Alternative Doctor

Important and Totally New Model For Aging This study came out of left field. There are many models of aging, such as the oxidative stress theory, loss of telomeres, mitochondrial aging and stress. Now, it seems, scientists have discovered that aged or “senescent” cells hanging around in healthy tissues can cause surrounding normal cells to slow down and prematurely age. Senescent cells start to accumulate and produce “age” proteins and other factors that basically make the healthy neighboring cells that surround them less functional. It’s like a bad mob influence in the neighborhood, spoiling it for all the good guys! This is not a model of aging I have heard before. But it is promising because animal studies showed that if we sweep away the aged cells, the animals lived longer and were far more energetic. The study was conducted by Mayo Clinic scientists in Rochester, Minnesota, and published online Nov. 2 in the prestigious journal Nature. After “deleting” senescent cells in mice genetically engineered to age quickly, tissues remained healthier and performed better. These tired old cells make up only 15% of cells in an elderly person. To eliminate them in the mice, the researchers focused a tracer on a gene called p16, which stops cells from dividing youthfully. This gene does not express itself in youth but tends to become active in later years. Again, there is the question: does it become active because of aging or does aging occur because it becomes active?

Autism isn’t just a terrible cross to bear; in fact there are distinct advantages, according to a controversial paper which appeared in the journal Nature just this week (Nov 2nd 2011). You will remember I recently did a post on the astonishing mental prowess of a couple of youngsters who were disadvantaged by autism and brain damage. Well, for them it wasn’t merely damage: they seemed to have amazingly augmented powers of mind that leave us ordinary mortal gasping with admiration. savants Laurent Mottron, MD, PhD, from the University of Montreal’s Centre for Excellence in Pervasive Development Disorders, says the definition of autism itself is biased, being characterized by “a suite of negative characteristics,” focusing on deficits that include problems with language and social interactions. However, in certain settings, such as scientific research, people with autism exhibit cognitive strength. He walks his talk and Dr Mottron has 8 individuals with autism in his own  research group including 4 assistants, 3 students, and 1 researcher, Michelle Dawson, whom he met almost 10 years ago during a television documentary about autism. Though lacking a formal doctorate, Ms Dawson has since coauthored 13 papers and several book chapters.

Autism isn’t just a terrible cross to bear; in fact there are distinct advantages, according to a controversial paper which appeared in the journal Nature just this week (Nov 2nd 2011). You will remember I recently did a post on the astonishing mental prowess of a couple of youngsters who were disadvantaged by autism and brain damage. Well, for them it wasn’t merely damage: they seemed to have amazingly augmented powers of mind that leave us ordinary mortal gasping with admiration. savants Laurent Mottron, MD, PhD, from the University of Montreal’s Centre for Excellence in Pervasive Development Disorders, says the definition of autism itself is biased, being characterized by “a suite of negative characteristics,” focusing on deficits that include problems with language and social interactions. However, in certain settings, such as scientific research, people with autism exhibit cognitive strength. He walks his talk and Dr Mottron has 8 individuals with autism in his own  research group including 4 assistants, 3 students, and 1 researcher, Michelle Dawson, whom he met almost 10 years ago during a television documentary about autism. Though lacking a formal doctorate, Ms Dawson has since coauthored 13 papers and several book chapters.

I was one of the pioneer clinical ecologists in the late 70s, early 80s, who found, purely empirically (trial and error) that probiotics help quell gut inflammation. It was easy to create a theory that matched: antibiotics had trashed our natural bowel flora, aliens had moved in and, by restoring the balance, using probiotics, we were able to bring about recovery. If you have been living on Planet Zod and not yet heard about probiotics, that means friendly germs, like the yoghurt bacteria, which are supposed to fill our and gut push out the unhealthy microbes. Antibiotics suddenly seemed not nearly such a good idea. I think we were a little smug, with hindsight. We scoffed at our orthodox colleagues, who just didn’t “get it”. Indeed, they reciprocated by being nasty and abusive about this theory. Doctors who espoused it were all humbugs, crooks and/or fools, according to the gatekeepers of “real” science. Well time proved we were right, at least to a degree. Eventually, after a 20-year cultural lag, orthodox doctors got onto it too. You’ve probably heard the old scientific gag, that medical research goes through several clearly defined phases: 1. You must be crazy, that’s ridiculous 2. There might be something in it 3. Where’s the proof? 4. We knew that all along We seemed to have reached stage 4 with probiotics. Orthodox colleagues then actually brought in the concept of prebiotics and began to study them. Prebiotics are substances, typically natural foods, that favor our natural, friendly gut flora and make them feel at home. Fiber is one of the classic prebiotics (Jerusalem artichoke is a prime example). This turned out to be an A-1 good idea! Prebiotics make probiotics work much better than before.

