Common Pesticide Linked to Kidney Disease

Maldison, a commonly available pesticide, has been associated with a 25% increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a University of Queensland study

“Nearly one in 10 people in high income countries show signs of CKD, which is permanent kidney damage and loss of renal function,” Dr Osborne said.

“The findings suggest we should limit our exposure to pesticides, even in very small doses, as chronic exposure may lead to negative health outcomes.”

For more information, visit https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211014100148.htm .

There are many pesticides that can have a variety of effects on people’s health, with some of them being very serious. If you are interested in seeing if pesticides or any other chemicals are impacting (or may impact) on your health, we suggest booking in for a free Comprehensive Assessment at our clinic. We can then see what is going on in your body, what is causing any problems, and the best way to treat or prevent them. (Terms and conditions- the Assessment is a completely free service, with no obligations whatsoever.)

Be well, and have a great life!

Some of the Conditions We Treat

The human body is very complex, so we treat a very broad range of conditions. The following is a list of some of the conditions clients came to us for in a single week.

Let us find your health solution
  • ADHD
  • Anxiety
  • Arthritis
  • Asthma
  • Back pain
  • Bloating
  • Brain fog
  • Breathing difficulty
  • Bulging disc
  • Bursitis
  • Carpel tunnel
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Constipation
  • Crohn’s disease
  • Depression
  • Dermatitis
  • Diabetes
  • Digestion problems
  • Endometriosis
  • Fluid retention
  • Food intolerances
  • Gut health
  • Gut pain (dysbiosis)
  • Headaches
  • Heart issues
  • High blood pressure
  • Hip pain
  • Hives
  • Hormone balance
  • IBS
  • Immune system support
  • Infertility
  • Irregular periods
  • IVF support
  • Joint issues
  • Knee pain
  • Low libido
  • Lower back pain
  • Lung problems
  • Menopause
  • Migraines
  • Musculoskeletal pain
  • Nerve pain
  • Neuropathy
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Overweight
  • PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome)
  • Period pain
  • Pins and needles
  • PMS symptoms
  • Preconception
  • Pregnancy issues
  • Reflux
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Sciatica
  • Scoliosis
  • Sinus
  • Skin problems
  • Sleep issues, insomnia
  • Spondylosis
  • Stress
  • Tendinitis
  • Thyroid issues
  • Tiredness and lethargy
  • Trigeminal neuralgia
  • Weight loss

If you have a health issue and you would like to find out if we can help you, you can book in for a free Comprehensive Assessment. The Assessment will look at what is going on in your body, what is causing any problems, and the best way to resolve them. (Terms and conditions- the Assessment is a completely free service, with no obligations whatsoever.) Have a great life!

Getting the Body to Heal and Repair Itself

Feeling your absolute best

One of the most amazing aspects of the human body is its ability to heal itself. There are 30-40 trillion cells in the human body, and every second that we’re alive, these cells are working tirelessly to keep us at, or even bring us back to, a state of good health. When our bodies are injured or become ill, our cells can be damaged or destroyed, sometimes in large quantities. However, these cells have the ability to heal or replace themselves, to keep our body functioning at its optimal level.

A Small Example of the Repair Process

There are plenty of examples of how the body repairs itself, including the liver regenerating. the intestines replacing their worn lining, bones knitting back together, lungs repairing themselves after someone stops smoking, and many more. But probably the simplest example of cell repair is when you cut or damage your skin. Blood vessels at the site clamp down to slow the bleeding, while blood platelets begin clumping together to form a clot to stop the bleeding. Once the clot is in place, blood vessels reopen a bit to allow the necessary amount of oxygen back into the wound for healing.

Next, white blood cells begin digesting dead cells in order to make room for new cells to form. They also fight infection and oversee the repair process. In the rebuilding process, oxygen-rich blood cells arrive to build new tissue by creating collagen (you usually see the result of this process as a scar that starts out red and dulls over time). Over time, the new tissue gets stronger until the process is completed.

Factors Affecting Your Healing

While the body’s ability to heal itself is truly impressive, there are a number of factors that can restrict this process.

