For my other blogs, I'm giving the links below, feel free to view and comment too. https://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com. for all cancer and health related topics https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement https:// GSIyershome remedies.blogspot.com The last one is my new blog, as I was requested by my niece to start a separate blog for home remedies, as I was putting it all in my cancerblog. Feel free to share my blogs with others, if you find it useful. Thanks a lot, take care, be happy and be healthy.

 

 Dr. Prem Swami - Indian Endocrinologist. Today he is considered to be the best specialist for diabetes treatment in the country. All the famous people with diabetes try to take the time to consult them. Patients from America, China, France, Germany, Great Britain and other countries also come to him. He is one of the foremost endocrinologist in the country. He has authored 32 scientific books, and journals have 3 times more scientific publications. 

  

Dr. Prem Swami rarely gives interviews, but he agreed to answer our correspondent's questions. Below you'll find important tips to help fight diabetes.

Dr Prem Swamy completely confirms that in most of the cases type-2 diabetes can be treated with modern knowledge!

Topics covered:

• What is most important in the treatment of diabetes?
• Why do 95% of patients fail to cope with their condition?
• When is there a chance of complete cure of diabetes?
• What are the modern methods of fighting this disease?

Metformin is not what you need!

Dr. Prem Swami:

“Today, most of the diabetes treatments are based on metformin-based drugs. However, this is a delusion of illiterate patients and doctors. Metformin is a road to disease and early death. It's not a matter of treatment. If you visit your doctor with type 2 diabetes and he adds these medicines to his treatment, stay away from such a doctor.

Medicines in which the main substance is metformin: Bagomet, Vero-metformin, Glycomet, Glycon, Gliminfor, Glyformin, Glucofa, Glucophagus, Glucophage Long, Dianormet, Diaformin, Langerin, Metadion, Metformin, Metfogamma, Metformin, Novoformin.

All these medicines increase the level of insulin in the blood too much. With this amount of insulin, the blood becomes very thick. Due to the large amount of insulin in the body, it causes great harm. It almost destroys the liver, kidney and other excretory organs. Insulin is like stomach acid in consistency and action. Imagine what would happen if stomach acid flooded your internal organs. They will burn with acid!

The increased level of insulin destroys the cells, causing them to divide abnormally, and this is oncology. Because of this, according to statistics, 28% of diabetic patients develop cancer.

In addition, large amounts of insulin cause a rapid accumulation of cholesterol in the blood vessels, as insulin slows the flow of thickened blood. Because of which, the blood vessels get clogged with cholesterol, due to which the blood pressure rises. 98% of diabetic patients suffer from hypertension. And many other problems of the cardiovascular system arise in them.

List of side effects of metformin treatment

• Stomach problems (most often diarrhea, upset stomach, sour belching, stomach ulcers)
• High blood pressure – high blood pressure, especially in the evening, headache, ringing in the ears, fear wave
• Cirrhosis of the liver – The liver develops into connective tissues and stops cleaning the blood, and toxins build up throughout the body.
• Excretion of large amount of salts and sugars leads to the formation of stones in the kidneys.
• cancer related diseases
• early death due to damaged blood vessels
• blindness

The onset of diseases, of course, depends on the amount of drugs and the duration of taking them, as well as on the individual characteristics of the individual. However, it is not possible to get rid of them completely.

If metformin kills like this, then why use it?

Unfortunately, today most doctors are not concerned about the health of patients. I'd say no one cares. They just do their job and get paid for it. They do not care whether there is any improvement in your health or not. That is why without much thought, they prescribe the same medicines which are advised to them by the officials or ministries. And these drugs are made on the basis of metformin because there is a huge profit from their sale. And yes, they do have an effect, even if only for a short time.

There is no cure for indifference! Patients are not aware of the consequences of continuous use of this medicine, and do not feel it necessary to inform the doctors.

Treating Diabetes With Strong Chemicals – It's A Crime! But type 2 diabetes is curable! The main thing is just to choose the right treatment.

Dr. Prem Swami:

I often come across patients who have been on metformin for many years. These are sick people who grow old before their age.

As in the past, patients are often diagnosed with type 2 diabetes by chance during tests. And by that time the patient was feeling fine, and he never thought that his blood sugar level would have increased. After this he is advised to take metformin with increased dosage.

Consumption of which reduces the level of sugar in the blood, but with time, the patient's condition worsens. The patient starts complaining of constant fatigue, obesity, increased blood pressure, headache etc. Swelling starts in the feet and also on the face in the morning. A bell rings in the ears. The fingers start going numb and there is a feeling of coldness on their ends. Eyesight becomes weak. Memory deteriorates.

Doctors say that it is due to diabetes. But actually it is because of insulin!! And more precisely, metformin, which increases the production of hormones to abnormal levels!

Even if you don't feel like you don't need diabetes treatment. If you have to decide whether to treat diabetes with metformin or not to treat it at all, you will definitely choose the first option. If left untreated, type-2 diabetes will kill you even earlier. But with other symptoms.

 

Like candied cherries, they show the internal organs of diabetic patients. Liver, stomach, kidney, heart and most important blood vessels...

Tangled vessels and internal organs!

Imagine cherries or raspberries wrapped in sugar. The same happens with all vessels in diabetes. The walls of the vessels become completely saturated with sugar and become brittle. Due to which the ability of the vessels to contract and expand is over. First the fine vessels are destroyed, then the medium sized and then the large ones. These vessels nourish the internal organs. Long lasting diseases begin due to a decrease in blood supply.

How diabetes destroys from inside:

Loss of vision Diabetes means blindness. and blindness forever. It is impossible to correct vision loss caused by diabetes, even with laser treatment, as many hemorrhages cause the retina to detach.

Malfunctioning of the kidneys The sugar clogs the ureters, which makes the environment of the kidneys sweet. The sugar acts as a preservative and preserves the kidneys. And they slowly start dying. And continuing kidney failure starts happening – this is just the beginning. The kidneys can be completely destroyed.

Joints begin to tighten. Synovial fluid gives mobility to the joints. When blood vessels are no longer able to nourish the joints, synovial fluid production stops. Joints begin to dry out and wear out. Humans have so much pain that it is difficult to bear. Painkillers also do not help. The joints are completely closed and the person's ability to move on his own ends.

The nervous system is no different . Like many other organs, the nerves also suffer from excess sugar. Over time, patients with diabetes develop psychosis. The patient becomes emotionally unbalanced. He often starts having problems of depression, he does not feel good. He just wants to lie down, sleep and die.

The skin starts to rot! First, it becomes very dry, there are scratches, then eczema, and then ulcers. Muscles and bones begin to rot along with the skin. An unpleasant smell starts coming. It all ends with gangrene. However, diabetes is a very dangerous disease. But probably the most dangerous. I feel sorry for those who suffer from diabetes. I try to help them, but it all depends on them.

If there is no metformin, how is it possible to treat diabetes? For example, let's talk about a common pensioner citizen, who starts complaining of diabetes with age. Now the level of sugar in his blood has started increasing continuously. Let's assume that he takes metformin and he is not feeling well. What can he do to cure diabetes? Will he be able to heal himself?

I want to remind you again that type-2 diabetes is a complex, dangerous and systemic disease. It's not a cold or diarrhea. This is a very bad disease. The disease spreads throughout the body and therefore the treatment should also be at the level of the whole body. Simply raising insulin levels is not enough and is harmful.

