| I was frequently approached by men who arrived back from Vietnam. Many of them had strange illnesses including infertility and miscarriage. I wondered whether these reproductive problems were caused by chemical exposures? No-one at that stage thought that this could possibly matter. |
| When I started my lifestyle research, I was very popular with my medical colleagues. They thought it was an excellent idea. The project was funded by Australia's peak medical research body, the National Health & Medical Research Council. There was great excitement as we recruited nearly 1,000 normal couples to help us with our study. |
| Strangely enough, many of my medical colleagues did not like the results when they finally emerged. They also did not like the world-wide media publicity that our work attracted. Why did they change? What didn't they like? Why didn't they appreciate that the results pointed out the relationship between lifestyle and problems with fertility and miscarriage? Why didn't they appreciate that we found problematic lifestyle factors in both men and women? |
| Not all the clinicians felt the same way. Some didn't like that the answers were too easy and that the solutions lay with the couples themselves. This meant that couples could take back their own power: they don't need to turn to expensive high tech treatments. Some just worried that they didn't know how to advise couples. Many didn't like the results that showed links between occupations and infertility or miscarriage. |
| I was amazed and upset yet I was unwilling to be blackmailed into stopping this important work. I chose to leave my secure job and to continue working with couples. For the last ten years I've done this through writing, speaking, administering evaluations and personal counselling. I also spend many hours each week researching the latest findings in the scientific and medical literature to make sure that my advice is as up to date and accurate as possible. |
| Drug companies and many medical practitioners have vested interests in keeping people dependent on an illness system. Some 'natural' practitioners sell you large amounts of nutritional supplements, which you may or may not need. Very few practitioners understand all the ways that lifestyle can affect fertility so they only give you limited if any advice. My advice is based on my own research, the published findings of others and on the wisdom I have gained from working with couples. |
| Am I successful in helping couples resolve their problems? The answer is usually 'yes' provided that the couples follow my suggestions. Sometimes couples have problems that can't be resolved by lifestyle changes. These relatively few couples need to adopt or use some clinical intervention. |
| I wish you all great success in your journeys, |
