Innholdsfortegnelse for October/November 2020 i What Doctors Don't Tell You Australia/NZ

All we’re looking for at the moment is the easy way out—the magic bullet that is going to deliver us from this blasted virus. And the media and most governments around the world maintain that the only solution to COVID-19 is a vaccine. “We’re going to have to vaccinate seven billion people,”says billionaire Bill Gates, who is helping to fund a number of products under development. “That’s how we’re going to end this pandemic.” But there is another, potentially safer, magic bullet out there, something the pundits aren’t talking about, something that already has more science to show its effectiveness than any drug or jab. You won’t read it in the newspapers or hear it on TV, but plenty of evidence shows that a simple supplement already in plentiful supply…

Is your cup always half-empty? You may want to start seeing it as half-full, because people who regularly have negative and depressive thoughts are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease in older age. Researchers can even see the physical consequences of “repetitive negative thinking” (RNT), as they call it, with “half-empty” thinkers developing more of the harmful proteins in the brain that are linked to Alzheimer’s. If that’s you, start meditating or doing mindfulness practices—becoming aware of your thoughts and surroundings—say researchers from University College London. Negative thinking is “an underlying reason” why some people suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s, says researcher Natalie Marchant. But it has to be a long-term, chronic view of the world. The occasional setback when we occasionally have negative thoughts and feelings won’t cause any…

Women who are given “good” bacteria when they are pregnant may be less likely to have an autistic child. The bacteria lower inflammation, which can help the brain and central nervous system of the fetus develop healthily. It’s especially effective if the woman takes the bacteria during the third trimester if she’s stressed, say researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder. Earlier research has shown that stress triggers inflammation and this, in turn, affects the fetus and increases the risk of autism and autism-like symptoms such as behavioral problems and repetitive patterns. Some also develop epilepsy-like seizures. In experiments with laboratory rats, the researchers made some of the pregnant rats stressed before giving them a “friendly” bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, which has anti-inflammatory effects. The pups born to the mothers given…

It all starts with a diagnosis—and that’s exactly where most medical errors happen. A study of claims against doctors discovered that the vast majority were the result of a failure to diagnose, delaying a diagnosis or making an incorrect diagnosis. The root of many of these errors was down to the doctor’s own perception of the problem. Either they wouldn’t consider a different diagnosis, ignored abnormal findings or failed to order tests, presumably because they thought they knew what the problem was. The other common complaint was that the doctor failed to seek a second opinion or discharged the patient too early from emergency care. Common ailments missed by a doctor included stroke (acute cerebral vascular accident), heart attack (myocardial infarction), pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung), lung cancer,…

When we make ourselves a nice cup of tea, we could be drinking more than we bargained for—15 billion tiny particles of plastic, in fact. The World Health Organization got excited a few years ago when it discovered that bottles of water could contain tens to hundreds of plastic particles, but researchers from McGill University in Canada have discovered that tea drinkers are consuming far more than that. On average, they could be drinking 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics in every cup. But to get plastic into the tea, there must be plastic in the teabag. The most likely culprits are often pyramid-shaped and use polypropylene as a sealing plastic, or are made of a plastic material. When boiling water is poured on them, they release billions of…

Researchers at the Whole Systems Research Institute in Portland, Oregon, also published a paper about NAC’s anti-inflammatory potential in the fight against COVID-19. Importantly, the supplement’s risks are very low. “NAC has an excellent safety record in clinical trials,” the authors noted. Some people have experienced side-effects of oral NAC, however, including mouth ulcers, nausea and acid reflux. Nebulized NAC may cause airway constriction, prolonged coughing and may worsen asthma. Serious adverse reactions with intravenous NAC are rare and documented only in cases of drug overdose treatment.1 It’s the same anti-inflammatory and GSH-raising antioxidant properties of NAC that have sparked interest in its use to counteract neurodegenerative and mental health diseases including addiction, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, to prevent cognitive decline in aging and to address neuropathic pain and…

