Today a lady asked me “What is inflammation?” Aside from the fact that she could just look online for answers, it intrigued me that she felt ignorant. It’s one of the most fundamental processes in nature! It’s healing on steroids. You can’t really heal anything without inflammation; YET, you can’t heal anything in the presence of inflammation. OK, I’d better explain… Here goes.

Calor, rubor, tumor and dolor! No it’s not gobbledegook; it’s Latin. Every medical student learns these four words early on. They come from the observations of Aulus Cornelius Celsus, c. AD 25, and translate to heat, redness, swelling and pain. Those are the key characteristics of inflammation.

We all know what pain, swelling, redness and heat feel like!

All pain is caused by inflammation and if you think back to an infected cut, a sore joint or maybe a tooth abscess, you will remember that as well as pain, the part swells and goes red. It also feels HOT, hence inflammation (in flames = burning).

It’s our way of protecting ourselves. Suppose for example a bunch of Strep bacteria get going in your tonsils—the body will respond by pouring immune troops into the area. The ensuing battle is the root cause of the pain. It’s fiery hot because blood pours into the spot and the extra fluid leads to swelling and heat. If it’s a big enough deal, the body will add to its response by raising the body’s temperature (a fever); that helps the immune cells get the advantage, while slowing down the invader. Perfect!

Without this response, we would rapidly die; with it, we endure a few days of being unwell, which we call a sickness. Then it heals up and is all gone. 

Trust me, you DO want the toothache, or sore throat. You need that fight back (interestingly, the word pain comes from the Greek ponos, meaning struggle or fight. Hippocrates this time).

You with me so far?

This wonderous healing response, one of nature’s finest, works well and works often. As I said, without it, we’d be dead. In fact that’s what happened to AIDS cases: they lost their immune T-cells and quickly aged and then died. It’s why we isolate immune-compromised cases: No fight back.

So how does it go wrong? If the inflammation is not resolved, it becomes chronic (Greek: chronos = time). This is very bad news because heat, pain, swelling and redness are not nice and we want them gone. PLUS there is one other negative aspect of inflammation: LOSS OF FUNCTION (Latin: functio laesa). This is obvious when you think of a sore throat—you don’t like to swallow; or with a dental abscess, you don’t want to bite on it; or you try not to use an inflamed joint. So with a body part out of action, you are at a disadvantage. I’m sure you can recall an instance that you once suffered.

Chronic inflammation is created when the problem faced by the body does not go away. If a person is unknowingly allergic to milk, for instance, and goes on drinking it day after day, the resulting eczema, colitis, arthritis or asthma won’t resolve and the person is chronically sick. This is great news for Big Pharma, who has the patient trapped in a vicious cycle. They don’t even WANT to find out what the case of chronic inflammation is and so get rid of it. They want to go on selling meds to that patient (via the doctor) for the rest of his or her life! The patient becomes a “cash cow”.

It Gets Worse

Unfortunately, it isn’t just the body part and the surroundings that get dragged into the chronic inflammation story. Healing cannot take place in the presence of chronic inflammation. DOCTORS DO NOT KNOW THIS! So they go on prescribing symptomatic treatment, instead of going further upstream and looking for real causes.

They are stuck on the so-called inflammatory cytokines model (IL-6, TNF-alpha, c-Reactive Protein and similar), which undoubtedly exist. But they are not the originators of inflammation, merely the biomarkers for it. Why are there inflammatory cytokines being produced in excess? That’s the real question.

Meanwhile, the fight goes on and on and on. Eventually, the body defence mechanisms begin to wear out and start misfiring. The adrenal response to stress continues on and on, releasing cortisol to help with the fight. Eventually the adrenal gland will get tired too, leading to adrenal exhaustion. But meanwhile chronically raised cortisol is very dangerous and starts to produce lasting damage, not limited to tissue loss and organ malfunction.

It is now many years since I wrote about the salmon run in this context, so here goes a reminder: we all know that the salmon “run” upriver, to spawn and then die. The reason they die is that they are hyper-stressed by battling upstream against the current and waterfall. Stress = cortisol. Measurements of the salmon cortisol showed levels up to 3,000 times the normal. That’s how deadly cortisol is and you should bear this story in mind!

