Changes to the Course: Friday Office Hours

As many old students know, there has been a new schedule of test correcting that I have been "trying out" since April. Instead of returning exams once a month, I have been doing them every week, and have created office hours on Fridays.

This has been running at about an 80% success rate and I am quite pleased with it. However, some modifications will be made for the next year to accommodate the few times of year that I have an extra load of lectures or work from other sites. I have not finished modifications to this schedule yet, however, my vision for it is that it would stay intact as a weekly schedule but I would add in some 'school breaks" a few times a year, much like you would have at a regular university (spring break, winter break, a couple weeks for summer break, etc...). This does not mean that I would not be available during these break times for tech support or other questions or that you cannot work during these times. It would only mean that during those "breaks" I would not be correcting exams on a weekly basis and would not have office hours on those weeks. As I mentioned before, the "weekly" office hours were a new venture this year and everything else about them has been going well. I just forgot to build in some "break or vacation" time - and certainly everyone needs some of that. And without that it may appear that the schedule is "unpredictable" when, in actuality, I can predict with accuracy when those breaks will need to happen. This will help you to plan better as well.

My main goal is to serve you as students and make sure everything goes smoothly, and I believe part of this process is clear guidelines and communication. I have been very happy with the Friday office hours, as this has improved both. However, some misunderstandings have ensued on weeks that I was out of town for lectures or had to take a break for holiday season mailings.

Blessings & Health,
Karima

Student Question: Help with Clients or Extra Work

I received a letter from a student this week:

I've sent you an article on (topic deleted for privacy) about couple of weeks ago, I would be very grateful if you are able to provide any feedback.

That sounds like a very interesting topic. I do receive an overwhelming number of articles, requests for reviews and extra questions from students and members, however, since June of 2008 I am answering all extra questions via the chat list at www.herbnhome.com - members of this list are able to e-mail me on or off list with extra questions about clients, their own work or health issues and I either answer their question on-list or I re-post it without their name. I do comments and corrections on tests and quizzes every Friday. There are a few students who are members of this list that have been consulting with me about their clients and business on the list.

Blessings & Health,
Karima

TECH SUPPORT: Page Numbers for IHC

Dear Students,

Thank you to Mujahid for pointing out that Unit One, that has been re-formatted is still missing page numbers! I corrected the file today. A glitch happened where the page numbers had been removed because when I went into the file to correct it everything was actually "out of alignment" by one or two lines, indicating something was missing from each page.

This has now been corrected and re-posted to the site.

Additionally, I have changed the site a bit more to reflect the units that are re-formatted and the units that are not. When a unit is re-formatted it will be added put in the column under "updated". This way you will know at a glace which units have been finished and which have not.

Thank you for your patience in this matter. This course was originally distributed as individual files and everyone in the courses received the files via e-mail. With the new delivery options I now have for the course E-books are now possible but it does take some time to re-format the individual files into the e-books. If anyone is working on an individual file or particular quiz it is quite easy for me to send you an individual file.

Although I have office hours every Friday I do try my best to answer quick questions and tech support questions as soon as possible.

If you send me a quick e-mail "I need Unit One: Chapter One" or "I need the Unit One Quiz" I can easily send that to you if you have any trouble with the e-books that are not yet reformatted.

Blessings & Health,
Karima

Student Question: Office Hours

Dear Students, I have had one or two students contact me in the past few weeks with some confusion about office hours. This was my response:

I think there might be a misunderstanding in the way the office hours work for students. I have office hours for students every Friday and that is the only day that I commit to answering questions from students. A few times a year I need to skip one Friday. Usually twice in the summer and once during Western Christmas Season. I do my best to answer questions before Friday if they are short (like "What e-mail should I send this to?" or "Where is the link to the student Facebook site?"). If a student has a tech support question (they cannot access a file) I try my very best to get back to them within 12-hours but sometimes if the problem is complex it takes longer.

However, if I do answer an e-mail before Friday, this is done on a voluntariy basis by me and is according to the time I have available that week.

However, on a regular basis, as a rule, I have student office hours ONLY on Fridays. Tests used to be corrected once a month, but to make things more convenient for students I changed it last year to once a week. Any Friday you may IM me, call me or e-mail me and I will respond on that day. Or you can e-mail me before Friday and I will respond on Friday.

