Up Close and Personal
A brief summary by CTM founder, Phillip Day

ECLUB: Things are moving now with the EU's new constitutional referenda.
PHILLIP DAY: Yes. Spain has voted in. Other poorer nations in the EU will inevitably follow - Ireland for instance.
ECLUB: What relevance does this have to those upset about losing their supplements come August?
PHILLIP DAY: The EU represents the triumph of Big Business welded to Big Government, not unlike America. As discussed last time, we are seeing a global move by the drug industry to control the supplements market to make up for lost market-share. The pharmaceutical lobby was extremely effective in pushing its own interests under the banner of 'harmonisation' in Europe, i.e. the EU could be seen to be doing everyone a favour by rendering the sprawling alternative industry 'safe' by insisting on regulatory procedures, etc.
ECLUB: The same regulatory procedures that allowed such horrors as Vioxx, Bextra, Celebrex and Coproximol.
PHILLIP DAY: You sound angry, Brian.
ECLUB: I'm royally ticked off.
PHILLIP DAY: There are well-meaning organisations attempting to negotiate with the EU on this issue. Why is the EU even entertaining this? Because one of its chief acolytes, Tony Blair, is up for re-election, so Brussels is treading softly-softly to avoid alienating that part of Tony's support which swallows vitamins and minerals on a daily basis. A sizeable part of Europe which takes supplements will also be voting in their national referenda on whether or not to adopt the EU Constitution, so Brussels wants to minimise any election fallout caused by this unpopular measure by seeming to play ball.
ECLUB: You believe the EU has no intention of changing its stance on supplements?
PHILLIP DAY: I believe the EU is wasting people's money in the courts by allowing them to protest a done deal. For those who disagree, we'll find out in August. In fact, the court decision on the Alliance of Natural Health's sterling efforts is due to be known in June.
ECLUB: What is the permanent answer?
PHILLIP DAY: Power to the People. Pull Britain out of the EU. 80% will probably vote No to the Constitution anyway and Brussels knows this. Most fail to understand that the stakes are far higher that just snagging our supplements. Far larger than the ban on hunting. Larger even than the unchecked immigration problem Britain must suffer in silence or be labeled racist. The EU is all about a European view of what Britain should look like, talk like, think like, for the future. It's a Continental Britain. Jacques Chirac's Britain. Unfinished business between Britain and Europe going back centuries.
ECLUB: But they wish Britain to remain the Paymaster General?
PHILLIP DAY: Precisely. While Britannia is disdained by France and some other European countries, the EU does need our cash. And we have lots of it. We are the fourth biggest economy on the planet. We have the largest financial sector in the world. We trade globally, most EU nations do not. Britain is being bled dry to bankroll the poorer nations of the Union, who think all the modernization projects they see springing up around them are a splendid idea. Unfortunately, it's being paid for by the more affluent EU nations through higher taxes.
ECLUB: Germany's ticked off and might balk at the Constitution?
PHILLIP DAY: Germany recently declared 5.1 million unemployed, more than when Hitler seized power in 1933. The euro has simply devastated Germany. Surprisingly, France is also upset. The EU is deeply unpopular with many French who can't see Chirac's Grand Plan and hate what the euro is doing to their livelihoods. My spies in Europe tell me France could yet produce a surprise No vote. I fully expect Germany to shy at the fence, but we'll see. As for Britain, all reading this should carefully consider The Price of Joining the Madhouse before deciding to vote Yes to this or any other nefarious EU Constitution.
ECLUB: Good EClub this week?
PHILLIP DAY: When have I failed you, Brian?
ECLUB: The Christmas bonus?
PHILLIP DAY: The Conservatives under Howard propose screening all immigrants for HIV. Seems like our new book, The Truth About HIV, has come out not a moment too soon. We have articles on the fraudulence and downright dangers of the ELISA, Western Blot and Polymerase Chain Reaction screenings, which pronounce social anathema and a horrid death on their unfortunate victims. I've got a piece on Alzheimer's, the stomach flu, a great piece via Dr Mercola on pet foods, more on the problems drugs are causing with hyperactive kiddies - even a piece on Admiral Lord Nelson's horror as he faces the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar. Let your laughter be mingled with tears and a fierce determination.
ECLUB: I don't do this job for the money.
PHILLIP DAY: Hoist the battle ensign, Brian. There'll be plunder a-plenty.

A Believer Reveals the True Grand Plan
By Christopher Booker

Mark Leonard, the foreign policy director of the Centre for European Reform, one of our leading pro-EU think-tanks, deserves a prize for honesty. In a paper in the CER's current bulletin (available on the internet), describing how much more admirable the EU is in every way than the USA, he writes:

"Europe's power is easy to miss. Like an 'invisible hand' it operates through the shell of traditional political structures. The British House of Commons, British law courts and British civil servants are still here, but they have become agents of the European Union implementing European law. This is no accident. By creating common standards that are implemented through national institutions, Europe can take over countries without necessarily becoming a target for hostility."

I am grateful to see a keen fan of the EU making the point so much more candidly than I would dare to do myself. Eurosceptics are hoping our rather less frank Europe minister Denis MacShane will have the courage to sign up Mr Leonard as a front-man in the forthcoming debate on the EU's constitution.
The Sunday Telegraph, 6th February 2005

Further Resources
Find out about the EU's real agenda and just say No.

The Real Face of the European Union by Phillip Day, video documentary (PAL format only)

Click here to purchase or review any of the above.
Click here for telephone sales around the world.

Scaremongering Straw
The Editor

Listeners to yesterday morning's Today programme may be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that the Foreign Secretary has not actually read the 448 articles of the proposed European Constitution. According to Jack Straw, the document represents a triumph for Britain's national interests. Not only will it make the European Union more efficient, he says, but it will also give national governments and national parliaments a much greater say in the running of the EU.

How, then, does Mr Straw explain Article 1 (6) of the constitution, which states baldly: "This constitution shall have primacy over the laws of the member states"? And how does he interpret Article 1 (11): "Member states shall exercise their competence to the extent that the EU ceases to exercise, or chooses no longer to exercise, its competence"? Does he think that these words are simply meaningless - a random collection of hieroglyphs, assembled in no particular order, signifying nothing? Isn't it far more likely that they mean exactly what they say: that the constitution will allow the eurocracy in Brussels to overrule the wishes of the people of Britain whenever it chooses?

Mr Straw also assured his listeners that the constitution would leave Britain in full control of its foreign policy. How does that assurance square with Article 1 (15) of the document, which insists unequivocally: "Member states shall support the EU's common foreign and security policy actively and unreservedly in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity"?

In his remarks yesterday, Mr Straw constructed a second line of defence for the constitution, against those who are unimpressed by his assurances that it poses no threat to our sovereignty. A popular vote against the constitution, he said, would throw Britain into "crisis". This is pure scaremongering, wholly unworthy of a British foreign secretary, the representative of the fourth greatest economic power on Earth. It is inconceivable that our European trading partners would cut Britain off if we refused to sign up to their constitution. They need our business even more than we need theirs.

As the Tories rightly point out, a vote against the constitution will not be a vote for withdrawing from the EU. It will be a vote for democracy and common sense against bureaucracy and meddling. Mr Straw will have to do a great deal better than he did yesterday, if he hopes to persuade a sceptical nation to surrender its independence.
The Daily Telegraph, 10th February 2005

Further Resources
Discover the EU's real agenda and just say No.

Ten Minutes to Midnight by Phillip Day
The Real Face of the European Union by Phillip Day, video documentary (PAL format only)

Click here to purchase or review any of the above.
Click here for telephone sales around the world.

Positively Negative
Examining the 'AIDS test'
by Steven Ransom and Phillip Day

"Have you considered an 'AIDS test'…?" Those two words instil only fear. Who is not aware that an HIV-positive diagnosis is synonymous with a suspended death sentence? In reality, the term 'AIDS test' is fraudulently misleading. There is not, nor ever has been, a 'test for AIDS'. Neither of course has there ever been a successful 'test for HIV' - the virus that not only has never been proven to cause AIDS, but, ever more disconcertingly, never seems to put in an appearance. What can be said with absolute certainty, however, is this. The ELISA and Western Blot tests are generating enormous incomes around the world for their respective manufacturers.