Now don’t get me started on the psychological aspects of all this. Many patients are diagnosed as depressed and that’s the real “cause” of their symptoms, say the doctors. But as I’ve written for decades, that’s a result, not a cause; who wouldn’t be depressed while suffering years of misery which no doctor seems able to alleviate? What’s more the “treatment” is making you worse, because of the side-effects. It leaves me wondering why anyone would go to the doctor at all!

The Antibody Myth

One last (astonishing) surprise before we leave this immune response 101! A lot is written about antibodies and their role in beating off invasive pathogens. It’s even taught at high school and it has become so ingrained in normal thinking that even laypeople think they understand it.

Trust me, you don’t!

The story is that our B-cells and T-cells meet the invaders, identify them as foreign and produce anti-bodies against them. T-cells (especially the helper T-cells) remember the invader and so if they ever re-appear the attack response is fast and effective. This state is called “immunity”. In many circumstances it can last for life but that never happens with vaccine-induced immunity, which wears off, often very quickly. Life-long immunity only comes through natural infections and the appropriate response.

What’s wrong with this story? People UNABLE to produce antibodies still get immunity for life! It’s a condition called congenital agammaglobulinemia. In fact those who catch measles or whooping cough, for example, are immune for life… absent any antibodies! Now didn’t that startle you!

Surely individuals who can’t make antibodies will die of an infection, very soon? In fact the life expectancy of people with congenital agammaglobulinemia is normal, with occasional help – the same range as that for the general population!¹

Clearly lasting immunity is NOT totally dependent on antibodies. Their immune cells are capable of phagocytosis too (phagocytosis: Greek I’m afraid! It means eating up cells or pathogens).

Maybe it’s opsonins after all? Say what? Opsonins, you know… opsonins! Haha! Opsonins are extracellular proteins that, when bound to pathogens, induce certain white cells phagocytes to gobble up (phagocytose) the intruders. This is non-specific, meaning it works for any pathogen, whether met before or not! In 1904 researchers Wright and Douglas found that incubating bacteria with blood plasma enabled phagocytes to phagocytose (and thereby destroy) the bacteria. They concluded that: “We have here conclusive proof that the blood fluids modify the bacteria in a manner which renders them a ready prey to the phagocytes.”

No mention of antibodies back then!²

Probably too simple for modern medicine! But George Bernard Shaw, no less, in the preface to his play “The Doctors Dilemma” wrote about this phenomenon. It’s hard to tell whether he was being serious or sarcastic! But he seemed better clued in for the time than most doctors (and still does).

Here’s to your good health… and abundant opsonins!

Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby

The Official Alternative Doctor

For more information (much more than you need!) you can read the book: Charles N. Serhan, Peter A. Ward, Derek W. Gilroy, editors. Fundamentals of Inflammation. 2010. Cambridge University Press: New York. ISBN: (Hardcover) 978-0521887298. US $99. 488 p.

References:

1. https://www.immunodeficiencyuk.org/x-linked-agammaglobulinemia-xla
2. Wright, A. E.; Douglas, S. R.; Sanderson, J. B. (September 1989). “An experimental investigation of the rôle of the blood fluids in connection with phagocytosis. 1903”. Reviews of Infectious Diseases. 11 (5): 827–834. doi:10.1093/clinids/11.5.827. PMID 2682954

This piece is about its gentler, less well-known companion: myrrh. We all know the story of the Magi, travelling from afar, bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh. It’s actually pre-Christian, so we can all share!

All three substances have significant health properties. Yes, even gold. It’s used homeopathically as aurum met. and it is good for cardiac arrhythmias.

Myrrh is a resin that comes from trees belonging to the genus Commiphora, notably Commophora molmol, which grow in Northern Africa and the Middle East. The sap-like substance, which has a unique sweet and smoky aroma, has a wide range of uses.

Myrrh resin

Here are some notes from the Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The origins of myrrh and frankincense are traced to the Arabian Peninsula. According to Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC): “Arabia is the only country which produces frankincense, myrrh, cassia, and cinnamon… the trees bearing the frankincense are guarded by winged serpents of small size and various colors.”

Diodorus Siculus, in the second half of the first century BC, wrote that “all of Arabia exudes a most delicate fragrance; even the seamen passing by Arabia can smell the strong fragrance that gives health and vigor.”

He also mentioned gold mines so pure that no smelting was necessary!

The frankincense trade route, with transport by donkeys and later by camel caravans, reached Jerusalem and Egypt from the Dhofar region of what is today Oman, through Yemen, turning north to follow the Red Sea coast.

