Stephen Sinatra MD, an acclaimed cardiologist and dear friend, passed away rather suddenly on June 19th 2022. Less well known is that Stephen was also a psychiatrist and psychotherapist extraordinaire; he was well versed in the fact that sick people have “issues” and they need to be dealt with, before full and optimal health can be restored.
Even deeper than that, we shared a philosophy of life that was profound and all-encompassing. Life is about living; it’s not a form of accountancy, with calories or nutrients IN, versus toxins and excreta OUT! The whole dynamic process of biology is much richer than just substances or “stuff”.
Yet most scientists and doctors don’t seem to get it: they think life is the result of organic physical processes. In fact it’s the other way round: the organic physical processes arise as a result of life dynamics
Steve and I in brighter times
I thought I would celebrate “a life” by sharing with you an interview I did with Stephen. We were talking about inflammation, as it applies to weight loss, and you can feel his warmth and wisdom shine through.
It’s a bit different to my usual newsletter but it is my message, this week, to the world.
Let’s remember a true medical “rock star”!
Follow this link to watch the interview: https://vimeo.com/727356122
Love to All,
Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby
The Official Alternative Doctor
If you want more notes about the fact that I was the first person to write about Grounding (Earthing) for which Stephen became very famous, check it out here below:
Allergics and Electricity
My nurses know a lot about allergies and electricity. Frequently, when giving test injections, they get unpleasant static shocks. This happens far more often than in encounters with normal healthy individuals. Certain patients seem to be particularly bad in this respect and the effect can be most unpleasant, taxing the nurses’ saintly devotion to the limit.
There is something special about allergic patients and electricity. Many of them seem able to cause damage to electrical equipment: kettles burnout, plugs and light bulbs explode, TV sets stop working, electric clocks go backwards. These and many other strange occurrences tell us that something out of the ordinary is happening. We don’t as yet know what it is, but to scoff—just because you don’t understand—is the hallmark of a fool. Sadly, there are plenty of those, even among so-called experts.
Some cases on record are truly remarkable. Certain individuals seem able to disrupt whole computer or telephone systems, merely by their presence. A number of strange individuals have been struck by lightning, many times over (see The Guinness Book of Records). There are even cases of people able to illuminate light bulbs by holding them in their hands.
Surprisingly, these curious individuals seem unharmed by their unusual electrical nature. The unfortunate fact, however, is that the majority of electrical sensitives are made ill by their experiences and, until recently, theirs was an unhappy lot. Nobody knew the cause of the trouble. They were, if you like, ‘allergic to electricity’, which sounds like nonsense.
What To Look For
As with true allergic phenomena, manifestations can be almost infinite, according to which part of the body is affected. However, those symptoms which give rise to the most concern are those connected with the nervous system. These include headaches, dizziness, weakness, poor concentration, insomnia and even nausea.
Typically, symptoms are worse near electrical equipment. Some patients know, for example, that when the television is switched on, they feel worse (I will avoid the obvious joke). Overhead cables are a hazard, but so are sub-stations and the small kerbside relay boxes. Some patients can ‘feel’ cables in the walls and floors at home.
Generally speaking, patients feel worse if they are in a field created by electrical appliances on either side. In a kitchen, the oven and fridge may be on one side and the kettle, radio and perhaps a microwave on the other, the poor housewife trapped between the two. A better arrangement is to have all appliances against one wall.
What To Do
What does an electrically sensitive patient do to cope with our modern environment? As with all allergies, we say avoid it! That isn’t easy, of course, though some are so ill they need to move to the country (avoiding overhead transmission lines), to get away from the worst urban power concentrations.
If you can’t avoid it, other steps may be necessary. One patient finds he is helped by wearing a copper plate on his back, wrapped in fabric to fit a wide belt. Others have tried metal screens, from foil to chicken wire, and some swear it helps. Science tells us, however, that to be truly effective, such a screen would need to be many inches thick, and clearly this is impracticable. My personal advice is to avoid this sort of approach until we understand the subject better It is possible for metal to concentrate the field, instead of dissipating it. This would clearly be harmful.
Another approach is Earthing. One way to do this, silly as it sounds, is to go outdoors barefoot. Contact with the earth will remove static build-up within the body. Feeling the grass between your toes may be more than a poetic way to feel good.
This is the exact opposite effect to our modern buildings, where synthetic carpets and dry air-conditioning help to build up considerable static charges. This contributes to the sick building syndrome. It’s also not good for your heart, which relies on electrical circuits.
If outdoor Earthing isn’t practical, trail a wire round your wrist while sleeping and connect it to the central heating pipes or some other metal ‘earth’. Standing barefoot on an earthed metal plate is another solution BUT BE CAREFUL. You must avoid the temptation to do this while handling electrical appliances. A comparatively minor accidental shock could well turn into a fatal one if you ignore this caution.
These tricks can easily become a habit, and patients swear by the beneficial results. It begins to sound cranky. I think it is better to keep these remedies for times when you really need them and not become psychologically dependent on such props.
Synthetic fabrics, of course, create static and are best avoided. Wear only cotton and silks where possible, especially next to the skin (underwear). Women might like to know that tights with a cotton gusset and soles to the feet are available. These will allow discharge to the floor; and reportedly feel better.
[Extract from The Allergy Handbook, Thorson’s, Wellingborough, England, 1988]
