Diseases

• Introduction to Richard Harding

  In 2014, just after my 60th birthday, the results from a blood test came back with abnormal red and white blood cell counts and an elevated bilirubin. Elevated bilirubin is a sign that the liver is not functioning as well as it should.

  I was the same weight I was at high school (70kg, 154lb). I kept a skipping rope outside the back door. I did 1000 skips when it was time to have a break.

  It took 8 months to diagnose what the problem was. I have myeloma which is a cancer of the bone marrow that can no longer properly produce red and white blood cells. As a result, the immune system is compromised.

  Even after I was diagnosed my doctor told me, “If you are going to get cancer, myeloma is one of the best to get.”.

  If he told me the truth, that is, “You are really sick. Go home and pack your bags and go to hospital this evening”, the outcome would be different.

  I was booked into the regional myeloma clinic for treatment. I had pneumonia at the time he made that assessment which is what nearly killed me. Twice Ruth was told that I would not be coming home. This is in 2014. It is great to prove your highly trained specialist is wrong.

  The life expectancy for multiple myeloma patients is 2-3 years.

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  6 November 2026

• Where Do You Get Iron on a Vegan Diet?

  “Where do you get your iron, calcium or protein?” is a frequent question for those on a vegan diet. Well, the same place as gorillas, elephants, the grumpy extinct aurochs, brontosaurus and Argentinosaurus – the largest ever land animal weighing more than 15 elephants. From eating plants.

  Iron is an indispensable nutrient for life. A lack of it leads to iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), which currently affects about 1.2 billion people worldwide.

  With anaemia, the first step (according to most) is to increase the iron intake by promoting the consumption of iron-rich food such as meat, poultry, fish, and seafood. To optimise iron absorption it is recommended to increase vitamin C and fermented product intake and avoid the consumption of iron absorption inhibitors (phytates in cereals and nuts, tannins from coffee or tea and calcium-rich products) together with iron-rich food.

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  1 November 2026

• Preventing Disease Through Genetic Testing

  Dr Jane Tiller, Ethical Legal and Social Advisor, Public Health Genomics at Monash University realised that value of DNA genetic testing that could prevent thousands of cancers and heart attacks every year.

  Tiller spent more than a decade fighting for the reform, which throws open the door for larger-scale studies on “preventative genomics” to help identify the 90 per cent of people carrying high-risk genes who are currently undetected.

  Her vision is for a publicly funded national DNA screening program.

  Professor Michael Brown won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1985. In a speech at the 2006 International Achievement Summit in Los Angeles, California, he tells the Academy’s students that we do not need new discoveries, we need to implement what we already know. The problem, he explains, has switched from science to changing people's behaviour - which is much more difficult.

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  31 October 2026

• Introduction to Sex-hormonal Related Cancers and Endometriosis

  Each morning when I sign into my PC, I check the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) news, health and science bulletins.

  The top news stories have frequent references to the problems that women have with their health, the difficulty that they have in obtaining diagnosis and treatment and the suffering that they are enduring. These conditions include endometriosis, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), as well as sex-hormonal related cancers such as breast, prostate, endometrium and ovarian cancers.

  It is estimated that in Australia 11%-16% of women in the relevant target population are afflicted by endometriosis - a devastating condition.

  I have a 150 page, 120000 word website. The web site has a range of supporting material including ebooks, a published book and video. My story (and some great photos) can be viewed below. I have a reference manager that contains over 4000 entries. Most are primary references from peer-reviewed journals where I have the article on my PC. There are also references to books, TV documentaries, podcasts, webpages, blog posts, newspaper articles, conference papers, ABC programs and news items, WHO reports and documents.

  There are some remarkable stories, available from the home page of my website, of people's lives being transformed (for the better) from debilitating conditions simply by changing what they eat.

  I am hoping to connect with an inquisitive and committed journalist who is passionate in informing the Australian public of the miraculous power of our bodies to heal if given the opportunity. This could be Walkley Award material.

  This is my effort in attempting to make the world a better place - for the people, our earth and the animals we share the planet with.

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  4 September 2026

• Is There Really Good and Bad Cholesterol?

  According to William Roberts, the long-serving editor or the Journal of Cardiology, the only direct atherosclerotic risk factor is high cholesterol. The goal for total cholesterol level is < 150 mg/dL [3.9 mmol/L] and for LDL cholesterol it is < 70 mg/dL [1.8 mmol/L].