Glutathione (GSH) is a critical molecule in our bodies, performing many functions from quenching free radicals to neutralizing environmental toxins. High levels of GSH are linked to youth and vitality, and hundreds of studies have associated low levels of GSH with disease. Smoking, drinking alcohol, bad diets, exposure to environmental pollutants, lack of sleep and stress all gobble up GSH. What’s more, when you hit the age of 30, your body’s production of GSH will typically start to flag. “I now use it routinely in any complicated case and as people age,” says UK doctor Sarah Myhill, author of Sustainable Medicine: Whistle-Blowing on 21st Century Medical Practice (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018). Here are some things to consider for keeping your GSH tank topped up: Oral glutathione Dr Myhill said…

Vitamin D is not a vitamin at all—it was misnamed as such when it was discovered in the early 20th century, but it is actually a hormone made in the skin from sunlight. Its role in bone health has been known for decades—a deficiency can cause soft bones and rickets. In recent years, however, vitamin D has been shown to play a role in thousands of vital processes in the body. It promotes gut health, protects the lining of the gut from becoming “leaky” or permeable, an underlying factor in many diseases, and alters the microbiome. It is a powerful modulator of the immune system (tamping down and revving up activity as needed). It also influences the expression of hundreds of genes. Whether genes are turned ‘on’ or ‘off’ can…

At some time during their lifetime, most people suffer an injury or infection or undergo some type of surgery, and many are unaware that there are numerous natural foods that can help the body fight infection and heal faster. Some should be taken internally, others used externally, and there are some that can be used both ways. Any type of injury or surgical procedure to any part of the body that causes inflammation and swelling or an open skin wound will require extra nutritional support for the body to repair itself quickly. Eating the right foods is vital when recovering from any illness or infection as they will strengthen the immune system—and some have a direct action on infections by bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. Understanding inflammation Inflammation is a…

Generally, when using medicinal plants (see Nature Cures for a comprehensive A-Z list of healing plants): The roots of the plants should be washed, chopped and simmered for 15 to 20 minutes, then strained and the liquid drunk as a tea. Seeds can be ground and added to hot water or meals. Leaves should be washed, chopped and steeped in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes, then also strained and consumed as a tea. The tea can be gently reheated or drunk cold with ice. A teaspoon of pure honey can be added for antimicrobial and healing action and taste, and the addition of freshly squeezed lemon juice can help to provide even more powerful action against infections. But always add it when the tea has cooled a little…

Magnetic therapy takes many different forms. For thousands of years, “static” magnetic therapy has been practiced, where different strength magnets (or their forerunners, lodestones) are placed at various points on the body to stimulate healing. In the East, magnets have been used for at least 1,000 years to stimulate acupuncture points and energy meridians. Today in the West, practitioners apply magnetic field therapy to the outside of the body by: • using static magnets • accentuating the effectiveness of acupuncture by applying magnets along with the needles • using pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) • using Biomagnetic Pair Therapy (BPT), also known as medical biomagnetism, where two magnets are placed on specific parts of the body in specific combinations to target infection and body dysfunction…

Thinking about adding running into your regular fitness routine? Don’t think about it, simply start it. And to kick start, what could be a life-long love affair, here are my top six tips on how to introduce running in to fitness routine. Everyone can run You don’t have to be athletic or in perfect shape to become a runner. All you need is the motivation to put on your shoes and get out the door. Whether you want to lose a few pounds or prove to yourself that you can do anything you set your mind to, you can become a runner as long as you are willing to take that first step. 1 Planning helps Following a realistic plan will help you improve faster than simply winging it. Realistic…

Insomnia can be a symptom of a variety of diseases, conditions, drugs and habits, so try to figure out and fix what might be affecting your sleep. Here are a few pointers. Cut caffeine. The stimulant effects of caffeine can last for up to 20 hours, so even a morning cup of coffee could be affecting your sleep. Besides coffee, watch out for caffeine in black and green teas, cocoa, chocolate, soft drinks and many over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Stop smoking. This habit is associated with difficulties in both falling asleep and staying asleep. If you’re trying to quit, choose natural methods, as drug-based methods can also disrupt sleep.1 Fix food allergies. Unidentified food sensitivities could be stopping you from sleeping. In a small study of infants, chronic insomnia was traced…