The treatment of diabetes should be comprehensive and only with drugs that not only lower the sugar level but also protect the whole body.

If there's a specific way to help people manage their diabetes on their own, I 'd recommend Insulux like. It was prepared in 2015 at the Indian Institute of Endocrinology. Like metformin, it is not composed of chemical substances, but rather a natural antidiabetic complex, which includes more than 60 (!) different active components.

The composition of these Insulux includes all the most important vitamins, macro and micro elements required for type 2 diabetes. Insulux has 28 herbal extracts collected from different parts of the world.

The goodness of Insulux is that they do not cause any harm to the body, rather they provide strength to the body of diabetic patients. But most importantly, they have a positive effect on the disease from all sides.

60 Active Ingredients – That's too much. No other product in the world can boast of such a rich composition.

The effect of Insulux is just amazing! As soon as we started recommending it to our patients, the percentage of people recovering... I mean the number of people completely free from diabetes went up to 96%. This means that 96 out of 100 people say goodbye to this disease. There is no sugar in his blood anymore and his health is very good.

An open and truthful letter about the treatment of diabetes

I want to show you a letter from Sarika Bhagwati, an Indian pensioner lady. She was not treated in our clinic (she could not come to us as she was not feeling well). I advised him on Insulux over the telephone. In the end she was completely fine.

And here is his letter. 

 

Sarika Bhagwati, 67 years old. Retired from job, and suffering from diabetes. She lives in Chennai.

 

“Why don't other doctors recommend miracle like Insulux? My diabetes was very high. I've been bothered by him for 18 years. From the age of 49, I started having serious problems with my eyes and kidneys. He had stopped working. I smelled of acetone. My daughter could not be around me. Along with this, there were frequent ulcers in the feet and the tips of the fingers started turning black. I was almost on the verge of death. Our doctors told me that I have less time left.

I asked my daughter to think about my last days. I had lived a very good life, but still didn't want to die. Even when I cried out loud that I wanted to die, I didn't want to die. I had my last hopes for your clinic. I knew you treat diabetes successfully, but still wasn't sure – everyone says it's not possible to cure it, that my going will be in vain. That's why I didn't go. But then I saw you on television and thought I'll call you.

Thank you so much for your advice and for sending Insulux. I started taking it immediately. It's been four months now, and I'm still alive. Doctors say that I will live longer, sugar level in my body has become normal. And I myself feel the same way. For the last 10 years, I had never felt so healthy and free from diabetes as I am now. I started getting better sleep, no longer feeling extreme thirst, frequent toilet visits, constant tiredness and weakness no longer felt. Now the blood pressure does not increase either. I am starting to look better now. My treatment is on now, but I am sure I will survive it. Many thanks to Insulux ."

Tell how soon you can cure diabetes with Insulux

To be honest, it takes time. It takes several months. This may take up to six months.

It is important to be prepared for a long treatment. But after treatment, you will no longer need to consume these Insulux, and you can lead a normal healthy life with diabetes as before.

Insulux helps everyone, even older people with weak immunity.

Insulux should be taken according to the course. Take it for 2 weeks, take 4-5 days off, and then continue the course. I will tell you all the steps how to take it.

restoration of blood vessels

The main function of Insulux is that they not only remove sugar from the blood, but also normalize the level of glucose. Also, due to the presence of Ginkgo biloba, they dissolve the sugar that has penetrated the walls of the vessels. Freed from this, the walls of the blood vessels begin to expand again by shrinking. It eliminates clots, cleans the vessels. Small capillaries are restored. Due to this, the patient's blood pressure stops rising, weakness and drowsiness end, bruises and wounds heal quickly. Apart from this, more power is available. People immediately feel like taking care of the house and garden.

normalization of glucose levels

Insuluxdoes not increase insulin levels, so it is not harmful. But its effect is very beneficial, these Insulux reduce insulin resistance. This is a wonderful quality. The biologically active ingredients of these Insulux penetrate and restore their balance in muscle, fat and liver cells, making them respond better to hormones present in the blood. In medicine, this process is called "secondary cell formation". As a result, over time the cells begin to use the more active glucose, reducing its accumulation in the blood. This is the safest way for the body to use glucose.

Patients feel much better throughout the day, even after eating. Thirst no longer bothers them. Eczema and rashes disappear. Itching in the genitals stops. Patients stop going to the toilet frequently.

As for the physical indicators, the level of glycated hemoglobin decreases, the presence of sugar and acetone in the urine decreases.

Excess fat melts away!

Excess weight worsens the condition of diabetic patients by about 45 times. That's why one of the functions of Insulux is weight loss. This is possible for two reasons. Cells begin to actively digest sugar and convert it into energy. Secondly, this complex contains a strong extract of Tribulus Terrestris, the most powerful natural fat burning substance.

Loss of 10 kg reduces the risk of dangerous consequences of diabetes by about 50%.

Other Possible Improvements

Most of the diabetic patients do not have strength. One of the amazing functions of Insulux is to improve testosterone levels, and restore healthy masculine strength. Men are able to have sex even at the age of 5060.

Improves the condition of skin, bones and muscles.

Even the damaged skin gets better. The ulcers heal, the skin stops rotting and it starts drying up. The same happens with bones, their healthy structure is restored. They are no longer weak. Restoration of all tissues takes place, muscle elasticity increases.

Butterfly effect for any diabetic patient!

The action ofInsulux is similar to that of a butterfly's wings, which initiates a chain reaction to heal the internal organs and improve health. From improving the function of blood vessels to improving eyesight and joints.

lightheadedness in the morning

You wake up in the morning and can easily get out of bed. You don't need to force yourself to lift, straighten your arms and legs, rub your numb feet, and stroke your back and neck. In the morning your body is full of energy and strength.

great health and mood

Morning and all day too. Able to sleep peacefully and adequately. You start feeling young. Do not have to go to the toilet again and again at night. There is no pain anywhere, and there is no itching anywhere.

delicious breakfast

You start adding different types of food to the food list, you no longer need a strict diet. You get to taste the dishes that you remember now. No need for a low carbohydrate diet anymore. Enjoy the taste of your favorite food!

tremendous power

You won't have to worry about your feet when you leave the house – walking won't work for you, but you can walk around all day, and your feet won't get tired or swollen. There are no traces of sandals, shoes, socks etc. on the swollen feet.

deep peace

You become very calm and relaxed. There is no longer the constant pain that used to haunt the mind and you could not concentrate on anything else. When there is no pain, all kinds of things, sounds, scents become very apparent that you had forgotten about for a long time.

seems to be

Very bad eyesight also slowly starts getting better. What you didn't see before, is now clearly visible. You will be able to see the bus number again from afar. You will be able to enjoy the beauty of nature again.

And most importantly your life will increase! And even in old age you will feel healthy and energetic. Your loved ones will not have to take care of you, you will be able to take care of yourself.

Lack of Insulux in Indian drugstores!

As far as you know Insulux is very difficult to buy in drugstores. These Insulux are rarely available. Is it true? And what advice would you give to Indian diabetic patients?

-Yes this is true! Insulux is produced in small quantities and in limited quantities, so they do not reach the youth shops. A large part of this, unfortunately, goes outside the country. And a part is bought by private clinics.

