On February 3 this year, I had a scan which the doctor told me showed gallstones.

Ten days’ later, I contacted my homeopath who advised me to follow the instructions in the February issue of WDDTY. I immediately started the course and followed it exactly. [The programme recommended by the Dulwich Health Society is as follows: drink 2 litres of pure apple juice for six days. On the sixth day, skip dinner. At 9pm, take one or two tablespoons of Epsom salts dissolved in a little warm water. At 10pm, shake together 4oz unrefined cold pressed olive oil and 2oz lemon juice and drink. Go to bed immediately and lie on your right side with your right knee drawn up towards your chin. Remain in this position for 30 minutes before going to sleep. Prepare another Epsom salts solution in case you need it in the middle of the night. The next morning, you should pass stones that are as soft as putty.]

By midnight on February 18 the epsom salts had done their work. At 8am, the next day I passed two bright green “peas”. At 11am, I passed five softened stones of approx 2cm long, about 12 more pea size and about 12 more smaller ones. During the afternoon I passed several more.

On February 20 I attended a pre arranged appointment with my GP to discuss the result of the scan. She was totally shocked when I described my experience and asked me to explain every detail. My GP had never heard of a “flush” and told me she would have definitely recommended an operation. The stones have been sent for analysis.

I thought: What Doctors Don’t Tell You? What Doctors Don’t Know!

I am extremely grateful to my homeopath and WDDTY for a simple, painless and quick way of eliminating the stones. JS Macclesfield, Cheshire.

Dexfenfluramine, an amphetamine and appetite suppressant, is licensed for use in the UK but restricted to a maximum prescription period of three months due to its particularly unpleasant side effects. These include gastrointestinal complaints, especially diarrhea, drowsiness, dizziness, lethargy, dry mouth, headache, sleep disturbances, visual disorders, low blood pressure, urinary frequency, impotence and loss of libido. Rashes, blood disorders and pulmonary (lung) hypertension have also been reported. A particularly worrying side effect is depression, brought on by sudden withdrawal of the drug (The Lancet, June 1, 1991).So far, there’s been at least one fatal case of pulmonary hypertension during long-term dexfenfluramine therapy, although a direct link with the drug hadn’t been established. (Drugs, 1992; 43 (5):713-33).

Even more alarmingly, last year a study using animals indicated that dexfenfluramine causes persistent and possibly permanent brain damage. The study stated that “physicians and patients alike need to be aware of dexfenfluramine’s toxic potential toward brain serotonin neurons.” (Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 1994; 269:792-8). Furthermore, dexfenfluramine has never been directly compared with non-drug methods of weight control like behaviour modification or exercise programmes (Drugs, 1992; 43(5): 713-33)

Other potential drugs being considered are antidepressants. At the dose required to achieve “significant” weight-loss, sibutramine can cause insomnia, irritability, rapid heartbeat and occasionally high blood pressure and thrombocytopenia (reduction of blood-clotting platelets) (Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, September 1991).

In contrast, the risk of diarrhoea is about 50 per cent (Rev Infect Dis, 1990; 12: S73-9), and it’s these common problems – diarrhoea, colds, headaches and insect bites – that most often plague the unprepared traveller.

Respiratory infections
Around one in five passengers develops a cold within a week of flying (JAMA, 2002; 288: 483-6). The recirculating dry air on aircraft weakens immunity, resulting in respiratory and ear infections as well as headaches, allergies, dizziness, and irritation and inflammation of the eyes, skin and nose. The viruses that cause colds/flu don’t respond to antibiotic treatment.

Instead:

* stay hydrated, inside and out. Drink lots of water to ward off colds, and prevent travel headache, stress and fatigue. Keep a water spray with you and spritz yourself throughout the flight.

* take Echinacea (300-900 mg/day) to support immune function (Econ Med Plant Res, 1991; 5: 253-321; Can Pharm J, 1991; 124: 572-6) and control viral, bacterial and fungal infections (Therapiewoche, 1986; 36: 3352; Aust J Med Herb, 1992; 4: 104-11).

