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"Study details how antibiotics benefit pathogen growth by disrupting oxygen levels, fiber processing in the gut"
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160502215707.htm
The article shows that in the case of salmonella, oxygen levels were disrupted in the opposite way of what I was thinking about botulism when mulling clue about Dan's line of thinking of polio, but it's concern with oxygen disruption I think is a good clue in and of itself. Salmonella is obviously not the only bad bug, so it raises the question about which bad bugs are anaerobic vs aerobic, as well as the question what would happen after repeated rounds of different families of antibiotics, as well as all the chemicals we put in our stomach, and than on TOP of the vaccines.
The page the article was on had another couple of nice bacteria articles on it, not related:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160428095248.htm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160307113301.htm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141216113017.htm
Posted by: Jenny | May 04, 2016 at 07:59 AM
In Scotland in the '50s we were given jelly and icecream (a favourite at birthday parties) after tonsillectomy. My sister howled and had to be 'encouraged' to eat hers. Being four years older maybe she suffered more. I just swallowed mine down!
Posted by: Grace Green | May 03, 2016 at 04:02 PM
An interesting historical perspective on a geographical medical problem that was not natural to the U.S. until the 1700s and Atlantic trade, according to the author. One gets excited while reading the article that there is some really good relevant break-out information here, but holds one's breath because, well, one knows how these things go and certain points hover with that shadowy personality raising the hair on one's neck. I hold my breath, almost to the end, wait for it, wait for it . . . . . . bam! Ohhh, so close. I told you so, I tell myself. There it is! Oh so predictable, and a new schill writer takes her place on stage, standing proudly with her graduation certificate in hand. She faces forward, not noticing Nova and PBS taking bows behind her as the suits slip away quickly, efficiently, down the back stairs. Mom and Dad clap wildly, so proud.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/nature/how-a-worm-gave-the-south-a-bad-name/
A must read, even if only for the historical perspective of epsom salts and thymol, and how thymol was dropped in favor of a chemical.
Posted by: Jenny | May 03, 2016 at 11:39 AM
Dan, you asked about a group that may have had a different diet.
I've always wondered if the Passamaquoddy Indian tribe relative to Roosevelt's Campobello Island visits were affected by polio.
Eleanor had some connections to them but I'm not familiar with their habits or disease history.
I also saw this in Rutland Historical Society Quarterly Vol 22
No 41992 Infantile Paralysis Epidemic 1894
During this epidemic and in the same geographical area, an acute nervous disease, paralytic in its nature, affected domestic animals. Horses, dogs and fowls died with these symptoms.
The only reliable facts which I am able to give of the pathologic conditions in these cases among the lower animals are from the examinations of the cord of a horse that died paralyzed in the hind legs, and from that of the cord and brain of a fowl which was paralyzed in its legs and wings. Dr. W. W. Townsend, of Rutland, who made the examination of the horse, says that the examination of a section of the lumbar portion of the cord showed a "granular degeneration and pigmentation of the ganglion cells of the anterior cornua, and atrophy of the anterior nerve roots."
He further states that there was no meningitis in this case. Dr. Charles L. Dana, who made the examination of the fowl, with the aid of Dr. Dunham of the Carnegie Laboratory, found "an acute poliomyelitis of the lumbar portion of the cord and no meningitis."
A bacteriologic examination of the same cord by Dr. Dunham gave negative results, and it was found that the inoculating needle did not strike the diseased parts."
Was surprised by a mention of affected animals.
Posted by: Greyone | May 03, 2016 at 10:42 AM
If you want to know the true cause of polio you guys are all looking at the wrong things.
Yes poisoning is important but you should look to the opossum to understand how it manifests in so many people.
You see, this animal plays dead (where we get the phrase "playing possum") when under threat because its predators don't like old meat and will pass it by thinking it has been dead for a long time.
But the interesting part is that this is all played out from the possum's sub-conscious. Whilst it consciously detects the predator it has no choice about the paralysis (for example if a human walked by 5 minutes later they could pick up a stiff possum by the tail). Once the danger has passed the creature will gradually regain its movement.
