Newsletter v5n7

"The specific disease doctrine is the grand refuge of weak, uncultured, unstable minds such as now rule in the medical profession." (Florence Nightingale, 1820-1910)

The DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWSLETTER (Vol. 5, No. 7 for April 5, 2005) "Free of charge, free of advertising, and free of the A.M.A."

Written and copyright 2005 by Andrew W. Saul of http://www.doctoryourself.com , which welcomes over 1.5 million visitors annually. Commercial use of the website or the contents of this Newsletter is strictly prohibited.

NIGHTINGALE WAS A NATUROPATH It's true. Florence Nightingale, the mother of modern nursing, was a health nut. So was American Red Cross foundress Clara Barton. (http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v2n23.txt)

All the very best nurses (and doctors), past and present, are health nuts.

As I always say:

If you're not a health nut, then what kind of a nut are you, anyway?

And what exactly is a health nut? Someone who eats right, lives right, and feels right. A health nut is upbeat; eating right will do that for you. A health nut is active and productive. Interviewing very elderly persons reveals that they have one thing in common: they all have something that they absolutely, positively MUST do tomorrow. I believe that health is also about fearlessly doing the right thing. Reforming medical care, for example.

Hygienic nurses Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton raised a real ruckus in the medical profession. It was, after all, bad enough that they were women! Their century was an era virtually devoid of female physicians. If you could ask your ancestors if they had a woman for a family doctor, you'd get precious few "yes" answers.

Furthermore, the woman doctors that did practice were usually graduates of homeopathic and naturopathic schools.

Today, we tend to be quite unaware of this.

That may be because we were never told. Pharmaphilic physicians like to parade Elizabeth Blackwell's 1849 graduation from Geneva Medical College as heralding the first female doctor of "modern medicine." The wonderful educational and charitable work of Dr. Blackwell will stand for all time. But politically-correct (pharmaceutically correct?) history has slipped quietly, and I think deliberately, by the real story: 19th century women of medicine had their roots and their practices in herbal, hygienic, and nutritional therapy.

A recent paper (McCabe P. Naturopathy, Nightingale, and nature cure: a convergence of interests. Complement Ther Nurs Midwifery. 2000 Feb;6(1):4-8.) has helped to fill in the facts. Says the author: "An examination of her writings supports the hypothesis that nature cure was a significant influence on Nightingale's understanding of health and healing."

That is likely an understatement. Check out the quote at the top of this Newsletter. Wow!

Here's another Nightingale favorite: "The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm." In her 90-year life (1820- 1910), she and Clara Barton (1821-1912) would say it often.

We need these ladies again, now.

Hospital stays are as dangerous as ever, killing some 300 people every day. That's a jumbo-jet full, dead, every day. That's a three 9/11's every single MONTH. http://www.doctoryourself.com/deathmed.html

Clearly, we need to apply natural, nutritional commonsense and gumption today. (http://www.doctoryourself.com/amhealth.html and http://www.doctoryourself.com/hospitals.html)

That means supplemental vitamins, organically-grown whole foods, and fresh vegetable juices for every hospital patient. Don't tell me this is "too expensive." What's one single day in the hospital cost? Hundreds (even thousands) of dollars? And for this, they can't tack on an extra twenty bucks for organic food, fresh vegetable juice, and some supplements? Doing so would automatically minimize the need and consumption of medicines, and consequently reduce unnecessary deaths.

Of course, it would also pretty much empty out the hospitals. Well, there's your explanation for why it's NOT being done.

Our hospitals are sick, still nearly as deadly as the unsanitary hospitals Florence Nightingale knew. Take action now. Be a health nut. Be an activist. Walk the walk, and talk the talk. Speak up, speak out, and speak often.

Writing to me is good, but is really preaching to the choir. Writing to your local hospital chief administrator is better; writing to the newspaper is best. (http://www.doctoryourself.com/write_now.html)

DOCTOR YOURSELF.COM IS EXPANDING Everyone has been sick, is fighting sickness now, or has concerns about becoming sick. I believe that following orthomolecular (nutritional) medicine guidelines is what we most need to do, and all can do, today, to live longer, healthier and happier lives. There are about 450 articles posted on the DoctorYourself web site and they have helped millions of people improve their health. We now want to add a large number of additional articles, and seek volunteers to help prepare these articles for the DoctorYourself web site.

Will you volunteer your time and skills? You can do it at your convenience from your home. If you have a PC and some PC skills, want to help improve others' health, and are willing to help with this project, please write me at doctoryourself.com/contact.html (In the Subject line of the email write "Volunteer" so I see it for sure.) In the body of the email, please include some information about your PC skill level, your typing ability, the name of the word processor you use, whether you have a scanner and whatever other information you think appropriate to state in brief. Volunteers will then be contacted with more information about this project.

WHAT'S NEW? The LINUS PAULING NUTRITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY (http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_pauling_ortho.html) is now updated with many hyperlinks to Dr. Pauling's papers available online. Someone tell you that Pauling was all wet? Read and see for yourself.

