Ask Doctor Yung

Recently, I saw a patient with a case of shingles. In addition to suffering from the rash, he was feeling very misunderstood. ‘‘No one in the family has heard of shingles,’ he said, ‘so they don’t believe how much it hurts. They think I’m exaggerating.’

What most people (those who’ve even heard of shingles) don’t realise that it is caused by inflammation of the nerves that are just beneath the skin surface. Imagine the worst case of pins and needles you’ve ever had. That’s how inflamed nerves can feel, except you can’t stop the pain by moving.

Shingles can arise in a person whose immune system has been weakened due to severe or prolonged illness, immune suppressing medications of extreme stress. It must be treated.

Natural treatments include:
• Cold compresses on the affected skin.
• Lysine cream or hypericum oil applied to the skin (find them in health food stores)
• Vitamin E oil squeezed directly from vit E capsules on the skin
• Calamine lotion applied directly to the lesions
• Vitamin C (2-3 gm taken in 1 gm doses)
• Vitamin E (600 I.U. daily)
• Lysine (500-1000 gm three times daily)
• Vitamin B12 injections have been known to relieve lingering pain after treatment.

A study reported in the Journal of the Americal Medical Association (JAMA 253:1) showed that 85% of patients receiving intramuscular injections of adenosine monophosphate (AMP) were free of pain within three weeks.

“No recurrence of pain or lesions was experienced from three to 18 months after the end of treatment. Adenosine monophosphate, a natural cellular metabolite, showed no side effects or toxicity during and after the treatment.”

I post this material for information purposes only. Consult your doctor before taking supplements or seeking treatment with AMP, especially if you are on medications or have other health issues.

I run across so few people who are aware of the dangers of mouthwash. Many dentists still recommend them, and if you pay attention to TV ads, you might get the impression that using a mouthwash is as necessary as cleaning your teeth or taking a bath! What rot!

Mouthwashes can cause oral cancer, a particularly nasty and difficult cancer to treat. The main cause is the high alcohol content in many mouthwashes. Some popular brands contain more alcohol than wine or beer!

In 2008, Australian researchers reported, “There is now sufficient evidence to accept the proposition that alcohol-containing mouthwashes contribute to the increased risk of development of oral cancer”. For smokers, the risk of developing cancer of the mouth is even higher.

Apparently, as you swish many well-known mouthwashes around your mouth, the alcohol forms a chemical called acetaldehyde, a toxin that is also known to be carcinogenic and to be toxic to your organs and nervous system. It’s also one of the chemicals in alcohol that toxify your liver and kidneys and cause hangovers. Acetaldehyde has been ranked as one of the most hazardous chemicals to human health.

So if you’re concerned about dental health or bad breath, don’t reach for a popular brand mouthwash. Dissolve sea salt or baking soda in warm water and rinse.

For bad breath, chew on a mint or parsley leaf. Better yet, recognise bad breath for the symptom that it is, and get professional help to identify and eliminate the underlying cause.

Much of what we call aging is actually a result of stress. Aside from changing our body chemistry, disrupting our body systems and creating toxic byproducts in our bodies, stress affects how we look on the outside: our posture, the way we move, and our faces. When we are stressed, our muscles tighten, and we lose our natural flexibility and gracefulness. Our facial muscles tighten into hard lines of worry, irritation or anger around our eyes, mouth, forehead and nose.

Research shows that stress even alters the DNA in our cells, causing them to age much faster and shortening our lifespan. But when we are calm and positive, explains research scientist Bruce Lipton, a pioneer in the new, holistic approach to biology, “we send totally different messages to our cells and reprogram their expression”.

But how do we find calm in this high stress world? Well, aside from nurturing our bodies with whole foods, pure water, exercise, rest, a clean environment and good health care, we can tap into our deep inner place of calm.

Here is a simple method that I use to calm myself in times of stress and centre myself in the present. It might take you a few practices to get the hang of it, but when you do, it works.

- Sit with your back straight (on the floor or a chair, as you prefer)

- Touch the tip of your tongue to the palate just behind your teeth. (This connects different areas of your energy body). Gently hold your tongue in that position throughout the exercise.

- Exhale completely through your mouth. You should hear yourself exhaling.

- Hold and count to 7 before inhaling.

