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Ending vaccine damage
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 S everal of you may
be wondering why, with all the
collective jubilation in the press
about the swift rollout of the
Covid vaccination program,
WDDTY continues to focus so
much on bad news.
We do so quite simply because
you don’t have access to the full
story anywhere else.
Up until now, we haven’t
seen much from the major US
or UK news media questioning
the deeper issues behind either
government’s decisions about
Covid-19, most especially the
vaccine itself.
The only complaints about
such things as mandatory
vaccine passports in the US—
mainly from Republicans such
as New Hampshire governor
Chris Sununu’s passage of a bill
protecting New Hampshire
residents from statewide Covid
vaccine passports—have been met
with hysteria by the liberal press.
And I want to remind you that
this is coming from us—two fully
paid-up members of the liberal press.
A column in the Washington
Post, arguing in favor of vaccine
passports, is typical:“We’re
a nation with vast piles of
coronavirus vaccine doses that
involve negligible heath risk to take,
and that go unused for trivial,
foolish reasons. Those people
who currently refuse the vaccine
(without health reasons), and
those who encourage others to
refuse the vaccine, are causing
needless death (whatever their
intention)” (italics ours).
The problem is the automatic
assumptions at the very heart of
every one of those statements and
the narrative that is being adopted,
without question, by most of the
press. They include:
• Covid vaccines are highly
effective.
• Covid vaccines are very safe.
• Covid vaccines prevent spread
of Covid.
WHATDOCTORSDON’TTELLYOU | EMAIL US:INFO@WDDTY.COM.AU | EMAIL UK: INFO@WDDTY.CO.UK | WEB: WWW.WDDTY.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
Editors
Lynne McTaggart and Bryan Hubbard
COMMENT
THEMINISTRYOFTRUTH
Covid vaccines are highly effective 1,007,353 adverse reactions to the
This brand-new, experimental Covid vaccine, including seizures,
gene-based technology (less paralysis, blindness, strokes, blood
a vaccine and more genetic clots and acute cardiac events. The
manipulation) did not receive report includes 1,403 fatalities.
full regulatory approval before it There are only 66 million people
was rolled out wholesale; we’re all in the UK, about 38 million of
essentially part of phase 3 trials and whom have been given both shots.
one giant experiment. The safety This means that about one in every
data we have is limited to short- 38 people getting the jab are also
term effects. getting some sort of side-effect.
After cases began rising Those figures don’t come
despite extremely high coverage from some crazed conspiracy
of the Pfizer vaccine among theorist. They come from the main
its population, Israel recently government agency regulating
commissioned the Hebrew medicines in Britain.
University of Jerusalem to start In the US, the government’s
tracking cases of Covid. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting
“Because as soon as journalists fail to
examine the evidence behind political or
medical decisions, that’s when they become
a mouthpiece of government, not unlike
George Orwell’s highly prescient Ministry of
Truth in his brilliantly prophetic 1984”
“We looked at tens of thousands System reports similar side-effects
of people tested in June, alongside and 11,405 deaths thus far—more
data on the time since their side-effects from the Covid vaccine
second shot, and found that those than those of all the other vaccines
vaccinated early were more likely combined (see page 28).
to test positive,” noted Dr Yotam As far as young adults, now
Shenhar, the lead researcher. being targeted with both carrots
Theirs and other data show that (money and free food) and sticks
protection falls precipitously to just (denied entry into nightclubs
16 percent after six months. Hence and even universities), there is
why booster jabs are being readied increased evidence of dangerous,
right now. even life-threatening effects such
as blood clots and myocarditis
Covid vaccines are very safe (carrying a life-long risk of heart
The UK Medical and Healthcare failure), the latter at 30–200 times
Products Regulatory Agency has the normal risk. Israel reports an
published reports showing that incidence of myocarditis of one in
up to June 23, 2021, there were 3,000–6,000.
Covid vaccines prevent spread
of the virus
There is NO evidence that the
Covid-19 vaccines prevent
infections with or transmission of
the virus. That question was never
even addressed in the clinical trials.
What the vaccines may do is
lessen the chances of someone
having serious reactions or dying
from Covid. Nevertheless,Yale
University research concludes
that 65 percent of Covid cases
would not have happened if obese
individuals had lost weight.
We are not against the vaccine
for certain people with health
conditions who are at high risk
of Covid. One young employee
in our company born with a
heart condition who has serious
reactions to ordinary flu got the
vaccine, and we feel she made the
right decision.
But the truth about Covid, like
decisions about vaccination, is
messy, highly nuanced, and reliant
on impartial data and a careful
assessment of risk/benefits, not
simply prejudice or governmental
pronouncement.
At the moment, those daring to
challenge these pronouncements,
such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr, are
being derided by such august
publications as The New York Times
as being part of the‘Disinformation
Dozen’ and deplatformed on social
media.
The problem all comes down
to journalism that automatically
accepts as truth either assumptions
or government PR, rather than
starting with a clean slate and
taking as read that every last fact
spouted by those in charge has to be
laboriously checked out.
Because as soon as journalists
fail to examine the evidence behind
political or medical decisions, that’s
when they become a mouthpiece
of government, not unlike George
Orwell’s highly prescient Ministry
of Truth in his brilliantly prophetic
novel 1984.
That’s why it’s our duty, as we see
it, to pull back the veil.
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 3
 CONTENTS
OCT/NOV 2021
38
The truth about the spike
protein
Celeste McGovern investigates the infamous spike
protein and how to heal long Covid and vaccine
damage 

46
The sound of silence
Natural ways to turn off tinnitus forever

60
Gut response
The weed killer glyphosate can have devastating
effects on the body’s microbiome. Here’s how to
undo the damage

70
Prevent seizures naturally
Holistic therapies to help with childhood epilepsy

74
Songs in the key
of life
How a new sound therapy is being used to
heal traumatic events that may contribute to
psychological and physical illness 

6 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

NEWS HEALTHYLIVINGG

10
The protein thatcaanreverse
type 2 diabetes;eaating
fish helps kill canceercells;
Mushrooms halveeyour
cancer risk; yogahhelps
IBD sufferers cope
COVID-19NEWSS
Awhitershadeofwell
Aquicklookatthecolorofyoururine
cantellyouifyou’re drinking enough Endinghor
g monal
water mayhem
Alackoftestosterone can leave
FAMILYHEALTH womenfeelingtired, weak
anddepressed,eespecially
aftermenopause.Here’s howtoo
restoreyourlevelsnaturally

16
The common cold combats Covid
Soothing an anxiousgut
Learninghowstressimpactsyourgut
isthekeytokeepingithealthyand
happy, says Cara Wheatley-McGrain
REGULARS

7
“Around 25%
of people given
one of the Covid
vaccines suffer

66
infection; blood clots now linked to the
side-effects
Pfizer Covid jab  Readers’letters that range from

24 23
headaches
and fatigue to
Natural remedies for diarrhea and
Covid deaths overstated by nearly 25 kidney stones The politics of health
joint pain”
Page 25
percent; Covid vaccine deaths top Herbs, supplements, nutrition
10,000 in Europe and more to prevent and treat this The pandemic has sent us reeling
common problem backward in terms of healthcareand
NEWSFOCUS
72
freedom, says Rob Verkerk

26 Natural solutions for

66
The last word
Inflammation: lupus The Covid virus lab leak is looking less
medicine’s next big Supplements, diet and lifestyle like a conspiracy theory, says Bryan
changes for this autoimmune disease
false trail? Hubbard
Your views are
Blaming inflammation for everything important to us.
from heart disease to aging could be Please contact us at:
medicine’s next big blunder  WHAT DOCTORS
DON’T TELL YOU
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 RIAL PANEL

EDITORIAL PANEL
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
Published under exclusive license
in Australia and New Zealand by: new ground and inspired new practices in medicine.

Nuclear Media
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Double Bay NSW 1360
Australia
+612 9363 1464

Editors Dr Damien Downing, a specialist in allergy, Dr Harald Gaier is a UK-registered osteopath,

Lynne McTaggart & Bryan environment and nutrition, is current president homeopath, acupuncturist, naturopath and
Hubbard of the British Society for Ecological Medicine, on the medical herbalist. Former director of medical
Managing Editor editorial board of Orthomolecular Medicine News research at The Hale Clinic and a committee
Joanna Evans Service, Chief Medical Advisor of cancer charity member of the Prince of Wales’ Foundation
Design Yes to Life (www.yestolife.org.uk), and author for Integrated Health, Dr Gaier has authored
Jimmy Egerton of numerous books including The Vitamin Cure numerous scientific papers and
Production Editor for Allergies. The Encyclopedia of Homeopathy.
Emilie Croisier
Assistant designer
Anya Hubbard
Contributors
Celeste McGovern
Cara Wheatley-McGrain
Stephanie Seneff Dr Michel Odent, a French-trained surgeon and Dr Jonathan Wright, medical director of the
Cate Montana obstetrician, is a pioneer of the natural birth Tahoma Clinic in Washington, pioneered
Rob Verkerk
movement, emphasizing home and water birth. nutritional medicine in the US. A board member of
Dr Shawn Tassone
Founder of the Primal Health Research Centre in the American Preventive Medical Association and
the UK, he has written some 50 scientific papers the International College of Advanced Longevity
International licensing
Bruce Sawford +44 (0)1280 and 11 books. Medicine, he has published 11 books.
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Dr Sarah Myhill has worked in the UK National Janet Balaskas, who named and inspired the
LIABILITY STATEMENT
Health Service and private practice since 1981. Active Birth Movement in the 1970s, helped
While every care is taken in preparing Honorary Secretary of the British Society for revolutionize maternity practices worldwide.
this material, the publishers cannot Ecological Medicine for 17 years, she is a frequent Janet is the founder and director of the
accept any responsibility for any
damage or harm caused by any lecturer and author of Sustainable Medicine Active Birth Centre in North London and author
treatment, advice or information and Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue of nine books including Active Birth, Preparing for
contained in this publication.
You should consult a qualified Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalitis. Birth with Yoga and Easy Exercises for Pregnancy.
practitioner before undertaking any
treatment.
© WDDTY News Ltd. 2021 / ©
WDDTY Publishing Inc.
ISSN 1352-1241

This magazine is published under

license from WDDTY News Limited
a company incorporated and
registered in the UK. All rights in the
licensed material belong to WDDTY
News and may not be reproduced Craig Sams is the co-founder of Whole Earth Foods Sally Bunday is founder of the The Hyperactive
whether in whole or in part without
its prior written consent. The name and founder and president of Green & Blacks Children’s Support Group, the first organization
‘What Doctors Don’t Tell You’ is the Organic Chocolate, as well as director of to draw attention to the role of diet and nutrition,
property of WDDTY News Limited.
Soil Association Certification, executive chairman particularly food additives and essential fatty
of Carbon Gold Ltd., a carbon sequestration acid deficiencies, in childhood behavior problems.
business, and a trustee of the Slow Food Trust UK. The charity has helped thousands of families
He has authored four books, including in its more than 30-year history.
The Little Food Book.

8 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

HAVE
GET IN TOUCH: Shareyourviewson
WhatDoctorsDon’tTellYou AU/NZ
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wddtyaunz
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Are Covid jabs for kids
ethical?
I’m concerned that the authorities demi-vegetarian diet and limited
are thinking of giving the Covid
vaccine to all children from as
young as 12 years old. They admit a supplement company now
that it is not for the benefit of the known as Modere, and tried
children, who usually get Covid
only mildly, but to protect adults
in society. So is this ethical?
I wonder what the effects
would be of a Covid vaccine on
the brain of a child of 12 who has
autism but who is doing very
well at school in math and other
subjects after receiving ABA
(applied behavioral analysis) help that my hair was not as gray as
when young. We know a boy who it had been. It was blindingly
couldn’t talk until having ABA
therapy,which is one-to-one
interaction between an autistic
child and a specially trained
adult who makes talking and
learning fun.
I understand no research
has been done on the effect
of the Covid vaccine on
autistic children,which is very
worrying.Vaccines have an
adjuvant added (a toxin such
as mercury or aluminum) to
shock the immune system
into a response.How awful
if autistic children suffered
brain damage from the Covid
vaccine and regressed back to
having severe problems.
A.Wills,Ruislip
The importance of
nutrition
When I was in my late thirties,I
developed idiopathic arthritis.
At the time I did not know what
‘idiopathic’meant.
The rheumatologist I saw
told me that he did not know
what had caused my problem,
orwhatmighthelpitotherthan
take painkillers.I was not keen
to follow that advice.
When I asked if climate
couldbeafactor(wewereliving
most of the year in Kenya) or
if supplements might help,he
patronizingly told me no.
After around 10 years of
tinkering with my diet,before
the advent of the internet,and
reading what I could find about
arthritis, I gradually adopted a
red meat.
Then I discovered Neways,
several of their products,
including Maximol (now called
Mineral Solutions) and Revenol
(Cell Protect) and later added in
methylsulfonylmethane (MSM)
and cat’s claw supplements.
Pain lessened in my hands,
mobility started to come back,
and as a bonus I suddenly realized
obvious that the supplements
❝ It is not for the
benefit of the children,
who usually get
Covid only mildly, but
to protect adults in
society ❞
were helping enormously.It had
taken 10 years of trial and error to
get to the point where I was not in
pain, had increased flexibility in
my hands and wrists and, at that
time, became a redhead again.
Had the rheumatologist, the so-
called expert, had a modicum of
nutritional training I might have
been spared calcified joints, sadly
not reversible, and years of pain.
As a result of my improvement,
I studied nutritional therapy to
try to understand better what
it was that had made such a
difference to me. The answer
was not straightforward, and the
degree confirmed my faith in diet
and appropriate supplements and
just how blinkered and ignorant
most doctors are about nutrition.
I find “eat a balanced diet” to
be particularly unhelpful,
meaningless advice.
Good nutrition is vital for
good health,and until we as a
society change our obsession
with delegating our health
to doctors who prescribe
pharmaceuticals and ignore
the fundamental need for
suitable“fuel,”we will continue
to fill the NHS surgeries and
hospitals.
There is a desperate need
to change the curriculum for
medics.Prevention is always
better than cure.
LizInce,viaemail
C the benefits
Being a retired doctor
and former specialist in
homeopathy,I have already
discovered the many benefits
of vitamin C.Recently in
my local area,a gentleman
was helped considerably by
vitamin C in recovering from
medically diagnosed‘long
Covid.’
He proclaimed his pleasure
on the internet,only for his
post to be taken down a few
days later.
Surely when we are all up
against this great problem of
long Covid,any treatment that
repeatedly brings benefit to
sufferers should be encouraged? I
find this situation sinister.
DrAnthonyFox(retired),Hampshire
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 9
UPFRONT
et up an hour
rlier to stave
Worried about depression in these lockdown times? Wake up an hour
earlier every day and you’ll reduce your risk. In fact, having one less hour
of shut-eye in the morning lowers your chances of major depression by
as much as 223 percent, researchers have discovered.
It’s been kknown for some time that there’s a link between sleeping
habits and m mental wellbeing—night owls are twice as likely to
suffer from ddepression as early risers, or larks, for instance—but
it’s been diffifficult to get a more detailed picture, partly because
Eatingfish moodd di disorders can disrupt sleep patterns.
Researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder
helpskill tracked the mental wellbeing and sleep patterns of 840,000
people. Around a third identified themselves as larks and
cancercells just 9 percent as owls, with the rest being neither owl nor
lark, going to bed around 11 p.m. and rising at 6 a.m.,
Eating fish reduces your risk of
with a sleep midpoint of around 3 a.m.
cancer—and could even help
Our sleeping habits seem to be determined by our
fight the disease thanks to its
genes, the researchers found, and those with the
tumor-killing properties.
genetic variants that make them early risers are
Fish are rich in DHA
also less likely to suffer from depression.
(docosahexaenoic acid), an
A person who would normally go to bed at
omega-3 fatty acid, and this
midnight but instead goes an hour earlier—
has cancer-fighting properties
and so rises an hour earlier—cuts their risk for
even at low doses. Just 100 mg
depression by 23 percent. Those who push back
of DHA every day—less than
their sleeping habits by two hours reduce their
half the recommended daily
risk by 40 percent.
allowance of 250 mg—can kill
The researchers aren’t sure why this happens, but
cancer cells.
they suspect it could be to do with the amount of
Researchers from the
light exposure we get. Early risers just get more
University of Louvain in
daylight.
Belgium have discovered that
But changing our sleeping habits can be
the fatty acid interferes with
difficult, especially if it is down to our genes.
the growth and spread of
Lead researcher Celine Vetter offers a few
cancer. Cancer cells thrive in an
suggestions to help. “Keep your
acidic environment, and they
days bright and your nights
normally store omega-3s and
dark. Have your morning
other fats in bundles within the
coffee on the porch. Walk
cell called “lipid droplets.”
or ride your bike to
But eating fish or taking DHA
work if you can and
supplements overwhelms the
dim those electronics
cells and eventually kills them.
in the evening.”
In other words, they suddenly
JAMAPsychiatry, 2021;
have too much fat to feed off. e210959
The greater the amount
of unsaturated fatty acids
in the cell, the greater the
risk of oxidation, or cell HEALTH FACT
transformation, the researchers
found. In laboratory tests on
The fermented soybean
cancer cells, they discovered the product nattokinase has been
cells were dying in just a couple shown to reduce risk
isk
of weeks.
CellMetab,2021;S1550-4131(21)00233-3
factors for blood cllots
page (see page 28)
10 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
 Vitamin D
Time to add red could be key
to opioid
seaweed to the diet
Red seaweed has been a staple of some Asian diets for millennia—and it’s about time the West joined
addiction
Why do some people get addicted to
in. It’s a superfood that can protect against cancer, and it populates the gut with good bacteria.Eating opioid painkillers? It could be to do
this mineral-rich sea vegetable could be one reason why the Japanese have such low rates of several with their levels of vitamin D, new
cancers, including colon, colorectal and breast. research suggests.
Researchers at the University of Illinois analyzed the sugars from red seaweed to better A deficiency can make some crave
understand their health-giving properties. They discovered it opioids, which increases the risk
contains six different sugars, and three of them have of dependency and addiction, say
probiotic and anticancer qualities. researchers at the Massachusetts
One of the sugars acts as a prebiotic; it General Hospital. People with low
encourages the growth of probiotic bacteria in levels of the vitamin are 50 percent
the gut. This could explain why the Japanese more likely to use opioids in the first
generally enjoy better health and longevity place, and this rises to 90 percent in
than people in the West, said Yong-Su Jin, those with a severe deficiency.
one of the researchers. Tests on laboratory mice
Another sugar, AHG, has found that their cravings for
cancer-fighting qualities. “AHG opioids diminished when
inhibits the growth of human they were given more
colon cancer cells and yet vitamin D.
does not affect the growth But what’s the
of normal cells,” he added. It connection? In
seems to trigger apoptosis, or 2007, researchers
cell death, a necessary process discovered that our
that stops cancerous cells from skin produces endorphins,
growing. ‘feel good’ hormones chemically
Mar Drugs, 2021; 19: 213 related to morphine, heroin and
other opioids, when it’s exposed to
ultraviolet (UV) rays.
Craving this endorphin rush could
explain why so many of us sunbathe,
the researchers surmise, and opioid
painkillers provide a substitute when
we don’t get enough sunlight and
our vitamin D stores diminish.
Sci Adv, 2021; 7: eabe4577

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 11

 ONT
ALZHEIMER’S NEWS#1
Healthy lifestyle
trumps genes that
increase risk
A healthy diet and lifestyle matter more than
genes when it comes to reducing your risk of
cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s well into
old age.
Even people who have a gene associated
with cognitive decline don’t necessarily go
on to develop Alzheimer’s if they eat well and
exercise, say researchers from Duke Kunshan
University in Jiangsu, China. The researchers
analyzed data from 6,160 of the so-called
’oldest old’—adults at least 80 years of
age, who are at the highest general risk of
Alzheimer's.
People with the APOE-e4 gene variant are
17 percent more likely to experience cognitive
decline than their counterparts with other,
lower-risk forms of the APOE gene—but a
healthy lifestyle can halve that risk.
PLoS Med, 2021; 18: e1003597
12 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
ALZHEIMER’S NEWS#2
Molecule offers
new hope for
Alzheimer’s
Memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients could be
reversed following the discovery of a molecule
that can rejuvenate the brain.
People with Alzheimer’s have low stores of
the molecule, called microRNA-132, especially
in the brain’s hippocampus region. The
hippocampus is linked to memory loss, a typical
symptom of the disease.
Researchers from the Netherlands Institute
for Neuroscience say that healthy people’s
brains go through constant renewal, or
neurogenesis, which allows us to maintain
cognitive and memory abilities into old age.
But it’s a process that isn’t happening
in Alzheimer’s patients, the researchers
say, because they have low levels of the
molecule, which appears to be the trigger for
neurogenesis. In studies on neural stem cells,
the researchers found that adding the molecule
restored neurogenesis, which suggests memory
would also be improved.
Developing the molecule for use as a new
therapy is the next stage, the researchers say.
Cell Stem Cell, 2021; S1934-5909(21)00219-8
ALZHEIMER’S NEWS#3
There’s no proof
new wonder drug
actually works
Just how did the great new wonder drug
for Alzheimer’s ever get approval? Despite
garnering headlines as the first breakthrough in
countering the disease in more than 20 years,
Aduhelm didn’t prove in any pre-approval
clinical trials that it actually worked.
Instead, it reduces beta-amyloid protein
clumps in the brain—and although these have
been seen in Alzheimer’s patients, there’s no
evidence they contribute to cognitive decline.
Despite this shortcoming, the US Food and
Drug Administration has approved the drug
but has asked for further tests to demonstrate
its effectiveness. Last November, 10 of the 11
members of the agency’s expert advisory panel
had recommended rejection.
Biogen, the drug’s manufacturer, estimates
it could take nine years to come back with
meaningful data. In the meantime, the drug—
which is given in monthly intravenous doses—
will be available on the US market at a cost of
US$56,000 a year.
The Economist, June 12 2021, p14
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
 UPFRONT

How processed food causes IBD

Processed food messes with your
immune system, increases
risk of infection and causes
inflammatory bowel disease
or IBD.
This litany of health
problems is the result of
sugary foods and specifically
their impact on gut cells
called Paneth cells, which
help keep inflammation at
bay. When these cells of the
small intestine aren’t functioning
properly, people are more prone
to inflammatory bowel problems.
Researchers from Washington
University School of Medicine
saw the changes happen rapidly
when they fed laboratory mice a
sugary diet. Within two months
the mice became obese, and
their Paneth cells started to look
abnormal, although they returned
to functioning properly soon after a
healthy diet was reintroduced.
But it may not be such a quick fix
for people. “Obesity doesn’t occur
overnight or even in eight weeks.
People have a suboptimal lifestyle
for 20 or 30 years before they
become obese. It’s possible that
if you have a processed diet for so
long, you cross a point of no return
and your Paneth cells don’t recover
even if you change your diet,” said
researcher Ta-Chiang Liu.
Processed food includes sugars
and trans fats, and the researchers
aren’t yet sure which is causing
more of the damage. That’s their
next project.
Cell Host Microbe, 2021; 29: 988–1001.e6

Why a Chinese remedy is such

an effective painkiller
A remedy used for thousands of years in
traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can
combat chronic pain by targeting receptors
in the brain that have only recently been
discovered.
The TCM remedy, taken from a tropical
shrub known as pinwheel flower or crepe
jasmine (Tabernaemontana divaricata),
interacts with an opioid receptor in the brain
that was only recently discovered. Of the
240 receptors that researchers from the
Luxembourg Institute of Health examined,
this receptor, called ACKR3/CXCR7, is the most
effective for relieving pain.
Scientists tested the effectiveness of
conolidine, a compound isolated from the
plant's bark, and they think that it could work
even better combined with other compounds.
Conolidine interacts
with the opioid brain
receptor ACKR3/CXCR7,
which regulates opioid
peptides that control
pain relief and emotions
including euphoria,
anxiety, stress and depression.
This biochemical process is at the heart
of the TCM remedy, the researchers say,
and could lead the way to new painkilling
therapies that may also counter depression.
Unlike standard painkillers such as the
opioids, conolidine isn’t addictive or a cause
of respiratory problems, another reaction to
the drugs.
Signal Transduct Target Ther, 2021; 6: 209

A veggie diet keeps you healthy—

even if you’re a smoker or drinker
Eating a vegetarian diet can give you extra
protection if you’re a smoker or drink
excessively.
Compared with meat eaters, vegetarians
have health biomarkers that are not affected
by smoking or drinking. These biomarkers—
including cholesterol and inflammation
levels—suggest a lower chance of developing
cancer, heart disease or other age-related
chronic conditions.
Researchers from Glasgow University
assessed the health and diets of more
than 177,000 people between the ages of
37 and 73; among them, just over 4,000
participants were vegetarian. Even after
accounting for age, obesity, smoking and
alcohol consumption, the vegetarians scored
better in 13 biomarkers that predict the risk of
diabetes, heart disease, cancer, liver function,
bone and joint health and kidney function.
It’s not clear if eating meat is the main
culprit, or if it’s because vegetarians eat a
healthier diet that includes more vegetables,
fruits and nuts, the researchers say.
European Congress on Obesity, May 9, 2021

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 T

A proteinn that can

reverse type 2 diabetes
A simple protein could revolutionize the way we treat
type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.
While the focus for weight loss and diabetes has
always been on our white fat, the new therapy harnesses
brown fat, also known as brown adipose tissue or BAT,
the body’s second fat that burns sugars to warm us
when we’re cold. Although babies have brown fat, it’s
been assumed we lose it as we get older. It was only 20
years ago that researchers discovered adults retain small
amounts to regulate body temperature.
Adding the protein perilipin-5 to brown adipose
tissue helps control levels of glucose, also known as
blood sugar, and makes us more sensitive to insulin,
which breaks down the sugars from the carbohydrates
in our diet.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center
genetically engineered mice that made extra perilipin
in their brown fat and, as a result, were able to
maintain much lower concentrations of blood sugar
and had higher insulin sensitivity. The mice also had
fewer fatty deposits in their livers, a condition that’s
common in diabetes.
The protein prompted the brown fat to burn even
more sugars than usual—a phenomenon that is usually
seen only in extremely cold temperatures—and the
lowering of glucose levels happened because the brown
fat was somehow communicating with the white fat,
although the exact mechanism isn’t understood.
Nat Commun, 2021; 12: 3320
Half of
cosmetics
contain
dangerous
chemical
Nearly half the cosmetics we use contain toxic
chemicals that are linked to a range of serious health
problems. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances)
have been found in foundation creams, mascaras and lip products.
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame analyzed more than 200 cosmetics and
discovered that 56 percent of the foundation creams, 48 percent of lip products and 47
percent of mascaras contained high levels of fluorine, a ‘red flag’ indicator of PFAS use.
“PFAS is a persistent chemical. When it gets into the bloodstream, it stays there and
accumulates. There’s also the additional risk of environmental contamination associated
with the manufacture and disposal of these products, which could affect many more
people,” said lead researcher Graham Peaslee.
Lax labeling laws mean manufacturers don’t have to reveal the use of PFAS in their
products. But Professor Peaslee hopes the cosmetics industry responds in a similarly
responsible way as the food wrapper industry did in 2017 when he exposed the widespread
use of PFAS in their products and they started to produce safer alternatives.
The chemicals—which have traditionally been used in nonstick cookware, fabrics and
food wrappers—can cause kidney and testicular cancers, hypertension, thyroid disease,
low birth weight and immune system toxicity in children.
Environ Sci Technol Lett, 2021; doi: 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00240

Inequality is a cause of
high blood pressure
Extreme social and financial inequality is an
unacknowledged cause of high blood pressure
(hypertension), independent of all the usual known factors
such as diet and exercise.
It’s apparent even in communities where heart
disease is rare, such as among the Tsimane people
of the Bolivian Amazon.
The Tsimane have been the subject of research for
around 20 years since it was discovered they had some of
the lowest rates of heart disease recorded anywhere in the
world (see page 18). They also live closer to the way we all
lived before industrialization.
Even so, high blood pressure was still seen in the
poorest Tsimane communities, researchers from
Washington State University found.
Although the Tsimane social order is mainly egalitarian,
there was still some inequality, and blood pressure
readings were highest in the communities where
inequality was also more distinct. “It’s bad to be poor, but
it’s also bad to be poorer,” said researcher Adrian Jaeggi.
eLife, 2021; 10; e59437

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UPFRO
UPFRONT

Saliva testt
makes
Covid
detectionsso
much easier
Those who’ve had a PCR test
t for Covid-19 know just how
unpleasant it can be—and unnecessary. Researchers can get just as
much information from our saliva.
The results can also be more accurate, and using the technique could be a
game-changer, especially for people who have a problem with the standard
nasopharyngeal swab.
Saliva tests can be unreliable when blood gets mixed in with the sample, but
researchers from Augusta University have been processing samples with a new
protocol known as a bead mill homogenizer with excellent results.
J Mol Diagn, 2021; 23: 788–95

Covid will be a common cold in

10 years
Within 10 years, Covid-19 could be no more deadly than the common cold. Most of us
will have developed natural immunity by then, and symptoms will be no worse than
coughs and sniffles.
If you’ve had Covid, Researchers from the University of Utah came up with this optimistic scenario after
they ran computer models on the way our immune system will adapt to the SARS-
you don’t need the CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19.

