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Conception & Fertility...
Here is a great case written up by my nutrition teacher, Prof. Lawrence Plaskett. Obviously, this is his case, not mine, and it doesn’t endorse my clinic in any way, but I have added it as it makes a nice point about how other problems in the body we as naturopaths aren’t necessarily aware of will also resolve themselves once the body gets itself back on track. It also reminds us of the importance of pre-conceptual care and how the liver is invariably involved in cases where there is no discovered orthodox reason a couple shouldn’t conceive naturally.
Please ask if you need help with fertility, preconceptual care or pregnancy.
A SAMPLE FERTILITY NUTRITIONAL CASE-HISTORY
By Dr L.G.Plaskett B.A, Ph.D., C.Chem
I would like to illustrate to you, by way of a case history, that nutrition can profoundly affect the integrity of reproductive function. Many of the cases I have seen as a Practitioner in the past have been straightforward. Ladies in early pregnancy come forward for advice and ask me to see them, advise them, and monitor them throughout their pregnancy, with a view to giving them and their babies, the best possible prospects during pregnancy and afterwards. I would like to be able to say that they typically come forward before pregnancy is started, so that they have the chance of a pre-conceptual period of nutritional preparation. Unfortunately the majority do not do that. Some do, but most mothers, even holistically aware mothers, do not think about it until they are actually pregnant.
I could choose one of the minority cases where the woman asks for pre-conceptual advice. I might even choose a perfect one in which the father-to-be also attends pre-conceptually. Most such cases are featureless, however, because the pre-conceptual care consists of giving them fairly well defined recommendations for diet, supplements and lifestyle measures, all in accord with my Newsletter on the subject to which the reader may refer. This is entitled, “Nutrition for Successful Pregnancy a Review: The Dependence of Reproduction upon Nutrient Supply”.
Seeing the mother through her pregnancy is also a routine matter for the Practitioner, so long as all features of the pregnancy remain normal, and of course, they usually do. After delivery, of course, in the lactation period, nutritional circumstances are still similar, except that the production of milk imposes as few extra requirements. The Practitioner’s role in such cases is therefore to inform the mother (or better still both parents) and to monitor, motivate and sustain, but also to be ready to respond to help anything unusual that might develop.
Often, of course, the mother’s health is not totally normal to begin with, possibly due to the lack of pre-conceptual care. She may suffer from allergies that affect her dietary choices. It is now too late to treat these. Carefully monitored avoidance will be necessary. She may suffer symptoms, dating back to before the pregnancy started, that do not amount to diagnosable illness, but which betray symptoms of toxic overload, either of the whole body or of specific organs or systems. Some of these may disclose either deficiency or imbalance of certain nutrients, or even a congenital or acquired problem in the handling of particular nutrients. All these things will require specific management during the course of the pregnancy. Since pregnancy is not the right time to take these nutritional problems head-on, the Practitioner will need to steer a course for the mother that leads to the problems being “managed” rather than being subjected to out-and-out treatment. That management function is still very important, however. Very often they serve to show just how important pre-conceptual care actually is.
So, the case I have chosen is a little out of the ordinary. The lady in question, named Grace, was a librarian, age 38, working in the public library of a London suburb, and responsible for its day-to-day running. She actually came to see me about occasional migraine headaches and some blurring of the vision. It was obvious that the visual problem was not due to any anatomic defect of the eyes, nor due to permanent pathology, because she experienced periods of normal vision. The blurring was there often enough, though, to interfere with her work. So this case history began without any aspect that related it to reproduction.
There was some relevant history, however. After she and her husband married they decided that they would like children, but despite all efforts, they failed to conceive over a 12-year period. By the time I saw Grace as a patient she and her husband had given up all hope or expectation of having a family and it was not a current issue. At no time did Grace even hint that she would like me to advise her on fertility.
From the details of the medical case history, it appeared that her current problems were arising from her toxic liver condition, aggravated by a continuing intake from toxins from her large intestine, which was in a less than satisfactory condition. I confirmed this conclusion by way of an Iris Diagnosis investigation. So I started by prescribing a bowel-cleanse using psyllium husks and a herbal formula that was active in detaching foul matter adhering to the bowel wall. Naturopaths have long perceived a major relationship between the working of bowel and liver. That is also confirmed in the Chinese medical philosophy of the Five Elements. The Five Elements also give us a strong connection between the working of the liver and the functioning of the eyes, and this is so irrespective of the presence or not of any eye pathology. I felt sure that attention was needed to the detoxification of both intestine and liver and that both the migraine headaches and the vision-blurring symptom should respond.
So Grace did the bowel-cleanse over a 4-week period and followed it up with 6-weeks of treatment with a liver-active formula with magnesium, plus a spread of vitamins and trace elements. It is good to have these items combined into one product. I was using additionally at that time a mini-formula that delivered the herbs dandelion, burdock and kelp, (though these might not have been essential if all the other measures were taken). She also took a suitable intake of silymarin, a herbal extract with very well tested liver-active credentials (and the subject of another of my Newsletters).
This would then need to be followed up via a maintenance prescription of supportive diet and nutrients that would cover a rather comprehensive range. This would keep these organs, and her body generally, in an improved condition. So, 10 weeks into treatment I gave Grace such a prescription, which included a full range of minerals and vitamins and bowel flora (probiotics). I gave careful consideration to the intakes and monitored her responses. Overall, the range of her treatments was successful, as she ceased to have migraine headaches or blurring of the vision.
This treatment was done without having specific regard to the fact that, quite incidentally, the diet and nutrients used covered a lot of the same groundwork that one would carry out to resolve an infertility problem. This chance factor then led to a surprise for both Grace and I. No doubt her husband also had quite a surprise.
About 5-6 months after adopting the maintenance prescription, upon returning for a follow-up consultation, and in a high state of excitement, she informed me that she was now pregnant. That is just about the end of this case history, except that I continued to monitor Grace throughout her pregnancy and lactation periods. There were no further events to record. She had no difficulties or complications of any kind in either pregnancy or delivery, and Grace and her husband had the child they would have liked over 12 years previously. Actually, Grace came to see me for check-up visits at 3-month intervals for a couple more years.
I know that her baby was very healthy, alert and developed quickly. She followed my advice all through lactation. Last time I saw Grace, when the child was aged 2, he was in very robust health.
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