Immunsystem Anhängsel
25.02.2006 von Jürgen Langenbach, die Presse
Dass eine Krankheit eine andere nach sich ziehen kann, eine Erkältung eine Lungenentzündung etwa, ist nichts Überraschendes. Aber es geht auch umgekehrt, eine Krankheit kann eine andere abwehren, und es muss nicht einmal eine Krankheit sein, eine Schwächung des Körpers genügt, Wunderheiler wissen es, bisweilen gibt sogar einer sein Geheimnis preis: "Herr, erbarme dich über meinen Sohn! Denn er ist mondsüchtig und hat schwer zu leiden; er fällt oft ins Feuer und oft ins Wasser“. Mit diesen Worten wendet sich ein Verzweifelter an Jesus selbst, die Jünger konnten nicht helfen. Der Meister schimpft sie erst des Kleinglaubens, verrät ihnen aber nach getaner Kur, dass auch starkes Gottvertrauen allein nicht immer reicht: "Diese Art (von bösem Geist Red.) fährt nur aus durch Beten und Fasten" (Matthäus, 17, 21). Offenbar litt das Kind an "morbus daemonicus", Epilepsie, die wurde seit der Antike mit Nahrungsentzug therapiert, noch in der Renaissance wusste man sich nicht anders zu helfen: Im letzten Bild Raffaels, der "Transfiguration Christi", wird die biblische Szene dargestellt.
Schmale Kost tut auch dem Körper wohl, sie verlängert das Leben bei vielen Tieren - von Fruchtfliegen bis zu Mäusen und Affen, wohl auch Menschen. Andere Schwächungen tun es auch, der Aderlass mit Messer o. Blutegel hat Tradition, neueren Datums sind Versuche, Depressionen durch Schlafentzug zu lindern (Biological Psychiatry 46, S. 445). Das sind gezielte Eingriffe von Ärzten, andere kommen von höchst unerwünschten Besuchern, Parasiten: "Mich rufen Leute an und fragen, ob sie ein paar von meinen Würmern haben können", berichtet Maria Yazdanbakhsh, Biologin der Universität Leiden (Nature Medicine, 10, S. 1271). Sie war in Lamberene im Gabun, wo Albert Schweitzer anno 1913 sein Hospital nicht zuletzt deshalb errichtete, weil die Menschen von Würmern geplagt waren. Weltweit sterben heute noch 44 Millionen im Jahr daran, natürlich dort, wo die Hygiene schlecht ist.
Aber wo sie zu gut ist, hat sie auch ihren Preis: Autoimmunkrankheiten (Allergien/Asthma). Die grassieren in den Hochburgen der Hygiene: in USA leiden 20% der 13- bis 14-Jährigen an Asthma, in Großbritannien 30%. In Lambarene und anderen wurmverseuchten Regionen sind sie fast unbekannt: Die Parasiten dämpfen das Immunsystem, es soll sich nicht gegen sie wenden, in der Folge wendet es sich auch nicht überschießend gegen den menschlichen Körper. Mancher Asthmatiker hätte lieber Würmer im Leib, aber Yazdanbakhsh liefert keine, so weit ist bisher nur Joel Weinstock (University of Iowa) gegangen: Er hat an Patienten mit chronischer Darmentzündung die Wurmkur getestet - ihnen Eier von Schistosoma mansoni zu essen gegeben, dem Erreger der Billharziose -, fast der Hälfte ging es danach besser (Science, 305, S. 170).
