Posts classified under: 2002

Rachel Tseng

• USE OF ANTI-EMF SACHETS

(Peat moss from Sweden’s virgin forest sewn within organic cotton cloth)

Peat moss has the ability to protect one’s life force, and to prevent the harmful effects of EMF. Cotton cloth can enhance the powers of peat moss.

Put the peat moss sachets on our Dantian (acupressure point or chakra located below the navel) and Mingmen (located on the intersection between the hip and the spine). The sachets can also be sewn onto one’s cap at the crown chakra and third-eye chakra (located between the two eyebrows). They can be directly placed on the electrical appliance itself to avoid EMF interference.

Another way is to purchase peat moss (available from nursery gardens at 5 pounds per packet) and mix it with kelp powder in the ratio of 5:1. Put the mixture under the bed within the perimeter of 4 to 6 feet. This will help you discharge the toxins within your body and those from EMF. Change the mixture every six months. The mixture can also be placed within an open container, in front of the television set, on top of the kitchen cabinet, or anywhere where there is a need for it.

• USING THE CHAKRA BREATHING METHOD BY VALERIE HUNT

(see “Harmonizing Energy for a Healthy Body” in July-Sept 2001 issue of Lapis News or in our web site)

Use of chakra energy can enhance one’s energy levels to help discharge EMF interference and emotional burdens.

• SPECIAL BATHS

• KELP POWDER BATH

Add a quarter cup of kelp powder and soak your body in the bath for 20 to 40 minutes. You can also rub 1-2 (or more) spoonful of kelp powder onto your body before taking a shower.

• SEA SALT BATH

Add a pound of sea salt and a pound of baking soda to a bathtub of water, and soak your body in it for 20 minutes.

• JAPANESE WHITE CHARCOAL BATH

Add a pound of Japanese white charcoal to the bath or soak your feet in it. This has the effect of warming and detoxifying the body. Soak for 20 minutes.

• NATURAL CLAY BATH

Mix natural clay to the bath water to increase its conductivity. This helps the body to discharge EMF.

• SUNSHINE BATH

Avoid the noon sun. Best to do so before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Select a clean and fresh environment and wear minimum clothes (swimming costume or nude). Face the sun for 5 minutes, and then have the back face the sun for another five minutes. At this time, close your eyes, relax the whole body, and feel the sun’s energy flow into your head, eyes, arms, body, and legs. Visualize the toxins and negative energy in your body seep from your legs into the earth as fertilizer.

• WHITE CHARCOAL

This protects against EMF and has other special properties. Put the charcoal in places with high EMF radiation such as the computer or television set. You can also put it under the pillow to improve your sleep, or to soak in bath water.

• HANNA KROEGER’S APPROACH

Find the power cables that lead into your house and put magnets with pull-force of 20 (each with an index of 10kg pull-force) on each end of the cable. Put a silver wire between the magnets (like a sandwich), and tie with an electrical tape (see Figure 1). The underlying principle behind this method is as follows: Electricity frequencies have amplitudes of 23.5 inches. The combination of magnet and silver wire (called Electrilizer) will reduce the amplitude to 3.5 inches, and thereby prevents the electrical current from having harmful effects.

Dr. Lai has investigated the effects of this method and has found that the EMF interference in her house has really decreased. Furthermore, the cost of this device is low, and is therefore highly recommended.

Note: please contact Lapis office at Tel: 6337-5183 to purchase this product.

• ANOTHER HANNA KROEGER’S APPROACH

Negative energy may flow beneath our bed or house. This can arise from EMF of underground electrical cables, deep underground water, or radioactive radon etc. These have particularly harmful effects during our sleep. One simple way to protect ourselves is as follows: Use a coarse copper wire to wrap once round your bed (the easiest way is to wrap it round the mattress). Start from the side of the bed that is facing north, and end on the same side. One end of the wire is upward facing; the other is downward facing. It does not matter which end is considered the top or bottom (see Figure 2).

• PLACEMENT OF THE WIRES INSIDE THE WALLS

Most wires located within the walls are of three kinds: live wire (that carries all the voltage), neutral wire (that carries reverse current), and earth wire (that carries no current). During wiring, if the live and neutral wires are placed next to each other, they will neutralize each other’s EMF. Some high-voltage cables use this method of wiring.

• REDUCE THE USAGE OF ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES

Reduce the usage of the television set, computer, and mobile phone, especially at night. One reason is that the human’s energy level is generally weaker at night and more prone to harmful effects. In general, remove the sockets of all electrical appliances that are not used (*). Reduce the use of electricity and use appliances that are energy saving. Buy computers that satisfy Sweden’s TCO standards.

*In U.S., since there is no On/Off switch at the power sockets, it is recommended to remove sockets to totally cut off electricity. In Singapore, switch off electricity at the power sockets.

• SWITCH OFF THE MAINS

Do so when there is no one at home, and before sleep, retaining only the power for the refrigerator. This is a good overall method for reducing EMF radiation. You can sleep better, and don’t have to worry whether the power socket next to your bed is influencing your head. This also saves electricity.

• EAT FOOD THAT HAS RESTORATIVE PROPERTIES

Such food includes green vegetables juice, carrot juice, natural pickled vegetable, wheat grass, natural organic vegetarian food, Vitamin C supplements (best to add bioflavonoids, which are available by soaking the skins of organic oranges or lemons in water), fermented food (such as pickled vegetables, yogurt, miso), and seaweeds. These types of food can protect us from various kinds of harmful ions and radiation.

• WEAR ATTIRE MADE OF NATUAL COTTON OR WOOL (best if organic)

Clothes and socks made of these materials are best. Increase contact with nature and visit such natural places regularly to discharge static electricity. It is best to either wear straw or cloth shoes or walk barefooted on the grass. Select spots where no insecticide has been sprayed.

Arthur Hubbard Ph.D.

Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation, as are X-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet, visible light, radio waves and radar. Electromagnetic radiation is an electric and magnetic disturbance, a wave that transports energy from a source to a receiver without the actual transfer of material. Wave motion occurs on the surface of the ocean, and the energy of the waves is readily apparent, as are their wavelength and frequency. The wavelength of a microwave is about 15 centimeters [6 inches]. Microwaves have high frequencies, about 1 gigahertz [1 billion cycles per second] or more and happen to be strongly absorbed by the human body and by moist foods.

A commercial application of microwaves is the “microwave oven” in which food is placed in an electromagnetically shielded microwave chamber and allowed to absorb microwaves generated by a powerful electronic circuit. Microwaves are absorbed by moist foods because the oven frequency is similar to the rotational frequency of water molecules [about 2.4 gigahertz]. This “microwave excitation” causes water molecules in the food to suddenly become super-heated. Heat rapidly transfers from the super-heated molecules to the surrounding food. The excitation process is not perfectly specific to water, such that other molecules are also excited to some extent. Shielding of a microwave oven is sometimes less than perfect, allowing microwaves to stray into the surrounding spaces. Not all of the microwaves are absorbed by the food, but all of them must go somewhere, and some of them stray into the building via the electrical wiring.