I was one of the pioneer clinical ecologists in the late 70s, early 80s, who found, purely empirically (trial and error) that probiotics help quell gut inflammation. It was easy to create a theory that matched: antibiotics had trashed our natural bowel flora, aliens had moved in and, by restoring the balance, using probiotics, we were able to bring about recovery. If you have been living on Planet Zod and not yet heard about probiotics, that means friendly germs, like the yoghurt bacteria, which are supposed to fill our and gut push out the unhealthy microbes. Antibiotics suddenly seemed not nearly such a good idea. I think we were a little smug, with hindsight. We scoffed at our orthodox colleagues, who just didn’t “get it”. Indeed, they reciprocated by being nasty and abusive about this theory. Doctors who espoused it were all humbugs, crooks and/or fools, according to the gatekeepers of “real” science. Well time proved we were right, at least to a degree. Eventually, after a 20-year cultural lag, orthodox doctors got onto it too. You’ve probably heard the old scientific gag, that medical research goes through several clearly defined phases: 1. You must be crazy, that’s ridiculous 2. There might be something in it 3. Where’s the proof? 4. We knew that all along We seemed to have reached stage 4 with probiotics. Orthodox colleagues then actually brought in the concept of prebiotics and began to study them. Prebiotics are substances, typically natural foods, that favor our natural, friendly gut flora and make them feel at home. Fiber is one of the classic prebiotics (Jerusalem artichoke is a prime example). This turned out to be an A-1 good idea! Prebiotics make probiotics work much better than before.

In the 1970s we started speaking about “smouldering viruses” (I lived in the UK then, so spelled it that way!); also sometimes referred to as “slow viruses”. This meant sub-clinical virus opportunists that got under the radar of the immune system and couldn’t be dislodged. Instead, they hung on and lingered, often for the entire lifetime of infected individuals, setting up chronic, damaging inflammation throughout the body. Diseases of aging and autoimmunity (see below), such as atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and many other deadly ailments have been linked to chronic stealth infections. Once again, it was the clinical ecologists and alternative community who first spotted what was going on. We were open to think laterally and outside the box. We started to talk about “post-viral fatigue syndrome”, since the debility would not go away after the acute infectious episode. Fibromyalgia (ME in Europe) is typical of the pattern of symptoms for post-viral syndrome. Attention to allergies and intolerance often aided recovery a great deal. This pointed to a disordered immune response. But in my 1988 book The Allergy Handbook, I began asking “Is it not that we get the viruses because the immune system is poor or incompetent, rather than we get the immune dysfunction because of the virus?” I started thinking along the lines that environmental toxins debilitate the immune system, which then leads to the stealth virus. I have not been proved wrong. We just don’t know. Since those early years, so-called stealth-adapted viruses have been recovered from multiple tissues, including blood, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, throat swabs, breast milk, brain biopsies and tumor samples from patients with various neurological, psychiatric, auto-immune, allergic and cancerous diseases. So this is a serious issue. And it is not confined to viruses.

