Round 2 - Day 1

The new group of guests began arriving this morning : )  Those of us who were here over the last break had our naturopath consults earlier in the day, freeing up the afternoon consult times for those arriving later.  Tammy and I met with Toby at 9:30am and spent about a half hour catching up on how things went over the break (e.g. steams and vitamin C flush) and confirming the plan for the week ahead.

We then met with Jess again, another one of the naturopaths at LVS and she reviewed Tammy's live blood analysis and re-measured her body composition.  Neither of these techniques is used in mainstream medicine, however, they are not uncommon in alternative medicine practices.

Jess pricking Tammy's finger to draw out a wee drop o' blood

The darkfield microscope, camera and screen used for the analysis

Live blood analysis involves pricking the patient's finger, transferring a drop of blood to a glass slide and then viewing the blood using a darkfield or phase contrast microscope.  The theory behind this test is that there are a number of characteristics to be observed that are considered indicators of certain conditions (not specific diseases) in the body.

This is definitely a controversial analysis and is not accepted as legitimate by 'traditional' medicine.  Simply using the old noggin', it does make sense that diseases could/would manifest in some cases in the condition of the blood; the question then becomes, to what extent can you reliably interpret what is observed?  There is enough info on the internet, both for and against, that anyone interested can look up and make their own decision.

For our part, we've been comfortable that LVS' use of this test has been objective and balanced and isn't being used to 'jump to conclusions'.  It's simply seen as one of many indirect indicators of what's going on inside!

A low mag view of the blood sample taken Oct 21st

For Tammy, Jess did note a larger-than-usual number of white blood cells called eosinophils, which indicate a greater-than-usual immune response in the body.  These are the larger, bright white cells present in the field of view.  

Jess also noted a fair amount of variability in the sizes and shapes of Tammy's red blood cells (the majority of the cells visible - the simple, round circles).  It's hoped that dietary changes we're making here, perhaps along with some of the supplementation, will help Tammy's body build cells such that there are fewer variants - and therefore, the blood 'works' better.

Tammy's blood on October 7th - 1st day of the 1st program...

Tammy's blood on Oct 21st, viewed at the same mag as the Oct 7th pic.

Can you see any difference between October 7th and 21st?  There wasn't much to differentiate between the quality and condition of the eosinophils (white blood cells) and the red blood cells.  However, the red blood cells have a life span of 3 to 4 months, so any improvements in cell formation would only be expected to show up after a few months time.

What was different on today's analysis was the amount of smaller white particles present in the field of view.  On the live view these were moving around quite a bit.  Apparently these smaller bits are nutrients (fat?) being carried about in the blood - products of digestion from a recent meal.  The October 7th pic was taken several hours after breakfast but before lunch whereas today's analysis was just over an hour after breakfast...

Tammy didn't have any other appointments today (Sunday).  Given that it was a really hot day again, which limits Tammy's ability to get around, we spent most of the time between meals in our room with the AC turned up!