India seeks to cash in on global demand for ancient remedies

Yahoo – AFP, Annie Banerji, 16 Nov 2014

Indian visitors take advice from a yoga instructor at the sixth World Ayurveda Congress

and Arogya Expo in New Delhi, November 7, 2014 (AFP Photo/Chandan Khanna)

India's new government has launched a drive to promote the country's ancient therapies as it seeks to cash in on the multi-billion dollar global market for holistic medicine.

India claims to have natural remedies for everything from cancer to the common cold, but ministers say it has failed to capitalise on its traditions as the world has woken up to alternative medicine.

Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a teetotal vegetarian who practices yoga daily, has said he wants the world to make Ayurveda "a way of life" -- and in doing so expand India's share of the growing global market for holistic medicine.

An Indian visitor points to a herb on display

 during the sixth World Ayurveda Congress

 and Arogya Expo in New Delhi, November

6, 2014 (AFP Photo/Chandan Khanna)

Earlier this month he appointed India's first minister for Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homeopathy -- known as the AAYUSH ministry -- and has also called for an international yoga day.

"Call it whatever -— Ayurvedic medicines or herbal medicines or traditional medicines –- the global market is estimated at about $100 billion today," former health minister Harsh Vardhan told a recent conference on Ayurveda in New Delhi.

"India's share in this is negligible because quality standards are not maintained to international specifications. The government has decided to address this lacuna."

Ayurvedic medicine -- which means the "science of life" in Sanskrit -- treats the physical and mental sources of illness through, for example, prescribing herbs in conjunction with yoga or massage.

Much of the knowledge has been passed on through the generations by word of mouth and predates written records, but two volumes of remedies and prescriptions have survived, called the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita.

'High priority'

Critics say that Ayurvedic remedies have no proven curative properties for disease, and instead work as a placebo.

Visitors look at a dummy of the human
body on display at an Ayurvedic oil 
massage table during the sixth World 
Ayurveda Congress and Arogya Expo in
New Delhi, November 6, 2014 (AFP
Photo/Chandan Khanna)

"It's like superstition -- it's in your head that it helps. But in real life, you need actual pharma drugs," said P.K. Goyal, a Delhi-based physician.

But Modi, who as a young man wandered the Himalayas on a spiritual quest, said Ayurvedic remedies should be seen as complementary to modern medicine.

"If a person adopts Ayurveda, he can protect himself against various infections," said the 64-year-old.

"(Formerly) health was a part of life. But today we have outsourced health... we consult one doctor and then the other."

In India, domestic companies such as Dabur, Emami and the Himalaya group have pioneered herbal products, combining ancient traditional medicine with cutting-edge technology to make pills, creams and oils.

Ayurvedic centres and clinics have also sprung up in Europe and the United States in recent years, and global chain The Body Shop has created its own range of Ayurvedic products.

On Tuesday the new AAYUSH minister, Shripad Yesso Naik, said he would make promoting Ayurveda a "high priority" as he began his newly-created role.

"We will do whatever it takes to make India a healthy India in the days ahead," he said, praising the preventive qualities of yoga and Ayurveda.

An Indian child looks at a display board 

showing different types of Yoga positions

 during the sixth World Ayurveda Congress

 and Arogya Expo in New Delhi, November

6, 2014 (AFP Photo/Chandan Khanna)

According to the World Health Organization, 65 percent of India's rural population uses Ayurvedic remedies, mostly due to poor access to modern health facilities.

Modi has vowed to provide affordable healthcare to India, where nearly 25 percent of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day and more than 40 million people have been pushed into poverty because of the cost of medical treatment.

His Hindu nationalist government, which swept to power in May on a promise to revive India's flagging economy, has already announced plans to establish a state-funded Ayurvedic research centre and hospital.

And many are already converted to the drive. One fan at the conference -- where everything from massage chairs to digestion and blood pressure pills were on display -- needed no further persuading.

"It's natural, so no side effects, and it's cheap," said 20-year-old Delhi student Ashima Beri.

"Honestly, these worked on my acne better than any other cream or drug."

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Evidence for homeopathy builds

"The Many 'Shoulds' "  – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.)

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.)  - New !  

Evidence for homeopathy builds

Bristish Homeopathic Association, 8 Mar 2012  

• Long-awaited English translation of Swiss study endorses evidence for homeopathy
• Swiss government enacts public desire to include homeopathy in state-backed health insurance
• Personal testimonies reinforce: ‘it works!’

