Sunday, April 25, 2010

The community that is YOU: Parasites and Epigenetics

[Magazine cover image added October 2010.] My study of what other health care practitioners, therapists, and researchers are doing to help people improve their lives gives me many uplifting experiences. Below is a video of an especially enthusiastic presentation that will give you a glimpse into the complex collection of clues that I consider when I am asked to help someone with a puzzling health situation. At NIHA we offer Rejuvenation & Detoxification, Integrative Physical Health, and Integrative Medicine/Holistic Primary Care to help you be in charge of your "internal community."





Those of you who are familiar with what is being called "Functional Medicine" will recognize the term -- Epigenetics. The word "Epigenetics" introduces the new field of study that scientists discovered when they found out that just because we now can list the "Gene Sequence" of the DNA that is found in living cells, we can't tell how it controls Life.

In fact, scientists found out that we can't completely control Life by learning the DNA sequence of things. They found out that the most important factor in "gene expression" is the surrounding environment which influences which portion of the DNA is available for "transcription" into various cellular products. This surrounding environment could also be called the "Matrix" of all the influences that affect DNA activity.

If you read this after you have watched that short video by molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler, you will be ready to understand why I am so enthusiastic about the benefits of Natural Medicine when it comes to the puzzle of how to keep ourselves healthy and free of raging infections from various microbes (this includes bacteria, and parasites and likely viruses as well as far as I understand the concept of the Matrix). You can read more online in citations about her work with "Quorum Sensing" at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute by clicking on this Google search.

If you have not yet read about The Living Matrix and viewed the movie titled "The Living Matrix", I encourage you to click on the words above, The Living Matrix.

Now you will see why what Dr. Bassler describes is so very important to keeping ourselves healthy.

A caution: Because she is researching methods of creating new antibiotics Dr. Bassler's conclusions will likely be to recommend new (and expensive) medications. Her new drugs may be very helpful. However, as a Natural Medicine practitioner I will also point out that we might achieve similar results if we took action to change the matrix or the environment inside of us such as by using garlic to reduce the activity of the microbes within us.

We might also choose to improve the speed of our gastrointestinal system. Natural health practitioners often refer to "bowel health", and some even declare on the Internet that, "death begins in the colon," which is a dramatic but often sadly true statement.

[Update note about various types of "Parasites" that can live inside of our bodies: check out the article in the August 2000 Discover Magazine. The original cover art is now posted at the top of this page. The article is titled "Do Parasites Rule the World?"]

The community that is YOU:
Now that you have seen her video and learned also about The Living Matrix, I want to point out one of the biggest factors of all in keeping yourself and your loved ones healthy:

The people around you, and the world around you too (including air, water, chemicals, etc.) all have effects on how you feel and how your cells function. Usually these effects are not visible and most people never spend time thinking about how they might change their surroundings so that they could improve their health. However, these may make the difference between living a vibrant life or suffering a continuing struggle to cope.

This factor of "matrix epigenetics" is included in my earlier posting about "Neuroplasticity" [link] and the way that our brain and nerve cells are affected by what is around them. "Cells that fire together wire together," is a phrase that neuroscientists sometimes use. One way to benefit from that idea is that you are affected by the thoughts that you allow to circulate in your brain. This is where the benefits of "Mindfulness" come to the front.

In my studies of what other practitioners are doing I have developed a respect for the value of being aware of what our brains are thinking, which is the basic contribution of people who provide "Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy."

With my patients I encourage an appreciation of the "Mindfulness" approach, but I also add that they need to understand the factors that affect the mind's function such as poor nutrition, stressful electro-magnetic radiation, and "toxic relationships."

After you learn about the expanded options that come from Natural Medicine and Mental Health [link], you can focus your own study about the factors that affect your health. You can take increasing control over the influences on your health, and increase your options for choosing approaches and practitioners to help you achieve and protect vibrant health.

You can do it.