In the 1970s we started speaking about “smouldering viruses” (I lived in the UK then, so spelled it that way!); also sometimes referred to as “slow viruses”. This meant sub-clinical virus opportunists that got under the radar of the immune system and couldn’t be dislodged. Instead, they hung on and lingered, often for the entire lifetime of infected individuals, setting up chronic, damaging inflammation throughout the body. Diseases of aging and autoimmunity (see below), such as atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and many other deadly ailments have been linked to chronic stealth infections. Once again, it was the clinical ecologists and alternative community who first spotted what was going on. We were open to think laterally and outside the box. We started to talk about “post-viral fatigue syndrome”, since the debility would not go away after the acute infectious episode. Fibromyalgia (ME in Europe) is typical of the pattern of symptoms for post-viral syndrome. Attention to allergies and intolerance often aided recovery a great deal. This pointed to a disordered immune response. But in my 1988 book The Allergy Handbook, I began asking “Is it not that we get the viruses because the immune system is poor or incompetent, rather than we get the immune dysfunction because of the virus?” I started thinking along the lines that environmental toxins debilitate the immune system, which then leads to the stealth virus. I have not been proved wrong. We just don’t know. Since those early years, so-called stealth-adapted viruses have been recovered from multiple tissues, including blood, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, throat swabs, breast milk, brain biopsies and tumor samples from patients with various neurological, psychiatric, auto-immune, allergic and cancerous diseases. So this is a serious issue. And it is not confined to viruses.

I was thinking on the right lines, apparently. According to a new British study (Oct 15th 2011), one in six cellphones may be contaminated with fecal matter (sh*t). Cell phones can spread E. coli, likely because so many people don’t wash their hands properly after using the toilet. The findings also suggest that many people […]

I was thinking on the right lines, apparently. According to a new British study (Oct 15th 2011), one in six cellphones may be contaminated with fecal matter (sh*t). Cell phones can spread E. coli, likely because so many people don’t wash their hands properly after using the toilet. The findings also suggest that many people […] The post I Always Thought Cell Phones Were Sh*t! appeared first on Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby.

Today I read what must be the most mind-numbingly stupid “scientific study”. Some are bad; this was awful. To test whether polyphenols in red wine really had any benefit (why?), a young doctor from the Netherlands decided on the bright idea of adding synthetic polyphenol “extracts” to dairy drinks and giving them to patients, to see what happened to their blood pressure. There are TWO stupid problems with this: The polyphenols are stripped of all their accompanying substances, enzymes, etc, found in the grape Milk is probably the number #1 cause of blood pressure I have found over the years. Put anything in milk and it will not work in lowering blood pressure. The first problem is typical of medical “thinking” (if I can use so bold a word for it): the belief there is one magic bullet in natural food or plant substances and that “one thing” must be the reason the food or plant works therapeutically. They call it the active ingredient but it’s a scientific nonsense. The obsession with isolating a single compound comes, of course, from the desire to then mutilate it beyond Nature’s best and so patent it. But nothing works out of context. There may be a million other substances in grapes which make the polyphenols work properly (so-called adjuvants). 

Today I read what must be the most mind-numbingly stupid “scientific study”. Some are bad; this was awful. To test whether polyphenols in red wine really had any benefit (why?), a young doctor from the Netherlands decided on the bright idea of adding synthetic polyphenol “extracts” to dairy drinks and giving them to patients, to see what happened to their blood pressure. There are TWO stupid problems with this: The polyphenols are stripped of all their accompanying substances, enzymes, etc, found in the grape Milk is probably the number #1 cause of blood pressure I have found over the years. Put anything in milk and it will not work in lowering blood pressure. The first problem is typical of medical “thinking” (if I can use so bold a word for it): the belief there is one magic bullet in natural food or plant substances and that “one thing” must be the reason the food or plant works therapeutically. They call it the active ingredient but it’s a scientific nonsense. The obsession with isolating a single compound comes, of course, from the desire to then mutilate it beyond Nature’s best and so patent it. But nothing works out of context. There may be a million other substances in grapes which make the polyphenols work properly (so-called adjuvants). 

The 4-letter “S” word (shit), there I said it… More correctly, it’s known as feces (to Americans) or faeces to those who still know and understand our Greek heritage! In fact collective sh*t (oops, said it again), or raw sewage, is home to the most diverse collection of viruses ever documented. Literally thousands have been […]