Healing 101(b)(i)

Healing the body...sunshine.

Seriously, sometimes it is simple...sunshine, good food, rest and play. And companionship. So today I will again bore people with my take on optimal sun. Wow. this is seriously a new low.

as an aside, I went to my Dad's for Thanksgiving. It was the first holiday with him in which I did not have to concern myself with feeling off. THat was, itself, a pleasure. It is sometimes like I have rewound the past. It was so long that I could not connect with the people I love and the people with whom I was spending time. It is an endless joy just to be with them, and to laugh, and be bored, and just be.

Sun.

When I was young, parents sent thier kids to play in the sun. Now, kids are slathered in sun screen and kept indoors. Everyone wears sunscreen so that even when you are in the sun, you are not in the sun. SEE Caryl A Nowson and Claire Margerison (2002). "Vitamin D intake and vitamin D status of Australians". The Medical Journal of Australia 177 (3): 149–152. PMID 12149085.

I played sports. I swam and I played water polo. I surf. I spent so many long hours in the sun, exposing almost every inch of my body to the sun, that I grew concerned when mainstream health media began to tell me that what I had done was damaging and potentionally increased by tendency to certain cancers.

I will not bore you with my research, or my journey thROugh it, and my many opinions. I will tell you my conclusion now.

Regular exposure to the sun is necessary to wellness. Exposure to sun is good, but trauma is bad.

Vitamin D From Sunlight

The ultraviolet wavelength that stimulates our bodies to produce vitamin D is UV-B. It is sometimes called the "burning ray" because it is the primary cause of sunburn. However, UV-B also initiates the beneficial responses, stimulating the production of vitamin D that the body uses in many important processes. Although UV-B causes sunburn, it also causes special skin cells called melanocytes to produce melanin, which is protective. UV-B also stimulates the production of Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH), an important hormone in weight loss and energy production.

It is difficult to get adequate vitamin D from sunlight because while UV-A is present throughout the day, the amount of UV-B present has to do with the angle of the sun's rays. Thus, UV-B is present only during midday hours at higher latitudes, and only with significant intensity in temperate or tropical latitudes. Only 5 percent of the UV-B light range goes through glass and it does not penetrate clouds, smog or fog. Sun exposure at higher latitudes before 10 am or after 2 pm will cause burning from UV-A before it will supply adequate vitamin D from UV-B. It means that sunning must occur between the hours we have been told to avoid. Only sunning between 10 am and 2 pm during summer months (or winter months in southern latitudes) for 20-120 minutes, depending on skin type and color, will form adequate vitamin D before burning occurs.


The current suggested exposure of hands, face and arms for 10-20 minutes, three times a week, provides only 200-400 IU of vitamin D each time or an average of 100-200 IU per day during the summer months. In order to achieve optimal levels of vitamin D, 85 percent of body surface needs exposure to prime midday sun. (About 100-200 IU of vitamin D is produced for each 5 percent of body surface exposed, we want 4,000 iu.) Light skinned people need 10-20 minutes of exposure while dark skinned people need 90-120 minutes. Latitude and altitude determine the intensity of UV light. UV-B is stronger at higher altitudes. Latitudes higher than 30° (both north and south) have insufficient UV-B sunlight two to six months of the year, even at midday.12 Latitudes higher than 40° have insufficient sunlight to achieve optimum levels of D during six to eight months of the year. In much of the US, which is between 30° and 45° latitude, six months or more during each year have insufficient UV-B sunlight to produce optimal D levels. In far northern or southern locations, latitudes 45° and higher, even summer sun is too weak to provide optimum levels of vitamin D.

So I live in Boston, which lies at just above 42 degrees norhtern latitude. That means that if I suddenly decided to lie stark naked in the commons at 12 noon tommorrow, I would not revieve sufficeint UVB to give me the needed vitamin D for my system. While I have no immediate plans for public nudity nor exposure to the sun in 35 degree weather, the fact remains, I am not getting enough Vitamin D during the winter, and, as an office bound attorney, probably not in the summer either.

