Industrialized countries are facing a serious mental health challenge. It strikes all demographics regardless of age, race, gender or socioeconomic status. This threat is known as clinical depression. Almost everyone experiences it at some point in their life, triggered perhaps by the loss of a loved one, a financial collapse or simply too many rainy days. The symptoms may vary from persistent melancholy to attacks of fear, loneliness and insomnia. Many sufferers also experience somatic symptoms, including migraines, digestive irregularities, back pain, sexual disorders and even the loss of smell or taste. Depressed individuals tend to report a lack of Ki (energy), a heavy body with cold hands and feet, and a loss of interest in everything. Western medicine often treats these symptoms with antidepressants, which artificially neutralize the emotional state.
A defining aspect of human beings is our capacity for emotional development. An individual’s emotional health determines one’s enjoyment of life. Interestingly, emotional health mirrors somatic health. Oriental Medicine distinguishes seven different emotions, each of which corresponds to different organs. Joy belongs to the heart; anger to the liver; musing to the spleen; anxiety and sorrow to the lungs; fear and surprise to the kidneys. Consequently, an unbalanced organic condition can influence emotional health, and vice versa. For instance, people with exaggerated liver function are easily angered, and those doing too much musing often complain of digestive problems.
Most individuals with depression are Yin-dominant, lacking in Yang energy, which enables humans to feel joy and insulates against excessive sorrow and fear. Weak heart, lung and kidney functions are responsible for yang deficiency. From this perspective, the prevention and treatment of depression require a course which encourages the creation of Yang. Treatment is comprehensive, and includes proper diet, exercise, breathing techniques, acupuncture and herbal drugs.
The diet should favor fish and sesame oil, both of which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, essential for the proper functioning of important brain neurotransmitters, including serotonin and dopamine. Spices should also be used as these generate Yang-energy. Fresh vegetables and fruits are also advised, to meet the individual’s vitamin and mineral requirements. Fatty dishes, which are high in calories but low in food value, should be avoided.
Another important factor is exercise. Cardiovascular exercises, such as jogging or fast walking, stimulate the release of endorphins, the “self-made painkiller.” When exercise is accompanied by proper dahnchon (abdominal) respiration ― an important technique of Oriental meditation ― the lungs receive optimal ventilation, thus increasing the oxygen available for the generation of cell energy.
The best course of action combines diet, exercise, and Qi-gong exercises with acupuncture treatment (to balance the energy flow in the meridian system) and herbal drugs (to raise the energy level of low functioning organs).
The aim is to bring the entire body back into balance, resulting in a renewed state of emotional and physical well-being.
by Dr.Raimund Royer
scrap from joongang daily news
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Joy belongs to the heart and anxiety to lungs
A beautiful woman is good at sleeping
Sleeplessness is torture. It causes moodiness, irritability, stiff muscles, headaches, and the inability to think or function properly. Furthermore, lack of adequate sleep can cause or exacerbate serious health conditions.
Western medicine and traditional Oriental medicine have different approaches to insomnia. Western doctors view insomnia as the inability to sleep soundly. If there are no apparent physiological abnormalities, it will usually be viewed as an emotional problem involving stress or depression. A patient with a mild case of insomnia is told to relax more, cut back on caffeine, and try a hot bath before bedtime. For chronic insomnia, the usual response is sleeping pills.
In Oriental medicine, the approach can be called “root and branch.” Symptoms like insomnia are considered to be the branches of a disease. The root of the disease is an imbalance of the fundamental substances - chi, blood, yin, yang, jing (essences), and shin (spirit); or of the major organ systems - lungs, heart, spleen, liver and kidneys.
When a person suffers from insomnia, the two organs most commonly out of balance are the heart and the liver. Each of these organs houses a specific aspect of the spirit. If they are out of balance, the spirit will become restless. This is viewed as a shin disturbance, and although it can manifest in a number of ways, including mood disorders and heart palpitations, insomnia is one of the most common symptoms.
There are several types of insomnia, each with differing characteristics that point to different root imbalances. The most common types of insomnia are as follows:
Dream-disturbed sleep Nightmares normally indicate a disorder of the gallbladder meridian. Recurring dreams are due to a spleen/heart imbalance.
Can’t drop-off
This is usually related to a condition of the liver or gallbladder. People will toss and turn for hours.
Light sleeping patterns Many people can fall asleep easily, but wake up and find can’t get back to sleep. They may stay awake for an hour or more, or may not go back to sleep at all. These people often have a heart/spleen deficiency pattern.
One relief for sleeping disorders is vacuum cupping therapy, which can be done at home. When you want to fall asleep, a partner should apply the cups about 5 centimeters to the left and right along the vertebral spine and keep them there for about 15 minutes. Many people fall asleep within a few minutes.
