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  • Causes and natural treatment of male and female infertility (2)

    Being second installment of the paper presented by Femi Kusa at the training seminar of the National Integrative Medicine Practitioners Association held at the Water Parks Hotel, Toyin Street, Ikeja, Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos, on October 8, 2014.

    Parasite Clearance

    There are too many herbs which do this job that we cannot mention them all here. So are proprietary such as NGE parasite formula (milk thistle and Jerusalem artichoke), Parasite cleanse, Olive Leaf Complex, the Amazon stablemates, Amazon AF (for Candida), Amazon AV (viruses) Amazon AP (Skin parasites and Flat worms) Oregano oil pan d’arco and colloidal silver. Faciolopsis, a flat worm often picked up from the egg of the adult worm in the intestine of infected animals not thoroughly cooked before it is consumed, may trail wood alcohol or nickel to the prostate gland. An infected prostate gland may be unable to contribute enough quality secretions to the semen, and this may affect sperm quality and fertility. “In Nigeria, the intestine of animals is a popular culinary delicacy called Round-about” because of its structural features. I stopped eating it, long before I read of its havocs from Dr. Holda’s book on electronic or frequency destruction of germs, when I realized many cooks do not rid it completely of its fecal contents.

    Sperm Quality

    I always like to engage this question from the angle of thyroid gland health. The thyroid surrounds the neck and is responsible for the body’s metabolic rate. This is the rate at which the body functions. This rate can be low, normal or high. When low, a person afflicted by it is said to suffer from hypothyroidism. When it is high, the condition is called hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism makes the body over combust. Nutrients are over consumed, the patient may become thin, the heart may overwork, beat too fast and exhibit symptoms of palpitations. Many doctors mistreat the hypertension induced by hyperthyroidism as plain hypertension, without realising that one log of wood has fallen on another, and that removing the upper one alone will not necessarily remove the log below. hypothyroidism, on the other hand, makes the sufferer not only physically sluggish and lethargic, but also similarly downgrades all bodily processes and functions, including fertility. So many factors may cause hyperthyroidism or hyperthyroidism.  One of these may be insufficient Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) from the pituitary gland in the brain, or simply from the havocs of the halogens. The halogens are a group of gases (chlorine, fluorine, bromine etc) which have the same chemical structure as iodine, one of the nutrients the thyroid gland requires to function normally. When the halogens attach themselves to the receptors of the thyroid gland, they block iodine absorption and this creates iodine deficiency in this gland. Goitres may result or may not. Overtime, the body goes downhill. Sea kelp and other iodine-containing sea plants do help. The patient is to avoid cabbage and other gastrogen – containing plants, such as cauliflower, Brocoli spouts, Breoli, because gaststrogens, like Buggleweed used in the treatment of hyperthyroidism, slows down the thyroid gland. These gastrogen containing plants are also known as the cruciferous vegetables. There are many proprietary medicines which can help. Among these are Tyroset, Laminaria, Magnesium, Triple iodine Complex and SDGs.

    Tyroset is a combination of kelp, L-Tyrosine (an amino acid) and spices which support thyroid health. Laminaria is an extract of brown sea weeds rich in minerals and iodine. Triple iodine complex is similar to iodoral, which appears to be scarce world-wide. Iodoral was wonderful for many low-thyroid cases and auto-immune diseases. It came in tablets which contained 50mg of iodine or 12.5mg of it in addition to potassium iodide. Many people were scared of iodine at 50mg per dose. But a doctor who educated me about it said he took it for two years running when he was developing goitre. Members of his family took it for about one year. He believes all serious diseases in which the immune system has been depleted require iodine at about 50mg dosage. In Triple Iodine Complex, the iodine dosage is 12.5mg. Then, there are the SDGs. Composed largely of Lignans which have been found to build immunity, they offer good help in hypothyroidism.

    Thyroid test

    When many people are down in the thyroids, they are sent by their doctors to laboratories which are to determine the levels of certain thyroid supportive substances in their blood. But often times, these tests do not capture the entire picture of what is going on in this organ. Worried about this unreliable check, a doctor named Broda Barnes decided to develop a reliable self, home test now named after him. Reporting the Broda Barnes Basal Body Temperature Test (BBT), James F. Balch, M.D., Co-author of PRESCRIPTIONS FOR NUTRITIONAL HEALING, and Mark Stengler, M.D., say in their PRESCRIPTIONS FOR NATURAL CURES:

    “Basal Body temperature is one of the most effective tools for diagnosing hypothyroidism, and it is easy to take and record your temperature at home. The night before you begin the recording, assemble the following: A thermometre, if not digital, shake it down to 96 degrees Fahrenheit or lower; Pen or pencil; Paper; Clock, watch or stop watch.

    “Place these items on your bedside table within easy reach of your usual sleeping position. When you wake up in the morning, place the thermometre under your ampit and lower your arm over it. Hold the thermometre tightly in place for 10 minutes. You need to be still for the entire seven to 10 minutes, as even a small movement can disturb the reading. When the 10 minutes are over, note your temperature and record it, with the date on the paper. Repeat this procedure for three days. If you are a menstruating woman, you should begin taking your temperature on the second day of your period.

    “After three days, take the average of the readings. If it is below 97.7 to 98.2 degrees Fahrenheit (the normal range for a basal temperature), you probably have an underactive thyroid”.

    Dr. Balch and Dr. Stengler say this test captures mild to moderate cases of hypothyroidism which are not sighted by blood tests. That is why, according to them, some people are told by their doctors that nothing is wrong with them, although they continue to experience some of the following symptoms.

    “Fatigue, aparthy, depression and irritability, weight gain, ache and pains, sensitivity to cold and heat, constipation, menstrual problems (irregular periods), recurring infections, high cholesterol, hair loss, dry skin and hair, brittle, peeling nails, infertility, insomnia anxiety and panic attacks, poor memory and concentration, low libido, headaches, premenstrual syndrome, lowered immunity, carpal tunnel syndrome, Reynaud’s phenomenon, water retention, dry eyes or blurred vision, eye brow loss (outer one-third), anaemia and easy bruising, slow healing, coarse voice, tingling hands and feet”.

    The long list isn’t surprising. For more than 200 diseases have been linked to hypothyroidism. In fact, about 26 prominent doctors in the United States discuss in a book on the thyroid gland that they routinely treat the gland as foundational treatment of any disease they have to cure.

    efore I address some proprietary medicines which may help to boost sperm count, normalise morphology (shape) and motility (swimming capacity), I would like to mention some university research studies on common nuts and pepper which are said to do the job as well. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers studied walnut. They divided 117 men with count, morphology and motility problems into two groups. One group was given handfuls of walnut two times a day for six weeks. The other was given none. After six weeks, the problems had cleared in the group which ate walnuts but persisted in the group that did not eat it. This suggested that essential fatty acids in walnut did the trick. This is interesting because essential fatty acids have been found to also correct hypothyroidism. This is one reason it is advisable to eat oily fish, such as Titus or Sardine, or take Omega-3 fish or flat seed oil supplements.

    In a study carried out on Grains of paradise, which the Yoruba of South-Western Nigeria call Atare, and known also as Alligator pepper, researchers at the University of Lagos report it to be a sperm booster. Also, the Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) says that chewing alligator pepper improves sperm count while the leaf juice improves female fertility and regulates menstrual flow. The NNMDA reports, also, on walnut tree and cissus polnea, a parasitic root the Yoruba call Ogbolo (d.m.m). They are said to correct male infertility factors in south-west Nigeria. They not only possess anti-microbial activities which may cure some STDs, they also correct male and female infertility. When I was Editor of the Guardian newspaper in the 1980s, I sought on the Natural Health pages to pass on information that, before the debut of Viagra on the world market our forefathers in South-Western Nigeria had used the Ogbolo root for male sexual vitality. e.g dried the pulp to powder and added it to water or food and consumed. I got one of our reporters, DECLAN OKPALAEKE, a microbiology graduate from the Lagos State University (LASU) to run a kitchen experiment which I designed. Water extract of this root was given to about 24 men who were encouraged to check their sperm profile every month at two laboratories. Almost all of them recorded phenomenal sperm count increases each time they went for a check. About four had a check. About four had static or near static results. It turned out that they suffered from one infection or the other. When the laboratories saw what was happening, they referred some of their sperm-problem clients to us. When they took this extract, their conditions improved or normalised. Some of them became fathers before we could call Jack Robinson. I took the results to the 70th yearly conference of the pharmaceutical society of Nigeria (PSN) held at the Lagos Airport Hotel. But the PSN showed no interest. Next, I took it to HEALTHCRAFTS, a natural medicine company in the United Kingdom which employed an orthodox doctor as a marketing officer. This doctor, a woman, had been married for years without a child. Neither she nor her company showed interest. I got Mr. Okpalaeke to present the report to the African Journalist of The Year Award, and it won First Prize placement with a purse of N1.5 million, a lot of money in the 1980s. With the help of Mr. Adeleke of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Phamacognosy department, I tried to stabilise the pulp as powder or preserve in alcohol. The processes were cumbersome and expensive, and I gave up the venture. Today, I am happy when I see itinerant agbo (herb potion) hawkers sell it as Afato (sperm generator). A seed long sown has sprouted. One day, Nigeria’s teeming money bags may invest in pharmaceutical factories  to produce it.

    Some people find use of such stuff inconvenient, and would rather have proprietary supplements. These abound in the market. I never fail to suggest Zinc to men and women. It is a fertility mineral and antioxidant. About 80 percent of the Zinc in a man’s body is found in the prostate gland, underscoring its importance not only for this gland but for fertility and virility as wells.

