Archive for March, 2015

Do Genes Rule Your Life? Breast Cancer, Ovarian Cancer & Angelina Jolie

Wednesday, March 25th, 2015

Below is the article from Huffington Post about Angelina Jolie’s most recent preventative surgery, removing her ovaries and fallopian tubes and putting her into early menopause.  This was after her controversial decision to remove her breasts a few years ago.  Every woman needs to make decisions in their life about how to treat their hormones, how to look after themselves if conditions arise.  I know that I would avoid surgery, chemo, radiation at all costs.  Each time we have medical intervention (scans, biopsies, surgeries, mammograms), research indicates we may be increasing our risk of cancer.  Particularly in relation to preventing female hormonal cancers, always have intervention in the second half of your cycle (from ovulation through to your period) to reduce the risk of activating oestrogen-dominant cancers.

We all have between 500-1000 ‘dodgy genes’ such as the ones linked to breast cancer, that BRAC 1 and BRAC 2 genes,

What can we do to prevent breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer??

1. Maintain optimal weight – talk to us about how to start your journey of regaining your health and body.

2. Look at hormonal imbalances and work to correct them – cysts, fibroids, PCOS, endometriosis, pelvic inflammation:  there are many natural therapies that can help these conditions:  reflexology, microcurrent, kinesiology, herbal and nutritional supplements, oestrogen dominance reversal

3. Look at inflammatory processes in your body and start to quench the inflammation:  headaches & migraines, aches and pains, structural imbalances, acid/alkaline balance etc

4. Look at diet.  Know your allergies and intolerances and avoid where necessary.  Eat plenty of health greens, healthy colourful fruit and vegies, lots of organic food, lots of filtered water. Avoid excessive sugar, grains, bad fats, starchy carbs, alcohol, sweets.  Keep insulin resistance low (we can test for this), as some research is indicating if female cancers are not oestrogen dependent, they are often insulin dependent.

5. Lifestyle.  Enjoy life.  Relax.  Yoga.  Meditation.  Walk.  Swim.  Live!

6. Boost your immunity.  Know what’s going on inside your body (looking at your blood in real time, urinalysis, bio-impedance screenings).

Call us to see if we can help you (I know we can!)

3348 6098

Angelina Jolie has revealed that she underwent preventative surgery to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed last week after tests found inflammatory markers that could be an indication of cancer.

Jolie, who had a preventive double mastectomy in 2013 when genetic tests showed an 87 percent risk of breast cancer, wrote in a New York Times op-ed that the same BRCA1 gene gives her a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

As a result, the 39-year-old filmmaker, actress, UN envoy and mother of six had been planning to undergo the procedure for some time.

“It is a less complex surgery than the mastectomy, but its effects are more severe. It puts a woman into forced menopause,” Jolie wrote. “So I was readying myself physically and emotionally, discussing options with doctors, researching alternative medicine, and mapping my hormones for estrogen or progesterone replacement. But I felt I still had months to make the date.”

When she learned two weeks ago that tests revealed higher inflammation levels, Jolie and her doctors decided it was time. Her husband, actor Brad Pitt, who was in France at the time, flew to be with her during the procedure, a laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.

Jolie wrote that doctors found a small benign tumor on one ovary, but no signs of cancer in any of the tissues.

As a result of the surgery, she is now in menopause.

After her double mastectomy, Jolie revealed to People magazine that she was planning to have her ovaries removed. She also told Entertainment Weekly that she was preparing to have another surgery to prevent cancer.

In her latest op-ed, Jolie emphasised that her decisions are specific to her, and that a family history of the disease played a role in her decision. She lost her mother, grandmother and aunt to cancer.

Jolie said other women may have different options, writing:

“I did not do this solely because I carry the BRCA1 gene mutation, and I want other women to hear this. A positive BRCA test does not mean a leap to surgery. I have spoken to many doctors, surgeons and naturopaths. There are other options. Some women take birth control pills or rely on alternative medicines combined with frequent checks. There is more than one way to deal with any health issue. The most important thing is to learn about the options and choose what is right for you personally.”

She added that younger women may have the option to remove the fallopian tubes but keep their ovaries so they do not go into menopause and can still have children.

