Wild Rose College and Wholistic Clinic

In Western society, we receive good education within the realms of linear thought and physical exercise, but we obtain very little emotional education. Most people are left on their own, or in family situations, to develop the emotional (non-linear) realm. Unfortunately this sometimes can be a negative spiral, as it may be a blind-leading-the-blind situation. Our culture tends to reward left brain achievements and give little value to right brain ones. Many people do not have good management skills for non-linear input. If a person is inputting more non-linear data than average, due to above-average sensitivity, without suitable release mechanisms, they build up right brain tensions. People in our society often try to release this tension via recreational drugs, sex, some forms of entertainment, etc. It seems the more perfectionism (left brain) a person has, the fewer release mechanisms that person possesses. This can cause a stagnation of Qi (chee). Input without proper release can create inflammation, and even tumour systems.

In a society that rewards individuality, personal achievement, and perfectionism, we often find personal isolation. A feeling of taking on the environment and the world as a whole, by oneself. This often makes a person seek out ‘belongership’, joining gangs, clubs, religious groups, cults etc. This gives a feeling of group work, a feeling of belonging. As consumers, and often to show power in a pecking order, we tend to want to accumulate material things: consumption of drugs, food, sexual fetishes, money or other material items. This continued input, without output, of course, leads to further stagnation of Qi.

In many of the developing countries, where there isn’t the constant drive for material achievement, we find happier people with more family orientation. In the larger cities, we often find a kind of hive consciousness that moves as a large group. Usually these societie, have strong festival times; legitimate times to be creative and celebrate as an entire population. It seems this aids in the releasing of pent-up energy thus discharging large amounts of the unconscious background noise. In our modern society, we try to release tensions by participating in events such as The Super Bowl, other sporting venues and through our overly commercial holiday times. Consumerism is often the key note here.

Our ancestors had to be creative to survive. Having to make one’s own clothes, or weave the basket to carry food, was a necessity. This transmuting of background emotions to creative output, without perfectionism, seems to be a big key to releasing stagnant Qi that builds up from internalizing non-linear input. We, in our modern world, need to incorporate these release mechanisms into our everyday life. Simple creative releases like doodling, singing along with a favourite tune, dancing, keeping a journal, or maybe doing t’ai chi, are all very useful for this. The biggest key to the whole equation is creativity without perfectionism.

People who are very sensitive pick up all sorts of emotional input from their environment. Some of these emotions such as love, friendship, and the happy feeling one experiences on hearing the giggles of kids playing, are nutritious to our souls. Other emotions, also picked up, are not necessarily as beneficial and might be summed up as emotional roughage. Just as food roughage cleans out our gastrointestinal tracts if eliminated properly, emotional roughage can cleanse our spirits, again, if eliminated properly.

This comes down to one of the most basic of natural healing concepts. IN - DO -OUT. You are what you put in, what you do with it and what you do not eliminate. This is true of emotional food, just as much as dietary food. We have to eliminate negative emotions or learn to transmute these base emotions into ‘golden’ emotions, good for our souls.

Is the immune system a tuning fork (a morphic resonance) reflecting the harmonics of the way we perceive our environment? From observing people in clinical practice over the last twenty or so years, I find that people with strong constitutions who have above average sensitivity but without release mechanisms for their sensitivity, often end up with auto-immune issues. It seems somewhat strange that it is often the people with the strongest bodies who get the worse diseases. Strong constitutions seem to trap unreleased emotions in the muscles and viscera.

Some people are highly attuned to non-verbal communication. In fact, the non-verbal (non-linear) communication in some overshadows verbal (linear) communication. A person who internalizes non-linear data and tries to hide it behind linear thought will often create circular arguments.

Circular arguments can cause a kind of background noise in one’s psyche that produces a low grade stress. This can create disharmony in the body making many of the circular muscles tighten on themselves. In turn, the tubes of the body are affected resulting in problems of the digestive tract (poor digestion and constipation), respiratory tract (asthma), circulation (high blood pressure), and muscle bundles ( Fibromyalgia), to mention a few.

Stress centers itself around the endocrine system and central nervous system; specifically, the hypothalamus and limbic centers of the brain, the pituitary, adrenal, and pancreatic glands of the endocrine system. Stress triggers the limbic center and hypothalamus to stimulate the pituitary to produce ACTH which then stimulates the adrenal glands. The sympathetic nervous system prepares the body to react to stress by stimulating the pancreas and adrenal glands. At this point the ratio between the hormones regulates subsequent release of other hormones as well as influencing protein, fat and glucose metabolism. The final effect is to increase the amount of available raw materials so the body has lots of instant energy (glucose and fats), as well as suitable materials to rebuild tissue damaged as a result of an injury caused by a stressful situation.