The same thing happens with humans (and lots of animals) when trapped in a corner with no escape.
Our sub-conscious mind causes paralysis because there is literally no other course of action.
As you can imagine this is particularly true for small children being held down for a set of vaccines or some other poisoning.
The trauma *plus* the poisons lead to a *permanent* state of paralysis rather than a short lived one.
The same is true as to why vaccines lead to autism. The particular trauma suffered by the child is that of a feeling of abandonment (actually there are several traumas). In the ordinary course of events the child would heal quickly but when mixed with a poisoning the child never recovers.
That is why detoxing can help but only if at the same time the child resolves the initial trauma. So that is why parents of autistic children get such varied results from detoxing protocols and different diets etc.
Posted by: rtp | May 02, 2016 at 07:00 PM
hi david, i spent a lot of time looking into vaccines in this era. it does look like the schick skin test for diphtheria was widely used in city schools in spring 1916 and certainly could have had some role. my theory is different but i'm open to all scenarios and this could be one.
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | May 02, 2016 at 03:16 PM
Yes, I had my tonsils out too - repeated infections. Ice-cream and popsicles to cool the post-surgery sore throat. My siblings did not. I remember my mother reading me a children book (was it a Golden Book, or a Curious George?) about what to expect in the hospital when having tonsils out, a real hospital facemark was tucked in a pocket in the book, with reassurances in the book that all children get ice-cream after their tonsils get out.
Then, in adolescence I was the one with strep all the time, antibiotics galore, i.e. getting the tonsils out didn't seem to have prevented the occurrence of sore throats or the need for antibiotics in myself.
In botulism, it's the toxic byproducts produced that are the problem. The bacteria could survive in anaerobic conditions. You don't give honey to a baby under one due to a risk of botulism - I've heard time and time again. Never knew why until this little brainstorming session you've spawned here. Babies' initial digestive system is not as acidic as an adults. It becomes more acidic as they mature.
If it was more acidic, the botulism bacteria would be more easily handled. Also, I'm sure most people here know that the populations of bacteria that survive digestion are different in each subsequent part of the gastro system. Oxygen levels decrease significantly along the way, so that further along, you have bacteria that are more anaerobic versus in the mouth/throat/stomach.
From wiki on the history of pasteurization vs sterilization:
"Unlike sterilization, pasteurization is not intended to kill all micro-organisms in the food."
"Tin can production was not common until the beginning of the 20th century"
From that site, it is very evident different foods need different temperatures, and that different bacteria are destroyed at different temperatures.
Before then, I suppose pickling and fermentation were the popular food preservation method, taking advantage of acidity and probiotics before the whys and whatfors were all lined up.
https://sites.google.com/site/briannespoliopbl/home/properties-of-enterovirus-poliovirus-environment
what happens to IgA antibodies and polio viruses at various ph levels?
Can't wait to see where all this is leading!
Posted by: Jenny | May 02, 2016 at 12:11 PM
After reading all 3 Parts and the vast array of comments, and going back over The Age of Polio by Dan and Mark here on AoA in September, 2011, I am clearly befuddled.
Since: 1) The enterovirus polio virus has been endemic since time immemorial, and is naturally passed into the gastrointestinal system of infants around :"teething age" of 8 to 12 months;
2) If not exposed to modern (or ancient) toxins at this age, and being well nourished, virtually all infants acquired the polio virus and became immune for life, while at the same time barely exhibiting any symptoms (or very minor symptoms);
3) Thus becoming immune to "poliomyelitis" CAUSED by the polio virus.
I'm guessing the 1916 New York City child "polio" deaths were due to at least several of the co-factors elucidated by all the prior comments, and am looking forward to the Dan's revelations.
One last thought: What new godawful pus-produced child vaccinations were introduced at this time in 1916 in New York City? Hmmm.
Posted by: david m burd | May 02, 2016 at 06:25 AM
Hi Birgit
I don't think the virus was in the sugar -- stay tuned!