  Atherosclerosis is not a disease of carnivores, and it is not possible to produce atherosclerosis in carnivores [dogs, cats, tigers, lions, etc.].

  We are not natural carnivores. We evolved to eat plants, fruits, and starches!

  It is generally accepted that HDL cholesterol absorbs cholesterol in the blood and carries it back to the liver where if is then flushed it from the body. High levels of HDL cholesterol can lower your risk for heart disease and stroke.

  However, excess cholesterol can only occur in herbivores AND ALL animals have HDL cholesterol. The purpose of HDL cholesterol is NOT to flush the excess from the blood.

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  20 June 2026

• Diet and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

  Crohn's disease is a big challenge. Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis are quite similar.

  According to the medical profession, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are lifelong inflammatory diseases that affect the digestive system. Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract. Ulcerative colitis is associated with inflammation in the large intestine.

  Inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD] occur almost exclusively in parts of the world where the diet is high in meat and dairy foods. IBD is rare in countries where a starch-based diet and largely vegetarian meals are consumed.

  Avoid dairy products, eggs, chocolate, wheat and citrus fruits. Completely eliminate all fats. There is no such thing as healthy oils. That includes olive oil, coconut oil, fish oil and any salad dressing such as mayonnaise.

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  29 May 2026

• USA Diabetes and Obesity by State

  The Human Development Index (HDI) was developed by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul-Haq in 1990. It was incorporated into the the United Nations Development Programme. The index is based on the following criteria: Life Expectancy; Education; Income per capita.

  The map shows the quintiles of the HD Index for the United States.

  The two tables show for each US state the: Life Expectancy; Percentage of the population by ethnicy; Prevalence of diabetes according to ethnicity; OR Prevalence of obesity according to ethnicity.

  The ethnicity categories are: Asian; Black; Latino; Native American; White.

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  16 February 2026

• Egg Consumption, B12, Lutein and Zeaxanthin

  B12 is a group of cobalt-containing vitamins. Hydroxocobalamin and cyanocobalamin are synthetic forms of vitamin B12. The two forms of vitamin B12 naturally occurring in foods are methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin. These forms are biologically equivalent.

  B12 is produced by a number of different species of bacteria which is found in the soil, on the surface of some plants and some red and green algae.

  Lack of vitamin B12 can have serious consequences as does high levels of homocysteine. Determining the status of vitamin B12 and homocysteine can be difficult and can be determined by measuring serum vitamin B12, homocysteine and methylmalonic acid (MMA).

  A number of products contain riboflavin, pyridoxine, folate, B12 and methionine way in excess of dietary requirements in an attempt to resolve B12 metabolism problems.

  Many magnesium supplements contain pyridoxine which is usually unnecessary and possibly detrimental.

  Vitamin B12 is not made by plants or animals but by microbes. In today’s world, the water supply is commonly chlorinated to kill bacteria. We don’t get much B12 in the water, we also do not get much cholera.

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  10 February 2026

• Egg Consumption and Diabetes

  A number of popular authors and websites advocate eating eggs as a way of preventing type 2 diabetes. However, this is not substantiated by the evidence. To assess the impact of egg consumption on type 2 diabetes in China, a survey was performed among 2849 adults in Jiangsu Province, China. Jiangsu is a coastal Chinese province north of Shanghai.

  There are many more medical journal articles that associate egg consumption with a greater risk of type 2 diabetes.

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  9 February 2026

• Bacon Causes Cancer – World Health Organization

  The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified processed meats including ham, bacon, salami and frankfurts as a Group 1 carcinogen which means that there’s strong evidence that processed meats cause cancer.

  Eating processed meat increases your risk of bowel and stomach cancer. Red meat, such as beef, lamb and pork, has been classified as a Group 2A carcinogen which means it probably causes cancer.

  WHO gives much stronger credibility to Random Clinic Trials (RCT) that other forms of evidence such as Epidemiolocal Studies.

  It is possible to have a very short-term RCT where the participants and researchers do not know the differences in the diet. This can be done by feeding the participants drinks containing a powder with different ingredients that that taste and feel the same for each meal. This is only practical for possibly 3 weeks.

  Any longer it can be a challenge. It can be difficult to learn what really constitutes a healthy, whole-food, plant-based diet. It really needs a supportive partner and learning how to shop, cook and manage changes to social interactions. It is much easier if the participants are living by themselves.

  Epidemiolocal Studies are just as valid.

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  16 July 2025