Ruth's healthy outlook
Review from the Gold Coast Bulletin (Sept 2004)
 RUTH Sharkey continues to do what comes naturally and has the health of everyone at heart.
The natural therapist, who for years called the Gold Coast home and whose name became synonymous with hormone balancing, conception care and natural medicines, has helped around 3000 couples realise their dream of parenthood.
Her new book is a continuation of that work. Ruth Sharkey's Guide to Natural Conception covers the factors relating to hormonal imbalances in women, along with information on how these problems can be helped.
Change of lifestyle, appropriate herbal or other natural remedies and other strategies are explored.
"To help couples choose the appropriate therapy, all modalities are extensively documented, as are the commonly used medical drugs," says Sharkey.
A companion book, Fertile Fathers, is a guide for men who have been unable to help their wives conceive.
For more details, go to www.sharkeys.com.au
Natural Conception
From The Good Life, July/August 1996.
 FALLING birth rates - and falling fertility rates - are causing concern among demographers (the so called ageing population).
But despite all the talk, one woman is having remarkable success in helping women conceive through natural remedies. Herbalist, homoeopath and regular columnist in The Good Life, Ruth Sharkey, has published a wonderful guide to assist women having problems conceiving.
The book Natural Conception: Mother Nature's help for infertile couples is a testimony to what can be achieved by natural methods rather than through prescription drugs. This is Ruth's second book, following her successful first effort The Mysterious Powers in Man and Plants.
In Natural Conception, Ruth helps her readers overcome two major problems - achieving pregnancy after years of trying; and overcoming the scepticism towards natural medicines in favour of synthetic drugs and chemicals.
Her latest effort is 154 pages of easy reading, but with essential information that is readily understood. Six chapters span the gamut of problems, considerations, fears, biological explanations and natural remedies that couples wishing to achieve a pregnancy need to go through.
In keeping with her usual emphasis on natural remedies, Ruth devotes a number of pages to stress and lifestyle - two areas that are so often underrated or even forgotten when considering the factors that affect conception.
Ruth is emphatic that stress can interrupt the cycle of cell separation and prevent fertilisation of the egg or disrupt the implantation of the embryo into the uterine wall. She also explains that there are a lot of everyday or normal lifestyle activities which can impair fertility. In particular, female athletes who train for long hours are susceptible as are those who repeatedly diet too stringently.
The book naturally concentrates on practical methods such as diet (even suggesting the exact foods and servings), vitamins, relaxation, managing emotions and other factors that women can undertake to greatly improve their chances of conceiving. It also goes into physical problems and how they can be overcome.
This book represents a formalisation of Ruth's many years of wonderful work assisting her patients to achieve natural, safe, healthy pregnancies.
It is a must-read for any woman who wishes to conceive - and not just for those who have experienced difficulties or delays in becoming pregnant. The benefits of this book are far more widespread - it should be treated as a manual for all women to prepare properly for a healthy, successful pregnancy.
From ‘Living Up!’ Magazine - By Elizabeth Walker.
Today, as more of us leave our parenting role until later with contraceptive pill residues and stress rifling our reproductive skills and disillusionment mounting with IVF - Natural Conception could not have come sooner.
Written by well known herbalist, homeopath, media presenter and author Ruth Sharkey (one of Queensland's Most Intriguing Women - Sunday Mail - 2312197) Natural Conception became a bestseller in 28 days of release and the proof's in the reading.
Reader-friendly chapters explaining the why, how, what, when and where of conceiving naturally integrate in a well constructed argument for the herbal and less interventive approach. If you're anticipating the miracle of life - then this is a 'must read' to re-inspire belief while you're fortifying your body in preparation for either natural conception or for a positive IVF.
Natural conception mother Nature’s help for infertile couples
From the Gold Coast Bulletin September 1997
Review by Michael Jacobson
Once named Queensland’s Most Intriguing Woman, Sharkey has established an international reputation for the efficacy of her natural therapies to help people with the likes of thyroid complaints, diabetes, urinary disorders and cancer. But she is particularly renowned for her success in helping couples who had believed they were unable to conceive.
“I have been called a quack, but I have also been called a miracle worker,” she once said of her fertility program, which uses herbs to cleanse the body of toxins and chemicals and of which she can cite more than a 20 per cent success rate for couples who had been given little -hope anywhere else.
Sharkey’s book Natural Conception – Mother Nature’s help for Infertile Couples, has been a major sellar during the past year. She has a down-to-earth approach, as evidenced by this answer to a question on fertility as to whether it is better for a man to wear boxer shorts than underpants: “ Yes, says Sharkey, “if the testes get overheated you end up cooking the tadpoles before they leave home.”
Healing the Bodies
 (Previously published as The Mysterious Powers in Man and Plants)
Review By Shanna Provost
Ruth Sharkey, Dip. Herbalism, Dip, Homeopathy, Dip. Clin. Hypnotherapy has gathered all of her skills, life experiences and insights to present profound information in a holistic way in her first book, The Mysterious Powers in Man and Plants.
Mysterious Powers explores all facets of the human individual through the doorway of the major glands of the body. Sharkey's extensive knowledge on all things alchemic shines through this book making it excellent reading for both the adept and the uninitiated.
One of Austratia's leading herbalists, Sharkey runs her own clinic with her husband Dennis, treating local, interstate and overseas patients. Their company, Tallebudgera Herbals provides a commercial outlet for the many herbs she prescribes.
Sharkey uses her extensive knowledge of natural medicines as the basis for her book, highlighting particularly effective herbs for specific ailments, including interesting insights into fighting the H.I.V. virus.
Sharkey cleverly peppers the book with germs of the Essene Brotherhood and the Ascended Masters, making Mysterious Powers much more than just a book on herbs.
Extensive information on such topics as the female reproductive organs, the adrenals, the kidneys, the pancreas, the pituitary and the pineal make this fascinating reading. Sharkey's sketches fill the book, and the cover was holistically designed and drawn by her, making this book a statement of the sum total of her life - so far.
Can't wait to read her second book!
From the Gold Coast Bulletin September 1997
Review by Michael Jacobson
Healing the Bodies is an informative and practical guide combining ancient healing methods with modern natural therapies.
In it Sharkey explains that every illness or disorder has a cause – that stands to reason – but goes on to suggest that such causes may have originated generations before. She explains how illness can profoundly affect mental, as well as physical, wellbeing, creating emotional imbalances, which may then lead to further physical problems.
“Pre-menstrual tension”, she says as an example, “is a physical imbalance of the female hormones yet it can affect a woman’s emotional aspect. This hormonal disorder can cause digestive upsets, fluid retention, food craving, bloating and weight gain – all physical manifestations which can and often do cause emotional stress. Doesn’t it therefore stand to reason that an imbalance of other hormone-producing glands can cause other illnesses?”
It’s a sound question and Ruth Sharkey is quick to offer her own answers in a book that points out the various imbalances and disorders which can occur within us and then describes their solutions and treatments through the use of natural remedies – herbals, homoeopathics, meditation and self healing.
“Healing the Bodies explains how to help yourself to become well by balancing your glands, clearing away toxins and using the innate power within,” says Sharkey. “The result, I hope, is an easy to read, informative text which will go some of the way towards achieving one of my goals – a healthier planet with healthier and happier inhabitants who are less reliant on synthetic chemicals and drugs and more in tune with the environment and different aspects of their being – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
Fertile Fathers
 From the Daily Telegraph 24th March 2003
Review Kate Minogue
Having a baby is not what it used to be. While previous generations worried over getting pregnant, now the problem is being unable to conceive. One in six couples have trouble getting pregnant. And while women may have south help before, now men are realising they have a part to play.
Ruth Sharkey has been helping couples with fertility problems for 20 years and says recently she has been treating more young people – and more men.
“It used to be the older 35 to 45 year-olds, but now they are getting younger and younger. And we are noticing it is more men with problems,” she says. “In the past the women would have the problems, their men were fine, but now their husbands are coming in too.” One in four pregnancies end in a miscarriage and half of these are the result of sperm quality. Sharkey, a herbalist and homoeopath specialising in hormonal balancing, says the men not only have low sperm counts, but many have deformed sperm. Defective sperm can lead to infertility or birth defects.
The increase in men with trouble conceiving led to Sharkey writing her latest book Fertile Fathers, which seeks to explain the causes of male infertility and provide help. “It’s a matter of getting out of the square. It’s no set thing that [that] would be causing infertility. It’s a range of factors. I just want them to think about what is around them, if they are having trouble conceiving, what’s in their environment. There’s a cause in each individual case.”
While women are born with all their eggs, men have new sperm every 72 days. “So men are actually easier to fix because you have just to look at what they been in contact with in the last 72 days.”
It is often surprising the men who have fertility problems, she says. Concrete workers whose jobs are outside, are fit and wear loose clothing but are often badly affected by chemicals in the cement they use. Mechanics, electricians, and other men who use chemicals in their jobs, can also have fertility issues. Sharkey says even office workers’ sperm quality and count can be affected. Spending a lot of time sitting down, working in front of a computer for long periods, in air-conditioning can poorly affect fertility. She says chemicals have a lot to answer for. “Spraying of our food crops, preservatives and additives in food have an impact on fertility. We see a lot of farmers because of the sprays they are using.”
Alcohol reduces the absorption of folic acid, affecting quality of DNA. A Danish study found heavy drinkers had a reduction in testicle size. Other research shows alcohol reduces testosterone, causing more abnormal and fewer mature sperm. Common prescription medicines also have a negative effect, “Blood pressure and cholesterol tablets, antacid and gout medicines, all have a profound effect on the reproductive system.” Sharkey says.
Men with fertility problems are finding simple lifestyle changes can help.
Fertile Fathers includes detailed information on all the above concerns, and the following tips for men trying to make healthy babies:
- Reduce coffee – have one cup, a day as a treat
- Drink more water – at least four glasses, and other drinks
- Limit alcohol to six units a week
- Stop smoking
- Eat a healthy diet by eating organically when possible and avoid refined sugar
- Relax with exercise, yoga, tai chi, acupuncture or visualisation
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