New Book

TITLE – to be decided

PUBLICATION DATE probably 2019

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS

Purpose of this book
It is to provide up-to-date information on a whole range of topics, relevant to CAM as an adjunct to their conventional treatment. It will allow readers to absorb information relevant to their health issues and make more informed choices and create their own personalised care package.
Integrated Medicine in the UK
My Story
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer

SPECIFIC CONDITIONS
These are issues and conditions that the public are likely to consult complementary therapists about for help as an adjunct to their conventional medical care.
I have, over many years, collected information via articles in medical journals such as the The British Medical Journal (BMJ), The Lancet, Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA), GP, Pulse and Doctor.
I have also collected articles from magazines such as Time, Which, Natural Health, Caduceus and kindred publications.
It is my intention to synthesise this information and bring it up to date.
These are the topics I hold information about.

Asthma and chest problems
Back Pain
Joint Pains and ‘Arthritis’ usually Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Cancers particularly Breast Cancer and Colon Cancer.
‘Candidiasis’ / ‘Total Body Candida’
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & ‘ME’
Allergy and Hay Fever
Food Allergies and Food Intolerance
Diabetes
High Blood Pressure
Heart Conditions ( cardiovascular).
Eczema and skin conditions
Children with Hyperactivity and also Attention Deficit Disorder.
Children with Blocked up noses, glue ear and chronic upper respiratory congestion
Inflammatory Bowel Disease such as Crohn’s Disease and Colitis.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Migraine Headaches
Female recurrent Cystitis
Female recurrent Candida ( thrush)
Premenstrual Tension and Period Pains
Menopausal Problems
Natural HRT
Help to stop smoking
Help with Substance Abuse
Help with Alcohol Problems
Help with Sports Injuries

HOW CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE MANAGES PHYSICAL PAIN.
This is an important chapter to explain in lay terms how different types of painkillers are used by doctors, and the use of Acupuncture, TENS, and Herbal Remedies eg Tumeric.
Many painkillers are available over the counter such as Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Diclofenac, Co-Codamol ( Solpadeine). This chapter will discuss how a lay person may safely combine these, for short term pain relief.

HERBAL REMEDIES
A round up of popular Western Herbs, Indian Herbs ( Ayurvedic herbs) and Chinese herbs ( Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs).
I hope to properly put this together and hopefully this will be an extremely useful and interesting chapter. It is important to note that Western Medicine has developed from Western Herbal Medicine.

VITAMINS and SUPPLIMENTS
A roundup of currently popular items, as found in Health Food Shops and on the Internet.
And the debate about whether, as according to the Which Report much of it is a waste of money.

FOOD and DIET
This will be a very important and interesting chapter covering the current understanding on the health benefits of
Particular oils such as Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, Rapseed Oil and also Fish Oils all rich in Omega 3
Particular Vinegars eg Apple Cider Vinegar
The different types of Sugars in food and how to reduce Cane Sugar intake by substitution with such things as Honey and Maple Sap and other Fruit based sweeteners
Is salt bad for you?- what is the evidence. The health benefits of Potassium based salt ( Lo-Salt) and things like Himalayan Rock Salt.
The hazards of Trans Fats found aplenty in commercial quiches and pastries.
A look at the health benefits associated with salads, fruits, tomatoes etc
A look at the debate on ‘antioxidants’
A roundup of particular diets such as the Atkin Diet, The Hay Diet, The Alkaline Diet etc and the enduring thumbs up to the Mediterranean Diet.

With the diabetes and obesity epidemic, dietary understanding could not be more important.
This chapter will also cover Alcohol Consumption and Liver issues

AGEING and LIVING LONGER
There is now a great deal of research in the area of staying physically and mentally healthy in old age. Time magazine, for example, has run several features on this.
This chapter will cover these findings and also deal with the current status of research into conditions like Alzheimers.

THERAPY ROUNDUP
This will be a chapter involved with the current status and issues, including regulation of various popular therapies outside the medical mainstream- which include
Osteopathy Chiropractic, TCM ( Tradititional Chinese Medicine) and Acupuncture, Homoeopathy, Nutrition Therapists , Herbalists, Ayurveda, Reflexology/shiatsu/massage, Naturopathy, Alexander Technique,…etc,etc.
This chapter will not focus on what these therapies are about, as this is already well known.
Osteopathy and Chiropractic are already regulated in UK Law. None of the others are.
Acupuncture has a very good evidence base, whereas Homoeopathy has a very poor evidence base. This is the kind of stuff this chapter will deal with.

This chapter will not deal with psychological therapies which will be tied in with completely separate chapters dealing with Mental Health.

MENTAL HEALTH IN THE NHS
This is a very important chapter detailing the therapeutic principles and scope of the NHS Mental Heath Framework.
Despite the vast financial resources poured into this area, the service is totally boxed into accepted ways of managing mental health issues.
Whereas doctors, psychological practitioners and counsellors working for the NHS may privately hold more ‘holistic’ and ‘spiritual’ perspectives, they cannot stray outside the box which is their job description and contract.
This is, in my opinion, exactly as it should be for licensing and insurance reasons. But it does mean that NHS patients get limited help with their psychological difficulties, despite the best of intentions and public funding.
Sadly there is no way round this.
IT Security of GP Mental Health Records
There is another area which is worrying, but seldom discussed openly and that is the insecurity of IT records within the GP system.
GP consultations are now paperless, with all consultation details stored in servers paid for by the NHS. Vast numbers of NHS staff have access to this data and even with the best of intentions, there is no way of keeping these systems safe.
With the advent of the QOF ( Quality and Outcomes Framework) to include Depression since 2008/09, detailed GP notes have to be kept.
The mental health profile of an individual seeking to purchase a financial product such as a mortgage or other form of loan is a key determinant of the individuals risk profile. This information will be available via legitimate channels and also via hackers in the business of selling off NHS data on the dark web.
The government line is that ‘if you are depressed or anxious see your GP’
My advice is : ‘Think twice ,if you are thinking of needing a mortgage or a loan from the big banks. Mental Health issues affect an individual’s credit rating.

