Has your relative been ‘made’ incontinent and developed a pressure sore?

A Full assessment of your relative’s care needs is completed by the Clinical Commissioning Group’s assessors using the Decision Support Tool (DST).

The DST is a scoring ‘tool’ used at the MDT to build a picture of an individual’s health needs across the various Care Domains by reference to a description (otherwise known as a ‘descriptor’) as to what level of need constitutes a ‘Priority’, ‘Severe’, ‘High’, ‘Moderate’, ‘Low’ or ‘No needs’.

The DST consists of 12 headings or ‘Care Domains’, which are considered by the assessors in conjunction with your relative’s healthcare needs namely:

Behaviour
Cognition
Physical/emotional needs
Communication
Mobility
Nutrition (food and drink)
Continence
Skin integrity
Breathing
Drugs/medication/symptom control
Altered state of consciousness
Other significant care needs

You can access the updated version of the Decision Support Tool here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-continuing-healthcare-decision-support-tool

See the table below which you will find set out in the DST:

Let’s now look at the Care Domains of Incontinence and Skin Integrity.

It may be alarming to hear, but some care facilities or local authorities probably find it easier (ie more commercially viable) to manage patients by ‘making’ them become or remain incontinent.

Understandably, neither the NHS nor Social Services have sufficient funding or staff availability to provide carers, 24 hours a day, for each needy individual. So, due to a lack of resources, some patients are being left in the incontinence wear provided to wait for next change – which could be some hours later.

We were contacted by a lady who visited her sick husband every day whilst he was a resident in a luxury care home, but one day she couldn’t get to see him until late in the evening. When she arrived, she was distressed and angry to find her dear husband had been left sitting in his waste all day long, unchanged. How often does this happen when family aren’t around to observe how their spouse or relative is being cared for?

Incontinence products and pads are designed to contain waste matter, but for a limited period. But, too often, a shortage of staff and budgets can mean only a specific number of prescribed checks or changes of a patient’s incontinence wear in a day. A patient may be changed, but a few minutes later have an accident, and then be left for long periods, in discomfort, until the next check/change. Sadly, some organisations and care facilities might be inclined to think that it is far cheaper to leave an incontinent patient lying or sitting in their waste, than to employ more staff to deal to carry out more frequent checks and pad changes.

Less mobile patients may need a number of carers to help them with transfers for toileting which can be quite time-consuming. In the meantime, other needy patients who require attention might be neglected. Another reason why a care facility may feel it’s easier to let a patient become incontinent.

Being ‘made’ incontinent deprives an individual of their dignity, causes embarrassment and distress, which could be avoided.

Is it ever acceptable to make someone incontinent?

Patients who cannot communicate their needs are likely to go for longer periods unchecked (unless someone notices an odour). Incontinence can lead to urinary tract infections (UTI’s) and catheterisation – both very unpleasant and uncomfortable for the patient.

Worse still, less frequent changes of incontinence products can lead to the skin becoming moist, wet or soggy. This in turn can cause skin damage leading to moisture lesions and pressure sores. Pressure sores, sometimes known as pressure ulcers or bed sores, can develop very quickly if skin integrity is not closely monitored.

Pressure sores are caused by neglect and are entirely avoidable!

For some experienced nurses, the mere mention of a pressure sore is equivalent to a ‘swear word’, as they are totally preventable with good care.

Deep pressure sores can be agonisingly painful, making it uncomfortable for the patient to move. The area may be red and inflamed, weeping or bleeding. Patients have described pressures sores feeling like a ‘hot burning sensation’.

Why should anyone who is incontinent be allowed to develop a pressure sore?

Whether in a hospital, care home setting or at home, if pressure sores are not monitored and managed swiftly, they can very quickly deteriorate and become extremely difficult to treat successfully; sometimes causing significant deep-tissue cavity damage that goes down to the tendon, muscle and bone. The most serious cases of deep infection can result in loss of limb or prove fatal.

Pressure sores commonly occur on bony prominences eg shoulders, elbows, knees, buttocks, ankles and heels.

Pressure sores are graded in severity:

Grade 1: Non-blanching erythema. When lightly pigmented intact skin is pressed for a few seconds it remains red. This is harder to see on darker skin tones.

Grade 2: There is damage to the top layer of skin

Grade 3: Skin damage spreads to the fatty layers under the skin causing a shallow cavity (ulcer)

Grade 4: A deep cavity that goes down to bone (muscles or tendons), often accompanied by a foul smell (like rotting flesh) and can be fatal.

Pressure sore prevention is an essential aspect of patient safety

Pressure sores can develop in a matter of hours if not identified and acted upon.

However, they can be prevented with proper risk assessment and regular monitoring.

Some patients will inevitably be at higher risk than others – perhaps due to their advancing age, inherent frailty, disability or immobility (eg following surgery). Patients who are wheelchair or bed bound, or else sit or lie in one position for extended periods of time are at greatest risk.

Having good systems for detecting the risk of pressure sores developing is essential. Staff should look out for pain, itching, discoloration, numbness, heat or hardness of skin.

Monitoring the patient closely and having more frequent and regular thorough inspections should quickly identify damage (or vulnerable areas) sooner.

Using assessment tools such as the Waterlow scale will identify those patients most likely to be at risk of developing a pressure sore.

Basic repositioning (or turning) a patient can alleviate the occurrence of a pressure sore developing.

Staff and cares need better training and awareness of prevention strategies. They need to be alert and be able to identify patients at risk and take rapid and timely intervention, such as repositioning the patient, or providing a pressure relieving mattress or cushion, to prevent the development of a pressure sore or its deterioration. Early intervention can reverse a Grade 1 pressure sore, but left unattended can result in serious complications which may become irreversible and lead to life-threatening complications.

Being at ‘end of life’ and not eating or drinking is still no excuse to allow a pressure sore to develop. Skin integrity is paramount. Skin should be kept free of damage at all times.

For more information, read our helpful articles relating to pressure sores:

The dangers of pressure sores, pressure ulcers and bed sores

Take a holistic approach to improve your chances of getting CHC Funding

What preventions are in place to look after your relative? Do they have an ‘S SKIN’ Bundle?

A care bundle “is a collection of interventions that may be applied to manage a particular condition or as a preventative measure to reduce the risks of developing complications.” Hospitals and care home should have a policy to adopt the ‘S SKIN’ bundle.

