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Nervous_Diseases_Harry Benjamin_ND_Part2.


 

DISEASES OF THE NERVES

By Harry Benjamin N.D.
Compiled by Ivor Hughes

Part 2 of 2 Parts.

DISEASES OF THE NERVES AND NERVOUS SYSTEM
Bell’s palsy (Facial paralysis) — Disseminated sclerosis — Epilepsy — Insomnia — Locomotor ataxia — Migraine — Multiple sclerosis — Neuralgia. Neurasthenia — Nervous breakdown — Nervous debility – Nervous exhaustion Neuritis — Progressive muscular atrophy — Sciatica — Stammering and stuttering — Tic douloureux — Writer’s cramp.

Locomotor Ataxia.—

This is a condition in which there is progressive deterioration of the spinal nerves which are instrumental in directing the locomotion of the body, as in walking. Often there is connected with the condition great pain in other nerves or organs of the body, together with wasting of muscles or nerves, double vision, inability to control the working of the bladder and rectum, etc., etc.

The disease is a most serious one, and although Medical Science attributes it to the after-effects of venereal disease, there is no doubt at all that it is the deadly drugs used in the medical treatment of venereal disease, drugs such as mercury and arsenic, which are the real cause of the progressive nerve paralysis resulting in locomotor ataxia, and not the original disease at all. When the world wakes up the fact that fasting is the only sure and definite cure for venereal disease, and that drug treatment by metallic drugs is just suppressive in the highest degree, it will begin to understand something of the genesis of those terrible conditions such as locomotor ataxia, general paralysis of the insane, and the like, which follow in the wake of medical treatment for syphilis.

It is safe to say that the terrible after-effects usually ascribed to syphilis under the heading of Secondary and Tertiary Syphilis, and of which the world goes in such horror, are not the result of the disease at all, but of the medical treatment instituted as a supposed ” cure” for it. Mercury and arsenic are the most deadly enemies to nerve tissue that there are ; locomotor ataxia is only one of the diseases which follow in the wake of the use of large quantities of these drugs over prolonged periods in the orthodox treatment for syphilis.

Treatment. — Although locomotor ataxia is such a serious disease, there is at least hope of the sufferer arresting its spread, and perhaps even improving his condition, if natural methods of treatment are carried out. The medical way of giving more drugs to relieve the effects of previous drug treatment is just heaping insult upon injury, and does nothing but make matters worse. The sufferer from locomotor ataxia should place himself under a Naturopath as soon as he can.

It does not do to hold out too much hope in diseases of this nature, some cases will have progressed too far for anything to be done at all for them ; but manipulative treatment, eliminative baths, fasting, and diet have done good work in many cases that have come under natural treatment, whilst the milk cure has some excellent results to its credit in the treatment of conditions such as that we are dealing with here.

If the sufferer from locomotor ataxia cannot procure the services of a competent Naturopath, he can do much for himself by undertaking a series of short fasts, followed by the full milk diet given in the Appendix (a fast for from four to seven days followed by three to four weeks on the milk diet, then a month on the full weekly diet given in the Appendix, then a further fast and period on milk and so on).

The regular weekly diet should always be returned to thereafter, and the other measures (also given in the Appendix) for toning up and generally improving the system adopted. The weekly or bi-weekly hot Epsom-salts bath is a very good thing too, and of course the enema should be used nightly during the first part of the treatment and afterwards whenever necessary. No DRUGS OF ANY KIND MUST BE TAKEN IN FUTURE.

Migraine.

— This is a form of nervous or neuralgic headache which is very troublesome. It is paroxysmal in character, occurring at intervals of weeks or months, each attack incapacitating the sufferer for several days in some cases. To attempt to treat the condition by means of drugs or ” pain-killers ” is not to get down to the root of the trouble at all, which is .. in every case ..constitutional. That is why the sufferer from migraine usually goes on year after year under medical treatment with no apparent possibility of cure for his condition. This continual treating of symptoms merely renders the trouble more and more difficult to eradicate as time goes on. As usual, medical practice and medical attitude to disease in general are to blame.