Das ist eine riskante Strategie, und der Ekel hat schon seine biologischen Gründe. Er wird aber auch kulturell überformt: Zur Prophylaxe von Autoimmunkrankheiten genügt es oft, Kinder dort spielen zu lassen, wo sie ohnehin am liebsten spielen, im Schmutz und/oder in Gesellschaft vieler anderer Kinder: Als es die DDR noch gab, waren die Asthma-Raten viel niedriger als im Westen. Man führte es auf die gute Betreuung zurück, die Kinder verbrachten den Tag in Krippen, irgendeines war immer erkältet und hustete die anderen an. So konnte sich das Immunsystem einüben und auf die wirklichen Aggressoren konzentrieren, das vermutete zumindest die "Hygiene-Hypothese". Seit 2002 ist sie keine Hypothese mehr, in ländlichen Regionen, unter anderem im Salzburgischen, wurde sie belegt: An Heuschnupfen und Asthma leiden Stadtkinder doppelt so häufig wie Kinder auf dem Land, die viel mit Tieren in Kontakt sind und schon auch einmal Erde essen (New England Journal of Medicine, 347, S. 869).
Natürlich kann man sich auf dem Bauernhof auch Krankheiten holen, aber eine davon hat unzählige Leben gerettet: "Was das Kuhpocken-Virus so extrem einzigartig macht, ist, dass eine Person, die von ihr befallen wurde, für immer vor den Pocken sicher ist", notierte 1798 Edward Jenner, Landarzt in Gloucestershire. Er hatte es an Patienten bemerkt: Melker und Melkerinnen, die sich Kuhpocken geholt hatten - sie werden von Vakzinia-Viren übertragen und verlaufen bei Menschen mild -, waren gefeit gegen die Pocken, die periodisch durch Europa zogen und mit ihren Variola-Viren viele dahinrafften. Jenner merkte noch etwas: Übertrug man Blut von einem Menschen mit überstandenen Kuhpocken auf einen, der sie nie hatte, wurde auch der immun gegen Pocken. So wurde das Impfen erfunden, Impfstoffe heißen heute noch Vakzine (von Vacca = Kuh).
Dass die einen Pocken vor den anderen schützen, mag Zufall sein, anderes wurde von der Evolution entwickelt, lange bevor Menschen auf die Idee kamen, ein Übel mit dem anderen auszutreiben: Es gibt böse Blutkrankheiten (Thallasämie/Sichelzellenanämie) die sich in manchen Regionen häufen. 1948 bemerkte der Genetiker John Haldane, dass diese Regionen malariaverseucht sind - und dass die Blutkrankheiten davor schützen, sie sind das kleinere Übel. Andere Zusammenhänge sind noch völlig ungeklärt - fast niemand erkrankt zugleich an Lepra und Psoriasis, wieder andere regen Pharmakologen an: Die häufigste Erbkrankheit in Nordeuropa ist Zystische Fibrose, einer von 4000 leidet an dieser Verschleimung der Lunge und der Atemwege. Positiver Nebeneffekt ist offenbar die Abwehr von Lungen-Tuberkulose und vermutlich auch von Diarrhöe, bei Letzterer sind Medikamente in Erprobung, die einen Effekt der Zystischen Fibrose simulieren.
Mit echten Krankheiten infizieren kann man natürlich niemanden, obwohl es beim derzeit größten Schrecken verlockend wäre: Von HIV gibt es zwei Typen, HIV-2 tötet langsamer als HIV-1 und gewährt gewissen Schutz davor. Aber es tötet auch, die Kur verbietet sich. Allerdings gibt es noch ein Virus, das oft zugleich mit HIV übertragen wird, den Verlauf mildert und selbst keine böse Wirkung hat, GBV-C. Für Richard Stiehm, Arzt an der University of California, Los Angeles, wäre dieses Virus der Überlegung wert (Pediatrics, 117, S. 184): "Vielleicht sollte solche virale Interferenz erkundet werden, um HIV-1 abzuwehren“.
‡ Folgendes hat
anthroposofische Einschlüße ‡
Frei nach: Robert Zieve, M.D.
Today we face a widespread crisis of immunity
(cancer/autoimmune illnesses/as epidemics of Lyme disease and MRSA). Only
by recognizing and working intelligently with the body’s natural systems do we
have an opportunity to overcome these challenges.
The function of the human immune system is to defend and protect us. The word ‘defense’ brings to mind national agencies like the Defense Department, which seeks to keep terrorists out of
the country. ‘Protection’ brings to mind the safeguarding of homes/children.
