Crystal Therapy - Do it yourself

            To date, my exploration of crystal healing has been eye-opening, if not curative.  I started with the John of God Crystal Bed, and then last week, I made an excursion into Asheville’s Salt Cave.  With the aid of these experiences, I am finally shrugging off the lingering effects of the flu.  Hopefully, by relying on crystal magic once again, I can fight off the last remnants of this illness and tackle a few of my recurring complaints.  I will now rely on some “cookbook medicine.”  Cookbook medicine is quite popular with many forms of alternative medicine.  Cookbook medicine means you treat yourself by looking up your ailment in a book, and without need of a doctor’s prescription, you buy or make your own remedy.  This form of home brewing is popular in homeopathy, herbal medicine, aromatherapy, Appalachian medicine, and crystal therapy.  My hope is to find a crystal that will cure my insomnia, tension headaches, and general laziness.  The laziness to which I refer is my inclination to waste time surfing the internet or checking my email for the hundredth time when I should be working on this blog or doing some other task that is at least somewhat productive.

            Before finding my remedy, I will attempt to explain how crystals work and define their role in curing various maladies.  According to “reputable sources” (such as cyrstalwellbeing.co.uk), each “crystal has a unique internal structure which causes it to resonate at a certain frequency.  It is this resonance that is said to give crystals their healing abilities.”  The crystals help channel positive energy into the body which promotes health and may cure disease.  This gets a bit confusing if you consider I learned in the Salt Cave that positive ions emitted by electronics can cause imbalance and illness, which may in turn be reversed by the negative ions given off by crystals.  The philosophy of crystal healing derives from Asian concepts such as life-energy (chi) and chakras.  Remember the lines of chi which are stimulated during acupuncture?  The chakras, otherwise referred to as vortices of energy, are said to connect the physical with the supernatural elements of the body.  For each of the seven chakras on one’s body, there is a corresponding color or crystal which can exert influence.  (Now I understand the rationale behind the seven crystal lights that were aligned over my chakras during my John of God Crystal Bed Therapy).  Techniques may vary, but generally, one treats various ailments by picking the correct crystal for its corresponding chakra.  Each chakra corresponds to an anatomical position on the body and not only exerts influence on particular organs or glands, but has further spiritual connections.  The crystal is then laid over the chakra, dangled over the chakra, rubbed on the chakra, or just held near the chakra.  Now that the “science” is all crystal clear, I am ready to heal myself.

            I turn to the master cookbook - the internet.  I find the crown chakra (located just above one’s head) and the brow chakra (located on the forehead) have influence over sleep patterns and headaches.  The amethyst stone is the stone of choice for me.  Apparently, the amethyst is a pretty powerful stone.  It is commonly used as a “dream stone” to help with insomnia, and it can relieve headaches by being rubbed across one’s forehead.  Better yet, it is said to promote mental clarity:  when the amethyst is placed on the crown chakra, it encourages positive thought patterns and exerts control over the pineal gland.  In medical school, we learn the pineal gland secretes melatonin which affects our sleep-wake cycles.  The brow chakra exerts influence over the pituitary gland - the gland which is a principle regulator of our endocrine system.  Amethyst crystals are noted to have several other properties:  they improve memory, protect from danger, and are thought to bring success in business.  This stone sure has some powerful mojo.  After completing my amethyst education, I tell my wife I need to take a trip to the crystal shop (we have several in Asheville) so that I can buy myself a stone.  Always a step ahead of me, she gives a knowing smile and asks if I might be able to hold off until after Christmas.  When I say no, she goes to our bedroom and returns holding a small package. “Since you can’t wait,” she says.  I rip open the package and lo and behold, sitting inside the box are two amethysts - a small one to carry in my pocket and a larger cluster of crystal for my bedside.  How did she know I was planning on buying these?  I am not sure . . . woman’s intuition, or crystal magic?

            Over the following week, I dutifully carry the smaller amethyst in my pocket throughout the day; at night, before going to sleep, I place the larger crystal over both my crown and brow chakras.  Just before drifting off to sleep, I slip the large crystal under my pillow. As I close my eyes I imagine healing ions flowing through my body as I am transmuted to a higher plan.  Has it worked?  Despite some remaining head congestion, I have been sleeping well and headache free all week.  I am not sure if I have achieved full mental clarity, but I did find the motivation to write this blog during a couple of my lunch breaks.  Perhaps more significantly, I made a rare good financial decision (I suggest this qualifies as “business success”) - I rebalanced my retirement portfolio to an increased weight in stocks just before the stock market rallied.  This is a sharp contrast with my normal philosophy of buy high, sell low. I am not sure Janet Yellen’s recent economic statements can be attributed to the amethyst, but who knows.

            Perhaps the crystals work after all.  I did manage to not get as sick as my wife during our recent flu bout, and I have recovered faster.  One might look at her as the control in my study of crystals - we both got sick around the same time, but only I experienced the Salt Cave and slept with an amethyst under my pillow.  If this is not definitive proof, I don’t know what is.  At the very least, therapy with crystals has little downside - they are easy to use and they have few side-effects . . . except for a lumpy pillow.

Next week . . . the blog will be closed for the Holidays.

In two weeks . . . join me as I explore the Asheville vortex.

Asheville’s Salt Cave

              Despite my “John of God Crystal Bed” session last week, I have been struck down by the flu.  The whole family is ill with the exception of my thirteen year old son who wants little to do with the rest of us.  For once, his isolationism paid off.  We don’t deserve this.  We are good people.  We have been vaccinated.  Apparently, the flu doesn’t care. The predominant influenza strain circulating this year mutated just enough to make this year’s flu vaccine less effective.  Despite diligently making sure everyone in the family was vaccinated, we have still been stricken by a modern day plague.  I rarely miss work, but the flu has a way of changing one’s tune.  For the past three days, I have suffered from muscle aches, headaches, chills, fever, and head congestion.  To make matters worse, I haven’t been able to hole up alone in my misery.  Instead, the entire house reverberates with the sounds of coughing, sneezing and whining.  This is an ideal time to escape to Asheville’s Salt Cave.