Treatment. — In seeking for a cure for migraine one must first look to primary causes. The condition may be due to chronic constipation and indigestion, to liver trouble, to nervous debility, or some such disturbance of physical functioning. It is only when the real underlying cause is discovered and eradicated that the sufferer from migraine can ..hope for a cessation of his periodic attacks of this troublesome complaint.

If a Naturopath cannot be consulted, the first steps to take in the treatment of migraine are a thorough cleansing of the system and the adoption of vitality-building measures, which will make for a complete toning up and revitalisation of the whole organism. A week on the all-fruit diet, or a short fast for four or five days, followed by the weekly dietary given in the Appendix, is the best way to start the treatment. Further short fasts or periods on the all-fruit diet will be needed at intervals of a month or two, in certain cases, according to the progress made. The warm-water enema should be used nightly during the first few days of the treatment, and later if necessary; and if constipation is habitual, the principles for its eradication given should be put into operation.

The friction and sitz-bath or sponge should form a regular feature of the daily routine once the treatment is begun, as also the physical and other exercises given in the Appendix. The hot Epsom-salts bath once or twice a week is also a very good thing in cases of migraine. A walk of a few miles every day is to be recommended to all capable of undertaking it. Spinal manipulation is most beneficial in all cases of migraine, when carried out in conjunction with a scheme of natural treatment such as given here.

When an attack is impending, the sufferer should go to bed and fast for a day or two on warm water only. The enema should be used nightly during that period, and cold compresses can be. applied to the head, changing them at frequent intervals. If this is done, the attacks will lose much of their severity and, as the treatment continues, will become gradually less and less troublesome until they fade away altogether. On no account should any drugs or “painkillers ” be used.

The strictest care with the diet is essential if a real cure is desired, and all highly seasoned dishes, condiments, pickles, sauces, white sugar, strong tea or coffee, rich cakes, pastry, heavy and stodgy foods and alcohol should be avoided.

Multiple Sclerosis.

— This condition is characterised by trembling or tremor every time an action is performed, and also by slow, indistinct speech. Another marked feature is rapid oscillation of the eyeballs from side to side. There are other complications which may occur as the disease develops, the cause of the condition being atrophy of nerve tissues in the spinal cord or brain. It may be brought on by the orthodox treatment for syphilis (see the remarks on Locomotor Ataxia in the present section), by metallic poisoning of an occupational nature, by very prolonged and excessive nerve strain, by injury, by suppressive treatment of former acute diseases, etc., etc.

Treatment. — As regards treatment, Medical Science has little to offer the sufferer from multiple sclerosis beyond drug treatment. Such treatment, involving as it does the use of the very drugs which cause the condition in some cases (mercury or arsenic, for instance), can lead to no good results whatsoever. Natural methods of treatment offer the only hope of improvement or alleviation of his condition to the sufferer from the disease in question. A complete cure is almost impossible, as in most cases the injury to nerve tissue has gone so far as to impair permanently the working of the organism. However, many cases can keep the diseases in check and even make progress if natural methods are adopted. Spinal manipulation is very helpful in all cases of multiple sclerosis, together with fasting, eliminative baths, light treatment, and corrective dieting ; and if the sufferer cannot obtain personal naturopathic treatment, he or she should follow out the advice re self-treatment given in the section dealing with Locomotor Ataxia.

Neuralgia.

— This term is usually applied to pain in the nerves of the face, and is a most troublesome condition. To attempt to deal with it by means of ” pain-killers ” or such-like temporarily ameliorative measures is not of the slightest good, as such treatment ignores altogether the underlying causes involved in the condition. Neuralgia is really a neuritic condition due to excess acidity of the blood and body fluids. In origin it is directly allied to rheumatism and other uric-acid diseases, and the outstanding underlying causes of its development are wrong feeding and lowered vitality due to overwork, nerve strain, etc.