The human body, including the brain and other vital organs, averages about 70% water, and thus the body is a strong absorber of microwave radiation. The health impact of microwave radiation absorbed by the body is a complicated issue that needs much further study, particularly the practical question as to the long-term effect of microwave exposure on the health and behavior of people of widely varying ages and states of health, including unborn fetuses.

Foods are complex substances from a scientific standpoint, and the impact of microwave excitation of foods on health and nutrition needs much further study. There have been reports of experiments in which frozen food warmed in a microwave oven was found to have undergone unhealthful changes, and food prepared in a microwave oven produced various symptoms of illness in volunteers who ate the food.

Another commercial device that presently employs microwave radiation is the cellular telephone system in which microwave radiation is transmitted and received by handheld units, “cell phones,” and by a network of powerful transmitters that now dot the globe. Other, safer, frequencies could have been used, but microwave frequencies were chosen for business reasons. Unlike the microwave oven, which attempts to confine its radiation within a shielded chamber, the cellular telephone system broadcasts its radiation everywhere. The world is its oven! The microwave frequencies employed by cell phone networks are in the range from about 0.8 to 2.1 gigahertz and thus are absorbed by the human body as are the frequencies used in microwave ovens. Although the microwave power [energy per unit time] is somewhat smaller for a cell phone than for a microwave oven, the cell phone broadcasts its radiation directly and unhindered into the brain and body of the user and anyone else nearby. Also, the neighborhood transmitter towers broadcast microwave radiation throughout their surroundings at power levels that are typically quite large. People living or working near a functioning transmitter tower are continuously exposed to microwave radiation.

Exposure to radiation as a result of cell phone use can induce “microwave sickness” the list of symptoms of which is “as long as your arm”. Some of the symptoms include inflammation of eyes, ears, nose, mouth and throat, headaches, earaches, insomnia, dizziness, and various mental or neurological disorders. Increased incidence of certain cancers has been reported among cell phone users.

Clearly, caution regarding cell phones and microwave ovens is in the best interest of each individual and of our civilization. What can one do to protect oneself and one’s family? Cell phone use should be limited to genuine emergencies. Microwave ovens, and the food establishments that use them, should be avoided. If cell phone use is mandatory, care should be taken to select a cell phone unit for which the radiation level is as low as possible. Radiation typically decreases as the square of distance from the source, that is, by a factor of one hundred for every ten-fold increase in distance from the source; thus, one should try to keep as far away as possible from radiation sources. Microwaves are absorbed rather efficiently by electrical wiring, resulting in the spread of the undesired signal throughout the building and neighborhood. Meters for measuring microwave radiation intensity levels in units of milli-watts of power per square centimeter of area are available with which to check for relatively strong signals, such as from a cell phone during a call, or from an oven due to imperfect shielding; warning beepers that are sensitive to moderately low intensity levels [micro-watts per sq. cm.] are also available [http://www.LESSEMF.com].

REFERENCES:

“Microwaving Our Planet: the Environmental Impact of the Wireless Revolution”
By Arthur Firstenberg, The Cellular Phone Task Force,
P.O. Box 1337, Mendocino, CA 95460, USA

“Your Community Guide to Cellular Phone Towers,”
Communications Workers of America,
AFL-CIO, 501 Third Street, NW, Washington,
DC 20001-2797, USA

Questions? Contact:
Lapis Lazuli Light, P.O. Box 42530, Santa Barbara
CA 93140-2530, USA

Stephen F. Sherrill

It was 55 years ago in Grand Rapids Michigan that the first large scale experiment with water fluoridation began. Today, approximately 60 percent of our nations water supplies are artificially fluoridated. The idea, then as now, was that tiny amounts of fluoride taken into the body on a daily basis would help prevent tooth decay in children with developing teeth. Since its inception, the practice has had enthusiastic supports and equally vigorous opponents. A half century later the often-bitter debate continues between mainstream medical/dental associations who routinely endorse water fluoridation and scientists, researchers and health-conscious citizens who are concerned about the growing body of scientific evidence linking ingested fluoride to a variety of adverse health consequences. Proponents maintain that ingested fluoride strengthens newly forming tooth enamel making teeth more impervious to decay. They insist that in small dosages, the additive is perfectly safe and that thousands of studies prove its safety and effectiveness. Not so, say opponents and the weight of new scientific evidence appears to be tipping the scales in their favor.

Faced with new toxicological evidence, some high-profile fluoridation advocates are jumping ship. Dr. Hardy Limeback, B.Sc., Ph.D. in Biochemistry, D.D.S., head of the Department of Preventive Dentistry for the University of Toronto, president of the Canadian Association of Dental Research and until recently one of Canada’s most outspoken champions of water fluoridation now warns, “Children under three should never use fluoridated toothpaste, or drink fluoridated water. And baby formula must never be made with [fluoridated] Toronto tape water. Never.” He continues, “In fluoridated areas, people should never use fluoride supplements.” In recent interview, columnist Barry Forbes asked Dr. Limeback, “Why the paradigm shift?” “It’s been building up for a couple of years”, said Limeback. “But the crowning blow was the realization that we have been dumping contaminated fluoride into water reservoirs for half a century. The vast majority of all fluoride additives come from Tampa Bay, Florida smokestack scrubbers. The additives are a toxic byproduct of the super-phosphate fertilizer industry. Tragically,” says Limeback, “that means we’re not just dumping toxic fluoride into our drinking water. We’re also exposing innocent unsuspecting people to deadly elements of lead, arsenic and radium, all of them carcinogenic. Because of the cumulative properties of toxins, the detrimental effects on human health are catastrophic.”

But does ingested fluoride actually fight tooth decay? Supporters credit fluoridated drinking water for a nationwide decline in tooth decay but opponents contend that the decline is more likely due to improvements in lifestyle, nutrition and oral hygiene. They point to an equivalent decline in tooth decay in Europe which is 98 percent fluoridation free and Japan where there is no water fluoridation at all. In 1986-97 the National Institute of Dental Research conducted the largest ever study in the U.S. to determine the dental health of our nation’s children. The study found no identifiable correlation between tooth decay rates in children and the consumption of fluoridated water. Likewise, the fifty-year fluoridation experiment in two New York cities, Newburgh and Kingston, shows no significant difference in tooth decay. The only distinguishable difference in dental health between these two communities is that fluoridated Newburgh shows nearly twice the incidence of dental fluorosis – the first, visible sign of chronic fluoride toxicity – as in non-fluoridated Kingston. “There is no point in swallowing fluoridated water”, says Canada’s Dr. Limeback. “The only benefit comes with direct contact with the teeth. Here in Toronto, we’ve been fluoridating for 36 years. Yet Vancouver – which has never fluoridated – has a cavity rate lower than Toronto’s.”

What sort of health hazards are we talking about? The pro-fluoridationists contend that there is no proof positive of any of the adverse health effects claimed by opponents, which range from cancer and neurological impairment to damaged tooth enamel and brittle bones. Opponents are troubled by reports that accumulated fluoride fuses with bones and teeth making them more brittle and fracture prone. Four articles published in the Journal of the American Medical Association since 1990 linking fluoridated drinking water to an increased rate of hip fracture gives strong credibility to these concerns. In the words of Charles Gordon Heyd, past president of the American Medical Association, “Fluoride is a corrosive poison that will produce serious effects on a long-range basis” Dr. Limeback emphasizes, “We absolutely know about the tragic consequences of higher levels of fluoride, and we know it builds up over time. These people haven’t done any studies to find out what effect fluoride accumulation will have at current levels. How can they say it’s safe when the studies haven’t been done? Right now, we [in Toronto] have been ingesting fluoride for 35 years. What happens in another 50 years, when these people have been adding this poison to their bones for 85 years? What we’re finding indicates a trend”, says Limeback. “Torontonians have double the fluoride levels in their hip bones compared to Montreal, where water is not fluoridated.”