vaccine They liken the trajectory of Covid-19 to the virus that caused the Russian flu
epidemic of 1889, which killed around 1 million people. Although that virus is still
If you’ve had Covid, do you need to be vaccinated? around, it’s now just a cold virus.
Probably not, because catching the virus gives And the same will happen with Covid-19 as more people are exposed
you just as much protection as the vaccine, a new to small doses of the virus. Eventually, mild infections will win out,
research study has found. partly because severe infections may kill the host. “In the
Instead, vaccines should be prioritized for those beginning of the pandemic, no one had seen the
who haven’t been infected, researchers at the virus before. Our immune system was not
Cleveland Clinic recommend. prepared,” said researcher Fred Adler.
They started tracking the effectiveness of the Viruses, 2021; 13: 854
vaccine among 52,238 people working at the clinic
from December 16, 2020, the very first day one of the
Covid vaccines was introduced, and for five months
A cold infection kickstarts interferon-
afterward.
By then, 2,579 employees had tested positive
Commoncold stimulated genes into action, and these
for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19,
and 53 percent of them did not have the vaccine.
combatsCovid early responders block the replication of
the SARS-CoV-2 virus in our airways and
Of the nearly 50,000 employees who hadn’t tested
positive, 41 percent hadn’t been vaccinated.
infection stop it spreading.
But get the cold virus when Covid has
How do you protect yourself from already started to take hold, and it won’t
Over the following five months, nobody in
a Covid-19 infection? A vaccine or a be effective.
the infected group who didn’t have the vaccine
previous infection, perhaps? Possibly— Leading the research is Dr Ellen
developed Covid again, whereas there was a steady
but the common cold virus could work Foxman, who noticed that the common
increase in cases among those who hadn’t had the
just as well. cold protects against influenza and
infection and were also unvaccinated.
It’s all a matter of timing. Exposure to speculated it could have the same
The risk of getting a Covid infection was 10 times
the cold virus in the early stages of a Covid blocking effect on the Covid virus.
less likely in someone who had a previous infection infection can stop it in its tracks, Yale JExpMed,2021;218:e20210583
than someone who hadn’t, they concluded. As
University researchers have discovered.
a result, previous infection gave similar levels of
protection as the vaccine.
MedRXiv, 2021; doi: 10.1101/2021.06.01.21258176

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Covid did leak from
a Wuhan lab, secrett
report suggests
The Covid-19 virus probably did escape from a
laboratory in Wuhan. A secret US intelligence
report has discovered that three scientists
from the facility needed hospital treatment in
November 2019 for ‘Covid-like’ symptoms—
countering the official line that the first cases
happened a month later and were the result of
eating produce from a fish and meat market in
the city.
But the discovery that the scientists from the
Wuhan Institute of Virology were displaying
Covid symptoms a month earlier suggests the
laboratory was engineering bat viruses, and thatt
one result—the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes
Covid-19—leaked from the facility, probably thatt
November.
Around 200 scientists are demanding
transparency and have called for an independent
review of the evidence, especially after a World
Health Organization (WHO) investigation failed
to determine the origin of the virus.
Even Dr Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser
to the President, is admitting the “possibility”
that the Covid-19 pandemic—which has so far
killed upwards of 4 million people and wrecked
whole economies—was a man-made virus
that leaked. He is also being accused of lying to
Congress about a US funding program that was
bankrolling research at the Wuhan lab.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of
Health, was funding ‘gain of function’ research
at the lab until 2014 when President Obama
banned the work, and from then on the funding
was siphoned through the EcoHealth Alliance,
a New York group that researches the impact of
animal viruses on human health.
The Alliance’s chief executive, Professor Peter
Daszak, was also the lead investigator of the
WHO team that visited Wuhan last January.
DailyTelegraph,May25,2021
Dr Anthony Fauci
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
UPFRONT
Bl d l t
Bloodclots
nowlinked
to the Pfizer
Covid jab
The AstraZeneca jab has been
the Covid vaccine associated with
blood clotting—but doctors in
Japan are beginning to see the
same problem with Pfizer’s
mRNA vaccine.
At least 10 people in Japan
have died from brain clots after
being given the vaccine; it is
“possibly” the cause, even though
brain bleeding—intracranial
hemorrhage (ICH)—has not been
listed as an adverse reaction,
say researchers at the Kagawa
University Hospital.
The Pfizer vaccine—
tozinameran—is the only Covid
jab that has been approved for use
in Japan, and around 1.21 million
people there had their first shot by
the middle of April. Japan’s drug
regulator, the Ministry of Health,
Labour and Welfare (MHLW), has
reported 10 deaths from ICH, and
cases have also been reported by
US regulators.
The researchers are urging
the MHLW to issue a warning
that the Pfizer jab could
also cause thrombosis and
are recommending careful
monitoring after the vaccine has
been administered.
JPharmPolicyPract,2021;14:46
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 17
UPFRONT
Why boys
are more
likely to be
autistic
Boys are much more likely than girls to
develop autism—and now scientists think
they have figured out why. Girls need to have
many more genetic mutations in the brain
before they are affected by the disorder, say
researchers at Yale School of Medicine.
Boys are four times more likely to suffer
from autism, and it’s because they need
fewer brain mutations to be vulnerable to
the disorder. By comparison, a girl needs a
greater “genetic hit” to be susceptible.
Autism also affects different areas of
the brain in boys and girls. The researchers
studied the brains of 45 girls and 47 boys
with autism and discovered the accepted
wisdom that one special area of the brain
was affected was only true for boys. In girls,
a different region—the striatum, which
controls cognition, reward and coordinated
movement—was more susceptible.
The girls with autism also had many more
genetic mutations, known as copy number
variations, in the striatum region.
Brain2021;awab064
Mushrooms halve
your cancer risk
Eating mushrooms every day nearly halves your chances of getting cancer.
People who eat 18 grams of mushrooms—roughly equivalent to four teaspoons—
each day reduce their cancer risk by 45 percent. It doesn’t seem to
matter too much which type of mushroom you eat as they
all have a similar protective effect, say researchers
from Penn State College of Medicine.
They’re certainly a super food. They contain
8grams ergothioneine, a powerful antioxidant that
ofmushrooms protects against cancer, and mushrooms are
adaycan the richest dietary source around, said lead
reduceyour researcher Djibril Ba.
cancerriskby His researchers analyzed 17 cancer
studies that involved more than 19,500
cancer patients. Those who ate mushrooms
daily had the greatest protection, especially
against breast cancer, although this may be
because most of the studies focused on the cancer.
Participants were eating many varieties of mushroom,
and although shiitake, oyster, maitake and king oyster
had the highest levels of ergothioneine, all types of
mushrooms seemed to have a similar protective effect.
Adv Nutr, 2021; nmab015

hegoodthingsthat
enwhenyoueat
envegetables
Quite a lot off good things happen to you—and your gut—
when you eat green vegetables.
Vegetables contain a type of sugar called
sulfoquinovo ose—known as sulfosugar because it
contains the element sulfur (sulphur)—which
requires speccialized bacteria to break it down.
This process pproduces hydrogen sulfide, a gas
that has strong anti-inflammatory effects at
low doses.
Researcheers from the University of Vienna
have discovered sulfosugar stimulates
the growth of key organisms in the gut
microbiome that aren’t affected by other
sugars. The process has a positive knock-on
effect; it also produces a sulfur compound,
DHPS, tthat acts as an energy source for
other intestinal bacteria.
ISMEJ,20
021;doi:10.1038/s41396-021-00968-0

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 UPFRONT

Vitamin supplement that

could treat schizophrenia
There’s hope that betaine, a dietary supplement, could reduce some of the worst
symptoms of schizophrenia.
It is already being used as a treatment for homocystinuria, a metabolic disease.
Tests with the supplement have so far been carried out only on laboratory mice, and
although the results have been positive, researchers from the University of Tokyo say
they can’t be sure that similar reactions would be seen in people.
There’s no effective drug for schizophrenia, and the pharmaceuticals that are being
used come with a range of side-effects, said lead researcher Nobutaka Hirokawa.
The supplement, which is derived from sugar beets, affects genes that have been
linked to schizophrenia. Abnormalities in the kinesin family of genes, as well as another
gene synthesizes betaine, are common among schizophrenics.
Mice that have the genetic abnormality show signs of schizophrenia, including
poor social interaction and an exaggerated reaction to a sudden loud noise. But the
same mice, if fed a diet that contained three times the usual amount of betaine, had
normal behavior.
The researchers aren’t sure just how betaine works, but
they know it prevents chemical damage that causes the
genetic dysfunction linked to schizophrenic symptoms. By
blocking the damaging process, betaine allows kinesin
genes to function effectively. “We know that the
amount of betaine decreases in schizophrenics’
brains, so this study strongly suggests betaine
could be therapeutic for at least some kinds of
schizophrenia,” said Hirokawa. Coffee changes the brain
Cell Rep, 2021; 35: 108971
to make you more awake
Coffee doesn’t only make us feel more awake. Scans reveal
it helps improve connection between areas of the brain that
regulate motor control and alertness.
It’s the first time the brains of coffee drinkers and non-drinkers
have been compared by using fMRI scanning technology—and
there really is a difference, at least according to research funded
by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee.
Researchers at the University of Minho in Portugal scanned the
brains of 37 people who drank coffee every day and 24 non-
coffee drinkers while they were resting and performing a task.
The coffee drinkers showed signs of more efficient connections
between areas of the brain that governed motor control and
alertness, reduced mind-wandering, and improved levels of
attention and focus.
Interestingly, the same connections were seen in the brains of
the non-drinkers when they had a cup of coffee, suggesting the
effects happen very quickly after consuming coffee.
Mol Psychiatry, 2021; doi: nature.com/articles/s41380-021-01075-4

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 Avocado compound
could counter leukemia
Avocados contain a compound that could be harnessed to lead the fight against
the blood cancer leukemia.
The fruit contains a fat molecule, avocatin B, which is being tested on AML
(acute myeloid leukemia) cells, one of the most virulent forms of the cancer.
Avocatin B has already been tested as a therapy for preventing type 2
diabetes and managing obesity, and now researchers from the University of
Guelph in Ontario are studying how it interferes with the function of VLCAD, an
enzyme that is critical for the growth and spread of leukemia cancer cells.
“The cell relies on the enzyme to survive,” explained researcher Paul
Spagnuolo, and so targeting VLCAD could slow the cancer’s spread. After
successful laboratory trials, the researchers are hoping to test the compound on
AML patients.
Right now, there’s very little that can be done for AML. Fewer than 10 percent
of AML patients survive beyond five years after diagnosis, and only half are given
chemotherapy, with the rest instead receiving palliative care to help control pain.
Many who are given chemotherapy die from the treatment, Spagnuolo added.
Blood, 2021; blood.2020008551

Yoga helps
Seeing is believing— IBD sufferers
how processed meat cope
affects the heart
We all know that processed meat is bad for the heart, and
now scientists can actually see the bad effects of the diet
using special imaging technology.
Using three different measures,
measures includ
including cardiovascular
magnetic resonance (CMR)
technnology, researchers
at Q
Queen Mary
University in London
disscovered a direct
correlation between
heaart health and a diet
of red and processed
meats.
In aall, 19,408 people
participaated in the study,
and researcchers found that
People with irritable bowel disease (IBD) should take up yoga to help them
heart health, including elasticity of
cope with symptoms, a new study has concluded.
the blood vessels, was worse in those
Combining yoga with aromatherapy improves symptoms and helps
who ate the most processed and red meat.
sufferers cope mentally, a University of Calgary study has found.
They had smaller heart ventricles, poorer heart
The researchers recruited nine IBD patients into an eight-week yoga
function and stiffer arteries.
program that also included aromatherapy massage. The participants
But the researchers discovered healthy heart indicators
completed a daily log, and they also reported on sleep quality and levels of
in those who were eating oily fish; the more that was eaten
anxiety, depression, stress, and physical and mental quality of life.
every week, the better heart function improved, and arteries Explore,2021;doi:10.1016/j.explore.2021.04.006
were “stretchier.”
EuropeanSocietyofCardiologyPreventiveCardiologyconference,April15,2021

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 UPFRONT

Ovarian If you’ve had a heart

attack, don’t become
cancer anxious or depressed—
it could double your
screening chances of a second
one.
saving live Cardiologists
should be prescribing
Routine screening for ovarian cancer isn’t saving lives, a new study has meditation and
concluded. relaxation classes
Although the tests are picking up cancers early, the women are as likely along with the
to die from ovarian cancer as those who haven’t been screened. usual meds to
It’s a surprising outcome because ovarian cancer is typically not detected a heart attack
until it’s too late, when it is harder to treat—and yet a major review patient, say
of more than 200,000 women has discovered that neither of the two researchers
standard screening methods, blood tests or vaginal ultrasound scans, was from Emory
saving lives, even though the blood tests were picking up 39 percent more University.
cancers at an early stage. That’s
As a result, routine mass ovarian screening cannot be recommended in especially
its current form, say the researchers from across the UK who make up the important
UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS). for younger
“To save lives, we will require a better screening test that detects ovarian people—between the
cancer earlier,” said lead author Usha Menon of University College London. ages of 18 and 61—
For their review, the researchers divided up the 200,000 women, all who’ve survived a heart
between 50 and 74 years old, into one of three groups; some had either attack.
an annual ultrasound scan or a blood test and were compared with around The researchers
100,000 women who didn’t have any screening over a 16-year period. The tracked the progress
rate of deaths from ovarian cancer was similar in all three groups. of 283 heart attack
Lancet,2021;S0140-6736(21)00731-5
survivors and assessed
their levels of depression,

Chill out with more fruit anxiety and anger for up

to six months after the
attack. Within five years, 80
and vegetables patients suffered a second
attack or stroke—and
Stressed out? Then eat more fruit and vegetables— those had high marks
they’re a great natural de-stressor, a new study stress calculator comp
has found. 22 percent whose stress level
People who eat the equivalent of at least four cups markers were lower.
of fruit and vegetables every day consistently record 10 Those with high stress
percent lower stress scores than people eating half that s levels of
amount. i as causing
The foods are rich in vitamins, flavonoids and carotenoids, p r arteries
and they could be reducing inflammation and oxidative a isk of a
stress, which, in turn, improves mental wellbeing. s
Researchers at the Edith Cowan University in Australia ial element
tracked the diets and stress levels of more than 8,600 t omen from
people between the ages of 25 and 91, and those who a disadvant economic
ate at least 470 g (16.6 oz) of fruit and vegetables, the background likely to smoke,
equivalent of four cups every day, had lower stress have diabet lood pressure, and
levels than those eating 230 g (8 oz) or less. these also i ss levels.
Although stress can be a healthy response to AmericanColleg 0thAnnualScientificSession,
May6,2021
an immediate challenge, long-term stress is
debilitating, and ultimately can lead to more
serious conditions such as heart disease,
diabetes, depression and anxiety.
It’s well known that a healthy diet is
important, and yet only half of Australians eat two servings of fruit a
day. Just 10 percent eat the recommended five servings.
Clin Nutr, 2021; 40: 2860

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Smokingcanalsocausedementia
We all get that smoking is
bad for us—but it could
be even worse than we
thought. It interferes with
our ability to memorize and
learn and increases our risk
of dementia, new research
has found.
Cognitive decline is a
bigger threat for women,
while male smokers are
more likely to suffer from
heart disease.
Although the risk is
different between the
❝ Cognitive decline
is a bigger threat for
women, while male
smokers are more likely
to suffer from heart
disease ❞
22 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
Gut microbes could be the
trigger for Alzheimer’s
The origins of neurodegenerative
diseases such as Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s are still a mystery—
but scientists think the culprit
could be gut microbes.
Researchers have suspected
the diseases could start in the
gut, but finding the responsible
bacteria has been like finding the
proverbial needle in the haystack.
A research team from the
University of Florida think they’re
honing in on that needle with the
help of an unlikely ally, a translucent
worm called C. elegans, to help them
screen the human ‘microbiome’ of gut
microbes. These microscopic worms develop
protein aggregates similar to the type found in
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s when they are exposed to
sexes, the two conditions
are linked; cardiovascular
health of more than 70,000
people around the world
disease impacts verbal
learning and memory, as
who ranged in age from 18
to 85. Although cognitive
can be seen in cases of VCID
(vascular contributions
decline had already started
in even the youngest
to cognitive decline smokers, it’s never too
and dementia), where late—or too soon—to quit,
conditions like stroke the researchers say.
lead to Alzheimer’s-like Overall, smoking is
symptoms. the leading cause of
Researchers from the preventable disease and
Translational Genomics death. It is responsible for
Research Institute in one in five deaths.
California tracked the SciRep,2021;11;10248
bacterial strains harmful to humans, but another panel
of bacteria known to be beneficial in the human gut was
able to counteract this harmful effect.
Other evidence supports their suspicions: patients
with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are low in the ‘good’
bacteria that can counter the bad effects of harmful ones.
Interestingly, the offspring of worms exposed to
the ‘bad’ bacteria had the same problem with protein
aggregation as their parents, suggesting these microbes
can emit a signal that passes on characteristics to the
next generation. The researchers are now assessing the
best bacteria that can combat the protein aggregates in
C. elegans.
Many of the harmful bacterial strains have been
linked to antibiotic-resistant infection, and that could be
a first step to understanding the link between infection
and neurodegenerative disease. In the meantime, start
populating the gut with good bacteria.
PLOS Pathog, 2021; 17: e1009510
Aluminum
found in brains
of Alzheimer’s
patients
The possibility of a connection between aluminum
in the brain andd Alzheimer
Alzheimer’s r s ddisease
iseasee iiss an idea that
just won’t go away— w
new research adds i t
to the theory.
Traces of
aluminum havve
been discovereedd
in so-called
“plaques”
and “tangles”
from the brains
Alzheimer’s sufferers.
These are characteristic ic aaggregations
acteristic g regati
gg onss of aabnormal
tion bnor
bn orma
mall
proteins used to diagnose the disease.
The samples, analyzed by researchers from
Keele University, were taken from people who
had a family history of early-onset Alzheimer’s.
The metal was bound to amyloid-beta peptides
and tau protein, which form the brain plaques and
tangles commonly seen in Alzheimer’s patients.
Although aluminum is often present in the
brains of Alzheimer’s patients, scientists aren’t
sure of its role and whether it is a cause or a
symptom.
J Alzheimer Dis Rep, 2021; 5: 283–94
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
 Coviddeathsoverstated
bynearly25%
Covid-19 deaths could be overstated by as much as 23
percent. Nearly a quarter of people are dying with the
virus, but not from it—and yet are being recorded as
Covid victims.
Instead, they are dying from a range of other health
problems, such as cancer and heart disease, figures from
the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed.
If the reporting practice started from the outset of the
Covid epidemic, the UK’s Covid mortality rate has been
overstated by around 29,000 deaths. A Covid death is one
that “has occurred within 28 days of a positive Covid test.”
Even the true number of hospitalized cases may be half
that of the official figures, say researchers from Oxford
University.
DailyTelegraph,April13,2021

Covid vaccine deaths top

10,000 in Europe
More than 10,000 Europeans have died—and 400,000 have
been seriously injured—after being given one of the Covid jabs,
the European Medicines Agency has reported.
As vaccine reactions are notoriously under-reported, the true
picture may be considerably worse, and the dangers of having
the vaccine for those in a low-risk Covid group could outweigh
any benefits.
The agency has received 415,829 reports of serious adverse
reactions and deaths from one of the four Covid vaccines up to
the first week of May from the 27 countries that make up the
European Union.
The deadliest vaccines in Europe have been the mRNA
vaccines, a new technology that is being tested for the
first time, with Pfizer’s having 5,368 deaths reported,
followed by Moderna’s version, linked to 2,865
deaths. The two vaccines also had a combined total
of 193,513 reported injuries.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine has had 2,102 reported
deaths and 208,973 injuries, which makes it the
most dangerous of all the vaccines, even though
17 European countries had stopped using it until
research proved its safety. General disorders
were the most frequently reported, with more
than 158,000 reported cases including 604 deaths,
followed by 125,000 nervous system disorders,
including 318 deaths.
The fourth vaccine to be tracked—Johnson &
Johnson’s Janssen vaccine—had 235 reported deaths
and 2,873 injuries.
Eudravigilance, www.ema.europe.eu

24 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

 UPFRONT

Mercola takes Covid virus ‘leaked

d
down Covid from Wuhan lab,’
articles after new evidence
‘personal’ attacks suggests
Leading alternative health advocate Dr Joseph Mercola is removing from There’s growing evidence the Covid-19
his website all articles about natural ways to counter Covid-19 after he virus—SARS-COV-2—escaped from a
claims to have been targeted by government-backed pressure groups. research laboratory in Wuhan, China.
One, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), lists Mercola as The US State Department is
one of the “Disinformation Dozen” who it claims have been responsible assessing the likelihood of a laboratory
for circulating around 65 percent of supposed anti-vaccine content on leak after discovering that Chinese
the web. The group is pressuring Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to ban scientists have been working on
the dozen, which also includes Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Dr Rashid Buttar, Ty producing a new virus that could be
Bollinger and Christiane Northrup. used in chemical warfare for the last
The CCDH is a left-leaning group led by its founder Imran Ahmed, who 10 years.
worked as a political adviser to the UK’s Labour MP Hilary Benn and wrote The Chinese scientists updated
the book, with Labour MP Angela Eagle, The New Serfdom: The Triumph the scientific community on their
of Conservative Ideas and How to Defeat Them. progress in a paper published in 2015
Although it describes itself as a “nonprofit,” the CCDH is a limited and explained how they were altering
company, and its board includes Kirsty McNeill, who was an adviser to the spike protein of a bat coronavirus
former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Another board member, to infect human cells. In the paper,
Morgan McSweeney, resigned last year to become chief adviser to Labour entitled, “The Unnatural Origin of
leader Sir Keir Starmer. SARS and New Species of Man-Made
Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons,” they
desccribed
the viruses
v as
“a new era of genetic
weapons which can be
artificially
ficially manipulated
into an emerging human disease virus,
then weaponized and unleashed in a
way never seen before.”
They even explain how the viruses
could be released, ideally at night
or when there was no sunshine and
little wind.
In an update in 2018, the scientists
revealed they had developed four
new pathogens and 10 new strains of
bacteria.
The Australian, May 8 2021,
www.theaustralian.com.au

Oneinfoursufferside-effects Disposablefacemasks
afterCovidvaccine contain cancer-causing
Around 25 f the Covid vaccines suffer side-effects
pollutants
th an
a ge from headaches and fatigue to diarrhea and joint pain. Disposable face masks designed been linked to cell death, genetic
Most of the side-effeects are transitory and last to reduce Covid-19 spread contain mutation and cancer. The masks
for one or two days, say researchers from King’s dangerous levels of cancer-causing could also have an impact on the
Colle e London, who tracked the vaccine reactions pollutants, including lead, copper environment and on public health
rep rt
r ed y the 627,000 users of the Covid and antimony. in general.
m m Study app.
Sym The pollutants have been The masks leaked the pollutants
Side-effectts were more common among discovered in the silicon-based when they were submerged in
women and those under the age of 55. and plastic fibers in disposable water, and the scientists fear the
Reactionns were also three times more likely face masks, even including novelty same could happen with discarded
in people who already had a Covid-19 types that are sold for children’s masks. There also needs to be an
infection. parties. urgent review of the way the masks
Rates of side-effects were similar for Researchers from Swansea are manufactured and whether
the AstraZeneca and Pfizerr vaccines,
vaccines University have warned that safer ones could be produced.
produced
The most common with 25 percent reporting one or repeated exposure to the WaterRes,2021; 196: 117033
reaction was
headache, morre systemic reactions; of these, pollutants could affect people’s
reported by 35 percent reported reactions after the first or health, as they have
21% of the
Pfizer group second Pfizer jab, and 33 percent after the first
AstraZeneca dosee.
and by The most comm mon reaction was headaache,
23% after the reported by 21 percent
p of the Pfizer group and
AstraZeneca
vaccine by 23 percent after the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Fatigue was the second most commo on
reaction, expperienced by around 222
percent of vaaccinated people.
LancetInfectDis, 2021;S1473-3099(21)00224-3

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 25

NewsFocus
Inflammation:
medicine’s next
big false trail?
Blaminginflammationforeverythingfromheartdisease
toagingcouldbemedicine’snextbigblunder—justask
theTsimaneofBolivia
M edicine has a nasty habit of
accusing the wrong guy.For years,it
was convinced that‘bad’LDL cholesterol
was responsible for cardiovascular
disease and especially atherosclerosis,
when arteries become blocked and
stiffen from a plaque buildup,but it
currently recognizes LDL as a healing
agent trying to fix artery damage.Now it
could be about to make the same mistake
with inflammation.
Inflammation is the new bad kid on
the block.It’s this,and not cholesterol,
that’s responsible for heart disease and
atherosclerosis,the new theory suggests.
It’s also responsible forAlzheimer’s and
dementia,and has a hand in psoriasis,
rheumatoid arthritis and even the whole
aging process,which has been given the
catchy name of“inflammaging.”
But how did the body’s own
healing response get such a bad rap?
Inflammation heals injuries and protects
the body from invading viruses,but the
inflammaging theory says it becomes a
destructive force when it is persistent
and chronic.
Chronic inflammation is the immune
system on constant mop-up duty as it
tries to eliminate old and dying cells,
scientists believe,but it could also be
26 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
the result of obesity or a leaky gut that
deteriorates with age.1
OK, it wasn’t cholesterol
Heart disease has more to do with
inflammation than LDL cholesterol,
according to the latest theories on heart
health.“The established and earlier
concept that passive deposition of lipids
into arterial walls with subsequent
covering of the deposits by smooth
muscle and endothelial cells causes
atherosclerosis has changed over
the course of time,”said cardiologist
Mohammad Tarek Kabbany at Medstar
Washington Medical Center. 2
Chronic inflammation is also a factor
in rheumatoid arthritis,systemic lupus
erythematosus (SLE),psoriasis and HIV
infection.And the problems interweave:
Compelling as the evidence
is, catching inflammation at
the scene of almost every
crime, other researchers
are warning that medicine
is about to make another
colossal error
rheumatoid arthritis patients are 68
percent more likely to suffer a first heart
attack than healthy people,while people
with psoriasis have a higher risk of
cardiovascular disease.
Inflammation is also at the heart of
aging.It can cause tissues and joints
to deteriorate,but it could also be an
unsuspected driver of dementia.People
with inflammation in the brain—or
neuroinflammation—are more prone
to developAlzheimer’s disease,and the
same could also be the case for other
types of dementia,as researchers from
Cambridge University have shown.
They scanned the brains of 31 people
with frontotemporal dementia—which
is caused by‘junk’protein buildup—
and discovered that areas of the brain
with the greatest accumulation of the
proteins also had the highest levels of
inflammation.But what came first?
Researcher Thomas Cope says:“There
may be a vicious circle where cell damage
triggers inflammation,which in turn
leads to further cell damage.” 3
Error, error
Compelling as the evidence is,catching
inflammation at the scene of almost
every crime,other researchers are
warning that medicine is about to make
another colossal error on par with the
cholesterol theory.
But in order to dispute the
inflammaging theory,they have had to
garner their evidence far from theWest
and its poor diet,stress and sedentary
lifestyle.Several research groups have
spent the past 20 years or so studying
the Tsimane people of the Bolivian
Amazon—and their findings turn the
whole inflammation theory on its head.
The Tsimane have the lowest rates of
heart disease ever recorded by modern
medicine—and yet they suffer from
chronic inflammation,the very type that
is supposed to cause heart disease.They
also don’t seem to suffer from obesity
or type 2 diabetes,two other problems
that have been linked to chronic
inflammation.
Their brains also don’t show the
same levels of degeneration as people
of similar age in theWest,even though
inflammation is supposed to attack brain
tissue.The fact that their brains don’t
atrophy also suggests the Tsimane don’t
suffer from dementia orAlzheimer’s.
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
 NEWS FOCUS

THE INFLAMMATION PARADOX

Researchers from the University of New Mexico
assessed the heart health of 705 Tsimane using a
CAC (coronary artery calcium) test, an established
predictor of heart problems. Despite having high
levels of inflammatory markers, around 85 percent
of the Tsimane had no detectable calcium in their
arteries, 13 percent had CAC scores of between Just 20 had CAC
one and 100, and just 20 (less than 3 percent)
had CAC scores above 100. These results are five scores above 100
times lower than typical scores among Western
populations of similar age.

