Chapter 11

top of page

 

A Message In a Bottle

This insert has absolutely nothing to do with my book, but is here to take advantage of the possibility of wider coverage of these ideas via the circulation of the book ...

  1. A potential method of Controlling Malarial Mosquitoes.
  2. To examine an alternative link between the injection of vaccines and both Gulf war syndrome and autism.
  3. To publicise the use of Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) as a means of controlling infant diarrhoea and dehydration in the developing World - Comfrey in Africa.

If ever you have tried to promote what you yourself consider to be an original thought within the fastnesses of any of the major professions, it is possible that your experiences will mirror mine. There is an invisible intellectual barrier through which the ideas cannot penetrate. It is obvious from the responses, or, more likely the failure to respond at all, that one's proposition has sunk without trace. Any reply beyond the polite ac-knowledgment reveals a slight amusement similar to the one that I have experienced when trying to float an idea with a certain type of G.P. - humour it and it will go away!

So, in the hope that someone will see some merit in my proposals, and that they will at least give them a second thought, then, if feasible, pro-mote them, here goes:

top of page

 

Controlling Mosquitos

My starting point with the mosquitoes is the successful campaign that has virtually eradicated fruit flies from American fruit farms. Fruit flies are hatched in captivity and then subjected to gamma radiation, which sterilises the males. When released, the males breed naturally, but are infertile.

Such a method is obviously too impractical to be able to influence the wide-ranging presence of malarial mosquito. My plan is that the males should be sterilised in their own location in the following manner:

Female mosquitoes seek a mate at dusk, and fly to a particular height where they emit a buzz at a frequency peculiar to their own species. Males hover in clouds above the female, and one eventually mates suc-cessfully; the female then goes in search of blood and lays her eggs.

It should be possible to fabricate slim unclimbable pylons of, say, carbon fibre, of appropriate height - the height at which the target species hover. The pylon would have at its top a unit that would contain a radioactive source in a shield of suitable design allowing radiation to "shine" upwards. The unit would generate the female hum at a frequency of the chosen species, and would be turned on automatically at dusk. If the plan works, males would hover above it and be sterilised.

There would be no radiation hazard at ground level, and a full education programme would be needed to enlist local support. Units could be arrayed in batches around villages, or could be on mobile facilities.

When one considers the colossal cost in human suffering, and financially in terms of the loss to local economies and the provision of health care, I would think that any idea should be taken forward, no matter how far-fetched it may seem at first.

top of page

 

Autism and Gulf-War Syndrome

In considering the second "big idea", i.e. the possible connection between inoculation and Gulf War Syndrome, and possibly autism, it is necessary to understand a little about acupuncture.

As I describe at various points in my main text, there are many acupunc-ture points distributed over the total body and head. Any particular point may have a wide repertoire of ailments capable of being treated from that point. The ailments are not specifically local, and can be very diverse in nature. It is well known that if one causes damage at the site of an acupuncture point, one risks provoking the very conditions that one would use that point to treat. Normally one considers the damage caused by physical trauma - fracture, surgery - or similar.

The essence of my speculation is this: does the injection of a noxious substance, i.e. a vaccine, into an acupuncture point produce any adverse reaction elsewhere within the body and head?

Most inoculations in adults and in infants above a certain age are given in the arm, and specifically in the deltoid-V. In exactly the same place is a point on the so-called "Large Intestine" meridian, namely Large Intestine 14. In expressing my certainty, I had confirmation of both locations from a Senior Nursing Sister and an acupuncture practitioner of many years experience.

The point does not have a large repertoire listed in the textbooks, and the acupuncturist says that she hardly ever uses it in treatment. However, over the years I have devised ways of self-experimentation, and can confirm that stimulating L.I. 14 may generate unspecific reactions within my head. I had further confirmation of some link when I had my flu injection in autumn 2002. Normally I ask the nurse to inject away from the acupuncture point, but on this occasion I let her proceed as normal, and she hit a bulls eve. Within half an hour I began to develop unpleasant sensations in my head, similar to those at the onset of a severe headache, and on the same side as the injection. These persisted for about 8 hours, when they slowly subsided.

The "cocktail" of drugs used by the armed forces contains many sub-stances that are foreign to the body's normal functioning, and only serious research will determine whether I have found a "missing link". In considering any link with autism, my speculation would only apply to infants who have an arm injection, but, my G.P. informs me, this happens at the age when autism usually shows and so a link such as I am postulating would be difficult to prove. Confirmation of the connection could only be achieved if all infants were injected in a neutral location.

top of page

 

Comfrey in Africa

During the nineteen-eighties, I maintained a regular correspondence with a member of the "White Sisters" religious order (Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa). Marie was in charge of a bush dispensary in Uganda, and was trying to restore its function after the overthrow of Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator. They were desperately short of money, and at one time she wrote to say that they could not get medicines, even if they could pay for them, could I help? My former employer, British Nuclear Fuels, gave generously of material from the local works' dispensary, as I pondered what I could do myself.

At the time, I was making a personal study of herbal remedies, and had become impressed with the efficacy of comfrey (symphytum officinale), particularly as a treatment for a variety of skin conditions and for wound healing. With no further thought, I sent off my existing supply of comfrey ointment, and awaited comments. When they came, I could not have been more delighted. The ointment had been used to treat a large ulcer on the leg of an old man who had walked for three days to reach the dispensary. Marie reckoned that such an ulcer would take upwards of a fortnight to heal using conventional remedies. The ointment was applied on a Friday, and by the following Monday, new pink skin was developing around the ulcer, which then healed rapidly.

With the help of Lawrence Hills of the Henry Doubleday Research Institute, several kilogrammes of ointment were shipped out, as were some seeds that Mr. Lawrence obtained from seedsmen, Thomson and Morgan. The ointment rapidly acquired a reputation as a "cure all" for skin problems. I also sent a copy of the book Comfrey, written by the indefatigable Lawrence Hills. In the book was a photograph of a lady who regularly bought at cattle markets, young calves that were "scouring" - i.e. had diarrhoea - and which no one else wanted. These she took home, and fed with milk in which she placed chopped comfrey leaves. The scouring soon ceased, and the calves thrived.

One of the Sisters in Uganda saw this, and thought that what cured the calves might also work on African infants. Dehydration following persistent diarrhoea is one of the killers of infants in the developing world. To the delight of the Sisters - who surprisingly found comfrey already growing in their garden - the strategy was successful, and infants began to thrive, where previously they might not have done.

I then lost contact with my White Sister friends, and so I have no way of knowing whether they developed the further use of comfrey, and whether they informed a wider world.

At one time, comfrey became suspect as a potential cause of liver cancer, and has been largely removed from sale for internal use. The "research" on which this view had been based had involved a high dosage in rats, and was itself suspect. Commenting purely from my own experience, I rate it very highly for all skin ailments, and particularly burns and scalds. I also employ it internally in an appropriate manner, with no harmful effects after twenty-five years intermittent use. Used properly as a medicine and not a food, as some were doing, it has high value, particularly in its role as internal vulnary.

And there they are my three "great ideas", and just like the proverbial message in a bottle that is thrown into the sea, I am hoping that mine will arrive on a "beach" somewhere, and be opened by someone with a mind like mine - and at least give it a try.

top of page