How toxic is fluoride? A brief look into any toxicology textbook will quickly reveal what most Americans would be alarmed to discover. Fluoride is more toxic than lead and only slightly less toxic than arsenic. Lead has been removed from most commercial products including paint and gasoline because of its toxic effects on the brain and central nervous system. It’s curious that fluoride, which is more toxic, remains so prevalent in our society and is even promoted by well-meaning health professionals and public health officials as a safe and effective tooth decay preventative. The established “optimal” amount of fluoride in drinking water (one milligram per liter) is 266 times higher than the maximum contaminant level for lead established by the Environmental Protection Agency. A pea-sized portion of fluoride toothpaste contains approximately one milligram of fluoride. The FDA now requires that toothpaste manufacturers include a poison warning on the back of all products containing fluoride.

On July 2, 1997, National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 250, the union that represents the toxicologists, biologists, chemists, engineers, attorneys and other professional employees at Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters in Washington, D.C., stated, “Our members’ review of the body of evidence over the last eleven years, indicates a causal link between fluoride/fluoridation and cancer, genetic damage, neurological impairment and bone pathology. Of particular concern are recent epidemiology studies linking fluoride exposure to lower I.Q. in children.

What about fluoride’s neurological effects? According to The Lancct, England’s premier medical journal, fluoride inhibits or destroys the crucial neurotransmitter Acetylcholine sterase, which is imperative for the process of learning and memory. In the United States, scientist Phyllis Mullenix, while doing research for the Forsyth Dental Center in Boston, found similar evidence of neurological impairment. She proved that low doses of fluoride accumulate in the brain tissue of laboratory animals, and that the severity of the effects depends on the age of those exposed. The younger were more vulnerable and could even be affected while still in the womb. What’s worse, the effects were permanent. “We demonstrated that fluoride does accumulate in the brain, and it was previously thought or reported that fluoride does not cross the blood-brain barrier, but this is definitely not true” proclaims Dr Mullenix. “There is a distinct possibility that fluoride may be decreasing the neurological capacity of the children, and for that matter, even of the adults and into the aged population. New epidemiological evidence from China confirms a correlation between low-dose fluoride exposure and diminished I.Q. in children.”

In 1999, Dartmouth College researchers Roger D. Masters and Myron J. Coplan completed a study, which sampled 280,000 children in Massachusetts and reported a doubling of the risk of lead levels in children’s blood rising above the danger level of 10 micrograms per deciliter when the waste silicofluorides from the phosphate fertilizer industry are used for water fluoridation. In a plenary address, Masters states that heavy metals compromise normal brain development and neurotransmitter function, leading to long-term deficits in learning and social behavior. Earlier studies revealed that hyperactive children and criminal offenders have significantly elevated levels of lead, manganese, or cadmium compared to controls. High blood lead at age seven predicts juvenile delinquency and adult crime. Communitics using silicofluorides also report higher rates of learning disabilities, ADHD and violent crime.

How are we exposed to fluoride? Fluoride exposure has increased since water fluoridation’s inception in 1945 and, in addition to fluoridated water, popular dental products, prescribed fluoride drops and tablets and professional dental treatments, fluoride has found its way into many common food items such as soft drinks, cereals, milk, concentrated soups and juices, meats, teas, white grape juice, lettuce, tomatoes, raisins, and other produce because of fluoride-based pesticide residues and food processed with fluoridated water. The quandary facing health-conscious Americans wishing to avoid excess exposure is that there are no labeling requirements for fluoride contents in food. Dr. Mullenix warns, “It’s totally illogical to be putting fluoride into our drinking water. We should be working on ways to control our exposures, reducing it from our drinking water, reducing it from our food intake and/or by inhalation in various occupational situations. We shouldn’t be working to introduce more fluoride into our diet with this type of risk looming over our head.”

How can we tell if our children are being overexposed? The first sign … “Mottled and brittle teeth”, says Dr. Limeback. “In Canada we are now spending more money treating dental fluorosis than we do treating cavities.” The characteristics of dental fluorosis are mottled, discolored, porous and fracture-prone teeth caused by fluoride over exposure between birth and approximately 8 years of age. In 1995, while segments of these same trade associations simultaneously continued to lobby for water fluoridation, both the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, concerned over the increased incidence of dental fluorosis, created new policy recommendations for fluoride drops and tablets. These supplements are intended to be a substitute in communities where the water is not fluoridated. The new schedules indicate that the accepted “optimal” daily dose from fluoridated water (one milligram per day) exceeds the dosage that any qualified medical professional could ethically prescribe to a child under 6 years of age and an infant under 6 months of age should receive no fluoride. According to the new recommendations, a child under the age of 6 would be overdosed every day by the amount of fluoride found in one liter of “optimally” fluoridated tap water and a child between the ages of 6 months and 3 years would be limited to the amount of fluoride found in just one cup of fluoridated tap water. U.S. Public Health Service documents show that even in 1991, when considering exposure from all sources, non-fluoridated communities were already receiving amounts equal to and above the targeted daily fluoride dosage. Fluoridated communities were receiving an estimated 3 to 7 times the “optimal” amount. The largest dental study in the United States revealed that 66 percent of children in fluoridated areas now display the visible signs of dental fluorosis. Dr. John Colquhoun, Auckland, New Zealand’s former Principal Dental Officer and high-profile fluoridation advocate wrote, “Common sense should tell us that if a poison circulating in a child’s body can damage tooth-forming cells, then other harm is also likely.”

Recently members of Congress have also been getting into the act. In light of the fact that fluoride is well recognized as a general enzyme poison, legislators such as a Ken Calvert, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, have been demanding answers to some tough questions from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), National Academy of Science (NAS) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the subcommittee’s investigation of these agencies’ actions surrounding the fluoridation issue. Calvert is calling for answers to questions regarding conflict of interest among those responsible for setting foundation standards, unproven claims of fluoride’s benefits, the increase of dental fluorosis nationwide and the cost of repairing damaged teeth, the margin of safety for unusually susceptible individuals, known contaminants in fluoridation additives and compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996.

In light of all the new data why do associations like the ADA and agencies like the CDC continue to endorse water fluoridation? “Unfortunately,” says Dr. Limeback, “the CDC is basing its position on data that is 50 years old and questionable at best. Absolutely no one has done research on fluorosilicates, which is the junk they’re dumping into the drinking water. On the other hand,” he adds, “the evidence against systemic fluoride intake continues to pour in.”