But I have good news for readers of your magazine: in consultation with my co-workers, I propose to offer the Insulux. I've purchased to your readers at the lowest cost possible. We will deliver these Insulux directly to people's homes by post. in any part of India.

InsuluxLet me tell you about the terms of ordering Insulux.

you:

• You must be in India. We will not ship Insulux out of the country.
• You may take Insulux for personal use only. We request people not to sell these high profit Insulux to other people. Making money from patients is inhuman! Insulux will be sent to one person in an amount that is enough to treat one person – or two people, if there are multiple people in the family with diabetes.

Take advantage of this opportunity, till this news spreads to other people!!

Unfortunately we do not have these Insulux in sufficient quantity for all diabetics in India. That's why we've decided to send it to only those people who leave their request on our site before others. If you are looking to cure diabetes with the help of this wonderful complex, I recommend that you send your request as soon as it is available.

 

Please pay attention!

Visitors to our site can order Insulux for up to 50% off! For this turn the wheel of fortune by pressing the «SPIN» button and wait for it to stop completely. Who knows you might be the lucky one to be able to save big today! Congratulations!

 

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement
https://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com  for infor on cancer and health related topics
https://GSiyers home remedies.blogspot.com   is the latest addition to my blogs. I'm going to add posts there, do give me your valuable feed back on my blogs. Thanks a lot, take care, be healthy and be happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hypersomnia: Why This Sleep Disorder May Be Affecting You

Recent neurological studies reveal that a rare condition leading to daytime fatigue, even with sufficient sleep, is more widespread than initially thought. The most recent findings from the American Academy of Neurology shed light on idiopathic hypersomnia, a condition characterized by extreme daily fatigue, difficulty waking, and confusion upon awakening.

 

 “We examined data from a large sleep study and found that this condition is much more common than previous estimates and as prevalent as some other common neurologic and psychiatric conditions, such as epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia,” said study author Dr. David T. Plante of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The study examined the sleep patterns of 792 people, looking at both daytime and nighttime data. Surprisingly, 1.5% of the participants, or 12 individuals, had signs of idiopathic hypersomnia, according to the data. Sleep Disorders Australia notes that this defies previous beliefs that estimated a prevalence of only 0.005 to 0.3%.

Idiopathic hypersomnia is defined by medical specialists as a sleep condition characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and an elevated need for sleep, even after having enough or lengthy nocturnal sleep. The term 'idiopathic' refers to the fact that the etiology is uncertain. Individuals suffering from idiopathic hypersomnia frequently struggle to get up in the morning and struggle with decreased attentiveness and focus during the day. 

 

Though similar in some ways, this condition differs from the more common narcolepsy. While narcolepsy can cause daily fatigue without adequate sleep, people who suffer from it generally wake up refreshed after naps. Idiopathic hypersomnia, on the other hand, has no obvious cause. 

 

 

How do I diagnose idiopathic hypersomnia?

Diagnosis of idiopathic hypersomnia, according to specialists, requires a thorough assessment of medical history, sleep diaries, and many sleep examinations such as polysomnography and several sleep latency tests. 

 

After ruling out other reasons for excessive sleepiness and meeting specific criteria for idiopathic hypersomnia, a clear diagnosis is usually achieved. Excessive nighttime slumber, difficulty waking up, and daytime weariness that persists despite regular naps are all common symptoms.

Can this condition be managed?

 

 

Managing idiopathic hypersomnia is difficult, given the limited treatment options available. Recommendations may include stimulant medications, lifestyle modifications, and scheduled naps. However, responses to treatment can differ, making it important to know that what works for one person may not work for another.

Maintaining a regular sleep schedule, adopting a healthy lifestyle, and successfully dealing with stress are all factors that can help with symptom control. 

 

If you suspect that you have idiopathic hypersomnia or a similar sleep issue, consulting with a healthcare professional is essential for an accurate diagnosis and specific advice on successful management measures.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement
https://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com  for infor on cancer and health related topics
https://GSiyers home remedies.blogspot.com   is the latest addition to my blogs. I'm going to add posts there, do give me your valuable feed back on my blogs. Thanks a lot, take care, be healthy and be happy.