13% had CAC

scores of between
1 and 100

85%of the
Tsimane had zero
calcium in their
arteries

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 27

NEWS FOCUS
It’s an“inflammation paradox,”
say researchers at the German Sports
University in Cologne—but the paradox
goes away if the inflammation theory is
discounted. 4
Perhaps it’s because the Tsimane’s
inflammation is somehow different
from that in theWest,which is linked to
obesity and metabolic disorders.For the
Tsimane,inflammation is triggered by
respiratory,gastrointestinal and parasitic
infections,explained Hillard Kaplan
from the University of New Mexico,
whose own research confirmed the
inflammation paradox.5
His research team had assessed the
heart health of 705 Tsimane by using a
CAC (coronary artery calcium) test,a
conventional method to predict heart
problems.Around 85 percent of the
Tsimane had zero calcium in their
arteries,13 percent had CAC scores of
between one and 100,and just 20 had
CAC scores above 100.Among Tsimane
who were 75 years old and older,65
percent had a CAC score of zero,and
only four had a CAC score of more than
100.The results were five times lower
than typical scores amongWestern
populations of similar age.
Other researchers discovered that
chronic inflammation wasn’t harming
the brains of the Tsimane,either.The
researchers,from the University of
Southern California’s Leonard Davis
School of Gerontology,scanned the
brains of 746 Tsimane between 40 and
94 years old.Compared to similar tests
in theWest,the Tsimane experienced
“a significantly slower decrease in
brain volume”than theirWestern
counterparts.6
“The Tsimane have provided us
with an amazing experiment on the
potentially detrimental effects of
modern lifestyles on our health,”said
study authorAndrei Irimia.
More than inflammation
But there’s something more going on.
The Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania
and the Shuar hunter-horticulturists
of Ecuador also have low levels of
heart disease—along with low levels
of inflammation,which suggests
inflammation could be a red herring.
Jens Freese at Cologne’s German
Sports University thinks so.Other
factors need to be in play for
28 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
Similar effects have been seen in
people who spend a day ‘forest
bathing’—essentially a hike
through a forest. Their levels
of natural killer (NK) cells rise
dramatically and stay high for up
to 30 days
chronic inflammation to begin
its damaging journey through the
body,he conjectures.The Tsimane’s
inflammation is primarily the result of
intestinal worms,which would keep
the immune system on a higher alert
level.The Tsimane also suffer from viral
infections that they often catch when
they’re hunting,which also triggers an
inflammatory response.
Perhaps we could all live with
inflammation if we had a lifestyle more
like the Tsimane,with healthier diets,
more exercise,greater periods of fasting
and living without chronic stress.Freese
and his team got a glimpse of what this
could look like when they carried out two
field experiments with small groups of
participants in 2013 and 2014.
In both experiments,which are known
as the Eifel studies after the national park
in Germany where they were carried
out,the 20 participants lived a Paleo-
like life for four days.They converted
to a high fat,low carb diet,they walked
up to 16 kilometers (nearly 10 miles)
every day,they fasted for up to 14 hours
between meals,and when they did eat,
they consumed an average of just 1,600
calories a day.
These lifestyle changes are known to
be anti-inflammatory—and yet Freese
was astonished to discover that in just
four days the participants’ inflammatory
markers had risen by as much as 170
percent.7
Freese has several theories to explain
the phenomenon; one is that the
participants were exposed to natural
antibiotics released by plants to protect
themselves against bacteria and insects,
and this triggered the participants’
inflammatory responses. Similar effects
have been seen in people who spend a
day ‘forest bathing’—essentially a hike
through a forest. Their levels of natural
killer (NK) cells rise dramatically and
stay high for up to 30 days.8
Another possibility is that the
participants changed from their usual
near-sterile environments to a natural
one, and this may have sparked the
immune system into action. It’s also
possible the inflammation was the
result of physical stress caused by the
participants’ high workload combined
with a low-calorie diet.
Similar results were seen in another
experiment, this time taking a group on a
10-day hike through the Pyrenees. Again,
increases in inflammatory markers were
recorded afterwards.9
What can’t be known is if these back-
to-nature experiments had any long-
term benefits on heart health, diabetes,
obesity or dementia protection, as has
been seen with the Tsimane.
But there’s the danger that medicine—
always looking for the next money-
spinning silver bullet—will develop a
new generation of anti-inflammatories
just as they did when they developed
statins to lower cholesterol levels.
Just as cholesterol is trying to repair
damaged arteries, so inflammation is
responding to a threat. In other words, it’s
a reaction, not a cause—but where’s the
money in that?
Bryan Hubbard
REFERENCES
1 JGerontolABiolSciMedSci,2014;69Suppl1:S4-9
2 AmericanCollegeofCardiology,“Cardiovascular
DiseasesinChronicInflammatoryDisorders,”Jul18,
2016.www.acc.org
3 Brain,2020;143:1010–26
4 F1000Research,2018;7:252
5 Lancet,2017;389:1730–9
6 JGerontolABiolSciMedSci,2021;glab138
7 JEvolHealth,2016;1:12
8 EnvironHealthPrevMed,2010;15:18–26
9 BiomedResInt,2016;2016:6935123
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
NewsFocus
Why Covid
vaccines aren’t
for everyone
AglobaldriveformassCovidvaccinationsisinfullswing,and
healthagenciesareeventryingtogetsix-year-oldsvaccinated.
Butisthisraceforsafetyjustified,necessaryorethical?
T
heWorld Health Organization’s
rallying call to defeat the Covid-19
pandemic—“Nobody is safe
until everyone is safe”—essentially
involves vaccinating every person on
the planet.Around 2 billion doses of
one of the Covid vaccines have so far
been administered,and this number is
expected to continue rising as younger
people are offered it.By this autumn,
children as young as six years of age will
be in line for a shot.
Israeli children between the ages of 12
and 16 became the youngest to have a
Covid vaccine last March when around
600 were given the Pfizer jab.By May,
the US Food and DrugAdministration
(FDA) had authorized use of the Pfizer
vaccine in 12- to 15-year-olds,and the
UK Medicines and Healthcare products
RegulatoryAgency (MHRA) followed
suit in June.
But with Covid deaths among children
running at 0.00017 percent—that’s just
over one in a million—vaccinating the
young is questionable.But it’s all to do
with a theory called‘immunobridging.’
In other words,children are being asked,
once again,to take a bullet for the elderly.
Beate Kampmann at the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine’sVaccine Centre explains:
“To include children in the vaccination
programme is essentially a question of
30 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
their role in transmission of the virus …
to achieve as much suppression of viral
circulation and to get to community
immunity,which can then suppress
transmission and evolution of new
variants,it could be justified.” 1
The drug companies are trying to catch
up.Pfizer is testing its Covid vaccine on
more than 2,000 children between the
ages of 12 and 15 and wants to include
five-year-olds in a second phase of the
trial.Moderna is testing its vaccine on
3,000 children between 12 and 17 years
old,whileAstraZeneca is testing its
vaccine on children as young as six.
Most of these trials on children are at
Phase II—the first time a pharmaceutical
is tested on a relatively large group of
people—which means most health
agencies will be giving children shots
without any reliable safety data.
But it’s not just kids: giving the
vaccine to anyone under the age of 70 is a
debatable policy.Public Health England,
for instance,estimates that its widespread
and successful vaccine program has
saved the lives of just 300 people between
the ages of 60 and 69,according to
figures to the beginning of May,while the
benefits are more apparent in the most
vulnerable group—those over 80—with
11,200 lives being saved.
A universal vaccine rollout program
is based on several premises: that
Covid-19 is a deadly disease,and that the
vaccines are effective and safe.It’s worth
investigating each of these in turn:
Covid-19 is a deadly disease
Upsetting images from India—and from
Italy and China before that—suggest
that Covid-19 is extremely deadly,and it
can be,for some.Statistics add shading
to a very black-and-white picture.John
Ioannidis,an epidemiologist at Stanford
University,estimates Covid kills between
0.15 to 0.20 percent of people who get
infected,which is around one in 600,
overall,but take out the elderly and sick,
and the death rate among people under
70 drops to just 0.03 to 0.04 percent,or
one in 3,000 to 4,000 infections.2
The true deadliness of Covid is hard to
ascertain because it’s almost impossible
to gauge how many people have had
it.According to health agencies,up to
30 percent of infected people could be
asymptomatic,and as the death rate can
be extrapolated only from known cases,
the official figures present the worst-case
scenario.
A better measure is excess deaths—the
number of actual deaths,from any cause,
compared to the anticipated number
based on the five previous years,2015 to
2019.The Centre for Evidence-Based
Medicine at the University of Oxford
analyzed the excess death rate from
37 countries and came up with some
surprising results.
The expected surge in deaths in each
of the countries reviewed wasn’t always
there.In fact,five of the countries—
Denmark,Hungary,Latvia,Norway
and South Korea—saw their death rate
drop in 2020.Nine countries saw only
a marginal rise of 5 percent or lower,
and just eight reported an excess rate of
above 10 percent,including Belgium
(12.2 percent),England andWales (10.5
percent),and the US (12.9 percent).
Sweden,which attracted worldwide
opprobrium for not locking down,had
an excess death rate of just 1.5 percent.3
Countries with higher rates of obesity,
chronic disease and aging are also more
likely to see an excess death rate when
there is a viral epidemic—and it’s worth
noting that the five years prior to 2020
had lower than normal death rates with
more benign viruses circulating,and so
any sudden spike has to be set against that
background.
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
 NEWS FOCUS

With Covid deaths among

children running at
0.00017%—that’s just
over one in a million—
vaccinating the young is
questionable, but it’s all part
of ‘immunobridging.’
Children are being
asked, once again,
to take a bullet for
the elderly

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 31

 CUS
The vaccines are effective
On the face of it,they are.Since vaccines
started to be given in January,Covid
deaths have fallen dramatically.The data
bears this out,with the Pfizer-BioNTech
jab achieving a very impressive 95
percent reduction in infection risk,and
AstraZeneca’s vaccine providing a 67
percent rate of protection.
But there’s another way to look at
the figures—and it involves a statistical
sleight of hand that drug companies
always employ to demonstrate the
effectiveness of their medications.When
we are told theAstraZeneca jab will
reduce the risk of infection by 67 percent,
we assume that applies to us.It doesn’t.
Taking Professor Ioannidis’risk
profile,if you are under the age of 70
with no chronic health problems,and
you’re not obese,your risk of dying from
Covid is just 0.04 percent—and taking
the vaccine reduces that risk further to
around 0.013 percent.
It’s the difference between relative
risk—which drug companies always
use—and absolute risk,which is what
everyone really wants to know.
If,for example,your risk of a heart
attack is around 0.2 percent and a new
drug halves your risk,your new absolute
risk profile is 0.1 percent,which isn’t the
stuff of headlines.But use the relative
risk measure and suddenly we have
a breakthrough drug: it reduces the
chances of a heart attack by 50 percent.
Applying the absolute risk measure
to the Covid vaccines,researchers
from Oxford University estimate that
theAstraZeneca jab reduces your risk
of Covid infection by 1.3 percent,
Moderna’s by 1.2 percent,and the Pfizer-
BioNTech by just 0.84 percent.4
The vaccines are safe
No vaccine or drug is entirely safe.
There’s always the risk of an adverse
reaction,including death,and so that
always has to be weighed against the
benefit the medication may provide.
We know that people who are obese,
over the age of 80,or who also have heart
disease,cancer or kidney problems are
in the high-risk category,and for them,a
vaccine is worth taking.Of these,obesity
is the single biggest risk factor,at any age.5
For the rest of us,the decision to
vaccinate isn’t such an easy one to make.
The vaccines are certainly far from safe;
32 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
The Covid vaccines were
granted emergency
“conditional approval”
even though none had
gone through the full
safety and efficacy tests
adverse reactions and deaths recorded
by the European MedicinesAgency—
which collates data from the EU’s 27
member states—show the Pfizer/
BioNTech vaccine had been linked to
5,961 deaths and 452,779 serious adverse
reactions as of May 22,andAstraZeneca’s
had been implicated in 2,489 deaths
and 655,534 adverse reactions—even
though it was being used in only 12 of the
European countries,with the other 15
suspending its rollout until new data has
established its safety.
In the US, theVAERS (Vaccine
Adverse Event Reporting System)
system had received reports of around
7,500 deaths or serious adverse
reactions up to April.6
There have also been anomalies.Death
is 14.6 times more likely within the first
14 days of a Covid vaccination in people
over the age of 60,one report found,7 and
it can paradoxically increase the number
of Covid cases and deaths.
For example,Cambodia recorded
zero deaths from Covid until it began its
vaccine rollout,since when there have
been 197 deaths,a phenomenon that has
been documented in the FDA briefing
paper for the Pfizer vaccine,which
notes that 409 vaccinated people had a
Covid infection within seven days after
vaccination compared to 287 infections
in the placebo group.8
Risks and benefits
During the first six months of the
pandemic in Germany, 52 people who
didn’t have any pre-existing chronic
health problem died as a direct result of
Covid-19 infection.
But vaccinating 60 million Germans
under the age of 60—a low-risk group—
would result in the deaths of 54 people
from two rare blood disorders alone,
DIC and cerebral venous thrombosis, or
blood clots in the brain.
“So, how in God’s name can the
benefits outweigh the risks?” asks Dr
Sucharit Bhakdi, a retired professor
who specialized in infectious diseases
and immunology and is the head of
the pressure group, Doctors for Covid
Ethics.
Within a month of the Covid vaccine
rollout, his group was warning the
European Medicines Agency about the
potential risks of the vaccines causing
blood clots, one of the most dangerous
adverse reactions being recorded.
All the Covid vaccines were granted
emergency “conditional approval” even
though none had gone through the full
safety and efficacy tests, and most had got
as far as Phase III trials of the four stages
normally required.
And yet the safety bar for vaccines
should be higher than for drugs.“Rare
side-effects don’t matter so much for
normal drugs that are used to relieve
symptoms of existing diseases. But
they do matter with vaccines because
you’re essentially giving a healthy person
something that they don’t need in order
to slightly lessen their risk of catching a
disease,” said Swedish doctor Sebastian
Rushworth.9
Ultimately, a decision to have a Covid
vaccination shouldn’t be influenced by
propaganda or social pressure—but only
an individual’s own risk profile.
Bryan Hubbard
REFERENCES
1 BMJ,2021;372:n723
2 EurJClinInv,2020;50:e13423
3 CentreforEvidence-BasedMedicine,March3,
2021.www.cebm.net/covid-19/excess-mortality-
across-countries-in-2020/
4 LancetMicrobe,2021;doi:10.1016/S2666-
5247(21)00069-0
5 JAMANetwOpen,2021;4:e213594
6 LosAngelesTimes,April6,2021
7 America’sFrontlineDoctors,May9,2021
8 InformScotland,April6,2021
9 Rushworth,S,Covid:WhyMostofWhatYouKnow
IsWrong(KarnevalPublishing,Stockholm,2021)
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
 R
eflection is
something many of us have
done quite a bit of lately. Here’s
what I’ve observed since a
pandemic was declared in
March 2020, which can be
loosely categorized into three
areas: control, connection and
communication.
Control
The pandemic has seen a massive
shift in the locus of control
as it relates to healthcare. For
many years, there’s been a push
toward greater levels of medical
autonomy, personalization and
patient- or citizen-centered care.
This was a reaction to recognized
failures in our more paternalistic
healthcare systems, which
appear to be ever less capable of
dealing with the complexities
of the chronic and degenerative
diseases that have emerged as
their greatest burdens.
These diseases demand more
than a quick symptom-based
diagnosis from a primary care
physician or general practitioner.
The prevailing “pill for an ill” and
“name it and tame it” approaches
have done little to alter the
spiraling trajectory of lifestyle-
based diseases.
The former head of Natwest
Bank, Derek Wanless, published
two reports in the UK back in
2002 and 2004 at the request of
then-prime minister Tony Blair.
The goal was to evaluate the
National Health Service (NHS),
the world’s fifth largest employer,
and look at what it needed to do
to become sustainable.
I remember meeting with
Wanless’ team in 2003. Two
elements that fell out of
thousands of hours of research
and hundreds of pages of
reporting left their mark in my
mind. One was that the NHS had
become a“disease management
Robert Verkerk PhD is the executive and scientific director of the Alliance for Natural Health International, a consumer group that aims to protect our right to natural healthcare and nutrition. For more
information and to get involved, go to www.anhinternational.org, or check out ANH’s Facebook and Twitter pages (www.facebook.com/ANHInternational and www.twitter.com/anhcampaign).
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
Rob Verkerk The Politics of Health
REFLECTIONS ON
A PANDEMIC
The pandemic has sent us reeling backward in terms of
healthcare and freedom
system” that did little to
regenerate health.
The second was the dearth of
patient engagement. Citizens
didn’t understand their diseases
or conditions well enough to
gauge which options might be
best for them. It had become the
doctor’s job, not the patient’s, to
decide what to do.
The solution, of course,
was to develop a society with
empowered and engaged
citizens. Being able to choose
the approach to your treatment
The pandemic has
seen a massive shift in
the locus of control as
it relates to healthcare
or regeneration that makes
most sense to you, because you
know yourself, your life and
your circumstances better than
anyone else.
Higher levels of self-care
were also a big part of the
solution, so that people could
do more to look after themselves
without having to wait for
the doctor’s prescription or
recommendation.
These ideas—the
democratization of health,
patient empowerment and self-
care—have gained momentum
over the years,both in the
UK and US. But then came
Covid-19, and we were propelled
back into the Dark Ages.
Family doctors were no
longer in charge of the health
of their patients; select groups
of scientists were. Top-down,
one-size-fits-all healthcare at
its worst. Not only that, but
myopic too—focused on one
pathogen, at the expense of the
noncommunicable diseases that
have consistently remained the
biggest killers in society, even
during the pandemic.
Connection
I’m deeply disturbed by how
a pandemic based on a new
pathogen that ostensibly
demanded we socially distance
has left a mark on our obligate
social species. Social cohesion
has been battered.
We hear a lot about
polarization, but there are not
just two camps. Societies have
become splintered, just as they’re
being told they need to adapt to
global governance, something
that appears to have been
prioritized by the twin crises of
climate change and Covid-19.
Families have found
themselves split over the issue
of vaccination. Mothers who
are concerned about how an
mRNA-generated spike protein
might concentrate in their
young daughter’s ovaries are
marginalized and stigmatized
as ‘anti-vaxxers’ simply
because they care. People with
autoimmune histories who
have managed to see some level
of health normalcy return after
cleaning up their exposures to all
possible environmental triggers
similarly are stigmatized if they
choose to avoid vaccination.
Why is it OK to apportion
rights and civil liberties
according to vaccination status?
On the upside, some have
become more connected to the
environment or more aware of
the huge challenges it faces. Many
have found ways of reducing
their negative impacts on the
environment—it’s almost as if
we’ve traded a degree of social
connection for environmental
connection.
Communication
When have we seen such
a concerted sidelining of
dissenting views? Not since
McCarthyism in the 1950s, at
least in the Western world, and
certainly not during this digital
age. We have to find ways to re-
establish balance in journalism
and freedom of speech in social
media.
Politicians in democratic
societies need to remember
their commitments to citizens
as their elected representatives
and communicate our concerns,
not stifle them. The pandemic
has sent us reeling backward, and
the so-called “free world” has
turned its back, at least for the
time being, on any semblance of
the freedom of expression that
helped it reflect all the wonders
of being human.
Only a re-energized civil
rights movement can make this
happen. That we know from
history.So let’s get on with it.
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 33
EVERY P
PICTURE...

COUNTRY

Lockdown? POLAND
CHILE
That was so SPAIN

not worth it USA

BELGIUM
SLOVENIA
Lockdowns to cur Covid’s spread had BULGARIA
a massive damaging effect across all of
society—butdidt eyactuallysavelives? ENGLAND & WALES
CHECHNYA

L
ockdown has been a blunt cudgel to knock out Covid-
19’s spread. And it’s been no free lunch: ITALY
businesses have closed for good, people haven’t had
urgent medical care, marriages have been postponed,
mourners have been barred from funerals, children have
SCOTLAND
missed school and families have been kept apart.
So, has it saved lives? That hasn’t been so easy to answer,
NETHERLANDS
partly because health agencies have played fast and loose with
the number of Covid deaths, often conflating those who died
PORTUGAL
‘with’ Covid and those who died ‘from’ it, and countries with
more of an aging population seem to have been worse hit. FRANCE
A more reliable measure is excess deaths, the number
of people who died compared to a five-year average, and ISRAEL
researchers at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine have
looked at just that, taking the death rates for 2015 to 2019 LITHUANIA
and comparing them to deaths in 2020 at the peak of the
epidemic across 32 countries.1 GREECE
We’ve added a column that shows the lockdown strategy
for each country—and the results have thrown up some SWITZERLAND
surprising findings. Twenty-two of the 24 countries that had
excess deaths in 2020 went into full lockdown, and just two HUNGARY
employed a ‘guidance-only’ strategy—where the public was
merely advised to maintain social distancing and mask- GERMANY
wearing.
Sweden, which was criticized by its European neighbors SWEDEN
for eschewing lockdown, recorded an excess death rate of just
1.5 percent, far lower than its full-lockdown critics. SLOVAKIA
And just one of the five countries that recorded fewer
deaths in 2020 had a full lockdown; three merely advised LUXEMBOURG
their citizens, and the other had a partial lockdown.
Was it all worth it? After all the suffering that lockdown ESTONIA
wrought, the sad and bitter answer has to be that it wasn’t.
LATVIA
SOUTH KOREA
NORWAY
ICELAND
REFERENCES
1 www.cebm.net/covid-19/excess-mortality-
across-countries-in-2020/ DENMARK

34 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

 EVERY ...

EXCESS DEATHS (%) LOCKDOWN STATUS

14.4 ULL LOCKDOWN

13.8 PARTIAL LOCKDOWN
12.9 FULL LOCKDOWN
12.9 PARTIAL LOCKDOWN
12.2 FULL LOCKDOWN
12 FULL LOCKDOWN
12 FULL LOCKDOWN
10.5 FULL LOCKDOWN
9.7 FULL LOCKDOWN
8.7 FULL LOCKDOWN
7.5 FULL LOCKDOWN
7.2 FULL LOCKDOWN
6.8 FULL LOCKDOWN
6.7 FULL LOCKDOWN
6.5 FULL LOCKDOWN
5.4 FULL LOCKDOWN
4.9 FULL LOCKDOWN
4.3 FULL LOCKDOWN
3.7 GUIDELINES ONLY
3.3 FULL LOCKDOWN
1.5 GUIDELINES ONLY
1.4 FULL LOCKDOWN
1.1 FULL LOCKDOWN
0 FULL LOCKDOWN Key
Guidelines only :
-2.2 GUIDELINES ONLY social distancing, mask-
wearing advisory
-2.9 GUIDELINES ONLY Excess deaths (%):
2020 figures compared to
the average for the five prior
-3.6 PARTIAL LOCKDOWN years (2015–2019)

-4.1 GUIDELINES ONLY

-4.3 FULL LOCKDOWN

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 35

 TURE...

A whiter
shade of
well
Don’t just flush your urine away.
A quick look at the color could
tell you if you’re consuming
enough liquids every day

W
e’re supposed to drink around two liters
(3.5 pints) of fluids every day; that’s
around 10 glasses of water, which sounds
like a lot. But our fluid intake can come not just from
water but any beverage such as tea or coffee, and
vegetables and fruit account for 20 percent—that’s
two of the 10 glasses.
Not surprisingly, it can be hard to keep track.
That’s where the color of your urine comes in
(or out). The lighter the shade, the more likely
it is that you’re properly hydrated. Conversely, a
darkish hue suggests you need to be drinking more
(nonalcoholic fluids, of course). Having a mouth
that is constantly dry or feeling tired are two other
tell-tale signs of dehydration.
As fluids are essential for every bodily function,
making sure you have enough every day is
important. Many factors can change the amount we
need to be consuming—our age, sex, activity levels
and whether we live in a hot country can all change
the recommendations—but the two-liter rule is a
good guide.
But how do you know just how light your pee
needs to be to suggest that you’re hydrated? Sounds
like a silly question, but it’s the stuff of graphic
designers and printers who for years have wrestled
over the shades of colors. The ultimate arbiter is
Pantone, which has created a universal standard for
all colors and hues and has even numbered them.
So, they’ve decided to do the same for the color
of your pee (believe it or not). Pantone has been
commissioned by water producer Highland Spring
to come up with a Healthy Pee chart. Of course, the
stunt is designed to get you to drink more Highland
Spring, but if it gets you to look at your pee, it’s served
a purpose.

36 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

 EVERY PICTURE

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 37

SPECIAL REPORT
SPECIA

THETRUTH
ABOUT What’s
common to long

THECOVID
Covid and Covid
vaccine sufferers is
the infamous toxic
spike protein. Celeste

SPIKE
McGovern investigates
the long-term effects,
plus therapies to reverse
damage from both

PROTEIN

38 WD
DD
DDT T/ ACE
AC
CE D

t was just around Madeline Johnson’s twenty-first
birthday in April that “all hell began breaking loose,”
according to her mother.An attractive
California blonde studying pre-med at
Chapman University,who had companies
offering her clothes to model on her popular
Instagram account,“Maddy”seemed to have
everything going for her.
Excited about medical school,she had been
working in a hospital in Orange,California,
to get clinical experience.Getting the new
Covid shots seemed to her an obvious thing
to do to keep her and her family safe from the
pandemic virus.
After her second dose of Pfizer’s mRNA
shot in late February,Maddy was ill for several
days with a high fever.She had been told to
expect that,but then unusual things started
happening.At first they were minor—pain
in her wrist and numbness in her hands.But
a month later,the pain and weakness in her
wrist was so bad she was crying
herself to sleep at night.
ByApril,after the numbness
in her hand and wrist had traveled to her
shoulder,a neurologist noticed
that the reflexes in her
right leg were off,and
she was referred for a
brain scan.
The next day,Maddy
woke up with numbness in
her right foot,and within
hours she was unable
to move her toes,ankle
and knee.
By May,the“fun
and bubbly”
student
was
experiencing waves of
frightening symptoms,
from severe chest pain,
loss of fine motor skills,fever,
stabbing muscle and joint
pains,full body tremors and
uncontrollable shaking to“feeling
slivers of glass”in her finger when
she touched something. This
progressed to difficulty swallowing,
walking and breathing.
After two nerve studies,a CAT
scan,eight MRIs,a spinal tap,46
different blood tests and more,
D ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 39
SPECIAL REPORT
doctors ruled out a stroke, multiple sclerosis, a brain
tumor and several autoimmune diseases. But they still
had no answers, and Maddy is still suffering.
The mainstream media won’t report stories like
Maddy’s, but she is not alone. By the end of July she was
one of more than 36,000 people whose hospitalizations
following a dose of experimental Covid vaccine had
been recorded by the US government’s Vaccine Adverse
Event Reporting System (VAERS).1 There were well over
half a million (518,770) adverse events related to Covid
shots recorded on VAERS by July 30, 2021, including
more than 23,000 life-threatening or permanently
disabling events and 11,940 deaths.
VAERS reports are not conclusive—they don’t by
themselves establish a causal relationship between
bizarre symptoms following an experimental injection.
However, the vast majority of adverse events go
unreported. According to a 2009 Harvard Pilgrim study,
VAERS captures just one percent of the symptoms
reported to doctors and hospitals that might be vaccine-
related. Health care providers should be reporting these
symptoms to VAERS, but aren’t, meaning that only a
tiny fraction of actual connected events are ever
documented.2
While the mainstream media
echoes public health
messaging that vaccines
are “safe
and effective” and refuses to report
stories like Maddy’s, in just months,
government systems like VAERS have recorded
more deaths linked to Covid shots than to all other
vaccines combined (since it started counting more than
30 years ago) and almost as many disabling and life-
threatening events.
314 in a million
Public agencies have conceded that several deadly
conditions are linked to Covid vaccines, including blood
clots, severe allergic reactions, myocarditis
 L REPORT
Antibody-dependent enhancement
Millions of people have taken Covid shots and felt just fine;
however, Dr Sucharit Bhakdi is one of many scientists who have
been warning that Covid vaccination is not the end of the story.
Paradoxically, when a new wave of coronavirus comes, it’s the
vaccinated people that they are worried about.
Scientists have warned about an immunological phenomenon
called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) phenomenon,
particularly with coronavirus and other respiratory virus vaccines,
since talk of a coronavirus vaccine began. It’s when the vaccine
“trains” the immune system to “overreact” to the virus, and
collateral damage to cells is deadly. This can occur whenever the
vaccinated person encounters the virus—or a similar one—in
the wild, whether the next day, next season or the following year,
because the immune system has a long memory.
ADE blighted previous attempts at developing vaccines
against respiratory syncytial virus in which two children died 10
months after vaccination when they encountered the real virus.
It occurred with every coronavirus vaccine tested prior to SARS-
CoV-2, resulting in “enhanced” lung disease among vaccinated
lab animals that led researchers in 2012 to advise scientists to
“proceed with caution” for any human coronavirus vaccines.1 It
was the reason that a new dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, was pulled
from the Philippines after at least dozens of vaccinated children
died from the disease the shot was meant to prevent.2
ADE “causes the virus to become more infectious than would
happen in the absence of vaccination,” Dr Robert Malone, an
expert in mRNA technology, said in an interview in late July after it
was reported that titers of virus were higher in vaccinated people
than in the unvaccinated.3 “This is precisely what one would see if
antibody-dependent enhancement was happening,” Malone said.
“This is the vaccinologist’s worst nightmare.” And according to
him, it appears to be already beginning.
REFERENCES
1 PLoS One, 2012; 7: e35421
2 Science, Apr 24, 2019; www.sciencemag.org. doi:10.1126/science.aax8042
3 techstartups.com/2021/07/28/new-data-suggests-fully-vaccinated-individuals-higher-levels-
virus-infect-others-nbc-news-reports; dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/07/29/dr-robert-malone-the-
covid-19-vaccine-causes-the-virus-to-become-more-infectious
40 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
(heart inflammation that may precede heart failure),
particularly in young men, and most recently, the
paralyzing neurological condition Guillain-Barré
syndrome (GBS).
Vaccine experts like Paul Offit, who sits on the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vaccine advisory
committee, told the public that serious adverse events
would amount to “one or two in a million” in December,
but these few supposedly rare side-effects are already
exceeding his prediction by orders of magnitude.
For example, a study published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association in March found that
“severe reactions consistent with anaphylaxis occurred
at a rate of 2.47 per 10,000 vaccinations,” or 247 cases per
every million Covid shots.3 On July 13, the FDA issued
a notice stating that 100 cases (95 of them “serious”) of
GBS were recorded for “about 12.5 million” doses of the
Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine, which equates to
about eight per million.
On July 29, the UK National Institute for Health and
Care Excellence (Nice) issued guidelines for physicians
to deal with vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia and
thrombosis (VITT)—a deadly blood clotting disorder
that requires swift diagnosis and urgent treatment—
that they said was occurring at a rate of 14.2 per million
doses of vaccine.4
In July, the World Health Organization (WHO)
reported a rate of “approximately 40.6 cases of
myocarditis per million second doses among males and
4.2 cases per million among females,” just among young
people between the ages of 12 and 29 who received
mRNA Covid-19 vaccines as of June 11.5
There was no mention of the 2,689 VAERS records
referring to inflammatory myocarditis and pericarditis
heart conditions. The WHO argued that the benefits of
vaccination still outweighed the risks.
Just these four “rare” potentially lethal conditions
occur at a combined rate of 314 per million. Imagine if
parents deciding whether or not to give their children
shots for a disease that they have a 0.002 percent chance
of dying from, even if they were to become infected,6
were informed that the known rate of a disabling or
potentially fatal condition from the vaccines in their
first months of rollout was “just 314 in a million” rather
than “ just one or two in a million”? A risk 15 times
higher than death from Covid? And the long-term risks
are unknown. Would they see things differently?
No diagnosis
In reality, most people who experience lasting
symptoms after Covid shots don’t fall neatly into
a disease diagnosis. Instead, there are thousands
of reports of amorphous symptoms ranging from
chronically swollen lymph nodes, anxiety, skin rashes,
migraines, tingling and burning sensations, tics
and seizures, and joint and muscle pain to irregular
menstruation, brain fog, ringing in the ears, gut pain,
diarrhea, loss of taste or smell, blurred vision and
insomnia.
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
 SPECIAL REPORT

loud ringing in the ears, a swollen tongue, swollen

4.2 cases 40.6 cases eyelids, blurred vision and the sensation of something
tightening around her chest.
per every million Covid shots
per every million Covid shots Myocarditis (male) “My teeth hurt,” said Hertz.“It was so bizarre. I was
Myocarditis (female) felt like I was being electrocuted. Everything hurt. I felt
like I was in a vat of acid and I didn’t know how I could
keep existing. I didn’t think I could endure.”
8 cases Curiously, there are hundreds of reports of teeth
per every million Covid shots pain on the UK Yellow Card Covid vaccine side-effects
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) reports.
After a week, Hertz went to the hospital “hunched
over” and “writhing in pain on the table.” After
undergoing a battery of tests, she was told,“You’re fine,”
14.2 cases and sent home.
per every million Covid shots
Vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia She spent the next three months “incapacitated,”
and thrombosis (VITT) mostly in bed or on her sofa. Having practiced medicine
in L.A. for 33 years, she knew many doctors and
started undergoing “hundreds” of tests that ruled out
diseases but didn’t provide a diagnosis. There was no
247 cases inflammation, no common autoimmune disease, no
per every million Covid shots major blood clotting. All her blood tests were normal,
Severe reactions consistent with anaphylaxis but “I’m in agony,” Hertz recalled.
Scans showed her heart could be slightly enlarged,
though an echocardiogram two months before the shot
had been perfect. She started to wonder if she had had
Adding up the risk myocarditis initially after the shot.
Although leaders in the FDA and other health Seven months after the vaccination, Hertz is
agencies suggested that vaccine side-effects beginning to feel better but nowhere near her former
would be “one in a million” rarities, each self. “It’s ruined my life,” she said. She’s afraid to
of these life-threatening side-effects carries interact with people because she doesn’t know how
a higher risk than that. And with their her body will respond to a real Covid infection, and
incidences combined, the risk of developing she’s afraid of what other symptoms await. Although
any one of the four amounts to some 314 in she has no diagnosis for her condition, she says simply,
a million. “I’ve been poisoned.”
Hertz started to comment on web pages where they
were discussing how “rare” serious adverse events
were, and on her first post in a neurology journal, she
accidentally left her e-mail address.
Many experience a wide-ranging cache of “Lo and behold, people started emailing me from all
symptoms that are similar to common neurological or over the world,” Hertz said. Most were from the US and
autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis,systemic Canada, but some from as far away as Serbia.“It’s many
lupus erythematosus,chronic fatigue syndrome thousands now.”
(myalgic encephalomyelitis),or several of these at once. Hertz formed a group called C19 Vax Reactions
But the test results don’t fit. (www.c19vaxreactions.com) with the aim to share their
experiences and find treatments for their “unique and
‘I’ve been poisoned’ unbearable” disorders, though she’s limited the size of
Danice Hertz,a recently retired gastroenterologist and her group now, to keep it friendly.
internist from LosAngeles,said her bizarre symptoms She wrote to the US Centers for Disease Control and
began 30 minutes after she got her first dose of Pfizer’s Prevention (CDC), Pfizer, the White House and the
Covid mRNA vaccine in late December 2020. FDA.“I’ve spoken with commissioner of the FDA, Janet
“I felt this strange burning and numbness sensation Woodcock, and she came right out and said she’s not
in my face,”she told WDDTY.She was dizzy,and her interested in us. She’s not interested in our symptoms.”
blood pressure spiked.Over the next day or two,“It
evolved—it was mostly neurological symptoms.I was ‘It feels like my heart is being ripped out’
sure I was going to die.” Five people from her group, including a 12-year-old
Hertz barely left her bed the first week after getting the girl who was in Pfizer’s clinical trial, Maddie de Garay
injection,as the burning sensation spread to her arms of Cincinnati, Ohio, were at a press conference hosted
and legs.She could“barely move”and only got up with by US Senator Ron Johnson in June.7 Maddie’s mother
help.More symptoms set in: tremors and twitching, Stephanie de Garay’s voice broke, and she fought tears
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 41
 EPORT

as she described how Maddie experienced severe side-

effects that resulted in nine emergency room visits and
three hospitalizations totaling two months after she
took the experimental shot.
Sitting in a wheelchair with a bandage for a feeding
tube on her neck and an oxygen tube in her nose,
Maddie listened as her mother told her story of
developing “severe abdominal and chest pain.” She had
told her mother,“It feels like my heart is being ripped
out of my throat.”
Her other symptoms included severe headaches,
dizziness, heavy menstrual bleeding, seizures and “loss
of feeling from the waist down,” her mother said. Drug
company Pfizer, whose trial Maddie was enrolled in and
which will haul in $33.5 billion in profits from its Covid
shot this year, was of no help. No regulatory agency was
assisting Maddie, and doctors were only beginning to
do appropriate blood tests and brain scans five months
after her side-effects began.

