Some naturopaths are clearly a danger to public health

Recently I had an unpleasant exchange with an Australian naturopath by the name of Brett Smith. It started by him claiming that ‘chemo’ only kills cancer patients and enriches the pharmaceutical industry. And then it got worse, much worse, and very unpleasant. This got me interested in Mr Smith and prompted me to look him up. Brett Smith describes himself on his website:

Brett is a graduate of Sydney University masters degree program in Herbal Medicine run through it’s acclaimed faculty of pharmacy. He also earned a degree in Health Science from the University of New England making him one of the most qualified Naturopaths in Australia. Brett ran a successful naturopathic clinic in Bondi Junction for 6 years before selling it and founding HealthShed.com and writing and researching a book on Type 2 Diabetes.

In a world of chaos and confusion, the one area you have some semblance of control over is your health. One of the issues around this subject that frustrates me is the conflicting information consistently bombarding us. If we can land a pod on Mars why do we still not know the fundamental pathways to human health.

One of the reasons is the big food corporations that have a vested interest in keeping you reaching to the shelves for their dead foods and the one thing I can assure you of, without any doubt, is that dead food makes dead people. If people understood the true power of foods, herbs and the odd supplement in reaching their health potentials we could eradicate many diseases scourging the planet today – heart disease, diabetes, alzheimer’s, thyroid conditions, asthma, the list is seriously endless.

The other part of the problem is us. We choose the “easy” option too many times, generation after generation after generation. What chance do our children have? Always looking for the Magic Pill. Another thing I can assure you of is that the vast majority of pharmaceutical drugs prescribed is completely unnecessary.

Natural therapists risks making the same mistakes as the pharmaceutical medical industry in becoming an elitist therapy guided by profit at expense of the patient.

I’m committed to helping inspire and empower people to optimal health through simple yet highly effective methods. Despite all the white noise, optimum health is open to us all, rich or poor, old or young. In fact, it’s your birth right. Claim it.

I also looked up his ‘health shed’. Amongst other things, it turns out to be a treasure trove of utter nonsense and anti-medical propaganda written by several experts of equally high standing – worth reading, if you have a minute! To give you a flavour, I have chosen a post entitled Which is Greater Threat, Measles or Measles Vaccine?:

Brett Smith N.D

Sometimes in life you just have to put your neck (and your reputation) on the line. I’ve been told on more than one occasion not to run vaccination stories. I’m sorry but I cannot ignore this ‘debate’ right now. Immunisation is a beautiful theory and with the right delivery method and ingredients may have a future, but as it is now we need to stop and have a very close look at this issue. Vaccines are not safe for everyone and vaccine injuries are not rare. Hep B shots on a one day old infant is actually criminal and I will debate any expert anytime, anywhere on that particular subject. Until then hear what Dr Jeffrey Dach has to say on the subject. 

by Jeffrey Dach MD

A recent measles outbreak at Disneyland of at least 70 cases (Jan 2015) has created quite a stir in the media. Five of the cases were fully vaccinated, indicating the measles vaccine confers only temporary immunity. Clearly there is no “failure to vaccinate”, as measles has broken out in highly vaccinated populations. It is obviously a failure of the vaccine. Unlike the vaccine, real measles infection confers life-long immunity. 

Measles in 2008

In 2008, a similar resurgence in measles cases was reported. An increase in reported cases of measles from 42 to 131 prompted a 2008 New York Times editorial warning of re-emergence of “many diseases” if vaccination rates drop. A quote from the New York Times:

“If confidence in all vaccines were to drop precipitously, many diseases would re-emerge and cause far more harm than could possibly result from vaccination.”

Confidence in Vaccines Has Been Lost

Unfortunately, confidence in vaccines has already been lost according to Shona Hilton in her article, ”Who do parents believe about MMR”. According to Shona Hilton, young parents are mistrustful of the media and the pediatricians who have financial incentives to push vaccines.

What is the Evidence for an Autism/ Vaccine Link?

The Hanna Poling Case

In the case of Hannah Poling, the federal vaccine court has agreed to compensate Poling’s family, conceding that her autism was caused by vaccination. The federal court has already paid out more than $1.5 billion for vaccine related injury or death.

Italian Court Conceded MMR Caused Autism

In 2012, the Italian Health Ministry conceded the MMR vaccine caused autism in nine-year-old Valentino Bocca. Exactly how many other cases exist is unknown because court records are usually sealed from public view.

Abnormal MMR Antibody Response in Autistic Kids

An important finding was found in a 2002 report in Biomedical Science by Dr. Singh entitled ” Abnormal measles-mumps-rubella antibodies and CNS autoimmunity in children with autism.”

The authors found elevated antibody levels to MMR (Measles Mumps Rubells Vaccine) in 60% of autistic children, none in controls. The elevated MMR antibodies in autistic children detected “measles HA protein”, which is unique to the measles subunit of the vaccine. Over 90% of the autistic children with elevated MMR antibodies, also had elevated MBP (myelin basic protein) antibodies, suggesting a strong association between MMR and CNS autoimmunity in autism. The authors state:

“Stemming from this evidence, we suggest that an inappropriate antibody response to MMR, specifically the measles component thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism.”

“In light of these new findings, we suggest that a considerable proportion of autistic cases may result from an atypical measles infection that does not produce a rash but causes neurological symptoms in some children. The source of this virus could be a variant MV or it could be the MMR vaccine.”

A second paper in 2003 by the same group confirmed these findings: Singh, Vijendra K., and Ryan L. Jensen. ” Elevated Levels of Measles Antibodies in children with Autism.” Pediatric neurology 28.4 (2003): 292-294.

According to Bernadine Healy MD, Director of the National Institute of Health (NIH) in 1991, there is credible published, peer-reviewed scientific studies that support the idea of an association between autism and vaccines. Rather than oppose all vaccinations, Dr Healy suggests modifying the vaccination schedule to make them safer. Left Image Courtesy of Bernadine Healy MD Huffington Post.

How to Make the Vaccine Schedule Safer?

Don Miller MD in this article on Lew Rockwell, provides a safer vaccination schedule. For example, the vaccination schedule can be made safer by waiting until child’s immune system is better developed after age 2, by moving from the combined MMR shot to individual doses, avoiding thimerosol, and avoiding the live vaccines…

Vitamin A and measles

Numerous medical publications have shown health benefits for Vitamin A in treatment of measles.

Conclusion

Clearly, there is a trade off in terms of benefits and risks of vaccines. Rather than deny the adverse effects of vaccines, we should be openly discussing how to make the vaccine schedule safer, as Don Miller MD and Bernadine Healy MD suggest.

If this had been a exceptional excursion into quackery, I would probably not have mentioned it. But Smith’s ‘health shed’ is full of it. Here are just three further examples:

The Truth About Chemotherapy – History, Effects and Natural Alternatives

The Amazing Cancer-Fighting Properties of Pineapple

Amazing Herb Kills 98% Of Cancer Cells In Just 16 Hours

Such dangerous nonsense tends to make me first speechless and then quite angry. This man claims to be one of the best educated naturopaths in Australia. If that is true, what is the rest of the naturopaths like? He wants to ’empower people to optimal health’. In truth, he and many like him are experts on misinformation that potentially could shorten the lives of many patients.