Evolutionary conundrum

Evolution.

 "Biological evolution is defined as any genetic change in a population that is inherited over several generations. These changes may be small or large, noticeable or not so noticeable.  

In order for an event to be considered an instance of evolution, changes have to occur on the genetic level of a population and be passed on from one generation to the next.  

This means that the genes, or more specifically, the alleles in the population change and are passed on. These changes are noticed in the phenotypes (expressed physical traits that can be seen) of the population.  

A change on the genetic level of a population is defined as a small-scale change and is called microevolution.  

Biological evolution also includes the idea that all of life is connected and can be traced back to one common ancestor. This is called macroevolution."   -Regina Bailey

Have you ever thought about autism and autoimmune disease as a form of evolution?

Our external environment, stress hormones, our thought process, whether we exercise or not, what we eat and and inject into ourselves all determines evolutionary changes at a genetic level known as epigenetics.  This is the melting point between those who theorize that genetics are the cause and those who believe that the environment is the reason for this increased generation of autism and the like.  Epigenetics prove that it's both!

Our bodies evolve, they know how to heal, they WANT to heal.  The body is designed to eliminate toxins, but with the increase in toxins, the process isn't quite as simple as it once was and with these drastic changes comes something we refer to as "symptoms".  Symptoms...it's been drilled into our heads by doctors using medications that we don't want symptoms!!  Ick, a symptom?  Eliminate it!!  We don't like the changes we see, rightfully so, but does this mean it's all bad?

I'm not suggesting we should live with autism and autoimmune disease, not at all, in fact quite the contrary....if we can learn why we are seeing these things, perhaps we can find a more effective way of working with the body to heal.  It's easier to paddle with the current, isn't it?  I'm not getting anywhere by paddling against it, are you?

Let me give you a more specific example, one that most likely hits home for most of my readers.

I learned a little bit about the symbiotic relationship between bacteria and yeast long ago, in fact you will find this information in blog entries I have written in the past...how yeast flares to control bacterial overgrowth.  The body has created this balance for a very good reason.  The role of yeast in our body is to elevate in an attempt to manage the bacterial overgrowth. You will notice that, if you try to fight yeast without balancing the bacterial load, you experience the "symptoms" of a bacterial flare. Anyone who has even dealt with the fragile clostridia and yeast balance knows this quite intimately, unfortunately.

Let's bring this full circle.  Why is the bacteria on the rise?  I recently saw a holistic doctor speak of the important role bacteria plays in our body. Bacteria  actually protects our cells from toxins, which explains and validates the association between heavy metals/toxins and pathogen overgrowth. There is a fine-tuned balance, a magical dance between the two.  Light bulb moment!!  The more toxins, the more bacteria there will be, as it tries to manage the toxins. As bacteria increases, so does yeast.  We have SO much still to learn.

Using this simple model of what could be going on with this generation opens my eyes to the many possibilities of healing.

As you dig deeper into any "symptom" you or your child is experiencing, think about the role this symptom may play and rather than trying to find a way to eliminate it, see if you can find a place where it strategically fits into the big picture.  I bet it has a purpose!  Then pose this question to yourself and others, how can you encourage the body to find an easier path to that same place?

Homeopathy is one of many energy healing modalities and while I do plan to write a more specific blog about energy healing in the future, I thought I would lay the groundwork for why we need to begin viewing illness and healing in this light first.  Homeopathy embraces the natural evolution of the body.  We must unlearn our deep rooted allopathic lessons in order to fully respect and trust the abilities homeopathy offers us.  

Homeopathy and Epigenetics

From the link above

"...it is possible that what we are exposed to in our lifetime can affect our genetic expression. This is already well-known in areas such as cancer research, where certain cancer-controlling genes may be activated by specific toxins for example. But not only that, once the epigenetic switch is flipped and the genetic expression is changed it can be passed on in this altered state for many generations, up to 40 in current animal research."

Many cultures have followed the lead of nature, with some retaining these worldly lessons, including current-day nomads.  "We" have chosen to tame nature, to suit our needs.  This comes with a price that we will only learn the consequences of in coming generations, and I believe what we are experiencing now is just the tip of the iceberg.

Resources

• http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/Epigenetic-Influences-and-Disease-895
• http://biology.about.com/od/evolution/a/aa110207a.htm

Stressing...

We ordered DNA microbiology stool tests for both boys and decided to stop their nutraceuticals Saturday night, after the noon dose, then test mid-day Sunday.  This would give us about 20-24 hours without anything.  Well, it's now Sunday night and Gavin went in his diaper twice during sleep (before waking this morning and again at nap time) so they weren't sample worthy because of the diaper chemicals and Grayson hasn't had to go yet!

