The Independent
Health Medical
By Severin Carrell
14 May 2006
Herbs and holistic remedies could replace conventional therapies, the Prince of Wales will say next week
The Prince of Wales will urge doctors to start using unconventional techniques such as chiropractic, acupuncture and herbal medicines to treat serious illnesses, in a speech to the World Health Organisation next week.
Prince Charles will claim that such major chronic illnesses as diabetes and heart disease, which affect tens of millions worldwide, could be successfully treated using complementary medicines and a "whole body" approach to healthcare.
His comments, which will invite fresh complaints from his critics, are to be made in a keynote address to the annual WHO Assembly in Geneva on 23 May, where the Prince will set out his case for "integrated healthcare" to a global audience for the first time.
The Prince is expected to argue that doctors should put less reliance on conventional drug-based treatments and take a more "holistic" view by putting greater emphasis on preventive healthcare, diet and healthy lifestyles.
This would help tackle endemic diseases such as strokes, heart disease and diabetes which kill 35 million people annually, and which are the cause of 80 per cent of GP referrals in the UK each year, he will say.
The Prince also believes there is proven evidence that some mental illness can be treated without anti-depressants, for example, using the herb St John's wort for post-natal depression.
Doctors and governments should be focusing on diet, environmental pollution and reducing the use of harmful chemicals in homes and farming, he will say.
In a speech last year when he was made an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, Prince Charles said that modern Western lifestyles played a major role in the rise of allergic diseases such as asthma, various cancers and in obesity.
"The human body has too often been mechanistically reduced to individual parts and treated with limited reference to the whole person," he said then.
"We need to harness the best of modern science and technology, but not at the expense of losing the best of what complementary approaches have to offer. That is integrated health - it really is that simple."
Officials at Clarence House say the Prince is gratified that the WHO has invited him to promote the case for complementary therapies and "integrated health" - a subject which he has championed for several decades, setting up the government-funded Foundation for Integrated Health in London.
He has frequently been attacked by the medical establishment for pursuing "crank" theories on health after he first advocated non-conventional medicine to the British Medical Association in 1982. Critics accused him then of a "flight from science".
His address to the World Health Assembly is a "sign of how far the debate has moved on", said one official. Integrated health was now the "subject of mainstream discussion".
But Prince Charles will avoid mentioning one of his most contentious personal interests - homeopathy, the widely disputed theory that minuscule doses of medicine can cure illness.
Prominent cancer specialists were also aghast when the Prince advocated the Gerson diet method of treating cancers. Michael Baum, emeritus professor of surgery at University College London, bluntly said Prince Charles had "got it wrong" and urged him to "exercise your power with extreme caution" when it came to health matters.
THE PRINCE'S WAY
ACUPUNCTURE The ancient Chinese science of inserting needles in key points on the body can help osteoarthritis, menopause symptoms and nausea in childbirth.
HERBAL REMEDIES Some have proven value - St John's wort for depression, and Chinese medicines for eczema and hay fever.
CHIROPRACTIC Mostly manipulating the spine, this can treat muscle and joint pain, migraine, asthma, menstrual pain and sports injuries.
DIET Prince Charles is a keen fan of organic, pesticide-free foods and supplements such as Omega 3 and fish oils, saying they improve health and cut the risk of illness.
Prince Charles is a heir to the royal throne of Great Britain, a kingdom reputed to be the ancient Ephraim, one of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel of the Old Testament.
Hence he is entitled to make an announcement to the world that going back to nature in search of the lost health of the world population is what is required at this time of human history.
Because modern medicine has utterly failed to bring health to the people, we have to look elsewhere for an alternative system. And, Nature presents itself as the best system which will not fail in restoring health to those who follow its principles of nurturing life.
The Bible says that God, immediately after the creation of Adam and Eve from the mud, spoke to them, and the first thing He told them was about their food:
"Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yieling seed; to you it SHALL be for meat"(Gen.1:29).
So, our basic food is vegetarian. And God did not say anything to Adam and Eve about cooking their food.
Later, God warned the people saying, "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that HEALETH thee"(Exo.15:26).
The Bible says, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made"(Ps.139:14).
Also, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge"(Hos.4:6).
It is God who created ALL knowledge, or wisdom. The Bible says, "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain"(1Cor.3:19,20).
"It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent...Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?......But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are"(1Cor.1:19,20,27,28).
At one time God even questioned the disobedient people, saying:"Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is GOOD, and let your soul delight itself in fatness"(Isa.55:2).
What is the GOOD food that God has provided for us? To get the answer, we may go back to the first chapter of Genesis. Immediately after God spoke to Adam and Eve about their food, the Bible says, "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very GOOD"(Gen.1:31).
So, it behooves mankind to go back to nature and eat more raw green vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts, which God says are the foods that we "SHALL" eat. We have to discard all the denatured, polluted and unhealthy food, forced upon us by the greedy food industry. Then only we will regain our lost health. The synthetic, man-made drugs, which are not our "bread" according to God, cannot be included as an item of GOOD food. They will not give us health, but God-designed "Good" food wiil!
Prince Charles did the right thing when he hinted at the false system of medicine and exhorted the people to utilize the wonderful correcting mechanisms God had built in the "fearfully and wonderfully made" human body.