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | May 01, 2016 at 11:26 PM
Yes, keep going! The mystery of polio needs to be solved. The sugar theory is quite intriguing. What I am puzzling over is how the polio virus did not get destroyed during the process of refining sugar. I had always been lead to believe that sugar is a great preservative. I am really curious about the life-cycle of the polio virus.
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | May 01, 2016 at 07:16 PM
OK, for some reason I'm now remembering the burning throat and sore chest I had when once venturing out to jog (extreme exertion for me and extremely rare event) during a Thanksgiving break when the temperature was rather frosty, and wonder if in some way eating something icy (possibly hard on throat tissues, etc), maybe even more so on a hot day (?), is a small factor increasing susceptibility here.
I know it was a frequent occurrence for me to get an icecream-freeze headache and/or an ache in the throat eating icecream "too fast" as a kid (though my most painful memory is swallowing a rather slippery large piece of ice).
Not that my memories go far enough back to judge if this seems particularly relevant to the polio epidemics.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | May 01, 2016 at 05:18 PM
Mumps used to occur during peak summer and one of the benefits of having mumps was eating as much ice-cream as we wanted - and drinking Lucozade, which has an interesting history:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucozade
Posted by: ATSC | May 01, 2016 at 05:03 PM
TC that is just an amazing thought about ice cream after tonsillitis! i remember getting mine out and also getting ice cream but would never have made the connection. i'm going to hold that thought as i continue down this path....thank you!
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | May 01, 2016 at 04:15 PM
So as I understand it, it was known by mainstream medicine that the incidence and/or severity or polio was associated with tonsillectomy. Apparently this essentially pointless procedure was a big money earner for MD's, and so, based on the hypothesis that it was not the loss of the immune function of the tonsils but rather the exposure of nerves due to the surgical wound that led to polio susceptibility, doctors were advised not to perform the procedure during "polio season", i.e. late summer, rather than simply telling them don't do it any more. (Videos by Suzanne Humphries on the topic of polio are fascinating, including the advertising campaign "DDT is Good for Me-e-e" and promotional videos showing children being sprayed with DDT while enjoy a picnic lunch, an enveloping fog of the spray rising up around them until they are eating their sandwiches in a DDT cloud.) But more relevant here, it was commonly understood when I was a kid that those who underwent tonsillectomy were routinely rewarded with as much ice cream as they wanted. We took it to be an integral part of the procedure. Maybe to reduce the swelling, like a confectionery ice pack. I'm not suggesting that this has any implications for the scenario here, but weird!
Posted by: TCBronson | May 01, 2016 at 03:44 PM
@dan I'm thinking about how to analyze multiple-infection rates in different years, have also asked a friend who knows more about this kind of statistics than I do...
Posted by: Tim Lundeen | May 01, 2016 at 10:06 AM
@Jeanette Great find! (http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/diet-and-polio-Van-Meer-science.pdf)
He suggests that deoxysugars, which are particularly created by the cane-sugar refining process, might make polio a severe infection. When sugar is bagged as it used to be, some bags would naturally have much higher levels than others, and would be more likely to trigger severe polio. When sugar is scarce and prices higher, the deoxysugar content would go up due to the manufacturing process trying to squeeze out every bit of crystalized sugar. This could also fit with Sandler’s observations about hypoglycemia, when there would be a much higher ratio of deoxysugars to glucose in the blood, which might interfere with the immune system. So a lot we don't know, but it seems like a plausible theory.
He says:
"I have suggested that some substance, produced during the refining process, may be responsible for polio; deoxysugars may be such substances. After ingestion of sucrose, insulin acts to remove sugar from the blood, promoting its storage as glycogen in the liver and muscles. Deoxysugars, however, taste like normal sugars, but are not recognised as such by the body. They fail to stimulate the secretion of insulin, and interfere with the normal storage and mobilisation of glucose. Administration of 6Omg/kg body weight of 2-deoxyglucose can cause blood-sugar levels to rise to three times their normal value (27); this rise may be mediated by the increased levels of epinephrine which are also produced. Although I can supply no direct evidence that deoxysugars are implicated in polio, it has been observed that the lumbar fluid of polio victims is highly positive for these nonfermentable sugars (28)."