CHERASKIN ARCHIVE UPDATE A newly revised Dr. Emanuel Cheraskin bibliography is now posted at http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_cheraskin.html . It contains easy-to- use clickable links to every available online version of Dr. Cheraskin's published papers.

My thanks to Robert Sarver for his considerable assistance with both of these projects.

MORE FREE ONLINE PAPERS! The words "OPEN ACCESS" are music to my ears. To read full text scientific papers for free, with just a click of your mouse, may I introduce you to:

Journal of Experimental Medicine http://www.jem.org/

Journal of Biological Chemistry http://www.jbc.org/

and also to: http://highwire.stanford.edu/

FIRST PRINTING SOLD OUT My book, DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works, has completely sold out its initial printing. Writes my publisher: "Doctor Yourself out of stock. New printing in progress."

Those words are music to an author's ears. Thank you to all my readers who have made this moment possible.

(By the way, I do still have copies on hand from the historic First Printing. To order: http://www.doctoryourself.com/order.html

MAYBE 50 REALLY IS MIDDLE AGE The Associated Press reports that "The number of Japanese who have lived 100 years or more surged this year to a record 23,038. . . Japan ranks among nations with the world's longest life spans. Experts say a traditional fish-based, lowfat diet may be Japan's secret to long life. . . Okinawa, the southernmost chain of islands, has the highest concentration of people 100 years or older. There are now 635 centenarians there, or 47 for every 100,000 people. . . The equivalent figure for the U.S. is about 10 in 100,000." (More at http://web-japan.org/trends/lifestyle/lif031121.html and http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/31/world/main581080.shtml)

VITAMIN C IS GREAT, SO DON'T TAKE IT! "More reasons to get some Cs: Vitamin can help the body reduce histamines, boost energy and mop up toxins" (Excerpted from the article by Janet Helm, The Chicago Tribune (chicagotribune.com) March 9, 2005)

"New studies suggest that the nutrient may: Help ease allergy and asthma symptoms; Charge up your workouts; Neutralize certain toxins in the body to help prevent cancer and heart disease. Despite the growing understanding of the virtues of vitamin C, a surprising number of Americans may not be getting enough.

"Carol Johnston, professor of nutrition at Arizona State University in Mesa, has conducted three studies that show vitamin C can help lower levels of histamines in our blood, good news for folks suffering from allergies and asthma. . .

"Johnston also has conducted research that points to vitamin C as a potential energy booster. . . Her research has linked vitamin C depletion to low levels of muscle carnitine, a substance that helps your body burn fat for energy. . . Women she studied who were low in vitamin C did much better on treadmill tests after they were given extra vitamin C. 'They felt better and were more energetic,' she said.

"Scientists at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University found that vitamin C also protects against toxic compounds that can form when fat is metabolized, preventing the genetic damage or inflammation that these "oxidized lipids" can cause.

"'This is a previously unrecognized function for vitamin C in the human body,' said co-author Fred Stevens, an assistant professor at the Linus Pauling Institute. 'It appears to be a major pathway that the body uses to get rid of the toxic byproducts of fat metabolism. . . '

"Despite the newly revealed vitamin C benefits, it's not a green light to load up on vitamin C supplements."

DY Comment: Oh?

EISENMENGER SYNDROME "A relative of mine has Eisenmenger syndrome, which includes thickening of the small arteries in the lungs, caused by a hole in her heart that was not repaired while she was young. She is now in her fifties, but as a youngster was told she would be dead by the age of twenty. Recently, she read Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C and began taking 24 grams of vitamin C a day. The change has been quite remarkable. Previously, her skin and lips were blue from lack of oxygen and she had difficulty walking short distances. She was so breathless that it was hard for her to hold a conversation. Now she looks pink and healthy, her voice is clear and she can walk for a mile or two without getting tired. A friend who saw her after she started taking the vitamin C asked 'What have you been doing? You look ten years younger!'

"Interestingly, another person noticed her popping the large 1,500 milligram tablets and asked how many she was taking. The answer, '16 tablets a day,' produced the response 'Are you sure that's a good idea? You could make yourself sick.'"

Best regards, Steve Hickey, PhD (Editor's note: Dr. Hickey's excellent book is reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v5n2.txt

SO WHO'S COUNTING? DoctorYourself.com is now reportedly the 54,760th most visited website on earth, according to Ranking.com. Alexa.com says we're 92,721th. (March 9, 2005) According to Google, there are over 8,000,000,000 webpages. Doctoryourself.com, with 460 of those pages, is getting 3,000 to 4,000 individual website visitors every day.

ANNOUNCING: OTTAWA ORTHOMOLECULAR NUTRITION CONFERENCE I will be attending (and speaking) at the Nutritional Medicine Today conference in Canada's national capitol, May 13-15, 2005. Dr. Abram Hoffer, Dr Carolyn Dean (author of "Death by Medicine" http://www.doctoryourself.com/deathmed.html) and many other nutritional physicians will be there; I hope you can come, too. I have found this annual conference to be very valuable and exceptionally interesting.