These two tests, we are told, identify HIV antibodies that have been created by a person's immune system in response to 'HIV invasion'. This statement is nonsense, and dangerous nonsense, as we shall discover. So what are these tests - the ELISA and the Western Blot - and how are they supposed to work?

The ELISA (Enzyme-Linked, Immuno-Absorbent Assay) and Western Blot tests are designed to highlight the presence of the supposed HIV, not by identifying the virus itself, but by identifying the presence of antibodies in the blood, allegedly unique to, and stimulated by the virus. The only real difference between the two tests is that the ELISA is supposed to measure antibody activity as a whole, whereas the Western Blot measures reactions to separate proteins supposedly making up the virus. As a result of this claim, the Western Blot method is deemed by most in the AIDS industry to be more specific than the ELISA test, and will often be used to confirm a positive ELISA test. But, as we shall discover, all the diagnostic methods employed by the recognised laboratories are far from specific.

To carry out the test, the clinician introduces a foreign protein (antigen) into the blood sample and then monitors the blood for any signs of unique activity as the antigen meets up with the immune system's antibodies. And it is here that we immediately encounter the first hurdle. Introducing a foreign body into the bloodstream will always provoke a response from the immune system, the foreign presence releasing killer blood cells to combat the invading germ. This is what our immune system has been designed to do. The problem is that no antibody is ever specific to any one disease - a fact that has been widely known in science for a number of years. The ELISA and Western Blot tests are both marketed as being highly specific and accurate in identifying the presence of HIV antibodies in a person's body, but, as Christine Maggiore explains:

"Both tests are non-specific to HIV antibodies and are highly inaccurate. Non-specific means that these tests respond to a great number of non-HIV antibodies, microbes, bacteria and other conditions that are often found in the blood of normal, healthy people. A reaction to any one of these other antibodies and conditions will result in an HIV-positive diagnosis. A simple illness like a cold or the flu can cause a positive reading on an HIV test. A flu shot or other vaccine can also create positive results. Having or having had herpes or hepatitis may produce a positive test, as can a vaccination for hepatitis B. Exposure to diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria commonly cause false positive results, as do the presence of tape worms and other parasites. Conditions such as alcoholism, liver disease and blood that is highly oxidated through drug use may be interpreted as the presence of HIV antibodies. Pregnancy and prior pregnancy can also cause a positive result."

Yes, you read correctly. A simple illness like a cold or flu, and even pregnancy can cause an HIV positive reading. You could be suffering from a relatively innocuous illness, and your immune system, functioning quite normally, has detected the presence of an invader and ordered the defender blood cells into action. The activity of those perfectly healthy killers working away in the blood can then be interpreted by the 'AIDS test' and the experts administering it as indicative of the presence of the elusive HIV. Did you know that?

Christine Johnson of Project HEAL in Los Angeles, a voluntary organisation dedicated to exposing the myth of viral AIDS, has compiled and referenced some sixty different conditions that can cause a false HIV-positive reading. Some of these conditions have been included below for sober consideration.

"Naturally occurring antibodies, exposure to viral vaccine, flu, flu vaccination, tuberculosis, renal failure, hepatitis, organ transplant, haemophilia, tetanus vaccination, leprosy, alcoholic liver disease, blood transfusions, malignant cancers, proteins on the test filter papers, rheumatoid arthritis, herpes, Hepatitis B vaccination, healthy individuals as a result of poorly understood cross-reactions…. [plus forty-six others]."

In the case of haemophilia and AIDS, it is Factor VIII, the man-made compound used to help in the coagulation process, that in the main has been responsible for false HIV readings. Introducing this artificial agent into the bloodstream to help stem blood-flow will naturally provoke an antibody response, the immune system demonstrating it is functioning properly. These heightened levels of antibody activity are mistakenly read by the HIV test as indicative of the presence of HIV. Haemophiliacs, by the very nature of their condition, are prone to a number of life-threatening illnesses, and many do indeed die, but not from HIV. The popular tabloids, of course, prefer to blare out 'HIV INFECTED BLOOD FOUND IN BLOOD BANKS MAY INFECT THOUSANDS' rather than report the prosaic truth. Explaining the subtleties of opportunistic infection and blood-test cross-reaction does not sell newspapers.

Prior to the AIDS phenomenon, the presence of antibodies had never been used as an indicator of any illness. Yet since Gallo's HIV hypothesis was popularised, antibody testing has become de rigeur in the AIDS establishment as the indicator of infection, when the presence of antibodies actually denotes a normal immune system response to contaminants.

The following extract from Foundation News is a glaring example:
"Professor Andrew McMichael in Oxford announced that 50 Nairobi prostitutes had high levels of killer T-cells in their bodies, which suggested they had been exposed to HIV. The Nairobi research was complemented by Oxford studies in Gambia which yielded similar results." Said Dr Omu Anzala: 'This was further evidence that it was the presence of T-cells which was holding the virus at bay'."

The possibility that the test kits could merely be reacting with parasites, TB bacilli, candida albicans, fungal conditions and other medical problems common to Africans is rarely considered by these doctors, even though the problem of inadvertent cross-reaction is common knowledge in the higher echelons of the AIDS establishment. In reality, a 'positive' reading is actually a 'false positive', the tests confirming only that the immune system is functioning satisfactorily. NO VIRUS IS ACTUALLY DETECTED, ONLY ANTIBODIES!

The potential for false diagnosis with HIV tests has been fleetingly alluded to in mainstream publications such as The London Times, The European Union's The Business, USA Today, The Telegraph and The Wall Street Journal, the latter of which, on 11th January 1995, reported that the FDA were recalling HIV testing kits due to problems with high rates of 'false positives'.

Frank Prescott, writing on behalf of Peltec Publishing in Perceptions Magazine in 1993, tells us: "The London Times reports a major research group has recently proven the test for HIV to be completely invalid and 'riddled with false positives'. Malnutrition, multiple infections, having once had the flu, measles or a simple flu shot can all result in positive HIV diagnosis."
This one fact alone destroys any validity of an 'AIDS test'. Yet there are many more ….

The US Food and Drug Administration also admits the 'highly specific' AIDS test has some worrying glitches, as the following USA Today bulletin tells us:

"People who receive gamma globulin shots for chicken pox, measles and hepatitis could test positive for HIV even if they have never been infected. The Food and Drug Administration says that a positive test could be caused by antibodies found in most of America's supply of gamma globulin. Gamma globulin is made from blood collected from thousands of donors and is routinely given to millions of people each year as temporary protection against many infectious diseases. Dr Thomas Zuck of the FDA's Blood and Blood Products Division says the government didn't release the information because 'we thought it would do more harm than good.'" [emphasis ours]

US News & World Report had this to say on the subject on 23rd November 1987:

"With public health officials and politicians thrashing out who should be tested for HIV, the accuracy of the test itself has been nearly ignored. A study last month by Congress's Office of Technology Assessment found that HIV tests can be very inaccurate indeed. For groups at very low risk - people who don't use IV drugs or have sex with gay or bisexual men - 9 in 10 positive findings are called false positives, indicating infection where none exists."

The New England Journal of Medicine recorded the following:

"The techniques of the HIV test have not been standardized, and the magnitude and consequences of inter-laboratory variations have not been measured. Its results require interpretation, and the criteria for this interpretation vary not only from lab to lab, but also from month to month."

In reality, what one of the most respected medical journals in the world is diplomatically attempting to tell the reader here is that the HIV test is utterly invalid. A tacit endorsement of these sentiments comes from a surprising and unexpected source - the manufacturer's leaflet which accompanies the Western Blot (HIV) test kit itself! "The test for the existence of antibodies against AIDS-associated virus is not diagnostic of AIDS and AIDS-like diseases. Negative tests do not exclude the possibility of contact or infection with the AIDS-associated virus. Positive tests do not prove AIDS or pre-AIDS disease status nor that these diseases will be acquired."

