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PHIlosophy(a blog)

World peace, freedom & human rights reflections

23/8/2021

 
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​A couple of days ago I attended a World Peace, Human Rights and Freedom rally in downtown Brisbane.  The start was substantially late, so I had plenty of time to observe and ponder.

Today, we are divided into seemingly inconsolable ideological contingents, estranged by different narratives, both carrying their own truth, data and stories.  There is significant disagreement on the course of action and even what those actions represent.

In this antagonistic soup, both divisions blame the other for the fall into unethical and immoral behaviour and decisions, having being tripped up by odious and corrupt influencers and organisations.  It seems that the antagonism inevitably ends with a familiar and consistent collapse in dialogue.

We are becoming an increasingly contrary society.  I experience it on my morning bike rides and I see it on social media.  It is blatantly obvious as it currently plays out on our global health stage.  I noticed it at the rally.  

On an individual level, if you become polarised within yourself, it can be hard to make a decision. You can become stuck in patterns.  These patterns may become lifelong: a lifestyle.  Expanded to societal scales, a population that can’t commune with itself, has no choice but to tumble with the momentum.  

With this unwanted momentum, it’s hard to see the forrest for the trees: to have common objectives, pathways, aspirations and dreams.  It’s classic control theory to divide and conquer.  Keep the masses confused so that no unifying counterforce can be assembled.  Small problems eventually, seemingly, become too big to fathom and nothing reaches resolution.  In the end, we are faced with confusion, inertia, and impotence in the manner of our current challenges.

The problem with arguments, is that the dispute distracts focus from the real source of the issue:  symptoms and not causes.  If you had a headache, contention about whether the best choice is to take an aspirin or have a sleep takes away from the real issue — the cause.

Ok.  Maybe that’s fine if your headache is intractable?  But is that what we are talking about here?  Are our current health issues untreatable?  Do we have NO other options?  Almost certainly, this virus will be around forever, in one form or another.  However, if viral history is any sort of teacher, then we will understand that humans didn’t survive and thrive this long without developing an amazing, adaptable immune system and that viruses will generally mutate to ensure their survival, which ultimately means the survival of their host.

In the meantime, don’t let the symptomatic treatment diminish the desire to tackle the real issues, otherwise we will still be here in the years to come.

If we limit the discourse to two extremes of action — either / or — then we run the risk of wholly implacable solutions.  As a populous, we will be faced with two completely objectionable options.  Because each option is objectionable, each supporter base will objectionable.  This will then further bury the root issues and causes.

How this issue has been portrayed in the media and in politics agitates our health concerns.  It has split the population and diverts notice from the genuine platform of cause.

This diversion and oppositional stance draws our attention and comprehension from the intimate workings of the human body.  This is where the real discourse should exist.  It also shows me how to find my place between poles.

The body does not work according to single, narrow interventions.  Science reduces our view to that which is measurable, necessitating elimination of all other variables, so that a particular unit / drug / vaccine can be studied.  However, the body doesn’t work that way.  The body is a delicate web of interconnected systems and there are always, always checks and balances to be made when the status quo is changed.  This necessitates an integrated and systematic evaluation and intervention process.  As a polarised society, like most arguments, we are participating in the wrong debate here.  The distractions divert us from need-to-know facts and alternative options.

Relativism, roughly put, is the view that truth and falsity, right and wrong, standards of reasoning, and procedures of justification are products of differing conventions and frameworks of assessment and that their authority is confined to the context giving rise to them (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/relativism/).

Simply put, relativistic thinking is the belief that reality is relative, depending on the adopted perspective.

I find this to be true today.  Peoples opinions are defined by their personal experience.  One’s view of our current plight will most likely be different if they have lost a business or can’t pay a mortgage compared to someone who doesn’t feel the need to leave home much or who may be financially stable.  It will be different if they’ve lost a loved one to an illness or virus compared to someone who has seen their child suffer a vaccine injury.  Until recently, some from the bush who have been relatively ambivalent and unaffected by lockdowns have changed their views once restrictions hit their area.

Relativistic thinking contributes its part to polarisation in today’s society.  

The problem is, we are progressively encouraged to participate in divisive narratives.  As a result, we become fodder for exploitation and it dams the flow for any democratic impetus for us as a whole, to launch coherent and necessary change.  There are great forces of power in today’s society, both seen and unseen, that guide our narrative.  How can we be organised and relevant enough to stand for ourselves when needed if we are combative over ‘symptomatic’ and misleading issues?  

                                        A people in conflict with itself cannot move ahead.

It is entirely plausible that economic and political extremism is THE most important hurdle to community and planetary health today.

There is no easy solution here, but we must begin somewhere and somehow.  This view to segregation has become engrained.  It is getting worse and it has seeped into the deep spaces.  To heal, we must reach the deep places.  The best advice I have heard to undo the mental inclination to polarise is to share and listen to our stories that deconstruct the antagonism.  This is in part, why the Paragon Health Wellness Wall facebook page was started.  

We absolutely must make headroom, legroom and elbow room for relativistic thinking and intricacy and entanglements.  They are life.  Room must exist for non-polarising alternatives.

Can we notice the deep motivations within ourselves that polarise?


Be well.

A little more fibre ... The porridge recipe

19/5/2021

 
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For quite a while now, I have been suggesting that people get more fibre in their diet.  So, how can we do that in one hit in our busy climate and adhere to the principles of a modified mediterranean way of eating at the same time?


Current dietary recommendations suggest that females get around 25-28 grams of fibre a day and males around 35 grams.  There is also some suggestion that in millennia gone by, we ate closer to 100 grams per day.  This amount may not be as appropriate today because our gut microbiome has changed, but I would suggest that the recommended amounts are the minimum that we need for optimal health.

So, in the spirit of deliciousness, here’s what I’d recommend for a high fibre, dairy-free, gluten-free, low to moderate carb option: porridge.  In winter, eat this hot and in summer, it’ll keep in the fridge for a day or two.

