If you want an alternative perspective on contemporary health, nutrition and fitness, we are here. The Funalt III Group is a coalition of professionals, enthusiasts and students in health, fitness/athletics, economics and marketing. Our health and fitness professionals are quite seasoned, but with a critical eye for and upon the contemporary.. As relevant or easily accessible newspapers, magazines, journals are disappearing with each passing moment,  we hope that electronic sources such as ours more than offset their passage. We will merge  information from numerous sources that you might not find nearly as efficiently. Moreover, we will translate difficult medical and other literature, commercial materials and media reports into meaningful messages that you can use. We will recommend products and services at times, just as we will deter you from others the our marketplace and FDA wrongfully allow. We are pleased that you find our topics interesting and look forward to your continued readership. Moreover, if you have a health issue, product or service question, contact us.

Sincerely,

The Funalt III Group

Subscribe in a reader

Chinese Medicine, classical and traditional involves a range practices originating in eastern Asia. Although well accepted throughout China and many other parts of the world, it is considered an alternative medicine. (follow link for more . . .)

Contemporary western health care recognizes the association between tinnitus, experiencing a ringing sound in the ears, and overuse of aspirin. More recent studies suggest that regular use of common pain relievers (acetaminophen, NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and aspirin) also increase the risk of experiencing hearing loss. The data does not point to the mechanism, just the association. Look at our other posts regarding alternative pain treatment strategies. However, to the extent that you use these types of products, use them cautiously and with consideration.

Some of us have the misperception that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is there to protect us (the people) and the environments in which we live. However, governmental organizations such as this are constantly compromising in favor of economic forces. The Swiss herbicide, Atrazine, is applied to an estimated seventy-five percent of cornfields in the US.

In spite of mounting data suggesting adverse affects on male wildlife, the EPA has defended its application for the past five years. Potomac River male fish and frogs have been demonstrated to become feminized, that latter even functioning sexually as females. Moreover, recent studies have demonstrated development of female characteristics in birds, rats, fish and frogs.

The EPA is finally starting to acknowledge work by researchers in the US, most recently from a team led by Dr. Tyrone Hayes at UC Berkeley, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Meanwhile, to protect your developing male children and your adult virility, consider the risk associated with consuming non-organic corn. The EPA sure isn’t watching out for you.

There of a number of alternative health practitioners who would suggest that if you are exposed to water soluble toxins, you should be able to extrude these toxins from your body via perspiration. The logic might be reasonable if the toxin is not already absorbed into your body in another cellular structure, thereby still in general circulation.

Toxins in our circulation will be most efficiently and effectively be addressed by our liver enzymes and our urinary system. For water soluble toxins to be substantially addressed by perspiration they would have to persist at very high circulatory volumes in the presence liver and kidneys that are not working very inefficiently. It would then be highly likely that you would be experiencing other symptoms related to their circulatory concentration and subsequent effects on other organs. It is unreasonable to attempt to “detoxify” your body by sweating.

As such, what are you doing in a moist sauna, steam room or sweat lodge? In the case of sore superficial muscles, you may be increasing circulation to these muscles, nourishing, oxygenating and relaxing them. In the case of an upper respiratory condition that is acutely or chronically producing bothersome pulmonary or sinus mucous, you may be loosening the congestion. In the case of small vessel narrowing in your hands and feet, you may be helping with vasodilatation, improving your peripheral circulation.

Not everyone is physically fit enough for prolonged exposure in these environments. Additionally, not all of these environments are readily adjustable to set temperatures that would be tolerable for the most sensitive. Uncontrolled heat exposure in inadequately monitored settings may result in unanticipated dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and death.

That said, if you still believe that you can detoxify yourself via perspiration, put on a comfortable work out attire and exercise; shape up and clean yourself out.

Defensive practice strategies have resulted in far too much medical testing in general. Routine pap smears and mammograms have all but disappeared.Now men are asking, “Can you get your attorney’s finger out of my anus?”

The American Cancer Society has not recommended routine prostate screening since the mid 1990’s. Moreover, they have recently questioned the merits of PSA testing in the absence of identified disease. It is not that prostate cancer has disappeared. However, there is a recognition that the greatest increased risk is amongst those with recurrent inflammation and infection of tissues in the vicinity of the prostate; itself a multifaceted topic of discussion.