This from the test which is supposed to confirm the ELISA test! In other words the test kit is saying: "Thank you for spending your money on me. In return for your considerable investment, I can predict absolutely nothing except that your blood sample contains antibodies."

Medical researcher Dr Roberto A Giraldo is very familiar with the ELISA, Western Blot and Viral Load tests. He works at a laboratory for clinical immunology in one of the most prestigious university hospitals in New York City. When Dr Giraldo first came across the ELISA, he was surprised to learn that, to run the test, a patient's serum required diluting 400 times with a special specimen diluent. Most serological tests that search for the presence of antibodies against germs, such as those for syphilis, hepatitis A and B and the rubella virus, use neat or undiluted serum. The obvious questions facing Dr Giraldo were: What made HIV so unique that the test serum needed to be diluted 400 times? And what would happen if the patient's serum were not diluted?

Dr Giraldo ran extensive tests on blood samples that tested negative at 1:400 dilution. The same samples conducted with neat serum ALL showed positive. Dr Giraldo further found that if any person's blood, including his own, was tested with neat serum using the ELISA, the test came out positive! Dr Giraldo concludes that the tests are worthless, once again merely highlighting the presence of non-specific antibodies in the patient's blood serum.

It is standard practice in most UK haematology and/or other blood testing laboratories to conduct at least two tests if the first test reads 'positive'. Confirmatory testing is usually carried out at any one of a number of Public Health Laboratory Service centres, for instance, across the UK. Credence Publications contacted the virus reference library at the UK's leading PHLS in Colindale, north London, to determine if they had ever been able directly to identify the presence of HIV in any of the blood samples sent to them. Was it rather the case that their blood test was designed to measure the presence of antibodies only? The representative from the lab informed us that he was not permitted to answer any of our questions, referring us instead to their press office. On asking the press office for the references that would point to HIV having been independently isolated, we were informed that of course HIV had been identified. "The virus was isolated as far back as 1983 by Drs Gallo and Montagnier."

Concerned at the high level of ignorance demonstrated in this reply from a leading virus laboratory, an attempt was made to speak to someone at management level at Colindale. A Mr John Parry, deputy head at the virus library, could make only vague references to papers he believed proved the existence of HIV, and he admitted that the testing procedures employed at the laboratories included ELISA, Western Blot and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and that they were not one hundred percent precise.

In particular, PCR is used to measure the supposed 'viral load' of HIV, since the elusive virus itself can never be found, using traditional methods of detection such as virus culture. PCR's highly theoretical technique is supposed to detect fragments of genetic material in the blood that allegedly indicate the presence of HIV. The problem once again is, no proof has ever been furnished that any 'fragments' produced by PCR are peculiar to HIV, doubtless the reason the Roche PCR testing kit actually contains a warning against using PCR as a test for the presence of HIV: "The test is not to be used as a screening test for HIV or as a diagnostic test to confirm the presence of HIV."

This significant fact was pointed out to Mr Parry. During the course of the conversation, Mr Parry was also reminded that Kary Mullis, the Nobel laureate inventor of PCR, publicly referred to his own diagnostic invention as "inappropriate for use in AIDS medicine." Startled perhaps that an ordinary member of the public actually knew what PCR stood for, was well versed on its history of unreliability, and then had the audacity to question what went on within Colindale Laboratories, Mr Parry chose to offer no further reply.

The simple question remaining for the reader? Would you trust your blood sample to this methodology? The stark truth here is that a blood sample, quite falsely deemed HIV positive by the highly inaccurate ELISA test, is then sent on to Colindale and other 'specialist' laboratories to be 'confirmed as positive or otherwise' again by ELISA and then secondarily tested in the same establishment by the equally inaccurate PCR or 'viral load'. Another glaring example of following an incorrect course with the maximum of precision. Can it really get any worse?

Yes. In the case of the Western Blot test, the positive criteria differ from continent to continent! (see photo section). You can be tested positive in one country, and with the same blood sample, be tested negative in another. Gene Franks, author of Testing, Testing states:

"Another reason the medical community loves diagnostic testing is that it is so wonderfully unreliable. One test leads to another and to another. Tests are rated according to their sensitivity and specificity. Accuracy is determined by balancing specificity and sensitivity. Incredibly, some very expensive tests are less than 50% accurate."

Now consider the following:

"Early civilisations were based upon the invention of agriculture and the ability to determine the proper time for planting and harvesting crops was very important. In those societies, a small group of men studied the heavens and learned how to divine the seasons from the positions of the sun, moon, planets, and stars. Instead of passing along their knowledge, they kept it to themselves and became priests who provided life and death information for society as a whole. As a result of their monopoly of vital knowledge, more and more power and wealth flowed to them and in time they formed a religion. That religion eventually became the basis of all-powerful states ruled by god-kings. In such a society, heresy was the most heinous crime imaginable, with revelation of the secrets of the religion to the masses a close second. From the vantage point of history, the motivation of these priests was obvious. They worked to achieve enormous power and luxury for themselves at the expense of the peasants. They did not work for the benefit of society as a whole."

Today, we have our scientific priests thrusting upon us genetics, viral diseases and the impenetrable domain of DNA. We must not question their pronouncements. We must bow to their knowledge, nod and obey, and at the same time discard any basic tenets of logic and common sense.

Kim Marie Bannon was not aware of any of these test anomalies. Writing of her own personal experiences with the HIV establishment, Kim's 'AIDS Journey' began in 1992, following a routine health examination. Her boyfriend at the time had discovered he had a herpes sore and Kim thought it only sensible to order a check-up for herself.

"At the health department, I was told that since I didn't have a sore that could be cultured, they could not test me for herpes; but how would I like to have an AIDS test? They were offering it to everyone these days. I was embarrassed and confused. I felt that a refusal of this AIDS test would be tantamount to a confession of illicit drug use or promiscuity. I had heard that anyone can get AIDS, but I still felt I was in a very low risk-group. I agreed to the test and was told to come back in a week for my results. A week later and my test was positive. They told me it was just a 'screening' test, which was called an ELISA. They said I was not in any risk group, and it would most likely turn out to be negative when I was given the 'confirmatory' test. Two days later on May 1, 1992, the specialist 'confirmed' my positive diagnosis with the results of a Western Blot test. She called it 'classic'. When I got the 'confirmation', I felt my life was over."

Another precious life recklessly cast onto the rocks. Ms Bannon, however, is alive and well today, currently raising finances to take the establishment to court over the baleful state of government-approved testing procedures.

Yet another hurdle the 'AIDS test' has quite disastrously failed to clear is 'The Gold Standard Test'. Christine Maggiore explains:

"HIV tests have been developed without verification by an independent 'gold standard'. In medical science, a gold standard means that viral isolation has been used as an independent means of establishing the presence or absence of a virus. This process is essential for the authentication of any diagnostic test. Without a gold standard, it is impossible for a doctor or scientist to know if a positive antibody test indicates infection or what it may indicate."

Gary Null is an independent AIDS researcher whose work has taken him around the world, resulting in film documentaries, countless interviews with medical personnel, and media articles presenting his findings. Null runs his own nutrition clinic and hosts Natural Living on New York City's WBAI Radio.

An excerpt from his program, broadcast on 21st March 1996, had him addressing the 'gold standard' issue:

"No one, I repeat, no one under ANY circumstances should have an HIV test. It is a fraud. A complete and total fraud. Why is it a fraud? Because there is no 'gold standard'. I have just gone all over the world trying to find the independent verification of this test. I have not found it."

