In this week’s episode of the Cura podcast, we are covering mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This form of therapy has been more and more in the headlines because it has allowed hyperbaric oxygen to become readily available with the creation of the 1.3 atm and the 1.5 atm chambers.

In this episode of the Cura podcast I speak with Gemma about ozone therapy. More specifically the HOCATT. Which is a very powerful ozone sauna. This particular sauna makes use of many different healing modalities within a single session. I have personally used one for close to 3 years.

I have been amazed at the power it has for healing the body. But most importantly of just how non-invasive it is.

I personally have been a big fan of ozone therapy and have used it in almost every way possible for about 20 years. This has included such techniques as intravenous. A method that was taught to me by two separate doctors. The method of utilising intravenous ozone is very safe providing you know what you’re doing and you are under the guidance of an experienced ozone doctor or health care practitioner. Having said that anything that is that invasive I do not feel is necessary with the exception of life threatening circumstances. I personally have been very grateful for intravenous ozone as it has made significant improvements in some health issues that I was struggling to overcome in my early twenties. But I have used it rarely which is why I was so grateful to find this particular ozone sauna. From my experience it is as powerful as intravenous ozone without ever having to be invasive to the body.

Now I personally have many concerns about the company that makes this particular product but nevertheless the device is very profound in its healing ability. So in this episode Gemma and I speak in detail about the different modalities that are offered within this unit and how it can be supportive for individual health, to restore vitality and to really help the body to clear out bacteria and toxicity with relative grace and ease.

There is a lot of fear around ozone and ozone therapy. Most of it is unnecessary and can make people shy away from its simple and clean way to super oxygenate the body. I hope this episode will help people have a better understanding of ozone therapy and what it might be able to offer as an alternative support for restoring balance and helping each one of us to thrive in a somewhat toxic world.

This week Gemma McDonnell and I go into a deep dive about what the refocus program (which is the collaboration between her work and Cura Romana) is all about. We speak in depth about the nature of healing. The role that patterns and traumas play in both the healing process and the physical symptoms that often express themselves through these unresolved conflicts we often carry within our body. This episode is well worth listening to even if you’re not considering looking further at the refocus program but simply wanting to learn more about the power that you have and your body has to heal itself. This is a beautiful and surprising process that I continue to be in awe of. I hope you enjoy.

Focus health offers an integrated, collaborative care approach to health care. We believe in order to heal, the body must be balanced in every way-mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

This approach has come about through years of working with clients. Using various methodologies we have come to the realisation that there are common thread’s affecting one’s health. In order to give the body the best opportunity to heal we must detoxify both our bodies and our minds. We have spent collective years gathering the tools and knowledge and more recently the technology needed to achieve this.

The ReFocus program is an holistic approach uniquely designed to help you address your health and emotional challenges. The program is made up of 10 dedicated one-on-one sessions delivered over a 5 day period. These sessions include extensive testing through kinesiology, homeopathy and followed by a nine week detoxification plan.

In addition, to ensure maximum benefit and to help better support your body we utilise specialised detoxification technologies, unique and only available in the Irish market through Focus Health. Importantly, focus will be put on identifying and clearing emotional triggers and stressors that are a huge part to everyone’s optimal health.

The misrepresentations and ignorance surrounding arguments about fluoridation never cease to amaze me. Let me share with you a few of them:

There is still a common belief that countries which fluoridate water have less tooth decay than non-fluoridated countries. This is completely untrue. Yes US with its fluoridated water did experience a big decline in tooth decay in the past 60 years. But the same decline in tooth decay took place in European countries and other in developed countries which had no fluoridation. The World Health Organization has made clear that there is no difference in decay between the small number of developed countries that do fluoridate their water and the majority that do not.

In truth the majority of developed countries do not fluoridate their water. Actually, more people drink fluoridated water in the US alone than in the rest of the world combined. In Western Europe 97% of the population drinks water with no fluoride added to it.

What few people know is that fluoride affect many parts of the body besides the teeth. It has the ability to interfere with the functions of your brain for instance. Studies conducted in China have shown quite clearly that fluoride lowers the intellectual abilities of people. You see fluoride disrupts our endocrine system. There is even recent research that shows fluoride can increase the severity of many kinds of diabetes. And since diabetes became widespread in the last 40 years this is something to be taken seriously. It has long been known by those informed that being exposed to fluoride interferes with good thyroid function. There is even a lot of information about how fluoride can increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. All of these important pieces of information come from the national research Council in the United States who did a scientific review of of the effects of drinking fluoride in water.

For those of you who have already seen our first five videos on bio-identical hormones I think it's time to deal with some frequently asked questions as well as help you refresh your memory about the nature of bio-identical hormones. They are so very different from synthetic drugs, which can damage your body. So let me explain by answering a few simple questions. Well-known examples of bio-identical hormones like estrogen, progesterone, pregnenolone, DHEA, melatonin, and testosterone can be obtained from a compounding pharmacy provided you have a prescription from your doctor. The rules and regulations governing bio-identical hormones vary dramatically from one country to another. In the United States a number of bio-identical hormones are sold over the counter. This does not mean that they are the best. It is far better to locate a good quality pharmaceutical compounding company in whatever country you're in, such as United States, Great Britain, New Zealand, or Australia and, with your doctor’s help, order them direct from the compounding company.

The number of people I work with on Cura Romana who report that they have long been suffering from a thyroid condition never ceases to amaze me. Almost none of them are aware that low thyroid function is treatable by using well-prescribed bio-available hormones. Your thyroid is responsible for so many functions in the body that are absolutely critical to wellbeing. Even a minor deficiency in the thyroid gland’s ability to produce adequate levels of thyroid hormone can not only disrupt the body’s entire hormonal symphony but also tremendously impact your health.

Your thyroid—the butterfly-shaped gland located in the lower part of your neck—is a primary hormone-producing gland that regulates body metabolism and is directly responsible for the production of energy. When the thyroid is not working properly this can lead to any number of other hormonal imbalances in the pituitary, the adrenals, and other hormone-producing glands in your body.

Next week we will look into important questions such as how to learn more, where to find the right practitioner, and where you can get bio-identical hormones.

How do we identify hormonal deficiencies and imbalances? It’s an important question. Many practitioners trained in the use of bio-identical hormones rely heavily on laboratory tests to guide them in establishing which hormones in a patient’s body are not functioning at optimal levels. These lab tests are most commonly carried out by an analysis of the blood, saliva, or 24-hour urine tests. The problem is that lab reports can be confusing. Hormones are by far and away the most powerful molecules in the human body. They affect every tissue and every system—in fact, every aspect of health and well-being—and it’s impossible to test the action of any specific hormone in the body directly.

Too many practitioners rely on lab reports, which can often be confusing. The hormone reference ranges they give are little more than population statistics including two standard deviations from the mean, which is 95% of a group of "apparently healthy" adults. But, as endocrinologist Henry Lindner M.D. points out, the subjects are frequently little more than employees, friends, and relatives, who themselves have been screened for symptoms of deficiency. So the lowest 2.5% of this unscreened adult population is defined as "low." Then a physician might tell a patient with so-called "low normal" levels—say within the 5th percentile—that his or her symptoms are caused by a hormone deficiency even though 95% of adults have higher levels!

I hope in this sacred truth video that I’ve been able to cover a few of the important aspects of bio-identical hormones and how best to support them, and by doing so enhance your well-being now and for years to come. Next week we'll look specifically at one of the most important and least understood conditions and find out how bio-identical hormones that are well chosen can transform thyroid issues. Do join us then.

When I wrote my biggest book on menopause PASSAGE TO POWER...Natural Menopause Revolution, few women had ever heard of bio-identical hormones. Even fewer practitioners knew much about the important role bio-identicals could play in improving health and slowing the aging process. Instead, women all around the world had been taught to believe that synthetic drugs were the answer to female problems. Already, pharmaceutical corporations were busy flogging their wares to the media, to the medical profession, and directly to women themselves who did not realize that these drugs are capable of not only of undermining health in the long term and sometimes even ruining lives.

What few people know is that the body's natural hormones are far more powerful than drugs. They can even alter the expression of our genes. When you have good hormonal control this leads to experiencing the very highest capacity for human health.

 

Your body contains more than 100 different kinds of hormones. These amazing powerhouses pour into your bloodstream and supply your body with literally thousands of billions of units each day. When they are in good balance they help control heartbeat, encourage good sleep, manage blood pressure, maintain strong firm muscles, lubricate your joints, and even build good bones. Of course they influence the menstrual cycle as well as countering stress, relieving depression, and preventing fatigue. They can even help protect you from infections and allergic reactions. However, knowledge about what the body’s natural hormones offer and how important they are for high-level health has long been marginalized and hidden from popular view by information that is largely controlled by pharmaceuticals.

 

In last week's Sacred Video I tried to introduce you to bio-Identical hormones. We examined how the body’s natural hormone levels decrease with age and what effect this has upon our vitality, and what can be done to counter this. Now let’s look deeper into the wonderful mysteries of bio-identical hormones, where they come from, and how, with guidance from a practitioner well versed in their use, they can be used to restore strength and balance to the body regardless of age. We will also begin to explore how they can help improve all sorts of chronic ailments, including thyroid issues, menstrual problems, fibromyalgia, PMS, autoimmune disorders, and heart disease. And there’s a lot more to come.

 

But first, let me share with you some information about the huge health study identifying the failure of conventional HRT, which opened the doors to exploring natural, bio-identical hormones not long ago. A randomized, placebo controlled study conducted by The Woman's Health Initiative (WHI) involved 40 large medical centers in the United States and 16,608 women. It was designed to find out the benefits and risks of using conventional hormone replacement. Half of the women in the study were given HRT in the form of Prempro (Provera and Premarin) and the other half received no active drugs, only a placebo. Researchers wanted to find out if there would be increases or decreases in heart disease, stroke, cancer, hip fractures, and death due to any cause. The study was intended to last for 8.5 years. However, researchers were forced to halt it at 5.2 years. Why? Because it became evident that the overall risks of giving conventional HRT far outweighed the overall benefits and it would have been completely irresponsible to continue the study. For example, they discovered that there was a 29% increase in coronary heart disease in women given conventional HRT, a 41% increase in the incidence of stroke, and an incredible 2,100% increase in pulmonary embolism—blood clots in the lungs. Women in the synthetic HRT group also experienced a surprising 26% increase in risk of breast cancer.

 

In short, results from the WHI showed that the use of conventional hormones could be seriously harmful. This outcome rang a death knell for synthetic, pharmaceutical drugs, which have been aggressively promoted for 30 years and are still being promoted. It also helped vindicate the doctors who are well trained in the use of natural bio-identical hormones rather than their synthetic counterparts. 

 

Here’s the bottom line: Natural hormones are not only safer in the hands of practitioners who are knowledgeable in how to prescribe them but also more effective. This is why they are on their way, slowly but surely, to becoming a first choice in the treatment of patients who have need of hormonal help.