General Health

  • The immune system is responsible for healing in the body, so if your immune system is not working well your body won’t be able to repair itself properly
  • Chronic diseases can cause healing issues, as they cause the immune system to function at a lower level
  • People who have taken steroids or have undergone chemotherapy will have compromised immune systems
  • The same applies for those who have taken any medications to suppress the immune system
  • If a person sweats a lot (regardless of whether it is from a health issue or due to exercise), a number of important minerals can be lost, which can result in poor healing
  • Too much fibre in the diet can stop you absorbing many types of minerals
  • Not drinking enough water causes electrolyte imbalances and also decreases the amount of oxygen getting to the tissues, both of which are needed for healing
  • In the elderly, the level of stomach acid often decreases, reducing the level of protein and other nutrients absorbed by their bodies
  • If someone is obese, the excess fat tissue does not have a good blood supply and so healing in damaged areas is restricted
  • If someone has diabetes, poor circulation can significantly affect their healing and repair, particularly in their extremities

Key Nutrients

  • The more key nutrients a person has in their body, the quicker and better they will heal. And the most important factor in getting enough nutrients is good digestion. The more effective your digestive system is, the more nutrients you will absorb.
  • If you don’t have a good level of proteins, minerals (especially zinc) and vitamins in your body, healing may be delayed because collagen synthesis- the building blocks for wound healing- won’t happen properly
  • If you regularly experience diarrhoea, it is likely your nutrient absorption will be low
  • Zinc is needed by the body to create new cells, so is absolutely crucial for repair and healing. Both alcohol and iron supplements affect zinc absorption.
  • Coffee, regular tea and caffeinated drinks are diuretics, so will tend to dehydrate the body and restrict its healing
  • Caffeine also reduces the level of vitamin C in your body, which is the main vitamin used for healing

Inflammation

Inflammation is not always a bad thing. In fact, when the immune system is working effectively, inflammation plays an important role in healing. When a body is damaged, inflammation is fundamental to several stages in the healing process, including clearing out the dead cells in the area.

However, if the inflammation doesn’t settle down properly it can actually cause more damage to the area. (If an old injury still looks slightly red or is still a little tender when you press any part of it firmly, it is highly likely there is still inflammation there, stopping it repairing fully.)

Blood Flow

Even if you have fantastic levels of all the important nutrients, the damaged area your body won’t heal properly if the nutrients can’t get there. Poor blood flow in the area will result in low levels of nutrients, low levels of oxygen, and high levels of wastes, prolonging pain and inflammation, and possibly causing increased scarring.

  • The liver is often the key when it comes to blood flow in the body. The liver is like a filter for your blood, and if it becomes congested the blood cannot flow through it easily. The movement of blood in the body is slowed down and restricted, causing it to ‘back up’ a little in the body, like peak hour in the city.
  • Cholesterol and calcium can sometimes build up inside the lining of blood vessels (forming a substance called plaque), which narrows the artery and restricts the blood flow through it
  • Old injuries that did not heal perfectly or scar tissue can restrict blood flow
  • Stress has an effect on your blood flow. Your ‘fight or flight’ response causes the body to direct blood to your essential organs, such as your heart and lungs, at the expense of most of the rest of your body.
  • Tight muscles also restrict the blood flow

Improving the Body’s Healing Process

A healthy body fights infection, heals wounds, kills cancer cells, repairs damage, and fights the aging process. So a healthy diet, appropriate exercise, and plenty of sleep are all helpful.

Supplements

  • The key nutrients for general repair are zinc and vitamin C, so a strong therapeutic dose of these can significantly improve the speed and effectiveness of the healing. However, taking too much or the wrong type of these can cause problems, so ideally a qualified naturopath would determine the right type and dosage for you.
  • A naturopath is also likely to recommend other specific nutrients depending on the type of tissue affected. (The absolute basics include calcium, vitamin D and protein for damaged bones, zinc, vitamin C and protein for muscle damage, B vitamins and Alpha-lipoic acid for nerves, and l-Glutamine, zinc and magnesium for the digestive tract. However, we stress that every case is different, and getting good results often requires a fully trained and experienced therapist, together with practitioner-quality supplements.)
  • She may also decide to boost your immune system or reduce the inflammation to speed up the repair, or provide natural pain relievers

Acupuncture is often great to free up the liver, improve the blood flow in the area, reduce inflammation and stimulate the repair processes. (We find that a combination of acupuncture and naturopathic treatment usually works much better than either one on its own.)

Our bodies are in a constant state of removing damage and producing new, healthy tissue. Daily wear and tear are also promptly dealt with, so even ‘age-related’ and degenerative problems such as arthritis can be improved with the proper treatment.

Free Assessment Offer

If there is a problem in your body that is not going away, we suggest booking in for a Comprehensive Assessment at our clinic. We can then have an in-depth look at what is happening in your body, what is causing the problem, and what can be done to sort it out. (Terms and conditions- the Assessment is a completely free service, with no obligations whatsoever.) Most people find their assessment to be a very helpful, interesting and informative session.

How Simple Soap Kills the Coronavirus

How soap destroys coronavirusWashing your hands with soap is one of the best things you can do to help stop the spread of coronavirus. A single drop of ordinary soap in water is enough to rupture and kill many types of viruses and bacteria (including COVID-19). Why is it so deadly against them?

