Class Notes from Lesson 7-12 Constitutional

 Lesson 7-12: Respiratory 1

Just ramblings about American diet, public health, etc. Big surprise, MM liked socialized medicine. Considering that medical error and over prescription of drugs is the main cause of death in the US... well, maybe we ought to just avoid doctors and try to be as healthy as we can using herbs and good diet? Yeah, novel concept, I know. It does bug me when people still repeat the Upton Sinclair myth that we needed government agencies to clean up all those nasty food processors and the journalists were the heroes that showed us that. No. The Jungle was fiction. Sinclair never said otherwise. He was an admitted communist, whose stated goal was to unionize food production. He said that his book was a failure - he "aimed for America's heart but hit it in the stomach". (paraphrased). Instead of unions, we got government agencies that outlawed unpasteurized milk, created the food pyramid and a diabetes epidemic, promoted margarine, purposefully shut down small farms and mom and pop producers, "better living through science" and gave us those very fast food and processed meals that MM began talking about, explaining how and why they damage our health. Once again, politics derails linear thought. If A+B=C... and C is a huge problem killing everyone... maybe we need less A as opposed to more? As the old saying goes, "If you think you can trust the government, ask any Indian." or "The scariest words in the English language are, 'We are from the government and we are here to help.'" But what do I know? People get all angry about this stuff.... "The Jungle is true because I was taught it in public school and therefore it must be true!!!!!!" ... never mind, that our ancestors ate better food and were healthier before the FDA and USDA, without modern medicine than we are now.... which is why we study things like medicinal herbs and growing our own food in the first place. Taking my cynical Gen-X hat of now...

So, you can skip the first 18 minutes and get to where he talks about the respiratory system.

You breathe. The lungs expand and contract under the actions of the diaphragm. Diaphragm pushes up and down. Intercostal and abdominal muscles. You can consciously control you breathing while awake. The main volume of air stays static and warm, never leaving the lungs. If you could breathe all your air out, you would loose the phospholipid layer and die. Oxygen from fresh air is diffused into alveoli. Breath intake capacity increases under stress. Bronchi expand or contract based on carbon dioxide in the blood and balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic. Sympathetic dilates bronchi, and risks drying out mucosae. Breathing through sinuses helps prevent drying. The blood pumped in from the heart is venous blood, blood pumped out of lungs is arterial. Lungs re-oxygenize the blood. Controlled to maintain balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide and acid/alkaline. Waste caused the blood to become acidic and can kill you. The kidneys and lungs keep blood alkaline. Liver turns waste into amino acids. PH balance maintained by exhalation, urination and perspiration. Sinuses clean and moisten air. Larynx, trachea and bronchi are all lines with mucus. Mucus all flows outward. Flow is aided by movement of air and cilia. Macrophages line the deep parts of the lungs to clean up junk. Lungs expands and contract with air. Gas exchange occurs in grape or bubble like structures. Emphysema lessens the number of these.

Breathing deeply is not always a good thing, because it can dry the lungs and get particles and junk inside. Obvious Moody Blues reference. I've never seen anyone who listened to "Knights in White Satin", who did not unconsciously breath deeply. People are funny.

Wild cherry bark good for pulmonary hypertension, so is mullein flower/spike tincture. Pleurisy root helps move fluid.

Respiratory deficiency symptoms: Frequent lung problems, Shortness of breath, Dry membranes with poor expectoration. Frequent yawning. Noticeably labile respiration - breathing becomes tight and stressed. Respiratory deficient people often smoke tobacco to stimulate lungs, and suffer more negative effects.

Herbs that stimulate may induce an increase in cardio-pulmonary function or counter balance adrenaline stress by increasing parasympathetic function. Others increase secretion's of mucus, activity of cilia or excite lymph.

Excess: Easy coughing of mucus, hyperventilation.

Deficiency: Shortness of breath while standing or walking, Sometimes tobacco smoking. Difficulty swallowing mucus. Dry mucus in mouth and sinus. Rapid, shallow breathing. Sometimes awake gasping for breath. Sleep apnea due to weight. Yawns frequently. Frequent chest colds.

RESPIRATORY DEFICIENCY. Aconitum (cured Chinese), Copaiba, Eriodictyon, Guaiacum, Stillingia.

PARASYMPATHETIC STIMULANT: Anemone, Asclepias (all), Lobelia, Polygala, Sanguinaria.

SECRETORY STIMULANT: Aralia racemosa, Asclepias (all), Drosera, Ligusticum porteri, Polygala, Sanguinaria

RESPIRATORY EXCESS. FUNCTIONAL COOLER: Equisetum, Glycyrrhiza, Grindelia, Prunus, Verbascum.

THYROID COOLER: Leonurus, Lycopus

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/