Why do the dentists still believe water fluoridation is safe? “I have absolutely no training in toxicity,” admits Dr. Limeback. “Your well-intentioned dentist is simply following 50 years of misinformation from public health and the dental association. Me too. Unfortunately, we were wrong.” Last year, before the University of Toronto Department of Dentistry. Dr. Limeback apologized to faculty and students and told them that he had unintentionally mislead his colleagues and his students. Dr. Limeback admitted, “For the past 15 years, I had refused to study the toxicology information that is readily available to anyone. Poisoning our children was the furthest thing from my mind. The truth was a bitter pill to swallow. But swallow it I did.”

In Malaysia, handphones are so common that almost everybody has one. Sights of people carrying or talking on handphones are common.

In the past, handphones used to be the communication tools of businessmen and sales personnel. However, today, its usage has penetrated into all levels of society ranging from the working population to housewives, and from college students to primary children. It is not unusual for a family to own five or six handphones. Furthermore, shops selling handphones and pre-paid card stations have sprung up everywhere, and television and newspaper advertisements by telecommunication and handphone companies are proliferating. All these indicate the pervasive use of handphones in the country.

Malaysia’s Handphone Growth Rates Rank Number 3 In The World

Malaysia has one of the highest handphone usage rates in the world. The growth of its handphone market is extremely fast. In Asia, its growth rate is third after China and Japan.

According to recent statistics, the country’s handphone users, comprising registered users and pre-paid users, number as many as 7.26 million. In 1996, the number of users stood only at 1.51 million, indicating that the increase in handphone usage has grown by 5 times within a period of 6 years. These figures also indicate that one in every three Malaysians is a handphone user.

Due to the large number of handphone users and intense competition among telecommunication companies provide better services, telecommunication companies have rushed to erect base stations at various locations across the country. In the past one year, these base stations have not only increased in numbers, but are also getting closer to residential areas. At the same time, protests and complaints by community have increased, with a common request calling for the removal of these base stations.

Since last year, increasingly large number of complaints pertaining to base stations have appeared in the media. Across the country, in both large and small towns, people have begun to complain of the detrimental effect that these base stations have caused to their health. Many people have expressed that since the erection of a base station near their homes, they have experienced increased frequencies of giddiness, numbness in both arms, breathing difficulties, insomnia, and titinus. Others complain about having to see the doctors more often because of poor health.

In September 2001, there were media reports about one resident living in Kuantan Road (Penang) who complained that the installation of a base station had caused 6 members living in the same building to contract cancer, with 4 subsequently dying from the disease. This report struck fear in the hearts of many people and escalated the public’s concern on the harm brought by base stations. This has also led to much mental distress for people living close to these base stations. In some areas, quite a number of base stations are erected on top of high-rise buildings or shophouses, increasing people’s concern over their safety.

Removal Of Illegally Constructed Handphone Base Stations.

In reality, these complaints and concerns suggest weakness in the regulation of base stations. According to a related department, many base stations are illegal, and only a small number of them have officially obtained approval for erection. According to the 1988 Malaysia’s Telecommunications department guidelines, when a telecommunications company wishes to construct a base station, it has to apply to a multi-organizational committee and seek the approval of the local government and town council. Otherwise, the Telecommunications department has the right to have the base stations removed. These guidelines also stipulate that the structure of base stations must comply with safety standards and must be kept at least 150 meters away from residential areas. Licenses are to be renewed yearly.

Because these guidelines are not legally enforced, the number of base stations has continued to increase in response to the needs of handphone customers. Given that more than half the base stations are illegally constructed, it would seem that the above guidelines are practically useless.

Recently, one town council has revealed that new guidelines have changed the minimum distance between base stations and residential areas from 150m to 35m. The council explained that the change was made because there has yet to be scientific evidence that radiation from base stations is harmful to health! This new ruling is truly regretful, as it shows that the community’s health and the environment can be sacrificed for personal convenience and economic gains.

Undeniably, the handphone is one of the most convenient communication tools in modern times. It is also a status symbol, and to some youngsters, a new toy, and a fashion statement.

Youngsters seem to particularly like to wear their handphones on their waists or hang them around their chests as a fashionable ornament. With the advent of SMS, the popularity of the handphone has soared, even exceeding that of emails.

A Handphone Attached To The Ear Is Akin to a Microwave Station Attached To The Body.

Although the makes of handphones have become more modern and user-friendly, we should not be influenced by their exterior appearances, and forget that they are actually mini electromagnetic stations with hidden dangers. When we carry handphones or have them close to our ears, it is as good as having microwave stations attached to our brains.

Handphones have truly brought much convenience to communication. However, it has also caused our lives to be surrounded in an environment full of electromagnetic waves that endanger our health and harming the natural environment. If this is the price to pay to enjoy the benefits of technological advancement, perhaps we should ponder deeply on whether the price to pay is too hefty.

Safe Distance between Handphone Base Station and Residential Area is at least 200m.

The handphone is actually a mini-electromagnetic station. When we use the handphone, it will emit low frequency waves and high frequency radiation, just like when we use the microwave oven.

Although the electricity used by handphones is lower than that by radios and televisions, its electromagnetic penetration level is much stronger, a situation exacerbated by the fact that the human body is a conductor that can transmit radiation. Whenever we use handphones, about 20-80% of the microwave radiation is absorbed by the body and the brain, with the amount of absorption depending on the handphone model, the antenna type and the distance from the base station. Usually, handphones without antennas caused more microwaves to be absorbed by the brain, and the further one is away from the telecommunication station, the stronger will the handphone’s radiation need to be in order to receive signals.

Specialists also said that the microwave absorbed from using handphones in excess of 2 minutes may cause damage to the brain. Scientific research in Europe has discovered that using the handphone is as good as cooking our brain. Research has shown that when using the handphone, the heat around the ears, cheek and head increases by 4.8 times. In addition, Russian researchers have discovered that handphones can increase the temperature above the skin by 4.7^oC. This type of damage by heat may cause skin cancer or premature aging.

On the other hand, experts are of the opinion that the negative electromagnetic field emitted by base stations are above 2 GHz. Hence, erecting base stations in cities or near residential areas are not wise directions

Drastic Increase In Electromagnetic Radiation Yearly

155 years ago, the telegram was invented due to the needs of warfare, and enabled man to control time and space. This invention has greatly facilitated communication, but it has also caused mankind and the earth to be “electrified”. In recent years, rapid technological advancements in telecommunication and the popularity of handphones have led to the creation of large number of base stations all around us. This has subjected mankind and the earth to more serious electromagnetic harm. A recent article titled “No Place To Hide” showed the increase in radiation levels between 1978 and 1999 in the hope that this can raise the concern of those who care about health and the earth.

In 1978, research by the American environmental protection department showed that the average populations in large cities face about 0.005uV electromagnetic radiation per every square centimeter. Then, the two large cities of New York and Chicago only faced 0.002uV electromagnetic radiation.

In 1999, Dr. William Lee (physicist and CEO of AlphaLab, which specialize in manufacturing electromagnetic waves detector) reported that measurements taken at 5pm in the afternoon showed that electromagnetic levels average 0.01 to 0.1uV. In other words, there has been an increase of 10 to 100 times over 20 years.

