*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
*Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, June 25, 2012*
The Forces Against Health in Australia Nutritional medicine could save
hundreds of millions of lives, but vested interests actively pursue the
opposite.
*Commentary by Ian Brighthope, M.D.*
(OMNS June 25, 2012) Health practice in Australia is still focused on
treatment of disease as opposed to its prevention and the optimization of
health. Although the scientific literature has recently shown an increasing
awareness of the importance of lifestyle factors in preventing disease,
mainstream medical professionals continue to be trained to react to disease
and pursue drug treatment. This "drug and disease" paradigm is costly, not
only in monetary terms but also the human toll of pain and suffering and
its impact on productivity and quality of life, and widespread illness and
death caused by medical treatment.
Iain Chalmers, director of the UK Cochrane Centre, has said that "Critics
of complementary medicine often seem to operate a double standard, being
far more assiduous in their attempts to outlaw unevaluated complementary
medical practices than unevaluated orthodox practices . . . These double
standards might be acceptable if orthodox medicine was based solely on
practices which had been shown to do more good than harm and if the
mechanisms through which their beneficial elements acted were understood."
Unfortunately, neither of these conditions hold true. [1]
The Australian government has made investent in the prevention of disease a
priority in its $7.4 billion comprehensive reform package to the nation's
health system. Yet prevention has been a secondary consideration in most
medical schools and practices. A huge amount of disease and death could be
prevented by addressing the use of tobacco and alcohol [2]. There remains
an enormous void in the government's health policy because it does not
encourage and support the medical profession to practice nutritional
medicine.
Changing Attitudes
"Individuals are ceasing to be mindless consumers of drugs and services,
becoming more discriminating and aware in their choices. They are also
bringing their new options back home to their family physicians, and
contributing to an awareness among doctors of the existence and potential
of natural therapies." [3]
Research in the field of nutritional medicine is growing at a phenomenal
rate, and now that the human genome has been sequenced, the science
supporting nutrition in preventing disease is more impressive than ever.
Many general practitioners and academics are open to the use of diet and
nutritional supplements as viable alternatives to drugs. However, there are
still too few to make a significant impact on public health. There will
always be resistance, even hostility from the nutritional "flat-Earthers" -
those who believe that "if you eat a balanced diet then you cannot be
deficient in essential nutrients" (despite overwhelming evidence to the
contrary) [4] - and the academic medical power brokers. But I believe the
system will eventually change in line with the accumulating evidence.
Recently, leading economic forecasters Access Economics announced that
expanding the use of complementary/nutritional medicines could maintain
excellent patient outcomes while saving hundreds of millions of dollars a
year in healthcare costs. They studied the cost-effectiveness of common
nutritional treatments for common chronic and serious conditions. They
evaluated acupuncture for chronic lower back pain, St John's Wort for mild
to moderate depression, fish oils in the prevention of heart disease and
for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The director of Access
Economics, Lynne Pezzullo, said that analysing each treatment on a
case-by-case basis showed patients could save a considerable amount of
money by using nutritional medicines. In the case of St John's Wort, for
the 340,000 Australians who are being treated for mild to moderate
depression with drugs that don't work well, she estimated a saving of $50
million per annum. The potential savings from the use of vitamins C, D, and
E and fish oils in heart disease is in excess of $2 billion.
The executive director of the National Institute of Complementary Medicine
who initiated the study, Professor Alan Bensoussan, commented "I think
governments should ... look more closely at what implications this might
have in the context of national health reform." [5] I agree wholeheartedly,
and have been pushing for similar reforms for many years. I hope this will
mark the beginning of a new endeavor to change our overburdened health care
system. Politicians and regulators are very cautious about such change for
fear of reactions from the medical and pharmaceutical establishment, who
may perceive competition for the health dollar as a threat. But there is
enough work to do in the goal of optimal health to keep every doctor,
hospital, naturopath, and nutritionist busy for decades. That is, unless a
miracle occurs and megadose vitamin C and a few vitamins and minerals
become widely used. For these supplements can prevent widespread
deficiencies that are responsible for many age-related diseases.
The "Wellness Model" of health attempts to prevent disease and optimise
health by encouraging people with the proper nutrition and lifestyle tools.