The notion of boxing as the “sweet science” is often thought to have been coined in 1956 by the great New Yorker writer A.J. Liebling. He used the term as the title of his definitive book on the sport, but he took it—with much appreciation—from a British sportswriter, Pierce Egan. In 1813, Egan wrote about the “sweet science of bruising” in his master work, Boxiana. The book is a collection of magazine pieces set in a bloody, bare-knuckled world opposite Jane Austen’s. As for the “sweet science,” no one ever really defines it. A carefully thrown knockout punch to a sweet spot on the chin is one possible derivation. There’s also the play on a science with so little apparent sweetness. But that’s not it. The sweet science Liebling and Egan describe had more to do with British principles of “stoic virtues,” “generosity,” and “true courage”—altogether, life in a contradictory place. It’s a square ring, after all, where sometimes hope transcends the specter of an awful inevitability. Or so I’ve come to think, on a journey I’ve begun in the past year, exploring how the sweet science can be used as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease—that increasingly common degenerative disorder of the nervous system, tied to a loss of the brain chemical dopamine, which is involved in movement, memory, motivation, and cognition. In October 2022, a longtime tennis partner noticed something “strange” in my stride, along with a noisy shuffle. “Fatigue,” I replied with pique. The truth is I’m 75 and had known something might not be right for years, particularly the ominous hand tremors, as well as the night-of-the-living-dead gait and a facial expression to match. Add severe anxiety in public places and bizarre nightmares, some quite disturbing. I found a specialist to resolve the matter. We talked on the phone. “I don’t think you have Parkinson’s, but why don’t you come in,” she said. I did and within minutes she changed her mind. She was struck by the tremors on both my left and right side, and by some other more subtle indications, like an occasional difficulty in swallowing. She recommended a physical therapist to conduct the Mini-BESTest: Balance Evaluation Systems Test. Among the challenges: you stand on one leg for 20 seconds then the other leg; walk quickly up and down a hallway, while looking up and down, then to the left and right; stand in a corner on a cushion with eyes closed, not touching the wall. Finally, the therapist holds on to your shoulders and tries to pull you down from behind. I enjoy these kinds of tests and did well enough that the physical therapist thought I was on the bubble, at least in terms of balance. She suggested I return in six months and brought up the matter of meds. I explained that I ran regularly and would like to depend on natural dopamine for as long as I could. Exercise has long been known to boost dopamine. One of the cruelties of Parkinson’s is that there is no blood or other test to confirm it. But if certain meds like Carbidopa-Levodopa cause certain symptoms to subside, then you probably suffer from it. Probably. Or, perhaps you have a variation, which may be even more debilitating. In the end, I surrendered to the meds, but in the six months before my diagnosis became clearer, I kept with the delusion that I was athletic enough to generate my own dopamine, and so I began running several miles a week. Then one day a friend asked if I’d heard about Rock Steady Boxing. I hadn’t. “Well,” they said. “You should try it. Might sound counterintuitive, but you don’t really hit anybody. It’s about redoing the wiring.” Rock Steady Boxing was founded in 2006 by a 40-year-old prosecutor named Scott Newman and a two-time Golden Gloves boxer named Vincent Perez. At the time, Newman had been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s. Perez drew Newman into a world focused on optimizing reflexes, balance, dexterity, and coordination. The two men worked six days a week getting Newman back in shape, using prolonged exercises done as strenuously as possible. As Newman’s health and spirits lifted, he imagined a business opportunity. It was to create a non-contact boxing program to help people in their struggle with both motor and non-motor symptoms. The scientific basis was to use intense exercise to stimulate the natural flow of dopamine. At the cellular level, dopamine also helps protect the nerve cells attacked by the disease. Now, 17 years later, Rock Steady Boxing operates as a non-profit organization headquartered in Indianapolis. Today there are nearly 900 affiliates across the country, and more than a dozen abroad. In October 2022, I began going to a Rock Steady Boxing gym at the southern end of Silicon Valley, in Santa Clara, near Levi’s Stadium. It’s a modest, two-ring gym called Relentless Boxing, equipped with a farrago of bags, weights, ropes, tires, medicine balls, and gloves, and on the walls, poster tributes to local champions. The mood is both friendly and guarded. Most participants have mild to moderate tremors and mobility issues. There are at least a dozen regulars, four or five women, all mostly retirees over 50, a handful over 70. One man arrives with his wife to help him along. A few people work from chairs, rather than yoga mats. In Body Image COACH ROB: After beating childhood cancer, Rob Putnam went on to become a featherweight boxer. Now he’s the head coach of the Rock Steady Boxing program in Santa Clara, California, helping people fight Parkinson’s disease. P Class includes three major components: aerobics, strengthening, and balance training. Also, core muscle stretching. Postures come from yoga, judo, jujitsu, and other martial arts. Calisthenics include coordination drill-stations such as jumping jacks, jump ropes, the speed bags, situps, and pushups—always as many as you can, and when you can’t go on, the coaches, particularly the local franchise owner and head coach at Relentless Boxing, Rob Putnam, 36, urges you to keep going anyway. You work as hard as you can for short periods of time. Exhaustion is healing. The idea is you survive Parkinson’s by thinking in terms of three-minute rounds. The daily routine varies but often it’s in the last 30 minutes that you put on the gloves and hit the heavy bags, as hard and fast as you can for three minutes, the length of a round in the ring. Boxing features four core punches: jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. Add basic defensive moves: bob and weave, advance and retreat. In one exercise, you quickly memorize a six-punch combination, which might include punches and moves. Then you box for 60 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. Then another combination, rest, and another. You’re working mind and body, ever faster. As you become proficient, over months and years, Coach Rob urges you to visualize the heavy bag as an actual opponent, so you imagine facial features, body type, strengths, and weaknesses. The purpose is to sharpen focus, personalize, tune the signals, and learn to be meticulous. The most satisfying part of a class is when the coach puts on his mitts, not unlike a catcher’s glove, and invites you to punch him. Or her. The coach literally catches your punch. This is the closest you get to real contact. The coach calls out punches by name or number (1 for jab, 2 for cross, etc.) and you hit the corresponding mitt. If you’re skillful, and resilient, you get into a rhythm. You hear it as the gloves make contact. You’re working in and out of range of your opponent, bobbing and weaving, and it all becomes an aesthetic, a kind of dancing. From time to time someone falls in class, which includes exercises for falling and getting up again. Falling is the great menace with Parkinson’s. Phyllis fell a few weeks ago, with hardly any warning. She was standing by the gym entrance, chatting. No need for an ambulance but unnerving. “It’s not like fainting,” she said, “more as though gravity had pulled you down out of thin air.” She’s a retired teacher, ever optimistic, sweet as anything, and while at the beginning of class we stand in a circle practicing voice exercises, she moves around in place, endlessly swaying. Someone told her she moved like a wavy wind sock outside a used car lot. “Exactly how I feel,” she said with a smile. Phyllis has been with Rock Steady Boxing for more than three years. She finds it enormously helpful, particularly the cognitive aspect. Rock Steady Boxing is her one refuge. “The reason I joined was less for the exercise than to learn something new,” she told me. She’s lost 50 pounds, become calmer, less frustrated, more confident, and slightly more coordinated. She especially appreciates the way coaches can read her movement and suggest ways to retrain her body. She’s come to depend on the immediate effect these directions often seem to have. And yet as much progress as she’s made, she still has moments when her legs freeze. She told me she was in a nightmare running through a field and jumping a hurdle. “Actually, I was throwing myself out of bed. It’s happened before. I’ve had several black eyes. The worst was when I hit my face on the nightstand and broke my nose.” Before and after class, people exchange tips. “This neurologist returns calls, not that one.” “So-and-so is going to have Deep Brain Stimulation.” “Have you heard about the work of Peter Tass at Stanford who has developed a vibrating hand glove that may have a profound effect on Parkinson’s?” “If you have Parkinson’s, how do you explain to your children they may inherit it?” “You’ve got to read Ray Dorsey’s new book, Ending Parkinson’s Disease, a Prescription for Action. He traces the disease back to the London smoke fogs in the 1870s. He says Parkinson’s is preventable if you can limit your exposure to the deadly chemicals around us, like the children who worked as chimney sweeps in the 1700s defeated scrotal cancer.” If you can rebuild self-acceptance, then you don’t care what somebody in the restaurant thinks of your tremors. In these conversations at the gym, there are always the questions underneath: Does Rock Steady Boxing really work? And for how long and under what conditions? The consensus among people I spoke with—neurologists, physical therapists, trainers, and participants—is that it does work. For me, it has. After a year, I’ve acquired strength and agility, although the arm tremors and awkward gait are about the same. Friends say I seem more energized and focused. The Rock Steady Boxing 1 to 5 scale, where 1 is high, meaning 1 is your goal, had me at one 1.5 when I started and after 8 months, I moved up to 1. A subtle improvement but encouraging, if only for a moment. Terry Ellis is an associate professor at Boston University who investigates the effects of exercise on the progression of Parkinson’s. She’s a coauthor of a 2019 Frontiers in Neurology article on the effects of Rock Steady Boxing on Parkinson’s, which offered a rather depressing conclusion: “Despite growth in the popularity of boxing for Parkinson’s and some positive findings, there is limited evidence of efficacy.” Recently, Ellis took a much more positive position. Rock Steady Boxing, she told me, was “a great idea, a great program,” but it’s not about boxing per se. It’s about how jabs, crosses, hooks, and undercuts get your heart rate up, just as aerobic, strength, and balance training do. She added, “There’s been many rigorous studies that show aerobic exercise impacts the brain of people with Parkinson’s and reduces the severity of motor symptom problems. Those studies also show aerobic exercise stabilizes the progression of Parkinson’s.” Still, the question remains how to keep adjusting the program over many years, especially for people who may face other illnesses. Kimball Magoni, 69, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 10 years ago. He lives in Massachusetts and has been going to the same Rock Steady Boxing class for nearly five years. He’s also a licensed clinical psychologist and these days accepts only Parkinson’s patients. Magoni has become increasingly interested in the power of camaraderie to deal with the whole Parkinson’s kit of grief, anger, loneliness, helplessness, self-pity, and shame. Many people, following their diagnosis, Magoni said, feel lost from their community. “It’s like coming home when you were a kid,” Magoni told me. “If you had a happy house, a sanctuary you’re a part of, that takes care of a whole lot of crap. You walk in, you’re valued. That’s what’s so unique about Rock Steady Boxing. With the right group, people will connect, they will support each other, they will feel much less anxious about their Parkinson’s. Why? Because they’ve got a place where they’re back to being valued for who they are, not what symptoms they have, or don’t have. They find their way through places like Rock Steady Boxing back into the tribe. And if you can rebuild self-acceptance, which is so critical, then you don’t care what somebody at the next table in the restaurant thinks of your tremors.” Magoni noted that one benefit of Rock Steady Boxing is the feeling of control derived from boxing itself. Even if you’re unable to stand, and box while sitting in a chair, you feel relief by being physically aggressive, active rather than passive. Fortunately, every other day there’s the curative promise of the gym and the song of the speed bag. Not long ago, I paid my regular visit to the physical therapist. Once more she gave me the Balance Evaluation Systems Test. The score had barely changed. In fact, the result was slightly better than six months earlier. The therapist was delighted. Yet there was something amiss. One exercise involved walking briskly a few yards to a cone and back, while counting down from say 100 in threes. I mangled it. Twice. Which was strange because a few months earlier I had no problem. The therapist shrugged. “No matter, this happens sometimes under duress. What else is going on in your life?” A few days after the promising test score, I have one of my periodic nightmares. I’m hiding in a small room in the district attorney’s office. I once served as the public information officer in the San Francisco DA’s Office. In the dream, my archenemy is standing just outside the door. I’m terrified he’ll discover me. I decide to rush him, make a last stand, howling as I go. And then as I crash through the door I see the face, but it’s not my archenemy, whoever that might be, it’s someone I don’t recognize at all. I wake up and find myself hitting my wife with the back of my hand. She yells at me to stop and then firmly, without a word, she holds down my arm until I go back to sleep. The next morning, I wake up with my daily unease, that whole kaboodle of dream bits and now new guilt, plus the ominous specter of insignificant tasks, the idea that I am slowly disappearing, and the worry over empathy’s end—for others and myself. Fortunately, every other day there’s the curative promise of the gym and the song of the speed bag. Today is on but I’m caught between the desire for solitude and the solace of others. I pick others. When I arrive, Michael, a retired building contractor, greets me with his mantra about this being the one exclusive club nobody wants to join. We smile. We shake our heads. I look to see who else is there. Phyllis is swaying rhythmically to gym pop. Steve, on the speed bag, throttles it like a pro. And then there’s Cyndie, a lithe, red-headed spirit and a former executive assistant to a county health officer. She’s been coming to Rock Steady for six years, she just turned 60. She joined Rock Steady Boxing on the recommendation of her neurologist at Stanford. Friends told her she was nuts. Her parents, churchgoers from the Midwest, were both supportive and very curious. They came to visit. She showed them there was no danger because there was no contact and anyway, she was the last person in the world with any interest in punching or being punched. They came round and over the years many of her symptoms have not progressed. “Frankly, I don’t know if it works,” she told me. “I think it does. All I know for sure is that I came initially out of curiosity, and now I stay for the comradery.” As people gather ’round, Coach Rob takes quick stock of how people are doing: who’s on a peak, who’s in a valley. He doesn’t see plateaus with Parkinson’s, he sees arcs: the man who arrived in a wheelchair and two years later discarded his cane and stood up to punch the bags; the man who was making good progress but then stopped coming, reclaimed old bad habits and declined. One truth about Rock Steady Boxing is you have to stay with it, and of course nothing is certain. Rob was once a featherweight boxer by trade, 5’6”, 147 pounds, reminiscent of Daniel Mendoza, a 5’ 7”, 160-pound Jewish fighter from London’s Whitehall district who in the 1780s became one of the great boxers of his day. He was distinguished by lightning glove speed, a mesmerizing ability to bob and weave, and, above all, to anticipate his opponent. He pioneered Muhammed Ali’s rope-a-dope strategy and in 1789 started a boxing school devoted to technique. He also wrote a book, The Art of Boxing, in which he described the sweet science in terms of maximizing reflexes, balance, dexterity, and coordination—all aspects of the Rock Steady Boxing training. Coach Rob had three bouts of cancer as a child, including a bone marrow transplant at age 9. At one point, all the other children in his ward had died. Doctors said his survival was due partly to the muscle mass he acquired learning karate at age 3 and partly to the martial-arts-style physical therapy he received in the hospital. He said he learned to “visualize my white cells literally beating up my cancer cells.” Which led to his notion of imagining a face and arms on the big body bag. He told me he came away from childhood with an iron optimism based on the conviction that “I wasn’t allowed to lose. That was my mother’s doing. Each time the cancer came back she taught me to think of it as an opportunity: ‘OK, well, I guess I get another fight.’ Does that make any sense?” Of course it does. And yet I’m not so rock solid in my own conviction. The metaphor that describes my orientation is not the ring but the high wire, where I feel as though I’m plodding along mile after mile, trusting that my good balance will save me, if I’m lucky, disciplined, and follow all the best advice. I’ve come to believe that Rock Steady Boxing works best that way—if you make it into a mission control center that brings together the newest exercise and medical strategies, and the power of the group. I’m actually more loner than comrade. But I won’t forget the fellow boxer who came up to me to ask if I could re-strap his glove, which had come undone. He looked exhausted and proud, stoic, and very thankful for my small help, thankful in a way that captured exactly the definition of the sweet science, which I now think of as an antidote to inevitability, an untightening of the fist.