EMSciTek Consulting Co.’s CEO, physicist Dr. Bill Curry said that when he took a train from Washington to Stanford, the detected electromagnetic levels outside the window averaged 0.1uV per square centimeters. Yet while passing New York, the electromagnetic levels detected was 100 to 300uV per square centimeters. This means that compared to 20 years ago, the average radiation levels in New York have increased by 100,000 times.

A scientist, who was paid millions by mobile phone companies to investigate health risks, has bitterly criticised them for failing to act on his findings.

While the cell phone industry has assured consumers for years that cellular phones are completely safe, the industry’s former research director has now come forward to say this can no longer be presumed.

In an interview with Brian Ross on ABC NEWS 20/20 on October 20, 1999, Dr George Carlo said, “The industry had come out and said that there were thousands of studies that proved that wireless phones are safe, and the fact was that there were no studies that were directly relevant.” For the past six years, Carlo ran the cell phone industry’s $25 million research program, which has studied the effects of microwave radiation from cell phones. “We’ve moved into an area where we now have some direct evidence of possible harm from cellular phones,” Carlos says in an interview with ABC’s 20/20.

Dr George Carlos found that the rate of death from brain cancer is higher among mobile phone users and the risk of contracting a rare tumour on the outside of the brain is more than double. In an astonishing attack on the industry for which he once acted as spokesman, he accused firms of not taking safety seriously. “The companies are now spending millions trying to discredit me because, basically, they don’t like what I told them,” he revealed to The Express, “I felt angry and let down.”

His research body, which has handpicked by the industry, was given 15 million pounds to carry out a six-year study into the health effects of mobile phones. But after presenting its results to the phone companies in February, he claims they failed to take the “appropriate steps to protect consumers.” Dr Carlos, a leading public health scientist based in Washington, said: “They have shown total disregard for mobile phone users.”

In a damning letter to the heads of each of the 26 US firms that funded the research, Dr Carlos wrote to his extreme frustration and concern. His study showed that there “appeared to be some correlation between brain tumours on the right side of the head and use of phone on the right side of the head.” Laboratory studies also looked at the “ability of radiation from a phone’s antenna to cause genetic damage.” These studies proved positive.

Dr Carlo said: “Following my presentation, I heard by voice vote of those present, a pledge to do the right thing in following up these findings. But since I presented my findings, which they found surprising, they have failed to do anything. In that time there have been another 15 million users in the States and thousands more in Britain. From a consumer point of view the delaying tactic is not good but from a business point of view it’s great.” Alasdair Philips, of the consumer group Powerwatch in England, said: “To have someone like him, who has even acted as spokesman for the industry, come out and say this is quite amazing. There is a define link between mobiles and brain cancer which the companies can’t continue to ignore.”

In his letter, Dr Carlo said: “Alarmingly, indications are that some segments of the industry have ignored the scientific findings suggesting potential health effects.” He said some companies had “repeatedly and falsely claimed” that mobiles “are safe for all consumers including children.”

His findings add to concern over the safety of mobiles – used by 13 million in Britain and 80 million in the US, with the number rising daily. But a spokesman for the Britain cellular industry insisted that it was committed to addressing health concerns. Dr Carlo warned of a consumer backlash and said customers should be given all the information they need to make up their own minds about the health risks. He advised people to cut the time they spend on their mobile or hands-free phones, which do not come into direct contact with the ear.

The Federation of the Electronics Industry, which represents the UK cellular phone companies, said: “The consensus of scientific opinion is that there is no consistent evidence that mobile phones and mass (towers) operating within the guidelines have any adverse health effects.”

Earlier this year, British researchers found that mobile-type radiation created mysterious hot spots, which could damage children’s developing brains. The Government promised a rigorous investigation. Days later a study of 11,000 volunteers, the largest so far, found a link with headaches, dizziness and concentration lapses.

The $200-billion-a-year cell phone industry maintains the devices are safe. “There is a preponderance of evidence that there is not a linkage between the use of wireless phones and health effects,” says Thomas Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, the industry’s trade group. The industry has announced that it supports and will sponsor follow-up research.

What many of this country’s 80 million cell phone users may not know is that cell phones send electromagnetic waves into user’s brains. In fact, every cell phone model sold in the United States has a specific measurement of how much microwave energy from the phone can penetrate the brain. Depending on how close the cell phone antenna is to the head, as much as 60 percent of the microwave radiation is absorbed by and actually penetrates the area around the head, some reaching an inch to an inch-and-a-half into the brain. “This is the first generation that has put relatively high-powered transmitters against the head, day after day,” says Dr Ross Adey, who has worked for industry and government for decades studying microwave radiation and is one of the most respected scientists in the field.

Tests conducted by 20/20 found that some of the country’s most popular cell phones can – depending on how they’re held – exceed that radiation limit. 20/20 reported that government testing guidelines are so vague that a phone can pass the FCC’s requirements when tested in one position and exceed those maximum levels when held in another position. Along with the test results, the 20/20 story showed how users can significantly reduce their exposure by using hands-free phones which do not directly contact the ear.

“Cell Phones Connected to Cancer” is reprinted with permission from Options, The Newsletter of People Against Cancer, P.O. Box 10, Otho, Iowa 50569.

Website: www.PeopleAgainstCancer.com

For those meeting Dixie Keithly for the first time, it is very difficult to associate her with cancer, or to envisage that she is actually sixty-nine years old. This humorous, care-free and energetic lady contracted breast cancer 13 years ago, but has regained her health through natural therapy. In recent years, at her own expense, she has been producing broadcasts in Silicon Valley (California) to disseminate information on natural therapy for the benefit of cancer patients and other interested parties. She promotes the use of natural therapy by talking about her own personal experiences, interviewing cancer patients who have recovered through the use of natural therapy, and interviewing doctors and experts in natural therapy. Dixie’s recovery story serves as an inspiring reminder of the power of natural therapy in cancer treatment.

Dixie believes that all along, her diet has been healthier than that of most people. Yet in 1987, she discovered that she had abnormal bleeding from her uterus. She was 56 years then and had stopped menstruation. Believing that her bleeding arose from hormonal imbalance, her doctor prescribed hormones for her. Three days after consuming the hormones, she started bleeding again. However, her doctor instructed her to complete the entire hormone prescription for that month, and then wait for another month before contacting him. Five days before she was scheduled to contact her doctor, she felt a depression on her breast that felt like loose pieces of eraser shavings. She was later diagnosed as having breast cancer.

Her doctor advised that the affected breast be surgically removed and warned that the type of cancer she had could spread from one breast to the other. If she were to keep the other breast, she would have to undergo a breast scan every six weeks. A pragmatist, Dixie suggested that both her breasts be removed, and she did not want to live in constant fear of having this nightmare repeated every six weeks. That will certainly drive her crazy!

Before her surgery, Dixie explored the use of natural therapy. Unfortunately, she was unable to obtain any leads because all the people she initially spoke to had undergone surgery or chemotherapy. She later fortuitously came across a library book that described natural therapy methods involving diet, chiropractic, and acupuncture. This increased her understanding and confidence in natural therapy. Later, she contacted cancer patients who had recovered from cancer by adopting natural therapy methods and made up her mind to go to Mexico to discover more.

Like most people who decided to adopt natural therapy, Dixie encountered objections from concerned friends and relatives. Despite these objections, she set off alone for Mexico to seek treatment. Dixie has a strong will to survive – this was her life, and she had to make the best choice for herself.

