Treatment .� As regards treatment for diabetes insipidus, the patient should be kept very quiet, rested in bed, and a short fast for three or four days undertaken as directed in the Appendix at the end of the book. The fast should then be broken as directed, and a period of from seven to fourteen days spent on the restricted diet, also outlined in the Appendix, according to the severity or otherwise of the case. Then the full weekly dietary given in the Appendix can be begun. Further fasts and periods on the restricted diet may be required at intervals, in some cases, before the trouble finally clears up.

During the fast, and after if necessary, the bowels should be cleansed nightly with the warm-water enema or douche, and where constipation is habitual, the rules for its eradication should be put into operation forthwith. The morning dry friction and sponge or sitz-bath and the breathing and other exercises given in the Appendix, should be performed regularly daily by the patient as soon as well enough. Hot Epsom-salts baths three times weekly will be most beneficial, as will also ordinary hot baths. Sun and air bathing will also be highly valuable.

Complete rest and careful treatment along the lines laid down should lead to the best results in most cases, but, if procurable, manipulative treatment would form a most useful adjunct to the regime. Strain, excitement, and arduous mental or physical work should be carefully guarded against when once the patient has recovered. No drugs of any kind should be taken during treatment. Tea, coffee, alcohol, and all condiments, sauces, etc., must be rigorously excluded from the future dietary, also sugar.

It is generally supposed that in diabetes the pancreas is at fault, because the pancreas secretes a fluid which plays an important part in the digestion of starches and sugars ; but the disease is really one of faulty nutritional balance, following on a breakdown of the whole nutritional system of the body, in which the liver and other vital organs are involved just as much as the pancreas. The trouble is far more systemic in origin than the failure of any particular organ, and takes many years to develop. Long-continued unwise feeding habits, enervation of the system through excesses and indulgences of all kinds, protracted worry, overwork, etc., and suppressive medical treatment of former disease are the chief predisposing factors concerned in the setting up of this systemic disturbance of nutritional activity which we call diabetes.

It is often assumed that it is just overeating of starchy and sugary foods which is basically responsible for the breakdown in nutritional balance leading to diabetes, but as a matter of fact it is through subsistence on a dietary in which both proteins and fats, as well as starches and sugars, are present in great over-excess, that the trouble ultimately arises (in conjunction with the other factors just previously named).

Treatment. � Since the discovery of the insulin treatment for diabetes the public have been led to believe that here at least the medical profession have vindicated their right to be considered as the " Nation's saviours from disease ! " ; but, as a matter of fact, nothing proves more conclusively than the insulin treatment for diabetes the contention made again and again in the present book that medical usage does nothing to remove causes and really cure disease, but merely tampers with and removes or suppresses symptoms.

The insulin treatment for diabetes takes no notice of causes, but merely tries to get rid of the effects of diabetes. It can never be claimed to be curative by the widest stretch of the imagination, for in the great majority of cases it has to be taken regularly for ever after, once it has been begun. When the insulin craze first started, the public were led to believe that insulin was a positive cure for diabetes, and the Press went wild with excitement over this " wonderful discovery of modern Medical Science." But sad disillusionment was in store for those diabetics who believed what they were told. Many a poor wretch has been turned into a human pin-cushion as a result of having daily insulin injections for the rest of his life, as a " cure " for his diabetes ! (Of such are the cures of Medical Science made !)

Not only is insulin not a cure for diabetes, but the dietetic treatment carried out at the same time is so ill-arranged and unbalanced that many a sufferer from diabetes finds himself the victim of all sorts of other ailments � as well as his diabetes � as a result of such a regime. Constipation and indigestion are the least of the evils attendant upon the orthodox dietetic treatment for diabetes, carried out in conjunction with insulin injections.

As we have said, the Press went hysterical over the wonders of insulin, but now that it has been proved definitely to be no cure for diabetes, nothing is said on that point. The poor diabetic is still made to believe that in insulin lies his only saviour from his disease � until he tries it and finds out what insulin treatment really means ! Besides, Medical Science knows of nothing else to put in its place, so insulin treatment it must be, even though it has so sadly failed to come up to the high expectations held out for it in the first place.