    Hormonal imbalance may cause testosterone deficiency, which may affect Leydig cells of the testes which produce sperm. Also, the patient may be Vitamin E deficient. Vitamin E is not only an antioxidant and oxygen conserver, its deficiency has been found to cause shrinkage or atrophy of the testes, and , in extreme cases, its death. Often, I find that zinc, Vitamin C (10,00mg three times a day), Vitamin E and L-Arginine, an amino acid, L-carnitine and Co-Enzyme Q10 do the trick. The better should be the job where the patient consumes Walnut, if it is in season and alligator pepper, which is always in season.

    L-Arginine is needed for the production of protein and helps rid the body of ammonia, a poison. We should remember that the sperm essentially has protein, in fact one of the finest grades of protein in the body. Besides, it stimulates the release of insulin, which helps sugar conversion to energy, a lot of which the sperm require of serious importance is the value of L-Arginine in the production of Nitric Oxide, which relaxes and dilates blood vessel. This enhances blood circulation. Blood is required to flow unhindered from the heart to the penis, for turgidity to occur without which the sperm cannot be well delivered into the portals of the vagina.

    Thus, it helps to correct erectile dysfunction. A 1999 study published in the journal BJU International, showed that 50 men were given either five grammes of L-Arginine daily or a placebo. Six weeks after, the L-Argunine group showed improvement but the placebo group did not. Like Viagra Silderiaful Citrate), L-Argininue is believed to boost Nitric Oxide action and , thereby, relax blood vessels which supply blood to the penis. This helps these vessels to dialate, stock more blood and produce an erection. Viagra blocks an enzyme (PDE5) which destroys Nitric Oxide, wheras L-Argine makes Nitric Oxide. L-Arginime, for this reason, has reportedly helped cases of angina pectoris, congestive heart failure, intermittent claudication (pain in the ankles), dementia, cold, male infertility, migraines, sexual dysfunction in women, pre-enclamsia, interstitial cystitis. Since alligator pepper also works for fertility, I wonder what taking it with L-Arginunime will produce. Camerounian researchers have reported that Alligator pepper stimulate testosterone production. They suspect flavones present in alligator pepper may be responsible. They found, also, that extracts of alligator pepper caused an increase in testicular cholesterol after eight and 15 days of therapy. They are pleased with this effect, as they say, because cholesterol is the primary factor for androgen and testosterone production. Of interest to the researchers, also, was the fact that, after eight days of therapy alligator pepper stimulated secretions of the testes, epididymis and seminal vesicles and maintained it for 15 days afterwards. Their conclusion was to be expected: the findings confirm the use of Alligator pepper in Traditional Medicine (TM) as a solution for fertility problems in men, particularly if they are caused by insufficient or poor quality secretions of the sexual glands.

    As stated earlier, one of these secretions is Fibrinogen. It combines with secretions of the prostates gland to form a coagulate substance which hold sperm and semen together. If it did not, the sperm may not travel to their target, the egg in the fallopian tube, as a fighting bunch, and could move along individually like a flock without a shepherd. This coagulate should dissolve within 15 and 20 minutes of deposition of sperm in the Vagina. If it dissolves too early, the bunch may disintegrate too early. This, I was told by one doctor, is what some women often complain about when they say their husband’s sperm is “watery”. Of course, the “watery” sperm can’t get far; they flow back. I find that L-arginine and Zinc help this condition. Dissolution of the coagulate too late may pose its own problems as well. For it may not release those factors in the semen such as prostaglandins to thin down mucus in the vagina and cervix gateway to the uterus, and this may also cause reflux.

  • Preventive tips on infertility

    Despite high level of education and enlightenment globally on infertility, many Nigerian male partners still hold a woman responsible for infertility. Medically, each partner contributes a 40 per cent factors in cases of infertility. The remaining 20 per cent are unexplained factors in infertility.

    It is therefore wise that at the earliest point in the quest for a child our men should willingly submit themselves to medical tests before even considering the women. This is important to save cost and time. Once the man is proven okay we then one can shift focus on the woman. If both have infertility problems, they will be treated simultaneously.

    Infertility is determined when couples have had regular unprotected intercourse for a year and there is no conception. After a year of timed regular intercourse, both members can choose to be evaluated to determine why conception is not occurring. In most cases, if there is a male infertility factor, he is treated by either medical or surgical means.

    The natural approach to treating infertility solves the root causes of infertility, by addressing all body systems, rather than just focusing solely on the reproductive system. Getting pregnant and growing a new human being with your own reserves, requires a surplus of nutrients and energy. In your body’s accounting terms, pregnancy is a luxury, a splurge of energy and nutrients. Some of the key nutrients for fertility are: Zinc; Selenium; Magnesium; Calcium; B12; B6; Folic acid; Vitamin C; Omega-3 fats. Regardless of whether you are eating organic produce and a healthy diet, you are unlikely to be getting all the nutrients your body needs for optimal fertility from your diet. This is why supplementation is important.

    Many couples who can’t become pregnant suffer from a combination of sub-clinical conditions. These conditions can’t cause infertility on their own but, in combination they can substantially reduce a couple’s probability of conceiving. For example; a gluten intolerance alone cannot cause infertility; however, the resulting inflammation in the gut can minimize your nutrient absorption and lead to deficiencies in nutrients you need for optimal sperm, egg and hormone production and a healthy pregnancy. Exposure to heavy metals, radiation, and toxic chemicals in some foods, drugs and other products can damage DNA. Recent Nutrigenomic (a study of the effects of nutrients on gene expression) research suggests what we eat can influence our gene structure and expression.

    Avoid dangerous fats

    Did you know — consuming trans fats hidden in foods such as; doughnuts, biscuits, lollies, candy, chocolate, chips, pies, fries, take aways and thousands of other foods may increase your risk of infertility by as much as 70 per cent?

    Scientists from the Harvard University School of Public Health advise women wanting to get pregnant to avoid all trans fats. The sole purpose of adding trans fats to food is to extend its shelf life. To minimise your consumption of trans fats be diligent about reading the ingredients and avoid the most likely culprits altogether. Trans fats are mostly listed as ‘hydrogenated fat’ or ‘hardened vegetable fat’ or simply ‘vegetable fat.’

    Minimise your exposure to toxic chemicals because sperm seems to be more sensitive to heavy metals and industrial pollutants than eggs. Many sperm abnormalities have been linked to these toxins. The majority of these chemicals can be found in the atmosphere, on the ground in cities and in the waterways. They have also been termed “reprotoxicants” for their negative effects on sperm development and maturation. Studies confirm male sperm counts are declining, and environmental factors, such as pesticides, exogenous estrogens (Xenoestrogens), and heavy metals may negatively impact spermatogenesis (formation of sperm).

    The six environmental toxins to avoid include: Pesticides: found on non-organic fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy and unfiltered tap water; Formaldehyde found in air fresheners, deodorants, floor polish, upholstery cleaners; Bisphenols found in plastic containers and can leach into food and water; organic solvents petroleum based liquids found in household products, electronics, car repair, health care, photography, agriculture, printing, construction and cosmetics and many more. Dry-cleaning chemicals and paint fumes. Occasional exposure to one or the other toxic chemical is not of concern. What is of concern is accumulation of these chemicals over a long period.

    Don’t drink unfiltered tap water this is because our waterways are constantly being polluted by industrial waste and byproducts, pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides and herbicides and commercial cleaning products.

    There are many companies polluting the water regardless of the country you live in. Either there is no environmental law at all, or there are loopholes in the law or there is no law for the XYZ chemical getting into the water.

    Heavy metals are the most common of the reprotoxins reaching our water supply through industrial waste, jet fuel exhaust residue and a variety of other sources.

    Pharmaceutical drugs are commonly found in tap water. Most Nigerians take prescription drugs. Because the drugs do not metabolise fully, small quantities are excreted via faeces and urine and flushed away. Toilet water is often treated and filtered before being discharged into lakes and rivers thereby re-entering the water supply. The trouble is, many drugs are not filtered out via the regular filtration process. Minute quantities of chemotherapy drugs, contraceptive pills, antidepressants, anxiolitics, anabolic steroids, HRT (hormone replacement therapy), heart drugs etc. have been found in tap water.

    In summary, I will suggest your tell your partner to eat an optimal fertility diet. This is because if she conceives, in the first trimester of pregnancy the growing embryo will increase 20 million times. In the first eight weeks your baby’s organs, hands, fingers, legs, feet, head, eyes, nose, ears etc. are being constructed. To ensure the best possible foundations are laid down during this phase, you want to make sure there are plenty of building blocks in the form of the right nutrients in the right combinations.

    What does a fertility diet contain? An optimal fertility diet is about what to avoid as much as it is about what to include. A fertility diet should be as fresh as possible and organic wherever possible.

  • ‘Obesity can cause infertility’

    ‘Obesity can cause infertility’

    Obesity also known as fatness has been identified as one of the reasons some women cannot get pregnant.

    According to other Medical Director, St Ives Hospitals, Dr Tunde Okewale, the disease is associated with infertility and almost other bad health problems anybody can think of.

    He said its sufferers are proned to diabetes and hypertension, among others.

    Okewale advised fertility challenged women to ensure they conform to an ideal weight or body mass index (BMI), which is usually below 30.

    “There is an ideal weight for a woman in which her fertility potential is at the highest because at the two extremes of that ideal weight, fertility is affected.

    “At one extreme, if a woman is too thin or over-dieting, she may not be able to conceive. This condition is called anorexia nervosa. They vomit and over-diet. It is common among gymnast, who because of their sports must maintain a particular weight level.

