Nature Cure for Myasthenia Gravis Symptoms

Myasthenia gravis is one of the many autoimmune diseases due to a dysfunctional immune system. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness. To cope with the disease symptoms in the limbs and the eyes, learn to relax. Nowadays, the human mind is often too preoccupied with thoughts and worries about career, money, children, relationships, health, and social responsibilities that it is almost impossible to slow down. A compulsive mind is the underlying cause of many human diseases, including myasthenia gravis. Understandably, it is not easy to quiet a compulsive mind. It is even more difficult to overcome stress, which is a complex problem involving the body's response to increased mental tension, which is a byproduct of modern living. Knowing how to relax is the only solution to this complex body-mind problem that may inhibit the nature cure of myasthenia gravis disease symptoms.

Relax with mindfulness

Mindfulness is a way of being—it has been around for millennia. Mindfulness is deliberate presence of mind in a non-judgmental way, often focusing on something apparently insignificant, such as our breathing. Mindfulness is letting go of doing, at least for now, and learning how to be in the present moment.

As an illustration, you have been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, and you feel distressed and distraught. Instead of taking drastic actions to cope with the disease symptoms, you let yourself to be doing less, but noticing more, with the ultimate objective of probe into your mind to release wisdom on how to deal with your myasthenia gravis. Mind empowering is important to recovery and recuperation from any disease. Read my book: As If Everything Is A Miracle to find out how to use the body, the mind, and the spirit to live as if everything is a miracle in your life.

Mindfulness begins with breathing. Be mindful of your breathing is the first step towards learning how to be mindful of everything around you. Notice how you breathe in and breathe out. We all breathe, but not many of us are mindful of our breaths, that is, how we breathe.

Relax by way of Zen

Learn how to relax by way of Zen by taking a holistic, practical, and honest approach to relaxation, which involves the body, the mind, and the spirit. Relaxation is not about taking a holiday, going fishing, watching a movie, or reading a book. According to Zen, relaxation is an integral part of life, without which there is no ultimate stress relief.

Learn how to deal with life's natural flow, and how to go along with it; that is, going around life's problems, instead of confronting them head on. It is all about spontaneity of living. Spontaneity is embracing all life problems; in any life situation, you can be either a student or a teacher, and make the most out of it.

Remember, according to Zen, life is simple, and never a problem. If life is a problem, it is because YOU have created the problem for yourself. If there is no problem, then why do you need a solution? Fixing a non-existing problem in life is only creating more problems for yourself.

Learn how to relax by acquiring the wisdom of neither avoiding problems in life, nor seeking solutions to problems that may not even have existed in the first place.

Learn the healing art of Zen meditation. Free yourself from the thoughts and emotions that are holding you back in your life. Dramatically improve the quality of your life by enhancing the quality of your mind.

Relax with natural sleep

Sleep relaxes and rejuvenates both the body and the mind. Natural sleep is a natural human instinct for relaxation of muscles. According to Chinese medicine, natural sleep is holistic health and wellness. .

In a most recent CNN news report, sleep deprivation affects the size of your brain. In the article, Dr. Neal Maru, a neurologist and sleep specialist with Integrated Sleep Services in Alexandria, Virginia, says: “Poor sleep can affect our immune system, our cardiovascular health, weight, and, of course, memories.” Indeed, insomnia is an immune system wrecker. Therefore, it is important to have natural sleep to protect your immune system to alleviate, if not to cure, your myasthenia gravis disease symptoms. 

Given that sleep is a natural process, it is against nature to artificially induce sleep with medications. Do not use sleep medicine to overcome insomnia. The reason is that all pharmaceutical drugs are loaded with toxic chemicals that further damage your compromised immune system.

Take Control of Your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry: is an informative and inspirational book by Elaine Hollingsworth, the movie-star-turned-heath-crusader, who explains in detail how understanding dangerous drugs, unreliable medical tests, and often-times unnecessary procedures may help you escape the sickness industry through healthy sleep and natural health. Do not fall into the trap of the sickness industry by taking more dangerous drugs, such as sleep medications, which not only are dangerous but also create the drug-dependence.

All in all, relaxation holds the key to relaxing your body muscles.

