Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 05:55:48 -0600
From: mark.ansara@...
To: Dianne Knight <raw_foods_natural_hygiene@...>
Subject: Here's Shelton's article on epilepsy


Dear Dianne:

As you requested, here is the copy of Dr. Shelton's article on epilepsy from
my Shelton articles database. I think that it is very good. . . .

Sincerely,

Mark Ansara 

********************************************************************************************************
        17) “Growing Out of Epilepsy,” by Dr. Herbert M. Shelton

 Source: Dr. Shelton’s Hygienic Review,

               Vol. 1, No. 4, Dec. 1939

 

The layman calls epilepsy, “fits,” “seizures” and “falling sickness.” The ancients called it the “sacred disease” and left its care in the hands of the priests rather than in that of the physicians. At one period the ancients thought epilepsy was due to evil spirits that had gained control of the body of the victim. Today the medical profession admits that the cause of epilepsy is still unknown, while treatment, which is highly unsatisfactory, is confined to suppression of its symptoms. The disease is considered incurable. We are not willing to admit either that the cause is unknown, or that it is incurable.     

 

Epilepsy belongs to that group of maladies called neuroses, or nervous affections. It is characterized by periodic convulsive paroxysms, due to functional derangements of a reflex nature. Pathologists have sought the cause of epilepsy in post-mortem studies of epileptics, but have not found it due to the fact that the examination of an organ after death does not show functional derangement and cannot show the reflex irritations that throw the patient into convulsions.

 

One  form  of  epilepsy  known  as  “Jacksonian,”   is conceded to be due

to  injury  (trauma).  This  type  is  characterized  by  being  confined  to

one-half of the body; either the right side, or the left side. The muscular spasms are more or less severe, but the patient does not lose consciousness. He is a witness to his own spasms. This type of epilepsy is rare.

 

The common form of the disease is divided into two general types. The more  severe  form,  which the layman calls “falling sickness,”  is known

as  “Epilepsia Gravior,”  or  grand mal.   In  this  form  the  patient  falls

without  sufficient  warning  to  protect  himself.    These  are  the   cases

where  consciousness   is  wholly  lost   and  the  convulsions  are  usually

severe;   although  there  are  cases  where  consciousness  is  wholly  lost

and  the  convulsive  movements  are  slight – more of a stiffening of  the

muscles – and there are cases where consciousness is not lost. These patients may fall on the street before a car or other passing vehicle, or in some other place that may cause them severe injury. One form of this severe type of epilepsy is the nocturnal type. This is the safer form, for the patient has his convulsions at night while asleep in bed.

 

The light form of epilepsy is known as “Epilepsia Mitior,” or petit mal. Convulsions in these cases may be very mild, last less than half a minute, the momentary loss of consciousness not being enough for the patient to fall, if standing, nor to lose the trend of conversation. Or this form may be characterized by staggering and confusion and the sufferer may not be able to resume the conversation in which he was previously engaged until he is reminded of the subject. The lighter form may gradually develop into the severer form if its causes are not removed.

 

There is nothing resembling regularity in the development of epileptic convulsions. In some cases they often occur in “bouts,” one, or two or three taking place every few days, or they may be separated from each other by weeks, sometimes by months, and occasionally by years. A patient may have two or three sets of fits in a week or in a month and have none the following week or month.   

   

It is said that the light and severe types of the disease may exist at the same time. But this does not mean that the patient has two diseases, two epilepsies. It only means that he has both light and severe paroxysms. The light form may exist for years without a severe “seizure,” or the severe form may persist for years without a severe “attack,” or light and severe convulsions may alternate.

 

In the light form, petit mal, the patient may have a half-a-dozen or a dozen convulsions in a day. Indeed he may become so intensely sensitive that he has as many convulsions in an hour. He may be so sensitive that the slightest shock or irritation out of the regular routine may cause a momentary loss of consciousness. Such a patient may suffer a severe convulsion every two to four weeks, or at shorter and longer intervals.