It is likely that the same or similar species of the resin-bearing plants grew across the Red Sea in the area that is now Somalia and Ethiopia, while the collection of the gum resins was initiated in Arabia.

As an aside, I have long written that the actual ORIGIN of the so-called “Spice Route” was actually in modern-day Sri Lanka. That’s where cinnamon was grown in ancient times and not Arabia, as Herodotus mistakenly reported (he never went as far as Sri Lanka, the head of the trail). From Sri Lanka—which the Arabs called Serendib, giving us our word serendipity—supplies went up the Arabian gulf and ashore in eastern Arabia.

Myrrh And Human Welfare

Myrrh contributed much historically in human welfare. Schistosomiasis was known in ancient Egypt since remote times. It affects over 200 million people in 74 countries and territories worldwide (WHO, 1999) causing several chronic complications. A characteristic symptom, haematuria (blood in the urine) with urinary bladder disturbances was mentioned in four Papyrus papers dated back to 1950-1900 BC, and Schistosoma eggs were detected in a cirrhotic liver of a mummy from 1200 BC (Ruffer, 1910).

Also, Fasciola eggs (liver fluke) were detected in a mummy. Flukes infect over 17 million people worldwide causing marked morbidity and mortality.

Treatment of fascioliasis required high or drug multiple doses often with unpleasant side-effect (Farid et al., 1990). In schistosomiasis, praziquantel (PZQ) in use for more than 20 years but was not very effective and was accompanied by potentially severe side-effects.

Well, it turns out that Myrrh and 200 related species does better, has almost no side-effects and is rather cheaper!

Myrrh acts as a natural remedy to treat pain, skin infections, inflammatory conditions, diarrhea, and periodontal diseases. In more recent history, products derived from Myrrh and various other species of Commiphora are becoming recognized as possessing significant antiseptic, anesthetic, anti-parasitic and antitumor properties.

So, the ancients were getting it right!

Very recently, studies have focused on applying clinical trial methodologies to validate its use as an anti-cancer therapy, an antiparasitic agent, and as an adjunct in healing wounds.1

Liver Protection

A study published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology found that myrrh emulsion was able to protect against lead (PbAc)-induced hepatotoxicity.

The authors of the study concluded that myrrh (Commiphora molmol) emulsion is a “powerful antioxidant” that can “protect against lead acetate-induced hepatic oxidative damage and immunotoxicity by reducing lipid peroxidation and enhancing the antioxidant and immune defense mechanisms.2

Antioxidants are thought to help neutralize oxidative stress in the body that is caused by environmental pressures, such as pollution, and other factors.

Generally, our livers need all the help they can get in this toxic day and age.

Cosmetic Value

A study from 2007 in France examined the impact of two types of antioxidant on sebum (a skin compound) and the effect of UV (sun) irradiation. The first type was free radical scavenger (BHT (butyl hydroxyl toluene if you are interested) plus an olive extract. The second type was the essential oil of Myrrh.

The results showed that Myrrh was the most effective in blocking the unhealthy decomposition of sebum, called squalene peroxidation. As a result, the researchers called for sun care cosmetics to include this and similar compounds.

Possible Anticancer Properties

A group of Chinese researchers revealed that extracts and compounds from Myrrh resin may be effective against human gynecologic cancer cells. Their findings were published in the Journal of Medicinal Plants Research.3

Inflammation

Pain is inflammation.

Myrrh has long been used in parts of Asia as a traditional medicine for inflammatory diseases. In 2015, researchers published results of a rodent study indicating that it may help treat inflammation linked to rheumatoid arthritis (RA).4

In 2017, scientists published results suggesting that frankincense and myrrh might help relieve neuropathic pain, following positive results when treating pain in mice with a water extraction of frankincense and myrrh.5

A Very Special Place

Have you heard of “The Land Of Frankincense” Dhofar, in Oman, a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

Harvesting the precious resin in an annual event in March and now thousands of visitors go each year. Myrrh has been grown here too, since ancient times.

At the height of the Roman Empire, Dhofar was exporting immense quantities of frankincense, myrrh and other oils, by ship to Yemen and thence up the Red Sea, and by camel caravan overland to Petra and the Mediterranean. Astride that caravan route, at the southern edge of the vast Empty Quarter, lies the fabled port of Ubar, lost in the desert for over 1,500 years and rediscovered less than 20 years ago by a team led by British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

See? A pain-free visit, even for non-Christians!

