Thank you for your invitation to explain myself

Dear Webmaster
I need to give you some background, as that could help you understand. I live in France, which has a very different medical care system from that of the US. Medical treatment is provided by the state, people do not have to have private insurance, or the necessary personal finance, to pay for their medical care. Conventional and alternative medicines are held in equal esteem here. The French army has a large treatment centre, for sick & injured soldiers, at the spa town of Lamalou-les-Bains, where baths in hot springs and other alternative treatments are carried out. If someone goes to their doctor with depression, they may well be prescribed a magnesium supplement, instead of Xanac; for prostrate problems they may get grape seed extract; for varicose veins, ginkor. All these products and many more are registered as medicines and will be paid for by the State.
French teaching hospitals and University medical faculties have courses in a variety of alternative medicines, which – just like gynaecology, for example - can be taken as a speciality, so a French acupuncturist, or other alternative therapist, has precisely the same medical degree and standing as a French gynaecologist. So you can see that I come from a culture where there is no prejudice against alternative medicines and therapies, quite the reverse. So, I cannot possibly fit the description in your “Troll” section, that many are quackwatch supporters.
I first became interested in alternative medicine, some years ago, after an English friend had been cured of a serious back problem by a single acupuncture treatment, following years of unsuccessful treatment by various conventional therapies. From that point I began studying various treatments. Indeed my first session with Curezone was a result of my looking for alternative symptomatic gallstone treatment. (I’m posting under a different name now as I wasn’t able to sign in under my old one, but you can easily check – same e-mail addy.) I was on the point of trying the Liver Flush when my symptoms were cured by another alternative treatment, so I never did a flush.
A few months ago, we had some Dutch friends visit, both are doctors and extremely interested in alternative therapies/medicines. We got to discussing why alternatives weren’t prescribed in many other countries, especially the US, and they felt that quacks had spoiled things for genuine natural health practitioners. They consider that Hulda Clark has done a greater disservice to the US pro alternative health lobby than any other person. Why did they single her out? Because her books mislead people whose lives depend on receiving conventional treatments, perhaps in conjunction with reputable natural treatments. As they said, it is ludicrous to suggest that, for decades, every doctor, surgeon, pathologist in the entire world could have failed to see a link between a fluke and cancer, if such a link really existed. The outcome of our chat was a suggestion that I should write a book about alternative healing, which would review what has been put forward and explain why it either works, cannot possibly work, or could actually be harmful. I should mention that I’m an investigative journalist and an author.
Since then I’ve been researching. Thanks to previous contacts, I’ve had no problem getting introductions to doctors who have both success stories and the reverse to tell about alternative medicines/therapies and I have been able to meet and photograph a number of people who have either been cured or suffered from such treatments; my most happy photo is of a person playing with kids on a beach who, until she received magnesium treatment, was so depressed she couldn’t go out; my most terrible photograph is of a once handsome young man greyed by agyria, as a result of taking Colloidal Silver .
The results of my research to date are a long list of treatments that I can recommend and a shorter list of those that I wouldn’t advise anyone to touch. The longest list of all is the one that has question marks about the recommendations and/or results.
I made it clear when I began posting again that I was researching a book, but I think that post might have been deleted with those from myself and others criticising Andreas’ lack of understanding of the difference between Vit A and beta-carotene, so I have not tried to conceal my motive in being here. Nevertheless, I have also tried to help when I could ie. when I have specialist knowledge. I’ve pointed 2 people in the direction of possible MTBE water contamination (a subject which really should be highlighted on a US biased health forum), I’ve given someone in Singapore contact details for a colonic specialist there, I’ve been able to advise two people on body building. You cannot surely call any of those post trolling? OK, I’ve made statements contradicting statements made by one particular “expert” when those statements have been blatantly incorrect, surely you cant condemn me for that? Maybe you can, because you pulled one thread – in which not just me, but Shelley and others stated the “expert” view was incorrect - thus leaving the thread ending with a Wrenn post that thanked the “expert” for the bad advice. I still haven’t figured out what motive you had for pulling good info and leaving bad.
I have studiously avoided posting on those forums which relate to “treatments” that I intend to condemn in my book, except that yesterday I was unable to resist supporting someone who pointed out the dangers of Hulda Clark . The original post, my reply and another supporting the view have been deleted. Again I wonder what the motive is.
So, to come back to my list of treatments/cures that I have queries about. My motives here have been to try to identify if, how, why such protocols could help. Master cleanse, for example: I don’t subscribe to the “sugar is a killer” views expounded in various CureZone articles. On the other hand, I’m ambivalent about the high Sugar content of the MC. My posts on that forum have been attempts to clarify that ambiguity, so far without success. Where the Liver Flush is concerned, I have found evidence to suggest it is – in some unidentified way - beneficial, but I have not found any evidence whatsoever to suggest that the results of a flush are really gallstone, duct stone, liver stones . My book will, therefore, as things stand, have to say precisely that. I feel that is a shame; maybe the results are bile stones, but without evidence I cannot say that. Maybe there are some other benefits, but as long as the focus is – wrongly, or rightly - on bile stones no one is even going to look for other benefits.
Surely you must agree that, given the thousands of people who believe they have passed bile stones as a result of a liver flush, it is surprising that there are only two documents purporting to give evidence of this? One has anomalies that need to be resolved and the other is the Clark lab report. I have not been able to trace an original copy of the first and the second I find suspect because of the source and also because the entirely reputable lab said “calculi source reported as liver stones ”. It did not say how those liver stones were obtained; eg autopsy, reported to have been expelled after taking in olive oil with blah blah.
I have no intention of doing a liver flush, whilst my digestive system appears to be working very well and I have no symptoms of gall stone problems. As I figure it, to do so would be akin to deciding to have what appears to be a healthy tooth drawn to examine whether its root has problems.
When I first looked in on this board – over a year ago – I thought it was about helping people to improve their health, I’m no longer sure what this board is about; it has certainly changed since then. One thing I cannot see is how suppressing alternative views, by pulling posts and castigating those who present them can really benefit the majority of viewers.
I run a forum and I am aware that it is the norm for lurkers to exceed posters. I have never, however, seen a forum where the lurker/poster ratio is so high (averaging around 200 to 1). Could that be a result of your clear reluctance to accept any posts that do not conform to the views that – for whatever motives - you wish to present.
Last points: I’ve been posting on Ask Shelley for reasons other than my book research. I like her attitude and I’ve learned from her; I posted once on the Dream forum, because I wanted to know the meaning of a disturbing dream; Finally, I’m not sure why you thought I was a “him”, I’m most definitely female. ;)
Ciao
Em
PS. Sorry it’s so long, but you did say “Don't save on words”!
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