OHA Journal Winter Issue ‘90

“The phenomena of Nature is manifested everywhere by an endless series of changes. Every atom of matter is in motion; nothing is still; yet through this eternal activity, there is law, order and harmony. All bodies are constantly absorbing and giving us radiant energy, constantly exchanging their ions for some other ions to form different substances, molecules or compound bodies. They are brought about by their different chemical affinities which by… investigation has been found to be electrical… ”
Advanced Treatise on Herbology, Dr. Edward Shook M.D.

Although fifty years have passed since Dr. Shook wrote those words, they stand as a testament to his keen and insightful understanding of the chemistry of health, disease and plant medicines.

Recent works by the Swedish radiologist, Dr. Bjorn Nordstrom, and Dr. Michael Becker confirm the bioelectrical nature of the body. Science has recently pointed out the marked preference of Nature for the levo-rotary or left-handed design in organized matter. The exception to this is the fact that sugars, by and large, are of the dextro-rotary or right-handedness in electrical movement. Could it be that the (initial) attraction between protein matter (e.g. amino acids) and sugars is aided and abetted by their mutual, but opposite rotation? Does this not help explain how at the very heart of matter - the DNA/RNA strands - the deoxyribonucleic acids bind in an orderly fashion from the ribose sugars and the protein bases of adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine?

All of creation is, as described by Dr. Shook, orderly, harmonious and subject to natural law(s). The human body, complex as it is in its operation and bio-electrical nature, derives and sustains its continuity from the correct intake of necessary nutrients: minerals, elements, etc., from which its various compounds are made. This inherent disposition of the body and its associated viscera is towards that of continual resolution of matter that confronts it at any given moment, whether it be food in the stomach, stress, excessive/deficient chemical substances, ratios of elements, minerals etc. The drive is either anabolic (building up) or catabolic (breaking down). The difference in drive depends on the decision of the vital force to use the substance for continued growth or to reject is as unsuitable and expel it from the body. In order to deal with the visceral response, sufficient supplies of certain minerals, elements and compounds are needed to unite with the metabolites of dissolution and carry them out of the system, or to act as builders and ‘bridges’ in the formation of much larger or complex structures (bones, organs, enzymes, etc). Both processes which underlie health and wellness, as well as disease, exact from the body a depletion of innate stores or reserves of bio-chemical substances. We must continually eat to replenish this supply and thus maintain the ability to respond to the demands placed upon us by life.

If we take a closer look at the process of disease, we find that, for example, an invading organism will irritate local tissue. The response of the affected area ranges from constriction of said tissue and secretion of mucous matter to envelope the offending matter, to increased production of T-cell and B-cells to disarm the pathogen. All of this will start to deplete the reserves of constituents that combine to produce these compounds. Should this matter go unresolved, for whatever reason, a low grade infection (systemic or local) can be produced with the result that the continued attempts to overcome this affront draw even more upon innate supplies of nutrients. At some point, the vital force in the body will initiate the transmutation of one element into the (necessary) other that is experiencing excessive loss - i.e. Sodium, needed to dissipate the ’heat’ generated by local irritation of tissue. This may well come from any organ/tissue that contains Potassium in abundant quantity. The irritation itself produces constriction requiring more Calcium and Magnesium Phosphate(s) to help relax this spasm.

The secretion of enzymes to break down unwanted matter, should the initial irritation produce an encapsulation of the irritant, all require a drain on the body’s delicate balance of necessary elements and minerals. When the condition becomes chronic in nature, the local tissues affected suffer a loss of integrity. They become congested with circulating waste matter left over from cellular metabolism. Intra-cellular transport mechanisms, dependent on the balance of Sodium outside the cell and Potassium inside the cell, suffer accordingly, especially if Calcium, which mediates this process, is in short supply. Degeneration can and usually sets in; with this resultant decay, noxious gasses and other poisons are produced. Hydrogen is given off, changing the acid/alkaline ratio, which in turn triggers other degenerative changes.

In order to deal with this end result, again mineral supplies are needed to neutralize the poisonous acids that are produced; perhaps more Oxygen is needed to bum off waste matter, etc. By now, it is apparent that to reverse this gradual deterioration, substances are needed that are able to dissolve encrustations of matter, restore tone to the tissues, rebuild the functional integrity of the cells and dispose matter that started this process in the first place. Either in specific herbs, or more likely, specific herbal formulations, we find an array of agents most conveniently and synergistically combined to reverse the degenerative changes. In addition to a particular alkaloid or glycoside, which itself is case specific, i.e. antibiotic, antispasmodic, an astringent such as tannic or egallic acid could be used to. This acid restores tone to the tissue or even coagulates the protein in viral structures, structural components such as the mucopolysacharrides (hyalauronic acid etc) to rebuild tissue. Mineral salts are also necessary for the correct functioning of different organs, glands and tissue. These mineral salts include the previously-mentioned salts of Calcium and Magnesium. The Chlorides of Calcium and Potassium feed the heart muscle and dissolve fibrin respectively. Chlorides of Sodium Phosphate split acid molecules. Chlorides of Iron Phosphate are found in blood plasma. Chlorides of Calcium Phosphate are necessary to dissolve and break up matter deposited in the interstices of tissue, etc. All of these compounds are found in abundance in seaweeds such as Bladderwrack and Irish Moss.

The beauty of their design does not stop there. Even the green chlorophyll found in plants is structurally very close to that of blood and is easily changed into same. Essential oils will purify the tissues of various pathogens and add stimulus to discharge all useless and unnecessary matter. Small amounts of vitamins and trace minerals abound, adding to the re-nourishment of the tissues. The Iron in the previously- mentioned plants will help attract Oxygen to burn off toxins and revitalize the blood and different structures. Thus it becomes apparent how plants are incredibly well designed and suited to the disease process itself. It is exactly because of their total composition, their bioelectrical format, i.e. levo-¬rotary vs. dextro-rotary (synthetic drugs), and their ratio of the individual constituents that only herbs and proper foods are able to achieve regeneration of the body.

Those who suffer from stress, for example, are not deficient in the various diazepam compounds, or Valium, but need some of the B vitamins and mineral salts. I would recommend also the normalizing effects of the choline and valepotriates found in Valerian Root, or perhaps the anti-spasmodic glycosides and oils found in Blue Vervain, Catnip and St. John’s Wort. Perhaps, in the larger perspective, they simply need a balance of the eighteen minerals and elements found in the human body, so that a deficiency in one can be supplied by the other ‘sister’ element.

The foundation of true health and well-being resides not in linear thinking that associates one drug with one type of pathogen, but is found in the realization that health itself is the result of the converging of a number of different factors. One’s personal medicine therefore is not linear or singular in composition. As there are a number of different factors associated with the disease process, so too there needs to be supplied any number of synergistic compounds - the whole (inclusion) of which is always greater than the effects of any one (at a time) part. Of course there may be a need for an antibiotic; but what about the underlying bio-chemical scenario? The treatment of this scenario should equally be the object of our focus. Only when we begin to acknowledge and address the multiplicity of factors involved, can we then do justice to those who come to us for a correction of their condition.