Happy New Year to all!

The old year is almost finished and a New Year is about to begin, so time to add to this blog.

We have had a little time to relax in the lead up to 2019, and time for reading and researching the latest developments in health, or should that be ill-health?

The statin drug debate continues but the conclusions are becoming more clear-cut in spite of resistance to new knowledge by those who really need to adjust their attitude to the issue.

We have come across this most interesting video from the Australian Broadcast Commission (ABC) which is several years old but summerises the issue very clearly.

Then we found the second video highlighting the the outcome of this program for the presenter where she tells about the response from opponents to the truth; very scary!

We urge you to watch and perhaps it will help you personally if you or your family members are in any way affected.  But please don't expect to be able to have any impact in your clinical practice for the current guidelines are hopelessly behind the times and unlikely to change any time soon in the face of such opposition. Keep safe!

Saturated Fat & Cholesterol Documentary -  https://youtu.be/1pfGTBXkq3g

The resulting respose is explained by Dr. Maryanne Demasi in her address - 'Statin Wars: Have we been misled by the evidence?' -   https://youtu.be/BzTjPuikhQE

If these two videos wet your appetite, take a look at the video on the work of Dr Robert Lustig, an dietary expert and endocrinologist who works in a clinic for obese children as he explains what the real cause of health problems is (and it is NOT saturated fats, or gluttony as we are frequently being told). 
Sweet Revenge Turning the Tables on Processed Food - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z-_6JgMiwA

​We are currently working in New Zealand; a very busy lecture tour which runs until beginning of October.  While Anne is busy lecturing, I find some time for research.  This is what has prompted me to add some enlightening articles to the blog for this month. I would urge all our valuable clients to take the time to read the attached by Dr George Lundberg, then follow the link to another article that presents supporting evidence by Dr Malcolm Kendrick, author of The Great Cholesterol Con and Doctoring Data.
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These eminent gentlemen have taken off the blinkers and dared to go against the prevailing dogma concerning nutrition and the obesity epidemic.

It may be of personal help to you if you struggle with weight control, and to your families if they too have been influenced by the blatantly inaccurate recommendations formulated by food producers and supported by our "health authorities". 

These doctors are not crackpots, they are far from it. They are both very well informed health professionals that can benefit us all with their wisdom

This last linked article is a bit heavy, but you will soon understand what he is pointing out, and how it relates to the current  dietary recommendations and modalities of treatment for some diseases. 

​drmalcolmkendrick.org/2018/07/03/why-saturated-fat-cannot-raise-cholesterol-levels-ldl-levels/

Enjoy!

We are at the beginning of the August/September tour, starting at Southern Cross North Harbour, then moving on the Rotorua, Hamilton, back to Auckland then down to Wellington, up to Palmerston North and finishing at Hawkes Bay. 

1st October we move back to Gold Coast for a series of courses until the end of the year.

I have been sent the attached flyer by Auckland Medical Research Foundation advertising their free event 28th September which could interest.  It has links for further details and to register.

This interesting article has appeared in Medscape recently.  Thought provoking if we have elderly family who have a raft of health complaints and are on statins - often with no justification!

The New Year is well under way and this is our first post for the year - how slack!

We hope you all had an enjoyable Festive Season and returned to work refreshed and enthusiastic.

Anne and Graham had a break early in 2018 with a cruise from Adelaide to Sydney via New Zealand which was so relaxing and enjoyable we didn't want to leave the ship (Queen Mary 2) but they said we had to get off, our ticket had expired. Oh well, perhaps another time.  Back to cooking and cleaning and making our own bed, no more spotless bathroom with fresh towels every day and room service 24 hours a day.

At present we are touring New Zealand yet again, but this time for work with seminars in Auckland, Hawke's Bay, Hamilton, Christchurch, Wellington and Palmerston North; five  weeks of travel and living in hotels or bach accommodation.  Our next tour is not until September, but meantime we will be busy in Australia with various seminars and courses.

Something totally new to us is a new venture; 23 February - 5 March 2019 we will be doing a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas  from Melbourne to Sydney via New Zealand, a ten-day cruise where Anne will be presenting the seminar 'Recognition and Clinical Assessment of the Deteriorating Patient' for Nurses for Nurses Limited  who arrange regular Education at Sea events for nurses who want to enjoy a cruise holiday combined with professional development credits. 
This promises to be be an enjoyable and interesting time for all who are able to join us on this cruise, as presentations are held on sea days only so you will be able to enjoy all the ports visited on the cruise which include the sounds, Dunedin, Akaroa, Wellington and Picton. 
When not attending sea day presentations there are so many other activities on board you will be spoilt for choices; you simply can't do everything.  And for those less energetic there are wonderful places to relax or enjoy the spa.  And the evening entertainment is first class. I won't even mention the food, but expect to gain weight unless you exercise some restraint, or increase your exercise greatly in the on-board gym, or walking the decks.