The S Skin Bundle Consists of 5 key elements for skin protection, namely:

Skin Inspection/assessment
Surface
Keep Moving (Repositioning)
Incontinence / Moisture
Nutrition and Hydration

Care bundles can be divided into 2 categories – one bundle is for prevention, and the other for treatment.

The prevention bundle is used when the patient is assessed at being at risk, following the use of a recognised risk assessment tool and requires a prevention plan to be in place.

The treatment bundle must be used when the patient has at least one pressure sore.

S SKIN pressure ulcer care bundle – prevention

Many practitioners will use the S SKIN bundle to check for compliance against the 5 key elements:

Skin Inspection: Staff should check the skin and ensure its management e.g. using blanching techniques – pressing the vulnerable area with the thumb and forefinger for 2 seconds and releasing. If the area remains red, that indicates damage to the capillaries. The patient will need repositioning and the matter should be noted and reported immediately.

Ideally, the patient should have a ‘touch’ test each time they are seen by staff.

Surface: Staff should check how the patient is sitting, sleeping or lying and whether pressure relieving equipment, such as special mattresses or cushions, are required and to check they are working effectively.

Keep Moving: Staff should check and ensure that the patient is frequently mobilizing eg getting up at regular intervals to prevent skin sheering and undue pressure on vulnerable areas. Or, if not possible, the patient has a repositioning schedule/chart in place and to initiate frequent repositioning as required.

Incontinence/Moisture: Staff should keep the patient dry and clean and check that the skin is protected from moisture damage. Moisture on the skin is usually caused by incontinence of urine/bowels or sweat. Vulnerable areas, such as the buttocks, that become moist, wet or soggy are more likely to cause skin breakdown and lead to pressure sores developing. Staff should take preventative measures and ensure appropriate steps are taken to reduce the risk eg applying barrier creams.

Nutrition/Hydration: Staff should check and ensure that nutritional assessments eg the MUST Tool (Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool) is being used and completed to monitor diet and fluid intake, and appropriate instructions are being given to carers.

Tip: If you have any concerns about your relative’s skin integrity, we recommend that you check their care home records and see that this essential tool is being actioned.

Summary

The S SKIN care bundle forms part of the patient’s records and should be used in conjunction with their own care plan. Check your relative’s care records regularly to ensure it is included and updated.

Pressure sores usually develop as a result of poor basic staff awareness and training, poor risk assessment and ongoing regular checks and assessments, and monitoring.

We have created our own mnemonic for good pressure sore care – ‘PAM’.

Prevent Assess Manage

If your relative has developed a pressure sore we suggest seeking specialist legal advice as they may be entitled to claim for the suffering and pain caused by neglect.

For further reading around the subject, read these blogs:

Why is it important to check your relative’s care home records?

June’s feature on flawed CHC assessments and the importance of good record keeping.

December 11, 2019/5 Comments/by Care To Be Different

Health and nutrition

Could the cuts in dementia drugs research be good news for health?

The Independent recently reported on the decision by leading pharmaceutical companies to scale down their research into drugs for Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. The drugs are not working as hoped, they can make symptoms worse, and the drugs companies don’t want to take any more financial risk.

In today’s article Care To Be Different share their personal view on why she believes this development could be a good thing. She shares her thoughts on drugs vs. nutrition, and why elderly people in care homes with dementia and other diseases are trapped in a system that keeps them sick…

There are 14,000 care homes for elderly people in the UK. Few, if any, provide the kind of nutrition or hydration that can in any way be considered therapeutic. And yet their residents are often gravely ill.

Both my parents spent four and a half years in a care home before they died. Each time I visited I watched in despair as they slowly starved to death. By ‘starved’ I mean starved of the nutrients that would not only have sustained their lives but also gone some way reversing their disease.

Dad had Parkinson’s Disease, cancer and dementia. Mum had several strokes and heart disease, and she also had Parkinson’s and dementia.

Vital nutrition as part of care
I was appalled at the ‘food’ they were given in the care home, the majority of which directly worsened their health. They desperately needed fibre, high levels of vitamin C, sunlight and vitamin D, fish oils, B vitamins, specific minerals, fruit, vital vegetables (raw or at least spared from being cooked to death), good salts and lots of water – amongst other things. And yet they were fed white bread, refined sugar, mushy vegetables, cheap meat and processed food, refined and processed carbohydrates, table salt, next to no fresh fruit, anti-psychotic drugs (and a host of other chemicals) and hardly any water.

The reaction to my requests for them to be given more water ranged from incomprehension and indifference to me being shouted at by a senior member of staff.

My request for a nutritionist to visit was downgraded to a visit from an NHS dietician who declared that their diet was fine.

My family and I arranged for fresh fruit to be delivered to their rooms each week from an external fruit supplier, but care staff didn’t seem to encourage them to eat it and I would often find it left in their fruit bowls, mouldy and rotten, next time I visited.

My suggestion of more green foods was met with a blanket dismissal.

My requests for beneficial food supplements had to be channelled through a visiting GP, who of course had no training in nutrition – and so did not approve them.

What goes wrong?
Surprising as it may sound, I don’t believe all this was actually the fault of the care home or those working in it, most of whom were very kind and were doing exactly what they’d been trained to do. This situation was – and is – ‘normal’.

What is at fault is the care system, controlled by pharmaceutical medicine, that seems not to have the faintest clue about the impact of food on health.

The training given to nursing, medical and care professionals is woefully inadequate. It does not cover the very basics of sustaining health and boosting the immune system – nor of the impact of specific foods on specific health problems, nor of the ability of the human body to reverse disease by itself, given the right ingredients, even in late-stage chronic illness.

Care teams and care managers are not shown how an investment in nutrition actually saves money and makes care easier. Indeed, most people have little awareness of the vital importance of nutrition in sustaining their own health, let alone anyone else’s.

Nutrients help our bodies reverse disease – drugs do not
Many typical elderly illnesses (including Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, circulation problems, skin problems, insomnia, brittle nails, fungal infections, urinary tract infections, constipation, confusion and forgetfulness, joint pain, arthritis, falls and many other problems) can easily be improved through good nutrition, hydration and exercise (oxygen) – and do not demand drugs. Indeed these so-called ‘illnesses’ are often the symptoms of malnutrition, dehydration and inactivity.

If drugs-based ‘medicine’ were the answer, then disease and chronic illness would be reducing. Instead it’s increasing at an alarming rate. The pharmaceutical model cannot possibly reverse disease, because it isn’t a lack of drugs that causes disease in the first place – and infusing someone with chemicals when they’re already sick makes little sense.

