What Doctors Don't Tell You Australia/NZ October - November 2020

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 a powerful,…

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 Diagnosis and…

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 canals and around…

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…

Every drug is susceptible to the placebo effect—the person feels better even when there’s no active ingredient—and that goes for psychedelics, too. People given a placebo instead of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, still had a “trip.” Twenty of the 33 participants given the placebo said they experienced some psychedelic experience, such as seeing paintings on the wall move or reshape themselves. Researchers from McGill University invited the participants to a “psychedelic party,” which included lights and music, and there were 10 white-coated assistants in the room to help anyone who had a bad trip. As researcher Jay Olson said, context and setting were everything, and it convinced most of the participants that they were taking magic mushrooms and not a sugar pill. There’s a serious side to the research. With psychedelics…

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 they can also…