While undergoing natural therapy in Mexico, she went through a programme of detoxification and diet control. She also took medication to strengthen her immune system, drank mineral water, and underwent a seven-day fruit juice fast every three months. Her doctor emphasized the importance of detoxification, and the need to replenish the body with clean food after detoxification. According to her doctor, the body would know how to regulate itself, and return to normal. This natural healing ability of the body has been observed since time immemorial.

Dixie was very lucky to find a doctor she trusted. Over the next ten years, she regularly followed up on her treatments, and took better tonics over time. She adopted a natural vegetarian diet, complementing it with regular fasts and exercises. These are the secrets to her triumph over cancer. According to Dixie, the costs of her travelling expenses, food, lodging, and medical expenses for her yearly trip to Mexico were even lower than her expenditure on annual check-ups in California. This low financial cost of natural therapy treatment was one reason why she could preserve with her treatment for ten years. Even though her doctor told her three years ago (1997) that she need not return to Mexico for treatment, she decided to continue her regular check-up because her doctor is like a teacher and a friend to her.

Till this day, Dixie continues to be filled with energy and a zest for life. She emphasizes the importance of a diet balanced in acidity and alkalinity that nourishes the body and advocates regular fasts to detoxify the body. She suggests the need to communicate with our own body, to treat ourselves well, and to bring happiness to others. Her friends always say that her programmes are not only informative, but also entertaining as well. Her humour brings laughter, and her enthusiasm touches the hearts of many.

Shortly after contracting cancer, Dixie had taken a vacation in Africa, and she seemed to have a new lease of life after seeing the wild African animals. This spiritual awakening that she experienced changed her perspective of life – she was motivated to treat her body well, to develop her spiritual life, and to become a happy and healthy example to others.

To Dixie, cancer is just an awakening call, not a death call. If a person can still live happily after contracting cancer, if a person nearing seventy can still be vivacious, what is there to be fearful of?

DIXIE’S RECOMMENDED DIET AGAINST CANCER

• Vitamin C Ascorbic Acid crystals: Dissolve 1 teaspoon (about 4 grams) of natural Vitamin C crystals into half a glass of warm water. Add fruit juice for taste. During Dixie’s period treatment, she would take 20 grams of natural Vitamin C crystals only.
• Flax seed oil (containing Omega 3&6) and digestive enzymes (mega chelated).
• Plant-based vitamins and minerals. On a daily basis, take at least 40,000 I.U. of Vitamin A, and 800 I.U. of Vitamin E (breast cancer patients should not take Vitamin E supplements).
• Sodium selenite (fights tumours).
• If the body is not too weak, fasting is a very good therapy method. Please read “Fasting can Save Your Life” by Shelton.
• On a daily basis, consume 8 glasses of carrot juice with 4 teaspoons of barley-green powder, or 8 glasses of dark green vegetable juice with carrot juice.
• Refrain from all animal-based products (pork, beef, chicken, fish, milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt, etc.)
• Do not take processed white flour but take brown rice and 100% wholemeal bread.
• Do not drink liquor or smoke cigarettes.
• Do not take salt (use Bragg liquid aminos instead)
• Do not take sugar or sugar substitutes (cancer cells love sugar)
• Drink diluted fruit juice or herbal tea.
• Replace vinegar with fresh lemon juice.
• Eat large quantities of leeks (raw and fresh ones are even better). Leek capsule (Kyolic) is a good substitute.
• Drink distilled water not bottled water.
• Consume mainly raw food, and wherever possible, choose organic vegetables & fruits, especially dark green vegetables.
• Do not eat fried foods.
• Drink 10 glasses of water daily (avoid drinking large amounts of water half an hour before meals and one hour after meals)

LIFESTYLE AGAINST CANCER

• Remove metal fillings in the teeth, and avoid all phosphorus products (for instance, toothpaste with added phosphorus and chemical cleaning agents).
• Do at least 20 minutes of outdoor exercise daily to reduce cholesterol and to stabilize one’s mood.
• Expose the body to sunlight but avoid the sun at noontime.
• Have sufficient rest.
• Maintain a positive attitude towards life (negative attitude is also a toxicant)
• Practice deep breathing of fresh air (cancer cells do not like oxygen).
• Helping others is a source of happiness and will alter one’s bodily chemical reaction.
• Illness is the body’s way of calling out for help, and you have to modify your behaviour and lifestyle if you wish to live. Communicate with your body to achieve balance and harmony.
• Develop spiritually; it will be a meaningful experience.

Speakers:
Wang Ku Xing
Chiu-Nan Lai, PH.D
Li Si Xuan

This is not a particularly cold winter in Taiwan. Yet, Taiwanese are experiencing many physical, mental, and spiritual problems caused, not by the weather, but by unemployment and work-related stress. Suicides have been rampant, and so has the incidence of cancer, the number one killer in the past ten years. According to Dr. Chiu-Nan Lai, long-term exposure to unhealthy physical, mental, and spiritual environments can lead to such problems and ailments.

Dr. Lai has a unique perspective on the care of our physical, mental, and spiritual health. She proposes a lifestyle that involves natural organic food consumption, qi maintenance, mind training and visualization. This perspective is an integration of traditional Chinese medicine, religion, and Western scientific research. Having been a researcher for over ten years at the Cancer Research Center in Houston, she is able to integrate her Western scientific background with the Chinese philosophy of harmony with nature.

She became a vegetarian at the age of nineteen, when she came across a book on natural vegetarianism. She confesses that she was initially not used to a vegetarian diet, but soon appreciated the sweetness of vegetables. “The mindset is hardest to change,” Dr. Lai points out. Some people erroneously believe that children will not grow if they do not eat meat. In actual fact, the nutrients (protein, calcium, iron, vitamins) necessary for healthy development can be derived from a balanced diet of whole grains, vegetables and fruits. In contrast, toxins that mimic estrogens are accumulated within animal fat, and cause harm to the body. She points out that women who eat meat everyday are 3.8 times more likely to contact breast cancer than those who infrequently eat meat (less than once a week).

Dr. Lai is against the use of chemotherapy to treat cancer, as chemotherapy kills both the healthy and cancerous cells. She suggests enhancing one’s qi to increase the immune system as a natural way to cure cancer. She points out that the combined use of qi gong and diet has a 90% chance of curing lung cancer, a success rate that is significantly higher than that obtained using chemotherapy.

Many people are unaware of the many carcinogenic agents present in their everyday environment. For example, mobile phones emit radiation that can interfere with the brain waves and adversely affect health. Dr. Lai gives the following analogy: “It is like burning your brain by putting a small microwave oven next to your ear.”

Exercise more. Get closer to nature to receive the earth’s natural 8 Hz magnetic field. This is the advice given by Dr. Lai, who explains: “When exposed to magnetic fields of about 8 Hz, the mind will calm down, and the incidence of restlessness and depression will decrease.”

Dr. Lai believes that a person’s body and mind form a whole, and the qi flowing inside the body is closely related to one’s physical and mental conditions. She advices those whose professions involve frequent contact with the computer and television: “Get close to nature, wear natural fabrics, cultivate a happy mind and warm social relationships – all these can strengthen one’s qi.”