To download the conference program, please go to http://www.orthomed.org/news/NMH%20program.pdf

For more information, please look at http://www.orthomed.org/news/news.htm, or you can email centre@orthomed.org

GARLIC FOR IMMUNITY AND HEALTH by Robert Sarver Knoxville, TN

Eating garlic helps protect from diseases by boosting the immune system and by directly destroying harmful viruses, bacteria and fungal infections. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, and the ancient Egyptian physicians prescribed garlic for illness. Garlic was ground into a paste that was applied to battlefield wounds during World War I, before the discovery of modern antibiotics. Modern medical researchers have begun to understand the function of garlic compounds in health.

In the US, commercial livestock (cattle, hogs, chickens) operators routinely add modern antibiotics to animal feed in order to prevent diseases, improve health and promote rapid growth of their livestock. This overuse of antibiotics contributes to the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In Europe the routine feeding of antibiotics is prohibited by law. Instead, livestock operators add garlic preparations to animal feed. (1) Garlic contains over a dozen sulfur compounds that are antibiotic, and disease- causing microbes cannot develop immunity to this combination of compounds.

I take garlic because garlic is antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal. It protects against cardiovascular disease (2), helps prevent cancer (3) and is an antioxidant. While the foundation of my personal immunity program is vitamin C and the supplements listed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/news/v3n7.txt , I use garlic to provide an extra boost. This program produces an inhospitable environment for disease-causing microorganisms.

Parasites such as fleas, mosquitoes and ticks dislike the odor that consumption of garlic produces in the skin. Eating garlic discourages these insects from biting and reduced insect bites mean less transmission of the diseases that these parasites can carry. Your dog and cat will thank you. (4)

I prefer aged garlic extract and fresh garlic bulbs to soft gels. If using soft gels, buy standardized products that have a content of at least 5000 units of allicin (a major garlic antibiotic compound) per soft gel. During the six months of cold and flu season I take 600 mg of aged garlic extract each morning and each evening. Year-round after one meal each day, I peel two to four medium cloves of garlic, crush them with the flat side of a knife blade, take a sip of liquid, hold the liquid in my mouth while I pop in the garlic, and then swallow. I chase the garlic with more liquid.

During periods of infectious illnesses, some people increase their fresh garlic consumption to 10 or 12 cloves per day. As eating large quantities of garlic leads to offensive breath and skin odor, most people do not routinely consume more than four medium sized cloves a day. A little experimenting will determine the quantity you can eat without producing a noticeable odor.

MORE INFORMATION is available by searching for "garlic" at www.lef.org (over 100 entries), http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/, and www.mercola.com , which has over 300 entries, including these:

1) http://www.mercola.com/2001/mar/17/garlic_infections.htm "Allicin slowly (breaks down) into other molecules which themselves react with each other to form molecules which may be very active against protozoa like giardia and trichomonous."

2) http://www.mercola.com/2004/feb/28/garlic_health.htm Garlic to avoid insect bites, for preventing cancer and heart disease, and effective against fungal and viral infections.

3) http://www.mercola.com/2000/oct/29/garlic_cancer.htm Garlic prevention of colon and stomach cancer.

4) http://www.mercola.com/2000/aug/27/garlic_tick_repellent.htm Many pet supply stores sell garlic capsules for dogs to reduce mosquito, flea and tick problems during the summer. A capsule swallowed by a dog makes the dog's skin less attractive to insects.

(Editor's note: I, too, am a garlic fan. I grow it in my gardens, and then peel, cut and soak it in a closed container of cider vinegar for a few months. The resulting concentrated "garlic vinegar" is good for cooking, salads, and, to quote my great-uncle, "good for what ails you." And now you know why!)

GERSON CANCER THERAPY ON MEDLINE The Dr. Max Gerson papers, below, are now indexed on the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE. Some very good news, I think, especially the abstract. I think the Doctor would be pleased. (More about the Gerson therapy will be found with an easy website search at http://www.doctoryourself.com)

Gerson M. The cure of advanced cancer by diet therapy: a summary of 30 years of clinical experimentation. Physiol Chem Phys. 1978;10(5):449-64. (PMID: 751079)

Abstract: Thirty years of clinical experimentation has led to a successful therapy for advanced cancer. This therapy is based on the concepts (1) that cancer patients have low immuno-reactivity and generalized tissue damage, especially of the liver, and (2) that when the cancer is destroyed, toxic degradation products appear in the bloodstream which lead to coma and death from liver failure. The therapy consists of high potassium, low sodium diet, with no fats or oils, and minimal animal proteins. Juices of raw fruits and vegetables and of raw liver provide active oxidizing enzymes which facilitate rehabilitation of the liver. Iodine and niacin supplementation is used. Caffeine enemas cause dilation of bile ducts, which facilitates excretion of toxic cancer breakdown products by the liver and dialysis of toxic products from blood across the colonic wall. The therapy must be used as an integrated whole. Parts of the therapy used in isolation will not be successful. This therapy has cured many cases of advanced cancer.

Also indexed on Medline: Gerson M. [Cancer a problem of metabolism.] Med Klin (Munich). 1954 Jun 25;49(26):1028-32. German.