Stephen Lau

Copyright © by Stephen Lau

Aromatherapy to Treat Myasthenia Gravis Disease Symptoms

Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease with the hallmark characteristic of muscle weakness. One of the best ways to treat the disease symptoms is muscle relaxation, and aromatherapy using essential oils is one of the most potent ancient methods of natural healing.

If you are diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, it can be a devastating experience, especially if your doctor tells you that there is no known cure. Yes, according to Western medicine, autoimmune diseases cannot be cured, and only their disease symptoms can be controlled. So, what should one do when one is diagnosed with myasthenia gravis.

Empower yourself with knowledge about the disease: such as, the causes, the symptoms, and the prognosis. If you wish to take steroid medications to control the disease symptoms, ask questions about the long-term side effects of the drugs and their efficacy in controlling the symptoms. More importantly, ask how long you will be on those medications. The choice to take or not to take those prescribed medications is all yours.

Understand that relaxation is a potent antidote to muscle weakness and other related symptoms of myasthenia gravis. As a matter of fact, stress is the underlying cause of many autoimmune diseases. Therefore, deep relaxation may help you remove some of your disease symptoms.

Aromatherapy is one of the oldest healing arts known to mankind. It was practiced in ancient China, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and the Roman Empire thousands of years ago. Essential oils are used in aromatherapy to improve health and balance of your skin, body, and mind.

According to Ayurvedic medicine, plants are "receptacles of light." Therefore, the radiant life-giving energy of the sun for therapeutic purposes is retained in plants. Therapeutic essential oils are extracted from medicinal plants to heal the body of many disease, especially those related to stress. To illustrate, if you squeeze hard on a sage leaf, you can actually smell its aroma because your squeeze has burst the tiny glands in the sage leaf, thereby releasing its oil together with its aroma.

The Ayurvedic healing approach is based on attaining balance and harmony between your body systems and your constitutions associated with the basic elements of air, fire, water, and ether (similar to the Five Elements of the Chinese medical system; for more information, visit my web page: Chinese Healing).

Ayurvedic aromatherapy is the use of daily massage or self-massaging of the body with different essential oils from medicinal plants to create the balance between your body systems and your specific constitutions. For example, the loose skin between your toes, the insides of your nostrils and your ears are all full of reflex areas that respond well to a few drops of diluted essential oils.

All essential oils have different medicinal properties, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and bactericidal, among others. Essential oils that are most volatile are those that are most uplifting and invigorating, but they also evaporate most quickly; essential oils that are less volatile are often used therapeutically for their calming and sedating effects.

The physical ailments associated with aromatherapy are: anxiety, depression, lack of concentration, and mood disorder—they are often the byproducts of an autoimmune disease diagnosis.

Use essential oils to help you relax your mind as well as your muscles.

Be that as it may, buyers beware! Buying essential oils may not be as easy as you think. For one thing, imported essential oils are often adulterated due to the consideration for price and aroma stability. Therefore, you need to be knowledgeable and be able to test the essential oils for purity.

Stephen Lau

Copyright © by Stephen Lau

Should Or Should Not Take Steroid Medications?

           

If you have been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis or any autoimmune disease, your doctor might have told you that there is no cure for your disease, and that the only option for you is to treat your disease symptoms with pharmaceutical drugs, such as some toxic steroids.

The question is: Do you have other options?

But before making your decision, you must know and understand the dangers of pharmaceutical drugs and their lasting effects on your overall health and ultimate recovery.

Millions of people are suffering needlessly as a direct consequence of the unconscionable zeal of the pharmaceutical industry to rake up billions of dollars of profit aided and abetted by scientists and researchers who have been paid handsomely, even to the extent of falsifying tests and research results in some cases.

Some years ago, three of the top executives of Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to criminal charges of misleading the public on the risk of addiction and abuse associated with the painkiller drug OxyContin. That was only another of the many scandals of pharmaceutical companies doctoring research findings of the safety of drugs and masking their undesirable side effects.

For decades, unreliable drug tests have abounded in the medical and pharmaceutical research community, not only in the United States but also in other parts of the world.

It is not uncommon for pharmaceutical companies to “influence” researchers through coercion, incentive, and even threat, to produce the desired results in clinical trials. Fabricating data, such as in the case of OxyContin, is no surprise to the pharmaceutical industry.

Clinical trials, usually involving a small number of people, may not truly reflect the outcome of those who will ultimately be using those drugs after their approval by FDA.