* eat well. If your holiday is a junk-food fest, your health will suffer.

* take your vitamins. Vitamin C is vital for the immune system, and can inhibit viruses and bacteria (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1990; 87: 7245-9). Vitamin A, another antioxidant, can kill disease-causing viruses (Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 1980; 17: 1034-7). Vitamins E and B-complex, selenium and zinc are also necessary for proper immune function.

Bug bites
Instead of DEET- or permethrin-containing pesticides, opt for essential oils.

* Citronella and eucalyptus have a strong smell that interferes with mosquitoes’ sense of direction and taste, making it difficult for them to find a host. Frequent reapplications of essential oil-containing sprays or lotions are essential.

* Neem oil mixed with coconut oil kept users completely mosquito-bite-free in one study (J Am Mosq Control Assoc, 1993; 9: 359-60).

Wearing light colours (J Econ Entomol, 1947; 40: 326-7), long-sleeved shirts and pants also helps. In areas of high infestation, use very fine-mesh mosquito nets.

Diarrhoea
Traveller’s tummy is usually acquired by ingesting faeces-contaminated food and/ or water. Scrupulous attention to hygiene will lower your risk of diarrhoea.

* Don’t drink from the water supply unless you’re sure of its purity. This also applies to water for ice cubes and cleaning your teeth. Water from sealed bottles is usually safe, as are hot tea and coffee, fizzy drinks, beer and wine.

* Take care with local cheeses and ice cream, and boil unpasteurised milk.

* Cook meat thoroughly and eat while hot. Avoid leftovers and food that has been standing or exposed to flies.

* Fish and shellfish may be hazardous even when well cooked. If there is any doubt, avoid eating it.

* Eat only cooked vegetables and avoid salads. Peel all fruit, including tomatoes.

If you do get diarrhoea, stay hydrated. Consider packing rehydration remedies (such as Diarolyte) before you go.

Need a vaccination?
If you’re going to a country where vaccinations are only recommended, consider homoeopathy. Constitutional remedies and nosodes (made from disease material) can be a prophylaxis against worrisome diseases such as cholera, hepatitis, malaria, smallpox, polio and typhus.

Pat Thomas

The key phase of the pregnancy has been pinpointed to the third trimester. If the woman was still taking the drug at that point, the baby could be nearly five times more likely to be born prematurely and more than twice as likely to need the help of special care nurseries. The baby also faced nine times the risk of having breathing difficulties, cyanosis (lack of oxygen) on feeding, and jitteriness.

Researchers from the University of California, who made the discovery, are urging all pregnant women taking Prozac to stop the treatment when their pregnancy reaches the third trimester, and ideally when they become pregnant.

Overall, women on the drug were more than twice as likely to give birth to a baby with three or more minor anomalies than women in the general population not taking the antidepressant.

The study involved 228 women taking Prozac who contacted the California Teratogen Information Service, and their pregnancies and births were compared with women who had contacted the service with queries about other drugs.

The results were a surprise because other trials of antidepressants had failed to pick up the risks. One trial had found that 97 per cent of babies born to Prozac taking mothers were born perfectly healthy.

!ANew England Journal of Medicine, 1996; 335: 1010-5.

* In a recent study, one third of 773 individuals involved in a road accident as a driver, bicycle rider or pedestrian experienced some level of anxiety, depression, fear of travel or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 3 to 12 months later and, in most cases, persisted. After one year, about half the group had phobic travel anxiety, nearly 60 per cent had general anxiety, and half were diagnosed with PTSD (Am J Psychiatry, 2001; 158: 1231-8).

