This months international medical conference in Leixlip was addressed by Carrigaline based, Dr Sean Dunphy, his paper entitled “Staying Younger Longer”.

Thank you for your invitation to speak at this years international conference on Low Dose Medicines and Micro immunology.

The current edition of “Update – Endocrinology and Diabetology” reports that Ireland has one of the highest obesity rates in Europe, causing 2000 deaths per year.

Obesity is the primary cause of the global epidemic explosion in type 2 diabetes, which may explain the reduced life expectancy, reported in the USA over the past 3 years.

Woody Allen commented that “he refused to exercise, as he wanted to be sick when he died”.

I saw a funny cartoon on Facebook the other day – it was of a grave stone with a large inscription “If you eat well, get good sleep, exercise and drink plenty of water – you’ll die anyway”.

However in reality this is the perfect formula for a long, healthy and happy life-span.

Studies show that if young girls exercise – they will delay the onset of Osteoporosis and general frailty by 25 years as compared to those you don’t exercise during this early window of opportunity.

The pharmaceutical industry have long dreamed of a mass market Polypill.

In August 2019 the “Lancet” reported an international trial of a new polypill in Iran. This included Aspirin, a Statin, a diuretic and a blood pressure lowering drug (anti-hypertensive).

This was an attempt to medicate vast populations rather than encourage the prevention of disease with healthy lifestyle modifications.

This polypill – with a significant risk of side effects only achieved 2.9% possible benefit after taking it for 5 years and no increase in life expectancy – ie 97% of the participants getting no health benefit – only increased risk of side effects and financial costs.

Experts in evidence based medicine ask 3 questions (1) Can it work? (2) Does it work (3) Is it worth it? The good news is that we already have the answer to a long happy and healthy life span that has no costs, financial or otherwise that is exercise which along with nutrition and sleep can eradicate all the chronic diseases on this planet.

Professor Niall Moyna of Dublin City University on Ted Talk “Stone Age Genes and Space Age Technology” explains the importance of exercise.

We have genetically descended from “Hunter Gatherers”. Those genes require physical activity, otherwise they will maladapt causing chronic diseases.

The Industrial Revolution and the Technological Revolution have played a big part in engineering physical activity out of our lives, so that today it is difficult to be physically active.

We have moved from the physically active society of our grandparents to an inactive society. The vast majority spend our time sitting in front of our screens. For example children previously would have played outdoors. This is the first generation that will have to artificially incorporate physical activity into their lifestyles.

90% of bone mineral deposition occurs before the age of 18 years in girls and before 20 years in boys – an exercise habit in early life will delay the diseases of old age by 25 years, e.g. Osteoporosis.

In 1955 the 34^th president of the USA Dwight Eisenhower had a heart attack, the treatment at the time was 6 months bed rest – however his cardiologist Paul Dudley White put him on an exercise programme – because the previous years “Lancet” had reported a study of comparing London bus drivers and conductors, the drivers sat all day while the conductors walked up and down and enjoyed 30% less chance of heart disease.

Many studies show that active people have decreased risk of chronic diseases.

Studies show exercise improves mood – 120 min per week is as effective as anti-depressants or C.B.T.

Exercise increases brain cells.

If you sit for more than 30 min you should stand for 90 seconds, e.g. stand every time you answer the phone, “sitting is the new smoking”.

Other studies have suggested that kindness, generosity and positivity can extend your lifespan.

Research earlier this year reported that by jumping off a small box for 6 min per week increases bone strength.

The next important ingredient in extending life expectancy is sleep, professional models know this very well.

In his book and in his Ted Talk, Matt Walker, Sleep Specialist, summarises the problem of sleep deprivation “the shorter you sleep, the shorter your life”.

In the western world we are experiencing a silent sleep loss epidemic which is having catastrophic negative impact on health and wellness resulting in cognitive and memory decline.

Sleep is non-negotiable biological necessity – it is your life support system.

In the same way that your genes maladapt causing illness, if deprived of exercise – similarly genes deprived of sleep will maladapt – the memory circuits of the brain become waterlogged and can’t absorb new memories.

A recent study – reduced sleep by 2 hours per night for 1 week, this resulted in 711 gene distortions / maladapts with increased tumour activity, inflammation and cardiovascular stress.