Only recently published, the English translation of the 2006 Swiss Health Technology Assessment (HTA) report on homeopathy offers a clear endorsement of the benefits of this form of complementary medicine.

This important report addresses the evidence for the effectiveness of homeopathic therapy in everyday use (i.e. the real world), its safety and its cost-effectiveness.

The authors, Doctor Gudrun Bornhöft and Professor Peter Matthiessen, state: “There is sufficient evidence for the preclinical effectiveness and the clinical efficacy of homeopathy and for its safety and economy compared with conventional treatment.”

Following on from the initial publication of this report, a public referendum in Switzerland in 2009 supported the inclusion of homeopathy and other complementary and alternative medicines in the Swiss national health insurance, with 67% of the people voting in favour. Earlier this month, the Swiss government passed legislation to enact the referendum’s conclusion.

The 234-page HTA report exhaustively reviews the clinical research in homeopathy. It includes a summary of 22 systematic reviews of clinical trials, 20 of which show a positive direction of evidence for homeopathy. And an assessment of the original clinical trials of homeopathy in allergies and upper respiratory tract infections provides supporting evidence for the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment for these conditions.

Homeopathy’s effectiveness in treating allergies is backed by personal testimonies. Jenny, a 31 year old mother from Perthshire in Scotland who had suffered from severe allergic reactions since childhood, sought help from homeopathy after becoming immune to an increasing number of conventional anti-histamine medications. Following a consultation at an NHS clinic with a doctor who had also trained in homeopathy, Jenny was prescribed homeopathic medicine specifically to counter her allergies. Since the treatment, she’s not had an allergic reaction in over two years. Jenny credits homeopathy with curing her condition and says that “My only regret is that I didn’t seek help from a homeopath sooner, as I’m convinced it would have saved me from years of discomfort and illness”.

Speaking on behalf of the UK’s Faculty of Homeopathy, President Dr Sara Eames said:

"The publication of the Swiss HTA report on homeopathy in English makes an important contribution to the field of homeopathy research. Its thorough and constructive approach will contribute to informing patients, doctors and decision-makers who are evaluating homeopathy. Bornhöft and Matthiessen have given us an academically rigorous document which will enlighten more and better quality research in homeopathy."

The study was commissioned by Switzerland’s Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) as part of an overall evaluation of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs).

About the Faculty of Homeopathy

Founded in 1844, and incorporated by Parliament in 1950, the Faculty of Homeopathy provides internationally recognised training pathways in homeopathy for doctors, dentists, vets, podiatrists and other statutorily regulated healthcare professionals. The Faculty has a long tradition of investment and participation in research.  The Faculty of Homeopathy’s journal, Homeopathy, is the only PubMed-listed research journal that specialises on homeopathy.

For further information, please visit: http://www.facultyofhomeopathy.org/

Jenny, who had previously suffered from severe allergies since childhood (as mentioned above), is very happy to discuss with journalists how homeopathy has helped her.

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"The Many 'Shoulds' "  – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) - New !


"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.)  - New !  

Nobel Scientist Discovers Scientific Basis of Homeopathy

Natural News, Tuesday, October 05, 2010 by: Tony Isaacs, citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) At a time when the British Medical Association is calling for an end to national funding for homeopathy and detractors are describing it as "nonsense on stilts", a Nobel prize-winning scientist has made a discovery that suggests that homeopathy does have a scientific basis after all. In July, Nobel Prize winning French virologist Professor Luc Montagnier shocked fellow Nobel prize-winners and the medical establishment by telling them that he had discovered that water has a memory that continues even after many dilutions.

Professor Luc Montagnier

Until Montagnier's research, the bulk of mainstream doctors and scientist had maintained that there was no scientific way that multiple dilutions used in homeopathy could possibly work. In part, such views stemmed from lack of understanding. In larger part, such views likely stemmed from a desire to stem the rising popularity of homeopathy and eliminate it as a competition to mainstream medicine - much the same as happened in the United States a century ago.

One of the foundations of homeopathy maintains that the potency of a substance is increased with its dilution. Montagnier discovered that solutions containing the DNA of viruses and bacteria "could emit low frequency radio waves" and that such waves influence molecules around them, turning them into organized structures. The molecules in turn emit waves and Montagnier found that the waves remain in the water even after it has been diluted many times. To a lay person, that may not mean much, but to a scientist is highly suggests that homeopathy may have a scientific basis.

