and took evasive action. One boulder bounced sideways and struck me on the back of the head. That started the longest fall of my life. I bounced an estimated 350 feet down the mountain in Austria 2000 metres above sea level. Miraculously despite a large gash in my head and knee and extensive grazing I broke no bones. The first aid training instinctively came into play, full body scan, stop the bleeding, reassure the group and call for a helicopter. The boys were great and I made a good recovery even though it took 2 years of living to win back my strength.

Risk assessment always asks the question, "What if?" What if a young person had been almost killed? What if we had taken them into a situation way beyond their competence? What if the press got hold of the story? What if our insurance did not cover us?

The experiences have made me cautious about taking risks. Possible litigation is a big issue. Balanced against that we must allow young people to make decisions, push themselves, prove their resources, care for each other and enjoy an adventure with a limited degree of risk. I would value the thoughts of others who have had to face similar circumstances.

Movement

2008-03-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

Everything has a twist to it. Beans and climbing plants grow with a twist looking for something to hang onto. Water goes down the plug hole with a whirlpool or vortex. A mother in labour contracts her uterus with a twisting action to squeeze the baby out into this world. The baby emerges in a twisting motion. The fluids in your body also flow with a twisting motion. The craniosacral fluid from your brain flows down your spinal chord in a twisting motion. Your tendons that attach muscles to bones have a twist like a rope. Rope makers have always known that a twisted rope is stronger than the individual collection of strands. Network cables are twisted to cancel out resistance from the electromagnetic field. An electromagnetic field is created when electrons passe through a collection of wires. Some of the strongest muscles in your body, for instance the pectoral muscles, twist their fibres before anchoring to the top of your arm bones. Even your bones have a twist in them. If you look in detail at the neck of the femur you will see a twisted pattern to the layers of bone. Bones develop along lines of stress. A new born baby only needs one proper bony joint, between the base of the skull and the neck. The rest of the bones develop out of cartilage or membrane. Weather systems come over us a huge twisted pattern. They are called cyclonic or anti-cyclonic. In the Northern hemisphere a cyclone rotates counter - clockwise into an area of low pressure. It comes from the word Kuklos (circle) or Kukloma (wheel or coil of a snake). Some of the early symbols show a snake coiled around a stick. To some it is the wheel of life; to others, like in the Mosaic code, it is the curse of death. Deer cannot see above them. That is why when we go hill walking we see lots of deer but the stalkers don't see very many. If they started stalking from the top of the mountains they might see more deer. If you watch deer gathering into a herd in a large open space you will see them forming a spiral. Deer farmers know this so they build their corals to catch the deer in this way. Perhaps sheep farmers should try the same?

As a boy I was determined to make water go down the plug hole the other way. We did not have central heating so the bath was a welcome soak when the frost decorated the window panes. I noticed as a little boy that water always went down the plug hole in an anti-clockwise manner. I used to stir the water to make it go the other way. It did it, just, but looked uncomfortable. Someone told me that I should try the same experiment in the Southern hemisphere. Perhaps you would let me know which way it goes? Could the same apply to plants?

The origin of this twisted action is DNA itself. DNA is the series of codes that pre-determined organic matter. It is built into proteins that look like doubled coiled helixes. Because your body is made up of DNA the movements in your body will follow the same patterns.

How can this twisting motion help us? Yoga teachers know that to create strength you need to create opposite and equal forces. By consciously creating opposing rotations you create tremendous strength. Try this - place your hand on your lap, now lift your hand up until your arm is straight, uncomfortable is it not? Now lift your hand twisting it outwards as you lift it upwards. the palm should land up facing the ceiling like a dancer carrying their partner. You create a more graceful and easier movement on the shoulder. Now place your hand on your lap again. This time push the arm back behind your chair. Now push your arm back as if you were giving a waiter a tip or handing over a relay batten. Do you feel the difference? When you lift and create an outward twist you create strength. When you take your arm back with an inward twist you keep your shoulder secure.

The constellations

2008-03-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

the Plough used to known as the Bear or the Big Dipper. Scientists call it Ursa Major. The lead star is called alpha UMa. It is 25 times larger than the sun and 86 light years away. That does not mean a lot to me but if I were inside a great big brain I would look for patterns of behaviour in the nerves (or neurons). Perhaps the constellations influence us because they reflect what is going on inside our brains? Perhaps we are living inside the mind of the great architect of the universe?

The moon has a strong influence on the earth and the earth on the moon. The water in the earth is drawn towards the moon then released again as our gravity takes over. The effect is that of great waves called tides. They fill up twice a day. Each tide is a little later every day. Spring tides are larger when the moon is fuller. Neap tides are in between when the moon appears thinner. The moon exerts a pull on our human bodies as well. The menstrual cycle is a lunar cycle of 28 days. we have lots of other tides in our bodies. There is the pulse of our hearts, the rhythm of our breathing, our biorhythms that dictate night and day, our hormonal rhythms and the deep inherent motion of craniosacral fluid in our brains. Hormonal rhythms have both daily and monthly cycles. For instance some men's steroid hormones are most active early in the morning when their bodies are relaxed. Some women's hormones are most active just before a period starts. The craniosacral fluid bathes and nourishes our brains and nervous system. Imagine that the brain weighs about 1500 gm. Suspend the brain in craniosacral fluid; the nett weight now becomes 50 gm. A blow on the head can cause the brain to gently oscillate or rock from side to side inside your head. That might give you a recurring nauseous headache. A craniosacral therapist can work with the gentle rhythms to bring your brain back to a still point.

Moon & Stars

2008-03-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sleeping under the stars is a great experience. The constellation that I see the most is the Plough. Some races call it the Bear or the Big Dipper. Scientists call it Ursa Major. the Head of the 'Plough is a star called alpha UMa. It is about 25 times larger than the sun and 86 light years away. None of that means very much to me. Naming things helps us to place them in context. Perhaps we feel a sense of ownership by naming something? Not many of us use a plough so what do the constellations mean to us now? Perhaps they are there to teach us something about the human brain. For instance there are 300 million connections of nerves between the right and left brain. The galaxies are groups of millions of star with connections between them. Perhaps the constellations represent patterns of nerve (or neuron) behaviour in our brains?