Treatment. — The sufferer from neuralgia is referred to the section on Rheumatism and Allied Ailments for an understanding of the part played by wrong diet in the development of ” uric-acid ” diseases, of which, as just said, neuralgia is one. As regards treatment, that given in the following pages for neuritis will be found to give the most beneficial and lasting results to the sufferer from neuralgia, if carried out with patience and perseverance.

Neurasthenia.

— Neurasthenia is the disease of the age. It is the direct outcome of modern ways of living and thinking, and the sufferer from this condition is referred to the introductory remarks made at the beginning of this section for an understanding of how the disease has arisen in twentieth-century civilisation. Wrong feeding, wrong living, and wrong thinking can be taken as its three chief predisposing causes.

Neurasthenia is essentially a condition in which the whole nervous system has lost tone and become exhausted, and to treat the disease by means of drugs and ” tonics ” is to leave the underlying causes of the condition quite untouched and to tinker about with the merely superficial aspects of the trouble. The writer has had something to say in the introductory remarks to the present section regarding the use of so-called nerve tonics and nerve foods in the treatment of neurasthenia and other nervous disorders. Not only is such treatment quite useless so far as real cure is concerned, it is often definitely harmful.

It is true that, in addition to dispensing drugs, members of the medical profession prescribe rest, change of scene, etc., for their patients suffering from neurasthenia who can afford to take advantage of the advice given? ; and such advice is to the good, so far as it goes. The patient is also exhorted ” not to worry.” This dictum, although very well meant no doubt, is most difficult to carry out in actual practice by the neurasthenic, as his whole nervous system is so undermined that worry is the foremost and most impregnable inhabitant of his mental stronghold. All neurasthenics worry, because worry is a certain sign and development of lowered vitality and deficient nerve tone. It can never be exorcised by telling people ” not to worry.” The whole system must be built up first, and wrong habits and ways of living rectified, before the nerves will be in such a position as to make it possible to overcome the worry habit, which is so sapping in its effects upon the mind and body of the neurasthenic. This habit will gradually disappear if the neurasthenic will take himself in hand and build up his system aright; by no other means can it be eradicated.

Treatment. — As regards treatment for neurasthenia, it is obvious that unless the patient is taken completely in hand, and his whole scheme of living changed, there can be no hope of a lasting cure of his condition. Patched up he may be by the prescribing of ” nerve tonics ” and ” nerve foods ” in conjunction with rest, change of scene, etc., but cured he will never be. The trouble will be bound to recur in later life if the former habits and ways of living and thinking, which were the real cause of the development of the trouble in the first place, are returned to after the period of medical-recuperative treatment. To anyone who can think for himself this must be obvious.

Treatment at a Natural-Cure establishment is far the best for the sufferer from neurasthenia who can afford it, as such treatment combines all that is best in medical usage—with regard to change of air, rest, etc.—with the best that Natural Cure can offer. Sunbathing, ray therapy, manipulative treatment, and such-like measures, combined with fasting, strict dieting, eliminative baths and other forms of natural treatment, have resulted in complete cures in a large number of cases of neurasthenia, many of them cases which responded not at all to orthodox methods of treatment.

For those who cannot undertake institutional treatment, the following scheme of home treatment is devised : Begin by having from four to seven days on the all-fruit diet, as given in the Appendix. This should then be followed by a period on the exclusive fruit and milk diet, also given in the Appendix. The fruit and milk diet should be adhered’ to for from ten days to a fortnight; but if it is agreeing particularly well, it can be continued with every benefit for a month or longer (in which case the quantity of milk taken can be increased up to as much as six or more pints daily). Afterwards the full weekly diet given in the Appendix should be adopted, and adhered to as strictly as possible from then on. (A mainly fruit and salad diet is essential to the neurasthenic.)