Of course none of the above information is shared with the patient at the point of testing. As if all this wasn't bad enough, a new form of diagnosis came into being in late 1987. The Los Angeles Weekly explains:

"In the 4th September issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association [JAMA], the CDC announced that a diagnosis of AIDS no longer requires an AIDS test. The government now considers you are an AIDS carrier if you suffer from any of the maladies on its new list of diseases indicative of AIDS, including such relatively common infections as herpes simplex, tuberculosis, salmonellosis and a shockingly broad 'other bacterial infections'. This broad definition will lead to countless new AIDS diagnoses - whether or not the person actually has AIDS. A major problem with the new AIDS definition is that it ignores the many environmental causes of immune suppression. Exposure to toxins, alcoholism, heavy drug use or heavy antibiotic use all can cause onset of the list of 'diseases' indicative of AIDS."

And the CDC itself, in a stunning remark, conceded:

"The diagnostic criteria accepted by the AIDS surveillance case definition should not be interpreted as the standard of good medical practice."

Presumptive diagnosis was born. Now the orthodoxy was able to diagnose any patient as an 'AIDS carrier' simply by looking at their lifestyle and asking whether they had any one of a handful of common symptoms from which people have been suffering for centuries. On the basis of this unscientific determination alone, tens of thousands of Americans have been given the fateful diagnosis. Seldom considered are the appalling consequences and the private grief for the individual once a positive result is announced. Iola Martin was one such person given a positive diagnosis. Here she recounts her own particularly traumatic experience at the hands of the medical establishment.

"In 1990, it was recommended that I took an HIV test because I was pregnant. The first test came back inconclusive, the second was positive. The positive result left me in total shock. I was told that I would have to decide what to do about my baby. The information I was given left me without much choice. They said there were two scenarios. I could live long enough to watch my baby die of AIDS, or I could leave my baby without a mother, when I died of AIDS, knowing that my baby would die soon after me. Believing in the death sentence I had been given, I agreed to a second trimester abortion. It was a terrible, terrible experience, and the decision haunts me to this day."

Today, ten years later, Iola is still with us. She is alive and physically well but her experience has taken its emotional toll. Iola's long-term relationship has ended: "I was so bitter, sad and angry and caught up in the idea that I was going to die." Discovering the truth about AIDS in 1996 came too late for Iola, and far too late for her unborn child.

Celia Farber in Impressions Magazine recounts the following:

"In Winston Salem, North Carolina, 3-year-old Joey D was struck by a car. He suffered a fractured skull and was rushed to a nearby hospital. A week later, as Joey was recovering, some of his blood splashed on hospital workers when an IV line was being changed. Joey was given an HIV test. He tested positive, and a doctor told Joey's already traumatized mother, LaTonia, the news. Both of Joey's parents were tested negative, and LaTonia asked how this could have happened to her son.

The doctor told LaTonia she needed to launch an investigation into her entire family and circle of friends because the child had been sexually abused. There was no other explanation, the doctor said, for the child being positive.

More testing was ordered, and LaTonia spent two days waiting, trying not to go insane. She thought about finding out who had infected her son or hurt him and "killing them." But then the second round of test results came in, and Joey was found to be HIV-negative.
LaTonia was relieved, but understandably livid. (Imagine how many lives would have been shattered in one moment had she begun accusing family members of sexual abuse!) She asked the doctor to apologize, but in keeping with HIV-related arrogance, he refused. The case was referred to the Culpepper, Virginia-based watchdog group International Coalition for Medical Justice (ICMJ).

Even some of the hospital's staff have encouraged LaTonia to contact an attorney. The hospital, meanwhile, held a press conference, where a remarkable admission was made. In her effort to clear the hospital of any wrongdoing, a hospital spokesperson announced that "… these HIV tests are not reliable; a lot of factors can skew the tests, like fever or pregnancy. Everybody knows that."

The widespread acceptance of the HIV test has opened the way for all manner of calamitous, secondary effects, not always immediately obvious. Take the practical advice dispensed by Dr Patrick Dixon, a well-recognised UK voice on AIDS and HIV. Dr Dixon was at the forefront of those early AIDS doom-and-gloom statistics and his 1987 book, The Truth About AIDS, warned of a pandemic of massive proportions on the horizon. The opening chapter, entitled The Extent of the Nightmare, speculated that the UK could be witnessing 18,000 AIDS deaths a year. No such pandemic arrived, of course. The same book warned against deep kissing and suggested the pill and even sterilisation for women who had been diagnosed HIV-positive.

"Deep kissing, where saliva may pass from one mouth to another, is probably not a good idea. Dry kissing carries a much, much lower risk.… An infected woman should probably avoid pregnancy as there is a significant chance that any child born may also be infected. So use a second method of contraception as well, e.g. the pill, or consider sterilisation very seriously."

Telephoning Dr Dixon on this matter, Credence pointed out the physiological dangers of the contraceptive pill and also asked him to comment on the medical evidence sent to him and everyone at management level within his organisation, highlighting the fallacy of the HIV test. Given the potential for such a high rate of 'false positives' (including a reaction to pregnancy), should he really be suggesting the test, let alone that women consider the irreversible sterilisation procedure?

Becoming quite angry, Dr Dixon accused us of being flat-earthers and has so far refused to seek ways of professionally resolving these issues. Furthermore, as of November 2004, Dr Dixon's same ghastly advice on sterilisation still has not been omitted from his updated version of The Truth About AIDS, stored in electronic format on his website. Perhaps if enough people e-mail him, the sterilisation advice at least will be removed. Dr Dixon has since gone on record to say SARS could be deadlier than AIDS. Where is the SARS pandemic? Dr Dixon's Global Trend/Global Change website reportedly received 5.5 million hits over the last twelve-month period, so someone's listening to him. Given Dr Dixon's HIV recommendations, what are we then to make of his web-site's opening banner, 'Take hold of your future, before your future takes hold of you'?

Saturday, 6th November 2004, in the UK county of Berkshire, 48-year-old Brian Drysdale deliberately parks his car on the rails at a rural level-crossing and waits for the London-Plymouth express train. He is killed instantly, taking with him six other lives and injuring one hundred more as the train ploughs into his car at high speed and derails. The UK's Sunday Mirror:

"Drysdale made an anguished 25-minute call to the Samaritans on his mobile phone and poured out his heart about his HIV agony. A police source said that blood tests after he died confirmed he did have the killer virus [standard media-speak for HIV]. During the conversation with the Samaritan, Drysdale told her he believed he was HIV-positive and that there was no point in going on with his life. He was asked in what way he intended to commit suicide, and he told the woman that he intended to 'go out with a bang'. The Samaritan assumed he meant by use of a shotgun or firearm. Drysdale had also been depressed over splitting up with a gay lover. The police source also revealed that small amounts of cocaine, cannabis and two ecstasy tablets were found at Drysdale's home - a Victorian terrace in East Reading. 'We don't think Drysdale was a heavy drugs user. We believe he used them for recreational purposes,' said the source."

Yes, but did he use those drugs in sufficient quantity to trigger a positive test? Had he been exposed to flu, flu vaccination, tuberculosis, renal failure, hepatitis, organ transplant, haemophilia, tetanus vaccination, leprosy, alcoholic liver disease, blood transfusions, malignant cancers, proteins on the test filter papers, rheumatoid arthritis, herpes, Hepatitis B vaccination, or a test turning positive as a result of poorly understood cross-reactions?

This is the HIV-positive diagnosis. Relationships severed, marriages called off, lives wrecked, babies aborted, social ostracism, mental torture, suicides on railway crossings… And all this before any medication has even been prescribed. The physician warns that the disease may progress, and if it does, the patient will eventually die of AIDS-related disorders. And we believe him. As we witness the withering decline of our loved ones, who among us is not persuaded that what we are seeing is death brought on by the effects of the virus?

Rarely will we consider another possibility: AIDS by prescription.

Further Resources
The Truth about HIV by Steven Ransom and Phillip Day

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Click here for telephone sales around the world.
Click here if you wish to contact Credence for information on treatment options or resources

Alzheimer's Disease, Senile Dementia

Profile
Mental impairment problems are devastating our cultures today, and yet this has not always been the case. Clearly, toxicity issues are at the fore. As many as a third of all hospital beds in the UK are taken up with geriatric patients suffering a host of disorders, a large proportion of them institutionalised because of senility. The cost to healthcare runs to billions.