The notion of boxing as the “sweet science” is often thought to have been coined in 1956 by the great New Yorker writer A.J. Liebling. He used the term as the title of his definitive book on the sport, but he took it—with much appreciation—from a British sportswriter, Pierce Egan. In 1813, Egan wrote about the “sweet science of bruising” in his master work, Boxiana. The book is a collection of magazine pieces set in a bloody, bare-knuckled world opposite Jane Austen’s.

As for the “sweet science,” no one ever really defines it. A carefully thrown knockout punch to a sweet spot on the chin is one possible derivation. There’s also the play on a science with so little apparent sweetness. But that’s not it. The sweet science Liebling and Egan describe had more to do with British principles of “stoic virtues,” “generosity,” and “true courage”—altogether, life in a contradictory place. It’s a square ring, after all, where sometimes hope transcends the specter of an awful inevitability.

Or so I’ve come to think, on a journey I’ve begun in the past year, exploring how the sweet science can be used as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease—that increasingly common degenerative disorder of the nervous system, tied to a loss of the brain chemical dopamine, which is involved in movement, memory, motivation, and cognition.

In October 2022, a longtime tennis partner noticed something “strange” in my stride, along with a noisy shuffle. “Fatigue,” I replied with pique. The truth is I’m 75 and had known something might not be right for years, particularly the ominous hand tremors, as well as the night-of-the-living-dead gait and a facial expression to match. Add severe anxiety in public places and bizarre nightmares, some quite disturbing.

I found a specialist to resolve the matter. We talked on the phone. “I don’t think you have Parkinson’s, but why don’t you come in,” she said. I did and within minutes she changed her mind. She was struck by the tremors on both my left and right side, and by some other more subtle indications, like an occasional difficulty in swallowing. She recommended a physical therapist to conduct the Mini-BESTest: Balance Evaluation Systems Test. Among the challenges: you stand on one leg for 20 seconds then the other leg; walk quickly up and down a hallway, while looking up and down, then to the left and right; stand in a corner on a cushion with eyes closed, not touching the wall. Finally, the therapist holds on to your shoulders and tries to pull you down from behind.