* New research in nearly 1300 men suggests that, during a severe asthma attack, men are less likely than women to notice the symptoms of the attack. The reason for this is unclear, but it may be that men perceive less discomfort because of greater lung size and muscle strength, or because they generally develop asthma at an earlier age than women. Men also tend to only seek medical attention when symptoms are too severe to ignore, the researchers noted (Ann Emerg Med, 2001; 38: 123-8).

* What’s lurking in that paddling pool? Physicians in Canada have found the first outbreak of a new type of Pseudomonas infection called ‘hot foot syndrome’. This discovery was made when 40 children, aged 2 to 15, developed intense pain in the soles of their feet within 40 hours of using the same wading pool. A hot, red swelling began after a few hours, along with pain so severe that the children were unable to stand up. Three children were given oral cephalexin (an antibiotic) while the others were treated with cold compresses, analgesics and foot elevation. In all cases, the condition resolved within 14 days, although it recurred in three children after they revisited the same pool (N Engl J Med, 2001; 345: 335-8).

Fluoride
Since the 1930s and 1940s, fluoride has been used to treat hyperthyroidism and
thyroid tumours (Z Physiol Chem, 1937; 245: 58-65). It was then recognised that problems occurred in the liver, where most of the T4 to T3 conversion takes place. Minder and Gordonoff reported ‘an antagonism between iodine and fluorine’ (Arch Intern Pharma Codyn, 1956; 107: 374-81).

Fluorine, by far the most reactive element of the halogen group of chemicals, was found to displace iodine and inhibit iodine transport (Nature, 1959; 183: 1517). Even now, at least one drug to control hyperthyroidism (such as fluorotyrosine) is fluorine-based (Martindale, 32nd edn, 1999), as are numerous steroids (fludrocortisone, fluticasone, fluocinolone, flurandrenalone), antidepressants (fluoxetine [Prozac]) and antipsychotics (flupenthixol, trifluoperazine).

Andreas Schuld, head of Parents of Fluoride-Poisoned Children, has amassed data from many studies which clearly demonstrate that the symptoms of fluoride poisoning are identical to those of hypothyroidism and thyroid disorders (www.bruha.com/fluoride/htm/f). His latest investigations have revealed documented evidence on how fluoride mimics the actions of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), especially when fluorine particles attach themselves to aluminium in water, thereby activating certain proteins which can inhibit T3 activity in cells.

Mercury
Several studies have reported high levels of mercury in the pituitary glands of dentists, on post-mortem examination, in comparison to other areas of the brain.

Accumulation of mercury in the pituitary is of particular importance as the overall control of this gland over the production of many hormones (including thyroid and adrenal hormones) influences virtually all body functions (Levenson J et al., Menace in the Mouth?, Brompton Health, 2000).

One cited study reported that tissues containing only a small fraction of the total mercury found in the human body can contain higher concentrations of this metal than the largest organs. Examination of the pituitary and thyroid glands of mercury miners revealed the highest concentrations of mercury – greater than the levels found in their kidneys, lungs and parts of the brain.

To determine the highest risks for Haemophilus influenzae b (or Hib), one of three causes of bacterial meningitis, which is epidemic in America, the Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, studied 92 licensed day care centres (creches, or nursery schools in Britain).

According to their results, recently published in the American Journal of Public Health, the disease was most likely to occur where personnel used towels or handkerchiefs to wipe children’s noses, had a “liberal faecal policy”, ie, admitted children who were not toilet trained or had diarrhoea, and were for profit centres admitting children mostly of the same age.

Haemophilus influenzae is one of several diseases commonly occurring in American day care facilities, which largely cater for pre school children, primarily in children under two.

Meanwhile, the 1 May issue of MIMSmagazine notes that plans are going ahead to introduce the haemophilus influenzae shot into the vaccination schedule this year, even though results of tests in Alaska have been disappointing.

These findings by a Birmingham, UK, research team put a question mark over the annual ritual of having a jab as protection from the latest “killer” virus.

This groundbreaking research, based on elderly populations in England and Wales over four winters, reveals the lack of proper post mortem analysis among the elderly.