Acupuncture also has many positive benefits. It has been scientifically demonstrated to have an effect on the body’s central nervous system, and can increase levels of several neurotransmitters, including serotonin. Acupuncture promotes natural sleeping patterns, and doesn’t create the hangover effect that most sleeping pills do.
Shin (spirit) restlessness can be eased by increasing yin energy through meditation and breathing exercises, ingesting certain herbs, or by listening to relaxing music. At the same time, yang energy can be decreased through avoidance of excess mental stimulation, particularly before bedtime.
Good sleeping patterns are the foundation of a harmonious and healthy life. As the Korean proverb states, “Beautiful women are sleepyheads.”
*Raimund Royer is Medical Director of the International Clinic at the Jaseng Hospital of Oriental Medicine.
Scrap from joongang daily news
When the sun shines, know thy body type
In the summertime, we often choose to combat scorching temperatures with iced drinks and creamy ice cream. However, an excess of these can cause abdominal pain and diarrhea, particularly for individuals with a Yin-constitution. Conversely, the ancient Oriental philosophy, “Treat heat with heat” may be too much to bear for Yang-constitution individuals. Your individual prescription for cooling down should be based on your constitution.
The colder Yin-type individuals prefer the warmth of summer. Keeping the digestive tract warm for “heat loving” Yin-types is essential, not only for proper digestion (blood circulation is more active in warm areas, so nutrients are better absorbed), but also for Ki-flow through the abdominal area. An “overdose” of cold food can clog the energy flow, indicated by symptomatic abdominal pain. Consequently, Yin people should obey the ancient treatment rule: “Treat heat with heat.” In our context that means to respond to summer heat by ingesting food and drinks with a warm character, like Samkyetang (a chicken soup with rice and ginseng), ginger tea and ginseng tea.
The warmer Yang-types, producing a lot of body heat, tend to prefer the cold of winter. They find hot temperatures difficult and so internal heat accumulation is regulated by profuse sweating. Sweating itself results in a loss of Ki (energy) and vital minerals. If lost fluids are not supplemented by adequate isotonic fluid intake, heat strokes can result. These Yang-types should favor fresh salads with vinegar, or lots of seasonal fruits.
For those who have to work in the summer heat without air conditioning and feel drained of energy, try an old traditional Oriental medicine recipe. Make a 1 liter decoction (tea) of the following: 20g maengmundong (Liriope platyphylla), 10g of ginseng, white or red and 10g of omija (Schizandra fructus). and drink in place of soft drinks. Add honey to taste and drink in place of soft drinks. Continue this “therapy” for the rest of summer and you will feel a difference.
To deal with summer you need to have a basic understanding of your own body. Do you feel better in hot weather than cold? Do your hands and feet easily become cold? If you answered positively, then you may be prone to a weak digestive system and should think twice before drinking a cup of cold water in the morning. On the other hand, for those with warmer constitutions, a morning cup of cold water stimulates the stomach flora, and can be helpful in reducing weight.
Our air conditioned summer environment confronts us with new health threats. Digestive problems, strange allergies and the summer “air-con flu” are signs that the more we control our environment the weaker our body defense system becomes, as the internal harmony of Yin and Yang is upset.
However, through sweating we can get rid of a lot of metabolic wastes accumulated in the superficial body layers beneath the skin.
As the skin is our largest organ with essential functions like regulating body temperature, it should be our concern to keep our skin clean and in an optimal functional state.
Less air conditioning and a little more sweating in summer is a good first step toward this goal.
by Dr.Raimund Royer
Scrap from joongang daily news
Monday, July 30, 2007
Chi, vital energy and the wave
What is the wave?
Energy containing information.
The whole creation of the universe, everything that exists is a mass of energy. In general, all types of energy vibrate and we call this the wave. Inter-communication is achieved through this 'information energy'. In other words, the wave is recognized as the universal language. Thus, we can interpret everything by this wave code.
The main thesis of the quantum medical science is that everything is included in the wave; light, sound, rock, and earth. This is explained by the fact that the elementary particles inside the atom are creating the wave by fluctuating themselves.
The human brain shows various waves according to his emotional state. the human body is a mass of energy just like all the objects of the universe, which undoubtedly means that it also gives out information energy, the wave.
According to quantum medical science, the body's condition is recorded within all the information energy exposed from the body. Thus, when this information energy is interpreted, your mental and physical states can be diagnosed without endoscopes, computer dislocation radiations, X-rays or surgical operations. Furthermore, if the energy wave which the mental and physical state favors can be identified, the illness can be cured without operations or pills.
THE POINT OF UNITY BETWEEN THE EAST AND THE WEST *
The wave and vital energy(Ki/Chi).In the East, the fundamental energy which creates all the objects and phenomena is called 'the vital energy(Ki or chi)'. It is believed that everything is produced or destroyed according to the change of this vital energy(Ki/chi).