During the first few days of the treatment the enema or douche should be used nightly to cleanse the bowels. It should always be resorted to thereafter whenever constipation is present. If constipation is habitual, the principles for its eradication given should be put into operation forthwith.

Further short periods on the all-fruit diet followed by the fruit and milk diet may be required in some cases at intervals of a month or two. The patient must decide about this for himself, according to the progress being made.

As regards vitality-building measures, the morning dry friction and sponge or sitz-bath are invaluable ; as also are the breathing and other exercises given in the Appendix. A hot Epsom-salts bath once or twice weekly can also be recommended to the sufferer from neurasthenia ; whilst the need for fresh air and gentle outdoor exercise must never be overlooked. Walking is by far the best form of outdoor exercise for the neurasthenic to take. The neurasthenic needs plenty of rest, and an attempt should be made to relax mind and body completely when reposing. A few days’ complete rest in bed is an excellent way of beginning the treatment in many cases, with a day or half-day in bed every week thereafter for some time to come.

Early to bed and early to rise are two dicta which apply with especial force to the sufferer from neurasthenia ; and late hours and late rising should be finally abolished when once natural treatment is begun. Proper personal hygiene is essential to health, so that scrupulousness with regard to one’s habits should be observed by all undertaking treatment. Well-ventilated bedrooms are a necessity too. All highly flavoured dishes, pastries, heavy puddings, pies, and similar rich or stodgy foods which over-tax digestion should be studiously avoided, and white bread, sugar, refined cereals, condiments, tea, coffee, and alcohol entirely cut out. (No milk puddings, broths, beef-tea, or such-like invalid’s fare, either !) Smoking should be entirely stopped, where habitual. TAKE NO MEDICINES WHATSOEVER, OR PATENT FOODS.

The pursuance of the above rules of eating and living will help the neurasthenic back to health again if carried out with patience and perseverance ; but it stands to reason that ways of thinking and feeling which have helped to produce the trouble in the first place must be guarded against from the moment the treatment is begun. The mental attitude must be altered radically from one of negativity to one of positivity. The ” self-pity ” habit must be destroyed. Instead of ” I shall never get well,” it must be ” I am going to get well; I am getting well.”

Self-suggestion, of the right kind, is of immense value in the treatment of neurasthenia, and so, to help the neurasthenic to attain the right mental attitude, the following little scheme of self-suggestion is proposed. It should be undertaken as soon as treatment is commenced, and its beneficial effects will soon make themselves apparent to the neurasthenic sufferer. Repeat, with great concentration, the following phrase six times, each night before retiring : ” I am getting better ; my nerves are stronger, and soon I shall be quite well,” emphasising the italicised words; and each morning on rising the sufferer should repeat, just as earnestly, this phrase : ” Now for my rejuvenating treatment which is doing me so much good ! “

The practice of self-suggestion may seem very foolish to many, but it cannot be emphasised too strongly that, in all cases where nerve weakness is a factor, self-suggestion along the lines proposed is of the utmost value. It will help the sufferer from neurasthenia greatly, too, if he can make himself realise quite definitely that his worry habit, depression, and introspection arise simply as a result of the defective state of his nerves, and that as the treatment is persevered with, so must all these conditions automatically disappear. As the nerves improve in health, so must worry and depression fade from the mental consciousness.

It will pay the neurasthenic well to dwell on this often. Obviously his habit of worrying and harassing himself with doubts and fears will try to assert itself throughout the initial stages of the treatment, however much he may endeavour to control this morbid mental tendency; but he should try to make himself thoroughly realise that they are the outcome of a defective nervous condition, and that by building up his system in the manner here described he is doing the best and surest thing to banish them for ever.

There is a lot of talk these days about the mental cause of nervous disease and the great need for psychological treatment; but if the neurasthenic will bear in mind what has here been said, he can go forward to sound health again without having to spend any time or thought on treatment of this kind. In abnormal cases (of severe neurosis, morbid depression, melancholia, etc.) such treatment is highly desirable, and even necessary ; but in the usual run of neurasthenic cases it is not. The regimen here given will amply suffice. A clean diet, a clean body, and sensible living, these are the physical bases on which to build up health in the neurasthenic.

