Take Control: A Guide to Holistic Living

By Dr. Linda Mundorff

Nearly $1.5 billion per year is spent on alternative medical treatments. With more than twenty-five years of experience in the health-care profession, Dr. Linda Mundorff explores a variety of medical options designed to promote a natural lifestyle in Take Control: A Guide to Holistic Living.

Writing in a style that health-care professionals and laypersons alike will understand and identify with, Mundorff will help you take control of your health by discovering the practical effectiveness of alternative medicine in conjunction with modern medicine. Informative, insightful, and humorous, Take Control allows you to gain control of your health by becoming a self-advocate in your care. Take Control will show you how to:

Make lifestyle choices that last
Fuel your body
Live a more natural life
Discover mindful exercises
And much more

With thorough coverage of remedies and contraindications supplemented by a glossary of terms, a list of suggested reading material, journal activities, and a variety of other helpful contents, Take Control is a guide to alternative medicine for everyone!

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Dec 5, 2006
• ISBN: 9780595845293

Dr. Linda Mundorff

Dr. Linda (Rener) Mundorff has been in health care for more than twenty-five years as a registered nurse, health educator, associate professor, and a naturopathic doctor. She holds several degrees in health education, public health, nursing, and naturopathy. In 2011 she graduated from Taft University, California with a JD in law.

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Copyright © 2006 by Linda Mundorff

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The information, ideas, and suggestions in this book are not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. Before following any suggestions contained in this book, you should first consult your personal physician. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising as a consequence of your use or application of any information or suggestions in this book.

ISBN-13: 978-0-595-40149-9 (pbk)

ISBN-13: 978-0-595-84529-3 (ebk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-40149-X (pbk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-84529-0 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Dedication/Acknowledgment

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Chapter Twelve

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

APPENDIX D

APPENDIX E

APPENDIX F

About the Author

Dedication/Acknowledgment

This book is dedicated to my mother and sister, both of whom died in their forties from complications related to their misdiagnosed conditions.

I want to thank the many students at Red Rocks Community College who over the years have encouraged me to write a book about self-care and advocacy.

For Rachel, I have always and will always love you.

To Joey and Jessica, thank you for enriching my life and bringing me countless days of joy and happiness. I love you both.

To Alicia, for reminding me how beautiful and pure a young child’s heart and soul are.

Thank you, Bill, for your support, encouragement, and friendship.

To Larry, my best friend and husband, you have shown me the true meaning of happiness and joy; you have confirmed that there truly is a soul mate for each of us. I couldn’t have done any of this without your support, encouragement, and guidance. Thank you for all the late nights of laughter—you ground me, and I love you so much!

Introduction

As I wrote this book, I gave considerable thought to the focus and nature of its contents. I have more than twenty-five years of experience in the health field, and in that time I have actually gathered enough information to fill the pages of two books. But why should you have to purchase two books? So I have endeavored to include everything between the covers of the book you hold in your hands. I want you to realize that you hold an enormous amount of information at your fingertips, all of which is incredibly valuable to you, the health consumer. In the following pages it may sometimes seem as if I am making generalized statements about our society, and perhaps I am. However, the focus here is not to force my opinions on you but to help you generate your own well-informed ones. Think of it this way. Some of you may believe that there are evil forces at work in our country, but many of you will believe just as passionately that our country is great, even if it is not perfect.

I want you to take the same concept and relate it to our country’s health care system. Some of you might think there are evil forces at work, destroying our ability to find adequate health care, while others will say the system is far from perfect but better than nothing. Being fair to everyone is very difficult. Do you treat everyone you know equally? I don’t have to tell you that our country has made a number of mistakes in attempting to correct and balance our health care system. So when you read the following and acknowledge my generic usage of the word we, please feel free to disagree with me or agree with me if you want. It is not a question of who you agree with but by which mechanism you choose to formulate agreement. In other words, what information did you use in making your decision to agree or disagree? The best way to form a solid opinion is by keeping an open mind and by reading and listening to as much information as you can to help you create your own ideas and opinions. So I will begin this book with an introduction that is designed to prepare you to open your mind to the possibilities, including the possibility that perhaps our society has lost its optimal health focus. Optimal health is more than just eating a certain way, or feeling a certain way, or even living a certain way. Optimal health is about a process, one that encompasses the fulfillment of the following goals:

• True happiness

• Fun and laughter

• Family time

• Getting along with others

• Understanding and respecting our teenagers

• Learning to say no

• Spirituality

• Relaxation time

• Having less and being content with life

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Our lives are fast paced and filled with immediate gratification: get rich quickly, fix our health problems quickly, run the kids from one after-school activity to another. Americans eat on the run, we don’t get enough sleep, and we are stretched beyond our means. We live on credit cards to delay paying the price for the items and services we must have today, but for many people, there will be no tomorrow. We don’t want responsibility, yet we shoulder more than we can handle. We look to others to fix our problems. Many of our children disrespect us, discard responsibilities, and blame others for their mistakes. The suicide rate is the highest ever. Stress is a time bomb waiting to go off.