    “At the other extreme is obesity, where the body mass index (BMI) is so much high and makes conception difficult to achieve due to the combination of many factors,” Okewale added.

    He said it was responsible for their inability to ovulate or produce egg regularly. “Ovulation occurs because of some interactions of hormones in women’s body.

    “When women add weight, the fat increases and some hormones are trapped in the fat. This disrupts the menstrual cycle and the ovulation capability of the women,” he added.

    Okewale said obese women can boost their fertility by just losing 10 per cent of their weight.

    “There is a particular infertility problem called polycystic ovarian syndrome (POS), which is common in people who are obese. What happens is that the male and female hormones in their system are trapped in the fat and start disrupting other hormones,” he added.

    “This is why obese women find it hard to menstruate regularly or sometimes too frequently. That is an indication that there is a disruption in the hormones”, he added.

    Okewale enjoined women who are obese to lose weight by dieting or having regular physical exercises.

  • More men are overcoming the infertility challenge

    More men are overcoming the infertility challenge

    Gone are the days when men refused to go for fertility treatment. Today, the number walking into fertility centres for treatment is on the rise, reports OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA.

    The paradigm is shifting in infertility treatment as men now walk into fertility centres to be screened, without reservations. For the result shows that they have low sperm count or poor sperm motility, they obtain treatment, without batting an eyelid. They actually get results, thanks to Intracytoplasmic Morphologically-selected Sperm Injection (IMSI) which was first introduced as an In-vitro-Fertilisation (IVF) technique in 2004. It is now available in Nigeria.

    Akeem Lawal (not real names) who is now a father a quadruplet was a patron. though he declined going into the details of his treatment, he said: “I am now a proud father. I accompanied my wife to the fertility centre, was screened and I was told of the need to improve my sperm production, and I agreed to be given some drugs to boost my sperm production. To day the rest is history.”

    Infertility is defined by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) as a disease of the reproductive system that impairs the body’s ability to perform the basic function of reproduction. Although conceiving a child may seem to be simple and natural, the physiological process is quite complicated and depends on the proper function of many factors.

    But what would make a Nigerian man walk into a fertility centre, submit himself for screenings and all other protocols involved in IVF, when male issue is the factor? The Managing Director, Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi said: “Impressive results that are spread either by words of mouth, media or other ways are the reasons Nigerian men are now accessing treatment. The macho thing is disappearing. There is no shame in it.

    “If there is a need for a man to break down and weep and get comforted by his wife, there is no big deal in that. Let him go ahead. More so there are solutions to male infertility as a factor in fertility. We are seeing more male issues than what we saw 10 years ago. The sperm parameters are becoming worse, and therefore it is necessary to bring it to the front burner and we cannot talk about it without talking about technology that offers hope, because we know there is no drug right now that solves the problem of deranged sperm count or bad sperm parameters. Intra-cytoplasmic Morphologically-selected Sperm (IMSI) is helpful.

    “There are about 30 per cent decline in sperm count of men presenting now compared with 10 years ago. This is based on patients attending my clinic and not the whole nation.

    “IMSI is where a single sperm is injected into an egg, the only difference is that the sperm is selected using a very powerful microscope compared to the Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) microscope. The image of the sperm is magnified around 6,000 times during IMSI and this allows the embryologist to analyse it in greater detail and choose the healthiest-looking one for injection.”

    And what are some of his findings in the last 10 years that he had established his clinic, Nordica Fertility Centre. Dr Ajayi said: “Heat is a factor in male infertility. The enzymes required for the production of sperm are very sensitive to heat. Men, who frequent saunas or hot tubs, wear tight pants, sit at a desk all day, or stand in front of a hot stove may be inadvertently heating their testicles to such a degree that they can’t make sperm and get their partners pregnant. The reason that the testicles hang out and away from the body is that it’s about four degrees cooler than the normal body temperature. That cooler temperature is required for sperm to thrive. It is advisable to avoid overheating the reproductive organs by staying out of hot tubs and saunas, keeping laptop computers off your lap, etc. If your job requires you to sit for long periods, get up and move around frequently, and don’t sit with your legs crossed. Wear loose-fitting underwear and clothing.

    “Varicoceles also play a role. Varicoceles are varicose veins in the scrotum. The enlarged or dilated veins cause blood to pool, which raises the temperature in the scrotum; the heat affects sperm production. This is the most common cause of male infertility. Sex with a partner, at the wrong time, especially if the man is a high octave careerist. Likewise, men who take the ulcer drug cimetidine (Tagamet) or the heart drug digitalis have low sperm counts. A number of drugs used to treat high blood pressure may affect ejaculation, the “motility,” or swimming ability, of sperm, do prevent the sperm from reaching the egg, and the antibiotics sometimes used to treat urinary tract infections can inhibit sperm production.

    He continued: “I also experienced a client receiving testicular cancer treatment. That type is the most common cancer in men between the ages of 15 and 45, termed Prime fertility years, though cancer does not lead to infertility, the treatment does. The treatments that cure cancer in men often cause them to become permanently sterile. Treatments for some cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and tumours often cause only temporary sterility. The best way to ensure that a man who is being treated for testicular cancer can reproduce with his sperm is to preserve his sperm. Freeze as many samples as you possibly can before treatment, and we can do that. Lifestyle that brings stress; being overweight or under weight is also an issue. Men who are underweight may have lower than normal levels of testosterone, and being either under- or overweight has been linked with a lower sperm count and concentration. In men, stress has been shown to affect fertility by both lowering sperm volume and raising the percentage of abnormal sperm. Age is also important. The risk of having a child with chromosomal abnormalities, especially Down syndrome, rises after age 35 for men, just as it does for women. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), smoking, drinking also impact negatively on the sperm.”

    He added: “IMSI is something we need to talk about. From our findings, IMSI has increased pregnancy rates in people with previous failures in ICSI, and we also saw there were less abortion rates. IMSI is only indicated when there is less than two million sperm count and motility less than five per cent. First, sperm count is low, then there is higher incidence of genetically deformed sperms. Much of the problems with bad sperm is genetic, and they can burn out.

    “Selecting the best sperm for ICSI is not a big deal if most of the sperm are normal. Where it becomes trickier is when you are hard pressed to find a normal appearing sperm in the sample. Some defects like sperm with two heads, huge heads, two tails, and kinked tails are easy to detect and avoid with standard magnification. Other defects, like vacuoles in the sperm head are not always glaringly obvious at the lower magnification (300x) used for selecting sperm for ICSI.

    “In 2001, Benjamin Bartoov, published his work showing that high magnification selection of normal sperm free of head vacuoles resulted in better pregnancy rates. His publication further supported his conclusion that the ability to identify sperm with normal nuclear morphology using high magnification motile sperm organellar morphology examination (MSOME) was responsible for the better outcomes associated with IMSI”.

  • Infertility

    Infertility is the inability of a woman to become pregnant. In general, infertility can be suspected if pregnancy has not occurred after a year of regular intercourse, (without the use of any form of contraception).

    The cause of infertility may lie in the male or the female. There are numerous causes of infertility in each sex; sometimes no cause is ever found.

    Investigations for causes in the male are safer and simpler; consequently, they are normally performed first to save cost and to save the woman a series of tests, if a cause can be found in the male. Unfortunately, most men do not submit themselves to fertility tests. Rather, they ascribe the shortcomings to their wife’s conditions only.

    The cause of infertility may be either structural or due to functions of the reproductive system. There may be no production of sperm or ova, or for some reason, the two may not meet to bring about fertilization. General ill-health, especially chronic diseases or endocrine/abnormalities can cause infertility.

    Basically, two kinds of infertility are recognized in the female. There is the primary and the secondary infertility. When a woman has had a child before and there is a long gap, not deliberately brought about by her, it will be said that her condition is that of secondary infertility i.e. no one talks of infertility if the woman had one or two children and decided to stop having more. Primary infertility, on the other hand, is a condition where the woman has not had an issue before and is well into the childbearing age.

    Causes of infertility that can be diagnosed are many. These include Blocked

    Fallopian Tubes, Uterine Fibroids, Hormonal Problems, Incompetent Cervix, Internal Heat in the lower abdomen, Tilted Mouth of the Uterus, Displaced Uterus, and Lack of Ovulation (especially after prolonged use of some contraceptive devices).

    Other cases of infertility range from infections, especially the Sexually Transmitted Diseases (in both men & women) and Watery Sperms in men.

    Also, some bad lifestyles, social excesses, indiscriminate sexual indulgence, criminal abortion as well as tough exercises, unsuitable postures and heavy sporting activities have been implicated in female infertility.

    Nature is wonderful. The human body obeys the law of use and disuse. For example, Fibroids, which are so common today, used not to be so when women had children till they were advanced in age. When a woman has fibroids, it implies that her womb was looking for something to carry. It is rare to find a woman bearing children and yet having fibroids. This situation is like leaving a piece of land fallow after initial bush clearing, one would expect it to grow weeds if nothing is planted on that land, with proper care. Fibroids will not grow if the womb does not attract to itself waste products from the bloodstream.

    Prevention /Control

    Women should be very observant so as to note as early as possible, any irregularities in their menstrual period. Excessive heat in the lower abdomen, waist pains or pinching sensations at the sides of the lower abdomen should attract attention. Most importantly, indiscriminate use of contraceptives and abortifacients should be avoided.

    Treating gynecological problems naturally seems to be quite easy. Some physical

    disorders can be corrected through massage. Tension and worries should be avoided. The food intake should be simple and natural to provide the natural nutrients that the body needs, with avoidance of denatured food, alcohol and smoking. Fatty foods that will cause fat to develop around the reproductive organs and sex glands should be avoided. Simple exercises to aid effective circulation of blood should be encouraged.