- Inhale slowly through your nose to the count of 7 (Your abdomen should expand naturally)

- Hold the breath for the count of 7 (not to the point of discomfort)

- Repeat this breath cycle 3 times.

Use this breath whenever you find your self becoming upset or anxious, and want to develop a more positive attitude.

Anti-aging experts have concluded that for most of us, aging equals inactivity. It’s that simple.

The most important thing you can do to live longer is stay active.

Even if you’ve been a couch potato for years, it’s not too late the reap the benefits of regular exercise. One study tracked 9,777 men aged 20-82 and found that previously inactive men who exercised and became fit had death rates 44% lower than those who remained unfit.

Wow! Years more of life for a mere 45 minutes a day!

So get outside and walk for 30 minutes a day, every day, or for 45 minutes 5 days a week. And for even greater benefits, whenever you sit watching television, lift light hand weights for upper body strength.
It’s that easy.

Let’s face it. Junk food is addictive. It’s fast, easy, and loaded with chemicals to make it taste, look and feel better …in other words, to disguise its insipid, bland, ugly deadness. Without all those artificial flavourings, texturizers and colours, it would look as dead as it really is.

You’re not deceived though. You’re trying to eat more real foods. But you still crave junk foods. Here are some tips to help end those cravings once and for all:

1. Create a junk-free environment

Clear out all junk food from your home, all of it. Make it so that when you open the cupboard or fridge, you find only good, wholesome food. Make it so that if you want junk food, you have to make an effort to get to it.

2. Don’t let yourself get hungry

Eat small healthy meals throughout the day to ward off hunger pangs. Your body will have a steady supply of energy, which means it won’t suddenly feel like it’s starving, and crave high calorie foods. Give it the calories (energy), nutrients and healthy fats it needs, and it won’t find junk food appealing.

3. Think about what you eat.

Don’t be a mindless eater. Instead, remind yourself that the calories and fats in junk foods are not only empty of nutrients…they are also harmful. The body doesn’t want empty calories, so bits of junk food are often poorly digested, clogging up your system so that nutrients from the good foods you eat  can’t get to where they are needed.

Remember that junk food is NOT food…and whatever food is in there has been thoroughly killed and chemicalized. You might as well be eating paper. If you still want it, eat something healthy first to nourish your body. Than junk food certainly won’t!

Recently, I saw a patient whose child was on the antihistamine, carbinoxamine. Alarm bells went off!

Carbinoxamine is known to have adverse side effects, and even to cause deaths in children under two years of age. You won’t find this information on the Carbinoxamine.com home page, but it is mentioned in page 2. They also inform you that the only drug with carbinoxamine that is now approved by the FDA is Palgic.

Drugs.com also warns against carbinoxamine. They write:

“Do not give this medication to a child younger than 2 years old, even if the medicine label provides dosing instructions for children in this age group. Deaths have been reported in children under 2 years old…..

“Do not use carbinoxamine if you have used an MAO inhibitor such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), rasagiline (Azilect), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam), or tranylcypromine (Parnate) within the past 14 days. Serious, life-threatening side effects can occur….

These warning still apply to the FDA-approved carbinoxamine drug, Palgic. You should also avoid this antihistamine if you have intestinal or prostate troubles, a stomach ulcer, heart disease, high blood pressure, overactive thyroid or asthma.

You are the only one who can protect yourself and your family from harmful drugs. Before you accept fill any prescription or buy any drug, do your research. Check several sites, not just one. And don’t rely on government to ensure medications are safe. This drug has been on the market since the early 1950’s. It took the FDA over half a century to finally check it out and take action!

Better yet, break free of allergy drugs and antihistamines altogether. Get your allergies treated naturally. To find out how, check out ‘Health Programs’ at www.renewyoujourney.com.au

How often do you hear a man complaining that his hormones are driving him crazy? Men like to think that they are in control of their emotions and, unlike their menopausal or post-menopausal wives or sisters, not affected by something they can’t even see, like their hormones.

But crazy hormones are not just a female issue. Men experience many of the same hormone problems as women, even though they might express them differently. As a man ages, testosterone levels fall and estrogen levels tend to rise. Studies have shown that the average 54 year old man has estrogen levels higher than those of the average 59 year old woman!