"Poliovirus may be present in a population, but it is my belief that it will not influence the occurrence 177 of any epidemic-the anomalies in contagion and the failures of vaccination speak against it. However, if the quantity of deoxysugars ingested were high (for example after intensive refining, after clarification difficulties, or when the sugar comes freshly refined and bagged), then the disease may well break out. Because deoxysugars are produced particularly in cane sugar refining, people of the developing world, who consume exclusively this kind of sugar, are more vulnerable to their effects. The body has no use for the deoxysugar, and may store it. If there were a build-up of such a store, as when DDT is stored in adipose tissue, or lead in the bone marrow, stress may act to release it. Or perhaps secretion of epinephrine induced by stress may increase the blood-level of these substances; the cases where blood-sugar is elevated and vulnerability to polio enhanced may be relevant here. These ideas are speculative, but they are also testable: different components of refined sugar could be separated and used in an animal model to measure their effect upon polio infection."
Posted by: Tim Lundeen | May 01, 2016 at 10:03 AM
Interesting article:
http://www.ehdp.com/out/jmb_2003_v11_p232-240.pdf
Journal of Medical Biography Volume 11 November 2003
What was the cause of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s paralytic illness?
Posted by: ATSC | May 01, 2016 at 08:39 AM
My husband had polio when he was 5 years old in 1936. He claims that he didn't have ice-cream before he came down with polio. His parents didn't have much money and they didn't have ice-cream or pastries. But he did say that his father worked for Southern Cotton Oil. He had to handle fertilizers and pesticides for the cotton plantations. He also drank huge quantities of Coca Cola and the kids probably drank some of it occasionally.
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | May 01, 2016 at 02:23 AM
Maybe, there was really some kind of real science reason that polio was put on a sugar cube!
Posted by: Benedetta | May 01, 2016 at 01:06 AM
Who ever Tina Dupry is; she can just kiss my grits, Speaking of grits.
As for Benjamin Sandler did some great work, on rabbits, rhesus monkeys and polio.
Posted by: Benedetta | May 01, 2016 at 12:02 AM
http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/diet-and-polio-Van-Meer-science.pdf
Not cases of absence of polio nor absence of sugar consumption, but there are significant differences in sugar consumption and the incidence of polio described in paragraph on page 6, "Split populations."
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | April 30, 2016 at 09:04 PM
I believe this chapter is part of what was linked by Tim Lundeen:
https://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/polio_sugar.htm
Sandler discusses some research involving insulin injections and an infectious agent in animals typically resistant to infection.
He also discusses Eskimos and arctic explorers avoiding infection eating a diet of protein and fat.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | April 30, 2016 at 08:22 PM
tim, i'd be glad to explain my chain of reasoning and evidence at the end. of course, it may be mistaken but it's a scenario and i would welcome disputations and alternate ideas based on all the evidence i considered. the figures you cite came from a foldout chart in the 1917 monograph. it also said that in the 1907 new york state outbreak, "there were some 2,000 children in 752 families in which there occurred one case each. In less that 18 instances more than one case developed in the same family." in 1912 in new york state, which had 604 cases, there were three instances of two cases in the same family. math isn't my strong suit but could we do a comparison this way? in 1916 about 1 in 25 families in which a child developed paralytic polio had at least one more child affected the same way. in 1907, the ratio was 1 in 42 (or fewer), and in 1912 it was 1 in 200. of course we don't know all the family sizes, but assuming for now they are roughly the equal in the three epidemics, is the comparison valid and in your view does it still point to some sort of stronger genetic or environmental risk in 1916? i'm going to fiddle with the wording and interested in what you think. -- dan
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | April 30, 2016 at 07:27 PM
re blood sugar, does anyone know if a group of people who ate less sugar had less polio, other than the 1948 thing? it has been suggested that polio is a disease of the developed world which also correlates with sugar. just wondering if any kind of connection like that has been made. the exercise idea is really interesting too. i talked to a woman who described her friend getting polio after a lot of running. some said roosevelt's swim in the icy waters off maine triggered his. of course there might be more than one factor at work at the same time.
