Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the Christian season that is customarily a time of reflection, repentance and self-denial. It symbolises the 40 days in which Jesus fasted in the wilderness and was tempted by the Devil. He withstood the three tests and banished the devil with the words, "Get thee behind me, Satan."

It was on Ash Wednesday years ago that the then Bishop of Sheffield, David Lunn, came to see me in my home.

I had been seeking his help in my endeavours to put an end to the appallingly cruel treatment being meted out to some patients at the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital in order to cover up sustained clinical negligence. See the account of my personal experience of this. He had not wanted to help, but had not wanted to admit that he did not want to help. He had made several excuses first. Then at last he had had me to see him at the Bishop's Palace. I was shown into the library there, and waited a little while there, on my own, until he came into the room. I found it a forbidding room, with its daunting collection of commentaries on St Paul. I'd have felt happier with books about Jesus.

He had already checked up on me with Professor Eric Wilkes, whom we both knew and respected: checked that I was a person who told the truth, and Prof had assured him I was. I had told Prof that I was seeking the Bishop's help. At that meeting in his library, I left some further information with him and he later wrote to me arranging the Ash Wednesday visit.

He arrived in his purple bishop's cassock and stayed a long time - I forget how long. He said he would need some of the lords in the House of Lords to help him to deal with the matter. I had asked him to ensure that patients with agonising toothache, needing dental help, would not be told at that dental hospital (or indeed any other) that they were not in pain and were 'just depressed', without properly examining the patients' teeth! and to give the dentists a statutory duty to examine the patients' teeth. Mr Reg Dinsdale, the negligent consultant dentist who did me the most harm, had told me he was not going to 'indulge' me by having necessary X-rays done! (I have written about him in my short story, Long in the Toothache.)

So I set about getting some lords to help the bishop. I was already in contact with the secretary of a society - I think it was called something like The Human Rights Society. I had already helped her to help a guy in the North-East who had been so atrociously treated in his dealings with the NHS and was so sick of being ignored or insulted (but never helped) by the useless NHS Complaints Procedures, and by his MP, that he had gone to London to the Houses of Parliament and had nailed his hand to a door there! to try to get someone to do something about all the NHS cruelty. - He still didn't get any help... - I had talked about him on local radio, and sent him a recording of the interview, and it had lifted his spirits to know that his shocking treatment was at least no longer completely ignored.

I asked that secretary if she could help me. She said the society was only small and not very active, but it had several lords among its membership. She asked these lords if they would help and they said they would, but that the Bishop would have to introduce the matter in the House of Lords and then they would support him in the matter. When the Bishop had left me that Ash Wednesday, he had said to me that in approaching anyone about the matter after that day, I could quote him at any time and in any context (I remember those were his exact words) that he had investigated the matter and knew that I was telling the truth and he would support me in the matter. I asked him to write me a short note to that effect and sign it but he said that that would not be necessary; I could trust him to keep his word.

Excitedly, I wrote to him to tell him that there were these lords happy to support him in the House of Lords. I never heard from him again!

I wrote to him again. He did not reply. I rang him. His newly-appointed secretary had clearly been told by him that I was a nutter, and she spoke to me as though I was half-witted. Neither she nor he answered my letters and he refused to speak to me on the phone. I can only surmise that he had supposed that I would be unable to get any lords to back him up in the House of Lords and so had felt safe in assuming that his promise to speak on the matter would never need to be kept. And he had most shamefully lied to me when he had told me that I could quote him at any time and in any context that he had investigated the matter and knew that I was telling the truth and he would support me in the matter.

GM Foodstuffs should be labelled

Dr Mercola writes that GM Foodstuffs should be labelled, and I agree with him. I'm sure you'll agree too. See his article.

Happy Birthday, Michael Grade, Lord Grade of Yarmouth

Happy Birthday! Michael Grade, Lord Grade of Yarmouth. I read in the Radio Times that it is your 68th birthday today. I also read there that you are two stone (28 pounds) overweight. So I have a birthday present for you: it is the suggestion to cut down on salt and salty food, because this would result in your losing some of that excess weight. - Honestly, it would! - Go on! - Try it! - It will benefit your health in countless other ways too, including reducing your risk of a stroke, which I understand your father suffered.

Do you suffer from Ménière's Disease or Vertigo?

Do you suffer from Ménière's Disease or Vertigo? - If you seriously cut down on salt and food containing added salt you will notice a big improvement. This mainly entails eating fresh food you cook yourself, instead of processed foods, ready meals and takeaways, because these are usually very high in salt. See Foods High and Low in Salt/Sodium. Other health benefits you will experience from eating less salt are that you will lose some excess weight, reduce high blood pressure, have more energy, and feel much better. You will also reduce your risk of stroke, diabetes, coronary heart disease, heart attack, most cancers, dementia and many other degenerative illnesses and conditions.