Keep in mind that one reason I specify Fridays is because I want students to know that if they do not hear back from me that something may have been lost - or sometimes mis-filed. A few times I have dragged an e-mail to the "student" box and it was mis-filed in another box. Mistakes and Internet errors do happen so I want to make sure students know that I am responding to them on Fridays.

Hope this helps!

Blessings & Health.
Karima

Student Dialogues - More Depth to the Temperaments

This is from a student's test comparing homeopathic temperaments to the Islamic temperaments. The answer is correct, but I wanted to comment (for the benefit of everyone) that you CAN expand the Islamic temperaments beyond the four by combining themkin the same way homeopathy does - there is no rule against this. I often find it useful. Assignment and my comment are below...

Homeopathy also further breaks down the four major temperaments into 12 minor groups as individuals may not fit completely into only the four temperaments. These minor groups are: cholero-phlegmatic, the sangino-phlegmatic, the nervo-phlegmatic, the phlegmo-choleric, the sanguino- choleric, nervo- choleric, the cholero-sanguine, the phlegmo-sanguine, and the nervo-sanguine, the cholero-nervous, phlegmo-nervous and sanguino-nervous. The nervous is known as melancholic in the Islamic temperaments.

Very good. Although when one starts using the temperaments you can also break them down yourself as well. I will often combine temperament evaluations and have noticed, for example, that a melancholic sanguine is much different than a melancholic phlegmatic.

Student Excerpts: Useful Website for Herb Studies

Student, Aida, found the following studies on Cumin for her Unit 1_3 exam. I am posting this link here just in case other students might find the same website helpful.

In studies done on mice, cumin seed (when mixed with lard) has been reported to have antioxidant activity, elevating levels of glutathione and stimulating other antioxidant systems.
Source:

www.Drugs.com

Student Dialogues - Temperaments

I made some comments on a student's test about the temperaments I wanted to share with all of you who are studying that unit. I am always learning more about the temperaments and the more I learn the more fascinating they become. I wanted to share the following tips/comments with all students in the hopes that you can gain some more insight into the temperaments. Insight and depth of understanding is what will help you create temperament profiles for clients, friends and family members. That insight and depth will increase over time.

My Comments are in BLUE:

I am going to insert some comments into the below. These comments do not indicate that your answer is wrong, because I do not know and have not met the woman. I am simply giving you some more ideas so you can gain some more insight into each temperament and find new ways to “read” people by asking in-depth questions about “why” or “how often” they do certain behaviours. Another tip is to ask them, “have you been like this your entire life?” How they acted as a child after the age of 7 is a good indication of their core temperament”

Choleric attributes:

§ She is very ambitious, and when she is energetic she tries to instill it upon others.

This can also be sanguine. It depends on HOW the person does this. Does she do this all the time or only when she is energetic and feeling well? A Choleric person could be “on their deathbed” or ill and still pushing their desires and opinions on people. A Sanguine will do the same, but NOT when they are ill, or feeling low. Sanguines have very passive mood periods – they come and go and are of varying degrees, but a true Choleric has very few passive moments.

§ She is dominating, although she has learnt to be passive, although her desire is to take control and can get agitated if asked for her opinion and it is not taken.

This can also be a melancholic trait. Although usually melancholics and cholerics cannot learn to be passive. If they do they would most likely suffer great physical and emotional stress from this.

§ She gets extremely irritable if she asks someone to do something and they do not conform.

This can be an attribute of any of the temperaments. A melancholic typically does this. A phlegmatic will do this when pushed and a sanguine will do this a lot too because they feel a need to balance their own “butterfly-like existence” with the firm security of the things and people around them. So they can become VERY upset if people do not conform. Even if they do not always conform themselves, they feel most comfortable when other people do.

§ She has always started things and never completes them, recently she has been more organised and completing projects.

This is more of a sanguine trait. The phlegmatic is “slow and steady” and usually completes , the melancholic is “like a train on a track” in completing things and usually completes, the choleric is “like a fire sweeping through the forest” in completing chores and tasks and may stay up all night just to finish something. If a choleric is not completing their tasks it is because they have a hint of sanguine as well.

§ She has yellow/orange soles and palms, she has excess body hair (although not abnormal for Mediterranean ethnicity), she has a slim face (quite bony), is of a yellow complexion (although naturally a light olive complexion, she says it becomes brighter with exercise).
§ She has very lively eyes (however, due to depression they can look dim and lifeless)

This is a sanguine and choleric trait

§ She craves sugary, sour, hot spicy foods.