Your Wide-ranging Journalist Doctor Friend… Ha ha!

Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby

The Official Alternative Doctor

References:

1. J Egypt Soc Parasitol. 2008 Dec;38(3):763-96.

2. Exp Ther Med. 2016 Aug; 12(2): 730–738.

3. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research Vol. 5(8), pp. 1382-1389, 18 April, 2011 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/JMPR

4. Sci Rep. 2015; 5: 13668.

5. Neural Plast. 2017; 2017: 3710821.

No matter what anyone tells you – one of the most critical keys to health and longevity (inside and out) is to protect your gut!

Leaky gut syndrome sounds like something out of a horror movie but millions of people suffer from it and might not be aware.  I talk to you often about the health of your digestive system because it represents more than 80% of your immune system!

Without your immune system functioning properly, your body is vulnerable to countless conditions and diseases.  If you don’t protect your gut health, your body will fail.

Most doctors consider your digestive system almost as an afterthought.  It is only very recently that the medical community is catching on to what I’ve been saying for years.  Leaky gut syndrome is more than “upset stomach!”

Chronic fatigue and pain, depression, heightened sensitivity to allergens, arthritis, and so much more have been linked to a condition that most doctors don’t even recognize exists!

What is Leaky Gut?

So much responsibility rests on your small intestine as the backbone of your immune system.  Not only does it do the well-known job of absorbing the nutrients from your food, it also holds the front line against bacteria, parasites, and toxins that can lead to cellular damage, infection, and excess inflammation.

Poor lifestyle and eating habits result in tiny holes in your small intestine that allow waste particles to escape into your blood stream.

Your gut truly begins to leak into the rest of your body.

The immune response that occurs from the food, toxins, and bacteria invading your blood creates a pronounced immune response…more inflammation to fight matter that is normally flushed out of your body as waste material.

It’s a lose/lose situation!  Inflammation causes leaky gut syndrome and then more inflammation is released to fight the results!

The worst part is that doctors then treat the symptoms rather than the cause because leaky gut stimulates or worsens what seem to be unrelated problems.

Is Your Gut Leaking?

There are ways to tell if you have a leaky gut and you must listen to your body if you have some or all of these symptoms.  Ignoring your gut health is dangerous…even deadly!

A leaky gut makes your entire body ache and malfunction.  The sooner you get the rampant inflammation under control and start protecting your gut, the sooner you’re going to feel incredible from head to toe!

Common Symptoms of Leaky Gut Syndrome

• Consistent constipation, diarrhea, or other digestive distress
• Bloating in the abdominal area
• Skin irritation including acne and psoriasis
• Persistent colds, flus, or sinus issues
• Unusual or sudden sensitivity to certain foods
• Thyroid malfunction such as Hashimoto’s disease or unexplained weight gain
• Chronic fatigue or lack of energy
• Unexplained pain in joints, head, nerves, or muscles
• Depression, anxiety, mood swings, or other behavioral disorders

There is also the possibility that you have symptoms that don’t fit in a known “category.”  Something odd or unfamiliar to your personal health that remains “undiagnosed.”

You may to exhibit symptoms of vitamin deficiency (which can include weakness, dizziness, changes to skin tone, numbness or tingling in extremities, or irregular heartbeat) because your small intestine is malfunctioning when it comes to nutrient absorption.

What Causes Leaky Gut Syndrome?

The short answer to the cause of leaky gut is inflammation.  However, the proven causes of this debilitating condition are all within your control.  That means you have the power to prevent or reverse a leaky gut and get back on the road to good health.

• Poor eating habits.  I’ve been clear on this time and again, your diet matters!  Filling your diet with sugars, unhealthy fats, and other junk breaks your body down a little at a time and leads to rampant inflammation.  Kick those dirty foods filled with chemicals out of your life and give your body the nutrition it requires to keep you healthy for many more decades.  Drink more water and eat foods high in fiber for maximum nutrient delivery.
• Chronic stress.  It’s only in the last few years that the medical community has caught on to the fact that chronic stress batters your body and produces inflammation your cells can’t handle.  Whatever causes the stress in your life, figure out ways to get rid of it or it will kill you.
• Bad habits that raise toxicity.  In today’s world, you already know the hazards of smoking to your health.  Excess alcohol (more than two drinks a day for men or one drink a day for women) is a pro-inflammatory substance that damages your gut and liver.  Other compounds you might not think of as “bad habits” include too many medications.  Both prescription and over-the-counter drugs are foreign to your body and treated as toxins.  Get healthy and get off all those drugs you’re taking to make it through your day.
• Imbalance in good gut flora.  Your gut is your “second brain” and it determines your overall health in more ways than you can imagine.  Maintaining adequate levels of beneficial gut bacteria is crucial to your continued well-being.  Load up on prebiotics (the food source for healthy flora) like garlic, onions, apples, and bananas.  Then give yourself plenty of probiotics such as Greek yogurt, dark chocolate, fermented cheese, and pickles.  These foods will protect your gut so it can recover and flourish.

