The Need for Stress Reduction in Gestational Hypertension
A significant increase in blood volume (approximately 40-50%) naturally occurs during pregnancy to ensure there is an adequate blood supply to nourish the placenta, to protect the mother from going into shock during labour (due to excessive blood loss), and to provide a storage of fluids for breast milk production. This considerable increase often predisposes the pregnant mother to high blood pressure (hypertension) and excess swelling, especially around the feet and or ankles.
Pharmaceutical and natural diuretics decrease the body’s fluid volume, which may initially lower blood pressure due to a decrease in blood volume, but may reduce blood volume below the requirements for a healthy pregnancy, causing the kidneys to compensate by conserving fluids even more. This will consequently raise blood pressure once again and defy the purpose of taking diuretics in the first place. Therefore, a natural diuretic may be risky during pregnancy, especially if used concomitantly with hypertension medication. I, therefore, do not give suggestions that may significantly lower the woman’s blood pressure even more, particularly if she is already on blood pressure medication for hypertension, as this may induce a hypotensive state (very low blood pressure) and pose a risk for mother and baby.
Instead, below I have made general suggestions to support stress management, optimal circulation, and blood vessel integrity.
Stress Management and Blood Pressure Regulation
During periods of stress, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is activated and prompts the blood vessels to constrict. Maternal stress in any form is, therefore, a risk factor for hypertension, especially if it continues over an extended period of time. Deep breathing exercises, meditation, and gentle physical exercise are all useful ways to activate the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS), which is associated with a healthy regulation of blood pressure. In short: when the body and mind are relaxed, muscles and capillaries relax and allow proper blood pressure regulation and blood circulation.
Emotional support and connection with loved ones are powerful strategies to induce a relaxed, stress-free state. She can make a daily practice of connecting with her partner for at least 10-15 minutes, with no phones or other disruptions. Over and above the cardiovascular benefits reaped from this habit, it may also ensure their foundation as a couple is strong when the little one arrives.
Promoting Circulation
Some foods and spices are associated with improved circulation: raw ginger, sunflower seeds, olive oil, cherries, goji berries, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, and rosemary. Including these food sources regularly in meals and snacks may support circulation and also ensure the intake of a broad variety of nutrients to support the overall health of the mother and foetus.
If she is in a state of dehydration, the kidneys may compensate by retaining body fluids. 1.5-2 litres of water per day should ensure hydration during pregnancy.
Dry skin brushing from the feet upwards in clockwise circles is invigorating for the skin, improves overall blood circulation and prevents “pooling” of fluids in the lower legs.
Being sedentary for extended periods of time can impair circulation, especially if she sits on hard surfaces, which may impede blood flow from the lower legs upwards. Using a footrest while sitting on a chair to lift the feet in line with the hips may improve the blood flow from the lower legs to the rest of the body.
Gentle exercises tailored for pregnant women may be useful in stress management and also in mobilising fluids throughout her body.
Wearing loose-fitting flat shoes will improve comfort and reduce constrictions around the feet.
Supporting Blood Vessel Integrity
Throughout the day, pregnant women can enjoy the following drink: a cup of lukewarm water with juice of ½ a lemon, 1 teaspoon raw unfiltered honey, and 2-3 small pieces of raw ginger. Lemon juice contains citrate and vitamin C: nutrients associated with blood pressure regulation, improved circulation, and maintenance of arterial flexibility. Raw honey tends to have a relaxing effect on the arteries and ginger acts as a “warming” food to support circulation.
Maternal intake of omega 3 fatty acids in adequate amounts is essential for foetal development, but it also exhibits various cardio-protective properties for the mother: regulation of blood pressure, boosting circulation, reduced risk of thrombosis (blood clots), and increased arterial flexibility. A daily dose of high quality, purified fish oil supplement (with at least 1000mg EPA and DHA) is recommended during pregnancy.
About the Author:
Jeanne van Zyl is a qualified Dietary Educator (through CNELM), with a post-graduate diploma in Personalised Nutrition. She is currently studying for an M.Sc. in Personalised Nutrition through Middlesex University. Jeanne also lectures in Nutrition for the group of colleges that includes CNM (College of Naturopathic Medicine), in Europe, and CNH (College of Natural Health) in South Africa.
Why We Need Informed Consent for Vaccinations
We all love our children and want the absolute best for them. That’s why we research and read reviews on daycares, car seats, bouncers, highchairs, and toys. We scrutinize products from baby soap to diapers to sunscreen along with the food they eat. We just want them healthy and happy.
When it comes time for childhood vaccinations, are we doing the same research? Are we learning about what is in them and about the side effects and adverse reactions that can happen? Or do we blindly put our trust in our doctors, the CDC, and the FDA? Certainly, vaccines are not harmful, right?
Well, data from the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) along with the National Childhood Injury Act of 1986 (NCVIA) tell us otherwise.
Informed Consent
The definition of informed consent is, “The permission granted in the knowledge of the possible consequences, typically that which is given by a patient to a doctor for treatment with full knowledge of the possible risks and benefits.” Being informed is having full knowledge of both the positive and negative side effects of any medical procedure or prescription – in other words, having and understanding all of the facts and possible outcomes.
When you go to the pediatrician or doctor’s office, do they go over the complete vaccine insert with you? If not, there is no possible way for you to give them informed consent to vaccinate.
Do they discuss the benefits and risks of the vaccine? If they don’t, you cannot give informed consent and they are not complying with the legal requirements put in place for vaccine providers. (Refer to the link in sources.)
Do they talk to you about the live viruses that could shed up to six weeks and longer? If not, you cannot give informed consent.
It is sad and scary that they can just hand you a brochure about all the “benefits” of the vaccines and think that you will be informed enough to give proper consent, especially if they do not disclose all of the relevant aspects of the vaccine. When you give doctors or nurses consent to vaccinate, you are acknowledging that if you or your child has a severe adverse reaction or dies, you will not be able to hold them legally accountable. The vaccine manufacturers, the medical professional who administered the vaccine, and the CDC will not take responsibility for any adverse effect that vaccines can cause. That is a sad reality and a very heavy truth.
The MMR sheds because it contains live viruses. If your child is vaccinated, your child can potentially infect other individuals even those who are already vaccinated. Vaccines are not 100% effective. The insert admits this. Did your pediatrician tell you about viral shedding? If not, once again, you did not give informed consent.
The chance of actually dying from the measles is microscopic compared to the chance of having a severe adverse reaction from the vaccine. In 2015, only 189 cases of measles were reported. Out of those 189 cases, there were zero deaths. In fact, there has not been a single death from the measles since 2003.
Sixty-seven percent of individuals who were admitted due to febrile seizures were linked to the MMR vaccine and seizures are just one of many possible adverse reactions. Another is encephalitis, swelling of the brain. This happens to 1 out of every 1000 who are vaccinated, and 50% of them end up with neurological brain issues.
In the first half of 2016, 57 deaths due to the MMR vaccine were reported, but we know these numbers are highly inaccurate. Only 1% to 10 % of doctors report vaccine adverse reactions to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System(VAERS), the program created to gather vaccine adverse reaction data and make it available to the public. (See link below.) Many do not recognize or acknowledge the connection between vaccine adverse reactions and the vaccine, even when a reaction occurs hours or days after the vaccine.
The media and medical professionals portray measles as a scary, horrible disease that always ends in death. That is simply not the case. Measles usually starts out with a mild to moderate fever, a cough, a runny nose, and a sore throat. Sometimes conjunctivitis is a symptom as well. After 2 to 3 days, the body breaks out in small red spots from the head down. While this is happening, the fever can rise as high as 104 to 105.8.
High fevers can scare us, especially if we don’t understand that fevers are good, that they are a sign that the immune system is working to fight off a virus. The increase in body temperature is the body’s reaction to kill the virus by making the body uninhabitable for the virus. (See link below.)
In the 50’s, catching the measles wasn’t a big deal. Kids were just happy to stay home from school. Today, the pharmaceutical industry and vaccine manufacturers have indoctrinated the medical field to believe that measles is a horrific disease and refusal to vaccinate is one step away from signing your child’s death certificate. In reality, measles is usually nothing more than a scary looking rash and fever.
Think about it, what would you and your child rather have? Measles for a few uncomfortable days followed by natural immunity that lasts a lifetime or daily seizures from a vaccine that still may not guarantee 100% immunity? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also known as the CDC, recommends vaccination with the MMR at 12-15 months and then again between the ages of 4-6, and again as an adult if your blood-work does not show immunity. How can they recommend a vaccine so many times when it has numerous adverse reactions and even death associated with them?