    Paradoxically, natural remedies for the treatment of female problems seem to more available than for any other ailment. Therefore, in Holistic Lifecare it is strongly advocated that in order to avoid suffering in the midst of plenty, we must turn to nature.

    Some of the suggested natural remedies being suggested for infertility include the extracts of local herbs such as Acanthospermum hispidum, Desmodium velutinum, Kigelia africana, Momordica charantia and Viscum album.

    For further information and consultation on Holistic Lifecare research and services, especially on Blood Infections, Infertility, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Chronic Debilitating Conditions as well as mental and social problems, please call  on: 0803-330-3897 or visit: Mosebolatan Holistic Lifecare Centre, Adeyalo Layout, Ogbere-Tioya, Off Olorunsogo Express Bridge,

    Ibadan. Website: www.holisticlifecare.com. Distance is no barrier, we can send remedies by courier if need be. We also have facilities for accommodation, admission and hospitalization in a serene and homely environment.

  •  Infertility

    Infertility is the inability of a woman to become pregnant. In general, infertility can be suspected if pregnancy has not occurred after a year of regular intercourse, (without the use of any form of contraception).

    The cause of infertility may lie in the male or the female. There are numerous causes of infertility in each sex; sometimes no cause is ever found.

    Investigations for causes in the male are safer and simpler; consequently, they are normally performed first to save cost and to save the woman a series of tests, if a cause can be found in the male. Unfortunately, most men do not submit themselves to fertility tests. Rather, they ascribe the shortcomings to their wife’s conditions only.

    The cause of infertility may be either structural or due to functions of the reproductive system. There may be no production of sperm or ova, or for some reason, the two may not meet to bring about fertilization. General ill-health, especially chronic diseases or endocrine/abnormalities can cause infertility.

    Basically, two kinds of infertility are recognized in the female. There is the primary and the secondary infertility. When a woman has had a child before and there is a long gap, not deliberately brought about by her, it will be said

    that her condition is that of secondary infertility i.e. no one talks of infertility if the woman had one or two children and decided to stop having more. Primary infertility, on the other hand, is a condition where the woman has not had an issue before and is well into the childbearing age.

    Causes of infertility that can be diagnosed are many. These include Blocked Fallopian Tubes, Uterine Fibroids, Hormonal Problems, Incompetent Cervix, Internal Heat in the lower abdomen, Tilted Mouth of the Uterus, Displaced Uterus, and Lack of Ovulation (especially after prolonged use of some contraceptive devices).

    Other cases of infertility range from infections, especially the Sexually Transmitted Diseases (in both men & women) and Watery Sperms in men.

    Also, some bad lifestyles, social excesses, indiscriminate sexual indulgence, criminal abortion as well as tough exercises, unsuitable postures and heavy sporting activities have been implicated in female infertility.

    Nature is wonderful. The human body obeys the law of use and disuse. For example, Fibroids, which are so common today, used not to be so when women had children till they were advanced in age. When a woman has fibroids, it implies that her womb was looking for something to carry. It is rare to find a woman bearing children and yet having fibroids. This situation is like leaving a piece of land fallow after initial bush clearing, one would expect it to grow weeds if nothing is planted on that land, with proper care. Fibroids will not grow if the womb does not attract to itself waste products from the bloodstream.

    Prevention /Control

    Women should be very observant so as to note as early as possible, any irregularities in their menstrual period. Excessive heat in the lower abdomen, waist pains or pinching sensations at the sides of the lower abdomen should attract attention. Most importantly, indiscriminate use of contraceptives and

    abortifacients should be avoided.

    Treating gynecological problems naturally seems to be quite easy. Some physical disorders can be corrected through massage. Tension and worries should be avoided. The food intake should be simple and natural to provide the natural

    nutrients that the body needs, with avoidance of denatured food, alcohol and smoking. Fatty foods that will cause fat to develop around the reproductive organs and sex glands should be avoided. Simple exercises to aid effective circulation of blood should be encouraged.

    Paradoxically, natural remedies for the treatment of female problems seem to more available than for any other ailment. Therefore, in Holistic Lifecare it is strongly advocated that in order to avoid suffering in the midst of plenty, we must turn to nature.

    Some of the suggested natural remedies being suggested for infertility include the extracts of local herbs such as Acanthospermum hispidum, Desmodium velutinum, Kigelia africana, Momordica charantia and Viscum album.

     

    For further information and consultation on Holistic Lifecare research and services, especially on Blood Infections, Infertility, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Chronic Debilitating Conditions as well as mental and social problems, please call  on: 0803-330-3897 or visit: Mosebolatan Holistic Lifecare Centre, Adeyalo Layout, Ogbere-Tioya, Off Olorunsogo Express Bridge, Ibadan. Website: www.holisticlifecare.com. Distance is no barrier, we can send remedies by courier if need be. We also have facilities for accommodation, admission and hospitalization in a serene and homely environment.

  • Chlorella, Yarrow, Wheat germ oil ….. Some nutritional answers to infertility problems (5)

    PROMISE is a debt. Today, I wish to keep the promises I made over the past four weeks in respect of YARROW and WHEAT GERM OIL as essentials of fertility, and of how these supplements may support uterine fibroid therapies. As a bonus to compensate the long wait, I would like to introduce, more elaborately than I had done before, health benefits of one of the world’s super foods … CHLORELLA, the blue-green algae. I will proceed in this order ….. Uterine fibroids, Chlorella, Yarrow and Wheat Germ Oil.

     

    Uterine fibroids

    After cancer, whether of the breast, cervix, uterus or ovaries, uterine fibroids are a woman’s next worst enemy. They are distorted muscle growths on the external wall of the uterine, inside the uterine wall or on the internal wall. They are often benign (friendly) growths, but they may sometimes inhibit, disturb or prevent pregnancy. There are about 20 widely speculated possible causes of these growths, and this large number of possibilities makes pin-point solutions often elusive, as therapies may, therefore, be diffuse, that is broad based or widespread and expensive. Some of these 20 hypotheses are:

     

    Loss of potassium

    An electrolyte that is an electricity conductor, this salt dwells inside the cell, and checks the influx of sodium, which resides outside the cell. Potassium extracts oxygen from haemoglobin of the red cell to oxygenate the internal environment of the cell. Abnormal cells, such as cancer or fibroid tissue, thrive in deoxygerated environment. As a matter of fact, when oxygen runs short in cells, they change from oxidative life, that is oxygen dependent life, to fermentative life, such as cancerous non-oxygen dependent life, to survive. Foods rich in potassium, therefore, help to restore balance. These include Banana, Avocado pear etc. But they must be avoided or minimised where candida, other yeast or cancer is present, as they thrive on sugar. In such cases Potassium Aaspostate, Potassium Gluconate or the biochemic cell salt Potassium Sulphate (Kali Sulph) may be taken.

     

    Deoxygenation

    Many environmental factors such as traffic smake, electricity generator fumes or lack of green vegetation deoxygenate the air we breathe and oxygen supply within the body. Oxygen supplements, such as 35 per cent Home Grade Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Magnessium Permanganate, tablets, which are popular here, and the biochemic cell salts ferrum phosphate (ferrumphos) and kali sulph help to supply more oxygen. So do green algae, such as CHLORELLA

     

    Estrogenation

    Last Thursday, this column explained some of the sources of estrogen (food, plastics etc), which congest the body with estrogen, the dominant female hormone, and cause hormonal imbalances. Where estrogen level is too high, prolactin blood level may rise. This is the hormone which stops ovulation when pregnancy is established, to prevent pregnancy within pregnancy. Thus, for women with elevated prolactin who are not pregnant, getting pregnant is difficult if not impossible. One sign of elevated prolactin level may be nipple discharge when a woman is not pregnant. Estrogenation which may have been firing warning shots in period pains, sore breasts, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), may cause breast cancer.

     

    Heavy metal poisoning

    This was well explained last week. Heavier than waters, these metals include lead, cadmium mercury etc. In the brain, they may disturb the pituitary gland, which controls the reproductive organs which, in turn, are unbalanced. Parsely and Chlorella detoxify them beautifully.

     

    Free radical damage

    Free radicals are unbalanced chemicals which bore holes into cells to steal electrons to balance themselves and, in the process, irritate the cells to cause their response in distorted growth or damage them. Antioxidants neutralise free radicals. Antioxidants include Vitamins A,C,E, Minerals such as Selenium, Zinc, Magnesium, Maganese, Calcium, and substances, such as Grape Seed Extract (about 50 times ,more powerful than Vitamin E and Vitamin C), Alpha Lipoic Acid, Carotenoids, CoEnzyme Q10 Bilbery. Chlorella has lots of antioxidants.

     

    Acidosis

    Modern diet and body stress make the blood and the body acidic, whereas the body functions best under a slightly alkaline environment. In a 0 to 14 scale, anything below seven is acidic and above alkaline. The body’s most friendly envioronment is 7.04. Minerals found in fresh fruits and deep green leafy vegetables help to neutralise body acids and alkalize it, whereas cooked food, sugary food, bread, milk, fried food, hydrogenated fats (including margarine) and saturated fats (fats and oils solid at room temperature) cause acidosis. Potassium and chlorophyll also neutralize acids. Chlorella has them abundantly.

