I DON'T BELIEVE IN NITROGEN

I DON’T BELIEVE IN NITROGEN… 

That sounds pretty daft, doesn’t it?  And no - no I haven’t actually heard anyone say so.  But ask the average person a question about Nitrogen and their blank look will tell you all that you need to know.  To the average person, Nitrogen doesn’t exist – does it?

        Take them back to school-days and science, and the composition of the air in which we live, which we breathe, and a flicker of recognition might cross a face or two when they recall that Nitrogen makes up 80% of the Earth’s atmosphere – the remainder being Oxygen, 20%, and CO2 adding a minute 0.4%.  

Even this passing interest will wane if you move on to suggest that, as Nitrogen is a constituent of many minerals, and is present in large volumes in the seas and is a component of every living thing, it might be worth a thought.  As the blank look gets even blanker, they might give a passing reference to CO2 – “Yeah – I’ve heard of that – greenhouse gas - innit?”

       Nitrogen is invisible and odourless, so to all intents and purposes, it is not there – until it blows on you, or drives along the clouds in the sky.  Sometimes it is warm - other times it may be cold, although you don’t say to yourself “The nitrogen is warm/cold today.”

       In other words, you are only aware of this invisible element by the effect that it has upon you.  Yet, if it ceased to be there, you would die.

       Those selfsame words may be applied directly to another invisible element that is present and ‘envelops’ you completely and always.  An element that is far more complex than nitrogen, and much, much more difficult to describe – and certainly not in scientific terms.

       It is an element whose presence has been recognised, recorded and analysed and written about by the people of every culture that has ever existed, and since the beginning of recorded time.

 

It is fundamental.  It is the world of ‘spirit’.

       Now how do I follow that?  Yes.  How do I follow that?  In introducing ‘nitrogen’ and speculation about the gas, I was entering a ‘world’ where virtually everything may be analysed and measured - the world of science.

Not so within the ‘world of spirit’.

       Just try to speak or write about ‘spirit’, ‘spiritual’, ‘spirits’ and inevitably you will find yourself bogged down in the world of religion, of religions, of confusion, of speculation, where every relevant word has already been saddled with a whole range of meaning, of meanings – all argued over, debated –fought over even – and you will understand why I hesitate to add even more.

       Yet I have added more – 160,000 words more - in the text of a book that I have written and published.  Words that have come from my heart – that have come from my mind.  Words that have come from the reality of personal experience.  Personal experience of the reality of spiritual presence.  From the direct experience of the presence within my mind and within my body of intelligent independently acting ‘beings’.  Beings that are normally referred to as spirits.

The book has the title

Listening to the Silences

in a World of Hearing Voices

I have experienced inner voices and many other phenomena for over thirty years – and I am not, nor ever have been made ill from this cause.  I have not become ill because, knowing exactly what I was doing at the outset, and how everything evolved, I am certain, with an unshakeable certainty, that what I experience is the result of spiritual intrusion into my mind, body and senses.

       I write in detail of how it all began, and my subsequent life and what I have learned – and still continue to learn – and how, in contrast to the malign voices and presences that can dominate thought and action, I have experienced the direct opposite.  I have experienced the actions and support of the absolutely benign spiritual presences. 

When I began to write, I had one principal purpose, namely, to bring reality to the understanding of ‘schizophrenia’, ‘voice hearing’ –reality, experience – instead of academic theory.  However, as I wrote, I realised that much of what I was writing had direct relevance to other areas of mental ill-health, such as ‘bipolar disorder’, ‘dissociation’ or multiple-personality disorder, and possibly paranoia.

       One theme, however, runs through the book, a theme whose purpose is to proclaim the reality of the existence of the completely benign and helpful spiritual presences.  Without these presences in my life, I would not have achieved much of what I have done.

       They exist in the lives of everyone – but as with the nitrogen, many individuals are completely unaware, or don’t even care.  For myself – without their quiet, almost subliminal help, I would never have achieved what I have done in my writing, nor in my role as natural healer. 

I would never have corresponded by email with other voice-hearers across the world, from the Philippines to Alaska.

Certainly, I would never have received an email such as this from ‘John’ – forty-five years old and long time voice hearer –

“You and your book are the best things that have ever happened to me.  You have saved my sanity.