Having a warm relationship with one’s friends and relatives is a key factor in strengthening one’s health. In her book “Returning to the Bliss of Our Minds”, Dr. Lai cites the following results from a Harvard University 35-year longitudinal study: of the people who felt they did not have a warm relationship with their mothers, 90% suffered serious ailments at middle-age; these figures were 83% among those who did not have a warm relationship with their fathers, and 100% among those who did not have a warm relationship with both parents.

Treat people with love, and you will get love in return.

Only when the human spirit gets enough nourishment will the physical body have the energy to deal with serious ailments and suicidal tendencies. Dr. Lai says: “Even plants need to be watered with love, and all the more so for humans. Love begets happiness.” To improve one’s emotional well-being and clear one’s memory of past trauma, Dr. Lai suggests the use of various exercises such as breathing, color visualization, eyeball rotation, and light tapping of the entire body.

Many inappropriate lifestyles and habits in modern society are causes of ailments, whether biological (cancer) or mental (suicidal tendencies). However, such ailments can be relieved by reducing the influence of adverse environmental and mental factors, and by eating healthily and sleeping well.

“More exercise, more contact with nature” – Dr. Lai advocates these ways to prevent cancer and suicide. The economic situation may be bleak, but it is a good time to slow down and reflect on recovering one’s health.

WANG: Dr. Lai Chiu-Nan followed her parents to the USA at the age of 14. She studied at the University of Hawaii and obtained a PhD in Chemistry from MIT. After that, she spent ten years in Texas performing cancer research, including the effects of food and environment on cancer incidence.

Motivated by her interest and personal experience, she subsequently left her research position in Texas to set up the Lapis Lazuli Light. From her research, she developed methods to preserve health and helped numerous people in the process. Her work focuses on preventative measures, as she believes that prevention is better than cure. From the 1990s onwards, she began to spread her message by giving public talks and writing and publishing books.

Many unpleasant things may happen in our lives, but two things are generally fatal or not easy to cure: cancer and suicidal tendencies. Today, we will discuss reasons why the incidence of cancer has skyrocketed in recent times. It used to be that middle-aged and old-aged people are the ones likely to contact cancer. However, the age of cancer victims has been going down. Is this due to the environment or one’s diet? What are the major causes of cancer? How do we prevent cancer?

LAI: I am delighted to share with everyone my thoughts and my thirty years of personal experience on these issues. Throughout these years, I’ve had the opportunity obtain insights from meeting many different cancer patients attending my workshops.

I’ve been living in the USA, so I’m more familiar with the situation there than that in Taiwan. However, the US experience should still be relevant to Taiwan. America is world’s richest country, and its medical expenditure comprises over half of the world’s medical expenditure. Yet, the life span of its people and the infant mortality rate rank 25 in the world. Clearly, then, money cannot buy health – high medical expenditure cannot help Americans to live longer.

Many pollutants are invisible to the naked eye. These include those coming from energy guzzlers like motor vehicles; they also include things such as high fat food. The US population constitutes 4% of the world’s population, but it takes up one-third of the world’s energy consumption. From this perspective, the US is a highly polluted country. This is why cancer incidence in the US was 3-4% 100 years ago, but now 40% of the Americans will develop cancer in their lifetime. This is a very unnatural and abnormal situation. Over the next twenty years, the number will continue to increase, and may rise to 50% in the short run.

After the Second World War, the US economy gradually shifted from one based on warfare to one based on consumerism. Thus, some toxic chemicals invented during the war were used in agriculture. In fact, chemical weapons were used in the treatment of cancer, and this is particularly true of early medicine used in chemotherapy.

In the field of medicine, antibiotics are to be used only when there is no choice and in life-threatening situations. However, the use of antibiotics has become more prevalent, and its usage is now derived from economic reasons. In the US meat industry, for example, antibiotics are mixed with animal feed and fed to healthy animals to promote the weight growth. Approximately 25 million pounds of antibiotics are used every year. This is the cause of the increase in antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Other countries such as the UK, Canada, Holland, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, and other European countries have banned the use of antibiotics, but the US meat industry has prevented the passage of legislation banning antibiotic use in animal feed.

There is one other major change within the US-the popularity of television in the past 40 to 50 years. This has radically changed the US culture, and in addition, although seemingly unrelated, this development has very close association with the incidence of cancer. Television advertisements encourage people to take high fat food and buy bigger cars. Early advertisements even encourage people to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, eat sweet desserts, and eat high-sugar breakfasts. Manufacturers promote their products from a commercial perspective, not a health-oriented one. The television has fundamentally changed Americans’ way of life, and this is associated with the rapid increase in cancer incidence among Americans. The influence of television will become more and more alarming.

WANG:  What is the role of genetic factors in cancer occurrence?

LAI: There are many factors that cause cancer, but very few cancers result purely from genetic reasons. External factors play a more major role. Sometimes, we see some families having a higher proportion of their members being afflicted by cancer – this is not necessarily due to genetic reasons but can be due to their common lifestyles (incl. Diet habit), personalities, or the way they express their emotions.

A person’s mood is closely related to the occurrence of diseases. Furthermore, children pattern after the way their parents express their emotions. Thus, cancer is more closely related to a family’s lifestyle and how their members express their emotions, and less related to genetic factors.

WANG: There is a difference in the diets of people in the East and West, yet the spread of cancer in these two regions is similar. Why is this so? How can cancer be prevented?

LAI: In the past, the Chinese have a higher incidence of stomach cancer, while the Americans have a higher incidence of breast cancer. The incidence of cancer of the reproductive organs has increased most rapidly in the past twenty years. For example, prostate cancer is now the most common type of cancer.

Cancer of the reproductive organs is related to pollution. Most of the petroleum derivatives, such as agricultural chemicals (pesticides, herbicides) and household pesticides, soap powder, as well as plastic, imitate estrogen, a female hormone, and thus encourages cell growth. When these chemicals get discharged into the water passages, rivers, and the sea, where they further break down into other chemicals, one of which is a strong female hormone imitator. When heated, plastics also release chemicals that imitate female hormones, very small amounts of which can interfere with our own hormonal secretions. Some commercial products employ nonylphenols, which is also a female hormone imitator. Cancer in the reproductive organs among males and females is the result of excessive hormones imitators remaining in the body. Thus, the best preventive measures are to avoid using plastic containers to store hot food, to avoid taking food that contains agricultural chemicals, and to avoid the use of insecticides.

Concerning diet, Americans’ diets generally contain high fat. Fast food has high sugar and high fat contents. These diets can easily lead to cancer of the rectal, mammary, breast, and prostate. The use of agricultural chemicals is an indirect reason for the incidence of cancer, because these chemicals are concentrated stored within the flesh of the animals. As one’s consumption of meat increases, the intake of residual chemicals also increases.

People in the East used to take low fat food such green vegetables and tofu as their normal diet. However, as they learn from the West, they also increasingly adopt a Western diet. For example, as the Japanese increased their fat intake in the last twenty to thirty years, so has the incidence of cancer among Japanese. This is because chemical pollutants are retained in the animals’ fat that people consume. Western countries such as New Zealand seem to have less pollution, yet the incidence of cancer in these countries is high and no different from that in the US. Again, this is because the people in these countries tend to have high meat consumption.