Likewise, our bodies have an immune system to defend us from microbes/toxic
agents that permeate our environment, seeking to do us harm, while protecting
our bodies and all those who depend on us to remain healthy.
What are we protecting with our immune systems? Are we just a collection of
cells and tissues and organs? Do we seek merely to insulate ourselves from pain
and discomfort? Or do we seek to defend our highest purpose in life? The immune
system exists to protect the integrity of our physical bodies so that we can
have the strength and endurance to become the creative and purposeful
individuals we were intended to be.
This is a significant issue because it plays into a central paradox of the
human nervous system: the more on guard, the weaker. The more in sympathetic or
fight-or-flight mode, the less oxygen and nutrients are received by our cells,
weakening them; the weaker our cells become, the less able they are to defend
themselves. So while it is important to remain alert and observant, it is
equally important to remain inwardly calm, and to act from the positive
principle in life. This is a quality that often takes years to learn.
Yet, often, children have it. They enjoy life
and have fun with an attitude of relaxation while remaining basically healthy.
Unless they have inherited a weakness in their immune systems, or had it
weakened by events and traumas in early life (overmedication/poor-quality
food), children illustrate the concept that a relaxed state is also often the
most resilient.
Unfortunately, the toxic assaults that can weaken the body’s immune system
today are legion. They start prenatally, with deficient foods and emotional
conflicts, as well as through toxic chemicals and heavy metals within the
mother’s body that are transmitted to the developing child.
This means that for more and more people, the immune system is becoming
overwhelmed earlier and earlier in life. This has led to our current epidemic
of chronic diseases, from chronic low-level infections, to autoimmune illnesses
like multiple sclerosis and Lyme disease, to chronic heart problems with
associated chronic inflammation, and finally to a breakdown of the immune
system leading to cancer.
Yet we often become caught in a web of thinking that we must attack what is
invading our bodies. In adopting this attitude, we seek to take on the job that
rightly belongs to the intelligence of the immune system itself. We prescribe
antibiotics to child or adult with a fever, not realizing that one course of
antibiotics can disrupt the delicate balance of immune-enhancing cells in our
small intestines for up to a year. The idea here is that rather than attacking,
our task is to strengthen the immune system to do its job.
One of the ways we can do this is by eating foods that support healthy gut and
immune function. We speak of such approaches as the Mediterranean Diet, but the
practitioner may need to suggest a diet that is more suited to a person’s
temperament, or to his/her constitution, or to the illness at hand. In general,
eating many vegetables, some fruits, good proteins, good fats, and avoiding
refined carbohydrates and transfats is a good start
to a healthy immune system. This often requires a change of habitual patterns.
There are also many specific nutrients, herbs, and remedies, either homeopathic
or anthroposophical, that have a wonderful
strengthening effect on the immune system. For example, most people benefit
from what are called adaptogenic herbs, which
strengthen the neuroendocrine balance that is so
important to a healthy immune system. This includes such herbs as eleutherococcus (= Siberian ginseng), and others: astragalus and Japanese knotweed.
Additionaly, there are nutrients such as Vitamin C,
lactobacillus acidophillus (which helps to maintain
healthy intestinal function), good amino acids, good fats (coconut oil, olive
oil, and eggs), key minerals (Mg, Zn, Se, I, for example) from organic food
sources and supplements as needed, and protein from healthy animal sources
(free-range chicken, northern non-farmed fish, non-denatured whey protein, and
fermented soy, when tolerated.)
Constitutional homeopathic and anthroposophical
remedies are helpful, as are mistletoe therapies from anthroposophical
pharmacies, which have been well-researched and are clinically proven to boost
vital immune markers. This is a small but important list of how we can add
specifics to our daily lives that will keep our immune systems strong.
We can also strengthen our immune system by getting optimal sleep and exposure
to the sun/engaging in a healthy lifestyle in which we choose to
love/laugh/maintain a relaxed attitude. Having a healthy immune system is as
much about changing our consciousness and strengthening our basic approach to
life, as it is about specific foods and supplements.
Our immune systems may be thought of as the biological mechanism by which we
track and discern what is of ourselves, and what is not, in much the same way
infants learn gradually to distinguish what is ‘me’ and what is ‘not me.’ This
is an important element of a healthy life. Yet many lack this ability on an
energetic level, bombarded as we are from many directions with antihuman
efforts to confuse this healthy radar system. Every time we permit someone to
invade our boundaries and take over our thinking, whether it be from abusive
relationships or television advertising, our capacity to protect this critical
boundary is weakened. The physical counterpart of this barrage also often takes
place daily through devitalized foods, which weaken the capacity of our
intestines to act as a membrane that permits supportive nutrients to enter our
bodies while blocking the absorption of damaging heavy metals and chemicals.
When we’re overrun and overstressed by these ‘invasions’ on both a personal and
physical level, the end result is an epidemic of cancer and other chronic
illnesses due to hidden infections. Our immune systems have become so weak that
they permit what are called stealth microorganisms to do great damage to our
bodies without being detected by immune cells. Cancer cells often learn how to
create chemicals that actually disrupt healthy immune function, growing at our
expense.
A vital part of having a healthy immune system, is having the will to reclaim
our lives as our own. We live in a society where many pervasive influences
attempt to hijack our freedom to think clearly, to feel authentically, and to
take actions for the betterment of ourselves and others. Having a healthy
immune system means being willing to protect our boundaries, while at the same
time ensuring those boundaries remain semi-permeable, rather than rigid. This
is of vital importance in strengthening the body’s ability to discern between
what is friendly and what is not.
This quality of discernment requires years of training, and for that reason
it’s important to cultivate it both in ourselves and in our children. If we can
relax enough to allow our children to experience the acute illnesses of
childhood, for example, instead of vaccinating against them, their immune systems
will be strengthened in response. Likewise, if we teach our young people how to
discern between experiences of truth and illusion (fairy tales) then we will
have adults who can distinguish helpful from harmful without chronic anxiety or
fear.
Through a combination of healthy foods, good sleep, exercise, and taking care
of our digestion, as well as through the cultivation of joy, laughter and
healthy relationships, we all have the power to strengthen our own immune
systems. These are the actions, attitudes and lifestyle decisions that will
help us out of a sympathetic fight-or-flight, fear-based state, in which our
immune systems are suppressed, and into what is called a parasympathetic state,
in which our organs and tissues can regenerate and rebuild from the effects of
daily tissue breakdown.
Conclusion: we must strive to support a healthy immune system in
ourselves/others, and to work together in this effort. It is imperative in
these stressful times, in which we are confronted by so many threats, both real
and imagined, to maintain a relaxed and fearless vigilance that protects what
we revere the most: healthy bodies that support a healthy mind and spirit,
committed to action for the benefit of all.
‡ Folgendes hat
anthroposofische Einschlüße ‡
Frei nach: Jacquelyn Wilson, M.D.
Keeping your immune system strong is very
important if you want to stay healthy. The immune response is a defense function that helps control inflammation.
Inflammation, with heat, redness or swelling often with pain and fever, is the
body's response to invading antigens like bacteria, viruses, and fungi. These
antigens are attracted to what they need to live and grow.
We have thousands of viruses and bacteria in
our body that live in harmony with us. Our body is constantly eliminating
toxins, but sometimes it gets overwhelmed.
It is when the balance is thrown off that
inflammation begins as a self-correcting response to an accumulation of excess
toxins, triggering infections such as tonsillitis, pharyngitis,
bronchitis, cystitis, vaginitis, otitis
media and all the other medical terms for particular types of inflammation.
Excess toxins may enter the body in many ways.
Some are just by-products of It is when the balance is thrown off that
inflammation begins as a self-correcting response to an accumulation of excess
toxins, triggering infections such as tonsillitis, pharyngitis,
bronchitis, cystitis, vaginitis, otitis
media and all the other medical terms for particular types of inflammation.
Excess toxins may enter the body in many ways.