                        You have saved my life

BOOK - www.royvincent.org

Also on Amazon Kindle and Free Kindle

BLOG - www.roycvincent.blogspot.com 

HER VERY SPECIAL MILE-HIGH CLUB

HER

VERY SPECIAL

MILE-HIGH CLUB

I can become an absolute bore on the subject of ‘voice hearing’ and all that those two words conjure up – but I do not apologise for writing, writing and continuing to write.  Because, through my book and Blog, I have reached many individuals, and, as we have corresponded by email, so many very personal stories have emerged.  Stories that I try to weave through my writing – all the time trying to convey to anyone who is interested just what it can be like to experience these unknown voices in the mind and physical presence within the body. 

Therefore, to try to experience what is like to live with ‘other beings’ who are trying to control one’s thoughts and actions, may I suggest that you join me in a little role play?

So!  I have found a rôle for you!

You are now Sara-Jane; you are in your early forties and  are in a plane a mile high above the Mediterranean and about to join her unique Mile High Club…

You are returning from an absolutely blissful holiday in the Greek Islands, and to where you will return in a year’s time to marry Tom, your partner, who is beside you, lightly dozing.  Your mind is so full – the holiday just ended – already planning what you will wear next year.  Not a negative thought in your mind; nothing but happiness.

Then suddenly, all of the other people on the plane are talking about you, criticising you, condemning you, pulling you to pieces – your clothes; your morals – on and on.  As you cower in your seat, Tom wakes and you pour out the reasons for your distress – “They’re all talking about me!  They’re all talking about me!” 

Tom stands up and looks around, and persuades you to do the same. 

Not a single person shows any interest in you.

Somehow, you manage to keep things together while the plane lands and you travel home, where the dam bursts and the malign voices and presences continue their castigation.  You have time off work, ostensibly with stress, and you struggle to cope.  Only with the strong support and care from Tom and your twin sister do you manage to avoid being ‘sectioned’.  Yet you have determination that this ‘thing’ is not going to beat you, and you struggle with the minimum of drug intake and try to find the real explanation of what has happened to you.

You scour the Internet, looking for articles, books – anything that might help.  You find one, a book, that seems to draw you, and you read it avidly, non-stop.  And at last, you have an explanation that seems to fit your own incredible experiences. 

“I must write to this man and tell him”, you say to Tom.  And you do…

And here alongside me as I write is the letter from Sara-Jane.  It is a letter that puzzled me when I first opened it, for it is on the headed note-paper of a very major British motor manufacturer, where she works in a responsible position.

Sara-Jane begins:

“I want to say thanks for writing on the Internet about your experiences.  I found it to be the only true version of what I feel happened to myself last year.  I had been looking for books to read on the subject but I found nothing useful until I came across your account…”

She and Tom came to stay with me, and we were able to reach an even greater understanding of her experiences.  The year elapsed – and produced on my computer two wedding photographs of very happy people – Sara-Jane, looking absolutely exquisite, alongside a beaming Tom; and the second, with twin sister, equally looking radiant.

Sara-Jane can count herself fortunate, in that her experiences appear to have had a beginning and an end – or if not an actual ‘end’, but a finite analysis that shows that control is made possible by ‘awareness’ and knowledge.  Others may not be so fortunate, and with them I may begin an email correspondence – one that can span the Globe, (yes, truly Worldwide as emails have arrived from such diverse locations as the Philippines, Moscow, Brazil, Mexico, Florida and UK) – and which may go on for some months before, hopefully, we can write “RESULT – give me a high-five!”  

Most people know someone with mental health problems who might profit from reading my book.

 ‘Hearing voices’ is something that many individuals just don’t want to talk about, because of the stigma, and fear of ‘psychiatry’ and powerful anti-psychotic drugs.  They might welcome the chance to read about someone else’s experiences and ways of coping.

So please note the Web/Blog addresses, and pass them on.

BOOK – "Listening to the Silences in a World of Hearing Voices"

Free download - www.royvincent.org

Also on Amazon Kindle and Free Kindle

BLOG -www.roycvincent.blogspot.com

LIVE LARGE AND DREAM SMALL

LIVE LARGE

AND

DREAM SMALL

("LORE" BY R.S.THOMAS)

Job Davies, eighty-five

Winters old, and still alive

After the slow poison

And treachery of the seasons.