This can achieve the maximum level of health, physical and mental, for each
individual. It creates an optimal environment for the expression of that
individual's genetic potential. The keys to achieving optimal health
include the judicious use of nutrition and nutritional supplements, regular
physical exercise, the avoidance of environmental pollutants, and the
practice of positive outlook through simple techniques such as meditation.
This concept of optimising health for everyone is foreign to most
traditional doctors and is glaringly absent from medical school curricula
and training.
Lobbying for Disease
In this debate there are insidious influences. A powerful lobby group
called the Friends of Science in Medicine (FOSM) is actively discouraging
the federal government from supporting universities with funding if they
conduct courses in what they personally regard as unscientific. Shamefully,
the FOSM don't have members trained in NM and the nutritional sciences.
FOSM is predictably against nutritional supplements, regarding them as
expensive and wasteful. Could the money spent on nutritional supplements be
better spent in more hospitals by treating the sick with drugs? In effect
FOSM insists that universities should only teach what it defines as
"correct" knowledge - emphasizing the treatment of disease, not the
promotion of health. FOSM and the medical establishment would do well to
become aware of the vast literature on nutritional medicine and the
clinical experience of scientifically trained nutrition-aware doctors and
nutritionists.
Nutritional Supplements in Medical and Pharmacy Practice
Most drug prescriptions are unnecessary, an estimated 80% in Australia. [6]
The list is long and includes antibiotics, statins, antidepressants, and
many more. Yet through the best education, lifestyle, fitness, dietary
change and the proper use of nutritional supplements and herbal medicines,
patient health outcomes can be optimised and hospital admissions and
adverse drug events significantly reduced. In 2009, government expenditure
on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS) amounted to $6.9 billion [7]
and it is estimated that in 2009-10 it grew a further 9.3%. [8] I believe
that at least $3 billion could be wiped off the total PBS expenditure and
that these savings could be used to promote better nutrition, physical
fitness and safe, effective natural therapies. For example, use of more
cost-effective niacin or St. John's Wort as antidepressants could free up
more money to psychiatrists for proper counseling and to orthomolecular
nutritionists for feeding the mind. Overall this would lead to greater
knowledge, more support for the most appropriate research, and an economic
benefit to the world's population.
*"There is an angry scornful tone used in leading textbooks of medicine
regarding the discussion of micronutrient supplementation; an arrogance and
ignorance concerning the evidence for the possible benefit of
supplementation."* [9]
Doctors and pharmacists play a major role in informing consumers about the
safety, efficacy and correct use of nutritional supplements. A recent
Australian study evaluated the use of both nutritional and prescription
medicines by pharmacy customers. 72% had used nutritional supplements
within the previous 12 months, 61% used prescription medicines daily, and
43% had used both [10]. The most popular nutritional supplements were:
multivitamins, fish oil supplements, vitamin C, glucosamine, vitamin B
complex, probiotics, Echinacea, coenzyme Q10, Ginkgo biloba and St John's
Wort. The authors of the study explained that customers or patients want
more information, ask more questions, and no longer blindly accept the
authority of health care providers. This new class of customer differs
drastically from the gullible consumer of nutrition supplements often
characterized by the mainstream media. According to this study, nutritional
supplements were selected by the majority of people themselves, although
pharmacists and pharmacy assistants were helpful in this choice. From only
a few bottles of vitamins in the 1980s to shelves of vitamins and essential
nutrients lining the pharmacy walls, there has been a massive change in the
retail pharmacy. The demands of an informed public plus the need for
profits drove the pharmacy industry into selling nutritional supplements.
The study also highlighted that some customers currently feel pharmacists
are ill-equipped to counsel them about nutritional supplements. Many don't
even refer to pharmacists as an information source. Pharmacists also felt
ill-informed about supplements, and experienced frustration when dealing
with inquiries about nutritional medicines and natural health products.
*"We must act on the facts and the most accurate interpretation of them,
using the best scientific information. That does not mean that we must sit
back until we have 100% evidence about everything. When the state of the
health of the people is at stake, we should be prepared to take action to
diminish these risks even when the scientific knowledge is not conclusive.*[11]
Unfit to Practice
There is not a single medical school in Australia teaching adequate
nutritional science to future doctors to ensure that they are fit to
practice in proper health care. This applies equally to general
practitioners and specialists. Most of any doctor's patients are going to
die from a nutritionally based disease, yet for years before they die they
have formidably obvious nutritional deficiencies that go undiagnosed.
