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Health and Wellness: Part 4 - Integrative Medicine, Cannabis, and CBD Oil - What's UP?

11/29/2019

Over the last few years there has been a lot of discussion about the legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes, CBD oil, and their part in Integrative Medicine.

While it appears that cannabis and CBD oil have positive outcomes for most ailments, there are other considerations. Those other considerations are the reason for the slow progress in the legalization or non legalization of these substances.

As with alcohol, the legalization meant that there needed to be new laws in regard to drinking and driving. There had to be an enforceable age limit to purchase. There had to be rules put in place to protect the person drinking and also the public.

Cannabis is a botanical that offers a lot of therapeutic potential. Due to the nature of cannabis, it has not been accepted widely as a medicine. Cannabis is basically one of two kinds - hemp and marijuana. The latter has a high Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) level and thus makes the consumer "high", similar to alcohol and other mind altering medications.

The psychoactive component of cannabis, THC, was approved for the treatment of chemotherapy related nausea and vomiting in 1986. It has also been found to help with sleep, mood, and anxiety.

There is no published human trial data for it's use in tumor/cancer treatment. However, there is data on it's effectiveness for tumor/cancer treatment on rodents that shows promise.

The future of cannabis as a tumor/cancer treatment may be just around the corner. In the meantime, it still remains the most effective treatment of cancer treatments and symptoms of treatments.

Cannabidiol oil (CBD oil) is a whole other thing. Most pure CDB oils contain little to no THC. Without the THC it does not produce any psychoactive symptoms. This is why it is approved for use without a prescription or legal requirements. You can purchase CBD/Hemp oil over the counter almost anywhere and everywhere. However, the purity of this oil can vary greatly depending on how it was produced, so going to reputable dealer is the safest choice when purchasing.

Some of the reported benefits of CBD/Hemp oil are: relief from pain (most types, while some are resistant), nausea, seizures, anxiety, sleeping issues, and a host of other ailments.

I have family members and friends who use CBD/Hemp oils and all of them have told me that it changed their lives. A few have lived with certain pains (hip, shoulder, knee, etc.) for years and no longer feel any pain. A few have had difficulty falling and staying asleep and now sleep soundly.

The positive effects of CBD/Hemp oil are numerous and no one reports of any negative side effects.

Does this mean it works for everyone? No.

Hemp Oil is described as cannabis with a very low THC content (0.3% or less according to the recently passed 2018 Farm Bill). It is considered an industrial resource that is used for paper, clothing, biofuel, and consumable oils.

CBD/Hemp oil has been found to be safe for normal use, but the long term effects are not known. Time will reveal if this "miracle" in a bottle has any negative long term effects. As of this writing, it looks as though there are no negative side effects to be found.

CBD oil is mixed with a "carrier" oil that dilutes the horrible flavor of the hemp to make it easier to take. If you use straight Hemp oil, you will find that it tastes really bad. When mixed with a carrier oil, you take it by a dropper full (either a full or a portion of the dropper), if you take the pure Hemp, you take it by a single drop at a time.

Pure Hemp is potent and you don't want to take more than you need.

The expense is the biggest hurdle to vast majority of the population using it. For example, good CBD oil (not the questionable stuff found in gas stations for $20 a bottle) can run $60 to over $500 a bottle.

A bottle of CBD oil can usually last from 6 weeks to 90 days. A bottle of pure Hemp can cost about the same, but it lasts 3 to 4 times as long.

Most people find it hard to afford good CBD oil or pure Hemp. Hopefully, over time and with increased competition, the cost will come down without affecting the quality.

Difference between
Hemp oil and CBD oil:

"CBD oil is made using either hemp or cannabis.
The difference is hemp is bred to be highly fibrous for industrial use and
contain minimal THC to comply with law,
whereas cannabis is bred for its diverse cannabinoid content."