“It is not easy to make these decisions,” Jolie wrote. “But it is possible to take control and tackle head-on any health issue. You can seek advice, learn about the options and make choices that are right for you. Knowledge is power.”

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Posted in Cancer - natural support, endometriosis, Fertility, hormonal issues, immune system challenges, natural fertility managment | Comments Closed

Pain – Neuroplasticity and Sports Injuries

Tuesday, March 24th, 2015

Have you heard of the term neuroplasticity and wondered what it means? No, our brains are not made of plastic. However, it does refer to the neural pathways in our brains can be as malleable as plastic allowing our brain to adapt to different circumstances. This means that each signal that enters our brain follows a particular pathway. This pathway can be altered by a change in behaviour.

Recently there has been several case studies to confirm the suggestion that chronic pain is not so much a true indication of current pain but that neural pathways have been developed in the brain to re-affirm the original pain that was experienced. Therefore, the pain which we perceive as chronic pain is not a true indication of anatomical pain but a memory of past pain experienced. Neuroplasticity suggests that neural pathway that has developed can be altered via different input.

There have been several cases which have successfully abated their chronic pain to minimal or none ultimately changing their lives. This has been achieved via activating the neural pathway pattern and flooding the brain with another sensory input. This in turn allows an alternative neural pathway to develop. Each time the new neural pathway is reinforced allows for the new pathway to develop and the old pathway (of pain) decreases in strength and slowly dissipates. Literally turning the old statement of if you don’t use it you lose it to an advantage!

Alternate sensory input may be light or sound. That is, by flooding the neural pathway with another direction to go in each time chronic pain is experienced stimulates new neurons to develop. If this new neuron pathway is reinforced regularly throughout the day the experience of pain has been reported to significantly reduce over a 6 week period.

Chronic pain is usually associated with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or other degenerative conditions. However, chronic pain is actually classified after 3 months of experiencing pain in the same region consistently. Therefore this includes sports injuries which are often exacerbated by repetitive movements or sitting stationary for long periods of time (often work related). When this starts to happen reactive muscles can be a factor.

Reactive muscles is the concept of when one muscle is switched on it essentially bullies other muscles that switch off i.e. muscles are reactive towards one another as opposed to firing when appropriate. Reactive muscles can create dysfunctional movement patterns when the body moves. When this is done repetitively it can be reinforced and put strain on muscles which can lead to events causing injury. Upon injury acute inflammation and pain is experienced which is the body’s warning system to rest that area. However, when the acute inflammation dies down is a crucial stage to change the reactive pattern of muscles before the neuronal network of ‘pain’ is laid down and reinforced altering the way the body moves. This pattern can start to reinforce itself in a negative way.

By switching off the reactive muscles allows for any neuronal networks for ‘pain’ to not be reinforced thus reducing the experience of pain. This can be done by kinesiology. Essentially kinesiology identifies and activates a negative neuronal pathway, floods it with a positive stimulus allowing a new neuronal pathway to form i.e. neuroplasticity.

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Posted in Arthritis, depression, exercise, fibromyalgia, kinesiology, neck pain, Our Services, Pain | Comments Closed

Intuitive Energy Balances

Tuesday, March 24th, 2015

I have been attuned to Reiki for 10 years now and have enjoyed the benefits of working with this beautiful energy.

If you are feeling stuck, lacking motivation or just finding it hard to feel happy I can help with an Intuitive Energy Session at New Leaf Natural Therapies.

Our initial connection with people is on an energetic level. I believe we get a feeling about someone even before we speak to them by sensing their energy; it is this energy that I work with.

When we experience difficult situations, sustained stress or traumatic events the intense energy that goes along with these events can get stuck in our bodies. This blocked energy can impact on our lives making it difficult to make decisions, feel motivated or to just feel happy.  It also can impact on our connections with partners, family, friends and colleagues. 

During an Intuitive Energy Balance we will spend time talking about the issues at hand which will bring up the energy connected with the stress around the situation. Then using my hands I will scan the body to see where the energy is stuck and use Reiki to clear the energy and release the pent up tensions and emotions.  With the release of this energy clients find it easier to move forward and resolve issues.

I found this great article at “The International Centre for Reiki Training” that explains what Reiki energy is and how it helps.