In most western countries elderly people take the most prescription drugs of any population group. In the USA, for example, older people are taking an average of 28* (yes, 28) different prescription drugs, many of which are damaging to health, not only because of side effects, but also because of the effect of one drug on another – leading to yet more drugs being prescribed. (And, of course, ‘side effects’ are so named for marketing purposes only. They are full-blown effects, just like any other.) *www.mercola.com

This whole pharmaceutical model, which also often proactively excludes many other more beneficial approaches, is why elderly patients starve and die of thirst in our hospital wards and in care homes, as highlighted in this article from the Telegraph. The figures in the article are, I suggest, extremely conservative; most deaths in care homes and hospitals are blamed on the disease the person had – but it’s the malnutrition and dehydration behind the disease that are more likely the real culprits.

Standards for nutrition in care homes
As far as I’m aware there are agreed standards for food hygiene and food safety in care homes in the UK, but NO universally accepted measures for the actual nutritional content of the food. Residents can be dying of malnutrition and dehydration and yet a care home will still pass a Care Quality Commission inspection. In addition, there is no requirement for care home management or staff to have any training or qualifications in nutrition – the very thing that keeps people alive.

‘Nutrition’ in the existing model is measured in calories, not nutrients, and so feeding someone high calorie, sugary, processed cancer-inducing, heart-disease-worsening and brain-clogging foods is OK – as long as they stay at the right weight. It’s insane.

Care homes often, in good faith, quote their commitment to good nutrition in terms of:

Designing menus according to resident’s preferences
Providing ‘fresh home-cooked food’
Using a calorie screening process as a measure of nutrition
Enjoying positive feedback from residents on the look and taste of the food
Making special diets available
Using seasonal ingredients
Offering food supplement drinks (which are often full of sugar)

These have little, if anything, to do with health-sustaining nutrition.

Research shows that the food budget per person per day in a care home can be as little as £2.27 (in some cases even less). This is often less than the budget per person per day in prisons.

Is the tide now turning?
Maybe not in most care homes or hospitals – yet – but with mainstream media now more willing to talk about health and diet in a meaningful way – and, as this Guardian article by Ben Goldacre shows, expose what goes on in the pharmaceutical industry – and with the vast amount of research into nutrition available on the internet, there is no longer any excuse for the current situation to be allowed to continue.

Journalist George Monbiot in his recent article The Mind Thieves talks about Alzheimer’s as a form of diabetes, brought on by the wrong diet, and in his recent Guardian article he talks about why one of the most catastrophic effects of junk food could in fact be Alzheimer’s.

Some care homes are taking up the challenge and seeing results, such as The Martins care home in Suffolk, which introduced a water drinking club and has seen a noticeable improvement in the health of its residents.

In my opinion we have all been deeply conditioned by the pharmaceutical industry and the food industry to believe that they have our best interests at heart – and that drugs to suppress symptoms are the best answer.

Few people get sick because of a lack of drugs, so it makes no sense to think drugs address the cause and make us well.

So maybe the pharmaceutical industry’s decision to reduce research into dementia drugs could actually be a good thing. Maybe it will finally force us all to wake up to the stark reality of the situation and acknowledge the value of the powerful and positive research that has already been done into nutrition and health – including for dementia – and that holds the answer to an otherwise inevitable decline in health for every one of us.

I suspect none of us relish the prospect of ending up, like elderly relatives, stuck on a cocktail of drugs in a care home, no matter how kind and well-intentioned the care staff may be.

Let’s get behind those care homes that are taking a proactive approach to therapeutic nutrition – and seeing positive results from it. If you know of one, we’ll mention it on our blog.

Share your thoughts and experiences by adding a comment to this article.

Further viewing/reading…

Dr Mark Hyman: 9 Steps to Reverse Dementia and Memory Loss As You Age

Medical doctor, Dr. Terry Wahls: the inspiring story of how she reversed her multiple sclerosis. She had continued to deteriorate on conventional treatments, leaving her severely disabled. However, when she began to address the cause of the problem, she reversed the disease in just nine months – by changing her diet. Her message applies equally to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntingdon’s etc.

Phillip Day’s book Cancer: Why We’re Still Dying To Know The Truth exposes some of the political and economic scandals in the cancer ‘industry’ and why the powerful truths about cancer and diet are kept hidden.

And in John C Coleman’s book Stop Parkin’ And Start Livin’, the author talks about reversing the symptoms of his stage IV Parkinson’s Disease, which had left him unable to speak or walk more than five metres. His own research and programme of nutritional and physical rehabilitation enabled him to become symptom-free.

October 16, 2012/0 Comments/by Care To Be Different

Care fees, Health and nutrition

Dementia: Why diet, hydration and mental stimulation are key

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia – vital strategies for health and wellbeing

Almost everyone who contacts us about Continuing Care funding has an elderly relative with dementia. Thankfully we’ve been able to help many of these families access NHS funding to cover care fees. Money doesn’t take away the disease, of course, but it does alleviate some of the stress. But what the care system consistently fails to address is how to sustain the health of elderly people with dementia.

Over 800,000 people in the UK have dementia. This figure is likely to rise to over 1 million by 2021 and double over the next 20 years. One new case of dementia is diagnosed every 14 minutes, and it’s putting an ever-increasing strain on healthcare resources.

Successive governments have tried to implement healthcare strategies for people with dementia – and failed miserably. Why? Because generally speaking they don’t look at the root causes of the disease, how to reverse symptoms and how to prevent the disease emerging in the first place.

Human beings are not meant to have dementia. Our bodies and brains are designed to function well. And yet elderly people in care homes who have dementia are stuck in a system that pays little, if any, attention to the most fundamental aspect of health: nutrients, oxygen, water and mental stimulation.

Today’s article is from international health researcher, author and speaker, Phillip Day. It looks at some of the causes of dementia and at what every single one of us can do about it – right now.

Excerpted with kind permission from The ABC’s of Disease by Phillip Day, www.credence.org…

Alzheimer’s disease, senile dementia

Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD: “[Research] suggests to me that if everyone started on a good nutritional program supplemented with optimum doses of vitamins and minerals before age fifty, and remained on it, the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease would drop precipitously.”

Andrew Saul PhD: “FACT: More than half of nursing home beds are occupied by Alzheimer’s Disease patients. FACT: Alzheimer’s disease is the number 4 killer of Americans, causing over 100,000 deaths each year in the USA alone.”