            Perhaps you are unaware that Asheville is a salt mining mecca . . . it is not.  Always on the leading edge of the alternative movement, Asheville has one of a handful of artificially created salt caves that exist in North America.  The owners have imported over twenty tons of Polish salt crystals to make their own cave.  Why might one go to such lengths?  Apparently, they take their cue from the Europeans who have been basking in the benefits of “salt cave therapy” for decades.  The Asheville Salt Cave claims to be an “alternative treatment” for a litany of conditions including “acne, arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, migraines, viral infections, and weakened immune systems.”  I suffer from more than one of these maladies, and my immune system is certainly in a weakened state at the moment.  A little spelunking in a salt cave is in order.

            The Asheville Salt Cave is not dug into a remote mountain, but is smack dab in the middle of Asheville’s bustling “business district.”  Rather than being overrun with big corporations, Asheville’s downtown is an eclectic mix of restaurants, breweries, trinket shops, art galleries, and counter-culture establishments.  The Salt Cave fits right in.  The anteroom to the Salt Cave has a nice spa-vibe.  There are Himalayan salt crystals of all sizes for sale, ranging from a few inches in diameter to the size of a football.  After signing in, I am led to a long bench which sits outside the closed entrance to the cave.  I am encouraged to remove my shoes and to fix myself a cup of tea while waiting for my session to begin.  The establishment is nice and cozy - a sharp contrast to the cold, drizzly weather outside.  After a pleasant fifteen minutes of sipping herbal tea, the cave door opens and the attendant, a young woman in her twenties, invites us to come inside.  I say us because I have been joined by a middle-aged Asheville woman of German descent.

            As I enter the cave, I am struck by its appearance:  it resembles the lower hold of an old two- masted ship.  The entire “cave” is about 15 feet wide and 40 feet long.  The walls are adorned with very large salt rocks which resemble stone masonry.  The floor is covered with salt rock crystals of varying sizes on top of a virtual beach of sea salt.  The ceiling has large wooden cross ties holding up netting full of golf ball size salt crystals.  In each corner is a fountain which aerosolizes the salt.  Lights are set within some of the crystals on the wall and a few of the larger crystals on the ground.  There are mats with pillows and blankets for lying on the sea salt covered floor and anti-gravity lounge chairs for reclining.  It is just like a day at the beach except in a cave.  The whole set-up reminds me of a Star Trek episode.  I am in a cave on the planet Nubon, and the glowing salt crystals are alien eggs about to hatch.

            The young attendant captures my attention and brings an end to my intergalactic musings.  She instructs us to find a comfortable place to relax - I choose to lie on a floor mat.  She tells us that the salt crystals, when heated to greater than 64 degrees (the room is about 70 degrees), release 84 trace elements and minerals necessary for our bodies.  Breathing in these elements helps the body find balance and to heal itself.  We are also told the salt crystals neutralize the malicious positive ions which we are bombarded with throughout the day.  Positive ions are emitted by the electronics which are integral to life - cell phones, microwaves, computers, and televisions.  In contrast, the Salt Cave releases negative ions to restore our balance.  Negative ions reportedly have a wide range of beneficial effects from improved mood to better breathing.  “Forty-five minutes in the Salt Cave is equal to four days at the beach.”  As I lay back and grab a baseball size salt crystal in my hand, I contemplate that the healing must already have begun.

            Prior to leaving us to our own devices, our host leads us through some deep breathing and relaxation exercises.  After she steps out, I begin to relax in earnest.  We are in a dimly lit salt cave with gurgling fountains and soothing background music.  This is a far cry from the hell my wife is currently experiencing at home.  (I did invite my wife, but she claimed someone needed to watch over our feverish children - what a martyr).  The next forty-five minutes pass quickly as I fade into my surroundings.  As our time comes to an end, the lights brighten, and the cave door opens.  I sip some more tea, pull on my shoes, and pay a mere fifteen dollars - it is discount day for locals.  Refreshed, I pull on my rain jacket and reenter the real world.

            I am feeling better already.  I return to work the following day.  My fever has abated, and my congestion is less.  Is the salt cave the reason?  Perhaps . . . or it could be the Tamiflu I started two days earlier.

Next week . . . Self Help with Crystals.

The John of God Crystal Bed

            Let the healing begin.  I escape from work for an extended “lunch hour” to go on a “crystal journey with Michele.”  I have a lot of unanswered questions about crystal healing and in particular, the John of God Crystal Bed.  Who is this John of God?  How does one become “of God?”  Even Pope Francis isn’t referred to as “Pope Francis of God.”  This John guy must have some powerful juju.  What about this crystal bed?  How does it work?  If I stare at the crystals, will I burn my retina?  These and other vexing questions beg to be answered.  Hopefully, I will have the answers soon.  I pull up to the Appalachian School of Holistic Herbalism - A.S.Hol for short (just kidding).  The school is located in an old, two-story house.  Michele, garbed fully in white, meets me at the door.  She guides me to her office on the second floor.  The room is a repurposed single bedroom which now has two chairs, a side-table, and the main attraction - a raised massage table with seven colored lights hanging over it.  These “crystal lights” are suspended over the bed by a pole with seven extendable arms.  The walls are spartan with the exception of three framed 8 X 11 pictures:  one is a picture of John of God whom I recognize from Michele’s website; the second is some unnamed Saint (probably widely recognizable to most, but not to me); and, third is a pastel of a Buddha sitting cross-legged.

            I take a seat across from Michele.  We exchange a few pleasantries, and she asks how I heard about the John of God Crystal Bed and what I hope to gain from the treatment.  I truthfully say I came across her establishment on-line, and I have an interest in traditional Indian therapies.  I tell her about my recent Ayurvedic experience.  The tie between crystal therapy and traditional Hindu healing is awareness of chakras - energy points on the body.  She smiles approvingly. Michele then explains the Crystal Bed process.  She agrees with my decision to only receive thirty minutes of therapy since I am a first timer.  “You never know how it will impact you,” she says.  She wants to be sure I am safe to drive myself back to work at the end of the session.  This leads me to wonder what I am getting myself into.  Are the lights really going to make me feel different?  Perhaps they are lasers that will be molding my body.  What type of mind altering experience have I signed up for?  I notice my heart rate increasing.

