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[Lets see if this gets published]
Not so far
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/336/7651/1023-a#194677
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Jayne LM Donegan,
GP & Homoeopath
London NW4 1SH
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It is somewhat naïve on the part of Dr Beard to assume that
Dr Allinson who was
correct about whole foods, fruit, vegetables and avoidance of
smoking and alcohol in contravention of medical opinion of his
day, should be wrong about vaccination.
He was certainly a practitioner ahead of his time, when his
contemporaries were treating people with mercurials, arsenicals
and promoting smoking; indeed a Wellcome diary of the 1930's
promotes the smoking of menthol cigarettes for the relief of
asthma!
The fin de siécle British medical establishment of Dr Allinson'
time is no different from the fin de siécle British medical
establishment of today and their attempts to remove from the
medical register those who question the blind administration of
pharmaceutical products from womb to tomb with scant regard for
their efficacy and adverse effects, for example Dr Peter
Mansfield, Dr Andrew Wakefield, and myself . Thankfully for me,
after a three week hearing, a GMC panel found that my evidence,
which an Appeal Judge had thrown out of court with the
jingoistic label of 'Junk Science', “had not failed to be
independent, objective and unbiased” and completely exonerated
me of all charges of serious professional misconduct.
What is most surprising is that Dr Beard, as a medical
historian, should make such an untenable comment.
Anyone with even a slight acquaintance with disease figures of
the 19th and 20th century, would know, for instance, that 99% of
the people who used to die from whooping cough had stopped dying
before the vaccine was introduced in the 1950s, as with the
introduction of the measles vaccine in the UK in 1968 – when the
death rate continued to drop despite an only 30% initial uptake
of vaccine, and how the enforcement of the compulsory smallpox
vaccination law in 1867, when the death rate was already
falling, was accompanied by an increase in the death rate from
100 to 400 deaths per million population.
Perhaps, as Dr Beard is lucky enough to be studying at Oxford,
he could avail himself of some of the archived journals and
textbooks and read what prominent men of science, medical
officers for health and doctors wrote about vaccination and its
sequelae, that never made it into today's textbooks, where
infant vaccines containing mercury were still being promoted as
late as autumn 2004.
Happy reading!
Competing interests: Promoter of healthy eating and living
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BMJ 2008;336:1023 (3 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39562.446528.59
Views & Reviews
Medical Classics
A System of Hygienic Medicine (1886) and The Advantages of Wholemeal
Bread (1889)
John A S Beard, GP trainee and MSc student in
history of science, technology, and medicine, Oxford
Thomas Allinson (1858-1918) was a late Victorian doctor whose
health maintaining beliefs included the promotion of a diet rich
in fruit and vegetables and the avoidance of smoking and alcohol.
While predominantly accepted in the present day, his views were
often controversial to the fin de siècle British medical
establishment and he was ultimately removed from the medical
register.
Born in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, Allinson trained in Edinburgh,
and received the LRCP and LRCS in 1879. He gained diverse medical
experience as a police surgeon, ship’s doctor, and Poor Law
practitioner, but the mainstay of his practice was conducted at a
surgery in the west end of London. A voluminous scholar, Allinson
wrote 13 books and more than a thousand articles on health
related issues. Best known was his 1886 A System of Hygienic
Medicine, in which he emphasised his central belief in the maintenance
of good health over the treatment of disease.
Allinson, a passionate vegetarian, advocated a strict regimen of
nutritious food, fresh air, and exercise while avoiding tea,
coffee, tobacco, salt, and meat. Drugs, including the popular
opiates, were vociferously criticised. Arguably his most strongly
held belief formed the title of his 1889 work The Advantages
of Wholemeal Bread. Allinson viewed stone ground wholemeal flour
as an ingredient of the utmost nutritional value and encouraged
the general public to make wholemeal bread a regular dietary
constituent. He opposed the use of bread whitening agents such
as alum and ammonia.
Critics may highlight the conflicting interest of Allinson’s
Natural Food Company, which was established to promote and supply
wholemeal bread and flour. Yet the passion with which Allinson
championed wholemeal foods would seem to have transcended profit
concerns. Furthermore, Allinson’s convictions preceded the
company’s foundation by several years.
Orthodox medical opinion was at variance with a number of Allinson’s
views, particularly on smoking, which was moderately encouraged,
and the use of medicines. Dr Allinson’s disputes with the
medical profession culminated, in 1892, with his being charged
with "infamous conduct" and struck off the medical register. The
General Medical Council adjudged that he had contravened
professional standards through his criticism of colleagues’
therapeutic practices and his use of advertisement for monetary
gain. Three years later he was prosecuted and fined for the
unsanctioned use of his LRCP title.