Profile

Mental impairment problems are devastating our cultures today and yet this has not always been so. Clearly, nutritional, hydration and toxicity issues are at the fore. As many as a third of all hospital beds in the UK are taken up with geriatric patients suffering a host of disorders, a large proportion of them institutionalised because of senility. The cost to healthcare runs to billions. The following questions should be asked and the appropriate conditions addressed FIRST:

Is the patient eating organic, whole, non-pesticide-laden foods?
What percentage of the patient’s diet comprises animal products?
Is the majority of the patient’s diet cooked?
Is the patient nutritionally deficient?
Is the patient drinking up to 2 litres of clean, fresh water a day?
Is the patient vitamin-D-deficient? What is their 25(OH)D serum level?
Does the person drink alcohol on a regular basis?
Does the patient have chaotic blood sugar levels?
Has the patient an elevated plasma homocysteine level?
Is the patient on any psychiatric medication, which might be giving the appearance of senility or slow cognitive ability?
Does the patient suffer from food allergies/lactose intolerance?
Has the patient any evidence of yeast or fungal infections?
Does the patient live in a toxic environment?
Does the patient eat junk food and drink sodas?
Has the patient been mentally unchallenged for an extended period of time?

Memory problems – potential causes

Several factors influence memory:

Use it or lose it!
Dehydration and lack of salt
Impaired blood supply to the brain
Abnormally high levels of the amino acid, homocysteine
Fatty, cholesterol-laden blood due to heavy consumption of animal products (chicken, beef, pork, eggs, milk, butter, fish, etc.)
Vitamin D deficiency
Poor nutritional intake (cooked and processed foods), especially minerals such as zinc, manganese and magnesium, and vitamins, especially the ‘B’ group, and essential fatty acids
Toxicity, specifically aluminium (1) via aluminium cookware, aluminium foil, antacids, douches, buffered aspirin and anti-perspirant deodorants (2)
Food allergies
Toxins
Abnormal blood sugar levels (glucose intolerance)

Use it or lose it!

In my view, retirement is the single most damaging thing for a person, when they are persuaded to end their productivity and bow out of the work ethic until they die. It is in the nature of humans to produce and be mentally active. Depression, listlessness and despair often set in when brains are put in mothballs and the person vegetates in front of the TV.

In Health Wars, I take a look at cultures who routinely live past 100 and remain active. If you are 70-80, start looking for another career! Think of the skills and knowledge you have amassed that could be of benefit to others. If your brain is busy and well fed, it is a happy brain, and so you will be too.

Cooked animal product diets

Heavy cooked animal-product diets produce thick, cholesterol-laden blood, increase hormone and insulin levels and create serious problems for the elderly. (3) Animal products consume enzyme resources in digestion, especially trypsin and chymotrypsin, which de-mask cancer cells. Cooking kills enzymes and wrecks the nutrition in the food. Cognitive impairment problems are a Western phenomenon. Adopting The Food For Thought Lifestyle Regimen is very effective in getting the body-chemistry changes you need, fast. 100% plant-based diets are renowned for clearing the body out (2-3 bowel movements a day if consumed raw).

Blood supply to the brain

Another source of arterial fat is lipoprotein plaque in the arteries. In Health Wars I devote two chapters to the heart and cardio-vascular system, showing that heart disease in almost all its forms may be traced back to dehydration, lack of exercise and nutritional deficiencies, including an early form of scurvy.

Scurvy occurs when collagen breaks down in the body. Collagen is a tough, fibrous material the body uses to clad arteries, veins and capillaries, as well as organs and the skin, to give them structure. Collagen is a lot like the steel girders you see when builders are erecting a new skyscraper. Each collagen fibre has been calculated to be far tougher and stronger than an iron wire of comparable width. Cooked diets destroy vitamin C – period. In the absence of adequate nutrition – specifically vitamins C, E and the amino acids lysine and proline – collagen begins to dissolve. When sailors went off to sea and eschewed their usual diet of fruits and vegetables for non-perishable foodstuffs during long voyages, scurvy set in within weeks as the collagen dissolved and the sailors literally fell apart. The cure was to recommence consumption of living, whole fruits and vegetables rich in the nutrition required to repair collagen and nourish the whole body.

Atherosclerosis

With heart disease, the process is much slower, sometimes taking years to develop, since very few in the western world today suffer from vitamin C depletion. Like scurvy, a chronic vitamin C deficiency causes a weakening of the arterial walls, necessitating a healing process in the form of lipoprotein(a) fats, which the body attempts to use to bond the thousands of tiny breaches in the arterial walls.

These lipoproteins are Nature’s perfect Band-Aid. They are extremely sticky and form the majority of the atherosclerotic deposits associated with advanced forms of heart disease today. Cardiovascular medicine, unaware or willingly ignorant of the underlying nutritional deficiency causes of atherosclerosis, focuses attention on vilifying the lipoprotein’s LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol content as one of the primary causes of heart diseases, when it is in fact the healing (survival response) precursor, brought on by a chronic vitamin C deficiency and dehydration. Today the drug industry has mobilised a multi-billion-dollar business of anti-cholesterol drugs, which have wrought devastating results in cardiac patients, necessitating a further $20 billion drugs program to combat all the side-effects. (4)

Most people have accumulated Lp(a) in their arteries after age 50, bringing on the usual problems with sticky blood (dehydration), thrombosis, atherosclerosis and high blood pressure (dehydration). Strokes too are caused when Lp(a) clogs the brain artery, impairing vital blood flow to the brain. And it is here that our interest in memory loss focuses. Impaired blood flow to the brain will cause death or partial paralysis. Patrick Holford writes:

“When cells are starved of oxygen, they switch to a more primitive mode of operation called anaerobic respiration. The cells begin to divide and spread – unless they are nerve cells… Nerve cells can’t regenerate. So what happens to them? They just stop working. The result is senility.” (5)

The homocysteine angle

Raised plasma levels of the amino acid homocysteine are linked to brain shrinkage and Alzheimer’s/cognitive impairment. Formerly an obscure element of metabolic chemistry, the amino acid homocysteine has been attracting attention over the past few years as a major implicator in heart disease, problem pregnancies and cognitive problems. Medical journalist Jerome Burne comments:

“Researchers at Oxford University found that the mild memory problems suffered by healthy people stopped getting worse when they took a B vitamin supplement.

