Helix Clinic blog

Most of us have heard of the numberous health benefits afforded by green tea and now some new research from the Institute of Chinese Medicine has added another one to the list.  The Institute looked at some of the key compounds found in Green Tea and discovered that one in particular (called EGC) had a role to play in slowing the breakdown of bones and in helping to stimulate new bone formation.  They found that the EGC boosted the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth by up to 79 percent. It also boosted the levels of bone mineralization in the cells, and  inhibited the formation of bone destroying osteoclast cells.

Green tea boasts many other benefits so including a cup or two a day is an easy way to promote and maintain good health!

Tags: green tea

In 2007, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (which is part of the WHO) listed shift work as a possible human carcinogen. This listing was based on studies that showed that shift workers are at a 48% higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who work regular daytime hours.

The body’s production of melatonin is reduced if night time is spent in artificial light. Melatonin acts to keep the biological clock ticking so that you are alert during the day and sleep at night, but is thought to also play a role in cancer protection.

There is evidence suggesting the night shift effect is also linked to reproductive health. A Danish study of 40000 women showed that night workers were more likely to have lower-weight babies or longer lasting pregnancies, potentially increasing the risks of still birth.

The ancient Chinese were keen observers of biological cycles, and used the language of yin and yang to describe their observations. They have long noted that staying up late or working into the night can deplete the ‘yin energy’, and over long periods of time, they also noticed that this deficiency can lead to fertility and reproductive problems or more serious illnesses such as cancer.

Tags: cancer, melatonin, yin energy

Chinese medicine looks for patterns of symptoms and treats holistically by directing treatment based on the overall pattern rather than on specific symptoms. One pattern in Chinese medicine is called ‘damp’, and is characterised by symptoms like heavy limbs, bloating after eating, sluggish digestion, fluid accumulation, or congestion of phlegm/mucus in the chest or sinuses.

The pattern of damp is characterised as being heavy and slow to shift, and can be made worse by eating or drinking certain foods. Dairy products are a typical culprit, so if someone is suffering from a pattern of damp-type symptoms, we would normally advise them to cut back on products like milk, cheese and yoghurt. Often just doing this can make a real difference.

The thing is, when a woman is pregnant she is often advised to eat lots of dairy products to help keep her calcium levels up. Calcium is important for the development of strong bones, so is vital to the healthy development of a baby. But if that same woman has a tendency to develop damp-like symptoms, she may find that these become worse during her pregnancy once she increases her intake of dairy products. A common symptom is sinuses becoming more stuffy, because this can be doubly aggravated by damp and also by having to sleep flat on her back due to the growing bump!

So can anything be done? Well, dairy products are not the only sources of calcium. Dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach and curly kale are excellent sources, as well as many nuts and seeds. Good calcium absorption is helped by vitamin D which is produced naturally by the body on exposure to sunlight, and also found in oily fish and eggs. If you are pregnant, eating lots of dairy produce and your sinuses are giving you trouble, why not try cutting back on some of the dairy and replacing it with some other less damp-forming sources of calcium?

Tags: dairy, damp, pregnancy, sinuses

Mmm, a whole month dedicated to lovely sleep. It’s wonderful when you get it, but unfortunate that so many people have problems sleeping, and attempts to improve it can often be frustrating and slow to take effect. Why is this?

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, imbalances can be categorised as full or deficient conditions. Full conditions often come on quickly and generally have stronger symptoms, whereas deficient conditions tend to develop slowly over time so are generally more chronic, and often the symptoms are less intense (but no less annoying).

A simple example of a full condition affecting sleep would be disturbed sleep after an alcohol enhanced evening. You can feel hot, restless and sweaty - the alcohol creates hot and damp energy in the liver that keeps you awake. But although the symptoms come on quick, they can be cleared relatively easily. Similarly if someone has a lot of physical stress and tension stored in the body that is affecting sleep, this can be relieved quite quickly using acupuncture.

A common deficient condition that can affect sleep is when there is a deficiency in the body’s yin energy, that reservoir of cool and calm energy. Classic symptoms that would suggest yin energy is low include waking in the middle of the night, or waking feeling thirsty, or experiencing night sweats. In this case it generally takes longer to change the sleep patterns because yin deficiency often takes longer to build up and manifest.

We have made a few posts before on how to build yin energy, either through yin building activities such as acupuncture, deep breathing, yoga, tai ji or meditation, or through eating yin-building foods, or through being in a yin-nourishing environment. If you are having trouble sleeping and the usual remedies are not having an obvious effect, maybe your yin energy is what needs a boost.

Tags: insomnia, sleep, yin energy

A research study carried out by researchers at Glasgow University was published today in the journal Thorax.  They used data drawn from the medical records of 14,000 children who were followed from birth until the age of eleven-and-a-half. Parents were asked whether their children had shown signs of wheezing, and if their GP had diagnosed asthma at any stage.

The researchers found that children who watched more than two hours of TV a day at 39 months were twice as likely to have developed asthma compared to more active children. The baseline showed that 6% of children whose breathing was healthy at 39 months went on to be diagnosed with asthma by the age of eleven-and-a-half. The results were the same for boys and girls, and were unrelated to the children’s weight.

This study makes us think about how posture relates to lung function. Many small children sit on the floor to look at the TV (like in the picture above), which creates a classic slumped spinal posture with the neck tilted back. Traditional energy-building forms of exercise such as qi gong or yoga emphasise the importance of a straight spine. If the spine gets used to being in an unnatural position, then the organs of the body near to that part of the spine can often be affected. One of the most common examples of this that we see is if a patient comes in with a respiratory problem, and when we look at their posture we see that the upper part of the spine is often collapsed. The connection between the strength and structure of the spine and the internal organs is an important one, and the results of this new study certainly fit with that view.

If you suffer from a respiratory condition like asthma, take a minute or two to examine your own posture. Is the upper part of your spine collapsed in any way? If so, you may have found the key to changing your condition for the better, without the use of any steroid drugs or other medication.

Tags: asthma, children, television