Healthpharmas. About Health & Medicine

I first came across the tree called Ginkgo biloba some years ago, while on a visit to the Far East. There were some very fine specimens near Nagasaki, Japan – the city destroyed by an atom bomb. The trees had fortunately survived. Now Ginkgo biloba is also grown in Europe’s temperate zone, its leaves containing the same active substances as those grown in Asia. In fact, I planted a maidenhair tree, as it is also called, in my garden ten years ago, and it is doing well.

As a result of our modern life-style and environmental disruptions, vascular diseases have increased considerably; in this context it seemed appropriate for me to take a closer look at the Ginkgo biloba tree. My contact with Dr Wilmar Schwabe and his research team enabled me to gain a thorough knowledge of the medicinal effects of this extremely valuable plant, and it is noteworthy that preparations made from it have caused no side effects whatsoever. In cases where the brain does not receive sufficient blood, the tincture made from the leaves has proved to be efficacious. Also, a deficient supply of oxygen to the brain can be remedied quite rapidly, which is very important after a stroke. Blood viscosity, that is, its consistency and rate of flow, will improve in a short time. This makes it possible to eliminate the symptoms of a defective circulation, such as headaches, buzzing in the ears, problems with hearing and sight, depression, and a state of fear and panic.

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A doctor or other health practitioner can observe the effects of a remedy on the patient himself. If the patient reports that a particular remedy has other effects on him than those already known, the doctor will naturally take note of such observations. If other patients experience the same effect, then the doctor will realise that the medicine has a novel, so far unknown, reaction. A new remedy, or a new application of one, will have been discovered!

Only some of the more important herbs are considered in the following pages, since a detailed description of the extensive domain of the plant world would demand far greater attention than could ever be given in this limited space.

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The manifold functions of the sweat glands have only gradually come to be recognised. The body has about two million sweat glands, each one being about 5 mm (about Vs inch) long. Without perspiring, they evaporate 1-1.5 litres (1.7-2.6 pints) of water during the course of a day. If exudation is increased by means of a steam bath, a sauna bath or by living in the tropics, the body is able to give produce up to ten times this quantity of water.

If it were possible to combine all the sweat pores into one single tube, its diameter would be about 25-30 cm (10-12 inches). The size of such a tube makes it easy to understand why so much water is able to escape. Taste a drop of sweat and you will see that it is salty; on litmus paper its reaction is acid. In fact, sweat contains sodium salts, potassium, sulphuric acid, iron, phosphorus, lactic acid and as much urea as one kidney excretes, for which reason the skin could be called the ‘third kidney’. The skin can exude arsenic and other poisons, possibly resulting in eczema and other skin eruptions. This shows the wisdom of treating skin problems internally as well as externally. Indeed, it explains why sweat treatments have cured many an illness.

The sweat glands are the units of a temperature control system that makes life in the tropics more bearable. By evaporating water through the sweat glands it is possible to lose heat of up to 500 calories. Keep the functions of the skin in good working order and you will be observing one of the most important rules for good health.

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I had no choice but to try out the remedies I knew and had available. To strengthen the immune system and regenerative mechanism I prescribed Echinacea, a plant that builds up the body’s own defences. I can speak from my own experience because when I visited the tropics Echinacea helped me to acquire resistance to malaria, which is one of the reasons why I decided on this remedy to fight the virus. Moreover, I put her on Lachesis lOx, a snake poison in homoeopathic dilution, in order to tackle the viral toxins. Thirdly, I indicated bee pollen and royal jelly to support the body with special nutrients. Besides taking these remedies, the patient was asked to change her diet to one made up of raw food, raw vegetable juices, natural brown rice and lactic acid products.

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If an engine is not lubricated for any length of time, it will overheat. If we ignore the whining and grinding noises caused by dry bearings and do not replace the oil at once, the engine is bound to suffer damage. Similarly, a cell’s efficiency will diminish if it lacks the required substances, or if it does not receive sufficient quantities. The cell will become sick if such a deficiency continues for some time so that it has to draw on and eventually exhaust its reserves. In the case of vitamin deficiency we speak of ‘avitaminosis’. As soon as the deficiency is recognised and the required substances are provided, the individual cell will recover and with it the complex organisation of cells, the tissue, will be restored to health and begin to function properly again. For this reason the art, or rather the capacity, of a good doctor becomes evident in his ability to diagnose these deficiencies and choose the appropriate natural remedies. The damage will then be rectified.