Antidepressants are more likely to harm you than to make you feel better

The people who benefit from antidepressants are not the patients who take them, but the people who gain financially from the profits of the drug companies who make and sell them. Antidepressants are more likely to harm you than to make you feel better. Antidepressants do not work for depression and seldom help with pain. They are sometimes helpful for insomnia, but most of them cause serious weight gain and many other adverse side-effects and also cause brain damage years later, so they are better avoided.

Dr Mercola has a good article today warning about the dangers of taking antidepressants and about other, non-drug ways to lift depression. I urge you to read it. He does not mention, however, the ways that I most favour, namely avoiding dieting, and cutting down on salt and salty food. Most of the people who email me having followed my advice about eating less salt and salty food, are eager to tell me they have lost weight easily and that they are feeling and looking much better. They also report that their mental acuity has increased markedly so that they can perform mental tasks much more quickly and their work performance is enhanced. There is a positive correlation between being overweight/obese and being depressed, so that is an additional factor to bear in mind: antidepressant drugs are highly likely to cause weight gain, and excess weight is linked to depression. - It's a no-brainer in my opinion!

Lose weight by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Melatonin: I take a 3mg capsule of melatonin near bedtime to help me to sleep

Melatonin: On most days I take a 3mg capsule of melatonin near bedtime. It is a natural human hormone that has many roles, but it is as an aid to sleep that I take it. There are many possible causes for a person not secreting enough melatonin. One of the causes is prescribed medication: e.g. beta-blockers such as propranolol can deplete our bodies of melatonin. So if your sleep has deteriorated and you are puzzled as to what has caused this, it may possibly be a side-effect of tablets you are taking or have taken.

But it may be that, like me, you are in a lot of pain and that pain is keeping you awake. - You may feel pretty desperate at times because of severe lack of sleep. You may be wondering whether sleeping pills would be helpful. - I hope you will decide against that course of action. - If you look on the internet you will find a wealth of research findings about the adverse effects of sleeping tablets, or hypnotics as they are also known. And these side-effects are even more harmful to older people. Sleeping tablets are harmful and dangerous and should be avoided, especially by older people.

Doctors often confuse pain, insomnia and depression, so they sometimes persuade patients, particularly female patients, to take antidepressants when they are in pain. Antidepressants do not work for depression and seldom help with pain. They are sometimes helpful for insomnia, but most of them cause serious weight gain and many other adverse side-effects and also cause brain damage years later, so they are better avoided.

The other medication you may be considering, or have very likely tried, is analgesia/painkillers. And you may, like me, have found that they do not help at all with the pain or with the sleep problem. Or you may, like me, be concerned about the many harmful side-effects from them. And you may, like me, prefer 'natural' help when possible, rather than pharmaceutical products.

Well the natural ways to reduce chronic pain are to avoid salt and salty food, and avoid dieting and calorie-counting. And obesity is linked to poor sleep and to greater sensitivity to pain, so it is helpful to lose excess weight. Eat good, nutritious food, preferably low carb, low sugar and high fat of the good sort, such as from grass-fed cows. See LCHF. Make sure you get enough calcium and vitamin D. - See this Fat Retention page, with further information about calcium and vitamin D.

And one of the ways to help with poor sleep is to take melatonin. I believe it is safer than hypnotics, antidepressants and painkillers. - I'm assuming you have already made sure the bed is as comfortable as possible and that the curtains keep out unnecessary light, etc.

Organ meat is very nutritious and also inexpensive

Organ meat is very nutritious and also inexpensive. My favourite is lamb's liver, which is very easy to cook. - Just pan-fry it lightly. - But my friend, Bill, recently told me about a good way of cooking lamb's heart. This is what he wrote:

"I have a really easy way of cooking.

I made a deep slit in one of the hearts and stuffed in 3 or 4 crushed garlic cloves, sprinkled with ground black pepper and wrapped in tin foil.

Then baked in the oven for one and a half hours at 170 centigrade.

The meat is so tender and full of flavour, and does not need chewing."

When I tried it, I baked it for an extra half-hour because of my constant toothache. It certainly was tender and full of flavour. You may like to try it.

Soil Association lists the latest arguments against GM technology

"As the GM industry continues to peddle the myth that GM crops are needed to ‘feed the world,’ scientific evidence is stacking up showing the importance of agroecological farming systems, such as organic, in tackling hunger in the poorest countries. The current model of GM production and sale is just not appropriate for poor farmers in countries where people continue to suffer from hunger - which are not in Europe or North America, but in continents like Africa and Asia. Research from the UN has shown that the adoption of organic and near-organic farming practices in Africa have doubled yields, improved access to food for both farmers and local communities, and raised incomes through the use of low-cost, locally available technologies and inputs."
Read article on the website of the Soil Association (UK)

Fraudulent drug research involving intravenous fluid management using colloids may have compromised surgery outcomes of millions of patients

The Telegraph reports that fraudulent drug research involving intravenous fluid management using colloids may have compromised surgery outcomes of millions of patients.

