Searching for a Cure (Under Construction)
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Introduction
How I became interested in natural health. moreSailing
Solutions to common problems. more
Heart Disease
A revolution in the treatment of heart disease. moreHeartdrops : A herbal treatment for heart disease. more
Coenzyme Q10 : Essential if you are taking Statins? more
Mental Health
Truehope : A new approach to mental health problems moreMigraines
Two treatments for this condition. moreCancer
The best contacts in the UK and USA moreIntroduction
My interest in health started about 20 years ago. I was prone to frequent heavy colds and after a week off work decided to try and find a cure for the common cold. This was rather ambitious as the government had spent millions of pounds trying to find a cure and were unsuccessful. My cure which worked for 7 years was simple, I took garlic tablets 3 times a day 365 days of the year. After 5 years I stopped the pills and within 3 months caught the mother of all colds. So I resumed the treatment. We are all different and what worked for me may not work for you but the experience gave me a strong interest in natural health.Sailing
Cuts are a common problem and Tea tree oil is an
excellent painless antiseptic.We are all prone to back problems and walking and cycling help. Cycling has the advantage of strengthening the leg muscles so that sitting out becomes easier. If you do damage your back and find driving a car or sitting on a settee uncomfortable invest in a "Backfriend". It is simple and it works. Find it at "Medesign Ltd".
Aching and stiff joints can be eased with turmeric (see below). Try Glucosamine and MSM for long term relief.
Lack of energy after 3 or 4 days racing in a championship can be cured by eating plenty of carbohydrates as soon as you come ashore.
Turmeric
In 1995 an American company tried to take out a patent on turmeric claiming it was a new discovery for the treatment ofInflammation. The patent was thwarted by the intervention of the Indian government but it demonstrates the interest in a super-spice that is an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antifungal, antiparasitic, improves digestion, improves circulation, and has anti-cancer properties. It is the anti-inflammatory effect I can vouch for. I used it during National Championships to stop my fingers locking up. One or two heaped teaspoonfuls with water is all you need. It tastes revolting so hold your nose and take your medicine! Top of page
Heart Disease
There is a quiet revolution in the treatment of heart disease spreading across the USA. It uses a strict very low fat vegan diet, stress management and exercise. Surprisingly, most people will notice a difference in their health within three weeks as the body starts to repair itself.The following statistics have been published in medical journals in the last 20 years and demonstrate the effectiveness of changing your lifestyle.
After 3 weeks:
Weight loss averaged 10lbs.
There was a 91% reduction in the frequency of angina and most became pain free.
Nearly 60% of hypertensives had normal blood pressure and were free of medication.
After a year:
There was a 40% reduction in LDL cholesterol levels.
82% had seen a reversal of arterial clogging.
After 5 years:
75% of those eligible for a heart bypass operation were still able to avoid it.
There is quite a choice of books on the subject, I would recommend Prevent and Reverse Heart disease for its simplicity.
The Spectrum
Dean
Ornish MD has a program of lifestyle changes he has used for 32 years.
The program includes stress management, moderate exercise, group
therapy and a plant-based diet. He has directed clinical research
demonstrating, for the first time, that comprehensive lifestyle changes
may begin to reverse even severe coronary heart disease, without drugs
or surgery. He founded the Preventive Medicine Research Institute and
is clinical professor of medicine at the California University. His
program is available at 18 hospitals in the USA and after exhaustive
trials is now covered by Medicare. (Medicare is administered by the
United States government and provides health insurance to people who
are aged 65 and over). His latest book is called The Spectrum and among
his more famous followers are Clint Eastwood (who has been on the
program for 10 years), actress Jane Seymour, and Gro Brundtland MD a
former director of the World Health Organisation and former Prime
Minister of Norway. After a heart bypass operation and a stent fitted
more recently, Bill Clinton is the latest recruit to the program.
