“Teastaíonn réabhlóid fhorásach uainn i dtreo leigheas coisctheach”
June 28, 2007 – Public authorities should be more worried about new epidemics and the explosion of chronic diseases than about rising health costs, argues world-renowned French researcher Luc Montagnier. To face these new realities, he advocates nothing less than a revolution. The medical field must move from a curative approach to a preventive – even integrative approach, he argues.
This is the message he delivered at the Montreal Conference, within the framework of the International Economic Forum of the Americas.1. Researcher at the Institut Pasteur and co-discoverer of the AIDS virus in 1983, Luc Montagnier is an immune defense specialist.
Listen to the sound sample “Preventive medicine: where to start? “
According to the researcher, environmental factors – pollution, infectious agents, tobacco, food and others – increasingly contribute to the emergence of epidemics and chronic diseases. “These add up to each other. Their combined harmful effects are at the root of several chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer, ”he says.
The combination of these factors generates oxidative stress inside our own cells, says Luc Montagnier. It is a chemical imbalance between molecules derived from oxygen – free radicals – and the immune system.
Listen to the sound sample “What is oxidative stress?” “
The older a person gets, the more their immune system loses its antioxidant capacity, making them more vulnerable to oxidative stress. “In a context where Western populations are aging rapidly, it is important to protect them in order to reduce the pressure on health systems,” explains Luc Montagnier.
And to mitigate the harmful effect of this oxidative stress, it offers two preventive strategies: focus on antioxidants and set up prevention centers.
Prevent with antioxidants
According to Luc Montagnier, food is not enough to compensate for antioxidant deficiencies. It therefore encourages the taking of supplements.
He cites the SUVIMAX study as an example2 conducted among around 13 French people. Men who were given antioxidants are said to have decreased their risk of developing cancer by 000% and their risk of dying from it by 31%.
“But taking supplements shouldn’t just happen,” he warns. They should be sold on prescription, following a complete examination of the patient. “
According to Luc Montagnier, governments should fund research on the effectiveness of antioxidant supplements “which are of no interest to pharmaceuticals because they cannot patent plants and minerals,” he says.
Listen to the sound sample “How to reduce your oxidative stress?” “
Prevention centers
The French researcher proposes to create prevention centers as is currently done on an experimental basis in France and Italy. In order to prevent the disease, users would go there once or twice a year to undergo tests. The results would be used to assess the person’s health and assess the degree of oxidative stress that their body is undergoing. “We can, in this way, detect the risk factors of a chronic disease in the making, and remedy the deficits observed to avoid the disease”, explains the scientist.
Listen to the sound excerpt “Going to the doctor before you get sick?” “
Luc Montagnier believes that it will take 10 to 20 years to implement what he calls an “advanced system in preventive medicine”. To achieve this, he proposes a step-by-step approach. “We have to show that the system works, by setting up a few pilot centers. Then, extend it little by little, according to the political will and the pressure of public opinion, in order to really take advantage of this passage in the universe that is life, ”he concludes with philosophy.
Martin LaSalle - PasseportSanté.net
1. www.conferencedemontreal.com [site consulted on June 21, 2007].
2. This study specifically examines the effect of vitamin and mineral supplements with antioxidant properties in men.