            I decide to ask a few more questions.  “Who is John of God and what does the crystal bed have to do with him?”  Michele says that John of God is a spiritual healer who is famous for his paranormal healing ability.  He has healed millions by channeling different spiritual entities which use him as a vessel to perform both visible and invisible surgery.  Michele visited John of God in Brazil.  He identified her as someone with a gift for helping others.  The John of God Crystal Bed provides a long distance extension for his healing.  As a “trance medium” and distance healer, he is able to cure people from far away.  She encourages me to watch a video on her website which shows an interview with Wayne Dyer on Oprah.  Apparently, John of God successfully cured Mr. Dyer of leukemia, despite being a continent away.  Michele says she is not exactly sure how he does it, but she has given up trying to find an explanation. “The results speak for themselves,” she says.  She tells me about a woman she treated with crippling arthritis, who, after a single crystal bed session, regained use of her arthritic hands.  Others have reported sensing angels in the room while lying on the bed.  For others, she says the impact is less dramatic, but most report a positive impact although it may be delayed for several days.  It all sounds pretty impressive.  I am ready to begin.

            I lie fully clothed on the table.  Michele lines up the seven crystal lights with each of my chakra points.  She then covers my eyes with a towel and turns on some soothing background music.  She tells me to focus on one or two things I hope to achieve - these can by physical or mental.  I choose to focus on becoming a better father - maintaining calm when dealing with my oldest son’s quirks and compulsions, and being less overbearing with my middle son.  I will let David determine his own fate in hockey.  At times, I am too much of a “tiger dad” – pushing my son too hard to excel.  The second goal I center on is to heal my bothersome left shoulder.  I aggravated it while kayaking, and for the past several months, I have had to limit my athletic endeavors.  Michele gives me a few moments to identify these desires in my own mind.  She then has me take a few slow, deep breaths.  She dims the lights and steps out of the room. That is it.

            After lying still for several minutes and feeling relatively sure I am not being watched, curiosity gets the best of me.  I lift the towel off my eyes and give the John of God Crystal Bed a closer look.  The crystal lights appear to be little more than blinking plastic bulbs.  They remind me of Christmas lights.  I reach out and touch one - plastic, not warm, cheap. I do my inspection stealthily.  What if Michele is observing my movements from outside the room and bursts in to expose me as a spy?  I inspect the lights for a few more moments.  With my curiosity satiated, I pull the towel back over my eyes, lie back, and enjoy thirty minutes of peace. 

            Thirty minutes later, Michele returns.  She has me take a seat in one of the chairs, and she brings me a glass of water.  She asks if I am okay to drive.  “Yes,” I say.  After a few awkward moments and after reassuring Michele that I am have my wits about me, I write a check for thirty dollars and make an exit.

            What do I feel?  Nothing . . . absolutely nothing.  I certainly didn’t sense any angels in the room or commune with John of God.  Physically, I feel no different.  This point is driven home while reaching in the car to put in a CD and feeling the familiar twinge of pain in my shoulder.  Was it a waste?  It is too early to tell.  I will give it the next couple of days to see if I appreciate any changes.  I am not holding my breath while waiting for dramatic results. At the very least, a thirty minute siesta in the middle of a work day is always welcome and may be worth thirty dollars in its own right.  If my desire is to merely take a noontime nap every day, I might as well move to Mexico. 

Next week - Asheville’s Crystal Salt Cave 

Crystal Magic

            My self-described bible, Alternative Medicine - The Definitive Guide, has failed me for the first time.  Nowhere within its over one thousand pages can I find a reference to “healing with crystals.”  Well, surely I can learn more about the subject on the National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine’s website, but no, I strike out once again.  Maybe I finally found a truly “alternative” alternative.  Fortunately, Asheville does not let me down.  There are an abundance of sites within town that offer healing with crystals.  What is crystal healing?  According to reputable sources, crystal healing is a technique using crystals and other stones as conduits for natural healing energy.  Each crystal has unique properties that can benefit certain conditions or illnesses.  A common belief is crystals stimulate our body’s “chakras,” seven points of energy along our bodies that start on the forehead and extend down to the pelvis.  Each chakra’s name is based on the corresponding region of the body - sacral chakra, solar plexus chakra, heart chakra, and so forth.  Certain crystals work with certain chakras.

            I perform an exhaustive internet search for “crystals,” “crystal healing,” and “crystal therapy” in the Asheville region and devise a plan.  I create my own pu pu platter of crystal samplings.  I will begin my journey with a visit to Michelle.  Michelle offers the world renowned “John of God Crystal Bed Therapy.”  The crystal bed promises deep relaxation and increased energy along with a “redefined sense of life purpose.”  I will follow this up with an excursion to the Asheville Salt Cave.  The cave contains twenty tons of “crystal salt” with all eighty-four trace elements that are found in one’s body.  The elements are at the same vibrational patterns which our bodies need to heal themselves.  When this is over, if I have any ailments left, I will top off my exploration of crystals with a little bit of cookbook medicine.  Following recommended uses, I will purchase my own crystals and see if I can fix what still needs fixin’.

Next week . . . John of God’s Crystal Bed

Ayurvedic Medicine - The Final Analysis

             My month long flirtation with Ayurvedic medicine is coming to an end.  I completed a pared down version of a parchakarma, or cleansing.  I consider my approach a western adaptation of the real thing.  With the guidance of the Ayurvedic doctor, I focused on dietary changes, herbal supplements, and a day spa treatment.  The more adventurous parchakarmas might include bleeding by leeches, purgatives, and enemas.  While the path I took may have lacked the excitement of a good bleeding, it still had its moments.  The shirodhara, which involved the slow sustained pouring of warm oil over my forehead, was soothing and unlike any of my prior experiences.  I feared my enjoyment of shirodhara would be offset by a raging crop of acne pustules in my scalp the following week, but fortunately, I was spared this embarrassment.