We are connected to the rest of the world through the magic of the Internet. We are hungry for information, and now that the Internet has opened the doors, we can access all the information we want, twenty-four hours a day. The world is literally at our fingertips. All you have to do is search. Computers, which were supposed to free us from our desks and shorten the work week, have made the work environment a prison. We work more and longer days each week. We take work home and stay up late to finish it. With the advent of cell phones and the Internet, we don’t have an excuse not to work. The Internet has provided us with a means to communicate with others across the world at any time of day, so when the local community is asleep, we can still be up e-mailing to our colleagues in Asia.

Instead of practicing preventive care, we focus on urgent care. Instead of slowing down, we speed up. We take stimulants to stay up and depressants to sleep. We live longer, but we experience more illnesses. Cancer strikes everywhere. Our food is injected with hormones and preservatives, and even the water we drink is polluted. Even though the United States is a great nation, it is fast becoming nothing more than a melting pot for violence, teen suicide, rage attacks, environmental disasters, homelessness, and poor health care. Tens of thousands of Americans work full time but don’t have health insurance coverage. There are more single-parent homes than ever before and more homeless people. The grocery shelves are stocked with enough foodstuff to feed the world, but health care professionals see more malnutrition all the time, and stress-related disorders are on the rise. And as the workday gets longer, family

and leisure time disappears. Many of us are stuck in the middle, trapped between caring for our children and our ailing parents. Workers must take sick leave in record numbers—sadness and despair are all around us, and depression is quickly becoming a chronically disabling condition. Most families need two incomes to get by, so the traditional homemaker has become a thing of the past. Our kids are home alone, caring for themselves with no supervision.

We seek professional health care only when we can’t self-diagnose and treat ourselves. And when we do seek care from a doctor, we demand a quick fix. We walk around desensitized to our surroundings. It’s no wonder that more and more people are being diagnosed with clinical depression. The problem is simply exacerbated, however, when they are given prescription antidepressants. Forget about going for therapy; just take this pill and you will feel better. But that creates a new problem. The pill that seems to make us feel better actually numbs us and provides an avenue for suppression of feelings. Those issues are still there but instead of being obvious, they have gone underground. Even hidden, however, they are slowly destroying our minds and bodies. And our lifestyles are destroying our children’s lives as well. Instead of being active in the fresh air outdoors, they stay inside to play violent video games and watch violent television. Childhood obesity is on the rise, and no one seems to be doing anything about it.

We are becoming obese, cardiovascular disease is on the rise, and diabetes is taking over our nation. Our health care system is a disaster, unemployment is rampant, and we barely make it from paycheck to paycheck. Think you will make it to retirement? Do you have a plan in place? Most Americans can barely make it on what they currently earn, let alone have money to put away for retirement. The notion that your company could go bankrupt and take your retirement savings with it (like the Enron fiasco) or lay you off before you are eligible for your retirement benefits (like the airline industry) is not much of a motivation to try and save. And what about Social Security? You have been paying into this system for years and now the government has raised the age to access it. For many, the benefits may not even be available at all.

It often takes weeks and even months to get an appointment with the doctor, and by the time we do get in to see her, our conditions have grown worse. I have a friend with lumbar disc problems. By the time he got in to see the doctor, six months had gone by and his condition had deteriorated rapidly. He had lost fifty pounds, couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, and was severely dehydrated. He couldn’t work, which left his family to suffer financially. After he finally saw his physician, he was told he had to see a specialist, which took another two months to arrange! Even when we do receive timely medical care, it isn’t always what we need. I have watched two of my closest loved ones, people who were apparently healthy, die from complications related to the misdiagnosis of their conditions. This happens all over our country, every day.

Did you know that science could identify cancer genes? With this new-found information, cancer can be prevented simply by removing a body part that is at risk for developing the disease. While this may be a positive step, we have carried the concept too far. If you don’t like how you look, you can elect to have reconstructive surgery. All too often that only creates a totally new you to still hate! Hate is more than skin deep; it is an emotionally destructive feeling with deeply planted roots. Changing one’s appearance, having gastric bypass, moving from city to city, and quitting job after job won’t make the self-deprecation go away.

