FieldsEvery living thing is surrounded by its own electromagnetic field, an invisible but measurable layer of radiating energy. For millions of years these fields existed undisturbed, until the late 19th century, when the first incandescent filament light bulb was invented in Britain, and somewhat later in America. With that invention electricity became a vital part of everyday life and its use has grown exponentially, until today all populations on Earth are exposed to varying degrees of electromagnetic fields. Lamps, TV sets, radios, refrigerators, regular and microwave ovens, computers, and latterly cellular phones all emit invisible electromagnetic frequencies. If we add natural geopathic radiation to our household implements, it is no exaggeration to say that we exist in an electronic soup, or to see that this is bound to have a harmful impact on human health and well-being.
As the use of cellular phones increases worldwide, more and more radio masts are erected to service them. So far, official bodies have tended to claim that these masts presented no health risks to people living near them, but concerned individuals tell a different story, reporting on clusters of diseases, mainly cancer, erupting in the vicinity of a recently erected mast. Sleep disturbances, headaches, skin rashes, heart palpitations and vertigo have also set in within the same period. Some scientists agree with the concerns of the lay public, For example Dr. Robert O.Becker, twice nominated for the Nobel Price, called the proliferation of electro-magnetic fields “the greatest polluting element in the earth’s environment.” And both the World Health Organization and the European Parliament have held discussions on the environmental impact of electro-magnetic fields.
Applying the precautionary principle—“If in doubt, don’t ”—everything possible must be done to limit the risks of the all-pervasive electronic smog. Cellular phone use must be cut to a minimum, switched off immediately after use, and not carried on the body even when switched off. If possible, hands-free devices should be used, to keep phones away fromhead and body.
Phones apart, it is wise not to keep any electronic devices near beds, where the sleepers would be exposed to radiation throughout the night. All electronic equipment should be switched off when not in use, not left on stand-by. A common houseplant, chlorophytum (popular name spider plant) is said to absorb harmful radiation, and should be kept in the home in large numbers.
Stress—the Enemy Within
Last but not least, beside the harmful influences that attack the body’s defenses from the outside, there is another self-made internal one, namely stress, that must be considered. Stress is very much taken for granted as part of today’s rushed and restless lifestyle, yet it wasn’t even identified, let alone explored until the first half of the twentieth century. It was then that the eminent Hungarian-born endocrinologist Hans Selye, M.D., D.Sc., FRS (1907-1982), first began to wonder why so many people were suffering from what he called a state of sub-health, being neither ill nor well and lacking in vitality. He eventually identified the cause as stress, which he defined in the following words: “Stress is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand, whether it is caused by, or results in, pleasant or unpleasant conditions. How you take it determines whether you can adapt successfully to change.”
In other words, stress in itself isn’t bad. On the contrary. To quote Selye again, “It is generally believed that biological organisms require a certain amount of stress in order to maintain their well-being. However,.”. excess stress that the system cannot handle, produces pathological changes.” 8 The problem is that modern human beings respond to real or imaginary danger with the same instantaneous biological changes as our most remote ancestors did when confronted with an attacking mammoth or the flint axe of an enemy: the “fight or flight” response clicks in, giving the organism a burst of energy to fight the attacker—or flee with above-average speed. The alarm reaction causes the pituitary-adenocortical system to respond by producing the hormones essential to either fighting or fleeing. The heart rate increases, the blood sugar level rises, the pupils dilate to see better and the digestion slows down to divert energy to the limbs. Adrenaline and cortisol rush into the system. All these changes disappear when the situation is resolved, either by fighting the enemy or fleeing to safety.
These days the threats are mainly non-violent, and the challenges tend to cause frustration, simmering rage or repressed tension, which find no outlet—after all, we can’t wrestle with a hyper-critical boss, or escape from a maddening traffic jam—so that the organism stays in an unnaturally aroused state. Just like our cave-dwelling ancestors, modern people also go through the three phases of alarm, resistance, and finally exhaustion. And in due course the stress-induced hormonal changes can lead to a wide range of diseases, including hypertension, coronary thrombosis, brain hemorrhage, gastric or duodenal ulcers, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, disease and allergic reactions. Above all, the immune system is weakened—and by now we know how dangerous that is.
Hardly anyone gets through life without experiencing periods of great stress. Business failure, financial problems, serious debt, divorce, sickness in the family, loss of a job—the list is long. People often respond by putting in extra hours of work, living on junk food and unhealthy snacks, taking sleeping drugs to fight insomnia and “wake-up drugs” to cope with the new day, drinking more coffee, more alcohol, smoking more, all of which speeds up the descent into ill health. But it is their reaction to stress, not the stress in itself that causes the trouble. Stress and its consequences may act as the proverbial last straw that breaks the camel’s back, especially if we are dealing with one of Selye’s “sub-healthy” individuals, whose liver is already in a sorry state, with the rest of the organism toxic and malnourished.
All this means that stress must be included among the factors that undermine the body’s defenses, and we need to deal with it sensibly. Relaxation techniques, yoga, breathing exercises, counseling help to re-program one’s spontaneous, deeply damaging reactions to life’s inevitable turmoils. (see Chapter 25, Overcoming Stress and Tension) Combined with optimum nutrition this may result in the ideal set out by Dr Selye, when he recommended, “stress without distress.”
References:
1. Gerson, M. “A Cancer Therapy—Results of 50 Cases
6th edition, Bonita, CA. The Gerson Institute, Bonita, California, 1999.
2. Hardell, L. & Eriksson, M. CANCER Vol.85, No.6. 1999
3. Lean, G. The Independent on Sunday, London, May 22 2005
4. .Breggin, P. Talking Back to Ritalin, Common Courage Press, 1998
5. Erb, J. & T.M., The Slow Poisoning of America, Paladins Press, 2003
6. Gesch, B. Press Conference, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, June 25, 2002; Schoenthaler, S. Anti-Ageing Medical Publications, Vol.III. Health Quest Publications, CA 1999
7. Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, 17th edition, F.A.Davis Company, Philadelphia, 1989
8. Selye, H. The Stress of Life, 1956