Soap is made of pin-shaped molecules, with a hydrophilic (‘water-loving’) head, and a hydrophobic (‘water-shunning’) tail. The hydrophobic tail repels water and prefers to link up with oils and fats. So if you put soap molecules in water, they tend to form little bubbles, called micelles, with the water-loving hydrophilic heads on the outside, and the water-avoiding hydrophobic tails on the inside.

Many viruses and bacteria have lipid (fatty) outer layers. These outer layers are like double-layered micelles, with two rings of hydrophilic heads between two bands of hydrophobic tails. The layer also contains protein spikes that allow viruses to infect cells (or for bacteria, perform various important actions that keep them alive). Some of the viruses with this structure include the coronaviruses, HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses, and herpes viruses. (The bacteria with this lipid outer layer include many of those that attack the intestines, nose, throat and lungs.)

When you wash your hands with soap and water, you surround any micro-organisms on your skin with soap molecules. Remember that the hydrophobic tail of the soap molecule tries to get away from water and to link up with fats, like the lipid outer layer of a virus. So the tails of the soap molecules wedge themselves into the lipid layers of the virus, breaking up the layer. According to Prof. Pall Thordarson (acting head of chemistry at the University of New South Wales), “They act like crowbars and destabilize the whole system.” Crucial proteins then spill from the ruptured membranes, destroying the virus.

Some of the soap molecules also disrupt the chemical bonds that allow viruses to stick to surfaces, lifting them off the skin. Soap micelles also form around particles of dirt and the fragments of viruses and bacteria, suspending them in floating cages. When you rinse your hands, all the micro-organisms that have been damaged, trapped and killed by soap molecules are washed away.

So to help stop the spread of COVID-19, please

Improving Your Immune System

Your immune system is your defence against virusesYour immune system is the only defence your body has against a virus (including the coronavirus), and how badly it affects you is directly related to how strong your immune system is. So protecting yourself again viruses should include

  • Washing your hands very regularly
  • Social distancing (keeping at least 1.5m away from others)
  • Strengthening your immune system

By getting your immune system stronger, you will also help reduce the chance of you spreading the virus to other people. There are a variety of ways to do this.

The Basics

  • Getting enough sleep (6-8 hrs), maintaining a healthy exercise regime, sunshine, fresh air, and keeping stress levels in check
  • Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, with an abundance of fresh vegetables, raw crushed garlic, nuts, fresh high anti-oxidant foods (especially broccoli and kiwifruit), and good quality protein. These help to feed your beneficial gut bacteria to boost your immune resilience. (Garlic has the added advantages that it is anti-viral, plus helps with social distancing!)
  • Don’t overindulge with alcohol, as it is bad for your gut flora and immune functions.
  • If you smoke, action a quit plan.

Intermediate Help

  • Over-the-counter products such as probiotics, vitamin C, zinc, vitamin D, etc. Vitamin D reduces the chances of developing acute respiratory infections (including influenza). However stop taking vitamin D if you come down with a cold or flu, as it may make your symptoms worse.
  • Drink and gargle green tea. Even more so than drinking it, gargling green tea has been shown to reduce the rate of contracting influenza and the common cold. The tannins in green tea have also been shown to have broad anti-viral effects topically.
  • Eat probiotic foods daily. Consuming probiotic foods regularly or taking a probiotic supplement has been shown to reduce the risk of developing an upper respiratory tract infection. (if you would like to take a supplement, please talk to us about the ideal one for you.)

Advanced Level

  • To strongly improve your immune system requires professional-strength, prescription-only products from a naturopath or similar health professional. These are individually prescribed for each person, and may include specific probiotics targeting certain aspects of their immune system, high-potency supplements, or specific herbal preparations. These products are very potent and effective, but as the prescription and dosage is tailored to each individual, a consultation with the therapist is necessary.

We are currently running a special offer of a 15 minute consult with our naturopath for only $15. These can be carried out in person or by Skype or Facetime. Please give us a call if you would like to book in for one, or you can book online.

Keeping You Safe; Our COVID-19 Policy

Coronavirus hygiene

Our clinic is a place of health and healing for many people, some of whom are elderly or have significant health issues. To help protect everyone who attends our clinic (including our staff) as much as possible, we have introduced the following requirements.

Visiting Our Clinic

Please wash or sanitise your hands when you enter the clinic.

You will not be allowed to attend the clinic if you

  • have any infectious condition
  • have any COVID-19, cold or flu symptoms (including but not limited to a fever, sore throat, runny nose, or cough that is bad or getting worse)
  • tested positive to COVID-19 in the past 7 days
  • are awaiting a COVID-19 test result
  • are a close contact of a person confirmed as having COVID-19 within the past 7 days

After Having COVID-19

If you have tested positive to COVID-19, you can attend the clinic after 7 days provided you do not have any COVID-19, cold or flu symptoms, with the exception of

  • a mild dry cough
  • mild fatigue
  • loss of taste of smell.

