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GcMAF’s David Noakes extradited to France

In yet another travesty of justice, David Noakes who helped bring GcMAF to the market as a novel and natural cancer therapy is set to be extradited to France for ‘crimes’ he’s already been convicted of and imprisoned for in the UK. He has five days in which to appeal the decision. If unsuccessful he will be following his partner Lyn Thyer who has already been extradited to France to await trial. Not content with ruining two people, whose main driver was to provide a badly needed natural treatment to cancer sufferers, those same cancer patients are now being denied access to potentially life-saving GcMAF.

More exposure of Google’s health data grab

Google’s efforts to take control of lucrative personal health data has moved to a new level as The Wall Street Journal broke the news of Project Nightingale. As part of its partnership with Ascension, one of the largest non-profit healthcare providers in the US, Google now has access to the full medical records of US citizens across 21 states. Both Google and Ascension have been quick to deny claims the data will be available to Google for other uses. But who owns your health data is soon to become one of the biggest issues determining who controls how we manage our health. Isn’t it time we take back control, not only of our health, but also of our health data?

Traditional medicine update

New research reveals the depth and breadth of medicinal plants used by indigenous people in the Amazon Rainforest. Working with the Kichwa people, researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E Schmidt College of Science and collaborators sought to understand the extent of their deliberate use of medicinal plants. The study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacy revealed regular use of 101 medicinal plants from 54 plant families. As interest in natural medicine grows, despite massive censorship, the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) and the Federation of European Academies of Medicine (FEAM) have issued a statement calling for new regulatory oversight of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the EU. This follows the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recent inclusion of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the 11th revision International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD). Along with the Indian philosophy of Ayurveda, TCM is the oldest system of traditional medicine that remains in widespread practice today. For many people, it’s still their primary system of medicine.

World Scientists’ declare climate emergency

Over 11,000 scientists used the 40th anniversary of the world’s first climate conference to “clearly warn” of a climate emergency. In a statement published in the journal BioScience, the group set out policy recommendations for combatting the emergency. The authors call for major transformations in the way we live our lives and interact with natural ecosystems. In the EU, MEPS have called for a commitment to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 ahead of the COP25 UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid in December.

Planetary diet too posh for developing nations

The EAT-Lancet diet is just too expensive for at least 1.6 billion people, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, according to a new study published in Lancet Global Health by researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute and Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. The researchers are calling for policies that not only safeguard health and the environment, but increase corporate responsibilities. ANH founder, executive and scientific director Rob Verkerk PhD, has previously criticised the EAT-Lancet report for not promoting foods suited to local agro-ecological conditions, especially in the less industrialised areas of the world. You’ll find out more about the role of real food and agroecological transformation in the ‘Real Food Issue’ (Oct 2019) of the British Holistic Medical Association’s Journal of Holistic Healthcare.

Vaping harms

Vaping has been linked to severe lung disease in more than 2,000 US citizens this year, along with 39 confirmed deaths. In an effort to warn people of the dangers of vaping, doctors in Detroit have released details of a man who has undergone a double lung transplant as a result. In the UK, a teenager is warning others not to vape after he nearly died following a catastrophic allergic reaction to what appears to have been synthetic flavouring compounds in his lungs. Two new studies to be presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting this month add to warnings that vaping can cause harms similar to those posed by traditional cigarettes. Results from the first study show levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol and triglycerides are elevated in those who vape, whilst the second found a decrease in blood flow to the heart. With evidence stacking up as to the harms posed by vaping just how much longer can health authorities continue to assure citizens that it’s 95% safer than traditional cigarettes?

Carbtastic WeightWatchers

They’re at it again. The newest addition to WeightWatchers (WW) offerings could be a diet disaster for those who are intolerant to carbs (i.e. most people who struggle to lose weight)! The new plan includes a heavy helping of carbohydrate foods now designated as zero point, meaning people can eat as much as they want. WW’s president and CEO unwittingly commented “that’s what people are craving”! Such advice is unlikely to help those who need it most by driving insulin resistance and weight gain rather than metabolic flexibility. But hey, if the business model isn’t broken, we sense it might go some way to keeping WW’s coffers topped up as dieters return again and again and again….

The problem with sustainable palm oil

A new report from Greenpeace accuses Unilever, Mondelez, Nestlé and Proctor & Gamble that their reliance on ‘sustainable’ palm oil producers is linked to devastating rainforest fires. Thought to be the solution to the ongoing destruction of the rainforest and its animals, a major cloud has been thrown not only over the rainforests, but over sustainable palm plantations, especially in South East Asia. Find out more from Greenpeace.