Is there anyone else out there studying in the natural health field?

[kimmi]

Oh wow, I didn't actually expect anyone to write back! YAY! Yeddi, I'm really looking forward to studying more of the"food as medicine" side of things! So far I've gottn into the botanical side of things... Still VERY interesting! What course are you doing?

@Willow5, If you have a passion for it, it is definitely worth looking into! I really love learning about other ways to balance our health. Nature is really an amazing resource!

[willow5]

I'm really interested in Nutritional medicine, I just think I may not have the brains for it * insert embarrassed red face* Naturopathy interests me too. I'm fairly new to it all so I think I need to research all the options a bit more...

[kimmi]

It's not about brains Willow... We all have those... It's just about willingness to put the hard yards in.

If you love it, you can do it!

[Yeddi]

I'm doing the Advance Diploma of Naturopathy through AIAS. Then I just have to do one more year through uni to get a degree, which I can do once DS is older but at the moment I like the fact I can do the bulk of this course through distance education. There are no Naturopaths that specialise in children in my area, so I'll have to do my clinics with a general one unless I go to Sydney for them. I've also arranged to do some volunteer work at my DD's Osteo clinic once I have a few of the units under my belt. That way I'll get to sit in on treatments and see kids with issues that are different to my daughter and get a "feel" for them, see the ticks they present with and discuss how that shows itself in them. I've already learned so much from them already as we've had big discussions on chemicals in disposable nappies, overuse of panadol and antibiotics, vaccines, birthing interventions and how those things effect tension in the body and how that then effects hormone production etc. While it wont be my direct area, is good to know how a tight tendon around the liver can effect enzyme production.

I'm sure you'll love the food as medicine component. I truly believe a lot of issues stem from the gut - malabsorption and/or highly tampered with foods. For instance, my daughter's fits where because she didn't produce enough gamma-Aminobutyric acid which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that stops the brain from over-firing. She didn't produce enough because she couldn't strip enough of the required base amino acids from the food she ate because of malabsorption. She had malabsorption issues because she had candida overgrowth and she had candida overgrowth because I was giving her quite a lot of foods that had yeast and yeast extract in them and she is intolerant to yeast. Without looking at her from a holistic point of view who would have guessed her fitting was because she was eating too much bread!

[kimmi]

How exciting... I'm studying the Bachelor of Health Science in Naturopathy, and I'm really hoping to end up in the field of IVF/AC support. I'm only one year through (2.5 years part time) so at this rate, I still have about 7 years to go... I think one day I am going to have to cut back at work and ramp up the studying.

[C~Q]

Hey guys, has anyone heard about using Black Salve as a form of cancer treatment? My boyfriend is thinking of using it for his cancer and i'm a little scared! TIA xxx

[Yeddi]

Hey guys, has anyone heard about using Black Salve as a form of cancer treatment? My boyfriend is thinking of using it for his cancer and i'm a little scared! TIA xxx

HI Q~C, sorry to hear about your boyfriend. I'm sure this isn't an easy time. I believe that your boyfriend has been told he is terminal, if I read correctly on another thread, so conventional medicine is now only managing his pain, and not really trying to treat the cancer any more, so that's what I'm basing this on. If that's not the case, I'm still a fence sitter enough to believe that natural and conventional medicine should work together, and that all the options of conventional medicine should be considered (whether you take them up is another thing).

First, I'd have to point out that this is not an area I have studied academically, nor am I a licensed practitioner...

I have heard about Black Salves. From what I understand it is a topical treatment and its use is restricted to only small areas, i.e. a mole. If the cancer has spread there really isn't a point. Theoretically, the way it works is that it kills off the cells of the suspected cancer and that cancer then just falls out. In order for it to be able to do this, the substance has to be corrosive. No research that I know of, has ever been conducted to prove that it is safe or effective but it has been made illegal in some countries because of some pretty severe adverse effects. Then again, there have also been antidotal reports of there being positive results, whether this is true, placebo or just lucky is unclear. I would be very cautious with this, it could do more harm than good. However, there has been studies that show large regular doses (around 1000mg) of intravenous vitamin C (but only intravenous not tablets) can lead to higher ratios of remission amongst cancer patients. Eating foods that are high in Vitamin D, which is the body's natural steroid, could also help. Coconut oil and milk is also said to be good in fighting cancer, along with other foods like cauliflower, and broccoli. An enzyme supplement to help the digestion of these types of foods would also be worth giving a try. I personally would be inclined to go along this route before trying a black salve...