IMPACT of WILDFIRE SMOKE on OUR HEALTH!
Look around us, a “clear” vision of our future is not sure anymore these days. Ash, smoke, toxic air, anxiety, fear, and an increase of diseases in people, companion animals and wildlife seems to be rampant when wildfire season is in full swing.
Sad wise it is not letting up but getting worse every year with the impact of climate change.
As soon as our primal brain register smoke, the limbic system gets triggered (“Red Alert”), and this send messages to our vascular and lymphatic system to get ready to escape. “Red Alert” is a psychological situation in the brain (sympathetic “overdrive”) what has consequences on a physical level in the body as it “clamps down” to protect itself from damage (Mind/Body connection). The lymphatic and vascular system gets impaired and does not flow as freely as before. All these physiological and psychological changes in the body effects the fluid dynamics efficiency.
But are the effects on our health bigger than we think? The ticket to “longevity” is healthy and vibrant lungs, and we are losing rapidly that important quality. If we take a closer look at our fluid systems in our body and focusing on the impact of smoke on the lymph flow in the lungs, it might explain what we see around us happening.
What is happening to fluid systems in the body?
If we simplify the blood and lymph flow in the body, it might be easier to understand this complicated process. For instance, if the heart pumps out the blood and when it returns to the heart, there is approximately 10% loss of fluids in the system. The lymph vessel system, starting in the interstitial areas, will return this loss through pre-capillaries to capillaries, to bigger vessels back to the right side of the heart. Three quarter of the lymph flow will return into the left shoulder through the Thoracic Duct into the subclavian vein, and one quarter of the lymph flow through the Terminal Duct into the right subclavian in the shoulder then into the heart. If we, imaging that every lymph node in this system is a “recycle” can, the good material of the lymph fluid goes back in the body, and the toxicity gets pumped slowly, more concentrated after every time it passes a lymph node, into the heart.
Lungs, Lymph and Longevity!
Now, what makes this amazing system work so efficient in the body? Lymph and venous blood get transported back to the heart by four mechanisms:
1. Activity of the muscles creating a “pumping” mechanism,
2. With the little autonomic contractions of the lymphangion (little independent muscles in the lymph vessels),
3. Arterial contractions putting pressure on the lymph vessels and most important
4. Negative pressure in healthy lungs!
The rule is that “healthy” lungs support “healthy” lymph flow! If we have stagnated our lymph flow, we would have trouble getting the toxicity out of our body and the body starts to retain excessive fluids. Diseases such as cancer, auto-immune diseases and asthma are ready to appear. Fluids move in the body from high pressure to low pressure areas, so if we relate this principle to what happens to the lymph flow in the lungs and the effect of smoke inhalations (plus toxic particles), we see a drop in lymph transportation capabilities happening.
The toxic smoke particles irritate the lymph nodes in the lungs (chemo receptors) and their pumping “reflex” gets over stimulated and goes into a “spastic /lock down” mode. Now the pressure in the lungs goes up relatively as a reaction to this lock down situation. For healthy lymph flow, the pressure in the lung needs to be negative for good suctioning power to bring the lymph back to the heart. Basically, we are seeing a relative “higher” pressure system developing in the lungs, and this will create a barrier for the return of healthy lymph flow and toxicity. Arterial blood needs to get out of the heart, and venous blood plus lymph needs to return. So, now we have created increased pressures, this amazing system is compromised and inefficient, with maybe the results of our health decline.
Conclusion: Wildfire smoke and “Red Alert” situations creates decreased suction power from the lungs which causes lymph flow barriers in the body. Increase toxicity and excessive fluid buildup might cause increase of diseases and auto-immune problems. And maybe this is becoming the new norm of uncomfortable living!
Solutions: Resolving these barriers to stimulate and restore normal, healthy lymph flow back to the heart. Human Normalization Therapy is a new and innovative therapy which can help these blockades resolve and reduce our lymph stagnation problem.
Human Normalization Techniques (HNT) are osteopathic techniques based on the principles of Osteopathy, which can restore and normalize the stagnated lymph flow in the lungs and help increase our capacities to eliminate toxicity out of the body. These are energetic techniques who target the lymph nodes/vessels who are in spam, and they get their “reflex” pumping mechanism restarted. This normalizes the high dysfunctional pressures in the lungs and restore/supports the normal lymph flow in the body. They are gentle techniques and based restoring the neuro communication between the brain and the lymph system. We also use specific tuning forks (OTTO 128cps “weighted”) who are capable releasing the restrictions in the fascial layers of the lymph vessels and nodes. The use of these Osteophonic tuning forks is easy, non-invasive, and perfect for instruction to patients for self-maintenance programs.