Learn More about Leaky Gut Syndrome

In my book “Fire in the Belly,” I tell you so much more about maintaining intestinal flora – where 80% of your immune system resides.  You need to put out that fire, urgently and permanently.  I’ll tell you how to do that in this life-saving book.

Here’s a sneak peek of what I share:

• How to rebuild a healthy intestinal flora colony after damage
• Key symptoms that point to chronic inflammation
• How to eliminate “fire foods”
• Why the symptoms are so diverse that most doctors miss the diagnosis
• How to detox from toxic metals without further damage to your immune system
• The varied effects of brain inflammation
• Genes and metabolic capabilities of trillions of microbes tell your body what to do
• The formation of “leaky” gut (it’s not what you thought)
• Plus…how to quench the fire in your gut once and for all.

You shouldn’t delay.  All this “fire” in your body is dangerous and chronic inflammation will kill you if you simply ignore it.  Protect your gut and it will benefit every single cell in your body!

REFERENCES

https://www.healthywomen.org/comment/64358

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/leaky-gut-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-mean-for-you-2017092212451

http://draxe.com/4-steps-to-heal-leaky-gut-and-autoimmune-disease/

https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2014/03/06/leaky-gut-what-it-is-and-how-to-heal-it

https://chriskresser.com/9-steps-to-perfect-health-5-heal-your-gut/

https://www.healthline.com/health/gut-health

You already know that portions in developed countries are out of control…it’s far more food than the human body needs.  However, when you add the flood of over-processed and chemically heavy choices to the situation, and you create a perfect storm of inflammatory conditions that your body is unable to overcome naturally.

Simple, whole foods that provide the energy and nutrition you need to live have fallen by the wayside.  The obesity epidemic is a real – and potentially catastrophic – situation.  

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than two-thirds of the United States population alone is considered overweight or obese.  Obesity statistics are around 18% for children and rapidly rising to join the overwhelming rate of adult obesity.

Obesity Causes: The Role of Inflammation

Inflammation has now been linked as a cause of obesity and the reverse is also true that obesity leads to systemic inflammation.  This highly dangerous process attacks and inflames your tissues until you are left vulnerable to disease.  

Cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, diabetes, and more all have risk factors linked to both obesity and inflammation.  Either of these two conditions – if left untreated – will lead to illness and rapid aging.  

The World Can No Longer Ignore the Signs

A recent study completed at Norway’s Research Institute for Internal Medicine, University of Oslo found that obesity is just as dangerous as malnutrition on a molecular level.  

It has been known for decades that malnutrition damages the immune system and leaves your body vulnerable to infections and disease.  The immune system uses temporary inflammation to fight bacteria, viruses, and parasites in your body. When the risk is resolved, the inflammation lowers.

It turns out that eating too much boosts the immune response without a threat, causing chronic inflammation, the verified source of some of the biggest killers on the planet.

Professor Bente Halvorsen explained, “With this new knowledge, we can better understand why too much food can cause such serious diseases as heart attack, stroke, cancer and chronic intestinal inflammation.  We can reduce the inflammatory reaction by losing weight.”

There is much more research to be done but initial results point to the mitochondria – our cells’ power sources – and how they convert fat to energy.  Too much food stresses these tiny power plants and causes damage that leads to inflammation.

The real causes of obesity (and inflammation) are easy to pinpoint.  On the whole, we eat too much, fat accumulates in the cells, the mitochondria become overworked and damaged, which leads to an immune response, resulting in inflammation over your entire body that becomes chronic after years of the same cycle.  

Another study from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland in Australia found that PAR2 – a protein found in abundance in belly fat tissue – causes an intense inflammatory reaction in humans and rats.  

The study is to find an “obesity drug” to block what high fats and sugars do to your body.  The medical industry is scrambling to figure out which comes first…obesity and then inflammation or inflammation and then obesity.  