In addition, drugs tested on some animal models may be biased and even irrelevant on humans. An artificially induced disease in non-human animal models may yield results incompatible to a spontaneous, naturally occurring human disease. In short, there is no absolute safety or reliability of many pharmaceutical drugs that are readily available to the public.

The pharmaceutical companies and the FDA have convinced not only the medical establishment but also the gullible public that costly drugs are the only answers to all their health problems, despite their dubious track records and often-deadly side effects.

The use, misuse, and abuse of drugs account for 250,000 to 500,000 deaths each year in the United States. And do you still believe that pharmaceutical drugs provide all the possible answers to your health problems? Dr. O. W. Holmes, Professor of Medicine, Harvard University, had this to say regarding pharmaceuticals putting you in harm’s way: “If all the medicine in the world were thrown into the sea, it would be bad for the fish and good for humanity.” Dr. Holmes’ statement speaks volumes of the potential harm in using pharmaceuticals.

When you give your body a drug that replaces a substance your body is capable of making itself, your body then becomes weaker, not stronger, and begins not only to manufacture less of that substance, but also to become more dependent on the outside source, which is usually the drug you have been taking.

Unfortunately, no drug can give you insight into the circumstance that created your problems. At best, it can only temporarily reduce the symptoms or physical pain created by your medical condition. A drug “cures” your symptoms at the expense of creating more potential symptoms further down the road. For a while, you may be symptom-free, but soon enough new symptoms may emerge, requiring yet a more potent drug to deal with them, and thus forming a vicious cycle of taking more toxic pharmaceutical drugs.

Remember, there is no miracle cure, only natural self-healing, which is holistic health of the body, the mind, and the soul.

According to Dr. John Tilden, author of Toxemia, the first and only cause of disease is toxemia, which is the accumulation of toxic wastes over a long period of time. In other words, toxicity retained and stored in our bodies is the common denominator for the causes of all human diseases, including autoimmune diseases.

The bottom line: I was on steroid medications for my myasthenia gravis for a few years, but I have besen 100% drug free for more than two decades now. The challenge to overcome the use of toxic drugs prescribed by my doctor was huge but ultimately rewarding.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Chinese Diagnostic Approach to Myasthenia Gracvis

Chinese medicine, with its thousands of years of history of development through trial and error, is different from Western medicine in many respects, and one of which is its diagnostic approach to disease and healing. According to Chinese medicine, disease diagnosis is important not just from the standpoint of healing but also from the perspective of preventing disease in the future.

In traditional Chinese medicine, disease diagnosis is not about running tests on the patient, as in the case of Western medicine; instead, it is about taking and evaluating data of the patient in terms of "yin" and "yang" as well as the "deficiency" or "excess” of "qi," which is the internal life energy coursing through the meridians connecting all the body organs. Given that Chinese medicine focuses on the balance of "yin" and "yang" Chinese healing is based on the harmony of "yin" and "yang" expressed in the Five Elements, which represent different body organs, as well as the free flow of "qi." Any blockage or stagnation of "qi" will result in "deficiency" or "excess," either of which will lead to disharmony or disease. The purpose of Chinese diagnostic approach to disease and healing is to find out not only the causes but also the underlying patterns of disharmony, thereby instrumental in promoting natural cures as well as preventing relapses in the future.

For thousands of years, in Chinese health system, disease diagnosis has been comprehensive in that it includes the environment, the social factors, and the conditions of the patient, such as food and nutrition, as well as lifestyle. Therefore, Chinese diagnostic approach to disease and healing is detailed and all-inclusive.

In Chinese medicine today, diagnosis begins with data collection through observing, asking, listening, and touching.

The first level of Chinese disease diagnosis is visual inspection and observation of shen or spirit. Shen is the spirit of the body, manifested in the consciousness, personality, intellect, and other abstract qualities. Disharmony of shen in the patient is reflected in confused or distorted thinking, heavy body motion, dull and slow response, insomnia, and other mental and psychological disorders and problems. On the other hand, good shen is revealed in good eye contact, clear skin, and healthy complexion. The presence of shen, or the lack of it, is basically a reflection of the balance or disharmony of “yin” and “yang.”