Many of my blogposts are about fraud involving drug research. Too many members of the medical profession have what is called 'a conflict of interest'. Put simply, this means that they are receiving payments/bribes/inducements of some kind from a pharmaceutical drug company in order to lie about the efficacy and/or safety of the company's drug/s in order to swell the profits of the company. When criminal court cases result from this fraud and from the massive harm and suffering caused to patients, the usual sanction is a huge fine on the company, but huge though the fines are, they pale into insignificance in comparision to the profits made by the fraudulent research claims, and are regarded as reasonable costs by the drug companies. This is why the fraud continues to flourish and why it is unwise to trust drug research findings.

It is vanishingly rare for any individuals involved in the criminality to suffer punishment personally. But in this case, the anaesthetist involved, Joachim Boldt, is at the centre of a criminal investigation. Let us hope that if found guilty he will receive a punishment of imprisonment appropriate to the suffering and worry his greed has caused to millions of patients, and that it will deter other members of the medical profession from being tempted into research fraud.

Neil Oliver - A History of Ancient Britain: Age of Bronze

This was the fourth and last part of this BBC2 series. (See BBC History). I have the presumption to wish that historian, Neil Oliver, would get his hair cut, but I certainly admire his enthusiasm for his subject.

Tonight we left behind the Stone Age to learn of the Beaker People. Their beakers were made of copper - copper found in threads within Irish stone and extracted using high heat. This metal was fine for making beakers, but not strong enough to use for weapons. Later, Cornish tin was mined, and when combined with copper, became bronze, a metal strong enough to be made into swords.

Dr Oliver traced for us the new culture these metals wrought in Britain - social mobility, international trade, early village life. Whereas in the Stone Age status might have been conferred on the priests because of their religious mysteries, say, the people of the Age of Bronze now had status by way of their fine possessions. The Iron Age still lay ahead.

The programme for me stirred old memories of a poem by Padraic Colum, an Irish poet I admired long ago. I knew the poem as "The Woodworker's Ballad", but maybe that title is incorrect, because I search in vain on the internet for the poem or any lines from it. What I remember is this, but I suspect it contains several errors, as well as being incomplete:

The Woodworker's Ballad

All that is moulded of iron

Has led to destruction and blood,

But the things that are honour'd of Zion

Are most of them made from wood.

King Arthur had a wood table

And Our Lord blessed wood, for you see,

He worked at a wooden table

At His wonderful carpentry.

He was born in a wooden stable

And He died on a wooden tree.

Oh all that is moulded of iron

Has led to destruction and blood,

But the things that are honour'd of Zion

Are most of them made from wood.

Note added 28th April 2011:
I've found the complete poem now. It's a lovely poem. You can find it on this page.

New Warning about children's unhealthily high salt intake

The Telegraph carries a new warning report about children's unhealthy eating, especially with regard to their high salt intake. "High levels of salt in fast food, ready-made pasta, cereals and other meal-time treats aimed at children mean many face a ticking health time bomb, say experts." High salt intake is more dangerous for children because of their smaller size and the comparative immaturity of their organs. Their salt intake should be much lower than that of adults, yet for many children their salt intake is higher than the recommended maximum daily salt intake for adults.

The report covers other undesirable aspects of children's diets too, including the high sugar intake and the low nutritional content of much of the food they eat. Children's high salt intake and generally poor nutrition can significantly contribute to chronic and degenerative diseases such as obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

My main concern about children's health concerns their high salt intake and its connection to child obesity. You can read my thoughts about it here. And here is my page about salt/sodium in foods.

Desert Island Discs - Dame Anne Owers: I loved this programme

Desert Island Discs - Dame Anne Owers: I loved this programme. I heard it last Sunday. It will be repeated on Radio 4 on Friday March 4th at 9am. or you can listen to it using iPlayer or on a podcast. I have never enjoyed an edition of Desert Island Discs more than this one.

Dame Anne is best known as the the former Chief Inspector of Prisons. Her voice is warm, clear and beautiful. Her eventful life has been rich with happiness and achievement despite the early loss of her much-loved and gifted father, and then losing her mother on the day she married.

I was bowled over by her choice of records because her taste in music is so close to my own. She grew up in a very musical household, with a deep love of choral music and other vocal music, and this was illustrated in her choices. I was particularly moved by her third disc: the unaccompanied voice of June Tabor singing The Band played Waltzing Matilda.