OUR PLANET OURSELVES

Natural and human powered environmental influences that can cause health problems:

Wind
"The wind brings a thousand diseases" (1) Health problems that are migratory are considered a "wind" problem in Chinese Medicine. Rapid onset of symptoms can be a"wind" condition. Initial onset of fever/chills and flu are considered "wind" too. Example: rheumatic and dermatologic complaints, headache, migraine, facial tics, flu, viruses and initial bacterial invasions, etc.

In health: invigoration and renewal

Heat
Any health problem that is red, gets better with cold, hot to touch, comes with fever, and worsens in hot weather is a heat type pathogenic influence. Human caused: overcrowded and public interior places in general create these kinds of health problems. Deforestation, suburban living and exurban and suburban commuting, carbon emission, inefficient homes and commercial, as well as industrial places are creating heat health problems on a global scale. Example: chronic fatigue syndrome, fever of unknown origins; hot arthritic conditions; hives and other hot skin conditions; bacterial invasions, migraines, etc. Of course burns and skin cancer

In health: brightness and expansion

Cold
The reverse of the above (heat) description. Human caused: air conditioning causes these kind of health influences. Example: chronic low back pain, chronic neck pain; infertility and menstrual problems; cold arthritic problems, etc. Frostbite is the obvious.

In health: refreshment and consolidation

Damp
Heavy, stiff, achy, sticky, stubborn, fuzzy thinking, worsens with damp. Combines with cold damp and damp heat, their own disease subcategories. Human influenced: pollutants in the air combine with damp to make a clingy, fetid bad air. Sticky foods like high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, fast food, artificial sweeteners, white over processed grains create dampness in the digestive system and wreak havoc, and can easily ooze into other body systems that become stubborn and difficult to treat. Example: sinus problems, weeping skin conditions, obesity, fibromyalgia, a whole host of digestive problems, local and systemic fungal problems; congealed dampness becomes phlegm: asthma, allergies, cholesterol problems, cataracts, complicated degenerative brain conditions, etc. "The nature of damp is difficult to rid"(2)
"All the strange and stubborn diseases belong to phlegm" (3)

In health: moisture and cohesion

Dry

If you observe a dry ecosystem, you know what a dry health problem looks and feels like.
Human caused: desertification and unnatural drought conditions caused by global warming and global wierdness; lack of sufficient water; artificial interior forced air environments, all help influence dry health problems. Example: psoriasis, sjogren's syndrom, asthma, withered conditions, etc. Drought causes hunger and malnutrition.

In health: distinction and definition

The point I am trying to make is that we are so influenced by the environment, natural and unnatural. To deny this is to think we can exist in a bubble (let alone the profound problem of nature deprivation syndrome). We need nature. And nature needs us.

Now is the time to be compassionate to all living things. Let us begin....