     

    Microbial overload

    Candida, other yeast, viruses, bacteria and worms are often found in uterine fibroid tissue. It is believed a micro-organism named microzyma lives in every cell, and that its duty is to decompose or destroy any tissues, plant, man or animal, which becomes acidic, as corpes are. In laboratory experiments, microzyma has been shown to devolve into candida, bacteria and mold as acidosis increased, and to evolve up the ladder to microzyma as alkalinity is re-established to peak form. Some researchers believe these organisms are invited by Nature to eat up foreign substances which cause acidosis. The problem comes when they overstay their call or overpopulate and their waste products poison tissue they are to rescue. While herbs specific to each group may be deployed to eradicate it, it is better to remember they didn’t come on their own and that they would naturally disappear on their own once the body becomes alkaline. Chlorella helps with this.

    From this short list of potential causes of uterine fibroids, it should be clear that overcoming it requires some exertion on the purse and patience. I always suggest the first step in a therapy is detoxification of all vital organs, the blood, lympthand call cells. And, in many cases, it works!

     

    Chlorella

    I take my cue on this herb from Dr. David Steelblock, M.B, B.S., M.Sc, D.O., who has experimented with this herb and followed hundreds of studies on Chlorella the natural medicine algae. This means there are many jobs for it to do in a doctor’s consulting room. Dr. Steelblock says all medical problems begin with a deterioration of the immune system. These comprise the organs and mobile cells which Mother Nature assigned the job of defending the body against dangerous foreign entities not designed to live in it. He links the deterioration to toxin influx from the environment, food, air and water. Heavy metals, viruses, yeast, candida, bacteria and allergies of all sorts follow. So do cell depletion, organs insufficiency and system derails. Cancer often results in extreme conditions of these calamities.

    From many laboratory studies and clinical observations, hot water extract of chlorella has been found to stimulate activities of macrophages, interferon, B cells and T cells. These cells are mobile “troops” of the immune system. Macrophages eat up dangerous large foreign substances. Without them, these would aggregate in a devastating large population that may cause benign growths such as uterine fibroids or even cancer. T cells fight viruses, B cells bacterias. Interferon, which scientists have tried to produce artificially to fight cancer, is a natural secretion of the body which, say researchers, stimulates Macrophages to “war” through the elimination of cellular irritants such as bacteria, viruses, candida and dangerous chemicals. Interferon helps to check the occurrence and spread of cancer, or any “friendly” growth such as uterine fibroids.

    In every culture, the blood is revered as the life line of the body, and eulogised as the River of Life. In the similarity of Chlorella cell with the red blood cell and in clinical ostentations of how it helps to form, nourish, clean and protect the blood, Chlorella has earned the name VEGETABLE BLOOD. Perhaps the secret lies in chlorophyll, the green pigment of all plants, an unravelling of which earned four scientists the Nobel Prize. The structure of chlorophyll and that of haemoglobin, the oxygen carrying pigment of the human red blood cell, are basically the same, except for their central atoms. This structure has four pillars of Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Carbon and Oxygen. In the plant, the central atom of the square structure is MAGNESIUM. (Incidentally, the structure of creation is a SQUARE) In the red blood cell, the holding central atom is IRON. When chlorophyll is consumed, either in vegetables, herbs or plain food supplements, the Magnesium is removed and replaced with iron to form blood out of it. The Magnesium serves other useful purposes in the body. Now, Chlorella is reported to possess the highest amount of chlorophyll among plants and herbs. This claim may be contested, though, by people who believe the crown belongs to SPIRULINA or ALFALFA, an Arab word which means “king of all food.”

    Wherever the argument swings, Chlorella is a cutting-edge herb. For not only is it known to generate energy in the body, for which perhaps one of my favourite proprietary brands is named CHLOREROTY, it is a rich source of nucleic acids from which the genetic code is formed, and which makes Dr. David Steeblock, after many clinical observations, report that regular consumers of chlorella often look six to 10 years younger than their calendar ages. I guess every woman would like that. Again, the secret may be because Chlorella helps rid the body of ruinous heavy metals, especially mercury. Last Thursday, I suggested the use of Parsley to detoxify the brain and nervous system chemical toxins, indicating that parsley dumps them in the blood and that, to prevent re-absorbtion into the cells, Chlorella efficiently leads them out of the body through urine and faeces. Many studies have reported urinary excretion of Cadmium, a heavy metal, in Chlorella-consuming people. For these reasons and more, I suggested Chlorella last week to a Nigerian gentleman battling colon cancer in England. He’d been on chemotherapy for months, and the cancer was said to have spread to the lungs, liver and kidneys. His wife has indefatigable faith that he would overcome it. He was lean, I was told, that he at first was unwilling to give up red meat and milk as sources of protein to rebuild his wasting body. But when I told him of the several ways in which red meat had been implicated in colon cancer, of how cow milk causes intestinal disease, that Chlorella has 23 amino acids (building blocks of proteins), including all the essential ones; that the protein of Chlorella is about 95 per cent absorbable, with little or no cancer-causing protein slidges left behind, that, besides, chlorella has more than 20 Vitamins, not to mention minerals, he changed his mind. I am citing this case because what is working for him so far may work for uterine fibroids and many conditions.

    This man has a dutiful wife who, as advised, changed his diet within 24 hours. He has an hourly timetable to take herbal juices and, half an hour in-between, water. He starts with Wheat grass juice.

    Dr. Ann Wignore fasted almost exclusively on that to cure her cancer. The regimen includes sweet grape juice. Johanna Brandt fasted on that to cure her stomach cancer. He takes Carrot juice. Dr. George Malkmus, author of Hallelujah Diet, fasted on that to cure his cancer. There is Nettle. Maria Treben used that to cure Leukemia. There is Calamus root, famed to heal intestinal cancers. There is Vitamin D3 from Kyolic Gaolic D3. Cancer patients are grossly deficient in it. There is Pau D’Arco, the great Cancer fighter. Of course, there is CHLORELIA. On the third day, his wife called me on the telephone that he had reported an energy lift. He could now get out of bed and walk about his room. His defecation had also improved. He has only one week respite in between chemotherapy seasons. My hope is that the gains of one week of herbs may persuade his doctors that something unusual is going on and either reduce the chemo dosages or suspend it. But, unless they are let into the picture, my guess is they would misread the situation as a chemo miracle and increase the fire power.. But as Dr. George Malkmus says in HALLELUJAH DIET, it is chemo, not cancer, which eventually kills the chemo user.

    We cannot tell all the Chlorella story in one day. But suffice it to say it should be included in all detoxification programmes. The list of conditions it may help, according to Dr. Steeblock, is too impressive to ignore…

    *Allergies •Anaemia •Asthenia •old sores •Flu •Bad Breadth •Body odour •Acne and other skin problems •Wound healing • Pyohea (bleeding gum) • Loose teeth •Pneumonia, •Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) •Herpes simplex •Depression •Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) •Fibromyalgia •Epson Barr virus syndrome •Candida and yeast problems •Seizure •Hypoglycemia ( low blood pressure) •Hypertension •Diabetes •Hormonal imbalances/disturbance •Alcohol hangover •Detoxification •Liver toxicity •Constipation •High cholesterol •Atherosclerosis •Hepatic ulcer *Duodenal ulcer •Peptic ulcer •Gastritis •Heart diseases •Cancer •Gout •Arthritis •Obesity •Sinusitis/nasal congestion •Alzheimer’s •Attention deficit •Growth and development problems… and lots more.

     

    YARROW

    I do not remember what our mothers gave us Yarrow for when we were babies. But, like Gripe Water in the 1950s to 1980s, Yarrow was in the nursing mother’s medicine chest. As an adult, Marian Treben, the great Austrian herbalist and author of HELP THROUGH GOD’S PHARMACY, taught me, through her work, to see it not only as a woman’s friendly herb, but also good for fevers and toothache and to stop bleeding in both genders. For women, Yarrow promotes blood circulation, especially to the uterus, and fights inflammation of the ovaries and uterus, one of the causes of infertility or miscarriages. As it is now believed, poor blood circulation to the uterus, sometimes caused by a weak heart or high heeled shoes or even girdles to firm up abdominal muscles, delays Oxygen Supply, causes deoxygenation and accumulation of wastes in this vital organ. This problem reveals itself in darkened blood clots found in menstrual blood, unusual heat and/or pain in that region accompanied sometimes by cramps. The circulation problem causes such reactions in the uterus that may lead to accumulation and overgrowth of germs and heavy metals to which the uterus responds with fibroid growths. The situation may be helped by circulation food supplements such as Apple Cider Vinegar, Cayenne, and Amazon Menstrual Support, the biochemic cell seat Ferrum Phosphate and Oxygen, in liquid or tablet or capsule form. Maria Treben recommends Yarrow taken as tea, tincture and used in sitz baths. For this bath, Yarrow leaves are soaked overnight in water and heated in the morning. It is poured into a bath in which the woman immerses herself in a sitting position which allows the warm Yarrow bath water to immerse her up to the navel. Maria Treben speaks of case studies in which, done regularly, such a sitz bath has helped to shrink and to eliminate uterine fibroids or heal imflamed ovaries or ovarian cysts. A sitz bath may not be feasible in Nigeria. Many homes do not have bath tubs. Yarrow leaves would be too expensive for this project because we do not cultivate the herb on plantation scale. But I guess the Yarrow tincture massaged over the uterine site will serve the same purpose. In fact, the tincture should penetrate far more readily. Regular massage just before bedtime at night may be accompanied with a hot water bottle therapy all night, as is done with camphorated oil (camphor powder in castor oil) massage taught by Edger Caycee. A large-scale international modern study of YARROW named the YARROW PROJECT eulogises Yarrow as a remedy for a thousand diseases. It studied the uses of Yarrow in many countries. It complements, for example, Maria Treben’s prescription of Yarrow for bone marrow diseases.