            Is Ayurveda worth the time and money?  Yes and no.  Perhaps if my dosha (life-force) had been more out of balance, I would have been more aware of the results.  Aside from the utter relaxation I experienced during my day spa experience, I am unable to appreciate any objective changes in my overall well-being.  I appear to have survived the daily herbal ingestions despite the real possibility of heavy metal poisoning.  I will not miss my twice daily doses of the powdered herbs which look and taste like cremation remains - dearly departed “old aunt Louise” I like to joke.  The dietary recommendations which include increased intake of fruit and veggies, avoiding processed foods, and limiting caffeine, all make sense for one’s overall health.

            While my personal anecdotes are fine, you may be wondering if there is any proof that Ayurveda is beneficial.  To answer this question, I hit the books (really, the computer because who really uses books for research any longer?).  I found research that shows certain Ayurvedic herbs can effectively lower both short and long term blood sugars in diabetics.  The use of Diabecon not only lowered blood sugars, but correspondingly led to increases in circulating insulin.  Another study compared Ayurvedic medicine to methotrexate, a commonly accepted therapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.  This was a small study, only 43 patients, but it was double-blinded and placebo-controlled (two critical components for a well done clinical study), and it showed equivalent benefit for the patients (J Clin Rheumatology, 2011).  In other work, varieties of the herb boswellia, otherwise known as frankincense, were found to produce a resin with anti-inflammatory effects in the lab.  Preliminary clinical trial results suggest it my benefit those with osteoarthritis (classic old age arthritis).  Despite these positive findings, the majority of research has been inconclusive, and definitive proof that Ayurveda is beneficial has remained elusive.  Proponents of Ayurveda will point out that a main tenet of Ayurveda is that it focuses on the individual with highly tailored regimens based on one’s particular needs.  Thus, the gold standard of double-blinded, placebo-controlled experimentation runs contrary to Ayurvedic principles and might not give accurate results.  Although this argument may have some merit, I find that for a discipline practiced by a majority of the Indian population for thousands of years, the proof is not convincing.

            In contrast to the lack of proof of benefit, the potential risk in taking Ayurvedic medicines derived from Indian sources is very real.  An analysis of Ayurvedic medicines published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2008 found 21% of Ayurvedic medications contained dangerous levels of lead, mercury, and/or arsenic.  A more recent report from the Center for Disease Control in 2012 described six cases of lead poisoning in pregnant women in New York City due to ingestion of Ayurvedic medications originating in India. They found lead concentrations as high as 2.4% of the total medication as well as mercury and arsenic.  Needless to say, lead exposure is bad for both mother and baby.  Fetal lead exposure increases the risk for low birth weight, reduced intelligence, and behavioral problems.  Furtonutley, muy inteluct wus knot hut.

            To sum it up - Ayurveda definitely promotes many beneficial habits - improved diet, massage, yoga, and relaxation – but, keep an eye on those herbs.  I will try to continue the diet, perhaps repeat the day spa, and do some more yoga, but I will leave the herbal ashes for the diehards (no pun intended).

Ayurvedic Medicine - Rasayana Day Spa

              After two weeks of dieting and taking Ayurvedic herbs, I am ready for some hands on therapy.  I arrange a Rasayana day spa appointment.  Getting the appointment is the hardest part. Apparently, Ayurvedic medicine, like other forms of alternative medicine, is quite popular in Asheville.  The first appointment I can arrange is two weeks away.  Finally, the day arrives.  Much to my delight, the Ayurvedic center is now located in North Asheville. As I pull up in my car, I appreciatively note the center is in a turn of the century home in an eclectic area of town.  I like it when my preconceived notions are realized.  This is much better than the yuppie section of town where it previously sat.  I arrive at 12:30 p.m. on the dot.  Despite my goal of relaxation, I hope I am not forced to wait - I am playing hooky from work, and I don’t want to be gone too long.  I toss my pager in the front console of my car and beseech it to remain silent for the next two hours.  I also turn off my phone.  Receiving pages and calls from the hospital will not help me relax.

            I sink into a comfortable couch in the front room.  The smell of incense wafts through the building.  A sign alerts me that a session is in progress.  After only a few minutes, the Ayurvedic doctor beckons me to follow him upstairs.  The Ayurvedic office is located in the front room of the house on the second floor.  There is a massage table in the center of the room and Indian art on the walls.  I also see the shelves of crushed herbs made the trip, as well as the three foot high elephant Buddha.  He asks how I feel and if I have been following the dietary prescription he suggested.  I say that I have.  I mention that the herbs are not so tasty.  He says their smell and texture are part of the therapy.  He is not opposed to my adding lemon juice to the mixture of hot water and herbs, as I have been doing, but says I should also experience the herbs on their own (no way in hell, I think to myself).  He then introduces me to his female assistant, and we get down to business.  They step out of the room while I fully undress and cover myself with a warm cover while lying on the massage table.

            Upon their return, gentle music is turned on - piano playing, followed by various reed instruments - quite soothing.  Over the next hour, I experience the Abhyanga (warm herbal oil massage).  The two practitioners work in unison - one starting on my head and face and the other on my feet.  I am very squeamish about anyone touching the bottoms of my feet.  Usually, the experience is anything but relaxing.  Amazingly, I tolerate it and even like it.  Perhaps having one person kneading my scalp while the soles of my feet are massaged provides the necessary tactile distraction.  He even massages my ears.  He places mint drops (or something similar) in my nose to open my sinuses.  The next hour is decadent:  two sets of hands rubbing me from stem to stern, front and back with warm herbal oil.  I have never received such attention.  I later read the oil is a liquid form of fat that is well absorbed through the skin.  Purportedly, it enters my circulation and binds to toxins which are eliminated through normal processes.  This form of detoxification sure beats the heck out of the UltraSimple Diet I did last month.  The hour rapidly passes.  When it is over, I reluctantly move on to the next stage of my day spa package, the Basha Swedana, or herbal steam bath.

