During the afternoon she was visited by the Registrar who had the x-ray with him. He told her that the surgeon had performed a “superb operation”. Unfortunately a clip had come adrift and he feared that he might have to perform a laparotomy to rectify the problem. The next day, after the emergency operation, the registrar explained that not one but two clips had come adrift. The minor complication had been rectified and there would be no more problems.

The next day, she had an ultrasound examination. The doctor told her that there was at least three litres of fluid in her abdomen. During the fitting of the drain the doctor had to pause because a gush of fluid had shot onto her legs and shoes. She said the relief to her pain was immediate.

By December 5, the duty doctor found that her hemoglobin count was extremely low and said that she needed an immediate transfusion of two units of blood. She thought that she was still bleeding and would have to be operated on again. That night, after suffering 18 hours of fear, she asked me to send for a priest.

As it happened, my wife’s condition stabilized and she left the hospital. We then paid for a medical legal report which, though 15 pages, is full of errors. For instance, the review surgeon says, ‘There was no evidence that she was bleeding” on November 19. In fact, the nursing notes show that she gushed blood at 7.15 am on the 19th.

One is left feeling dissatisfied and wondering if the three surgeons are in fact acquainted with one another through various committees. W G, Kent.

On February 3 this year, I had a scan which the doctor told me showed gallstones.

Ten days’ later, I contacted my homeopath who advised me to follow the instructions in the February issue of WDDTY. I immediately started the course and followed it exactly. [The programme recommended by the Dulwich Health Society is as follows: drink 2 litres of pure apple juice for six days. On the sixth day, skip dinner. At 9pm, take one or two tablespoons of Epsom salts dissolved in a little warm water. At 10pm, shake together 4oz unrefined cold pressed olive oil and 2oz lemon juice and drink. Go to bed immediately and lie on your right side with your right knee drawn up towards your chin. Remain in this position for 30 minutes before going to sleep. Prepare another Epsom salts solution in case you need it in the middle of the night. The next morning, you should pass stones that are as soft as putty.]

By midnight on February 18 the epsom salts had done their work. At 8am, the next day I passed two bright green “peas”. At 11am, I passed five softened stones of approx 2cm long, about 12 more pea size and about 12 more smaller ones. During the afternoon I passed several more.

On February 20 I attended a pre arranged appointment with my GP to discuss the result of the scan. She was totally shocked when I described my experience and asked me to explain every detail. My GP had never heard of a “flush” and told me she would have definitely recommended an operation. The stones have been sent for analysis.

I thought: What Doctors Don’t Tell You? What Doctors Don’t Know!

I am extremely grateful to my homeopath and WDDTY for a simple, painless and quick way of eliminating the stones. JS Macclesfield, Cheshire.

Furthermore, the number of patients who are treatable by this method are quite small 20 per cent of all patients.Bile acids are most useful when stones are under 10 mm in diameter (Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 1993; 7(2): 139-48), and often only partial dissolution is achieved (Gut, 1992; 33(5): 698-700; Acta Gasteroenterol Latinoamericana, 1994; 24(4): 233-7).

In addition, many of these drugs have unwelcome side effects of their own. Oral remedies for cholesterol gallstones such as chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and urodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) are the remedies of choice. But UDCA (ursidol) has been known to cause severe abdominal pain (N Eng J Med, 1993; 328: 1502; Digestive Dis Sci, 1994; 39(9): 1981-4). In one study its use resulted in a non functioning gallbladder in 9 per cent of cases and gallstone calcification (hardening) was seen in a further 15 per cent (Scand J Gastroenterol, 1993; 28(3): 267-73).

Other dissolving agents such as methyl tert butyl ether which are injected directly into the gallbladder via a catheter bring their own problems. The siting of the catheter can be unsuccessful, leading to possible surgery, anyway (Zeitschrift fr Gastroenterol, 1992; 30(7):459-62). Some patients experience nausea and transient abdominal pains (Digestive Disease Sci, 1992; 37(1):97-100).

A:Pancreatitis is the inflammation of the pancreas, a gland that releases insulin, glucagon and enzymes for digestion. The condition comes in two forms: acute, which is shortlived but often fatal, and can be resolved completely if the patient survives the critical phase, or chronic, which is irreversible and degenerative even after the cause is removed.