Miserable?  Kick my arse!

It needs more than rain's hearse

Wind-drawn to pull me off

The great perch of my laugh.

What's better than courage?

Paunch full of hot porridge.

Nerves strengthened with tea,

Peat black - dawn found me

Mowing where the grass grew,

Bearded with golden dew.

Rhythm of long scythe

Kept this tall frame lithe.

What to do?  Stay green.

Never mind the machine,

Whose fuel is human souls.

Live large, man, and dream small...

ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA - A POSSIBLE CAUSE?

FROM TOES TO HEAD

IS THIS A ROUTE FOR

DEMENTIA

AND

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE?

ASKS ROY VINCENT

              Amongst the many items of trash and dross that would invade my television set if I let them, there is, fortunately, a strand of programmes that make worthwhile the presence of the TV in my home. 

From among the catalogue of choice programmes that I could list, there are some that I always find illuminating as well as enjoyable. 

The various young singer/musician/dancer competitions invariably produce remarkable talent in performance.  But for me, and often more revealing than the performances themselves, the preceding master classes and practice sessions can provide compulsive viewing.

Recently I watched a EuroVision Young Dancer competition, and again found the earlier practice sessions to be illuminating.  Not necessarily, as one might expect, to view the dancing itself, but rather to appreciate the different attitudes of the young dancers.    

Dedication and application there were a-plenty, but one competitor from a Central European country stood out.  She was seventeen, and featured more than the others.  During one of her breaks from dancing, she was interviewed while she tended her feet.  She described how she often had to work through a ‘pain barrier’ – which she did out of dedication to her teachers.  She pointed to a painful lump on an instep, and described how the nail of one of her big toes had been pushed down at its root, again causing her severe pain, which, nevertheless, she overrode in her zeal for the dance.

In my mind as I watched, I was taken back to thoughts that had appeared when I first became aware of the existence of Alzheimer’s disease. 

The connection may appear non-existent at this stage, but this is how it arose:

Several years ago, I watched on television a film called Do You Remember Love?  It was a very poignant story as it revealed the gradual progress towards dementia of a vibrant and vital woman university lecturer.  No more than fifty years old, her phases of awareness and gradually diminishing mental faculty were well demonstrated, and as I watched, I began to understand the implications of something that hitherto had been only a name. 

At that time, I had had no personal contact with the illness, and indeed could name but two individuals who had suffered and died from it.  One was well know to most, namely film actress Rita Heyworth, and the other was Mrs. W. someone who was well known in the village where I once lived. 

At first sight, there may appear to be yet another non-existent connection, but there is one – both had been dedicated dancers.

Biographies of Rita Heyworth describe her passionate zeal for dancing from an early age.  Mrs W. had formerly been a ballet dancer, equally passionate for her dancing, who had then continued as a teacher of ballet until her diminishing faculties brought to an end her lifetime of dancing.

Puzzling though it may appear, I aim to demonstrate a connection between a debilitating and sometimes fatal condition of the mind with possible causes originating at the other end of the body.

My deductions will acquire more weight when one considers the fact that many footballers develop and, in some cases, die from Alzheimer’s disease, and footballers, more than most individuals, seem to be prone to foot injury. 

The connection that forms the basis of my reasoning is Acupuncture - the system of meridians and individual points that pervades the whole of the body and head.

Some dismiss acupuncture as a non-existent phenomenon; others concede to it a minor palliative role.  To those who do not accept the reality, I simply ask that you should keep your mind open and follow my arguments as they develop.

There are many books dedicated to the whole system of acupuncture therapy, and there are others that demonstrate the actual existence of the bodily system by indirect means.  One of the latter is The Body Electric by Robert O. Becker.  An American orthopaedic surgeon, Becker describes his research into the subtle electrical currents that facilitate the regrowth of bone in the healing of fractures.  Quite by chance, he identified the independent electrical ‘circuitry’ that coincided with the traditional acupuncture ‘meridians’.

