Mitochondria

Back in 1931 the preeminent German researcher Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize for his discovery that cancer is a metabolic disease. Very simply, Warburg realised that cancer develops when the body’s metabolism is starved of the energy it needs and cells instead produce energy through fermentation of sugar. This process is very inefficient compared to the normal process using oxygen and points to the need to keep the body well fuelled, oxygenated and watered so that the energy generating mitochondria in every cell can perform optimally. Cancer cells can be seen to have severely reduced numbers of mitochondria organelles. Tragically the thrust of most cancer research initiatives is to uncover some genetic cause for the disease for which a targeted, and patentable, drug can be developed. After decades cracking the human genome we’re as far away as ever from finding a drug based cure. Today’s standards of care require that we submit ourselves to ‘High Tech’ and expensive ‘slash, poison or burn’ protocols rather than invest in fundamental self-care. My mother frequently told us that her father’s favourite saying was ‘The best way to keep a place clean is to stop it getting dirty in the first place’. It was usually the state of my bedroom that started her off but the message stuck and today I find myself using the same principle when relating to health – “The best way to stay healthy is not to get sick”. This fits perfectly with another saying that emerged during Ty Bollinger’s excellent 2015 series of documentaries – ‘The Truth About Cancer – A Global Quest’. One of his contributors reminded us – “You don’t get sick because you have cancer; you get cancer because you are sick”. In other words, cancer results when the body’s defences have been depleted by a systematic neglect brought on by an inappropriate lifestyle. This realisation shows that Epigenetics (above genetics), or lifestyle factors, rather than genes, are the primary determinants of who gets cancer. It’s much easier to tell an unsuspecting public that a magic bullet cure can be found than to try and suggest they can avoid it altogether by changing lifestyle. At a social level the same illness is at work. Local cottage industries and ‘peasant’ farming methods once gainfully employed labourers in communities all across the world. Times were hard but people were frugal and lived modestly. The principle threats to existence were poor sanitation, inadequate shelter and war. These subsistence methods distributed opportunity evenly across populations. There was minimal waste. (Nature has no waste.) Today however, with our greed based focus always looking for the best way to exploit resources – human or natural, we find ourselves caught up in an endless spiral of growth and concentration of wealth so that the ‘have nots’ are even less able to cope. In developing countries they may find themselves working themselves to death as sweat-shop labourers whereas in developed countries they are kept alive as consumers and ultimately converted into patients to feed the grossly inefficient medical industry. All the time sneered at as no-good spongers or malingerers. In the name of progress we have created an industrial environment which concentrates rather than distributes wealth. Our social mitochondria have been starved of necessary nutrition, our society is sick, social cancer is inevitable. A change of perception is possible. As many chronic diseases and even cancer can be cured by restoring the body’s nutrition needs, so whole communities and populations can live healthily when their basic needs are met. Tom Shadyack says it eloquently in his ‘I Am’ movie – “The pursuit of wealth beyond one’s needs is a mental illness”. Labourers are the mitochondria of humanity. If only we would try living as a true single humanity looking to serve the interests of the whole rather than the few we would all have enough. And, at the end of the day, enough is plenty.

Princess to Hag

No, this is not going to be a nasty tirade against former girlfriends, rather I’m pondering how the most promising new products lose their appeal when one’s perspective changes. My interest here is in public safety and ensuring that sufficient consideration is given to the physiological threats of products pushed by corporations whose only interest is in profit. First out of the gate is Statin drugs, now pushed at every opportunity to reduce cholesterol. They certainly do so but no one’s stopping to ask why cholesterol’s the culprit in heart disease. Many MDs now believe that it isn’t and never was. If we get behind the hype and ask what caused the cholesterol buildup in coronary arteries we’re left with inflammation as the primary cause. Cholesterol arrived as the body’s sticking plaster in an attempt to heal us – Ooops! But let’s ignore that. Don’t let facts get in the way of pharmaceutical profits. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have been proliferating across America for years and the pressure is constantly applied to export this technology around the world. Natural seeds cannot be patented, but if ‘by magic’ we can artificially modify the plant genome then the company responsible can claim rights over all such seeds and any progeny similarly affected. This is an abomination of nature with potentially disastrous consequences for mankind. There can never be enough research to justify such action, since it would be impossible to complete longitudinal studies across several generations of humans. The technology companies involved are driven purely by profit but they’ll continue to make outrageous claims for their products like ‘pest resistant’, ‘Roundup ready’, ‘Drought resistant’ or ‘enhanced yield’ in an attempt to gain credibility and national approvals for their plans. Independent studies are showing that none of their claims can be substantiated but again, don’t let the facts get in the way of profits. There is now a revolution occurring in the monitoring of our use of utilities and the drive to install ‘Smart Meters’ is now gaining full momentum. Sanctioned by governments around the world the claim is that this will allow greater understanding of our energy usage so that consumers can choose the most competitive energy sources and so reduce their bills. This is a scam. With the average cost of a ‘smart meter’ in the UK estimated as £125 (Jan 2016), it would take a very long time for the capital cost to be recovered through tariff change savings. But it’s criminally negligent not to consider the likely physiological effects of installing these meters in urban areas. The pulsed RF emissions have been shown to be deadly to insect populations and no consideration is being given to human susceptibility. In America, where many people have reported increases in cancer rates, these ‘Smart Meters’ have proven not to be so smart at all. But let’s not stand in the way of progress, there’s money to be made, and terabytes of consumer usage data to be gathered, so don’t let facts get in the way of profits. – Is the pattern becoming clear? By the time the dangers are accepted millions die unnecessarily and even when fines are subsequently levied on the offenders, billions of dollars of profits have been made. Fines are now just the cost of doing business. In time we’ll come to realise that the hag never was a princess. Let’s hope that it’s not too late for humanity when the truth emerges.

Ring The Changes

Happy New Year World! This year I’m really going to look after you. I will respect your beauty, your forests, rivers and mountains. I will treasure the fauna, the creatures the oceans, the birds. I will delight in discovery of your deepest secrets. And, having fulfilled my mission, I will gladly yield my body to the earth so that it may nourish continuation. May I leave the world a richer place or at least ‘Curran Neutral’ so that future generations can also delight in its abundance. In showing respect for the planet and all it contains, it naturally follows that I must respect myself. I look after my body as the vehicle that takes me on my travels. My body is the tool I use to interface with the world and to accomplish my assigned task it is always the best tool for the job – at times blunt or sharp, hot or cold, heavy or light, nimble or methodical, quick or slow. It is important then that I hone its capabilities and am attentive to its needs. As far as possible I will avoid physical pitfalls of polluted air, water and food or mental and spiritual pitfalls of disengagement, apathy and selfishness. Instead I seek out the richest nourishment from food, culture and community. So how best to do this? Jon Kabat-Zinn offers a very good guide. Each one of us must tackle these issues according to our unique circumstances and as directed by that Divine inner compass. As he tells us ‘Once the universe is your employer, very interesting things start to happen even if someone else is cutting your paycheck’ This is about finding that thing which we are moved to do and devoting all our resources to doing it while constantly refining our ability to do so. It may not mean that you have to change what you do but rather how you see it or perhaps how you do it. So when it comes to New Year resolutions there need be only one – Let me be steered by Divine guidance so that I may fulfil my unique role in the world. May I marshal all my resources in this pursuit confident in the knowledge that I am always the best tool for the job.