I am worrying about the length of time they are going without their nutraceuticals, more for Grayson than Gavin, because of school tomorrow.  I will have to keep him home from school to do this for two reasons.  One is that they give him a dose of his nutraceuticals during school, following a doctor's note.  And the other reason is because I don't want to set him up for failure, if things come to a head during the day.  So far both are doing surprisingly well, but we have experienced the calm before the storm in the past when my husband didn't give them any of their nutraceuticals all weekend while I was away, to see how they would do.  They were great all weekend, things came to a head days later and it was an absolutely horrible time that I would rather not repeat.  It took much longer than a few days to get them back to where they were.  It caused us to have to skip rounds of chelation and my life was incredibly difficult having two going through it at the same time.

One thing I can be sure of is that they will have their nutraceuticals out of their systems for sure.  Mommy might not fair so well over the next couple of days or weeks though.  Wish us luck....

Monday morning update - I had to keep Grayson home from school.  I was hoping they would both go by now so I could get them back on their nutraceuticals and glyconutrients (I stopped those too, since they can effect microbiology).  STILL no BMs in this house, ugh!  I can't believe this, they have both always been SO regular, I could practically set a clock by them and now, the ONE time I need them to go, they don't, neither of them.  I am praying that yeast overgrowth isn't causing some sort of constipation.  That would be quite the double-edged sword!  This morning we have a lot of hyperactivity, aggravation, impatience, and outbursts.  Grayson is doing a little better than Gavin.  Gavin is back to yelling about everything, he can't communicate without screaming and explosive outbursts. 

**OH, as I am writing this, Grayson has to go, YEAY!!  Off to collect a sample, woooo hooo!

Monday evening update - I was finally able to collect a sample from Gavin at about 1:30 today, thank goodness, because all of his old symptoms were back full force: the yelling, explosive outbursts, defiance, crying a lot, red anal ring, and he even had dark circles under his eyes.  Then tonight after a shower, I noticed that the wet dog smell that had been gone, came back slightly. I am convinced now that this was related to pathogen overgrowth. 

I decided to give both boys just half of their usual nutraceutical dose instead of bombarding their body with too much die-off at once.  This proved to be a good idea, because now at 6:30 pm, they are both doing GREAT!  I feel like Grayson didn't even skip a beat with this whole thing, which proves that chelation is really helping him.  Gavin is also back to a fairly level mood again too.  I reintroduced their glyconutrients today too and with that comes the happy faces. For Gavin, the glyconutrients has reinstated lots of thorough speaking.  His speech has most definitely been effected by the glyconutrients!  If this break has proven anything to me, it's that one thing!

Another thing I was able to decipher from this is that the rash Gavin got after starting the glyconutrients is not an intolerance/allergic reaction, because while he was off of them, it didn't change at all.  It had already been slowly drying up before stopping the glyconutrients and it is still in that same condition even after two days without them.  In the past, removing the source of his eczema made almost immediate changes in the rashes, within 24 hours at minimum.  I am convinced that the glyconutrients triggered a detox of some sort, whether it be viral, bacterial, yeast related, or even heavy metal or some other toxin. 

So hopefully we are back to "normal" and in a few weeks we will know what was going on for both of them this weekend when the tests results are in.  I can't wait!!!

Just a few little tidbits on yeast and mercury in honor of stool testing
For those of us going through chelation, we know all too well that yeast is a common complication of mercury.  Our daily attempts to maintain yeast levels is just a management process in place until we can bring mercury levels down with chelation.  It isn't the fix.  For those who are treating yeast regularly and not doing chelation, it's just a bandaid.

These little snippits of information are from Andy Cutlers's book "Amalgam Illness"

• Intestinal overgrowth of yeast is common and often goes along with mercury poisoning.
• Intestinal yeast overgrowth can crowd out the bacteria that produce vitamin K, which is essential for blood clotting.
• Excessive yeast can also interfere with vitamin D metabolism in the liver and kidneys, affecting calcium metabolism.
• One very direct test for yeast infection is to administer Nystatin, which kills yeast and see if you react to it (I would recommend GSE which is a natural yeast killer).  If yeast is causing a problem, killing it will exacerbate this problem.  Whatever symptoms flare up when enough yeast are killed are due to the yeast.  If no symptom flareup occurs, then intestinal yeast is present at an appropriate level.
• A low sulfur diet may suppress yeast, a high sulfur diet will feed it as well as one high in sugars and carbohydrates.
• Coffee is a sulfur food, tea has yeast killing tannin.  If you have a yeast problem, take your liquid stimulant in the form of strong black tea instead of coffee.
• Repeated reappearance of skin dryness, hyperkeratosis or other irritation over areas where mercury containing antiseptics have been applied in the previous few years is not uncommon and should not be confused with yeast or fungal reinfection.