The Covid-19 response gives me hope

It sounds a bit odd to say this when so many people have become victims of this dreadful and preventable pandemic…and I acknowledge that there has been a horrendous fallout from this virus. However, what the pandemic has demonstrated is that when a government leads, things can change.

This ability to lead in times of crisis is crucial for not only the survival of society, but also the survival of the individual.

In fact, we have another crisis. A long-term, slow, and obscured pandemic. We ignore and profit well from there being over 50% of people in the western world suffering from chronic illness. We are talking about billions of people disabled by chronic illness and dying from preventable diseases. Our political and economic structures profit from making people sick, and then others profit from making them well.

What saddens me is that we have the wherewithal to manage this so much better. Profits would be far more moral and ethical if derived from other non-toxic endeavours. A Government that will grasp the nettle, use well-validated science and manage the democratic right of people to earn a living and manufacture and produce wealth, has the ability – as we have seen with the planned management of COVID-19 – to steer a much more successful pathway.

Hypertensive disease and its consequence in the form of heart disease and stroke, preventable cancers, and long-term chronic illnesses such as thyroid disease, irritable and inflammatory bowel diseases, chronic obstructive airways disease and asthma, dementing disorders and others can only be the result of 3 factors.

The first is the genetic structure of the individual, the second is nutritional input and its effect on that genetic structure, and the third is the environment in which this individual is immersed. This third element contains many factors that are within the control of humans. Excluding extraterrestrial life forms and their occasional visit and their experimentation on our bits, we produce many toxic chemicals that fly under the radar of regulatory bodies and subtly poison our well-being.

Some of the more interesting recent such chemicals have been those released by plastics – the phthalates that are used to soften plastic and then leach into the water along with biphenols. These initially unregulated chemicals can act as hormones and interfere with the developing zygote, leading to subtle epigenetic effects on the foetus. Who knows what (in the longer-term) trans-generational issues these may have caused? Thankfully, regulations now apply.

Every year, tens of thousands of unregulated chemicals are released into our environment. Only a fraction of these is regulated and tested. The FDA has a term called GRASS; this is an anacronym for Generally Regarded as Safe. These substances on face value alone are thought to be of little toxicity. A recent example that should concern us was the removal of 14 such substances from sunscreens when experimentally these appeared not so safe.

Another example is the use of transglutaminase, a chemical that is produced by bacteria to kill other bacteria. When added to our foods, this prevents degradation and extends the shelf life. This chemical is regarded as a GRASS. There has been concern that transglutaminase combines with gluten and forms a gut-wall-penetrating protein, which may be a component of the leaky gut syndrome – allowing proteins and other molecules through the usually selectively permeable and controlled mucosal lining of the gut. It is postulated with some evidence that this leads to autoimmune disease.

The control of the use of sugar, salt, and preserving chemicals will represent the most effective way of improving the health of the community. Poorly regulated, captured politicians and governmental, institutional silos – such as we see with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Social Development and others – prevent an overall vision that could otherwise guide our greater community towards a better outcome. Many of the rules put in place are retrospective, often a long time in their genesis because of powerful and wealthy vested interests.

We need good cohesive cross-party governing; we need to see this same resolute and fair behaviour from politicians on things that make us sick. To quote a well-known current politician with absolutely no brains: “it is not rocket science.”