Exceptions may be provided by our Head Therapist if he determines that the person’s symptoms are not consistent with an infectious condition (for example, if someone has a chronic asthmatic cough).

(These requirements apply to our staff as well as our clients.)

We ask for your patience and understanding with these requirements, which we believe are necessary and important.

Some of the Ways We Protect You

Here are some of the extra precautions we are taking to help keep you safe when you visit us.

Cleaning and Sanitation

  • Our receptionists regularly disinfect our reception area (including the reception counter, Eftpos terminal, and front door handles), as well as toilet door handles, etc.
  • Hand sanitiser available for everyone on our reception counter and in each treatment room
  • Computer keyboards in each treatment room are sterilised after each acupuncture or remedial massage treatment
  • Disinfectant spray is kept at our reception and used regularly

Social Distancing

  • The chairs in our reception area are placed 1½ metres apart
  • Naturopathy sessions can be by Skype or Facetime
  • Products can be posted to you ($10 postage)
  • You can arrange to park in our carpark, and we can bring your products to you and put them in your car
  • We will not normally shake your hand

Our Staff

  • As is already normal required practice, acupuncturists and massage therapists must wash their hands thoroughly after each treatment
  • One of our naturopaths has prescribed professional-strength immune supplements for our staff members. These products are heavily discounted for our staff, so that they can ensure their immune systems are at top strength.

Prevention and Recovery from Viruses

We suggest that everyone strongly boosts their immune system. Your immune system is the best long-term defence your body has against viruses (including the coronavirus). The stronger your immune system, the less likely you are to contract a virus, and if you do, the milder your symptoms and the more quickly you will get over it.

If you would like to do this or just have your immune system assessed, we suggest booking in for a free Comprehensive Assessment at our clinic. (Terms and conditions- the Assessment is a completely free service, with no obligations whatsoever.)

Be well, and have a great life!

The Coronavirus- Now a Case of When, Not If

Computer Image of Coronavirus

With the continued spread of the coronavirus around the world, one of our leading virologists has declared that eventually everyone in Australia will contract it. Most people will experience ­it as a bad cold, however the elderly and those with heart or lung conditions will be at much greater risk.

University of QLD’s Infectious Disease expert and Virologist, Associate Professor Ian Mackay, said it was unrealistic to expec­t that the virus could be containe­d.

“It doesn’t look like that virus is ever going to go back in its box,” Professor Mackay said. “And so we’re likely to have the virus ­become what we call an endemic virus, or a virus that’s just with us for life. We already have four of these coronaviruses, mostly causing colds. We get them every year. They peak during winter but they still move around between us during­ the rest of the year as well.”

“So it’s likely this might become one of those. If that’s the case, at some point in the coming months or years we’re all going to get infected­ because we’ve all been infecte­d by these other endemic viruses. We know that they just spread among us.”[1]

Professor Robert Booy from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance also said that COVID-19 would eventually affect a significant percentage of the population.

“It could be within a few weeks. it could be one to two months, [but] it’s going to come here,” he said. “I don’t think we can stop this.”[2]

Children Safer, Elderly More at Risk

Professor Ian Mackay also said that the age group with the most deaths from the COVID-19 virus was the over-80s. “Younger people don’t seem to be getting severe disease.”

Chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy confirmed that that one of the surprising features about the virus was how few children seemed to have been identified as infected.

“It’s very unusual compared to influenza,” he said.[3]

Researchers found most people only developed mild symptoms, and the fatalities occurred in people who already had serious health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or cancer.

So far, no children at all have been reported as having serious complications, and those most at risk of dying were aged over 70, with an even greater death rate in people aged over 80.

Unlike with the flu, pregnant women do not appear to be at increased risk of contracting the virus and developing complications.

Coronavirus Cases and Death percentageHow Dangerous is It?

The Australian Department of Health estimates the fatality rate in China is 3.4 per cent, however the fatality rate outside China was only 1.6 per cent.[4] (SARS had a rate of 9.6 per cent.)

Symptoms

For the majority of people who contract the virus, their symptoms will be minor, such as a sore throat, fatigue, coughing, and a runny nose. However, a few may develop more serious symptoms like difficulty breathing. In the most severe cases, the virus causes pneumonia, which can be deadly.

Elderly people, or those with underlying health conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, are more likely to experience severe symptoms.