Fortunately in Australia, we have highly qualified nutrition-aware health
scientists in the profession of Natural Therapists who can help to correct
these deficiencies.
Medicine stands on two feet - the science and the clinical art. Take away
either one and it is going nowhere. Science on its own doesn't work because
people aren't widgets; we all have different needs and different strengths,
but medical research finds it easiest to treat us all the same. Got
arthritis? Take this painkiller. But painkillers may destroy the joints,
and in the case of the most common, paracetamol, cause damage to multiple
internal organs - while simple things such as changing the diet, movement,
vitamins, glucosamine and turmeric, among many others, have been shown to
be very safe and effective.
Clinical skills also need to be advised by good science, the constant quest
for understanding. In reality nutritional biochemistry holds the answers to
most of our health problems, but movements such as FOSM actively seek to
censor our knowledge of this.
*
Alternate Health News Digest
*
From NaturalNews:
---
'Nourishing our children' documentary blows away illusions about processed
food vs. traditional diets
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036462_Nourishing_the_
Children_food_documentary.html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=sgo7vRtZI5J7Ciu0hzBpEQ>
---
The end of privacy: Government to deploy laser-based 'molecular
strip-search' devices across airports and roadside checkpoints
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036452_laser_scanner_
molecular.html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=M6ZB5WzIty6jScebQBlWbg>
---
Monsanto could pay $7.5 billion settlement to millions of Brazilian soy
farmers
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036451_Monsanto_Brazil_soy_
farmers.html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=f094gkHiHtz0PjO0DC37hg>
---
92 percent of Americans want the FDA to label GMO foods - Sign this
labeling petition if you're one of them
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036450_GMO_food_labels_
petition.html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=a4680NB7j3i9TFNar9DBAA>
---
Has big business overused "organic" to turn a profit?
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036447_organic_standards_big_
business_profits.html#
ixzz20cMTzeEV<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=_U1KDHbyPCCGClr_mSwyUg>
---
Discovery of magnetic sensors in fish and rats may explain why some people
can 'feel' wi-fi, smart meters, power lines and electropollution
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036440_magnetosensory_cells_
electro-smog_EMF.html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=LMbrh_zC.mTlD1MJKl.sKw>
---
Activist mom launches national movement boycotting GMOs
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036427_GMO_boycott_activists.
html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=AM3A3G4sGazHe4S1hLY8AA>
---
The 'Monsanto Rider': Are Biotech Companies About to Gain Immunity from
Federal Law?
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036425_Monsanto_biotech_
immunity.html#ixzz20cNSGTyb<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=8wIxhkL0NfrZfbB9WkP9pg>
---
Addictive painkiller OxyContin being tested on U.S. children
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036426_OxyContin_children_
clinical_trials.html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=llgSazpC2HgFYYyCx7MK8Q>
---
Anti-obesity vaccine shot offers false promise of staying slim even on a
junk food diet
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036423_obesity_vaccine_junk_
food.html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=tRf1IgeE.e3dL7uDFCDxWw>
---
Mystery meat in America? WTO strikes down country-of-origin labeling in
U.S. grocery stores
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036405_mystery_meat_country_
of_origin_labeling.html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=LtW4KPSLfnQ9IYG9EndEQg>
---
GlaxoSmithKline pleads guilty to criminal fraud charges, pays massive $3
billion in fines
http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036416_GlaxoSmithKline_fraud_
criminal_charges.html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=DgmPe0yv5_okM789CJ87Xg>
---
Big Pharma criminality no longer a conspiracy theory: Bribery, fraud, price
fixing now a matter of public record
http://www.naturalnews.com/
