Plague of Disinfectants

Plague of Disinfectants

A good example of this is exercise. We can consciously choose to add physical activities to our life with the resulting better health, more energy, longer life, and easier choices in our life (we have more options to resolve the other challenges we face), or we can choose comfort (at least for a little while) and then face the challenges of poor health, lack of energy, feelings of helplessness, and depression. In that case it is certainly better to challenge ourself in small ways (getting exercise when we can) than to face the challenges which result from our lack of fitness.

Of course I see this extending far beyond the example of exercise. However, there are some guidelines in adding exercise to our life that should be considered when adding other challenges to our lives. In exercise it is important to take things slow, not over do. While you need to provide challenges to your body for it to thrive and be healthy, it is important to not stress it beyond its limit and also provide full opportunity for your body to recover. Continued stress without time to recuperate can lead to serious injuries. So when exercising it is important to always be aware of the subtle pains which means you are adequately stressing your body and to then give time for your body to recuperate. It is my experience that it really is true that there needs to be pain to get stronger (no pain, no gain), but it is best to avoid anything beyond very mild pain. I have found that over time I learn to recognize the level of pain that is healthy, stressing my body without overdoing, and that that level of pain comes with a certain level of pleasure as I know that I am getting stronger.

In exercise, it is good to choose those exercises which will be most useful in our life. In our life there will be requirements we face liking get from place to place and carrying things that we need. Our life is most improved if we can walk moderate distances without being stressed, carry things like bags of groceries and luggage, and go up and down stairs as needed. Exercise which promotes easy negotiating of those daily challenges is best. It is unlikely that we will all become marathon runners, nor is it necessary, but being able to accomplish our daily goals with ease is of great benefit.

Just as our bodies thrive with the right level of challenges, we also thrive with the right level of challenges. We should be constantly getting out of our comfort zone in order to get stronger at skills other than strict physical strength. However, too often I see people (myself included) who let our comfort zones be a trap that constrains us and prevents us from leading full and satisfying lives. Of course it is far easier for me to see when other are being trapped by their comfort zones than when I am being trapped myself.

Immune System

Arthritis is a good example of the immune system gone astray. There are an incredible variety of antibodies which can be produced by our bodies; antibodies are like 'wanted posters' for particular markers or proteins. Those 'wanted posters' are circulated with the blood and if they find a matching marker or protein, the 'suspect' (or cell or bacteria with the marker) is brought back to the police station (or lymph nodes) for further consideration. If the lymph node believes that there is no active threat (enzymes indicate good health for nearby tissues) then the wanted posters (or antibodies and suspect, too) are destroyed. If, however, there have been enough reports of alarm (enzymes indicatie a threat to nearby tissues), then numerous copies are made of the wanted poster (or antibodies) and the immune system starts seeking out those markers or proteins all the more actively.

This process is quite unstable in that your body can come to recognize human and foreign proteins as harmless from a low level of encounter during times of good health or your body can become increasingly reactive to those same proteins if they are encountered during times of distress (which they can create themselves). The remarkable ability of our immune systems to adapt a virtually unlimited range of threats also leads to a very high degree of instability where it can react with great precision and also go completely wrong, attacking harmless and even beneficial entities.

With arthritis, the specialized cells in your joints for cushioning or lubrication are attacked as if they were infections with disastrous results. A common scenario would be that due to over use or just aging, the joints are overwhelmed with the result that cells of your body are killed by the lack of cushioning or lubrication. Now, anytime a cell of your body is killed, its contents are released into the blood with numerous enzymes which indicate alarm to the immune system (and lymph nodes in particular). In contrast, if a cell of your body dies of natural causes (or commits suicide as it was intended to do), those enzymes are metabolized or contained in the waste which the body collects and excretes and no alarm is raised.

The problem with arthritis is that having injured joints can cause the immune system to start looking for suspicious proteins in the vicinity and your joints have numerous specialized cells (with specialized proteins) to be considered as suspects. If your body concludes that those cushioning or lubricating cells are infectious agents, it will start attacking those cells. A problem which began with a lack of those specialized cells will be aggravated by even less of those cells (as they are targeted by the immune system). That will result in more cells dying in the harsh joint environment with even less cushioning and lubrication and your body will think the infection is spreading and heighten its attack on those specialized cells which provide the cushioning and lubrication.

Arthritis is problematic with no simple solution; it is the epitome of the immune system gone wrong. However, with many other cases of the immune system gone wrong, as in most allergic reactions, there is a lot we can do to ameliorate the risks.

In most developed countries there is a distinct lack of infectious agents which is generally a good thing. However, our immune systems keep looking for infectious agents to target even when there aren't any. In that regard, the routine use of disiinfectants in our environment can be harmful. Many of us have seen the news reports which show how prevalent bacteria is in our environment, on money, doorknobs, keyboards, public phones, etc.. What is never considered is whether those bacteria are harmful or benign. They rely on a knee jerk reaction that all bacteria are bad, Yuck! Now while it is certainly not good to be exposed to cholera, antrax, malaria, small pox, and similar ilk, it is probably good to exposed to relatively benign bacteria, perhaps even those which mildly upset you (e.g. mild food poisoning which gives you an upset tummy). Those exposures can be helpful in training your immune system as to what real threats are and also, conversely, helping your body recognize what is benign (less superfluous allergic reactions).

