Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Heliotherapy-Fun under the Sun!

One of the oldest health care practices is heliotherapy or sunbathing. This ancient healing practice has been used for thousands of years to keep people in high states of health and to fight common illnesses by boosting immunity. Modern research on the remarkable health benefits of Vitamin D confirm that sunbathing is one of the most important health care practices available to us today.
Heliotherapy – Benefits of Sunbathing
Since the dawn of time up until the past two-hundred years, people lived and worked outdoors in the light of the sun. We now wake up in our homes, get in our car and drive to the office. For most of us, the only time we spend outdoors is simply walking back and forth to our vehicles. We make this even worse by wearing sunglasses which keep our eyes from receiving any of the sun’s beneficial rays.
Brief History
The first recorded instances of sunbathing are to be found in ancient Greece, Egypt, Rome, Babylon, Assyria, and Persia. The Egyptians, Babylonians, and Assyrians had their sun-gardens, and many of these people gave the sun the dignity of a god.
In the third century AD, sun worship, which at that time was called “Mithraism”, practically became the universal religion. The introduction of Christianity put an end to the widespread practice of sunbathing for nearly a thousand years, as the Christians of the time deemed sunbathing to be a “sin.”
The Romans used sunbaths in training their gladiators because it would strengthen and enlarge their muscles. The physicians of this time also considered the sun to be “the best food and medicine in the world”.
Benefits
Dr G D Babbitt, in his book, Human Culture and Cure, makes the following comment on sunlight:
“There is a vast array of forces of every kind, including iron, magnesium, sodium, carbon, and other elements conveyed by the sunlight, but why shall we not take these elements in their ordinary form from our drugstores, and not go to the trouble of taking sun-baths? Because when these elements are given us in so refined a form, as to come directly from the sun as an ether, or to float skywards and be driven to us by the solar rays, they must be far more penetrating, enduring, safe, pleasant, and upbuilding to the mental system than if they were used in a crude form.”
Statistics done by Danish scientist Thorwald Madsen show that disease, particularly infectious disease, occurs most frequently during the seasons in which the people get the least amount of sunshine. He concluded: “The prevalence of disease corresponds to the amount and intensity of the sunshine. The more sunshine, the greater the resistance to disease; the less sunshine, the lower resistance to disease.”
People who practice sunbathing have shown dramatically lowered blood pressure, regulated blood sugar, lowered cholesterol and an increased white blood cell count.
Summary
Heliotherapy utilizes the beneficial effects of the sun, air and light to make a person healthier. It is only recently that the medical profession has decided that the sun must be damaging and dangerous to our health.

The sun’s rays are effective against various diseases from the tenth century, so it’s almost a tradition.
Heliotherapy has beneficial effects on the rickets Disease that develops during childhood and is developed by a lack of vitamin D, from the sun.
Another benefit is its stimulating effect, which is why it is considered that people in warmer tropical areas are more cheerful and happy. Thus, the heliotherapy is used as a remedy for anxiety or depression and other disorders of this type.
Heliotherapy also offers benefits over affections skin. Exposure to sunlight causes a mild irritation to the skin capillaries dilate the surface of the skin surface, thereby increasing the blood flow through the skin and helps to advance the recovery.
Furthermore, this technique can also improve appetite and some respiratory diseases.
What modern medicine does not understand is the sun does not cause cancer at all. The sun is simply an accelerator. If you are eating unhealthy and adding more toxins to your body, a large excess of sun exposure will maximize this towards an ill effect.
On the other hand, if you are eating a very healthy diet, the sun maximizes those benefits and actually accelerates your path towards health and longevity.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Marissa Cassella -- Lyme Warrior


I went across a Facebook  profile that got my attention immediately… 
Marissa is a 19-year young gorgeous girl. When you see her profile picture, you might think you stumbled upon a runway model enjoying luxurious travels and get-aways…  
Marissa has her constant "get-aways"…  to the hospitals and ERs…
I am amazed by her optimism and strong will power! 









My Lyme Journey

This album is just a VERY TINY piece of what I have been through the past three years suffering with Chronic Lyme disease and Coinfections.



This is just small part of what Marissa has to go through…
If you can help this beautiful young girl to recover from Lyme Disease, please, contact Marissa 

  

Friday, September 16, 2011

TOUCHED BY LYME: Chronic Lyme disease steals life.

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Laurie Martin, a Californian who has struggled with both tick-borne infections and colon cancer, states that cancer "pales" in comparison to the pain and suffering of Lyme disease. She asks friends and family to join her in donating money for Lyme research.
Laurie's Lyme disease Journey 
It is daunting to write about having Lyme disease, as most of my life I have spent hiding it like a deep, dark family secret.
Putting on a good face, acting as if I was "fine" and when the very bad days came, I would shut off my phone, pull the curtains, and crawl into my cave.
Imagine if you can, the worst flu you've ever had and then imagine having it day after day, year after year, interspersed with times of health when you think, "finally it's over, i've got my life back", only to get sick again over and over for 30 years.
I am 56 years old. When I was 25, I spent time painting landscapes in the Santa Barbara mountains. One day, I noticed a strange rash and thought little of it. About a month later I came down with a terrible “flu.”
This began a journey that I could have never imagined. For the next 5 years, I crawled through my life with unrelenting, extreme joint and muscle pain, severe fatigue and a list of strange and changing symptoms that stole my life and my son’s childhood away. I spent over $50,000 in that five years alone pursuing every possibility of healing from fasting to clinics in Mexico to bizarre treatments. My library of "Get Well" Books is truly staggering.
I actually was a lucky one; something [not sure which treatment] helped….around the age of 30 I got better and was able to have a life. Now rather than being sick constantly, I would get sick every 6 weeks or so for about 3-7 days with bouts of a month here or there. But I was ecstatic to be able to live again!
And live I did! Never knowing when you’re going to be sick is an amazing motivator to live as fully as you can. I did everything I could in my “well” times to grab life fully. I “gave up hope” at ever being well. While this may sound strange to most people, giving up hope allowed me to accept this strange and unknown illness and grab hold of the times I had. I stopped looking for a “cure” and put all my energy into living.
When I was 47, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I am convinced that my 22 year fight with Lyme disease culminated in my body breaking down.
I was treated for 9 months with chemotherapy and steroids. Near the end of this treatment, I got extremely ill again. I remember a day sitting in the oncology unit, crying, knowing with certainty that my “old, unknown illness” had come back in full force - more severe than ever.
Cancer paled next to the despair of knowing I was facing this terrible dark place again – of constant pain, fatigue and whole body sickness. With cancer, i could still live life even though i might be facing death. But this illness was a living death.
My search for a diagnosis began again in earnest. I was tested and diagnosed with Lyme disease and babesia 6 years ago. I remember the day I found out. I was so happy to finally know what had been wrong with me for 24 years. It was like a miracle and I allowed myself to hope again. Hope that finally this would be over.
That happiness was misplaced. The last 6 years has been a journey of severe illness. I now know that chemotherapy and steroids can cause permanent damage to a person with Lyme making it much more difficult to get well and stay well.
It’s a simple and stark reality. Chronic Lyme disease steals life. Most days are a struggle to do the simplest things. My goals for a day: do my IVs, be kind, be grateful for my incredible family and friends, do only what I can do, go outside, pet my dog.
Lyme disease has taught me acceptance and gratefulness. And for those lessons I am deeply thankful.....but honestly I would give them up in a second to run out, grab a kayak and head to Mexico.
Please help me raise money for Lyme disease research.

Donate to Laurie's page here.
Learn more about the 2011 CALDA Lymewalks here.
Create your own fundraising page here.

The TOUCHED BY LYME blog is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, CALDA’s VP for Education and Outreach. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.