M.E. group to monitor Auckland treatment

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 12

M.E. group to monitor Auckland treatment

The Canterbury Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Support Group intends to monitor the progress of members receiving diagnosis by electroacupuncture and treatment from Dr Matthew Tizard, of Auckland. “We are putting out a call to members in our next newsletter,” said Sandra Hyder, the Support Group’s co-ordinator. “We want our members to let us know what their diagnosis was, what their treatment is, and how they are progressing. We want regular reports because we feel this is the only way we can establish the success or not of Dr Tizard’s techniques of electroacupuncture.” Mrs Hyder says that Dr Tizard is right behind the idea. Together with her two daughters, both severely affected with M.E., Mrs Hyder has just returned from Auckland after testing and treatment by Dr Tizard. In spite of the cost (about $110) plus airfares and accommodation, at least ten other Support Group members have also seen him. Those spoken to by “The Press” reported diagnoses of residual streptococcal or staphylococcal infections and paraquat poisoning. Most reported a steady improvement in their health following homeopathic treatment. One man, with

By

JACQUELINE STEINCAMP

Candida albicans complications, reported no improvement. Mrs Hyder’s telephone ran “red-hot” following a recent item on “The Mainland Touch” about electroacupuncture. “There were so many callers wanting to know about it,” she said. “These were people I have never heard of — there are so many sick people out there.” Dr Tizard was in Christchurch recently to see patients who had previously consulted him in Auckland, and who are receiving homeopathic treatments prescribed by him from a Christchurch doctor. He also addressed about 120 people in a public meeting organised by the Canterbury M.E. Support Group. Dr Tizard has been using German electroacupuncture techniques for about two years to diagnose the cause of various chronic low-level conditions. Dr Tizard describes electroacupuncture as a Western refinement of traditional Chinese medicine. It measures and stimulates energy flows and energy changes along the body’s meridians. There are high readings for inflammation and low readings for degenerative conditions.

“The indicator rises and then drops for myalgic encephalomyelitis •— I think this shows the fragility of the organ or system being tested — it can’t cope with the tiny electrical charge it receives,” he said. Dr Tizard said that the method of electroacupuncture and treatment that he uses were developed by a German, Dr Voll. They were discovered accidentlly during an electroacupuncture demonstration to professionals. “A doctor, diagnosed as having a prostate condition, was given a homeopathic remedy for it by another doctor. When retested on the machine, his readings were unaccountably normal. The medicine was removed, and the readings changed. “Dr Voll then concluded that the homeopathic remedies presented both a diagnosis and a cure,” Dr Tizard said. Explaining how the homeopathic medicines affected the readings, Dr Tizard said: “Any substance has its own energy field. If the patient is holding the right homeopathic medicine for a complaint, there will be a healthy reading and no indicator drop,” Dr Tizard said. “Interestingly, if the patient holds allopathic

medicine, there is often an unhealthy reaction.” Electroacupuricture combined with homeopathic medicines apparently stimulates weakened organs and body systems, and encourages accumulated toxins to drain out of the body. Dr Tizard says that because of the wide medical knowledge needed to get the best understanding from German electroacupuncture, doctors are the best qualified people to use it. The electroacupuncture apparatus and techniques used by Dr Tizard are also being studied by other doctors, including at least two in Christchurch. A report in the journal of the Australia and New Zealand Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Society’s journal tells a less optimistic story. Apparently some people do not respond to the treatment, and some even get worse. It is nevertheless seen as a very significant form of treatment.

“EAP must be taken seriously by the medical profession, there is something in it. But all aspects of it must be researched, proven and refined. In the meantime, some people are glad they have tried it. Others are not,” the Society’s Journal for June, 1985, commented.