On a brisk winter morning last year, Ron Till, 67, sat down at his small kitchen table in Adelaide, Australia, to read the latest edition of his quarterly newsletter from an organization called Parkinson’s South Australia. Till had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in his late 50s, and his symptoms were getting worse. He had difficulty concentrating, had lost his peripheral vision and could only manage a limited amount of activity each day before exhaustion overwhelmed him. Since he had retired two years earlier, Till had spent much of his time sitting inside his brick apartment, staring out the window, feeling lonely and bored. “Parkinson’s makes you lose your confidence,”Till says. “You think, ‘Everybody’s looking at my hands shaking.’You become more introverted.” On top of his medical woes, Till and…

Red light (625–740 nm wavelength) and infrared light (>750 nm wavelength), can penetrate human skin to a significantly deeper depth than other light wavelengths.1 One popular theory for the mechanism of action of red and infrared light therapy is that cell absorption of the light stimulates mitochondria to become more active and increase production of ATP (energy) via the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase.2 “The exact mechanisms [of light therapy] are still not totally known, but we do know that there’s a key enzyme in the cells that absorbs light at certain wavelengths and triggers this intracellular cascade signaling that seems to collectively lead to a protective effect,” Dr Daniel Johnstone of the University of Sydney explains. “Light is actually a low-level stress to the cells, and when you deliver this…

For neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, red or infrared light therapy applied to the head for 20 minutes per day appears to be optimal, say researchers. Two companies involved in supplying infrared light therapy devices for the Australian Parkinson’s trials are Canadian company Vielight (www.vielight.com) and Swedish company Irradia (www.irradia.com) The cost for these devices ranges from $299 to $2,639. Readers can contact these companies directly about purchasing an appropriate device for their condition. The Dorset Men’s Shed in Australia has made over 650 red and infrared light therapy helmets for members of the public, and shipped their helmets all over the world. Helmets cost $300 AUD (about $205 US and £157) plus postage. For enquiries and orders, contact Merv Chilcott at mrc777@bigpond.com.…

When Tracy Fuller, 47, went to see Dr Carolyn McMakin in 1998, she was under a doctor’s care recovering from a serious automobile accident. She had broken her neck and undergone cervical fusion of two vertebrae in her neck. “I lived in a halo for six months to keep my cervical spine immobilized while my neck fused,” she says. “Eventually, I healed. But the trauma to my whole body was severe and left residual chronic pain and mobility issues on many levels.” She went to physical therapy and used biofeedback, heat, ice and massage—all of which helped significantly. But she had reached a plateau. After three years of pain medications, steroids and several surgeries, she started experiencing gastrointestinal issues as well. At this, her doctor referred her to McMakin to…

Historically, people have been treated with electricity since at least as early as 2750 BC—although back then the treatments involved receiving shocks from electric eels. In 1812, Dr John Birch of London healed a fractured tibia that had refused to mend by surgically implanting needles in the region of the fracture and passing electric currents through the needles. By the mid-nineteenth century this became a standard method for treating slow-healing bone fractures,1 and by 1884, it is estimated that some 10,000 health practitioners in the United States were using some sort of electrical therapy in their practices. However, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and the 1910 Flexner Report, which redefined the parameters of medical education in the US, eventually led to a complete prohibition of the use…

Dr Damien Downing, a specialist in allergy, environment and nutrition, is current president of the British Society for Ecological Medicine, on the editorial board of Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, Chief Medical Advisor of cancer charity Yes to Life (www.yestolife.org.uk), and author of numerous books including The Vitamin Cure for Allergies. Dr Michel Odent, a French-trained surgeon and obstetrician, is a pioneer of the natural birth movement, emphasizing home and water birth. Founder of the Primal Health Research Centre in the UK, he has written some 50 scientific papers and 11 books. Dr Sarah Myhill has worked in the UK National Health Service and private practice since 1981. Honorary Secretary of the British Society for Ecological Medicine for 17 years, she is a frequent lecturer and author of Sustainable Medicine and…

Eating extra protein could help women regulate their periods. Just eating an extra 300 to 400 calories every day could be all it takes to re-establish a regular menstrual cycle, say researchers—and that could be especially the case for women who do intense exercise. Women who don’t eat enough to support their exercise regime can trigger a medical condition known as “female athlete triad,” which includes menstrual disorders and poor bone health, say researchers from Penn State University. Women with the problem are more likely to suffer fractures. In a year-long study involving 62 young women who exercised regularly and suffered from irregular menstrual cycles, half increased the number of calories they ate, while the rest maintained their existing diets. The women who ate the extra calories were twice as…