If you want to travel with family that is also an option some may like to consider, but lone travel with like-minded nurses will ensure this is an great experience for lone travellers also.

A really great opportunity which promises to be a memorable occasion for all participants. To find out more go to this link:  https://www.nursesfornurses.com.au/events/220/

We will not be handling the bookings for this event, which are being managed through Education at Sea (Travel Direct Australia) Please contact Helen, Jason or Elita on +61 (02) 6674 2577

Do join us - it will be a wonderful educational opportunity combined with an enjoyable holiday, and may be eligible for tax breaks.

Anne and I wish you and your families all the very best for a happy and safe festive season and thank you for your patronage in the previous year.  We hope to see many of you in the coming year.

I have added another article which would seem very timely with the festive season upon us and it's associated anxiety with eating what may be considered unhealthy foods at this time of year.

The attached article will challenge your previous perceptions about what is 'bad fat' as well as clarify the causes of heart disease.  There are many such research papers which have previously been ignored as they failed to support the popular current beliefs, and it is well-worth exploring these as we re-evaluate the reasons for the generally deteriorating health of our populations.

The truth has been out there all along, but suppressed by those with a financial interest in maintaining false perceptions, with little regard for our health. 

The changes we have been forced to make with the registration procedure has been implemented and the website updated with the changes.

As much as we have tested the website it is always possible we have missed something; if you find any issues that you think we could improve please let us know so we can look at the issue and make changes if possible.

The main change is that credit card payments are now real-time; if you enter incorrect details the transaction will not complete unlike the old system where it would accept the submission and we would contact you to clear up the problem.

For those who register but pay at a later date you will have the option to submit a request to be invoiced and pay at a later date.  These payments can be made either by bank transfer or by clicking the Pay Now link under the amount outstanding on your invoice when we email that to you.  Part payments cannot be accepted unfortunately by credit card, but can still be done by bank transfers.

We have been advised that the service we utilised for registrations and orders will be discontinued from end of this month, which will force us to make some changes to the registration and orders process.

We will be incorporating a shopping cart function which will make it very simple for registrations and orders when paying at the time - payments will be securely processed through the shopping cart and will be real-time so no more problems with submitting incorrect credit card details and having to re-submit.

But for those who want to register for events and pay later, or those wishing to  have the invoice raised in the name of a sponsor, the shopping cart will not be an option because of the requirement to pay at the time of registration.

An additional Registration Form will be introduced to cater to these situations.  When they are submitted the information will be provided to us by email from the website and we can process these with the required flexibility.  This is less secure than the shopping cart method so it is very important that our customers do not send credit card details via this form (this could conceivably be done by using a free-form text box provided on the form for comments).

As with all changes there is a chance of problems no matter how much we test before going live. If you come across a problem please email me at once so we can correct the this as soon as possible for you. 

I can't believe it was almost 6 months ago that I last added anything to this blog; how slack!
Towards the end of September we have been back in New Zealand on a seminar tour which will go to mid October.  We really appreciate the support we have had from our wonderful nurses who have attended so many of our events and had such kind things to say about them. Thank you, from both Anne and myself.

Our current tour started in Auckland, then down to Wellington, back to Auckland for week or so, then to Hamilton and finally Palmerston North.

We go back to Australia mid October for a very busy round of seminars and courses which go through to December, but will take another short trip to New Zealand at the end of October to to do an in-house seminar for Tairawhiti DHB 2nd November and attend the NZNO Conference at Gisborne 3rd November.  Perhaps we will catch up with some of you there? 

It will be a rush to get back to Australia to continue the courses which run for the rest on November and mid-way through December.

Finally we will get a bit of a break over the festive season, and have a lighter work-load during January and February.

March 2017 will be our next holiday break when we will board the Queen Mary 2 from Brisbane to cruise to Airlie Beach, Cairns, Bandar Seri begawan, Ho Chi Min City, Nha Trang, Hong Kong, Keelung,  Shanghai, Busan, Nagasaki, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore where we disembark and catch a flight back to Australia.

We will again be in New Zealand for most of May 2017 on another round of seminars, the full schedule is not yet finalised, but will include Auckland and Christchurch where the events have already been confirmed.

My how time does fly!  Since November we have been from Australia to New Zealand four times, and taken a holiday late March to early April.
As you can see from the photo we have been cruising yet again, this time to Malaysia, China and Singapore on Queen Mary 2.  
What a great way to relax, while still able to stay in touch with business via internet connection.
The highlight for Anne was shopping, as you can imagine, but for Graham it was riding on the Maglev train at Shanghai, which reaches 431 Km/Hour on the way from the city to the airport.
We are currently winding up yet another New Zealand tour, this time taking in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington and Hamilton.  Work in Australia will occupy our coming months until September when we again return to New Zealand.
Hopefully in the interim we will get another short break and if lucky can find a cruise that fits our busy schedule.