Reference: www.cannabis.info/en/blog/difference-cbd-oil-cannabis-oil

The true value of cannabis, CBD, or Hemp is still to be determined. If you ask people who use these substances, most will say “yes, it helps me”, however, a few will say “No, it didn't do anything for me.” Time will prove the value and uses for these once taboo alternative medicines and their effectiveness.

Given that the long term effects of CBD oil are not yet known, would you be willing to try it? Do you use CBD oil for anything now? If you were diagnosed with cancer or another serious disease would you be willing to give CBD oil an chance to help with the side effects of your other treatments? What do you think of all the hype surrounding what CBD oil can or can't do? Please share your thoughts on this “wonder” drug?

XOXO

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SPECIAL: Thanksgiving - As we age, we are more thankful!

11/22/2019

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The older I get, the more I realize how blessed I am. I am healthy, I am physically active, and mentally sound (well, most people think I am, anyway, lol), and I have a loving family. I know that there are people in my age group who have it a lot worse than I do and yet, they are happy, content, and thankful.

When we were young, we skipped through life and sometimes we stopped long enough to "smell the flowers", but most of the time we were skipping from place, one person, one event to another and not taking a lot of time in between. That's one of the beautiful things about getting older, we have learned to slow down and appreciate every step in life.

Thankfulness comes from within. You can have a huge meal on the table and your family gathered and still not be thankful.

It can seem like this holiday marks the beginning of the rush season of Christmas shopping and parties. But, I encourage you to take time to look at your life and see all the wonderful things you have to be thankful for.

If nothing else, you live in a country where you can still worship God or whomever you worship in any manner you choose. You can still decide where you want to live, you are not restricted to one region.

You have choices and opportunities that many in the world do not have. Remember that!

Now for a little background on this lovely holiday:

"Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated on various dates
in the United States, Canada, some of the Caribbean islands, and Liberia.
It began as a day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the
blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.
Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan"
According to Wikipedia

It is celebrated on the following dates in these countries:

1st Thursday in November Liberia

Last Wednesday in November Norfolk Island, Australia

2nd Monday in October Canada

4th Thursday in November United States

It also celebrated on various dates during this same time period in many other countries such as: the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Grenada, India, the Netherlands, Saint Lucia, the Caribbean Islands, just to name a few.

In the United States, it was observed from the time of the founding fathers until the Lincoln era on various dates determined on a state by state basis. The last Thursday in November was the recognized date in the United States by the 19th century. It aligned with and eventually replaced the existing holiday of Evacuation Day.

This was a day that commemorated the British exit from the United States following the Revolutionary War. It became a national holiday by a presidential proclamation by Abraham Lincoln. It was not fully realized, however, until the reconstruction era was over in the 1870s following the civil war. Lincoln designated the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed another presidential proclamation on October 31, 1039 that changed Thanksgiving Holiday to the fourth Thursday in November.

And that's this day came to be.
Remember, EVERY morning that you wake up on this side of the dirt (🙂), it's a good day.

Be thankful for every blessing in your life this Thanksgiving holiday, no matter how big or how small that blessing is.

Do you have any unusual Thanksgiving traditions? Do you share a meal with family and/or friends? Do you take inventory of your blessings on a daily basis? Are you aware of all the many blessings in your life? Are you thankful to be alive and over 50?

XOXO

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Health and Wellness: Part 3: The Case for Better Healing with Integrative Medicine

11/15/2019

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A brochure from Novant Health says this about Integrative Medicine:

"Integrative medicine
is healing-oriented medicine
that considers the whole person
- body, mind and spirit,
along with family, community and environment."

Many physicians are now in agreement that it takes more than one type of care to heal a person. The majority of physicians believe in treating the whole person. They are finding that it leads to more cures, more lives saved, less cost, easier recovery times, and more.

A doctor treats a cancer patient with chemotherapy and/or radiation. Hopefully, the cancer is killed and the patient heals to return to normal life. What actually happens a lot of the times is the medicine to treat the cancer (chemotherapy and radiation) create a whole new set of symptoms and problems.

