Code: 0948

Foreword:

My labrador recently developed diarrhoea. At the visit to the vet I relayed the history and outlined his diet. Without hesitation the vet concluded: ?He?s got a dysbiosis, causing leaky gut and has developed a wheat sensitivity. Take him off wheat and give him this probiotic.? Dysbiosis? Leaky Gut? Probiotic? To most medical practitioners these concepts are unknown, or if they have heard of these terms they won?t know what they mean nor the importance of them in the causation of chronic disease. As this is being written a research product is starting at Manchester?s Wythenshaw hospital into a ?new? treatment for childhood eczema which is being hailed a ?cure?. What is the wonder drug? - a probiotic. One of a group of natural medicines sold in health food stores for decades, but ignored by the medical establishment. The study follows research in Finland which showed that giving probiotics to a mother prior to birth and then to the baby halved the incidence of eczema. Eighteen years of practice in complementary medicine has increasingly shown me the importance of the digestive system and diet in health, and this applies not only to disorders of digestion, but also of apparently unrelated conditions. Eczema, arthritis, migraine and chronic fatigue commonly have digestive problems as the underlying cause ? and if this is adequately treated results in resolution of the problem. Most patients with disturbance of bowel function, abdominal discomfort and excess flatulence are commonly diagnosed with ?irritable bowel? and given symptomatic treatment such as antispasmodics, only. To my mind irritable bowel is a ?dustbin diagnosis? in that it fobs off the patient with no diagnosis at all, just a description of symptoms. All patients with irritable bowel have a dysbiosis, with many subsequently developing leaky gut syndrome and/or Candidiasis. These are the true diagnoses, and with correct treatment are curable rather than just treatable by reducing symptoms. One of the commonest causes of dysbiosis is unnecessary or excessive antibiotic treatment. Antibiotics are prescribed often when there is no evidence of bacterial infection and no investigation to support their use. The result is that the balance of normal, essential bacteria in the intestine is affected and a dysbiosis develops, laying a foundation for the development further of a leaky gut or a yeast overgrowth. It is impossible to assess to what extent such ?treatment? has, in fact, caused chronic conditions, but it must run into millions. The cost of this hidden epidemic has to be vast, not only in financial terms but also in the inferior quality of life for the sufferers. As the Greek physicians recognised we are what we eat (or, more accurately, we are what we absorb). The conditions discussed in this book invariably lead to altered absorption, so clearly can affect health in ways unrelated to digestion. Mineral and vitamin deficiencies are common sequelae, and leaky gut causes changing and increasing food sensitivities. So this book could not be more needed. It sets out in language which is readable for both practitioner and the patient the symptoms, altered physiology, biochemistry and microbiology of these digestive disturbances. Advice is given on self-recognition of a problem and ideas provided on management and treatment. In terms of the potential improvement for the health of the population it has to be a milestone, if the contents are accepted and adopted by medical practitioners. Over the last twenty years acupuncture has gone from being a totally alternative treatment to one which is now accepted and even practised by the medical profession. Other complementary treatments and concepts are making inroads into the medical world. Ideas expressed in this book, although unorthodox at present, could lay a foundation for better treatment of chronic disease. The unorthodox treatment of today is the orthodox treatment of tomorrow ? and this volume drives forward this concept.

Dr. David Dowson