            The doctor leads me, still fully disrobed except for a small hand towel, to a single person sauna in the corner of the room.  The front of the steam bath swings open to reveal a small bench.  The door is closed, and my whole body is enveloped, except for an opening for my head.  Slowly, steam emanates from the floor of the chamber.  It feels nice and warm.  I wish I had one of these at home.  It is a bit strange though:  while my body is bathed in steam, my head is out in the room just hanging out.  It reminds me of the Halloween gag of the talking head poking through a table as if it is the main course for dinner.  Meanwhile, the Ayurvedic doctor and his helper are milling around the room setting up for the next stage of my experience.  It gives me a chance to ask some questions.  I ask “Where do you get the jars of powdered herbs?” and “Have you traveled to India?”  He replies some of the herbs are purchased from U.S. based companies, while he acquires others through his sources in India (my fears are realized . . . Indian herbs . . . toxic metals - I try not to show my concern).  He has spent time in India, and his mentors are native Indians who trained him here in the United States.

I then ask about the other Ayurvedic methods of cleansing I read about - bleeding, emetics, and laxatives.  He says he uses all of these methods, but primarily for special cases.  He explains that in India, leeches are often used, but here in the U.S., he just encourages patients to donate blood and follow this with a diet of cleansing herbs.  He says that dermatologic conditions respond particularly well to bleeding while emetics, or herbs that induce vomiting, are useful for treating conditions such as gastric reflux disease.  He also uses laxatives.  The goal of all of these therapies is to help remove toxins, or alma, from one’s system. He mostly focuses on dietary changes, herbal meds, and day spa treatments, such as I have been receiving.  It appears I have been receiving “Panchakarma – lite.”  This is fine with me, but it is fascinating that the more “alternative” aspects of Ayurvedic medicine are fully embraced locally.  After about twenty minutes in the steam bath, I am ready for my final treatment of the day, a Shirodhara.

            Shirodhara involves slowly pouring liquid over one’s head - shiro (head) and dhara (flow).  I return to the massage table, and the assistant dims the lights and places a small wet towel over my eyes.  The soothing music is resumed, and over the next 30 minutes, warm sesame seed oil is slowly poured over my forehead.  The oil is released from a suspended pot that resembles a honeypot with a nozzle on the bottom.  The oil runs over my forehead and then oozes through my hair and is collected in a basin below my head and recycled.  The doctor says  most people find it very relaxing and are able to enter a meditative state.  He is not kidding.  Here I am, lying naked on a table with only a thin sheet covering me while a stranger pours oil over my head, and I actually fall asleep - unprecedented.  Eventually, the music stops, and I wake up.  I sit up, wrap myself in the sheet, and walk to a shower.  I look in the mirror, and I appear ready to audition for the movie Grease.

            After a quick shower, I pay my bill, a cool $199, but well worth it, and I drive back to work.  Fortunately, the rest of the afternoon is not too taxing.  I don’t think I could have handled it if it had been really busy.  I have completed my Rasayana Day Spa.  This spa treatment combined with one more week of herbs, and my special diet and my self-determined panchakarma will be complete.

 

Next week -  Ayurveda - Is there evidence to back it up?

Ayurvedic Medicine - Putting Principles into Practice

              It is time to tackle my dosha imbalance. Dosha is another name for one’s life force.  The Ayurvedic doctor told me both my Pitta and Vata doshas are out of whack.  With such an imbalance, one might expect I would have a hard time functioning, but somehow I have managed.  After taking a week off to recover from my UltraSimple cleanse, I am ready to follow the Ayurvedic recommendations.  According to WebMd, “A main goal of Ayurvedic medicine is to cleanse your body of undigested food . . . which can stick inside your body and make you sick.”  Now I understand why the doctor was so pleased by my regular bowel movements:  I don’t think anything sticks to my intestines.  Nevertheless, I am to embark on a panchakarma, or cleansing process.  Hopefully, this will correct my imbalance and create harmony among my doshas. 

              There are many methods to a successful panchakarma.  Methods include bleeding, massage, cathartics, and enemas.  I vote no to the bleeding.  Fortunately, I didn’t see any leeches in the doctor’s office.  A good massage, however, I might be willing to endure.  Other treatments may include:  aromatherapy, dietary modifications, herbs, lifestyle changes, yoga, and meditation. My doctor has chosen diet and herbs for the first go around.  This will be followed by an Ayurvedic Rasayan Day Spa package to complete my panchakarma.
          In accordance with the doctor’s advice, I once again eliminate caffeine from my diet.  He suggested green tea as an alternative, but I now associate green tea with my recently completed UltraSimple Diet and even the thought of it brings on a wave of nausea.  Besides, I will be drinking hot water with a teaspoon of crushed Ayurvedic herbs mixed in twice a day.  Surely this will be better than green tea.  In addition to the crushed herbal concoction, I once again cut out the “empty sweets” which I so adore - not an easy feat in the wake of Halloween.  I am loading up on veggies, nuts, and fruits - boy, this feels familiar.  I can certainly appreciate the logic behind this diet.  I am eating a healthier version of my regular diet.  I do cheat a bit, but on the balance, I am eating pretty healthy.  I have no complaints, except for those herbs.
            Do the powdered herbs mixed in a cup of hot water really taste better than green tea?  No, they do not.  The crushed herbs have the appearance of a grey powder.  They remind me of ashes from someone’s cremation - perhaps this is where crematoriums sell their unclaimed bodies.  I mix one teaspoon of the herbal concoction in a cup of steaming water.  With vigorous stirring, I can almost get the herbs to dissolve.  On its own, it is undrinkable; once I add freshly squeezed lemon, it is just bearable.  The result is a grey, slightly noxious, gritty drink.  I managed to force it down twice a day for the past week.
           If the appearance and taste of this gritty herbal drink is not enough to discourage me from taking the herbs, then perhaps an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Society (JAMA) in 2007 should do the trick.  The authors found that several Indian manufactured Ayurvedic products might result in lead and/or mercury ingestions 100-100,000 times acceptable limits.  In case you are unfamiliar with lead and mercury, they are heavy metals whose ingestion can cause life-threatening illnesses. The Federal Drug Administration has warned that 20% of Ayurvedic medicines contain toxic metals, including lead, mercury, and arsenic.  Yes, that is right, arsenic - the poison young wives use to murder their rich husbands.
           Despite the above admonitions, I stick to the diet and take my herbal remedy.  My son, Connor, is very worried about the potential heavy metal poisoning that seems to be looming. He has reviewed the symptoms of lead poisoning (abdominal pain, constipation, headache, confusion, irritability), mercury poisoning (tremors, inflamed gums, increased salivation, psychiatric symptoms), and arsenic poisoning (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss, rash).  He is monitoring me closely.  Other than going bald and acting a bit crazy, I haven’t changed a bit.  Connor is struggling with determining which symptoms he should attribute to the herbs and which ones are typical for his father. 
           One week into the diet, I feel pretty good.  The herbs do scare me a bit, but I am hoping that the herbs I got fall in the 80% which are not full of heavy metals.  I am feeling healthier by the day.  I am sure that my doshas are smiling.