Chemo can and most of the times does, make the patient sick. They lose their appetite and when they do eat, they may not hold it down very long. Even if they manage to keep food down long enough to digest it, they may not get the nutrients they need from it.

Nausea is also a big side effect of chemotherapy. Chemo can make sleeping restless and yet, the patient is extremely fatigued.

Chemo alone or radiation alone only treats one aspect of the cancer. If you provide additional treatments that are effective, non-invasive, non-toxic, and healthy, the body can heal itself (if not completely, at least improve quality of life.

Here are a few "alternative" treatments that can make the patient happier, healthier, and give the body what it needs to heal itself:

1. A healthy diet. One diet does not fit all. All cancers feed on sugar, so eliminating processed sugar is the first step. Some cancers feed on fat, you need to find out if this is the case and if it is, then eat more vegetables and proteins - go easy on the fats. Some are just the opposite and feed on carbohydrates. In this case eating less vegetables, more proteins , and more healthy fats. If you have doctors advice.

2. Movement: Either as personal exercise or as physical therapy. This could include movement as stretching for 30 minutes, yoga, Tai Chi, walking, or any other low impact movement that gets you moving. It can include a physical therapist and professional trainers or coaches.

You can also do your own exercise program with elipticals, treadmills, weights, cardio dance/Zumba classes, and other activities. Just as long as you move. If you have cancer or an illness the doctor may recommend certain activities for you, you should follow your doctor's advice.

3. Herbs: Ask your doctor before trying any herbal treatments about the interaction with your prescribed medications. For example: if you take blood thinners then you probably want to stay away from turmeric (which can also thin the blood).

Herbs are natural, but they can also be toxic if you combine with other herbs or with medications. Some are harmless and you can take without any interactions. Always check with your doctor first if you are on medications. ALWAYS.

4. Body Work: This includes:
all types of massages,
hot stones,
cupping,
acupuncture and acupressure,
Homeopathic,
Naturopathic,
Ayurvedic,
Chiropractic,
Osteopathic,
Hydrotherapy,
Reflexology,
and other other body therapies found in Chinese and Oriental medicines.

5. Supplements: Dietary supplements such as vitamins, mega vitamins, minerals, etc. Sometimes Again, you should consult your doctor if you are taking medicines and other treatments before adding to your diet. Usually, they are safe, but occasionally certain vitamins and minerals can interact with medicines and herbs.

6. External energies such as:
Electromagnetic therapy,
Reiki (transfer of energy from practitioner to patient through the laying on of hands),
Oigong (Chinese system of physical exercises and breathing control related to Tai Chi, but more intense).

7. Mind: Studies have found that patients with good emotional and mental health heal better. There are therapies aimed at improving these elements. Here are a few:
Meditation
Biofeedback
Hypnosis

8. Senses: Therapies that incorporate the senses include:
Art
Dance
Music
Visualization
Guided Imagery
Aromatherapy

As you can see, there are many alternative medicine choices. The combination is the key to healing and applying with traditional/modern medicines and treatments. As you will see in the following photo, combining traditional/modern medicine with alternative medicine can greatly improve the patients chances for a complete healing.

In the photo below, this patient had rectal cancer.

The photo on the left is after months of radiation without any additional treatments.

The photo on the right is the same patient with rectal cancer after a few months of radiation and a diet change. The diet change alone, gave the body the boost it needed so that the radiation could do it's job. As you can see, it's amazing!

Sometimes, all it takes is a small tweak that provides our bodies with what it needs to heal itself, the way God made it.

A word of advice (from a novice writer only and with no medical education):

ALWAYS consider every option available to you when you are faced with an illness or disease. If your doctor refuses to consider other options, get a second opinion. NEVER take the first options with out investigating you. other choices.
Always consult your doctor before adding or taking away any treatments or medicines.
ALWAYS!

I hope you found this article helpful. I hope that it makes a difference in your life now or in the future. In future blogs, I will go into a deeper study on some of these alternative therapies and how they help us heal ourselves.