With mental impairment problems, the following questions should be asked and the conditions addressed FIRST:

· Is the patient eating organic, whole, non-pesticide-laden foods?
· Is the patient nutritionally deficient?
· Is the patient drinking up to 4 pints of clean, fresh water a day?
· Does the patient have chaotic blood sugar levels?
· Is the patient on any psychiatric medication which might be giving the appearance of senility or slow cognitive ability?
· Does the patient suffer from food allergies?
· Has the patient any evidence of yeast or fungal infections?
· Does the patient live in a toxic environment?
· Does the patient eat junk food and drink sodas?
· Has the patient been mentally unchallenged for a period of time?

Memory problems - potential causes
Several factors influence memory:

· Use it or lose it!
· Impaired blood supply to the brain
· Nutritional intake, especially minerals such as zinc and manganese, vitamins, especially the 'B' group, and essential fatty acids
· Food allergies
· Toxins
· Abnormal blood sugar levels (glucose intolerance)

Use it or lose it!
In my view, retirement is the single most damaging thing for a person, when they are persuaded to end their productivity and bow out of the work ethic until they expire. It is in the nature of humans to produce and be mentally active. Depression, listlessness and despair often set in when brains are put in mothballs and the person vegetates in a chair in front of the TV for the rest of their lives.

In Health Wars, we take a look at cultures who routinely live past 100 and remain active. If you are 70-80, start looking around for another career! Think of the skills and knowledge you have amassed that could benefit others. If your brain is busy and well fed, it is a happy brain. And so you will be too.

Blood supply to the brain
One of the most common medical conditions we suffer from over the age of 50 is atherosclerosis, or lipoprotein plaque in the arteries. In Health Wars, we devote two chapters to affairs of the heart and the cardiovascular system, showing that heart disease, in almost all its forms, may be traced back to nutritional deficiencies, including an early form of scurvy.

Scurvy
Scurvy occurs when collagen breaks down in the body. Collagen is a tough, fibrous material the body uses to clad arteries, veins and capillaries, as well as organs and the skin, to give them structure. Collagen is a lot like the steel girders you see when builders are erecting a new skyscraper. Each collagen fibre has been calculated to be far tougher and stronger than an iron wire of comparable width. In the absence of adequate nutrition, specifically vitamins C, E and the amino acids lysine and proline, collagen begins to dissolve. When sailors went off to sea and eschewed their usual diet of fruits and vegetables in favour of the non-perishable foodstuffs used during long voyages, scurvy invariably set in within a matter of weeks, the collagen dissolved, and the sailors literally fell apart. The cure was to recommence consumption of living, whole fruits and vegetables rich in the nutrition required to repair collagen and nourish the whole body.

Atherosclerosis
With heart disease, the process is much slower, sometimes taking years to develop, since very few in the western world today suffer from vitamin C depletion. Like scurvy, a chronic vitamin C deficiency causes the beginning of a collapse in the arterial walls, necessitating a healing process to commence, in the form of lipoprotein(a) fats which the body attempts to use to bond the thousands of tiny breaches in the arterial walls.

These lipoproteins are Nature's perfect Band-Aid. They are extremely sticky and form the majority of the atherosclerotic deposits associated with advanced forms of heart disease today. Cardiovascular medicine, unaware or willingly ignorant of the underlying nutritional deficiency cause of atherosclerosis, focuses its attention on vilifying the lipoprotein's LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol content as one of the primary causes of heart diseases, when it is in fact the healing (survival response) precursor, brought on by a chronic vitamin C deficiency. Today the drug industry has mobilised a multi-billion-dollar business of anti-cholesterol drugs, which have wrought devastating results in cardiac patients, necessitating a further $20 billion drug program to combat all the side- effects.

Most people have accumulated Lp(a) in their arteries after age 50, bringing on the usual problems with sticky blood, thrombosis, atherosclerosis and high blood pressure. Strokes too are caused when Lp(a) clogs the brain artery, impairing vital blood flow to the brain. And it is here that our interest in memory loss focuses. Impaired blood flow to the brain will cause death or partial paralysis.

Patrick Holford writes: "When cells are starved of oxygen, they switch to a more primitive mode of operation called anaerobic respiration. The cells begin to divide and spread - unless they are nerve cells…. Nerve cells can't regenerate. So what happens to them? They just stop working. The result is senility."

Aluminium and toxic metals
Another common finding in premature senile dementia, known as Alzheimer's disease, is an entanglement of nerve fibres. When these nerve clusters are found in the frontal and temporal regions of the brain, they are frequently saturated with aluminium. Many theories abound on how this aluminium accumulates. Aluminium can be taken into the body through the water supply, cooking utensils, toothpastes (the tube), aluminium foil packaging, soft drinks and antacids. Detoxification regimens, such as those expounded on in this book (also in Food For Thought and Health Wars), will assist the body in ridding itself of unwanted accumulations of heavy metals. Chelators, natural substances that attach themselves to toxic elements and escort them out of the body, are used to remove aluminium.

Excess amounts of the following metals are known memory disruptors and inhibitors:

Lead: leads to hyperactivity and aggression. Taken in from traffic fumes and industrial pollution. Chelated using vitamins C, B1 and zinc.
Aluminium: leads to memory loss and senility. Derived from cooking utensils, water, etc. Chelated using zinc and magnesium.
Cadmium: leads to aggression and confusion. Derived from cigarettes. Chelated with vitamin C and zinc.
Copper: leads to anxiety and phobias. Derived from water piping. Chelated with zinc.
Mercury: leads to headaches and memory loss. Derived from pesticides, some vaccinations and mercury amalgam dental fillings. Chelated with selenium.

Food sensitivities
Those with memory impairment problems may also be suffering from the effects of food sensitivities, as discussed earlier (see Allergies). An allergy test may determine an underlying, treatable food allergy problem, which may be contributing to the patient's condition.

Pellagra
As discussed in the section entitled Schizophrenia, an old nutritional problem named pellagra is haunting us still. Pellagra is a niacin (B3) deficiency which will result in the four 'D's - dizziness, diarrhoea, dementia and death. Vitamin B3 is essential for oxygen utilisation in the body. It is incorporated into the coenzyme NAD (nicotinamide adenosine dinucleotide). Low amounts of B3 will invariably bring on symptoms that can be interpreted as dementia, Alzheimer's, etc.

Boosting the memory
Those suffering memory impairment have a veritable arsenal of nutritional weapons at their disposal, as we shall see. The neurotransmitter acetylcholine is the brain hormone responsible for memory retention. Experiments done at Palo Alto Hospital in California showed that drugs which boost production of acetylcholine produced 'super-memories'. Natural nutrients however can effectively boost acetylcholine production. These are choline, glutamine, DMAE (a nutrient found in fish), and its salt, Deanol. Pyroglutamate is also excellent, and many 'memory' supplements on the market today contain a mix of these nutrients which work better when used synergistically.

Elderly nutritional failures
One US study in 1975 failed to find one geriatric patient with a normal nutritional profile. Alzheimer's and senility in general may be no more than decades of sub-optimal nutritional abuse, combined with a slow toxicity through foods and the environment. Boosting the nutritional intake of the elderly is of course rarely done in care homes and hospitals, where nutritional education among doctors and nurses is sadly lacking. The regimen at the end of this section will be beneficial for all who are suffering from these types of problems.

Self-poisoning through personal
care and household products
Household and personal care products contain chemicals, which, over time, can build systemically in the body, causing mental impairment and other serious health problems. A special section on these is included at the end of this book (see Environmental Toxins). Shampoos, conditioners, make-up, antiperspirants, mouthwash, baby oil, fly spray and a dozen other offenders are used by the population daily with scant regard for the long-term hazards, which are only now becoming known.

