One of the most controversial medicos of modern times recently spent several weeks in Darwin and did not raise the slightest interest . He is Dr “Archie” Kalokerinos whose views were backed by two- time Nobel Prize winner , for chemistry and peace ,Professor Linus Pauling . Praised by some in the medical profession and reviled by others, a Melbourne Greek newspaper named Dr Kalokerinos the most influential Greek Australian of the 20th century
The doctor was not in Darwin in the flesh –there was a photo of him in the splendid National Museum of Australia touring exhibition on the subject of Greek cafes covered in an earlier Little Darwin post. The caption merely said he had been born in 1927 and his parents had run the Paragon Café in Glenn Innes , NSW.
While medical superintendent at Collarenebri, north western NSW, he became concerned about the high mortality rate among Aboriginal infants who had scurvy like symptoms. He advocated the use of high doses of vitamin C to counter the deaths , about which he wrote extensively and lectured . Forthright and open in his views like eye expert , Fred Hollows, who was appalled at the extent of eye diseases among NT Aborigines , he undoubtedly upset some of the medical establishment, some of whom scoffed at his vitamin C belief.
However , Nobel laureate Professor Pauling , who believed many diseases were caused by over production of free radicals and low vitamin C body content , heartily endorsed Dr Kalokerinos. Profesor Pauling maintained that vitamin C was beneficial in fighting flu, cancer ,cardiovascular disease , infections and degenerative problems in the aging process. As a result , he attracted criticism from members of the medical profession and his ideas were dismissed as quakery . Professor Pauling wrote the foreword to the doctor’s widely read 1981 book , Every Second Child, in which he spoke of the reluctance of many doctors to accept new ideas.
The book’s title was based on the fact that at Collarenebri he had been able to reduce the Aboriginal infant death rate from virtually every second child who presented with some risk factor to zero through intravenous vitamin C injections.
Many moons ago, this writer had contact with Dr Kalokerinos when he was still in Collarenebri in connection with his advocacy of vitamin C to reduce Aboriginal infant deaths and another of his interests, opals, about which he wrote a book in 1973, Australia’s Precious Opal .
As the years went by , he expressed strong and controversial views about the likely cause of some Sudden Infant Death Syndrome ( Cot Deaths) being sub clinical scurvy and Shaken Baby Syndrome cases in which parents were charged with murder when in fact their baby had died as a result of mandated vaccination.
In 2000, a 500 page book was published -Medical Pioneer of the 20th Century - covering his time opal mining, Aboriginal health, vaccinations, SIDS and included 30 pages regarded as the bible on the subject of Shaken Death Syndrome.
Both he and Professor Pauling shared the controversial proposition that , at times, mass immunisation of children could be a health hazard. Pauling caused an uproar when he said mass immunisation of African children in the early days had been a disaster, leading to the death of many . Dr Kalokerinos has lectured widely in the UK and America
NEEDLE NOTE : The late former Queensland physician, Lady Cilento , wrote a book entitled You Can’t Live Without Vitamin C , and it is said she gave Premier Joh Bjelke –Petersen large doses , the obvious noticeable result being that he could express himself more clearly instead of rambling on to his media chooks.
The doctor was not in Darwin in the flesh –there was a photo of him in the splendid National Museum of Australia touring exhibition on the subject of Greek cafes covered in an earlier Little Darwin post. The caption merely said he had been born in 1927 and his parents had run the Paragon Café in Glenn Innes , NSW.
While medical superintendent at Collarenebri, north western NSW, he became concerned about the high mortality rate among Aboriginal infants who had scurvy like symptoms. He advocated the use of high doses of vitamin C to counter the deaths , about which he wrote extensively and lectured . Forthright and open in his views like eye expert , Fred Hollows, who was appalled at the extent of eye diseases among NT Aborigines , he undoubtedly upset some of the medical establishment, some of whom scoffed at his vitamin C belief.
However , Nobel laureate Professor Pauling , who believed many diseases were caused by over production of free radicals and low vitamin C body content , heartily endorsed Dr Kalokerinos. Profesor Pauling maintained that vitamin C was beneficial in fighting flu, cancer ,cardiovascular disease , infections and degenerative problems in the aging process. As a result , he attracted criticism from members of the medical profession and his ideas were dismissed as quakery . Professor Pauling wrote the foreword to the doctor’s widely read 1981 book , Every Second Child, in which he spoke of the reluctance of many doctors to accept new ideas.
The book’s title was based on the fact that at Collarenebri he had been able to reduce the Aboriginal infant death rate from virtually every second child who presented with some risk factor to zero through intravenous vitamin C injections.
Many moons ago, this writer had contact with Dr Kalokerinos when he was still in Collarenebri in connection with his advocacy of vitamin C to reduce Aboriginal infant deaths and another of his interests, opals, about which he wrote a book in 1973, Australia’s Precious Opal .
As the years went by , he expressed strong and controversial views about the likely cause of some Sudden Infant Death Syndrome ( Cot Deaths) being sub clinical scurvy and Shaken Baby Syndrome cases in which parents were charged with murder when in fact their baby had died as a result of mandated vaccination.
In 2000, a 500 page book was published -Medical Pioneer of the 20th Century - covering his time opal mining, Aboriginal health, vaccinations, SIDS and included 30 pages regarded as the bible on the subject of Shaken Death Syndrome.
Both he and Professor Pauling shared the controversial proposition that , at times, mass immunisation of children could be a health hazard. Pauling caused an uproar when he said mass immunisation of African children in the early days had been a disaster, leading to the death of many . Dr Kalokerinos has lectured widely in the UK and America
NEEDLE NOTE : The late former Queensland physician, Lady Cilento , wrote a book entitled You Can’t Live Without Vitamin C , and it is said she gave Premier Joh Bjelke –Petersen large doses , the obvious noticeable result being that he could express himself more clearly instead of rambling on to his media chooks.
