This month’s case study is ‘Brenda’ – who came to the Clinic because of severe eczema…

Brenda’s Story:

I had been suffering with eczema for the last five years going back and forth to my doctor who could only recommend strong hydrocortisone creams. I had to use the cream because at times my eczema was so itchy I scratched my skin until it bled, but knew deep down that it wasn’t addressing the underlying cause. I knew there must be more to it and had some understanding that stress made it flare up and certain foods, but somehow needed the support of a qualified practitioner who could guide me.

Aside from the eczema I suffered terribly with sinus problems and took antibiotics at least once a year, which again I knew wasn’t great, but when you are in pain and ‘desperate’ you are looking for a quick solution and unfortunately that’s all my GP could recommend.

I decided that I had to look into my health more carefully and ask questions as to why I had eczema and sinus problems and what the root cause was. Surely this was common sense — how can you go on just treating symptoms without treating the cause? At this point I called the Dr Marilyn Glenville Clinic to book an appointment with one of Dr Glenville’s practitioners.

Before the consultation I was asked to complete a comprehensive Nutrition Questionnaire which gave the practitioner all my medical history, current symptoms and a food diary. When I phoned to book the appointment the receptionist was very helpful and explained that it was in my interest to fill the diet diary in accurately so the practitioner could give me the best possible advice!

Prior to the first consultation I also performed a Mineral Deficiency Test to check my levels of all the essential minerals. This involved taking a sample of my hair which was then sent to a laboratory for analysis. The results were back in time for my first consultation at the clinic which was very useful.

Dr Glenville’s practitioner went through the Nutrition Questionnaire in detail with me and explained exactly what eczema is — the causes, factors that can aggravate it and what can be done naturally to address it.

She explained that food allergy plays a major role in eczema and inflammation of the digestive tract is also implicated in this condition. I was asked to avoid dairy for 5 weeks — until my next appointment as this is the main food allergy linked to eczema, plus it aggravates mucous production causing sinus problems. Although there are other foods that can aggravate eczema, Dr Glenville’s practitioner wanted to start me slowly with the dietary changes and make modifications over the forthcoming weeks and months if appropriate. She explained that this way it is easier to identify which food is the culprit.

Dr Glenville’s practitioner also explained that people with eczema can’t utilise/metabolise the essential fats found in nuts and seeds down into the hormone-like substances in the body that help switch off the inflammation. To take account of this she recommended that I take a good quality, high strength pure marine fish oil to give me the omega 3 essential fats to help calm down the inflammation.

She concluded by explaining that I needed to reduce stress on my immune system by identifying and eliminating food allergies and reducing other allergic factors to the skin, i.e. skincare products. This was such valuable information and I went away from my first consultation so motivated and pleased that finally someone had explained in such detail what eczema was all about, rather than giving me such ‘blanket’ treatment.

The practitioner gave me a diet diary to take away with me to complete for 5 weeks before coming back for a follow up consultation. She also asked me to make a note of my symptoms on a day by day basis so we could assess what impact the diet was having on my skin. This was a very interesting exercise as it made me focus on what I was actually putting into my body and how it was affecting me.

Within a week of cutting dairy out it was quite astonishing as my eczema had improved tremendously and I was no longer scratching and for the first time in 5 years I had not had to use the hydrocortisone cream. The practitioner had also recommended I apply Aloe Vera gel to my skin which really helped to calm down the inflammation and soften my skin. I had to make sure the Aloe Vera was totally natural with no parabens or sodium benzoate (these are potentially toxic preservatives that are put into most cosmetics and toiletries). My sinuses were also clearer and generally felt less congested.

Alongside making dietary changes, I was also prescribed a good quality multi vitamin and mineral supplement, fish oil and zinc which showed as a deficiency from my Mineral Deficiency Test. The practitioner explained how important zinc is in healing the skin and helping with the metabolism of essential fats to help with the inflammation.

My Comments

Brenda’s story is a great example of how important it is to actually listen to your body and respond to what you are putting inside it. These days, with rushed and hectic lifestyles, it is all too easy to want a ‘quick fix’ – i.e. painkillers for persistent headaches and toxic creams for eczema and psoriasis. This case really shows how beneficial it is to address the root cause of a symptom rather than just treating it.

Cutting out major food groups like Brenda has done can be very beneficial as we have just learned, but it is best done under supervision because it is important to make sure you are still getting the right nutrients.

So, whether you have eczema, persistent headaches or digestive problems — listen and learn from these symptoms. Don’t just take a painkiller or anti-spasmodic medication, look at what you are eating and your lifestyle.

Follow these links if you are interested in having the Mineral Deficiency Test or a Food Allergy test.

Acupuncture, the traditional Chinese medicine technique that uses hair-thin needles to treat pain, allergies, and nausea, is showing promise as a treatment for female infertility. Researchers from New York’s Weill Cornell Medical Centre recently reviewed existing sutdies and found that acupuncture helps…

1. Reduce stress hormones that interfere with ovulation
2. Normalize hormones that regulate ovulation so an egg is released
3. Increase blood flow to the uterus, improving the chances of a fertilized egg implanting
4. Improve ovulation cycles in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which makes getting pregnant difficult. Many women with PCOS seem to find it helpful in kick starting absent periods or regulating cycles.
5. Improve pregnancy rates in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF)

Acupuncture is based on the theory that vital energy (or “qi,” pronounced “chi”) flows through the body along certain pathways. Acupuncturists try to balance this energy and restore health by stimulating specific points along the pathways with thin needles.

Traditional acupuncturists treat the whole person rather than a disease and therefore attempt to get to the root cause of the problem rather than treating the symptoms and, like other holistic practitioners, will consider all lifestyle and environmental factors before commencing treatment for infertility. Although it has been a staple of Chinese medicine for some 5,000 years, acupuncture has gained greater acceptance in the medical community only in the past few decades.

Acupuncture is perhaps one of the best researched natural therapies, other than nutrition. There is published evidence that acupuncture works well for such problems as back pain, toothaches and migraines and a growing body of research to suggest that it can help with infertility. In 2002, a team of German researchers discovered that acupuncture significantly increased the odds of pregnancy among a group of 160 women who were undergoing IVF treatment. Forty-two percent of the women who received acupuncture got pregnant, compared to 26 percent of those who didn’t receive the treatment. The researchers speculated that acupuncture helped increase blood flow to the uterus and relax the muscle tissue, giving the embryos a better chance of implanting.

Other research suggests that acupuncture is effective in reducing stress. Since stress has been shown to interfere with getting pregnant, because it can interfere with hormonal balance, it makes sense that reducing your stress through acupuncture could theoretically improve your odds of conceiving. Some women find acupuncture helpful to cope with the stress they feel about trying to conceive.

Acupuncture may also help male infertility. New research shows that acupuncture can significantly improve the quality and health of sperm. In a study published in Fertility and Sterility in 2005, researchers analysed sperm samples from men with infertility of unknown cause before and after acupuncture treatments. They found that acupuncture was associated with fewer structural defects in sperm and an increase in the number of normal sperm.

Although the researchers from Weill Cornell Medical Centre suggested that acupuncture shows great promise for treating fertility problems, many other experts believe that we need larger and better studies, ideally random and double blind, using fake needles for some patients and real ones for others, in order to truly know whether acupuncture is effective. In some of the studies mentioned above, the patients and health care providers knew that acupuncture was performed, which meant that the studies weren’t actually “blind” and the success of the treatment might have been due to what’s known as the placebo effect, the belief that something will help. So perhaps it was the patients’ belief in acupuncture — rather than the acupuncture itself — that accounted for the treatment’s success. It’s difficult to tell.

Perhaps, in the end it doesn’t matter that much whether the success of acupuncture is a placebo effect or not. The bottom line is that acupuncture is safe as long as you contact a qualified practitioner and if it improves fertility — even if it’s only because you think it does — or helps reduce the stress and anxiety associated with infertility and fertility treatment it can be worthwhile.

Most people know that we should be eating more fruit and vegetables. But most of us aren’t eating enough and we should be eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.

Fruit and vegetables are brimming with fibre, plus a whole range of vitamins and minerals, and because they’re low in calories, they make an important and healthy addition to any diet. Scientific studies have shown that people who eat a lot of fruit and vegetables have a lower risk of getting illnesses, such as heart disease and some cancers.

For this reason, health authorities recommend that you eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day — and it doesn’t matter whether they’re fresh, tinned, frozen, cooked, juiced or dried. If you buy tinned fruit or vegetables make sure that no sugar or artificial sweeteners have been added and buy organic where possible. Remember that potatoes don’t count because they’re a starchy food.

How much is a portion?

• One piece of medium-sized fruit – eg, an apple, peach, banana or orange
• One slice of large fruit, such as melon, mango or pineapple
• One handful of grapes or two handfuls of cherries or berry fruits
• One tablespoon of dried fruit
• A glass (roughly 100ml) of fruit or vegetable juice
• A small tin (roughly 200g) of fruit
• A side salad
• A serving (roughly 100g) of vegetables – eg, peas, boiled carrots or stir-fried broccoli
• The vegetables served in a portion of vegetable curry, lasagne, stir-fry or casserole

Fruit and vegetables should make up about a third of the food you eat each day, even more if you can manage it. And it’s also important to eat a variety. Five-a-day is a good, achievable target. If you count your portions each day it might help you to increase the amount you eat. And if you still find this hard to get your head around here are some tips on how to get your daily quota without too much preparation:

Juice
A glass of fruit or vegetable juice counts as one serving. However, as the juice doesn’t contain the pulp of the actual fruit, you can only count this once, no matter how many glasses of juice you consume.

Fruit with Cereal
If you have a bowl of cereal for breakfast, add a chopped banana or some strawberries for a fruity twist — there’s another one.

Sip on Soup
Here’s a healthy and cheap option for lunch. Make a big pot of homemade vegetable soup at the beginning of the week. Keep it in the fridge and dip in for lunch every day. Pack it full of any veggies you’ve got in the kitchen, as well as beans.

Cans Count
Fresh is obviously healthier but canned vegetables count as a portion so dig out those organic tinned beans and add some chickpeas or kidney beans to a salad, or throw a handful of diced carrots into a casserole. Frozen vegetables are also acceptable so there’s no excuse if there’s nothing fresh in the fridge.

Fruit Snacks
Carry a couple of pieces of fruit in your bag for a snack during the day. Use it as an excuse to try fruit you wouldn’t normally choose.

Salad Starter
Get into the habit of making yourself a side salad to eat with dinner. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, just some leaves and sliced cucumber.

Stick to these tips and you should have no problem getting your five a day. Hopefully you’ll feel the benefits, especially through the colder months when everyone around you will be coughing and sneezing.