The recipe:

2 tablespoons flax seeds (ground up — buy them like this or better, use a coffee grinder to pulverise whole seeds.  This is essential because the seed coating is resistant to human digestion).
2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 teaspoons psyllium fibre
2 tablespoons lupin flakes (https://thelupinco.com.au) 
​1 scoop pea protein powder (Coles homebrand is fine — get from health food section)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon organic turmeric powder (Coles homebrand - health food section)
3-4 grinds of pepper
Spices to taste — cinnamon / cardamom / nutmeg / ground cloves ….
Honey or Stevia (proper organic stevia from a health food store only) to taste
Add some blueberries / raspberries / or pomegranate seeds —  maximum of half a cup
1 packet of konjac rice — get from Coles.  If you omit this, add an extra tablespoon of chia seeds and lupin flakes to make up the fibre content.

You could added some other seeds like pepitas or sunflower seeds which are high in fibre,  Just chew them well so they break down.

Use some non-dairy milk and water to mix to your desired consistency.

Instead of spices, half the time I grind up a mixture of dried herbs in the coffee grinder that I get in bulk from the health food store.  The herbs I choose are for liver health (plus other things) and include:  1 tablespoon each of nettle / lemon balm / lemon myrtle / thyme / lavender.  

This may make one or two servings depending on your want?!

You’ll need to drink extra water during the day so it doesn’t gum you up.

See how you go?!

Be well.

Is this the most important question of our time?

1/3/2021

 
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Last week, the rollout of the SARS CoVid-2 vaccines began in Australia.  Australia’s Prime Minister was amongst the first 20 to have the vaccine, calling it ‘a curtain raiser’ of what’s to come.  Have you read the Vaccine program and  bought your tickets yet?

There are many questions yet to be answered, and not just about the vaccine itself.   The arguments for and against vaccination in the generalist sense are but one part in this play of many acts.  Having paid our money, we should be wary of leaving after the first scene being told we have appreciated the whole drama.


If this play had been written 70 years ago, it may have been purely for the refreshment of its audience.  Today, so many writers have had their contribution: medical, scientific, political, economic, government, and private enterprise and billionaires.  So much so, that many have written themselves in as the main actors.

We live in times where we have been asked to accept the narrative, no questions asked.  But the narrative is so complicated, nuanced and shrouded behind curtains of complicated, and often times, false and misleading data.  Unless we are prepared to go to source information, to use scientific discernment of intricate and available research, follow the money trail and uncover the conflicts of interests and unethical and amoral actions of some of the players (which are a matter of public record), most of us will be content with the narrative in our play programs.  

We have chosen to read this program because it doesn’t contain any questions and is only a few paragraphs of synopsis.  There is a play next door that has a program with many questions, and has many thousands of pages of information about the performance and will take hundreds of hours to read. This play has very few patrons. Who will rise above human nature and who will invest the time and energy it takes to see it?  The first play is relying on that to succeed. 

This is a difficult piece to write when trying to focus solely on health aspects, for to understand why we must be asking questions it is necessary to appreciate the political and commercial aspects woven with the hegemonising, racketeering and whip handed approaches to this situation over a period of decades.  To accept the current narrative is to consign, not just the autonomy over our own health, but our general freedoms to the shrinking pile of liberties.  This is not who we are in this country.

The curtain must be drawn back and the wider stage appreciated here if we are to appreciate why this vaccine is not all about our health.  It is not in the scope of this current article to elucidate further, but I would encourage you to spend 2 1/2 hours watching the following video:        

            Data Disaster: A Call for an Investigation Into the CDC’s Conduct During COVID-19


What kind of questions are pertinent to ask?  To set the stage, they are not based around the historical story of ’to vaccinate or not to vaccinate’.  They are based around the story of this particular vaccination.  What is it?  Is it safe?  Has it undergone the necessary scientific rigour during testing?  Is is designed to stop SARS CoVid 2 (CoVid19)?  Is the Corona Virus data reliable?  Is there a need to take it?  How much of a threat is this particular virus?  Are there any other alternatives?  What does it mean for you if elderly and not in your 30’s?  What does it mean for your newborn?  

For example, the editorial in the British Medical Journal October 2020 was titled:

                  Will covid-19 vaccines save lives? Current trials aren’t designed to tell us.

In the article, it was said:

The world has bet the farm on vaccines as the solution to the pandemic, but the trials are not focused on answering the questions many might assume they are.  But what will it mean exactly when a vaccine is declared “effective”? To the public this seems fairly obvious. “The primary goal of a covid-19 vaccine is to keep people from getting very sick and dying,” a National Public Radio broadcast said bluntly.

And, ...

Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said, “Ideally, you want an antiviral vaccine to do two things . . . first, reduce the likelihood you will get severely ill and go to the hospital, and two, prevent infection and therefore interrupt disease transmission.”

Then, ...

Yet the current phase III trials are not actually set up to prove either.  None of the trials currently under way are designed to detect a reduction in any serious outcome such as hospital admissions, use of intensive care, or deaths. Nor are the vaccines being studied to determine whether they can interrupt transmission of the virus.

People have the right to form their own opinion about vaccines, both for and against. This is a premise from the medical fraternity itself who base their tenets on the work on Beauchamp and Childress who created the foundation of modern day bioethics. One of its four principles includes autonomy and enunciates: Autonomy requires the ability to decide for the self, free from control of the others, and with sufficient level of understanding so as to arrive at a meaningful choice.  A person should have the capacity to decide upon a course of action, and to put that plan into action.

How then to reconcile the needs of the few with the many?  In the case of SARS CoVid 2, which groups constitute the few, and which, the many?  In the USA, one of the apparently hardest hit countries, the recovery rate (as of February 16, 2021) in the 0-64 age categories is 99.623%.  In light of this does the virus necessitate mandatory or wide coverage vaccination? 