The conventional view is that pancreatitis is caused by the very things your friend has avoided: high intakes of alcohol and drugs. It is often brought on after damage to the gallbladder through drink, but also because of infection or injury.

Symptoms are severe abdominal pain which radiates into the back, fever, loss of appetite (so it’s little wonder your friend won’t eat much), nausea and vomiting. Jaundice can also occur.

If it hasn’t been caused by alcohol or drug abuse, the next most likely cause is gallstones. In fact, 80 per cent of all cases of pancreatitis are caused either by alcohol abuse or gallstones. It seems that gallstones are more likely to cause chronic pancreatitis.

You are right to suggest that the condition can be contained with drugs creon and co-proxamol are some of the more popular but specialists are beginning to look at endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) as a way of removing the offending gallstones (if indeed that is the cause). However, a recent study among 126 patients found that the technique was far from helpful; indeed, 14 patients given ERCPs, compared with seven who had conservative management of their condition, died within three months (N Eng J Med, 1997; 336: 237-42).

In short, conventional medicine seems to as yet have few answers to this condition.

A careful diet to balance blood sugar and support the pancreas needs to be developed, possibly by a nutritonist, with special emphasis on insulin.

Alternative medicine, and its many offshoots, claims to have suitable treatments, but you must remember that you are well outside the field of total self-help here. Any unorthodox approach should be carried out only with an experienced practitioner.

Options to consider include fasting from all fluids and foods for a short period, followed by the introduction of a diet similar to that suggested to diabetics. Refined sugars, caffeine and alcohol should be strictly avoided, and your friend would be better having small and frequent meals with complex carbohydrates, vegetables and small amounts of fruits. Exercise is also very important as this can help stabilize blood sugar.

Supplements that could help include chromium, pancreatin enzymes with meals, pancreas glandular extract, vitamin B complex with extra niacin and pantothenic acid, vitamin C, acidophilus and magnesium.

Other programmes your friend could undertake, again under professional supervision, include aromatherapy (majoram and lemon), herbs (equal parts of the glycerates of fringetree bark, balmony, and milk thistle, a teaspoonful of which to be taken three times day), hydrotherapy and juice therapy (carrot, Jerusalem artichoke, beet, garlic).

A detox therapy might help, provided the condition is not chronic, and hydrogen peroxide therapy has had some success.

Bunions: try iodine on them, but they could also have an emotional cause best treated by a flower remedy practitioner. In the meantime try aloe vera juice, and vitamins E and C.

Omega-3 sources: try Arctic Sea with omega-3 and -6, or Perilla oil, while a natural source is purslane, which can be added to salads or cooked.

Bedwetting: pumpkin seeds may help, as they are high in zinc. Reflexology, Bach flower remedies or chiropractic may all offer help. Try Virtual Scanning, says our man at the Virtual Scanning centre. One boy was cured with the help of an aura therapist, one reader relates.

White spots: they’re a sign of dehydration and an inability to break down fats. If it is caused by high cholesterol, it’s called xanthelasma, says one reader helpfully.

Itchy scalp: a scalp massage with 3 drops teatree oil, 2 drops rosemary oil to 30 ml jojoba oil, left in the hair overnight might help matters.

And so to other issues. . .one reader wonders if the ‘interview’ last week between WDDTY and a Department of Health official was a spoof. Well, we know our sense of humour can be subtle, but we didn’t realize it had become invisible! But yes, it was a spoof. . .

a homoeopath takes us to task for suggesting that ‘homoeopathic remedy x can cure disease y’. It doesn’t work like that, she says. Point taken, but these suggestions come from other homoeopaths. . .another homoeopath takes us to task for a different reason. We don’t give enough references to back up all the statements we make. For that, you’d have to read our monthly newsletter What Doctors Don’t Tell You, which is packed with references. E-news doesn’t seem to be an appropriate platform for this. So if you want the references, you have to subscribe. Sorry!. . .

we hear of a doctor called Dr John Reckless who wants to add a statin, the cholesterol-lowering drug featured last week, into the public water supply. So you’d have fluoride in the water to protect your teeth, and statins to protect your heart. Marvellous stuff. No wonder he’s called Reckless. . .

a few American readers say we’re attacking their country’s foreign policy, an accusation based on our tongue-in-cheek headline ‘There are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq’. We thought we were taking a swipe at the UK’s foreign policy, but never mind. One gentleman says that Lynne McTaggart (WDDTY editor) doesn’t understand because she’s not American. Well, we think Lynne does understand, and she is an American.

But to spoil our argument, Lynne doesn’t write E-news. Damn.

* In a recent study, one third of 773 individuals involved in a road accident as a driver, bicycle rider or pedestrian experienced some level of anxiety, depression, fear of travel or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 3 to 12 months later and, in most cases, persisted. After one year, about half the group had phobic travel anxiety, nearly 60 per cent had general anxiety, and half were diagnosed with PTSD (Am J Psychiatry, 2001; 158: 1231-8).

* New research in nearly 1300 men suggests that, during a severe asthma attack, men are less likely than women to notice the symptoms of the attack. The reason for this is unclear, but it may be that men perceive less discomfort because of greater lung size and muscle strength, or because they generally develop asthma at an earlier age than women. Men also tend to only seek medical attention when symptoms are too severe to ignore, the researchers noted (Ann Emerg Med, 2001; 38: 123-8).

* What’s lurking in that paddling pool? Physicians in Canada have found the first outbreak of a new type of Pseudomonas infection called ‘hot foot syndrome’. This discovery was made when 40 children, aged 2 to 15, developed intense pain in the soles of their feet within 40 hours of using the same wading pool. A hot, red swelling began after a few hours, along with pain so severe that the children were unable to stand up. Three children were given oral cephalexin (an antibiotic) while the others were treated with cold compresses, analgesics and foot elevation. In all cases, the condition resolved within 14 days, although it recurred in three children after they revisited the same pool (N Engl J Med, 2001; 345: 335-8).

Operations increased by 22 per cent in America between 1993 and 1989 when laparoscopic or keyhole surgery was introduced for cholecystectomies, or gall bladder removals.

A study team looking into this sudden increase discovered that surgeons had lowered the clinical threshold for considering surgery because the technique was easier to perform. As a result, previously marginal cases, and some unsuitable ones, were now having the operation.

This increase is hard to justify in the case of gallstones which, in the main, are benign and painless. Those in pain or danger would have had an operation anyway, even before the days of laparoscopy, commented David Ransohoff and Charles McSheery, writing in an editorial of Journal of the American Medical Association, which published the study paper.

In addition, they write, patients undergoing unnecesary surgery run the small risk of a bile duct injury, which can sometimes happen during keyhole surgery. Although the rate is only 0.2 per cent, this translates into a significant number among people who have the operation. For instance, just among the 53,936 patients monitored in the study between 1989 and 1993, some 107 many of them young would have suffered some permanent injury with bile duct problems for the rest of their lives (JAMA, May 24, 1995).

The operation is performed by distending the abdominal cavity of the patient with carbon dioxide and then making a 1 cm incision in the abdomen through which the laparoscopic imaging equipment and surgical instruments are introduced. Guided by the image of the gallbladder and surrounding structures on a video screen, the surgeon needs meticulous skill to isolate the gallbladder ducts and arteries, detach the diseased organ and pull it through the tiny incision.

The American National Institutes of Health recently put together a Consensus Development Panel which convened last September to define who is eligible for the operation and, indeed, when gallbladder removal is warranted.

Because the procedure results in relatively little pain and half the hospital stay and convalescence of the old open operation for gallbladder removal, some 80 per cent of all gallbladder operations are performed with laparoscopes, whether or not the surgeons have been fully trained.

The consensus panel concluded that most patients with symptoms of gallstones are candidates for the laparoscopic procedure, (other than women in the last stages of pregnancy or those with diseased organs near the gallbladder), even though there has never been a large, randomized trial to compare it with open gallbladder surgery.

The consensus also concluded that although complications of this operation are “infrequent”, the evidence indicates that the “incidence of bile duct injuries is increased” compared with open surgery.

While the US has sanctioned the new operation, even allowing surgical trainees in Washington DC to try their hands at it, several surgeons from St George’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia, sounded a warning about the risk of thromboembolism (potentially fatal blood clots) in patients undergoing this operation.

Out of 400 plus patients, three developed thrombosis, two in the lungs from which one patient died.