 

In the severe form, grand mal, the convulsion is preceded by a short cry or shriek, like a cry of distress. The patient usually falls forward on his face, which is often injured. It is no uncommon thing for these patients to fall on a stove and be badly burned. Due to the spasmodic contractions of the muscles of the jaw, these patients often severely bite the tongue. In frequent cases the tonic contraction of the jaw muscles is so severe that the jaw is set, and, due to the setting or spasmodic contraction of the muscles of the chest, breathing is suspended for half a minute.

 

Due to suspended respiration and even circulation, the face, which at first is pale, turns red, livid, then purple, and, at times, almost black. The pulse becomes very rapid and the pupils dilate. Indeed there is over-dilatation of the pupils in all forms of epilepsy, as in many other nervous diseases.

 

Because the muscles on one side of the body are affected more than those of the other side, the head is turned to one or the other shoulder in a jerking way. The eyes roll and have a wild expression. The cheeks as well as the tongue are often severely bitten. In severe cases there is always foaming at the mouth, the foam being tinged with blood from tongue or cheek. Breathing is stertorous and these cases are often mistaken for apoplexy or drunkenness. There have been cases in which bones were broken or dislocated, so severe were the muscular contractions. Often the sphincters relax and there is involuntary emptying of the bladder and colon.

 

The “seizure” may last from a few seconds to a half-hour. One, two, or three dozen convulsions may be required before calm is restored to the nervous system. In cases where dozens are required the patient may die of rupture of blood vessels in the brain (apoplexy), rupture of the heart, uremic coma, shock, or from too long suspension of the vital functions by the prolonged tonic spasm, so that vital activities cannot be resumed after it has passed off.         

 

When the convulsion subsides, the body relaxes, consciousness returns and the patient may fall into a deep sleep that may last for several hours. Upon awakening, if the convulsions have not been too prolonged, the patient may appear quite well, and except for a tired feeling and muscular soreness, may feel well. Indeed many cases recover from the convulsions in a few minutes and immediately resume their regular activities, as though nothing had occurred.

 

In cases where the convulsions last several minutes the patient is worn out and, even though he sleeps heavily for some time after the spasms cease, he may be tired and his muscles be stiff and bruised and his tongue sore, for several days afterward. In the more severe cases the patient may recover from the convulsions very excited and lapse into a severe form of mania, which lasts one or two days, ending in death; or he may go on living but requiring constant attention and attendance, due to the mental derangement.

 

The functional characteristic in all forms of epilepsy is a lack of nervous stability.   The  man  with  a normal nervous system is  able  to  perform

the functions of life  –  walking,  thinking,  eating, digesting, eliminating,

etc. – to mingle with people and amicably adjust himself to society. In actual life we meet with all degrees of nervous coordination or balance, ranging from a solid, stable state to one of marked instability – one easily thrown off balance.

 

In the epileptic we see a nervous system that is very unstable, one that is very sensitive to irritations and is thrown out of balance by things that the normal nervous system easily adjusts itself to or successfully resists. Epileptics are all neurotic. They lack strong central nervous control. When their nerve energy is drawn upon beyond a certain variable limit, they lose coordination and control. The whole motor nervous system becomes “insane.”

 

Epilepsy is said by many to be hereditary, while others claim that only the neurotic diathesis (tendency to nervous diseases) is hereditary. In view of our present knowledge of heredity, it is probable that both of these views are wrong. It is more probable that the nervous deficiency that constitutes the neurotic diathesis is the outcome of nutritive deficiencies before and after birth. Stable nervous systems cannot be built out of inadequate nutrition and we have enough clinical and experimental evidence to show that certain food deficiencies in the young, growing organism produce nervous impairment and convulsions. Unfortunately, most of the old ideas about hereditary disease, which were developed before we knew anything about either heredity or the effects of dietary deficiencies, persist in spite of our increased knowledge of these subjects.

 

Convulsions in infants and children with unstable nervous systems are frequently seen. Slight irritations, such as indigestion, a heavy meal, too much exercise, or being chilled, may bring on convulsions in some children. Undoubtedly, these are the children that give us most of our cases of epilepsy. 

I have not cared for a single case of epilepsy in the whole of my professional career whose parents or grandparents had the disease or who had brothers or sisters who similarly suffered. I long ago came to the conclusion that no disease is hereditary.