Another of the four principles of bioethics details the notion of informed consent.  If you are to undertake a procedure, you must do so in full knowledge of its possibilities and probabilities, potentials and pitfalls.   Has this knowledge been disseminated, transparent and freely available, as it should?  Are we even seeking it out?

What about the mortality rate?  Taken at face value, the figures would suggest SARS CoVid 2 is more deadly than the flu. Staying with the USA, at the time of writing, the death toll is 498,993 according the the CDC.  When you total the number of deaths against the number of positive cases (just shy of 28 million), it averages 1.73% of cases die with the virus. 

At the start of the pandemic, the CDC changed the way it reported deaths with respect to corona virus.  Why it did this ONLY for corona virus is a curious question? In short, if you die with the corona virus, despite several other co-morbid conditions, your cause of death is listed as the virus.  Can it be proven that you died OF corona virus? No.  Only that you died with it.  

If the figures are tabulated according to the previous cause of death criteria, which seemed to serve fine for the previous 17 years,  it turns out that corona virus deaths in the USA are 16.7 times LESS than today’s figures.  This means the total death figure is closer to 29,880 unfortunate people.

How does this compare to the flu related deaths in the USA?  During the 2019-2020 influenza season, CDC estimates that influenza was associated with 38 million illnesses, 18 million medical visits, 405,000 hospitalisations, and 22,000 deaths. These numbers are likely to grow.  The CDC reports that results are still tabulated up to 2 years after the event.

Also note the overall burden of influenza for the 2017-2018 season was an estimated 45 million influenza illnesses, 21 million influenza-associated medical visits, 810,000 influenza-related hospitalisations, and 61,000 influenza-associated deaths.

Based on these numbers, how much of an emergency is SARS CoVid 2?  It is because of this narrative that testing and trials have been pushed though at an alarming rate.  On average, it would normally take 12 years to move a drug through trials to your bathroom cabinet.  Ordinarily, 5 in 5000 drugs make it through approval to the first round of testing and only 1 in 5000 progresses to manufacture.  The number approved drugs that are removed from use within the first few years is also alarming.

Normally, preclinical testing by the drug company is done on animals and in the lab to prove the drug works against the disease.  It’s evaluated for safety and at no point is given to a human being.  This phase takes typically takes 3 1/2 years.
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Phase III trials are where the majority of adverse event testing is usually done, with questions based on side effects noticed in phase I and II trials.  Generally, this takes around 3 years.

To date, there are nine vaccines being marketed having pushed through 6 stages of trials in the last 9-12 months.  Questions need to be asked and answers with transparency must be given.  The onus is now on us to do this because it is not being offered by the makers of the vaccines.  Data is short and there have been NO independent tests of the procedures and outcomes by other, non-pharma company researchers.  This is a normal requirement.

In short, we don’t know the medium to long term ramifications of these vaccines. According to rigorous scientific principles, claims made by pharmaceutical companies and governments (let alone owners of computer companies and social media outlets) about the safety and efficacy of these vaccines are not yet supported by empirical evidence.  It is required of pharma companies and governments to do this.  There is such a thing as duty of care and this can only be achieved if the vaccines are proven not to cause harm to the populous before they are implemented.

On the face of it, safety with these vaccines is presumed.  It is not good enough to produce a retrospective study years down the track to assess and study safety after the fact.  There is such a thing as the precautionary principle that places burden of proof on the makers and authorities rather than on the general public.


When proof of non-harm is placed upon the wider public, it is or can be used to protect the inherent interests of the pharmaceutical companies and those invested in vaccine development, rather than the people.

The takeaway message here is the underlying narrative of this situation and how it speaks to our health liberties now and in the future.  In many ways the mainstream medical options are becoming narrower and more tightly controlled than ever before.  There is some evidence to suggest the narrative it not what we have been told.  As I alluded to in my last newsletter, we haven’t been talking enough about the general state of health in the world today as a springboard for CoVid-19 and many other wellness issues.  There are things that everyone can do on the ground, now, today, naturally to promote health and avoid taking yet more medication and promote a highly effective immune system.  There is more discussion to be had.

​Be well.

Covid-19 Data:  A depth dive

1/3/2021

 
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In a recent paper titled COVID-19 Vaccine Frontrunners and Their Nanotechnology Design, the authors make the introductory statements:
​
Moderna reached clinical trials 63 days after their sequence selection. It is striking that an unestablished nanotechnology formulation reached clinical testing almost a full month before established approaches (ie, inactivated and live-attenuated vaccines) entered clinical trials.

And, ...

It is also of note that in previous severe coronavirus outbreaks of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV clinical trials were not reached until 25 and 22 months after the outbreaks began.

And, ...

The improved speed into clinical trials is hopeful, but despite the rapid progress, there are still reasons for concern.
​
The fact is, vaccine development does not happen overnight. They must be preventative but also risk-free. Most substances are given to unwell patients, but vaccines are dispensed to healthy individuals and so necessitate an extremely high protective promise.

The current SARS CoV 2 vaccines are emergency use drugs and have bypassed usual developmental methodology.  It is important to note, because it has previously been shown with other respiratory type viruses (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, RSV and measles) that antibodies produced can intensify disease ferocity via antibody dependant enhancement (this means the infection can get worse or the intensity of the immune response can be overwhelming).

The Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are ‘nanotechnologies’ and these have not been proven before in clinical environments. In fact, this technology (called an mRNA vaccine) has been researched and tested for 30 years but never been approved.

Every virus is contrasting so there isn’t one perfect solution for all infections. Even within this single SARS-CoV 2 virus some hugely infected people are asymptomatic while others become critical. The enormous inconsistency may infer that a vaccine will not deliver consistent or prolonged immunity in all?

​The Questions ...

One of the major questions is what type of immune response in needed to guard against the virus?

At this point in time, we don’t know definitively. This should be somewhat of a concern given that we now have two (in Australia) vaccines available designed to produce a response without knowing if it the specific response we need.