Doctors are too ready to blame an elderly person’s death on the latest flu strain when it was as likely to have been caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

More significantly, it indicates that the elderly require specialist care and treatment rather than visiting their family doctor with what they think is flu.

Dr D M Fleming, head of the Birmingham Research Unit that carried out the study, points out that the findings also make impossible any useful analysis of the effectiveness of the flu vaccines.

The study explains that RSV is most likely to be spread in cold and damp conditions a typical British winter, in fact. Countries in continental Europe often experience far colder, but drier, winters than Britain, and yet report lower death rates during the season. Increasing air pollution can also exacerbate RSV.

The study team says that RSV peaks at the beginning of the year, while December tends to be the worst time for flu.

By studying all deaths in England and Wales among the over 65s, they discovered that the number of deaths caused by the influenza A and B strains varied during the four years, whereas the numbers of RSV victims each year remained constant, again making it possible to isolate the deaths due to flu.

She was finally diagnosed with the extremely rare childhood disintegrative disorder Heller’s syndrome.

An Australian National Health and Medical Council information sheet on Hib vaccines advises that Hib meningitis can cause brain damage with laterlearning difficulties and behavioural disorders (www.health.gov.au).

On hearing of US reports of an elevated risk of Hib disease in the week following Hib vaccinations, I sought as much information as possible. Through the US Freedom of Information Act (as WDDTY suggested), I was able to obtain adverse reports for 1988-90, when the vaccine given to my granddaughter was first used in the US.

The reports showed clustering of meningitis on day two following vaccination, with an unexpected

involvement of the MMR vaccine.

There are 140 serious outcome reports, with 24 cases of meningitis. Five meningitis cases occurred on day two following vaccination and one on day four; nine are classed as ‘no drug effect’ and nine had undefined timing. The ‘no drug effect’ cases must be vaccine failures, occurring at least a month, but up to two and a half years, after vaccination.

If the five day two meningitis cases represent ‘background’ disease, there should have been comparable reports for all seven days of the week following vaccination. It seems most unlikely that ‘background’ disease cases could be so concentrated on day two.

Seven of the 140 serious outcome children also received MMR vaccine, probably representing those who missed this shot at one year of age. Three of these seven children had day two meningitis. It is most unlikely that the involvement of MMR in day two meningitis is a chance occurrence.

If no one can say which brain damaging illness caused a particular child’s autistic regression, greatest suspicion must fall on the most common illness with features consistent with parents’ experiences. BG, Canberra

As Prozac is seen as a powerful agent that can seemingly alter personalities, the approach of its rivals is surprising. In so many words, they’re saying that their antidepressant is more powerful and faster-acting than Prozac. Prozac is for sissies, perhaps?

Take, for example, the claims for Efexor (which inexplicably develops a second ‘f’ for the US market). It is ‘nearly twice as effective as fluoxetine (Prozac) in eradicating the symptoms of depression’, an advertisement to doctors states, quoting a poster presented at a conference in Vienna. A poster? Stranger and stranger.

Posters aside, the effectiveness of Efexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride) for long-term use of more than six weeks has not been proved (Physicians’ Desk Reference, 1998).

But what is not in doubt is that, as a powerful antidepressant, it comes with a raft of side effects. The major worry is over patients who have been taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and then immediately start a course of Efexor. Serious adverse reactions in these groups have been reported, including tremor, nausea, vomiting, flushing, dizziness, seizures and death.

Even without MAOI usage, 19 per cent of Efexor patients had to stop treatment prematurely because of some adverse reaction. The most common problem was nausea, but others included insomnia, dizziness, nervousness, dry mouth, anxiety and sweating.

Like Prozac, abnormal personality changes have also been noted. In one trial, 11 per cent of patients developed anorexia, and significant weight loss was also reported in those who did not intend it. A five per cent loss in body weight was reported in six per cent of patients.