In Britain the market for homeopathy is estimated to be growing at around 20% a year. Over 30 million people in Europe use homeopathic medicine. Homeopathy is supported in Britain by Prince Charles and the physician to the Royal Family has been a homeopathic physician since the late 1800s.

While homeopathy is also experiencing a resurgence of popularity in the United States, it is far more popular in much of the rest of the world. In India, approximately 130 million people use homeopathy. In Brazil, homeopathy is a recognized medical specialty where 15,000 medical doctors are certified as homeopathic specialists

The latter half of the 19th century was homeopathy's heyday in the United States. Regular physicians could hardly compete. By 1902 homeopaths did seven times the business of allopaths and there were 15,000 practicing homeopathic physicians in the US. During the 1849 cholera epidemic, homeopaths from Cincinnati kept rigorous records showing that they lost only 3% of their patients, while allopathy lost 16 to 20 times more.

Many highly accomplished individuals past and present have chosen homeopathy as their therapy of choice, including several U.S. Presidents. Many of America's literary greats advocated for and often wrote about homeopathy, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Mark Twain - as did European greats such as Goethe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Alfred Tennyson, and George Bernard Shaw.

At the turn of the 20th century, the AMA came right out and admitted that competition was destroying physicians' incomes. Thanks to funding from John D. Rockefeller and the Carnegie Foundation, the AMA was able to repress and ultimately eliminate homeopathy and other natural and alternative competition. The 22 homeopathic medical schools that flourished in 1900 dwindled to just 2 in 1923. By 1950 all schools teaching homeopathy were closed.

Ironically, John D. Rockefeller believed strongly in homeopathy. He referred to it as "a progressive and aggressive step in medicine." Rockefeller lived to the ripe old age of 99 using only homeopathy in the latter part of his life.

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Coconut Oil and Alzheimer’s Disease

ANH-USA, October 5, 2010

How worried should drug companies be about supplements eating into their monopoly profits? A lot—as this story will show. Please share it with anyone you know who is suffering from Alzheimer’s or is worried about it.

Of course, just about everyone worries about Alzheimer’s. It currently afflicts 5.2 million people in the US and is the seventh leading cause of death. The cost of treating it is estimated at $148 billion.

Mary Newport, MD, has been medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Spring Hill Regional Hospital in Florida since it opened in 2003. About the same time the unit opened, her husband Steve, then 53, began showing signs of progressive dementia, later diagnosed as Alzheimer’s Disease. “Many days, often for several days in a row, he was in a fog; couldn’t find a spoon or remember how to get water out of the refrigerator,” she said.

They started him on Alzheimer’s drugs—Aricept, Namenda, Exelon—but his disease worsened steadily. (It should be noted that the latest research shows that the various Alzheimer’s drugs, like Aricept, have proven disappointing, with little real benefit and often distressing side effects.) When Dr. Newport couldn’t get her husband into a drug trial for a new Alzheimer’s medication, she started researching the mechanism behind Alzheimer’s.

She discovered that with Alzheimer’s disease, certain brain cells may have difficulty utilizing glucose (made from the carbohydrates we eat), the brain’s principal source of energy. Without fuel, these precious neurons may begin to die. There is an alternative energy source for brain cells—fats known as ketones. If deprived of carbohydrates, the body produces ketones naturally.

But this is the hard way to do it—who wants to cut carbohydrates out of the diet completely? Another way to produce ketones is by consuming oils that have medium-chain triglycerides. When MCT oil is digested, the liver converts it into ketones. In the first few weeks of life, ketones provide about 25 percent of the energy newborn babies need to survive.

Dr. Newport learned that the ingredient in the drug trial which was showing so much promise was simply MCT oil derived from coconut oil or palm kernel oil, and that a dose of 20 grams (about 20 ml or 4 teaspoons) was used to produce these results. When MCT oil is metabolized, the ketones which the body creates may, according to the latest research, not only protect against the incidence of Alzheimer’s, but may actually reverse it. Moreover, this is also a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), drug-resistant epilepsy, brittle type I diabetes, and type II (insulin-resistant) diabetes.