     

    WHEAT GERM OIL

    DR H.C Vogel in his THE NATURE DOCTOR offers the lead here. Is Mr. Oye Igbemo listening?. Dr Vogel says:

    “If people only realised how wonderfully nourishing and curative the flakes are, they would eat them every day in one form or the other, including in their breakfast muesli. Girls and young women in particular would eat more wheat germ if they appreciated what marvelous properties it has to offer”

    Some of these are large quantum of Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin E and other factors, which form the major power house of Wheat Germ Oil include OCTOSANOL. Of these, Dr. Vogel reports:

    “Wheat germ oil is important because of its Vitamin E content which has been called the fertility Vitamin. Experience has shown that Vitamin E is useful in helping to overcome a tendency to premature birth and miscarriage since a deficiency in this Vitamin is often found to be the cause”.

    In men, a deficiency of Vitamin E has been linked to atrophy or shrinkage of the testes and to low sperm count or sperm of irregular shape and poor motion. Added to the Vitamin E content of Wheat Germ Oil are Essential Fatty Acids, which Dr. Vogel says “plays an important part in the development and maintenance of healthy body cells as well as in the protein metabolism.”

    What about older women?

    “It can serve as a real help for menopausal problems,” says Dr Vogel, and scanty, irregular and painful periods, if it is taken for some time,” says Dr. Vogel. And, as he adds:

    “Weak sexual impulse, even impotence, can also be improved or cured if Wheat Germ Oil is taken regularly.

    Dr. Vogel recommends Wheat Germ Oil for circulation, healthy heart, balancing of weight. That means it helps to even out weight, to avoid top or bottom heaviness, thinness or obesity.

    Ladies and gentlemen, an old debt is redeemed!

  • Premature ejaculation, PID, hormonal disturbances…… Some nutritional answers to infertility problems (4)

    IN 1988, Burton Goldberg and the editors of ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE DIGEST got 26 American doctors to discuss, in a book, the herbs and other unorthodox procedures they employ to treat chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and environment illness. These diseases had reached epidemic proportions in the United States, mainstream medicine either had no permanent solution to their nuances or were complicating matters, but some doctors using alternative medicine protocols were achieving good results. The ground breaking book was appropriately entitled “Chronic Fatigue, Fibromalgia and Environmental Illness”. It was subtitled “26 Doctors Show How They Reverse These Conditions with Clinically Proven Alternative Therapies.”

    I guess you’d ask: “what has this got to do with fertility challenges?”

    My answer will be: “Well, probably everything you can think of.”

    Didn’t our wise elders discover long ago, that whatever troubled the eye affected the nose as well? That’s another way of saying the entire body is interlinked. Chronic fatigue is loss of energy in the cell. Well, can a fatigued ovary or testes produce optimal levels of hormones required for fertility? Fibromyalgia is pain in the nerves, muscles, tendons and connective tissue. Pain is an indication of irritation or gross poisoning. Which organ or system can work optionally in this condition? Isn’t infertility another way of saying the reproductive organs are not functioning optimally? Environmental illness is caused by all those poisons (chemical, noise, heavy metals or electricity or radiation) to which we are all exposed these days in huge magnitude. Only last week, this column tried to explain how heavy metals, especially mercury, may cause infertility. These 26 doctors speak elaborarately about mercury poisoning. I learned all over again from Dr. Dierich Klinhadt, M.D., P.h.D., that mercury and other heavy metal poisoning is a cause of premature ejaculation, from which many Nigerian men suffer, and Pelvic Inflamatory Disease (PID), a cause of gynaecological disorders experienced by women, and prostate problems in men.

    Now, I can see many people sit up smartly, eyes opened wider. How I wish that I remembered Dr. Klinghard last Saturday when a young woman called on me in the office for a herbal solution to premature ejaculation. She is a pharmacology student at a university who was researching into herbs that may correct the problem. She was to open up some rats and inject the Vas deferens with chemicals which would induce premature ejaculation. Thereafter, she would inject infusion of these herbs in varying dosages to see which works best. As premature ejaculation was an outcome of nerve and smooth muscle spasms, which may occur in any part of the body, I made some useful suggestions to these; I would now add Dr Klinghadt’s.

    But before I come to Dr Klinghadt, I would like to mention again that mercury exposure comes not only from mercury amalgam tooth fillings but, also, from water and fish oil. Many people now know of the importance of fish oil supplements for DHA and EPA, to protect the brain, eyes, nerves, ovaries and testes, the kidneys and to prevent or to moderate inflammation and pain. But the wrong type of fish oil may not only be counterproductive; it may be but deadly. For industrialised nations dump a lot of mercury waste into the oceans and seas. All manner of fish in deep sea are, therefore, exposed to mercury poisoning. We not only eat fish but use the oil for medicine as well. Some countries are strict about the quality of fish oil sold as food supplements. Some others do not bother so much. If these do at all, it is only about fish oil sold in their domestic markets. The export market, in Europe, Canada and the United States, where standards are high, count little. A pharmacist educated me about this about 20 years ago. I wanted to buy from his store the bottled brand of Cod Liver Oil. The price he called was about three times the price of the popular brands. I asked him why this was so. He told me the one he stocked was made in Hull, England, the other from Asia. As of today, this huge price gap occurs, also in the Cod Liver Oil softgel market in Nigeria. To worsen matters, unscrupulous Nigerian businessmen who cannot get the rules bent for them in Europe ship-in poor quality products from elsewhere. There is no doubt that these products would be cheaper where the producer did not have to spend extra money cleaning out mercury from Cod Liver Oil or other fish oils. Perhap these traders do not even know the implications of their corner – cutting. For me, and perhaps for other people who cannot do without Cod Liver Oil or fish oil, this old Yoruba adage counts much: Eni ti o nwa ifa, nwa ofo (whoever seeks cheap, seeks misfortune.)!

     

    Dr. Klinghardt

     

    It is now well known that

    (1) Mercury from tooth fillings or other sources converts in the body from elemental mercury to methylmecury, which is about 100 times more poisonous and easily crosses the brain blood barrier to lodge in brain cells and damage them. Maybe this is why cases of brain tumour are growing in number.

    (2) In the brain, Methylmecury has been blamed for “neurodepressive diseases such as Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

    (3) Within 24 hours of injecting any muscle of a monkey with a minute dose of mercury, it appears in the brain and spinal cord, and later in the lungs and lining of the kidneys, bloodstream adrenal glands, lungs, connective tissue and the endocrine glands.

    (4) In the brain, mercury tends to lodge in the hypothalamus, which controls the sympathetic nervous system which, in turn, controls such activities as heart beat, digestion etc.

    (5) If mercury attaches to the cell membrane, it may so transform the cell that, misrecognising it as a foreign body, the immune system attacks the cell.

    (6) Unlike in other parts of the body where half of mercury concentrations may be expelled in about six weeks, mercury is more tenacious in the nerves.

    As Dr. Klinghard puts it: “The main devastating effect of mercury in the nervous system is that it interferes with the energy production inside each cell. The nerve cell is impaired in its entity to detoxify itself (and excrete the mercury) and in its ability to nurture itself. The cell becomes toxic and dies, or lives in a state of chronic malnutrition. A multitude of illness usually associate neurological symptoms result”:

    The editors of this book cite some of these as “chronic viral and fungal illness, recurrent episodes of bacterial infection and chronic fatigue”. They add:

    “By curious self-preservation reflex of the body, the emergence of these conditions can be viewed as a way of accommodating the heavy metal presence, speculates Dr.Klinghard. Most of not all chronic infectious diseases are not caused by immune system to an otherwise lethal heavy metal environment” he says. Mercury suffocates the cells and they die, so the immune system cultivates fungi and bacteria which are able to bind large amounts of the toxic metals in their respective cell walls, thereby enabling the patient cells to breathe”.

    The implications, of course, are that these micro organisms will deplete the body’s food pantry and emit toxic wastes which have to be promptly and efficiently evacuated.”

    Noting that mercury exposure causes a severe zinc depletion, as zinc, involved in the production of about 200 enzymes is needed to bind to and evacuate mercury, Dr. Klinghard suggested: “As soon as anybody has any type of medical illness or symptoms, whether, medical or emotional, the amalgam fillings should be removed and the mercury resides should be eliminated from the body, especially the brain”.

     

    Neural therapy

     

    As reported in this book, this medical procedure may help reproductive and prostate problems caused by mercury or other heavy metal poisoning of the nerves.

    The thought behind this therapy begins with the fact that mercury is heavier than water which is why, like similar metals, it is called a heavy metal, Being heavier than water, mercury literally “falls” to the floor of the body. In the mouth, it affects the lower jaw, gums and teeth. It makes the thyroid gland in the neck underactive (hypothynedism), a cause of sluggishness, obesity and reproductive hassles. In the pelvic floor, close to where reproductive organs are located, mercury and other heavy metals accumulate in the frankenhauser’s ganglion. This is a nerve junction box or relay station, so to say.

    As the editors of the book report Dr Klinghardt saying: “An accumulation of mercury in this nerve plexus accounts for premature ejaculation and an enlarged prostate. In men and endometriosis, pelvic pain, and hormone dysfunction in women”.