In the entire history of vaccines, there has only ever been one that has eradicated a disease: the smallpox vaccine.  Some have come close, but eradication is evasive: polio, measles and mumps ...
Respiratory viruses, as the SARS-CoV 2 is, are particularly hard to vaccinate for, despite heavy efforts to manufacture a vaccine. This is partly because the airways and lungs are not an enclosed environment and can’t be protected as can cervical cancer, for example. With respiratory viruses you can be continuously exposed to the infection, in theory.

Most vaccines are delivered by intramuscular injection, and as such, they produce an antibody response that is better developed in the blood (called IgM or IgG responses). The type of protection we need on the mucosal surfaces of the lungs is an IgA response, which is minimal with intramuscular vaccines. At this point in time, there are other vaccines in trials that are looking at improving the IgA response, but this is not the mechanism of the vaccines that are on offer in Australia.

SARS-CoV 2 is different for a respiratory virus because it hitches to a receptor called the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).  This receptor is found in almost all organs but particularly on the surfaces of the lungs and the digestive system, along with the brain. Hence, this particular virus damages at sites distal to its entry point. This is why it can have such destructive and broad effects. Predominantly, it hangs around in respiratory, circulatory, nervous and urogenital systems and why it’s responsible for many varied symptoms. Much of the pathology here, outside of the airway, is defended by IgG antibody responses, and this is the target of the vaccines we now have. This is vital to note, because the vaccine is not designed to promote an IgA response, and therefore, it’s not designed to prevent infection or its transmission in the airways.

This is one of the issues that hasn’t been addressed by governments or chief health officers. If the vaccine isn’t designed to prevent positive tests, do we shut down a city or state again when someone tests positive, as they will?

So, what is different about the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines compared to traditional vaccines?

Both rely on nanoparticle technology.  These nanoparticles are of the same proportions as the virus. As such, it confers an ability to enter cells as the virus would. Nanoparticles encapsulate the nuclear material (mRNA for Pfizer and DNA for AstraZeneca) and adjuvants for use of the immune system once inside the target cells.

Once inside the nucleus of the cell, the lab formulated genetic material from the virus is incorporated with our genetic material to produce an inert viral protein that our cells recognise as foreign and subsequently mounts an immune response.

Different nanoparticles are available. In the case of Pfizer, they use lipid (fats) nanoparticles (LNPs) and for AstraZeneca, they use another virus (which comes from chimps. It can enter human cells but seems to be inert once inside).

Older types of vaccines would have used actual live or dead virus.

What about the issue of adjuvants?

Adjuvants are immunostimulatory molecules that are designed to annoy the inflammatory and immune systems to hopefully produce a heightened response to vaccine stimulation. The issue here is that many adjuvants have earlier not passed muster due to toxicity pitfalls. In the past, and at times today, the adjuvants in vaccines include molecules like mercury and aluminium. These have no business being in the human body.

Where the Australia’s available vaccines should potentially improve their efficacy is that when encapsulated in nanoparticles, both viral nucleic material and adjuvants should reach their target destination cells. This serves multiple purposes that other types of vaccines don’t.

Firstly, it means that adjuvants aren’t as likely wander off and affect other cells. If you are targeting lung cells, you don’t want the adjuvants backstroking towards the brain, for example.

Secondly, it may mean that the amount of adjuvant is less because you don’t have to account for the loose amount that wanders off, reducing its effectiveness.

Thirdly, the adjuvant is less likely to degrade along its journey, also reducing its effectiveness.

Fourthly, if the antigen (here, nucleic material) and the adjuvant arrive at the target cells at different times, it can set up an autoimmune response where we react against our cells (self-antigens) if these other cells, rather than the target cells,  have taken up the adjuvant.

This type of nanoparticle delivery process is already utilised with common supplements or formulas you may have taken.  For example, liposomal vitamin C or Mutaflor (an Iron formula), in which the iron molecule is attached to a sugar molecule for ease of absorption.

Another possible positive for this nanoparticle process is that the smaller molecules can also move through the spaces between cells, where other larger, non-nanoparticle vaccines cannot. Material in these spaces is picked up by the lymphatic system rather than the circulatory system. The lymphatic system is vital to our immune response whereby certain cells in the lymphatic system called antigen presenting cells take the antigen (inert viral material) to the lymph nodes to meet other immune cells which go on to stimulate much longer lasting immune responses (sometimes years, although we’re not sure this is the case yet with SARS-CoV 2?).

Although this may be seen as a positive, what is not talked about is that if viral material can be delivered to the lymphatic system, then so can the adjuvants. If we react to the adjuvants then this is a problem, because as many of you will know, once something is in the lymphatic system (like cancer), it can end up creating a problem anywhere.

So, while nanoparticle technology would seem to be a safer, more efficient way of delivering a vaccine, there are issues as noted in the previous paragraph.

So, what are they adjuvants in the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines?

Only 29 of the 202 companies that applied to produce a vaccine made it through the initial standards to start trials. Of these companies, very few have released their initial data on safety and ability to produce an immune response.

To get the viral material into the cellular mechanism, amongst others, Pfizer has used lipid nanoparticles cholesterol, phosphatidylcholine and polyethylene glycol-lipid.  They did not list all the LNPs they used.  There is no indication from Pfizer that they did or did not use adjuvants.  However, they do mention that the viral material can act as an adjuvant and there is increasing use of certain LNPs themselves as adjuvants.  This would seem to be better than, say, mercury.

Early trials did not list any severe reactions, but common adverse events included headache, fever and pain. Note here that Pfizer was judging its response on IgG mediated assays, which, as already mentioned, is not aimed at preventing infection or transmission of coronavirus.

The AstraZeneca vaccine doesn’t mention whether it used an adjuvant. It only tested for an IgG response and its adverse events were listed as pain, fatigue and headache.

