Give it a thumb
Take responsibility
If you have been reading the past few day's pages on the cognitive enhancement drugs, you should have noticed that all of the 'wonder drugs' are produced naturally within and by your brain. I suppose the pharmaceuticals have a positive role to play but not in my body. I imagine that an Alzheimers, Parkinsons or MS patient is no longer able to take responsibility and control but for the rest of us, it is our responsibility.
The practice of medicine, as your personal physician practices is what I call the business of clinical allopathy. Allopathy has fantastic diagnostic tools and it has three methods of treating symptoms... cut, burn and poison, which are all violent toward your body. Your doctor is trained to treat symptoms, not cure the underlying cause (usually).
I live in France, the country with the best health care in the world. I am a regular visitor to my local doctor. I call him the gate keeper, because it is he, who must order all of the diagnostics. When I receive the lab reports, I review the biochemical implications and return to my doctor ready for discussion. He is more willing to prescribe than discuss because his most common answer is, "I don't know." When I get the 'I don't know response', I get his referral to a specialist. The specialists generally can answer my questions for another two layers, before I get an 'I don't know.'
I have discussed this matter with several doctors and medical school professors and it has been explained to me that, in general, modern allopathy is divided into researchers and clinicicians. The researchers don't often treat patients; they are more interested in "Why?". The clinicians are in the business of treating patients, in partnership with the insurance and pharmaceutical providers. My personal health interests can often be in conflict with the isurance and pharmaceutical provider. It is my responsibility to protect my interest from theirs.
Without fail, either my gatekeeper or the specialist prescribe some sort of chemical product. I always take the prescription to the same pharmacist and discuss the ingredients, excipients and contraindications. He understands the biochemistry. I always take the prescription (after all, in France it is all free to me), as my way of paying him for his advice. I throw the chemicals, unused and unopened, in the trash, as soon as possible... and take responsibility for my body's maintenance and repair.
Using our current subject of cognitive enhancement, as a perfect example. The brain naturally produces the needed chemicals. What does it need to produce the chemicals?... glucose and oxygen provided by adequate blood flow, cholesterol, as produced and stored in your liver and delivered by blood flow and acetylcholine, which is produced by the liver from ingested nutrients containing lecithin.(perhaps I should have said de-livered from ingested nutrients)
The mystery is removed... breathe correctly, do the exercises daily, eat well.... be responsible, don't outsource the responsibility. I will be writing about nutrition and liver care in the future.
Saturday's update may be delayed. I will be in Switzerland until Saturday noon, assisting MS victims with their recoveries. No, I am not practicing medicine; I demonstrate yogic methods... the practice is their responsibility.