To visit the website click here Top of page
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
Caldwell
Esselstyn MD was a researcher and clinician at the Cleveland Clinic for
over 35 years. In 2007 he published a book called Prevent and Reverse
Heart Disease. It shows that a plant-based diet will rapidly improve
your health. He believes that “coronary artery disease need not exist
and if it does, need not progress”. His book is based on a 12 year
study first published in the American Journal of Cardiology. Twenty
four patients came to him with advanced coronary artery disease. These
were patients that failed their first or second bypass, they failed
their first or second angioplasty, they were too sick for these
procedures or had refused them. Some could barely walk and five had
been told they would not survive for more than a year. Soon after the
program started six patients became non-compliant and left the program
by mutual consent and all six of them continued to decline in health
despite having access to the best conventional treatment. Over the next
ten years they suffered four bypass operations, one angioplasty, one
case of congestive heart failure, four with increased angina, two
episodes of serious disruption to the heartbeat and one death. The
remaining 18 who stayed with the program saw their cholesterol levels,
angina symptoms, and blood flow improve dramatically and had no further
cardiac events except for one death after five years to a man who
survived a massive heart attack two weeks before joining the group.
Twenty two years later the five who had been given less than a year to
live were still alive, together with all the fully compliant patients.
The book has many examples of seriously ill patients making a complete
recovery. Evelyn Oswick suffered two heart attacks in her fifties.
After an angioplasty and a triple bypass operation failed to keep her
heart disease from returning, Oswick's doctor told her there was
nothing more he could do and that she ought to "go home and wait to
die". Fortunately she joined Esselstyn’s program and is still in
excellent health today (you can see her telling her story on Youtube).
It is interesting to note that Esselstyn did not insist on an exercise
regime or meditation but did insist on a strict diet and cholesterol
kept below 3.9 mmol/L with the help of statins. As an Olympic gold
medalist in rowing he was not against exercise but he believed that it
was asking too much of his patients, so it remained optional. His book
is an inspiration and simply shows you how to stop the progression and
even reverse heart disease.To visit the website click here Top of page
John McDougall MD had a severe stroke at the age of 18. He trained to be a doctor and between 1973 and 1976 practised on a sugar plantation in Hawaii. His elderly patients were mostly immigrants from the Far East eating mainly rice and vegetables. They were trim, active and medication free into their 90s. They had no diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, or cancers of the breast, prostate or colon. Their children, tempted by western foods, slowly changed and became fatter and sicker, whilst their grandchildren adopted the American diet and suffered all the diseases of the West. Following his work on the plantation he spent time in the medical libraries reading the scientific journals to find that other doctors had discovered the benefit of a diet free of meat and dairy products. He decided to adopt the diet himself and now runs courses for patients wishing to follow the regime. He has treated over 8,000 patients. His book is available for download and is called : The McDougall program for a healthy heart
To visit the website click here Top of page
The
lifestyle changes shown above were first popularised by an
engineer/inventor called Nathan Pritikin. Diagnosed with heart disease
at the age of 40, he was advised to take it easy and avoid exercise. He
had a lifelong interest in the effect of nutrition on the human body
and discovered that during the Nazi occupation of Norway, the Germans
plundered the country’s livestock and left the inhabitants to live
without meat or dairy products. Deaths from heart disease and strokes
plummeted. He also discovered that heart disease is virtually absent in
cultures that eat fibre rich plant-based diets such as the Tarahumara
Indians of northern Mexico, the Papua Highlanders of New Guinea, and
the people of rural China and central Africa. So he followed this diet
and became the first layman to cure himself of heart disease. In 1972
he founded the Pritikin Longevity Centre which has treated over 100,000
people for heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and obesity. To visit the website click here Top of page
Strauss heartdrops
Jim
Strauss was a herbalist in Canada who drove around in a van with the
words “I CURE HEART DISEASE” written in bold letters on the side of his
van. He sold a product called “Strauss Heartdrops”, made from herbs
that have been used for centuries to treat heart problems. The
government health authorities took him to court for practising medicine
and making claims that he could cure heart disease. Ironically the
lawyer Jim used to defend himself had previously acted against him when
“Health Canada” had stopped a shipment of herbs from the USA. To cut
a long story short the case against Jim was thrown out of court and the
lawyer was so impressed with the herbal remedy that he is now a leader
in the Natural Health movement. I contacted the European distributor
(Strauss Midlands) and asked for testimonials from UK customers. I
talked to a 72 year old gentleman from Stoke-on-Trent and his story was
typical of the stories I heard from Canada. He had a bypass operation
19 years ago, after 4 years he had stents fitted and again 2 years
later. In 2006 he could barely walk 200 yards, had given up singing in
the local choral society and was unable to enjoy dancing. In June of
that year he started on the heartdrops while continuing his normal
medication. 12 months later he regularly walked 3 miles or more, he
rejoined the choral society and had the energy to dance the night away.