About one-and-a-half million people in the UK suffer from age-related memory loss, or ‘mild cognitive impairment’. It starts gradually — forgetting keys, wondering what you came into the shop to buy — but half of those affected will progress to Alzheimer’s and dementia within five years. Until now there has been no way to slow down memory loss.

The people in the Oxford University trial were taking a single pill containing three types of vitamin B (folic acid and vitamin B6 and B12) all in doses far in excess of the recommended daily amount (RDA). The pill contained 0.8 mg of folic acid (twice the RDA), 0.5 mg of B12 (250 times the RDA) and 20 mg of B6 (12 times the RDA).” (6)

It remains unclear exactly how homocysteine affects the brain in this way but researchers have found that those patients with homocysteine levels in excess of 13 ?mol/L who took the combination vitamin B supplement reduced brain shrinkage by up to 50%, while those with normal levels of the amino acid (below 9 ?mol/L) were unaffected. These B vitamins have long been known to reduce or ‘remethylate’ homocysteine into methionine. Professor Helga Refsum, co-author of the study and a leading homocysteine researcher at the University of Oslo, remarks:

‘‘Everyone agrees that a healthy balanced diet is the best way to prevent many chronic diseases like diabetes, heart attacks and Alzheimer’s. If you don’t take [in] B vitamins you are going to have a faster rate of brain atrophy.” (7)

Dr Andrew Mccaddon is a GP in Wales who uses higher levels of the B vitamins than even the Oxford study:

“It takes about three years from the time memory problems start for people to go to the doctor, so some of my patients have already progressed to Alzheimer’s when they come to see me. I find the vitamins help them.” (8)

Vitamin D deficiency

The Vitamin D Council writes:

“In a cross-sectional study, vitamin-D-sufficient Alzheimer patients had significantly higher Mini-Mental State Examination scores as compared to vitamin-D-insufficient ones, indicating a relationship between vitamin D status and cognition in patients… Vitamin D has a significant biochemistry in the brain. Nuclear receptors for vitamin D exist in the brain and vitamin D is involved in the biosynthesis of neurotrophic factors, synthesis of nitric oxide synthase, and increased glutathione levels — all suggesting an important role for vitamin D in brain function.” (9)

Of course, we know that lack of sunlight in the winter can bring on seasonal affective disorder. Less well known is that if the elderly do not get sufficient sunlight around the noon-time hours (11am-2pm), this can have serious ramifications for their mental and emotional health over the long-term. Published RDA levels are inadequate and meaningless (200-400 IU/day). Adults use around 3,000-5,000 IU a day, yet have been told the nonsense that the sun is dangerous. Those particularly vulnerable are dark-skinned races living in northern latitudes, the aged, pregnant women and those who avoid the sun or stay indoors. Physicians should suspect vitamin D deficiency in the above cases as a matter of first resort as well as in those who live above the 520 N parallel. All Alzheimer’s patients should be tested to determine their vitamin D serum level via a 25-hydroxy D test and optimised accordingly (See A Guide To Nutritional Supplements).

Dehydration and lack of salt

Estimates put the brain’s content at up to 80-83% water. Mineral salts, fats and other nutrients are indispensable to the brain’s proper functioning yet amazingly most care homes and retired adult facilities do not place any emphasis on proper water and salt intake.

In The Essential Guide to Water and Salt, Dr F Batmanghelidj points out that we lose our thirst sensation over age 65. This is compounded by the fact that most of us have been confusing the thirst sensation for hunger for decades and probably suffer overweight and blood sugar problems as a result. A person can easily enter their seventies chronically malnourished, dehydrated and severely vitamin-D-deficient, exhibiting symptoms which are interpreted by the doctor as ‘a disease of the elderly’ – i.e. constipation, slow cognitive performance, arthritis, osteoporosis, urinary tract infections, high blood pressure, asthma, and elevated triglyceride and cholesterol levels. All are also symptoms of dehydration and the consequences of the body’s drought management procedures. Here’s what happened at one care home in Suffolk, England, when management suggested some changes to residents’ water intake:

“Staff at The Martins care home in Bury St Edmunds started a ‘water club’ for their residents last summer. Residents were encouraged to drink eight to 10 glasses of water a day, water coolers were installed, and they were each given a jug for their room. They report significant improvements in health as a result — many fewer falls, fewer GP call-outs, a cut in the use of laxatives and in urinary infections, better quality of sleep, and lower rates of agitation among residents with dementia.

“It’s been fantastic. The whole home buzzes now; there isn’t that period after lunch when everyone goes off to sleep.”

For Baroness Greengross, a cross-bench peer, it reinforces a conviction she has had for some time now — that many old people simply are not drinking enough, and it is harming their health. (10)

Dr Batmanghelidj states:

“The primary cause of Alzheimer’s is chronic dehydration of the body. In my opinion, brain cell dehydration is the primary cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Aluminium toxicity is a secondary complication of dehydration in areas of the world with comparatively aluminium-free water (although in the technically advanced Western societies, aluminium sulphate is used in the process of water purification for delivery into the city water supplies!). One of my medical friends took this information to heart and started treating his brother who has Alzheimer’s disease by forcing him to take more water every day. His brother has begun to recover his memory, so much so that he can now follow conversation and not frequently repeat himself. The improvement became noticeable in a matter of weeks.” (11)

Aluminium and toxic metals

Another common finding in premature senile dementia, known as Alzheimer’s disease, is an entanglement of nerve fibres. When these nerve clusters are found in the frontal and temporal regions of the brain, they are frequently saturated with aluminium. (12) Many theories abound on how this aluminium has accumulated. Aluminium can be taken into the body through the water supply, sodas (the can), cooking pots and utensils, toothpastes (the tube), aluminium foil packaging and antacids. Interestingly, a person who has unknowingly suffered dehydration for most of their life will probably have suffered oesophageal reflux (heartburn) too, for which they have taken antacids for decades – another route for aluminium into the body.

Detoxification regimens, such as those covered in this book (also in Food For Thought and Health Wars), will assist the body in ridding itself of unwanted accumulations of heavy metals. Chelators, natural substances which attach themselves to toxic elements and escort them out of the body, are used to remove aluminium. Excess amounts of the following metals are known memory disruptors and inhibitors:

Lead: leads to hyperactivity and aggression. Taken in from traffic fumes and industrial pollution. Chelated using vitamins C, B1 and zinc.