Gerson M. [No cancer in normal metabolism; results of special therapy.] Med Klin (Munich). 1954 Jan 29;49(5):175-9. Undetermined Language.

Gerson M. Effects of a combined dietary regime on patients with malignant tumors. Exp Med Surg. 1949 Nov;7(4):299-317, illust.

FEATURE ARTICLE: THE DOCTOR YOURSELF INTERVIEW with Harold D. Foster, PhD

Introduction by Abram Hoffer, M.D, Ph.D.: "What can one say about a scientist as accomplished, as brilliant, as knowledgeable as Harry Foster? I am delighted I have known him for so may years as a friend and colleague. His scientific writing is superb. He has a remarkable ability to examine all the data and to draw from that data conclusions that are going to be of the greatest value to mankind. I know of no one who has a better grasp of the relation between the soil that nourishes us and the diseases we get when that soil is not nourishing enough, and/or contains toxic elements. His three "What Really Causes" books (on Schizophrenia, AIDS and Alzheimer's Disease) are superb and ought to be required text books for medical students due to their insights and for the therapeutic potential that arises from them.

"I am especially excited bout his AIDS book which proves that while HIV plays an important role in the causation of AIDS, it is only one factor, and perhaps least important, since it only attacks in the absence of the essential components of glutathione peroxidase, especially selenium, the key variable. Much as the addition of niacinamide in 1942 to white flour by the US government eradicated pellagra from the South East United States, so will the addition of selenium to our staple foods lead to the eradication of AIDS. The virus may still spread and attack, but in the presence of ample amounts of selenium and three amino acids in the body it will do little harm. His work must be taken very seriously and followed up."

(Editor's note: I'd like to add my comment on to Dr. Hoffer's. Years from now, when your great-grandson perches on your knee, when the final history of AIDS has been written, I think it will show that the turning point in AIDS research was nutrition; that the pioneering figure was Harold Foster; and that the key was his book, What Really Causes AIDS.)

Now on to the interview.

DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWS: Dr. Foster, you appear to be an increasingly controversial figure. How do you get along with the faculty at your University?

DR. FOSTER: Every person who can think, write or lecture logically is going to be controversial, since so much that society is doing is illogical. The faculty is like society. It is made up of individuals with different viewpoints and biases. Some faculty see me as very intelligent while others view me as a trouble-making idiot. In between are those who cannot make up their minds. I am trying to tell the truth, and help solve society's problems; not curry favour, nor run for public office.

DY NEWS: Questioning the fundamental cause and medical treatment of AIDS is often regarded as the kiss of death for many a scientist. What keeps you going?

FOSTER: I stand midway between the conventional viewpoint held by those who signed the Durban Declaration (that HIV alone causes AIDS) and the unconventional viewpoint(s) (that HIV does not exist, or does not cause AIDS). That is, I believe that HIV causes AIDS by creating four major nutritional deficiencies. This means that I get shot at from both sides. I do not know of any rational debates about the possible causes of AIDS. This is exceptionally unfortunate because unless things change, this is the way the world ends: no bang, just a whimper. I expect one billion cases of HIV/AIDS by 2015. Conventional science and medicine is clearly failing in its war against the viruses that encode for glutathione peroxidase. More than one-third of the planet's population has been infected by one or more of them. My own approach to the debate now is to provide the key nutrients to dying AIDS patients in Africa and demonstrate that these reverse their symptoms. At the very least, I can save hundreds of lives with the help of a few dedicated supporters.

DY NEWS: What kind of support do you need and seek, specifically?

FOSTER: I need the support of people who act. Discussion is not enough. I would, for example, like to see church groups paying for and using the key nutrients in their African mission parishes to reverse the symptoms of AIDS. I would like to see one rich benefactor with the foresight to promote alternative treatments (including mine) for HIV/AIDS. It is even more obvious now than it was when I wrote "What really causes AIDS" that there will be no effective vaccine, and that drug resistance will soon make anti- retrovirals useless. I would also like to find a documentary film-maker willing to record the recovery of a group of AIDS patients receiving the appropriate nutrients. The documentary could be shown internationally. Obviously, somebody will have to fund this.

DY NEWS: Any helpers so far from inside the medical/research professions?

FOSTER: Some. Four are establishment doctors from Canada, five are African physicians, several are university students, one is a small Canadian charity, a few are recovered AIDS patients and some are interested members of the public or University faculty.

DY NEWS: How did you come to write your book on AIDS, and now one about Alzheimer's?

FOSTER: I had authored or edited numerous books and a hundred or more scientific papers on disasters and health, and realized that they were rarely read by the people who needed the information the most. So I decided to write a series of books, each one focusing on one specific disease that I felt I knew how to prevent and/or treat. I started with AIDS because I considered it the world's worst problem. I still do. I put "What really causes AIDS" online so that anybody with access to the Internet could freely read my ideas. Books on schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease have followed. So long as I am able, I intend to write one "What Really Causes" book each year. Multiple sclerosis will be the focus of the next one.

DY NEWS: Tell us what in particular motivated you to decide to make them free downloads, or even free in print, by mail, at your expense?