Though the views of looking at the nature's phenomena are totally different between the East and the West, the West's microscopic and analytical view of looking at the fundamentals of objects and the East's macroscopic and integrative view eventually came to concord as a vital energy(Ki/chi) and the wave. Also, the mind and the body were seen separately but recently there has been an increase in doctors who accepted the East's worldly view.
Especially doctor Defacchof, who is called the master of countermeasure medical science of the 1990's, insisted that 'The mind and the body exists in one energy field' and that 'Through this energy field, you can change the state of the body by changing the state of the mind.' This point of which the mind and the body is comprehended as an object's minimal unit of the quantum wave.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Foot Care in Summer
Summer has begun so it is time to take care of our feet, which we often expose in order to keep cool amid hot weather. We want our feet to look good, feel good, and smell good. No one wants bad smelling feet with dry cracked heels, calluses, or ugly fungal infected toenails.
While the sunny days beckon us to beaches and swimming pools, it’s important to be aware of potential foot problems that can. Here are some tips to keep your feet looking and feeling great all summer long.
1. Be sure to wash your feet everyday. Keep your feet dry and clean when away from the water, and apply a topical anti-fungal medication on any cracking or peeling.
2. Avoid going barefoot even when you go to a swimming pool. Wear slippers, shoes, or aqua shoes around the pool, on the beach and in the locker room. If you walk barefoot on warm wet floors of locker rooms, you are most likely to pick up a fungal nail infection.
3. After a long day of sightseeing, hiking or intense exercise, treat your feet to a soak in lukewarm water, a brief massage and then elevate them to take some stress off your circulatory system. Remember to pamper your feet as much as possible.
4. Be sure to wear socks when you wear sneakers. Wear socks made from acrylic fiber or 100 percent cotton and lightly powder them to keep them dry.
5. Wear shoes that fit properly and do not wear the same shoes everyday. It takes at least 24 hours for shoes to dry out after being worn. Wear shoes with good support and a wide toe area, and never wear pointed shoes that press toes together. Sandals should fit properly. The straps behind the heel can cause friction, which causes calluses to form, if too tight. If you don't wear socks, Moleskin can be used inside the sandal to prevent friction.
6. Trim toenails straight across, leaving them longer on the ends of the toes.
7. At the first sign of injury or infection, seek medical attention from a podiatrist.
8. If you have diabetes, take extra care of your feet and never walk barefoot. Minor injuries can become major infections in a short time, which could lead to amputation.
Excessive Drinking Decreases Brain Size
Excessive drinking on a regular basis can decrease your brain size, according to a new study.
Brain scans of more than 1,800 people showed that those who consumed more than 14 drinks a week had about 1.6 percent reduction in the ratio of brain volume to skull size compared with non-drinkers.
Researchers from Wellesley College, Massachusetts, whose findings were presented last week to the American Academy of Neurology in Boston, also discovered that drinking had a bigger impact on brain volume in women than in men. Women in their 70s appeared most affected by large amounts of alcohol.
The researchers examined results of brain scans which were performed on men and women 34 to 88 years old with no signs of dementia. Dividing the group into nondrinkers, former drinkers, low, moderate and high drinkers, the researchers measured brain volume in relation to skull size, considering a marker of brain aging.
People with a 12-year history of heavy drinking had smaller brain size than those who began drinking more moderately during that period and later consumed greater amounts, the study showed.
Heavy drinking seemed to have the most negative impact on the brain volume of women in their 70s. Past studies have suggested that older women have risk factors that make them particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of heavy drinking.
Size reductions in certain parts of the brain have been linked to Alzheimer's disease in previous research. More than 12 million Americans could be diagnosed as alcohol dependent, and consuming 12 to 15 drinks a week places a person at risk of the condition, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Magic arrow can penetrate the coin.
Wood arrow penetrated the coin.
Apparently, in this picture this arrow penetrated the coin even though the head is bigger than the hole of coin.
This arrow is made by wood. This wood arrow is not soft, can not be bend, can not be twisted.
It looks like impossible to remove arrow from the coin without breaking the head of arrow.
How this could be happen.?
Manufacturer says there is a way to do this at your home.
That is not impossible. That’s why this is hot selling item here.
But nobody knows what is the right answer.
But Soon you will know.
Think, think, think and there is an answer.
Hint. You need cold water, hot dryer and 30 minutes.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Over 100 unknown Pyramids in China ?
Do you know where pyramids are?
Yes!
Pyramids located in
But most of people do not know a large number of pyramids exist in
Here are some coordinates of them.
34.23'.58.72'' N 108.42'. 48.07'' E
: Click image to enlarge
Please chek the baseline size of Pyramid.
It is 260 yards.