Aluminium: leads to memory loss and senility. Derived from pots, pans, cooking utensils, antacids, etc. Chelated using zinc and magnesium.

Cadmium: leads to aggression and confusion. Derived from cigarettes. Chelated with vitamin C and zinc.

Copper: leads to anxiety and phobias. Derived from water piping. Chelated with zinc.

Mercury: leads to headaches and memory loss. Derived from pesticides, some vaccinations and mercury amalgam dental fillings. Chelated with selenium.

Food sensitivities

Those with memory impairment problems may also be suffering from the effects of food sensitivities, as discussed earlier (see Allergies). These can also be a symptom of chronic, unintentional dehydration. An allergy test may determine an underlying, treatable food allergy problem, which may be contributing to the patient’s condition.

Virgin coconut oil

The health benefits of virgin coconut oil have been well covered in the nutrition press over the past five years while the mainstream media has been demonising ‘saturated fat’ as the leading killer of mankind. Yet a number of studies on Pacific Islanders, who derive 30-60% of their calorific intake from coconut oil (a fully saturated fat), reveal nearly non-existent levels of cardiovascular disease, (13) while supposedly health-promoting ‘low-fat’ hydrogenated butters marketed nightly on TV have become the problem. The salient issue is that naturally occurring plant-based saturated fats have a number of health-promoting effects going for them while artificially saturated fats, manufactured through the hydrogenation process, (14) have severe artery-clogging potential and should be avoided at all costs.

Virgin coconut oil has an important part to play in human health, especially with the sick and elderly. Coconut oil is comprised 50% lauric acid, a naturally occurring saturated fat which the body converts to monolaurin, a potent antibiotic, antifungal and anti-protozoal. The only other prolific source of lauric acid on Earth is breast milk. Two-thirds of coconut oil is comprised of medium chain triglycerides, a highly available source of immediate energy to the body without inducing excess production of insulin. Dr Joseph Mercola reports that coconut oil stimulates metabolic rates, accelerates healing and assists in weight loss and physical performance – something the athletic world has known about for years. Coconut oil stimulates the thyroid gland, also assisting in weight loss. Dr Mercola has a word to say on coconut oil safety too:

“The medium-chain fats in coconut oil are considered so nutritious that they are used in baby formulas, in hospitals to feed the critically ill, those on tube feeding, and those with digestive problems. Coconut oil has even been used successfully by doctors in treating aluminum poisoning. (15)

Coconut oil is exceptionally helpful for pregnant women, nursing moms, the elderly, those concerned about digestive health, athletes (even weekend warriors), and those of you who just want to enhance your overall health.” (16)

www.naturalnews.com reports:

“A doctor’s husband made a remarkable reversal of his serious Alzheimer’s problem by ingesting coconut oil daily. Dr. Mary Newport had her husband Steve get off the pharmaceutical Alzheimer’s drugs as his condition just kept worsening with them, along with added negative side effects… Steve’s condition has improved greatly since coconut oil was included in his diet.” (17)

Metabolising medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) via the liver produces ketones, now known to help protect against Alzheimer’s disease and even reverse symptoms. (18) Dr Mary Newport’s husband applied to be included in an Alzheimer’s drug trial but was too late to participate. Instead his doctor wife, Mary, researched the drug and discovered it contained a synthetic version of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). (19) The only problem is, the pharmaceutical version was only active for three hours in the body compared to coconut oil’s eight. Two to three tablespoons of coconut oil taken during the day provides the required intake of MCTs. Dr Mary Newport has a comprehensive website containing all the information at www.coconutketones.com/. Naturally, none of this will be found on the Alzheimer’s Association website for obvious reasons.

Pellagra

As discussed in the section on Schizophrenia, an old nutritional problem called pellagra is haunting us still. Pellagra is a niacin (B3) deficiency which will result in the five ‘D’s – dizziness, diarrhoea, dementia, dermatitis and death. Vitamin B3 is essential for oxygen utilisation in the body. It is incorporated into the coenzyme NAD (nicotinamide adenosine dinucleotide). Low amounts of B3 will invariably bring on symptoms that can be interpreted as dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc.

Boosting the memory

So those suffering memory impairment have a veritable arsenal of nutritional weapons at their disposal. (20) The neurotransmitter acetylcholine is the brain hormone responsible for memory retention. Experiments done at Palo Alto Hospital in California showed that drugs which boost production of acetylcholine produced ‘super-memories’. Natural nutrients however can effectively boost acetylcholine production. These are choline, glutamine, DMAE (a nutrient found in fish), and its salt, Deanol. Pyroglutamate is also excellent, and many ‘memory’ supplements on the market today contain a mix of these nutrients, which work better when used synergistically with a great improvement in diet.

Take action

DIET: COMMENCE THE FOOD FOR THOUGHT DIETARY REGIMEN, ensuring that 80%-plus of food consumed is organic high-fibre plant dietary, 80%-plus eaten raw. The more plant foods and the more raw, the better. Remove grains where possible from the diet.
DIET: Small meals, consumed often.
DIET: Reduce meat and eliminate dairy intake. Avoid pork.
DIET: Cut out ingestion of sucrose and refined, high-glycaemic carbohydrate foods. Add 2-4 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil/day to the diet.
HYDRATION: Commence hydrating the body to the extent of half the patient’s bodyweight in ounces of water per day (viz: a 160 lb male can drink 80 oz of water a day, which is approximately 10 glasses).
HYDRATION: Half a teaspoon (tsp) of Himalayan salt is recommended per 10 glasses of water. Maintain over the long-term.
DETOXIFICATION: Remove all toxins and damage triggers from environment and lifestyle (harmful personal and household products, chemicals, smoking, drugs, SUGAR)
DETOXIFICATION: Detoxify the body and kill overgrowths of fungi, yeasts and parasites
RESTORE NUTRIENT BALANCE: COMMENCE THE BASIC SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM, ensuring:
Test homocysteine plasma levels via your GP. If above 13 ?mol/L, take a high potency vitamin B supplement comprising at least 0.8mg of folic acid, 0.5mg of B12 and 20mg of B6. This supplement is good insurance as you age in any case.
Optimise vitamin D levels to 150–200 nmol/L (60–80 ng/ml). A 25-hydroxy D test via your GP can be obtained at the same time as the above test for homocysteine (see A Guide to Nutritional Supplements for more information on vitamin D)
Vitamin C complex, 25-30 g per day (see A Guide to Nutritional Supplements before using)
Krill oil, 3 g per day
Calcium, 400-800 mg per day and magnesium, 400-800 mg per day has been found to slow down aluminium absorption (21)
Avoid where possible drugs, radiation scans and intrusive ‘diagnostic’ testing
Regular exercise is very important. Not just walking! Get the heart rate up with cycling, stair-climbing, hill-climbing, etc. for at least 30-40 minutes a day (see Exercise)
Spend at least 40 minutes a day outdoors between 11am and 2pm. Get the required sun to pinken the skin. Do not burn
Play memory games and stay intellectually active
Avoid isolation and loneliness
Be happy and stress-free
Rest