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | April 30, 2016 at 06:31 PM
@dan I'm loving this too, looking forward to the whole series! I hope you will add a section at the end about how the various pieces of information came in and led you to your hypothesis.
Re multiple deaths or paralysis in the same family, it's hard to know what to expect, re "In 8,635 families where the disease appeared, 8,287 had but one case each. When there were more than one cases, in nearly all instances the onset was so close together that simultaneous infection was suggested."
I've seen estimates that 95% of polio infections are relatively asymptomatic, so might not be diagnosed. If that's accurate, then you'd expect only 1 in 400 two-person families to have both diagnosed, only 1 in 140 a 3-person family to have two diagnosed, etc.
So it looks like 450/8635 or 1 in 20 families had two or more diagnosed cases. This seems high and suggests some shared environmental or genetic risk, but it's not so easy to figure out what it should be if the risk was totally independent...we'd have to try to estimate it more accurately based on average family size, risk for children vs adults, etc.
Posted by: Tim Lundeen | April 30, 2016 at 06:27 PM
Sandler's theory was that low blood sugar suppressed the immune system and made a polio infection much more serious. Typically, 99% of polio infections have no permanent ill-effects. But according to Sandler, if you had a 2-3 hour period of very low blood sugar while infected, that would allow the infection to become much more serious.
Interestingly enough, this ties into Jenny's link to http://www.vitalhealthoptions.com/vitaminC1.pdf, which talks about Vitamin C enabling the immune system by making more polysaccharides (sugars) available to the immune system.
Sandler noted two ways you could get low blood sugar for an extended time: one was to eat a bolus of sugar/starch causing hyperglycemia, which in many people is followed by 2-3 hours of low blood sugar. The other is intense exercise. "t has frequently been reported that attacks of polio have occurred after moderate to severe exertion. Football players, marathon runners, and other athletes have contracted polio so soon after drills, contests, and the like, as to suggest a causal relationship between the exertion and the onset of the disease. Medical journals contain such reports. "
Sandler's book, Diet Prevents Disease, is available at http://whale.to/a/sandler_b.html
His theory makes a lot of sense to me :-) I actually know someone who came down with encephalitis following an intense multi-hour exercise session...
Posted by: Tim Lundeen | April 30, 2016 at 06:04 PM
Jenny my mothers 1st cousin Ewan Cameron wrote along with Linus Pauling "Cancer and Vitamin C" which I never new about until I started to look into Autism. Not bad for a local, from the Scottish Island of Lismore. Familiar story to all writing in contrast to the Pharma line, he was more or less forced out of the UK and teamed up with Linus Pauling.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cancer-Vitamin-Discussion-Prevention-Treatment/dp/094015921X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462047177&sr=8-1&keywords=CANCER+AND+VITAMIN+C
MMR RIP
Posted by: Angus Files | April 30, 2016 at 04:20 PM
thanks jenny that's high praise indeed. i do have a theory in mind but as you'll see it's circumstantial and what you focus on could be all or part of the picture as well. that's why i call it a scenario as opposed to a proof. i will be interested to see what you think when it's done and how your piece might fit.
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | April 30, 2016 at 03:03 PM
This is so interesting! This kind of writing is as suspenseful as a good fiction drama. The book Age of Autism forever changed my opinion of non-fiction. Non-fiction in the hands of the right writer can come across as a thriller!
There are some specific ideas about vitamin C and sugar competing in the immune system, I think it can even effect the activation of macrophages and maybe increasing IgA (reminding me once again of the book that mentioned that IgA controls polio, and reminding me of the doctor who used vitamin C to remediate polio but was ignored by a govt favoring the new polio vaccine), though it doesn't sound like this is what you're focusing on Dan. Starting to sound like something analogous to what microbes do in the presence of heavy metals or maybe chemicals?
