Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2019 i What Doctors Don't Tell You Australia/NZ

Bad theories die hard, and one of those that seems to have the gift of eternal life is the cholesterol theory of heart disease. It was launched on faulty science, the famed Seven Countries Study conducted by American physiologist Ancel Keys, who claimed to show that countries whose population consumed a high-fat diet had a higher incidence of heart disease. Over the years, his ‘high dietary fat equals high cholesterol, which equals blocked arteries and heart attacks’ theory spawned a giant low-fat food industry and also a giant cash cow for the drug companies. Statins, which claim to lower cholesterol and so prevent heart disease, have been among the drug industry’s bestselling money spinners of all time, even now, with patents expiring and cheaper generic drugs available. The problem is…

Is‘Big Soda’—the manufacturers of sugary soft drinks—as bad as Big Tobacco in covering up the health risks of its products? The parallel has been mooted a few times, but in 2017, Praxis Project, a health advocacy group, went a step further and issued a lawsuit in which it directly accused Coca-Cola of adopting Big Tobacco’s tactics of using‘science’ to disprove evidence its drinks were harmful. Just five months later, Praxis withdrew the suit, amid claims it had overplayed its hand. In the suit, Praxis claimed that Coca-Cola—aided by the American Beverage Association—had started to ramp-up a campaign of “misrepresentation and deception”in 2012 against a growing body of evidence directly linking sugary drinks to obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. “Just as the tobacco industry formed the Tobacco Industry Research…

There are a few practical steps you can take to reduce EMF radiation levels in your home and the way they affect you. Build your immune system: Eat plenty of fresh, organic fruit and vegetables, and avoid sugar and processed foods and drinks. Measure the level of radiation: Use a meter to locate the rooms with the highest radiation level, and apply special window coverings and EMF-blocking paints to the walls. Reduce your use of your cell phone around the home: This includes switching it off at night, not having it in your bedroom, and using EMF-blocking devices or a protective case on the phone. Turn off the Wi-Fi router: When it’s not in use, such as when you’re about to go to sleep, switch it off. Do something with…

1 Eat real Except smoking, nothing impacts heart health so much as what you put in your mouth. Just one apple a day offers better protection than a statin.6 There are so many books and websites from doctors offering their advice on how to eat for a healthy heart, with all sorts of conflicting advice. The best solution is to look for the common denominators. Here are the fundamentals that most heart health diets have in common: Eat more vegetables and berries. Most heart-healthy diets are referred to as “plant-based” for a reason: they include lots of fresh vegetables. Make sure raw and cooked, preferably pesticide-free vegetables occupy the majority of your dinner plate. Ditch sugar, especially the processed kind. Sugar fuels diabetes, and soaring blood sugar levels are behind insulin…

Music therapy Music can help reduce pain, improve sleep, offer relaxation and stress relief, as well as positively affect productivity and accelerate learning. Remember the Mozart effect? Classical music in particular has been shown to reduce heart rate variability and decrease stress hormone levels and blood pressure.1 Vibroacoustic therapy This type of sound therapy involves delivering vibrational frequencies through speakers directly to the body. It is used to reduce pain and increase relaxation, among other effects.2 Neurologic music therapy (NMT) NMT focuses specifically on the physical effects of music and rhythm on the brain‘s signaling pathways. NMT is used by people suffering from a wide variety of neurologic disorders including autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, Down syndrome and sensory integration disorder. BioAcoustics The study of sound vibrations…

Dr. Jean Monro, medical director of the Breakspear Hospital, is an internationally recognised specialist in environmental medicine, including such conditions as chronic fatigue syndrome, Lyme disease and multiple chemical sensitivity. She is Fellow of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine and a Board Certified US examiner. Dr. Damien Downing, whose practice specialises in allergy, environment and nutrition, is current president of the British Society for Ecological Medicine and on the editorial board of Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. Chief Medical Advisor of cancer charity Yes to Life (www.yestolife.org.uk), he is also the author of numerous books, including The Vitamin Cure for Allergies. Dr. Harald Gaier, arguably the UK’s most knowledgeable practitioner of the major alternative medical disciplines, is registered in the UK as an osteopath, homeopath, acupuncturist, naturopath and medical herbalist.…

Vaccine revenues set to soar after anti-vax clampdown The clampdown on ‘anti-vax’ stories on social media is producing one big winner: Big Pharma. Revenues from vaccines will enjoy “an overwhelming hike” in the next few years, say industry watchers. Market research group HTF Market Intelligence said revenues from the MMR vaccine will see the hike by 2025, and other research firms have also been forecasting big revenue increases for the global market for all vaccines. Market research group Research & Markets estimates revenues for all vaccines will increase to $57.5 billion by 2025, compared to just $33.7 billion last year. Another market research group, Transparency, is forecasting vaccine sales revenues will reach $48 billion by 2025. Government initiatives that are promoting vaccines—and silencing the anti-vaxxers—are one of the big drivers…

While Big Tobacco controlled a range of popular sugary drinks, it used many of the tactics that made its cigarettes bestsellers. • Punchy, a cartoon mascot for Hawaiian Punch, was introduced in 1962 when R J Reynolds took over the brand. Punchy was the focus of TV commercials, magazines and comics—and even featured on school book covers, toys, mugs and wrist watches. • Kool-Aid’s mascot became a giant anthropomorphic glass pitcher whenPhilip Morristook charge of the brand. The idea was to make adults look silly and put the kids in control, according to the advertising agency that designed the campaign. • Barbie and Hot Wheels were branded with the Kool-Aid insignia as part of Morris’s Wacky Warehouse, described by the company as “the most effective kid’s marketing vehicle known.” • Magic Twists and Mad…

Although pregnant women and young children are thought to be at the greatest risk from EMFs, scientists have pointed out that all living organisms could be affected. And some scientists have asserted that the radiation from cell phone technology could be responsible for the sudden disappearance of honeybees. While some maintain that pesticides are to blame, researchers from Punjab University in India believe that EMF radiation could be the real culprit. After exposing bees to the radiation, they noted it affected their behavior and physiology, including a sudden rise in levels of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, which they think may be a protective reaction. Only the bees exposed to the radiation experienced the changes.1 REFERENCES 1 Toxicol Int, 2011; 18: 70–2…

Carbohydrates never seem to be out of the news. The latest headlines suggest that you can die prematurely from a low-carb diet, at least according to the world media’s interpretation of a major study. The study didn’t quite say that. In a review of 58 trials and 158 studies, researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand discovered that people eating up to 1 oz (29 g) of fiber every day were less likely to develop heart disease, diabetes and breast and colorectal cancer.1 Yes, fiber is a carbohydrate, but it’s indigestible, and it can’t be broken down into sugars. Instead, it helps the body regulate sugar levels. But there are good fiber sources and bad ones, just as there are good and bad carbs. People on a low-carb…

Total hip replacements, known as total hip arthroplasty (THA) by doctors, are one of the most commonly performed elective surgical procedures in Australia. You can’t walk down a street without seeing a person waddling along who has had a hip replacement but is saddened and disillusioned with the way it turned out. In my experience, these are the lucky ones. I’ve met many hip replacement patients who have ended up requiring a cane, a walker or even being wheelchair bound after having a procedure that promised they’d be dancing in weeks. And saddest of all, the vast majority never needed surgery in the first place. In 2000, the number of hip replacements performed in the US was 138,700. By 2010, that number had shot up to 310,800, rising sharply in…

Cognitive processes can be divided into six areas: attention, perception, memory, language, learning and higher reasoning. These can occur both simultaneously and independently, but they often intertwine to orchestrate how we think, feel and move our way through life. But we can learn new skills or new ways of thinking even more rapidly when we also learn new movement patterns, whether a new dance or another type of movement, which will increase our cognitive fitness and the longevity of our mental processes. When you get moving, you increase circulation, which in a sense exercises the blood vessels themselves and helps to prevent neurodegenerative conditions known to create cognitive impairment.1 Exercise also helps to control blood sugar levels,2 and recent studies have shown that people with impaired glucose tolerance and blood…

Q I’ve been diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease and have been prescribed omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor. I’ve read lots about all the side-effects of these drugs, so I’d like to find a natural solution instead. Can you suggest any remedies that work? S.G., via email A Most of us have experienced acid reflux from time to time, when stomach acid travels up toward the throat causing a burning feeling in your chest (heartburn) or a horrible taste in your mouth. But when it happens repeatedly, it’s called gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, and it can damage the sensitive lining of the esophagus, leading to other symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, a ‘lump-in-the-throat’ sensation and ulcers. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like omeprazole are the usual treatment, but as you’ve discovered,…

Living cells have been proven to interact not just on a chemical basis, but to also actively generate, emit and be affected by a wide range of electromagnetic signals.1 Cells communicate over a broad spectral range, from low-frequency radio waves up into the visible light segment of the electromagnetic spectrum, and there are many theories as to how cells actually go about this electromagnetic communication.2 Up until recently, it was never thought possible that sound waves and electromagnetic waves could interact, because they are very different in nature. Nor had it been considered possible that sound could impact cellular function and communication. Sound is a so-called ‘mechanical wave,’ conducted through some sort of tangible medium like air or water. Electromagnetic waves, on the other hand, are a form of energy…

Sofia Megzari suffered from crippling depression and suicidal thoughts for more than 25 years and had tried everything conventional medicine, psychiatry and many other therapies had to offer, but to no avail. So when she heard about a modality called Rapid Transformational TherapyTM (RTT)—a hybrid of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy—that claimed to cure people of practically any issue within one to three sessions, she was initially very skeptical. By that time, Sofia, a French academic living in Copenhagen with three master’s degrees in cultural anthropology and linguistics, had given up hope of finding any answers and had accepted that she would just have to live with depression for the rest of her life.  “I had been dealing with depression most of my life since childhood, and I had tried just about…

Sofia’s clients come in with a host of mental or physical issues, from chronic fatigue syndrome to depression, anxiety and addictions. One of her clients, Mads from Copenhagen, had been addicted to marijuana for 30 years, since age 12, smoking up to 10 joints a day. Using willpower, he had tried to quit four times but relapsed quickly each time. Then he had a session with Sofia that revealed the reason for his addiction: “I discovered that smoking was linked to my brothers and father leaving to live abroad when I was nine and my parents’ separation. My brothers came back four years later and introduced smoking to me. It was a way to keep them close, a way of protecting myself from the loss.” His discovery was enough to…

Free-from and formaldehyde Dear WDDTY Thanks for your article on the hidden dangers of ‘free-from’ foods (March 2019 UK edition). I wish the supermarkets would put‘glutenfree’ over the meat, fish, fruit and vegetables! Plenty of whole foods are gluten-free. But the term has become medicalised and leaves people confused. I know from the problems of a friend of mine—if it isn’t in a package with ‘gluten-free’ on the front, she is scared to eat it. Also, I am glad you have raised the issue of formaldehyde and cancer (Healthy Home, WDDTY May 2019 UK edition). I was exposed to it in the 1990s during renovations at work with MDF board. My throat has been affected, and I often lose my voice. No one would listen to my comments about…

The new 5G (fifth-generation) cell phone network will start to roll out next year. With speeds that could be as much as 100 times faster than the current 4G network, 5G will have the capacity to deliver the‘Internet of Things’—so your fridge can notify you (or Amazon) when you’re low on milk, for instance. It will be a major fillip for new services, and, of course, for the cell phone manufacturers who are preparing their new compatible handsets. Even President Trump has gotten in on the act, tweeting he “wants 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible.” Industry observers say that the technological leap 5G will deliver is akin to the shift from typewriters to personal computers—but some scientists are less enthusiastic and see…

If you’re well-educated and relatively wealthy, you’re much more likely to live a long life, with many more disease-free years. If you’re less fortunate, both in terms of your education and means, you won’t fare as well. Unfortunately, the disparity in health outcomes between the rich and poor is continuing to widen. Of course, education and economic stability are not the only social determinants of disease. Evidence suggests that one of the most crucial factors is an individual’s‘engagement’ with healthcare. But we need to distinguish between ‘engagement’ and ‘use.’ We know that‘healthcare’— better described as‘disease care’—can be incredibly dangerous. In fact, preventable deaths in hospitals are one of the greatest sources of risk in our society. So, avoiding responsibility for your health—and handing it to someone in a white coat…

If the pain is coming from a strained gluteus medius or piriformis, the exercises to perform are hip abduction, hamstring curl and hip extension. If the pain is coming from the ITB, the exercises to perform are hip abduction, knee extension and hip extension. One more possible area of pain that might be attributed to the hip joint is pain in the groin, which is typically the result of a strained sartorius muscle (see below). If you press on the sartorius and confirm that is the tissue eliciting the pain, then perform hip abduction and extension, knee extension and sartorius lengthening. Hip abduction (gluteus medius) This exercise can be performed either lying on your side or standing. Make sure you do not go too far when moving your leg outward.…

Q I suffer from athlete’s foot, probably because I do a lot of running, especially trail running where my feet can get wet and sweaty for long periods. Can you suggest any natural remedies? T.G., via email A Athlete’s foot, or ‘tinea pedis’ as it’s medically known, is a contagious fungal infection of the foot that causes nasty symptoms like scaling, flaking and itching between the toes. The culprit? Fungi called ‘dermatophytes.’ These mold-like organisms thrive in warm, moist environments such as inside your running socks, and when they invade the superficial layer of the skin, they cause skin cells to over-reproduce, resulting in thickened scaly skin. As the fungi spread, so does the infection. The conventional answer to athlete’s foot is usually antifungal creams, sprays or tablets, but many…

1 JAMA, 2006; 296: 2947–53; Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2011; 34: 1269–81; CMAJ 2009; 180: 713–8 2 Singapore Med J, 2016; 57: 546–51 3 Cir Esp, 2007; 81: 64–9; Pediatrics, 2002; 110: 972–84 4 J Formos Med Assoc, 2018; 117: 973–8 5 Dig Dis Sci, 2013; 58: 471–7 6 Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2016; 14: 175–82.e1-3 7 J Pineal Res, 2006; 41: 195–200 8 Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2001; 15: 151–5 9 Acupunct Med, 2017; 35: 316–23 10 J Tradit Chin Med, 2015; 35: 632–6 11 Phytomedicine, 2018; 56: 118–25 12 Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi, 2005; 25: 876–9 13 Am J Gastroenterol, 2012; 107: 372–8 DID YOU KNOW? REFERENCE 1 Gastroenterology, 2012; 143: 1179–87 e1–3; J Gastroenterol, 2009; 44: 518–34…

This is an excellent skin and coat rinse that nourishes a pet’s fur and provides symptomatic relief for itchy skin and flea bites. The nettle’s sting is removed by cooking. Use young nettle tops, as they are more potent than the older leaves at the bottom of the plant. Place 4 Tbsp fresh nettle tops in a cup, then fill the cup to the brim with just-boiled water. Steep overnight until cool. Strain the liquid, then pour into a glass jar and label.…

Test for lead You can check for lead in old paint, furniture and other items in your home with a lead testing kit such as those offered by 3M and Abotex, available online from Amazon and other sites. Alternatively, ask your local public health agency for advice on how to get your home tested professionally. If you live in a home built before the 1960s, it’s safe to assume you have lead in your paintwork. Detox If you think you or a family member may have been exposed to worrying levels of lead, ask your doctor for a blood test. If it turns out the level is cause for concern, there are numerous ways to detox the body naturally, such as taking supplements like chlorella and spirulina. See WDDTY April…

Marisa Peer, founder of RTT, teaches that the mind operates on simple principles: •It does what it thinks you want it to do • It is hardwired to move you toward pleasure and avoid pain • The way you feel about everything all the time is about the pictures you make in your mind and the words you say to yourself • The mind loves what is familiar, and it is programmed to recreate what is familiar and avoid what is unfamiliar In order to change a negative emotional state or unwanted habit, or to create a happier, more fulfilling life, you have to make what is familiar (e.g. comfort eating or anxiety) unfamiliar, and make what is unfamiliar familiar (e.g. eating healthily and adopting calming practices and behavior). This…

RTT is a new therapy and has not yet been subjected to clinical trials, but it is partly based on the power of hypnosis to affect positive change in mind and body. Hypnosis was accepted by the American and British Medical Associations as having a valid application in medicine as long ago as the 1950s, and thousands of studies have demonstrated its efficacy for a variety of conditions, including those commonly addressed by hypnotherapists: smoking cessation,1 weight loss,2 sleep problems,3 stress4 and gastrointestinal disorders like irritable bowel syndrome.5 A 2005 review of hypnosis in contemporary medicine looked at studies of the technique across 17 clinical areas including, allergy, childbirth, pain relief, cancer treatment and healing from surgery and injury.6 The review author, Dr James H. Stewart of the Mayo Clinic…