1 Martyn, C N, Barker, D J, Osmond, C, Harris, E C, Edwardson, J A and Lacey, R F “Geographical relation between Alzheimer’s disease and aluminum in drinking water”, Lancet, I (8629): 59–62, 14th Jan 1989; McLachlan, D R, Kruck, T P and Lukiw, W J “Would decreased aluminum ingestion reduce the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease?” Can Med Assn J, 1st Oct 1991

2 Jackson, J A, Riordan, H D, and Pol¬ing, C M “Aluminum from a coffee pot”, Lancet, I (8641) 781–782, 8th April 1989

3 Research at www.ravediet.com

4 Sellman, Sherill, Hormone Heresy, GetWell Int’l, Inc. 1998; also Seaman, Barbara, The Doctors’ Case against the Pill, Hunter House, USA, 1995, p.7

5 Pfeiffer, Carl & Patrick Holford, op. cit. p.176

6 Daily Mail, 14th September 2010

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 www.vitamindcouncil.org; Evatt ML, Delong MR, Khazai N, Rosen A, Triche S, Tang-pricha V “Prevalence of vitamin insufficiency in patients with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease”, Arch Neurol. 2008 Oct;65(10):1348–52

10 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7466457.stm: “How Care Home Keeps Elderly Healthy” , 23rd June 2008

11 Batmanghelidj F and P Day, The Essential Guide to Water and Salt, Credence, 2008

12 Martyn, C, et al, “Geographical relation between Alzheimer’s disease and aluminium in drinking water”, Lancet, 14th January 1989

13 Prior IA, Davidson F, Salmond CE, Czochanska Z “Cholesterol, coconuts, and diet on Polynesian atolls: a natural experiment: the Pukapuka and Tokelau Island studies”, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1981;34:1552–1561

14 Hydrogenation is an industrial process whereby natural fats are heated and hydrogen atoms added to produce a plasticised, thickened, rancid oil. Consuming this mess damages human health while benefiting industry in terms of viscosity and the supermarket in terms of shelf-life.

15 KG Nevin and T Rajamohan “Beneficial effects of virgin coconut oil on lipid parameters and in vitro LDL oxidation”, Clinical Biochemistry, September 2004; 37(9): 830–835

16 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/22/coconut-oil-and-saturated-fats-can-make-you-healthy.aspx#_edn2

17 www.naturalnews.com/030373_coconut_oil_Alzheimers_disease.html

18 GF Cahill, Jr and RL Veech “Ketoacids? Good Medicine?”, Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association , vol. 114, 2003; RL Veech “The therapeutic implications of ketone bodies: the effects of ketone bodies in pathological conditions: ketosis, ketogenic diet, redox states, insulin resistance, and mitochondrial metabolism”, Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids , 70 (2004) 309–319; Y Kashiwaya, T Takeshima, N Mori, K Nakashima, K Clarke, and RL Veech “D-b-Hydroxybutyrate protects neurons in models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease”, PNAS May 9, 2000, vol. 97, no. 10, 5440–5444

19 www.anh-usa.org/coconut-oil-and-alzheimer%E2%80%99s-disease/

20 See A Guide to Nutritional Supplements

21 Garrison, Jr Robert H and Somer, Elizabeth Nutrition Desk Reference. New Canaan, CT: Keats, p 78–79; 106; 210–211, 1990; Weiner, Michael A “Aluminum and dietary factors in Alzheimer’s disease”, J Orthomolecular Med, 5(2):74–78, 1990

Excerpted with kind permission from The ABC’s of Disease by Phillip Day, www.credence.org. Copyright © Phillip Day 2011
Read more about applying for NHS Continuing Care funding to cover care fees for someone with dementia.

Care To Be Different does not recommend or endorse any one specific supplier or provider, and there are other providers available. We do not give medical advice.

June 29, 2012/1 Comment/by Care To Be Different

Health and nutrition

Exercise and dementia: Care home gym leads the way

Credit goes to Redholme Care Home in Liverpool for encouraging residents with dementia to do simple exercise sessions in the gym.

These gentle gym sessions are having clear benefits on residents’ health. As care home owner, Anne McCann, confirms in this BBC report , they have fewer falls, stronger bones and greater strength and stability – and the whole process is reducing the need for medication.

And yet scientists seem puzzled – and don’t understand why exercise should help. Millions are spent every year on research, but surely the benefits of exercise are no big mystery at all?

Plaque builds up in the brain just like it does in other arteries. The brain needs oxygen, nutrients, glucose and water to function. Increased blood flow through exercise carries all these things to the brain.

Do we really need to spend millions researching what is largely common sense? Or is the purpose of ongoing research to try to justify even more drugs – or, worse still, destructive anti-psychotic drugs – that often cause even more residual damage to health?

For the brain to receive nutrients, and for there to be any chance of reversing (not suppressing) dementia symptoms, there must be nutrients going into the body in the first place. A high-nutrient diet is vital. Clogging up the brain with synthetic drugs, poor diet and a lack of water and oxygen is a recipe for disaster.

That’s why it’s so sad to see so many elderly people in care homes existing in a haze of dehydration and ‘empty’ food (processed food, refined sugar and cooked food devoid of nutrients).

Disease develops long before it’s ever diagnosed. It’s vital to keep exercising and eat a high-nutrient diet – and for elderly people who already have dementia, being able to exercise is even more vital, even for short gentle sessions.

Walking, light weights, dancing – and not forgetting singing and laughing – it all leads to greater physical and mental wellbeing.

Health does not have to be complex, but our ‘health’ industry seems to makes it so. Better brain health for people with dementia can often come down to simple common sense.

April 15, 2011/1 Comment/by Care To Be Different

Health and nutrition

Care home water drinking club

This initiative by a care home in Suffolk helps keep elderly people healthy…

water drop How refreshing to read this BBC report about The Martins care home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, which in 2008 won an award for the best hydration practice in a care home.