"
http://www.vitalhealthoptions.com/vitaminC1.pdf
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), first demonstrated to strengthen immunity in 1942, plays multiple important roles in health.1 In his book Reishi, Ancient Herb for Modern Times, Kenneth Jones reports; “Vitamin C reduces the high molecular weight of polysaccharides. As Vitamin C breaks up these sugars, their viscosity or stickiness drops and their bioavailability increases. Once the polysaccharides are reduced ... they are rendered more accessible to the immune system cell called the ‘macrophage.’ When this immune cell becomes activated, an array of other defenders is signaled to go into action to protect the body against disease.”2 Examples of other benefits include: 1) maintenance of oral mucosal integrity; 2) erythropoietic (red blood cell) activity; 3) supports health of endothelial cells (lining of blood and lymphatic vessels, heart, eye, and body cavities);3,4 4) iron absorption;5 5) leukocyte function;6 6) support of natural killer cell activity and T and B cell function;7 7) statistically significant increase in the serum levels of IgA, IgM and C-3 complement;8 and 8) significant synergistic enhancement of immune benefits offered by maitake mushroom fraction-D.9"
I've wondered of late whether botulism is similar in nature? metal cans and microbes? The symptoms are worthy of interest:
"Early symptoms are marked fatigue, weakness and vertigo, usually followed by blurred vision, dry mouth and difficulty in swallowing and speaking. Vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation and abdominal swelling may also occur. The disease can progress to weakness in the neck and arms, after which the respiratory muscles and muscles of the lower body are affected. The paralysis may make breathing difficult. There is no fever and no loss of consciousness."
And there is that pesky question boiling in my mind about oxygen/lack of it and whether/what microbes in the gut affect it's availability in the gut and blood and organs and (brain) tissues:
About botulism, for example: From WHO "Human botulism is a serious, potentially fatal disease. However, it is relatively rare. It is an intoxication usually caused by ingestion of potent neurotoxins in contaminated foods. Person to person transmission of botulism does not occur.
Clostridium botulinum produces spores that are heat-resistant and exist widely in the environment, and in the absence of oxygen they germinate, grow and then excrete toxins. There are seven distinct forms of botulinum toxin, types A–G. Four of these (types A, B, E and rarely F) cause human botulism. Types C, D and E cause illness in other mammals, birds and fish.
Botulinum toxins are ingested through improperly processed food in which the bacteria or the spores survive and produce the toxins. Though mainly a foodborne intoxication, botulism can also be caused by intestinal infection in infants, wound infections, and by inhalation."
ie botulism doesn't just come from contaminated food, is not transferred person to person,and thrives in anaerobic environments, and can simply come from a gut infection!
Also, chemicals in tampons possibly making HPV strains harder to eradicate by the body naturally? Are the chemicals blocking antibody or oxygen process in the vaginal/cervix/uterine areas?
It's all fascinating, looking forward to the next segment.
Posted by: Jenny | April 30, 2016 at 02:54 PM
Thank you, Dan. It just keeps getting better. Powerful writing, and so much food for thought!
Posted by: Gary Ogden | April 30, 2016 at 01:40 PM
I want some more please.
Posted by: Danchi | April 30, 2016 at 01:39 PM
cia -- thanks for pointing out sandler's role. and jeff i'm sure a bad diet doesn't help and could lower immunity to the point it could make some kids vulnerable. i suspect the same category of food but for a different reason, which will become evident. but i suspect that if everyone had followed sandler's advice, whatever it was based on, there would have been fewer polio cases. does anybody know what data or individuals he was looking at to make that recommendation, or was it perhaps just a hunch? i'd love to know more. benedetta i read about that molasses flood in boston as part of my research. it's amazing to imagine this flood of molasses pouring down the street and engulfing people. so much history just gets lost after a few generations and it is worth recovering as you so often do for us -- dan
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | April 30, 2016 at 01:36 PM
Fascinating series, very interested to see where this ends up.
The idea that eating junk food (a processed food diet) leaves one weak and susceptible to disease has been around a long time and certainly seems to make sense. The suspect foods are almost always refined sugar and white flour. It stands to reason that a huge dose of sugar leaves one with a weakened immune state, even if temporarily so.