‘Why is she not back to normal?’

“Maddie volunteered for the trial, why wasn’t the drug
company investigating what was wrong with her?” her
mother asked, still in apparent disbelief.
“All we want is for Maddie to be seen, heard and
believed, because she has not been,” Stephanie
said through sobs.“We want her to get the care she
desperately needs so she can get back to normal. Why is
she not back to normal?”
These are questions that the public need to be asking
too, but which have only very disturbing answers.
Sucharit Bhakdi is the former chair of Medical
Microbiology and Immunology at the Institute
of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Johannes
Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany. He had
an illustrious career before his retirement in 2012,
having published more than 300 articles in virology and
immunology and receiving numerous awards.
In February, Bhakdi formed a group called Doctors
for Covid Ethics (doctors4covidethics.org) with other
highly credentialed scientists who sent an open letter
to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) expressing
their grave concerns about the “serious potential
consequences of Covid-19 vaccine technology”
including “possible autoimmune reactions, blood
clotting abnormalities, stroke and internal bleeding,”
which could occur “in the brain, spinal cord and heart.”8
They questioned whether these dangers had been
excluded in preclinical animal models with all three
vaccines prior to their approval for use in humans.
Blood clots
As it happened, the EMA, which is responsible for
evaluating medicinal products for use in European
Union member states, was already investigating 37
blood clotting cases behind the scenes.
Despite widespread alarm, the WHO released
a statement on March 17 proclaiming that “the benefits
of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks,” with the
42 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
Designer spike protein
Researchers thought the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein would be an
excellent target for their brand new untested-in-humans vaccine
technology. Whereas old-fashioned vaccines inject a killed or
weakened pathogen, the revolutionary Covid vaccines directly
infiltrate human cells with mRNA (or another vector in the case
of the Johnson &Johnson and AstraZeneca jabs) and temporarily
hijack a portion of the cell’s protein synthesis machinery to
manufacture the spike protein.
The manufactured spike proteins migrate to the surface of the
cell, eventually becoming visible to the ever-vigilant immune
system players on patrol in the bloodstream.
Once spotted, this foreign spike protein activates a storm of
defense activity, and the system, according to vaccine makers’
plan, becomes “primed” to marshal a ruthless assault against any
pathogen presenting this spike ever again.
WHO recommending “that vaccinations continue” on
the back of research from the EMA.9
But the EMA data showed that there were 13 cases
of cerebral vascular thrombosis (brain blood clots)
compared to a normal rate of just 1.3, and five cases of
disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC, in which
multiple blood clots form throughout the body that
paradoxically causes bleeding) in people under 50 when
the normal rate is “below one.”
“When I read this, I said,‘you guys have to have to be
taken to court,’” Bhakdi said in an April interview with
Journeyman Pictures.10
Bhakdi points out that, in Germany, if everyone
under 60 were vaccinated this would translate to 60
deaths in people under age 55 from this one rare vaccine
complication alone, compared to the 52 Covid-related
deaths in the entire first wave of the pandemic in the
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

Fighting parasites and spike proteins
Ivermectin is an old antiparasitic drug with immune-modulating
and antiviral properties. It was repurposed to fight Covid early
on, and a recent meta-analysis of 11 studies found it reduced
hospitalizations and cut deaths by 56 percent.1
Oxford University is currently conducting a placebo-controlled
trial of ivermectin in the treatment of Covid-19.2
Public health’s response has been to vilify the drug and make it
difficult for doctors to prescribe—something many see as a ploy to
allow vaccines to keep their Emergency Use Authorization status.
Vaccine makers can only market their fast-tracked, experimental
shots in the absence of any other effective treatment.
Some people are taking it anyway—in veterinary form. Farmers
routinely treat horses with over-the-counter ivermectin, which is
available (in the US) as a 1.87
1 87 percent horse deworming paste that
usually also contains app e flavoring
and corn oil. Critically, thee dose must
be adjusted from horse to o human
weight.
For anti-Covid early outpatient
treatment, unidentified doctors are
recommending a minimuum of
0.2 mg/kg/day for five to seven
days in addition to other
treatments such as zinc. SSome
have said this is too low and it
should be repeated two o or three
times per day.
Now, the drug is being
repurposed again—as paart of
a long-hauler Covid and ppost-
vaccine syndrome therapyy.
REFERENCES
1 “Meta-analysis of randomized
trials of ivermectin to treat
SARS-CoV-2 infection,”
covid19criticalcare.com/
wp-content/uploads/2021/07/
AndrewHill7-6-21paper.pdf
2 www.principletrial.org
German population under age 60.“How in God’s
name can the benefits outweigh the risks?” he asked.
What’s more, Bhakdi is worried that the symptoms
of venous brain blood clots—a splitting headache,
nausea, vomiting, dizziness, paralysis, tremors and
tics, seizures, loss of hearing, blurred vision—were
very similar to many of the symptoms described by
those who experienced severe vaccine reactions. “Clot
formation in brain veins can give you any symptoms
you want.”
Spike protein and blood clots
Those symptoms are also similar to what is described
in severe Covid-19 sufferers and those with so-called
“long-hauler syndrome”—people who have lingering
and sometimes debilitating effects of Covid long after
infection. The common denominator in all of these
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
SPECI
conditions is the infamous coronavirus spike protein
(see box, page 42).
In March 2021, researchers at Baylor College of
Medicine reported that Covid-19 is mostly a vascular
disease that results in blood clotting disorders. The
simple act of spike protein binding to cell receptors
called ACE2 receptors that are scattered throughout
the body, particularly on cells that line the surfaces of
arteries and veins, kicks off a number of pathological
processes like a start button for blood clotting.11
Another study published in Nature
Neuroscience found that when spike protein was
injected directly into the bloodstream of lab animals,
they developed cardiovascular symptoms. Even worse,
it was discovered that part of the spike protein called
the S1 subunit can cross the blood-brain barrier, which
could trigger all sorts of neurological effects like those
experienced by Maddy, Dr Hertz and thousands of
others, just as Dr Bhakdi described.12
The coronavirus spike protein itself is dangerous
then; it wreaks havoc by inducing blood clotting,
slipping into the brain to cause neurological mayhem,
and binding with receptors on many types of cells,
interfering with their normal functions.
What could go wrong?
One big problem is that no one seemed to know where
the mRNA was going. The CDC tells us that the mRNA
is injected into muscle and that it triggers the muscle
cells in the area of the injection to make the “harmless”
spike protein.13
In May, Dr Byram Bridle, a Canadian viral
immunologist and associate professor of veterinary
medicine at the University of Guelph, gave a startling
interview revealing a different picture altogether. He
cited unpublished Pfizer preclinical data showing that
the lipid encasing the mRNA in Covid-19 vaccinations
unexpectedly enters the bloodstream and migrates to
organs throughout the body, including the ovaries
and uterus.14
Pfizer’s bio-distribution study on animals (released
by the Japanese government) is frightening because
besides the potentially toxic lipid accumulation in cells
at distant sites around the body, triggering its own host
of potential problems, it suggests that mRNA delivered
via the lipids would prompt these cells to manufacture
spike protein there, too.15
There was no actual mRNA in the experiment,
which is odd. Why didn’t the researchers include all
ingredients? But there’s no reason to think mRNA
would not be carried by the lipids, as per the vaccine
design, and trigger spike protein manufacture in any
organs they accumulate in. Spike protein could then
trigger an immune assault directly on these organ
tissues or the dangerous blood clotting cascades they are
known for in Covid.
The findings certainly suggest a potential effect on
fertility and pregnancy, and they could explain the
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 43
SPECIAL REPORT
SPECIA

Nature’s anti-spikers Iodine

Topical iodine kills all microbes
on contact. Dr Sarah Myhill
recommends using a few
Nattokinase drops of Lugol’s iodine in a
Nattokinase is a salt inhaler and sniffing just
fermented soybean enough to get a whiff of iodine
product that is eaten to keep the viral load down
mostly in Japan. It’s in the nasal tract and prevent
also been researched and it from entering further and
found to be a “versatile and potent triggering an immune reaction
fibrinolytic enzyme that can be used to combat if you’ve been exposed.
blood clots.”
In one study, when dogs with chemically
induced blood blots in a major leg vein were fed
four nattokinase capsules (2,000 FU/capsule),
the clots completely dissolved within five hours For preventing infection (and ADE), as well as long Covid and post-vaccine
and normal blood flood was restored.1 symptoms, Dr Myhill recommends implementing these four tactics:
In another study modeling thrombosis in the
carotid artery, rats given nattokinase recovered Vitamin D
62 percent of arterial blood flow.2 “Those people with lowest levels of vitamin D are thee ones dying
Other studies have shown that nattokinase of Covid,” says Dr Myhill.6 “This is why people with
w darker
consumed as a food or a supplement can skin color are dying of Covid more often, because they
improve parameters linked to blood clots in do not make vitamin D as efficiently.” It’s also a potent
humans.3 immune system modulator. At doses of up to 10 0,000 IU of
vitamin D3 per day, it has never been shown to elicit side-
effects and is the equivalent of about one hour of suunbathing.
Dandelion and pomegranate
Some people advocate 20,000 IU. “If in doubt, get your blood
German researchers reported recently that
levels checked,” says Myhill.
an extract of the dried leaves of the common
yellow dandelion was effective at
Ketogenic/paleo diet
blocking the spike protein
Susceptibility to Covid—and lasting Covid—
from binding to ACE2
increases with excess weight.7 The fastest
receptors—the main way
and healthiest way to drop weight and blood
the spike gains entry
sugar is with a fat-burning, low-carbohydrate
to cells.4
ketogenic diet, says Myhill. The ketogenic
Another 2021 study
diet has also been shown to fight a range of
by Italian researchers
inflammation-driven illnesses, from heart
focused on extracts
disease to Alzheimer’s.8
of pomegranate peel,
which contains compounds
Vitamin C
that have antiviral and
Vitamin C, an antiviral superstar, was shown
antioxidant properties and
to protect the Covid-infected early on in the
have been shown to protect
pandemic. Trials show that a dose as low as 10
against degenerative
grams delivered once a day to ICU patients was
chronic diseases, type 2
enough to prevent patients from dying and
diabetes, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular
see them go home sooner,9 says Myhill. She
disease.
advises that “at least five grams a day of vitamin
The researchers found that extract from
C” is needed to saturate the body.
pomegranate peel and its main constituents could
prevent spike protein from binding
to ACE2 receptors in vitro,
suggesting it could also
bar spike entry REFERENCES 5 Front Chem, 2021; 9: 638187
into host 1 Acta Haematol, 1990; 84: 139–43 6 Front Public Health, 2021; 9: 624559
2 Biol Pharm Bull, 1995; 18: 1194–6 7 Science, Sep. 8, 2020; www.sciencemag.org.
cells.5 3 Int J Mol Sci, 2017; 18: 523 doi:10.1126/science.abe7010
4 bioRxiv 2021.03.19.435959; doi.org/10.1101/ 8 Ageing Res Rev, 2010; 9: 273–9
2021.03.19.435959 9 Medicine, 2021; 100: e25876 

44 WDD
D FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

A predictor of severity of Covid-19 illness.18
homeopathic
solution: the
Indian red scorpion
Jeremy Sherr, a renowned
homeopath based in Tanzania,
where he and his wife Camilla founded
Homeopathy for Health in Africa in 2008
(www.homeopathyforhealthinafrica.org;
www.dynamis.edu), says homeopathic
remedies have a “somewhat different
approach” from drug treatments and
nutritional and lifestyle approaches. “Rather
than strengthening the immune system, we
are redirecting the immune system.”
Homeopaths like Sherr gather all
the symptoms of a condition and see
them together as a sort of “whole
hive” before they choose a remedy.
For Covid vaccine injury they have
developed a unique homeopathic
remedy based on the Indian red
scorpion, the most lethal scorpion in
the world, which also produces the
broad array of symptoms experienced
by people post-vaccine, and he’s seen
many patients quickly recover. No one is
the same, however,
th h andd Sh
Sherr recommends
d seeking
ki
professional homeopathic help for treatment.
thousands of reports of irregular menstrual cycles
and reported miscarriages as well. The thought of
cells in organs like the heart producing spike protein is
concerning, too.
‘We made a big mistake’
“We made a big mistake. We didn’t realize it until now,”
said Bridle, who had received a government grant to
research Covid-19 vaccines in 2020.16 Bridle also cited
a recent Harvard study in which the S1 subunit of the
spike protein—the one that can enter the brain—was
found circulating in the plasma in 11 of 13 vaccinated
individuals studied.17
German physician Christof Plothe has seen a rise
in potentially blood clotting-related problems in his
practice since the vaccine rollout.“We have had loss
of eyesight, peripheral venous and arterial blood
clots, heart attacks, right heart failures, respiratory
problems, strokes, severe headaches, sudden-onset
dementia and several other potentially vascular-
related events in much higher incidences than before
and in close proximity to the injection,” Plothe told
WDDTY.
If they were clot-related, most of these clots would
be too small to see on scans, thinks Plothe. Instead,
he has begun to use a D-dimer test, a test which
may indicate the presence of blood clotting in the
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
REFERENCES
1 VaccineAdveerseEvent Reporting
System,wonnder.cdc.gov/vaers.
html(dataas ofJul30, 2021)
2 AgencyforHealthcare Research
andQuality, “Electronic Support
forPublicHealth-Vaccine
AdverseEvenntReporting System
(ESP:VAERS),”GrantNumber: R18
HS017045.digital.ahrq.gov
JAMA 1562–5
4 Nice,Jul29,22021.www.nice.org.
uk/news/artticle/nice-publishes-
new-rapid-guideline-to-diagnose-
and-treat-rare-blood-clotting-
condition-associated-with-covid-
19-vaccination
19 i ti
5 WHO,Jul9,2021.www.who.int/
news/item/09-07-2021-gacvs-
guidance-myocarditis-pericarditis-
covid-19-mrna-vaccines
6 CDC, Mar 19, 2021; Table
1, Scenario 5 “Current Best
Estimate.” www.cdc.gov/
coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/
planning-scenarios.html
7 Fox6 News Milwaukee, Jun
28, 2021. www.youtube.com/
watch?v=6mxqC9SiRh8
8 doctors4covidethics.medium.
com/urgent-open-letter-from-
doctors-and-scientists-to-the-
european-medicines-agency-
regarding-covid-19-f6e17c311595
9 WHO, Mar 17, 2021. www.who.
int/news/item/17-03-2021-who-
statement-on-astrazeneca-covid-
19-vaccine-safety-signals
10 www.youtube.com/
watch?v=pyPjAfNNA-U
11 Circulation Res, 2021; 128: 1323–6
12 Nat Neurosci, 2021; 24: 368–78
13 CDC, Mar 4, 2021. www.cdc.gov/
coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/
different-vaccines/mrna.html
14 ON Point with Alex Pierson, May
27, 2021. Globalnews.ca
15 trialsitenews.com/wp-content/
uploads/2021/06/Pfizer-report_
Japanese-government.pdf
16 CBC News, May 21, 2020. www.
cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-
waterloo/university-guelph-
vaccine-study-covid-19-1.5578787
17 Clin Infect Dis, 2021; ciab465
18 J Thromb Haemost, 2020; 18:
2408–11
19 bioRxiv 2021.06.25.449905; doi.
org/10.1101/2021.06.25.449905
SPECIAL REPORT
body (though it does not indicate where) used as a
Charles Hoffe is a physician practicing in Canada
who drew attention to the high number of patients
in his general practice in a small indigenous town
in British Columbia who experienced serious
neurological problems after having Covid vaccines.
After he began using the D-dimer test on his recently
vaccinated patients, he discovered that 62 percent
had elevated D-dimer.
Healing long-haul Covid
Whether you’ve already been vaccinated and you’ve
had symptoms since a shot or you have lingering
symptoms after a Covid infection, it’s the spike
protein, wild or vaccine-designed, that’s the culprit.
“The adverse reaction to the vaccine is like getting
Covid, because many of the side-effects of Covid
come from the spike protein, punching holes in your
blood vessels, stimulating the immune system and
invading the nervous system,” said UK naturopathic
physician Dr Sarah Myhill (www.drmyhill.co.uk).
Bruce Patterson, former head of virology at
Stanford University School of Medicine and founder
of “single-cell diagnostic company” IncellDX,
has been researching long-hauler Covid. Testing
immune markers, he has reported a distinct immune
system “index” in long Covid sufferers—and it is
similar in those suffering from long post-Covid
vaccine syndrome.
As he’s shown in long-haulers, the pattern is tied to
a class of special white blood cells called monocytes
that patrol blood vessels and other membranes and
have soaked up S1 spike protein, carrying it around
up to 15 months after Covid diagnosis.19
The cells, which are activated by exercise, cause
vascular inflammation that, depending on where in
the body they strike, explains a range of long Covid
and post-Covid vaccine symptoms including fierce
headaches and flare-ups after “overdoing it.”
Patterson’s Chronic Covid Treatment Center
(covidlonghaulers.com) offers a four- to six-week
treatment protocol designed to tamp down specific
immune markers and restore immune system
balance. It uses three drugs, two (the antiviral
maraviroc combined with a statin) to tamp down
flaring immune markers and stop the monocytes
from moving around and attaching to blood vessels
and the third, a sidelined star of the Covid saga,
ivermectin (see box page 34).
Patterson said a “majority” of his patients are
feeling improvements in just two weeks, with
improvements in immune system markers
measurable in four weeks.
For more on Covid, check out The Ultimate Covid-19 Bundle, which
includes access to a two-hour webinar recording and a 72-page
special report. It’s available from www.getwell.solutions,
WDDTY’s sister site, for £19.95 (see Content Bundles).
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 45
SPECIAL REPORT
SPECIA

Searching for silence

46 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ


he body of Kent Taylor, CEO
and maverick behind the Texas
Roadhouse restaurant chain, was
found in a field on his Louisville,
Kentucky property in an apparent
suicide in March this year. His
family said the 65-year-old
founder of the billion-dollar
global company had taken his own life to escape
“unbearable” tinnitus that had worsened drastically
after he battled a Covid-19 infection.
Tinnitus, or ‘ringing in the ears,’ is the phenomenon
of hearing phantom noises in your ears that are not from
an external source. It has a wide range of presentations,
from a sound like buzzing cicadas to whooshing, wave-
like effects to something like radio static in the ears. It
can pulse like the sound of a heartbeat in the head, be a
low hiss like an overheated radiator, or high and shrill as
a dog whistle. It can come and go, be in one ear or both,
change on the hour or with location or be a constant din.
The condition is most often treated as something of a
non-life-threatening annoyance. A quick search online,
however, reveals thousands of sufferers describing their
harrowing ordeals with the condition that has robbed
them of peace of mind and altered their lives.
Taylor may have been a rare tinnitus sufferer driven to
suicide by the noise in his head, but there are millions—
studies say somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of the
population—affected by tinnitus to some degree.
Data reveal that tinnitus affects people’s job
performance and concentration, and it can lead to
anxiety, depression and impaired sleep.1 It frequently
precedes hearing loss. Those who have it are also more
likely to develop Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.2
TAYLORMAYHAVEBEENARARE
TINNITUSSUFFERERDRIVENTO
SUICIDEBYTHENOISEINHISHEAD,
BUTTHEREAREMILLIONS—STUDIES
SAYSOMEWHEREBETWEEN10AND
15PERCENTOFTHEPOPULATION—
AFFECTEDBYTINNITUSTOSOME
DEGREE
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
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Millions suffer from
ringing, whooshing
and buzzing in the ears.
Celeste McGovern
investigates links with
Covid and the vaccine,
plus a range of hopeful
alternative treatments
for tinnitus
Soldiers are a group especially at risk of the disorder.
Before he died, Taylor had donated funds to a clinical
study to help members of the military who suffer with
tinnitus, which has become the number one service-
related disability among veterans in the United States.
The American Tinnitus Association (ATA) reports that
there were 971,990 Veteran’s Administration claims for
tinnitus in 2012, resulting in payment of $1.2 billion in
disability compensation to military veterans, and those
numbers have continued to grow.3
Protect your ears
The obvious common denominator among military
vets with tinnitus is a history of exposure to the noise
of explosions, which also can cause hearing loss.4 Loud
noises can bend or break the tiny, delicate hair cells that
line the spiral cavity of the inner ear (cochlea)—so tiny
that 1,800 could fit on the head of pin. Sound waves
move these hairs, and the movement triggers electrical
signals along the nerve from your ear to your brain,
which interprets the electrical signals as sound.
One American who served in Iraq said he distinctly
recalls his tinnitus starting when the large military
vehicle he was driving was hit by hand-held anti-tank
grenades.“I remember hearing ringing after that,” he
said.“I don’t know a single veteran that has come back
from Iraq who does not have tinnitus.”5
The sensation of lying down in a quiet room after
being at a rock concert or at a loud nightclub and
hearing the sound of music or thumping is a temporary
sign of damage that usually dissipates, but one recent
study found the risk of chronic tinnitus was three times
higher in people with consistent exposure to loud noises
at work and twice as high in those with ‘recreational’
exposures.4
Turn that racket down
Noel Gallagher, the lead singer and guitarist for the
British rock band Oasis, told the UK’s Daily Star
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 47
 EPORT
Oasis frontman
Noel Gallagher
experienced a sudden
onset of tinnitus
like a “whistling
kettle”
newspaper recently that he
has tinnitus, which sounds
like a “whistling kettle.”He
believes it developed from
the noise exposure in his
band, and it just turned on
one night like the flick of a light
switch.
“It’s the [ear] I stand in front of
my guitar amp with,”he said.“It’s pretty
bad.”6
Young people who listen to loud music with earbuds
or headphones or through mobile phones are a high-
risk population for ear damage.
A 2017 study from McMaster University in Canada
reported an unexpectedly high level of tinnitus among
170 adolescents from São Paulo between 11 and 17
years old who frequently listened to loud music. More
than a quarter (28 percent) had already developed
persistent tinnitus.7
The study’s authors said that youths are routinely
exposed to damaging levels of sound exposure
“sufficient to produce hidden cochlear injuries.”
“It’s a growingproblem,andIthinkit’sgoingtoget
worse,” said researcherLarryRoberts.“Mypersonalview
is that there is amajorpublichealthchallengecoming
down the roadintermsof difficultieswithhearing.”
Rule out other disease
Rarely, tinnitus is a sign of an underlying
nasopharyngeal cancer,and it’s important to have this
ruled out, especially if the tinnitus or feeling of fullness
is in one ear and accompanied by other symptoms
including recurrent ear infections,nasal blockage
or stuffiness, nosebleeds,headaches,facial pain or
numbness, trouble opening the mouth and blurred or
double vision.8
Occasionally“pulsatile”tinnitus—the kind that
makes a heartbeat or rhythmic thumping noise—is
a signal of heart disease,hypertension or some other
restriction of blood supply to the central auditory
system, and this may worsen over time.
A blood pressure check should be standard for
tinnitus, hearing loss and dizziness,and a doctor’s
examination should include using a stethoscope to
listen to the blood flow through the arteries in your neck
to check for a “bruit”sound (pronounced BROO-
ee)—the noise that blood makes when it rushes past an
obstruction—in the carotid arteries.
The presence of the sound would lead to further tests
to look for a narrowing in the carotid arteries or other
obstructions.9
48 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
Infections and ear wax
A sinus or ear infection or nasal congestion from a bad
cold or flu can result in fluid building up and creating
pressure in the middle ear,which can lead to hearing
loss or tinnitus.
Sometimes just having the ear gently flushed or
suctioned to remove impacted wax can help restore
muffled hearing or tinnitus buzzing,but some
people have reported that their tinnitus started after
this treatment,so caution is warranted.
In one study of 2,400 people who were seeking
treatment for tinnitus, 11 of them said their
condition started after they underwent ear irrigation
to have wax removed.Another three patients said
tinnitus started when they tried to remove their
earwax themselves. Cotton buds (Q-tips) can do
damage as well as compact earwax, so exercise caution
when cleaning ears.10
A few drops of olive oil in the ear may be enough to
soften wax.Warm it slightly first,apply into the ear,then
put a cotton swab over the ear or an old towel on your
pillowcase to prevent it from leaking out.
A safe homemade ear drops recipe from The Butter
Half (www.thebutterhalf.com) says to crush two or
three raw cloves of garlic in two tablespoons of olive or
fractionated coconut oil until fragrant.Strain and pour
it in a sterile dropper bottle and add 6–8 drops of pure
tea tree oil for extra infection-fighting potency.
In the brain, not the ears
Although tinnitus may begin as an injury to ear
cells,it’s accepted science now that the condition
has implications beyond the ears to the brain.Josef
Rauschecker and his colleagues in the Department
of Neuroscience,the Division of Audiology,and
the Department of Otolaryngology at Georgetown
University have used brain imaging studies to reveal
“IT’SAGROWINGPROBLEM,ANDI
THINKIT’SGOINGTOGETWORSE,”
SAIDRESEARCHERLARRYROBERTS.
“MYPERSONALVIEWISTHAT
THEREISAMAJORPUBLICHEALTH
CHALLENGECOMINGDOWNTHE
ROADINTERMSOFDIFFICULTIES
WITHHEARING”
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
 SPECI