Take action©
· DIET: COMMENCE THE FOOD FOR THOUGHT LIFESTYLE REGIMEN
· TIP: In the event the patient exhibits yeast or fungal problems, adopt the measures described in the section on Candida and replace THE FOOD FOR THOUGHT LIFESTYLE REGIMEN with THE ANTI-CANDIDA DIETARY REGIMEN (with appropriate anti-fungal supplementation)
· DIET: Eliminate all junk or processed foods, including sugar-based foods and the high-glycaemic food group which breaks down into glucose in the body (bread, pasta, cereals, potatoes, pastries, etc.)
· RESTORE NUTRIENT BALANCE: COMMENCE THE BASIC SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM. This will boost oxygen to the cells and prevent deficiency in any one of over 60 different nutrients. Ensure intakes of:
· Vitamin C (ascorbates plus bioflavonoids), 2 g, twice per day
· Thiamine (B1), 100 mg per day
· L-carnitine (Vitamin BT), 400 mg, three times per day
· Deanol - 100 mg per day
· DMAE - 500 mg per day
· 'Ingenious' complex, containing 'smart' nutrients, such as 5-HTP, pyroglutamate, glutamine, phosphatidylcholine and pantothenic acid (B5)
· Essential fatty acid intake. Omega 6 fat intake should be twice that of Omega 3's. (see A Guide to Nutritional Supplements) These can be taken in supplement form or by grinding up one measure of sunflower seeds, sesame and pumpkin seeds and two measures of flax seeds, taking two tablespoons of this mixture every morning. Ensure you buy fresh seeds!
· DETOXIFICATION: Magnesium oxide bowel cleanse
· DETOXIFICATION: Change out potentially harmful personal care and household products for safe alternatives (see Environmental Toxins)
· DETOXIFICATION: Removal of dental amalgams (not all at the same time!)
· TIP: Ensure 4 pints of clean, fresh water per day (2 litres)
· TIP: Stay enjoyably busy and productive until your need for oxygen ceases

Further Resources

The ABC's of Disease by Phillip Day

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Click here if you wish to contact Credence for information on treatment options or products.

Children's Drug Can Cause Liver Damage
by Celia Hall

The parents of hyperactive children who take a drug to control their condition were warned yesterday of a possible risk of serious liver damage.

The drug, Straterra or atomoxetine, was launched in 2002 and became available last summer in Britain for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD.

In America about two million children and adults have used it while in Britain it has been used by about 10,000 patients to date.

Trials of the drug, made by Eli Lilly, found no indication of liver problems in 6,000 patients who took part in the research. But yesterday the Medicine and Healthcare Regulatory Agency issued new advice following a review of the drug by the Committee of Safety on Medicines (CSM). They said they believed the risk of liver poisoning was one in 50,000.

The American Food and Drug Federation issued a similar warning in December. Prof Gordon Duff, chairman of the CSM, said: "Parents should not be dissuaded from having their children treated with this medicine, but it is right they should be aware of possible, but rare, side-effects."

"Parents who are concerned should discuss the subject with their doctor. They should not stop treatment with the drug before doing so.'' Prof Duff added: "We have advised doctors that if they suspect liver problems are occurring, treatment should be stopped and an alternative treatment initiated."

More research will be carried out to find out what is causing the problem, which may also help to identify patients at most risk.

Itchy skin, dark urine, abdominal tenderness, jaundice and unexplained "flu-like" symptoms can all be a sign of liver problems. In Britain 67 adverse reactions to the drug have been reported by GPs, including three reports of liver problems.
The Daily Telegraph, 4th February 2005

Further Resources
Need to know more about natural ways to overcome child or adult hyperactivity?

The Mind Game by Phillip Day
The ABC's of Disease by Phillip Day

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Click here if you wish to contact Credence for information on treatment options or resources.

US Declares Iraqis Can not Save their Own Seeds

As part of sweeping 'economic restructuring' implemented by the Bush Administration in Iraq, Iraqi farmers will no longer be permitted to save their seeds, which include seeds the Iraqis themselves have developed over hundreds of years. Instead, they will be forced to buy seeds from US corporations. That is because in recent years, transnational corporations have patented and now own many seed varieties originated or developed by indigenous peoples.

In a short time, Iraq will be living under the new American credo: 'Pay Monsanto or starve.' The American Administrator of the Iraqi CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) government, Paul Bremer, updated Iraq's intellectual property law to 'meet current internationally-recognized standards of protection'. The updated law makes saving seeds for next year's harvest, practiced by 97% of Iraqi farmers in 2002, and the standard farming practice for thousands of years across human civilizations, now illegal. Instead, farmers will have to obtain a yearly license for genetically modified (GM) seeds from American corporations.
Full story

Do Dogs and Cats Need Grains?
by Steve Brown and Beth Taylor

Dogs and cats are designed by nature to be primarily meat-eaters.

Dogs are scavengers. Their diet included almost any food that provided calories - but rarely grain. A major factor in the domestication of dogs was the food available at the human garbage dump. The "tamer" wolves, those least afraid of humans, over a period of tens of thousands of years, became our close companions.

According to a recent study by biologists Ray and Lorna Coppinger, the natural diet of dogs included, "Bones, pieces of carcass, rotten greens and fruit, fish guts, discarded seeds and grains, animal guts and heads, some discarded human food and wastes." (1)

However, cats are more selective about food by nature and anatomy. Their ancestral diet consisted of small rodents. Their usefulness to humans had much to do with their eagerness to dispatch the rodents so plentiful around human habitats.

Almost No Grains
The natural diet of both species includes high levels of protein, fats and water, and very little carbohydrates. The "recommended" diet of dry foods, which is the diet of most cats and dogs, is the complete opposite of this natural diet: High in carbohydrate, low in protein, fat, and with almost no water.

Dogs and cats do not need carbohydrates, and most veterinary textbooks agree. Canine and Feline Nutrition: "The fact that dogs and cats do not require carbohydrate is immaterial because the nutrient content of most commercial foods include [carbohydrates]." (2)

Small Animal Clinical Nutrition III, written by the founder of Science Diet (Mark Morris Sr.) and his son (Mark Morris Jr.): "Some question exists regarding the need of dogs and cats for dietary carbohydrate. From a practical sense, the answer to this question is of little importance because there are carbohydrates in most food ingredients used in commercially prepared dog foods."(3)

The Waltham Book of Companion Animal Nutrition: "There is no known minimum dietary requirement for carbohydrate..." (4)

A highly processed, grain-based diet fed to an animal designed to thrive on a meat-based, fresh food diet is very likely to produce symptoms of ill-health over time. Diets to address disease most frequently deal with the symptoms that are the result of a lifetime of inappropriate food, not the true cause of their symptoms. The optimum diet for a dog or a cat should closely resemble their natural diet.

A diet balanced heavily toward grain promotes insulin production and the production of inflammatory chemicals. Over-production of insulin makes it hard for the body to maintain its correct weight, and can lead to diabetes and other problems. An overabundance of inflammatory chemicals means more aches and pains.

Improve the balance of your dog's diet by reducing grain, and you may not need the dangerous non-steroidal and steroid drugs so commonly prescribed for dogs. Readers who follow Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program will agree eating fewer grains means less inflammation! Toxic drugs certainly make animals more comfortable, but will shorten their lives too.

A word of caution: Diabetic animals or any other medical condition making a switch to a more protein-based diet should be under the close supervision of a veterinarian.

Making the Switch to Meat
We believe the best diet for a dog or cat is a fresh, raw meat, bone and vegetable diet. Still, we may not always follow that advice due to financial constraints.

Understanding that every step helps, we hope these suggestions will help you to move toward that goal. Add meat to promote your pet's health: As you add meat to your pet's diet, at the same time, reduce the grain content of your pet's diet.

Add up to 15 percent fresh meat, raw or cooked: This increases the protein and reduces the carbohydrate content of the pet's food, but will not unbalance the levels of any essential nutrient in your animal's diet.

Also, ensure the meat scraps you're adding are mostly meat! Your doggie bag is likely to have much more fat in it than meat. Fat is a very important nutrient but one that needs to be kept in balance. Every fat gram provides double the calories of a gram of protein or carbohydrate.

Avoid senior, lite and diet foods: These varieties usually have fewer calories per cup because manufacturers have increased the fiber and carbohydrates and reduced protein and fat, compared to adult maintenance diets. This is the opposite of what they really need, and has no scientific foundation. Older and overweight pets need meat, not grains.

Add canned food: Good canned food has no grains, and has more protein and fat than dry pet foods. Two good choices we recommend are Nature's Variety and Wellness. "Complete and balanced" canned diets may be fed as an animal's sole diet.

For cats, we highly recommend switching all the way. Cats should not eat dry foods. Urinary tract problems and kidney failure in cats have been closely related to dietary water, which has a different effect on their bodies than the "real" water an animal drinks. It's much better for the cat to eat her food with the water in it! Add a commercially prepared frozen raw diet: As with canned foods, if these are "complete," they can replace all other food fed to your animals.

Research proper homemade meat, bone and vegetable diets and supplement with good dry food to cut cost: Homemade foods can be nutritious and affordable, but must be made correctly. (We'll write more about this in a future article.) This option provides the protein and fat our pets need, reduces the amount of grain they eat, and is affordable by most people.

Feeding your pet a meat- and vegetable-based diet is clearly the best choice to protect and optimize their health. By following these simple recommendations, you will radically reduce the deadly toxins your dog encounters. Read more of our recommendations in See Spot Live Longer. May your Spot live a long, healthy life! Please feel free to get in touch with Steve and Beth for more information.

DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: There is indeed a special relationship that exists between pets and their owners that goes far beyond the sharing of a home together. Our happy-go-lucky, four-legged friends also provide us with constant unconditional love, devotion, friendship and something else that might not be at the forefront of most people's minds -- health benefits.

Conversely, as owners, we should be just as mindful that our pets depend on us to look out constantly for their safety and good health. Pet health and nutrition experts Beth Taylor and Steve Brown remind us, just as you can benefit by optimizing your diet according to your body's unique metabolic type, you can help your cat or dog live a long and healthy life by ridding their daily diets of grains, "fake foods" they, along with their owners, were never meant to eat in the first place.

For more information about the work Beth and Steve are doing in the field of pet health and nutrition, visit their Web site.

Footnotes
(1) Coppinger, Ray and Lorna, Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution, Scribner, 2001. 59 -- 78.
(2) Case: Cary, and Hirakawa, Canine and Feline Nutrition, Mosby, 1995. 93.
(3) Morris, Mark, Lewis, Lone and Hand, Michael, Small Animal Clinical Nutrition III, Mark Morris Associates, 1990. 1-11.
(4) Burger, I., Ed. The Waltham Book of Companion Animal Nutrition, Pergamon 1995. 26-27: 10
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Further Resources

Wake up to Health in the 21st Century by Steven Ransom

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Click here for telephone sales around the world.
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What To Do If You Catch The "Stomach" Flu
by Dr Joseph Mercola

One of the most disabling and uncomfortable conditions to come down with is the "stomach" flu. But this condition that we associate with vomiting and diarrhea really isn't the flu at all. In fact, "stomach flu" is the typical lay term for a condition that is actually caused by a virus.

A number of different viruses cause diarrhea and other stomach ailments, of which the most important is the family of rotaviruses.

Rotavirus has been estimated to cause from 30 percent to 50 percent of all cases of severe diarrhea disease. But aside from making life miserable, it can actually kill you. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the United States alone, some 55,000 children are hospitalized due to rotavirus every year, and 600,000 children worldwide die each year, particularly in developing countries where nutrition is poor, as a result.

In fact, in Asia, Africa and Latin America, viruses like the rotavirus are responsible for millions of deaths among children under 4 every year.

Gastroenteritis in the United States
Each year, more than 3.5 million infants develop acute viral gastroenteritis, resulting in more than 500,000 office visits, 55,000 hospitalizations and 30 deaths. Statistics on sporadic cases of adult viral gastroenteritis are not known; however, food-borne and water-borne epidemics of viral gastroenteritis are common.

The CDC estimates that viruses cause 9.2 million (out of a total of 13.8 million from all causes) cases of food-related illness each year.

What Are the Symptoms of Viral Gastroenteritis?
The main symptoms of viral gastroenteritis are watery diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. The affected person may also have:
Headache
Fever
Abdominal cramps ("stomach ache")
Cough
Runny Nose
In general, the symptoms begin one to two days following infection with a virus that causes gastroenteritis and may last for one to 10 days, depending on which virus causes the illness.

What Can You do For Treatment?
Since gastroenteritis is a viral illness, conventional medicine has no surefire tricks like antibiotics that only work for bacterial infections. The key conventional approach, and it is a vitally important one, is to make sure you don't become dehydrated, as that can cause serious problems, and as noted above, even death.
So, if any of the following therapies do not work you really need to go to the emergency room. This condition can truly be a killer and the solution is very simple: IV rehydration will keep you alive until your body is able to clear the viral infection.

However, I have treated many patients with the following simple protocol.
The first principle is that if you have thrown up you need to put your stomach at complete rest for at least three hours. That means absolutely nothing to eat or drink, including no water nor the old wives' tale favorite, crackers.

Once three hours have passed and no further vomiting has occurred then small amounts of water can be sipped slowly. Do this for one to two hours and if that is tolerated then you are ready for the "cure." What is the "cure"?

Massive amounts of a high-quality probiotic. You can go to your local health food store and get a high-quality brand (ask a knowledgeable store employee if you're not sure which brand to choose), then take large doses every 30 to 60 minutes until you feel better. By large doses I mean finish the entire bottle in 24 hours if necessary. It usually won't be necessary, though, as most people seem to improve within several hours after following the above instructions.

I would not recommend using Primal Defense for this purpose, as most people cannot tolerate the high doses required, and it typically does not work as well as lactobacillus strains. I would also avoid hyper-expensive brands like Trenev Trio. These can cost over $100 and don't seem to provide any additional benefits over the less expensive version.

What's even better than the high-dose probiotics? Raw milk kefir. Unfortunately, most people will not have access to this miracle food. Please notice I said RAW milk kefir, avoid commercial pasteurized kefir as it will actually make you worse.

If you have the luxury of selecting the animal you get your milk from, the best milk is sheep, followed by goat, and then cow's milk. You can actually make your own incredibly healthy kefir, provided you have access to raw milk.

You can also consider adding raw honey if the symptoms persist more than a few hours after starting the probiotics, as that will do wonders to calm the inflammation in the stomach. Again, it's very important to find RAW honey, as the typical commercial varieties will not have the same beneficial effect.

Some health food stores carry raw honey, or you can seek a source straight from a local farm or food co-op.
www.mercola.com
Excellent free newsletter available from this site.

From The Mailbag
Comments from CTM's new members

"Thoroughly inspirational and in line with my training in nutrition…." - Fiona McK, Avon, UK

"…Look forward to your lectures, always. Thanks." - Jennifer K. Avon, UK

"A very eye-opening and excellent talk!" - Julia B, Devon, UK

"Looking forward to receiving your bulletin. Thank you Phillip for passing on such valuable knowledge in your many books." - Hudson S, Wellington, New Zealand

"Beautiful! Lovely to hear the truth!" - Victoria G, Somerset, UK

"Keep up the vital work. Our hearts and minds are with you!" - Tim L, Devon, UK

"Keep up the good work. Every little step is an achievement. Your books are good reading with facts to back up your arguments." - Scott S, NSW, Australia

"Voted to stay in the EEC back in the 70's, not believing it would ever become an EU - disillusioned by the reality of the EU - unwilling to join an authoritarian police state." - David W, Cleveland, UK

"Having used the services of Vital Minerals for the provision of Essiac Tea and apricot kernels for the past 18 months, it is with great pleasure that I can write to you and offer my thanks for the prompt and efficient service Vital Minerals has provided.

