The mother culture is called SCOBY, which stands for symbiotic colony of
bacteria and yeast. It is the essence for cultivating kombucha, of course
with tea and sugar solution altogether. Meanwhile,
- you can get it free in Canada. Contact Lorraine Carlstrom at 250-352 3860
or lorrainer61@gmail.com or Marie (Ottawa) at mlmarcotte@rogers.com; or
- you can have it from Kombucha America at $13.95 or $21.95 for two. It is
comparatively a fair price compared to all the other commercial suppliers in
North America; http://www.kombuchaamerica.com/k ... ucha.pl/index.shtml , or
- I love to give it free for you (provided you'll contact me from time to time
in the course of making the elixir). Edmund Lau is here in Hong Kong. Shall
I ask him to help? I'll be seeing him likely on the 11th. The question is how
is it be delivered to your hands while he lives in Toronto and you, VCR?
Kindly let me know your final choice. Apparently, I've updated an essay on
kombucha from Gaia Research Centre yesterday on the previous link. Please
spend sometime to look it through.
My very best regards to you, and your beloved husband.
/Wai
I've been hesitant recommending kombucha to Fok. Only after I learn a little
bid more of NMO, I decided to go ahead with the issue having a hope that it
could shed light to the doom.
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO), also known as Devic's disease or Devic's syndrome, is an auto-immune, inflammatory disorder in which a person's own immune system attacks the optic nerves and spinal cord.
This produces an inflammation of the optic nerve (optic neuritis) and the spinal cord (myelitis). Although
inflammation may also affect the brain, the lesions are different from those observed in the related
condition, multiple sclerosis. Spinal cord lesions lead to varying degrees of weakness or paralysis in
the legs or arms, loss of sensation (including blindness), and/or bladder and bowel dysfunction. Devic's
disease is a rare disorder which resembles multiple sclerosis (MS) in several ways, but requires a different
course of treatment for optimal results.It has also been suggested to be a variant form of acute
disseminated encephalomyelitis. The likely target of the autoimmune attack, at least in some patients with
NMO, has been identified as a protein of the nervous system cells called aquaporin 4. Whether Devic's disease is a distinct disease or part of the wide spectrum of multiple sclerosis is debated.
Apparently the literature I've been studying in relation with kombucha, there
is one comment out of hundreds of testimonials, which wrote:
"I've been suffering from multiple sclerosis since 1982. I've now had good results with Kombucha. This
has a detoxifying effect on the body. I began drinking the tea in 1989. At that time I could only go a few
meters outside the house, leaning heavily on two sticks, and my condition was getting visibly worse. Now
I can get out again for about 20 minutes, without sticks, and I'm not tired any more. The result of a
medical check-up was the renewal of the certificate of ability to hold a normal driving license. I'm even
going to try a little skiing again this year. With a Kombucha culture you can prepare your own natural
remedy all your life long. I hope this account will contribute towards other people experiencing an improve-
ment in their state of health through Kombucha."
Frau M. W. from V., Netherlands had written an account above that was published as a reader's letter
in "Op Zoek", the magazine of the "Netherlands Multiple Sclerosis Foundation" (No. 141, February 1990).
They are all concerned one way or the other liver function in relation
to kombucha intake. I'm sure you're reinforced to having a trial of the
elixir. Do give yourselves a period of 3 months for final assessment.