Vaccination Timeline Graphs
Did you know that the mortality of measles was almost 100% wiped out right before the measles vaccine was introduced? This 1900-1963 measles graph from the CDC tells us so. The measles vaccine was introduced in 1963.
Then here we have the diphtheria graph. The diphtheria toxoid was licensed in 1923 and again, the decline of death from the disease had already started before the vaccine was introduced.
We see the same thing happening with typhoid fever. The typhoid vaccine was introduced in 1914.
The FDA blows the whole “…un-vaccinated children give other children pertussis” argument out of the water. On their site, they say the following:
This research suggests that although individuals immunized with an acellular pertussis vaccine may be protected from disease, they may still become infected with the bacteria without always getting sick and are able to spread infection to others, including young infants who are susceptible to pertussis disease.”
Read the link at the bottom to see what they have to say about the rising rates of pertussis, aka whooping cough.
Just like many other diseases, pertussis was already declining before the pertussis vaccine was licensed in 1949. Since the vaccine, cases are on the rise.
The same thing again can be seen with polio. It was already nearly eradicated due to clean water and better sewer and sanitation systems. The vaccine was introduced in 1955.
Ever since we started injecting the live virus back into people, there have been more outbreaks because vaccines contain the live viruses and those who are vaccinated shed the virus. The unvaccinated are being blamed for it, but how can that be? Healthy kids and adults don’t spread diseases because they simply don’t have any. Sick individuals who contain live viruses in their bodies are the ones who spread it to others. The data speaks the truth.
All of these diseases were declining at a rapid pace since the introduction of clean water, better sewer and sanitation systems, refrigeration systems, and better hygiene, but sadly, the CDC is taking extreme measures to have you believe that vaccines are responsible for the decline of diseases. Why? Because the vaccine industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with huge profit margins.
Dating back to 1880-1900, better sewer and sanitation systems were slowly being built across the states. Looking back at the 1850’s, they used clay for the sewer systems, which in turn caused poor coverage and many leaks in the pipeline. The degrading and primitive clay sewer system allowed sewage to leak out into the ground water that was then consumed by many citizens.
Polio is a disease spread by contaminated fecal matter. Once better sewer and sanitation systems were developed, polio started to decline before a vaccine was licensed and introduced.
By 1900, the importance of proper hygiene became known. It improved the lifespan by up to 6 years. This included not only washing hands but washing clothes as well, which took care of lice and vermin. Proper hygiene ended the typhoid epidemic.
Refrigeration systems were introduced in 1904. Refrigeration allowed food to be stored for longer periods without contamination.
The CDC graphs show that sewer, sanitation, and refrigeration systems were all introduced around the same time many diseases started their rapid decline. We were well on our way to the eradication of diseases before (and until) vaccines were introduced.
Healthcare physicians are taught to believe that vaccines are and always have been safe and effective. They were not taught to question the safety of them or what is in the vaccines.
Physicians’ textbooks are bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical industry. Every year the pharmaceutical companies spend $5 billion dollars in marketing. (See link below.)
If $5 billion dollars was spent in third world countries to build sanitation systems and provide access to clean water, widespread diseases would be dramatically decreased. Pharmaceutical companies do not want to eradicate disease. Without disease, they would lose their enormous profits.
Ingredients
Here are a few out of the many toxic ingredients found in vaccines. Did you know that there are aborted fetal cells in some vaccinations? It lists them in the vaccine inserts as MRC-5 and WI-38. Some also list it as human diploid cells. (See the CDC and NCBI link below.)
Glutaraldehyde
Glutaraldehyde is used as a sterilant and high-level disinfectant. It is so dangerous to those who work with it that they have to wear respirators, isolation gowns, gloves, eyewear, and sleeve protectors. If exposed, it can cause chronic asthma, constant itching of the eyes, rhinitis, dermatitis, and eczema. Not all reactions happen immediately. Studies show that reactions can be delayed from a few weeks to several years after exposure.
Polysorbate 80
Polysorbate 80 is a solubility agent found in ointments, creams, soaps, and common foods such as pickles and ice cream. It is a known carcinogen that can cause severe, non-immunologic anaphylactic shock, which means that it can cause a life-threatening allergic reaction.
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is also a known carcinogen. Scientists say any exposure to it can cause certain types of cancers.
2-phenoxyethanol
2-phenoxyethanol is used as an insecticide.
Aluminum
Aluminum is a neurotoxin linked to Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia as well as cancer.
Thimerosal
Thimerosal is a form of mercury. It is a known neurotoxin.
Phenol
Phenol is a germicidal agent that is highly toxic to the skin. It causes irritation to the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes. If contacted orally, it can cause ongoing weight loss, vertigo, diarrhea, and blood and liver effects. In animals, it causes abnormal development in their offspring. Injecting phenol can cause the skin to rub off, motor weakness, sensory loss, tremors, convulsions, chest pain, shortness of breath and drowsiness, and more. When injected, phenol acts as a nerve block that temporarily destroys nerves.
Recombinant Human Albumin
Recombinant human albumin is a natural protein found in the body and taken from plasma and blood donators. It says not to mix it with any other types of blood or blood components, yet it is in a vaccine with fetal bovine serum. There are no studies to deem this safe and effective for pregnant woman or children younger than 12. Adverse reactions can include edema, tachycardia, fever, chills, vomiting and headaches. Since it is a blood product, there is also a small risk of the transmission of a viral disease. Fetal bovine serum is another name for fetal calf serum. It is the blood remaining after the natural coagulation and the removal of any remaining blood cells.
Other Ingredients
Other scary and toxic ingredients include, but are not limited to:
Potassium chloride, which can stop the heart
Monosodium L-glutamate (MSG). This can cause diabetes and is associated with dementia.
Sorbitol, which is said not to be injected
Sodium bicarbonate also known as baking soda.
Sodium borate, also known as Borax, which is used for insecticide and detergent. It is linked to seizures and convulsions.
Vero cells, which are cells from a monkey’s kidney.
Chick embryo cell cultures.
Embryonic guinea pig cultures.
Human lung cultures.
Antibiotics.
More about the vaccine ingredients can be found below and by reading vaccine inserts.
NVIC Act 1986
In 1986, the National Vaccination Information Center teamed up with Congress to come up with the National Childhood Injury Act of 1986 because far too many children were having adverse reactions and they didn’t want the manufacturers of the vaccines to be liable for any injury or death because the public’s trust in them would subside. In order to set this up, a percentage of every vaccine given is put into the fund. The vaccine manufacturer can no longer be sued even in cases of severe disability or death. The US Court of Claims has paid out $3 billion dollars to devastated vaccine injured victims, even though 2 out of 3 cases are denied compensation. (See link below.)
So how is it pharmaceutical companies and government agencies can claim vaccines are safe when people all around the world are having adverse reactions and even dying? Isn’t vaccinating your child like playing Russian Roulette since you have no way of knowing how their bodies will react to the heavy toxins?
Conclusion
We live in a time when IKEA dressers can be recalled due to 6 deaths, but vaccines continue to kill and maim both children and adults. We don’t recall the vaccines. Instead, our government claims they are safe, effective, and needed for the common good. They pass laws to mandate their use.
As long as pharmaceutical companies are allowed to wield their power over government regulatory agencies and the general practice of medicine as a whole, their profits will supersede public health. If we become informed – truly informed – will we continue to give consent, to place our children at risk of death or lifelong disability?
Have you been wondering what the deal is with those salt lamps? It’s not just the nice ambient light. Salt lamps actually help filter the air, removing dirt, pollen, bacteria, viruses, pet dander, mold spores, positive ions, and more. Right now, salt lamps seem to be all the rage within the natural health community. Users report a dramatic change in the quality of air in their home, leading to many health benefits.
Reported health benefits of Himalayan salt lamps include:
Improves difficulty with breathing
Reduces allergy symptoms
Less stress due to a calming and soothing effect
Better cognitive function, ablility to concentrate
Less fatigue when working for long periods around other electronics
Fewer headaches and migraines
Reduced symptoms from many autoimmune diseases like rheumatism and arthritis.
Skin is healthier, more supple
Insomnia is relieved (though those who suffer from insomnia may not do well with the light on at night; reviews are mixed on this issue)
Fresher air that smells better and feels better to breathe
A better overall sense of health and wellbeing
See for yourself. If you typically sit and work at a computer for your job, this will be easy. Put a salt lamp on your desk next to you for a day and compare the difference. Anyone who is in tune with their body will be able to feel it easily, but understanding why this happens is a bit more complicated, but very illuminating (pun intended).
An ion is a molecule that, through environmental influences, has lost or gained an electron. The names seem a little backward from our perspective. Positive ions have a negative effect on us while negative ions have a positive effect. Positive ions are usually carbon dioxide molecules that have been stripped of an electron. Negative ions are usually oxygen molecules that have gained an electron. Negative and positive ions are drawn to each other. They bind to neutralize.