some rather scary results: they observed a significant

loss of volume in an area located in the frontal lobe of
the brain in people with tinnitus.11
Researchers at the University of Illinois found that
chronic tinnitus is also linked to changes in a region
of the brain called the precuneus, part of the parietal
lobes that sit near the top of the skull. The precuneus
is connected to two inversely related networks in the
brain: the “dorsal attention network,” activated by
stimulation from incoming sensory information like
touch and noise, and the “default mode network,” which
operates when the brain is at rest and not occupied by
anything in particular.12
“When the default mode network is on, the dorsal
attention network is off, and vice versa. We found that
the precuneus in tinnitus patients seems to be playing
a role in that relationship,” said tinnitus researcher Sara
Schmidt.
The University of Illinois team found that in patients
with chronic tinnitus, the dorsal attention network is
working more often than the default mode network,
which means the brain isn’t relaxing and disengaging
from surrounding stimuli, creating potential for mental
fatigue. And the more severe the tinnitus, the more
activated the dorsal attention network.
“This could explain why many report being tired more
often. Additionally, their attention may be engaged more
with their tinnitus than necessary, and that may lessen
their attention to other things,” University of Illinois
professor of speech and hearing science Fatima Husain
said.“If you have bothersome tinnitus, this may be why
you have concentration issues.”
Interestingly, patients with recent-onset tinnitus
did not show differences in their precuneus network
connections compared to controls, suggesting that the
changes in the brain come on after the tinnitus, not the
other way around.
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s link
Tinnitus tends to increase with age, and studies have
found that hearing loss is associated with dementia
and impaired memory, but a 2019 study published
in Scientific Reports was the first to look at tinnitus,
Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases systematically in a
population-based way.
A team of Taiwanese researchers used health records
to identify 12,657 tinnitus patients and 25,314 control
patients without tinnitus. Over a 10-year follow-up
period, 398 of those with tinnitus (3.1 percent) and 501
without (2.0 percent) developed Alzheimer’s, and 211
tinnitus patients (1.7 percent) and 249 control patients
(1.0 percent) developed Parkinson’s.
After adjusting for other potential influencing factors
like diabetes, head injuries and income, the researchers
determined that patients with tinnitus were 1.54 times
more likely to develop Alzheimer’s and 1.56 times more
likely to develop Parkinson’s.
A possible mechanism for the relationship between
tinnitus and neurodegenerative diseases may be
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
Post-Covid tinnitus
Reports of people experiencing tinnitus as a
lingering after-effect of Covid infection, as Kent
Taylor suffered from, began to emerge early in the
ppandemic
pandemic. The Britis
British Tinnitus Association
(BTA) reported a 256 percent rise in web
chatting abbout tinnitus from May to
D cember 2020, compared with
De
he same period a year earlier. It
a so r ceived 16 percent more
calls to its helpline.
ca
7.6% A study from the
of people infected Un versity of Manchester
with Covid-19 and Manchester Biomedical
experienced some Research Centre published
degree of hearing loss in March found that 7.6
percent of people infected
14.8% witth Covid-19 experienced
somme degree of hearing
suffered from loss, 14.8 percent suffered
tinnitus fromm tinnitus and 7.2 percent
r ported vertigo.
re
Possible mechanisms for
Covid tinnnitus include direct viral
infection of the inner ear or the
nerves, an inflammatory attack
of immune cells or antibodies on
components off the ears or nerves, or the
production of blood clots that block blood
supply to the very sensitive cells of the cochlea,
starving them of oxygen.1
REFERENCES
1 Int J Audiol, 2021 Mar 22; 1–11
inflammation, which is common to many chronic
disorders. This fits with the post-Covid and post-
infection onset of tinnitus, too, and opens up new lines
of treatment possibilities that mainstream medicine
isn’t offering.13
For the most part, mainstream medicine has a
“get used to it” approach to tinnitus, once pressing
dangers have been ruled out. Doctors suggest masking
techniques like white noise and fans to distract from
the noise, psychological approaches like cognitive
behavioral therapy to retrain the brain to accept the
noise as background, or meditation to help with anxiety
and acceptance.
White noise apps abound, and some tinnitus
sufferers say they function best if soft music is playing
in the background. YouTube offers an assortment
of tinnitus playlists from hours of ocean waves and
babbling brooks to Tibetan wind chimes and bird
noises.
But masking the problem does not solve the problem,
so when patients were asked how effectively their
healthcare provider was able to manage their tinnitus,
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 49
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SPECIA
it’s not surprising that 83 percent replied,“not at all
effectively” or “not very effectively.” Only 3.5 percent
thought that their tinnitus had been managed “very
effectively” or “extremely effectively.”14
But there are things that have definitely brought some
people relief. Here are a few of the most popular and
promising simple therapies and supplements.
Antioxidants
Oxygen free radicals have been connected to age-related
and noise-induced hearing loss. A 2019 randomized,
double-blind, placebo-controlled study by researchers
at the University of Athens School of Medicine found
that supplementation with the antioxidant alpha-lipoic
acid (ALA; 300 mg twice a day) and a multivitamin
with minerals reduced the subjective discomfort
and intensity of tinnitus. Those in the placebo group
reported no change.15
Vitamin B12 deficiency has also been linked to
both an increase of oxidation and the development of
tinnitus. In one study of military personnel, 47 percent
of those with noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus
were deficient in vitamin B12 compared to 19 percent of
those with normal hearing.16
In a more recent randomized, double-blind study,
43 percent of patients with chronic tinnitus had vitamin
B12 deficiency, and they experienced a significant
improvement in tinnitus severity after weekly injections
of 2,500 mcg vitamin B12 for 6 weeks.17 One 2018 study
also found that 28 percent of a small group of tinnitus
sufferers (without hearing loss) had a measurable
clinical improvement after taking a multi-B vitamin for
just one month.18
Another antioxidant that may impact tinnitus is
coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). One study found that tinnitus
patients with a low serum level of CoQ10 who took
300 mg CoQ10 daily for 12 weeks reported significant
improvement in their tinnitus severity.19
Coffee is another antioxidant with a tinnitus effect. A
2018 study found that daily coffee consumers between
the ages of 19 and 64 had 50–70 percent less hearing loss
than those who only drank ccoffee rarely,and the more
coffee consumed, the lower the level of tinnitus.
Not surprisingly, the Koreann researchers found that
brewed coffee had a more
protective effect than
instant.20
Suggested daily dosages:
alpha-lipoic acid, 300 mg perday;
multivitamin-multimineral compplex,
follow the label instructions;CoQ110, 300
mg daily
Ginkgo biloba
The Chinese have used the
leaves of the Ginkgo biloba trree in their
traditional medicine for thoousands of years.A
2020 review of the medical literature on Ginkgo
biloba for tinnitus found that testing with
50 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
Vaccine reeaction
The same proceesses underlying Covid
infection-relatedd hearing problems could
be underlying thhe thousands of reports of
tinnitus and othher ear disorders following
Covid vaccinatio on. The UK’s Yellow Card
Following reporting system m recorded 9,210 reports
vaccinations for of people who ddeveloped ear disorders
Covid-19 there
was a total of after receiving CCovid shots.
These included 3,497 reports of
3,497 tinnitus, 2,663 of them following jabs of
reports AstraZeneca’s CCovid vaccine. While these
of tinnitus reports are not confirmed as caused
by the vaccine (nor are those reports
2,663 following Covid confirmed as caused
of them by the infection), they are temporally
followed jabs of related and there seems to be a common
AstraZeneca’s picture emerginng.1
A private Faceebook group called Covid
Covid vaccine
Vaccine-Inducedd Hearing Loss and
Tinnitus has alreeady attracted nearly
700 members, who describe their sagas
of ringing, buzzing or hearing loss
beginning within minutes or hours and
sometimes weeeks after getting Covid
shots—and staaying.
One woman posted to the group in
May that she deeveloped tinnitus in her
right ear three ddays after getting her first
dose of Pfizer’s Covvid shot in April. “At times
the roaring is so loud I cannot stand it,”
she wrote. “Went tto see ENT [ear, nose and
throat specialist] who gave me prednisone.
Has anyone here triedd prednisone? Also very
reluctant to get seconnd shot. ENT advised
against it. . . Does this ever go away?”
REFERENCES
1 UKMedicines&Heealthcare Products Regulatory Agency,
“Coronavirusvaccine-weekly summary of Yellow Card
reporting.”Updateed27May 2021. www.gov.uk
WHENPATIENTSW WEREASKEDHOW
EFFECTIVELYTHEEIRHEALTHCARE
PROVIDERWASAABLETOMANAGE
THEIRTINNITTUS,IT’SNOT
SURPRISINGTHAT83PERCENT
REPLIED,“NOTATA
REPLIED NOTATALLEFFECTIVELY”
OR“NOTVERYEFFECTIVELY”
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

inadequate doses may be responsible for some studies
that found no effect compared to those that did.
“All studies, however, assessed the
most important component
of treatment success—the
patients’ perception of
their own tinnitus,” the
paper by researchers at
University of Central
Florida College of
Medicine and the
Michigan Ear Institute
concluded.“Based on this
evidence, Ginkgo biloba
ought to be in the
treatment repertoire of a
physician’s approach to patients with
tinnitus.” 21
Suggested daily dosage: 240 mg of Ginkgo biloba twice daily.
Do not take ginkgo if you have a bleeding disorder, are planning
surgery, or have diabetes, epilepsy or fertility problems—unless
your doctor recommends it. Do not eat untreated parts of the
ginkgo plant which are toxic
Zinc
Animal studies have shown that the
inner ear has a high content of the
essential mineral zinc, and low zinc leveels
correlate with tinnitus. Nevertheless,
the effects of zinc supplementation on
the condition have been conflicting,
with some groups benefiting more than n
others. Among elderly tinnitus suffererss with
lower zinc levels in one study,
82 percent responded favorably after supplementing
with zinc for eight weeks.21
A study of 2,225 participants, including 460 with
tinnitus, found that blood zinc levels were only
significantly lower in those with extreme tinnitus,22
while another study found that patients with tinnitus
and normal hearing had significantly lower levels of
zinc than healthy controls, as compared with patients
with tinnitus and hearing loss, who showed no
significant difference in zinc levels to healthy controls.23
Tinnitus patients with hearing loss may still benefit
from supplementing with zinc, however; in one study
85 percent of patients with noise-induced d hearing
loss (NIHL)-associated tinnitus reported d
a significant improvement in Tinnitus
Handicap Inventory scores following two o 2 Front Pharmacol, 2019; 10: 1161
months of taking 40 mg zinc daily. 21
Suggested daily dosage: 40 mg zinc daily
Magnesium
Magnesium is another mineral that is esseential
to cellular and nervous system function.R Research
has found that serum magnesium levels o of people
with severe “catastrophic” tinnitus were lo
ower than
24
those of healthy controls. A small studyy of 26 patients
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SPECIAL REPORT
Drug damage
It’s not entirely surprising that
vaccines could injure the ears
similar to infections, since
other drugs are well-known
to cause hearing disorders.
“Ototoxicity” is the term for
drugs that have the known
side-effect of toxicity to the
ear, specifically the cochlea
or auditory nerve, and
may cause reversible or
permanent hearing loss and
tinnitus.
Drugs to watch out for
include:
Aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) including
painkillers like ibuprofen (Motrin and Advil) and
naproxen (Aleve) have been shown to cause
tinnitus in some people who have taken them at
high doses or for long periods of time.1
ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor
blockers (ARBs) used to lower blood pressure
may cause ringing in the ears. In a study of
adverse drug reactions, one ARB in particular,
irbesartan (Avapro), was found to stack the odds
of developing tinnitus. The ACE inhibitor ramipril
(Altace) did as well.2
Antibiotics that end in “mycin,” including
streptamycin, gentamicin (Gentafair), tobramycin
(Tobrex), azithromycin (Zithromax or the Z-Pak)
and clarithromycin (Biaxin), all have a well-
documented potential side-effect of hearing loss
and tinnitus when prescribed systemically and
should especially be avoided in pregnancy as they
can damage a developing baby’s ears, too.3
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics like ciprofloxacin
(Cipro), over-prescribed for UTIs, and moxifloxacin
(Avelox) used for bacterial infections have been
reported to cause tinnitus in case studies.
Beta blockers including bisoprolol (Zebeta),
nebivolol (Nebilet, Bystolic) and timolol are used
nebi
to treeat high blood pressure and are linked to
tinnitus.2 REFERENCES
1 Drug Saf, 1993; 9: 143–8
3 Merck Manual (Professional). “Drug-Induced
Ototoxicity,” April 2020. www.merckmanuals.com
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 51
 EPORT

who took 532 mg of magnesium daily found they had

statistical improvement on the Tinnitus Handicap Scale
Stick your tongue out to
after three months.25 tinnitus
Suggested daily dosage: The US National Institutes for Health
safe upper limit for magnesium supplementation is 350 mg daily. There may be a new noninvasive way
Make sure you are eating enough organic magnesium-rich foods to bring relief to tinnitus sufferers using
like spinach, kale, swiss chard, turnip, beet and collard greens and a device that combines sounds with
broccoli. Epsom salt baths also boost magnesium uptake. zaps to the tongue, according to a study
published in October 2020 in Science
Reddit cure Translational Medicine.
A very popular Reddit post about a simple hands-on Hubert Lim, an associate professor of
technique to alleviate tinnitus was made into a YouTube biomedical engineering and otolaryngology at
video in 2017 that has nearly three million views.5 It the University of Minnesota, had discovered that
features people with severe chronic electrically stimulating some neurons in the tongue or
tinnitus cupping their hands over on the face can activate cells in the auditory system.
their ears, stacking their index Weird as it sounds, some people recount this kind of
finger on top of their middle trigger as the beginning of their tinnitus nightmare.
finger and then driving Popular Irish broadcaster Derek Mooney recently
the index fingers down so told The Irish Sun that he believes his 20-year “hell” of
they thwack the base of the sound of a leaking pipe in his ears was set off by a
their skull about 50 times. tool used when he got a shave in a Dublin barbershop.
Roughly half of the people “My memory is that they used a little mechanical
who try the technique device after it to massage my chin,” he said. “The
reportedly have noticeable vibration went into my jaw, and when I came out,
relief. A woman in the video there was this noise in my left ear. I’ve had it ever
cries as she hears silence for the since.”
first time in years. There are hundreds Lim’s treatment targets the brain cells that are firing
of comments on the video from people saying the out of whack. It’s based on animal and human studies
technique helped and from those which it didn’t. that have found that by delivering a zap to the touch-
sensitive neurons in the tongue with a broad range of REFERENCES
Trigger release soundwaves, the brain cells can be reset. 1 Mil Med, 2019; 184(Suppl 1):
One study found that tinnitus patients are five times The technique is called bimodal neuromodulation.
604–14
2 Sci Rep, 2020; 10: 12134
more likely to have myofascial trigger points—hyper- Lim’s recent randomized, double-blind study involved 3 American Tinnitus Association,
irritable or tender spots with palpable nodules in taut 326 adults who used a Lenire device for one hour May 22, 2014, “Treating and
Curing Tinnitus Is Part of Our
bands of muscle fiber—than people who did not suffer a day for 12 weeks. Sixteen percent of participants National Commitment to
from tinnitus. dropped out of the study, but 81 percent of those Veterans.” www.ata.org
A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized 4 BMJ, 2016; 354: i4108
who completed the treatment had improvements in 5 youtu.be/KBgkPOGD6gw
clinical trial by a physiotherapist and ear, nose and quality of life markers such as better concentration or 6 Daily Star, June 2, 2020.
throat specialist at the University of São Paulo Medical sleep and reduced anxiety. For about 77 percent of the
www.dailystar.co.uk
7 Sci Rep, 2016; 6: 27109
School divided 70 people with tinnitus into two groups: group, the benefits lasted a full year.1 8 UK National Health Service,
half received 10 sessions of myofascial trigger point The Lenire device is being sold by Neuromod, and
“Nasopharyngeal Cancer.”
www.nhs.uk/conditions/
“deactivation” through manual pressure, and the other practitioners in Ireland and Germany are offering nasopharyngeal-cancer
half, the control group, received sham treatment. Those the service, which needs training to operate. More 9 Hearing J, 2014; 67(5): 22–6
in the treatment group had diminished trigger point 10 Int Tinnitus J, 2004; 10: 42–6
research is underway to bolster the chances of Food 11 Neuron, 2011; 69: 33–43
pain and improvement in their tinnitus.26 and Drug Administration approval for distribution in 12 Neuroimage Clin, 2017; 16:
196–204
the US.2 13 Sci Rep, 2020; 10: 12134
A similar device has been developed by a group 14 Front Neurosci, 2019; 13: 802
15 Nutrients, 2019; 11: 3037
at the University of Michigan, led by professor of 16 Am J Otolaryngol, 1993; 14: 94–9
otolaryngology Susan Shore, but it pairs the sound 17 Noise Health, 2016; 18: 93–7
heard by the patient with tinnitus—Mooney’s leaking 18 Ann Med Surg, 2018; 36: 203–11
19 Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg,
pipe pitch, for example—with a specifically timed 2007; 136: 72–7
electrical pulse to the head or neck. Early preclinical 20 Nutrients, 2018; 10: 1429
21 Otolaryngol Clin North Am,
trials suggest the device works to reduce the 2020; 53: 637–50
severity of tinnitus.3 22 Clin Exp Otorhinolaryngol, 2015;
8: 335–8
23 Auris Nasus Larynx, 2003;
REFERENCES 30(Suppl): 25–8
1 Sci Transl Med, 2020; 564: eabb2830 24 Kulak Burun Bogaz Ihtis Derg,
2 www.lenire.com/the-science-of-lenire 2016; 26: 225–7
3 University of Michigan Fast Forward Medical Innovation, 25 Int Tinnitus J, 2011; 16: 168–73
innovation.medicine.umich.edu/portfolio_post/shore 26 Braz J Otorhinolaryngol, 2012;
78(6):21–6

52 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

FAMILY HEALTH

Love your gut

According to mindset coach Cara Wheatley-McGrain, who beat her
inflammatory bowel disease with a holistic approach, learning how
stress impacts your gut is the key to keeping it healthy and happy

54 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

H
ave you ever noticed Pancake 10 fl oz/300 mL coconut let the chia seeds soften
how your appetite milk and expand. The mixture
is impacted by how heaven ½ tsp organic coconut oil should have a batter-like
you feel? When These gluten- and 1 Tbsp chia seeds consistency, adding in a
you are anxious, dairy-free pancakes can little more liquid or flour
depressed or stressed, be seasonally updated To serve if needed.
you may overeat or with your choice of Warm a smidgen
A portion-size of
struggle to eat at all. Either way, your gut-friendly fruit. pineapple chunks (2¾ of coconut oil in a
digestive system will be off-kilter. A little Berries are an excellent oz/80 g), blueberries nontoxic frying pan.
short-term stress is OK, but when we choice as they’re (2¾ oz/80 g) and Cook the pancakes one
experience stress in a sustained way, it anti-inflammatory and raspberries (2¾ oz/80 g) by one by placing a large
becomes a problem and impacts the gut great for your gut. You 1 lemon, juice and zest tablespoon of pancake
in some specific ways. can use chia/flaxseed (organic lemons are mix in the pan at a
Your gut and brain are connected to create a ‘chia egg’ unwaxed—the best
choice for zesting) time (aiming for a disc
by the vagus nerve. Its job is to (when you combine around 4 in/10 cm). Cook
communicate information straight chia seeds with water to A sprinkle of your
favorite nuts and seeds each pancake for a few
from your organs (specifically the gut) make a gel) to help bind minutes on each side or
to the brain, and it’s a bidirectional the ingredients, but a 1 dollop of kefir-based
relationship. If you’ve never heard of banana will also do the yogurt or coconut yogurt until golden brown.
per person Pile on a warm plate
the vagus, it’s about time you had an trick.
2 Tbsp tahini while you finish cooking
introduction. Serves:3–4
the rest of the pancakes.
This long,wandering nerve starts at Preptime:20minutes
the base of your brain below the ears and Directions Sprinkle each pancake
continues along the side of the throat,the with pumpkin seeds for
Ingredients Blitz the flour, banana an omega boost and
heart and lungs and into the gut.And this and coconut milk before pack your plate high with
3 oz/100 g flour
is why it’s so fascinating.The vagus nerve mix: oat/almond (or stirring in the chia seeds. your favorite fruit. Serve
is woven into the wall of the intestine. buckwheat if you can
So,what happens in the vagus never just Leave the mixture to with yogurt, nut butter or
tolerate it)
stays in the vagus.It turns out that the stand for 5 minutes to tahini for extra protein.
1 large green banana
vagus plays a key role in supporting our
physical and mental health.1
What does that mean for you and your
gut?As humans,we live between two
key states,with either our sympathetic
or parasympathetic nervous system
activated.
Whenwearestressed,thebraintriggers
theadrenalglandstoreleasethehormones
adrenalineandcortisol.Thesehormones
feedaseriesof responses.Understress,our
sympatheticnervoussystemisdominant.
Whenweareinstressmode,weareinour
flightorfightreadiness.
In flight or fight,our bodies divert
blood to the muscles and heart,and
this reduces the blood supply to the gut.
While all this is happening,digestive
juices get repressed.We don’t need a
hamburger and a side order of fries when
we’re getting ready for flight or fight.So
less saliva,less gastric juice.
Imagine your ancestors out hunting
a big,scary animal.The stress response
was a highly efficient and sensible system.
It worked well for that kind of sudden,
high-risk situation.Big,frightening
animal: cortisol floods our system,
increasing fat and sugar levels in the
bloodstream to feed our muscles ready
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 EALTH
for action. That’s why, after a bout of
stress, you may feel depleted.
Right after a stressful event, you have
a strong biological pull to refuel, and
thousands of years of evolution mean
you’re more likely to head for high fat,
easy sugar energy. That cocktail of surging
stress hormones acts to shut down
digestion (constipation) or speed it up
(diarrhea). Take-home message: when we
eat in stress mode (rushed lunches, rapid-
fire dinners), our gut struggles.
Back to the vagus
The vagus nerve aligns with your
parasympathetic nervous system—the
rest, reset and digest system. This is the
state in which you want to spend more
time, especially when you’re eating.
Vagus nerve activation means blood
supply returns from the muscles and
heart back to the inner organs, ready
for digestion. The salivary glands
start flowing, heart rate decreases and
Most of us are living a standard
Western lifestyle, the kind of 24-7 world
our ancient biome has never had to
navigate before
breathing naturally slows.
Most of us are easy prey to
adrenaline—a gut wash of cortisol.Too
much traffic,an interview,an argument,
and our heart rate goes up.Thanks to
heart rate monitors like Fitbit watches,
we can actually see this in action.In these
moments,our gut shuts down.When we
get really clear gut-led knowledge on just
how much eating on the go and general
levels of stress impact the gut,we can set
out to make changes.
Modern life and your gut
Right now,most of us are living a
standardWestern lifestyle,the kind
of 24-7 world our ancient biome has
never had to navigate before.Over half
of patients who have an inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD) flare say it was
triggered by stressful life events.
Stress triggers can also be cumulative
rather than isolated.Sometimes we can
feel stretched thin across the competing
56 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
Base belly breathing
The breath can ground you deeply into your gut, right into the core of your
being. Breathing with awareness reminds us we are embodied: body, heart
and gut—all inextricably linked. There are many breathing techniques you can
explore that can help stimulate your vagus nerve and link you deeply into your
parasympathetic nervous system. Below is a simple, portable little number,
which I use daily.
If you are going through an IBD flare right now, this can be a powerful healing
agent to calm and support your gut. Spend three minutes doing this practice,
then aim to take three breaths at least each hour—you can set a reminder on
your phone. The aim is to slowly change the mindless habit of shallow breathing
so that you are deeply in your body and belly. Once you’ve got this practice down
pat, you can take it anywhere, anytime.
1 Find a quiet space and
set a three-minute timer.
2 Sit upright comfortably with your back straight
and your shoulders open. Place your dominant
hand lightly on your belly, palm flat, and your
non-dominant hand on your chest. Now take a
deep breath into your lungs and imagine you are
breathing deep into your root chakra (right into the
base of your bum).
3 You will start to feel your non-
dominant hand move outward.
As you naturally exhale your
breath, imagine you are misting
the glass of a mirror with your
mouth slightly open. You can
even make an ‘ahh’ sound.
4 Breathe in again and
repeat. By focusing on
drawing in your breath
beyond your belly, down into
your root chakra, you will
naturally find you breathe
more deeply. You will feel
grounded and present.
Note: If this is the first time you’ve tried abdominal breathing, you may feel
blocked. If this is the case, be gentle and take time to practice. If you continue to
breathe deeply into your root without forcing it, but calmly and with focus, you
will find your energy shifts. This may be accompanied by an emotional shift. If
you’ve received messages about it not being OK to cry, you may notice a release
in your diaphragm.
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demands of our lives, saturated by the Warming cut into rough chunks Directions
sheer amount of stuff that fills our days. Drizzle of olive oil Cook the quinoa to
So it’s vital to make time for some gut autumnal 4¼ oz/120 g sprouts, the packet instructions.
reflection. salad thinly sliced (leave these For zing, add the whole
This super salad raw, or if that’s not
quite to your taste sauté zest and juice of one
Personalizing your gut knowledge contains 10 plant-based in a hot, dry pan for 2 lemon as it cools.
A key part of the jigsaw to managing your ingredients including
gut is creating a space to mindfully tune minutes to soften) Drizzle the cubed
sprouts, which pack a 3 oz/100 g mixed butternut squash with
into inflammation at its subtlest early punch of gut-healthy
stages. I have IBD and irritable bowel dandelion and arugula olive oil and place
goodness. (rocket) leaves in a preheated oven
syndrome (IBS), but I’ve been fortunate Servestwoasamainorfour
to be well and generally symptom-free 1 small zucchini, (390°F/200°C) for 35
asaside spiralized—fit the
for 20 years (since my colon’s near-miss minutes.
Preptime:1hour15minutes straight blade to
with the scalpel). What I have been create ribbons of thin Once cooked,
doing consistently is showing up for zucchini or swap out for combine the quinoa,
my gut in the most loving, mindful and Ingredients cucumber for a fresher roasted butternut
compassionate way I can. 3 oz/100 g quinoa, taste squash, sprouts, salad
Those familiar with IBD and IBS know cooked 2¾ oz/80 g lightly leaves and zucchini.
how an inflamed gut feels—it generally 1 lemon, zest and juice toasted nuts (walnuts Sprinkle with toasted
means pain. But it’s possible to tune into 1 large butternut squash, and cashews work well) nuts.
the early signs of inflammation and start
to recognize your body’s triggers. These
subtle, fluttering levels of discomfort are
easy to ignore—and that’s a problem.

It’s possible to tune into the early signs of

inflammation and start to recognize your
body’s triggers

For me, it starts with a subtle, unsettled

feeling. If I ignore it, it moves toward a
full, fizzing pain and the problem grows.
To capture those early signs, you need
to slow down and use a few simple daily
practices like the mindful base belly
breathing practice (see page 41). This is
not airy-fairy stuff but deep biological
processes that happen when you stop and
breathe. In fact, it’s all about your vagus
nerve. Remember, what happens in the
vagus never stays in the vagus.

