Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2025 i What Doctors Don't Tell You Australia/NZ

Science writer and broadccaster and regular WDDTY contributor Tony Edwards, who published his book The Good News about Booze in 2013, didn’t plan to write another book about alcohol, let alone wine. After he had scoured all the possible scientific evidence about alcohol of all persuasions, the copious research led him to two conclusions: moderate drinkers of all varieties live longer, and both teetotalers and outright alcoholics live shorter lives. He thought he’d said it all until he began to notice governments around the world consistently setting lower and lower limits for “safe” levels of drinking. For example, in 2016 the UK reduced its advised intake from four “units” of alcohol a day to two (one unit is two-thirds of a 125-mL glass of wine), and Holland lowered its recommendation…

Medicine has always considered the tonsils useful but not essential. Yes, they could block viruses and bacteria from entering our digestive system, but our children could live without them, especially if they’ve been suffering from constant sore throats. And during the first half of the last century, that’s just what medicine did: it got rid of them. Doctors today understand that the tonsils don’t just block pathogens: they also play a role in the immune system response. But that role is more significant than even medicine accepts, and understanding it also paves the way for safer vaccines that are given orally. The craze of performing tonsillectomies—the removal of tonsils—raged through medicine for around 50 years, and at its height there were around 1.4 million tonsillectomies in US hospitals and around…

In my opinion, the most devastating chemical to enter our world is glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide (weed killer) Roundup, which appeared on the market in 1974. Since then, glyphosate usage has boomed in the US and around the world. Glyphosate has been linked to many cancers, including lymphoma and leukemia. A 2018 study found it in 93 percent of urine samples.1 According to the National Cancer Institute, the rate of pediatric cancer has increased about 40 percent since 1975,2 one year after glyphosate was brought to market, and a mountain of evidence links childhood cancer and exposure to agricultural chemicals. One review found that exposure to certain pesticides during pregnancy, caused by living near farms that spray it on crops, may increase the risk of childhood ALL…

Lisa Ritter is a licensed professional counselor experienced in working with anxiety, depression, OCD, eating disorders and trauma. After 12 years working as a regular therapist, she was introduced to the use of psilocybin-assisted therapy. Psilocybin, the active substance in “magic mushrooms, ” is seen in modern society as a merely recreational “drug. ” But shamans have been using psilocybin mushrooms for psychological healing purposes (along with other natural hallucinogens, such as peyote and mescaline) for uncounted generations. Ritter was blown away by the results she saw, calling psilocybin-assisted therapy “the next great opportunity for healing. ” She founded the Psilocybin Assisted Therapy Association in Portland, Oregon (pata-us.org), and has dedicated her life to helping people find their way to this kind of integrative therapy, which addresses all domains of…

What Doctors Don’t Tell You is supported by some of the world’s leading pioneers in nutritional, environmental and alternative medicine. Each is an authority in his or her field; many have broken new ground and inspired new practices in medicine. 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. Bruce Lipton, PhD, is an internationally recognized leader in bridging science and spirit. Stem cell biologist, bestselling author of The Biology of Belief and recipient of the 2009 Goi Peace Award, he has been a guest speaker on hundreds of…

In almost every country round the world, the “alcohol guidelines” are now much lower than they were a decade ago. For example, in 2016 the UK reduced its advised intake from four “units” of alcohol a day to two, while marijuana-smoking Holland slashed theirs to one unit (a maiden aunt’s glass of sherry) per day. Understandably, many people now believe that alcohol is more harmful than was thought and that it might be prudent to give it up altogether—as with tobacco. Indeed, according to the World Cancer Research Fund, from the point of view of cancer prevention, the best level of alcohol consumption is zero.1 On the other hand, red wine is often touted as a superfood, and studies show that moderate wine drinkers generally live longer than teetotalers.2 They…

Most of wine’s constituents are water and alcohol, of course, but the liquid contains a huge array of natural chemicals derived from grapes, most notably a group of health-promoting antioxidants called polyphenols. Resveratrol From early on, the polyphenol that stood out from the crowd was a compound called resveratrol (RSV)—possibly because red wine contains quite a lot of it, and white wine contains almost none. The first RSV study was done in 1978. By 2023, the number stood at over 17,000. According to a 2020 paper summarizing the findings, “Resveratrol has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, glucose and lipid regulatory, neuroprotective, and cardiovascular protective effects. It can protect against chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, liver disease, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.”1 However, all this is possibly hype. Yes,…

Honey contains polyphenols, including quercetin, gallic acid, and chrysin, which have all been shown to trigger the immune system in ways that protect neurons. Its potent antibacterial, antiinflammatory, and antioxidant status has led researchers to look into its ability to treat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.1 Scientists recently reviewed 34 original papers examining honey’s effect on brain health and concluded there are four main benefits: neuroprotection, memory boosting, and stress and pain fighting.2 A 2022 study reported two sides to manuka honey: It improved oxidation stress and delayed paralysis in a worm model of Alzheimer’s disease, but its sugar content impaired the worms’ locomotion, an indicator of increased tau protein, a feature of the disease. In other words, the honey ameliorated one pathway of Alzheimer’s while fueling another.3 Two…

I think I might need something … more than herbs,” Amanda told me early on. It made me smile, because I completely understood. But I also knew she was about to be pretty amazed by just how powerful herbal remedies can be, particularly for hormonal imbalances. Now, of course, in an integrative, functional medicine approach to health, nothing truly acts alone. Any treatment, whether it’s an herbal supplement or a prescription medication, works best when combined with other healthy diet and lifestyle improvements. But there’s also this tendency, even among people who lean toward a more natural approach, to greatly underestimate the impact of herbs. As my patient Amanda soon found out, herbal support can be incredibly powerful for balancing your hormones. Here are the reasons an herbal approach can…

Some therapies, such as mistletoe, are available only as injections. In other cases, even when oral alternatives are available, IV administration is often more effective. One of the challenges associated with IV therapy is the process of getting a needle inserted. Our children have already gone through a lot, and subjecting them to the stress of another poke is no fun for anyone. Some children have a central line (also known as a central venous catheter—a long, flexible, Y-shaped tube inserted through one of the central veins in the neck, chest or groin to allow access to the bloodstream). Others have a port or PICC line (a peripherally inserted central catheter, which is placed in the upper arm). Often getting medications through these devices is easier on kids than getting…

Before embarking on any integrative cancer therapies, it’s vital that you assess your child’s terrain—the internal and external factors that may have contributed to the formation of cancer. In their groundbreaking book The Metabolic Approach to Cancer (Chelsea Green, 2017), integrative oncologist Dr Nasha Winters and nutrition therapist Jess Higgins Kelley detail a questionnaire they developed to assess a client’s terrain. It’s based on 10 factors they believe affect our development of cancer and our ability to overcome it. These 10 factors, which they’ve termed “The Terrain Ten,” include genetic and epigenetic factors, blood sugar balance, toxic burden management, repopulation and balance of the microbiome, immune system maximization, and mental and emotional well-being. I’ve adapted this questionnaire for pediatric patients and use it at my practice to help families gather…

Mary Jane Wilt didn’t suffer from depression. But she had intense OCD as a result of childhood trauma that went unhealed despite conventional psychotherapy. “I always had to have something going on that was more intense than the internal chaos,” she says. “Something intense enough to cover that original emotional neglect and pain. So, education, exercise and caretaking were my go-tos. And all my compulsive activities looked really good from a social perspective, so they never got uncovered as compulsions.” Totally unfamiliar with any sort of psychedelic-assisted therapy, Wilt was asked to “sit” with several people who were desperate for help and wanted to use psilocybin and other psychedelic substances as part of their healing. She was deeply impressed with how deeply people were seeing into their psyches and how…

Let there be light to heal brain injury Light therapy can help heal brain injuries—and it could also be harnessed as a treatment for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), depression and autism. Low-level light therapy restores connections in the brain following moderate traumatic injury, say researchers. They tested it on 38 patients whose cognition had been affected and whose brain damage was visible on MRI scans. The patients started getting light therapy within 72 hours of the injury by wearing a helmet that emits near-infrared light. Their recovery was tested over three weeks, and reconnections in the injured parts of the brain were greatest in the first week or two. “The skull is quite transparent to near-infrared light,” said Dr Rajiv Gupta, one of the researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital who…

Knowing when it’s sepsis Six signs that indicate sepsis are described in the acronym SEPSS. Sepsis is a life-threatening problem that often gets detected too late—and doctors are also likely to misdiagnose it. So it’s important to understand the symptoms and get treatment early. Sepsis happens when the immune system overreacts to an infection and starts attacking tissue, which can cause life-threatening organ failure. Different parts of the body, and bodily functions, can change as sepsis progresses. In its early stages, it’s easily treated with intravenous antibiotics and fluids, but this window is open for only a few days; a patient who reaches septic shock, when the blood pressure drops to a dangerously low level, has only a 50 percent chance of survival. It’s reckoned that every hour of delay…

Removing the alcohol from wine requires a substantial amount of processing. A variety of techniques are used: centrifugation, reverse osmosis, vacuum steam distillation, osmotic transport, spinning-cone column, thin-film evaporation under reduced pressure and thermal gradient process. The resulting liquid is little more than a syrup, say the Italians. To attempt to restore it to a semblance of wine, bottlers add water, concentrated must, gum arabic, deacidifiers, clarifiers, grape juice and grape juice concentrate. The resultant product in your glass appears to be the wine equivalent of ultra-processed food—a commodity increasingly shown to be harmful to health.…

The evidence about alcohol in general and wine in particular, far from becoming more worrying as the years have gone by, is robustly continuing to confirm that moderate drinking—at intakes that often contradict official guidance—is exceptionally good for one’s health. Here are some of the latest findings. • An observational study of about 500 people found that people who drank “moderate” or even “chronic” amounts of wine had half the rate of bone fractures found in non-drinkers.1 • A UK study found that, compared with non-drinkers, those who drank the most red wine had an up to 23 percent lower risk of undergoing cataract surgery.2 • Harvard researchers reported that men with prostate cancer who drink red wine moderately (up to about a third of a bottle of wine a…

Manuka honey thrashes a variety of bacteria and the tough-to-penetrate biofilms that form in wounds and infections, so researchers recently started looking at its effects on bacteria associated with dental plague, cavities and gum problems. They found it inhibits a number of bugs that cause disease associated with aggressive periodontitis.1 In one study at the University of Otago in New Zealand, 30 volunteers chewed or sucked either a manuka ”honey leather” or sugarless chewing gum for 10 minutes three times a day, after each meal. The trial lasted for 21 days. The manuka honey group showed highly significant reductions in plague and bleeding compared to the control group, which saw no significant changes.2 Wondering about the effects of the fermentable sugars in the honey? A 2017 experiment confirmed the antibacterial…

Herbs are one great way to promote hormone balance, but they won’t do the trick on their own. An overall healthy lifestyle that includes the following is the best way to keep your hormones—and your health—stable. Eat well Food is the best medicine we have. A wide variety of fruits and vegetables yields the plant nutrients your body craves. A healthy balance of lean protein, healthy fats, carbohydrates and fiber is essential. Limiting sugar, processed foods and anything your body is particularly sensitive to (for many women, gluten is a problem) can also make a big difference. Stay hydrated Hydration is key to keeping your body healthy. One great choice is green tea, which may help keep insulin levels balanced. Keep moving Regular exercise of any kind can improve hormonal…