Of the 29 listed trial participants, only 4 companies directly mention the use of adjuvants. The rest? Do they or don’t they?

Part of the problem with both vaccines is that limited information is available. Many researchers and scientists outside of the company bubble are guessing at the possible mechanisms of function.

Adjuvants should be fully and specifically listed. According to an article in Frontiers in Immunology titled Adjuvants for Coronavirus it is written:

Aluminium salt-based adjuvants (alum) were the first adjuvants used in licensed human vaccines. They are still the most widely used because of their wide-spectrum ability to strengthen immune responses and their excellent track record of safety.  In limited coronavirus vaccine studies, it has been suggested that neutralizing antibody against the spike protein might be mechanistically correlated with immune protection. When alum was formulated with S protein or receptor- binding domain (RBD), it significantly enhanced humoral immune responses. This was demonstrated by higher titres of serum IgG1, increased high affinity viral neutralising antibodies, and the generation of long-lasting memory B cells in mice.

The Pfizer vaccine uses the S protein / RBD mechanism for its action, but it doesn’t it doesn’t say whether it does or doesn’t use aluminium as a adjuvant?

Mentioned above in the Pfizer vaccine ingredient list is the lipid nanoparticle polyethylene glycol. Whilst it is not a heavy metal adjuvant like mercury or aluminium, please read the following article elsewhere in this newsletter:

Immediate Hypersensitivity to Polyethylene Glycols and Polysorbates: More Common Than We Have Recognized.

This article highlight just a few of the questions that should be asked about when making this important decision.  Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of information you are likely to get via many of the media outlets we utilise.  It’s important to be informed.

​Be well.

Vaccines & polyethylene glycol (peg)

1/3/2021

 
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I have noticed some supplement companies in Australia are starting to omit PEG from their products. 


Polyethylene glycols (PEG) have many and varied uses in medical and commercial environments.  

They are commonly used as carrier molecules in liquid or solid type medications.  It is used to conjugate (bind) with medications to improve their efficiency, their effectiveness and ability to generate an immune response.

It is a petroleum based product, although more natural forms have been developed.  It has been banned from organic cosmetic products in the EU.

In the US, it is used as the primary component in oral bowel preparation formulas for colonoscopy.

In recent times, focus has been on its role in anaphylaxis to bowel prep liquids.  There seems to be insufficient understanding of its reactive capability in medications.  There have been reports of multiple skin related exposures to topical creams containing PEG.

Gastrointestinal exposure is suggested to cause reactions in those with already impaired mucosal barriers.  In general, impaired epithelial lining of the gut and blood vessels (here called endothelium) is thought to be one of the factors associated with the co-morbidities of CoV-19.

At this point in time, it is important to know that the mechanism of action is not well understood.

It may be relevant to note that PEG is being used as a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) to help increase the efficacy of the current Pfizer vaccination.  Part of its role may be to act as a adjuvant to provoke the tissue into a heightened inflammatory or immune response?

​Be well.

By the way, if you’d like to read more (and I suggest you do!) have a look at the following:

The Dirty Dozen: PEG Compounds and their contaminants
Safety Evaluation of Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) Compounds for Cosmetic Use
​Probable neuropsychiatric toxicity of polyethylene glycol: roles of media, internet and the caregivers

covid 19 and the general state of heatlh

1/3/2021

 
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As the dawn of 2021 had crested the horizon, did we in Queensland set our feet and decide that it would be a better year?  Did we declare that it HAD to be a better year?  Did we collectively draw breath when not 8 days in, we were shackled with our most stringent lockdown yet, surpassing anything that last year dished up?
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With a year to reflect, what conclusions have we drawn?  Apparently, surprisingly few.  Whilst there are social, political, economic, local and global perspectives to be had, if we confine ourselves to the cellular aspects of health,  what can be surmised? 

Here is just one issue: we are missing the bigger picture.  The conversation no one is having is about the general state of health today.  We are at a point in history where we are more susceptible to disease than ever before.  Why? The perturbations of stress, lifestyle, poor dietary choices, degrading food quality, toxicity and pollution, climate change, over-reliance on medications, and obesity amongst many other afflictions are enabling the burdens of inflammation, poor immune responses, detoxification issues and genetic variations predisposing us to all-cause mortality.  

Today, the statistical chances of dying from diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and obesity associated diseases is higher than ever before.  These conditions are INCREASING, despite medicine’s best efforts.

So, who are the people most likely to develop symptomatic and fatal cases of CV19?  People with exactly the same conditions.

Why do these conditions come about?  Rinse, repeat and recycle the above paragraph above on the state of health.


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​In the end, these co-morbid conditions all share similar causes.  Different lifestyles, genetic predispositions,  environmental factors and other facets then go on to determine which disease these factors manifest into.  So, the real question becomes, how do we prevent the inflammation, the oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, the immune storms and the breakdown of detoxification pathways?  These are all upstream questions and solutions as opposed to a downstream solution like vaccinations.  Downstream solutions ignore the causes and focus on the symptoms. Meanwhile, the upstream causes are free to cause further damage.

Very few are championing the simple solutions which prevent these co-morbid and upstream cellular issues.  What would happen if we ate less sugar and processed foods?  What if we lost weight?  What if we stopped overeating?  What if we got more exercise? Or more sun?  What if we learned to meditate?  Reduce stress? What if we stopped over-prescription of synthetic medications? What if we mandated organic farming and made it cheaper?  What if we drank more water? What if we consumed more vegetables and less meat?

The research is all out there.  The problem is, on average, it takes 17 years for published research to become mainstream teaching and indoctrinated into clinical practice.  We don’t have that long.  The next health pandemic will be around the corner - same dog, different leg.

I would implore everyone to become educated on CV and walk with caution through the mainstream narrative.  Unless you are reading the original research, don’t take second hand information as truth.  I appreciate it is hard to resource correct scientific information and often, even harder to understand.  If you have any questions around the CV and preventative health, I would be happy to address them in articles like this or on Paragon’s Wellness Wall facebook page.
 
Be well.

How to be change

1/3/2021

 
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​As per my last post, this is another conversation on the private Facebook page Wellness Wall, hosted for my patients.  I thought this also worth sharing ...


It’s a conversation I have a couple of times a week in the clinic: ‘What can I do’? Sometimes it’s about self-improvement or bigger aspects like climate change. Lately, of course, it’s been about CV. The statement is usually accompanied by resignation and possibly, ‘it’s too hard’ or ‘I’m just one person.’

There’s generally a fear of moving against the tide and speaking up, or of being too busy.

I could answer this many ways, but here’s my take on it ... and it speaks to who we are, down deep and to the frequency that we generate and emit to the world. The tipping point all starts with you.

We all need to do what we can. We all need to play our part. Most of us were not born to change the world on our own, but all of us were born to fulfill our potential: to be happy, to love, to contribute. 
(Actually, I believe we are already filled to the brim with our ‘potential’. Our journey is to recover who we already are: our state of being. To truly ‘be’, does have the power to change the world).

In this particular context, I am going to say the greatest source of unhappiness is not being able to like oneself. Here, happiness implies that we have self-worth or value that we attribute to ourselves and not attributed to recognition by others. It would follow then, that ‘I am of benefit to the community’ or ‘I am of benefit to another’ may be the sole thing that allows us to appreciate our worth?

As mentioned, a consequential matter here is that contribution to others does not imply it is on display for others to see.

One of the reasons for my being in this lifetime is to recognise that the only tasks I have are my own and not to take on other people’s roles. Also, it is not for people to impose their roles upon me.

So, it is not for me to decide if my contributions are helpful. That is for others to decide and it’s not for me to interfere. In fact, there have been thousands of times in my career when I have not known if I’ve made a contribution! But, I centre myself with the knowledge that my contribution does not have to be evident. All we need is the is the internal sense that ‘I am of benefit to another’ or more specifically, a consciousness of contribution.

In short, happiness and peace are the consciousness of contribution.

People, in general, seek recognition. Today, more so than ever before. I believe it’s because people want to have regard for themselves. They want to feel valued or that they have value. Recognition becomes a yardstick for contribution. Conversely, if people don’t get recognised, they stop contributing in the end. This cannot be our fate. Because if we fail to act, for our self-improvement, climate change or the deeper issues behind global health, we will have zero choice but to swim with the current of other’s wishes, opinions or social norms.

If we want to change ourselves, our relationships or the world, there is no freedom in the desire that the change must be a grand gesture and be something that is seen, influences thousands or gains recognition. Freedom is only achieved through happiness (which is only defined by the self and not others) and contribution.

A true sense of contribution means that you will have no need of recognition from other sources but will come from the sensibility of knowing ‘I have been of worth to someone or something’. Ultimately, the feeling of contribution creates a sense of community, whether it’s a community of two, or a community of millions. I think this is part of our process of evolution, this community feel and our ability to contribute to it. If we are individually going to have a sense of belonging, which I think we a desperately seeking, then ‘community’ and ‘contribution’ are vital. 

So, ok ... the bare bones. We don’t need big, grand gestures to feel we are contributing. Most of it will go unnoticed and the important thing is our ‘consciousness of contribution’ and to know that we ‘are of worth’. It may not mean that today you planted a grove of trees or you got arrested at a climate change rally or sharing your thought over a beer with the Deli Lama was really worth the trip. It may simply mean that you decided these thoughts were worth passing on in an email to others? Who knows? Maybe your email goes down the line 100 times? What a contribution you facilitated! And without recognition!

The point of this article is that for us to change the world, we start by changing who we are. 
We learn self-acceptance: that is ok and valuable to be who we are and that we are immeasurable just as we are. 

We learn to have confidence in others: unconditional belief that others with do the right thing, even when they don’t! Doubt will keep us right where we are.

We contribute to others: we develop self-worth and a sense of community in our interpersonal relationships (near and far). Keep to your own tasks and don’t take on those of others. It’s ok to sever ties with those who interfere with yours (this circles back to self-acceptance).

If we can achieve this (or even some of it), we become those who people want to be near or listen to. This is not the aim, but a consequence. See you at the tipping point!

​Be well.

the tide & tipping point of public opinion

28/2/2021

 
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This is an article I posted towards the end of last year on a private Facebook page for my patients called the Wellness Wall.  It was in response to sentiment at the time.  I thought I’d share it here.  It’s called ...

         The Tide and Tipping Point of Public Opinion (And how YOU can change the world)

At some point in 2020, have you ever wondered ‘how we got here’? Obviously, the CV king tide washed in but here I’m talking about the social, cultural, economic oil-slick that came with it.

The social changes we now swim in are constant. This year, the current has been fierce and sadly, too strong for many. Some who drowned were competent swimmers but were caught unprepared. Many in Australia needed lifejackets. Most telling is the number of people who couldn’t swim. Most of us headed for higher ground and are waiting for the tide to recede. Some built boats and sold them to others: they’ve done quite well.

Social change, civil unrest, inequality, injustice and climate change were in-your-face apparent before this year ever happened. Think revolution, demonstrations and protests in Hong Kong, France and the United States and across the world.

But I’ve been intrigued by the flow of public opinion this year. How easy has it been for people to take up a cause, when the cause hasn’t been based on fact. I’m intrigued about how the thoughts of many have been controlled by the machinations of the few. Rather than a narrative based on research and fact, we have been drowning in a sea of fear and vested opinions and directives.

I read a study last week that may shed some light on how this happens and ironically, how the same methods may get us moving again. The question that the paper asked was, ‘what percentage of a population does a minority have to reach the reverse or sway the majority viewpoint?’ The tipping point, they ascertained, is only 25%. At that percentage and above, the contrarians (I love that word) converted 72 to 100 percent of their target groups and before the minority started their intervention, the group/s were in 100% in accordance with their initial stance.

They found a 24% or less minority changed nothing (actually, the maximum change in opinion was 6% at minorities of this size).

Based on computer modelling, they predicted minorities of 25% or more would have an effect of a population up to or at least, 100,000 people.

What tips the scale?

Part of the problem in trying to change opinion is that, on a larger scale, you may never actually realise when you have a 25% committed minority, and many apparently give up without knowing they may be a few percent away from achieving the goal.

They were unwavering. They wholeheartedly expressed new habits or suggestions and constantly exposed others to it until they started to replicate the actions.

It helps to have a lack of competing minorities which dilutes opinion. This, it’s said, may be part of the problem today, where rather than two or three opinions (or groups), we have multiple competing interests as part of the modern trends towards individualistic viewpoints.

It helps to have regular contact with other members of the minority. This is important even when there is a critical mass.

Whether you’re in a business or part of a social change in the larger community, people spend time trying to align with other people and demonstrate etiquette that shows you’re part of the gang. This has the capacity to lift a business up, or bring one down. All you need is a strong minority. Alternatively, the minority can be non-caring as long as they are steadfast in their apathy.

The study also mentions the online environment, particularly because it’s possible to have a significant number of exchanges, including those you’d not normally meet or influence.

Finally, consider this: can a robot represent a member of a committed minority? Can robots actually drive the change to influence real people? According to the study, ‘In a space where people can’t distinguish people from bots, yes. If you get a concerted, focused effort by a group of agents acting as a minority view, they can be really effective.’

The real point of this article is in support those of us who have been feeling overwhelmed and without a voice in recent times. Part of my purpose in starting the Wellness Wall was to respond to the sentiment I hear and feel within the clinic. For most of us, our purpose isn’t to change the world by ourselves. But I think it is part of our purpose to do everything that we can do to aid a healthy collective consciousness. Know that we have a voice and together, perhaps we form a strong and healthy minority?

​Be well.

SARS Covid 2

24/4/2020

 

RIGHT. OH, UH, YOU'LL STILL BE HERE WHEN I GET OUT?


​The first thing I want to say, is that I sincerely hope that you are doing fine?  We are at a crossroads in history and the knock-on effects from SARS CoV 2 will likely travel as both waves and ripples across life as we know it from now on.  
 
There are many ways to examine SARS CoV 2 but the issue concerning me at the moment is the social isolation that has been forced upon us.
 
Now, the circumstances around SARS CoV 2 are a serious issue, but just as in treatment sessions with you, I often pause to feel the path of least resistance within a problem, and this morning, I decided to embody the spirit of Steve McQueen.  I was thinking about the greatest self-imposed or imposed isolation movies of all time and added the ‘Great Escape’ to that list (is that irony?)
 
Take a moment to escape the gravitas of the Corona virus and imbibe the Steve McQueen cool.  Double click on the clip and cue the theme music ...



So, you’ll still be here when I get out, right?
 
The social isolation that has been forced upon us is a serious issue.  Despite having a more than reasonable understanding of the immune system and virology and having had to accept the mandate around social distancing, it is still perturbing for me, as a human being, to remain isolated for months and to have people jump back when they suddenly realise I’m in the vicinity or to be faced with the open palm upon approach; and to have to deal with the defensively raised voice and the constant wide-eyed analysis over what you’re next move might be in the shopping isle.  Little things they might be, but they have a snowballing effect on your psyche.
 
When you spend time exploring the plethora of research papers comparing social isolation with various health issues and outcomes, you realise the magnitude of this situation.  To be fair, there is research arguing both sides of the coin:  social isolation does and does not affect health outcomes.  However, the majority of evidence ups in favour of poorer health for those that are isolated.  Most of us will not need to read through research statistics to know this.
 
It doesn’t matter whether the outcomes are emotional, mental physical or otherwise.  When you analyse all-cause morbidity (this means it doesn’t matter what you die from), those that are socially isolated die sooner within a given time frame than those who have regular social contact.  You can smoke, drink, have high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease – it doesn’t matter what you die from, you are much more likely to die earlier than if you have these issues but maintain your connections.
 
The following points I wish to stress here are highlighted in an article - Social Isolation: A Predictor of Mortality Comparable to Traditional Clinical Risk Factors (2013).
 
  • Social isolation factors predicted mortality at hazard ratio levels similar to or higher than those of several standard clinical risk factors.  The paper goes on to suggest that social isolation affects mortality just as much as smoking and more than other clinical benchmarks, including ethnicity, age, education levels, and income.
 
  • In models comparing social isolation variables, unmarried status and infrequent religious activity are predictive of mortality in both men and women.
 
  • A lack of group memberships predicted mortality amongst men and infrequent social contact predicted mortality amongst women.
 
  • A point to note: amongst socially isolated people, only smoking and high blood pressure were (constantly) predictive of mortality amongst other variables measured.  Obesity and cholesterol levels were not.
 
The point we have to understand here in relation to SARS CoV 2, is that social isolation affects your health.  Does this matter?  You bet.
 
The paper Social regulation of gene expression in human leukocytes (2007) clearly highlights some of the biological mechanisms produced by social isolation.  For example, gene expression alters when you are socially isolated.  This means the make-up of your genes change such they (and therefore, your cells and organs) produce different by-products or that they don’t produce their normal by-products at all.  To be specific:
 
  • Isolated individuals had greater expression of genes producing pro-inflammatory cytokine signalling and prostaglandin synthesis.  In short, you house more inflammation.  If prolonged, it’s a sure pathway towards autoimmune issues and chronic disease.
 
  • Isolated people had under-expression of genes related to antiviral resistance, antibody production and lymphocyte function.  This last sentence is worth reading again.
 
My point here is that there is a cost-benefit analysis to be done comparing protective biological mechanisms with social isolation.  I haven’t even touched on the mental and emotional issues, but they need to be included here, as well.  
 