Positive ions are created by electrical equipment: clothes dryers, computers, hair dryers, vacuum cleaners, microwaves, televisions, electric stoves, wireless networks, etc. They are also created by pollution. City air is filled with positive ions.
Negative ions are abundant in nature, especially in forests, near the ocean, and near waterfalls. They are created by the movement of water, by sunlight, and by the Earth’s radiation. When you sit beside a waterfall or stand on the beach near the ocean, you breathe in air that just seems to fill you with energy. This is the effect of negative ions.
Incidentally, old growth forests produce many more ions than young forests.
The trouble is, with our lives predominantly spent in offices, houses, and cars, we’re blocking out nature’s negative ions while we produce positive ions that bombard our bodies virtually every minute of every day.
EMFs, like daylight, and blue and white lights, depress the conversion of serotonin to melatonin, and melatonin is what the body needs for quality sleep.
Bacteria, mold, and yeast flourish in a positive ion environment. Many allergens and other air pollutants are positively charged, and the positive ions themselves are believed to have a detrimental effect on our health as well. Research is really just getting started in this area, and it is a source of much debate and contention. A this point, we do know that at least there are serious health issues with some people when exposed to EMFs.
Negative ions will “detoxify” the air. The negative ions attach to the positively charged particles in large numbers, causing mold spores, pollen, pet dander, cigarette smoke, bacteria, viruses, odors, dust, and other hazardous airborne particles to become too heavy to stay airborne. But negative ions by themselves seem to provide health benefits as well. This surfeit of negative ions has long been associated with improvements in mood and physical health. It’s still early, but research conducted in the last decade is now starting to show that negative ions have a net positive effect on our health (aside from the aforementioned benefits of neutralizing the air). Ideally, we should be spending most of our time in nature not only to get away from positive ions, but to immerse ourselves in negative ions.
One of the most tantalizing hints regarding negative ions and health surfaced when German researchers discovered a link between catecholamine regulation and lifespan after depriving experimental animals of negative ions. First, researchers at the Goldstein and Lewin Dept. of Medical Research in Stahnsdorf, Germany isolated mice and rats in air-tight, sealed acrylic cases. Next, they filtered the ambient air to remove all negative ions from the sealed cases. Their research led to the discovery that a prolonged deficiency of negative ions led to an accelerated rate of death for the experimental animals. Examination of the animals led researchers to conclude that the results ‘…strongly suggest that animal death is related to disturbances in neurohormonal regulation and pituitary insufficiency.'” – NutritionReview.org
Outdoor conditions away from the city have an average ratio of 40% positive ions to 60% negative ions. Inside our homes and offices, there’s a huge buildup of excess positive ions. This is why we have static electricity inside buildings. Rub your feet on carpet and touch a doorknob and you might get a shock, but you won’t be able to repeat this process out in a forest.
Common building materials that contribute to electrostatic buildup include carpets, vinyl, plastics, drapes made with synthetic materials, wallpaper, paints, varnishes, dimmer switches, poorly wired homes (not up to current code), smart meters, and much more. Fluorescent lighting is a huge source of EMFs. Forcing people to work or attend school under this fluorescent lighting was one of the worst ideas of the 20th century. Most of our buildings also have poor ventilation and low humidity which allows static energy to build up. As if that wasn’t enough, the ductwork, copy machines, printers, computers, and other devices that ground will actually ground off the beneficial negative ions, leaving a greater number of positive ions.
Bacteria, mold and yeast flourish in a positive ion environment. Ductwork, copy machines, computers and other devices ground off negative ions resulting in a greater number of positive ions. The grounding off of negative ions in HVAC systems contributes to bacteria and mold growth in the air distribution network. Frequent cleaning of ductwork and sanitizing it with a non-toxic citric cleanser can eliminate a predisposition to ‘sick building syndrome,’ but will not solve negative ion depletion.” – Richard Crowther
How Do Salt Lamps Generate Negative Ions?
Salt attracts moisture. The small amount of heat given off by the light bulb inside of the block of salt creates heat, evaporating the moisture. This evaporation action, as previously mentioned, will reduce the amount of positive ions in the room, which in turn increases the amount of negative ions, and many also believe the evaporation process itself also creates additional negative ions. There’s some debate on this issue. Salt lamps may not actually literally generate negative ions themselves. Regardless, we do know for sure that they do reduce the amount of positive ions in the air, increasing the ratio of negative to positive ions by way of attracting positively charged water molecules and exhausting neutral vapor into the air.
When a negative ion comes in contact with a positive ion they neutralize one another. Negative ions attach themselves to the positively charged molecules floating in the air and the molecules become too heavy to remain airborne. And as they fall, they take the airborne allergens and toxins with them, as mentioned in an earlier paragraph.
If salt lamps produce negative ions, even a very large salt lamp will only produce them in a small radius. But as mentioned, after some time, the room will be full of negative ions. A negative ion generator would produce far more negative ions in the room more quickly. On the other hand, ionizers are more expensive, they aren’t as pretty to look at. Salt lamps definitely do remove positive ions, and salt lamps offer other benefits, too. While the ions are what most people who sell salt lamps have been focusing on lately, consider negative ions from salt lamps as an added benefit. They have much more to offer.
Salt, Water Vapor Attraction, and Evaporation
Water vapor is in the air we breathe. Indoor humidity carries a positive charge. Airborne pathogens (bacteria, viruses, mold, fungus, etc.) and other irritants and toxins use the airborne water molecules (humidity, vapor) to travel onto our skin and into our lungs.
Salt is hygroscopic, which means that it attracts and holds water molecules from the surrounding environment. The bigger the block of salt, the more water vapor it attracts, carrying with it the airborne contaminants. When the salt is heated, more vapor is attracted to the salt lamp, and the water is then dispersed back. Particles are left stuck to the salt lamp. The pathogens die while the heat from the light bulb causes the water to evaporate back into the air.
The ambient air surrounding a salt lamp is measurably cleaner by the transformation cycle of hydrogen and oxygen, as well as sodium and chloride ions. This characteristic is especially helpful for relieving the symptoms associated with asthma and allergies in general.
The range for the wattage of bulb that should be used is pretty wide, but large salt lamps need more wattage to produce desired results but too much wattage will retard the lamp’s ability to absorb the water from the air.
Every week or so turn off your salt lamp, let it cool off for an hour, and wipe the lamp with a barely damp cloth.
Electromagnetic Oscillation
An electromagnetic field surrounds the Earth. All life on this planet depends on this electromagnetic field of vibration. This field is known as the Schumann resonance frequency. The frequency of this electromagnetic field resonates at 7.83 Hz (cycles) per second. We also know that our brains (and we believe our entire body and all other mammals) operate on this frequency.
In its neutral state, a salt crystal exhibits the very same frequency oscillation value, just under 8 Hz. EMFs caused by electronic devices have very diverse, chaotic frequency values. As mentioned above, we now know that these frequencies disturb our natural electric field, which upsets the natural development of our cells, unbalances our hormones, disrupts our natural sleep rhythm, and promotes illness. We are electrical beings, and the wrong electrical energy surrounding us robs our bodies of energy we use to live.
The atomic structure of salt is neutral. It is believed that salt lamps are a natural amplifier of frequencies around 7 to 10 Hz and can neutralize those harmful, chaotic, electromagnetic wavelengths caused by electronic devices.
Himalayan Salt Lamp Color Therapy
The light emitted from a salt lamp may not strike most people as a substantial health benefit, but light color has huge effect on our lives!
The Healing Effect of Light Colors on our Body and Mind:
Brown – Supports emotional balance and emotional clarity, a “grounded” feeling.
Orange – Facilitates a feeling of security, beneficial to our nervous system, and helps to activate the kidneys and bladder.
Yellow – Encourages mental comprehension, and activates the pancreas, liver, and gall bladder.
Red – Strengthens the heart and blood circulation, contributes to a feeling of alertness.
Blue – Raises energy levels, suppresses melatonin, boosts mental clarity, and elevates mood.
White – This is balanced light which includes all of the other colors. White light has a cleansing and detoxifying effect on the body.
Consider our sunsets and sunrises and the different colors that come out of the sky. It makes perfect sense that we react to colors the way we do.
While we recommend LED lights over fluorescent lights for health reasons, it should be know that LED lights emit a blue light. It looks very white to most, and some bulbs look whiter than others, but it’s still a blue light to our body, which is great for daytime, but should be totally avoided as the sun goes down. This blue light from our computers, TVs, cell phones, and other electronics, inhibit the release of melatonin, which causes sleep disturbances and leads to other hormonal imbalances.
Salt lamps don’t emit blue light. The soft pink, brown, and/or orange light of a Himalayan salt lamp is soothing. The specific oscillation values of salt crystal lamps depend upon the crystalline color structure of the salt.
Some people choose to sleep with the lamp on. Some lamps have dimmers, but dimmer switches may put out enough EMFs to counteract the lamp’s effects when the lamp is turned down low. Some people say it helps to leave the light on while sleeping, but while it certainly is not as disruptive as some of the other light spectrums, no light is usually considered best for facilitating deep sleep.
It does make sense to use the light of a salt lamp before and after bedtime. If you want to leave the lamp on all night, but don’t want to see the light, try this: When you’re just about to go to sleep, move the lamp behind something and drape some dark fabric on the lamp, like a hand towel.
To receive the maximum benefit from salt lamps, position them close to you in places you frequent. For instance, if you work at a desk, put one on your desk, closer to you than your computer and other electronic devices. If possible, place one in every room.
Remember the salt attracts moisture and the light bulb evaporates that moisture. If the light is not turned on for several hours a day, it will become wet, enough to cause a puddle. If your lamp will be turned off for a long period of time, wrap it well in plastic, sealing out humidity.
As mentioned previously, it’s a good idea to unplug the lamp once a week to let it cool off, and wipe it off with a damp rag. Don’t use a damp or wet rag on the lamp when it is hot.
How to Choose a Himalayan Salt Lamp
There are plenty of low priced salt lamps on Amazon, at Walmart, etc. Most of them work (check reviews), and if you’re unsure, a cheap one may be a good place to start. But cheap salt lamps really are a pain in the butt. A high-quality salt lamp looks much better, should last for decades, and you’ll see its worth in comparison to a cheap lamp. Cheap lamps have cheap bases that break in no time, bulb fixtures that don’t stay in, and the larger lamps often come with a bulb that doesn’t have enough wattage.
Every Himalayan salt lamp is unique. The shape and colors vary. Generally, the darker shades of pink and orange are considered higher quality. Cheap lamps are usually a very light pink and typically have visible black deposits within them.
The bigger the size, the bigger the effect. The weight of a salt lamp is a good indicator as to how well it can clean the air. Price is, of course, a factor, so if your budget is limited, use these salt lamp sizes as a rough guide:
On a desk, a smaller crystal salt lamp between 5 and 10 pounds is large enough as long as the lamp is positioned closer to you than the computer itself. If this sort of positioning isn’t possible, 10-15 pounds may be a better choice.
For small- to medium-sized bedrooms that do not have heavy EMF loads (no TV, etc.), 5 to 10 pounds is enough.
For larger rooms, 10 pounds and up will yield the most benefit. If possible, get a very large lamp for large rooms and open office environments.
The shape of the lamp does not affect its ability to clean the air, but the type of surface area is important. Polished salt lamps like orbs and pyramids, while very pretty and still very beneficial, do not have as much surface area as the roughly chiseled versions.
Conclusion
If your lamp isn’t warm or drips too much water, particularly in humid environments, try increasing the wattage of its light bulb. Also, remember that you need to use light bulbs that produce some heat. This is no place for the eco-friendly LED. Most cheap salt lamps within the 6-12 pound range and any good quality salt lamp will come with the right kind of light bulb, but you will need to replace them.
Start with one salt lamp. Chances are, you’ll end up with at least one for every major room in no time.
Eczema is a chronic itchy skin condition that usually starts during the first five years of life, most often in the first six months, and typically lasts into childhood and even adolescence. In infancy, eczema often appears as red, scaly, crusted and even weeping patches often on both cheeks and on the (lower) extremities. During childhood, eczema usually moves to areas such as the knees, elbows, wrists, and ankles.
There are times when the skin appears only mildly affected while, during other periods, it is moderately–to very severely affected.
Eczema now occurs in almost 20% of all children in industrialized countries; its prevalence in the United States alone has nearly tripled in the past thirty years.
Why the Increase in Eczema?
One Suggestion
Could the increase be partly due to an imbalance in the gut bacteria?
There are four main ways in which the body eliminates unwanted matter:
The bowels get rid of food waste – as well as waste from the lymphatic system and toxins from the blood that the liver has cleaned out.
The kidneys and bladder handle cellular waste as they clean the blood.
The lungs deal with any waste that can be converted to a gas, for example, carbon dioxide.
And the skin eliminates waste as we perspire.
All four methods have to work properly for optimum efficiency, but even if just one does not, waste finds it way back into the body, which has to go back to square one to find another method for elimination.
A traditional naturopath doctor, Kathryn Doran-Fisher, believes eczema is a result of waste material being passed out of the skin that was never meant for the skin to eliminate. These irritating substances cause inflammation, itching, and redness as the immune system works to get rid of it.
Another Possible Reason
Before the 1900s, vaccines were administered by a lancet, but by the turn of the century, nearly all countries in the western world changed to using the hypodermic needle instead. Coincidentally or not, a new disease called serum sickness began to afflict thousands of children. The connection was well recognized and documented in the medical literature of the day. In fact, Dr. Clemens Von Pirquet (who actually coined the word “allergy”) was a leading researcher in identifying the new disease. The doctor recognized that vaccines had two primary effects: immunity and hypersensitivity. He said they were inseparable; the one was the price of the other.
Could the growing number of cases of eczema in children be part of that second primary effect of hypersensitivity, especially in view of the increased vaccine schedule of recent decades?
Could the elimination of the toxins from vaccines (even through the skin as we describe above) be at fault?
Whatever the reason, eczema can be particularly harsh and painful for children to endure.
How Can We Help Our Children To Heal the Eczema?
Investigating your child’s gut health and ensuring the buildup of good bacteria in their digestive system has to be at the top of the list. Parents can do this in a number of ways:
By making every effort to breastfeed your baby for as long as possible.
By cutting down or cutting out all refined sugars (including agave, fruit juices, coconut sugar, etc.).
By including probiotics in your diet (in the form of fermented foods or with probiotic supplements) during pregnancy.
By giving probiotics from a young age to beneficially alter the early colonization of bacteria in the gut and to help the child’s immune system develop and mature. However, probiotics do need to be integrated with a healthy diet. It does not help to add probiotics if your child is consuming loads of sugar, grains, and fruit juices as these will rapidly break down in the intestine and feed the pathogenic bacteria, rendering those probiotics useless.
The presence of Candida or yeast is a sign of problems with gut health. It is those simple carbs – sugars, grains, and pastas – that feed the yeast. Candida develops as a helper to create balance in the gut due to antibiotics, preservatives, heavy metal toxins, and processed foods. Once gut health is improved sufficiently, Candida becomes obsolete. Unfortunately, Candida overgrowth can be passed down from mother to child.
Consider changing to a raw food diet if your child is on solids. Such a diet would include a large proportion of living, nutritionally-dense organic uncooked and unprocessed food along with pure water. Such a diet will help eliminate those toxins that can be created during the cooking process and help the body to become more alkaline.
Make the connection between that nightly bath time and the appearance of eczema. Bathe your children when they’re dirty, this usually means two to three baths a week. Use one bath each week to wash your child’s hair and body with natural soap/shampoo, while the other bath or baths are kept simple with oatmeal milk or herbal bath bombs, not only to clean their skin but to nourish it as well. Dryness and eczema go hand in hand, and it is this dryness that makes it so important to keep on moisturizing when you have the recurring symptoms of eczema. When the body sweats, valuable water and moisture are lost from the skin. Caring for children with eczema means establishing a skin care routine that locks in moisture.
Dry skin brushing combined with the use of a natural scrub to exfoliate, followed by a natural moisturizer, can help to get rid of dry skin topically.
Using 100% natural H-Eczema Formula will work gently with your child’s body to heal those symptoms without the adverse effects that other harsh eczema remedies (containing chemicals and other harmful ingredients) can bring.
Conclusion
No parent wants their child to suffer from the pain and discomfort of eczema. We must remember that our skin is our largest organ and everything we apply to the outside of our skin gets absorbed into the skin and into our bloodstream. We need to focus on what goes into our children’s bodies not only via the mouth and nose, but also via the skin – everything from the type of food they eat, the vaccines injected, the day-to-day exposure to chemicals, toxins and so much more.
Not all medical professionals support vaccination. Some nurses are bold enough to publicly question their safety for some time now. This is bad for Big Pharma’s image. Masters of the game, the pharmaceutical industry has pushed for vaccine mandates on all hospital workers, nurses included and they have been lobbying for laws like these under an all too familiar guise, for the betterment of all, for the “greater good.”
Vaccine mandates nearly guarantee that those who are skeptical of vaccines don’t pursue a career in medicine. Many nurses have lost their jobs for speaking out against vaccines, which has backed them into a corner and made many of them feel like they have nothing left to lose. Most nurses choose to criticize vaccines under the guise of anonymity. As long as their identity is protected and reprisals are all but impossible. Freedom of speech is how these nurses are fighting to restore our medical freedoms. In the information age, censorship is more difficult for Big Pharma than it ever has been before. The world is waking up.
From all walks of life, here are the stories from those brave enough to speak out. Hear from the nurses against vaccines.
Patriot Nurse
In the time I was at my educational institution there was very little discussion, true discussion, and even less true debate, on the subject of vaccination, on the true science of vaccination and on real risks and possible perceived benefits of vaccination. So I had to search out the information, the studies, the data for myself and in an effort to find the truth, I have come to the conclusion that I am against vaccination, especially for children and infants under the age of 2. I have three main areas of objection. We could spend hours talking about this
…my areas of objection are the additives that are present in the vaccines, the vaccination schedule for children, especially under the age of one, and the sufficiency of breast milk for conferred immunity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZlTfzAw6Ak
Guerilla RN
As an E.R. nurse, I have seen the cover up. Where do you think kids go when they have a vaccine reaction? They go to the E.R. They come to me.
…The cases almost always present similarly, and often no one else connected it. The child comes in with either a fever approaching 105, or seizures, or lethargy/can’t wake up, or sudden overwhelming sickness, screaming that won’t stop, spasms, GI inclusion, etc.
And one of the first questions I would ask, as triage nurse, was are they current on their vaccinations? It’s a safe question that nobody sees coming, and nobody understands the true impact of. Parents (and co-workers) usually just think I’m trying to rule out the vaccine-preventable diseases, when in fact, I am looking to see how recently they were vaccinated to determine if this is a vaccine reaction.
Too often I heard a parent say something akin to “Yes they are current, the pediatrician caught up their vaccines this morning during their check-up, and the pediatrician said they were in perfect health!”
If I had a dollar for every time I’d heard that I could fly to Europe for free.
But here’s the more disturbing part.
Mind you, I have served in multiple hospitals across multiple states, alongside probably well over a hundred doctors and probably 300-400+ nurses.
…I have even made a point of sitting in the most prominent spot at the nurse’s station filling out a VAERS report to make sure as many people saw me doing it as possible to generate the expected “What are you doing?” responses to get that dialog going with people.
And in every case, if a nurse approached me, their response was “I’ve never done that!” or “I didn’t know we could do that,” or, worse “What is VAERS?” which was actually the most common response. The response from doctors? Silence. Absolute total refusal to engage in discussion or to even acknowledge what I was doing or what VAERS was.
The big take away from that?
The number one place parents bring their kids in the event of a vaccine reaction is the E.R., and as an E.R. staffer, I have NEVER met anyone who filed one, in spite of seeing hundreds of cases of obvious vaccine-associated harm come through.
What does that say about reported numbers?
The CDC/HHS admits that VAERS is under-reported
…In an industry that is rocked on a monthly basis by horrible medication scandals, if you didn’t question everything they told you, I would look at you funny. And it’s my job to give these medications to people.
Just to note, on a recent scandal, I have been warning people about Zofran use in pregnancy for 5 years. The information was right there in the insert. It was right there on the manufacturing website. It was right there in the PDR. As well as on every downloadable app and printed IV drug book.
The information is there.
It is the medical professionals that are failing the general public.
…Everything I’m saying is public domain knowledge. It’s stuff we SHOULD be telling you.I am sorry we are not. I try to take a stand where I can, but at the end of the day, I’m only one nurse.
Matt Smith, RN
After being on the vaccine team for one day and seeing children get sick after receiving their vaccine, I came home exhausted and turned on TV and I happened to catch the Larry King Show and he had a story and it aired. I think it was November 2nd, 2009 where he did a story about 19 deaths caused by the vaccine, and it was a vaccine that I was giving out that day.
In response, I sent out an email to all my co-workers saying, “Hey, watch this report,” because I felt it was my responsibility to inform that what’s going on and they might be giving a shot that could kill somebody.
…Basically, they said, “Shut up, you’re fired. Stop using email,” and they sent me a confidentiality agreement threatening federal prosecution and that pretty much scared me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj6ZKVeQ8hU
Michelle Rowton, MSN, RNC-NIC, C-NPT, NNP-BP
Well, I had mentioned that they go ahead and vaccinate premature infants on time, meaning that once they are two months old, they are ready for their two month vaccines regardless of the fact they are supposed to have been inside their mothers’ stomachs and not even born yet, and some of the things we’re seeing and that are being said is like a neonatologist calling from the step down unit to the level three, to the more intensive unit, saying, “Hey, I’m going to give these four babies their two month vaccines this weekend so I just wanted to make sure you had four beds ready cause I know they’re all going to have issues and need increased care.
I had mentioned before that I had sat in the call room before with a bunch of providers saying, “Hey we have this 25-weeker that was so strong and now, they never required intubation with a breathing tube to actually go on the vent, had a less invasive type respiratory support and you come in and they’re like, “Oh how embarrassing. We gave that baby his two-month immunizations and now he’s intubated and on the vent for the first time. Oops.” And it’s just kind of blown off.
Really low birth weight infants are 28 weeks of gestation or less and under 1000 grams, approximately 2.2lbs or less at birth. You had a group of physicians and a practitioner that went into a database of a large neonatology corporation withalmost 14,000 infants looked at. What the results said that they were looking at the pre-immunization period versus the post-immunization period and their sepsis workups went up 3.7 times in the post-immunization period. What sepsis means is a blood infection and so there were multiple labs drawn, blood cultures, urine cultures, they go ahead and start those babies on antibiotics right away while they wait for results so it’s not a benign thing. It’s life threatening. And if it ends up not being an infection, they’ve still had pain, they’ve still had invasive procedures, and they’ve had antibiotics given, which is not a benign thing for these babies with their very sensitive intestines. So it’s a big deal. We had increased respiratory support, two times higher in the post-immunization period and then intubation, actually getting intubated with a breathing tube and going on the vent at about 1.7 – 1.8 times higher and what really shocked me, I had to read it about three times, when I got down to the conclusion, they said based on this, there was no difference in reaction between single shots and combo shots and so you could just go ahead and keep giving the combo vaccines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPBHGa4TtUs
Whistle Blower Nurse
Since the Affordable Care Act came out, we are now as nurses required to ask every single patient who comes into the hospital if you’ve had your flu vaccine or your pneumococcal vaccine. If you say no to either one of those, in the computer an order will generate that says we need to give you this vaccine. We don’t need to speak to a doctor; it’s hospital policy. It’s now health department policy that we now have to give you the vaccine. Even if you came to the hospital with a stubbed toe, you will be offered both vaccines if you meet requirements, which just about everybody meets requirements for flu vaccine and most people over the age of 65 will meet the pneumococcal vaccine. Even if you come to the hospital with a stubbed toe, you are going to be given this vaccine. You have the right to say no. If you say no, they just check off as “refused”. This was never like this years ago. This was a new thing.
When you go into a hospital, if you need surgery, you need a knee replacement surgery, first they’re going to ask you if you’ve had the vaccines, and you’re going to say no. Then they’re going to say, “Well you need to sign this consent. If you’re going to have surgery, you need to sign this consent.” In the consent is a word called “biogenics” [and/or bioligics]. If you sign the consent saying I consent for you to give me biogenics [or biologics] basically it means they can give you anything deemed necessary, including vaccines. So if you say you didn’t get a flu shot and its flu season and you sign the consent to say they can give you biogenic[biologics], they will give you a flu vaccine even when you’re under anesthesia because you already signed the consent.
Unless you go and get your medical records, you will not know you got a flu vaccine. They may tell you at the end “Oh, by the way, you’re now covered. You got the flu vaccine,” or “You got the pneumococcal vaccine,” but two people now have reported to me last week, saying they got the vaccine, that they did not want the vaccine, and that they did not know.
… You can, when you sign consent for surgery, you can specifically say no vaccines. I don’t want this. You can write and initial after you say what you do not want and they have to honor that. And if they don’t honor it, they can be sued.
The word biogenics [biologics] is now being used. In the past, there used to be a consent that basically said we could give you blood products if we feel you need it, we could give you other medications if we feel you need it, but now with the word biogenics [biologics] it’s now including vaccines.
Brenda Ikemeyer, FNP
I’m a family nurse practitioner practicing emergency medicine. My story with immunization is basically I bullied a dad to get a chicken-pox vaccine for his two-year-old daughter when the chicken-pox vaccine first came out. She then developed shingles and went blind in her left eye at the age of three all because of immunizations. I had to take a flu shot because of mandatory vaccination for my job. I developed Guillain–Barré and I could not walk for a month and a half.
…It was a new vaccine and they didn’t want to get it. Nothing had come out about MMR at that time. There was no controversy with immunizations at that time. That was in ’99, ’98. I blame myself. Probably in 2002 when I had my Guillain–Barré reaction myself.
I do emergency medicine. I got out of primary care so I didn’t have to be part of the problem anymore. Now, I get to educate about why are we immunizing and when their children come in, I can actually make the VAERS report because their children come to the Emergency Department when they are vaccine injured.
Anonymous Nurses Speaking Out Against Vaccines (Their names have been changed to aliases in order to protect their careers)
Mel RN
I became aware of the dangers….well, I had to get my DTaP updated about four years ago to enter into my FNP program. My arm swelled up huge, like a football player’s and was red, hot, and swollen. This lasted a couple of weeks. I could not even work for a week or more. To be honest, I have been sick ever since. I have something autoimmune going on. I am not sure what it is, but I feel my body go through “flare ups.” …I am not 100% if it is related to this, but it is a definite possibility. Then, I have just awakened to more and more situations via Facebook and my own research. I am in functional medicine as an R.N. and plan to specialize in this as an FNP as well.
Jana RN
There is a huge emphasis on informed consent of the risks/benefits of procedures/meds. Vaccines are not singled out in this portion of the education. I get a strong feeling from comments made by the instructors that in the real world we won’t have time for proper informed consent often.
Lila RN
A year or so after I graduated and had my first child, I noticed that a high school friend posted on FB that she didn’t vaccinate her child. This led me to look into them enough to realize that they weren’t made of saline solution. I saw that Jenny McCarthy had started a “Green the Vaccines” campaign. Unfortunately, I didn’t really dig much further than that until the CDC Whistleblower story came out in the summer on 2014. I posted about it on FB, and thought it was going to become an international story and immediately affect the U.S. vaccine program. When I realized that it was a media blackout instead, I really started researching vaccines.
Liz RN
If nurses knew more about the dangers of vaccines I think more of them would feel ethically conflicted about administering them. I think now everyone is fooled into thinking that neuro-developmental problems are genetic. I NOW know that genetics are involved in the extent of injury, but I believe all vaccines are injurious.
…Based on my experience it doesn’t matter what is presented in school because the science isn’t being done. “You give a vaccine, you make antibodies, you are protected” – that’s all there is to it. There is so much more to it than that but it has been hard to find, especially when organizations such as the CDC fraudulently withhold data, there’s poor access to the VAERS data, the VAERS data is completely voluntary so it’s almost meaningless anyway, there’s no transparent access to the vaccine safety data. All the lack of transparency, the deliberate Google misdirections, [and] the very system of research funding all goes against vaccine safety research and sharing of information.
An Anonymous Nurse From The FB Page Informed Consent
I was asked to discuss a cover up I witnessed.
…The ambulance report was a male child who had just received vaccinations a few hours ago, who was progressively deteriorating in mentation and finally experienced sudden onset seizing. It was what we call status epilepticus, where the seizure starts, and it doesn’t stop. It just keeps going. I wrote in large letters across the bottom of the paramedic report “JUST RECEIVED VACCINATIONS, NOW SEIZING”. Often I didn’t get a chance to convey relevant or important material to the doctors because we were too busy. That medic radio report was stuck on top of the chart when it went to the doc, and they were supposed to look at it first before anything else. It also was supposed to be part of their record for the visit as it was the only record of prehospital interventions we often received and functioned as the first director of interventions.
On EMS arrival to the scene, kiddo was still in active seizure. They had administered drugs to stop the seizure, but were not convinced it was not still ongoing at some subacute level because there was no responsiveness and they were seeing clenched hands, and tight arms, and minimal spontaneous breathing, but it was apparently there, and pulseox was getting a reading over 90%. Mind you, I’m just getting what the very scared sounding paramedic was quickly spitting into the radio. It always makes you clench up when the paramedics sound scared. Anyway, I acknowledge their radio report and looked for an open room. There was a couple literally walking out, just discharged. We had bare minutes until their arrival. I couldn’t find the nurse assigned to the room, so I just ran in and hammered out a quick clean down so we could use the room when the medics got there.
Right as I finished cleaning the room, they roll in. Charge nurse is finally back, but has no idea what’s going on. I grab the papers and get them into the room yelling back at charge nurse “pediatric status epilepticus” so he knew to get people heading my way to help. I started getting bedside report as we are transferring the kiddo over to our gurney. Mom is with them, near breakdown, freaked out. Additional help arrives as we are padding the bed rails and working on vitals, and the nurse assigned to the room finally arrives. At this point, I’m supposed to turn the case over. But this is kind of heavy to drop, so I pause and give the nurse a quickie run down emphasizing the pediatrician office visit and vaccinations immediately prior to onset of symptoms with mom nodding yes while crying in the corner and the paramedic nodding yes.
Here, I then get out of the way, and I step out of the room, telling the nurse I’ll get the rest of the history and enter it for her to save her time so she can work on interventions. At this point the doctor is finally getting to the room, chart in hand, with the paramedic report and my large block writing visible on it. The medic is talking to me telling the rest of the story for their report. The doctor interrupts us and asks what happened. This is typical. Poor medics usually have to tell their story three times before they get back out the door unless all the staff meet them at the same time in the room. The paramedic starts relaying the story from call out, what they found on scene, interventions. The doctor asks if there is a seizure history. Medic says no. I add in that the child vaccinated only hours ago, and symptoms onset was after vaccination. The doctor does a dismissive “humph” and turns away from me and looks at the medic and asks, “Is that right?” The medic says, “Yes.” Then the doctor looked at the room and the mom standing about ten feet from us, kind of glares at us, turned on both of us and walks into the room.
I finish getting the medic report. And the doctor has started some orders, and the doctor is now talking to the mom who I hear talking about how he was perfectly healthy earlier, how the pediatrician was saying he looked in perfect health, how he got his vaccines. I figured my part was done.
… A couple hours go by before I finally catch a break to go check in. We dosed the heck out of the kid with benzo’s, and he was sawing logs and mom was calmer. I caught the nurse and asked if he came out of it at all, and she said he had some semi-lucid speech at one point and it looked like seizures were done, but that he had been gorked out with the drugs and had been sleeping for a while. She said the labs and imaging had been coming back, and that the doc was in contact with a peds neuro trying to decide what to do with the case.
I went into the room to check vitals and re-document. I was honestly helping the nurse who was busy where I finally had a break, but it also gave me an excuse to get back involved and stay involved in the case. I talked with the mom while she was in the room. I asked what she had been told. Not much. She told me the doctor did not believe the vaccine had anything to do with it. I asked her when the doc had told her this, and she said right away, when they first got there and met her. I asked if she had shared what the labs and imaging showed, and she said all she was told was that there was some kind of swelling in his brain and they were getting transferred to another hospital, and the doctor didn’t know what caused it.
(Encephalitis, or swelling of the brain is a common adverse reaction to vaccines, and it is frequently listed in vaccine warning inserts).
I went out to look at labs and imaging report from the perspective of patient education with the intention of filling the mom in more with what was going on. I also dug through to the doctors notes to see what the doctor had written up. Since they were being discharged, I could help the primary nurse by printing off our chart copies to make a transfer packet. The paperwork is what kills in the ER. The primary nurse was more than grateful to get the help, and I was more than willing to help. Plus it let me get a look at what was going on.
I quickly noted that there was absolutely nothing documented in the physicians notes about the vaccination or the pediatrician appointment, in spite of its obvious necessity for mention as it was the “last known normal” time and correlated with an exam by a medical doctor who declared him in perfect health. If for no other reason, that should have been in there to establish time frames for onset of illness. But it also, because of this, did not include any mention of vaccination, in spite of the mom saying it, the medic saying it, and the triage RN saying it. It appeared to be a new onset illness, out of the blue, that occurred with no outside interventions or changes in routine, if you were to simply read her physician pass-off notes (which is all the receiving medical doctor is going to do. They don’t read nurses notes). So this information was not being relayed. Most disturbing, in the face of this absence of inclusion of potential etiology, the disposition line that my doctor included under diagnostic impression was “encephalitis of unknown etiology”. Okay, well, yeah, I can’t argue with that statement, but, there was a potential source, a change in daily routine and exposure, that was temporally associated! It should have been mentioned, or at least discussed as a possibility.
Not willing to leave it alone, I approached the doctor and politely tried to broach the subject. I said that I noticed when I was putting together the packet, there was no mention of the pediatrician office and the vaccinations in her pass off report and ER summary, and did she want to amend this before I finalized the transfer packet. I thought it was a polite way of nudging to try to get her to include it. I got “the glare” and a stern voice dismissal that was something to the effect of “they’re not related”. That’s it. I said something like Don’t you want to at least include it for the neurologist to consider? And I got the glare again and was told no, and to just finish the packet.
So I went about piecing and copying the packet together. I included a larger text line with more emphasis about the vaccinations in my triage notes, hoping that at least someone over there might notice that. And then I tried to find the paramedic report to copy it. There is the paramedic radio report that I fill in while I’m talking to them on the radio and they are inbound. Then there is their official run report, which is their paperwork, which they make a copy of for our records. Both were missing from the chart. In fact, every mention of the vaccines was sterilized from the chart. The primary nurse had not written in anything about it either.
…The doctor, of course, did not report to VAERS. In spite of the fact that there were lab findings, radiology findings, and symptoms which all warranted a VAERS report, and the child was not just brought in to the ER, but was hospitalized, and assigned neurological follow up care.
… I went and filed a VAERS report nice and publicly sitting at a prominent terminal as close to the doctors as I could get. I made sure to say it loud enough to be overheard that I was filing a VAERS report on the kid we just transferred when a colleague questioned what I was doing. I know the doctor overheard. She ignored me.Top of FormBottom of Form
Conclusion
Medical freedom is quickly becoming endangered. Sadly, some things must get worse before they get better, and this is what we are experiencing now. When persuasion to vaccinate fails, we are seeing mandates, coercion, and deception used instead. Although this may seem like things are getting worse (and in some ways they are), in the end, these kinds of heavy-handed tactics will only make us stronger. Mandating vaccines for nurses is ultimately what inspired so many nurses to speak out against vaccines. The biggest difference between the nurses who are against vaccines or for them is that those nurses who are against vaccines actually know something more about vaccines than simply how to administer them. Knowledge has a way of changing minds, the same way it has changed the minds of these nurses. They took the time to research vaccines, as they were not taught about the dangers of vaccination in school, they had to take the time to teach themselves. Knowledge is power. When we live in ignorance, we are slaves to the propaganda of others. It is knowledge of the truth that will set us all free and restore our medical freedoms.
Dementia is not a normal part of the ageing process. In the developed world, dementia currently affects three in ten people over 70 years of age, with approximately 70% caused by Alzheimer’s disease. Vascular dementia is caused by chronic reduced blood flow to the brain, typically as a result of stroke. It is responsible for 20-30% of dementia cases and can often coexist with Alzheimer’s disease. At least 10% of people diagnosed with dementia have mixed type. There is currently no medical cure for dementia.
The overlap between risk factors for cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and Alzheimer’s disease is important. Naturopathic preventative strategies look to uncover the “triggers” for disease, which may be related to diet, lifestyle, toxins in the home/work environment, constitutional susceptibility and/or other factors. Using natural strategies to reduce risk is vital for prolonged health and enjoyable older age.
The naturopathic view of health, which emphasises prevention, is that all disease starts with disruption to the body’s balance, and that the two pillars governing health are toxicity and deficiency. It is for that reason naturopaths advocate the reduction of toxins in our everyday lives and eating a wide-ranging, healthy, balanced diet consisting of organic (ideally) whole foods.
High blood levels of homocysteine (an amino acid connected with unfavourable health conditions) increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disease. Homocysteine is reduced by B-vitamins, so increasing B vitamins, in particular B12, B9 (folate), and B6, is a good step for protecting long-term health. B vitamins are water soluble and readily excreted so it’s important to top up every day. This is one of the many reasons why you need a good diet. A good quality food-state multi B-vitamin supplement can help boost levels. B12 is particularly important for vegetarians/vegans who may not get enough from plant foods. Keep an eye on homocysteine levels (tests are available). An optimal homocysteine level is 7–9 umol/L; anything outside of that range should be addressed. Vitamins interact with one another; excess B9 can mask B12 deficiency (a further cause of dementia!). Seeing a naturopathic nutritional therapist to address your diet, and if supplementing, to get the levels and vitamin forms right for you, is best, as levels required for a therapeutic effect are often well above the recommended daily amount.
Boosting fish intake is also preventative. Studies have shown that fish eaters (as little as one serving per week) have lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease and better cardiovascular health. Choose oily fish like sardines, small mackerel, and salmon; they are rich in healthy fats and vitamin B12. Flaxseed (linseeds) and walnuts are good vegetarian sources of oils supportive of cardiovascular health. Eat them fresh and unheated.
Avoid farmed fish (less nutritious and often polluted), swordfish, shark, flake or rock salmon, and Big Eye tuna, as high levels of mercury in these larger fish, from pollution in our seas, are toxic to the brain and other organs. Some medication and vaccines contain mercury. Many medications interfere with the absorption of vitamin B12 and other important nutrients. Pesticides, chemicals in products, processed foods, cookware, and smoking, can all contribute disease risk factors. Your naturopath can support you in reducing your toxic load.
Increase antioxidant intake, particularly vitamin E rich foods, as vitamin E is linked with reduced rates of inflammatory diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease. Try more sunflower seeds, almonds and spinach. Antioxidants reduce inflammatory processes linked to ageing and tissue deterioration, including delicate tissues of the brain. Natural antioxidants are believed to prevent amyloid-beta deposition (Alzheimer’s sufferers have deposits of this in the brain), so berries, brightly coloured fruit and vegetables, and raw nuts are all on the menu.
An estimated 50% of cases of vascular dementia result from high blood pressure (hypertension). Blood pressure can be reduced naturally by adopting a plant based diet. A higher ratio of potassium to sodium is effective in reducing hypertension. In practical terms, this means ditching processed, packaged ready-made foods and eating more vegetables and fruits. Ideally we would like a ratio of 5:1 in favour of potassium to sodium. Keep sodium intake low, check your packeted foods – stay under 1.5gm per day (this is the equivalent of about 4g of Himalayan salt which is our preferred salt). Avocado, spinach and tomato are all rich in potassium; bananas and potatoes are too, but are best taken in moderation due to their high sugar content. Steam or bake, do not boil your vegetables, as potassium and other nutrients will leach into the cooking water.
The DHA found in fish oil reduces blood pressure; a further reason why some people like to eat fish at least three times a week. Keep red meat consumption low; excessive iron in the blood is damaging to the body and linked to atherosclerosis/cardiovascular disease. Red meat, if taken, should be limited to once or twice per week and preferably are grass-fed, organic cuts.
Autoimmune inflammatory diseases of the arteries, such as lupus, can contribute to vascular dementia. Keep inflammation down to prevent additional problems. Turmeric taken either as a supplement or added to your meals can help reduce inflammation. Half a teaspoon of the dried herb taken with some cracked black pepper to enhance absorption, is a great start. Put it in savoury dishes or in warm almond milk. Brightly coloured fruit and vegetables are rich in phytonutrients and antioxidant, anti-inflammatory compounds, so eat them daily. To avoid pesticide residues, opt for organic produce wherever possible.
Diabetics have two to four times the chance of developing cardiovascular disease and have increased risk of both high blood pressure and stroke. Keep your sugar and insulin down by investigating a low Glycemic Load (low GL) diet and maintaining a sensible weight. Being overweight in mid-life is a risk factor for developing dementia including Alzheimer’s disease (although being overweight in late-life appears to be protective of dementia development). Lowered weight equals lowered blood pressure, too. Brisk walking for 30 minutes, five days a week is ideal to reduce weight and reduce stress levels, both of which are big contributors to cardiovascular problems.
Herbal Gingko biloba extract has been proven to assist with cerebral vascular insufficiency (lack of blood flow to the brain) and improve thinking, memory, and social behaviour. White willow Salix alba is used similarly to aspirin for blood thinning and anti-inflammatory properties. Aortic GAGs (glycosaminoglycans) 50-100mg per day have been used successfully to rejuvenate blood flow to the brain (available online or in health food stores) and can be used alongside certain blood thinning medication in stroke rehabilitation. An herbal or naturopathic practitioner can advise you on appropriateness and dose of these therapeutics.
Naturopaths acknowledge that physical, mental, and emotional needs must be met for abundant health. More than 20% of people with physical signs of dementia in brain tissue (post mortem) showed no outward signs of mental decline. Amazingly, keeping the mind active and engaged, through language, social interaction, and coordination tasks can help the brain to form new connections, compensating for the loss of function in other areas.
Whilst it is preferable to attend to risk factors in regards to the prevention of disease, and given that there is no current cure, what can we do from a naturopathic perspective if our loved one currently suffers dementia? Here are some therapeutic options to target problems associated with dementia such as memory loss, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia and depression, aggression, and loss of appetite.