 

In all cases of epilepsy, except the few in which injuries to the head have caused depressed fractures and other anatomical defects, there are enough errors of life practiced to account for the disease without calling in predestination or election to help explain the pitiable plight of the sufferer.

 

To  develop   epilepsy   there  must  first   be  a  very   unstable   nervous

system,   one   easily   thrown   out   of   balance.    The  individual  must,

then,   be  subjected  to  influences  that bring on a  pronounced  type  of

enervation – lowered nervous energy. Enervation checks elimination, producing toxemia. This rapidly forces the nervous system into a pronounced state of lost resistance. It is then that it becomes so sensitive that unusual irritations of any nature or a slight increase of an accustomed irritation may cause a breaking up of nerve balance, a temporary loss of coordinating power.

 

The epileptic subject may be thrown into convulsions by overeating, improper eating, toothache, earache, or any pain, sexual indulgence, anger, sorrow, joy, overwork or overplay, excitement, adenoids, colds; in fact by any undue nervous strain. One case I cared for was thrown into a violent fit of convulsions by the application of an electric needle to the roots of some superfluous hair on the face.

 

Once the epileptic habit (reaction pattern, to employ a psychological term) is established, very little more irritation than one is accustomed to in daily life is enough to throw the subject into a fit. Often an unaccustomed harsh sound, a sharp word, or a slight disappointment is enough to overcome the slight resistance and bring on a convulsion.

 

Emotional over-irritation and lack of emotional control quickly impair the nervous system and these may also precipitate a convulsion. Psychic shock and lack of emotional poise contribute to the production and continuance of practically all so-called diseases.

 

Perhaps the commonest cause of epileptic convulsions is poisoning or putrefaction generated by gastro-intestinal decomposition. Too much sugar or meat often causes enough decomposition or poisoning to bring on epileptic convulsions. I recall a case which I helped care for in 1920. The epilepsy was in a young man of about twenty-five years. He had been afflicted but four or five years. We placed him on a milk diet. We soon discovered that he could take as much as six quarts of milk a day with safety, but as sure as he received seven quarts he had a fit of convulsions. We also found that he could take milk for six days and fast on the seventh and go along apparently indefinitely without a seizure, but as sure as he was allowed to have milk on the seventh day he would have one or two fits. 

 

Always, in this case, as in many others, there was a sense of distress in the abdomen before the convulsions began. In this connection let me tell of another patient who would have actual pain in the left side of the pelvic abdomen preceding each convulsion. Any irritation – any disease capable of causing reflex irritation – in those subject to epilepsy will dissolve coordinating power and bring on convulsions. Eyestrain may excite an “attack” of epilepsy.

 

Most physicians concede that epileptic convulsions are precipitated by gastro-intestinal derangement – indigestion, gastric hyperacidity, intestinal fermentation, and constipation – even by very slight deviations from normal at any period of the digestive cycle.

 

The nervous tension produced by gambling, or by bucket-shop operations, is enough to produce epilepsy and if these things are continued, to prevent recovery. The petty thief, the smuggler, the hypocrite, the juggler of accounts, the liar, and the cheat, all if subject to epileptic convulsions, pay for their dishonesty by fits.

 

With an understanding of the causes of epilepsy its cure becomes evident. And the disease is curable. Practically every sufferer from epilepsy, who reads this article, may be restored to sound health and may remain free of convulsions.

 

The prevailing mode of treatment is such a consistent failure that one can only wonder why it is persisted in. It fritters away valuable time palliating symptoms and, due to its use of the bromides and other nerve paralyzing drugs, commonly renders the condition of the nervous system worse. Physicians frequently operate for phimosis, or remove adenoids and enlarged tonsils, or extract teeth, remove bony growths from the nose, castrate the female, operate for varicocele in the male, and fit glasses to the eyes, on the theory that these symptoms are the causes of epilepsy.

 

That reflex irritations from these things may precipitate a convulsion we have already explained, but these small afflictions are only local outgrowths of the same nervous impairment and toxemia, which form the basic cause of epilepsy; and unless this basic cause of all of these troubles is removed the patient will continue to have epilepsy. If the basic cause is removed, not only does the patient recover from epilepsy, but he recovers from the other troubles as well.

 

Tumor of the womb, ovary or tube may cause enough nervous irritation in women to dissolve coordination. In such cases, surgical removal of the tumor or of the affected organs may result in temporary respite from epileptic convulsions. However, since the surgical procedure does not remove the basic cause of epilepsy and of the source of reflex irritation, this cause, sooner or later, evolves another or other sources of reflex irritation so that the apparently cured epilepsy recurs.

 

Getting rid of any local “disease” by surgical removal of the diseased part, removes an exciting cause, but unless the constitutional derangement is removed the epilepsy will remain and other sources of reflex irritation will subsequently develop. Fitting glasses to the eyes is only palliative; it offers temporary relief; but it does not correct the primary derangement that permitted the eyestrain to develop.

 

Only by going back of these minor ailments and correcting all of the causes of ill health, can we ever hope to succeed in remedying epilepsy. It is necessary to get rid of the enervation and toxemia and to remove all of the causes of these. The whole body must be put in a state of health and maintained in this state.

 

As a matter of physical and mental economy, there must be a general reform in all physical and mental habits. The epileptic must stop all abuse of the body and mind. All enervating habits must be discontinued at once and permanently. Doctors who attempt to cure disease without correcting enervating habits and who treat patients for “specific diseases,” while ignoring a manner of living that makes cure impossible, will never succeed in remedying epilepsy or any other disease in their patient.

 

It is necessary in all cases to avoid the causes of disease. Since the cause of epilepsy is often subtle, uncertain, and obscure, both the doctor and the patient should attempt to find and remove or correct all and every enervating habit or influence, however insignificant it may appear. The plan of living should be put upon a rigidly economic basis and nerve energy conserved as much as possible.

 

Sensualism must be controlled. Sex abuse, both mental and physical, must be given up forever. Libertines and masturbators cannot be cured of epilepsy until cured of their wasteful sex habits. Those who constantly excite their sex functions mentally, even if they do not resort to overt sexual acts, will also fail to recover until they have educated themselves out of this bad habit.

 

Tobacco, tea, coffee, alcohol and like poisons lower nerve-tone and help to produce and perpetuate epilepsy. Until all poison habits are completely abandoned, the sufferer need not expect to recover.

 

Gross eating habits must be broken. Gluttony, irritating foods and condiments and too “rich” foods help to produce enervation and toxemia and are often the causes of the irritation that precipitates a convulsion. The putrefaction and constipation that grow out of gross eating habits are recognized as “causes” of epilepsy.

 

Since gastro-intestinal derangements are so nearly uniformly precedent to epileptic seizures, it is folly to look for good results in these cases without giving due attention to the amount, kind, and combination of food eaten.

 

Everything capable of producing reflex irritation must be overcome in order to overcome the convulsion habit. This is not to be done by cutting off a tight prepuce, saddling the nose with eye-crutches, removing the gallbladder or womb, etc., and by taking cathartics; but by restoring the whole body and all of its parts to good health.

 

It is often necessary to get away from family influences, for the epileptic who is pampered and indulged and weakened by misdirected sympathy cannot get well. He must learn to stand on his own.

 

Among the treatments employed by the ancients in the care of epileptics were fasting and prayer. On one occasion, when the disciples of Jesus, wanted to know why they had failed in their effort to cast out a “devil” from an epileptic, he told them “this kind cometh not out save by fasting and prayer.” There is nothing of more immediate benefit to the epileptic patient than fasting, while the mental calm often produced by prayer is a great aid to restoration of poise.

 

Every case of epilepsy should be given a long fast as the surest and most rapid means of freeing the body of excess food and of its toxic overload. This will also quickly remedy nearly all of the common sources of reflex irritation. Since the most common source of irritation is the digestive tract, nothing can more speedily benefit these patients than a properly conducted fast.

 

A few years ago Drs. Lenox and Cobb, of the Harvard University Medical School, conducted fasts, ranging in duration from four to twenty-one days, in twenty-seven cases of epilepsy. Their reports showed that these patients experienced improvement during the fasts, although their “seizures” recurred after the fasts. In the majority of cases, convulsions were entirely absent, or greatly reduced during the fast, but only in one case was there any permanent effect on the “seizures.” These men suggest that if the fast should be given early enough in the disease, before the convulsion habit has been established, results would be more encouraging.

 

Since their results are not in line with the results of those of us who regularly use fasting in this and other troubles, we must seek an explanation for their partial failure in some other direction than that of the advanced stage of the disease.

 

We cannot overlook the fact that most of their fasts were not long enough to give complete results. A fast of four, five, or six days is never long enough to rid the body of toxins and to clear away the sources of reflex irritation. Such short fasts would never remedy a chronically inflamed gallbladder or ovary. It is rarely enough to make any appreciable difference in bowel function, or to greatly improve digestion in cases of long-standing digestive derangement.      

 

The epileptic patient is particularly susceptible to digestive upsets and, as pointed out above, it is folly to expect permanent results in these cases, unless the fast is followed by careful attention to the amount, kind and combinations of foods given. If the patient is taught how to eat, what to eat, when to eat or not to eat, and how much to eat, this will eventually lead to complete recovery. But if the same kind, quantity and quality of food are permitted after the fast that the patient was in the habit of eating before the fast, there will be no recovery.  

 

It has been shown that excess nitrogen (protein) increases the frequency of paroxysms in epilepsy, whereas, an increase in bases (alkaline salts) reduces them. One egg added to the daily diet of children predisposed to spasmodic affections will give rise to spasms. When the eggs are removed from the diet the child promptly becomes normal.

 

In all cases of nervous impairment – epilepsy, chronic melancholia, neurasthenia, etc. – “acidosis” arises more quickly and has more powerful effects. It is undoubtedly the weakness and derangement of the nervous system in such cases that permits the earlier development of “acidosis” and that explains why the “acidosis” has such a powerful effect. “Acidosis” is especially likely to precipitate an epileptic paroxysm at night, for then the reaction of the blood is physiologically less strongly alkaline than during the day.

 

The weakness and derangement of the nervous system in epilepsy renders care in feeding all the more necessary and makes it equally necessary to avoid shock, emotional strain, over-stimulation, excesses, extreme exposure, and all other influences that tax or weaken the nervous system.

 

Finally, if all the enervating and irritating habits and influences enumerated above are not corrected and removed, these will keep up enough nervous irritation, digestive derangement and excretory inhibition to prevent recovery.

 

It is, of course, true that the longer the causes of epilepsy have been allowed to run, the harder it is to correct. The nervous system may ultimately become so non-resistant to irritation and the habit of convulsive repetition so firmly established, that the slightest irritating influence may unbalance coordination and initiate convulsions. It is wise, therefore, to begin the care of these cases at the very beginning and we have a right to expect better and faster results than years later, when the disease is well established. Those are most benefited by fasting whose general state is not shattered by the long-continued use of drugs and by psychic shock.

 

But whether the case is taken early or late, we should not lose sight of the fact that it takes time to overcome toxemia and enervation, and still more time for the nervous system to evolve out of the habit of falling into temporary states of lost coordination. How can we expect this to occur during a few days of fasting?

 

Rest  is  necessary  to restore nervous poise and this cannot  be  obtained

so  long  as there  is  any nervous irritation from any source.   Emotional

over-irritation – worry, anger, jealousy, apprehension, fear, etc.; poison habits – tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, headache “remedies,” constipation “cures,” etc.; excesses – gluttony, sensuality, overwork, overplay, etc.; and the deficiencies – lack of fresh air, lack of sunshine, indolence, etc.; all aid in building and maintaining the constitutional derangement that is back of epilepsy. Any program of care that ignores these will inevitably fail. 

 

The patient who returns to gluttony, sensuality, inebriety, gambling, and to his former excesses and dissipations, after he has been restored to health, will again break down his health and is likely to redevelop epilepsy. There is no cure of disease outside of removal of cause and there is no prevention of disease save by avoiding its causes.