So Mr. Newport, not being able to get into the drug trial, started taking the coconut oil twice a day. At this point, he could barely remember how to draw a clock. Two weeks after adding coconut oil to his diet, his drawing improved. After 37 days, Steve’s drawing gained even more clarity. The oil seemed to “lift the fog,” and in the first sixty days, Dr. Newport saw remarkable changes in him: every morning he was alert and happy, talkative, making jokes. His gait was “still a little weird,” but his tremor was no longer very noticeable. He was able to concentrate on things that he wanted to do around the house and in the yard and stay on task, whereas before coconut oil he was easily distractible and rarely accomplished anything unless he was directly supervised.

Over the next year, the dementia continued to reverse itself: he is able to run again, his reading comprehension has improved dramatically, and his short-term memory is improving—he often brings up events that happened days to weeks earlier and relays telephone conversations with accurate detail. A recent MRI shows that the brain atrophy has been completely halted.

Let’s take a moment to consider what actually happened here. Synthetic (patentable) Alzheimer’s drugs have failed. A drug company reluctantly decides to put a non-patentable natural substance (medium-chain triglycerides derived from coconut or palm) through an FDA trial. It works. But, darn it, a smart doctor figures out that a natural food can be substituted for the super-expensive drug. Not only that, the ketones from natural coconut oil last in the body longer than the drug version—eight hours instead of three hours. This is enough to make a drug company start worrying about its future. What if this natural health idea really catches on? Goodbye to monopoly profits!

Coconut oil can be found in many health food stores and even some grocery stores. One large chain sells a non-hydrogenated (no trans-fat) brand of coconut oil in a one-liter size (nearly 32 ounces) for about $7. It can be purchased in quantities as small as a pint and up to five gallons online. It is important to use coconut oil that is non-hydrogenated and contains no trans-fat. We would also strongly encourage the use of virgin oil (chemicals used to extract non-virgin oil are potentially dangerous, and better still, virgin organic, still quite reasonably priced.)

For more information, see Dr. Newport’s website. Sadly, you will not find any information on ketones, or the use of coconut oil or MCT oil, on the Alzheimer’s Association website.

Coconut oil is not the only natural product that has the potential to turn Alzheimer’s around. We will cover some other ones, and drug industry efforts to steal some of them, in a future issue.

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Druids recognized as religion for first time in UK

Yahoo / Associated Press, By SYLVIA HUI, Oct 2, 2010

FILE - This Tuesday Aug. 10, 1999 photo from files shows Arch Druid Ed Prynn as he calls down the sun during his sun dance around a ring of stones, in St. Merryn, England. The druid dance is to celebrate the total eclipse of the sun, which is due in this part of southwest England on August 11. Druidry has been officially recognized as a religion in Britain under charity law. The Charity Commission has granted the Druid Network charitable status, giving it tax breaks and equal status to mainstream religions like Christianity. The commission said Saturday that druidry has a coherent and serious set of beliefs and that it offers a beneficial ethical framework

LONDON – Druids have been worshipping the sun and earth for thousands of years in Europe, but now they can say they're practicing an officially recognized religion.

The ancient pagan tradition best known for gatherings at Stonehenge every summer solstice has been formally classed as a religion under charity law for the first time in Britain, the national charity regulator said Saturday.

That means Druids can receive exemptions from taxes on donations — and now have the same status as such mainstream religions as the Church of England.

The move gives an old practice new validity, said Phil Ryder, the chairman of the 350-member Druid Network.

"It will go a long way to make Druidry a lot more accessible," he said.

Druids have practiced for thousands of years in Britain and in Celtic societies elsewhere in Europe. They worship natural forces such as thunder and the sun, and spirits they believe arise from places such as mountains and rivers. They do not worship a single god or creator, but seek to cultivate a sacred relationship with the natural world.

Although many see them as robed, mysterious people who gather every summer solstice at Stonehenge — which predates the Druids — believers say modern Druidry is chiefly concerned with helping practitioners connect with nature and themselves through rituals, dancing and singing at stone circles and other sites throughout the country believed to be "sacred."

Ancient Druids were known to be religious leaders, judges and sages among the Celts during pre-Christian times, although little evidence about their lives survived. There are now various Druid orders and about 10,000 practitioners in Britain — and believers said the numbers are growing because more people are becoming aware of the importance to preserve the environment.

The Druid Network fought for nearly five years to be recognized under the semi-governmental Charity Commission, which requires proof of cohesive and serious belief in a supreme entity and a moral framework.

After initially rejecting the Druid Network's application, the Charity Commission decided this week that Druidry fit the bill.