Use Essential Oils
Try a few drops of pure essential oil in an oil burner, on the pillow or in the bath depending on time of day. Do not leave an open flame unattended. Use lemon balm for cognition and to ease anxiety, lavender to combat aggression and insomnia, sweet orange to uplift the spirits and reduce aggression, and rosemary to enhance memory and stimulate appetite.
Keep the Diet Plant Based
Maintain a low glycemic load. Minimise processed packaged foods and stick as close to nature by purchasing organic, local, and seasonal wherever possible.
Increase Antioxidants
Taking vitamins C and E together reduces dementia risk and can protect from additional oxidative stress, thus slowing cognitive decline. Foods to include for vitamin C and E include red peppers, Kiwi fruit (with the skin on), broccoli, and other dark green leafy vegetables.
Take B-vitamins
Taking B-vitamins has been found to reduce brain atrophy and reduce homocysteine levels, which are linked to disease progression and cognitive decline. B12 and folate deficiency induce cognitive impairment, so be sure there are significant levels in the diet and include supplementation to boost levels. Thiamine (B1) at 3-8g per day has shown mild improvement of Alzheimer’s type dementia.
Include Fish Oils
Whilst evidence has not been established for fish oils to improve health once dementia has been diagnosed, there is evidence that omega 3 oils help the brain to utilise B-vitamins to reduce the rate of cognitive decline in pre-dementia.
Try Drinking a Litre of Mineral Water Daily
The risk of Alzheimer’s disease is higher in areas with higher aluminium (a neurotoxin) levels in the water (the main source of circulating aluminium in the body). The silica content in mineral water mops up aluminium, so look for high silica content brands, preferably in glass, as chemicals in plastic are deleterious to health. In one small study 35mg/L silicon in mineral water improved cognition in some participants and slowed deterioration in others.
Drink Cherry Juice
In a recent trial, 200ml daily of anthocyanin-rich (69mg per 100ml) cherry juice improved measures of memory and cognition compared to a placebo juice in mild-to-moderate dementia patients. Choose organic, unsweetened juice for maximum benefit from these phytonutrients.
Music Therapy
Listening to music, musical games, singing, and using musical instruments can all be beneficial to dementia sufferers in regards to behaviour and cognition. Background classical music or nature sounds can be very soothing.
Massage
Aggression, anxiety, and depression can all be reduced by touch-based therapies. Combining these therapies with aromatherapy may enhance their benefits.
Author
Gemma Hurditch is a Naturopath with a Bachelor of Health Science in Complementary Medicine. She lectures at CNM (College of Naturopathic Medicine) in the UK.
SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) or crib death are terms used to denote the unexplained death of a healthy, sleeping infant less than one year old. The CDC reports that in 2014, about 3,500 babies died from Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID). The three main types of deaths are:
SIDS – 44% of the cases – about 1,500 deaths
Unknown Cause- 31% about 1,085
Accidental Suffocation and Strangulation in Bed- 25% about 875
Unknown cause is described is differentiated from SIDS by not being consistent with or not meeting the diagnostic criteria.
Risk Factors for SIDS
Statistics show that age, sex, race, family history, birth weight, prematurity, multiple births, and environment can all increase the risk of a SIDS death.
SIDS is the leading cause of death for infants 1 month through 1 year of age, with months 2 and 3 being the most critical. Male babies are more likely to die of SIDS than female babies. African American, American Indian, and Eskimo babies are at higher risk. Premature babies, low birth weight babies, or babies from multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) are at higher risk, as are those with cousins or siblings who have died from SIDS.
Smoking in the home and mothers smoking during pregnancy elevate risk. Smoking is believed to affect an infant’s serotonin levels, which affects breathing and arousal.
Other maternal risks during pregnancy include the age of the mother (younger than 20), the use of drugs or alcohol, and inadequate prenatal care.
Many experts believe multiple factors combine to result in SIDS deaths such as physical issues (low birth weight, multiple births, genetics), sleep environment, and illness. For example, a child with a low birth weight may be placed in bed on his stomach when suffering from a cold. These three issues combine: underdeveloped breathing and arousal, poor sleep position, and congestion.
Sleeping Positions and Conditions
Researchers report a dramatic decline in SIDS deaths due to the “Back to Sleep” campaign – the campaign that has encouraged parents to place on infants on their backs rather than their stomach or side to sleep. The campaign began in 1992. By the year 2000, the SIDS rate dropped by 50% in what seemed to be a corresponding decline to the rising rates of parents adhering to the back-sleeping practice.
It is interesting to note that around a quarter of U.S. parents do not place their infants on their backs to sleep, while that number among African American parents is around 50%. The SIDS rate for African Americans is double that for Caucasians, raising the question: is the higher incidence is due to a genetic predisposition or is it due to the infant’s sleeping position?
It is more difficult for babies to breathe when they are laid down on their stomachs or on their sides. The difficulty or danger is further increased if the surface is soft or the baby’s head is covered by a blanket. When an infant is lying with his face pressed against a surface, the oxygen level is lower than unobstructed sleep. An infant normally moves, gasps, lifts his head and resettles. If the infant’s brain is defective in regards to either breathing or arousal, the infant will slowly suffocate. Overheating is believed to affect arousal ability as well.
Waterbeds, soft plushy quilts, bumper pads, pillows, and plush toys can add to any difficulty of breathing by obstructing the airway. To ensure unobstructed breathing, babies should be laid on their backs with pillows, toys, and plush blankets completely removed from the area. Once your baby is able to roll over (on both sides), sleep position is no longer an issue. If your baby rolls over onto her stomach, it is safe to leave her in this position.
Parents are warned to instruct caretakers, family members, or anyone caring for their child to follow these guidelines for safe sleeping.
Asphyxiation due to breathing or arousal abnormalities is not the only concern in SIDS cases. Cardiac function, control of inflammatory response, and genetic mutations are some of the concerns being researched.
Researchers do not agree on the association between vaccines and SIDS. While the CDC and a number of studies claim there is no association, other studies show an arguable association between SIDS and the DTP vaccine. During the 1960s, the national immunization campaign required multiple doses of vaccines for the first time. SIDS became an identified medical term in 1969. SIDS was added to the ICD (The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems – the medical diagnostic classification manual) in 1973.
Co-Sleeping and SIDS
Read any article on SIDS and safe sleep practices and you will probably find a warning against co-sleeping (adults sharing a bed with their infant). The fear is that the infant will suffocate when the sleeping parent rolls over and puts weight on the infant or obstructs his or her airway. Other concerns are the infant being suffocated by pillows or by becoming wedged between the mattress and the wall or the mattress and the headboard.
Rather than recommending the child sleep in a separate room, the current recommendation by those who denounce co-sleeping is for the infant to sleep in a separate bed in the same room as the parents. Some suggest special cribs that are open to the bed on one side but provide a separate sleeping space.
Not all experts agree that co-sleeping is dangerous. Many studies suggest the opposite – that co-sleeping with a newborn actually helps the child regulate breathing, heart rate and body temperature, making sleep safer.
Both sides agree that parents who smoke, drink, or use drugs should never co-sleep with an infant. The danger of drinking or using drugs and co-sleeping cannot be emphasized enough, and this includes prescriptions drugs, antibiotics, over the counter drugs, and anything that can disrupt or impair the hormones, the brain, or sleep. SIDS deaths are higher on weekends and they spike on New Years Day – a 33% jump.
Another statistic worth noting – breastfed babies are 60% less likely to die from SIDS.
Conclusion
Like many issues, parents must make decisions for the safety of their babies. These decisions begin during gestation. There is clear evidence that smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of SIDS as well as smoking around the baby after birth. Drug and alcohol use greatly increases the risk. Placing a baby on the stomach or side for sleep greatly increases the risk.
Parents must decide whether or not to co-sleep with their babies and whether to vaccinate or whether to follow the vaccine schedule if they do vaccinate. And mothers need to know all the facts before they decide on breast or bottle.
Unfortunately, as we evaluate the risks of vaccination and co-sleeping, conflicting studies will make these decisions more difficult. It is imperative for parents to consider the source as they do their own research and carefully review studies and articles about these issues before making their own decisions.
We at OLM do not recommend well vaccinated or medicated parents to cosleep with children. Cosleeping works when the people doing it are healthy. Anything that can disturb your natural hormones is dangerous with cosleeping. Eat right, don’t take drugs, avoid toxins, and nature works better. On that note, we also recommend non-toxic mattresses and bedding that do not emit harmful gasses, which many suspect can contribute (and possibly even cause) SIDS.