Indeed, it has been shown that kids who are raised in particularly hygenic environments (no pets, lots of disinfectants) are much more likely to develop asthma and allergies. Those ads to sell disinfectants are particularly bothersome to me. They play on our hysteria about normal and relatively benign bacteria (just dramatizing the presence of bacteria without any information about the degree of harm or lack thereof which they represent). Further, by portraying our normal environment as threatening that can not but increase the chances that our body will try to find some element to react to (a sort of reverse placebo effect), which certainly could be extraneous allergic reactions.

The unstable nature of our immune system makes it all the more responsive to our desires and expectations (the placebo effect and the reverse negative effects). I try to see my environment as healthy and beneficial with everything around me as my friend. When I have a minor scratch or abrasion, I do not generally do anything, but rely on my body to fight infections. I also visualize my body fighting any infections, enhancing my immune system with positive visualizations or prayers. Of course for more serious cuts or particularly dirty environments (rusty nails and such) I rely on disinfectants and antibiotic creams and, in any case, I watch for infections which don't heal naturally within a few days. While I rely on my body to do what it can to fight infections I am certainly willing to provide assistance when necessary using disinfectants and antibiotics when appropriate. I also view these exposures to real but relatively benign threats as opportunties to exercise my immune system, helping it learn to react to real threats and, hopefully, less likely to react to benign and even beneficial entities.

I happen to be blessed with very few allergies. However, I also don't let my relatively minor allergies dictate my life. Rather than avoiding any exposure to allergens, I try to control my exposure to allergens, helping my body learn what is benign, increasing my tolerance of these allergens. It is my belief and experience that with prayer (or positive visualizations) and cautious controlled exposure to allergens a person can retrain their immune system to react strongly to real threats while tolerating benign allergens. As a child I had a definite allergic reaction to cat dander. As a result I have generally voided volunrarily contact with cats, but, of course, have had exposure to cat dander none the less. Further, over the years my reaction to cat dander has reached the point where I have almost no reaction at all, though. Further, I have observed that I no longer get the classical itching bump reaction to mosquito bites though I never thought to reduce the allergic reaction most people get to mosquitos.

Food Allergies

I suspect one of the reasons that I don't have food allergies is that I generally only eat when I am hungry (and often quite hungry as I do what I need to do to maintain my weight). I also try to really appreciate the food that I eat, pausing before each bite to really taste it and enjoy it. Of course being really hungry also helps so that the relatively simple foods that I eat taste absolutely divine. I also try, when possible, to not eat when I am under stress and don't really have the time to appreciate my food. I believe these factors contribute to my lack of food allergies. If you are welcoming the food as a blessing and have a very real need for the food, your immune system is most unlikely to mistakenly identify the food as a threat but will instead learn to tolerate it as beneficial.

As with most allergies, my own inclination is to retrain my immune system to provide me with greater freedom and more choices in the future through facing challenges as I am able. Food allergies are probably an ideal case for this as it is possible to identify and control the sources of potential allergens. The key to reducing and even eliminating allergic reactions is to insure that the level of exposure is so minor that your immune system does not reach alarm levels (recognizing the presence of a threat) so that the antibodies for the potential allergens are eliminated, the potential allergens are treated as benign. Over time higher levels of desired food can be introduced to further eliminate ever more of the antiboides. Of course this should be accompanied with strong positive visualizations or prayers that your body and immune system learn to accept the blessing that this food is (which is much easier if you are quite hungry). The advantage of facing these challenges is that if provides you with more freedom with more choices as well as developing a closer harmony with your body and your environment. You can honestly appreciate your environment as healthy and friendly, not threatening and harmful, and this can only make your life sweeter.

It is important to recognize that many people confuse allergic reactions with the natural effect of certain foods. A good example is milk which has natural enzymes to activate the mucous membranes thereby aiding the digestion of the milk by calves. However, adult humans don't need these same enzymes and the activated mucusos membranes can cause problems, nasal congestion (which can cause headaches), phlegm in the throat and such. These effects are not reactions of the immune system and so they are not allergic reactions. Further, your reaction to these enzymes is heavily dictated genetically (all people react to these same enzymes) and can not be easily retrained as with the immune system. With reactions to enzymes it is possible to desensitize ourself to the enzyme, but the there are definite limits to desensitization and the effects are not lasting.

It might be useful, for eaxmple, to desensitize myself to the effects of caffeine as caffeine is so ever present in our culture, but that can only be done through regular exposure (presumably under circumstances which are not problematic, such as a cup of coffee each morning) and the desensitization only really lasts as long as we continue exposure. However, with both enzymes and allergic reactions, the effect of positive visualizations and prayer should not be discounted. Numerous studies have demonstrated through the placebo effect that we have great control over our own bodies and it is best if we learn to harness this control for good effect.

Rather than viewing ourselves as helpless victims in a threatening environment, it is important to consciously face the challenges which would otherwise limit us and overcome those challenges in a regular and controlled manner. Not only does this give us more choices and freedom, it also increases our self confidence and helps us view our environment as friendly and beneficial. This is the foundation on which we can build a truly sweet life.

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This page was last updated on October 8, 2008.