I can also inform you that I believe these have played a vital part in curing my oesophageal cancer. I was diagnosed in July 2002 with a tumour of some 100 mm long with a thickness of the oesophagus of approximately 16 mm; the tumour was at the bottom of the oesophagus where it joins the stomach.

I was treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, Surrey. I had two courses of chemotherapy the second course in conjunction with the highest dose of radiotherapy my body could take. These treatments did nothing except halt the spread of the cancer.

I was given approximately two years to live, that was in August 2003. This was when I decided to try the alternative therapies. I read books and articles on the Internet. I chose the therapies I believe could help me, which included a red meat and dairy free-diet, vitamin supplements, Chinese herbs, and of course, the Essiac tea and apricot kernels.

After six months, the tumour had started to shrink, albeit ever so slightly. Another six months and the tumour was shrinking even more.

After investigations, CT scan, PRT scan, they found there was only a small amount of cancer left in the base of the tumour. A few weeks later, an endoscopic ultrasound was arranged, in case I decided to have an operation to remove the remaining cancerous part of the tumour. Biopsies were taken from and around the tumour on 1st November, 2004. I was told that the cancer had completely gone."

"I am currently continuing with a maintenance dose of all the vitamin supplements, Essiac tea and kernels." - Derek E, Surrey, UK

"Logos Associates is committed to providing natural healthcare and supports fully the mission of CTM. It would be a disaster if the pressure from pharmaceutical companies allowed the prescribing of supplements to be taken away from qualified practitioners of nutritional therapy and given to the medical profession." - Sally R, Kent, UK

"Dear Phillip,

Thank you very much for your work. I admire you for not being afraid to speak up. I went to one of your seminars on the Gold Coast a couple of years ago.

I cured myself of rheumatoid arthritis through diet and a positive mental attitude and wish to share my story worldwide. I went from being a heavily medicated, bed-ridden cripple to walking every day pain- and drug-free.

There are 3.4 million people suffering arthritis in Australia alone at the cost of $11.2 billion dollars each year to the taxpayer and no doubt many millions/billions of profit to the drug companies to make them even richer.

As soon as I find some sponsorship I will be able to have my manuscript printed and my website completed, then I will be on the seminar trail too! Health has become my passion. I live it and breathe it every day. I not only talk the talk, but walk the walk too." - Sonia St C, Australia. www.freedomfromarthritis.com

"Went to Phillip Day's talk last night (27/1/05), It was absolutely brilliant, already knew some of the things discussed, but learned so much more." - Elizabeth J, Hampshire, UK

"I wish for freedom of choice, freedom of thought, freedom of happiness." - Alexander R, Bremen, Germany

"The recent presentation by Phillip Day in Chichester was thoroughly enjoyed. We understand this application automatically enrolls us as members of the 'Campaign for Truth in Europe'…. Thank you!" - Derek & Margaret H, West Sussex, UK

"I have searched the Internet for a lot of wonderful information about vitamin B17 and have just purchased your book 'Cancer: Why We're Still Dying to Know the Truth'. I have downloaded so much amazing information to give to people who have been given the death sentence to give them hope. I am taking 10 apricot seeds a day just as a preventative but my main mission is to inform people and spread the word. Would you kindly let me know how much bulk orders for your book are as this is a wonderful way to reach so many people. I am an ex-nurse of 25 years and am managing a fruit shop and come across so many people that need help on a regular basis that bulk orders of your great book may be the answer. God Bless. Kindest regards." - Christa E, QLD, Australia

"I have read your book 'Water: The Stuff of Life' and am impressed, also interested in learning more and would therefore like to receive the monthly newsletter." - Lyn L, Auckland, New Zealand.

"Phillip has inspired me to take control of my own health challenges…. .Thank you for opening my eyes!!!!" - Daryl G, South Australia, Australia

"Your work is invaluable." - Elizabeth H, NSW, Australia

"What everyone should know. Lack of doctors, etc. in the meeting!"- Terence G, Devon, UK

"I really enjoyed the talk on 25/1/05. It re-affirmed everything I have discovered for myself since becoming seriously ill following an unwanted hysterectomy in August 2000. Complimentary practitioners are helping me to get myself well with natural supplementation and nutrition although the drugs, especially antibiotics, severely damaged my digestive system." - Carol F, Devon, UK

Admiral Nelson's Fleet Confronts
the French and Spanish Warships off Trafalgar

Nelson: "Order the signal, Hardy."

Hardy: "Aye, aye sir."

Nelson: "Hold on, that's not what I dictated to Flags. What's the meaning of this?"

Hardy: "Sorry sir?"

Nelson (reading aloud): "England expects every person to do his or her duty, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious persuasion or disability. What gobbledygook is this?"

Hardy: "Admiralty policy, I'm afraid, sir. We're an equal opportunities employer now. We had the devil's own job getting 'England' past the censors, lest it be considered racist."

Nelson: "Gadzooks, Hardy. Hand me my pipe and tobacco."

Hardy: "Sorry sir. All naval vessels have now been designated smoke-free working environments."

Nelson: "In that case, break open the rum ration. Let us splice the main brace to steel the men before battle."

Hardy: "The rum ration has been abolished, Admiral. Its part of the Government's policy on binge drinking."

Nelson: "Good heavens, Hardy. I suppose we'd better get on with it. Full speed ahead."

Hardy: "I think you'll find that there's a 4 knot speed limit in this stretch of water."

Nelson: "Damn it man! We are on the eve of the greatest sea battle in history. We must advance with all despatch. Report from the crow's nest please."

Hardy: "That won't be possible, sir."

Nelson: "What?"

Hardy: "Health and Safety have closed the crow's nest, sir. No harness. And they said that rope ladders don't meet regulations. They won't let anyone up there until a proper scaffolding can be erected."

Nelson: "Then get me the ship's carpenter without delay, Hardy."

Hardy: "He's busy knocking up a wheelchair access to the fo'c'sle Admiral."

Nelson: "Wheelchair access? I've never heard anything so absurd."

Hardy: "Health and safety again, sir. We have to provide a barrier-free environment for the differently abled."

Nelson: "Differently abled? I've only one arm and one eye and I refuse even to hear mention of the word. I didn't rise to the rank of admiral by playing the disability card."

Hardy: "Actually, sir, you did. The Royal Navy is under-represented in the areas of visual impairment and limb deficiency."

Nelson: "Whatever next? Give me full sail. The salt spray beckons."

Hardy: "A couple of problems there too, sir. Health and safety won't let the crew up the rigging without hard hats. And they don't want anyone breathing in too much salt haven't you seen the adverts?"

Nelson: "I've never heard such infamy. Break out the cannon and tell the men to stand by to engage the enemy."

Hardy: "The men are a bit worried about shooting at anyone, Admiral."

Nelson: "What? This is mutiny!"

Hardy: "It's not that, sir. It's just that they're afraid of being charged with murder if they actually kill anyone. There's a couple of legal-aid lawyers on board, watching everyone like hawks."

Nelson: "Then how are we to sink the Frenchies and the Spanish?"

Hardy: "Actually, sir, we're not."

Nelson: "We're not?"

Hardy: "No, sir. The French and the Spanish are our European partners now. According to the Common Fisheries Policy, we shouldn't even be in this stretch of water. We could get hit with a claim for compensation."

Nelson: "But you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil."

Hardy: "I wouldn't let the ship's diversity co-ordinator hear you saying that sir. You'll be up on disciplinary report."

Nelson: "You must consider every man an enemy, who speaks ill of your King."
Hardy: "Not any more, sir. We must be inclusive in this multicultural age. Now put on your Kevlar vest; it's the rules. It could save your life."

Nelson: "Don't tell me - health and safety. Whatever happened to rum, sodomy and the lash?"

Hardy: "As I explained, sir, rum is off the menu! And there's a ban on corporal punishment."

Nelson: "What about sodomy?"

Hardy: "I believe that the government plans on legislation making it compulsory, sir."

Nelson: "In that case, kiss me, Hardy."