What We Can Do

We will never get rid of viruses, as they are constantly changing and evolving. New viruses appear every year, and any vaccine will always be one step behind a virus. So how do we protect ourselves from them?

Good Hygiene

Just like reducing the risk of catching or spreading a cold or flu virus, good hygiene is important.

  • Wash your hands frequently. Regularly and thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water, or clean them with an alcohol-based hand rub.
  • Maintain social distancing. Maintain at least 1 metre distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
  • Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth. Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and can make you sick.
  • Practice respiratory hygiene. Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.[5]

Seek Medical Care Early

Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance.

Improve Your Immune System

Your immune system is the only defence your body has against the coronavirus, and how badly it affects you is directly related to how strong your immune system is.

  • Mildly Help Your Immune System- this includes getting enough rest, exercise, sunshine, fresh air, fruits and vegetables, and reducing stress.
  • Moderately Help Your Immune System- over-the-counter products such as probiotics, vitamin C, zinc, etc.
  • Strongly Improve Your Immune System- professional-strength, prescription-only products from a naturopath or similar health professional. These are individually prescribed for each person, and may include specific probiotics targeting certain aspects of their immune system, high-potency supplements, or specific herbal preparations. These products are very potent and effective, but as the prescription and dosage is tailored to each individual, a consultation with the therapist is necessary.

 

It is worth noting that when you contract a virus, your immune system will work out which antibodies are effective against it so that it can get rid of it. The body is then much better at dealing with similar viruses in the future, as it already has a blueprint for that type. (The more viruses your body is exposed to, the better your immune system will become.) So if you are a reasonably healthy person and you contract a mild coronavirus infection, it may actually help you resist these types of viruses when new ones develop in the future.

Free Assessment

If you would like to strongly boost your immune system or just have it assessed, we recommend booking in for a free Comprehensive Assessment at our clinic. (Terms and conditions- the Assessment is a completely free service, with no obligations whatsoever.)

[1] https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/were-all-going-to-catch-the-coronavirus-health-expert-warns/news-story/91064f946134428ba229753c799eabb5

[2] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-01/who-is-most-likely-to-get-coronavirus-children-appear-safe/12013842

[3] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-01/who-is-most-likely-to-get-coronavirus-children-appear-safe/12013842

[4] https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert

[5] https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

Using the Immune System to Defeat Cancer

T-cells attacking a tumour

How Top Researchers are Starting to Think like Natural Therapists

This blog is a slightly condensed version of an online artilce titled ‘A cure for cancer: how to kill a killer’. We have taken out sentences and phrases to shorten the article without detracting from its content, and added headings. You can click here to read the original article.

One of the roles of the immune system is to seek out and destroy any cells in the body that are foreign, damaged or not where they should be, including cancer cells. Many natural therapists stress the importance of improving the immune system when anyone wishes to decrease their risk of developing cancer or to help prevent it recurring. So it is good to see cutting-edge medical research looking at ways to help the immune system get rid of cancer. (We must stress that we do not claim to be able to treat or prevent cancer.)

Revolutionary work on the body’s immune system and a host of new drug trials mean that beating cancer may be achievable.

Last month, the Nobel prize in medicine was awarded for two breakthrough scientific discoveries heralded as having “revolutionised cancer treatment”, and “fundamentally changed the way we view how cancer can be managed”. One of them went to a charismatic, harmonica-playing Texan named Jim Allison for his breakthrough advances in cancer immunotherapy. His discovery had resulted in transformative outcomes for cancer patients and a radical new direction for cancer research.

And yet many cancer patients, and even some doctors, have hardly heard of cancer immunotherapy or refuse to believe it. Those who have struggle to make sense of the new menu of options and sort reasonable hope from overblown hype.

“The emergence of cancer immunotherapy has occurred so quickly, it’s hard for scientists, let alone physicians and patients, to keep track of it all,” explains Dr Daniel Chen, a Stanford oncologist and researcher who helped bring some of the new cancer breakthroughs from lab to clinic. “The tidal wave of data is still teaching us fundamental concepts about the interaction of the human immune system and human cancer.” It’s also bringing us important new approaches to the treatment – and possibly the cure – of cancer. “So, this data needs to be disseminated as quickly as possible.”

Old Cancer Treatments

It’s estimated that nearly 40% of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetimes and, until very recently, we’ve had three basic options for dealing with that news. We’ve had surgery for at least 3,000 years. We added radiation therapy in 1896. Then in 1946, chemical warfare research led to the use of a mustard gas derivative to poison cancer cells and the advent of chemotherapy. More recently, we also started poisoning cancer through drugs that attempt to starve tumours of nutrients or blood supply.

Those traditional “cut, burn and poison” techniques are effective in about half of cases. It’s a laudable medical accomplishment that also leaves behind the other half of cancer patients. According to the World Health Organisation’s international agency for research on cancer, that translates to 9,055,027 deaths worldwide in 2018 alone.

Using the Immune System to Treat Cancer

Our usual defence against disease is our immune system. It does an excellent job of sorting out what doesn’t belong in the body and attacking it – except when it comes to cancer. (We would disagree with this- as cancer cells are believed to develop in every person’s body, the immune system is the reason why cancer doesn’t develop in everyone.) For 100 years, the reasons behind that apparent failure were a mystery. Jim Allison’s breakthrough was the realisation that the immune system wasn’t ignoring cancer. Instead, cancer was taking advantage of tricks that shut down the immune system. But what if you could block those tricks and unleash the immune system’s killer T-cells against the disease?

The trick Allison’s immunology lab at the University of California, Berkeley, found involved a protein on the T-cell called CTLA-4. When stimulated, CTLA-4 acted like a circuit breaker on immune response. These brakes, which he called checkpoints, kept the cell killers from going out of control and trashing healthy body cells. Cancer took advantage of those brakes to survive and thrive.

In 1994, the lab developed an antibody that blocked CTLA-4. “Roughly, it’s like taking a brick and jamming it behind the T-cell brake pedal,” explains Dr Max Krummel, immunologist who had worked with Allison on CTLA-4. When they injected it into cancerous mice, the antibody jammed behind CTLA-4’s brake pedal and prevented the T-cell attack from being stopped. Instead, the T-cells destroyed the tumours and cured the cancer.

What they had found would eventually win the Nobel. It would also fly in the face of what every practising oncologist had been taught about cancer and how to fight it. It took 15 years, says Krummel, before they could finally test whether what worked in mice would translate to people.

Results with Immunotherapy

Blocking the brakes on the immune system turned out to cause serious toxicities in some patients. “We learned pretty quickly that immunotherapy was not a free ride,” explains Dr Jedd Wolchok, a cancer immunotherapist and one of the primary investigators in the clinical trials for Allison’s anti-CTLA-4 drug. “But we were also seeing some remarkable things.” For some of the metastatic melanoma patients in the study, even terminal stage 4 patients only days away from hospice, the drug effectively cured their cancer.

“You never forget that,” Wolchok explains. “And at the time, we really had nothing that would work for metastatic melanoma.” In 2011, that anti-CTLA-4 drug would gain approval as ipilimumab (trade name Yervoy) for use treating melanoma; it has since been approved to treat kidney and colorectal cancer. As a drug, it has saved many thousands of lives. But as a proof of concept, the success of ipilimumab proved that the immune system could, in fact, be weaponised against cancer. It also kicked off the search for newer, better immune checkpoints.

The first to be discovered was called PD-1. Its discoverer, Dr Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University, shares this year’s Nobel in medicine. PD-1 is part of a sort of secret handshake that body cells give a T-cell, telling it: “I’m one of you, don’t attack.” Cancers co-opted this secret handshake, tricking T-cells into believing they were normal, healthy body cells. But that handshake could be blocked, creating a more precise cancer-killing machine with far fewer toxic side-effects than blocking CTLA-4.

In December 2015, the second generation of checkpoint inhibitors (called anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1, depending on whether they’re blocking the T-cell or tumour side of the handshake) was used to unleash the immune system of Jimmy Carter and clear an aggressive cancer from his liver and brain. The news of the 91-year-old’s miraculous recovery surprised everyone, including the former president himself.

The Future

For many people, “that Jimmy Carter drug”, the anti-PD-1 drug pembrolizumab, approved in 2015 and sold as Keytruda, was the first and only thing they’d heard about cancer immunotherapy. Keytruda is currently one of the most widely used of the new class of drugs, approved for use against nine different types of cancer in the US, and a smaller number in the UK, and that list is growing rapidly, as is the number of acronyms for the dozens of new checkpoints being tested. The immune system remains the deep ocean ecosystem of the human body. We’ve barely begun to plumb its depths.

For researchers such as Chen and others, this is our penicillin moment in the war on cancer. As a drug, penicillin cut infection rates, cured some bacterial diseases and saved millions of lives. But as a scientific breakthrough, it redefined the possible and opened a fertile new frontier for generations of researchers. Nearly 100 years after the discovery of that one simple drug, antibiotics are an entire class of medicines with a global impact so profound that we take them for granted. Invisible terrors that plagued and poisoned mankind for millennia are now casually vanquished at a high street chemist. “We’ve only just discovered the checkpoint inhibitors,” Chen says. “So it’s the breakthrough – we’ve just discovered our penicillin.”