Some are just by-products of living. Others are from injuries, taking drugs or
alcohol, cigarette smoking, breathing polluted air, consuming pesticides in
our foods, or by allergic reactions which, I believe, often comes from mental
toxins.
The immune system is everywhere: skin, inside
bone marrow, in lymph glands, blood and spleen. All parts of the body
participate in the inflammatory immune response. Every person can help to
unburden their own immune system. There are some easy ways of doing this. Make
sure that the natural exits from the body for toxins are kept open. This
includes ensuring that the bowels function daily, drinking adequate pure water
so that the urine flow is over one quart a day for adults and cleaning the
sweat from your body daily with a bath or clean cloths. Remember, you need to
sweat a few times a week whether its from exercise, a sauna, sex or menopausal
hot flashes, or just the hot weather of summer. So turn off those air
conditioners sometimes. Breathing easily and deeply in an unrestricted way is
important - exercise can help you do that.
A few nosebleeds or an occasional leaking of
blood from hemorrhoids are ways the body excretes
blood toxins. Who knows if men by shaving daily are removing toxins accumulated
in beards . . . arsenic does get trapped inside hair. Men more than women carry
handkerchiefs to blow the toxins out of their noses. Women have menstrual
periods and it is easier for them to eliminate toxins that way. Maybe that is
why women live longer.
Occasionally, if you get a cold or flu,
celebrate this inflammation. You are detoxing every
time you blow your nose, and through sweating. Also a fever destroys the
imbalance of the viral overgrowth, and as a bonus, if the fever is high enough
(104° F) the hidden cancer cells, that we probably all have, are also goings to
self-destruct!
Remember to follow your food cravings when you
are sick. Your body knows best what it needs then. Usually you will not want to
eat anything that has a lot of iron in it like meat, or iron containing
vitamins and minerals when you have a fever. Iron will help the growth of
bacteria and could get you deathly ill if you take extra when you are sick. Ferr-p. D 6 is useful whenever by fever or inflammation.
Two pills taken every 2-4 hours, as needed, is safer to use for your fevers
than antipyretics like Tylenol or aspirin which have been associated with liver
toxicity.
There are also combination homeopathic
medicines for the flu or grippe or simple fevers. These homeopathic
combinations, have been used by Americans for over 100 years. Most often, they
include Acon. Eupat-per.
Bell. Sulf. Bry.
Boosting your immune system requires paying
attention to your diet by eating five vegetables and fruits everyday, avoiding
sugar. Foods like garlic and onions help your immunity. Garlic has been used
for years to help the lungs get over bronchitis and colds. Try not to microwave
your food.
Studies done on AIDS patients show that they
can increase their depressed T lymphocyte cell counts and the immune response
by writing a diary about things that bother them. Crying has been shown to
strengthen the immune system too.
20 Co-factors
Health Behaviors:
1. Restricted breathing patterns
2. Low level of water/fluid intake
3. Poor appetite/eating patterns/ nutrition
4. Inadequate or disrupted sleep
5. Excess of toxins/drugs/cigarette smoking
6. Lack of physical exercise
Psychological issues:
7. Excessive internal speediness/ disrupted
autonomic balance
8. Sustained internal survival stress (SISS)
"fight-or-flight"
9. Lack of access to (comfort from) trusted
support person, confidant
10. No previous crisis experience; no developed
coping strategies
11. Lack of self-assertiveness/inability to say
no
12. Lack of life goals/purpose/ focus (with
death preoccupation)
13. Fixed belief system (HIV(+) means certain
AIDS and death).
14. Lack of secure home/nest/safe place
15. Presence of sustained (unmanaged),
(multiple-loss) grief
16. Inability to self-nurture or convalesce
during illness
17. Insufficient funds to cover necessities
(food, shelter, insurance)
Medical Issues:
18. Passive, uninformed relationship to health
& medical care
19. Repeated exposure to HIV; untreated
infections (syphilis, Epstein-Barr virus, herpes, others)
[Rosina Sonnenschmidt] Die Haut.x
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum