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27 June 2011

Ian Gawler Blog: Who is pulling your strings?

“Roxon rejects plea on drugs.”

MS Australia blocks access to lifestyle therapy.

The first headline actually came from the front-page of The Age, 21st June 2011. Have not seen the second one yet, but the first made me wonder why? How come the drug companies are so good at getting widespread coverage, when non-patentable things like therapeutic lifestyle changes are ignored?

Maybe it is because of a perceived lack of evidence. Well, consider this. The published research that evaluated the outcomes for people with MS who attended the Gawler Foundation’s residential program Prof. George Jelinek and I established, demonstrated results that no known drug comes close to matching.

This research re-tested people one year and 2.5 years after attending the program. Over this period, the normal expectancy for people with MS is that their mental health and physical health would both steadily deteriorate. Whether on drug treatment or not, and in the absence of a definitive meta- analysis of the wide number of studies that have examined this question broadly, it seems reasonable to suggest that the average deterioration in physical and mental health over this time frame would be about 5%.

So what did our people show? After one year, the specific MS mental health composite figure (a figure that aggregates a number of relevant psychological assessments) had improved by 13%. Was it all in the mind? How about this? The physical health composite figure actually improved by 15%!

What about at 2.5 years? Better or worse? Did the benefits stick? Well no, they got even better! The mental health composite was now up by 15%, physical health by 17%.

There is no known MS drug that has shown these levels of benefit. In our study, the people did not get worse, they got statistically significantly better! Can you imagine the front-page news that such a break-through drug would produce? So what happened with our research?

Well first, it was quite hard to even get a medical journal to publish it. Then, no front-page news. Not even any page 17 news. We were fortunate that the ABC’s 7.30 Report ran a good story on George and the results; but then no other media took it up.

And MS Australia? Well the Gawler Foundation had arranged with their Blackburn office to recommence presenting the 12 week lifestyle based program that was presented there back in the early days when we first commenced the residential programs. But that was cancelled.

MS Australia to their credit used to hand out copies of George’s book to any newly diagnosed MS patient that asked for it (many of these books were actually paid for by a private benefactor). That service was also stopped.

It would be nice to think there was some sound reason for these two cancellations; but they did cause me to wonder. If a drug was blocked or withdrawn that was as effective as this program, we would have the headlines like at the heading of this blog.

Are the drug companies so good at convincing the public, the health professionals and the media that health solutions are their exclusive domain and the only thing worth taking seriously?

Surely it is obvious that Nicola Roxon rejected the new drugs requested for the PBS because the Government simply cannot afford them. Surely it is obvious that lifestyle related disease is lowering life expectancies generally and fuelling the explosion in chronic degenerative diseases. Surely it is obvious that the treatment of chronic, degenerative, lifestyle related diseases starts with a healthy, therapeutic lifestyle. Surely it is obvious that a lifestyle program is relatively cheap and very cost effective. The MS research demonstrates the potency of such a remedy.

What is missing is widespread support for the uptake of a therapeutic lifestyle – as a treatment. All too often we still hear of people with MS or cancer who are taking their lifestyles seriously being dismissed by their friends. “There, there dear, a little bit of this won’t hurt you”. Rubbish. Do it often enough and it may well incapacitate you if you have MS, or even kill you if you have cancer. How often do we hear of well-meaning, but one has to conclude uninformed doctors dismissing the therapeutic benefits of lifestyle changes?

It is about time families, friends, health professionals and the media gave the therapeutic benefits of lifestyle changes their due recognition and active support.

For the doctors, anyone diagnosed these days with either MS or cancer needs to be counselled at first diagnosis regarding their lifestyle, just as would happen for anyone diagnosed with heart disease or type2 diabetes. I contend that given the evidence, not to do this probably constitutes professional negligence. If there was a drug with the same benefits, and it was not recommended, that would be negligent, so why not with lifestyle intervention?

For the media – for goodness sake, get past the incessant publicity machine of the drug companies and support people in need. A healthy lifestyle offers so much, yet making personal change is not so easy and I suspect many people do not even know how potent it can be. Here the media has the potential to be a driving force in improving recovery rates from major illness, and to preventing them as well.

For friends and family? Recognise the importance of what someone with MS or cancer eats and drinks, whether they exercise or not, the quality of their relationships, the state of their mind, whether they meditate or not, their spiritual views. These things do affect their health, their state of mind, their mobility, even their survival. Making lifestyle changes and sustaining them for life requires good and active support. The best way to do this if you really care about someone, is to share in the changes; to actually make them yourself. Of course to do this has a potentially major side effect, chronic good health for yourself!

Finally, a disclosure of interest statement. I no longer work for the Gawler Foundation or present the MS programs. George does, along with staff from the Foundation. I do continue to actively promote a healthy lifestyle and support people actively working on their health and wellbeing. So my vested interest here is in the health and wellbeing of people with MS and cancer. My concern is that the media and the system are letting them down and we all need to do something more about it. I do recommend anyone with MS or cancer to attend the Gawler Foundation’s programs. In my informed opinion, there are no residential programs anywhere else in the world that have such a body of experience to draw upon, have such a high quality or are as truly comprehensive in their scope. Let your friends and your politicians know.

NEWS


1. This blog was written initially for George Jelinek's website Overcomingmultiplesclerosis - see below for the link. As it touches on issues that may be of interest to a wide audience, it seemed like a good idea to post it on my blog too.

2. Last weekend's Darwin workshops were well attended by a wide range of people from  the local and far reaching communities, including a very keen oncology nurse who flew from Alice Springs to attend. The organiser Alex, had me laughing more than I have for a while when, being a long-term, recovered patient himself, as well as the organiser, he was interviewed on ABC radio. At first I was a little apprehensive when he said he personally offered a guarantee for the weekend. Then he said if people did not feel better when they left compared to when they arrived, he would refund their misery at the door. It still makes me laugh!

3. Bunbury all day Wednesday, then Perth for workshops on the weekend, July 2nd and 3rd - details on the website - click here.

RESOURCES


RESEARCH   click here

RELATED BLOGS

Recovery from MS is possible

Eating for recovery

BOOKS

Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis; George Jelinek

You Can Conquer Cancer; Ian Gawler

The Mind That changes Everything; Ian Gawler

WEBSITES

For Prof Jelinek

The Gawler Foundation

For Ian Gawler

PROGRAMS

The Gawler Foundation

Residential:  Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis – healing program for MS

                                         Life and Living - for people with cancer

Non residential - see the website

4 comments:

  1. I whole heartedly agree with what you say Ian. But this is not limited to the areas you discuss. I am interested in the interconnectedness of environmental health, soil health, plant health, consumer health which of course leads to community health. I have recently "escaped" from the city and moved to a farming community. A similar attitude prevails in the agricultural world which is where our "You are what you eat" is produced. I truly believe Einstein's words

    “We can not solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
    - Albert Einstein

    .... yet representatives of the government and the media seem to only be "educated" in the thinking which have caused the soil degradation and the environmental collapse which dominate our rural landscapes now. The chemical companies have such a strong hold of the mentally of those who are influencing peoples' decisions making processes. It appears that people fear to be different, fear to take the plunge of doing something different, fear failure rather than embracing change, fear being the change they want to see.

    I have no suggestions as to how to effect change other than each of us needs to follow our inner intuition, trust and be the changes we want to see.


    Thank you for your commentaries. I enjoy reading them and considering their content. I admire you for bring topics to the fore which are not often publicly addressed. You are a good man with a lovely heart. Thank you for your contributions to our collective wellness.

    Best Regards

    Fiona

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  2. Dear Ian, it is indeed so very frustrating but there is hope! just on a small scale, when my GP diagnosed me with an incurable cancer and told me not to worry, that after a year of chemo and a bit of radiotherapy I'd be ok again for a few years, he did not know that more than 7 years later I'd be still here better than ever without any medical intervention whatsoever. He now has taken up meditation and is very interested in what I do to be so well. My haematologist kept on telling me to eat all the cheese and drink red wine as much as I want it wouldn't make any difference to the outcome. The last few years I increasingly got the feeling that she was getting a little bit annoyed, and and she declared at the end of 3 or 4 visits that THE BUBBLE WILL BURST ONE DAY! And when that day comes I'd have to trust her. I replied that it is not WHEN but IF and that her bubble would also one day burst, laughing, of course. At the last visit however she felt my almost non detectable lumps and quietly mumbled :" Maybe I should attend some Mind Body Medicine lectures one day". I decided to just smile and be quiet. Did not want to ruin such a precious moment with a comment. I firmly believe there will be major changes happening on a grande scale because of your dedication and hard work for which I am so endlessly grateful. Much love.... and don't forget to have fun in Germany! We want to see you come back in Lederhosen with Sauerkraut hanging out of your ears, yodeling love songs to Ruth across the Yarra Valley. Christel.

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  3. This is brilliant Ian. You are my hero and your form of medicine is what I wish to utilise in my life and the life of my children. The pharmaceutical companies are definitely not pulling my strings. However you and your co-workers are pulling my heart strings. With many thanks for your commitment, Ruth's support and doctors like Dr Hassad who back you 100% in your altruistic work. Namaste, with respect, Karen

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  4. Well worth noting, even though scarey.

    Thanks for caring for all of us.

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