To visit the website click here Top of page
Coenzyme Q10
If you are taking Statins ………The notice in the health food shop stated “If you are taking Statins you should also be taking Coenzyme Q10”. I asked the manager for more information and was given a leaflet explaining that coq10 is an essential coenzyme for the proper operation of our muscles but particularly the most important muscle of all, the heart. It is also a powerful anti-oxidant.
As we age our ability to produce coq10 (also known as ubiquinone ) diminishes and taking Statins reduces levels still further. The supplements are not cheap and I needed more evidence so I decided to investigate the relationship between statins and coenzyme q10.
The Internet was the obvious place to start and there was almost nothing on the British medical sites except an article in the UK Medicines Information Service. It answered the question “Should patients on statins take Coenzyme Q10 supplementation to reduce the risk of myotoxicity”? (a toxic effect on the muscles). The conclusion was there was not enough evidence (clinical trials) to support the use of coq10 but there was evidence that statins reduce the levels of coq10. The article referred to a citizen’s petition in America to the Food and Drug Administration made in 2002 to change the labelling on statins to include a warning that they block coenzyme q10. There had been no response from the FDA, which is significant, as if the FDA’s response was favourable it would change attitudes in the UK. So my interest turned to America.
The petition is available online and is based on human and animal data by Dr.Langsjoen (a clinical cardiologist from Texas) stating :- “a deficiency of coenzyme q10 is associated with impairment of myocardial (heart muscle) function, with liver dysfunction, and with myopathies (muscle diseases) (including cardiomyopathy (heart disease) and congestive heart failure)”. Dr. Langsjoen points out that supplementing with coq10 eliminates the risk of deficiency and has no effect on the positive aspects of statin drugs. The petition mentions the two patents taken out by Merck in 1990 for a pill combining statins with coq10. Merck claimed :- “Coq10 supplementation would be of considerable benefit to counteract the myopathy observed in a small percent of patients. Since coq10 is of benefit in congestive heart failure patients, the combination with statins should be of value in such patients who have also the added risk of high cholesterol”. What is curious is that Merck has never marketed the pill or informed doctors or the public of the need to supplement coq10.
This was becoming more intriguing than a detective novel. Why would Merck do the research, take out a patent and then not use it? I came across a report by Karl Folkers and Per Langsjoen and others published on june 20th 1990. It was the result of trials done at the university of Texas in the 1980s and was titled “Lovastatin decreases coenzyme q levels in humans”. It showed what happened to patients when statins were taken with or without coq10. The full text can be downloaded from “Pubmedcentral”. To summarise the findings, Lovastatin reduces cholesterol and weakens the heart (reduces its ability to pump). The addition of coq10 restores the heart’s strength, and if the lovastatin is stopped the heart becomes more efficient but cholesterol rises.
Karl Folkers first determined the structure of ubiquinone (coq10) in 1958 and was Director of Research at Merck for 20 years, warned in 1990 that “heart disease is caused or worsened by the depression of ubiquinone that is associated with statin use and that ubiquinone must be supplemented adequately in patients given statins”. In the same year he received an award from President Bush for his research into vitamins and coq10.