FOSTER: I pay for the typing, typesetting and publication costs for each book and also mailing costs to those who I really feel should read a particular book. This is not a good way to make money. I am a poor businessman. I would sooner save a life.

DY NEWS: As you, a distinguished professor of geography, are not a physician, what was it that brought you to epidemiological research in the first place?

FOSTER: I was established as a disaster planner whose book, "Disaster Planning: the Preservation of Life and Property" was used as a textbook in numerous universities. Someone very near to me then developed cancer and I decided to find out what caused it and how it could be prevented. My approach is called medical geography.

DY NEWS: Are there other medical geographers, or are you pretty much the lone the trailblazer?

FOSTER: There are many other medical geographers, especially in China. I am, perhaps, the most outspoken. Very few write as holistically as I do.

DY NEWS: Have you published what you found out about cancer?

FOSTER: Yes, I have published several papers on cancer (listed at www.hdfoster.com). I also wrote the book "Reducing cancer mortality: A geographical perspective" published in 1986 by the Western Geographical Series.

DY NEWS: How did you happen to meet Dr. Abram Hoffer?

FOSTER: Abram treats his patients a few miles away from where I teach at the University of Victoria, BC. I started going to his local lectures and he to mine. We found that we had a great deal in common and our friendship grew from there.

DY NEWS: How did www.hdfoster.com come to be?

FOSTER: My youngest stepson Dan is a great videogame fan. Some new game was coming out and I bribed him into creating a website for me in exchange for the game. The site cost me about $75. Yes, I know, slave labour! He is now at art school in Vancouver. When he comes home in the holidays he updates the site for the price of a trip to the movies.

DY NEWS: When did your website go up?

FOSTER: I guess it's been on line for about five years. Several thousand people have downloaded one or more of the books.

DY NEWS: Could you share some feedback from your readers and website visitors?

FOSTER: Here is some e-mail from a doctor using my nutritional treatment for AIDS. He works in an African hospice were patients go to die. "I have been having some remarkable results from the selenium plus amino acids combination. One patient has taken it for three months now and her CD4 count has jumped from 53 to 213 end of November. Clinically, she has shown tremendous improvement having been bedridden with PCP, hair changes and neuropathies but is now up and about. She has not been on any other medication except some antibiotics. Even most of her other blood parameters have moved."

DY NEWS: What is PCP that the African physician refers to?

FOSTER: In Africa, PCP usually means pneumocystic pneumonia. This often occurs in AIDS patients and can kill them.

DY NEWS: How about other feedback?

FOSTER: There have been many such stories from recovering HIV/AIDS patients who have downloaded "What really causes AIDS" at www.hdfoster.com. One Dutch reader, who was particularly interested in schizophrenia, paid for the translation and publication of my book "What really causes schizophrenia" in Holland.

DY NEWS: What's new at Foster Labs?

FOSTER: A charity has paid for the manufacture of enough nutrients to conduct a 200 HIV/AIDS patient clinical trial in Africa. We are also working with a company that is producing a vegetarian nutritional product to treat HIV/AIDS in India and sub-Saharan Africa.

DY NEWS: As I have been to West Africa myself, may I ask exactly where the clinical trial is being conducted?

FOSTER: There are powerful organizations that do not want to see a cheap, nutritional treatment for AIDS or any other disease for that matter. For that reason, I think it better to be cautious and decline an answer at this time.

DY NEWS: Has a foundation, corporation or non-profit organization been set up to receive donations, or is donation to your work informal (and not tax-deductible)?

FOSTER: I am one man who already works full time teaching hundreds of students each term. As yet there is no Foundation to back my work. It would be wonderful if one of the thousands of foundations already out there would consider doing so.

DY NEWS: As the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine's newly appointed Associate Editor, would you like to comment on the Journal's not being indexed by the National Library of Medicine's Medline?

FOSTER: It is a big loss to Medline and damages its credibility. Some brilliant work has been published over the years in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. (http://www.orthomed.org/jom/jomlist.htm)

DY NEWS: As the people closest to us are sometimes the most resistant to change, how "hip" to natural nutrition is your family?

FOSTER: Initially, none of them took nutrients seriously. One by one, they have changed. When the eldest boy comes to visit, the first thing he does is swipe my nutrients.

DY NEWS: What steps have you personally taken to increase selenium intake, and your the intake of other nutrients you recommend?

FOSTER: I have taken 200 micrograms of selenium daily for 20 years. I also take a comprehensive multiple nutrient preparation and 6,000 milligrams of vitamin C and extra vitamin B complex. My aim is to make sure that I am never deficient in any of the known nutrients. I also buy a wide range of nutrients for family use.

DY NEWS: You are taking more nutrients than what most dietitians say you need to prevent deficiency. Would you please comment and expand on this?

FOSTER: Yes, I am taking far more vitamin C, for example, than the RDA. This is because I believe that the RDA is illogical. I am not just trying to avoid scurvy but to achieve optimum health. There are about 4,000 animals that make their own vitamin C. As far as I know, they all make it a levels much higher per kilogram of body weight that the RDA for humans. Why should our requirements be so different? Abram Hoffer and I are writing a book, at the moment, on why most people need high levels of niacin.

DY NEWS: What do you eat?

FOSTER: In addition to supplements, I try to eat a healthy diet. I emphasize fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish and chicken. I eat very little red meat or dairy products.

DY NEWS: What parts of your books are your critics attacking you over, specifically?

FOSTER: I would say my most controversial idea is that a group of viruses (HIV-1 and HIV-2, Coxsackie B and Hepatitis B and C are members) can cause diseases indirectly by depleting the human body of specific nutrients. This implies that, if you boost the intake of these nutrients, you can reverse the disease symptoms. This paradigm is contrary to current clinical drug approaches to such viral infections and is considered a stupid idea by virologists. Nevertheless, it works.

DY NEWS: Could you please elaborate on the cause and cure of Hepatitis B and C, about which I receive many readers' questions?

FOSTER: Dr. Will Taylor and colleagues at the University of Athens, Georgia have shown that there is a group of viruses that encode for glutathione peroxidase. This means that as they are replicated, they remove the four key nutrients that lie at the core of this enzyme (selenium, cysteine, glutamine and tryptophan) from the human body. Eventually they can cause severe deficiencies of these nutrients and kill their hosts. Included in this group of viruses are Hepatitis B and C, Coxsackie B and HIV-1 and HIV-2. Anyone infected by one or more of these viruses needs elevated selenium, cysteine, tryptophan and glutamine to remain healthy. Think tapeworm! That is, a parasite-induced functional deficiency.

DY NEWS: You have at least one other controversial idea. Please tell us about road salt and cancer. (Foster HD. Road-deicing salt and cancer: the need for further study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1993 Oct 6;85(19):1603-5.)

FOSTER: In 1986, I published the book, "Reducing cancer mortality: a geographical perspective." It was essentially a major statistical study of 4.6 million cancer deaths in the USA, comparing them with the geographical distribution of 219 variables. To cut a long story short, the geography of cancer in the USA, and indeed globally, suggests that cancer is most common where there is a deficiency of selenium and calcium, and high exposure to road salt and soil mercury. Since 1986, I have been suggesting that road salt should be tested to see if it really is very carcinogenic before we dump enormous quantities onto our roads each year. For this absurd idea, I have been vilified for many years. Fortunately, Canada has recently added road salt to its list of toxic substances and is beginning to reduce its use in this country. Of course, road salt is not just sodium chloride but often includes sodium ferrocyanide which gives off the poisonous gas hydrogen cyanide when exposed to acid rain and sunlight.

DY NEWS: I am unaware that your books have been reviewed in major news outlets. Where may the public find and read media reviews of your work?

FOSTER: My "What Really Causes..." books have been reviewed in the alternative press, in publications like The Townsend Letters for Doctors and Patients, Nexus, and the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. Interestingly, I have written three articles for Nexus following positive reviews. This has been very useful because, beyond English, this magazine appears in a wide variety of languages. They have published my work, for example, in Polish and Italian.

DY NEWS: Aside from publicity and distribution, what do you feel are the biggest obstacles to your pioneering work?

FOSTER: There are two major roadblocks to human progress: closed minds and greed. Fortunately, as Doug Gwyn pointed out "The truth is not determined by majority vote." Beyond an inability or unwillingness to innovate, there are many people doing very well out of the status quo. They will generally protect it, regardless of the truth. Unfortunately, unless we alter our dominant HIV/AIDS paradigm, these weaknesses will spell total disaster for our species.

DY NEWS: What specific goals would you have, would you like to see, in the next year?

FOSTER: I would like to raise enough funds to pay for three clinical HIV/AIDS trials in Africa. In addition, I intend to write "What Really Causes Multiple Sclerosis" and add it to my website.

DY NEWS: When will "What Really Causes Multiple Sclerosis" be available as a printed book?

FOSTER: I do not know. To produce the MS book costs me thousands of dollars to type, typeset and publish. And, of course, time. I would like to see it on my website by early 2006.

DY NEWS: I can't restrain my curiosity. What will be your next topic, after MS?

FOSTER: I have not made up my mind. I could, for example, write on SIDS, Parkinson's disease, digestive cancer, or diabetes type 2.

DY NEWS: Do you have some take-action suggestions for interested readers?

FOSTER: Yes. Take responsibility for your own health. Exercise, eat well and take your nutrients. No smoking and no drinking! Also support those who dare to stand up for the truth. You owe them more than passive agreement.

DY NEWS: What is your most important, most enduring message?

FOSTER: Actions speak louder than words. A great deal louder.

(end of interview)

Harold D. Foster's Papers indexed by the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE:

Foster HD. How HIV-1 causes AIDS: implications for prevention and treatment. Med Hypotheses. 2004;62(4):549-53. Review.

Foster HD, Hoffer A. Schizophrenia and cancer: the adrenochrome balanced morphism. Med Hypotheses. 2004;62(3):415-9. Review.

Foster HD, Hoffer A. The two faces of L-DOPA: benefits and adverse side effects in the treatment of Encephalitis lethargica, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Med Hypotheses. 2004;62(2):177-81.