 Next Friday . . . Rasayana Day Spa - Completing the Panchakarma

Ebola - Is there a Silver Lining?

            The tragedy which is striking the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea is likely to spawn sporadic cases of Ebola in the United States for years to come.  Amidst the hysteria which the handful of cases in the United States has wrought, I can see some potential good.  Over the past few weeks, I have seen health care workers and the public health system mobilized unlike any other time in my career.  Sometimes it takes fear, real or imagined, to get things done. 

            The likelihood of you or one of your loved ones contracting Ebola is remote.   Despite appearances to the contrary, we know how to handle this.  Just look at Nigeria, a country that few would mistake for having a world class health system, which was able to stem the Ebola tide and is now Ebola free.  The reason Ebola has run rampant in Sierra Leone and Liberia is that these two countries entered this crisis with fractured public health and medical systems due to years of civil war.  These factors, combined with local customs and the slow initial recognition of Ebola, have led to the current epidemic.   It is truly unfortunate that the United States and Europe showed little interest in this epidemic until it was on our doorsteps.  Ebola will plague West Africa for the foreseeable future, but it is highly unlikely, neigh impossible, that Ebola will cause a similar outbreak here in the United States.  Hysteria should not rule the day.  We need to harness the energy and awareness wrought by this terrible disease and enact change for the better.  I know we can do this.

            As an infectious disease physician and head of my hospital’s infection control at the Charles George Veterans Medical Center, I have spent countless hours in meetings, developing protocols, giving lectures, and taking part in simulated drills in response to the Ebola outbreak.  I have become intimately familiar with some of the more mundane aspects of healthcare.  I have sought answers to the following questions - What does one wear while caring for a patient infected with Ebola?  How does one clean up blood or vomit for an Ebola patient? Will the waste management company we contract with handle the waste?  Can we even flush the toilet?  I get over a hundred emails a day regarding Ebola.  Guidance seems to change by the minute depending on whether it is the CDC, the North Carolina public health department, or our hospital system giving it.  Everyone is scared.  What if a person with Ebola walks into our emergency room?

            I have tried to convey a simple message:  the likelihood of our hospital caring for a patient infected with Ebola is small, but if it happens, we are ready.  My hope is, despite the fact that we may never care for an Ebola patient, we will have benefited from our preparation.  According to the CDC, there are over 75,000 deaths in the United States each year due to hospital acquired infections.   I have little doubt this number dwarfs the Ebola-related deaths we will ever see in the United States.  As a result of the Ebola scare, my own hospital, and all the hospitals I have contacted, is spending thousands of dollars purchasing the necessary supplies to be Ebola ready.  In addition, we are spending hundreds of hours retraining our staff in the proper use of personal protective equipment.  Hopefully, the time spent focusing on properly putting on and taking off protective gear, hand hygiene, and improving communication between staff will reap benefits that extend well beyond Ebola preparedness.  

            We should all look to the current Ebola crisis as a wake-up call.  America needs to step up to the plate and provide the leadership and resources to resolve the crisis in West Africa.  Never again should we wait for Americans to be affected before we act - the world is too small.  On a local level, we have an obligation to make sure we provide the best care possible.   I see the current crisis as an opportunity to strengthen our health system and reduce preventable complications.  Ebola is the current crisis, but it won’t be the last.

 

Next week...Ayurvedic Medicine- Following the Doctor's Orders

Ayurvedic Medicine- A visit to the Doctor

          A week has passed since I completed the UltraSimple diet detoxification.  I have gained back five of the twelve pounds I lost, and as a result, my clothes are no longer hanging off me.  Now, it is time to give Ayurvedic medicine a try.  I may be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.  Nevertheless, I manage to carve out a couple of hours from my busy work schedule to see the Ayurvedic doctor for an initial consultation.  Ayurveda sounds like pure Asheville.  If you know Asheville, you know that it is a town of cool retro-spots, good restaurants, and home of all things alternative.  I expect the Ayurveda center will be located downtown in a trendy area, but no, it is located in a modern office space on Hendersonville Road.  Imagine big box stores, Bennigans, excessive signage, and traffic congestion and you have Hendersonville Road - the least appealing area of Asheville.  Surprisingly the Ayurvedic center is not the only alternative option in this area.  The very same office building also houses an integrative medicine clinic - just one more sign that alternative medicine has gone mainstream.

            I expect this visit might be expensive.  I harken back to my visit to the Naturopath:  the initial consultation cost over $100 yet paled in comparison to the cost of the recommended herbs and homeopathic remedies. Blue Cross and Shield is not taken here.  I know that herbal remedies are a big part of Ayurveda.  I can only imagine the price tag.  Herbs purchased in a grocery store are expensive enough, but import them from India and prescribe them as a remedy, and I am sure the cost skyrockets.  We will see.

            I enter the Ayurveda center, and no one is there to greet me.  I can tell by the Indian pictures on the wall, the dim lights, and the wicker furniture that I am in the right place.  A sign on a table says someone will be out shortly.  I take a seat and try to channel my inner Buddha.  That is me - Mister Low Key, not in a hurry.  In truth, I am analyzing everything.  I can only aspire to be Type B.  Fifteen minutes after my consultation is scheduled to begin, a customer emerges from the back room followed by Jesus. Not actually Jesus, but certainly a reasonable modern-day imitation. The doctor has long hair pulled back into a pony tail, a loose fitting shirt, jeans, and no shoes.  He is clearly in his element.  He is Asheville while I am just an imposter. He invites me to the back room.  We sit across from one another in two upright chairs.  His office combines modernity with Ancient India. There is a table top with a computer, books, and his scribblings juxtaposed with pictures of India, a waist-high, golden, elephant Buddha, and shelves stocked with large jars of crushed herbs.  This is a far cry from the sterile dispensary with which I am familiar.

            After casually introducing himself, the doctor launches into the usual questions that begin any visit:  “What brings you here?”  “What do you hope to gain?”  He then begins a fairly detailed inquisition into my dietary habits, lifestyle, and my general constitution.  I am expecting this line of questioning.  Of course, what he really wants to discover is my dosha.  Should I save him the effort and just blurt out that “I am a Pitta.”  I suppress the urge and answer his questions faithfully.  “Yes, I sweat a lot. No, I am not prone to constipation. In fact, I have frequent loose stools.  Yes, I would describe myself as high stress.  I suffer from insomnia, heartburn, and headaches.”  These last two admissions pique his interest.  He does not seem surprised that I get heartburn.  He asks further questions to better define my headaches - “How frequent are they? What triggers them?  How do you relieve them?”

            Next, he takes a very detailed history of my dietary habits.  I tell him about the cleanse that I just recently completed, and he nods approvingly.  In fact, I think the cleanse has stolen much of his thunder.  He recommends avoiding empty sweets - done, caffeine -done, processed foods -done.  I am becoming worried.  It appears that if I follow his dietary recommendations, the cleanse, which I am so relieved is over, will live on minus the dreaded UltraBroth.  Fortunately, he doesn’t mention cutting out alcohol.  I am not sure if this is an oversight, but I don’t ask.  I can drink my evening glass of wine or beer.  Hallelujah!

            Now that history taking is completed, we come to the physical examination.  Where will he probe? What bodily samples will I have to produce?  He pulls up his chair until we are directly across from one another, and our knees are nearly touching.  He places a square pillow as a bridge across our laps.  First he stares deeply into my eyes.  Then, he has me stick out my tongue while he studies its furrows and ridges.  I wonder if the cleft I have from biting through my tongue as an infant gives him any insight.  Then, he has me place my arms on the pillows, and he uses three fingers to check the pulses on both my wrists.  Apparently, he is much more adept at reading one’s pulse than me.  I remember reading about Ayurvedic doctors being able to appreciate three components of one’s pulse and thereby being able to derive inferences regarding overall well-being.  After a few more seconds of pulse reading, he is done.  The exam is done. No urine or blood sample required.

            He declares my constitution is Pitta.  I am amazed.  He also says my “imbalanced state” is also Pitta, but with a bit of Vata.  Now that my dosha is revealed, he can tailor a specific therapeutic plan for me.

            First, he returns his focus to my diet.  We spend extensive time going over foods I should avoid and foods I should load up on.  He encourages me to double my water intake to two liters a day.  (It seems that every discipline, including western medicine, is convinced that we are continually at risk for dehydration).  I am to avoid drinking milk in close proximity to when I drink orange juice.  Most of his dietary recommendations are fairly standard - avoid processed foods and increase my intake of natural fruits and veggies.

            He says that Pittas have a lot of heat; therefore, I need to avoid heat producing foods which will only feed my fire.  He is pleased by my frequent bowel movements, but remains concerned about my headaches and heartburn.  He says heartburn is a symptom rather than a disease itself.  When I express an openness to try herbal remedies, he smiles.  He leaps up, stares at his shelves, and contemplates out loud which jars hold the right herbs for me.  He grabs a zip lock baggie and starts adding a scoop or two of various herbal powders.  After a few moments of indecision, followed by a few clarifying questions regarding my sleep habits and bowel movements, he completes the herbal concoction and hands me the bag. He tells me to take two teaspoons twice daily mixed with hot water. 

            The visit is coming to an end.  He suggests I contact him via email in a week or two to report on my progress and possibly to schedule a visit to the Ayruvedic day spa for an Abhynanga (warm oil message) or perhaps a Shirodhara (Ayurvedic Bliss Therapy).  He says these treatments are part of the process to restore balance and promote relaxation.  The next question - cash or credit card?  Alas, my bliss is coming to an end.  The total bill is $150 for the consultation and a mere $20 for the herbs.  Compared to my naturopathic visit, I feel like I am making out like a bandit.

Ayurvedic Medicine - Hello Ancient India

            For my next foray into alternative medicine, I will travel back in time and give Ayurvedic medicine a try.  Ayurveda is one of the world’s oldest forms of holistic healing.  Ayurveda traces its origins back thousands of years to ancient India.  The first obstacle I come across in my plans to sample this discipline is how do I pronounce Ayurvedic?  Is it Aaroovadick?  Ayorveedak?  Fortunately, I don’t have to look far to find clarification from a native of India.  Do all Indians aspire to be doctors?  I share my office with a Dr. Gupta, not the world famous Sanjay Gupta, but Vinnie Gupta.  Dr. Gupta informs me the correct pronunciation is “Eye yur vaydick.”  Now that I can pronounce Ayurvedic, I am ready to find a local practitioner.  Fortunately, I now live in Asheville, North Carolina, home of all things alternative.  San Francisco has nothing on my little mountain town when it comes to non-traditional forms of medicine. Had I searched for an Ayurvedic doctor in Cleveland, Ohio, two years ago when I started this quest, I would have been out of luck.  Asheville not only has Ayurveda, but it boasts one of the few Ayurvedic centers in the United States.  Don’t lose heart Clevelanders - a University Hospitals affiliate just added Ayurveda as a wellness option - further proof that alternative medicine is not really so “alternative” any longer.