So why has the FDA not responded? The FDA is no stranger to coq10; between1985 and 1994 it tried to ban the import of coq10 supplements. It claimed they were “dangerous” and “posed an imminent threat to the American people” which is strange because it occurs naturally in red meat and fatty fish, is taken by 12 million Japanese people and is used in Japan to treat heart failure. The matter was eventually settled in court and the FDA lost their case. The FDA has a history of opposition to supplements and alternative medicine which some say is because of the influence of the drug companies within the administration. So it seems unlikely that the petition will be successful although a similar label is a legal requirement in Canada. The Canadian label states that coq10 depletion can lead to impaired cardiac functioning in patients with congestive heart failure.
So the investigation was over, according to Dr. Langsjoen low levels of coq10 cause fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness and in extreme cases heart failure. "It is the backbone of my cardiac practice, and I find it unthinkable to practice medicine without it," said Langsjoen. If you are taking statins and want more information then read 'Reverse Heart Disease Now' by two American Cardiologists, Stephen Sinatra MD and James Roberts MD.
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Mental Health
Truehope
The story of Truehope began with one father’s desperate desire to save his children. Anthony Stephan's wife suffered from Bipolar Disorder and in 1995 committed suicide. A year later his children were diagnosed with the same illness. Stephan realised he might loose his children to the same disease so he started a search through medical journals, books etc to find a way to save them. A chance meeting with David Hardy who had spent twenty years as an animal feed formulator proved productive. He said that the bipolar behaviour of Stephan’s son, Joe, sounded like a pig with ear-and-tail-biting syndrome. Furthermore, Hardy told him that some farmers had successfully used a nutritional supplementation program to control the syndrome. Stephan knew he had found the answer.
Stephan and Hardy worked together to produce a human form of the supplement and Stephan's children were the first to try it. They both were able to discontinue their medication and get back to a normal life. Word spread and soon thousands of Canadians were taking the supplements. After initial hostility "Health Canada", the government regulator, approved the supplement now called "EMPower Plus".Dr. Charles Popper, a psychiatrist at Harvard University, who also teaches psychiatry to other psychiatrists, was initially extremely skeptical with regards to the micronutrient treatment, but now uses it on hundreds of his patients. He is quoted as saying "we may need to rethink the traditional bias against nutritional supplementation as a potential treatment for major psychiatric disorders."
Thousands of Canadians and Americans now take EMPower Plus and it is also effective against depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder and other central nervous system disorders.
To visit the website click here Top of page
Migraines
A friend who suffered terribly from migraines had tried every possible drug her doctor and neurologist recommended. None worked and the side effects were almost worse than the migraines. She eventually found some relief from this particularly nasty condition by taking a herbal remedy called Migraineless supplied by Godshaer Herbalist of Lymington. Alan Hopking is a medical herbalist and told me his father suffered from migraines, so he has had plenty of time to perfect the remedy. He provides a world-wide mail order service.
To visit the website click here
"What your doctor may not tell you about Migraines " is written by the director of the New York headache centre. The book shows how the triple-therapy of Magnesium, Riboflavin and Feverfew may provide relief from migraines. There is a supplement called "Migrelief" which is available from America and has the correct ingredients. I normally buy supplements from Iherb, bear in mind that orders over £18 will attract import duty.
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Cancer
The
Rainbow Diet is written by Chris Woolams M.A. (Oxon). He is the UKs
leading expert on Complementary, Alternative and new cancer therapies
and produces a 2000 page website and charity called Canceractive.Icon is a magazine produced by Canceractive and is freely available in over 530 UK hospitals, cancer centres and libraries.
To visit the website click here
"Ralph Moss is probably the most knowledgeable writer in the world on alternative therapies for cancer."
For over 30 years Moss has independently evaluated the claims of various cancer treatments, conventional and nonconventional. He currently directs The Moss Reports, a periodically updated library of detailed reports on 200+ varieties of cancer diagnoses.
Phone consultations can give you an unbiased assessment of exactly how effective accepted conventional treatments are. Similarly, there are credible alternatives out there, but there are also a lot of scams. Many people find a phone discussion with Ralph Moss to be an invaluable help in understanding the complexities of cancer therapy.
To visit the website click here Top of page