Leukemia, an umbrella term for cancers of the blood cells, is the most common cancer in children. There are different types of leukemia—the most common is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Less common and often more aggressive is acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Conventional treatment of ALL is difficult because it’s prolonged and includes not only chemotherapy but also steroids. AML treatment is shorter but very toxic and often requires a bone marrow transplant. Most leukemias are the result of a toxic chemical exposure, either in the mother or after the child is born.1 In my experience as a practitioner, I find a lot of glyphosate toxicity in leukemia patients (see page 52). ALL is also associated with a compromised microbiome due to lack of exposure to diverse bacteria.2 Thankfully, ALL has…

This is the time of year when our children or grandchildren are returning to school or university. And if they or their friends have been away on exotic holidays, it’s also the main season for becoming infested with worms. Most people don’t want to hear about this very common possibility, often because the conventional treatment options are very limited. If a pregnant woman contracts worms, she is usually told to wait until the baby has arrived to undergo treatment, which can take six weeks or more. In the meantime, the only recourse is hygienic treatments. What types of parasites affect humans? The main parasites you may encounter are threadworms and pinworms. And though they’re less common, you or your family can also become infested with whipworms, roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms.…

Depression has been linked to low levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, GABA and noradrenaline, aka norepinephrine, in the brain, though the connection isn’t necessarily causative. Supplements that raise their levels in the brain may help you feel better. To increase serotonin levels L-tryptophan An amino acid used to make proteins, 8–12 g daily in three or four doses 5-HTP An amino acid used to make serotonin, 100 mg twice daily Vitamin D 50,000 IU per week for eight weeks Probiotics Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobaccillus reuteri, Lactobaccillus plantarum and Lactobaccillus helveticus, 1–10 billion CFU per serving each Omega-3 fatty acids 250–500 mg combined EPA and DHA To increase dopamine levels Caffeine Green tea, black tea, coffee Probiotics See above strains and dosages Turmeric 500 mg twice daily Ginkgo biloba The…

Here are some of the most effective ways to use alternative treatments for depression. Thermotherapy Get in a sauna one to three times a week. Start with 15-minute sessions and build up to 20 minutes maximum, a total of 60 minutes per week. Be cautious, Jane Witt advises. “I wouldn’t really recommend anything longer than 20 minutes per heat session. Long sessions actually start becoming detrimental to a client’s health rather than beneficial.” To make sauna therapy easier, Witt recommends combining a sauna session with your regular workouts at the gym. Most gyms have a sauna, and you can build it in at the end as part of your regime. Psychedelic therapy Find a licensed psychedelic-assisted therapist to help you during and after psilocybin sessions. See the Psilocybin Assisted Therapy…

Cancer. Obesity. Cardiovascular disease. Arthritis. Infections. Diabetes. Gastrointestinal syndromes. Allergies. Autoimmune disorders. What do they all have in common? Each of these conditions can be linked to chronic inflammation. In and of itself, inflammation is a normal physiological response to injury or illness. A trauma occurs or a pathogen is introduced, and the immune system is told to “gather the troops” and go fight the infection or heal the wound. There are often localized telltale signs, like redness, pain, swelling, heat and impaired function, that clear up on their own as the body heals. But problems arise when the inflammatory state is prolonged. Rather than ending when the injury or illness is no longer present, the condition persists. Over time, chronic inflammation wreaks havoc on healthy cells and tissues. It…

In an alternate universe, the science of aeronautics was lauded. It was praised, yes, to the skies, and young people studied hard to get into the aeronautical colleges and dreamed of becoming engineers. There was one problem: the planes never flew. Instead, passengers would board the aircraft and, in unison, make flying noises while being conducted by the air stewards. A few hours later, everyone would leave the aircraft, which was still sitting in the same spot on the runway. Strangely, nobody spoke disapprovingly about the non-flying planes. People who pointed out the problem were immediately shut down, and the media was encouraged to ridicule them. And nobody, but nobody, mentioned the F-word (flying): not in aeronautical school, not in the media and not even among politicians, who were being…