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Some of
the probable causes are:
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Drugs induced
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Diseases
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Age or Organ Dysfunction
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Lifestyle
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Functional
Drugs Induced: Alka-Mints, Atrofen,
Calci-Mix,
Calcilac Calcite-500, Corax, Dia-check,
Edecrin, Enduron, Esidrix, Glycate,
Hygroton, Kalcinate, Lasix, Lorazepam, Lozol, Maxzide,
Medilium, Novo-Clopate, Novo-Poxide, Oretic,Os-Cal 500,
Pharmacal, PMS-Baclofen, Prolixin, Renese, Reposans-10,
Serax, Thorazine, Thorazine,
Valrelease and Zaroxolyn are some of the hundreds and
hundreds of drugs that can cause lethargy. It is a
silent unseen attack on the body.
Diseases: When we fall sick, we want a quick
"restoration". We quickly go to the neighbourhood clinic
to get a prescription. Drugs are effective in killing
bacteria and "solve" other problems but it is a well
known fact that it also leave behind a trail of internal
damages that is hard to detect at that point in time.
But over the years these damages begin to build up and
finally one day we find our immunity gets worse and
worse.
Age or Organ
Dysfunction: spleen, kidneys, lungs, liver or heart,
menopause etc
Lifestyle: Over
work, sedentary lifestyle, stress, insufficient rest or
sleep, unhealthy diets or nutrition insufficiency.
Functional: Food poisoning, iron poisoning,
lithium toxicity,
Kwashiorkor (insufficient protein in diet).
Causes
The root cause of a run down body lies within our body.
It could be a sign that our body energy flow has been
disrupted. That our body's organs are not function at
its optimum.
A fundamental TCM principle states that every living organism
contains a life force that circulates continuously
throughout it until death. In humans this life force,
which connects with our internal organs, circulates
throughout our energy channels to give us life and
energy. Basically good health is regarded as the smooth
and unobstructed flow of this energy throughout the
body. When this energy is obstructed, illness results.
Health condition, environmental, dietary and lifestyle
factors such as nutrition, work and stress, may affect
the flow and therefore our health.
TCM view our body’s 5 main organs (heart, lungs, kidney, liver and
spleen) system, commonly call the 5-Elements in TCM
herbalism, as the most important organ system in the body.
They form a complex system that helps to keep our body
healthy. Majority of diseases can be traced back to the
dysfunction of one of these organs or a combination of
these organs and its inter-connected systems. As a
result the energy flow is not smooth and vibrant.
Lets look at one example. The organ mostly affected by emotional
stress (which can lead to lethargy) and drugs is the
liver. One of the primary functions of the liver is to
store and purify blood and to detox our body from
harmful materials. If the liver is affected then
the flow of energy would be affected. In TCM theory, the
liver is paired with the gallbladder in a “symbiotic”
relationship. What affects the liver function can also
affect the gallbladder function. The gallbladder energy
meridian runs across the shoulders, up the neck and over
the sides of the head. This explains why sufferers of
stress often complain of stiffness in the neck and
shoulders. In extreme cases they might have headache.
The reason is because the energy is not flowing freely.
And the result is stiffness (blockages) and pain. Stress
and drugs can affect our organ system. Organ deficiency
result in lethargy and weak immunity.
A deficient lung can cause lethargy and poor immunity. A dysfunction lung and spleen
can also cause lethargy
and poor immunity. Weak kidneys can cause
lethargy
and poor immunity. A dysfunction kidney, liver and lungs system
(insomnia) can cause lethargy
and poor immunity. A dysfunction stomach and
spleen system (our digestive system) can cause lethargy
and poor immunity.
A dysfunction cardiovascular system can cause lethargy
and poor immunity.
Prevention
In
order to prevent our body's systems from been damaged it
is up most important that we take care of our health.
Diseases, the side effects of drugs and careless
lifestyle are path ways that eventually cause our body
to be permanently affected. Once damaged it is not easy
to rejuvenate the system back to functioning order again
as each system is a complex network of delicate
functioning linkages. One of this linkages is the
"symbiotic" lung spleen relationship. A dysfunction spleen would affect
the health and function of the lung because the
functions of the spleen is to
produce lymphocytes (one of the two major type of white
blood cells) and since the lung is the only internal organ
that is always expose to the outside environment, if
the defense mechanism is down (spleen inability to
produce lymphocytes) then it is lightly that
as a result of weak spleen, the person could always suffers from cold and flu.
Therefore it is important to ensure that the 5 organs
system are always kept in a healthy condition. One
ancient herbal sage once said "It is better to make
weapons before the wars start". Another person put it
differently, saying, "It is no use to try and buy an
umbrella when the rain has begun". As the saying goes
"Prevention is better then cure" therefore it
is only wise that we should keep our engine system
running smoothly. This leads us to the
concept of Restorative Immunology.