And what about the environment? A great number of cancer-causing chemicals pollute the environment, and their numbers are growing. We are slowly being poisoned by heavy metals that are prevalent in our food, our air, our homes, and at the office. Mercury, a neurotoxin which is known to damage nerve cells, is a preservative found in many vaccines and products. It is found in our oceans and in the fish we eat as part of a supposedly healthy diet. Our communities are slowly being poisoned by industrial waste and pollution. Clusters of neighbors with unusual illnesses and cancers are growing. Leukemia, which is usually environmentally linked, is on the rise. If you live in such a community you must ask the following questions: How many people are sick? Do they live near or work in a plant that emits some type of chemical by-product? Have they received medical treatment? What was the outcome? The federal government mandates that you have a legal right to find out what you are being exposed to at work and that your employer is legally obligated to provide a safe environment. This information is usually found in the workplace reference manual Material Management, and you should have a representative in your workplace who can discuss concerns related to any potentially harmful environmental exposure.

Don’t you feel like screaming ENOUGH? Isn’t it time we take responsibility for our actions and our lives? Isn’t it time for each one of us to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and become a proactive member of the human race? Isn’t it time to be a participant in life rather than an audience to it? I say it is time to stop the apathy and take a hard look at our environment and the role that we play in it. Change can only happen if we choose to make it happen. No one can do it for us, and no one should have to. If only we believed in the power of our own voices, by working in numbers we could change our communities and make them healthier, safer, and happier. Knowledge is the key to success and to informed decision making. Knowledge is power, and power makes us feel in control of our lives.

We all act as if we know. We think we are the guardians of our bodies. We think we know what our bodies need and just how to supply those needs. We self-diagnose, self-medicate, treat until the signs and symptoms go away, and we make ourselves believe we are cured. It is very dangerous to believe that you are completely qualified to take care of yourself. You cannot do so unless you have the proper tools. Can you imagine gardening with a child’s bucket and shovel? Or preparing baked Alaska when you don’t even know how to turn on the stove? How can you possibly know what is best for your body if you don’t even know how your body works? The tools to self-fulfillment, self-awareness, and self-care are not just found at the gym, in your dinner salad, or in a bottle of supplements. Those tools are found within the body. You cannot treat what you don’t understand.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is finally making it a requirement for all food manufacturing labels to list trans-fat levels right below the levels of saturated fats. We have known for years that there are no safe recommended levels for trans-fat consumer usage. Why then has it taken the FDA so long to regulate its appearance on food labels? Trans-fat is worse than saturated fat; it clogs the arteries and ages the body’s cells. So why is it so prevalent in American food products? The answer is economic. Trans-fat is cheaper and easier to use than butter and other traditional fats. It has a higher flash point so deep frying is easier.

For years trans-fat was marketed as a safe alternative to butter. Consumers of natural fats such as butter opted to buy the chemical alternative found in margarine. Now we are being told that, in fact, margarine is not good for you! How many times has the FDA scared us by saying something was not healthy, only to change the policy later? I can tell you this: natural is always going to be better and healthier! So enjoy that pat of butter with your toast, or a teaspoon of sugar on your cereal, or a glass of pure 100 percent fruit juice. Yes, the juice is going to have more calories than the diet drinks. Yes, the sugar is potentially going to raise your blood glucose levels. And yes, the fat is a concern in terms of cardiovascular disease. But the key is to use these natural products in moderation. You may not be able to eat an entire package of cookies (and you shouldn’t, even if they are low fat!), but you can eat one cookie and savor its real flavor without relying on chemical enhancements that may be worse for you than the so-called bad food! No study can truly claim natural is worse than artificial. But if you abuse the privilege of eating even these natural foods, you risk the chance of losing it.

You can easily protect yourself from foods that are prepared using trans-fats by reading food labels and avoiding those foods that contain trans-fat. When eating out you can request that your food be prepared with olive oil or anything

else they might have that isn’t trans-fat oil. It is vitally important to be an active participant in your own health. Instead of making assumptions, you must question everything, because there is just too much conflicting information available. Don’t do something just because some Ivy League college study says it is okay. Find out about the study, who financed it, how the groups were chosen, how long the study lasted, and so on. Armed with knowledge, you are powerful.

Sometimes people go overboard in their reaction to the traditional practice of Western medicine. I am a firm believer that alternative practice works when it is used in conjunction with medicine and not in lieu of it. The two systems must complement each other; one is not necessarily better than the other. Alternative practitioners are not usually licensed to perform invasive procedures such as surgery. There will be times when surgery is prudent, when taking an X-ray is the only way to diagnose, or when medication is the only correct alternative. The key to being proactive about your health care is to be open minded and ask questions. You are the one who must make the final decision about your health. In order to make the most informed decisions you must ask the questions and look at the pros and cons of each option. Also think about the financial, emotional, and social implications of your choices. What good is picking out a modality that is beyond your ability to pay?