Healing self-compassion
I’m so excited to see recent studies
showing what, at some level, my gut
instinct always told me. Self-compassion
reduces inflammation in the body.2 This
hasn’t been looked at specifically in IBD,
but scientists have studied inflammatory
markers in the body.
One recent study found that higher
levels of compassion, wisdom and social
support are linked to a richer, more
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FAMILY HEALTH

TOP TIPS
Lentildhal • Kale and chard have
more texture than spinach,
This simple staple of Indian cooking is a delicious so you might want to cut
way of packing more pulses and veggies into your out the harder stems. All
diet. It’s a mild dhal with warming back notes of pack a superfood punch of
phytonutrients.
heat, but you can add more spice if you prefer. You • Red onions have higher
can also swap out the brown rice for quinoa to mix levels of polyphenols than
up your grains. white or brown varieties.
Serves four
Prep time: 40 minutes

58 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

Ingredients
1 tsp coconut oil or olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped finely
Large nub of ginger, grated
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
4 cardamom pods, crushed
½ large chili, deseeded and chopped—keep
the white stuff for the highest levels of
antioxidants
7 oz/200 g dry lentils, rinsed
14 oz/400 g organic plum tomatoes, canned
14 oz/400 g coconut milk for an extra creamy
note, optional
18 fl oz/500 mL filtered boiled water
7 oz/200 g of your choice: spinach or Swiss
chard
Stir in the juice of a fresh lemon at the end to
lift and enhance the flavors
To serve
200 g/7 oz brown rice (high-fiber, nutty
taste), cooked to package instructions
A generous handful of fresh cilantro or
coriander to dress
2–3 Tbsp cucumber raita (mix together 200
mL/7 fl oz of dairy-free yogurt (coconut or
plain) with 6 in (15 cm) of cucumber, finely
chopped
A sprinkle of fennel seeds
1 Tbsp (homemade) pickled mango chutney,
optional
Directions
Cook the brown rice to the package
instructions, usually around 25 minutes.
While the rice is cooking, add the onions
and the smallest amount of oil to a pan over
medium heat. Once the onions are softened,
add in your spices.
As they start to release their flavors, stir
with a wooden spoon and add the lentils and
hot water with the tomatoes.
Once the mixture has come to a slow
simmer, reduce the heat and cover for 18
minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the coconut milk (optional) and
simmer for a further 5 minutes.
Add the spinach or chard and cover the pan
for 2–3 minutes until the leaves are soft and
wilted. Serve the dhal on top of the rice, and
sprinkle with fennel seeds.
Serve with cucumber raita and a spoonful
of chutney.
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
diverse gut microbiome. The opposite
is also true—lower levels of compassion
Gut love
and social connectedness are linked to Higher vagal tone increases mental
reduced microbial diversity. resilience, meaning the body can relax faster
Tanya T. Nguyen, PhD, assistant after high-stress situations. Some simple
professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego ways to get toned include:
School of Medicine, said that “the
Breathwork. A few deep base belly breaths
mechanisms that may link loneliness,
(see page 41) will tone your vagus nerve and
compassion and wisdom with gut
shift you into your parasympathetic nervous
microbial diversity are not known, but
system (rest and repair setting).
observed reduced microbial diversity
typically represents worse physical and Practice intermittent fasting by having a
mental health.”3 later breakfast and early dinner so that you
When we talk about stress, we think it give your digestive system a little R&R.
is ‘all in our head,’ but stress has specific,
Take probiotics, such as Lactobacillus and
measurable biological impacts on
Bifidobacterium strains, which have an anti-
the body. And it appears to work both
anxiety effect.1
ways. Stress increases the likelihood of
inflammation and vice versa.4 The next Do mindfulness and loving-kindness
time you’re exasperated or tough on practices, such as breathing exercises
yourself for feeling stressed, remember (see page 41), as well as journaling and
it’s not just in your head. visualization exercises.
Do you want lower blood pressure,
Splash your face with cold water. If you
improved digestion, less anxiety and
are brave, go for a full-blast cold shower.
greater resilience? Well, think back
Breathe deeply and relax as you do this.
to what you learned about the vagus
nerve, because you may need to aim Have a hug for at least 30 seconds and
to increase your vagal tone. Low vagal combine with a few deep breaths. If there’s
tone is associated with a range of health no one to hug, then try self-soothing by
problems: stress and anxiety, poor gut using the havening technique, a simple
exercise to put you into a ‘safe space’ and
health and lack of gut bug diversity.
Too much sitting, poor sleep and reduce stress. (See www.havening.org for
an out of sync circadian rhythm, even more information and how to do it.)
smoking or excessive alcohol, all appear
Do a yoga stretch. Cobra pose is a
to be implicated in reduced vagal tone.
wonderful way to stimulate the vagus nerve
Happily, there are lots of ways to increase
in the neck and deepen vagal stimulation
your vagal tone (see box, right).
combined with base belly breathing.
Crucially, by recognizing the vagus
nerve as a key player in your gut–brain Sing, hum or chant out some gut-loving
alliance you can begin to heal your gut. affirmations.
The three gut-healing recipes included
Massage, self-massage or a foot rub from a
here, all corn-, dairy-, gluten- and yeast-
loved one.
free,are a great place to start.
REFERENCES
Exercise in all its shapes and forms.
1 Front Neurosci, 2018; 12: 49
2 Brain Behav Immun, 2014; 37: 109–14
Laughing and socializing (but go easy on the
3 Front Psychiatry, 2021; 12: 648475 alcohol).
4 Jacka, F. Brain Changer: How Diet Can Save Your Mental
Health. Yellow Kite, 2019. p107.
REFERENCES
1 Front Psychiatry, 2018; 9: 669
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 59
HEALTHY LIVING
HEALTH

The killer
cure

60 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

 lyphosate (which goes by the
brand name Roundup) is
considered so safe that no US
governmental agency tests for
it in food.Many homeowners
use it without a second
thought to control weeds in
their yards.It’s in the rain,the
water supply and the cotton in clothing,dish cloths,
tampons and baby diapers.It aerosolizes,becoming
dispersed into the air,which means we breathe it into
our lungs.And it’s present in much of what we eat.Even
if you eat an organic diet,it’s likely you’re still being
exposed to glyphosate.
The powerful companies that manufacture and sell
glyphosate have convinced government authorities
and many research scientists that glyphosate is so safe
they don’t even bother to investigate whether it could
be partly to blame when bees and butterflies start
dying in alarming numbers.At the same time,we all
know pollution is harming the plants and animals we
humans rely on.
Scientists have found stunning correlations between
the rise in glyphosate use and the rise inAlzheimer’s
disease,autism,diabetes,
inflammatory bowel
disease,kidney disease,
AccordingtoscientistStephanie
liver disease,obesity, Seneff,theherbicideglyphosate
pancreatic cancer and
thyroid cancer in the
canhaveadevastatingeffectonthe
US,and scientist Nancy body’smicrobiome.Here’swhat
Swanson says that the youneedtoknowtoprotectyourself
statistics support the idea
that glyphosate is the from this pervasive pollutant
culprit.1
Disrupting a microbial pathway
Glyphosate’s effect on plants is to disrupt the shikimate
pathway,a metabolic pathway that plants use to
produce the amino acids tryptophan,tyrosine and
phenylalanine.When glyphosate disrupts the shikimate
pathway,it kills the plants.This makes glyphosate an
extremely effective herbicide.
Monsanto researchers and other industry-funded
scientists posit that,because the shikimate pathway
does not exist in human cells,glyphosate doesn’t pose
a risk for us.However,many of the microbes in our
bodies do possess the shikimate pathway,and that
includes much of our microbiome—microbes we rely
on for providing us with nutrients,aiding digestion,
maintaining a healthy gut barrier and promoting the
development of a healthy immune system.
For example,microorganisms collaborate to produce
the B vitamins: thiamine (B1),riboflavin (B2),niacin
(B3),pantothenate (B5),pyridoxine (B6),biotin (B7),
folate (B9) and cobalamin (B12).These B vitamins
made inside the body significantly augment B vitamins
supplied from food.Our human cells are unable to
produce these vitamins. But, collectively, our microbial
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
hitchhikers contain a large number of enzymes that
specialize in various steps in the synthesis of these
essential nutrients,and many of these microbes are
dependent on a working shikimate pathway.2
Teeming with nonhuman life
The gut microbiome is a teeming collection of trillions
of bacteria,viruses and fungi that have made the human
gut their home.Their relationship with us humans is
largely symbiotic: they perform many functions for us,
producing all sorts of biologically useful molecules that
the host cells are unable to synthesize on their own.
When we disrupt the gut we also risk disrupting the
brain.Scientists now understand that the gut and the
brain are in close communication.The signaling that
takes place between the gastrointestinal tract and the
central nervous system is called the gut–brain axis.
Communication happens via the lymph system,via the
blood circulation and the vagus nerve.3
A lot of this communication involves signals released
by the microbes in the gut.4 This is why several of our
modern diseases are now believed to have their origins
in the gut,includingAlzheimer’s disease,amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS),autism,depression,Parkinson’s
disease and rheumatoid
arthritis,among others.
Glyphosate and babies
Glyphosate was
introduced into the
food chain in 1975,and
genetically engineered
Roundup Ready crops
were introduced in the
mid-1990s.The gut
bacteria Bifidobacteria are among the most sensitive
to glyphosate of all microbes that have been studied.5
Scientists have found that maternal glyphosate
exposure is associated with reduced Bifidobacteria in
the milk as well as with increased risk of premature and
difficult birth.6
A study on pregnant women in Indiana found an
association between premature birth and glyphosate
levels in the urine.7 Loss of B.infantis in breastfed
infants leads to chronic gut inflammation during a
critically important immunological training window.8
The increase in caesarean deliveries,the increased use of
antibiotics as well as the increased practice of formula-
feeding also contribute to the loss of Bifidobacteria.9
Most infant formula is contaminated with
glyphosate.Soy formula from Brazil was found to have
levels of glyphosate up to 1,000 parts per billion.10
Exposure to glyphosate from soy formula reduces
the presence of Bifidobacteria and interferes with the
process by which these bacteria maintain a healthy
gut pH and a healthy recycling of mucins,protective
proteins lining the gut barrier,as well as a steady supply
of acetate to fuel the mitochondrial production of
energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 61
HEALTHY LIVING
HEALTH
What is glyphosate?
Glyphosate-based herbicides are
used to control a wide variety of
weeds that grow among food crops
and in residential lawns, gardens,
public parks, roadsides, conservation
lands, wildlife areas, rangelands,
forests, waterways and more.1
These herbicides come under
a long list of names, including
Roundup, Roundup Ultra, Roundup
Pro, AquaMaster, Aqua Neat,
Polado, Accord, Rodeo, Touchdown,
Backdraft, Expedite, EZ-Ject,
Glyfos, Laredo, Buccaneer Plus and
Wrangler, among others.
These products contain a variety
of chemicals. But in all of them,
glyphosate is the primary ingredient,
making up 36–48 percent of the
product.
Feeding soy formula to an infant
is a triple whammy: the soy itself is
an endocrine disruptor, the formula
does not contain breast milk’s rich
glycoproteins that maintain healthy
mucins and support the growth of
B. infantis, and the glyphosate in the
soy disrupts the microbiome, further
weakening its protective barrier.
Powerful pathogens
In the past few decades, powerful
pathogenic bacteria that are resistant to
antibiotics have become a looming threat.
Scientists have learned that chronic
exposure to one antibiotic can allow
pathogens to develop broad resistance
to others. Remember: glyphosate is an
antibiotic.It was patented by Monsanto
62 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
in 2010 for use as an antibiotic to control
microbial infections.
When we are chronically exposed to
glyphosate in our food and water,it is like
taking low doses of antibiotics over an
extended period of time.While glyphosate
improves the effectiveness of some
antibiotics,it has the opposite effect for
others.In particular,glyphosate reduces
the responsiveness of both Escherichia
coli and Salmonella typhimurium to
ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and kanamycin,two
commonly used antibiotics.11
The effects of concurrent exposure
to low-dose glyphosate on various
antibiotics can be catastrophic.In 2019,an
international team of scientists discovered
that antibiotics interfere with a signaling
mechanism in the lungs that launches the
first immune response to flu infection.12
What does this mean? Chronic
exposure to glyphosate,an antibiotic,
may make humans more susceptible to
the flu and other respiratory infections,
including Covid-19.
Bowels on fire
Gut microbes in the colon break down
complex carbohydrates that escape
digestion in the middle intestine.These
carbohydrates are known as prebiotics,
andbacteriaconvertthemintoshort-chain
fatty acids,primarily acetate,propionate
and butyrate.The balance among
these three fatty acids has important
implications for gut health and is strongly
influenced by the pH of the gut.13
In particular,butyrate is important for
maintaining a healthy gut barrier,since
it is a major nutrient for the epithelial
cells that line the surface of the colon.In
fact,researchers have been able to induce
autism-like behaviors in mice by exposing
them to excess propionate,although that
may not necessarily apply to humans.14
A study of gut bacteria under controlled
pH conditions revealed a remarkable
pattern consistent with glyphosate’s effects
on pH and microbial populations.15 A low
pH of 5.5 favors butyrate production,but
glyphosate,by increasing the gut’s pH,
reduces butyrate.
Thisstudyfoundthatcertainpathogenic
strains of Bacteroidesincreased at higher
pH,representing a whopping 78 percent of
bacteria present.
Crohn’s disease,a painful inflammatory
bowel condition often diagnosed in
people under 35,is linked to an increase
In 1989, constipation
affected 2% of the US
population
Today, esti-
The number mates range
of hospital from 9% to
20%
emergency
room visits for
constipation
rose 42% over
just five years
in Bacteroides and a decrease in colonic
butyrate.16 Symptoms of Crohn’s
include abdominal pain, severe diarrhea,
fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition.
Inflammatory bowel disease is one of
the diseases rising in prevalence in the
United States, in lockstep with the rise in
glyphosate usage on core crops.
Blocked bowels
Along with stomach troubles and digestive
difficulties, medical doctors report that
painful bowel movements and the inability
to defecate are on the rise among both
children and adults. In 1989, constipation
affected 2 percent of the US population.17
Today, estimates range from 9 percent
to 20 percent.18 The number of hospital
emergency room visits for constipation
rose 42 percent over just five years.19
The standard American diet is what
is usually blamed: Americans don’t eat
enough fiber, which can make the bowels
sluggish. And maybe you’ve heard the
expression,“Sitting is the new smoking.”
We are living more sedentary lives than
ever before, and inactivity can exacerbate
constipation. Anyone suffering from
constipation is told to drink more fluids,
as dehydration can play a role, too.
But the herbicide residues in processed
and conventionally farmed foods are also
to blame. Intestinal paralysis is one of
the severe reactions to acute glyphosate
exposure.20 Chronic exposure to
glyphosate will cause a similar problem in
the digestive tract, though less immediate
and less severe.
Normally, most of the gut bacteria
reside in the large intestine. However, with
slow movement of the contents of the gut,
nutrients become abundant in the small
intestine,allowingmicrobestoflourish
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
where they normally don’t belong and
leading to small intestinal bacterial
Lessons from
overgrowth (SIBO). Karelia
Disrupted peristalsis leads to constipation, The northern European
and on top of that, impaired digestive region of Karelia was a
enzymes cause proteins to be metabolized province of Finland until
into ammonia, further increasing the pH 1939, when the eastern
of the gut. This in turn affects the balance part of it was ceded to
of short-chain fatty acids such as acetate, Russia. This bitter cold
propionate and butyrate. Low butyrate land of dense taiga,
starves the cells lining the colon, allowing large lakes and ancient
waters.4 While organic
toxic metabolites produced by bacteria and volcanoes represents an time, only 10 percent
no-till practices can be
fungi to breach the leaky gut barrier and incredible opportunity for of Finnish infants have
excellent for ecosystems,
enter the general circulation. scientists to study lifestyle the beneficial bacteria
In order to understand how harmful Bifidobacteria longum glyphosate-based
factors influencing
glyphosate is, we have to look at the individual chronic disease. infantis. Russian babies, chemical no-till is not.
While Finnish children
cells in the human body, then at the organelles In Finnish Karelia there by comparison, maintain
eat glyphosate-
within those cells and finally at the molecules is a two- to six-fold higher high levels of this
that pass among the cells. important beneficial contaminated foods,
incidence of allergies
When we examine the biochemistry, the strain throughout Russian president
and a five- to six-fold 1 Vladimir Putin has been
blurred images come into focus. Glyphosate higher incidence of type infancy.
is hurting our guts, preferentially killing the Lack of Bifidobacteria enthusiastic about
1 diabetes and other
species of bacteria that we need the most. and the associated turning Russia into the
autoimmune disorders
These are the microorganisms that help elevated fecal pH organic food capital of
compared to Russian
us with everything from digesting food to promote inflammation- the world.5
Karelia.1 Researchers
Since 2015, Russia has
synthesizing chemicals that affect learning, have long tried to figure favoring bacteria and gut
memory and mood. When glyphosate dysbiosis.3 Remember refused to plant GMO
out why.
crops, and since June of
annihilatesthesegood-guybacteria, Anyone who has heard that Bifidobacteria are
pathogenicbacteriaandfungithrive. 2016 there has been
of the hygiene
Turnthepage forStephanieSeneff’stoptips hypothesis might ❝With less exposure to a near-total ban on
forreversingglyphosate’seffectsonthegut. think they know the glyphosate in their food the use of genetically
Supplementdosageshavebeensuppliedby answer. In wealthy and water, is it any wonder modified plants in
WDDTY countries, we may the children in Russian Russian agriculture.
be inadvertently Karelia are healthier?❞ Itimport is also illegal to
genetically
Adapted from nurturing
Toxic Legacy autoimmune conditions vulnerable to glyphosate modified food from
abroad.
by Stephanie by being “too clean.” Our exposure, and that
With rich soil that
Seneff bodies need exposure to glyphosate is associated
hasn’t been ruined by
(Chelsea Green microbes in order to train with elevated gut pH.
Publishing, Finnish children industrial chemicals,
2021)  our immune systems.
are more exposed to Russia has resisted an
Water treatment,
glyphosate than their agrochemical approach
pasteurization, food
to food production.
sterilization and radiation, Russian counterparts
on the other side of the With less exposure
REFERENCES antibiotics, vaccines and
1 J Org Syst, 2014; 9: 6–37 border, and they have to glyphosate in their
decreased exposure to
2 Front Genet, 2015; 6: 148 been for years. food and water, is it any
3 Front Physiol, 2018; 9: 184 soil—all of these things
The use of glyphosate wonder the children
4 Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2018; 6: 133–48 are associated with
5 Curr Microbiol, 2013; 66: 350–8 in agriculture, in Russian Karelia are
“developed” societies
6 Arch Toxicol, 2018; 92: 2629–43; Sci Rep, 2019; 9: 6372 particularly cereal healthier than their
7 Environ Health, 2018; 17: 23 and may help explain
crops, has increased Finnish counterparts?
8 Pediatr Res, 2019; 86: 749–57 why Finnish children are
less healthy than Russian significantly in Finland
9 mSphere, 2018; 3: e00041–18
10 Food Addit Contam Part A, 2018; 35: 724–31 since 1999. Since 2001,
11 mBio, 2015; 6: e00009–15 children. REFERENCES
12 Cell Rep, 2019; 28: 245–56 But there is something the Finnish government 1 Cell,2016;165:842–53
13 Front Microbiol, 2016; 7: 185
else. Finnish children has subsidized farmers 2 FrontMicrobiol,2014;5:678
14 PLoS One, 2018; 13: e0192925 3 NatMicrobiol,2019;4:470–9
15 Appl Environ Microbiol, 2005; 71: 3692–700 who become diabetic for no-till agricultural
4 WeedRes,2012;53:110–20
16 FEMS Microbiol Ecol, 2004; 50: 25–36
have an overgrowth practices in order to 5 Farmer’sWeekly,“PutinWants
17 Dis Colon Rectum, 1989; 32: 1–8
of Bacteroides dorei in minimize phosphate RussiatoBecomeWorldLeaderin
18 Am J Gastroenterol, 2020; 115: 895–905 OrganicFood,December4,2015.
19 Am J Gastroenterol, 2015; 110: 572–79 2
their guts. At the same run-off into marine www.fwi.co.uk
20 Acute Med Surg, 2015; 2: 214–18

FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 63

HEALTHY LIVING
HEALTH
Undoing
the
damage
Muchofthedamagecausedby
glyphosateandotherchemicals
isreversible.Besidesnotusing
glyphosateandotherpesticides
inyourhome,herearesome
simple,powerfulchangesyou
canmakerightnowthatwill
makeaworldofdifference.
Eatrealfood
The most important step you can take
toward a long and healthy life is to eat
wholesome, nutritious, real food. If you’re
fortunate enough to have access to farmers
markets, community-supported agriculture
(CSA) networks, food cooperatives or
your own garden, that’s your best bet for
knowing what your food is, how it was
grown and if anything poisonous was
applied to it. If you don’t have access to this
level of real food, and many people don’t,
look for the “Certified Organic” label if
you’re in the US, or certification by the Soil
Association or one of the other organic
certification bodies recognized in the
UK, wherever you buy your food.
Certified Organic labeling is
not perfect, and it’s no substitute
for buying real food from a local
farmer, but it’s a simple way for
consumers to choose foods that are less
likely to be contaminated with glyphosate.
Also, genetic modification is not allowed in
certified organic foods.
64 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
Wherever you buy your food,
do your best to have the bulk of
your diet be whole real food
instead of packaged food-
like substances. Even when
packaged products are labeled as
organic and GMO-free, they still
aren’t necessarily healthy foods.
Stock up on fresh vegetables,
fresh fruits, wild fish and
grass-fed, grass-finished organic
meats.
Savorsulfur
Since a deficiency in dietary
sulfur, and especially in
sulfate, is a factor in
many modern diseases,
it’s important to enjoy
lots of sulfur-containing
foods. Animal-based
protein has higher levels
of sulfur-containing amino
acids—taurine, methionine
and cysteine—than plant-
based proteins. Seafood, grass-fed
beef, fish, eggs and cheese are all good
sources of sulfur.
Among plants, onions, leeks, garlic and
cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage,
Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower
are the best sources of sulfur-containing
molecules. Garlic, which is a food you
should be eating often, contains allicin,
an organosulfur compound that gives
garlic its unique odor and is associated
with many health benefits.
Certain supplements also boost your
sulfur supply, such as N-acetyl cysteine
(NAC), a sulfur-containing amino acid.
A study on rats exposed to glyphosate-
based herbicides that were also given
NAC showed that it had a preventative
effect. Giving animals exposed to
glyphosate NAC protected them from
the decreases in glutathione levels in the
blood, liver, kidney and brain normally
induced by glyphosate.1
Other sulfur-containing supplements
include alpha-lipoic acid, chondroitin
sulfate, glucosamine sulfate, Epsom
salts, methyl sulfonyl methane (MSM),
S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe),
liposomal glutathione, taurine
and garlic. If you soak
in a tub of Epsom
salts (magnesium
sulfate), you
absorb sulfate
through your
skin.
Suggested
daily dose: for
NAC, 600 mg
twice a day, or
follow the label
instructions. For
other sulfur-containing
supplements, follow the
label instructions
Heal the gut
Prebiotics are nondigestible plant
fibers. These complex carbohydrates,
which cannot be digested by the human
digestive system, are fermented by
the beneficial bacteria that live in our
intestines (also known as colonic flora).
Prebiotics, such as oligosaccharides and
lactulose, can reduce the pH of the colon
and increase butyrate and calbindin,
which increases the absorption of
minerals and trace elements when they
are fermented by gut microbes.2
Benefits of prebiotics include an
increase in Bifidobacteria and
FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
Lactobacilli, a decrease in pathogenic
species in the intestines, production of
beneficial metabolites, improvement in
“Growing your
calcium absorption, reduction in protein own food,
fermentation and ammonia production, coaxing flowers
improved gut barrier function and into bloom and
improved immunity.3 touching the soil
are all healthful
Eat foods that are high in activities”
prebiotics at every meal
These foods include asparagus, artichokes,
bananas, dandelion greens, garlic, leeks
and onions.
Also make sure to eat loads of fermented
raw foods with live bacteria such as kimchi,
sauerkraut, plain yogurt and kombucha.
Prebiotics and probiotics can also be never know what heavy nutrient uptake by
found in supplements, though which
Play in the dirt! metals or toxic chemicals plants, just as a reduction
brands containing which species Playing in the dirt might be lurking there. in our own microbiome
of beneficial bacteria that enhances wellbeing, Scientists believe interferes with nutrient
are helpful is the subject both for children and that getting dirty absorption past the gut
of ongoing scientific grown-ups. In the was essential for the barrier.
debate. A study cultures around the evolution of the human Let your kids delight in
on the health world where people gut microbiome, and it’s collecting earthworms,
benefits of a live hardy, healthy lives still essential for humans stepping in mud puddles
formulation well into old age, nearly to thrive. Soil is an and playing outside.
containing everyone has a garden. inoculant that provides We adults need to enjoy
five strains of Growing your own a renewal of beneficial the outdoors as well,
spore-forming Bacillus food, coaxing flowers microbes. allowing ourselves to get
along with a prebiotic fiber blend produced into bloom and touching But spending too dirty, walk barefoot and
remarkable results consistent with the idea the soil are all healthful much time indoors and spend time in nature.
that these microbes are clearing glyphosate activities. Both the soil on screens has taken In doing so we expose
from the gut.4 microbiome and the us away from frequent ourselves to microbes
Suggested daily dose: choose a probiotic with live, gut microbiome have exposure to soil. This that enrich the diversity
active bacterial cultures and at least 1 billion colony deteriorated in recent reduces the diversity of species in the gut that
forming units times, due to industrial- of our microbiome, lead to improved health.
based agriculture and which harms our health.
Eat your antioxidants reduced human contact And, of course, the soil
Glutathione and vitamin C are important with healthy soil.1 In microbiome also suffers
antioxidants in both the liver and the some places it’s no from pesticide exposure.
blood, as well as other parts of the longer safe for children to Diminished soil REFERENCES
body. Glyphosate disrupts the supply of play in soil, because you diversity leads to reduced 1 Microorganisms, 2019; 7: 287
glutathione in the liver.
Glutathione is found naturally in some
foods. Asparagus, avocados, okra and and turkey. Eating glycine-rich parsley and thyme. Just make sure the
spinach are some of the richest foods such as organic beef broth fruits and vegetables you are eating are
dietary sources. But you can also can also help. either certified organic or grown without
boost your glutathione levels Eating foods pesticides and herbicides.
rich in vitamin C will Suggested daily dose: for glutathione, 700–900
by eating foods that mg/day if taken in tablet form, or look for a
are rich in sulfur- reduce your need
liposomal formula that can be taken under the
containing for glutathione,
tongue, which is claimed to improve absorption.
amino because vitamin For vitamin C, the usual recommended
acids taurine, C is also an maintenance dose is 1–2 grams/day
cysteine and effective antioxidant.
methionine. Good Good sources include
REFERENCES
options include grapefruit, lemons,
1 Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2019; 26:
nuts and seeds, as limes, oranges, broccoli, 11427–37
well as beef, cheese, Brussels sprouts and kale, as 2 Food Rev Int, 2003; 19: 397–422
3 Curr Dev Nutr, 2018; 2: nzy005
chicken, duck, eggs, fish, pork, soy well as herbs and spices such as 4 Int J Pharm X, 2019; 1: 100021

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 HEALTH

THE NATURAL MEDICINE CASEBOOK

WDDTY offers practical, natural solutions to your most pressing health problems

STAY HYDRATED

Natural ways to Drinking plenty of fluids, especially water, is

important to prevent kidney stones. It helps to
dilute the substances in urine that form the

prevent kidney stones. In one study, each 500 mL (17 oz)

increase in water intake was associated
with a significantly reduced risk of kidney

stones stone formation.5

My dad is prone to kidney stones (calcium oxalate
stones) and is looking for natural ways to prevent
them. Fortunately, so far, his stones have been small
and he’s not required surgery, but he’s worried he
may not be so lucky next time. Can you recommend
any holistic solutions?
S.P., via email
Adding some lemon juice to your water
may bring extra benefits, as lemons are
high in stone-preventing citrate. One
long-term trial reported that drinking 120
mL of concentrated lemon juice mixed with
2 liters of water throughout the day reduced
stone formation.6
Drinks to avoid, on the other hand, are sugary
sodas such as cola.7

Kidney stones—when hard deposits of minerals and

salts form inside the kidneys—are a commondisease EAT MORE FRUIT AND VEG LIMIT OXALATE
of the urinary tract.1 Usually made of calciumoxalate, Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables
ve can help Found naturally in many
the stones can cause symptoms whentheey move protect against kidney stones. In particular those foods, oxalate intake has been
around in the kidney or pass into theureters rs—the rich in citrate, such as citrus fruits, and linked to kidney stones. In one
tubes that carry urine to the bladder.If a high in potassium,, such as bananas, study, people who consumed
stone lodges in the ureters, it can block melon and avoccado, may reduce the most dietary oxalate were
urine flow and lead to severe pain, nausea,fevver stone formationn.8 Avoid fruit and up to 20 percent more likely
and pink or brown urine. vvegetables high in to develop kidney stones than
If you have small stones, you’ll probab
blyybeaadvised oxalate, though, people who ate the least.10 The
to drink plenty of water, use painkillers nd dpossib y as eating them could main foods to watch out for
take an alpha blocker, a drug to easethe actually increase your risk for kidney seem to be spinach, rhubarb,
passage of stones with side-effects includding stones (ssee right).9 beets, nuts, chocolate, tea,
dizziness, low blood pressure and sexualldyssfunction.2 wheat bran and strawberries.11
Larger stones may require techniques succh ass SIDESSTEP SALT It’s also important to get
extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESW WL; using
u ANDD SUGAR enough calcium in your diet,
sound waves to break up the stones) or percu
p utan neous High dietary salt intake ca
can increase the risk of as it binds to oxalate in the
nephrolithotomy (PCNL; surgically removing 15
kidney stones. And sugar appears to increase gut, reducing the amount
stones using a thin telescopic instrument).But these, urinary stone formation via its effects on urinary pH of oxalate absorbed by the
of course, come with risks, including kidney damage, and oxalate.16 Try to avoid refined sugar like table body.12 In fact, one small
and don’t stop stones from recurring.3 sugar and high fructose corn syrup, and limit salt. study found that high oxalate
Preventative medication, such as thiazide diuretics, Cutting out processed foods will help, as these often intake did not increase the
is sometimes prescribed to those prone to kidney contain large amounts of added salt and sugar. risk of kidney stones as long as
stones. But the drugs are not particularly effectiveand
and participants were meeting the
partic
come with a high rate of adverse reactions. 4
daily rrecommended intake for
The good news is there are plenty of simple dieet calcium.13
and lifestyle changes that can help prevent kidney Foo ods rich in calcium include
stones, as well as useful herbs and supplements.Y Your sardines, salmon, dairy
dad will be best off seeing a qualified naturopathic products,chia seeds, sunflower
practitioner who can come up with a personalizeed seeds and figs. Aim to consume
treatment plan, but here are some general abbout 1,000–1,200 mg
recommendations for calcium oxalate stones thaat calcium per day.14
you can pass on to him.
66 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ
 GET MOVING FAMILY HEALTH
A large study in women suggests being
physically active can reduce the risk of
kidney stones by up to 30 percent.17 But
another study found no association.18 Still, HYDRATING
being active is good for health overall and HERBAL TEA
can help to maintain a healthy weight, Herbalist Meilyr James recommends
which appears to be important for kidney drinking this herbal tea to encourage
stone prevention. Just remember to stay hydration of the body.
hydrated when you exercise. Sweating can Add 1 heaped teaspoon of the following
lead to less urine production, which can herbs for every 300 mL boiling water and
encourage stone formation. allow to infuse for 20 minutes. Drink
three times daily.
Use equal parts of:
EAT PUMPKIN SEEDS Zea mays (corn silk), a
Pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of calcium, potassium and soothing diuretic herb with
magnesium, all of which appear to play a role in preventing kidney stone gentle antilithic action.
formation. And two trials in Thailand found that eating the seeds can Equisetum arvense
reduce the urinary risk factors for developing kidney stones.19 (horsetail), which promotes
kidney function and toning the walls of
SUPPLEMENT the urinary system.
Certain supplements seem to be helpful for reducing the formation of kidney
d
Solidago virgaurea (goldenrod), which
stones. Be sure to consult with a qualified practitioner, who can recommend appropriate
reduces inflammation and heals the lining
dosages for you as an individual.
of the kidneys.
Potassium-magnesium citrate. A three-year study found that supplementing with Top tip: When passing small stones, take a hot
potassium-magnesium citrate can reduce the recurrence of kidney stones by 85 percent.20 bath while drinking 2–3 pints of liquid, alternating
Suggesteddosage:1,600mg/daypotassiumcitrateand500mg/daymagnesiumcitrate between herbal tea and warm water to help flush
IP-6 (inositol hexaphosphate or phytic acid) can reduce the formation of calcium them through.
oxalate crystals in the urine of people prone to kidney stones.21 The supplement is wide
available online. CHECK YOUR
Suggesteddosage:followthelabelinstructions MEDS REFERENCES
Vitamin E. Some evidence suggests that vitamin E mighht be Certain drugs have 1 Int J Mol Sci, 2018; 19: 765
beneficial for preventing kidney stones.22 been linked to kidney 2 J Pharm Technol, 2018; 34(2):
54–61
Suggesteddosage:200mg/day stones, such as loop 3 Urol Res, 2008; 36: 51–60; Int J
Vitamin B6 and magnesium. Supplementing with diuretics, sulfasalazine and Mol Sci, 2018; 19: 765
a combination of these nutrients may help stop kidney 4 J Transl Med, 2020; 18: 106
topiramate, so check with 5 Medicine (Baltimore), 2015; 94:
stones from recurring.23 your doctor about any you’re e1042
Suggesteddosage:200–300mg/daymagnesiumoxide,10mg/day taking.24 6 J Urol, 2007; 177: 1358–62
vitaminB6 7 Clin J Am Soc Nephrol, 2013; 8:
1389–95
8 Arch Ital Urol Androl, 2015; 87:
105–20; Adv Nutr, 2013; 4:
GET HELP FROM HERBS CONSIDER 368S–77S
AccordingtoherbalistMeilyrJames,owneroftheHerbalClinicinSwansea,Wales 9 J Am Diet Assoc, 1993; 93: 901–6
CADMIUM 10 J Am Soc Nephro, 2007; 18:
(www.herbalclinic-swansea.co.uk),theformationofkidneystonesindicatesthat Occupational exposure to 2198–204
eliminationfromthekidneysisinsufficient.Theherbalmedicinesolutionis‘antilithic’ cadmium has been linked to
11 Arch Ital Urol Androl, 2015; 87:
105–20
herbs,whichhelptodissolvesmallkidneystonesandpreventtheformationofnew kidney stones,25 so consider 12 J Am Diet Assoc, 1993; 93: 901–6;
ones.Thefollowingrecipecanbeusedforthesepurposes.Forlargerstones,it’s whether you may be
Arch Ital Urol Androl, 2015; 87:
105–20
importanttoconsultwithaqualifiedhealthpractitioner,saysJames. exposed to this toxic heavy 13 Urology, 2012; 79: 1226–9
Usetincturesofthefollowingherbscombinedinequalparts.Take5mL,three metal on the job. Dietary 14 Urolithiasis, 2016; 44: 27–32
timesdailyinalittlewater. 15 J Urol, 2012; 187: 1645–9
exposure to cadmium in 16 BMC Nephrol, 2018; 19: 315
Parietaria officinalis Hydrangea Viburnum opulus the general population, 17 J Am Soc Nephrol, 2014; 25: 362–9
18 J Urol, 2015; 193: 864–8
(pellitory-of-the-wall), 1:5 arborescens (wild (cramp bark), 1:3 tincture. however, was not found to 19 J Med Assoc Thai, 1993; 76:
tincture. In addition to its hydrangea), 1:3 tincture. As the name suggests, increase the risk.26 487–93; Am J Clin Nutr, 1987;
45: 115–21
antilithic action this herb Hydrangea has a diuretic this herb is useful for Tobacco is a source of 20 J Urol, 1997; 158: 2069–73
has a restorative effect on effect, encouraging the cramping pain, relaxing cadmium, so if you’re a 21 Anticancer Res, 1999; 19(5A):
smoker, thi
his is
i another
th 3717–22; Arch Esp Urol, 1999;
the kidneys, supporting flow of urine and the smooth muscle tension 52: 94–9
and strengthening their passing of stones. and thereby easing rreason to qquit. In fact, 22 J Clin Biochem Nutr,1999; 27:
smoking may be an 37–47; BJU Int, 2005; 96: 117–26
function, says James. some of the discomfort 23 Am J Clin Nutr, 1967; 20: 393–9;
of kidney stones and the inndependeent risk facto or Urol Res, 1994;22(3):161–5
27
passing of small pieces of for kidney st ne
nes. 24 Am J Kidney Dis, 2017; 70: 869–73;
Rev Urol, 2003; 5: 227–31
stone. 25 Br J Ind Med, 1993; 50: 598–602
26 Environ Int, 2013; 59: 148–51
27 Nephrourol Mon, 2013; 5: 702–5