What is Reiki?  Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is based on the idea that an unseen “life force energy” flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s “life force energy” is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.

The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words – Rei which means “God’s Wisdom or the Higher Power” and Ki which is “life force energy”. So Reiki is actually “spiritually guided life force energy.”

A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing. Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use.

While Reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. It has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in in order to learn and use Reiki. In fact, Reiki is not dependent on belief at all and will work whether you believe in it or not.

Mikao Usui, the founder of the Reiki system, during a meditation several years after developing Reiki, decided to add the Reiki Ideals to the practice of Reiki.  The Ideals came in part from the five prinicples of the Meiji emperor of Japan whom Mikao Usui admired. The Ideals were developed to add spiritual balance to Usui Reiki. Their purpose is to help people realize that healing the spirit by consciously deciding to improve oneself is a necessary part of the Reiki healing experience. In order for the Reiki healing energies to have lasting results, the client must accept responsibility for her or his healing and take an active part in it. Therefore, the Usui system of Reiki is more than the use of the Reiki energy. It must also include an active commitment to improve oneself in order for it to be a complete system. The ideals are both guidelines for living a gracious life and virtues worthy of practice for their inherent value.

Please call New Leaf Natural Therapies on 3348 6098 and speak to Annette or Sara to organize an Intuitive Energy Balance with Gabby Graham.  The first session will be 30% off the full price and I am available alternative Tuesdays and every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Gabby Graham                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Energy Worker Reiki Practitioner

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Posted in Adrenal Fatigue/Exhaustion, energy healing, Reiki/Intuitive Energy Healings | Comments Closed

Far Infrared Sauna Therapy: detox at New Leaf Wynnum!

Tuesday, March 24th, 2015

We love our Far Infrared Sauna at New Leaf…. Book into your own private room and enjoy the process 🙂

Save $$$ by buying a 10 pack at New Leaf!!!  3348 6098
healthteam@newleafnaturaltherapies.com.au

Far Infrared Sauna Therapy (F.I.R.S.T.)

Far Infrared (F.I.R.) is a form of radiant heat that gently heats objects directly without heating the surrounding air, like traditional saunas.  Traditional saunas use steam and hot air to heat up the external environment whereas the F.I.R. Saunas heat is a softer and gentler penetrating the skin upto 4 cm in depth thus having an effect on the deep skin layers. As a result blood circulation is increased to the skin cells and increasing repair of damaged capillaries. With an increase of blood supply to the area there is an increase of oxygen and nutrients delivered to the cells and waste products from the cells are carried out creating an overall improvement of skin cell function.

F.I.R. Saunas also has positive results with skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis, eczema and general lumps and bumps. The increase in circulation helps to clear blocked pores, release the deeply embedded unwanted debris and infection. Thus as a consequence the sebaceous glands shrink as the skin system is working more efficiently.

F.I.R. Saunas activates adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the skin cells. ATP is the major source of energy for each cell to function. Therefore the more ATP each cell makes allows for the uptake of nutrients and dumping of the waste products out for clearing faster and more effectively. That is, ATP fuels processes within the cells that kill bacteria. Combined with the increase of circulation supports skin repair and recovery from skin disorders such as acne, cystic acne, boils, skin infections and rough dull skin.

F.I.R. Saunas also assist detoxification processes around the body. the toxins in the blood which are usually processed by the liver or kidneys are released through the sweat and out of the body by the increase of circulation. This decreases the impact on the kidneys and liver which frees them up to bereplenished (particularly the liver as it can regenerate itself).

Furthermore F.I.R. Saunas support immunity. With the increase in circulation the body is heated up thus creating an artificial fever which in turn promotes a natural healing response and helps the body to combat any viral or bacterial infections.

In combination with massage F.I.R. Saunas can be beneficial for both detoxification and deep tissue massage. That is, a massage followed by a F.I.R. Saunas will further to support he detoxification processes which have started in the massage. Where is a F.I.R. Saunas followed by a massage will increase the circulation thus allowing the depth of the massage to be more thorough.

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Posted in Acne, Detox, Far Infrared Saunas, immune system challenges, Infections, Mitochondrial Disease, Raynaud's Syndrome | Comments Closed