I enjoy these kinds of tests and did well enough that the physical therapist thought I was on the bubble, at least in terms of balance. She suggested I return in six months and brought up the matter of meds. I explained that I ran regularly and would like to depend on natural dopamine for as long as I could. Exercise has long been known to boost dopamine. One of the cruelties of Parkinson’s is that there is no blood or other test to confirm it. But if certain meds like Carbidopa-Levodopa cause certain symptoms to subside, then you probably suffer from it. Probably. Or, perhaps you have a variation, which may be even more debilitating.

In the end, I surrendered to the meds, but in the six months before my diagnosis became clearer, I kept with the delusion that I was athletic enough to generate my own dopamine, and so I began running several miles a week. Then one day a friend asked if I’d heard about Rock Steady Boxing. I hadn’t. “Well,” they said. “You should try it. Might sound counterintuitive, but you don’t really hit anybody. It’s about redoing the wiring.”

Rock Steady Boxing was founded in 2006 by a 40-year-old prosecutor named Scott Newman and a two-time Golden Gloves boxer named Vincent Perez. At the time, Newman had been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s. Perez drew Newman into a world focused on optimizing reflexes, balance, dexterity, and coordination. The two men worked six days a week getting Newman back in shape, using prolonged exercises done as strenuously as possible.

As Newman’s health and spirits lifted, he imagined a business opportunity. It was to create a non-contact boxing program to help people in their struggle with both motor and non-motor symptoms. The scientific basis was to use intense exercise to stimulate the natural flow of dopamine. At the cellular level, dopamine also helps protect the nerve cells attacked by the disease.

Now, 17 years later, Rock Steady Boxing operates as a non-profit organization headquartered in Indianapolis. Today there are nearly 900 affiliates across the country, and more than a dozen abroad.

In October 2022, I began going to a Rock Steady Boxing gym at the southern end of Silicon Valley, in Santa Clara, near Levi’s Stadium. It’s a modest, two-ring gym called Relentless Boxing, equipped with a farrago of bags, weights, ropes, tires, medicine balls, and gloves, and on the walls, poster tributes to local champions. The mood is both friendly and guarded. Most participants have mild to moderate tremors and mobility issues. There are at least a dozen regulars, four or five women, all mostly retirees over 50, a handful over 70. One man arrives with his wife to help him along. A few people work from chairs, rather than yoga mats.

COACH ROB: After beating childhood cancer, Rob Putnam went on to become a featherweight boxer. Now he’s the head coach of the Rock Steady Boxing program in Santa Clara, California, helping people fight Parkinson’s disease. P

Class includes three major components: aerobics, strengthening, and balance training. Also, core muscle stretching. Postures come from yoga, judo, jujitsu, and other martial arts. Calisthenics include coordination drill-stations such as jumping jacks, jump ropes, the speed bags, situps, and pushups—always as many as you can, and when you can’t go on, the coaches, particularly the local franchise owner and head coach at Relentless Boxing, Rob Putnam, 36, urges you to keep going anyway. You work as hard as you can for short periods of time. Exhaustion is healing. The idea is you survive Parkinson’s by thinking in terms of three-minute rounds.

The daily routine varies but often it’s in the last 30 minutes that you put on the gloves and hit the heavy bags, as hard and fast as you can for three minutes, the length of a round in the ring. Boxing features four core punches: jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. Add basic defensive moves: bob and weave, advance and retreat. In one exercise, you quickly memorize a six-punch combination, which might include punches and moves. Then you box for 60 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. Then another combination, rest, and another. You’re working mind and body, ever faster. As you become proficient, over months and years, Coach Rob urges you to visualize the heavy bag as an actual opponent, so you imagine facial features, body type, strengths, and weaknesses. The purpose is to sharpen focus, personalize, tune the signals, and learn to be meticulous.

The most satisfying part of a class is when the coach puts on his mitts, not unlike a catcher’s glove, and invites you to punch him. Or her. The coach literally catches your punch. This is the closest you get to real contact. The coach calls out punches by name or number (1 for jab, 2 for cross, etc.) and you hit the corresponding mitt. If you’re skillful, and resilient, you get into a rhythm. You hear it as the gloves make contact. You’re working in and out of range of your opponent, bobbing and weaving, and it all becomes an aesthetic, a kind of dancing.

From time to time someone falls in class, which includes exercises for falling and getting up again. Falling is the great menace with Parkinson’s. Phyllis fell a few weeks ago, with hardly any warning. She was standing by the gym entrance, chatting. No need for an ambulance but unnerving. “It’s not like fainting,” she said, “more as though gravity had pulled you down out of thin air.” She’s a retired teacher, ever optimistic, sweet as anything, and while at the beginning of class we stand in a circle practicing voice exercises, she moves around in place, endlessly swaying. Someone told her she moved like a wavy wind sock outside a used car lot. “Exactly how I feel,” she said with a smile.

Phyllis has been with Rock Steady Boxing for more than three years. She finds it enormously helpful, particularly the cognitive aspect. Rock Steady Boxing is her one refuge. “The reason I joined was less for the exercise than to learn something new,” she told me. She’s lost 50 pounds, become calmer, less frustrated, more confident, and slightly more coordinated. She especially appreciates the way coaches can read her movement and suggest ways to retrain her body. She’s come to depend on the immediate effect these directions often seem to have. And yet as much progress as she’s made, she still has moments when her legs freeze. She told me she was in a nightmare running through a field and jumping a hurdle. “Actually, I was throwing myself out of bed. It’s happened before. I’ve had several black eyes. The worst was when I hit my face on the nightstand and broke my nose.”

Before and after class, people exchange tips. “This neurologist returns calls, not that one.” “So-and-so is going to have Deep Brain Stimulation.” “Have you heard about the work of Peter Tass at Stanford who has developed a vibrating hand glove that may have a profound effect on Parkinson’s?” “If you have Parkinson’s, how do you explain to your children they may inherit it?” “You’ve got to read Ray Dorsey’s new book, Ending Parkinson’s Disease, a Prescription for Action. He traces the disease back to the London smoke fogs in the 1870s. He says Parkinson’s is preventable if you can limit your exposure to the deadly chemicals around us, like the children who worked as chimney sweeps in the 1700s defeated scrotal cancer.”

If you can rebuild self-acceptance, then you don’t care what somebody in the restaurant thinks of your tremors.

In these conversations at the gym, there are always the questions underneath: Does Rock Steady Boxing really work? And for how long and under what conditions? The consensus among people I spoke with—neurologists, physical therapists, trainers, and participants—is that it does work. For me, it has. After a year, I’ve acquired strength and agility, although the arm tremors and awkward gait are about the same. Friends say I seem more energized and focused. The Rock Steady Boxing 1 to 5 scale, where 1 is high, meaning 1 is your goal, had me at one 1.5 when I started and after 8 months, I moved up to 1. A subtle improvement but encouraging, if only for a moment.

Terry Ellis is an associate professor at Boston University who investigates the effects of exercise on the progression of Parkinson’s. She’s a coauthor of a 2019 Frontiers in Neurology article on the effects of Rock Steady Boxing on Parkinson’s, which offered a rather depressing conclusion: “Despite growth in the popularity of boxing for Parkinson’s and some positive findings, there is limited evidence of efficacy.”