The American Urological Association and the American Cancer Society continue to dance around the merits of digital rectal examinations and PSA testing, relative to age of inception, subsequent frequency and who is most in need of testing. So doctors, pause when your patient states “Testing is invasive, I’m not going to sue if we miss something, and have you seen the size of that guy’s hand?”

Contemporary health, fitness and care should be consistent with contemporary knowledge.

Whether you want to reduce back stress or fatigue or stimulate your blood circulation, an inversion table makes a great household accessory. An inversion table contributes to your body’s overall health via lumbar traction, relieving pressure . . . . . (follow link for complete article)

Overuse of antibiotics leads to development of resistant strains of bacteria and an increased diversity of infections in the general population. Even though our immune systems are generally very effective at fighting off infection, prudent holistic remedies and home supplementation can help fight common infections, naturally.

1. Nasal Sinusitis (stuffy, runny, sneezing nose) - mix table salt and baking soda (1/2 teaspoon each) into approximately 5 ounces of boiled water. Allow the solution to cool to room temperature. Irrigate nasal passages alternately via small squirt bottle, twice daily.

2. Sore Throat - Mix 3 drops of “bitter orange” with salt water and gargle three times a day.

3. Cough - (a) 10 drops of liquid Allicin placed into a home nebulizer, twice daily, during the course of your recovery. Or (b) lungwort tincture, the dose dependent upon the product concentration (see bottle), used 2 - 3 times per day for three days. Or (c) Reishi, 3,000 mg, three times per day during the course of your recovery.

4. Conjunctivitis (pink eye) - most commonly viral in origin, try warm moist compresses made with Chamomille tea, applied for 15 minutes, three times per day.

5. Urinary tract inflammation - drink eight ounces of an acidic juice (e.g., cranberry, lemon, lime) twice daily.

Help your immune system fight common infections, naturally.

Everyone is looking for the natural fountains of youth. Antioxidants are the free radical fighters that help get the job done for you. The following are your top five antioxidant sources.

1. Popcorn (just take it easy on the butter and salt)
2. Red beans
3. Blueberries
4. Pinto beans
5. Cranberries

Live long and prosper.

In America, opium was sold legally and conveniently and at low prices throughout the nineteenth century. Morphine came into common use during the Civil War for management of pain, heroin toward the end of the century. These opiates and countless pharmaceutical preparations of similar products were as freely accessible as our numerous over the counter products today. Five regular portals of legal distribution included:
• Physicians.
• Drugstores that provided products with and without prescriptions.
• Grocery and general stores stocked and sold opiates.
• Opiates that could be ordered by mail.
• Opium and morphine as common ingredients in hundreds of proprietary medicines and other products.
Most of the opium consumed in the United States during the nineteenth century was legally imported. Morphine was legally manufactured here from the imported opium and opium poppies were also legally grown within the United States.
Alternative herbs and medicines for pain care often face tremendous community opposition. Some would say rightfully so, because we now know better and do better by our population. But, if such were true we would make cigarettes and liquor illegal given all of the injury and disease associated with these products.
Effective and appropriate alternative pain management is a matter of perspective.

Spinal Inversion-traction for Pain Relief. by Dean

Do you think hanging upside down to relieve back pain is unusual, or a new-age approach? Reconsider your perceptions. Inversion probably goes back to the dawn of documented human medical care.

19 elements of your foot and back pain treatment plan. by Douglas

A patient presents for pain management. This is the initial visit.

Alternative pain management pathways. by Douglas

You are aware that there are various means to address low back pain. As alternatives may differ substantially,  . . . . .

Work-related low back pain and alternative treatment. by Douglas

You hurt your back at work and are not sure what to do. If your symptoms are not localized or are incapacitating regarding your ability to work, what will you do?

Cure my low back pain by nailing it back together? by Douglas

You present to your primary care physician in the following manner.  Chief complaint - low back pain.

Cure your low back pain. It is all in your mind. by Douglas

While causes of back pain may not be all in the mind, experiencing the symptoms is all in the mind. That is to say, in the absence of a neural connection between that which you are experiencing in your back and signals transmitted to your brain, there would be no pain (i.e., if a tree fell in the woods all alone, did it make noise?).

Alternative Pain Management | Cure your pain. by Douglas

People present to clinicians every day with the objective of management. Presuming the validity of the pain, consider the following treatment options.