Today, instead of the "fight or flight" situation, our systems generally seem to be under continual minor stress. The body*s stress response is continually "turned on" with occasional crescendos during extra stress. A little stress isn*t bad for you. In fact, it is a necessary part of life - with the chemical "high" bringing pleasure (thus the enjoyment of roller coasters, etc.). It is long term, low grade stress that affects the system in unpleasant ways.

Stress decreases the performance of our immune systems. Experimental studies with rats have indicated stress lowers their resistance to viruses and parasites. In humans, high levels of cortisol (a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex) have been found in correlation with deficiencies in the immune system. White blood cells, fundamental units of the immune system, have neuroreceptors in their cell membranes; thus their activity responds to neural and emotional changes in the individual.

In some people, stress is often centered in the pituitary (ACTH). This type of stress is usually caused by emotional (limbic; non-linear) coloration of life - not paper problems, but people and communication problems. When these people get into some stress-related situations they don*t react in a fight-or-flight manner as others might. Instead, they respond more on an emotional level with depression, withdrawing into a closer, group-oriented, emotional support situation.

To release this pent-up, non-specific emotional chatter, we need to transmute it or eliminate it. We can accomplish this by transferring this energy into random acts of creativity.

I feel that these unconscious energies that cause background noise affect the communication level of the cytokines, thus encouraging immune malfunctions - the breaking down of the hologram. If the person has a strong body, this immune malfunction becomes similar to a military coup, trying to over take the body. A person needs to output non-linear background noise and feel more in touch with the whole.

Stress, as a factor in our lives, is not well defined. It can be quite varied from person to person. Emotional, mental and physiological stress affects us all differently. These stresses place an additional nutritional demand on the body.

Endorphins

Many of the people who are now experiencing auto-immune syndromes admit that, in the past, they enjoyed stressful situations, and perhaps still do. "Life would be boring without the highs and lows created by stress". The same sorts of people are also likely to participate avidly in high-powered activities such as aerobic exercise. It is often very difficult to convince them to stop these activities while undergoing therapy. It almost seems to be an addiction. These activities correspond closely to a recently discovered class of endocrine chemicals called endorphins and enkephalins. These opium-like hormones regulate functions which include modulation of stress, pain, moods, sexuality, appetite, addictions, substance abuse, work and sports performance as well as the basic processes of learning.

The endorphins play many roles in the body but are postulated to represent "conservation and expenditure of bodily resources and energy in anticipation of famine or feast". It has also been theorized that the runner’s ‘second wind’occurs when endorphins are released. I have had many patients that say the only time when they feel really alive is after they have done physical exercise, or some other comparable event that drives them to this level. Unfortunately, to keep up these endorphin "rushes" the ante has to be continually increased; running longer, skiing harder hills, sky diving, generally pushing the body and mind to extremes. Many of these people are addicted to their own self-produced brand of opium, "endorphins".

The mother chemical for endorphins is also the mother chemical for adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). This is the chemical produced by the anterior pituitary in response to stress. Beta-endorphin has the same secretory release dynamics from the pituitary as ACTH: It is basically released into the blood stream in response to stress (physical, emotional, cognitive and imaginative).

Endorphins are also very sensitive to limbic (emotional) action, being implicated in many emotional and mood disorders. They also are known to block pain, both physical and emotional, by the release of substance P.

Many studies have now concluded that the immune and neuroendocrine systems represent a totally integrated circuit by virtue of sharing a common set of hormones, such as corticotropin, thyrotropin endorphins, and receptor sites. It has been shown that the endorphins have a profound effect on the immune system, both as a sensory "organ" to signal the central nervous system and to aid in regulation of the immune system.

In a high-stress situation some people have dopamine and serotonin biochemical responses (both affecting moods) instead of the epinephrine response as other people have.

Supplementation

The supplements we have found useful for this area are: Reishi, Kava Kava, Chlorella, Siberian Ginseng, St. John’s wort and Skullcap and formulas such as Shih Chuan ta pu wang, Liu Wei and Ener-Jazz and Bach Flower (et al). Of course counselling, even at the level of encouraging right brain output (creativity without perfectionism), is very important.

REISHI (Ganoderma lucidum, G. applanatum and related species) is by far my favorite botanical in this area. The by-line, "to protect an academic from his own brain" is very appropriate here. Reishi has been examined extensively through both traditional and modern scientific methods. Both the ethanol and aqueous extracts have been found to inhibit the central nervous system of mice and act additionally as an expectorant. It has been used for nervous problems like insomnia and paranoid conditions in humans.¹ Reishi can be justifiably considered an antioxidant. It is very likely this feature has contributed to its reputation as a longevity herb in Chinese medicine. It has been shown to be very effective in scavenging the hydroxyl radical in blood plasma.²

For respiratory problems it has demonstrated a 60% recovery rate for allergy-related chronic bronchitis. In the same research, improvement was noted in 97.9% of the cases. Chinese studies have shown benefit for 87.5% of bronchial asthmatics with a cure rate of 48%. For sinus problems the cure rate is over 50% with effectiveness being approx. 80%. Reduction of asthma in guinea pigs, and contact dermatitis in mice, has been considered remarkable by Japanese researchers.³ Reishi was shown to significantly inhibit histamine release and to be effective against Img-E related allergies.^4,5