Have you ever used Alternative Medicine (or Complimentary Medicine) in conjunction with traditional/modern medicine? Would you consider alternative medicines in the future? What are your thoughts on Integrative medicine?

XOXO

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Health and Wellness: What is Integrative Medicine, Alternative Medicine, and Modern Medicine? - Part 2

11/8/2019

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To understand Integrative Medicine, you need to know what is "integrated". It's more than what "mom" or "grandma" used to do when we became sick as children, much more. The big push today in Integrative Medicine is the legalization of medicinal marijuana. That interest has helped to open the door for more alternatives.

Alternative medicine is exactly what it sounds like. It is a medicine or treatment that is an alternative choice to modern medicines, treatments, or surgeries.

Notice I did not mention Alternative surgeries. Alternative medicine is medicine and treatments that are non-invasive, more natural to our bodies (and minds), and treat the whole body, mind, and soul.

Alternative medicine attempts to deal with causes and responses rather than to treating symptoms and never knowing the cause.

Alternative medicine comes from taking the best treatments from a number of sources. It may include Chinese, Egyptian, Native American treatments or any number of other sources. (We will explore those treatments in a later blog post.)

Sometimes, alternative treatments are the only thing someone needs to get better.

Modern medicine is more of treating the symptom. In fact, it has been said that"symptoms make money, curing loses money". Does that mean that modern medicine doesn't want to cure anyone? Do it mean modern medicine wants to keep you on your pills, injections, treatments, etc., so that they can continue to make money? Maybe. Yes, maybe.

However, let's be honest here. Sometimes a pill is all it takes to manage an illness that can't be managed any other way.

Sometimes, that surgery is the only choice in saving a life or managing an illness. So, let's don't throw modern medicine out the window, but rather put it in its place.

Integrative medicine takes the "best" from both worlds and puts them together to heal. When modern medicine and alternative medicine meet and compromise, everybody wins. The doctor wins because he is fulfilling his oath of "doing no harm" and "to heal".

The patient wins because they are treated with the least invasive treatment required and the outcome goal is to cure not just to manage symptoms.

There are cases when managing symptoms is the only achievable outcome, but the management of symptoms can be treatments from alternative medicine, modern medicine, or a combination of the two.

The important takeaway from this is:

You have choices with Integrative Medicine.

When choosing a path of treatment, you should be in control. Your doctor should present all options, not just the modern standard of treatment.

Your doctor should present all the pros and cons, as well as,. If you doctor doesn't offer this up front, ask them. Ask if there is a more non-invasive, less risky, safer treatment than the one suggested.

Also, do your homework. Seek a second opinion in big matters and at the very least do an online search for your illness and see what comes up (remember that not all information on the internet is accurate, but if you study it, you should be able to determine what is and what isn't accurate.)

TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR...OPEN UP THE CONVERSATION
FOR ALTERNATIVE OR INTEGRATIVE TREATMENTS.

During the symposium, the one thing that kept coming back over and over again from almost every speaker (all speakers were licensed physicians and some with PHDs) was the connection with diet, lifestyle, health, and healing.

The overwhelming consensus among all medical practitioners was this:

If we don't give our body
the vitamins, nutrients, nourishment and rest it requires,
or we continue with unhealthy habits related to lifestyle
such as smoking, drinking alcohol, or using drugs,
it can not heal itself.

Our bodies are made to self heal.
If given the right nutrition, rest, and care,
it not only has a better chance of healing itself on its own,
but medicines and treatments will work better. This will
result in a better overall outcome.

If we are what we eat, then we can't each junk and expect medicine to work miracles. We need to give our bodies what it needs to provide it with a fighting chance to heal.

That means no sugar (sugar has been proven to feed cancer), no smoking, no food that converts to sugar such as bread, potatoes, bananas, etc.

It means getting enough sleep at night so that our bodies can repair and renew itself, lowering stress.

It means dumping our "bad" habits and creating "good" ones to replace them.

