Letters to the Editor

SIR, - Tony Robinson and Channel 4 are to be congratulated for tackling the important issue of care for older people, in his programme 'Me and My Mum' aired this week.

Care at the end of life is a very sensitive issue that many older people and their families will confront. We welcome this programme's contribution to enable a wider and frank public understanding.

Choosing a Care Home, at what is a most stressful time, can be extremely difficult. Indeed in Yorkshire alone there are around 500 elderly care homes, so just how do you choose?

For many, selecting a care home may be like choosing a place to live - within seconds you know whether it 'feels right'. However, a recommendation, whether it comes from a friend or relative, your GP or local Social Services Department will help you develop a short-list.

But, like choosing a flat or a house, there are many more practical considerations to bear in mind. Do the staff appear friendly, caring and well trained? Is the home clean and well decorated?

Are there a variety of activities and outings available? Does the home feel safe and secure and is there a choice of menus with choices that will appeal? Do you understand what help is available with fees and are you sure they are affordable on a long term basis?

Choosing a care home is very difficult and emotionally draining, careful preparation and seeking expert advice can greatly ease the strain.

Dr Clive Bowman

Medical Director ,

BUPA Care Services,

Bridge House,

Horsforth.

Make a difference

SIR, - Last year around 114,000 people took part in CSV Make a Difference Day, the UK's single biggest day of volunteering.

The annual CSV Make a Difference Day Awards have recently demonstrated the fantastic achievements of the volunteers involved. Awards were given to some truly remarkable people who organised a wide range of different activities, including students who threw a party for children affected by domestic violence, footballers who gave training to blind and visually impaired children, and employees from Barclays who befriended inmates in a prison in Ghana.

The stories told at the awards were truly moving, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of other volunteers took part in the day and everyone of them is a winner.

It is impossible to thank everyone individually, but we hope that you all realise how important your contribution is, and what a difference you have made to the lives of others.

We hope that all of you will take part again this year and this time bring along your husbands, wives, aunties, cousins and anyone else you can think of. This way we can make 2006 even bigger and better than before.

CSV Make a Difference Day takes place on Saturday October 28, 2006. For more information visit www.csv.org.uk/difference, or to find out about year round volunteering opportunities go to www.csv.org.uk.

Sian Lloyd

(ITV weather presenter),

c/o CSV,

237 Pentonville Road,

London N1 9NJ.

Call welcomed

SIR, - The Save Otley Civic Centre group welcomes calls for a political consensus on the future of the building (Wharfedale Observer, March 16).

With the distraction of options to leave the building discounted, the task of identifying and securing funds will be much simpler.

In the course of our campaign, it has been apparent how central the building is to so many aspects of the life of the town. With a relatively modest amount of money, the building can be set up to perform that role well into the 21st Century.

MARK HIDE

Chairman,

Save Otley Civic Centre.

Price cuts

SIR, - I hope the European Union's proposal to publish a regulation intended to cut mobile phone roaming charges will push operators into price cuts before the summer season when holidaymakers take their mobile abroad.

An EU regulation will promote strong market competition particularly if consumers are fully informed about which operators are charging exceptional amounts.

I had hoped it could be left to market forces to bring down roaming prices but most network operators across Europe have been unwilling to change their ways so it's time for us to act. I certainly intend to do so.

The European Commission has revamped a website - http://europa.eu.int/information_society/roaming - providing consumers with information about roaming charges across the EU.

With information at their fingertips I believe consumers will vote with their wallets and opt for the cheapest roaming fees which will ultimately increase competition between operators and push prices down.

Timothy Kirkhope

MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber,

Leader of the Conservatives in the

European Parliament .

Schizophrenia

SIR, - Schizophrenia is a major severe illness causing huge suffering to the patients and their caring families. There are two ways of looking at schizophrenia:

1. that it is confined in its pathology and symptomology to the brain, and that its sole medical treatment is with major tranquillizers whose mode of therapeutic action is unknown.

They reduce and modify the psychiatric symptoms but at the same time their use is associated with a large number of bodily diseases, some of which may prove to be fatal. These drugs will never cure the patient. They are purely palliative.

2. The second way of looking at schizophrenia is that it is a toxic, confusional state of the brain deriving from bodily disease. This is often undetected because it is unlooked for.

There is much evidence that disease in the gut (intestine) is often the direct cause of the psychiatric symptoms. Henri Baruk a famous French professor of psychiatry, said: "The cause of psychosis must be sought in every case and very often the cause would be found far from the brain."

Dr F Curtis Dohan said that he was 99 per cent sure that schizophrenia was genetically related to coeliac disease. This is a gut disease caused by a patient's inability to digest grains, especially wheat, and milk and milk products.

There is a raised incidence of gut disease, heart disease, endocrine disease and infections in schizophrenia and a raised mortality from a similar list. Why should this be so?

We should be urgently seeking caused of schizophrenia within the body. Write for a free information pack to the Schizophrenia Association of Great Britain, Bryn Hyfryd, The Crescent, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2AG.

GWYNNETH HEMMINGS

Executive Director,

Schizophrenia Association.

Drug testing

SIR, - Recently there was a newspaper article article inviting women at risk of developing breast cancer to contact Airedale Hospital to take part in a trial involving the aromatase inhibitor drug - Anastrazole (Arimidex).

The trial is inviting disease-free healthy women to volunteer to take either a placebo or Anastrazole for several years - 'help us find out more about preventing breast cancer', it says. Before healthy women volunteer it is worth noting that of the women currently involved in trials of Anastrazole, ten per cent experience varying degrees of joint swelling, stiffness and pain and others are experiencing hair thinning and debilitating hot flushes.

For some women, these symptoms are so bad that even if they have had breast cancer, they are stopping the drug.

A wealth of knowledge is already known about prevention of this disease but is rarely seen in the mainstream media because there is no monetary gain and the potential financial bonanza for Astra Zeneca is mind boggling as they strive to persuade women that the true path to prevention involves harmful drugs for many years.

The incidence of breast cancer in western countries, ranges from one in seven to one in ten and rising. Therefore soon almost everyone will be related to someone who has suffered the disease, and therefore meets the criteria, music to the ears of the drug companies.

There have been detailed studies done by Dr Colin Campbell and associates in China which show that the amount of animal protein consumed is directly associated with cancer and degenerative diseases. People in rural China and Thailand have a fraction of typical Western diseases such as cancer and heart disease. There is an inverse effect with the amount of vegetable protein consumed.

The best advice is to consume no more than ten per cent of your food intake as animal protein, that includes dairy, chicken, red meat and fish. Substitute for fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes and soya milk.

You might not want to hear it but the facts are that this diet is the one for optimal health and independence from drug companies and hospitals. It's really that simple, don't let any doctor tell you otherwise.

Anne Preater

Ilkley.

Worsening mess

SIR, - May I congratulate your reader on the letter re foul mess. I too am a resident of St Richards Road, Otley, and agree with every word that was written.

The 'mess' seems to have become worse over the last few months. Unfortunately, no person ever seems guilty of letting their dog foul the pavements and the walls; are these people guilty of late night walks when 'it doesn't matter, no one can see us' attitude.

Please be responsible for all the mess and remember that everyone has a right to walk without continually looking at one's feet.

RESIDENT

St Richard's Road,

Otley.

(Name supplied)