Like women, men whose hormones are out of balance can suffer from bone loss, poor concentration, hair loss, poor memory, irritability, headaches, depression, stubborn weight gain, fatigue, sleep problems and premature aging. They may also experience urinary problems, erectile dysfunction, low sperm count, or prostate problems. Hormone imbalance is a major cause of prostate conditions in men, including prostate cancer.

Sometimes, these problems can be easily corrected by improving the diet: switching from a diet heavy in processed foods, red meat, sweets and baked goods to a more natural diet with lots of fresh vegetables, dark leafy greens, raw nuts, fish, and natural yogurt. Good nutrition also helps to keep your adrenal glands healthy; your adrenals play a key role in your body’s hormone balance. To keep your hormones healthy, you should also avoid toxins (especially at home), exercise daily, get enough rest and relaxation, reduce stress and drink lots of pure water.

If your hormones are already out of kilter, however, it will probably take more than diet to bring them back into balance. Seek help, but remember, there is no one-solution-fixes-all for hormonal problems. I have achieved fantastic results for my patients at the Renew-You Centre for Wellbeing and Longevity with a natural hormone balancing program that is individualised to address each person’s particular health and hormonal issues.

Or to put it another way: With all this money being spent on health care, why do so many people stay sick?

Part of the answer, I believe, is our over-reliance on drugs. Most prescribed medications cause side effects; they help relieve or suppress one problem but cause others problems down the track.

Toxins also affect our health. If we don’t take specific steps to help our systems detoxify and to limit our exposure to more toxins, our organs and eventually all body systems, including the central nervous system can be affected.

And there’s stress. If you still don’t know that stress is a major cause of illness and disease, including heart disease, you just haven’t been listening.

Our attitudes to illness and health can also keep us ill:

Symptom-based definition of health – Has this happened to you? You go to a doctor complaining of general unwellness or vague aches or pains, but you have no clear symptoms. Your doctor does a few tests, finds nothing and tells you you’re healthy. When we define health simply as the absence of disease we are considered healthy until we have recognisable symptoms. Yet symptoms often arise long after our health has begun to deteriorate and body systems have been affected.

Symptom-based treatments – Let me give you an example of how treating symptoms rather than looking for underlying causes can cause needless misery. Thousands of children with chronic ear infections had little tubes surgically inserted to help drain fluid buildup. Later research showed that most of the surgeries were ineffective or unnecessary. Because food intolerances or allergies can cause ear infections in small children, many of these problems could have been prevented just by avoiding milk or other problem foods.

Of course, there are many other reasons why people might remain unwell. For instance, they may not be aware of natural treatment options; they may be confused by conflicting professional opinions; they may not be willing or able to afford treatment or they may not consider real health important enough.

Do you realise that the modern diet is typically high in foods that are not only dead and therefore provide no real nutritional value, but are behind the rapid increase in chronic and serious diseases over the past century?

Why would you want to eat foods that actually harm you? Sugary refined foods, junk food, and saturated fats sap your energy, pile on flabby kilos, and alter your body chemistry, causing all kinds of healthful problems. Not only that, they age you much much faster than nature intended.

Junk and over processed foods also keep you hungry! Neuroendocrinologist Dr Zane Andrews found that free radicals in refined carbohydrates and sugars actually attack your brain cells, turning off your natural appetite control, so you eat more!

Refined carbs are also addictive. They convert into sugar, which supports the bad bacteria in your body. When you try cutting down, the little critters start demanding more. So you get sugar cravings.

If you want to get yourself off those packaged, processed, chemicalized foods, or wean off junk foods, try these tips:

• Make one meal every day a large rainbow salad for dinner. Include a variety of colourful vegetables, greens and a handful of sunflower seeds. Add chicken or tuna if you like. There are so many possible combinations.

• Eat good quality protein with every meal, including breakfast. Eggs, fish, chicken and lamb are good choices.

• Every morning and an hour before dinner, drink a glass of pure water with the fresh juice of half a lemon. It helps to balance your body pH.

If you eat well, your body will be better able to cope with an occasional (that’s occasional) unhealthy or sugary food. But after a while, you may find that you no longer want it. Once your body starts responding to the good stuff, it is no longer satisfied with empty calories/kilojoules from dead foods. Soon you’ll wonder why it took you so long to give your body the foods it really wants!