The home set up a water drinking club and encouraged residents to drink more water.

Organised by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) and the National Association of Care Catering (NACC) the competition was supported by Water UK and followed Anglian Water’s previous ‘Health On Tap’ campaign.

Improvements in health

The Martins care home saw significant improvements in health, including fewer falls, fewer GP call-outs, a reduction in the need for laxatives, fewer urinary tract infections, greater energy for residents and greater mental clarity.

As this report shows, “…the benefits recorded by the residents and witnessed by The Martins’ staff is testament to the widely held belief that water is the best health drink around.”

Residents kept water diaries and documented changes in their health. The project required just simple changes in habits for care staff and residents alike.

Water – essential for life

Every function in the human body relies on water to work properly, and dehydration puts health at serious risk.
Our brains are predominantly water, the human adult body is about 60% water, our lungs are 90% water, bone is 22% water and our blood is 83% water.
The human body needs water to digest food, to absorb nutrients and to expel waste.

It’s not surprising therefore that residents at The Martin’s saw dramatic improvements in their health.

The report continues: “There is nothing as important as water,” says Wendy Tomlinson, former nurse and manager of The Martins care home. “Since we started the scheme the whole place has been buzzing. The improvement in our residents has been incredible…””

This article on the Medical News Today website had more information.

Care homes can take the lead

If medical training continues to fail our doctors and nurses by not teaching them about nutrition and by instilling the notion that poor health can only be treated by complex and expensive science, these same doctors and nurses will, in turn, continue to compromise the health of elderly people. The medical profession will continue to ignore the fact that much chronic disease has one simple cause: dehydration and poor nutrition.

Successive governments talk about healthy eating as a way of encouraging better health, but little is done in practice to implement higher nutritional and hydration standards in care homes and hospitals.

It means however that there is a valuable opportunity for care homes here: They can take the lead in improving nutrition and hydration for residents – and reap the rewards of lower costs of care and a positive reputation.

If you have a good example to share of good hydration or nutrition by a care provider, please leave a comment below.

February 24, 2011/0 Comments/by Care To Be Different

Health and nutrition

Nutrition and healthcare – when will doctors catch up?

Nutrition and health – eat well to be well

American gynaecologist and obstetrician, Dr Preston Maring, took the unusual step in 2003 of setting up an organic farmer’s market right outside the Kaiser Permanente hospital in Oakland, USA.

As this article in the New York Times reports, Dr Preston is a strong advocate for good nutrition and part of healthcare. He recognises, however, that many doctors find it extremely difficult to talk to patients about this – because they have so little training in it.

That’s what prompted him to start educating his student doctors about the link between nutrition and health – and encouraging them to walk their talk.

He believes the “kitchen must become as crucial as the clinic” and that “food is at the centre of health and illness”, particularly a plant-based diet.

He regularly tours health care institutions around the USA and doesn’t hesitate to “put doctors on the spot” when it comes to their knowledge about diet.

The link between nutrition and health is, of course, what many people outside conventional medicine have known for years.

Obesity, heart disease, cancer, dementia, arthritis, diabetes and stroke are all linked to diet and hydration, and with people now exploring and demonstrating the benefits of good nutrition for themselves, it’s increasingly obvious that medical training needs to keep up.

Read the full article here.

February 17, 2011/0 Comments/by Care To Be Different

Health and nutrition

Multiple sclerosis and vitamin D – the link

Scottish government disappoints people with MS

According to Oxford University there is strong evidence to link multiple sclerosis (MS) with a deficiency in vitamin D.

Scotland has one of the highest incidences of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the world, and it is thought to be on account of its lack of sufficient UVB wavelength sunlight.

How frustrating then for people with MS in Scotland that the Scottish Government has ruled out any move to provide Vitamin D supplements on the NHS.

It claims ‘lack of evidence’.

Read this article from HeraldScotland.com about vitamin D and multiple sclerosis.

September 26, 2010/0 Comments/by Care To Be Different

Health and nutrition

Vitamin C – it can save your life

If you ever have doubts about the power of vitamins…

Watch this news clip from New Zealand about how vitamin C saved a farmer’s life.

And yet it seems the doctors involved in this case would rather have ended this man’s life than risk losing face.

Bear with me. I’m not having a go at doctors. I’m making a point about medical training.

This story is about swine flu – but the lessons are clear for millions of people with typical ‘elderly’ diseases: One of the common factors in dementia, diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses is plaque building up in arteries – both in the body and the brain.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C in high doses is known to help dissolve this plaque – without the harmful ‘side’ effects of drugs. And yet rarely, if ever, will a conventional doctor recommend Vitamin C. Why? Because, generally speaking, doctors are taught to prescribe drugs to temporarily treat symptoms – instead of nourishing a body back to health for the longer term.

Since the year dot humans have consumed vitamins and minerals to maintain health. It’s not complicated. However, conventional medicine has steered us to assume that drugs must be better – and yet vitamins and minerals are some of the most widely researched and tested substances on the planet!

When doctors says that there’s ‘no evidence’ for a particular vitamin or other supplement, what they may actually mean is that their peers have not tested it – and if they have researched it, it may have been tested in such small doses that the results will inevitably say ‘no evidence’.

Why? Because the primary focus of medical training is drugs. And drugs make a lot of money for pharmaceutical companies, and (dare I say it) the pharmaceutical industry supports doctors.

Perhaps that’s also why doctors, such as the ones in the film clip from New Zealand, are scared of acknowledging that a different approach could work better.

My father had advanced Parkinson’s Disease and, as is common with Parkinson’s, he found it very difficult to sleep through a whole night. As a result he had extreme fatigue. Talking to his GP one day I asked if the GP could recommend something to help Dad – but not drugs.

I already knew the answer: “We only do drugs.”

Medical training fails doctors

One of the most dangerous things about any kind of training is when it teaches its students to believe that their way is best and that other approaches are not to be trusted – or even explored – no matter how illogical the premise.

We are failing our doctors and nurses by not providing them with training in nutrition. It makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for them to recommend the things that really nourish and heal.

And until we acknowledge that the human body, even when very sick and/or elderly, can often regain its health with the right nutrients, millions of people will stay dependent on prescribed drugs and the costs of care will simply continue to rise.

Watch the news clip here.

September 7, 2010/0 Comments/by Care To Be Different