    To understand neural therapy and how it may help infertility and a variety of other health discomfitures, one must understand the lay-out of the nervous system. This system is like an outlay of telephone wires which connect every table telephone nationwide to a central control unit. In the body, this unit is the body, and the table telephone sets are in every organ, every cell. There are two broad types of Nervous System: The

    (1) Central nervous system (CNS) which controls all Voluntary activities, and the

    (2) Autonomic Nervous system (ANS) which control involuntary activities such as the heart rate, digestion perspiration, breathing, blood circulation etc. The ANS branches into the (a) sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and the (b) Para Sympathetic Nervous System (PSNS). The Sympathetic nervous system sympathises with our desire for survival and do many things, including pumping us with hormones such as adrenalin, and extra blood sugar, to prepare us for emergencies (fight or flight). This is a stressful situation we need to traverse to survive. The Parasympathetic nervous system calms us down when the dust has settled. If we have to be permanently on fire, as it were, our lives would be short. So would it also be if there was no occasional short fire to pep us up. This, a healthy balance must exist between both arm of the Autonomic Nervous System if our systems are to run well. Any wonder that hormonal imbalances have been linked to inco-ordination of the nervous system!

    Now, these nerves do not run in unbroken straight lines. There are what we may call “function boxes” along the long lines. These “boxes” are actually a bundling of nerves called the nerve ganglia. A single bundle is a gaglion. Mercury and other heavy metals travel down the nerve pathway to, and accumulates in the ganglia. In the ganglia, the accumulation blocks nerve flow. The blockage of nerve flow is better understood by the example of blockage of blood circulation or lymph circulation. There is tension in and around tissue and organs which are cut off from supplies. Hypertension, organ damage, heart attack and strokes may follow. Unhindered nerve flow not only opens communication and feedback linkages between the brain and all parts of the body, nerve energy from cerebrospinal fluid keeps the cells alive. Many of the articles of fashion popular among women, such as the lipstick (contains thallium), jewelry, hair treatment chemicals, bath soaps and body creams, for example, leach dangerous substances into the bloodstream, and from there into the nerves and the ganglia.

    In neural therapy, Dr Dietrich Klinghardt and other doctors mentioned in the book inject ganglia, scars, muscle trigger points, acupuncture point etc, with substances which relax blockages and tensions in them, and then frees bound, built-up poisons for elimination.

    In respect of the Frankenhauser’s ganglion, where, as easier stated, heavy metal toxicity

    Can cause premature ejaculation in men and pelvic inflammatory disease and hormonal imbalance in women, the editors of the book say: “Neural therapy cleans up” this ganglion (just above the pubic bone) with a local anesthetic. This opens up most of the ionic channels in the cell wall; the cell is then able to excrete a high number of its toxic components’

    This painless injection spurs the body to dump a large amount of mercury into the urine: Dr Klinghardt says.

    When I remember many cases of premature ejaculation and chronic erectile dysfunction which defy many nutritional supplements and herbs, and of many uncompromising female fertility problems, I wonder if the frank Hauser’s ganglin is a hurdle yet to clear.

    Helpful as neural therapy of Frank Hauser’s ganglin is for the liberation of the reproduction system, for example, Dr Klinghardt follows up the therapy with herbs such as CHLORELA and CILANTRO (PARSELY) to usher the toxins out the blood and bowels.

    The editors say:

    “The herb Cilantro is known to detoxify the brain and central nervous system of heavy metals. Taking it in an alcohol – based tincture guarantees fast delivery of the Cilantro to the brain, he says.

    But while Cilantro moves heavy metals out of the brain and spinal cord, it doesn’t evacuate them from the body. This lob goes to Chlorella an algae and the likes of it, which bind mercury and eliminates it through faeces. For this, 12 capsules (each of 330mg) daily are prescribed.

    Dr Daniel F Royal, D.O, says he, too, uses Chlorella to detoxify the body, especially connective tissue, of mercury and heavy metals. In his arsenal, also, are L – glutathione, Kyolic, Garlic, Silymarin (milk thistles), Vitamin CC 8,000-16,000 mg daily, or decrease to tolerable dosage of diarrhea occurs, Vitamin B Complex, Pregnerolone, DMPS (2 – 3, dimercapfopane, 1 sulphate) probiotics and used by Russians to treat workers injured by exposure to heavy metals and then researched in Germany and Japan for about 40years.

    In the case study of heavy metal detoxification presented by Dr Van Benschowtein, Chinese herbs were used to clear bacteria, Viruses and heavy metals. These included “Chrysanthemum, Angelica dahurica, Isatis, Buplerurumum, Salvia, Playfycodon, Lucicidium and Fractus lucium.

    What a week it is again. A promise remains a debt. I haven’t forgotten about the promise on Yarrow and Wheat Germ Oil, two fertility aids, especially for women. I got carried away by heavy metal poisoning which many women suffer from without realising it. Often, one meets a woman whose neck has been “burned”, so to say, by poor quality metal necklace. The skin rejected the metal, but it was forced upon it in the name of fashion. I know of a young woman who reacts to any metal necklace, whatever the quality. She always fell ill. I’ve seen people who have burning sensations all over. While this may be a signal over of elevated blood sugar or excess Uric acid, for example, couldn’t heavy metals have disturbed normal cellular life in the glucose balancing mechanism? When vision fades or dulls, are heavy metals in the optic nerve? There is no doubt that they present in rheumatoid arthritis. Detoxification of poisons from the body is in urgent need of mankind today. Thank you Mr. Burton Goldberg and editors of Alternative Medicine Digest for a wonderful book which I recommended for home health libraries.

     

    To be continued

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Some nutritional answers to infertility problems (3)

    Like nail polish, nail polish remover, hair treatment chemicals, liquid dish wash soap, mosquito sprays, coils and rat poison, what business does lipstick have with a woman’s inability to get pregnant or miscarriage.

    This is an important question today in many modern fertility clinics. Here, the doctor isn’t looking only at laboratory test results which indicate such problems as hormonal imbalance Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) inflamed womb and tubes, blocked tubes, endometriosis, fibroids and stuff like these. He would pay attention to nutritional deficiencies, all right. But in one corner of his thoughts would be one looming, possible larger picture… chemical toxicity.

    Dr Hulda Clark, in her CURE FOR ALL DISEASES, offer the case study of a young infertile woman in whose ovaries were discovered substances from paraffin (kerosene) lamp smoke! She used this lamp for lighting at home, unknown to her that some of the smoke she inhaled now and then could ever find the way to her blood and reproductive system. When I remember the case of this woman, I think of many Nigerian women who put off kerosene stoves by sprinkling water on the burner. They end up inhaling offensive smoke from the stoves. And where would the chemical components of this smoke go? Of course, they would end up in the lungs, causing cough or asthma in extreme cases, the blood and cells, probably in those of the reproductive organs, including the ovaries.

    Thallium, a poisonous chemical found in lipsticks, nail care products and rat poison, among many other sources, unleashes untold havoc on the ovaries. But before I come to it, I’d like to quickly and briefly mention other fertility inhibitors such as mercury, aluminum, cadmium and copper.

     

    Mercury

     

    This is a terrible heavy metal to which many of us are exposed at unsafe levels. Many Nigerian women pick up mercury from bath soaps which lighten skin. In my high school days, we massaged the lather of one of such dangerous but popular antiseptic soaps on the face and left it overnight to destroy pimples and other face skin blemishes. Sometimes, it burned sensitive skin or wrinkled it. Many thanks to Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti. As Health Minister in Ibrahim Babangida’s military government, Prof Ransome-Kuti educated us about the dangers of mercury-laden soaps on the liver and other organs. Now, we know mercury damages the mitochoodiria. These are sites in a cell where energy is made for the cell. Thus, if mercury damages cells of the nervous system, one may experience severe nerve pain, sluggish response to stimuli, visual deflects and communication between the brain and many parts of the body. Mercury is also formulated into many body creams which Nigeria women still use to beautify their skin. When doctors advise that their patients avoid red meat and poultry, for reasons I will soon explain, especially oily fish with a lot of Omega-3 potential, they need to forewarn those patients of the likelihood of their exposure to mercury thereby, and then offer them suggestion about how to rid their bodies of mercury they had ingested or are likely to.

    Marilyn Gtenville Ph.D., suggests in her NATURAL SOLUTION TO INFERTILITY that mercury exposure from mercury amalgam tooth filling may be what we call a child’s play, compared to contamination from other sources.

    There isn’t any doubt, as she reports, that the women in a dentist’s clinic who mixes dental amalgam for tooth fillings have been found to be less fertile than women in the same office who perform some other tasks. In Japan, where, like Hong Kong, a lot of fish is eaten, researchers have established links between fish consumption, mercury overload and sub fertility.

    Dr Granville reports: “Here, scientists found a significant link between the level of mercury in hair and male sub fertility. Eating mercury contaminated fish over a number of years stopped sperm development in many Hong Kong men.”

    Dr Granville presents the case study of a woman whose fertility appeared troubled by mercury. Terasa had no problem getting pregnant, but she had to undergo D & C in the 10th week because of a blighted ovum. She was found to be deficient in zinc and selenium. Her spouse was magnesium deficient and had above average level of mercury. “He told me that, as a child, he had played with mercury,” says Dr Granville who adds: “Mercury is an unusual metal, in that it is liquid at room temperature and forms small balls as it flows. Over the four months of the Preconception Plan, they both took specific nutritional supplements to correct their deficiencies and Teresa’s partner had extra antioxidants and support for his liver in order to elimate the mercury. They now have a baby boy.

    I have stated often in this column how much I regret my frivolous acceptance of a dentist’s suggestion that I fill six wearing teeth. He told me they’d all have holes in about six months if I didn’t, and I may then lose them. That was about 25 years ago. I had gone to see him for “scaling and polishing”. It was after he had begun to drill’ the third teeth that I realised what was going on, and I declined to let him tamper with the other three. Those other three are still intact and healthy today. In other words, I exposed myself needlessly to the risk of mercury poisoning. In Europeme where tooth filling was big business, the boat rocked when it came to light at a conference in Germany that mercury amalgam was vapourising and, therefore, dangerous to health. Many patients sued their dentists. Dentists then switched over to plastic refills. But as time will tell and as we may soon discover, will plastic be any safer?