Consider how animals in zoos become sick, obese, listless, don't reproduce, etc. when fed manufactured "chow". Most zoos now feed animals their natural diet from the wild as it's clear it results in healthier animals. Yet for humans, processed crap in a box is still supposedly good for you.
Two great reads on this are Weston Price's "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration; A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects" (1939)
PDF copy available here:
http://www.naturalhealingtools.com/articles/weston_a_price.pdf
And Arnold DeVries's "Primitive Man and His Food" (1952)
Free PDF copy available here on request:
https://soilandhealth.org/copyrighted-book/primitive-man-and-his-food/
Both authors make very strong cases that deviating from our natural diet leaves people highly susceptible to infectious disease that their immune system would otherwise fight off. Sugar plays a prominent role in many historical examples.
Posted by: Jeff C | April 30, 2016 at 12:54 PM
Ah, geesh!
My mind is racing around - like crazy on this.
There was the Boston Molasses Flood in 1919 - The tank exploded and killed 21 people, 12 horses, and hurt 150 people, when a fermenting tank of 2 million gallons of molasses exploded.
So, how far is Philly from Boston? And is Offit's hospital - get it's start from taking care of kids recovering from polio?
Polio would go through a filter.
In the book, "Polio, An American Story" the vaccine actually gave polio to kids in California when it was not heated or formaldehyde was not mixed enough, thus allowing the virus at the center of the mix to survive.
So heating and boiling off the liquid to make sugar and molasses may not have killed everything at the sugar factory either?
Life is tougher than I give it credit for. A couple of summers ago, I steamed some blackberry seeds really hot- thinking I killed them, and threw them out. Some chemical must have been released that inhibited seeds from sprouting, because no seeds that I planted there sprouted all summer. But next spring to my surprise a lot of the blackberry seeds did sprout!
And it looks to me that prions are bio weapons of microbes, and not some random wrong way - twisted protein. How many of these things are exist like that in nature? When we over heat, or kill something do we make them produce a lot of these bioweapons.
Then when you are making this much of something - can it be easily re- contaminated.
Posted by: Benedetta | April 30, 2016 at 12:40 PM
Dr. Benjamin Sandler gave radio talks in 1949 about how sugar increased the risk of serious cases of polio. Those in that area greatly decreased their sugar consumption, and in a polio epidemic, had a fraction of the cases of crippling polio that the counties outside that area did.
I think polio used to be a mild, universal disease that all adults had natural immunity to, but the advent of pesticides, insecticides, flush toilets, and cheap, easily-available sugar turned it into a crippling monster.
Posted by: cia parker | April 30, 2016 at 12:25 PM
thanks for the positive comments, they really keep me going on this project. it's long but i hope those who follow it will feel rewarded, even if they just wait and read the combined version this summer. the writing itself has revealed new clues and connections to me, so i can only push it so far so fast (plus i'm working on a book on another topic.) laura yes the parallels are so true. i haven't pushed that button too many times yet because i hope people will do so themselves, but before it's over i'll make it very clear. also a deep bow to mark blaxill with whom i pioneered this theory and approach. -- dan
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | April 30, 2016 at 12:18 PM
Wow -- Like a mystery film noir! Awesome research and love the old photos and clips. Keep it coming, Dan!
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | April 30, 2016 at 11:19 AM
Looking forward to next week's installment, Dan!
Fascinating, well-written, and well-documented...and oh so reminiscent of a certain epidemic plaguing the U.S. since 1989, which "experts" just can't seem to figure out, despite the writing on the wall.
Posted by: Laura Hayes | April 30, 2016 at 11:17 AM
It feels as if someone has just pulled away my mystery novel in the middle of the story and handed me an ice cream cone to pacify my eager mind for more of the mystery. MORE MORE PLEASE!
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | April 30, 2016 at 10:47 AM
Fascinating.
Posted by: Greyone | April 30, 2016 at 08:48 AM