The answer is an easy one.  The two conditions are linked on a molecular level – proven by countless scientific studies.  Rid yourself of one and you reduce the other and vice versa!

Address the Causes of Obesity and Inflammation NOW!

The right combination of foods for you to consume is likely different from anyone else.  It isn’t about “food allergies” as much as how you personally metabolize the foods you eat.  

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are genetic markers specific to you and determine how you will react to food.  

Learning what you truly need to eat – as well as what you should never eat – is the first step to ramping up your body’s ability to absorb the right nutrients and detoxify your system.

Getting enough sleep, exercising, and reducing stress are crucial to total body health and anti-aging but it is your food consumption that makes all the difference!  What you eat and how much you eat determines the levels of inflammation in your body.

Your “perfect eating plan” is exclusive to you.  That means standard diets, fads, and quick weight loss supplements are not the answer.  

It starts with every bite of food that goes into your body.  Experts estimate that as many as 80% of visits to the doctor for random complaints are caused by adverse reactions to something in your food supply.  Not necessarily a food allergy so much as a food your body doesn’t recognize or know how to process.

Food is the first and most important step in changing your life because it is the best way to minimize inflammation that causes obesity (and vice versa) – which in turn lead to depression, disease, and rapid aging.  

Before emotional, mental, and professional goals – you must take control of your physical body.  When your body is healthy and strong – other life changes can be focused on with greater intensity.  

First, get well.  For more information about finding the perfect eating plan that works for you, read my book Diet Wise right now.  Your body will be glad you did!

REFERENCES

US Dept of Health and Human Services: Overweight & Obesity Statistics https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/overweight-obesity

Universiti Putra Malaysia: Obesity and inflammation: the linking mechanism and the complications https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5507106/

Louisiana State University: The NALP3/NLRP3 Inflammasome Instigates Obesity-Induced Autoinflammation and Insulin Resistance https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3076025/

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Adult Obesity Causes & Consequences https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/causes.html

University of Oslo, Norway: Overweight causes hazardous inflammations https://www.apollon.uio.no/english/articles/2014/3_inflammations.html

Science Daily: New research shows obesity is inflammatory disease https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131202112156.htm

You only need to read about the opioid crisis to realize there is something very wrong with the orthodox management of pain. What you are seeing is corporate greed on display and plain, old-fashioned ignorance from the majority of doctors.

I’m very disappointed in my profession today. The average doctor is lazy, ignorant, unsympathetic and, yes, even abusive. I know of patients being shouted at by an oncologist, because they ask questions. That’s gross.

But nowhere is laziness and ignorance more on view than when it comes to pain. The doctor is writing a script for painkillers before the patient has even finished describing their distress!

Yet, what is crazy is that this is called “scientific” medicine. I’ve often complained about this scam and derision before. If the doctor prescribes “scientifically proven” medication A and it doesn’t work, the patient is back in a week and so the doctor prescribes “scientifically proven” medication B. Maybe that doesn’t work either, so it goes on to Meds C.

What is scientific about this jumping around? It’s not even a scientific method. It’s just muddling along, with guesswork and prejudice. It’s a joke to call it scientific or evidence-based (that’s another favorite scam label).

Of course it’s natural for painkillers to escalate. Because meds A doesn’t work, the doctor will prescribe “stronger” meds B, and so it goes on, until inevitably opioids (opiates) become the final choice. And then, when there is nothing stronger, the doctor starts upping the dose.

It still doesn’t work, so the patient takes more than is safe and maybe dies. Michael Jackson, to be fair, probably killed himself by taking too much propofol (a hypnotic drug used for general anesthesia, sedation and in veterinary medicine) along with lidocaine anesthetic and a bevy of other drugs. He went far beyond what was prescribed, that’s for sure.

But then the doctor, Conrad Murray MD, should have been alert to the fact that a mentally unstable patient was already doing that. A recording was heard in court that Jackson’s speech was much slurred.

But, hey, Michael Jackson is just a celebrity casualty—a bit like Elvis Presley—too big to refuse or argue with! His case is in no way sadder or more mournful than the other 29,000 US yearly opioid overdose deaths (over 120,000 for the world)

The question I come back to is: WHY? Why take pain killers? Pain is Nature’s way of calling attention to a problem. WHY NOT FIX THE PROBLEM?