It may be argued that Dr Allinson was a man ahead of his time. In
many ways this is true, for his dietary advice and abstemious
approach to alcohol and smoking resonate more strongly in the
present day. However, not all of his views—notably his opposition
to childhood vaccination—remain credible. Furthermore, much of
his philosophy can be found in the regimen texts of Hippocratic
authors—knowledge present for more than two millennia. None the
less, the resolute manner in which Allinson maintained his health
beliefs, often in the face of criticism, remains a relevant
message.
Today Allinson is best known for the bread with "nowt taken out,"
which continues to bear his name.
By Thomas
Allinson
Sharon Davies
Letters Editor BMJ 9th May 2008
BMJ, London WC1H 9JR
Dear Sharon Davies,
Re 'Use your loaf' submitted 7th
May 2008 as rapid response to :
Medical Classics:
A System of Hygienic Medicine (1886)
and
The Advantages of Wholemeal Bread (1889)
John A S Beard BMJ 2008;336:1023,
doi:10.1136/bmj.39562.446528.59
I see that you have not posted my
response to this article. This is, of course, perfectly within your absolute
discretion as stated in the guidelines.
The rapid response section of the
BMJ was one of the jewels in Richards Smith's crown, allowing wider
dissemination of science, the immediate correction and retraction of
inaccuracies, and the non stiffling of original thought. He described it in
2002 as, 'Twenty thousand conversations' and said:
“We
publish just about anything that
isn't libellous or doesn't
breach patient confidentiality.”
i
How
things have changed.
Step down Richard Smith and enter
Fiona Godlee as editor. The crack down was swift and decisive. As Smith said
in his editorial, co-written with Tony Delamothe,
“ Not everyone is as enthusiastic
about rapid responses as we are. “
How true.
Dr Godlee's views regarding the much
touted health benefits of vaccination are crystal clear, as she said in her
editorial, 'Think Mumps' in 2005,
“Evidence that a vaccine works and
is safe should be universal.”ii
This certainly drives her editorial
policy: whatever does not fit this agenda is rejected, unless it is by her
co-author Tom Jefferson who is given space to write about the
ineffectiveness of 'flu jabs, but that doesn't jeopardise the universal
childhood vaccination program at the moment. I wonder how much space he will
be allowed once this vaccine has been added to the schedule.
The cope Report of 2003, to which
Richard Smith contributed, under the heading, 'Conflict of interest'
states:
“
Editors should have systems for
managing the conflicts of interest of themselves, their staff, authors, and
reviewers.”iii
What systems does Fiona Goodlee have
for managing hers?
This censorship and stifling of non
mainstream thought leads to the opposite of the democratisation of science
and medicine that Richard Smith envisioned and strove for.
The behaviour of the editorial board
of the BMJ today is a living example of what has happened in journals and
textbooks for centuries and is the reason why the good doctor Beard, as a
GP trainee and MSc student in history of
science, technology, and medicine at Oxford, has never been exposed to the
information
that would allow him to broaden his views,
as well as Dr Godlee's similar lack of knowledge.
It
will certainly further the course of medical science no end that you have
allowed the publication of a response to the above article stating that
Allinson's Wholemeal Bread,
as currently on the supermarket shelves in
the UK:
“differs
little in consistency and flavour to any other mass- produced, mass-market,
sliced and wrapped loaf. More like coffee-coloured Mother's Pride than real
wholemeal bread.
“iv
-
hardly Richard Smith's brave new world, but he would have published it
anyway, as well as mine.
Yours Sincerely
Dr
Jayne LM Donegan
MB
BS DRCOG DCH DFFP MRCGP MFHom
Fiona Godlee
Editor BMJ
Tony Delamothe
Deputy Editor BMJ
References:
i
Delamothe T, Smith R Twenty thousand conversations BMJ
2002;324:1171-1172 ( 18 May )
ii
Godlee F Think mumps BMJ 2005;330 (14 May),
doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7500.0-f
iiiShroter
S A Survey of Editors Conflicts of interest COPE 2003
www.publicationethics.org.uk/reports/2003/2003pdf11.pdf
ivRogers
DJ
Allinson's Wholemeal Bread
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/336/7651/1023-a#194677
Dr Jayne L.M. Donegan
MBBS DRCOG DFFP DCH MRCGP MFHom
GP & Homoeopath
121 Sunny Gardens Road
London NW4 1SH UK
F/T 0044 (0)20 8632 1634
www.jayne-donegan.co.uk/