High vitamin D levels lower the risk of some cancers and make others less aggressive. The “sunshine vitamin” plays a key part in preventing colon cancer and blood cancers, including leukemia and lymphoma, and can also slow the progress of breast and prostate cancers. The vitamin is vital for regulating a healthy immune system, and especially immune cells such as monocytes and T-cells. This is probably why it protects against blood cancers, say researchers from the Autonomous University of Madrid and the University of Eastern Finland, who reviewed the published research into the vitamin. Evidence that vitamin D also treats cancer isn’t quite so strong, but people whose breast and prostate cancer is more virulent also tend to be low in the vitamin, suggesting it could play some part in…

Celeste McGovern’s special report, “A Long Shot,” in the July/August edition of WDDTY explained succinctly some of the challenges facing the global effort to prepare a vaccine that Bill Gates would like to see delivered to“almost every person on the planet.” As the world’s population has become so accustomed to pharmaceutical solutions to our health woes—and lives have been so greatly disrupted by government-mandated COVID-19 containment strategies—it’s no wonder so many are desperate for this self-styled silver vaccine bullet. Human nature also dictates that most of us prefer to opt for a simple solution rather than grapple with complex ones that involve doing lots of things, including taking responsibility for your own health and the function of your immune system. What could be easier than rolling up your sleeve? On…

Coimbra insists that correcting vitamin D deficiency is not as simple as gobbling huge amounts of the supplement. His patients taking high-dose vitamin D have their blood and urine monitored for excess calcium due to vitamin D. Excess calcium—or hypercalcemia—is the primary toxicity of vitamin D that many doctors fear. Excess calcium can, paradoxically, weaken rather than strengthen bones and may also form into kidney stones. High calcium levels can also interfere with heart and brain function, and symptoms include confusion, apathy, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In its latest report on dietary reference intake of vitamin D, the Institute of Medicine found no evidence of toxicity at vitamin D consumption levels up to 10,000 IU daily, but the agency still “cautiously” set the maximum safe level of consumption at…

Cleavers/goosegrass, marigold and mullein are three powerful herbs that can stimulate and cleanse congestion and mucus from the lymphatic system and relieve the symptoms of tonsillitis and other related swellings of the throat, neck, arms and groin. Here’s how to make a tea from these herbs. Ingredients Two parts marigold Two parts cleavers One part mullein Method 1 Place these herbs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. 2 Heat slowly and simmer, covered, for 20 to 45 minutes. The longer you simmer the herbs, the stronger the tea will be. 3 Drink two to three cups a day for two to three weeks.…

MANHATTAN Three months after giving birth to her first baby, Jackie was on vacation in the Dominican Republic with her husband and took an excursion trip cliff diving into a lagoon. Mid-jump she went into a sitting position, and when she landed in the water her spine compressed, and the vertebra at T12 shattered. There was no Medivac available, and she experienced a lot of jarring movement getting out of the jungle and to different hospitals and clinics and, finally, back to New York. “The doctors told me, ‘This is a very complicated surgery, so take care of everything in your life in advance,’” she recalls The surgeons built a cage around the T12 vertebra with pins, removing one of her ribs to get better access, fused the vertebrae and…

NEW JERSEY Sharon suffered from debilitating chronic rashes and swelling on her face, neck, arms and hands, sometimes so severe that she couldn’t sleep. She saw a variety of doctors, who prescribed antibiotics and then steroids, but she did not become rash-free until she tried BPT. In just one appointment, she saw her skin clear up by about 90 percent. After the second appointment her skin was 100 percent clear. “BPT helped reveal that beneath layers of sensitivities, co-infections and emotional armoring, I had built up a significant level of arsenic toxicity,” she says. “Bingo! This was the root of my problem. It took about 10 sessions over the course of a year until my immune system was balanced enough to clear the toxins. I also had to make some…

