Words: Dr Richard FIRSHEIN Recent medical research indicates that specific antioxidants, such as lutein, can lower the risk of eye disease, and prevent macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma from occurring. Macular degeneration is a process that obstructs vision by damaging the fragile capillaries in the eye. It is the leading cause of blindness among people
Words: Dr Richard FIRSHEIN Much research is being conducted on the value of nutritional and preventative medicine, giving us new insights into the body’s innate healing abilities, as well as ways to build up and create natural defences to ward off illness. We are learning how vitamins co-operate with one another, and the way they
Words: Dr Richard FIRSHEIN Traditional Chinese medicine [TCM] considers the ginkgo leaf as one of its prized medicinal treasures. This tree dates back to the time of the dinosaurs and has been found among fossils over 200 million years old. Its ancestry makes it a mix of a fern and a modern-day tree. Today, there
Words: Dr Richard FIRSHEIN Free radicals. When I was in medical school, I rarely heard a word about them. Only a small group of ‘kooks’ would rave about the powers of vitamins and minerals. It wasn’t until my own struggles with asthma in the late 1980s that I began to appreciate the benefits of antioxidants;
Words: Dr Richard FIRSHEIN Natural supplements are being increasingly used to combat stress, anxiety and depression. They are useful all right, but they need to be taken with prudence and preferably under medical guidance. St John’s Wort, or Hypericum perforatum, was among the first natural, herbal supplements to break into the mainstream market. It remains
Words: Dr Richard FIRSHEIN Jim Weston was 71, when he first faced bypass surgery. Although he had had attacks of angina [chest pain] prior to surgery, causing frequent discomfort, Jim’s mind had always been razor-sharp. He was a retired army drill sergeant, as strong as he was smart. After his surgery, however, Jim quickly noticed
Words: Dr Richard FIRSHEIN Kate Vogel [34], suffered from irritable bowel syndrome [IBS], characterised by gas, bloating, diarrhoea, and food sensitivities, as well as shortness of breath. She had also been losing weight rapidly, shedding 20kg in the last two months. Her job as a freelance computer analyst required her to hop from office-to-office, offering
Words: Dr Richard FIRSHEIN It is reported that more than 15 million people die of heart disease annually. This will continue to ‘ring out’ its death toll until we accept the whole truth — that high cholesterol alone is not the ‘root’ cause. In fact, many people die from heart attacks and coronary artery disease
Words: Dr Richard FIRSHEIN It is often so hard for some of us to give up foods like ice-cream, juicy steaks, and French fried potatoes, even when we know that eating these foods regularly is actually making us ill and shortening our lives. When I ask my patients why they continue to eat these foods,
Words: Dr Richard FIRSHEIN You’ve heard of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol. Just as there is good and bad cholesterol, there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ oestrogens. Bad oestrogens are responsible for the promotion of tumours; they are found in high proportions in synthetic oestrogen used in birth control pills, or prescribed for the ‘treatment’ of menopause.