This can also be sanguine

§ She suffers from hypoglycemia, and has a circulatory problem (blood does not flow correctly in her left calf (medial)).

What you need to look for in a person is those one or two traits that make them unquestionably fall into one category or another. You cannot finish your evaluation of their temperament until you have at least two traits that you can say “no other temperament would do this” and “she does this all or most of the time”. Even better if you can trace the behaviour back to her childhood.

Student Dialogues - Temperaments and Children

Student Assignment Excerpt: Typology is not a tag; it is a method that allows one to understand a person and to deal with them accordingly. This is helpful when dealing with children, a personal example is my son (2 years 9 months); he is energetic, lively and has a very fiery temper, yet he is natural leader. My son does not speak very much and he chooses to be this way, when he is with other children he has a tendency to lead them although he does not speak fluently, he determines what games they play, and decides when the play should stop because he wants to drink his milk I found it quite difficult to understand my son, from the moment I can remember he was very strong willed and was not going to be forced to do things and didn’t like to be interrupted. I just didn’t know babies could have such strong characters.

Karima's Comments: Surprising...isn’t it? A few years back I actually started an informal study (that I was not able to finish yet) on analyzing the temperament of a child in the womb of the mother – while she is still pregnant. They even have their own temperament then. My goal was to see if this temperament could somehow predict their adult temperament.

Student Excerpts: The Temperaments

Student Huda, provided an excellent "translation" for her assignment on the Temperments. This is taken from Chauser's "The Four Complexions":

Melancholic:

The water,
which is moyste and cold,
Makth fleume,
which is many fold
Foryetel, slou and wery sone
Of every thing which is to done:
He is of kinde sufficant
To holde love his covenant,
Bot that him lacketh appetit,
Which longeth unto such delit.

Interpretation:
The water, which is moist and cold,
Makes phlegm, which is manifold
Forgetful, slow and wearisome
Of everything which is to be done:
He is of kind sufficient.
To hold love his covenant,
But that he lacks appetite,
Which longs unto such delight

She further shares:
This is very much the typical characteristics of a Phlegmatic, a phlegmatic’s humour is wet (moist) and cold, consequently producing phlegm. Characteristics of the phlegmatic are forgetfulness, slowness and fatigue. Phlegamatics consider love as a covenant, the phlegmatic has many friends and are reliable and compassionate. The phlegmatic suffers from a lack of appetite however; they crave pleasurable foods, which are likely to imbalance them such as milk, sugar and wheat.

Course Corrections: Unit One and Unit Nine

Following is a dialogue I had with student, Aida, who is an excellent editor. I re-arranged the course two years ago and moved some files from Unit One to Unit Four and Unit Nine. I thought I had also moved all the quiz questions. Many students have turned in work for Unit One since then with complete answers so I did not notice that there were still some extra questions in Unit One. Note that ALL questions related to alchemy that are in the Unit One test should be in the Unit Nine exam section. I also noticed that Unit One became left-justified when I created ONE E-book from the five smaller E-books. I will be fixing this problem soon. However, in the meantime I want to post this note so if you are working on Unit One you will not have the same confusion that Aida did.

Here are some of the more specific questions she had and some of my answers...

Student Question: (from: Chapter on Medical History Overviews (sections 1-7))

On "Question 15: What does the first author claim to have been the center of all Muslim education? But what evidence in Emilie Smith's writing contradicts this?" I am not sure which author you are referring to. Are you talking about one of the authors in the lecture notes or one of the authors for the online readings. I am confused as to who I am supposed to focus on here. Also which time period are you referring to? Unless I am mistaken, the center of Islamic education changed to different areas in different periods (Starting in Baghdad and then transferring to Spain). please advise........

Karima's Response:

One possible answer is:
The First author mentions Cordoba, Seville and Granada as university centers. The second author mentions translation house in Baghdad established in 9th century. However, there is no contradiction as there may be as many centers of education as necessary.

I am referring to the “First Author” as the one who wrote “Science and Muslim Scientists”. The credit for this goes to the team from the “Islamic Scholar Software”.

Emile is the “third reading” that you link to online. You can find the quotes by the “first author” on page 13 of the E-book for Unit One.

Student Question Two:

On "Question 55: What was the number 1 thing a scientist did in islamic medieval times?" I can't find the source for this information. I am confused as to what you are looking for as an answer. I read the material in depth many times. Please advise............


Karima's Response:

He did translation. Information on the translation work scientists did can be found on page 42. I found this by typing in the word “translation” into the search engine in the E-book for Unit One.

Student Question 3:

On "Questions 56: The Arabic language was considered by the Christian scholarly world to be a language in which___________________? " I can't find the source for this information. I read the material in depth many times. Please advise.........

Karima's Response:

...."secrets of the natural world were hidden". However, a search on this yielded no results. This could be one of the sections that was transferred to a later unit. I will remove this question from the test.

Student Question 4:

On "Question 63: How is alchemy described in the last pages of this section?"
I am not sure which section is referred to here. Please advise.................

Karima's Response:

All of the main readings on alchemy were moved to Unit 9 two years ago. This question remains. I am not sure how students have been answering it these past two years! Good catch! I will move these questions to Unit 9.

BLOG Postings & Dates

This BLOG has some dates missing as I took a period of time to send the posts directly to the students via the student list. We will soon be changing back to the BLOG format to make searching for topics easier for the students. If you need to see BLOG posts from some of the missing dates you can check the student archives for those dates. If you don't have the student archive address please e-mail me at: herbnhome@yahoo.com

Student Excerpts: Listing References

Students - please remember to list your references! This is a good example from a student who turned in a paper last week. She did a fantastic job of listing references at the end of her assignment:


Ali, AB and Blunden, G. (2003). Pharmacological and toxicological properties of Nigella Sativa. John Wiley and Sons. Extract accessed from internet on 26 June 2008 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12722128?dopt=Abstract

Boundok Sahbae. (2006). Barley Talbina : Advice from Prophet & a Scientific Tru. Accessed on July 15 2008 from http://sufi.forumup.co.uk/about357-sufi.html

Burns, K. (2006). Grains of the Prophet. Accessed on July 15 2008. from http://sufi.forumup.co.uk/about357-sufi.html

Burns, K. Islamic healing coursework notes: Unit 1

Burns, K. Islamic healing coursework notes: Unit 2

Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006 accessed on 15 August 2008 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cotton

Ead, H. (1998). Arabic (or Islamic) Influence On the Historical Development of Medicine. Accessed from http://www.levity.com/alchemy/islam19.html
on August 14 2008.

Ehret, C. How the word cotton came to harlem. Liguistic wonders series. Accessed on 15 August 2008 from http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/cotton.html

Huskey, R. J. Immune benefits of breast milk at a glance. Accesed from http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/8148/bmilk.html

Khan, M.L.A. (unknown). Kalonji (Nigella Sativa). Accesed on 26 June 2008 from http://www.crescentlife.com/dietnutrition/kalonji.htm

Naiman I, (internet source). Black cumin seed. Accessed from www.kitchendoctor.com/articles/blackcumin on 22 June 2008.

Unknown Author, medical discoveries: general information and biographies. Accessed on August 23 2008 from http://www.discoveriesinmedicine.com/General-Information-and-Biographies/Par-Ambroise.html

Unknown Author, “Ambroise Pare”. Accessed from http://www.comptonhistory.com/compton2/pare.htm
Wikipedia, Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi. Accessed from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_al-Qasim_al-Zahrawi

Wikipedia, (2008). Nigella Sativa. Accessed on 26 June 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigella_sativa

Williams, R.D. Breast-Feeding Best Bet for Babies. Accessed on July 26 from http://www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/895_brstfeed.html

Student Dialogues - Wikepedia Research

From a student assignment: "Wikipedia also states that the black seed shows significant results of improvement in cancer patients, as well as during the prevention stages of cancer and for patients who have undergone chemotherapy and surgery."

My Feedback: "This is correct information. However, do be careful of information found on Wikipedia. They can be used as a “starting block” for research, however, their information is not reliable enough to be used as a sole resource. "

Student Dialogues - Ayurveda and Diet

Student Assignment: On an ending note something else I find interesting is Ayurveda that is slightly similar. I found a short chapter in the book The Directory of Complementry Therapies by Norman Shealy.M.D. PHd. It briefly explains the three DOSHAS or principles. governs mental and physical health and helps to balance their source. The doshas are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Vata is movement, Pitta goes with metabolism, and kapha with solid matter, flesh,a nd
bones. And an imbalance just like with Unani Tibb can cause illness. Simple remedies
are like the humours. For example to much pitta dosha associates with heat, then a
cooling activity, food, exercise or therapy can be prescribed to reduce it.
Vata personality seems like to be the Sanguine type. Pitta could be compared to
choleric type and and the Kapha could be compared to the Phelgmatic type .
Soooo Interesting. This is from India. I can see how they are all connected.

Yes, when it comes to measuring temperament of food with the body the Ayurvedic system actually has the most readily available information on the topic. If you are interested in doing more work with this topic and you need recipes and more inspiration – a good Ayurvedic cookbook would be a good place to start. Chinese medicine and Islamic medicine also work with these principles but sadly there are no really good cookbooks or books on either of those subjects (the specific subject of food and temperament) in English.

Consulting Client Tip #1 IHC: Balance - vs- Cure

Dear Students,

Every week as I correct tests I will share student excerpts, student dialogue, consulting client tips and more as I go through the exams and speak with other students. That way you all can benefit from the discussions I have with other students.

Here is a consulting client tip that I shared with a student this week:

This is something to remember in all healing – it is a matter of balance and not cure. We will always being dealing with imbalance in the body. When we look at healing as a method to cure we will be lost. When we look at healing as a method to balance the body we will always be able to heal from anything by seeking that balance over and over – no matter what happens to the body.

Student Questions: What is the best way to restart my studies?

A student wrote to me earlier last week asking what the best way to re-start their studies was. This is a popular question as some students sign up, do a little work (or not) and then leave their work for a while. Oftentimes picking up the work again is confusing. Here are some tips I shared:

Dear A,

You are registered for the Islamic Healing Course as well as the Naturopathic Healing Course Online. Because you have so many classes you are registered for and because your schedule in completing them may be irregular I would advise that you do them "in order" (do unit 1, then unit 2, etc...) You are not required to do them in order but this will probably work best for you.

The first unit of the Islamic healing course is located at:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/islamichealing/files/

Using that link above you can download your files from that link OR you can download the password from that link and access online. Most students tend to prefer this NEW online method. So I would recommend that you download the password from the link above and use that.

The first unit of the Naturopathic Healing Course online is located at:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/nutritionalhealingcourse/files/

Same instructions as above... When you are deciding which to do first, keep in mind that the Islamic Healing Course focuses heavily on medicine of the prophet and healing of the Arab world, whereas the NHCO has courses in iridology and reflexology included.

If you have any additional questions please IM, e-mail me or call me anytime.

All my contact information is posted at http://www.thedreamangels.com/

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Student Questions: What is my Bravenet Password for the Course?

A student wrote to me requesting access to the course and asking me to send this access to a new e-mail address. This was my reply:

Dear (H),

Thank you for asking!

If you need your e-mail address changed for the course you can go to:

To Change your Yahoogroups e-mail or settings to Vacation, Special Notices Only, No-Email or Leave Group please visit:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/(Name of Group)/join

The password for the course is located in the files section of each unit. Members of the entire healing course can locate their ONE-PAGE access code at:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/IHC_Unit12/files/

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Student Excerpts: Aisha and the Melancholic Temperament

I really enjoyed Huda's application of the temperaments to different people in Islamic history. Here is her description of Aisha as a person of the melancholic temperament:

‘Aisha (ؓ) was one of the seven who narrated more than a thousand hadiths; she was also one of the seven most prolific in giving legal opinions. In both sets she is the only female, which is a remarkable feat; she was revered by women and men alike. She is known for her deep love for the Prophet (ﷺ); she would sometimes get angered out of love for the Prophet (ﷺ). ‘Aisha had heard news of the Prophet marrying a new wife by the name of Saffiya, she was of Jewish heritage. ‘Aisha went to the wedding and remained veiled, the Prophet noticed her. When the Prophet saw ‘Aisha he asked her what she thought of Saffiya, she answered “she is the same as any other Jewess.” The Prophet (ﷺ) was always patient with ‘Aisha and his other wives, he understood their temperaments and knew how to handle each one. Every one of his wives thought she was the most beloved to him, it was only when he fell ill at the end of his life that his request to stay at ‘Aisha’s house let them know that ‘Aisha was the most beloved to him (although he loved them all very dearly).

Student Dialogues - Different Methods of Healing

This is another excerpt from my dialogues with students this week...

Huda observes in her assignment:
There are some in homeopathy that are shied away from the idea of temperaments and humours, James Tyler Kent* seems to be one of them. Kent’s constitutional medicine had nothing to do with giving remedies by classical temperaments. Kent spoke out against the use of classical temperaments in Homoeopathy in his Lesser Writings.

Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND commented back:
I am sure his system works well too. The trick to a system working is deep knowledge of the system, continuing education, faith and immersion in the system. When people ask me what the “best” healing method is I always say, ‘One that the practitioner and client deeply resonate with”

Student Dialogues - Typology in Different Traditions

Each week or two I like to share some conversations I have had with students or excerpts from student work that I think would benefit other students. This week, student Huda, brought up a very good point in one of her assignments. This is an excerpt from her assignment and my comment on her assignment:

Huda:Personal Reflection: it is more suitable to look at the Chinese (and any other) typography as a system in its own right.

Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND: You make a good point. I will be sure to include this in the student BLOG so other students can understand that this is the intention of the assignment - to look at a system within its own right is the best way to evaluate a person. Because each system has it own way of looking at things which encompass the entire system. There is a core belief that runs each system and without that you are missing out on the depth. So when you are diagnosing you do need to stay within one system.

However, for educational purposes it helps to see how the systems correlate so you can get a better feel for the way typology works and the way the different systems may or may not work together. Cross referencing typology is like studying history – you are not going to use the information...but your knowledge and ability to make decisions and learn will be enhanced by studying it.

Consulting Client Tip #1: Taking vs Giving

more and more student work comes in I realize how very important it is for us all to share our experience with clients - tips, methods and whatever else comes to mind. The things that I share in this column will be directly related to student work and client work they have done and are posted as a response to that work. If you would like to comment on my posts or to add some information of your own please feel free to press "reply". We have a wonderful group of students here - many are already practitioners of some type - we have the potential to help each other out in so many ways.

Client Tip #1: Taking vs-Giving

Suggest some things to add to the diet, rather than take away. Often, people in depressive or restrictive situations don’t want to be told “don’t eat this”. It is more depressing! So, instead, tell them to eat certain foods every day – give them a list of “healing foods” – this list will of course, be true, such as offering oatmeal to lower cholesterol. However, what you won’t tell them is that by adding these foods they will be LESS INCLINED to have the “bad foods”. Don’t tell them that part. Don’t let on in any way you are saying NO to them. I used this method extensively in Saudi Arabia, where I used to live, as many of the women there were already restricted in their movement and other life choices. They would not have benefited from being told by yet one more person - "You can't do that". When healing you need to consider where and who are person is.

Karima's Consulting and Seminar Trip Dates

Consulting & Seminar Trip July 2008: Kristie Karima Burns, Mh, ND

Get your free travel blog
Visit my travel blogs

Student Excerpts: Olive Oil

Graduated student Monya did a wonderful job on all her assignments during the entire course. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some snippets of hers that I have set aside and will be sharing them with you. The following excerpt is from her essay on Herbs and usage in Middle Eastern countries. I learned some things about olive oil myself and found the local usage of some of the herbs she mentioned very unusual and interesting. It is truly amazing what we can learn from other cultures:

Olive oil – I was born with a hole in heart and was a very weak child. At the age of 5 my mum took me to Morocco and left me there with my grandparents for 6 months. As I was not eating properly due to my condition, my grandmother would feed me everyday a big tablespoon of pure olive oil. I was given this every morning and I remember I would be in tears, as I hated the taste. After the 6 months in Morocco I went back to the UK and had an appointment at the hospital for a check up. The doctors were amazed that the hole in my heart had closed significantly and also the murmur had disappeared. As my health had improved significantly I had also put on a bit of weight as I had built an appetite and was eating really well during those 6 months. My grandma always talks to me about the pure olive oil days. (Bless her)!!! This practice of olive oil is recognized all over morocco. Most people use olive oil for cooking or hair and skin as well as those who are weak. Morocco is second only to Greece in exports of olives to the world market and are one of Morocco's primary exports. Morocco has been producing olives for over 2,000 years. Over 395,000 hectares of cultivated land are devoted today to olive production and they produce 350,000-400,000 tons of olives each year.

Congratulations Islamic Healing Course Graduate

Congratulations to Monya, who has completed her coursework at The Avicenna Institute and has been awarded a diploma in Islamic Medicine.

Remember - Enrollment rates increase from 250 - $350.00 on July 1st, 2008

see: http://www.theavicennainstitute.com/ for more information.

Supplemental Study: BBCs Broadcast on the Four Humors

The BBC has recently broadcast a wonderful program on the four humors from a historical viewpoint. It does not share much about how they can be used today or how they have been adapted to modern times but it does a good job of talking about how they were used in history. And as always, the BBC shows are wonderful!

Check it out at:
BBC: The Four Humors

If you are a member of the Islamic Healing Course you are able to download my lecture on the modern use of humors at the student site. If you are not a member of the group you can still download the entire 90-minute lecture for only $7.50 at:

Exploring the Temperaments by Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Enjoy the Radio show and the lecture!

Blessings & Health,
Karima

News and Tidbits: Celebrate learning about natural medicine!

Dear Students,

After reading this article I was even more thankful for all that I have learned, used and passed on having to do with natural medicines!

Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active
ingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it must cost
a lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet. We did a
search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active
ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA. As we have revealed in
past issues of Life Extension, a significant percentage of drugs sold
in the United States contain active ingredients made in other
countries. In our independent investigation of how much profit drug
companies really make, we obtained the actual price of active
ingredients used in some of the most popular drugs sold in America.

The data below speaks for itself.

Celebrex: 100 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.60
Percent markup: 21,712%

Claritin: 10 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71
Percent markup: 30,306%

Keflex: 250 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88
Percent markup: 8,372%

Lipitor:20 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80
Percent markup: 4,696%

Norvasc:10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $188.29
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14
Percent markup: 134,493%

Paxil: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60
Percent markup: 2,898%

Prevacid:30 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01
Percent markup: 34,136%

Prilosec: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97
Cost of general active ingredients $0.52
Percent markup: 69,417%

Prozac:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11
Percent markup: 224,973%

Tenormin:50 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13
Percent markup: 80,362%

Vasotec: 10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20
Percent markup: 51,185%

Xanax: 1 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024
Percent markup: 569,958%

Zestril:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89
Cost of general active ingredients $3.20
Percent markup: 2,809

Zithromax:600 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19
Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78
Percent markup: 7,892%

Zocor:40 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63
Percent markup: 4,059%

Zoloft: 50 mg
Consumer price: $206.87
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.75
Percent markup: 11,821%

Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought
everyone should know about this. Please read the following and pass it on.

It pays to shop around. This helps to solve the mystery as to why they
can afford to put a Walgreen's on every corner. On Monday night, Steve
Wilson, an investigative reporter for Channel 7 News in Detroit , did
a story on generic drug price gouging by pharmacies. He found in his
investigation, that some of these generic drugs were marked up as much
as 3,000% or more. Yes, that's not a typo.....three thousand percent!
So often, we blame the drug companies for the high cost of drugs, and
usually rightfully so. But in this case, the fault clearly lies with
the pharmacies themselves. For example, if you had to buy a
prescription drug, and bought the name brand, you might pay $100 for
100 pills.

The pharmacist might tell you that if you get the generic equivalent,
they would only cost $80, making you think you are "saving" $20. What
the pharmacist is not telling you is that those 100 generic pills may
have only cost him $10!

At the end of the report, one of the anchors asked Mr. Wilson whether
or not there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice,
and he said that Costco consistently charged little over their cost
for the generic drugs.

I went to the Costco site, where you can look up any drug, and get its
online price. It says that the in-store prices are consistent with the
online prices. I was appalled. Just to give you one example from my
own experience, I had to use the drug, Compazine, which helps prevent
nausea in chemo patients.

I used the generic equivalent, which cost $54.99 for 60 pills at CVS.
I checked the price at Costco, and I could have bought 100 pills for
$19.89. For 145 of my pain pills, I paid $72.57. I could have got 150
at Costco for $28.08.

I would like to mention, that although Costco is a "membership" type
store, you do NOT have to be a member to buy prescriptions there, as
it is a federally regulated substance. You just tell them at the door
that you wish to use the pharmacy and they will let you in. (This is
true!)

(This article checks out with SNOPEs by the way as well as with many research and report papers I have read as a journalist) - Blessings & Health, Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND