Mystery Illnesses: An In-Depth Look At Fibromyalgia

by Rebecca Huber
update, part three

Last week in part two, I looked at the history of fibromyalgia, what it means, how the medical profession views this malady, and ongoing research. Let's look into the body and the cells and see if we can further "De-mystify" this disease.

For a moment, please bear with me while I examine what makes for perfect health and, conversely, what causes disease at the cellular level. As we all know, in order for life to proceed, the blood and the circulatory system delivers all the nutrients needed to feed the 63 trillion cells of our body. The final stage of this delivery system occurs in the tiny capillaries next to the cell wall. The cell membrane, being semipermeable, allows for the flow of oxygen, glucose, minerals and inorganic salts that are necessary to sustain life to flow in, while toxins produced by the cell are released. It is scientifically proven that the delicate balance of minerals available to the cell at any given time, and the electrical properties produced by the minerals equates to raw energy for use by the cells.

In FM, there exists a vicious cycle. The cells are in an unhealthy "wet" state (swelling) causing mineral imbalance, which in turn causes the cells to leak, paralyzing the cell and greatly diminishing cell function. Mineral balance inside and outside of the cell is vital to cell health. This all adds up to create another and even more basic dysfunction, the inability of the cell to breathe.

So yes, mineral imbalance is a key. What does this mean to me and how can I address this? Well this is where we get down to brass tacks. Everyone talks about vitamins, and yes the are important, but if you cremate the body I don't think you're going to have a box of vitamins are you?

Magnesium with malic acid seems to be one of the best mineral supplements for people with FM to start with. If each of us took our diet apart and looked at the RDAs we were getting in a day's time, we would see there's usually more than adequate calcium­­ but calcium, cannot work without magnesium. Electrically magnesium and calcium follow one another, therefore taking magnesium can help "pull" biounavailable calcium back into the blood stream where it is really needed. Malic acid (a commonly found substance in the skin of apples) helps in the digestion of minerals, especially magnesium.

Does the occurrence of FM and the fact that we are now eating a very demineralized diet relate? Lots of holistic experts seem to think so. I haven't seen any studies, I'm sure there's one out there. Next week I'll talk more about nutrition and how it works to rebuild the body in the face of fibromyalgia.

Till next time, Rebecca



This article posted to Zephyr online June 19, 1997
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