The squeamish are advised to skip this section. It just happens that the most repulsive creatures - and not just cute little dogs and fish - can bring relief to the sick. I have already mentioned dogs detecting cancer, but the rat joined the happy band of diagnosing animals. Or their gigantic cousin, the Gambian giant pouched rat, to be precise.
http://cloud.globalgiving.org/pfil/1953/Haruni_Large.jpg
Tanzanian scientists have trained them to detect tuberculosis. When a sample of human saliva was taken from patient diagnosed on tuberculosis, the animal would freeze for a while. Its efforts were rewarded with a piece of banana. Furthermore, after a brief course, the Gambian giant pouched rat was able to make more accurate diagnosis than lab technicians armed with microscopes! The accuracy of rat’s indications stood at around 90 per cent!! Deploying rats might sound medieval, but it works, especially when we are talking about developing countries where advanced diagnostic methods are not readily available, and where tuberculosis is the cause of one in four adult deaths.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueYRhIV4zGw&feature=player_embedded
Speaking of citizens from developing countries, despite the fact that their challenging living conditions are much more worst then Europeans, they try to enjoy certain health advantages. They rarely suffer from allergies or alimentary tract diseases, such as gluten intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease. One hypothesis assigns this to the presence of parasites in their environment (and bodies!). Europeans and US citizens live in a sterile world where tapeworms and roundworms are rarity. The problem is that the human immune system is unaware of the fact and continues to maintain a rich arsenal to fight parasites and is in constant state of high alert. Deprived of its natural enemy, it begins to attack harmless particles as pollen... It can even trigger reactions capable of killing entire organism.
http://urodaizdrowie.pl/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/tasiemiec1.jpg?PHPSESSID=c162cd326c65e00c1bccf7b6b027be47
What can be done to prevent this? By bringing parasites back into our bodies! This sounds shocking, but during clinical trials conducted in Australia and US, patients were infested with tapeworms and roundworms or their eggs under medical supervision. I know that it sounds hideous! Not for seriously ill or dying people... For them the result of worm therapy seems to be very promising!
As we can see, animals can heal us! They are as effective in this era of genetic engineering as they were in the age of the pharaohs. There is a Polish proverb (I’ve tried to translate it;) that says: “whoever has a land, cows and pigs will never be hungry or poor”(“kto ma morgi, krowy świnie - tego głód i bieda minie”). Or sick, provided there are animals nearby.
resources:
www.inspire.com
www.en.wikipedia.org
www.therapydogs.com
www.sciencemag.org/
www.wmich.edu/
www.globalgiving.org
www.scidev.net/
www.wiadomosci.onet.pl
www.youtube.com
Questions:
1. Are you in favor of natural therapies such as herbalism, acupuncture, acupressure, bio-therapy, cannabis therapy and therapy animals or are you for traditional medicine and pharmacology?
2. What do you think about sterile western lifestyle? Have you ever caught yourself in the decontamination of everyday objects that surround you, for example on holidays or in a hotel you were supposed to stay for a few nights?
3. Do you have any kind of allergy? Have you observed it among anyone from your family or friends? Have you realized that it has become a disease of civilization?
I'm in favour of any kind of therapy that works. Especially if it's natural. You never know for sure if the treatment you get is really natural but I noticed that the big companies don't pay too much attention to these therapies. It's a chance for smaller enterprises, more trustworthy i guess. At least they're not corporate.
ReplyDeleteI don't do too much "decontamination". If you sterilize everything it makes you more harm than the actual dirt. If a child is raised in sterile conditions it's more vulnerable cause it's organism is not used to fight the germs.
Yes, in fact I use cleansing mixture, which is based on natural ingredients. So far I can say that it really helps me, since I learned about it I feel a lot better. I think that many of the natural methods of treatment should be applied because often they are not some "inventions" but the true natural medicines which for centuries have been discovered. Most importantly, they are medicine, healing resources, but not medications that doctors give us which aren't the cure but only pain relieves.
ReplyDeleteGeneral I'm in favour with all therapy that works even the strangest one. Yes I have very strange allergies. It's strange because it occurs only in winter and it's associated with lack of sun. .
ReplyDeleteI am in favor of natural therapies, but I don't take them very seriously. I know that sometimes they're really helpful with pains and even tough illness like cancer, but I don't think that effects of such treatments are permanent, but they definitely help for a while. Still I will trust more traditional medicine.
ReplyDeleteI think that sterile western lifestyle is very dangerous! I mean, of course it's good to try to live in clear : environment , house and everything, but being to sterile isn't good at all. Our generation was grown in not-so-perfect conditions, so we got used to many kind of viruses and bacteries and our organisms know how to protect themselves from such things. Nowadays parents are trying to protect their children from every dirt, there are many types of bottled water, food, clothes, cosmetics, everything for children that won't include some stuff that normal food etc does. And because of it there are so many allergics- because they were not prepared to use normal stuff which is not so perfect. And yes - I realized that it has become a disease of civilization.
On one hand I'm in favour of all therapies which are proven to help. Then again we need to remember that a patients health is sometimes a gamble between different methods of treatment. At first it's best to follow the most common practises, only when they fail I people should seek the alternatives. Of course I used the worst case scenario. Fortunately not all diseases are fatal. Some people choose herbal treatment rather than antibiotics which is quite reasonable I think.
ReplyDeleteYes I am allergic to citrus fruits, all kinds of seasonal grass, pets' fur and feathers. In fact I was diagnosed to have allergies when I was 7 years old. Fortunately it never developed into any bigger problem, but still I'm quite prone to allergens. I realize realise that allergies are said to be a disease of civilisation. In fact, my grandma who have never had any allergies is now allergic to seasonal grass. Weird!
In my opinion we shouldn't connect and compare all of mentioned ways of therapies and alternative medicine. Even I accept, really admire animal therapies and other ways to make rehabilitation easier. I am against alternative medicine cures like herbal pills or purifying diets for all kind of diseases. Sometimes we can prepare a natural potion for an indigestion or neurosis, but other time we have to take antibiotic to avoid serious complications. There is a polish saying: "frequent washing makes your life shorter" I do not know if there is something similar in English? So being so clean isn't healthy at all. Yes, I am allergic. I have an allergy to two factors: dust and work. On dust I'm sneezing on work I'm yawning.
ReplyDelete1. From my experience I know that natural therapies don't work, Maybe they can help but I do not think so. I believe in traditional medicine in atibiotics etc.
ReplyDelete2. Of course, I even disinfect my house once a week.
3. In my family no one old has alergy, but the youngest children have. In my opinion it is somehow connected with civilization and too much of isolation from natural world and environment.