The second visual diagnosis is the examination of the colors associated with the internal organs on the surface of the skin, such as red for heart, green for liver, yellow for spleen, white for lungs, and black for kidneys. Chinese medical practitioners look for specific places to identify the colors associated with different body organs; for example, the skin under the eyes, the temples, the skin by the nose, the lips, and the forearms are strategic areas for physicians to identify colors of the patient for disease diagnosis.

The most important observation is that of the tongue. For centuries, Chinese physicians have extensively observed the size and shape (e.g. long or short; swollen or thin; cracked or smooth), the contour, the margins, and the color of the tongue to determine the presence of disease and the overall health of an individual. To illustrate, the light or heavy coating of the tongue indicates the absence or presence of body fluids (stomach fluids); if the coat is thick, the fluids are sluggish; a thick white coat is considered normal and indicative of a relative fluid balance; a blackish coat indicates internal imbalance.

The lifestyle of the patient, such as his or her appetite, diet, digestion, elimination, sweat, sleep, energy level, exercise, and sexual activity, among others, is also part of the diagnostic approach to disease and healing.

Listening and smelling are other unobtrusive methods of disease diagnosis. In listening diagnosis, the Chinese physician listens for sound of voice and quality of speech to determine the health conditions of the patient. In smelling, the physician uses body odor, or quality of breath to determine the intensity of internal imbalance of the patient.

Touching is based on the pulse of the patient--a major index of the patient's internal health. In Chinese medicine, there are twenty-eight types of pulses, according to their speed, width, length, and rhythm. The abnormalities of the pulse indicate weakness or excess of "qi" in different body organs.

In Western medicine, doctors look for one single point where disease begins, and treatment is applied to remove or suppress the symptoms associated with the disease. The Chinese diagnostic approach to disease and healing is much more comprehensive and extensive in that the diagnosis aims at finding an underlying pattern of disharmony and identifying the organ and meridian that are the culprits, thereby instrumental in designing healing strategies for the disease.

For more information on Chinese healing, visit my website: Chinese Natural Healing.

Stephen Lau

Copyright © by Stephen Lau

Believing in Yourself

Self-healing has much to do with believing in yourself. When I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis some three decades ago, I was confident that the doctor could cure me. But later on I found out that he could only suppress the disease symptoms, then I began to turn to holistic healing, and I believed that I could do more than just suppressing the symptoms. For more than two decades, I would not say that I am 100 percent cured, but at least I am now 100 percent drug free. I still feel and experience some muscle weakness every now and then.

The bottom line: believing in yourself is critical to self-healing.

But believing in yourself is easier said than done

When you were young, you believed in anything and everything—even in the fairies. However, as you grew older, you became more skeptical, and you might have even stopped believing in yourself. But it is important that you believe in yourself, especially as you continue to age. Believing in yourself holds the key to successful aging.

Believing in yourself is confidence in your own ability, knowing what you have to do to win or simply to get what you want in life.

Believing in yourself is one of the first steps to success.in doing anything that becomes the substance of your confidence. To have confidence, you must set goals, and achieving your goals helps you build more confidence.

The only stumbling block to believing in yourself is your inability to achieve: some of your goals at some points in your life. This stumbling block may create negativity in the form of victimization. In other words, you may find you are a victim of circumstances; this may also lead to bitterness, despair, or even anger.

Setting goals and having expectations are not the same. According to the ancient wisdom of Tao, (Tao is The Way, which is the profound wisdom of Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese) expectations often become the stumbling blocks to accomplishing your goals. Why?  The explanation, according to Lao Tzu, is that .the greater the expectations, the more efforts you will exert, and the more stressed you become—ironically enough that may lead to failure in achieving your goals. What Lao Tzu would recommend is “doing what needs to be done” but no more and no less, and with “no expectation”.

There was the story of a drawing competition in which candidates were asked to draw a snake. One candidate finished his drawing well ahead of others. Thinking that he would get extra credit, he added a few beautiful legs to the snake he had drawn. As a result, he became disqualified in the competition. The moral of the story is that enough is enough, and more than enough may not be good.

Believing in yourself—with “no over-doing” and “no expectation”—holds the key to setting your goals and accomplishing some of them despite some drawbacks to build up your confidence, which is necessary for success in doing anything in your life.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Anything Everything Nothing

ANYTHING IS EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING IS NOTHING, NOTHING IS EVERYTHING by Stephen Lau

This most recently published book is about the miracle of living.