            What is Ayurveda?  Does a form of wellness therapy invented thousands of years ago still have relevance in modern times?  To answer these questions, I turn to my usual sources: my bible, Alternative Medicine - The Definitive Guide, and WebMd.  These two sources provide opposite sides of the spectrum - alternative medicine devotees versus western-trained doctors like me.  According to Dr. Deepak Chopra, Ayurvedic physicians ask “Who is my patient?” rather than “What disease does my patient have?”  The focus of Ayurveda is to promote good health rather than to treat disease.  Ayurveda believes in the connectedness of everything in the universe (Connectedness is a key buzzword for many “alternative” beliefs.  I often think my traditionally trained colleagues worry too much about the “connectedness” of their coding for procedures and billing).  Ayurveda says everything is composed of the five basic elements - space, air, water, fire, and earth (a bit simpler than the 118 elements that make up the Periodic Table).  These basic elements combine to form a person’s metabolic type or dosha.  If your dosha gets out of balance, you are prone to illness.

            I check out the three doshas - Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.  Which one am I?  Persons typically are of one predominant dosha, but may express the other doshas to a lesser degree. There are certain characteristics associated with each dosha.  My bible, Alternative Medicine, lists traits associated with each dosha.  As I read the list of general traits, I am reminded of a bad horoscope which gives general predictions that could apply to everyone.  Despite my initial cynicism, I am clearly a Pitta:  medium build; fair-thin hair (thinner than I would like); warm-perspiring skin; doesn’t miss a meal; lives by the clock; intelligent and articulate (of course); orderly-efficient; warm and loving (maybe); short-tempered (nope); heartburn (yep); hemorrhoids (yes, how embarrassing); and, acne (my friends definitely remember my pizza-faced youth).  Wow!  I am a Pitta through and through.

            According to WebMd, those with Pitta as their primary life force are more likely to develop anger and negative emotions (bullshit! I hate this website!), Crohn’s disease (I do have bowel issues), heart disease, heartburn, high blood pressure, and infections.  Fortunately, I am an infectious diseases doctor so I should be able to handle the last of these.  Based on my overwhelming Pitta-ness, I should have had a least one cardiac bypass surgery by now.  I don’t dare wait any longer.  I need to find guidance before I croak.  I will set up my first Ayurvedic consultation right away. 

 Next week . . . a visit to the Ayurvedic doctor.

Detoxification Completed

           It is Sunday once again.  The UltraSimple Diet is over and not a minute too soon.  I am losing weight at a frightening pace.  Skinny when I started this endeavor, I am now down right emaciated.  I lost eight pounds in the last week and about four pounds in the preceding week.  The last time I was this skinny, I had just returned from eight months in West Africa (and no, I did not contract Ebola).  Getting dressed in the morning is a challenge.  What clothes do I have that won’t swallow me up and make me look like a bag of bones?  Enough about the weight loss; the question you are asking is: “how do I feel?”

            Dr. Hyman, author of the UltraSimple Diet, claims that by “reducing toxic stress” through his diet, I will feel renewed and rejuvenated.  Is it true?  In a word . . . maybe.  The past two weeks of no processed sugar, no wheat products, no caffeine, and no alcohol has certainly changed my attitude toward food.  I realize now that most of my diet in the past has been made up of these synthesized, unnatural foods.  Despite the change in my perspective, I do plan on eating many of these foods again, but in moderation.  Additionally, I will be adding many more fruits and veggies to my diet.  If the UltraSimple Diet is meant to reboot one’s attitude towards food and inspire healthy eating, then it scored a ten.  Do I feel less toxic?  Not really.  What I have felt for the past two weeks is a deep rumbling hunger.  Let’s get this straight, being hungry is not fun.  I no longer aspire to be on a reality survival show.  I want to know where and when my next meal will be.  Despite my newfound respect for food, I have learned to tolerate pangs of hunger and will no longer require a fistful of cookies to stave it off.  Although I came to appreciate the merits of sautéed veggies on brown rice, I don’t think I need to eat this particular combination again for a few months.  I also don’t see any more UltraBroths in my future (see last week’s blog post to learn the ingredients).  This morning, I happily sat down to a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and turkey bacon.  Give me some credit:   I had hot water with lemon rather than my usual cup of coffee.

            I retook the “Toxicity and Inflammation” quiz outlined in the UltaSimple Diet manual.  My pre-diet score was a 16, which rated me as having a “mild imbalance,” while my post-diet score was little changed at 13.  Where did my score change?  For the past week, I have not had any heartburn, belching, or passage of gas.  Amazing.  I can’t say I really care whether I pass gas or not, but my wife was thankful.  The one area where my score worsened was general fatigue.  For some reason, the feeling of starvation also made me feel more sluggish and adverse to exercise.  Imagine that.

            What is my assessment of the whole detoxification process?  It is a bit over the top.  I don’t plan on doing a cleanse like this one again.  If rapid weight loss is your goal, then the UltraSimple Diet is great.  My wife lost six pounds, and my colleague at work lost five pounds and a few clothing sizes.  I lost over eight pounds, and I imagine I must have passed beyond the stage of breaking down fat, to digesting my own muscles.  I will now go about trying to regain much of the weight I lost.  As for the benefit of this diet and ones like it for reducing toxicity and inflammation, I remain skeptical.  I feel as inflamed today as I felt two weeks ago, and this is despite the fact I largely abstained from vigorous exercise.  It is hard to go for a long bike ride or lift weights when you are craving food.  I am glad I have joined the multitude of cleansing veterans.  I imagine my liver is smiling.  While I may not have become a cleansing devotee, I do admit it has effectively reset my attitude toward food.

Next week . . . Ayurvedic Medicine (Ancient Indian Remedies in Asheville)