Topic: Health & Healing

The art of natural medicine deals with observation and balanced integration of the mind, body and spirit of the individual. Observing symptoms as a means to penetrate to the deeper cause behind illness is the heart and soul of natural medicine. A healthy diet, proper exercise, drinking clean filtered or spring water, breathing clean fresh air, learning to let go of stress and developing a positive outlook, getting proper rest and using high quality vitamins, herbs and other remedies for prevention and wellness are some of the most important tools.

Question: Our daughter Elizabeth is 5 years old. She suffers badly from recurring infections. We believe these are viral infections and that she may have a low level of resistance. She has been visiting the doctors , hospital and chest specialists for 3 years now without any real progress (we have been told she will grow out of it).

Q. I have been having pain in my right hip since March 3. 2001. In February 2001 I had fallen on it while walking on ice about 4 times that month. I have gone from doctor to doctor and have received several different diagnosis. One was osteoarthritis, one was osteoporosis (but he was going to treat it as soft tissue damage), stretched tendons and ligaments and now a bone bruise.

"I don¹t know what¹s in those little white pills, but I sure do feel better since I started taking them."
"I¹m sleeping so much better since I started my remedy."
"The overall health and happiness of our child has improved since she started her remedy."

These are just some of the many favorable comments I have heard in the last ten years of studying and teaching homeopathy, and it makes my heart feel good to know that so many people (and pets, too) have felt improvement from the most simple illness to even some very complex ones. So, what is it all about?

Q. Is there any reason why I cannont take Echanacia while pregnant?

Q. Help! My nose is running, my ears ache, and my throat is sore. My allergies are making me miserable!

In the last column we took a look at cholesterol, good and bad, and developed the concept of nutrition based upon heredity. I would like to explore this idea a little further and focus on climate, seasons of the year and just what constitutes a healthy daily diet.

Q. Although my periods are still regular and my doctor tells me that my hormone levels are normal, I'm convinced that I'm entering menopause. For about a week before my periods, I've been experiencing hot flashes at night while I sleep and I've been having increasing difficulty with PMS. I know that there are natural methods I can use to help relieve these symptoms, but I've been having trouble finding information on my own. Can you help?

Q. My doctor is concerned because my cholesterol level is rather high. I tried following her dietary recommendations to lower my cholesterol level to no avail. Now she wants to put me on a prescription medication, which I don't want to do. Is there anyway I can avoid taking these drugs and still get my cholesterol under control?

Q. For the last couple of years I've been suffering from frequent headaches. Aspirin upsets my stomach, and I don't like to take other over-the-counter pain relievers because they can cause liver or kidney damage. Do you know of any natural remedies I can try to relieve my headaches?