John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

Most people who contact me with health problems have a medical doctor as their primary health provider.

The doctor will diagnose the problem often using a number of tests which can include physical examination, blood tests and scans or x-rays. On the basis of the diagnosis, treatments are implemented to help relieve symptoms to make life more comfortable.

However there are some problems that are largely unresponsive to medical treatment or have limited treatment options.

An example would be post-viral syndromes such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and associated fibromyalgia, for which there are few treatments. In the case of some chronic problems like COPD or asthma, the emphasis is purely on symptom management.

The same applies to situations where people can no longer tolerate prescribed medicines. For example someone with osteoarthritis may get significant relief from anti-inflammatory medicines but they can no longer tolerate the medicines. My question is whether there are any measures that can be used alongside conventional medicine to improve a person's level of wellbeing.

The best thing about nutritional therapy is that it can help address both the underlying cause and the actual disease process. Again, using osteoarthritis as an example, we know that the main mechanism by which joint cartilage is lost is by free radical damage to joint cells. The body then tries to repair the damage by sending in a cocktail of inflammatory chemicals which inflame the joint and surrounding tissues, making the problem even worse.

Nutritional therapy for osteoarthritis tries to stop further free radical damage by introducing appropriate doses of the right types of antioxidants. In the case of COPD, the disease has caused largely irreversible damage to lung tissue, but reducing airway inflammation can provide significant relief.

Nutritional therapy adds the nutrients through diet and appropriate supplements needed to interrupt or slow the actual disease process, then helps to deal with the consequences of the disease process.

It is always based on a diet appropriate for the problem and then adding both broad and specific nutrients to address the disease process. The most important period is the first three months, where the goal of initial intensive therapy is to put pressure on the faulty cell chemistry, causing and sustaining disease to allow the body to start the process of healing.

John Arts is the founder of Abundant Health. For product information visit www.abundant.co.nz If you have questions or would like a free health plan you can contact John at john@johnarts.co.nz or phone 07 578
9051 or 0800 423 559. You can join his newsletter at www.johnarts.co.nz Read more from John at www.sunlive.co.nz