Q I suffer from pet allergies (cats and dogs), and although I don’t own a pet, lots of my friends and family do, which makes it difficult to see them sometimes. Also, I share office space and get itchy eyes and a runny nose just from using the same space as a pet owner. I hate taking antihistamines as they give me a dry mouth and make me drowsy (even the nondrowsy ones). Can you recommend any natural remedies to keep the symptoms at bay? T.E, via email A Pet allergy is one of the most common types of “perennial” allergic rhinitis—the medical term for year-round symptoms triggered by airborne allergens such as pet dander (shed skin particles), dust mites and mold.1 Hay fever, an allergy to pollen, is known…

A DIY disinfectant I was so glad to watch your UK Get Well webinar at the start of the COVID pandemic and hear Dr Sarah Myhill’s recipe for Lugol’s iodine and coconut oil hand sanitizer. I have used it throughout and found it highly effective. Unfortunately, since the lifting of restrictions I caught the virus (maybe it’s a slackening of my attention or more people out and about, who knows). However, I found putting Lugol’s iodine into a small spray bottle and using that to coat the back of my throat and also breathe in a few droplets into my lungs, killed the cough instantly. I used it once a day for two to three days only. I also used the mixture on cotton buds to moisten my nose, ear…

Toxic chemicals in pesticides, cookware and fire retardants could be a cause of celiac disease, the immune disorder that can trigger a fatal reaction to gluten. Young people with high levels of DDE, a chemical found in pesticides, in their blood were twice as likely to develop the disease, and the association is even more marked in young girls, who were up to nine times more likely to have the problem if they had high levels of another chemical—PFAs, found in nonstick cookware—in their blood. Researchers at New York University School of Medicine say they there is also a strong possibility the chemicals can cause autoimmune bowel disease. It’s been thought that celiac disease and other immune disorders are genetic, but the research team say there is very strong evidence…

Prostate cancer is now the most prevalent cancer other than skin lesions, certainly in the West—but men can reduce their risk by eating tomatoes. Eating canned or cooked tomatoes four times a week—with a daily serving of 71 grams, or one-third of a cup—can have a dramatic effect. Processed or cooked tomato products seemed to have the most protective effect, and this may be due to their levels of lycopene, a type of carotenoid. Researchers from Loma Linda University tracked more than 27,000 Adventist men and monitored the amount of tomatoes they ate along with their incidence of cancer. The protective effect seems especially strong in black men, said lead author Gary Fraser. Cancer Causes Control, 2020; 31: 341–51 HEALTH FACT Certain vegetables and spices also have documented antibiotic properties,…

Sometimes you have to take a prescription drug—but be careful when you do. Aside from the risk of suffering an adverse reaction or side-effect, which happens on average to 10 percent of people taking a drug, the chances that there’s been an error in the prescription is also very high. Around 20 percent of all prescriptions contain an error—from the wrong dose to the wrong drug—and these mistakes could be killing up to 22,000 Britons every year. A similar rate of error, and death, is happening in every country around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. Discovering the rate of prescription errors is difficult—often because it’s hard to track, since most prescriptions are handed out at the local pharmacy while errors in hospitals are often covered up—and…

“Why had these two major studies come to such different conclusions? According to one of the main researchers, bypass surgery had been set up to fail” People with blocked arteries in the heart are usually told they need open heart, or bypass, surgery. The procedure, properly known as coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), is recommended by the American Heart Association, among others, as the best way to keep blood flowing to the heart, especially if the blockage is in the arteries on the left side of the heart. But cardiologists started to change their advice in 2016 and were encouraged to do so by groups such as the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), which had started to recommend that stents—tiny tubes that are pushed into a blocked artery to…

Want to live to 100? Of course you do, and science has a few suggestions to help you get there. There are the positive things you should be doing, such as eating well and exercising, and the negative things you should be avoiding, such as smoking and drinking too much. The top tip for reaching your 100th birthday is maintaining an active social life, at least according to researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand. That means you don’t mope at home on your own but get out to meet family and friends, volunteer, attend social events such as concerts, or play golf.1 Yes, getting out and about is important, another research team agrees, and doing regular walking is another way to remain active. Living in an area…

Cleveland Clinic functional doctor Mark Hyman dubbed glutathione (GSH) the “mother of all antioxidants” because the molecule’s chief job is taking care of damaging free radicals in the body. Free radicals are generated as a byproduct of energy metabolism but also from exercise and environmental toxins. They are highly reactive particles that bounce around the cell causing damage, like burning embers, singeing everything they touch. As our mitochondria, the energy powerhouses in each of our cells, constantly belt out the energy we need for all of our bodily functions, from thinking to synthesizing enzymes and contracting our muscles, GSH is continuously mopping up disease-causing free radicals generated by this energy production. GSH is unique because it is the only antioxidant found inside every cell in our bodies, and unlike other…

In a randomized, double-blind trial of NAC versus placebo in 60 patients on a ventilator, those treated with NAC were slightly over half as likely to develop ventilator-associated pneumonia (26.6 percent vs. 46.6 percent), and almost twice as likely to make a complete recovery (56.6 percent vs. 30 percent). The patients treated with NAC also spent, on average, 3 fewer days in the ICU (14 vs. 17 days) and 5 fewer days hospitalized overall (19 vs. 24 days)…

Coimbra says that people with autoimmune disease require abnormally high doses of vitamin D because they are “resistant” to the hormone. Nevertheless, he is cautious, and his protocol advises high dosing of vitamin D only under the supervision of a physician. There is no one-size-fits-all dose prescription in the protocol; every patient has to have a battery of tests to determine the appropriate amount of vitamin D and to rule out unsuitable candidates, such as those with high parathyroid hormone or those with sensitivity to vitamin D. These tests include (but are not limited to): • Vitamin B12 • Vitamin D (both 1,25(OH)2D3 [calcitriol] and 25(OH)D3) • Parathyroid hormone (PTH) • Creatinine • Blood urea nitrogen • Total calcium and ionized calcium • Total calcium in urine (24-hour volume) •…

During a fever the body can be supported as follows: • Drink plenty of filtered or bottled mineral water. • Add aloe vera, pineapple, radish juice or coconut water to warm water with honey, lemon and ginger and sip throughout the day to help rehydrate the body during and after a fever. • Drink teas made with basil, burdock root, coriander, dandelion, mint, mustard seeds, raisins, saffron, thyme or yarrow, by steeping any of these ingredients in hot water before straining; slowly sip three cups a day. Add honey to sweeten and provide additional bacteria-, fungi- and virus-fighting benefits. • Make a tea with daikon, shiitake mushrooms and kombu seaweed to lower a fever and fight infection.…

Up until age 26, Danielle Pilarninos thought her health was basically “fine.” And then one morning after a pain-filled night, she woke up to a left bicep that was vastly swollen and painful. Thinking she had a blood clot in her arm, she went to work at the hospital where she served as a sonographer performing ultrasounds for high-risk pregnancies. A doctor immediately sent her to the emergency room. “They did a scan and there was no blood clot, everything was fine,” she says. “But my blood work showed high levels of CPK [creatine phosphokinase], an enzyme that occurs in the blood when you have a lot of muscle die off, and mine was really elevated.” Diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, which, she says, “is just a fancy word for saying your…

The term biomagnetism is used to describe both the interaction of living organisms with external magnetic fields as well as the endogenous creation of magnetic fields by living beings themselves. A magnetic field is created whenever charged particles such as electrons or protons are on the move—by the currents of electricity that flow in the molten core of our planet, in electrical wiring or devices, and in different types of cells in the human body, including neurons, endocrine and muscle cells. The earth’s magnetic field at its surface at the equator measures between 0.25 and 0.65 gauss. The magnetic field of an ordinary refrigerator magnet is enormous by comparison—around 100 gauss. Magnetic fields produced by the human body are much, much smaller, in the range of 10-10 to 10-5 gauss,…

Q I’ve been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately. It takes me ages to fall asleep, and I then I wake up several times throughout the night. I don’t want to use drugs. Can you suggest any natural remedies to help? P.H., via email A You’re in luck, as there are plenty of effective drug-free remedies for insomnia—difficulty in falling or staying asleep. Here’s what the science says works for better sleep. TRY HERBS A variety of herbs have been successfully used as sleep aids in clinical trials. Here are some of the best ones to try. Valerian can improve sleep quality and reduce the time it takes to fall asleep.1 Suggested dosage: 300–600 mg valerian extract (choose a formula free of ‘valepotriates’), taken 30 minutes before bedtime Lavender…

Here are some tips for reducing your exposure to pet allergens at work or other people’s homes. Avoid wearing woolly or fleece clothing, as it attracts 10 times more pet dander than wearing nothing. A freshly washed T-shirt is much less likely to harbor allergens.1 Ask friends and family to keep a pet-free zone for you when you visit, and to clean surfaces thoroughly with a high-efficiency (HEPA) filter vacuum beforehand. Install an air purifier in your workspace to filter out any pet allergens that might be hanging around. Try an anti-allergen natural spray formula, such as Bio-Life AirCleanse, which reduces pet and other allergens in indoor air. Spritz it around your home and office, or ask pet-owning friends and family to use it before you visit. REFERENCES 1 J…

In the late nineteenth century, Faroese physician Niels Finsen pioneered the use of light therapy for a range of conditions, including skin scarring following smallpox and tuberculosis infections. In 1903, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for “his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science.” In 1910, Dr John Harvey Kellogg, of cornflakes fame, published Light Therapeutics, in which he advocated light therapy for conditions including diabetes, obesity, insomnia and baldness. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s, when red light-emitting lasers were found to improve hair growth in mice, that modern research into red and infrared light therapy began.…

Many chiropractors, physiotherapists, podiatrists and dentists as well as trained laser therapists across the US, UK and Australia offer low-level (cold laser) light therapy as a healing modality for conditions such as pain relief, tissue repair, postoperative healing, gastrointestinal disorders and depression. Examples include, in the United States Westwood Clinic in Los Angeles, CA: www.westwoodclinic.com Liebell Clinic in Virginia Beach, VA: www.liebellclinic.com Laser Pain Centers of Illinois in Sherman, IL: www.shermanlasercenters.com In the United Kingdom Perfect Balance Clinic, London: www.perfectbalanceclinic.com Laser Medicine, London: www.lasermedicine.co.uk Clare Barker Therapy, Leeds: www.cold-laser-therapy.co.uk…

On January 19, 2004, in a football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens fractured his fibula (the long, thin bone of the lower leg running parallel to the tibia), ripped the deltoid ligament from his tibia, sprained his ankle, and “shredded” his interosseous ligament (the strongest ligament in the body connecting the sacrum and ilium). During surgery two days later, screws and a plate were installed to hold his tibia and fibula together, and the deltoid muscle was put back in place. Unsurprisingly, his surgeon told him he would not be able to play in the Super Bowl, which was only six weeks away. At best, Owens would be ready the following season—but he might never play again. Owens not only played in that Super…

MD is a 68-year-old doctor living in southern California. Over the course of 30 years, she sustained multiple injuries from five motor vehicle accidents and one biking accident. All involved head trauma. There was also cervical facet joint damage, thoracic spine misalignment and damage to the sacral vertebrae and the right sacroiliac joint. In chronic pain for most of the past three decades, the arthritic changes in her cervical spine caused nerve compression, which led to frequent and painful flare-ups. She saw surgeons, energy healers, pain management specialists, neurologists, physical therapists, rheumatologists, osteopaths, anesthesiologists—all with varied diagnoses. She heard about frequency-specific microcurrent in early 2019 from a colleague who researches new modalities for pain management. “I wanted to see if it might be effective for me,” she says. The physical…

It is a universally acknowledged truth that viruses are spread from person to person. That’s why the COVID-19 outbreak is being combated with an economically catastrophic lockdown, social distancing and face masks. And because viruses spread through human contact, our only hope is a vaccine that can protect us from the disease. But there’s another possibility that doesn’t get talked about. Suppose we’ve all got it wrong about the way viral epidemics start and spread. Suppose, instead, that viruses are latent—in us, the soil or our food, perhaps—until they are sparked into life by some outside change that makes conditions ideal for their sudden emergence. Sounds absurd? Of course, to our ears it does, but then it’s not part of the prevailing paradigm, or scientific worldview. Dr Tom Jefferson, senior…