ROUNDUP OF PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPIES OUTSIDE THE MEDICAL MAINSTREAM (HISTORICAL)
Everything that we have now is built on the back of what has gone on before.
This chapter will cover a brief account of various therapies from the past that form the basis of what we have now. Some are in use today in modified forms.

Freudian Psychoanalysis Jungian Analysis Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Psychosynthesis Client Centred Therapy Co-counselling Gestalt Therapy Neuro- linguistic programming Personal Construct Therapy Psychodrama Transactional Analysis Re birthing Art Therapy, Voice Therapy, Dance Therapy Drama Therapy Transpersonal Therapy Hypnotherapy Autogenic Training Biofeedback Cognitive Behavioural Therapy etc, etc

Roundup of classic Therapist/doctor —client/patient consultation models
Eg Balint Long Roger Neighbour
The Carl Rogers Model (Client Centred) for counselling which has survived every test of time

THE NEWER THERAPIES OUTSIDE THE MEDICAL MAINSTREAM

Buddhist Psychotherapy and Mindfullness based CBT
This happens to be an area which particularly interests me and I have covered this type of psychological approach in my book ‘The Art of Letting Go’.
In essence this approach centres on ‘making peace’ with the dark and unpleasant issues in one’s life. ‘Living in the Now’ allows in light and strength to embrace the darkness, and helps one find a healthy relationship with it.

Transpersonal Psychotherapy
In this approach the therapist will work with issues involving ‘karma’, past lives’ etc.
Each therapist is different, and whereas this is a very effective therapy, the Therapist Client fit has to be perfect. I have covered this approach in a video on my soulace website.

Past Life Regression Therapy
Whereas this is completely rejected by conventional medicine and conventional science, in my mind there is huge anecdotal evidence of profound clinical benefit in some cases of depression and anxiety. Read the work of Dr Brian Weiss to check this out.

Reiki and Energy Medicine
The physical body is surrounded by an aura which reflects physical and emotional issues going on. Healers that can attune themselves to this energy can facilitate the healing process. I have absolutely no doubt of the value of seeing healers for both physical and emotional issues.
I have personally seen Stephen Turoff, one of the UKs most famous psychic surgeons at work.

Seeing a medium/spiritualist healer
Over the last six years I have attended several hundred spiritualist services and ‘demonstrations of mediumship’. From a scientific perspective, I have no idea how it works, but am convinced of the fact that it does.
I have obviously got to know a large number of working mediums and healers that serve churches in the West London area and currently serve on the committee of Barnes Healing Church.
Mediumship is about the ability of the ‘medium’ to communicate with ‘the afterlife’ and come up with specific information relevant to the person receiving the message.
Psychics gather information from ‘the aura’ of the person, and is probably a form of telepathy. Most mediums are also psychic. So ‘mediumship’ and ‘psychic ability’ are different but there is a frequent overlap.
My advice to clients looking for healers and medical intuitives for help with health issues, is to check out whether they also serve spiritualist churches. Because mediums that serve churches go through a vetting process by various church committees.

THE HAPPINESS INDUSTRY
Self Help books and ‘How to be happy’ books, courses, etc are big business said to be worth billions of dollars annually in Europe and North America.
This chapter looks at some of the big players and some valuable take away points
This chapter also explores perspectives on money and abundance, including things like books on ‘The Law of Attraction’ and Positive Thinking.

HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM YOUR DOCTOR
This chapter explores how conventional doctors think, process medical issues and manage situations. Understanding the principles of this is a great help to patients, if they wish to interact with their doctor and get the best result.
When a GP sees a patient, who he/she has not seen before they will ask ‘How can I help you?’ or ‘How can I help?’.
Once the patient starts to speak, statistically it will take the doctor about 20 seconds before they are interrupting with their own questions.
The reason for this is that the doctor has to rapidly build up a picture of the situation in physical, mental, emotional and social terms, that enables the doctor to decide what is most important and what to deal with in the here and now and how to sequence the other stuff for later. It takes years and years of hands on experience for a doctor to develop the skill of taking a taking a good and relevant case history in record time.
For doctors that work at the coal face of practical medicine, work is very pressured.
A doctor in A&E will have four or five cases simultaneously on the go. A GP in an average practice will have to see ten to twenty patients on the trot. From this comes the ability to work at speed.

Using the easy to understand model of human interaction from the 1970s bestseller ‘Games People Play’ by Eric Berne.( which is now called Transactional Analysis), I hope in this chapter to suggest ways in which patients can cultivate a healthy relationship with their doctor, thus getting the best result for themselves and their doctor.
Remember that for most doctors, their work is a calling, a vocation and a way of life. It is not, in essence, a money oriented profession, but a service oriented profession.

ADDITIONAL / CONCLUDING CHAPTERS – to be decided