So what am I missing?

Your buddy Vitamin D:

"Sunlight and vitamin D are critical. Standard textbooks state that the principal function of vitamin D is to promote calcium absorption in the gut and calcium transfer across cell membranes, thus contributing to strong bones and a calm, contented nervous system. It is also well recognized that vitamin D aids in the absorption of magnesium, iron and zinc, as well as calcium.

Receptors for vitamin D are found in most of the cells in the body and research during the 1980s suggested that vitamin D contributed to a healthy immune system, promoted muscle strength, regulated the maturation process and contributed to hormone production.

During the last ten years, researchers have made a number of exciting discoveries about vitamin D. They have ascertained, for example, that vitamin D is an antioxidant that is a more effective antioxidant than vitamin E in reducing lipid peroxidation and increasing enzymes that protect against oxidation.19;20
Vitamin D deficiency decreases biosynthesis and release of insulin.21 Glucose intolerance has been inversely associated with the concentration of vitamin D in the blood. Thus, vitamin D may protect against both Type I and Type II diabetes.22
The risk of senile cataract is reduced in persons with optimal levels of D and carotenoids.23
PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) has been corrected by supplementation of D and calcium.24
Vitamin D plays a role in regulation of both the "infectious" immune system and the "inflammatory" immune system.25
Low vitamin D is associated with several autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis, Sjogren's Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis and Crohn's disease.26;27
Osteoporosis is strongly associated with low vitamin D. Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis respond favorably (and rapidly) to higher levels of D plus calcium and magnesium.28
D deficiency has been mistaken for fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or peripheral neuropathy.1;28-30
Infertility is associated with low vitamin D.31 Vitamin D supports production of estrogen in men and women.32 PMS has been completely reversed by addition of calcium, magnesium and vitamin D.33 Menstrual migraine is associated with low levels of vitamin D and calcium.81
Breast, prostate, skin and colon cancer have a strong association with low levels of D and lack of sunlight.34-38
Activated vitamin D in the adrenal gland regulates tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate limiting enzyme necessary for the production of dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine. Low D may contribute to chronic fatigue and depression.39
Seasonal Affective Disorder has been treated successfully with vitamin D. In a recent study covering 30 days of treatment comparing vitamin D supplementation with two-hour daily use of light boxes, depression completely resolved in the D group but not in the light box group.40
High stress may increase the need for vitamin D or UV-B sunlight and calcium.41
People with Parkinsons and Alzheimers have been found to have lower levels of vitamin D.42;43
Low levels of D, and perhaps calcium, in a pregnant mother and later in the child may be the contributing cause of "crooked teeth" and myopia. When these conditions are found in succeeding generations it means the genetics require higher levels of one or both nutrients to optimize health.44-47
Behavior and learning disorders respond well to D and/or calcium combined with an adequate diet and trace minerals.48;49"

So what do I do?

Well, I try to get into the sun. That means biking to work in the summer, I take as many sun walks as I can, and I try to get out into it on the weekend. I avoid burning. The strongest cancer links are found in those who regulalry burn, or who have burned traumatically, or who have burned before the age of 12. People who have regular exposure to sunshine do not have extremely elevated risk of skin cancer. It is the Summer and weekend burn sets that are most in danger.

I stopped wearing sunglasses as often as I used to. Apparently some of the conversion process from pro-hormone to hormone only occurs in the cornea is stimulated directly with sunshine. Beisdes that, I like the sun. I like the way it feels. I like spring time sun naps, and the way it warms the summer concrete around the pool.

I wear sun screen when I surf. I try to get into the sun for a bit before I put it on. I put a lot of it on my face. I am looking into UV googles for the ocean because I made a very stupid mistake when I was playing polo and burned my retina when I was in college. I have a cateract now for my indescretion, and it is not a process I am long to accelerate.