This is just information, but information is power.  What you do with it is up to you.  My goal here is to have people think, and when it comes down to it, make informed decisions for the greater good around the Corona Virus.
 
I have noticed in my clinic, that people want to talk about the Corona Virus.  People NEED to talk about it.  VENT about it, even.  Whilst people are towing the isolation line, there is a sense of fear, frustration and a lack of trust.  People have questions.  And rightly so!
 
So, stay connected.  Observe reasonable and common-sense restrictions but stay connected with what it means to be human.  Get out and get some sun and exercise.  You can still exercise with another.  Grab a coffee on the way back.  Be in touch. Don’t give in to the fear.  Encourage others to do the same.  
 
I’ll still be here when you get back!

PHI Editorial:  Health & Global reality

7/2/2020

 

Hamlet's 2020 ... To be or not to be
​

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Whether or not you believe or participate in such things New Year’s resolutions or Valentine’s Day, I think they at least offer a chance to ponder and reassess life for ourselves. 

If I were to ask you, what resolutions you made for this year and you were to reply that you didn’t, perhaps because you don’t believe in them, that’s fair enough.  But, do you consider why?  Why don’t people keep resolutions?  Why don’t you keep them? What’s the deeper perspective?  What can be learnt from this perspective?  


Now, this may seem like it’s taking up too much hard drive space six beers deep on New Year’s Eve, but it has wider implications for our evolution and survival as a species and for our planet. 

We tend to define socio-cultural aspects in relation to decades, so I spent some time recently contemplating the 10’s and wondered what the next decade will bring?  Aside from deciding what I will wear to avoid embarrassment in decades to come (back to short shorts, guys, really?) I explored the current reality we are facing as individuals and collectively.  Our health is intrinsically linked with a global reality, and our reality is the world is becoming more unstable and unsustainable.  But, we do have a choice to invest in a hazy, dysfunctional world or a new one full of possibility?

Very recently I read the pleas of an author who, in 2007, recognised that life as we know it in ecological, economic, social, political and cultural arenas, had reached a fatal tipping point.  Change now or perish was the message.  Some 13 years on, I wondered what that author thought and felt of the world today?  Was he happy?  Have we done well?  Was his warning heeded?  The author’s name is Ervin Lazlo.  Ever heard of him?  He has written 83 books and twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace prize.

In 2017, Professor Stephen Hawking stated humans needed to colonise a new planet and soon.  We had around 100 years to keep our species alive.  His expanded theory is that the chance of disaster on Earth adds up over time and because we’ve been relatively disaster-free, it’s a near certainty to happen.  He had originally stated we had 1000 to 10,000 years but revised it down to 100 years to establish life on another planet and 600 years before we had to leave earth.   He said, ‘With climate change, overdue asteroid strikes, epidemics and population growth, our own planet is increasingly precarious.’ 

In an interview with the BBC, Hawking also said, ‘ I fear evolution has inbuilt greed and aggression into the human genome.’  

I believe there is a growing tendency for our lives to be veiled in a fearful and dramatic energy.  I don’t watch the popular news for these reasons.  With the rise of social media the term ‘disaster fatigue’ has arisen, highlighting our loss of motivation due to prolonged exposure of news coverage.  It’s important to recognise this fear factor in our immediate lives and lives at large and make a choice to move beyond it.   From a health perspective, fear is at the base of many illnesses and pain.  It starts early in life and is exacerbated by our experiences and environment.  I believe most of our search for meaning involves shedding these fears to reestablish our true sense of self that we came into the world with before it was bombarded with fears and threats to our survival.  There are enough fear based situations in our early lives that we already take on as part of who we are.  These don’t need to be accentuated by social and environmental factors as we grow older.  Conversely, we also don’t want to make individual contributions to a global consciousness of fear, because it affects entire countries and the planet as a whole.

Anyone who doubts the planet, and therefore our health, is changing, needs to get seriously invested.  The fact that our lives and the climate are changing, is beyond doubt.  The debate seems to exist around whether this is a natural cycle of things or whether we as humans, are contributing or causing this?  The earth is now the warmest it’s been in 120,000 years.  Part of the consequence of this is rising carbon dioxide concentrations.  However, are we as a species contributing to this?  The answer is yes.  For example, 18 of the last 19 years have been the warmest on record and concentrations of carbon dioxide are the highest they’ve been in millions of years.  Despite attempts to reduce carbon footprints, in 2018 carbon dioxide emissions rose 3.4 percent in the US over the year prior.

We, in Australia, don’t need to look to far afield to notice the effects of climate change.  This summer, the devastating effects of a significant proportion of the country being on fire has been overwhelming.  The collective response by everyday Australians to disaster relief has been outstanding.  I believe this is in large part because it’s who we are as a nation, but also because so very many have been unable to escape some personal association, whether it be because of the heat levels this summer, the sensationally poor air quality and smoke laden skies, the lack of rain, dust storms, reduced crop availability in supermarkets or rising vegetable prices … 

What if, in the near future, you order your morning latte and your barista says to you, ‘that’ll be $20 thanks’, will you hand it over?  Currently 60% of the planet’s wild coffee species are facing extinction due to disease and pests (higher temperatures), climate change and deforestation.  Whilst it hasn’t yet affected the world’s coffee supply, it’s likely it will.  This will imply developing (genetically modifying) the coffee bean to resist the consequences of these changes.  You may still be able to get your fix, but just not as nature intended.

Change is no longer something that may happen in the future,  It is here now and we are experiencing it on a daily basis in one form or another.  Change is not an option and it’s something that you and I have to make a reality for not only for generational survival but for our current state of health.  To assume that things will take their course and be ok, is suicidal. 

Please think about this as we begin our new decade.

​
​                                                To be, or not to be: that is the question:
                                                Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
                                                The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
                                                Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
                                                And by opposing end them?
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    david macdonald

    PHI Director

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