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FAMILY HEALTH
Remedies
for diabetic
neuropathy
My mother-in-law has type 2 diabetes
and suffers from painful peripheral
neuropathy. Her doctor has suggested
strong painkillers, but she’s worried
about the side-effects. Are there any
natural remedies that can help with
the pain?
T.C., via email
Peripheral neuropathy is a common
complication of diabetes—type 1
and type 2—occurring in up to half
of patients.1 It refers to nerve damage
affecting the body’s extremities,
such as the hands and feet, and can
lead to pain, numbness and tingling,
loss of sensation, loss of balance
and coordination, and serious
foot problems such as ulcers and
infections.
Besides methods to keep
diabetes under control, like taking
medication, maintaining a healthy
weight, and not smoking or
drinking, conventional treatment
for neuropathy usually involves
drugs to alleviate the pain, such as
amitriptyline (an antidepressant),
pregabalin (an anticonvulsant)
and opioid-like medications like
tramadol and tapentadol.But these
can cause a long list of side-effects
including drowsiness,dizziness,dry
mouth and insomnia.2
Ideally,your mother-in-law should
consult with a qualified naturopathic
practitioner who can devise a holistic
treatment plan to get her diabetes
under control (there are plenty of
natural options proven to work; see
WDDTY September 2017) and check
for nutritional deficiencies that may
be contributing to her neuropathy
symptoms.But here’s a general guide
to what works.
68 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
EAT THE RIGHT DIET
Improved blood glucose control
is associated with fewer diabetes
complications,3 and eating the
right diet is one of the best ways
to do this. In general, focus on
whole, unprocessed foods, including
plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and
limit refined carbohydrates. In particular, the
following diets have proved to be beneficial for type
2 diabetics and may therefore help with neuropathy
and other diabetes complications:
A low-GI diet, which involves eating foods with a low
rather than a high glycemic index, a value based on how
quickly foods increase blood glucose levels.4
A Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fruits, vegetables,
fish, nuts and olive oil.5
A ketogenic diet, which is high in fat and low in
carbohydrates.6
EXERCISE
Both moderate and low-intensity forms of aerobic
exercise, as well as strengthening exercises, seem to be
beneficial for diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Exercise
interventions have been found to improve nerve
function and blood glucose control, plus reduce painful
neuropathy symptoms.7
If exercise is a struggle due to pain, try low-impact
forms such as walking, swimming or tai chi or yoga
(see below).
DO YOGA
This mind-body technique may
be useful for neuropathy, according
to a small study of people with
mild to moderate type 2 diabetes.
The participants all took diabetic
medication and followed a
specific diet, but half performed a
30–40-minute sequence of yoga
exercises for 40 days, and the
other half did some light physical
activity. Those in the yoga group saw
improvements in blood sugar control
and nerve function, while the control
group had a deterioration in nerve
function.8
Find a yoga class near you or
consider online classes (try www.
charlottewattshealth.com).
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 FAMILY HEALTH

TRY TAI CHI
This traditional Chinese technique, which combines effective, says James.
deep breathing and relaxation with gentle, flowing
movements, improved glucose control, neuropathic
symptoms and balance, as well as some aspects of
quality of life, in diabetic patients with neuropathy.
The effects were seen after three months of one-hour
sessions twice a week.9
Dr Paul Lamb, a retired family physician and tai chi
master, has developed a tai chi program for diabetes
that can be learned via instructional videos, available
on DVD or online. See www.taichiproductions.com.
CONSIDER HERBS
According to herbalist Meilyr James, owner of the Herbal Clinic in Swansea,
Wales (www.herbalclinic-swansea.co.uk), herbs can encourage circulation to the
peripheral nerves and assist with healing. Use the following as a tincture:
• 3 parts Centella asiatica (Gotu kola), 1:4 tincture
• 2 parts Zanthoxylum americanum (Prickly ash), 1:4 tincture
• 20 drops per 50 mL of Capsicum frutescens (Chili pepper), 1:3 tincture
For example: 30 mL Centella asiatica, 20 mL Zanthoxylum americanum, 20 drops
Capsicum frutescens.
Note: Tincture of capsicum is extremely strong when neat, so use with caution. It’s not suitable for
those with duodenal ulcer or diarrhea.
James also recommends hot/cold immersion treatment. Immerse the
affected area in hot water (as hot as can be comfortably tolerated) for three minutes, then
place immediately into a cold bath for one minute. Repeat three times in short succession
on a daily basis. This in combination with herbs and electroacupuncture can be very
OPT FOR ACUPUNCTURE
This traditional Chinese technique
can be effective for diabetic
neuropathy.18 To find a qualified
acupuncturist near you, visit
www.acunow.org.

Supplementing with these

SUPPLEMENT
Several supplements have been
found to help with diabetic
neuropathy, but it’s important
to first consult with a qualified
practitioner, who can recommend
the right supplements and
dosages for you.
Acetyl-l-carnitine. A number of
trials show this supplement is a safe
and effective treatment for diabetic
peripheral neuropathy. It’s been
found to reduce pain by 20 percent
compared to placebo.10
Suggested dosage: 500 to 1,000 mg
three times daily
Magnesium. Low levels of
magnesium have been linked to
common diabetes complications,
including neuropathy.11 In a five-year
trial of type 1 diabetics with low
magnesium levels, neuropathy
symptoms reduced or stabilized
in 88 percent of patients taking
magnesium supplements, compared
to 39 percent in those not taking a
supplement. And 61 percent in the
no supplement group saw their
symptoms worsen, versus just 12
percent in the supplement group.12
Suggested dosage: 300 mg/day
Vitamin D. A deficiency in this
vitamin is common in diabetic
patients with neuropathy, and taking
vitamin D supplements appears to
alleviate pain.13 It’s best to get your
levels tested first to determine the
dosage you need. Home testing
kits for vitamin D are available
via the Vitamin D Society (www.
vitamindsociety.org) and Better You
(www.betteryou.com), along with
personalized recommendations on
how much to take.
B vitamins. A lack of vitamin B12
and folate (vitamin B9) has been
associated with diabetic neuropathy.
And the diabetes drug metformin
is known to deplete B12 levels.14
vitamins, as well as B6, in their
active forms appears to
have a positive effect on
symptoms.15
Suggested dosage:
Studies have
used Metanx, a
prescription-only US
product containing
3 mg L-methylfolate
(B9), 2 mg
methylcobalamin (B12)
and 35 mg pyridoxal 5-phosphate
(B6). Speak to a qualified practitioner
about whether taking these doses of
B vitamins separately may be suitable
for you
Coenzyme Q10. One trial suggests
this vitamin-like substance can
significantly reduce neuropathy
symptoms in diabetics as well as
improve nerve function.16
Suggested dosage: 400 mg/day
Omega-3s. Preliminary evidence
suggests that the omega-3 fatty acids
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may be
beneficial for diabetic neuropathy.17
Suggested dosage: Try Wiley’s Finest
Peak Omega-3 Liquid, which supplies
over 2,000 mg of EPA and DHA (from
fish oil) per teaspoon
REFERENCES
1 Pragmat Obs Res, 2013; 4: 27–37;
Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes
Obes, 2017; 24: 103–11
2 Am Fam Physician, 2016; 94:
227–34
3 Br J Nutr, 2010; 104: 797–802
4 Nutrients, 2018; 10: 373; Cochrane
Database Syst Rev, 2009; 2009:
CD006296
5 Diabetes Care, 2014; 37: 1824–30
6 Cureus, 2020; 12: e10796
7 Acta Med Indones, 2018; 50: 82–
7; J Pharm Pharm Sci, 2019; 22:
22–7; J Diabetes Complications,
2012; 26: 424–9; Cleve Clin J Med,
2017; 84(7 Suppl 1): S15–S21
8 Indian J Physiol Pharmacol, 2002;
46: 298–306
9 J Altern Complement Med, 2012;
18: 1172–8
10 J Pain Res, 2019; 12: 1341–51
11 Technol Health Care, 2018; 26(S1):
379–87; Diabetes Res Clin Pract,
2018; 146: 1–7
12 Magnes Res, 2004; 17: 109–14
13 Clin Nutr, 2020; 39: 2970–74
14 Acta Med Port, 2017; 30: 719–26;
Mol Cell Endocrinol, 2017; 443:
72–9
15 Curr Med Res Opin, 2016; 32:
219–27; Rev Neurol Dis, 2011;
8: 39–47; Am J Med, 2013; 126:
141–9
16 J Diabetes Complications, 2012;
26: 352–8
17 Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes,
2019; 12: 109–20; J Diabetes
Complications. 1996; 10: 280–7
18 Diabetes Res Clin Pract, 1998; 39:
115–21; J Acupunct Meridian Stud,
2010;3:95–103

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FAMILY HEALTH
WDDTY offers practical, natural solutions to your most pressing health problems
Holistic
therapies
forepilepsy
My friend’s 11-year-old daughter
has epilepsy and still has seizures
even though she is taking
medication. She is trying to
find out about effective holistic
therapies for her. Can you help?
S.P., via email
Some 65 million people worldwide
suffer from epilepsy—a disorder of
brain electrical activity that causes
recurrent seizures. The usual
treatment is antiepileptic drugs
(also called anticonvulsants), but
around 30 percent of sufferers
continue to have seizures despite
being on medication—what’s
known as drug-resistant epilepsy
or refractory epilepsy.
There’s also the problem of
serious side-effects, which include
allergies, depression, memory loss,
osteoporosis and aplastic anemia.1
The good news is that there
are a number of complementary
and alternative therapies proving
to be effective for drug-resistant
epilepsy, especially dietary
treatments. Your friend should of
course consult with her daughter’s
doctor before trying them, but
here’s a general guide to what
works that you can pass on.
70 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
THE NATURAL MEDICINE CASEBOOK
TRY OTHER DIETS
If the ketogenic diet
isn’t a good fit for her
child, your friend could try
the modified Atkins diet.
It’s similar but has fewer
restrictions, so it might
be easier to follow. In one
long-term study,
55 percent of children
following the diet for
more than six months
saw their seizures reduce
by more than half, and
35 percent were seizure
GO KETO free.4
Ketogenic diets, which are high in fat and low in Another effective
carbohydrates, have proved effective for treating children with option is the low glycemic
epilepsy, and are even included in the UK National Institute for index (GI) diet,5 which
Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines as a treatment for allows more liberal
drug-resistant pediatric epilepsy.2 carbohydrate intake than
According to a recent review, up to 55 percent of children can either the ketogenic or
achieve freedom from seizures by following a ketogenic diet, modified Atkins diets,
while up to 85 percent will see a reduction in seizures. The diet but restricts the type of
can have side-effects, though, which include constipation and carb-containing foods
diarrhea,3 so it should be followed under medical supervision. to only those that cause
There are many useful online resources for families relatively small changes
considering ketogenic diets for childhood epilepsy, such as in blood glucose levels.
www.matthewsfriends.org and www.thedaisygarland.org. For more information
ukk. And your friend should consult her daughter’s doctor before on these diets, see The
embarking on the diet—they may be able to refer her to a Epilepsy Foundation’s
ketogenic dietitian. website,
www.epilepsy.com, and
INVESTIGATE ALLERGIES speak to a practitioner
Some evidence has linked food allergies to epilepsy. In a recent before trying them.
preliminary trial of children with drug-resistant epilepsy, an elimination
diet was associated with a 50 percent seizure reduction in more than 85
percent of the children studied.6 Consulting with a nutritional therapist
can help your friend to identify food allergies
and come up with a suitable
diet plan, or initially she
could try cutting out
common culprits
like gluten and
dairy.
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CONSIDERSUPPLEMENTS
Certainnutritionalsupplementsmaybebeneficial
forepilepsy,butit’simportanttofirstconsultwitha
qualifiedpractitioner,whocantestfornutritional
deficienciesandrecommendthebestsupplements
alongwithappropriate,individualizeddosagesfor
thechild’sweightandneeds.
Herearesomegeneralrecommendationsbasedon
scientificstudiesinchildrenandadultswithepilepsy.
Omega3s.Theseessentialfattyacids,foundin
fishoil,appeartohaveneuroprotectiveandanti-
seizureeffects.7 Inonestudy,althoughahighdose
oftheomega-3seicosapentaenoicacid(EPA)and
docosahexaenoicacid(DHA)hadnoeffect,alower
dosewasfoundtoreducethenumberofseizuresthe
participantshadbyathirdafter10weeks.Another
studylookedatwhetherEPAorDHAwasbetterat
reducingseizuresinpatientswithdrug-resistant
epilepsy,butfoundthatbothweresimilarlyeffective,
andbothweresignificantlybetterthanaplacebo.8
Suggesteddosage:1,080mg/dayEPAandDHA
VitaminB6.Adeficiencyinthisvitaminiscommon
inpatientswithepilepsy,andthere’sevenarare
geneticdisorderknownas“vitaminB6-dependent
epilepsy,”mainlyoccurringinnewbornsandinfants,
whereseizurescanbecompletelycontrolledbylarge
dosesofvitaminB6(genetictestingisavailableto
diagnosethis).It’sunclearwhetherB6willhelp
patientswithnon-vitaminB6-dependentepilepsy,
althoughthere’ssomepromisingevidencefrom
casereportsanduncontrolledtrials.9 Yourfriendcan
considergettingherdaughter’sB6levelstestedand
thensupplementingasneeded.
VitaminE.StudiessuggestthataddingavitaminE
supplementtostandardtreatmentwithantiepileptic
drugscanreducethefrequencyofseizures.10 Itmay
bebecauseoxidativestressisthoughttoplayarolein
epilepsy,andvitaminEisapotentantioxidant.11
Suggesteddosage:400IU/day
Magnesium.Thismineralmaybehelpfulfor
epilepsy,accordingtoonestudyofpatientswithdrug-
resistantepilepsy.Afterupto12monthsoftaking
thesupplement,36percentofpatientssawatleast
a75percentreductioninseizurefrequency,andtwo
patientsreportedcompletefreedomfromseizures.12
Suggesteddosage:theeffectivedosewas420mg
twiceaday
VitaminD.LowlevelsofvitaminDarecommon
inpeoplewithepilepsy.13 Andpreliminaryevidence
suggeststhatcorrectingvitaminDdeficiencycan
significantlyreduceseizurefrequencyinpatients.14
HometestingkitsforvitaminDareavailablevia
theVitaminDSociety(www.vitamindsociety.org)
andBetterYou(www.betteryou.com),alongwith
personalizedrecommendationsonhowmuchtotake.
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FAMILY HEALTH
LISTEN TO MOZART
Studies in adults and children with epilepsy
show that listening to Mozart daily can help
to reduce seizures.15 In one study, researchers
played the first movement of Mozart’s Sonata for
Two Pianos in D Major, K.448, every day for three
months to epilepsy patients and then switched to
a shuffled version that lost the original’s rhythmic
qualities. They discovered a significant difference
in the number of seizures during the ‘true Mozart’
treatment.16 Your friend could try playing the
music to her daughter daily for about 10 minutes
before bedtime.
DO YOGA
You friend could try doing regular yoga classes
with her daughter—the mind-body technique has
proved to be a useful add-on therapy for epilepsy.17 In
a small randomized controlled trial of children taking
antiepileptic drugs, those in the yoga group had
no seizures after
six months, while
seven children
in the control
group had
seizures.18
REFERENCES
NEUROFEEDBACK 1 Front Neurol, 2016; 7: 218;
Epilepsia, 2006; 47: 1232–6
Based on sensitive computer technology, this 2 J Hum Nutr Diet, 2020; 33: 98–105
technique—a form of biofeedback—measures electrical 3 Cochrane Database Syst Rev,
2020; 6: CD001903
activity in the brain and feeds that information back to help 4 J Child Neurol, 2012; 27: 754–8
the individual learn how to control seizures. Around three- 5 Seizure, 2014; 23: 570–2
quarters of patients report fewer weekly seizures with 6 Sci Rep, 2019; 9: 6875
7 Curr Top Med Chem, 2016; 16:
neurofeedback, according to a review of 10 studies.19 1897–905
One provider in the UK is BrainTrainUK (www. 8 Epilepsy Behav, 2018; 87: 32–8
9 Altern Med Rev, 2007; 12: 9–24
braintrainuk.com); in the US, visit www.isnr.org to find a
10 Epilepsia, 1989; 30: 84–9; Adv
local provider. Biomed Res, 2016; 5: 36
11 Ann Indian Acad Neurol, 2014; 17:
398–404
12 Can J Neurol Sci, 2012; 39: 323–7
13 Epilepsy Res, 2014; 108: 1352–6
14 Epilepsy Behav, 2012; 24: 131–3
15 J Sch Nurs, 2018; 34: 28–37
16 Epilepsia Open, 2020; 5: 285–94
17 Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2017;
10: CD001524
18 J Pediatr Neurosci, 2018; 13: 410–5
19 Clin EEG Neurosci, 2009; 40: 173–9
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 71
FAMILY HEALTH
Natural
treatments
for SLE
I’ve just been diagnosed with systemic lupus
erythematosus and would like to know if
there’s any evidence on natural therapies
being helpful for the condition. I’m aware I
need to protect my skin from the sun, pace
my activities, manage stress, etc. What about
diet and supplements?
R.R., via email
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is
an autoimmune disease, which means
the body’s immune system is hyperactive
and attacks its own tissues and organs.
It affects the whole body and can cause
inflammation and damage to multiple
organs including the skin, kidneys, joints,
brain, heart and lungs.
Some of the most common symptoms
are fatigue, joint pain and stiffness, skin
rashes, fever, headaches and dry eyes,
although no two cases are the same.
Some people will experience symptoms
constantly, while others have ‘flares’ where
symptoms get worse for a while and then
disappear or subside.
The usual treatment is anti-inflammatory
drugs such as steroids or NSAIDs
(nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
and drugs to suppress the immune system,
but around half of patients are still unhappy
with their health and quality of life,1 not
to mention the long list of side-effects
associated with these drugs.
Your best course of action would be to
get in touch with a functional medicine
practitioner, who can try to address the root
causes of your disease rather than just focus
on managing the symptoms. To find one try
the Institute for Functional Medicine
(www.ifm.org) or Natural Health Worldwide
(www.naturalhealthworldwide.com).
But here are some natural treatments and
lifestyle changes that may be helpful, based
on the science so far.
HEALTH FACT
SLEaffectsabout1in1,000
people,mostlywomenof
childbearingage 2
72 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
FIND THE RIGHT DIET
A Mediterranean diet may be useful for SLE, according to a new study. SLE patients who most
closely followed the diet, which is rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts and olive oil, had a lower
risk of active disease plus fewer risk factors for heart disease. Abstaining from red meat and
meat products as well as sugars and pastries was also associated with beneficial effects, the
researchers found.3
Other research suggests that food allergy elimination diets can improve symptoms of SLE,4
so it may be worth working with an experienced practitioner who can aim to uncover any
allergies and devise an appropriate diet plan for you.
One diet favored by a number of functional medicine practitioners is the Paleo diet, which is
anti-inflammatory and low in common allergens and processed foods. Indeed, Dr Terry Wahls
has developed an integrative approach to healing autoimmune conditions based on Paleo
principles, which you can find out about via www.terrywahls.com and in her book, The Wahls
Protocol (Avery, 2014).
Recent evidence suggests that a disturbed gut
microbiome may play a role in SLE and other autoimmune
diseases,5 so anything that can help to bring it back into
balance may lead to improvements in your condition. The
right diet is a good start (see above), but supplementing
with probiotics is another way to do this, and Lactobacillus
and Bifidobacteria strains in particular seem to be helpful
HEAL for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.6 Clinical
YOUR trials in SLE patients are thin on the ground, but a study in
mice with SLE and kidney damage found that giving them
GUT five Lactobacillus strains improved kidney function and
prolonged survival.7
For a comprehensive guide to healing your gut,
check out the Healthy Gut Intensive online show by
WDDTY’s sister company, Get Well. You can purchase the
recordings at www.getwell.solutions.
MAINTAIN A
HEALTHY WEIGHT
Up to 35 percent of SLE patients are overweight,
and 39 percent are obese. Obesity has also
been identified as an independent risk factor in
worsening the functional capacity, fatigue and
inflammation status of patients with SLE.8
If you need to lose weight, consider working with
an experienced practitioner who can give you one-
to-one support.
DETOX
Environmental pollutants such as pesticides and heavy metals,
which can easily end up in the body, have been linked to SLE.9 As
well as minimizing your exposure to harmful chemicals as much
as possible—by eating organic and choosing natural products
in your home, for example—you can also try to help your body
get rid of existing toxic chemicals in your system by using detox
methods such as juicing, sweating and taking high-dose vitamin
C. See the WDDTY May 2021 issue for functional medicine doctor
Jenny Goodman’s comprehensive guide to detox.
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 FAMIL

SUPPLEMENT
The following supplements are showing promise for
SLE. For best results, consult with a practitioner who can
recommend supplements and dosages based on your
individual needs.
Fish oil. A number of studies show that
supplementing with omega-3s from fish
oil, especially eicosapentaenoic acid
(EPA), can improve symptoms in
patients
with SLE.10
Suggested dosage: choose a high-EPA
formula, like Life & Soul Pure Omega
3 Liquid by Bare Biology (one teaspoon
supplies 3,500 mg of
omega-3, including 2,000
mg of EPA) and follow the label
instructions
Pycnogenol. In a small preliminary trial
of SLE patients, those given Pycnogenol, the
registered trademark brand name of French
maritime pine bark extract, saw a significant
decline in disease activity compared to those
given a placebo.11
Suggested dosage: 60–120 mg/day
Vitamin D. Low levels of vitamin
D have been linked to SLE,12 and
studies suggest that supplements of
the vitamin might improve fatigue in
sufferers and possibly disease activity,
too.13
Suggested dosage: get your levels checked first
to determine the best dosage for you
Vitamin C. The higher the vitamin C intake,
the lower the risk of active SLE disease,
according to one study.14
Suggested dosage: 1–5 g/day, or take to bowel
tolerance
MEDITATE
Stress may trigger disease flares in
GET HELP FROM HERBS
According to herbalist Meilyr James, owner of the Herbal Clinic
in Swansea, Wales (www.herbalclinic-swansea.co.uk), there are
three main categories of herbs that can be helpful for patients
with SLE: 1) herbs to improve bowel function, to promote a healthy
gut microbiome, 2) herbs to help with stress, as this can trigger
flare-ups in SLE and 3) anti-inflammatory herbs, as inflammation
is a key feature of SLE.
Here are his top herbal recommendations.
For bowel function:
Combine the following tinctures:
50 mL Frangula alnus (alder buckthorn) 1:4
100 mL Althaea officinalis (marshmallow) root 1:5
Take 3–5 mL, three times daily, after meals in a little water.
Adjust the dose to suit your size/constitution. Aim for a
noticeable increase in bowel movements, at least one and up to
three easy bowel movements every day.
For stress:
Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) can help to regulate the
stress response and acts as an immunomodulator, says James.
Take 5 g of the powdered root morning and night in a little
warm plant milk.
For inflammation:
Turmeric is an effective anti-inflammatory and antioxidant
herb, helping to repair and prevent damage caused by
inflammatory processes, says James.
Choose high-quality turmeric powder, organic where possible.
Mix one teaspoon of turmeric with an equal quantity of olive
oil or melted coconut oil to form a paste.
Dilute with a little warm water (or almond milk and honey)
and drink twice daily.
For convenience, you can make the paste up in a larger batch;
it will store well in the fridge for one week. You can also combine
the ashwagandha and turmeric and take them together.
REFERENCES
WATCH OUT 1 Complement Ther Med, 2018;
FOR VACCINES 41: 111–7
2 Clin Rev Allergy Immunol, 2018;
Mounting 55: 352–67

SLE and even play a part in the onset evidence 3 Rheumatology, 2021; 60: 160–9
4 J Ren Nutr, 2000; 10: 170–83
of the disease.15 Stress reduction suggests that 5 Curr Opin Rheumatol, 2017; 29:
techniques such as meditation may
vaccinations 374–7; Curr Rheumatol Rep, 2021;
can increase 23: 27
therefore be a useful therapy. In 6 J Cell Physiol 2017; 232:
the risk of 1994–2007
one study of patients with kidney autoimmune 7 Microbiome,2017;5:73
inflammation caused by lupus, conditions, 8 FrontImmunol,2020;11:1477
meditation significantly improved includingSLE 17
9 CurrOpinRheumatol,2016;28:
497–505
quality of life.16 10 JRheumatol,2004;31:1551–6;
AnnRheumDis,2008;67:841–8;
AnnRheumDis,1991;50:463–6
11 PhytotherRes,2001;15:698–704
12 CurrOpinRheumatol,2008;20:
532–7
13 ArthritisCareRes(Hoboken),2016;
68:91–8;AmJMedSci,2019;
358:104–14
14 JRheumatol,2003;30:747–54
15 RheumatolInt,2013;33:1367–70
16 JMedAssocThai,2014;97Suppl
3:S101–7
17 AutoimmunRev,2017;16:756–65

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 A LIVING

Finding
your
voice
Anewandseemingly
implausiblesoundtherapy
isbeingusedtoheal
traumaticeventsthatmay
contributetopsychological
andphysicalillness. Cate
Montanareports