“Anything” may be “everything” to you, but not to others, and vice-versa. That may explain the some of the difficulties in human relationships. Life is difficult because it is all about you, and not about others. Let go of “anything is everything” to you if you focus more on others as well.

“Everything is nothing” is a universal truth: nothing lasts, no matter how we wish they were permanent. Many of us are reluctant to accept this universal truth of the impermanence of all things in this world.

“Nothing is everything” is enlightenment of the human mind, which is profound understanding of the ultimate truths of self, of others, and of the world around.

This 100-page book explains with many real-life examples to illustrate the perceptions of “anything is everything”, “everything is nothing”, and “nothing is everything”—based on the ancient Chinese wisdom and the Biblical wisdom.

Get the wisdom to live your life as if everything is a miracle.

Click here to get your paperback copy.

Click here to get your digital copy.

Here is the outline of the book:

INTRODUCTION

ONE: ANYTHING IS EVERYTHING

The Meanings and the Interpretations

A Frog in a Well

Human Wisdom and Spiritual Wisdom

Oneness with All Life

Love and Forgiveness

Gratitude and Generosity

Sympathy and Empathy

Compassion and Loving Kindness

TWO: EVERYTHING IS NOTHING

Understanding Is Everything

The Mind and the Ego

Attachments and Illusions

Control and Power

Detachment and Letting Go

Impermanence and Emptiness

THREE: NOTHING IS EVERYTHING

The Paradox

The Way

The Miracle

The Enlightenment

APPENDIX A: TAO TE CHING

APPENDIX B: MINDFULNESS

APPENDIX C: MEDITATION

APPENDIX D: WORDS OF WISDOM

APPENDIX E: ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Attitude Is Everything

Myasthenia gravis is one of the many autoimmune diseases affecting humans. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness, which can affect different parts of the body, such as the eyes, resulting in drooping eyelids and double vision, and the limbs affecting body movement, and the throat resulting in difficulty in swallowing. There are many underlying causes or triggers of the onset of an autoimmune disease. Basically, it is the dysfunction or malfunction of the immune system.

Researchers have now discovered that there is a close connection between attitude and autoimmune response. The research findings indicated that attitude can suppress or enhance the immune system. The explanation is that when affected by certain emotions and moods, the brain releases certain brain chemicals that are transmitted to the immune cells with receptors for those chemicals. In other words, there is a biochemical link between human emotions and immunity.

Attitude is a learned response to a person, a circumstance, or an event. Researchers have found that control over a stressful situation may lead to a positive attitude, which will benefit and improve the immune response.

In one study, two rats, having been given electric shock, were put in two different cages, one with a wheel to control the shock, and the other one without the wheel. The result was that the rat which could control the wheel had much better immune response than the other one without the wheel. That is to say, without the capability to control the situation may be devastating to the immune system.

Given that myasthenia gravis, or any autoimmune disease, has to do with a compromised immune system, it is therefore important to  boost your immune system with an attitude of being in control, or at least not to suppress it with an attitude of helplessness. Do not let your despair develop into a depression, which may result in higher-than-normal cortisol (a hormone) that suppresses the immune response. Again, research has indicated that optimism increases the immune system functioning.

Understandably, to be diagnosed with myasthenia gravis is a devastating experience. But don't let that negative emotion be a stumbling block on your road to recovery. Although according to conventional Western medicine, there is no cure for autoimmune diseases, there are many natural ways not only to control and cope with the disease symptoms but also to enhance your immune system to combat the disease over the long haul.

The first step is to develop an attitude of being in control. This mindset is critical to recovery. 

I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis more than two decades ago; I struggled with my disease symptoms for a while; I stopped all my medications; and for over a decade, I have been totally drug-free. If I could do it, you can do the same too. There is no miracle cure, except the intention to get better, which is no more than an attitude of control, empowerment of knowledge, and determination to fight against all odds.

Read my book: My Myasthenia Gravis (2nd edition)

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Understanding Your Immune System

To understand why and how you may have developed an autoimmune disease, such as myasthenia gravis, you must have an understanding of your immune system in layman terms. This understanding may be instrumental in helping you cope with its many disease symptoms.

According to Western medicine there is no cure, except using drugs to treat its symptoms. However, from my own experience, an understanding of the disease may initiate self-healing over the long haul. Remember, more than two decades ago, I was taking many steroid medication, but now I am 100 percent drug free.