… It’s hoped that, with checkpoint inhibitors releasing the brakes, the immune system can effectively finish up what the chemotherapy starts. There are so many ongoing trials it’s impossible to typify their stages or results, but several have been positive. The European Society for Medical Oncology recently announced the first modest immunotherapy success against triple negative breast cancer, a horribly aggressive disease found primarily in younger women, which has stubbornly resisted previous treatment options.

Nor are checkpoint inhibitors the only immunotherapy of cancer. … Another promising technique … called chimeric T-cell therapy, or CAR-T, re-engineers a patient’s killer T-cell into a sort of robocop cancer killer, creating a startlingly powerful living drug capable of adapting to match cancer for a lifetime. CAR-T has already wiped out certain forms of childhood leukaemia. These are claims that simple cancer drugs can’t make.

The word cure can now be used in oncology,” says Dr Axel Hoos, an immunologist and former global medical lead for the Bristol-Myers Squibb immune-oncology programme. “It’s no longer fantasy or a cruel promise that you can’t fulfil. We don’t yet know who will be the lucky patients who will be cured, but we have seen cures already.”

Hype can be dangerous, just as false hope can be cruel. There’s a natural tendency to invest too much hope in a new science, especially one that promises to turn the tables on a disease that has, in some way, touched everyone’s life, and sober caution is required. Right now, there are only handful of immunotherapies available. The majority of patients respond partially or not at all and some even develop and acquire resistance to the disease. But the minority of cancer patients who have been shown to respond to these drugs experience remissions measured not in extra weeks or months of life, but in lifetimes. “Such transformative, durable responses are the unique value proposition of the cancer immunotherapeutic approach,” Chen says. But it’s important to note that that potential is different from a guarantee of any one outcome for any individual patient.

And as Wolchok told me: “Immunotherapy is not a free ride.” There are the toxicities that occur when a T-cell response in unleashed. …

Several doctors tell me that the goal of treatment, if a cure isn’t possible, is holding on for the next breakthrough. If and when it comes, patients and doctors need to be ready to understand it. “After all,” says Chen, “there’s nothing more useless than therapeutic breakthroughs against cancer that people don’t know about.”

The immune system is an amazing thing, but when it is not working properly the person could experience chronic infections, fatigue, allergies, food intolerances, auto-pmmune disorders, or even develop cancer. You may like to also read Why a Good Immune System is Vital for Your Health.

The Coronavirus- What We Know so Far

The Coronavirus

How Dangerous is It?

There has been widespread concern and even anxiety about the rapid spread of the coronavirus across several continents. So how worried should we be? Whilst the trajectory of this outbreak is impossible to predict, and the situation is rapidly evolving, here is what we know so far about the current outbreak.

Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) have long been considered inconsequential, causing the “common cold” in otherwise healthy people. However, the emergence of the SARS-CoV in the early 2000s and MERS-CoV in 2012 caused global epidemics with alarming morbidity and mortality.

The current outbreak is caused by a novel (new) strain from the coronavirus family. This virus is so new that it does not yet have a name- it is currently being labelled by the WHO as the 2019 novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV.

The virus is thought to have originated from a seafood market in Wuhan, a central Chinese city. Currently, all confirmed cases of the virus in Australia are in individuals who have recently visited Wuhan. There have not been any human-human transmission occurring in Australia, although such cases are expected, and have occurred in China.

As at 29/1/20, the virus had been responsible for approximately 130 deaths. In all of these cases, the individual had suffered from an underlying condition, was elderly or frail, and therefore their immune system had a reduced ability to mount an appropriate response.

The main causes for concern relate to what is not known about the virus:

  • It is not known how virulent this strain of coronavirus is
  • It is not known how it is transmitted or how long it lives on surfaces; however, it thought that coming within a 1-metre radius of an infected person increases the likelihood of transmission
  • It is not known if the person is able to transmit the virus before symptoms appear

Thankfully, the 2019-nCoV appears to have a much lower fatality rate than previous coronavirus outbreaks such as SARS and MERS, or other deadly viral diseases such as Ebola. The current estimated fatality rate of the 2019-nCoV is 2.17%(1). Individuals who have died from this coronavirus are individuals who would have been at similar risk from a common seasonal influenza, which helps to contextualise the danger from this outbreak. However, it is possible that the virus could mutate and become more deadly.