I have considered buying a sun lamp. Sperti makes the best ones. I dont know much more about it, though I do have fantastic images of sun lamp driven bikini pool parties this winter in Boston. Hey, they make fake snow, why not fake sun?

I take cod liver oil. It is the foundation of all my other supplments. I take a teaspoon every day with my morning nutrients. It tastes, well, like fish oil. But they do make flavored oils. It was my experience that my nutrients were absorbed better with it. Amount of nutrient prescribed by the PTC all of a sudden were a bit too much. I am thinking of vitamin b-6 in particular. Its good, cheap insurance, and if I had only one supplement in my chest, that would be it.

here is a bit on it:

"This marvelous golden oil contains large amounts of elongated omega-3 fatty acids, preformed vitamin A and the sunlight vitamin D, essential nutrients that are hard to obtain in sufficient amounts in the modern diet. Samples may also naturally contain small amounts of the important bone- and blood-maintainer vitamin K.
There is hardly a disease in the books that does not respond well to treatment that includes cod liver oil, and not just infectious diseases but also chronic modern diseases like heart disease and cancer. Cod liver oil provides vitamin D that helps build strong bones in children and helps prevent osteoporosis in adults. The fatty acids in cod liver oil are also very important for the development of the brain and nervous system. "If you want to prevent learning disabilities in your children," said David Horrobin, distinguished medical and biochemical researcher, "feed them cod liver oil."Cod liver oil contains more vitamin A and more vitamin D per unit weight than any other common food. One hundred grams of regular cod liver oil provides 100,000 IU of vitamin A, almost three times more than beef liver, the next richest source; and 10,000 IU vitamin D, almost four times more than lard, the next richest source. Of course, cod liver oil is only consumed in small amounts, but even a tablespoon (about 15 grams) provides well over the recommended daily allowance for both nutrients.
In addition, cod liveroil contains 7 percent each of the elongated omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. EPA is the precursor of important prostaglandins, localized tissue hormones that help the body deal with inflammation; and DHA is extremely important for the development and function of the brain and nervous system. So it's no surprise that in numerous studies cod liver oil has proven to be a powerhouse in fighting disease."

see the rest at the Weston A price Foundation...

Healing 101(b)

Healing the body.

This is a long one, but it comes first. I am staring at the clock right now, and I should be going home, but I feel like I can spare some thoughts right now and I want to hear myself talk. Or type, or...moving on.

Healing the body. Take two.

There are several aspects to healing the body in a situation such as mine. my approach was devided into several parts: 1) Optimizing the organism 2) addressing exceses, and 3) addressing deficiencies.

Optimizing the organism.

I began with the notion that a budy receiving proper care will recover before a neglected body, all other things being equal. This sounds ridiculously obvious. Yet it is my experience that most people think little about this while they are young, and even when they are old, are more prone to perpetuate habits than to think criticaly about the environment that they are creatig within themselves.

The first step optimizing the organism is is defining, for yourself, "healthy". For me, this abstractly means adequate sleep, rest, food, sunshine, and play. And cool clothers. (ok, not cool clothes. I just wanted to see if you were nodding off. besides, I cannot recall the last time I said cool. I feel so very young again.) However, as an attorney, I know perhaps better than anyone, how much play can be wrenched from the word adequate. There are probably no absolute answers out there. Each person must reach his own conclusions. There are preferences, life circumstances, and biological individuality. But I find, that so long as one lives on purpose, and observes with some objectivity thier surroundings, then one will find something that nears an answers for what adequate means for them. Furthermore, one must have a decent sense of humor, because life should be laughed at and enjoyed.