The Immune System

“In recent years science has learned that the human immune system is much more complicated than we thought.” Dr. Philip F. Incao, M.D.

First and foremost, you must have an understanding of your immune system in simple layman’s terms:

Antibodies are proteins that protect the human body from disease and disorder, and they are like soldiers in an army.

Antigens are foreign invaders in the form of bacteria and viruses that attack the human body.

T-cells, a type of white blood cells originating from the bone marrow, either control and regulate the immune response or directly attack infected cells.

The human immune system is complicated in that it affects the whole body system in many different ways. As such, it can heal you but it can also harm you. It protects your cells and maintains your overall health through its production of antibodies (specific proteins) to fight against antigens (invaders to your body system). However, an impaired or dysfunctional immune system can adversely affect your overall health because it is the common denominator of more than one hundred autoimmune diseases.

The immune system is basically made up of four parts, and each part has its unique functions; it involves the whole human body, not just certain body organs and tissues. The complexity of the human immune system is a testament to the ingenuity and mystery of human creation.

The basic function of the immune system is to warn the body of imminent dangers of viruses and bacteria (unfortunately, many of us just ignore these tale-telling signs, or simply fail to decipher these subtle body messages warning us of an imminent disease). In addition, the immune system “remembers” these foreign invaders or antigens (the intention is to identify similar invaders in future for better disease-prevention purpose). Furthermore, the white blood cells in the immune system produce antibodies, which are chemicals that attach to and attack specific antigens. These white blood cells also send “messages” that will cause “inflammation” in response to an injury or antigen, and thus instrumental in preventing an infection from spreading elsewhere. In other words, they receive “chemical instructions” to nip the disease or infection in the bud.

In short, the immune system serves different functions of identification, activation, mobilization, and restoration. It is akin to a police department in a city: it recognizes the city’s potential crime scenario, takes strong measures to protect the public, trains the local police force to take appropriate action, and regulates the law and order of the city.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Mindfulness of Healing

Myasthenia gravis is one of the many autoimmune diseases attacking humans. The major characteristic of the disorder is weakness of muscles, which can occur in any part of the body, but most notably in the eyes and the limbs. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is double vision and general physical disability.

To be diagnosed with myasthenia gravis is a devastating experience, especially when the doctor tells you that there is no cure, except controlling the symptoms with long-term use of dangerous pharmaceutical drugs. This may lead to depression and despair.

No matter what, we must accept the reality, and believe in miracles, just as Albert Einstein said: “There are two ways to live your life: believing that nothing is a miracle, or believing as though everything is a miracle.” Believe in the miracle of healing, with or without drugs.

But how can we believe in the miracle of healing. God has given us an innate self-healing mechanism that enables us to fight and recover from diseases, including autoimmune disorders. Unfortunately, many of us ignored this natural healing; instead we have sought healing through science (I am not saying that science does not play a pivotal role in medicine and healing, but we often put too much emphasis on its efficacy that we have disregarded the natural laws of healing. As a result, our natural self-healing mechanism may have become compromised and ineffective.

Mindfulness plays an important role in our lives: it affects how we think, how we live our lives, and how we look at our health.

By the way, what is mindfulness? Mindfulness is deliberate presence of mind in a non-judgmental way, often focusing on something apparently insignificant, such as our breathing. Mindfulness is letting go of doing, at least for now, and learning how to be in the present moment. Say, you have been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, and you feel distressed and distraught. Instead of taking drastic actions to cope with the disease symptoms, you let yourself to be doing less, but noticing more, with the ultimate objective of probe into your mind to release wisdom on how to deal with your myasthenia gravis. Very often, humans rush to actions without much thinking. The downside of this is rashness is making the wrong decisions, creating the anticipation that not only causes stress but may ultimately bring about disappointment, which only further aggravates the stress. Remember, stress is not only the underlying cause of myasthenia gravis but also the major contributor to the worsening of the disease symptoms. Essentially, the function of mindfulness is to quiet the mind so that it may see things as they really are, and not what they appear to be. Being to be in the present moment and to act later with wisdom is preferred to acting and reacting without second thoughts.