Now that we know what Integrative medicine is and what the common theme among doctors is, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to make the necessary changes in your life to promote good health and healing, or are you going to continue in a self destructive lifestyle?

We have more power over illness than we sometimes realize. Not all cancers are receptive to diet, sleep, and lifestyle changes, but the majority respond in some type of positive way if not in a complete healing.

It never hurts to adopt a healthier lifestyle, it can only help.

Have you made any lifestyle changes due to an illness or injury? What did you change and did it make a difference? Does your doctor use alternative medicine or only modern medicine? What are your thoughts on alternative or integrative medicine based on diet and lifestyle changes?

XOXO

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Health and Wellness: What I learned at the Novant Health Integrative Medicine Symposium - Part 1

11/1/2019

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During the month of November, I will be blogging about all the things I learned from this symposium (and a little about the facilities, that were amazing and the food, equally amazing). It was full of new and coming alternative and integrative treatments for cancer. The cool thing is - these treatments also help a multitude of other ailments, such as weight, sleeplessness, depression, sexual issues, pain, and the list goes on. The studies are real and the results are amazing. Studies are on-going to continue to learn more.

At the root of the this symposium was a doctor that I started following in the late seventies.

Dr. Andrew Weil was the keynote speaker at this symposium which was the main reason I drove to downtown Charlotte. I wanted to hear him in person and ask him questions. He is a Harvard educated medical physician and has been promoting integrative medicine for over 40 years, long before it was accepted by the modern medical community.

Dr. Andrew Weil, MD

He believes, as I do, that it takes both modern medicine and alternative medicine to treat the whole person and not just the symptom. I will be showing you photos and slides that show this in real life during this month. The combination is saving lives.

Novant Health is a local medical health group that is leading the way in Integrative Health. I personally think it's about time. The medical community is finally accepting the fact that to effectively heal a person, you have to consider more than just pills, injections, and surgery. It takes nutrition, physical therapies, and counseling, among other things.

For the 40 years that Dr. Weil has been advocating integrating modern medicine and alternative medicine, 30 years of that 40 years he was considered an "out-there", "new age", and "radical" doctor.

Now 40 years later, he is considered an expert, leader, and pioneer. I knew this all along, even from the seventies. Why did it take the professional medical community so long to come to this realization? Because of the money involved in pills, injections, and surgeries. Treat the symptoms, not the cause. That has been the basis for "practicing" medicine for decades.

Dr. Weil is a Harvard graduate and a licensed medical physician. He has published several great books on aging, health, and living. If you want to read more about him, you can find information here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Weil
https://www.webmd.com/andrew-weil
https://www.drweil.com/

I hope that the information I share over the next few weeks will help you learn how to become an active partner in your health care. I hope that the information I share will open your eyes to new treatments and that you make more informed decisions when it comes to your health.

Please share your thoughts on Integrative Medicine. Share your thoughts on Dr. Weil or any other doctor you feel is a leader in this area of medicine. Share so that we may all be more informed about our health choices.

XOXO

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Health and Wellness: Part 4 - Integrative Medicine, Cannabis, and CBD Oil - What's UP?

SPECIAL: Thanksgiving - As we age, we are more thankful!

Health and Wellness: Part 3: The Case for Better Healing with Integrative Medicine

Health and Wellness: What is Integrative Medicine, Alternative Medicine, and Modern Medicine? - Part 2

Health and Wellness: What I learned at the Novant Health Integrative Medicine Symposium - Part 1

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Health and Wellness: Part 4 - Integrative Medicine, Cannabis, and CBD Oil - What's UP?

SPECIAL: Thanksgiving - As we age, we are more thankful!

Health and Wellness: Part 3: The Case for Better Healing with Integrative Medicine

Health and Wellness: What is Integrative Medicine, Alternative Medicine, and Modern Medicine? - Part 2

Health and Wellness: What I learned at the Novant Health Integrative Medicine Symposium - Part 1

My mission​

Categories

Archives

About

Blog

Contact

My mission