Lachesis

Treating a Cerebral Vascular Accident

First this one morning, a man made his way into the clinic leaning heavily on the shoulder of a young boy.  As he entered, my attention, initially grabbed by the brilliant violet tunic top he wore, subsequently fell on the telltale curl of his left arm and the dragging of his left leg.  

Falling into a chair, he explained that in the night he awoke with the sensation that the left side of his body was heavy and weak.  Now, he was breathless, dizzy, his head hurt and his heart felt too large for his chest.  There was also a burning sensation internally and especially in the left thigh.

It All Depends On How You Look At It

Before heading off to Ghana, I was given the impression from past volunteers with whom I spoke that most of the cases in the village clinic of Mafi Seva would be relatively simple ones of acute illness or injuries.   This turned out to be not entirely accurate.

The cases were simple in the sense that they were fairly straightforward. Unlike my own practice where many patients have chronic degenerative diseases, autoimmune illness or complex mental states often complicated by medical and dental interventions as well as multiple prescriptions, the people I saw in the village presented with conditions and histories that were less involved.  There were fewer strands and influences to untangle, and overall responses to the remedies seemed to be more immediate.

HRT - Going, Going, Gone?

HRT - GOING, GOING, GONE? Since landmark research a few years back, the cat has finally gotten out of the bag on hormone replacement therapy. As was widely reported, a large, longterm federal study on HRT was halted because the women taking hormones in the study had a clear increase in the incidence of breast cancer. Actually, it wasn’t only cancer: the study showed that there was also an increased risk for heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots.

Millions of women have gotten the message. Pharmaceutical companies are reporting dramatic drops in sales of the estrogen containing drugs that once were touted as the latest medical miracle, and even up until a few months ago were often routinely prescribed for women for no other reason than that their periods had stopped.