Mindfulness is a way of being—it has been around for millennia. It is not a new concept, although recent scientific research has attested to its health benefits. Its major contribution to mental health is that mindfulness can alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression. Mindfulness also contributes to physical health in that it helps the immune system recover and speed up any healing process. In addition, mindfulness is instrumental in correcting behavior patterns, such as sleep which plays a pivotal role in reducing stress and improving symptoms of myasthenia gravis. All in all, mindfulness changes your brain chemicals to help you cope with your disease symptoms.

But how do you develop mindfulness?

Mindfulness begins with breathing. Mindful of your breathing is the way. We all breathe, and few of us are mindful of how we breathe. When you are mindful of your breathing in and breathing out, you become aware of the presence of your mind in the now. When your mind slows down, you become mindful of what is happening around you. So, begin to spend some time each day to notice your breaths. You can do this even while you are waiting for the bus or train.

Read my book My Myasthenia Gravis for more information on how to cope with the disease.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Anti-Inflammation Diet for Myasthenia Gravis

Inflammation is a natural immune response to injury, toxins, allergy or infection. Because 70 percent of your immune system cells are located on the lining of your digestive tract, your immune response is greatly affected by the foods you ingest, especially foods that may cause inflammation.

The main causes of inflammation are as follows:

Injury (a natural process of repairing injured cells or tissues)

Allergy (the immune system overreacting to a harmless substance, such as a natural food, or potentially harmful substance, such as a synthetic chemical)

Toxicity (cellular injury due to overexposure to toxic agents or chemicals in the environment, in processed foods, and in pharmaceutical drugs, among others)

Nutritional imbalance (a deficiency or an excess of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals causing hormone disturbances, leading to a compromised immune system)

Infection, such as a yeast, fungus, or bacteria attack

Emotional trauma (increase of adrenaline and cortisol stress hormones due to excess or chronic stress)

Have a moderately low-calorie diet with emphasis on weight control. Foods that are high in calories are linked to higher amounts of inflammation, and the greater amount of fat tissue you have, especially around your midsection, the more inflammation you are going to have.

Most fresh fruits and vegetables are anti-inflammatory. Those red, yellow, or orange ones are particularly loaded with antioxidants, such as carotenoids, vitamin C, and quercetin. However, if you are sensitive to food allergies, avoid all “nightshade vegetables” that include eggplant, tomatoes, and potatoes because they contain a chemical called solanine that may trigger an inflammatory response in some individuals who have food allergies. Eggs, dairy products, and wheat are also associated with food allergies in some individuals.

Eat high-fiber whole grains, seeds and nuts to reduce levels of C-reactive protein.

Avoid all highly processed cereals, sweets, fruit juice, white breads and pasta that increase blood-sugar levels that may trigger the release of insulin and pro-inflammatory chemicals in your body.

Cook with anti-inflammatory herbs and spices, such as ginger, cayenne, clove, feverfew, nutmeg, oregano, and rosemary.  Avoid charred or over-grilled foods.

Drink anti-inflammatory beverages, including white, green, and black tea (they contain antioxidant polyphenols), and red wine (but no more than 2 drinks per day).

Dark chocolate is also part of an anti-inflammatory diet.

Anti-inflammation is disease prevention and treatment because inflammation touches every aspect of human health.

An anti-inflammation diet helps to reduce the many symptoms of myasthenia gravis.

Stephen Lau        

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

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The TAO of Living for Life

This book is about the art of living well, which is being in the material world we are all living in, but without being of this mundane world. This daunting and challenging task requires profound human wisdom, which comes from TAO wisdom, the ancient wisdom from Lao Tzu, the ancient sage from China, more than 2,600 years ago.

Lao Tzu was the author of the immortal classic Tao Te Ching, made up of 81 short chapters of Chinese poetry on human wisdom, one of the most translated books in world literature.

This book explains the essentials of TAO wisdom, based on Stephen Lau's own translation and interpretation of Lao Tzu's immortal classic Tao Te Ching with his comments after each of the 81 chapters. Living for life is the wisdom of living in this contemporary age. It is not easy, so you need TAO wisdom.

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The TAO of Living for Life shows you the wisdom of living not just for yourself, but also for others as well --  just as the famous English poet John Donne says: "No man is an island."  Once you perceive this intricate inter-connection between people, you will self-intuit the wisdom of Lao Tzu.  After all, according to Lao Tzu, there is no word or blueprint for human wisdom -- it is all about self-intuition.

Stephen Lau