I am a traditional naturopath, which means I believe that health can be achieved by returning to a simpler way of life: eating a variety of foods from a variety of sources that are as close to nature as possible; eating raw, fresh, whole foods, drinking plenty of fresh water, taking brisk walks, getting at least eight hours of sleep per night; and dealing with our feelings rather than suppressing them. I am an advocate of fresh herbs (herbology), massage therapy, yoga, and Pilates. Naturopaths believe in the natural force or vital energy that resides in all living things. In Eastern practices this vital force is called chi and it flows through channels called meridians. It is by tapping into this vital energy that natural healing can take place. The body has an innate ability to heal itself, but in order for the body to heal, it must have the right tools to function properly. The body cannot perform nightly maintenance such as cellular regeneration, detoxification, immune boosting, mitosis, and other functions designed to maintain the body in optimal shape, if other issues such as insomnia, stress, poor nutrition, and suppressed emotions sidetrack it.

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The body is a magnificent vessel. The control center is the brain, and the components of the body that carry out the orders from the brain are divided up into systems. There are twelve body systems:

Each system is made up of highly specialized cells; sheets of cells are called tissue and sheets of tissue make up our organs. You would not find stomach cells in the heart, and you would not find organs of the respiratory system in the urinary system. As each instrument in an orchestra works together to provide melody and harmony, so does each organ of every body system work together in concert to maintain harmony and balance. If one organ is out of sync, it will adversely affect the entire system. If a system is out of sync or fails, others will follow. In Appendix F of this book you will find information regarding each body system, including how that system works, the name of the organs within that system, and the medical specialty for that system. Throughout this book I will discuss common ailments, preventative care, and potential complications resulting from the mismanagement of alternative modalities, and I will point out natural treatment options.

This book is very special to me because it is dedicated to both my mother and sister who died when they were forty-four and forty-eight, respectively. My mother had an abscessed tooth that was not well managed medically, and she developed blood poisoning, which in turn shut down her kidneys. She could not be saved because kidney dialysis was still in clinical trials back in 1970. The first kidney machine was not available to the public until 1971. My sister was diagnosed with contact dermatitis six months before she died in 2000. Her death was not caused by a common skin rash, but by a rare, undiagnosed connective tissue disease.

These tragedies, as well as countless others like them, are completely preventable. But to prevent them, we as health care consumers must demand change. We must take control and demand that our insurance companies provide freedom of choice, paying for alternative treatments as well as traditional ones. And we must demand that our doctors and hospitals take responsibility for medical mishaps. It is time for the hospitals to listen to the cries of nursing staff when they say their patient ratios are too high and that patient care is being compromised. It is time for hospitals to stop hiring nonprofessional

employees to take the place of qualified, professional nurses. And we must be willing to make changes even beyond the obvious realm of health care. As a society, our priorities are out of order. It is time we stop putting so much value on entertainers and athletes who make millions of dollars per year.

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It is time we focus on patient care—on the tireless efforts of nursing staff that is paid substandard wages and forced to work mandatory overtime, caring for several patients at a time with few or no breaks. I would like to see an entertainer or a ball player clean up someone’s body fluids, be yelled at by patient families, have difficulty sleeping because of aches and pains, and be underappreciated by management. When the average nurse is making $39,000 per year and the average entertainer or ball player is making ten or twenty times that, you know our priorities are all wrong. Health care affects all of us. Health care is not a privilege only for those who can afford it. Health care is a right—as human beings we have a right to be treated with dignity and respect. We have a right to be treated the same regardless of race, religion, gender, or socioeconomic class. The next time you spend that $9 to see a movie or $150 to see a concert, or $25 to see a ball game, remember you have a voice, and you can stand up and say Enough! Nothing will change unless our voices shout in unison. Don’t you believe that your family is worth the trouble?

When you watch television, think about the commercials you see. Have you noticed that more and more pharmaceutical companies are airing commercials for their products? I have seen commercials for everything from condom brands to antacids and everything in between. The pharmaceutical companies have huge lobbying groups that can push almost anything through Congress, as well as huge public relations budgets to do just about anything on television, billboards, and the like. The influx of more television ads is simply astute marketing, as television has always been a great stimulus for getting consumers to purchase new products.

Why are pharmaceutical companies banking on this type of marketing? Because they know that the commercials work! Can you recall a time when you saw a product in the store that reminded you of a commercial? Television commercials are persuasive indeed. I try not to watch any infomercials late at night because I know that one of them is going to get me to buy the magic bullet or try Susan Lucci’s amazing at-home dermabrasion kit. If you have heartburn and see one of the famous heartburn commercials where the guy is complaining that he can’t eat pizza with his uncle anymore, and he misses pepper and sausage heroes, etc., then you know how convincing they are. The next time you go to your doctor you will probably remember to ask for a prescription for that miracle drug! And what about rheumatoid arthritis (RA)? As nurses we

know how debilitating RA can be. Now imagine some miracle drug that gives you back your freedom of movement, and without pain! Heck, if I had RA I would be on the phone with my doctor the next day asking for a prescription. I especially liked the commercial that had the giant stomach; you know, the one where the stomach is in agony, and what comes to its rescue but a medicine to help with hyperacidity.

As consumers of health products we must not let marketing gimmicks, free samples, and rebates deceive us. We must learn to outshout the big pharmaceutical houses, the American Medical Association, and other corporate money machines that profit from the health struggles within our country. If you truly want choices like naturopathy, homeopathy, chiropractic services, massage therapy, and the like, then write to your Congressman, the insurance commission, and your insurance company. Let them know that as consumers of health, you want choices.

The services of alternative practitioners are not always covered by health insurance, but the only way we are going to change this is by lobbying and letting the government know that the majority of Americans do want a choice. We know this because natural food stores, vitamin houses, books, and alternative practitioners are springing up all over the place. The demand is everywhere, but the reimbursement for those services and products is not. Why should we pay for health services when we have health insurance? It is like having car insurance that will only cover claims that are on the list of covered benefits.

Can you imagine calling your car insurance claims department and being told that your accident would not be covered because you were driving after 8:00 PM? Or that the company won’t allow a certain repair because that model of car is too old? I have heard of insurance companies that actually will total a car out because it is cheaper to do so than repair the vehicle. Well, that might be cost effective for the insurance company, but what about the claimant? Suppose that person still has a car loan on the vehicle that is more than the payout by the insurance company? If you want to ensure that your rights as a consumer are being protected and you want the freedom to choose your health care team, I urge you to step up to the plate. Please don’t pass the buck and think that the next person will do it. We need both you and the next person to protest. The more of us that speak, the louder our collective voice will be.

A note on research studies: Many of us have found the Internet a wonderful tool to help in learning about illnesses, preventative care, treatments, cures, product comparisons, and the like. However, research studies are not always consistent, accurate, and thorough. Ask yourself this the next time you do your own research: Who is doing the research? Is it a reputable person or company?

What are the researcher’s credentials? Why is the research being done? Who is providing the money for the research? Are there any potential conflicts of interest in this study? For example, if the study is about the effects of cigarettes on the reproductive system, but the financial backers are tobacco manufacturers, that’s a conflict. Are the researchers independent or employees of pharmaceutical companies who might benefit from a positive outcome? How many people or subjects were used in the study? How were those subjects chosen? How long was the study? Were there any problems with the study? What hidden variables might have caused a problem with the data? Just because someone is doing research, doesn’t make him or her an authority. At the same time, just because someone is an authority doesn’t mean that the results are correct.

Numerous studies over the decades have resulted in a media-fueled panic. Remember the saccharine scare in the ‘70s? Other studies said eggs were bad for you. Then a study came out that said eggs aren’t bad for you, just the yokes. Now it is suggested that eggs are just fine to eat as long as you limit your intake. Well, that isn’t surprising as most doctors will tell you moderation is always best. Even too much water can hurt you. Check all the facts before you start any kind of health program or medical regimen and, as always, consult with your primary care provider.

In the twelve chapters you are about to read you will learn a great deal about your body and better ways to care for it. But be wary, be alert, be attentive, and take control of your own health. I am a registered nurse and a board-certified, traditional naturopathic doctor, but I am not a medical doctor. Naturopathy is a complementary alternative to health care and should be used in conjunction with a competent doctor. Herbal and homeopathic remedies can actually be contraindicated in many health conditions or with certain prescriptions and over-the-counter medications. I have attempted to provide you with a variety of information in Appendices A-F to help you on your journey to optimal health.

Appendix A is an extensive list of remedies; many of these remedies have been shown to work, while clinical research is still being performed on many more. Appendix B is a list of some of my favorite books from my own library. I don’t suggest you run out and buy them all. Start with your local library and see if they have these books available. Educate yourself as much as possible. Purchase the books that will become regular references for you. In Appendix C, you will find a variety of web sites that can help further your knowledge about alternative practices. Appendix