The Hippocampus is that part of the brain that is brilliant at organising and storing new memories. It is easily disrupted by sleep deprivation but is also   very resilient – a study of London taxi drivers shows that after studying the maps of London for 6 months – their hippocampus / brain got 17% bigger.

In my presentation on Paradigm shifts at last year’s conference I gave an example of the Nobel Prize winning discovery of the significance of H-Pylori over expressing causing gastric and duodenal ulcers.

However the true significance of H-Pylori may not yet be fully understood – originally it was thought that the only good H-Pylori was a dead one.

Last month I attended a conference in Milan, Italy where Dr Allesandro Perra explained another activity of H-Pylori in lowering Groline which controls appetite.

A recent study in USA showed a connection between obesity in children and H-Pylori status (leptine increases pituitary satiety and groline increase appetite – so groline needs to be reduced after eating which is facilitated by H-Pylori).

To keep eco system balanced in nature we need keystone players. Could H-Pylori be a keystone player in weight control / obesity.

Dr Sean (J. B.) Dunphy, Cork Road Medical Clinic, Carrigaline.

 

Poetry Ireland Day
“What’s with W. B. Yeats, Leonard Cohen and Omar Khayyam.”
I have just returned from India with Nuala O’ Connells’s, Crosshaven based “Street Children” charity. While there I wrote a poetry review for a friends facebook page – I’m reposting today to mark Ireland’s Poetry Day.
While I am not a poet but a mere medic (www.dunphymedicalcarrigaline.com) been Irish poetry is in blood.
I love the “live enhancing” poetry of the 11th century Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer, Omar Khayyan, who wrote enthusiastically of “Wine, Women & Song”. Many historians have argued through the ages that he must be an amalgamation of many poets as Islamic leaders would not have tolerated such “outrageous “ poetry –but one historian argued against – explaining that while the Islamic leaders of the day “never forgave their horses or their wives, but they always forgave their poets”
“Be Happy for this moment. This moment is your life”. Was his philosophy. 11 Thousand Books have been written about his poetry. One Hindu scholar collected 1300 versions of his “Rubayyet”.
He was working at the time of the first crusade – which sent shock waves through the Islamic world, rather like 9/11 did in the USA- shifting politics to far right fundamentalism. Whereas he was a rational thinker, a passionate defender of the golden age of the Islamic science, art, medicine and scholarship which was despised by the fundamentalists.
In his poems, he poked fun at the fundamentalists, whose concept of paradise was of virgins and fountains flowing with wine- if that was good enough for heaven why not here on earth!
Tradition has it when drinking a glass of wine you should spill a little in his honour.
I am also impressed by Carla Bruni’s idea of putting her favourite poems to music by simply repeating the last two lines of each stanza, to form a chorus. Carla was an Italian model who married Sarkozy while he was president of France and caused a sensation by releasing her album “No promises” which the tabloid press interpreted as proclaiming an “open marriage”
My interest in this album was triggered by the first two poems which were by the Irish Poet W B Yeats (Nobel Prizes 1923)”Your dancing days are done” and “before the world was made” (YouTube Carla Bruni – No Promises)
W B Yeats defined education as “not the filling of a pail, but rather the lighting of a fire “he is said to have written his best work between the age of 50 and 70 years. His influence was global during his life time and even to the present day. Another group called “the water boys “produce a lovely album exclusively of his poems set to music. Yeats focused on lost youth, virility etc which was echo by Leonard Cohen, a Canadian academic poet who Cork wits nicknamed Leonard Moan, I suspect spotted his fellow Jewish Bard, Bob Dylan putting words to music and so Cohen with his deep melancholic voice did likewise. To mark his passing Canadian singers created a great farewell concert. (You Tube “Tower of song”). Cohen was influences by the other poets also eg. His beautiful song “Alexander Leaving” was inspired by a poem describing Anthony and Cleopatra’s last night in Alexandria before facing their final battle.
Another of his poems that blew me away was “Joan of Arc” (on Jennifer Warnes album “Famous Blue Rain Coat”) where he manages a conversation between the flames and Joan of Arc as she is being burnt at the stake as a witch.
Could I enlist your readership in a project – to volunteer one hour per week or per month to schools that lack an English teacher. In Ireland we resisted and resented English imperialism for 800 years- but did benefit by acquiring the English language, which allowed the poorest in our country to gain work in the USA, Australia, etc. The Victorian boast that “the sun never sets on the British Empire” is explained Irish style “because god would not trust the Brits in the dark”
The teaching of English has been a passport out of poverty for many. I am familiar with one School in Bangaluru which could do with help! Founded by a wonderful lady and her father to educate street children- “S. A. Nermala and her father S. G. Anthony- started with five children and grown to 700 with only limited support of benefactors.
I.e. “Stella Mary School” K.S. Layout, Bangaluru-78, Phone 26 66 32 37.
But there are many other such school needing your help, e.g. Edith Wilkins Street Children School in Dargeeling which she established 30 years ago, students from UCC do internships there every year.