I read a lot about sleep. How much sleep do people foreign to modern post agricultural society get? The answer is that noone knew until just a little while ago. Still, noone probably definitivley knows, but the answer is that the 8 hour sleep recommendation came from averaging sleep habits of industrial owrkers around the turn of the century. Hardly careful research. I read an article, which I may never find again, where some sleep scientist asked that question. They foudn sleep, like most things in life, is cyclical. Humans sleep longer in the winter months than in the summer. Further, they discovered that people rarely sleep 8 hous straight. They tended to fall asleep, then awaken again in the "little hours" also known as the "wee hours", of the night between midnight and 3. Then there would be some activity. Adults in bed, you do the math. There was also eating, and soemtimes just napping, which is a lighter state of sleep. The answer is that they slept an average of 14 hours a night in the winter, but as little as 6 in the summer. Interesting.

Modern sleep therapist divide sleepers into Long, short, and regular sleepers. Some people rapidly descend into delta sleep, and stay there without the characterstic peaks into alpha and beta. Thomas Jefferson owuld have been one, reputed to need but 3 hours sleep a night. Some people need 10 even 12 hours to reach the state of restedness. Obviously, all these requirements are impacted by health, stress levels, and age (all of which I will argue are at the least related and probably the same thing).

Darkness is essential to sleep. There is an alarmist book out there called "lights out" that raises some interesting questions about sleep. The authors conclude that america, or rather the world, is not getting enough quality sleep becuase we have forgotten how. They cite a report in which researchers measured brain wave disruption from shining a flashlight on the back of a patient's knees during sleep. Even though the light never touched his eyes, his sleep was distrupted signifigantly. interesting. they recommend total darkness for sleeping.

I experimented with this. yes, this requires you look like a lunatic with aluminum foil over the windows, but I did discover I woke signifigantly, and regularly, earlier when I slept in total darkenss. Even an eye shade, lame as they are, decreased my need for sleep by 30 minutes a night.

There is an old saying "an hour of sleep before 11 is worth 2 after it". I think this matches the circadian rythm a bit, indicating we should mirror the light dark pattern of the planet when we sleep.

In Feng Shui, practioners will tell you not to store anything under your bed, with the exception of linens or like material. They will also tell you that optimal bed position is reached by placing the foot of the bed facing the door. This can be corrected with a mirror if need be. The authors of the book I had, attributed this to the practice of laying out the dead with their heads toward the door to indicate that they are at peace, because they no longer worry about someone creaping in on them. Take what you will from this.

Materials. In general, I try to use all cotton. The dyes are probably going to kill be, but we all have our own thresholds for paranoia and that is mine. besides, at least once a week, I sleep at my girlfriend's house on an infatable matress with polyester sheets, and I would not trade it for all the cotton in Egypt.

So where does this leave me? I go to sleep around midnight. I have blackout shades. I have a fan on for white noise, becuase I live on a busy street. I have all cotton sheets and I sleep better with company. Hey, as I said before, you have to enjoy this life.

News from the front

C's mom gives us interesting information today. Her son is diagnosed h'penic, like me, and has been recovering nicely for the last...8 or 9 months[?]. Similar compounds to mine. Anyway, she is a great mother, and has been an asset, if not the main force, in her son's recovery. She is really wondeful. She is also rigorously inquisitive and researches every answer she gets. When her son's most recent labs came back from the PTC, she asked a nurse there some questions.

She writes:

"My consult with nurse E--- went well. She was very patient, took her time
with me and answeredall of my questions. I sent a list of questions to her a few
days before the phone consult.What did I learn? Pretty much what you
already told me. The chromium and adytyl L Carnitine is for hypoglycemia
which they want him to take regardless of his labs looking good. His glucose was
high (first lab).The MTP will raise the ceruloplasmin. It always lags
behind the other improvements. They like the free copper to be less than
25%.They expect his toxic metals in the hair to increase when he takes his next 6 month test. They think theMTP is going to make his body start excreeting the toxins. They are switching to Borage oil because it is less expensive and from Pro EFA to Nordic Natureals Pro Omega because we get a better dose withthe Pro Omega. They like using a mix of zinc picolinate and zinc
citrate because they think it works better. ... "