All pain ultimately is inflammation. Inflammation is a fiery condition of the tissues, featuring pain, swelling, redness and loss of function. There is ALWAYS a reason for pain. It needs to be investigated and cured (solved). The actual symptom of pain can be turned off by addressing the inflammation. Even omega-3s can work better than most drugs—because they tackle the inflammation—not by tuning out the pain.

OK, a dental abscess can be miserably painful (ouch!) Take a few aspirin or paracetomol (Tylenol) till the dentist relieves the pressure in the bone, or antibiotics start to work, if that’s the way you choose to go. But if you had, say, an Avazzia Life microcurrent therapy device in your medicine cupboard (you should have!) you can encourage faster healing without the use of any painkiller or drugs.

Opioids are definitely not needed. But of course the pharmaceutical industry doesn’t want you cured. They want the pain to go on and on and on… forever! Because that means you’ll be buying painkillers for the rest of your life!

Think of the profits on that!

If you really want to avoid this crazy mismanagement trap, or get out of it if you are already in the loop, you should get a copy of my book on real pain management The Ultimate Guide To Natural Pain Relief. You could save a lot of misery in your household.

In this book you’ll learn health secrets you will NEVER hear from the average doctor. He/she doesn’t even know what Homotoxicology is, or neural field therapy, myofascial trigger points or Biopuncture. And don’t forget herbs, enzymes (bromelain and papain), cold lasers, prolotherapy and hypnotherapy, to name just a few.

As for acupuncture, there are still doctors out there, screaming it’s a fraud and doctors who claim it works should be jailed (oh, yes, that was on MedScape recently). That’s despite the fact that major operations are regularly carried out with no anesthetic, other than this “fraud” with needles!

Time for another book for your home library, perhaps?

But Wait!

There may be other very important ways to beat inflammation you may not think of! For example, being overweight is highly inflammatory. Did you know that?

Belly fat is inflammatory in nature, but the inflammation can strike anywhere in the body. I know people with miserable backache, needing to take painkillers (they suppose), where it just turned out to be diet and inflammation. The person took care, lost weight and the back pain was totally nixed. No more painkillers! THAT’S the kind of solution I advocate.

See, if you are overweight it puts pressure on your joints. Not just the knees and ankles, though obviously they have to support the extra weight. That’s to miss the whole point of a dynamic skeleton. Med students are used to seeing the skeleton as a box of bits (I had one). From such a perspective it’s hard to picture the working skeleton as a dynamic balanced whole.

But that’s the truth of it.

Leaning back a little because of a big belly will cause your entire spine to creak in a way that is not natural. Women with extra large breasts are well aware of this leaning backache effect and sometimes seek to have their breasts reduced (sorry guys!)

Thing is, it all hangs together. You eat RIGHT and you feel good, lose weight and eliminate pain. It’s a fab formula (deliberate echo of the Beatles there!) That’s where my masterpiece DIET WISE comes in. But I don’t want to be boring by being repetitious. I’d rather steer you towards my latest “science of weight loss” book.

It’s not just another slimming plan (yawn). It’s about the understanding and management of healthy weight by being aware of the many factors which influence weight gain. It’s no longer enough to point to people who are fat and do “fat shaming”, I think it’s called, and suppose they are greedy guzzlers.

All of us are subject to malign influences (largely from big business cartels, it has to be said) that make saying slim very difficult. In fact impossible, if you don’t know what you are up against. For example our environment is now heavily polluted by “obesogens”, foreign chemicals which promote obesity. Glutamates, which are added to our foods deliberately (to get us addicted), actually cause weight gain in their own right. By that I mean two people eating an identical diet, calorie for calorie, one with MSG in the food will gain weight, the other not.

Then there are genes. It started with the so-called “fatso gene” (FTO) discovered 10 years ago but now there are a dozen other genetic influences. They can be tuned out—but you have to know how.

There is a host of other factors, like methylation, that affect how your metabolism works. And, as a teaser, let me tell you there is one surprise biological factor that may be the MOST IMPORTANT influence of all in weight gain. You’ll have to get the book to find out what it is! But I’ll give you a clue: antibiotics are used by farmers to promote weight gain in cattle and other livestock…

Discover more weight loss influence in The Ultimate Science of Weight Loss.

Here you go (236 pages):Discover Over 40 Need To Know Weight Loss Secrets

If you already have both books, good luck to you. I hope you found this refresher useful.

Take it easy over Christmas (weight gain alert!)

Prof.

Sources: https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/information-sheet/en/