Mailer 02

from the desk of Simon King

This month I wanted to tell you about the excellent work of two tireless health promoters.

Earlier in February I was lucky enough to attend a seminar by Dr Rosie Daniel

Dr Daniel was former Medical Director of Bristol Cancer Help Centre (1993 to 1999), and worked from 1999 to 2005 at the Harley Street Oncology Centre.

We had a great day and shared some great insight and information about helping people with cancer. Dr Daniel doesn't see cancer just as a disease, she sees cancer as a state of being, with many facets and angles.

Her great emphasis is on health creation as an antidote to sickness in every form. To help in this process, she has created some great products I wanted to tell you about.

The first is the "Picture of Health."

This is just a questionnaire, but I found it fascinating and insightful. It is a series of questions, divided into 12 life areas which anyone can use to quickly ascertain which areas of their health might need attention.

Rather than the normal health questions about heart and lungs and aches and pains, this one also delves into your relationships, your environment, your sense of community and life purpose. Once you have answered the questions, you fill in a graph at the back and you can quickly see what areas need attention. If you want to give it a go, the pack costs ?9.95 and is available from Cytoplan. Click here or on the image to order.

She has also produced the Cancer Lifeline Kit. At ?150.00 it's not for everyone. It is designed for anyone who has just been given a diagnosis of cancer. It's a practical survival guide that will help people gain control during what is a difficult time. Dr Daniel's goal is to get these kits to everyone who needs them. If you know anyone who needs a kit, they are available from the www.healthcreation.co.uk website.

Dr Daniel has also created a range of products to support those with cancer, whether they take the orthodox or alternative routes. I have been very impressed with her Lifeline formula, which is a high-quality multivitamin and mineral. I have yet to find a patient these didn't help.

The tablets are smaller than usual so you have to take more of them. Her recommended dose is 10 per day, but most people do just fine on 5 per day (3 morning and 2 at lunch). At this dose the cost is £15.00 per month or 50p per day. This is great value for such high quality ingredients in a naturally usable form. During March and April, a bottle of these tablets is 30% off making them £21.00 instead of £29.95. You can order from Cytoplan or get them from the clinic.

I also attended an evening seminar with Philip Day. Philip Day is a journalist who has been researching and writing about health issues for many years.

He's great. He gets to say things that health professionals can never say.

Regulatory bodies like the GMC (General Medical Council) and our own GCC(General Chiropractic Council) are set up to "protect the public." You might think that this protects the public from bad practice, but it mainly stops us from saying what we really think because if 5 of our peers decide that what we said was not in the public interest (which means "might offend someone") then we can be struck off.

Anyway, his information is extremely well researched and referenced and he takes a "big picture" point of view.

If you want to attend one of his talks (he is in Milton Keynes on the 10th April) you can get tickets here.

Your Genetic Code Is Not Carved in Stone

In November, the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute released the results of their groundbreaking study. They found that a mother's diet during pregnancy not only affects her child, but also her child's offspring.

This means that the lifestyle choices a woman makes can affect several generations of children - a revolutionary idea that flies in the face of conventional wisdom.

ANTIBIOTICS: Doctors continue to prescribe them, even when they shouldn't

Just as dogs bury bones, and footballers fall over in the penalty area, and buses don't turn up when you're in a hurry, so doctors prescribe antibiotics.

It's become part of their social patter, as witnessed in conversation openers such as: "Pleased to meet you, do have an antibiotic", or "Can I mix you a cocktail, or would you prefer an antibiotic?"

A new study reminds us of this strange reflex. It's found that 90 per cent of all flu patients are given an antibiotic.

We all know that antibiotics fight bacterial infections, while it's usually a virus that sets off influenza. Even doctors know this, but they just can't help themselves.

In the study, which involved 166 flu patients, doctors knew there were no bacterial complications - and yet they still prescribed antibiotics in almost every case.

Perhaps they were just trying to be friendly.

(Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, web release, 22 January 2007).

Great article on Mercury from Healthy Options Magazine.

Just how safe are permanent hair dyes?

According to the latest reports, not very, even though the main allergen - PPD (para-phenylenediamine) - has been severely restricted in most popular brands.

In Europe, PPD levels are allowed to form 6 per cent of total content, except in Germany, France and Sweden where it has been banned completely.

Despite its restricted use, dermatologists continue to report increasing numbers of cases of contact dermatitis. In one recent survey in London, contact dermatitis cases had doubled in the past six years, and researchers are convinced that permanent hair dyes are to blame. The same clinic has confirmed the trend over an even longer period. Between 1965 and 1975 it would see up to 11 patients a year who had non-occupational PPD allergy (that is, they weren't hairdressers). But in recent years that figure has increased to 40 cases each year.

There's been a similar trend reported in Belgian and Portugal, as well as in Denmark, and Germany, despite the PPD ban.

The problem is far worse in the Far East, where hair dyeing is extremely popular, and with brands that don't have a PPD restriction. One study in Thailand has reckoned that more than 1 million adults may be sensitive to PPD.

(Source: British Medical Journal, 2007; 334: 220).

Do you know any health practitioners who might be interested in learning about proprioceptive medicine?

The course is mainly aimed at dentists, doctors, chiropractors, osteopaths and body workers but any health practitioner who wants to supplement their diagnostic approach would benefit.

Here's what one chiropractor had to say:

"I believe if all health care professionals were using proprioceptive medicine so many conditions, diseases etc could be avoided. Much of what you have taught me conflicts with what I have learned but it makes so much sense to me. I am really trying/enjoying integrating AK into my practice." KF - London

Simon King offers seminars in proprioceptive medicine and there are a few places left on his courses in April and May.

If you know anyone who might be interested in learning this approach, they can get more information and an enrollment form at www.proprioception.co.uk.

Good luck to Cristina who has been training for a marathon recently. She will be joining hundreds of others in this weeks' Berkhamsted half marathon.

Good luck to everyone taking part.

Congratulations also to our acupuncturist Rebecca Avern who gave birth recently to her baby daughter Alathea

Real Excerpts from Medical Records That are Sure to Make You Laugh (from www.mercola.com)

The following quotes were taken from actual medical records, as dictated by physicians

"Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities."

She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.
The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.
Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.
Skin: Somewhat pale but present.
The patient was to have a bowel resection. However, he took a job as a stock broker instead.
The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.
Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.
Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.
I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.
She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life until she got a divorce.
Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.
Occasional, constant, infrequent headaches.
Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.
Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Smith, who felt we should sit on the abdomen and I agree.
By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped, and he was feeling better.
Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it had completely disappeared.
The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1983.
The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.

"Discharge status: Alive but without permission.."

Discharge status: Alive but without permission.
Healthy-appearing decrepit 69-year-old male, mentally alert but forgetful.
The patient refused an autopsy.
The patient has no past history of suicides.
The patient expired on the floor uneventfully.
Patient has left his white blood cells at another hospital.
The patient's past medical history has been remarkably insignificant, with only a 40-pound weight gain in the past three days.
She slipped on the ice and apparently her legs went in separate directions in early December.
Between you and me, we ought to be able to get this lady pregnant.
The patient was in his usual state of good health until his airplane ran out of gas and crashed.
She is numb from her toes down.
The skin was moist and dry.
Patient was alert and unresponsive.
When she fainted, her eyes rolled around the room

Now that Spring is here, it's a great time to put a spring in your step. Skipping is one of the best exercises you can do. All that calf muscle activity stimulates your adrenal glands and kidneys and makes you feel much better.

Keep safe and well.

Til next time

Simon King and the team at

Naturality Wellness Centre