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Better Health Update #75 - Monte Kline, Clinical Nutritionist

Limbic Stress Assessment (LSA)

A new evaluation technique, Limbic Stress Assessment (LSA) represents the latest technological advance in natural health approaches.  This method marries biofeedback technology with what has come to be called “energy medicine”.  Let’s examine what LSA is, how it works and what it has to offer you.

Limbic — A group of deep brain structures, common to all mammals and including the hippocampus, amygdala, gyrus fornicatus, and connecting structures, associated with olfaction, emotion, motivation, behavior, and various autonomic functions.
Stress — The body’s reaction to any demand (physiological, emotional, energetic).  It is the common denominator of all adaptive reactions in the body.

BIOFEEDBACK CONNECTION

Biofeedback — The technique of using monitoring devices to furnish information regarding an autonomic bodily function, such as heart rate or blood pressure, in an attempt to gain some voluntary control over that function. (American Heritage Dictionary)

            The LSA is a stimulus-response biofeedback system. When the biofeedback switch is activated and the headset is attached, the user will hear tone changes that correspond to galvanic skin response (GSR).  That’s the traditional view of “biofeedback” as expressed in the dictionary above.  However, biofeedback has now been taken to a more expansive definition, recognizing the value of the measurement of the body’s autonomic responses and other means of changing those responses — such as nutritional and homeopathic supplementation.  Commenting on approaches used by Pacific Health Center, biofeedback expert, Joel Levey, Ph.D. commented:

“ . . . they use a biofeedback device called a galvanic skin response (“GSR”) device that in other settings may be used as a biofeedback instrument or as a monitoring device to take readings which reflect changing physiological states and which in their theory relates to energy flows through the meridians postulated by Oriental medicine.  They then seek to improve the readings by recommending dietary change and nutritional supplementation.”

This technology makes possible biofeedback scans in which the effect of virtual stressors and balancing agents can be observed by the client.  No longer is biofeedback limited to just mental imagery or relaxation techniques.  It now includes allowing the computer to find what energetically balances the body.

HOW IT WORKS

            The LSA equipment features a hand cradle (with contacts for the fingers and palm) that sends and receives the biofeedback signals.  While the client simply rests their hand on the hand cradle, a generally unfelt electrical pulse is emitted from the palm contact point with electrical resistance being measured through the five finger and thumb contacts.  The scanning is automatic as each particular list or item is selected.  The LSA measures shifts in the skin resistance and uses proprietary algorithms to convert those reactions into useful data to predict responses to the thousands of stressors and balancing agents encoded in the software.
The LSA computer program contains over 20,000 virtual stressors — essentially a “digital imprint” or “computer signature” of a given item (rather than the actual item), including chemicals, bacteria, viruses, acupuncture points and meridians, as well as virtual balancers like vitamins, minerals, herbs, glandulars, homeopathic remedies and more.       
The LSA is based on principles of quantum physics, recognizing that everything has an energetic resonance or signature.  Rather than dealing with the actual substances, we’re instead measuring reactions to an energetic imprint recorded in the computer.

DEVIATION RATIO (dR)

            Upon performing a biofeedback scan with the LSA, the readout will be expressed as a deviation ratio (dR).  This is simply the variation between a baseline and the body’s electrical response on a given item.  A positive dR indicates a symmetrical response compared to the baseline, while a negative dR indicates an asymmetrical response.  In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) terms a positive dR would be a yin reaction, which may be interpreted as an indication of energetic sedation or deficiency, while a negative dR would be a yang reaction, which may be interpreted as an indication of energetic excitation or excess.  A 0 dR indicates the baseline and the response were the same, indicating a neutral or non-reaction response.  The dR numbers are not absolute numbers, but rather reflect a range indicative of balance or imbalance.  The practical meaning of the dR is found in the Stress and Balance tests.

STRESS & BALANCE TESTS

            The LSA is capable of running two kinds of biofeedback scans—stress scans and balance scans.  A stress scan measures the biofeedback response to a virtual stressor, such as a virtual toxin, allergen, etc.  A balance scan measures biofeedback response to a virtual remedy to restore energetic balance, such as a homeopathic remedy, herb, vitamin, glandular, etc.  Ultimately we only want to know two things — what stresses the body and what balances the body.  Think of it this way — we’re simply throwing the electromagnetic signatures of a bunch of potential stressors and balancing agents at the body and seeing how it reacts and responds.
When running a stress scan, we take note of either negative or positive dR’s — the farther a dR is from zero in either direction, the more it is suggestive of energetic imbalance relative to the virtual stressor being scanned.  The clinical difference between positive and negative dR’s relates to the type of physical reaction expected.  As noted earlier, the negative dR suggests a yang response, which may include histamine-type reactions, flushing of the face, temperature rising, energy increasing, etc.  A positive dR on the stress scan suggests a yin response, which may include a drop in temperature, loss of vitality, mental confusion and lethargy. 
When running a balance scan, however, we primarily note just the positive dR’s, since the higher the positive number, the more likely the remedy scanned will help achieve energetic balance.  A remedy with a negative dR on a balance scan can be used if a homeopathic potency is selected for it.  
Thus, the LSA is not intended for (or really capable of) medical diagnosis.  This is an entirely different way of looking at health — not in terms of symptoms or disease, but rather in terms of underlying energetic balance or imbalance.  Our bodies are designed to function with high energy and good health.  But physical, environmental and emotional stressors often tax our systems resulting in fatigue, decreased immunity, pain, obesity and the whole range of health symptoms.  While conventional medicine seeks chemical or other symptom suppressing interventions, energetic medicine seeks a balance restoring the innate healing processes.

THE EVALUATION PROCESS

            Though there are an unlimited number of ways to do an LSA Biofeedback Scan, let me describe one protocol.  It begins scanning through 20 groups of Core Stressors — chemicals, bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, teeth, vertebrae, etc.  The dR’s farthest away from zero represent the most likely sources of stress.  Individual groups are then broken down to their constituent members to be individually scanned.  For example, if the “chemical” group shows a high dR, the over 100 items in that group would then be individually scanned to be more specific.  Thus we begin by recording “out of balance” readings in the categories with the highest dR’s.  Note:  An imbalanced reading on a given item (e. g. a bacteria) does not necessarily mean you have that organism — your body is simply reacting to that frequency, and that’s all we need to know.
Then we’re interested in scanning for balancing remedies.  We again begin by scanning all of our product groups (homeopathic, herbal, vitamin, mineral, etc.) to see which group has the highest balancing dR.  We then open that group to scan the individual remedies it contains to determine which produce the greatest balance.  Dosages and homeopathic potencies can also be scanned for the optimal balance effect, thus resulting in a unique program for each individual.  The remedies can then be re-scanned against the out-of-balance items to show their balancing effect.

REMEDY IMPRINTING

            One of the advantages of dealing with energetic scanning and balancing remedies is that remedies can be imprinted.  Imprinting simply refers to transferring the energetic frequency of a given item (most often a homeopathic remedy) to a blank homeopathic liquid, or even to other supplements.  Since homeopathic remedies exclusively work on an energetic rather than a chemical level, this works especially well for such products.   With the thousands of possible remedies and hundreds of possible potencies and dilutions, the ideal balancing remedy can be selected and produced in this way.

REMOTE SCREENING

            Perhaps the most unique aspect of the LSA system is that it enables remote testing through an internet connection..  The client being scanned simply has to have a hand cradle plugged into a USB port on their internet connected computer.  Simply loaded software then allows the client’s hand cradle to connect to the computer in our office for the screening.  The testing is exactly the same — the only difference is how long the cord is connecting the hand cradle the client is touching with the computer doing the scan.  Thus, there are no geographic limitations for the testing.  I don’t have to be at a particular clinic for you to have an LSA scan.  Furthermore, if you buy your own hand cradle, you don’t even need to come to our clinic for you appointments!

REPRODUCIBILITY

            A frequent question with this, or any other type of energy approach, is that of reproducibility of results.  For a number of reasons this type of evaluation method cannot be as reproducible as, for example, a conventional medicine diagnostic like an X-ray or MRI.  The LSA attempts to merge western biofeedback technology with the eastern concept of subtle energy, described as chi.  In Traditional Chinese Medicine terms the dR is a shift in chi.  Because it is a yang component in their medical theory, it shifts very rapidly.  The body energy is constantly changing, so measuring it is a little like trying to catch a butterfly.  As a result, you won’t get exactly the same test results a few minutes later.
It would be like expecting a picture you take of me every hour to look the same.   At 6 AM I’m wearing an exercise suit.  A little later I’m wearing nothing at all — because I’m in the shower.  After that a picture would show me in a dress shirt and tie.  If I’m at home the picture would show me dressed casually.  All these “scans” are different in the detail of my appearance, but all of them show the same me — the same me dressed differently, doing different things, but still the same essential person.  Likewise the LSA biofeedback scans show the same essential person, though some of details will change from time to time.
Another aspect concerns the stimulation effect of the testing.  Though an LSA scan is not therapeutic in the conventional medical sense, it has been described as stimulating in an informational sense.  Bombarding your body energetically with thousands of virtual stressors and balancing agents changes its orientation.  Suppose you’re complaining of neck and shoulder pain.  I observe that your posture is horrible and probably causing the problem.   As a result you improve your posture and the pain goes away—in this instance the information was therapeutic.  So it is with the LSA.
Subtle energy approaches are best thought of as a conversation with the body.  Thus, these approaches have little in common with the mechanistic tests of conventional medicine, such as blood or urine analysis.  Experience has shown that the first answer you get in “questioning” the body is usually the best.   The body doesn’t really seem to care for answering the same question over and over again.  It becomes confused, and reliability of results diminishes.
So do you just take energetic evaluation methods “by faith”?  Hardly.  Authorities on scientific studies regard “outcome studies” as the best measure of any type of testing method.  You simply look at the results.  I have seen amazing findings with the LSA, both in revealing imbalance consistent with known facts, as well as balancing remedies.  But ultimately you have to try it yourself and judge the outcome.  I believe you won’t be disappointed.

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this publication is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose illness nor prescribe treatment. Rather, this material is designed to be used in cooperation with your nutritionally-oriented health professional to deal with your personal health problems. Should you use this information on your own, you are prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but neither the author nor publisher assume responsibility.