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Physiology & Medicine / Re: Could Inclined Bed Therapy (IBT) replace surgery for varicose veins and oedema?

« on: 19/07/2010 05:27:50 »

hey andrew I wanted to post this on your new forum but I just got a message on it that it has been hacked.  I've been thinking about IBT and what is exactly conferring the benefits and it really does seem to stem from the fact that sleeping in an inclined bed stabilizes the spine so you can breathe better.  Conversely sleeping flat on a soft bed tends to misalign the spine and every time you breathe you incorporate the spine and particulary the lower spine as your body tries to compensate for not being able to get a full lung breath.  Also this is a good reason for constantly tossing and turning in bed, it is a poor effort to try to realign the spine properly which allows for full lung breathing to no avail. I would think that the ideal way to sleep would be flat on a hard surface for maximum breathing lung capacity but of course at first our joints would have to adjust for a while to what would feel like discomfort from weakened shoulder and hip joints.  I don't have any study on floor sleeping but if you are undergoing a full study then I would hope you will include sleeping on the floor as another control.  A drawback to the inclined bed that I haven't heard brought up that I hope you can address is the increased wear on the bed springs from not laying evenly.  Are you accounting for this ?  I can see how regularly flipping the bed would save the coils but is it possible that once the bed springs have adjusted to the new pressure from the body in incline that the IBT won't be conferring its benefits at least fully ?  Which brings me back to sleeping flat on the floor is the discomfort that is experienced at first the price you pay for the long term benefits which the inclined bed tries to offer ?

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Physiology & Medicine / Re: Could Inclined Bed Therapy (IBT) replace surgery for varicose veins and oedema?

« on: 13/10/2009 18:56:53 »

Hi jpi, is that for Jonathan Isbit ?  I also believe that squatting reduces strain.  There's likely a higher risk for people who are overweight, have atrophied leg muscles and then also people with long legs as these three categories are going to have a hard time staying balanced in the squat position. The incline on that nature's platform is great but I think that the incline should just be for beginners and the goal should be to eventually be able to squat on a flat surface.  Personally I have found that the best elimination can only occur on a flat surface.  That squatting pressure from flat squatting is essential because just as sitting sort of works then squatting on an incline only works better than sitting but the ideal is on a flat surface where the effort to stay balanced presses the thighs on stomach and promotes the natural peristalsis which is somewhat lost with the incline though incline is better than sitting.  For people who have that risk of high blood pressure and stroke risk I think the ideal way to transition to Full squatting can begin by starting on the toes as in this image,



and then move on to perhaps squatting on an incline as the persons legs get stronger and then full squatting.  You have to realize that when you are eliminating better you are detoxing better and this only improves your blood pressure as your kidney function improves. Hopefully this discussion is not diverting the thread too much, maybe it might need its own thread.

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Physiology & Medicine / Re: Could Inclined Bed Therapy (IBT) replace surgery for varicose veins and oedema?

« on: 09/10/2009 18:36:30 »

Andrew, I'm glad I found IBT but I have to be honest and admit that I have not been using it.  Its partly laziness but also I feel like I've been getting the benefits in another way .  Around the time that I discovered IBT I also found out how the modern toilet is one of the worst offenders to health known to man.  In a way IBT led me to it while asking in what other ways that I'm not aware of am I misusing/abusing my body.  This led me to look at diet/posture and then I stumbled on this site http://www.naturesplatform.com/health_benefits.html that discusses how the proper way to eliminate is in the squat position and that we are not physically suited to sit while eliminating.  Now it is also interesting to note that the platform that is sold on the site is not a flat platform but the creator has it inclined for people who can't stay balanced due to weight and atrophied leg muscles from lack of use (is there a link with IBT? Vericose Veins?).  Also on this site there is a small reference to the modern toilet as contributing to vericose veins. http://www.toilet-related-ailments.com/history-of-the-pedestal-toilet.html.

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Physiology & Medicine / Re: Could Inclined Bed Therapy (IBT) replace surgery for varicose veins and oedema?

« on: 09/10/2009 04:30:32 »

I did IBT several years ago and it really proved beneficial.  Sleep quality was one of the marked improvements I remember and an overall feeling of being centered and grounded.  I hope that this method gets the necessary recognition as there is definitely a good benefit from it.