In our busy lifestyle it is not always easy to try and
keep ourselves healthy because to prepare nutritious
food can take a long time. Many of us do not have the
time and we opt for instant food that often lack the
nutritional content that our body needs. As the years go
by, lack of nutrition, stressful life, sedentary
lifestyle and quickie "healing" synthetic chemicals
(plus all the side effects) take their toll on our
bodies. Too often the slow changes (in the wrong
direction) within our bodies go unnoticed. We ignore the
symptoms like tiredness, lethargy and lack of energy.
Slowly we find it difficult to wake up in the morning.
One fine day doctors say you have cardiovascular
problems or that your sugar level is too high or that he
detects protein in your urine. Once doctors can detect
the disease, it means your health is already very bad.
But life and health do not have to be that way. In fact
a little knowledge of natural healthcare and prevention on our part
goes a long way in preventing and reducing the enormous
cost of damage to our body. If we can keep our 5 organs
in general good health we can prevent a lot of diseases
and headaches.
Restorative Immunology is taking herbs rich in
phytonutrients that we do not normally get in our daily
diet to rejuvenate all our 5 organs. These nutrients are essential to our good health.
Prevention is cheaper than cure.
A few capsules each day would keep the headaches and
doctor away.
Radix Panax
Notoginseng, Radix Polygonum Multiflorum,
Radix Salvia Miltiorrhiza,
Folium Perilla Frutescens, Semen Sinapis Alba, Poria
Cocos Wolf, Fructus Schisandra Chinensis, Radix
Glycyrrhiza Glabra, Radix Pinella Ternata
and
Rhizoma Zingiberis
are generally used to improve the functions of the
organs.
Radix Panax
Notoginseng, Radix Polygonum Multiflorum
and
Radix Salvia Miltiorrhiza
are traditionally used as longevity herbs. They are also
used to improve blood circulation.
Clinical research by western scientists have shown that
Polygonum Multiflorum (he-shou-wu)
increases high-density lipoprotein
(HDL) cholesterol, reduce total cholesterol, free
cholesterol, triglycerides, retard atherosclerosis,
protect the heart, strengthen the membranes of
erythrocytes (red blood cells) and has
powerful natural antioxidant
and free radical scavenger and these have powerful
anti-aging functions in humans. (Foster)
Even though there are a lot of research done on the
individual herbs itself, it must be remembered that TCM
herbal science does not encourage the consumption of
single herbs for treatment purposes. Very few herbs can
be consumed as single herb. There are many reasons why
TCM doctors do not prescribe single herb to their
patients. Such practise is based on thousand of years of
clinical experience. To be effective herbs must be
prescribed as formulation to bring out their maximum
efficacy. This is through the use of "catalytic" herbs.
Holistic rejuvenation and restoration for the
body's systems takes time. For best result restorative
immunity must be given six months to a year to work. The
wonderful part about restorative immunology is that as
we carry out our daily work the body within is
experiencing wonderful changes. As the years go by, one
can see the difference between those who consistently
seek to improve the internal health of their organs and
those who do not. The problem
with longevity products is that the subject under study
outlives the researcher!! One study said that the
average lifespan of an American doctor is only 58 years
old. Master Li who consumed herbs all his life died at
the age of around 251!! Below
is an abstract written by Dr. Subhuti Dharmananda,
Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine,
Portland, Oregon about Master Li (see
picture)
"During his long life, Li Ch'ing Yuen had various
occupations. He served as a soldier, sold medicinal
herbs, and taught many disciples in the Oh-Mei
mountains, Szechuan province. Many of his disciples were
over a hundred years old. Some of the oldest men of the
district could recall stories their grandfathers told
them about Li Ch'ing Yuen. Even at 248 years of age,
Master Li had good eyesight and a quick stride. In 1927,
General Yang Shen heard about the longevity of this
marvelous man and invited Master Li to visit his seat of
command in Wan-Shien. He later described Master Li in a
book: "He can walk very quickly in the mountains, even
though he's almost 250 years old. He is seven feet tall.
His complexion is ruddy, but he is completely bald. His
fingernails are very long. In one meal he eats three
bowls of rice, chicken, and another kind of meat. Master
Li told Yang Shen that sometimes, while he was in the
mountains collecting herbs, his provisions would run
out. He would survive by eating herbs, especially
ginseng, ho-shou-wu, and polygonatum [huangjiang].
Toward the end of his life, Master Li allowed himself to
be photographed. Because of his fame, the eight-inch
photo found a ready market. Yang Shen's envoy presented
one of these photographs to Generalissimo Chiang
Kai-shek, who asked to meet Master Li, but by the time
Yang Shen located him, Master Li had died. The New York
Times reported the death of this wonderful man in 1930."
June 1998
 
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