So, we all get to learn a few things from her tenacity and research. MTP does indeed cause the body to excrete toxins. No big suprise there, that is what the amino acids included would seem to potentiate. 25% FC, mine is at 38%, is the Free copper prefered by the PTC. MTP will indeed, or should indeed, raise circulating Cp levels. My Cp is very low. So low I was tested for Wilson's. Not once, but thrice. The first two time involved urinalysis, the third a liver biopsy. no Wilson's, but my Cp is still very low. Cp is a protein that binds copper. It can then move copper to the respective body sites in the inactive form. Cu is, after all, a heavy metal, toxic in large doses. It destroys histamine and sponsers norepinephrine formation. Thats a recipe for excitablity and serious discomfort. I believe it is formed in teh adrenal glands, after signalling from the liver. That adrenal connection is, to me, important. My adrenal glads are still a wreck, though nowhere what they used to be. After a half decade of non-stop flogging sometimes I will be cold for days, or my energy completely gone. My adrenal glands have, at times felt sore, but I might be imagaing thus, or it might just be back soreness that results from extended periods of anxiety and muscle bracing. Anyway, increased Cp is a good thing. And removing the toxins form the system. Histamine, known for its swelling effects in an alergic reaction such as rhinitus, is responsible for flushing out toxins in our system. Everyday all day your body has many local, microscopic, histamine reactions, moving lead, copper, tin, mercury, etc, out of your body by flushing the area with blood. Then it is bound by Cp and excreted through the kidneys. If you do not have enough Histamine, however, what have you? Build up. Nasty circle.

In repsonse to my bad day posting, she wrote the following interesting tidbit:

I think ( and I bet C----- would concur) that [your cyclical bad day
cycle] sounds like protracted withdrawl [editor's note- I took serazone for
1 calander year in 2000]. The TH folks in Canada say that it can take many
years to get all of a drug out of the system - even it it was only taken for
about a year. We get to look forward to that [C's doctor also had him on
some powerful prescription toxins, er, medicine]. Maybe the MTP will speed up
the process. C starts the MTP next week or as soon as we get the
pills in the mail.

Well C, good luck. Its a bit nasty at first. Take you time. The MTP has been one of the three supplments that radically improved my health. I hope you get the same from it.

I noted this morning that the flaw in the protracted withdrawl theory is that I took Serazone 5 years ago. C's mom counters that the TH people say it is not unheard of to find recirculating traces of a prescription pharmaceutical in the body up to a DECADE after wards. The other evidence tending to disprove this theory, is that while I never felt better on the Serazone, I never felt much worse. That said, maybe the flatness I feel is, indeed, Serazone. Some people complain of SSRI's flattening them out. But my one other experince with a SSRI, fluoxitine, AKA prozac, was horrific. I would expect a terrible response to the remainders of the stuff in my system, but perhaps there is too much there to worry about.

In support of what we will call, the M theory, I will say that I get these bad days usually, though not always, after a period of activity, or fewer than usual calories. I am an attorney, I tend to consume food on an irregular schedule. Sometimes I eat 4000, sometimes 1500. I dont pay attention unless my body weight slips. Then I eat everything I can find. Anyway, M cites an example of a friend's daughter, once, briefly, on a powerful pharamceutical, who has experinced several "flashbacks", if you will, btoh times after athletic training. The theory being that the toxins are stored in the body fat, and are released when our body burns fat for energy. In that case, I would imagine strength training, which has a greater emphasis on fat burning, to be more of a problem. No matter, it has to get out of there some time.

Interesting though to think that our past sins are still carried with us in the register of a fat stores. Truly, we never leave our past behind.

Thanks M.

another rough day

Strange how it is during the time sin which I feel the worst that I have the strongest need to turn to the internet nad write about it. Maybe it is becuase I recognize that it is primarily the illness that is of worth and interest to the public rahter than my health, or maybe I am just craving release. Who knows.