The sufferer from diabetes who places himself under Natural-Cure treatment is in an entirely different position from the insulin-riddled patient of orthodox medicine. When treated by fasting and strict dieting, diabetes (if not too chronic) is a comparatively easy condition to get rid of; it is really cured that way, not just temporarily alleviated, as when insulin is used. That is because under natural treatment the actual causes of the disease are removed and the whole health-level of the patient built up.

But no word appears in the Press about the wonders of the fasting treatment for diabetes � or the fasting treatment for any disease, for that matter ! Natural Cure has to fight its way unaided by any gratuitous publicity of the sort that is so lavishly bestowed upon the medical profession. But still, publicity or no publicity, it is results that count, and that is where Natural Cure scores all the time, not only with regard to diabetes, but with all diseases in general.

Treatment in a Natural-Cure home, or under the personal supervision of a competent Naturopath, is always best in diabetes, especially if insulin treatment has already been or is being taken ; for insulin renders the curative work of the Natural-Cure regime far harder to carry out than if it had never been used. (Indeed, in some cases it makes a cure impossible.) But in all ordinary cases the sufferer can carry on quite well at home, along the following lines, if personal treatment is not possible in his particular case. Those who are taking insulin, and who wish to carry out the treatment, may do so, of course, but must take special note of the remarks made later in this chapter.

The diabetic sufferer should begin with a short fast for three or four days, having nothing but orange juice and warm water during that time. Then a further two to four days should be spent on the all-fruit diet given in the Appendix. (Rather serious cases will need a longer fast, say up to seven days, before beginning on the fruit diet.) After the fast and period on all-fruit, the fruit and milk diet given in the Appendix should then be adopted, and should be adhered to until all traces of sugar have disappeared from the urine. In cases where the latter has cleared during the fast or all-fruit period � which it very often will do � the fruit and milk diet can be omitted.

The fruit and milk diet can be carried on from a few days up to three or four weeks in some cases, as needed, the amount of milk taken daily not exceeding four pints, however.. If the urine has not cleared by that time in any given case, then a further short fast and period on all-fruit will be needed, with an added period on fruit and milk to follow. But these will be exceptional cases, however; most cases will have quite cleared up by that time.

When the urine is free of sugar, then the diabetic can begin on the full weekly dietary given in the Appendix, but all bread, potatoes, and dried fruit should be omitted from the dietary for at least a fortnight to a month. If the patient's condition continues to improve, and no further sugar appears, then these articles of diet can be gradually re-included in the dietary at the end of that time, as outlined in the menus in question. In any case, no sugar at all should be taken in future ; if any sweetening substance is needed for any purpose at all, such as stewing fruits, etc., a little honey should be used � nothing else.

If for any reason sugar should reappear in the urine at any time, a further short fast followed by fruit and milk should be undertaken at once, until the urine is quite clear again. During the fast, and after if necessary, the bowels should be cleansed nightly with a warm-water enema or gravity douche ; and where constipation is habitual, the rules for its eradication given (See Constipation in the self help section of the site library) should be put into operation forthwith. A daily dry friction and sitz-bath or sponge, as directed in the Appendix, should be taken regularly ; and the physical and other exercises also given in the Appendix should be gone through daily in conjunction with them. A hot Epsom-salts bath should be indulged in two or three times weekly to begin with, and less frequently later. Whilst the diabetic condition lasts, frequent warm baths are very good, say every other day. Sun and air bathing is also most beneficial, if procurable in any given case.

All habits and practices which have led to the enervation of the system must be discontinued, and the " worry habit " in particular must be guarded against. (For helpful suggestions on this point, see the treatment for Neurasthenia. A simple scheme of living, with early hours and no excesses, must be instituted. The diet factor is of the utmost importance, and no white bread, white-flour products, sugar, boiled potatoes, pastry, puddings or pies, milk puddings, refined cereals (such as rice, tapioca, porridge, etc.), are to be taken in future ; no strong tea, or coffee or alcohol; no condiments, pickles, sauces, etc. Meat and other flesh foods must be eaten very sparingly indeed, as also butter and other fats or oils. No cream should be taken at all, and no animal fats such as lard. Fresh fruits and salads MUST form the main bulk of the future dietary. A watchful eye must always be kept on bread (even if wholemeal) and dried fruits, as these are danger foods for the diabetic and must always be eaten sparingly.

Fresh air and gentle outdoor exercise such as walking should form an essential part of the treatment, and a walk of three or four miles every day can be recommended to all patients capable of it as a very good thing indeed. SPECIAL NOTE RE INSULIN. � As already remarked, where insulin has been used it makes natural treatment far more difficult to achieve a cure than if none had been taken. Those who have taken insulin over a period of time but have since stopped its use may, however, still carry on as directed. It is those who are still taking insulin who need the most care in treatment. These are, therefore, again strongly advised to carry out the regimen under the expert guidance of a Naturopath where at all possible. If this cannot be done in any given case, then the following is the best way to proceed as regards an average case :

Instead of starting on the fast as instructed for the ordinary diabetic sufferer, those who are using insulin should begin on the full weekly dietary given in the Appendix, but reducing to a minimum bread, potatoes, and dried fruit. The quantity of insulin being taken should then be steadily decreased over a period of from one to two months, until none is being taken at the end of that time. Thereafter, if conditions are favourable, the full scheme of treatment as outlined can be embarked upon.

Gall-stones cannot appear out of " thin air," as it were ; neither are they the result of bacterial infection. They are simply and solely the results of many years of wrong feeding habits and general wrong living (plus previous suppressive treatment of disease) which have led to a toxic condition of the system in general, and of the liver and gall-bladder in particular. Chronic constipation is a most important predisposing factor. Gall-stones often take many years to collect, and they may be very small or they may be quite large in size. A large stone may block the bile-duct and lead to an attack of jaundice, or it may actually succeed in passing through the duct into the intestines, causing excruciating agony to the unfortunate sufferer in its passage the while. Smaller stones are often passed without difficulty into the intestines and out of the system in this way, their appearance in the faeces being that of sand in larger or smaller particles. The general symptoms connected with gall-stones are : sharp pain in the region of the lower right ribs (especially on pressure), flatulence, constipation, vomiting, loss of appetite, general sluggishness, etc.

Treatment. � Where a case has been allowed to run on for a long time, and the gall-stones have grown to a large size, it is quite possible that nothing short of an operation will be required to get rid of them. But please note that such surgical treatment is only recommended in extreme cases, and at best is only palliative. For nothing is done by such treatment to get rid of the underlying toxicity of the system and liver sluggishness which are responsible for the setting up of the trouble in the first place, and so further stones can form just as easily after the operation as before � unless the gall-bladder is taken away, in which case the patient's system will suffer as a result of such treatment, especially the functioning of the liver, which depends upon the gall-bladder for the storage of excess bile, and so will be working at a distinct loss thereafter.

Having said that surgical treatment may be necessary in advanced and serious cases of gall-stones, and having pointed out that such treatment does nothing to remove the causes of the trouble or to improve the general health of the patient in a permanent way, we can definitely say that the only way in which gall-stones can be really cured is through the agency of natural treatment. By this we mean that under natural treatment the stones can be dissolved and passed out of the system, and the underlying causes responsible for their occurrence finally removed, thus making it impossible for further stones to appear. (Something quite different from surgical treatment !)

Where at all possible, treatment for gall-stones should be in a Natural-Cure home, as a fairly long fast may be required in certain cases. Failing this, the services of a competent Naturopath should be secured to supervise the treatment. If either institutional or personal naturopathic treatment is not possible in any given case, it should be along the following lines :

To begin with, a fast for from four to seven days should be undertaken, as described in the Appendix, the duration of the fast depending upon the severity (or otherwise) of the case. After the fast the restricted diet, also given in the Appendix, should be begun and adhered to for a further ten to fourteen days. Then the full weekly dietary also outlined therein can be adopted. It may be necessary in certain cases to repeat the process of fast and restricted diet at intervals of, say, six to eight weeks ; this must be left to the patient to decide for himself, at his own discretion, according to the progress being made.

During the fast, and after if necessary, the bowels should be cleansed nightly with a warm-water enema or gravity douche, and the rules for the eradication of constipation given should be put into operation. The daily dry friction and sitz-bath or sponge, and the breathing and other exercises given in the Appendix, should be gone through regularly daily, as far as possible, in conjunction with the dietetic treatment. A hot Epsom-salts bath, as detailed in the Appendix, should be taken twice weekly, where at all possible. If there is any pain over the gall-bladder area, hot compresses may be applied several times daily, or a hot-water bottle, whilst a cold pack may be applied at night. (See Appendix for details of these packs.)

The patient should take things very quietly and easily during the first few weeks of the treatment, and plenty of rest is essential. On no account should any drugs or medicines OF ANY KIND be taken. Olive oil is considered to be of great therapeutic value in the treatment of gall-stones, but we do not think its use especially advantageous. Cases that have supposedly been cured by the administration of olive oil have generally not been cases of gall-stones at all, but of inflammation of the gall-bladder, with which gall-stones is often confused in diagnosis. The deposits in the faeces supposed to be broken-down fragments of gall-stones are really particles of olive oil more often than not !

Manipulative treatment, at the hands of a good Osteopath or Naturopath, would be most valuable in conjunction with the treatment here outlined, as would also artificial sunlight and sun and air bathing. The diet factor is of extreme importance, and fruits and salads must form the major portion of the future dietary when cured, as it is only by their aid that the fluids and secretions of the body can be kept clean and wholesome, and the possibility of further gall-stones thus effectually prevented. Tea, coffee, and alcohol must not be taken in future ; neither should any condiments, etc. All demineralised and " foodless " foods, such as white-flour products, white sugar, refined cereals, etc., must be strictly avoided, as must also all heavy and greasy dishes, all fried foods, stews, puddings, pies, etc. Very little in the way of butter or fats of any kind should be taken, too, and cream should be left out entirely from the future dietary, as also all animal fats, such as lard, suet, etc. Meat and other flesh foods must be eaten very sparingly indeed.

Treatment. � The presence of blood in the urine may or may not be serious. It all depends upon the condition with which it is associated. As regards treatment, it is obvious that it is only by finding out the cause, and treating this, that the haematuria can be cured. If no cause can be ascertained at all, and there is no pain or other untoward symptom, a few days' fast followed by a further few days on the all-fruit diet outlined in the Appendix should soon clear up the trouble. A morning cold sitz-bath, and a hot and cold sitz-bath every night, whilst the bleeding lasts, will also help materially in clearing the urine. The warm-water enema should be used nightly during the first few days of the treatment, and after if necessary. (Sitz-baths are described in detail in the Appendix at the end of the book.)

Treatment for inflammation of the gall-bladder should be along the lines of that for Gall-stones given earlier in the present chapter, for only by a thorough cleansing of the system and the reorganisation of liver functioning along the lines of treatment there indicated can the trouble be removed and health restored to the sufferer. (Many cases diagnosed as gall-stones are really only cases of inflammation of the gall-bladder.)

Treatment. � Treatment for jaundice must obviously be fasting. The patient should be fasted on orange juice and water for as long as the acute symptoms last. This may be from three to seven days or longer, according to the severity (or otherwise) of the case. When the acute symptoms have fully subsided, the all-fruit diet outlined in the Appendix can be adopted for a further three to five days, and then the full weekly dietary also outlined therein can be gradually embarked upon. The bowels should be cleansed nightly with the warm-water enema or gravity douche during the fast, and after if necessary, and a hot Epsom-salts bath or ordinary hot bath can be taken every day with great benefit.

If the foregoing treatment is faithfully carried out, and the patient rested in bed the while, the attack will clear up in the quickest possible time, leaving the sufferer in far better health than before, owing to the thorough cleansing his system will have received as a result of the treatment. When a full diet is begun, all fats and oils should be avoided for the first fortnight or so, but butter and olive oil can be included thereafter, as directed on the diet-sheet; these should always be in fairly small quantities, however. The general remarks regarding diet made to the sufferer from gall-stones, in the treatment for this condition earlier in the present section, should be carefully studied after recovery from jaundice. The strict observance of these general dietetic rules is most important if future attacks of jaundice are to be effectually prevented. SPECIAL NOTE . � Where jaundice is caused through gall-stones, tumour, etc., treatment should be in the hands of a competent Naturopath if at all possible.

Manipulative treatment (at the hands of a good Osteopath) would be most helpful as an adjunct. All exercise which tends to strengthen the abdominal muscles will be very useful in these cases, and in this connection the reader is referred to the remarks re special curative exercises at the end of the treatment for Dropped Stomach. (See Stomach and Intestines in the self help section of the site library). The scheme of physical exercises given in the Appendix at the end of this book (as well as the friction bath, sitz-bath, etc.) will also be most helpful.