    I learned to help myself detoxify mercury with zinc chelation and EDTA and by supplying the body more CoQ10 than normally presented for mitochondria building, and hope I am doing well.

    I almost forgot to mention that there are many more sources of mercury exposure, including drinking water, which is why water from bore holes need to be well-tested before it is used for anything.

     

    Lead

     

    Also a heavy metal, lead was used in antiquated medicine to induce abortions. A dangerous side effect of this procedure was that the women involved either became infertile or suffered from miscarriages. There is a high level of exposure to lead in traffic fumes. In many European countries, the lead content of petrol was reduced drastically to reduce this danger. Lead helps petrol burn longer and this brings good saving on fuel to the motorist. In Nigeria, lead content of petrol is still at its peak. Vehicle inspection Officers (VIOs) no longer get “smoking” vehicles “off the Road” Lead is known to cause brain damage and other problems, and this was why lead water pipes were replaced with plastic water pipes. Before lead pipes, asbestos was abandoned for lead when it became obvious that asbestos causes cancer.

     

    Plastics

     

    This is another toxic substance which may inhibit fertility. Now, thanks to BlackBerry cell phone, the message has gone out dar and far that the doors of a car parked outdoor should be open for a while to let hot air flow out before passengers take their seats. The reason is that heated plastic releases a poisonous chemical called benzene.

    For the same reason, bottled water shouldn’t be left in a locked car parked outdoor. But what about the menace of “pure water” sachets left in the scorching sun for hours? Watch any canteen. You’ll discover the benzene – loaded water they give you to wash down a meal. If you avoid this poisoned water, what about the palm oil in plastic kegs or bottles? If you can avoid these, also, what about the plastic pipes which brought your home supply of water from the waterworks? If you could avoid this also, what about the overhead plastic storage tanks? I once lived in a house with underground aluminum water tank coated on the inside with coal tar to prevent rusting! I screamed the day I discovered this, knowing that tar causes cancer! You can ask: why haven’t we all died or become maimed by these atrocities? I will reply that only those who have been hit can tell. Isn’t diseases rate escalating. Aren’t more young women dying at childbirth than before? Isn’t infertility on the rise? If we are still on our feet, hale and hearty, we probably have the benefit of more antioxidants in our diet without knowing it, than other people do. It is possible, also, our livers and kidneys and other excretory organs are working much better than those others. Above all, we must thank the Good Lord for His Grace which enables us to know what to do, which we do consciously or otherwise, or the Grace which guides our decisions and action. The story of plastics continues with another sub stance, Zenoestrogens, which they also release into food.

     

    Zenoestrogenes

     

    These are synthetic estrogens. Estrogen is one of the complementary female hormones. Zenoestrogens or artificial estrogens occur in pesticides and plastic. In the animal kingdom, Zenoestrogens have been known to “grow both male and female sex organs”, according to DrGranville. Zesoestrogens are pumped into cows to make them produce milk every day and into the feed of poultry chicken to make them lay eggs almost every day. Therefore, men and women who consume cow milk and poultry, egg or flesh, run the risk of increasing their estrogen profile, as resiues of Zenoestrogens are loaded in egg and milk. That’s why infertility patients are advised to abstain from milk and egg in particular, especially where the infertility is due to estrogen overload.

    Dr. Granville tells us that a 50 per cent decrease in sperm count worldwide in the last 10 years is most probably due to Zenoestrogen havoc. In this period, also, a significant rise in the cases of testicular cancer has been documented. So has the phenomenom of early puberty. In days gone by, puberty occurred at about the age of 15. Today, girls as young as eight are known to have begun menstruation, growing breasts and pubic hair.

    Dr. Granville says puberty may occur much earlier in children whose mothers had high blood level of two synthetic chemicals, PCBs and DDE, when they were in the womb.

    Between 1962 and 1981, says Dr. Granville, the cases of baby boys born with undescended testes have about doubled. An implication of undescended testes is that, as men, these boys would be unable to produce sperm. In this period there has been documentation of boys with the urethra is not at the top of the penis but at the side. The urethra is the tube which brings urine from the bladder for voiding. In this period, also, some babies have been born with both male and female organs.

    The list of Zenoestrogen havoc is almost endless. Please permit that I add one or two more, from Dr. Granville. She refers to the use of DES (dithethylstilbestrol) to treat cases of repeated miscarriages. DES is a Zesoestrogen. Baby girls exposed to DES in the womb develop cervical abnormalities as adults which lead to “recurrent miscarriages or infertility with some eventually suffering from cervical cancer. Boys are luckier, but they, too, suffer from “mild general abnormalities.”

    As Dr. Granville adds: “Further evidence comes from Professor Anna Soto in Boston, USA, who was studying breast cancer cells stored in large incubators. These cancer cells started to divide and multiply as if estrogen was present. But when the laboratory changed the tubes on the incubators the cells sopped dividing. It turned out that ponyphenol, a synthetic estrogen similar to those widely used in paints, toiletries, agricultural chemicals and detergents had been used in the manufacture of the tubes.

    “In another example of the power of these chemicals, some male workers developed breasts after inhaling dust containing biphenyl A, a synthetic estrogen used in a wide range of packaging (e.g. water, and even babies bottles”

    When you go down the list of the havocs of plastics, you would, if you are a man, refuse any food your wife wraps or cooks in cellophane. When I was a boy, our mothers cooked moinmoin in leaves. As a father, I learned that, when boiled in water and the fluid extract of their chemical substances is taken; this is a remedy for some liver problems associated with neonatal jaundice. Maybe, one day, our researcher would give these leaves a thought, and we would discover a lot of medicines in them.

    Today’s woman has abandoned the leaf. On her way

    home from work in boisterous Lagos, she buys hot

    food (rice, beans etc) in cellophane shopping bags. That’s a lot of Zenoestrogen going into her food… and body. She buys moinmoin cooked in cellophane, and gets booster Zenoestrogens. Other foods such as Eba, Fufu, Agidi now come cooked in and wrapped with cellophane. She drinks “pure water,” which is anything but pure, and increases her estrogen load. Her period is painful; she may suffer from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in addition with swollen, sore breast. Inevitably, her hormones become imbalanced, and pregnancy eludes her. If others unlucky, estrogen fire ignites cancer in the breast. Her doctor will most likely advise that her ovaries be blasted. That is another language for saying the ovaries should be killed. It is widely believed in medicine that some breast cancers are estrogen driven. And since the ovaries make estrogen which fuel breast cancer, it is better to eliminate them, cut off the breast and save the patient’s life. Not enough consideration appears to be given to the fac t that estrogens may be coming into the system from other sources, as Professor Anna Soto discovered. It is little realised, also, that the breast, like all fatty organs, is a storage of toxins, and those micro organisms (Candida, Bacteria or viruses) and flat worms found in cancerous tissue. Perhaps they intend to eat the toxins and save the tissue, as some researcher’s ague in their defense. Perhaps the job took too long and their own wastes, too, became offensive and poisonous. In Alternative Medicine, a therapist would rather balance the estrogen fractions (estrione, estradiol and estriol) to elevate the ratio of esteriol, the weakest of the trio, and down play the aggressive estriadiol and estrione plant estrogens would be given to further reduce the human estrogen load. Plant estrogens are about two per cent as active as human estrogens. The body prefers them, and shuts the door against human estrogens in the presence of plant estrogens. The liver is then strengthened to pulverize human estrogen and fiber is given to evacuate them in the stool. What the health menace in the world in which we now live teaches us as that.

    (1) We can hardly avoid total exposure to poisons, but we can minimise them.

    (2) We can strengthen the eliminative organs (skin, liver, kidneys, lungs and bounds and empower the immune system.

    WELL, the day is gone again, with many carry-overs of last weak unresolved and some from today, including the lipstick, nail polish, and all those things which make women feel great before men. The lipstick for example, contains lithium, found also in rat poisons.

    Well, this is a matter for another week.

    To be continued.

     

     

  • Endometriosis: ‘70m women suffer infertility across the world’

    •Fed Govt begs experts, others on research into infertility

     

    About 70 million women around the world annually suffer from Endometriosis, it was learnt yesterday.

    Endometriosis is a gynecological medical condition in which the cells of the linings of the uterus appear outside the uterine cavity, mostly in the area lining the abdominal cavity.

    It is seen during the reproductive years, hence it is regarded as one of the most common diseases that cause infertility in women.

    It has been estimated that the disorder occurs in about six to 10 per cent of women and its main symptom is pelvic pain in various manifestations. The disorder has no cure but can be treated.

    March has been declared annually as the month of awareness for Endometriosis across the globe.

    The increase in the prevalence of the disease has been a source of concern to the Federal Government, which yesterday called for more research on how to reduce its negative impact on the women.

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, expressed government’s concerns in Abuja at a seminar on Endometriosis organised by a consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist and Medical Director of Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi.

    The minister, who was represented by the Director of Family Health in the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Wapada Balami, noted that the nation lacks adequate data on the number of women suffering from the disease.

    He said this could be useful in policy formulation.

    Chukwu urged fertility experts, especially the Society of Obstretrics and Gynaecology of Nigeria, the Nigerian Fertility Society and other professional bodies to “embark on cutting edge research to unravel the myth surrounding this disease so that Nigerian women would live a happy and productive life”.