Combine these with control of mental and emotional habits and tendencies which pull down the tone of the system, and with helpful self-suggestion, then neurasthenia will soon be a thing of the past, instead of a thing very much of the present, as now.

Nervous Breakdown

. — The cause of what is called a ” nervous breakdown ” has already been made clear in the introductory remarks to the present section, and the only two methods of successful treatment are obviously REST and CORRECT DIET. A complete rest in bed for from a week to a month or longer, according to the severity of the case will be necessary to begin the treatment, with a fast of from four to seven days and the use of the enema nightly ; after which the treatment for Neurasthenia given in the preceding pages should be begun, and the remarks re general living after recovery taken seriously to heart.

Nervous Debility; Nervous Exhaustion. The cause or causes of these two conditions will be made clear by a study of the introductory remarks to the present section. As regards treatment, this should be as for neurasthenia given in the preceding pages.

Neuritis

. — This is a condition in which a nerve or series of nerves have become inflamed and nerve tissue destroyed, as a result of the blood and body fluids being in an excessively acid condition. All the body fluids should be alkaline in their reaction, but when the dietary is such that acid waste matter forms continuously in the tissues over a period of years, then a condition known as “acidosis” arises. Neuritis is merely one of the many forms which acidosis takes. In this case it means that the nerves are bathed continuously in an acid instead of an alkaline medium, and so become corroded and inflamed. The chief cause of this condition of acidosis, as explained in the section on Rheumatism and Allied Complaints, is wrong feeding, although wrong habits of living, overwork, etc., play their part in lowering the tone of the nervous system and helping on the advance of the trouble.

Treatment. — Drug treatment for neuritis is just useless. It is true that the pain arising out of the condition is often unbearable, and ” pain-killers ” of the aspirin type are resorted to often in desperation, just to relieve the pain ; but this is not the way to get rid of the trouble effectively. The pain is relieved for the time being, at the cost of the health of other parts of the body, the heart and kidneys especially, but the neuritis still remains. Only constitutional treatment along Natural-Cure lines can effect a real cure.

The sufferer from neuritis is invited to read what has already been said about the relationship between wrong feeding and disease in the section, dealing with Rheumatism and Allied Ailments. He will see that it is the white bread, white sugar, boiled potatoes, refined cereals, meat, fish, tinned goods, tea, coffee, condiments, and other articles of food which habitually go to make up his daily dietary which are at the root of the trouble. Foods such as these flood the tissues continuously with acid impurities ; and continued over a period, acidosis, in some form or other, must occur. Whether it be catarrh or rheumatism, neuritis or bronchitis, depends entirely upon the make-up of the individual, upon his constitutional characteristics, that is. It is only by the adoption of a rational dietary, a dietary whose reaction in the system is essentially alkaline, that this condition of acidosis, of which neuritis is only one manifestation, can be overcome. Of such an alkaline diet, fresh fruits and salads are the chief ingredients. (There is a belief in medical circles that acid fruits are the cause of acidity in the system. This is quite wrong. The white-bread-white-sugar-meat diet causes the formation of acids in the system ; acid fruits are cleansing, and their systemic reaction is alkaline.)

The sufferer from neuritis, having imbibed the foregoing, should turn to the treatment for Rheumatism as given, and carry it out according to the severity (or otherwise) of his case. The more closely he can follow it out, the sooner will he be freed from his pain and troubles. On no account should drugs be taken to deaden pain. The hot bath, the Epsom-salts bath, and the cold pack will do this for him. In addition to two or three, or even four, hot Epsom-salts baths weekly, the sufferer from neuritis should apply a cold pack to the affected area every night before retiring and remove it in the morning. (Cold packs are explained in the Appendix.)