Dead head today. Flat, empty landscapes where my memory and personality used to be. I feel drunk, and stupid, and while I may be the latter, I most certainly am not the former. I feel fuzzy too, inside, like a subtle burning in all my muscles. Like there was fur in my veins. My sister would claim I was being melodramatic, but then, she doesn't read this blog.

What is going on? Probably more of the same. These used to put me out of commission. Now they are merely uncomfrtable. Still, that old urge to get the day overwith is there. I just want tommorrow, or whichever day sees this gone. I passed too many days in this state. I could be a tree. I dont want any stimulation or interaction at all. nothing but blessed emptyness.

Dont feel badly for me, rather, find something you love doing and do it. For me. Just today.

Healing 101

This morning I woke up and it felt as if I had turned thec lock back. Back to beign a boy, or at least a young man. Sometimes the healing is like that, like an old friend regained, like turning back a clock. It seems so familiar in ways, and sometimes, like this morning, that familiarity overwhelms me. Like getting a beloved grandparent, long dead, back. THere were just some parts of me that had moved on.

This has been the case lately. I noticed in my work lately that my mind works again. Not always as well as I would like it to, but as well as it should. And there is a difference. And each one of you knows where that is, even if you do not know that you do.

I spent years looking forward to each heap of pills, each tiny step forward towards regaining my health. That is fading fast. I take the pills, morning and night, and carry them wherever I go, but they no longer carry just hope. I am, more or less, well.

How long did it take? The PTC will tell you that recovery begins in 2-4 weeks for h'penics, and 4-8 weeks for h'delic, and concludes, respectively, in 4-8 months. Horsehit. Never seen anyone heal that fast. First of all, it takes a while for the PTC or for anyone, to find what is wrong. Then, there are usually underlying problems that frustrate absorbtion.

Abram Hoffer estimated half the time you were sick. This is more realistic. That for me, that time meant 27 months, concluding...January of this year. And that estimate is about right on schedule.

Well, I feel like I should have a better understnading of what I am taking and why, so bear with me, while I take a few days/weeks to break down my appraoch to recovery.

I have found that there seem to be three componenets to being a human being. They are not seperate in any measure, but, since they can be out of balance and make one feel terrible, I think it is reasonable to consider them seperately for sake of discussion.

There is a physical, mental, and spiritual component to everyone. They not only overlap, but they are really the same thing. Just as I have a hard time believing that anyone who does not engage in some sort of dedicated physical play is well educated, I have yet to find someone who was not spitiually engaged who moved beautifully. Sometimes there are people who focus on but one aspect- businessmen locked in thier heads, athletes who waste away concentrating only on thier sports, Aesthetes who wander without impact on their world.

Being ill impacts all three of these. I will stop talking in generalities: Sz impacts all three realms. To heal completely, you will need to heal all three areas.

When I was very sick, an aquaintence of mine, whom I met through our similar illnesses (She had Krone's), convinced me to try an experiment. She asserted that our bodies had a certain innate wisdom, and that we could tap into this. She asked me to trust this, and to take 7 pieces of paper and lay them bedside. Each morning for a week, I was, upon wakening, to draw the first thing that came to mind. Very well.

In the beggini of that week, I drew a jumble of contorted images, wavy lines and circles. Nonesense really. later I covered an entire page with the word "please". I dolored in one whole back in black, with only the sun crepping out beneath it. There were images of a bed, a clock, and a plate of eggs.

Now, one could use these to cover the dining room table, or to mop up cat piss, and the world would have lost nothing, but I showed these to D and she responded that "that is your roadmap to health". Hmmm. At the time it seemed a little unbelieveable, but today, I dont know how off she was. I was lost at first, I looked everywhere for help, once found, it still took time, rest and proper nutrition to get better. I wonder what would have happened had I drawn mickey mouse?

More later....