Many people diagnosed with so called als, or motor neuron disease, get the impression that there is not much they can do about it other than hope someone somewhere finds a medical cure or treatment. That impression is utterly incorrect. The cascading neurodegeneration generally called als is just poor nerve health and is always caused by things that can be changed.
While it can take some learning and work for a person diagnosed with als to get healthier, logic dictates that if you do things to improve your health, your health will be better than it would have been. Do a little, and your health will be a little better. Do a lot, and your health will be much better.
I have seen this in case after the case, with people who do anything to make their lives healthier generally seeing some kind of results.
Knowledge is power and is also the cure for als. So here are some steps a person diagnosed with als can take to start to change what is going on and heal.
1. Reduce triggers.
The neurodegeneration aspect of als can in a way be seen as a trigger response cycle, meaning that something triggers neurons’ freaking out and nerves’ degenerating. What this means is that one thing you can do to get that to happen way less or basically not at all is reduce the triggers.
Things that trigger neuron freak out include pesticides, heavy metals, often from mercury amalgam tooth fillings, lawn chemicals, chemicals in detergent and household cleaners, chemicals in shampoo, chemicals in body wash and deodorant, vaccines, sugar, chemicals in processed meats, monosodium glutamate or msg, artificial flavors and colors in food, paint fumes, spinal anesthesia, certain medications and myriad other things. Basically anything that you suspect may be hard on your system in some way is likely to somehow get your neurons to freak out.
So reducing triggers means reducing your exposure to or ingestion of these things, by having metal fillings replaced, one or two at a time maybe, with ceramic ones, by eating organically or no spray raised food, by using soaps and detergents that are made with natural ingredients or have no dyes or fragrances added, by refraining from using body washes and minimizing or refraining from the use of deodorant, and basically by using some common sense, and maybe some advice from people at your local natural market, to significantly change how you have been living.
2. Learn to keep your internal cool and be fearless.
Much of what drives nerves to break down is emotional stress and fear. So learning to keep your emotional cool can do much to solve als and keep you healthy.
This is not just about keeping your cool externally either. You need to learn to really keep your cool internally. A calm person has calm nerves and calm nerves will tend to be healthy nerves.
One way to learn to do this is by learning about and practicing mindfulness meditation, through which one can achieve many things including reducing nerve damaging inflammation. You can learn all about mindfulness meditation and its effects by doing an internet search. You may also be able to find people locally who can help you learn how to do it.
3. Learn about people who are succeeding In solving health problems diagnosed as als.
There is much misinformation about this type of health problem and much of it centers on the idea that it is somehow unsolvable with current knowledge. While this is utterly incorrect and you may be aware that it is incorrect, you, and others around you, are being bombarded with misinformation, and that can affect your conscious or unconscious outlook.
So by reading about or watching videos about or talking with people who are solving the problem, you can make sure you are getting the right messages, not to mention ideas on what to do to solve the problem and heal.
Once way you can find information on people who are solving als is by clicking here to get to an ALS Solved Stories blog post.
4. Get some rest and fresh air.
Much of what underlies neurodegeneration involves stress and strain and overwork. It is amazing how many people I talk with who are diagnosed with als and are still running around like chickens with their heads cut off, working non stop, endlessly running errands, even having their houses redone.
I tell you what, I have also talked with plenty who say how much better and more energetic they feel after a good night’s sleep.
So chill out, take a deep breath, take some time to smell the flowers and don’t be so worried about having a great dinner menu and a new floor when your relatives come for the weekend.
5. Learn to be patient and non judgmental.
Want to be sick? Here’s a sure way. Stress over everything, get worked up all the time, be impatient and judgmental, and freak out over things people do.
Guess what. People who are judgmental about what others do are also judgmental when it comes to themselves, and this can even be exacerbated by the difficulties related to nerve health problems. This is turn can make the nerve health problems even worse.
Want to be healthy? Chill out and be accepting, calm and patient.
6. Improve your diet.
You know all that stuff you kinda realize is not so good for you, things like diet soda, orange corn and cheese snacks, fast food, cheap sugary candy, bacon, energy drinks, that fourth cup of coffee, sugary cereal and things like that? Well you’re right. It’s not.
So if you are eating that stuff, it’s time to change by substituting it with healthier things like clean water, organic apple slices, bananas, juice, tree nuts, healthier meals, olive oil and other things which you kinda realize are much better for you.
I realize you may have heard that people so called diagnosed with als are better off eating a high calorie diet. Fine. That does not have to be an unhealthy Oreos, bacon and ice cream diet. Nuts have plenty of calories and actually have other benefits for nerves. Fruit, including avocados, and other foods can have many calories and be packed with nutrition. So you can easily go for both high calorie and healthy.
7. Communicate and resolve issues.
I sometimes call als the disease of disconnection and escape. Even Lou Gehrig was known to give his wife the silent treatment and refuse to communicate for long periods of time.
Of course, doing this kind of thing can actually make things more stressful, and that in turn is bad for nerve health.
Also, unresolved issues can be sources of stress and other problems.
So, key to being healthy is communicating and resolving issues, with people around you, with people who are working with you to help you heal, with relatives, friends, neighbors, you name it.
Communicate and resolve.
So there’s a list to start with, and by doing these things and by learning and doing other healing things, you can heal yourself and your life.
Healing Chronicles 