036417_Glaxo_Merck_fraud.html<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=OlClU8CRGIygSjotUN7wfg>
---
From Dr Mercola:
---
Monsanto Promises Pain to EU, Assault Underway
http://articles.mercola.com/ sites/articles/archive/2012/
07/10/drop-gmo-zero-tolerance- policy.aspx?e_cid=20120710_
DNL_artNew_2<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=ZYJMxOb0xRTn7rjQB9DlJw>
---
Merck Accused of Lying about Vaccine Effectiveness
http://articles.mercola.com/ sites/articles/archive/2012/
07/10/merck-lying-about- vaccine-effectiveness.aspx?e_
cid=20120710_DNL_artNew_1<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=MA4kZKNcGtWB4NZNc92qDg>
---
Surprising Cancer-Fighting Benefits of Pineapple Enzyme
http://articles.mercola.com/ sites/articles/archive/2012/
07/11/bromelain-enzyme-aid- cancer-treatment.aspx?e_cid=
20120711_DNL_artNew_1<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=yksHh8NacNjfzZw9XSV0JQ>
---
Even If Your Doctor Diagnosed You - Odds are, You Never Really Had This
Illness
http://articles.mercola.com/ sites/articles/archive/2012/
07/09/pandemic-bird-flu- evolution.aspx?e_cid=20120709_
DNL_artNew_1<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=VerN16mPQ4XBsecmXmRWWQ>
---
Pfizer 'Cherry-Picked' Celebrex Data, Memos Say
http://articles.mercola.com/ sites/articles/archive/2012/
07/09/lawsuit-against-pfizer- celebrex.aspx?e_cid=20120709_
DNL_artNew_2<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=cRM3ao.p.gc4MiphCL2GEw>
---
Gaea Powell on Safer Breast Cancer Screening
http://articles.mercola.com/ sites/articles/archive/2012/
07/08/gaea-powell-on- thermography.aspx?e_cid=
20120708_SNL_Art_1<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=W4G4V5BMqLBQXyfjdUGXcg>
---
'60 Minutes' Reports on the Dangers of Sugar
http://articles.mercola.com/ sites/articles/archive/2012/
06/30/excessive-fructose- causes-obesity-and-cancer.
aspx?e_cid=20120708_SNL_MV_1--
-<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=QR4rj2fsItkSspSvKASE7g>
From Alliance for Natural Health:
---
Urgent Action Alert on TWO GMO Amendments!
http://www.anh-usa.org/urgent- action-alert-on-two-gmo-
amendments/<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=ObC9pHeltqtEOURzV7T8ug>
---
Sugar Dumbs Us Down
http://www.anh-usa.org/sugar-
dumbs-us-down/<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=fBmWyHWhR4MEvXb5C3xXiQ>
---
Acid Blockers Also Affect Your Brain
http://www.anh-usa.org/acid- blockers-also-affect-your-
brain/<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=1CdFaMlZAnoLcAm_Gx48DQ>
---
And Yet Another Brain Threat: Statin Drugs
http://www.anh-usa.org/and- yet-another-brain-threat-
statin-drugs/<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=rlCKXY7bSgpzd228Srrsyw>
---
From Easy Health:
---
How A Spice Can Speed Weight Loss
http://www.easyhealthoptions. com/alternative-medicine/how-
a-spice-can-speed-weight-loss/<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=HqZI8I8P5FS1PEWArpNKRw>
---
Iodine, Breast Cancer And Heart Health Iodine, Breast Cancer And Heart
Health »
http://www.easyhealthoptions. com/alternative-medicine/
iodine-breast-cancer-and-
heart-health/<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=muq23NpQC6NtBEhvvxrx8A>
---
Magnificent Magnesium
http://www.easyhealthoptions. com/alternative-medicine/
magnificent-magnesium/<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=tH0Pa5y4px714uuYYrznrQ>
---
The Many Ugly Signs Of A Gluten Problem
http://www.easyhealthoptions. com/alternative-medicine/the-
many-ugly-signs-of-a-gluten-
problem/<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=7ZqfxeoqDBEY5yqfyO_09A>
---
Testing For Early Insulin Resistance
http://www.easyhealthoptions. com/alternative-medicine/
testing-for-early-insulin-
resistance/<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=ZjB_K8q3cLXsg0Qw6amNqA>
---
From Dr Bate:
---
How to stop PMS problems without drugs
http://drbate.com/content/pms.
shtml<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=kDzqKmQ0Xujk3ltTYkgBrQ>
---
That's it for another week. Hope it helps you or yours. Feel free to copy
any part or all and send it to anyone.
---
Phil Bate PhD - Orthomolecular Psychologist (30 plus years)
Inventor of NT Therapy - An inexpensive, effective approach &
"at home" therapy for ADD- autism, insomnia, depression etc
http://drbate.com<http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=POOFq&m=JdmetTwgz3dBIj&b=HzyDVMBtamZN4LYoQXcF8A>
- drbate@bellsouth.net
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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