Foster HD. Why HIV-1 has diffused so much more rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa than in North America. Med Hypotheses. 2003 Apr;60(4):611-4.

Hocking M, Foster HD. Upper respiratory tract infections among airline passengers. JAMA. 2002 Dec 18;288(23):2972; author reply 2972-3.

Foster HD. Why the preeminent risk factor in sporadic Alzheimer's disease cannot be genetic. Med Hypotheses. 2002 Jul;59(1):57-61.

Foster HD. Coxsackie B virus and myocardial infarction. Lancet. 2002 Mar 2;359(9308):804.

Foster HD. Landscapes of longevity: the calcium-selenium-mercury connection in cancer and heart disease. Med Hypotheses. 1997 Apr;48(4):355-60. Review.

Foster HD, Zhang L. Longevity and selenium deficiency: evidence from the People's Republic of China. Sci Total Environ. 1995 Aug 18;170(1-2):133- 9.

Foster HD. Road-deicing salt and cancer: the need for further study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1993 Oct 6;85(19):1603-5.

Foster HD. The iodine-selenium connection: its possible roles in intelligence, cretinism, sudden infant death syndrome, breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. Med Hypotheses. 1993 Jan;40(1):61-5. Review.

Foster HD. Reply to the letter of L. C. Clark and G. F. Combs, Jr. J Nutr. 1989 Jun;119(6):950.

Foster HD. Suicide and mortality from diabetes. Am J Psychiatry. 1988 Feb;145(2):272.

Foster HD. Selenium and cancer prevention. J Nutr. 1988 Feb;118(2):237- 9.

Foster HD. Disease family trees: the possible roles of iodine in goitre, cretinism, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and cancers of the thyroid, nervous system and skin. Med Hypotheses. 1987 Nov;24(3):249-63. Review.

Foster HD. Diabetes mellitus and low environmental magnesium levels. Lancet. 1987 Sep 12;2(8559):633.

UNSTRESS YOUR LIFE, Part 2 by John Mosher, PhD Biology Professor Emeritus, State University of New York

GETTING STARTED IMMEDIATELY Practicing stress reduction is like a breath of cool mountain air; like the refreshing water of a quiet lake shore among the silent pines. Here in this peaceful sanctuary, you feel your own being as the quiet still point within. Come to this quiet peaceful place. Even in the midst of the toil and turmoil of the day, find peace. Let's help you commence that metaphorical "breath of cool mountain air."

SUMMARY OF A RELAXATION TECHNIQUE

1) Have a quiet, comfortable place to do your practice.

2) Close your eyes and breathe from your diaphragm for a few seconds or longer to establish diaphragmatic breathing.

3) With eyes closed coordinate the position of your tongue with the inhale and the exhale (as explained in the detailed instructions, below). Repeat this procedure for at least three times. You may do more if you wish.

4) With eyes closed do the alternating breathing; (as described below). Be sure you breathe from the diaphragm. Do this type of breathing for about 5 minutes.

5) With eyes closed, do mindful diaphragmatic breathing for fifteen to twenty minutes.

6) At the end of the fifteen or twenty minutes of "mindful" breathing, rest with eyes closed for at least five minutes. After the rest, commence activity gradually. Be gentle with yourself!

Practice the technique as instructed twice a day, once before eating in the morning and before evening meal. You may do a short ten-minute session before noon meal if you wish. Remember something is better than nothing. If you cannot organize your time to include two sessions per day, do one. Of course, two a day gives results more quickly, and naturally is more effective.

Remember you can go as slowly or as quickly on this program as you wish.

HOW TO PROCEED

Choose a quiet comfortable place. It is best to do the procedure sitting up with the back comfortably straight.

With eyes closed, be aware of your breathing. Be sure you are breathing from the diaphragm, not the chest. That is when breathing your lower abdominal area should rise and fall noticeably with your inhale and exhale. There should be only minimal movement of the chest.

Once you have established proper diaphragmatic breathing with the eyes closed, then try coordinating the tongue position with the inhale and exhale like this:

Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth just behind your upper front teeth with the mouth closed on the inhale. Inhale fully in this position. Hold the breath to the count of seven, then drop the tongue to its normal position in the floor of the mouth and open the mouth slightly and slowly exhale. When exhalation is complete hold the breath for the count of seven and then close the mouth, place the tongue on the roof of the mouth and inhale. Repeat this form of breathing three times (more if you wish). Remember keep the eyes closed and keep your awareness on your breathing.

After having completed the three or more breaths as described, proceed, with eyes closed, to alternating breathing.

The alternating breathing consists of, a) Breathing normally from the diaphragm, b) using your thumb to close your right nostril, inhaling through the left nostril. Next release the right nostril and close the left nostril with the fingers and exhale through the right nostril. Then inhale through the right nostril. Close the right nostril with the thumb and exhale through the left nostril then inhale through the left nostril, close and exhale through the right nostril. Continue the alternating nostrils breathing for five minutes with the eyes closed.