34.22'.52.49'' N 108.41'.38.52'' E
: click image to enlarge
to learn totally renewed human history.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Just 10 push ups make you taller
If you do ten push-ups, your height becomes taller.
But unfortunately this is only temporary phenomenon . It is possible to grow 0.5 ~ 2.5 ㎝ though ephemeral growth by slackness of muscle or ligament except bone is possible by light stretching.
Width of growth for a limber person is bigger than that of a unlimber person, the width of growth for a child is bigger than that of old man, and thin person's growth width is bigger than the fat person’s. In fact, person's height is increased and decreased every day. If sleep and happen, there is difference according to a person but temporarily height 1.5cm really grows.
There is a difference according to a person. But when you wake up, your height is increased about 1.5cm temporary. It receives gravity between vertebra and vertebra when a person stands or sits. But it is the reason that the vertebra is lain down and is slackened when you sleep a long hour.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
The Best way to get a good record at pliabililty test
If you want to get a good record at pliability test which the hand reaches to the ground, they say “Trunk flexion,” you‘d better massage Achilles' tendon of ankle back.
About 10 minutes massage makes muscle is slackened, then body can be increased about 15㎝ all. But, this is temporary method which can effect only one time. If you massage your Achilles' tendon continuously, it will give many helps that your body become soft.
Friday, June 1, 2007
When your feet are benumbed, what do you do
If you bend long hour knee and sit, you can not stand up because feet are benumbed.
It is really difficult work even 1 minute to a person who kneels and sits for the first time. The reason feet are benumbed is that the blood can not flow in foot well.
A this time, cross your legs like letter X shape and sit about 30 seconds and stand up again, then leg numbness marvelously disappears.
Twisting the leg and sitting has effect of stimulating the spot suitable for acupuncture on the foot which makes the blood flows well. Come on! let's try
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Unknown secret to run fast
Yes! It is possible... If you get an elastic cord, it is possible.
Insert the elastic cord in the ankle and twist it number 8 shape, and insert it in the big toe, This must be done in both foot and elastic cord must have sufficient elasticity.
When it winds the elastic cord in foot, it strengthens the power of the ligament.
The power of the ligament becomes strong means the gap between bones in foot comes to be narrow. As the result the muscular power and muscle endurance come to be high.
The record of 100 meter running was shortened from actual test. And we could see wonderful recording elevation result in broad jump as well as running.
Do you think this kind of knowledge can be used in your daily life?
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Ten ways to stop the hiccup
Hint #1 : Hiccup is stopped when it pulls the tongue,
When you stimulate the nerve which gets up the hiccup by pulling the tongue, the hiccup stops. Hold deep inside parts of your tongue, about 10cm from the end, and pull softly about 30 seconds. If a hiccup stops, then release. If it does no work, try next one.
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Hint #2 : Put your fingers in both ear.
Nerve connected with diaphragm is distributed to ear, too. When it stimulates this nerve with the finger, there is a possibility of doing to stop a hiccup. Do not put fingers so deeply in your ear, it may hurt.
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Hint #3 : Eat a teaspoon of sugar.
It raises the sugar in the tongue and it melts and it eats. When the nerve in the tongue end is stimulated with the strong sweet taste, it is stopped the hiccup to reacts in the fresh impetus. This method is introduced to the world-wide famous journal of medicine and the effect was verified.
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Hint #4: Touch paper bag in mouth and breathe.
It increase the carbon monoxide amount in blood so that body have to converge removing carbon monoxide than a hiccup. Use paper bag because Plastic bag can stick in nose. Touch paper bag in mouth and breathe.
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Hint #5: Pull knee on chest and hold it closely.
It is effective method to stop a hiccup that swallow much air and appear when stomach was distended while eat food. If the knee in chest oppresses stomach, air comes out naturally.
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Hint #6: Stimulate uvula region with swab or spoon.
As wound injury or observe lest should cause vomiting, touch uvula furtively. If it causes sneeze or queasiness, hiccup is stopped
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Hint #7: Chew small ice pieces and eat.
Hiccup sinks if you eat very cold food suddenly, because nerve that got up hiccup is stimulated once again by cold energy.
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Hint #8: Drink water slowly.
Tranquilize a hiccup through motion of neck that swallows water gapingly. While drink water slowly, can arrange breathe.
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Hint #9: Press Eyes with your fingers.
A hiccup is stopped if you press two eyes slightly with two fingers. If it does not work, press little bit stronger. If you press the eye suddenly by strong force, it will be able to faint. So please be careful.
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Hint #10: Wrist·ankle acupressure
Put your second, third, fourth fingers of the right hand on the pulsation point of the left hand near wrist. You can feel the pulsation through your fingers. Then take a deep breath. Press the pulsation point hard after holing your breath Take off the fingers and gather breath when you are short of breath It is important that touch the pulsation point correctly with three fingers.