Opening address by Dr. John B Dunphy (AKA DR. Sean Dunphy) to” The international conference on low dose medicine” Dublin 2018.

On behalf of the organizing committee, I welcome you to this ground breaking conference, which represent a major “paradigm shift” in therapeutics.

Most professions are slow to embrace new ideas, especially the medical establishment. You would think that the study of Physics, based on numbers, experiments and logic would be different-but NO- at a Nobel price ceremony the recipient commented that “physics advances funeral by funeral”!!

Paradigm shifts act like beacons in the world of finance, if you miss them, you miss the boat and you sink with the old paradigm. The world paradigm comes from the classical Greek “paradiegma”.

Examples:

1. Nokia of Finland started by manufacturing rubber boots and eventually developed and dominated the global mobile phones market, but failed to notice the significant arrival of Steve jobs smart phone, with devastating consequences.
2. In the 70s Swiss watch makers dominated the global market, they had developed spectacular fly wheel, springs, water proofing etc and were light years ahead of opposition!!Their own research had developed the electric Quartz watch, which did not need any of the sophistication that the Swiss had worked tirelessly to create – they laughed at its simplicity – so sure were they that they put it on display in that year’s world congress in Geneva- Seiko of Japan took one look –one year later 10,000 watch maker were made redundant- the Swiss had controlled 98% of global revenue and 80% of all production – but had failed to spot a paradigm shift of their own making.
3. Similarly in medicine!!!

• When I was in the med school – there was an entire industry built around Gastric and Duodenal Ulcers- until two tenacious Ozy Docs got the Nobel Prize for their discovery of the significance of H-PYLORI.
• Here in Dublin in the 50s a Dr. Patrick Collins discovered that a dilution of Procaine Hydrochloride applied to the skin could have an immune modulating effect in R.A. His granddaughters- both physicians still practice at their Lucan Clinic.
• A paradigm shift is on the way in relation to “Gut Bacteria”, I was at the conference two days ago at UCC where the professor of the psychiatry Ted Dinan demonstrated the effect of gut bacteria on mood and anxiety and depression. He also noted that the weight of gut bacteria was equivalent to the brain and carries more than 50% of our total DNA information. Australian tv did an excellent series “Gut reaction” which you can watch on my web and Facebook pages.
• Yesterday Israeli research announce that they have developed eye drops of Nano Particles that will dispense with the need for reading glasses- a paradigm shift in the making.
• When I first used umbilical cord stem-cells 11 years ago it made international news- now stem- cells are used daily in reconstructive surgery, joint repair etc.
• In psychology the publication of Roger Callahan’s “ five minute phobia cure” in 1982 evolved into TFT described in his book “Tapping the healer within”, which spawned an entire range of self-help therapies beneficial to patients worldwide, such as BSFF, TAT, EMDR and EFT, all of which are used in my clinic.
• In physical medicine a new paradigm was set in train with the publication of Dr. Janet Travell’s textbook” The Trigger Point Manual” ( She was physician to president John F Kennedy).

Some years later Dr. Carl Ferrari of New York published his book on Dyslexia and developed an entire new protocol “ Neural Organisation Therapy”  For muscular an neuro logical problems including Dyslexia and Scoliosis which I have incorporated in my  medical practice over the past 30 years.

Hahnemann 260 years ago postulated a vital life force. This could soon be vindicated scientifically.