"There is sufficient belief in a supreme being or entity to constitute a religion for the purposes of charity law," the commission said.

Adrian Rooke, a Druid who works as a counselor, said Druidry appeals to people who are turning away from monotheistic religions but still long for an aspect of spirituality in their lives.

"It uplifts the spirit," he said. "The world is running out of resources, and in that context it's more important to people now to formulate a relationship with nature."

2,000-Year Old Greek Shipwreck Reveals Medical Secrets of the Ancient World

The Daily Galaxy, September 12, 2010

Twenty years ago, Archaeologists discovered a ship created In 130 BC from wood of walnut trees and bulging with a cargo hold of medicial pills and Syrian glassware, that sank off the coast of  Tuscany Italy. 

For the first time archaeobotanists have been able to examine and analyse the pills that were prepared by the physicians of ancient Greece. DNA analyses show that each millennia old tablet is a mixture of more than ten different plant extracts; from hibiscus to celery. Most of the medicines are still completely dry according to Robert Fleischer of the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.

“For the first time, we have physical evidence of what we have in writing from the ancient Greek physicians Dioscorides and Galen,” stated Alain Touwaide of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Fleischer analysed DNA fragments in two of the pills and compared the sequences to the GenBank genetic database maintained by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He was able to identify: carrot, radish, celery, wild onion, oak, cabbage, alfalfa and yarrow. He also found hibiscus extract that was probably imported from east Asia or the lands of present day India or Ethiopia.

“Most of these plants are known to have been used by the ancients to treat sick people,” says Fleischer. Yarrow staunched the flow of blood from wounds, and Pedanius Dioscorides, a physician and pharmacologist in Rome in the first century AD, described the carrot as a panacea for a number of problems. “They say that reptiles do not harm people who have taken it in advance; it also aids conception,” he wrote around 60 AD.

The concoctions also provided the archaeobotanists a few surprises. Preliminary analyses suggest they contain sunflower, a plant that is not thought to have existed in the Old World before Europeans discovered the Americas in the 1400s. If the finding is confirmed, botanists may need to revise the traditional history of the plant and its diffusion, says Touwaide – but it’s impossible for now to be sure that the sunflower in the pills isn’t simply from recent contamination.

Drugs described by Dioscorides and another Greek physician known as Galen of Pergamon have often been dismissed as ineffectual quackery. “Scholars and scientists have often dismissed the literature on such medicines, and expressed doubt about their possible efficacy, which they attributed only to the presence of opium,” says Touwaide. He hopes to resolve this debate by exploring whether the plant extracts in the pills are now known to treat illnesses effectively.

He also hopes to discover therian, a medicine described by Galen in the second century AD that contains more than 80 different plant extracts and document the exact measurements ancient doctors used to manufacture the pills. “Who knows, these ancient medicines could open new paths for pharmacological research,” says Touwaide.

The team presented their findings at the Fourth International Symposium on Biomolecular Archaeology in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ancient Nubians took antibiotics in their beer almost 1,500 years ago

Daily Mail, By DAILY MAIL REPORTER, 6th September 2010

The ancient Nubians consumed large quantities of antibiotics that were produced in their beer almost 1,500 years ago, new research suggests.

Chemical analysis of bones shows that the people were taking large doses of tetracycline which was produced as a by-product in the beer that they made from grain.

And scientists believe that the production of the antibiotic was intentional.

Analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians shows that they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer. It was spotted in this photo as a green product on the bones under UV light

The ancient Nubian kingdom was located in present-day Sudan, south of ancient Egypt.

The discovery, by anthropologist George Armelagos and medicinal chemist Mark Nelson of Paratek Pharmaceuticals, is published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

'We tend to associate drugs that cure diseases with modern medicine,' Armelagos said.

'But it's becoming increasingly clear that this prehistoric population was using empirical evidence to develop therapeutic agents. I have no doubt that they knew what they were doing.'

The ancient Nubians were a race
with no written language

Tetracycline latches on to calcium and is deposited in bones so it can be detected in fossils.

In 1980, Armelagoa discovered what appeared to be traces of tetracycline in human bones from Nubia dated between A.D. 350 and 550, populations that left no written record. Armelagos and his fellow researchers later tied the source of the antibiotic to the Nubian beer.

The grain used to make the fermented gruel contained the soil bacteria streptomyces, which produces tetracycline.