Now discontinue the alternating breathing technique. As you continue to sit quietly with the eyes closed, bring your attention to your breath. Continue to breathe from the diaphragm.

Be mindful of inhaling and exhaling. If you wish, you may think the word "SO", as you inhale and the word "HUM", as you exhale. Continue this "mindful" breathing for fifteen or twenty minutes. If during the breathing your mind wanders and gets off on thoughts then, as soon as you realize that your attention is not on the breathing but on thoughts, simply turn your attention from the thought to the breathing. Do not try to control your thoughts; do not dwell on them. Just let the thoughts pass by as a stream would flow past you. As soon as you realize that your mind is on thoughts and not mindful of the breathing, then turn your attention from the thoughts back to the breathing.

At the end of fifteen or twenty minutes of the "mindful" breathing lie down and relax with your eyes closed for at least five minutes. At the end of your rest commence activity nice and slowly. Avoid any immediate strenuous activity. Even though your mind may seem very alert, remember that you body has been at profound rest. It would sort of jolt the body to immediately jump up from your rest and start strenuous activity. Be gentle and easy with your body.

Remember: try to practice this technique twice a day, morning before eating and evening before eating. If you wish you may do a five or ten minute session before eating lunch.

More to come next month.

(Counselor and professor of biology John I. Mosher, PhD, is the author of several articles at the DoctorYourself.com website, including: How to Communicate Better: http://www.doctoryourself.com/mosher_neuro.html Improve Your Relationships with Others: http://www.doctoryourself.com/relationship.html Life's Journey and How to Travel It: http://www.doctoryourself.com/mosher2.html Book Review of The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle: http://www.doctoryourself.com/nowpower.html Your Personal Development: http://www.doctoryourself.com/mosher3.html

IN MEMORIAM: Charlotte Schnee Kaufman (1918-2005) (Excerpted from the Winston-Salem Journal, 2/15/2005.)

Charlotte Schnee Kaufman, widow of Dr. William Kaufman (http://www.doctoryourself.com/JOM1.html), completed her bright and wonderful journey through life on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2005. Born March 8, 1918, in Bridgeport CT, she transferred from Connecticut College to the University of Michigan, where she majored in journalism and feigned sophistication. William Kaufman, a pre-medical student, was instantly smitten when a friend told him about "the girl with the monocle," Charlotte. He contrived to meet her, and she found him the most brilliant and interesting fellow she'd ever met. In 1940, after he had earned an M.D. degree, cum laude, and a doctorate in the then-rare field of nutrition, and she had won a bachelor's degree with honors in journalism, they were married and moved to Connecticut.

The new Mrs. Kaufman helped in her husband's medical practice and researched and edited his prolific writing projects. A true visionary in medical nutrition, Dr. Kaufman pioneered the treatment of arthritis with niacinamide (http://www.doctoryourself.com/kaufman6.html); letters reached him when they were addressed only to "The Arthritis Doctor." For 60 years, the Kaufmans shared a life that was a union of two complete persons who complemented and enhanced each other. "We were always looking forward," Mrs. Kaufman said.

She innovated, among many other endeavors, a program for teaching poor young mothers the art of baby care. Film in hand, the diminutive (4 feet, 11 inches and 90 pounds) Mrs. Kaufman was warmly welcomed by the large numbers of women who attended her popular classes. She also served in numerous capacities as a communications executive. . . She received the Evelyn M. Kennedy Award for Outstanding Service to the Mentally Retarded in 1966, and the 1970 Award for Meritorious Service to Geriatric Patients from the Connecticut Department of Aging. In 1989, the "retired" Kaufmans spontaneously decided to move to Winston-Salem, NC. . . In 1994, Mrs. Kaufman founded CAT-TV, Winston-Salem's public- access television station. Two years later she served as executive producer of the television series, "People of Conflict," sponsored by Duke University.

After her husband's death in August 2000, despite exhaustion and profound grief for her lifetime partner and best friend, Mrs. Kaufman plunged into a task that would have daunted most people half her age, and twice her strength. She organized and collected Dr. Kaufman's papers and her own for the Dr. William and Charlotte Kaufman Endowment Fund at the University of Michigan, a collection that occupies 30 feet of shelf space at the University of Michigan Library. Frail yet vital, she enjoyed cruising the Internet to learn about new and interesting things, and delighted in the web site http://www.doctoryourself.com , which features detailed information about her late husband's extraordinary career.

If you would honor her, celebrate and rejoice for the life of a brilliant, compassionate and gracious woman who loved life and gave so much to it, "always looking forward."

Editor's Note: Mrs. Kaufman was a wonderful correspondent. Last year, she wrote:

"Dear Dr. Saul,

"I've been meaning to write you for some time but everything is difficult for me. But I do want you to know how much I enjoy your Doctor Yourself Newsletter. It's not only informative but helpful. And in addition it really is a fascinating personal statement of views that are so different from conventional thinking. I look forward to every issue. I admire your energy in making so much information available to others. Many thanks for all the constructive things you do."

"Best wishes, as always, "Charlotte"

I will miss her very much.

Now to look forward, as she always did.

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