So today we have two exciting speakers to share their vast experiences with low dose- physiological regulating medicine (PRN).  From Milan Italy Dr. Alessandro Perra and From Belfast Dr. David Hefferon.

You must watch to the end to get the happiness prescription! Dr Sean Dunphy.

At this time of year you may be energetically and economically burnt out so here at Dunphy Medical we’d like to share some easy and cost-effective tips to have you on-track for the new year.

1.  Golden Honey – Honey is delicious and has antiseptic and  anti-bacterial properties and turmeric is an immune-boosting powerhouse, it is an excellent antioxidant and antibiotic; it has cancer-fighting properties and it is also anti-inflammatory. It has been used in Ayurvedic and eastern medicine for thousands of years, partly thanks to curcumin, it’s active phenol which also causes turmeric’s yellow colour.

Golden Honey is simply a mixture of these two ingredients, just mix 1 tbsp of tumeric powder with 100gr of raw organic honey, store in a clean glass jar, you can leave it at room temperature and take a spoon as needed. 

http://www.WithFoodandLove.com recommends taking a spoonful directly in your mouth, or diluted as a drink with hot water, or taken as a spread on toast to ward off allergies in spring time.

And upon the first symptoms of colds and flu, http://www.BestHerbalHealth.com recommends keeping the Golden Honey mixture in your mouth until it completely dissolves for:

1. Day 1 – Take ½ tsp. every hour during the day.
2. Day 2 – Take ½ tsp. every two hours during the day.
3. Day 3 – Take ½ tsp. three times a day.

Golden Honey is also useful to combat respiratory diseases and it lowers blood pressure, and turmeric reduces blood sugar levels.

Turmeric also causes muscle contractions of the gallbladder so avoid turmeric if you suffer from gallbladder disease.

 

2. A turmeric, lemon, cinnamon and black pepper drink is delicious, quick, healthy, warming and cheering at this time of year.

Simply add a pinch (or two) of turmeric, a pinch of cinnamon and a grind or two of black pepper to some hot water with some sliced lemon. Stir occasionally as the spices can sink to the bottom.

 

Black pepper makes the wonder-spice turmeric more easily absorbed by the body and cinnamon, along with tasting yummy and festive, also boasts anti-inflammatory properties and helps regulate blood-sugar levels.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, cinnamon is used to help treat muscle spasms, vomiting, diarrhea, infections, the common cold, loss of appetite, and erectile dysfunction.

 

According to a study in Diabetes Care, cinnamon may help improve glucose and lipid levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, and at Tel Aviv University researchers discovered that cinnamon may help prevent Alzheimers disease.

 

Cinnamon may also help stop the destructive process of multiple sclerosis (MS) according to a neurological scientist at Rush University Medical Center, and Penn State researchers revealed that diets rich in cinnamon can help reduce the body’s negative responses to eating high-fat meals.

 

 

Lemon has antioxidants and vitamin C which is always useful, but it’s particularly great when the immune system is busy battling colds, flus and various bugs at this time of year.

 

3. Exercise! It boosts the immune system, causes a rush of endorphins and it is vital to balance your body and your brain to keep you healthy and happy. Here’s a favourite video of ours that nicely sums up the benefits of exercise.

 

4. Smile and Laugh! It floods the body with feel-good chemicals called endorphins, it relieves stress, boosts the immune system, relieves pain, improves heart health (it improves blood vessel function and increases blood flow) and it fosters social bonding.

And it’s 100% free, it has no side-effects (bar perhaps the odd wrinkle!) and almost everyone can do it almost everywhere, but best of all, it’s contagious! So by making yourself happier and healthier, you’re also helping others to do the same!

5. Remember the ratio 5:1 – Eminent psychologist Maureen Gaffney has found that the golden ratio of positive to negative thoughts that you need everyday to push (or keep) your life in a positive, fulfilling upward spiral is 5 positive thoughts to 1 negative. So keep that in mind throughout the day and pay attention to all the positives, there may be many more than you realise! For more tips on making 2015 your best year yet check out Gaffney’s book called ‘Flourishing’.

 

This video has some very inspiring ideas to start the new year with.

2015 is looking increasingly promising!