Recently, Ellis took a much more positive position. Rock Steady Boxing, she told me, was “a great idea, a great program,” but it’s not about boxing per se. It’s about how jabs, crosses, hooks, and undercuts get your heart rate up, just as aerobic, strength, and balance training do. She added, “There’s been many rigorous studies that show aerobic exercise impacts the brain of people with Parkinson’s and reduces the severity of motor symptom problems. Those studies also show aerobic exercise stabilizes the progression of Parkinson’s.” Still, the question remains how to keep adjusting the program over many years, especially for people who may face other illnesses.

Kimball Magoni, 69, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 10 years ago. He lives in Massachusetts and has been going to the same Rock Steady Boxing class for nearly five years. He’s also a licensed clinical psychologist and these days accepts only Parkinson’s patients. Magoni has become increasingly interested in the power of camaraderie to deal with the whole Parkinson’s kit of grief, anger, loneliness, helplessness, self-pity, and shame. Many people, following their diagnosis, Magoni said, feel lost from their community.

“It’s like coming home when you were a kid,” Magoni told me. “If you had a happy house, a sanctuary you’re a part of, that takes care of a whole lot of crap. You walk in, you’re valued. That’s what’s so unique about Rock Steady Boxing. With the right group, people will connect, they will support each other, they will feel much less anxious about their Parkinson’s. Why? Because they’ve got a place where they’re back to being valued for who they are, not what symptoms they have, or don’t have. They find their way through places like Rock Steady Boxing back into the tribe. And if you can rebuild self-acceptance, which is so critical, then you don’t care what somebody at the next table in the restaurant thinks of your tremors.”

Magoni noted that one benefit of Rock Steady Boxing is the feeling of control derived from boxing itself. Even if you’re unable to stand, and box while sitting in a chair, you feel relief by being physically aggressive, active rather than passive.

Fortunately, every other day there’s the curative promise of the gym and the song of the speed bag.

Not long ago, I paid my regular visit to the physical therapist. Once more she gave me the Balance Evaluation Systems Test. The score had barely changed. In fact, the result was slightly better than six months earlier. The therapist was delighted. Yet there was something amiss. One exercise involved walking briskly a few yards to a cone and back, while counting down from say 100 in threes. I mangled it. Twice. Which was strange because a few months earlier I had no problem. The therapist shrugged. “No matter, this happens sometimes under duress. What else is going on in your life?”

A few days after the promising test score, I have one of my periodic nightmares. I’m hiding in a small room in the district attorney’s office. I once served as the public information officer in the San Francisco DA’s Office. In the dream, my archenemy is standing just outside the door. I’m terrified he’ll discover me. I decide to rush him, make a last stand, howling as I go. And then as I crash through the door I see the face, but it’s not my archenemy, whoever that might be, it’s someone I don’t recognize at all. I wake up and find myself hitting my wife with the back of my hand. She yells at me to stop and then firmly, without a word, she holds down my arm until I go back to sleep.

The next morning, I wake up with my daily unease, that whole kaboodle of dream bits and now new guilt, plus the ominous specter of insignificant tasks, the idea that I am slowly disappearing, and the worry over empathy’s end—for others and myself. Fortunately, every other day there’s the curative promise of the gym and the song of the speed bag. Today is on but I’m caught between the desire for solitude and the solace of others. I pick others.

When I arrive, Michael, a retired building contractor, greets me with his mantra about this being the one exclusive club nobody wants to join. We smile. We shake our heads. I look to see who else is there. Phyllis is swaying rhythmically to gym pop. Steve, on the speed bag, throttles it like a pro. And then there’s Cyndie, a lithe, red-headed spirit and a former executive assistant to a county health officer. She’s been coming to Rock Steady for six years, she just turned 60. She joined Rock Steady Boxing on the recommendation of her neurologist at Stanford. Friends told her she was nuts. Her parents, churchgoers from the Midwest, were both supportive and very curious. They came to visit. She showed them there was no danger because there was no contact and anyway, she was the last person in the world with any interest in punching or being punched. They came round and over the years many of her symptoms have not progressed. “Frankly, I don’t know if it works,” she told me. “I think it does. All I know for sure is that I came initially out of curiosity, and now I stay for the comradery.”

As people gather ’round, Coach Rob takes quick stock of how people are doing: who’s on a peak, who’s in a valley. He doesn’t see plateaus with Parkinson’s, he sees arcs: the man who arrived in a wheelchair and two years later discarded his cane and stood up to punch the bags; the man who was making good progress but then stopped coming, reclaimed old bad habits and declined. One truth about Rock Steady Boxing is you have to stay with it, and of course nothing is certain.

Rob was once a featherweight boxer by trade, 5’6”, 147 pounds, reminiscent of Daniel Mendoza, a 5’ 7”, 160-pound Jewish fighter from London’s Whitehall district who in the 1780s became one of the great boxers of his day. He was distinguished by lightning glove speed, a mesmerizing ability to bob and weave, and, above all, to anticipate his opponent. He pioneered Muhammed Ali’s rope-a-dope strategy and in 1789 started a boxing school devoted to technique. He also wrote a book, The Art of Boxing, in which he described the sweet science in terms of maximizing reflexes, balance, dexterity, and coordination—all aspects of the Rock Steady Boxing training.

Coach Rob had three bouts of cancer as a child, including a bone marrow transplant at age 9. At one point, all the other children in his ward had died. Doctors said his survival was due partly to the muscle mass he acquired learning karate at age 3 and partly to the martial-arts-style physical therapy he received in the hospital. He said he learned to “visualize my white cells literally beating up my cancer cells.” Which led to his notion of imagining a face and arms on the big body bag. He told me he came away from childhood with an iron optimism based on the conviction that “I wasn’t allowed to lose. That was my mother’s doing. Each time the cancer came back she taught me to think of it as an opportunity: ‘OK, well, I guess I get another fight.’ Does that make any sense?”

Of course it does. And yet I’m not so rock solid in my own conviction. The metaphor that describes my orientation is not the ring but the high wire, where I feel as though I’m plodding along mile after mile, trusting that my good balance will save me, if I’m lucky, disciplined, and follow all the best advice. I’ve come to believe that Rock Steady Boxing works best that way—if you make it into a mission control center that brings together the newest exercise and medical strategies, and the power of the group.

I’m actually more loner than comrade. But I won’t forget the fellow boxer who came up to me to ask if I could re-strap his glove, which had come undone. He looked exhausted and proud, stoic, and very thankful for my small help, thankful in a way that captured exactly the definition of the sweet science, which I now think of as an antidote to inevitability, an untightening of the fist.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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All you need to know about Liver Cirrhosis

Did you know that the largest internal organ you've got inside of you is your liver? It's roughly the size of a football and can weigh up to three pounds in all. It's responsible for getting rid of plenty of nasty toxins from your body, which is why it's really important to take care of it. One major complication that can occur in the liver is cirrhosis. While it currently has no known cure, there are plenty of natural and clinical procedures that can limit the risk of liver failure and additional complications. Keep reading to find out all about them.

What Is Cirrhosis?

Cirrhosis is a progressive disease where scar tissue is developed in the liver. It results in a dysfunction which ends up impacting essential function like hormone levels, the digestion of essential nutrients, blood flow, and the removal of waste products from the body. 

 

Alcohol abuse, certain viruses (such as hepatitis), and having a history of fatty liver disease are the most common causes of cirrhosis. Other risk factors include genetics, poor dietary choices, and dangerously high levels of bad cholesterol. 

 

Cirrhosis caused the liver to deteriorate over time, and once it reaches its more advanced stages liver failure or liver cancer might develop. At such a stage, a liver transplant is usually the only option left, which is why it's important to act as quickly as possible and take proper care of your liver throughout your life.

What Are the Symptoms of Cirrhosis?

 

Cirrhosis is typically accompanied by quite a number of symptoms including: 

 

• Appetite loss 

 

• Lack of energy 

 

• Symptoms of jaundice 

 

• Swollen ankles or legs 

 

• Itchy skin 

 

• Dark-colored urine 

 

• Pale or tar-colored stool 

 

• Bruising easily 

 

• Unexplained weight changes 

 

• Chronic fatigue syndrome 

 

• Digestive issues, such as vomiting, nausea, cramps or abdominal pain 

 

• Cognitive issues such as disorientation, mood swings, confusion or personality changes

Liver Cirrhosis Complications

Cirrhosis goes through a number of stages before entering the advanced and final stage. Early on, sufferers may experience symptoms like skin changes, decreased levels of energy, nutrient deficiencies, and swelling. As the disease progresses, many of the other symptoms mentioned above will start to manifest themselves. Once cirrhosis enters an advanced stage, some of these complications may arise: 

 

• Bile duct stones 

 

• Gallstones 

 

• Type 2 diabetes 

 

• Insulin resistance 

 

• A weakened immune system 

 

• An increased risk of lung and kidney failure 

 

• Sensitivity to certain drugs 

 

• A greatly increased risk of liver cancer 

 

• Metabolic bone diseases 

 

• Hepatic encephalopathy 

 

• Various issues with the spleen 

 

• Varices 

 

• Ascites 

 

• Edema 

 

• Portal hypertension

What Causes Cirrhosis?

There are various factors that can lead to the development of cirrhosis, which can stem from both your own lifestyle and habits, as well as from external and environmental factors. 

 

The most common risk factors for cirrhosis of the liver include: 

 

• Drinking too much alcohol 

 

• Smoking 

 

• Drug abuse 

 

• Consuming a poor diet 

 

• Having a history of fatty liver disease, diabetes or metabolic syndrome 

 

• Being obese 

 

• High triglyceride levels 

 

• High levels of bad cholesterol 

 

• Genetic factors 

 

• Constant exposure to toxins or pollutants 

 

• Serious infections or viruses 

 

 

Treating Cirrhosis Conventionally

Conventional treatment for cirrhosis will ultimately depend on what initially caused it, as well as how far the disease has progressed. Doctors will typically combine a number of different treatments including both drugs and major lifestyle changes. Unfortunately, there is no textbook cure for this disease, yet these techniques have been found to be the most effective: 

 

• Eliminating processed food from your diet 

 

• Reducing your salt intake 

 

• Increasing your nutrient intake 

 

• Eliminating drug and alcohol intake 

 

• Using diuretics to control ascites and edema 

 

• Controlling cholesterol levels 

 

• Losing weight 

 

• Cognitive therapy 

 

• Using laxatives to improve elimination of toxins 

 

• Using steroids and antiviral medication if the cause is hepatitis 

 

• Getting a liver transplant in the most severe cases 

 

 

Dealing With Cirrhosis Naturally 

 

1. Cleansing the Liver Regularly

To cleanse your liver, try to eat as much as you can of the following: 

 

• citrus fruits 

 

• ginger 

 

• dark green leafy vegetables 

 

• vegetable juices 

 

• raw or steamed vegetables 

 

• bananas, avocados, and sweet potatoes 

 

• turmeric 

 

• milk thistle seeds 

 

• Spirulina, chlorella, and wheatgrass 

 

• burdock root 

 

• dandelion root tea 

 

• black seed oil 

 

• probiotics 

 

• lemon juice 

 

• coconut oil 

 

• extra virgin olive oil 

• raw apple cider vinegar 

 

Make sure to avoid these foods at all times if suffering from cirrhosis: 

 

 • fried food 

 

• processed food 

 

• very spicy food 

 

• sugar 

 

• refined carbohydrates, especially those containing gluten 

 

• alcohol 

 

• excessive amounts of caffeine 

 

• rich and complex dishes

 

 

 

2. Consume an Anti-Inflammatory and Organic Diet

The key to maintaining a healthy and functioning liver is to consume plenty of organic vegetables with most meals. Ideally, you should aim to consume around 4 or 5 servings of fresh, organic vegetables each day. If this seems like too much, then you might want to consider juicing them instead. 

 

In order to put the least amount of strain on your liver as possible, you should limit the saturated fats you eat to only high-quality cage-free, free-range or grass-fed animal products. This is because animals bred in captivity have been found to store a lot more toxins in their fat than is desirable. As a general rule, the less foods that come out of packaging, the safer your liver should be. 

 

Here are some of the best liver-supporting vegetables you can eat:  

 

• broccoli 

 

• cauliflower 

 

• celery 

 

• cabbage 

 

• Brussels sprouts 

 

• kale 

 

• spinach 

 

• dandelion 

 

• watercress 

 

• asparagus 

 

• cucumber 

 

• beetroot 

 

• carrot 

 

• herbs, such as basil, mint, parsley, and cilantro

3. Use Natural Supplements

 

Plenty of supplements can help produce proper enzymes and bile, reduce intestinal gas, lower inflammation, and sooth the digestive system. 

 

Here are some of the most powerful ones: 

 

• Turmeric - this potent anti-inflammatory spice will support your liver's metabolism by providing you with a decent blood-sugar balance. It can also help aid your digestive tract.

 

• Milk thistle - it helps to get rid of a buildup of alcohol, pollutants, and heavy metals. 

 

• Probiotics - these can help boost your liver health by assisting with its detoxification and metabolism. 

 

• Multivitamins - vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin B-6 are particularly the most essential when it comes to protecting the liver. 

 

• Potassium - This mineral is extremely beneficial since it lowers your cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and systolic blood pressure. 

 

 

4. Check the Medication You're Taking

Quite a significant number of prescription medications can end up damaging your liver as an unwanted side effect. The worst offenders have been found to be hormone replacement drugs and birth control pills, however many other drugs can also put quite a lot of unnecessary strain on your liver, too. 

 

Unfortunately, research has shown that a large number of prescription medications are being over-prescribed, are being mixed with other drugs in a dangerous way, or are taken in an incorrect manner. If you are on medication, then we'd recommend learning how they can adversely affect your liver, and to carefully follow dosage instructions when taking them. It would also be a good idea to ask a healthcare professional if there are any natural remedies that they can be replaced with.

 

Precautions to Take When Treating Cirrhosis

If you spot any warning signs of liver damage, make sure to get in touch with a doctor as soon as possible, since stopping liver damage before the disease advances will greatly improve your quality of life and chances of survival. Of course, it's good to keep in mind that once symptoms begin to appear, it is likely that the condition has already been present for some time, which is all the more reason to get yourself checked immediately.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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