Injection of the extract has lowered blood pressure in both dogs and rabbits. The active ingredient for circulation is a triterpene which inhibits angiotensin converting enzyme (responsible for narrowing the arteries in high blood pressure).⁷ Reishi has been verified to inhibit excessive platelet accumulation and to reinforce the outer membrane of the red corpuscle.⁸ Reishi is known to stop thrombi formations (blood clots).⁹ In China it was shown to be effective in 80% of myocardial infarction and angina cases while being curative in 25%.¹⁰

Studies done in Japan have confirmed that Reishi can be responsible for arresting metastic cancer in laboratory mice. The Japanese Cancer Society has found Reishi effective against sarcomas. The active ingredients responsible for this are the polysaccharides.¹² Gandelan A & B are the known factors responsible for Reishi*s sugar-regulating ability.

In the digestive tract, Reishi has shown an 80% cure rate for ulcers. The difficult problem of chronic hepatitis has shown a 10% cure rate in 2 months with 40% reduction of symptoms. Reishi reduced the symptoms associated with hepatitis in carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic mice.

ST. JOHN*S WORT (Hypericum perforatum) is presently the second most prescribed drug in Germany for depression. It out sells drugs such as Prozac. The alkaloid is said to have a tonic effect on the ventricles of the heart, the aorta and arterioles.⁵ It is also known to be useful for pulmonary complaints, bladder trouble, suppression of urine, dysentery, worms and nervous depression.⁶

The tranquilizing quality has been attributed to hypericin. Even small amounts have been found effective, by increasing blood flow to stressed tissue. This blood flow has also been shown to be hypotensive, reducing capillary fragility and enhancing uterine tone. This alkaloid has also been shown to cause photosensitivity in some people.^7,8

St John*s Wort has antibacterial and antiviral activity against tuberculosis, Gram-positive organisms, Micrococcus, Bacillus and influenza A/PR8.^9-12

Tests performed at the U.S. National Cancer Institute have indicated the extract has promise against cancer. ¹³

KAVA KAVA (Psiper methysticum) relaxes the system, and increases ease of communication. It is often said to ‘Yin’ out females and ‘soften’ male energy. The kava pyrones have their main action on the reticular formation of the brain stem, with an endo-anaesthetic effect in the gastric mucosa and the bladder mucosa. The pyrones have local anesthetic action similar to cocaine. These chemicals produce relaxation followed by harmless paralysis, found functionally to stop spasms. It has been shown to inhibit spontaneous motor activity, but not forced muscle activity in normal dose range. Its urinary relaxing effect has been used to calm down bladder infection and to treat gonorrhea. Kava-kava has been used as an antagonist to strychnine poisoning and tetanus.

SKULLCAP (Scutellaria lateriflora) was heavily used by the Eclectics for health issues that seemed very similar to these problems. The calming effect of skullcap has been attributed to scutellarein.¹⁰ The herb has been used for neuralgia, hiccoughs, insomnia and nervous disorders. It has been shown that skullcap is anti-acetylcholine and antihistamine on isolated guinea pig ileum, as well as inhibiting norepinepherine-induced contraction in guinea pig vas deferens. Heart rate has been shown to be reduced. ^11-16 A 70% methanol extract of the whole root of species with flavonoids present has been shown to be anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory. It has been shown to inhibit arachidonates in rat leukocytes. This could have great significance in many inflammatory diseases.¹⁷

SIBERIAN GINSENG (Eleuthrococcus senticosus) has a strong function on stress, the adrenals and to stabilize emotions. The extract of Eleuthrococcus has increased physical performance in both humans and mice.³ In hens and piglets, increased growth and survival rate was accomplished by the use of Eleutrococcus extract.^4,5 In rat studies their increased protein anabolism was demonstrated in organ and muscle tissue.⁶ The extract has increased thermostability upon heat exposure in humans.⁷

Increased catecholamine concentrations in the adrenals and brain of rats after oral consumption of the extract suggest an explanation for stress tolerance.⁸ Polysaccharides in Eleuthrococcus have been shown to have immunostimulating activity, with increased phagocytosis in vitro and in vivo.^9,10,11 One dramatic study demonstrated that children with shigella and Proteus recovered faster when given Eleuthrococcus extract along with antibiotics in contrast to antibiotics by themselves.¹²

Siberian Ginseng extract has been shown to double the survival time of mice during chronic irradiation of up to 7,000 rads.¹³

Eleuthrosides B,D, and E were shown to aid recovery after sexual stress.¹⁴ It was also found to strengthen seminal vessels and prostates in mice.¹⁵ In females, the activation rate of steroidal receptors was higher in the uterus (including response to estrogen) when Eleuthrococcus was ingested.¹⁶