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Another basic rule is to get plenty of sleep in the hours preceding midnight. Sleep does much for our health, especially during these hours. What is more, if you go to bed early sleep will come more easily, as you are less likely to be overtired. Take kelp to supplement the mineral content of your diet. And, as previously stated, it does not affect one adversely to eat foods rich in calcium and to take a biological calcium preparation as well. On the contrary, this will be beneficial. Finally, it is helpful, from time to time, to stimulate the kidneys in order to ensure the adequate elimination of uric materials by taking a natural herb preparation, for example Nephrosolid.

If you follow these rules, and eat and drink sensibly, you will reach your old age without having to become stiff and doddery. Interestingly, the preventative measures that need to be understood and followed are few and simple, but they will protect you from much greater problems.

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Many people have a totally mistaken idea about calcium preparations, calcification and, in particular, calcification or hardening of the arteries. Quite often a patient tells me, T can’t take calcium, I suffer from arteriosclerosis, and I’m sure it would be bad for me to take any more calcium; it would only be deposited in the arteries.’

But this view is entirely wrong. Biological calcium preparations such as Urticalcin have nothing to do with calcification. On the contrary, someone who is suffering from hardening of the arteries can take such a preparation without any problems, for it is easily assimilated. This calcium is used to repair worn out parts of the body and is never deposited in the vessels. In fact, the ‘deposits’ we are talking about are not really pure calcium; the term is used in the sense of arterial degeneration whereby the arterial walls gradually lose their elasticity.

First of all, fat-like substances called lipoids are deposited on the lining of the blood vessels and only later is calcium added. According to some research workers, the thickening takes place as a natural necessity so as to strengthen the walls of the arteries. It is thought that the body, as a defence measure, deposits calcium when the blood vessels have lost a degree of elasticity and stability and can no longer cope with the changed conditions of pressure. Other researchers, however, are of the opinion that it is just because of these deposits in the vessels, the so-called arteriosclerosis, that they become hardened.

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While I was spending some time in the Far East, I paid special attention to the occurrence of the above illnesses. It was quite evident that among the people living in the countryside of Japan, Korea and the Philippines, heart-related diseases are seldom heard of. If they do occur it is usually among the better off who have a higher standard of living. In all these Far Eastern countries the country people eat very little fat, generally not more than 50 g (a little less than 2 oz) of fat and oil a day. And let me add that these 50 g consist of mainly home-made fats with a high content of unsaturated fatty acids. Equally significant in terms of their healthy diet is their habit of eating rice to meet the need for carbohydrates. This is a custom worth copying, since rice has the quality of keeping the arteries young for a long time. Among those people whose staple diet consists of rice, I have noted that the blood vessels, particularly the arteries, are in much better condition than in those who have a different diet.

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The circulation of the blood between the heart and the lungs and back to the heart again takes about six or seven seconds. The circulation through the heart, which supplies the myocardium by way of the coronary vessels, takes place in about three or four seconds. The supply of blood to the brain takes eight seconds and to the tip of the toes, about eighteen seconds. One blood cell can make about 3,000 round trips in the course of a day. The cells are moving about incessantly, day and night. It seems that nothing in the world is more fond of travelling than our blood cells. Beginning at the heart, a cell reaches the loop of the capillaries with a swift motion. The further away it gets, the slower the motion becomes because of the thinner vessels. At last it delivers its load, as an express messenger would do, and begins immediately its return trip through the venous system. Physical stress, cold weather, excitement and fever make the blood cell speed up its pace. On the other hand, depression and psychological upsets cause it to slow down. In these situations, billions of cells receive inadequate nourishment and illness may result if the situation is not remedied by means of a positive psychological influence on the individual. This goes to show that depression and similar psychological problems may lead to physical illness if they continue for any length of time.

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In order to illustrate the function and purpose of the blood circulation, let us for a moment consider the mail train travelling from Basel to Lugano and back, making scheduled stops to unload on the way to Lugano and picking up mail on the way back to Basel. Imagine the confusion if the train did not keep to its timetable. At each station we can see the postmaster impatiently pacing up and down the platform looking for the train to arrive and trying to calm down the people who are waiting for their mail. Such a relatively small mix-up in the commercial world could trigger undesirable delays and upset everyone.

We can draw an analogy between the mail train and the circulatory system. Let us compare the outward-bound train on its way to Lugano with the arterial network, which has the job of supplying the millions of body cells with nourishment so that they are able to perform their functions. All the necessary minerals, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids for the manufacture of protein, all the sugars and fats, and even oxygen are being transported via the arterial network on a strict schedule, every day, every hour.

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