Mandy Hsieh

What most parents dread is seeing their children suffer from flu or fever. Children usually fall sick one by one when there is a flu epidemic or when the season changes. When children fall sick, the first thing that most parents would do is to let the children see a doctor so that he can give them injection and prescribe medications for them. Some children actually live off medicines used to cure flu for a long period of time, but this will only worsen their illnesses and weaken their bodies’ resistance to diseases. Western ‘Father of Medicine’ Hippocrates once said, ‘As long as the patient has fever, I am able to cure all kinds of illnesses.’ This may sound like an odd statement to us, but what does he mean?

Dr Tom Kruzel, N.D., pointed out in his medical report entitled ‘Fever as Healer’ that fever occurs when our bodies are fighting viruses or bacteria while repairing the damages caused by these viruses. Hence, we should allow the fever to reduce naturally. When the body is fighting viruses and bacteria, its resistance will also be enhanced greatly. If we use medications to bring down a fever very fast instead of reducing it naturally, our bodies will become very weak and eventually lose their resistance to any virus completely.

Dr Philip Incao M.D., a specialist in human intelligences, said that the body undergoes the greatest and fastest changes during childhood stage. During this stage, a child’s body will go through many times of reconstruction and a certain degree of destruction has to take place first in order to reconstruct a stronger body. Damaged old cells need to be eliminated before the body can reconstruct. Our bodies’ immune system causes fever and infections in order to destroy and digest these damaged cells, and to get rid of them from our bodies. Hence children very often have skin diseases, runny noses or pus because their immune system is working very hard. If these waste matters are not removed from the body, they will cause the child to have allergies or more serious infections. Actually, viruses do not attack us but will grow in profusion in us when our bodies are in the process of destroying and eliminating old and damaged cells. Hence viruses do not cause illnesses, but they live on illnesses.

According to research findings, fever will increase the number of white blood cells. The functions of white blood cell are to gather toxins and absorb micro-organisms in order to expel them from the body. When we are having fever, our hearts beat faster, and our breaths become shorter, oxygenated blood will thus be delivered to the infected area. Viruses do not grow well and fast in an environment with high level of oxygen. At the same time, our metabolism rate will increase and hence the toxins can be expelled faster. Most harmful viruses can survive only in a limited range of temperature. The increase in our body temperature during fever will limit their growth and enable the white blood cells to get rid of them from our bodies.

From these evidence, fever is actually a good remedy for illnesses. Doctors suggest we take note of the following points to help our children grow up healthily:

1. Try to let the patient get as much rest as possible, avoid unnecessary activities, do not let them go to school.

2. Keep the patient’s body warm, especially the torso and feet. Let the child wear clothes made of natural materials like cotton or wool etc. The child should be kept warm so that his cheeks are reddish, but he is not perspiring. Do not bathe the child. If his feet are cold, use hot water bags to keep them warm.

3. The diet of the patient should be kept light and oil-free. Avoid protein-rich food such as eggs, meat, milk, nuts, beans etc. Provide mainly liquid food such as vegetable soup, herbal tea, fruit juice (temperature of the juice should not be lower than room temperature). Fruits, cooked vegetables or porridge are also recommended. Furthermore, quantity of food intake should be less, not more. If the child is not hungry, then do not force him to eat. Normally, an improvement in the child’s appetite is a sign of recovery, but even then, the diet should be kept oil-free and light.

4. During fever, you can let the child drink herbal tea brewed with herbs such as horsetail, yarrow, chamomile or catnip. You may also use herbs that can boost the child’s immunity or medicines that serve similar purpose. Normal antibiotics and medicines such as aspirin will only cool down the ‘heat’ generated by the immunity system, they lower the body temperature too quickly thus depriving the immunity system of the chance to reconstruct. These medications, if used too often, will weaken our immunity system and will eventually cause us to lose our resistance to illnesses completely.

5. Observe the patient carefully, is he fully conscious? Does he have seizures? Are there signs of dehydration? Children with ages ranging from 6 months to 6 years are likely to have fever-related seizures which are due to the sharp increase in body temperature. If they do not have seizures within 24 hours when symptoms of fever first appear, then it is unlikely that they will have seizures. Send the child to the doctor immediately if he has seizures. You should also look out for signs of dehydration. Check if the patient’s skin on his cheeks or hands is springy to touch, if his skin is dry and if his tongue is moist. For new-borns, you can check if the fontanel is sunken below the level of the skull abnormally.

6. Let your child know that you care for him, that you are looking after him all the time. This will help to alleviate the child’s fear and nervousness and hence hasten the process of recovery.

Most parents are afraid that if the fever is not brought down immediately, the brain of the child may be damaged due to overheating. In actual fact, the brain will not be damaged even if the fever has risen to 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit). Some cancer patients’ bodies have to bear the temperature of 41.7 degrees Celsius for 2 hours continuously and their brains are not affected at all.

What you should watch out for are complications like meningitis or pneumonia. You need not use antibiotics or antipyretics to bring down the fever. Antibiotics are life-saving medicine, but they are not able to help the patient recover from his illnesses fully. Nowadays antibiotics are prescribed indiscriminately, resulting in more drug-resistant bacteria and hence illnesses which are more difficult to cure. Antibiotics can only keep infections under control temporarily, if the real cause of the disease has not been eradicated, our immunity system will remain to be weak.

So far, my two children have not taken any antipyretic whenever they have fever. I remembered Yong Wei once had high fever that lasted a week when he was 3 years old. During that week, his fever reached 39.5 degrees Celsius in daytime and rose to 40, 41 degrees Celsius at night. When he was asleep at night, he would wake up every 1 to 2 hours to cry. On the third day, I brought him to see a doctor to ensure that there was no other complication. I remembered myself fighting the strong temptation of giving him antipyretics prescribed by the doctor. I managed to overcome that and used American herbs with similar healing properties instead of the antipyretics. During the day, I prepared pear drink and brewed Luo Han Guo tea (Chinese herbs) for him to drink. His condition improved on the fifth day and his fever finally reduced on the seventh day. After Yong Wei had recovered fully, I felt that he had matured a lot, it was like he had changed into a whole new person. Upon reflections, I was glad that I allowed my son to fight this battle with his own ability and that he had successfully gone through this growing process. As for myself, I am no longer worried or scared when my sons have high fever. Yong Xing had skin rashes when he was one, it started with him having high fever for 3 days and when the fever came down, his body was covered with rashes. The rashes did not cause itchiness and they disappeared 2 days later. I did not give him any medicine or apply anything on his body. Before this incident, he would have flu once in a while and after that incident, he has never fallen sick.

I have consulted a few friends on how they helped their children overcome their illnesses. One mother used urine therapy, some mothers let their children drink lots of green vegetable and fruit juice (celery, parsley and apples). Some examples of folk practices to counter flu are consuming ginger drink, covering the patient with blanket and let him perspire, etc. Actually, Western doctors very well know the disadvantages of the misuse of antibiotics, they are refraining from prescribing antibiotics unless necessary. Parents who wish to use natural therapies can use the information provided here as a guidance.