Mr Nelson said: ‘The bones of these ancient people were saturated with tetracycline, showing that they had been taking it for a long time.

‘I'm convinced that they had the science of fermentation under control and were purposely producing the drug.'

Even the tibia and skull belonging to a 4-year-old were full of tetracycline, suggesting that they were giving high doses to the child to try and cure him of illness, Nelson says.

The first of the modern day tetracyclines was discovered in 1948. It was given the name auereomycin, after the Latin word 'aerous,' which means containing gold.

'Streptomyces produce a golden colony of bacteria, and if it was floating on a batch of beer, it must have look pretty impressive to ancient people who revered gold,' Nelson said.

The ancient Egyptians and Jordanians also used beer to treat gum disease and other ailments.

The team now intends to try and work out exactly when the knowledge of the antibiotic properties of the beer was lost to history.

Alexander Fleming is credited with discovering the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928.

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The Hemp Revolution (video)

Niburu, 28-07-2010

The Hemp Revolution tells the amazing and little known story of the Hemp plant.

Hemp, probably the first plant ever to be cultivated, was among the worlds largest agricultural crops until the 1800s. This feature documentary explores the plants facinating history, its thousands of uses, the economic and cultural forces behind its prohibition, and its modern potential to solve major environmental problems.

Hemp, together with bio-technologies presented in this film, offer a visionary yet practical solutions that could help solve many of our current environmental problems including energy, medicine, food and clothing, etc.

Featuring top scientists, academics and professionals from around the world.

Hemp facts are Courtesy of The Kentucky Hemp Museum & Library, Versailles, KY

1. One acre of hemp produces twice as much oil as one acre of peanuts.
   Agriculture, Papermakers have high hopes for Industrial Hemp.
   Agri-View. " Wisconsin's largest farm newspaper" April 27, 1995.
   
   
2. America's first hemp law was enacted in 1619 at Jamestown Colony, Virginia ordering all farmers to grow Indian hemp seed.
   Clark. V.S., History of Manufacture in the United States, Mcgraw Hill. NY 1929. pg 34.
   
   
3. Cannabis hemp was legal tender in most of the Americas from 1631 until the early 1800's. you could even pay your taxes with cannabis hemp.
   
   Clark. V.S., History of Manufacture in the United States. Mcgraw Hill. NY 1929. pg. 34.
   
   
4. "The earliest known woven fabric was apparently of hemp which began to be worked in the eighth millennium (8,000-7,000) BC).
   "The Columbia History of the World. 1981. pg. 54.
   
   
5. The original. Heavy-duty, famous Levi jeans were made for the California '49ers out of hemp sailcloth and rivets so that the pockets would not rip when filled with gold.
   
   Hemp and the Marijuana Conspiracy: The Emperor Wears No Clothes, Jack Herer, Revised and expanded 1995 edition: copyright March, 1995, HEMP Publishing. 5632 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys. CA 91401. pg. 6.
   
   
6. One acre of hemp produces as much cellulose fiber pulp as 4.1 acres of trees.
   Dewey & Merrill. Bulletin #404. U.S. Dept. of Age. 1916.
   
   
7. Hemp paper is stronger and has greater folding endurance than wood pulp paper.
   Dewey & Merrill. Bulletin #404, US Dept. of Ag., 1916.
   
   
8. Cannabis hemp seeds contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, which are vital to the immune system necessary to maintain a healthy life.
   
   Hempseed Nutrition. Osburn, Lynn, Access unlimited, P.O. Box 1900. Frazier Park. CA 93225.
   
   
9. Hemp seeds contain up to 24% protein. A handful of seed provides the minimum daily requirement of protein for adults.
   
   Rosenthal. Ed. Hemp Today, pg. 101.
   
   14. August 13, 1941, Henry Ford first displayed his plastic car at Dearborn Days in Michigan. The car ran on fuels derived from hemp and other agricultural based sources, and the fenders were made of hemp, wheat, straw, and synthetic plastics. Ford said his vision was "to grow automobiles from the soil."
   
   The Kentucky Hemp Museum and Library. 1998 Historical Hemp Calendar, February. Roulac, John. Industrial Hemp Practical Products - Paper to fabric to Cosmetics, pg. 11. Hemptech

Nobel scientist discovers scientific basis of homeopathy

WDDTY, 07 July 2010

In the week that doctors have described homeopathy as ‘nonsense on stilts’, a Nobel prize-winning scientist has made a discovery about the nature of water that suggests the therapy does have a scientific basis.

