Many people accept a Parkinson’s Disease (PD) diagnosis as incurable and rely on pharmaceuticals to mask the symptoms and buy some time while the disease progresses. That’s not surprising – there is no official cure for PD in the mainstream medicine’s world. Parkinson’s is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, with symptoms appearing slowly and worsening over time until the person’s passing. But there are some patients who refuse to give up and to believe this dark prognosis. One such person is Howard Shifke.
Howard felt the first symptoms in September 2009, and was diagnosed with PD two months later by a neurologist just as his mother was before him, also at the age of 48. His mother used drugs to treat her PD; her treatment had no hope of ever defeating the illness, and she eventually passed.
“…In the end, it seemed like the drugs took their toll and played as much a part in her passing as did the disease itself,” Howard writes on his site.
Howard wanted to take a different route. He knew that his disease could have a genetic component, but from his research of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), he discovered other big contributors of PD:
-Blood deficiency: caused by emotional stress
-Consumption of fried, greasy, and sweet foods
-Heavy metal toxicity: such as mercury from tuna fish consumption
-Kidney and Liver Deficiencies: caused by insufficient rest, and overwork
-Negative emotions such as anger, resentment, and frustration
“…These are the things that made me more prone to the disease, …[and the] factors that allowed the disease to grow inside me for a long time until it reared its ugly head in September of 2009,” Howard writes.
Having had over a decade of successful personal experience with alternative medicine, Howard believed there was nothing that cannot be cured. He took full responsibility for healing his disease himself, refusing to take drugs, and having his progress monitored by his neurologist.
“I had to take personal responsibility for having the disease, which leads to taking personal responsibility for recovering from the disease,” Howard explains.
To recover, he created his own protocol of exercise using a 5,000-year-old Chinese healing modality for brain and body health to defeat his PD, called Qigong. While a vegetarian diet and meditating and using affirmations for stress played a small role, it was Qigong (which Howard initially learned about from “Teach Yourself Chi Kung”) that played the biggest part in his recovery.
Just seven months after his diagnosis, the neurologist could not find a single PD symptom in Howard; he was cured. Seven years later, Howard is still free of Parkinson’s disease.
“On June 12, 2017, I will be seven years with no Parkinson’s symptoms. Seven years with no Parkinson’s Disease. I am cured. I am joyful. I am grateful,” he writes.
Understanding and Using Qigong for Parkinson’s
Qigong is an ancient holistic healing system involving movement of energy in the body. It involves slow-moving exercises with deep breathing technique. Qigong Master Mingtong Gu explains that it helps patients with PD and other neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other) by connecting the brain energetically with the body, which is always disconnected in these groups of patients.
Qigong opens up and releases the blockages in the shoulders, the nervous system, and the spine; and creates a new energy flow, and communication between the body and the brain.
According to Gu, one of the biggest causes of PD is cumulative stress, and emotional stress, which is stored in the body. Qigong directly affects the places in the body where stress is stored, and unblocks these areas, releasing the energy to flow normally and freely again.
Qigong is an amazing tool for more than neurodegenerative diseases. Anyone with any level of health can benefit from its preventative properties, and feel more empowered, have more vitality, enhance all functions of the body, and deepen mental capacity.
Watch Qigong Master Mingtong Gu explain benefits of Qigong for PD:
Scientific Research Shows Qigong to Benefit Parkinson’s Patients
When it comes to disease, Qigong has been successful in aiding the healing process in numerous health issues, and PD is just one of these conditions.
A comprehensive review of the health benefits of Qigong as well as Tai Chi (a slow-movement and breath work martial art form) based on studies published in peer reviewed journals published between 1993 and 2007 concluded that both technique had significant health benefits (Both techniques showed similar results in comparison to each other).
Individual PD studies showed that Qigong helps reduce motor symptoms of mild to moderate PD, and improve sleep quality in PD patients.
Both Chinese and American scientists do recognize that only small population studies have been done so far, and a large population funded study is needed for this treatment to become a part of modern medicine.
For now, people like Howard take on using this technique and their own hands. For Howard, the results were inarguable. While he acknowledges that no technique is a perfect fit for everyone, on his website Fighting Parkinson’s Drug Free and his YouTube, he explains the protocol that helped him.
One Patient’s Alternative Medicine Parkinson’s Healing Protocol
The protocol that Howard created using Qigong exercises re-opens the dopamine source in the body (which is depleted in a PD-stricken brain), and works on the electrical impulses in the bodily system.
The exercises that he used are:
-Medical Qigong: for the liver, and for the kidneys
-Qigong for the liver
-Neck exercises
-Standing and balance work
-Awareness of electrical impulses exercise
-Near/far hand exercise for the brain
-Sitting zazen
-Acupuncture and acupressure
-Jin Shin Jyutsu for balancing energy flow in the body
-Chanting for brain vibration
Watch one of Howard’s videos explaining balancing exercise:
Testimonials of many of those who followed his directions for PD or other conditions can also be found on his site.
“After doing the QiGong exercises, I feel that I am in control of the Parkinson’s rather than the Parkinson’s having the upper hand,” writes one of Howard’s protocol followers.