Positive Health Online

Positive Health PH Online Issue 258 is published on 24 October 2019 and presents a very satisfying, well-rounded (in my view) array of editorial features ranging from  mystical, psychospiritual, mental and emotional topics, through to clinical articles about herbalism, cancer, pain, scientific censorship, osteopathic, dental and yoga practice.

We are living in a fractious, volatile and violent period. For the past 3 years the UK has been beset with a polarized, bad-tempered and totally paralyzing Brexit debate, with anyone’s guess as to whether the most recent deal agreed with the European Union will be passed by the UK parliament. The USA has been engaged in vitriolic disputes including a Trade War with China, and has pulled back its troops from Syria, enabling Turkey to invade, leaving Kurdish forces and civilians exposed. Other disputes affect the Brazil, Amazon rainforest, and in Spain - Catalonia has erupted with fury at lengthy imprisonment sentences for sedition of its former parliamentary leaders. It is not a very happy time, to say the least.

I have always been inspired by science fiction / utopian / dystopian literature – The Time Machine and War of the Worlds by HG Wells, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell and latterly The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. Away from the political realm, I have been reflecting upon the double-edge sword of positive and negative impacts of technological / cyber / artificial intelligence AI advances occurring upon healthcare today.

Jonathan Lawrence in his Expert Column Back to the Future – An Osteopathic Answer to the Healthcare Crisis? highlights the potential slippery slope of progress upon our health.

“With regard to lifestyle there is no doubt that in modern society we are living in a manner that does not suit our biological design. We do not move enough. Being seated in a car or in an office for hours on end can contribute to many health issues.[1] We spend too much time in artificial conditions and expose ourselves to lighting that does not comprise a full range of visible frequencies but also flicker[2] at various rates. As has been expressed this makes modern living for many equivalent to living in constant twilight and disrupts our circadian rhythms and in particular the mitochondria[3] disturbance of which is associated with many chronic conditions. This also contributes to awry sleep patterns.[4]

“Other EMF radiation such as from cell towers and Wi-Fi are increasingly thought to be toxic as well, this of course is disputed by mostly industry-funded studies. Processed foods such as ready meals, takeaways, food contaminated with pesticides and food grown on nutrient poor soils, carbohydrate snacks and sugary sodas contribute to diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity. All of these conditions are exponentially increasing.[5]”

http://www.positivehealth.com/article/craniosacral-therapy/back-to-the-future-an-osteopathic-answer-to-the-healthcare-crisis

Celeste McGovern’s investigative reporting in  Anatomy of a Science Study Censorship describes “Elsevier’s “withdrawal” of a small veterinary study which goes to the core of scientific censorship, corruption and the politics of vaccination.

“There appears to be a problem admitting there is a problem, however. Luján’s research documents the dangers to animals of a toxin that is given in increasing quantities to children. Neurotoxic aluminium is used in numerous human vaccines – against HPV, hepatitis, pneumococcal disease, meningitis and many more in the pike. The trials of these vaccines use aluminium adjuvant or other vaccines containing aluminium as ‘placebos’, rendering them useless for detecting a problem. Vaccinated versus unvaccinated studies are not done. Aluminium vaccines have never been tested for their combined effects in children. Long-term studies are scant – and they are published by scientists who work for the vaccine industry in the journals we know have had a financial relationship with the vaccine industry. A big problem in sheep should signal, at the very least, concern about a potential problem in humans.

“There are dogmas,” Luján says. The biggest dogma in the 21^st century is that vaccines are totally safe. That nothing can go wrong, ever. “That’s why we are being targeted. They want to send a message: don’t get into this business. Work on something else. They just want the thing to disappear.”

http://www.positivehealth.com/article/vaccination/anatomy-of-a-science-study-censorship

Claire Squire from Balens Ltd highlights the risks from cyber crime and outlines steps to prevent its occurrence in Cyber Crime and Data Breach Considerations for Small Businesses

“One in five (20%) small firms say a cyber-attack has been committed against their business in the two years to January 2019. More than seven million individual attacks are reported over the same period, equating to 9,741 incidents a day.

“The annual cost of such attacks to the small business community is estimated to be £4.5 billion, with the average cost of an individual attack put at £1,300.   

Victims are most frequently subject to phishing attempts, with 530,000 small firms suffering from such an attack over the past two years. Hundreds of thousands of businesses also report incidences of malware (374,000), fraudulent payment requests (301,000) and ransom-ware (260,000).

Small firms suffer close to 10,000 cyber-attacks daily

Perhaps in a more optimistic note is the report that robotic-assisted coronary angioplasty operations have been carried out by R-One™.

“R-One™ is the first solution developed by Robocath. It uses a unique technology that optimizes the safety of robotic-assisted coronary angioplasty. This medical procedure consists of revascularizing the cardiac muscle by inserting one or more implants (stents) into the arteries that supply it with blood. Every 30 seconds, somewhere in the world, this type of procedure is performed.”

Robocath Successfully Carries Out its First Robotic Coronary Angioplasties in Humans

I am in favour of an Integrated HealthCare system, one that utilizes the very best of traditional / complementary / alternative Medicine along with the latest advances in the modern medicine arsenal of high-tech surgical and diagnostic techniques, not dominated by pharmaceutical medicines. I additionally advocate cautious yet rigorous testing of artificial intelligence / robots so that we do not eliminate the human element and intelligence from healthcare treatments.