Professor Luc Montagnier

Professor Luc Montagnier, a French virologist who won the Nobel prize for discovering a link between HIV and AIDS, has shocked fellow Nobel prize-winners by telling them that water has a memory that continues even after many dilutions. The idea is one of the foundations of homeopathy, which maintains that the potency of a substance is increased with its dilution. Montagnier has discovered that solutions containing the DNA of viruses and bacteria “could emit low frequency radio waves”. These waves influence molecules around them, and turn them into organised structures. These molecules in turn can emit waves.

He has discovered that the waves remain in the water, even after it has been diluted many times. Montagnier’s statement couldn’t happen at a worse time for doctors. Last week, the UK’s British Medical Association (BMA) – the trade union of doctors – passed a resolution to stop homeopathy being made available on the National Health Service. It also wants all homeopathic remedies to be placed in a special area marked ‘Placebos’ in health shops and pharmacies. The NHS currently spends around £4m a year on homeopathy, mainly by funding four homeopathic hospitals in the UK. (Sources: Sunday Times, July 4, 2010; British Medical Association).

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Jakarta Globe, Ade Mardiyati, March 31, 2010

Ratus, or fogging, in progress. (JG Photo/Ade Mardiyati)

Some people may find the concept of a vagina spa strange. But just like going to a regular spa where one can get massages and skin treatments for relaxation, going to a vagina spa is meant to freshen and improve the health of a woman’s most intimate organ.

One of the few places that is said to offer the full treatment is VG Spa, part of Klinik Pasutri, a health clinic founded by celebrated sexologist Dr. Boyke Dian Nugraha.

At VG Spa, a patient can choose from vagina-only treatment packages or whole-body treatments that include facials. These normally last anywhere from one-and-a-half to three hours.

Peni, a therapist at the clinic, said that their clientele includes high school students and married women. “Many come here because they have a common vaginal health problem, such as a yeast infection,” she said.

“If there is no itchiness or smell, we recommend that treatment be done once a month. If it does, then once every two weeks should help.”

The vagina spa session begins with a procedure that incorporates a small device called the electro-stimulation machine. Flat strips connected to three cords are attached to the patient’s lower back and the soles of the feet. For about 15 minutes, these body parts are stimulated with vibrations from the machine, which causes a sensation. Peni said that the objective of the whole procedure is to strengthen the muscles in the vaginal area.

The next step is called cawikan , or bathing, using a mixture of herbs such as betel leaf, locally known as daun sirih, kayu rapat (Parmeria barbata) and some more fragrant plants. In Indonesia, daun sirih is very popular as it is believed to have a lot of health benefits for women, one of which is removing vaginal smell.

Kayu rapat is said to tighten the vagina. The herb is aptly named — the word kayu means wood and rapat means tight in Indonesian.

The mixture is dissolved in hot water, which gives out a fragrant aroma. When the water gets warm, the patient is seated on a wooden bucket filled with the mixture to submerge the vagina for about five minutes. By doing this, the patient is “cleaning” the area with the water.

Totok — massaging the area — is then done for five minutes. Peni said that this is “to relax [the muscles] and help the blood flow better.”

The vagina is then subjected to ratus or fogging, which is said to have a number of benefits, such as reducing itchiness caused by a yeast infection and improve smell in the vaginal area.

“Most beauty salons [only] offer this treatment, but that is not how a vagina spa is done. Vagina spas should include the early steps that we perform here, not only the ratus session,” Peni said.

For the fogging procedure, patients are made to sit on a chair with a big hole. Underneath the chair is a clay pot with heated charcoals sprinkled with the ratus powder, which is made of various herbs. The patient is asked to wear a special robe that covers the whole chair while she is seated.

“This is so that the fragrant smoke can go straight to the vagina and therefore the fragrance is well spread down there,” Peni said.

The very last stage of the spa treatment is linggihan. A mixture of mint leaves and other mysterious plants that the spa declined to disclose were flatly wrapped in a thin piece of paper slightly thicker than a tissue. This is then attached inside the patient’s underwear.

“This is mainly to freshen up the vaginal area, thanks to the mint leaves in the mixture,” Peni said. “Wear it for five to ten minutes and then you can dispose of the wrap.”

After all these steps are done, the patient is guaranteed to feel relief down under.