What Doctors Don't Tell You Australia/NZ June - July 2021

“It is our duty to help nonspeaking autistic children break free from their prison of silence” Imagine growing up with the full capacity for normal—possibly even superior—thoughts and cognition, but never being able to communicate to the outer world, even to your parents. And then imagine being considered cognitively impaired—what used to be referred to as ‘retarded’—and forever treated like a small, highly unruly child because even the most loving caretakers do not know about the person trapped inside. That is the sorry fate of many nonspeaking autistic children, young people and adults, as father-son duo J.B. and Jamie Handley lay bare in their extraordinary new book Underestimated (Skyhorse Publishing, 2021). Although autism is discussed as a‘spectrum’ disorder—everything from requiring full care to being a bit antisocial—as J.B. puts it, his 17-year-old son Jamie…

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 Harald Gaier is a UK-registered osteopath, homeopath, acupuncturist, naturopath and medical herbalist. Former director of medical research at The Hale Clinic and a committee member of the Prince of Wales’ Foundation for Integrated Health, Dr Gaier has authored numerous scientific papers and The Encyclopedia of Homeopathy. 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…

Keep on questioning In the Apr/May issue of WDDTY, Rob Verkerk’s column was amazing. It should be sent to every household in the country and even put up in doctor’s clinics. Unfortunately, the fear people have of getting ill makes them rely on doctors. They take their diagnosis, prescription, vaccine, etc., and don’t question the medical knowledge. As the article states, the vast majority don’t know about informed consent. Doctors don’t have time for it and probably think their patients won’t understand anyway. Doctors don’t want knowledgeable patients as it could bring their lack of knowledge into the light, or take up more time in the clinic. I have reached an age when all doctors look too young. I now always ask questions, and if I don’t get an answer that I am happy…

Drinking two cups of coffee every day can reduce your chances of heart failure by as much as 30 percent, and it’s the caffeine in the drink that is producing the healthy benefits. Decaffeinated coffee didn’t help and could even increase the risk. The tipping point seems to be at two cups. Drinking just one cup a day didn’t protect the heart, say researchers who took another look at three studies. The results were surprising, say researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, especially as coffee is usually thought to be bad for the heart. “People associate coffee with palpitations and high blood pressure, but these findings turn the assumption on its head,” said researcher David Kao. The three studies had recruited a total of more than 21,000 participants, whose coffee…

Eating leafy green vegetables will help keep you mentally sharp by the time you reach your late 70s. The vegetables seem to be the most important element of the Mediterranean diet when it comes to maintaining brain health, although reducing the amount of red meat in the diet can also help, say researchers. A research team from the University of Edinburgh tested the thinking skills of more than 500 people who were 79 years old, and assessed their ability to solve problems, their memory and word association, and then analyzed what they had been eating in the previous 12 months. Those who closely followed the Mediterranean diet recorded high cognitive function scores, and those who ate leafy green vegetables and cut down on the amount of red meat had the highest scores of…

Putting parasitic worms back into your gut could slow the aging process and reduce your chances of suffering from a range of chronic illnesses including heart disease, arthritis and diabetes. Better hygiene has eradicated helminths—worms such as flukes, tapeworms and hookworms—from the gut, and our health has been the poorer, say researchers from University College London. The gut parasites produce proteins that protect us from chronic conditions and slow the aging process. “The loss of ‘old friend’ microbes and helminths increases the sterile, aging-associated inflammation known as inflammageing,” said researcher Bruce Zhang. But rather than reinserting the worms themselves, it may be possible to instead use helminthderived proteins that could achieve the same health benefits and be more palatable to patients. eLife, 2021; 10: e65180 HEALTH FACT Ginger is a natural remedy…