The meridians are separate branches of the circuitry that together link all parts of the body.  There are twelve traditional meridians - six terminating on the hands, and six on the feet.  As my discussion at this stage relates only to the feet, I shall concentrate on those meridians that begin or end there.

 

Each ‘circuit’ has a name associated with that of a particular organ.  It does not, however, indicate that the named organ is the only body part to be treated.

       This is the list of the ‘foot’ meridians -

    1. Spleen.  2. Liver.  3. Stomach.  4. Gall.  5. Bladder. 

     6. Kidney. 

The feet are illustrated at the end of this article.  There is no picture of the plantar surface of the foot, which has only one acupuncture point.  This point is ‘Kidney 1’, and is situated “on the sole of the foot between two pads: one under the base of the big toe (metatarso-phalangeal articulation) and the other at the base of the metatarso-phalangeal articulations of the other four toes” [Extract from Acupuncture Therapy by Mary Austin].

Each acupuncture point has its own repertoire of ailments that one may treat from that point, a repertoire that has been refined over the many hundreds of years that acupuncture has been used, and is now the standard taught in most Acupuncture Schools. 

As I noted above, the ailments might relate to parts of the body that are remote from the actual point of treatment.  For example, Bladder (Bl) 67, which is located on the smallest toe, may be used to treat such diverse conditions as ‘pain in eye’, ‘difficulty in urination’. 

However, I want to make very clear - very clear - the fact that I am not suggesting that, willy-nilly, this specific point, and those that I list below, should be used in isolation to treat specific ailments.  The whole practice of acupuncture is a total therapy, and not one to be applied by untrained individuals.

In the British School of Traditional Chinese Acupuncture, for example, practitioners undergo an extensive period of full-time training that includes study time spent in China.  Furthermore, their treatment involves a detailed study of the individual patient and how he or she responds to a whole variety of tests.

What I am trying to do in this essay is to use one specific piece of ‘received wisdom’ from the field of acupuncture, and to apply it, again specifically, in relation to dementia. 

The ‘received wisdom’ is this: if an acupuncture point is damaged, it is possible that the ailments that are treated from that point may actually be created within the person.  The damage may be that resulting from fractures, severe bruising, local sprain, operation scars, trauma following other injury, and, in the case of feet, such accretions as bunions and corns. 

In the example of the dancers mentioned, some of the damage may be that caused by the compression of the delicate joints of the toe bones and the tarsals as the dancer works on ‘points’.

One does not have to look further than one’s own feet to realise the potential for damage – indeed, it will probably be the case that the damage is already there!  Each time I look at mine, I see such an area of neglect that I have at my extremity.  If one only knew in youth, what one learns in age, what a different attitude one would have adopted to one’s foot care and the choice of footwear.

Studying mine, as I sometimes do in the interests of science, I see the depredations of ageing – I am now ninety – and I see something that has always been there for as long as I can remember.   What I observe are the differences between my two feet, difference in size: difference in conformation.  Shoe-shop assistants invariably said “Let’s try the right foot first, it is usually bigger”.  This statement was sometimes followed by a remark about ‘kicking footballs’. 

Reflecting on the topic many years later, I recall that I did not spend very much time kicking footballs, so there must be other reasons.

For an explanation, it is necessary, first, to acknowledge that we are mammals, and also that it is not very long in the overall evolutionary span, that we were quadrupeds.  Quadrupeds have a particular linkage between the four limbs in that they are linked in pairs diagonally.  Thus, in humans, the right arm and left leg are linked, and likewise the left arm and right leg.  Similarly, the right hand and left foot are closely linked, and each responds to the actions of the other.  Thus, if the right hand grips something, the left foot adopts a similar ‘gripping’ mode.  (I distinctly remember my G.P. referring to my left foot as “clawed”).

I am right-handed, and it does not require long reflection to consider the amount of time that my right hand has been engaged in gripping objects since my birth.  One has only to consider how frequently and for how long one gripped a pen or pencil as one progressed through the various stages of learning, to be able to begin to fill in the complete picture.  In making comments such as these, it is as well to remember that I am only analysing myself.  Each person is an individual, and any damage or distortion of the feet would be the consequence of personal history, and not of any rule of thumb analysis. 
                     

Points on the Liver (Liv) Meridian

Liv 1.