Also the affected parts should be bathed several times daily in hot water containing Epsom salts (a tablespoonful of salts to a cupful of hot water ; ½ lb. of salts to a small bowlful of hot water). Where pain is severe, as in neuralgia, hot and cold compresses are very good. You wring out a towel in hot water, apply it to the painful area, leave on for, say, three minutes, then remove and apply a second hot towel. Use three hot towels in the fashion mentioned, one after another, of course, and then finish off with a cold towel. The hot and cold compresses can be applied several times daily as required, and always in the order named, viz. three hot applications and one cold one to finish. Spinal manipulation, where procurable, is very useful as an adjunct to the treatment here advised.

Progressive Muscular Atrophy

. — This is a condition in which there is wasting of the voluntary muscles, that is, those muscles which are under the direct control of the will, such as those controlling movement, etc. Muscles or groups of muscles are attacked consecutively, and the disease is often known by the appropriate name of ” wasting palsy.” There is strong reason to believe that heredity plays a big part in the propagation of this disease, but even so a devitalised condition of the whole system, and nervous system especially, is indicated as a first cause of the development of the disease, in which wrong feeding, wrong habits of living, suppressive medical treatment of previous acute disease, etc., etc., all play their part.

Treatment. — As regards treatment, all that can be offered to the sufferer from progressive muscular atrophy is that his condition may be prevented from progressing still further under natural treatment. Improvement other than this is hard to promise. Yet even the arrest of the trouble is surely something worth while ?

More so as medical treatment has nothing at all to offer in the way of real help to the sufferer, whose condition is thus allowed to get steadily worse and worse through the taking of drugs. The treatment given for Locomotor Ataxia in the present section can be carried out with advantage by the sufferer from progressive muscular atrophy, whilst massage is also a very helpful additional measure indeed, and can be strongly recommended. Electrical treatment and ray therapy are also useful if carried out in conjunction with proper diet.

Sciatica.

— Sciatica is merely a neuritic condition of the sciatic nerve {the large nerve which runs down the leg). It is the direct outcome of excess acidity of the blood and tissues, plus a rundown condition of the system generally, and is another of the many forms of ” acidosis.” The sufferer from sciatica is advised to turn to the treatment for Neuritis given in the preceding pages of the present section for the treatment for his complaint. Complete rest in bed for a few days is essential in many cases as a start. If the trouble is acute, it is best to begin with a fast of from four to seven days, following with the restricted diet given in the Appendix for a further seven to fourteen days. For sciatica, the cold sitz-bath in the morning and the hot and cold sitz-bath at night (as described in the Appendix) will be most beneficial indeed.

Stammering and Stuttering.

— Stammering and stuttering are both conditions which may be, and often are, of psychological or nervous origin. There are definite physical signs of interference with the vocal organs in some cases, but in most cases the condition is purely functional. Treatment from a psychotherapist has resulted in many complete cures of stammering and stuttering, without any physical treatment being needed at all. Hypnotic treatment has also been successful in many cases too. The sufferer is advised to obtain naturopathic advice with regard to finding which treatment is best for his particular case.

Tic Douloureux

. — See Neuralgia.

Writer’s Cramp.

— This is a form of paralysis of the muscles used to control the movement of the hand in writing. Writer’s cramp may result from psychological inhibitions, as has been proved in some cases; it also may arise from systemic poisoning from metallic drugs such as mercury and lead. Its cause in the majority of cases, however, is over-use of the muscles in question, combined with a lowered state of the system generally, due to unhygienic living, wrong feeding, etc. Injury to a portion of the brain-tissue may bring it on in some cases.

Treatment. — As regards treatment, some cases of writer’s cramp are definitely incurable. But natural treatment should be undertaken in all cases, combined with manipulation, massage, ray therapy, etc. In some cases psychological treatment, alone, has resulted in some remarkable cures.

Part 1 here.

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