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P
ositive psychological wellbeing is
associated with better health,and
recent studies show that it even
impacts mortality rates,lowering the
risk of death.1 But how do we get there?
Eliminating obvious stress
factors—a hectic home life,a high-
pressure job,money worries,difficult
relationships,divorce,self-esteem
issues,constant exposure to electromagnetic fields and
all the other things that contribute to our harried modern
lifestyles—isn’t always possible.And even if stress is
managed,that doesn’t guarantee positive psychological
wellbeing.
To get to this positive state,we have to get down to the
root of why we don’t manage unavoidable stresses well
in the first place.And that means uncovering unhealthy,
submerged emotional patterns that sabotage even our
best efforts at stress management and self-improvement.
Why some people are more deeply affected by stressors
than others depends on their life experiences as well as
their genetics.2 Stress can be more dangerous for people
with a predisposition and family history of conditions
such as heart disease,diabetes and depression.And a
child who has lived through a traumatic experience,
for example developing abandonment issues around a
parent after a divorce,is far more likely to be stressed and
emotionally traumatized by her own divorce proceedings
later in life than another woman who had no such earlier
experience.
To compound matters,researchers in the area of
epigenetics have now discovered that events in someone’s
lifetime can change the way their DNA is expressed,and
many of the effects of traumatic stress they experience can
be passed down to subsequent generations,even if those
future family members are not exposed to any traumatic
stressors.3 This means an individual may have been raised
in a perfectly happy home with both parents present
and still be affected by or even inherit the trauma of a
grandparent or great-grandparent who was abandoned
as a child.
Untilrecently,uncoveringunhealthyhiddenemotional
patterns—learnedand/orinherited—andmorepositively
reframingaperson’sperceptionaboutthemselves,
othersandlifehasbeenthepurviewof psychiatristsand
psychologists.Andyetpatientsmayspenddecadesintalk
therapyandneveruncovertherootcausesof anissue,let
aloneclearitandevolvebeyondthatissue.
Now,thanks to advancing technologies in voice
pattern recognition and the development of perception
reframing software,a new therapy claims to address
certain hidden patterns and aid in creating emotional
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HEALTH G
wellness by mapping the subtle frequencies in a person’s
voice and then feeding back missing frequencies through
a neurofeedback process, creating positive, permanent
shifts in a person’s wellbeing in a matter of hours.
It’s all in the voice
Speech production involves much of the body: the
lungs, the nasal and oral cavities, pharynx, diaphragm,
abdomen, back, ribs, brain and nerves. According to Dr
Vaughn Cook, an Oriental medical doctor and developer
of the EVOX perception reframing device and software,
anything that’s going on in the body will be reflected in
the voice.
“There is a lot of information carried in the voice,”
says Cook, who is also founder and chairman of ZYTO,
a technology company in Lindon, Utah, that markets
the EVOX system.“The words are almost insignificant.
It’s just the tip of the iceberg.” He points out that when
someone calls on the phone and says “Hi, this is …” we
immediately know the caller’s gender, their approximate
age, their ethnicity, the part of the world they were born
in, what kind of mood they’re in and probably a general
idea of how healthy they are.
We decode this vocal information all the time without
even thinking about it. At times we even know that the
words someone is saying aren’t true. The words just don’t
feel right. We detect a dissonance between the words that
are being spoken and the energy behind the words, like
when a parent says,“Everything is fine,” and we know full
well that everything is not fine.
Little clinical work has been done on what is called
the “prosodic signature” (vocal intonation, stress and
rhythm) of the human voice. But one study shows that
listeners can reliably determine whether another person
is lying simply by how the other person’s voice sounds.4
“With EVOX we don’t care what the words are,” says
Cook.“We ignore the words. All we’re interested in
are the energy patterns in the voice. And voice energy
is just frequency. So we listen across about a four-
octave range—the 12 tones of the Western chromatic
music scale, C up through B. Then we take the energy,
aggregate it into one octave and display it in what we call
a perception index. Through clinical trial and error, we
have learned that it’s desirable to have a symmetrical
voice. In other words, it’s desirable to have frequencies in
all of the ranges.”
However, according to Cook, frequencies that should
be in the voice are often missing. Some frequencies are
overstressed or exaggerated, while others are subdued. And
the configuration of frequencies that are missing, stressed
or diminished varies from topic to topic, depending on the
hidden emotional content behind the words.
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 75
 LIVING

perceptions: school is hard. I

Case study: “The guilt is just gone” don’t do well at math. Boys are
David Watts, 54, from Plymouth in the UK, had long-term issues with his parents. “My father bullies. Women aren’t trustworthy.
was violent,” he says. “Unkind is probably the nicest way I can put it. I think he believed in There’s no getting ahead in life.
tough love. I had a chip on my shoulder as a result, and I didn’t have a very high opinion of I don’t deserve good fortune.
The more fixed unconscious
myself. I also felt a lot of guilt around how I’d never got on with either parent and how we’d
perceptions we have, the more
drifted apart.”
restricted our reality and options
He heard about Leonie Baxter from a friend at work and decided to see if she could help him become.
with these negative feelings. “Everything was very straightforward,” he says. “We sat down, “Your perception sabotages
and she explained the technology and showed me the EVOX computer and the hand cradle. your efforts,” says Cook. “We
Then we did a session, and the computer mapped my voice.” make dumb choices because
After about an hour, the computer indicated that there had been a significant perceptual the dumb choices are our best
shift around the topic of his parents. “I’m not a religious man,” he says, “But I felt refreshed, option as far as we can see. What
and I felt slightly lightened in my body, if that makes sense. Since then I haven’t really thought perception reframing does is to
about issues with my parents. And that’s been over a year ago. I’m not jumping out of bed give your body information that is
every morning saying, ‘I feel better’!” But I haven’t torn myself apart about the issue. And the lacking—because it doesn’t show
sense of guilt, anguish and regret is just gone.” up in the voice.
“The computer generates
information that is missing
and feeds back the energetic
frequencies your body shows a
Whatever is being talked about—or even thought biological coherence for based
about while speaking gibberish—the voice pattern on the voice analysis. This unique information is then
accurately reflects the emotions, experiences, beliefs introduced unconsciously via a software output that the
and attitudes behind the subject, believes Cook. In body picks up and incorporates.”
other words, he says, whether what’s being talked about As missing information is incorporated, the voice
is trauma from a car accident or grief over losing a pattern eventually changes. When the software detects a
loved one, the software reveals a person’s perception of significant change in the voice pattern, it indicates
the situation based on their buried programming—
programming that is unique
because it purportedly is based
in that person’s life experiences,
genetics and epigenetic influences
from what Cook refers to as the Francisco State University mind’ is the rule, not the
“family of origin.”
Buried thoughts Ezequiel Morsella writes, exception.”1
“When you talk about any The conscious mind— “[T]here now exists Marketing experts know
topic, your voice energy actually our waking state of substantial evidence that the that buying choices are not
changes, because all of the consciousness—is only the unconscious is not identifiably made by the five percent
information that you have in tiny tip of the iceberg. When less flexible, complex, slice of our mental pie called
your body about that topic will be it comes to both voluntary controlling, deliberative, or the conscious mind. That’s
reflected in your voice,” he says. and involuntary movements action-oriented than is its why advertising deliberately
“If you talk about your low back and nervous system [conscious] counterpart.” appeals to human emotions.
pain, your low back pain is going functions, including our Comparing human Marketers are trying to trigger
to come through. If you talk about supposedly conscious choices, behavior to the “complex and deep-seated emotional
your father, your experiences and neuroscience has proven that intelligent design” shown associations that in turn
memories with your father are 95 percent of those functions by plants and animals, he generate buying impulses in
going to come through.” and choices are driven adds, “Unconscious processes the unwary customer.
The problem, as any psychologist unconsciously. are smart and adaptive
knows, is that we get stuck in our As neuroscience researcher throughout the living world… REFERENCES
perceptions about things. A dog and professor at San In nature, the ‘unconscious 1 Perspect Psychol Sci, 2008; 3: 73–9
bite at age five can transform into
a fixed perception in the adult that
“All dogs are dangerous.”An absent
father due to a divorce may trigger
the perception that “all men will
leave me.”
Each of us is filled to the
brim with such rigid hidden
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 HEALT

The perception index map Zone 1: Unacknowledged vs self-validation

EVOX practitioners use a perception
index map based on the energy of the
voice, revealing both present and missing
frequencies compared to ideal balanced
perception (see ideal map) in each of the
following 12 perception zones.
Zone 2: Repetitive thinking vs creative independent thinking
Zone 3: Sadness vs inner peace
Zone 4: Emotionally disconnected vs emotionally integrated
Zone 5: Self-critical vs self-love
Zone 6: Conditional love vs unconditional love
Zone 7: Anger vs acceptance of change
Zone 8: Fearful and overwhelmed vs accountability
Zone 9: Suppressed emotional expression vs appropriate self-expression
Zone 10: Unworthy/undeserving vs self-accepting
Zone 11: Rigid beliefs vs open to possibilities
Zone 12: Conflicting beliefs and action vs congruent beliefs and action

RED
extreme imbalance

YELLOW
high imbalance

GREEN
medium
imbalance

BLUE
low imbalance

WHITE BLACK
offsetting zones overall excessive
containing lower voice energy
amounts of voice
energy GRAY
entire voice energy
across all zones

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 LIVING

that a shift has occurred and the

perception of the topic has been
reframed, claims Cook.“Once it
does that, you’ve expanded your
available options because you can
understand more and make more
intelligent decisions.” A typical EVOX session
A new point of view All practitioners have a different approach using the EVOX technology. Leonie Baxter, a
Have you ever walked through a naturopathic health practitioner in Cornwall, UK, says she tries to coach clients on getting very
parking lot and waved at a friend exact with the topic at hand, getting into the scope of it, the feel, the smell, the taste, everything
only to be ignored? And felt hurt that is pertinent.
and angry about it? And then you “When did they first experience it? Is there anything they can relate it to? The more I can get
find out, after days of seething, that them into their thoughts and feelings, the more I’m going to capture those frequencies. It’s kind
their dog died, and they were upset of like biography to biology, as it were.”
and preoccupied in the parking lot Sometimes she asks them to write whatever it is down. Then, when they’re ready and give
that day and didn’t even see you? her the nod, she starts recording a 10-second statement. “Eight seconds of audio is all it really
The new information changes takes,” she says. “And it doesn’t matter what they say. As long as they’re focused on their topic,
everything. You understand what EVOX captures the voice energy and creates a voice map called a perception index.”
really happened. You no longer The perception index displays the person’s perception around their topic (see page 55).
feel upset and angry because your After each recording, missing frequencies in the voice are outputted through a hand cradle—a
perception of the situation has transceiver signal emitting/receiving device—or through a low-level laser back to the client’s body.
been reframed. While the information is being output, the client relaxes while listening to unstructured
This is precisely what ambient music. The feedback portions of the session average between 30 seconds to two
practitioners using the EVOX minutes in length. Then the next voice recording is made. The changed frequencies in the voice
system claim to do with clients are assessed and displayed in another perception index, and the latest missing frequencies are
who come to them with fed back to the client’s body.
problems—stress, depression, Sessions typically last around an hour and include multiple recording/feedback cycles until the
anxiety, obsessive thinking, perception index reveals that a clear shift in subconscious perception has been made.
compulsions and sometimes “It’s a beautifully simple process,” Baxter says. “The thing I like about EVOX is that if
even physical symptoms—but somebody doesn’t want to get deep down and dirty into stuff—which not everybody does—
by changing those emotions they can actually talk about anything as long as they’re focused on their topic. It’s all about
through missing frequencies in frequency, not words, and just letting the software
the voice. work out its algorithms until it shows there’s been a
Kevin Talmadge, a nutrition shift in perception. Typical topics
adviser and EVOX practitioner in “Frankly, if I lost this technology tomorrow, I don’t
Sarasota, Florida, had an 83-year- feel like I could be a whole practitioner. Yes, I could Practitioners claim the EVOX system
old client named “Sarah” who do my functional medicine questionnaire and my can be used to reframe perceptions on
came to him in a wheelchair. medical history and I could do blood tests, but I all manner of issues including:
“She looked about as beaten- certainly couldn’t reframe people’s emotions in 60 • Addiction
down and defeated as you could to 90 minutes. It’s really the future.” • Behaviors
ever imagine a person being,” • Performance enhancement, sports,
Talmadge says.“She had had a work
shingles outbreak three years • Phobias, genetic and trauma-induced
previously, and even though the • Productivity
shingles lesions had gone into remission she still had “She called me a week later and • Relationship goals and values,
excruciating pain. She couldn’t be touched over most of told me the pain was gone and that communication, stability
her body. She couldn’t sleep comfortably, and she was she’d been able to sleep and hug her • Sadness and depression related to
ready to give up.” husband. At that point she was crying, a history of abuse, death or loss,
He conducted an EVOX session just on the physical and I was crying. I couldn’t believe how conflict, etc.
discomfort she was experiencing, identifying many of meaningful it was to be able to assist • Self-esteem issues, confidence,
the markers to look for in a client’s voice recordings that somebody in that way.” doubt, coping with mistakes
show progress is being made. After about an hour he After a few weeks, however, her pain • Social issues, shyness, aggression,
ended the session. started to come back. It wasn’t as bad bullying, prejudice
“I was brand new and just two weeks into my as it had been, but Talmadge had her • Stress in the home, at work, in
practice,” he says.“When she asked me,‘What do we do come in to do sessions working on relationships
now?’ I had no idea really. So I just sent her home and the unconscious perceptions she’d • Wellness, diet, sleep issues, weight
asked her to keep track of her pain levels during the developed and inherited from her loss or gain
week. family of origin—parents,
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 HEALTHY LIVING

grandparents and other family

members. After two or three months
Case study: “There was no bigger skeptic than me”
they started to work on some early life Lisa Talmadge. Vermont native Lisa, 60, is Kevin Talmadge’s sister. She worked as a nurse
experiences. her entire career, and says she was barely able to contain her disinterest and disbelief as
“It’s very well established that she listened to her brother’s excited stories about his work with EVOX over the years. “If
adverse childhood experiences, or I can’t see it and can’t measure it, I don’t believe in it,” she laughs. “There was no bigger
ACEs, are related to physical and
skeptic than me.”
emotional outcomes like diabetes,
obesity and depression, etc.,” Then, in early 2020, she experienced a sudden and traumatic breakup with her long-
Talmadge says.“Compound ACEs time girlfriend. “She called and asked me to meet her at a specific location, a place called
in their effects are much like post- Joe’s Pond, and she just laid it out. After that happened I went into a deep depression. For
traumatic stress disorder in that months I was a complete mess. I kept replaying the conversation, thinking ‘If I’d only said
multiple events have multiple effects, something different. If I’d only said this, if only I’d done that, things might be different.’
and they stack.” “I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I was literally wailing in bed replaying the scene over and
When Talmadge helped Sarah think over, night after night. I was so stuck and obsessed.”
all the way back to when she was 11
Eventually she talked to her brother about her problem. He suggested she work with him
years old, she suddenly remembered
that she’d been sexually abused by long-distance using the EVOX technology and she flatly refused. “Coming from a traditional
a family member. After Talmadge medical background where you take a pill or you have the surgery or you work through
addressed that buried trauma something with talk therapy, I didn’t have any confidence that it was going to work. But I
through EVOX, Sarah became totally just couldn’t shift my crying and not eating and not sleeping.”
pain-free again and stayed pain-free Finally Lisa relented. Kevin shipped her a hand cradle to use, and they did a few long-
for the rest of her life. distance sessions. First they worked on clearing family-of-origin issues. “I realized right
“With physical stuff it’s tricky,” says away it was affecting how I felt about my mother in a positive way,” she says. “I was queer
Talmadge.“I tell people that if they’re in the 1960s, so basically my relationship with my mother was traumatic. After a session, I
getting proper medical treatment was more settled and calm, and that was a big change. Then we got to the girlfriend part.”
and getting all the help they normally
The EVOX sessions helped, but she continued to obsess. At that point Kevin suggested
would want and the situation’s not
they do a session with her focused on the location where she was ditched—Joe’s Pond.
changing, maybe there’s something
that’s inhibiting their normal human “I was like ‘Really? Seriously?’ But after that it was like a miracle. I still can’t even believe
ability to heal and it could be a pattern I’m saying this out loud, but after we did that session I slept through the night and I didn’t
of trauma.” wake up thinking about it. And I have not gone through that pain and obsession ever again.
For instance, at 30 years of age, It was over immediately, and it changed my life. I was shocked!”
“Janet,” another patient of his,
was in a wheelchair and had been
struggling with Lyme disease
symptoms and disabilities for years.
Despite treatment, her limbs were paralyzed on and and she was able to start living a normal life. “When you
off, she experienced paresthesia (a burning or prickling change your mind, you change your life,” says Talmadge.
sensation, usually of the hands and feet), blinding “As a species we’re carrying around all this trauma, and
headaches and an inability to focus. She couldn’t hold a now we can do something about that. That’s what the
job and was living with her parents. big picture is for me.”
Her symptoms didn’t clear just working on the As potentially promising as the EVOX system appears
physical level, so Talmadge explored information about to be, there is a long way to go proving the technology.
her family of origin. It turned out her family was from Forensic science has long understood that vocal tone is
the Baltic region, where warfare had been waged for a powerful indicator of emotion. Voice stress analysis
generations. So Talmadge ran the software, having her devices (VSA), which measure “microtremors” in
focus on intergenerational PTSD. the voice as an indicator of stress, are used widely in
“People don’t even have to talk about trauma because police stations and prisons in the US as “lie detection”
it can occur so early in life that they have no memory devices. And yet the few studies that have been done on
of it,”he says.“It can occur when they’re in the womb the much more basicVSA technology show thatVSA
or before they were born.So of course they have zero REFERENCES devices,while they can accurately detect the presence of
memory.But just talking about the time frame is 1 J Aging Res, 2018; 2018: 2126368 stress,cannot reliably determine whether that stress is
2 Neuroscience, 2014; 0: 157–70
enough to anchor the voice to that ancestor and time. 3 Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci, 2018; 158:
due to lying or not.5
The information is there,epigenetically,and will 273–98 While EVOX obviously has its enthusiastic
manifest in a voice map where we can address it.” 4 Nat Commun, 2021; 12: 861 proponents among therapists,clearly more advanced
5 National Institute of Justice, March
In Janet’s case,after clearing information about her 16, 2008. “Voice Stress Analysis: research into the frequencies of the voice and their
family of origin,Talmadge carried out several sessions Only 15 Percent of Lies About Drug relationship to healing trauma is needed.Watch this
Use Detected in Field Test.” nij.
on her symptoms,after which they quickly cleared up ojp.gov space.
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HEALTHY LIVING
A lack of testosterone can leave women feeling tired, weak and
depressed, says Dr Shawn Tassone. Here’s how to restore your
levels naturally
Get your
bounceback
Symptoms of testosterone
deficiency
Fatigue, often in the later afternoon
Muscle weakness
Weight gain, particularly around the
middle
Interrupted sleep
Hair thinning or loss
Osteoporosis and osteopenia (lower
bone density than normal)
Diminished genital arousal
Decreased sexual desire
Depression and anxiety
80 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021
T
estosterone deficiency is the most often
overlooked female hormone imbalance
and the most common imbalance I see.
Produced by the ovaries and adrenal glands,
as well as in peripheral tissues (from precursor
hormones produced in the ovaries and
adrenals), a woman’s testosterone generally
reaches its highest level during young
adulthood.
Production of the hormone
decreases over time, falling to
roughly 50 percent of its peak
by the time she has reached
menopause. Although her
ovaries will cease to produce
estrogen at this point, they will continue to
produce smaller amounts of testosterone, as
will her adrenal glands.
That the hormone continues to play a
role in her body’s functioning means an
imbalance can wreak havoc in various
ways. Testosterone deficiency
can give rise to an array of
symptoms,
from weight
gain to
diminished
libido (see box below).
And it can take hold in women
of any age.
Menopause and menopause-
related estrogen dominance can
contribute to a testosterone deficiency.
But birth control pills can also do this, as
can autoimmune disorders such as lupus
and rheumatoid arthritis. Among the other
potential underlying causes are severe stress
and adrenal insufficiency.
But a combination of the right foods,
supplements and exercise can help to correct
this common imbalance.
See the following pages for the best natural
solutions to low testosterone.
Nutrition
If you’re low in testosterone,you u want
to eat foods that help directly raise
testosterone levels as well as those
that help decrease your estrogen n
levels. Provided you are not sufffering
from estrogen deficiency, decreasing
your estrogen levels is a helpful
strategy for lowering your levelss of
the sex hormone binding globu ulin
(SHBG) protein, which binds frree
testosterone and diminishes thee
hormone’s impact.
Another important goal is to
improve your fat-to-muscle ratio.
In particular, diet can help reduce
abdominal fat, which is commonly
referred to as a “testosterone killer.”
Although there is some debate
around whether visceral abdominal
fat (which surrounds your organs)
causes low testosterone or the
other way around, studies have
demonstrated a correlation between
waist-to-hip ratio and testosterone
levels in men, and emerging research
suggests a similar correlation is
present in women.
In men and women alike, higher
levels of visceral fat correspond to
higher levels of estrogen, which can
exacerbate testosterone deficiency.
We also know that in both sexes,
testosterone has a lipolytic potential,
meaning it can break down fat cells,
and that visceral abdominal fat
releases cholesterol and free fatty acids
into the bloodstream, prompting
the body to produce proteins called
cytokines, which trigger low-level
inflammation.
High levels of visceral fat can also
lead to increased production of a
hormone called angiotensin, which
causes blood vessels to constrict and
blood pressure to rise and contributes
to insulin resistance. In addition to
being a factor in weight gain, insulin
resistance is directly related to low
testosterone in men and women.
To help minimize excess fat and
improve your fat-to-muscle ratio,
focus on eating lean proteins and
“good fats” and eliminating processed
carbohydrates and sugar whenever
possible. Here are the top foods to
embrace.
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 HEALTHY LIVING

Foods high in vitamin D Foods high in

zinc
As low testosterone is linked witth
vitamin D deficiency,eat foodss If you have low testosterone,zinc
i can hhelp
l b
boost
rich in vitamin D such as: your body’s natural production of the hormone.
Boosting
Egg
gg yyolks (also rich in omega-33 Good sources of zinc include: essential
fatty acids)
Tuna (also rich in omega-3 fatty
Oysters and other shellfish, including lobster and crab oils
Grass-fed beef (chuck roast or ground beef patty)
acids) The following
Vegetarian sources include chickpeas,
p , cashews,,
Enriched nondairy milks, such as almond mushrooms and spinach eessential oils can help
milk and cashew milk with the drive you
w
nneed to get your
Almonds dday going. Use
Whole almonds contain a set of nutrients vital to testosterone tthem with a
production, including vitamin E, calcium, magnesium and ddiffuser or apply
potassium. They are also rich in arginine, an amino acid that topically.
is involved in increasing blood flow to the genitals in men and Chamomile
women. Increasing your arginine levels can enhance stimulation Geranium
G
and sensation during sexual arousal.1 CClary sage
Although almonds are a source of quality protein and contain SSandalwood
high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, they are also a significant source FFennel
of calories. I recommend consuming no more than 25 each day. FFrankincense

Cruciferous vegetables Foods containing traditional, grain-fed butter.

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli,Brussels sprouts, “good”
cabbage,kale,mustard greens and turnips contain a compound (unsaturated) fats
called indole-3-carbinol (I3C) that has been shown to increase
the efficiency of estrogen metabolism by the liver,driving down If you’re low in testosterone,
the body’s overall estrogen levels.This decrease in turn reduces it’s important to rely on
the body’s SHBG levels,which can result in an increase in free unsaturated fats rather than
testosterone. carbohydrates—particularly
In recent years,researchers have also become interested in the processed carbohydrates—
way the compound impedes estrogen receptor cell proliferation for fuel. While I do not
and have looked into I3C as a possible preventive of breast, recommend cutting out
cervical,endometrial and colorectal cancers. carbohydrates altogether,
Consuming cruciferous vegetables also triggers the body’s relying more heavily on healthy (so-called “bad cholesterol”)
natural production of a compound called diindolylmethane fats (including omega-3s)
(DIM).Research has shown that this compound also helps than carbohydrates can help
break down estrogen,contributing to a lowering of SHBG levels decrease your levels of visceral
and a corresponding rise in testosterone. abdominal fat and increase
One word of warning regarding cruciferous vegetables: they your muscle-to-fat ratio.
can contain phytoestrogens,which can exert estrogenic effects. Omega-3 fats in particular
For those low in testosterone,who may already be estrogen have an overarching balancing Seeds
dominant effect on your hormones
cruciferous vegetables to one serving every other day. and contribute to the health
of your skin, including your
vaginal mucosa.
If you use butter, I
recommend switching to
a grass-fed butter, clarified
butter or ghee. Although all
of these contain saturated
fats, they have benefits over
Grass-fed butter contains
five times the amount of a fatty
acid called conjugated linoleic
acid (CLA), which research
has shown can help with
weight loss. Grass-fed butter
is also significantly higher
in omega-3 fatty acids and
vitamin K2.
Both clarified butter and
ghee are believed to lower LDL
levels and protect the arteries
from hardening.
Good sources of
unsaturated fats
include:
Nuts
Nut oils, including
coconut oil
Rapeseed oil
Avocados
Foods high in
omega-3s such as ffatty
fish, chia seeds andd walnuts

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 LIVING

Supplements blood flow, which can enhance sexual

The following can help to boost arousal in women and men. These
testosterone levels, enhance sexual have also been shown to help prevent
desire and arousal, and restore overall osteopenia and osteoporosis by
hormonal balance. But consult with stimulating the proliferation of cells
your health practitioner before called osteoblasts, which play a critical
taking them. role in bone restructuring.2
Suggested dosage: follow the label instructions
Maca. Although it has
not been shown to Resveratrol. Found in the skins
boost testosterone of red grapes, mulberries and
production blueberries, resveratrol is a chemical
per se, maca is compound that may have a positive
associated with effect on testosterone levels.
increased energy levels Studies suggest it may help reduce
and stamina as the aromatization of testosterone
well enhanced sex into estrogen, increasing the
drive in women levels of free testosterone in
and men. For the bloodstream.It may also
those with low activate the body’s androgen g receptors,
p Exercise
testosterone, I enhancing the effects Low testosterone
recommend of testosterone. can mean low energy
two different Resveratrol may also and muscle weakness,
maca blends. If you are pre-menopausal, reduce inflammation n, so exercise can pose a significant
go for Femmenessence Maca Harmony which has a negative challenge. But even moderate exercise
Menstrual Health. In addition to impact on metabolism m can help increase your testosterone
supporting overall hormonal balance, and contributes to levels, improve your overall health and
this also helps improve energy levels, muscle deterioration n.3 bring your hormones into balance.5
mood and bone health. If you are However, bear in The first step is to simply start
postmenopausal, I recommend mind that resveratroll moving. Any aerobic activity,
Femmenessence MacaPause. This blend may interfere with whether it’s walking, jogging, cycling
helps alleviate common menopause- some prescription or swimming, will help boost
related symptoms such as hot flashes medications such your adrenal glands’ testosterone
and interrupted sleep, as well as as blood thinners, production. To start, do what you can,
improving your energy levels and libido birth control pills and d and no more. Trust that over time your
and reducing vaginal dryness. antibiotics. energy levels can improve and your
Suggested dosage: start with 1 capsule twice Suggested dosage: 250mg/day fatigue dissipate.
daily for two weeks, then gradually increase Gradually increase the intensity
to 2 capsules twice daily
Tribulus. Studies and duration of your workouts as you
have shown that are able. A primarily aerobic workout
Horny goat weed. Found this herb can have regime will help you burn fat and
primarily in China, horny goat a positive impact improve your muscle-to-fat ratio.
weed has been used for centuries on sexual desire Incorporating an interval-training
in Eastern medicine as an and arousal element (brief anaerobic “spurts”) into
aphrodisiac for women and in women your workout routine when you’re able
men.Now popular in the with hypoactive can improve this even further.
West,horny goat weed sexual desire disorder.4
supplements It may work by enhancing
REFERENCES
are available in a androgen receptor density in 1 Biomed Res Int, 2014; 2014: 868062
variety of forms, the brain, which can amplify the 2 Chinese Med J, 2007; 120(3): 204–210
including effects of testosterone on libido. But 3 Acta Biochim Pol, 2019; 66: 13–21
4 Daru, 2014; 22: 40
liquid extract note that it can affect blood sugar levels. 5 Front Horm Res, 2016; 47: 27–43
and capsules. If you are diabetic and rely on blood
Flavonoids in horny sugar-regulating medications, taking the AdaptedfromTheHormone
goat weed have been supplement may mean your physician Balance Bible (Hay House UK,
shown needs to adjust your dose. 2021) by Dr Shawn Tassone, a
to help Suggested dosage: follow the label instructions; double-board-certified physician
take for a period of no longer than eight weeks in obstetrics/gynecology and
increase integrative medicine

82 WDDTY | ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ


The Covidviruslableakislookinglesslikeaconspiracytheory
Thegreatescape
N
oah was a conspiracy theorist until
it started to rain. . . Facetablet post
from Noah: Quick, get on the ark!
Facetablet advisory: Visit the Land
of Nod Flood Information Center for weather
updates.
Yes, Noah would have been at home during
these Covid times with everyone laughing
at his crazy idea. But, of course, he was right.
And some of the conspiracy theories that have
swirled around the Covid pandemic may also
contain more than a bushel of truth.
The most egregious is the theory that
the SARS-CoV-2 virus escaped from a lab
in Wuhan, China. This rumor was quickly
squashed, and instead a petrified public was
told the fable that the epidemic started in a wet
market in Wuhan, just down the road from
the lab, in fact.
The usual suspect was the poor,
misbegotten pangolin, a lovable mammal
that eats ants. In fact, it’s known as the scaly
anteater and has a long snout to help scoot
them up.
According to the fable, a pangolin became
infected with a bat virus after it carelessly ate a
bat. (Bats? Ants? All the same to me, pal.) Then
the virus did its zoonotic flip into humans
when someone fancied a pangolin burger
while browsing the Wuhan market stalls.
Compared to that convoluted tale, the
possibility the virus escaped from a lab seems
less fanciful, but it had been dismissed as a
conspiracy theory by February last year, and
people in polite society never spoke of it again.
Leading the agenda was Professor Peter
Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, a
nonprofit that explores the threat of animal
viruses for mankind. He denounced any ideas
of a Wuhan lab escape as a conspiracy theory
in a letter he drafted and got some of his
scientist friends to co-sign, which The Lancet
medical journal happily published.1
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THE LAST WORD
BryanHubbard
“We sign this statement in solidarity with
all scientists and health professionals in China
who continue to save lives and protect global
health,”it thundered.Several signees later
walked away from it,but the die had been cast.
Other scientists who were more convinced
the virus had escaped from theWuhan lab
were getting short shrift in the scientific
community,and they couldn’t get their papers
published.
Late last year,Professor Daszak was chosen
to head up theWHO investigation team
that visitedWuhan.It was an exercise in
frustration and obfuscation by the Chinese
authorities,but Daszak still returned with a
‘nothing to see here’report that seemed to
convince pretty much nobody.
Then it all started to unravel.US President
Joe Biden ordered the US intelligence
community to investigate the source of the
pandemic after it had been revealed that three
A pangolin became infected
with a bat virus after it
carelessly ate a bat. Then
the virus did its zoonotic flip
into humans when someone
fancied a pangolin burger while
browsing the Wuhan market
scientists from the Wuhan lab had needed
hospital treatment for “Covid-like symptoms”
in November 2019, one month earlier than the
official version placed the virus outbreak.
Then it came out that EcoHealth was being
used as a channel for research funds that were
making their way to Wuhan from the US
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, the division of the National
Institutes of Health headed by Dr Anthony
Fauci, chief health adviser to the President.
This circuitous route was set up in 2014
after President Obama put a stop to US
funding for research into ‘gain-of-function,’
the engineering of viruses to make them
more virulent and transmissible. The US
had poured around US$42 million into the
research, which was being concentrated at the
Wuhan Institute of Virology after a facility at
the University of North Carolina was closed
due to the potential threat to human health.
Why do such hazardous research? The
idea is that animal viruses could leap across
to humans at any time, and it’s better if it
happens in a controlled environment such as
a lab where it can be carefully studied—and
where an antidote (vaccine, anyone?) can be
developed.
That’s perilous enough, but if the virus
walks out of the lab (something that has
happened at least six times in the last 50 years,
and they’re the incidents we know about),
then we have a problem, Wuhan.
While everyone has been celebrating the
drug companies and their rapid response
to the epidemic, Covid-19 is a disaster for
science. Not only was the virus manufactured
by scientists, but the scientific community
also then closed down any sensible debate.
That Ark sure looks welcoming now. . .
REFERENCES
1 Lancet, 2020; 395: e42–3
ISSUE 14 | OCT/NOV 2021 | WDDTY 83