  

Unconsciousness, fainting, ‘appearance as though dead’, headaches.

Liv 2.

   

Headache, head dizzy, insomnia, angry easily, hysteria, madness, insanity, epilepsy, fits, convulsions in children, neurasthenia.

Points on the Spleen (Sp) Meridian

Sp 1

Madness, little children cantankerous.

Sp 2.

Agitated, melancholic.

Sp 3.

 

Mad, agitated, melancholic.

Points on the Stomach (S) Meridian 

S 40

Throat numb, cannot speak, madness, ‘sees ghosts’, laughs madly.

S 41

Vertigo, madness, fits, convulsions in children, incoherent speech, frightened, agitated.

S 42

‘Wants to undress in public’, wanders around aimlessly, ‘every month madness’.

                                                                                                                            

S 44 Melancholic, fear and trembling, nightmares, ‘dislikes the human voice’.

S 45

Fainting, cerebral anaemia, ‘like a corpse’, deviation of mouth, dementia, insomnia, neuropathy.

Kidney  (K) 1 

Fainting with cold limbs, prone to fear, madness, epilepsy, alarm in children, paralysis, pain in head and nape of neck, eyes dizzy, vertigo, hypertensive ecephalopathy. (The position of K1 is on the plantar surface of the foot, almost below and two centimetres proximal to Liv. 2).

Bladder (Bl) 61.

Madness, ‘sees ghosts’, faints easily.

Bl. 62.

Madness, epilepsy, occipital neuralgia, tension headaches.

Bl. 63.

Headache, ‘shaking of head with open mouth in children’, convulsions in children.

Bl. 64.

Epilepsy, madness, cerebral congestion.

Bl. 65.

Madness, headache, vertigo.

Bl. 66.

Headache, vertigo, fear.

Point A is not a classical point but has been added by research that is more recent.  

One could use it to treat – 

                

“articular degeneration of the atlas/axis joint.”

            

ILLUSTRATIONS

FIGURES 1, 2,  3

ROY VINCENT

JUNE 2016

BOOK - LISTENING TO THE SILENCES

IN A WORLD OF HEARING VOICES

Free download

www.royvincent.org

A NEW STAR AND A NEW HEAVEN

He who is born in imagination discovers the latent forces of

NATURE.

Besides the stars that are established 
there is yet another -

IMAGINATION

that begets a new star

and

a new heaven.

PHILIPPUS AUREOLUS THEOPHRASTUS BOMBASTUS HOHENHEIM

PREFERRED TO BE KNOWN AS

PARACELSUS

                                                                               

Beginning his education in the Bergschule in Austria, the young Paracelsus was being trained to become an overseer and analyst for mining operations in gold, tin and mercury and other metals and ores, gaining knowledge and experience that laid some of the foundations of his later discoveries in the field of chemotherapy, which, for someone born when Columbus was discovering the New World, was most remarkable.

 

He attended the Universities of Basel, Tübingen, Wittenberg, Vienna, Leipzig and Heidelberg, and along the way graduated in medicine. 

But, in spite of, or because of this experience, he rejected much of the, then, traditional education and medicine - which is perhaps the rebel spirit which I so admired.

 

Paracelsus wrote “The universities do not teach all things, so a doctor must seek out old wives, gypsies, sorcerers, wandering tribes, old robbers and such outlaws and take lessons from them.

 A doctor must be a traveller…  Knowledge is experience.” 

We are a bit short on sorcerers, wandering tribes and outlaws these days, but in spite of that, I find much in the spirit of Paracelsus to which I warm, and I would far rather find my own remedies in natural herbs and substances than in neatly packaged capsules in a bottle.

It is interesting to reflect that many of these self-same capsules will contain in refined form the very remedies that had been used and dispensed during numerous past centuries by the old wives, gypsies and sorcerers.  In the refining, much will have been lost, for often within a plant and discarded in the refining are the buffers and catalysts that aided the process of healing and minimised adverse side effects.

Recently, I became 90 year old, and as befits someone of that age, I look back and reminisce.  Often the reminiscences begin when I pick up the book that I have written, perhaps open it at random, then read a little and finally liberate my mind and let it go where it chooses – as recently when I opened with pleasure at the Paracelsus ‘story’.

There is one particular section that I avoid most carefully.  I wrote it in order to let readers have a full appreciation of all of the events and influences that had shaped me and which would prepare them for their reading of the next part, a very key part, of my narrative.

It comes early in the book – in Chapter One, to be precise - and it records a ‘horror story’ – a story of how my life was wrecked.

In 1961, I had a successful career in the Nuclear Industry – a career of which I was robbed through the consequences of a medical misdiagnosis, and inappropriate and unnecessary medication.

In that year I experienced an episode of diarrhoea so severe and continuous that it defied all known remedies.  It is now believed to have been caused by an infestation of the parasite, Cryptosporidia, which may cause severe, uncontrollable, but self-limiting diarrhoea.

At that time, these parasites had not been identified.  The doctors who were treating me were at a complete loss as to the cause and, as I have subsequently deduced, they decided that it must be ‘nervous’ in origin, and, with no specific discussion with me, stuck me with a label which read Chronic Anxiety Neurosis and provided me with a prescription for the drug LIBRIUM

After two years continuous use, an addict, dependent, and showing many of the side-effects of the drug, I began a ‘psychiatric’ year that opened with two episodes of cold turkey, then hospitalisation for a total of twenty weeks; twenty-three applications of Electro-Convulsive Therapy (ECT) – yes, that is correct, 23 ECTs ; ‘experiments’ with a variety of drugs such as Tryptizol, Melleril, Valium, Pertofran and assorted benzodiazepines and barbiturates, plus insulin shock ‘therapy’ – a year that ended with a farcical second opinion from someone who went on to become a doyen in the world of psychiatry.

Here is a short extract from my book.  Please read it, and then please decide to read the complete work –

“A high flyer was I.  Was I?  I shall never know now.  No self-vaunted Icarus was I, flapping higher and higher on phoney wings, only to crash to destruction when the deceit was uncovered by the harsh sun of scrutiny.  No: by dint of the steady wing-beats of hard work, dedication and loyalty, I was rising and being lifted from time to time on the up draught of peer approbation.  So: how did I lose my feathers?  Why did I crash?  Why did I have to learn to walk again?

                How is it that such destruction can be visited on someone in broad daylight, in a civilised society, in his own home, in the midst of a caring family and, at work, under the gaze of a solicitous employer?

                And what did I lose?  I lost a home which was still being carefully built up and consolidated; I lost my wife and, effectively, my daughter; in time I couldn’t sustain my job and retired prematurely; financially, in today’s (2003) values, I have lost over half a million pounds, while each year I receive in pension about one third of what I could reasonably have expected.  

But of greater worth, a worth which can not be measured in cash, I have lost a swathe of my memory; memory of a time when life was very good; when I had a wife whom I loved and who was yet young; when work was very rewarding and successful; when my daughter was blossoming.  Do you know, I cannot remember how she used to talk when she was little; the things she said; bath times; bed times; Christmas; picnics and holidays; ponies….  I can barely remember the Sunbeam-Talbot that was the family’s pride, or taking my mother and in-laws for ‘runs’.  

I am fortunate in that I have a former work colleague whom I meet from time to time, whose reminiscences remind me of the highly successful and rewarding times we had as vital players in a cutting-edge project that was a world first, otherwise that memory would also be lost.”

What do you think?  

Do you think that I might have fared better if I had been treated by one of Paracelsus’ “Old Wives, Gypsies or Sorcerers”?

  

They would have natural remedies for many ailments – including, I have no doubt. many types of internal parasites.

I hope that you will follow the spirit of Paracelsus and read my book.  It will tell you much that you do not know – particularly about ‘Voice Hearing’, and having read it, who knows, you may be able to help someone else.

Even if you do not find a new star, do not be disappointed – here is a new rainbow.

,

MY BOOK 

Listening to the Silences - in a world of Hearing Voices

FREE TO DOWNLOAD

www.royvincent.org

Roy Vincent

June 2016

  

                   

A NEW LIFE FOR BILLY - NO MORE STATINS !

A NEW LIFE FOR BILLY

NO MORE STATINS

Billy is one of my heroes.  Here’s why - -

My rural home is heated using gas that comes in very large cylinders -  cylinders that are delivered by Billy with his wagon. 

When, four years ago, I was virtually snowed in, Billy got through with my gas – hence the ‘hero’.

I am 90, live alone, and appreciate people such a Billy in my life – he ensures that I get my gas at the best price – and he cares…

We don’t have much time to talk – just a few minutes as my cylinders are changed – but long enough for back-chat and laughter – plenty of that.

However, on his most recent delivery, the laughter was in somewhat short supply.  In reply to my query, he said, “I have been diagnosed with depression – I’m on anti-depressants (naming a drug with notorious side-effects) – my GP tells me that I shall have to be on them for the rest of my life.”

My anger rent the air with language that echoed my time on the lower deck of a naval destroyer in WW 2, and anger stoked by recollection of how my earlier life had been wrecked as the result of a depression created by completely unnecessary medication.

“And what else are you ‘on’?”….

“Statins”, he said.

There was just time to dash into the house and get for him a list of Statins side effects that I had downloaded from the Internet, before he had to drive off to his next cylinder drop.

Four days later, he phoned me – and the laughter came bubbling out of the phone, and a voice that had its old familiar ring and ebullience.

“That List” -  he said – “That list – I read it as soon as a I got home.

I have not taken another single Statin!”

“My neck and shoulder don’t ache any more – my feet aren’t tender, so I don’t hobble around like a man with gout - I sleep like a baby…..”

He, obviously, didn’t have to tell me anything about the ‘depression’.

His repeated “Thank you – thank you…! “  said it all.

++++++

When my friend Peter saw the list, he looked very serious, but didn’t say very much.  Soon, I learned that he also had immediately stopped taking statins.  As an alternative, Peter’s wife, Patricia, bought a natural product – a composition of hawthorn and garlic - which he now takes regularly.  Peter is 70, a dairy-farmer, milking twice a day, and never misses a milking.

When I spoke to Patricia very recently, she told me that Peter had recognised almost every side-effect on the list – but is now clear of them all.  I see them both regularly when they visit me, when the conversation is very wide ranging, and does not reflect the 225+ years that we share.  From Patricia, I obtained details of the hawthorn/garlic product to pass on to Billy.

As for myself – I first learned of the properties and benefits of hawthorn when I acquired a most delightful book named Grandmother’s Secrets.  Written by Jean Paleiseul, and translated and published as a Penguin Handbook, and now long out of print, it has provided me with both valuable information and reading pleasure for thirty years.

When I read of hawthorn, and its beneficial properties relating to the heart and circulation, I immediately decided to include it my daily ‘self-protection’ regime, buying it in tincture form from The Herb Company based in Ballindalloch, Banffshire.  Additionally, it induces tranquillity and relaxation, which, for me makes redundant any other form of ‘tranquilliser’.

The health protection properties of garlic have been well known and documented since the days of Ancient Egypt, and do not need any eulogy from me.

Read about them both on the Internet, where there is a wealth of information. 

There is also a considerable amount written about statins.  To write about them and their potential harmful effects would take me into the realm of medical politics, and as that is not my destination, I shall conclude with a list of side effects and some comments that I downloaded.

ROY VINCENT,  MARCH, 2016.

STATINS SIDE EFFECTS

Gout and/or elevated uric acid.

Peripheral neuropathy.

Myopathy.

Insomnia.

Loss of libido.

Impotence.

Heart palpitations or arrhythmias.

Depression.

Memory loss – short or long-term.

Transient global amnesia.

Chest pain.

Neck and shoulder pain.

Fatigues.

Migraine headaches.

Digestive disorders.

Rabdomyolysis.

Trouble walking – either shuffling or balance.

Hand tremors.

Slurred speech or trouble finding the right word.

Dizziness.

Sciatica-like pain.

" The problem with many of these symptoms is that, if you tell your doctor, he is likely to dismiss them with the comment: "You are getting older; what do you expect."  Doctors, it seems, refuse to believe that such 'safe' drugs as Statins could possibly have any side effects.   Because of this, these effects, which are frequently due to Statins, are not recorded as side effects.
This is why, if you look on the Internet for adverse effects of Statins, you will probably be 'reliably informed' that there are very few side effects; and that 'Statins are very safe'.  You need to know that this is untrue. "