For perspective, the mortality rate of SARS was 10%, MERS was 36%, whilst the Ebola virus killed half of all individuals infected.(2)

Avoiding It

Current recommendations to help prevent the spread of the virus are common-sense ones which are applicable to viruses such as influenza, and especially apply to people travelling or working in healthcare. The WHO recommendations(3) include:

  • Regularly wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
  • Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing with a tissue or flexed elbow. Avoid coughing into your hands. Throw the tissue into a closed bin
  • Avoid close contact with individuals who display cold and flu-like symptoms
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. (A face mask may help you to remember to not touch your face)
  • Avoid travel if you have a fever or a cough
  • Avoid travel if you are immune-compromised or have a chronic illness, or if you are regularly in close contact with individuals with such conditions
  • If you have a fever, cough or difficulty breathing, seek medical care early, and share your travel history with your health care provider; let your doctor know before you present to their clinic that you have respiratory symptoms so that you are not kept waiting with other patients
  • If you feel unwell during your travels, notify your travel crew
  • Eat only well-cooked food while travelling

What Symptoms to Look Out For

The Federal Government has issued the following guidelines(4) on identifying if someone may have a coronavirus infection.

‘If the patient satisfies the epidemiological AND clinical criteria (listed below), they are classified as a suspected case:

Epidemiological criteria

  • Travel to Wuhan City (Hubei Province, China) in the 14 days before the onset of illness, OR
  • Travel to an area with evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission, or a declared outbreak, within 14 days before onset of illness, OR
  • Close contact in 14 days before illness onset with a confirmed case of 2019-nCoV.

Clinical criteria

  • Fever or history of fever (?38 °C) and acute respiratory infection (sudden onset of respiratory infection at least one of: shortness of breath, cough or sore throat), OR
  • Severe acute respiratory infection requiring admission to hospital with clinical or radiological evidence of pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome (i.e. even if no evidence of fever).’

Prevention is Better than Treatment

Because of the way viruses mutate, new ones will always develop from time to time. Some of these will be relatively mild, and others will be more virulent. Apart from supportive care and avoiding infected persons, there is very little that can be done medically to treat a virus. So the best defence against any virus (or any other infection) is to make sure that your own immune system is strong enough to deal with it quickly and effectively. There are many aspects to your immune system, so if you would like to boost yours or to have it assessed, please book in for a free Comprehensive Assessment. (Terms and conditions- the Assessment is a completely free service, with no obligations whatsoever.)

  1. https://www.health.gov.au/news/coronavirus-update-at-a-glance
  2. Email 29/1/20 from BioMedica Nutraceuticals
  3. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public
  4. https://www.acupuncture.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-information-sheet-for-primary-and-community-health-workers.pdf

‘Wait and See’ Best Approach with Antibiotics

A recent review found that most patients who waited up to 48 hours before taking antibiotics didn’t need them. Doctor Geoff Spurling from the University of Queensland said that “The findings of this review are reassuring on all these fronts. Antibiotic use fell from 93% in the immediate antibiotic group to 31% in the delayed antibiotic group. This is a really big reduction.”

“In 11 trials and over 3,500 participants, there was no increase in complications with a delayed script,” he said.

Australians are some of the biggest users of antibiotics in the world, which is causing a huge antibiotic resistance problem. A study by the Medical Journal of Australia found that over two million antibiotics are unnecessarily prescribed each year to Australians with colds.

“Compared to other countries with similar health systems, Australia uses an awful lot of antibiotics for respiratory tract infections. Many of these scripts are unnecessary,” Dr Spurling said.

Antibiotic resistance already contributes to tens of thousands of deaths each year,

“For some infections we are on our last line of defence with no new antibiotics in the pipeline. Imagine if we were unable to do routine orthopedic surgery, treat cancers with chemotherapy, or if people started dying from an infected skin cut or a urine infection,” Dr Spurling said.

“Delayed antibiotics is a safe and effective strategy which can make the job of reducing antibiotic use easier.”

For more information, visit this article.

We believe that the best solution is for people to strengthen their immune system. Please read our article on ‘Why a Good Immune System is Vital for Your Health‘.

Make an online booking here:
Book Now

FREE
Comprehensive
Assessment

Valued at $120, your Assessment will help to uncover:

  • What is going on with your body
  • What is working properly and what is not working properly
  • What is causing the problem, and
  • The best way to get it sorted out

All this will be fully explained to you, and you can ask as many questions as you like. That way we can be sure to give you all of the right information, understanding and advice you need. Terms and conditions: This is a free, no obligation offer.

CONTACT

62 Looranah St,
Jindalee QLD 4074
07 3376 6911
reception@cntc.com.au

AWARDS

Winner Business Achievers Award 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 & 2012
Inducted into Business Achievers Hall of Fame 2009
LPA Outstanding High Achievement Award 2011
Mt Ommaney Small Business Award (Health & Fitness) 2018 & 2020
Mt Ommaney Small Business Community Spirit Award 2021

YOUNGCARE

We help provide care and accommodation to young disabled people through regular support of YoungCare (by donating the proceeds of our Gift Voucher sales)

quick links:

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram