News round-up
Meet “miracle man” John
Peterlee Mail runs a story that a pensioner claims to have healed dozens of people’s health problems with help from the spirit world.
John Beckenkreger has been dubbed a “miracle worker” by Paul Randle after he cured him of a six-year-old football injury that left him walking with a limp and prevented him getting up and downstairs unaided as well as numerous other problems.
Amateur footballer Paul says 79-year-old John succeeded where medical tests and MRI scans had failed and he now has full use of his right leg and leads an active life again.
“I don’t know about a miracle, but something had taken place.
“John put me to sleep and put his hand on my knees and he moved my knee back into place.”
“It’s like I have two new legs, it really is.”
John, whose wife Pat died from breast cancer aged 77 in January, said he has helped many others, including a Scottish woman whose sight he restored after she suffered a fractured eye socket in a domestic violence incident.
John, a medium who claims he has helped more than 50 people with various ailments since discovering his “gift” 18 years ago, said he and Pat had also helped a young disabled boy from Billingham to walk after healing him at Lourdes, in France.
He said: “I don’t charge because it is a gift.
“If they want to donate to Hartlepool & District Hospice instead, that is up to them.
“I say ‘if you don’t believe it, that’s up to you, just put your hand in mine’.”
John has a file full of testimonial letters at his home in Seaton Carew from people who he helped with various health problems, from back pain to stress.
Full story at: http://www.peterleemail.co.uk/news/local/meet_miracle_man_john_1_3659727
Welsh Government plans Indian head massages for civil servants
Strung-out civil servants are being offered “de-stress massages” and complementary therapies in their offices, in a bid by bosses to ensure their wellbeing. Critics say the scheme sends out the wrong message at a time of widespread cutbacks, and have questioned the use of public resources to house and arrange the service.
The Welsh Government insisted the service was not being funded by taxpayers, with workers having to pay £6 out of their own pockets for a 20-minute treatment.
An advert on the Welsh Government’s own advertising website Sell2Wales has called on companies to submit tenders for the work, as the current contract is due to run out at the end of September.
Read the full story at: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/08/14/welsh-government-plans-indian-head-massages-for-civil-servants-91466-29231513/
Natural therapies may be more effective than antidepressants
Source: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1108/S00016/natural-therapies-may-be-more-effective-than-antidepressants.htm
The effectiveness and safety of some natural and complementary therapies means that they may be superior to antidepressant medications for most people with depression, according to Professor Shaun Holt of Victoria University of Wellington.
These findings, which he admits were a surprise, have been published in an article in NZ Doctor. and his new book Depression - Natural Remedies That Really Work. "We looked at the research evidence for antidepressant drugs and natural therapies and did not expect to find that, as some natural therapies work just as well and have fewer side effects, this makes them a potentially better choice for a lot of people with depression."
Professor Holt said that a number of recent studies have found that antidepressant medications are hardly better than placebo except for a small number of people with the most severe depression. In addition, studies that find no benefits and only side effects are often not published by pharmaceutical companies.
More information on the book - www.tinyurl.com/depressionbook
