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Can Billionaire John Caudwell's Lyme Disease Theory Be Right?
Tuesday 15 December 2015
From the Daily Mail Australia:
 Struck: Billionaire John Caudwell with his son Rufus, who has been diagnosed with the little-known Lyme disease, which can seriously damage the immune and nervous systems, the brain and vital organs |
Can billionaire John Caudwell's bombshell theory be right? Phone tycoon reveals ELEVEN of his family now have crippling Lyme disease and he believes it's passed on by other people NOT ticks
- Lyme disease can devastate vital organs, the brain and the immune system
- John Caudwell says it is 'one of the most dangerous illnesses to mankind'
- Two of his former partners and four of his children have been diagnosed
- He believes it isn't only passed by ticks, but also during pregnancy or sex
From his bedroom on the third floor of a Mayfair mansion, Rufus Caudwell has a view of some of most expensive real estate in London. The son of a billionaire, it could be his playground. Instead, the four walls which surround him are his prison.
Just 20, he cuts an exhausted, shambolic figure in tartan pyjama bottoms and a sleep-creased T-shirt.
Around him are the tell-tale signs of an invalid’s life. Salt and pepper pots by his bedside suggest meals taken propped up on pillows, there are medicines and natural remedies, wipes and handwash nearby. An Xbox console within easy reach of the bed looks like it gets more use than the guitars stacked in the corner.
On the mantelpiece a few Get Well Soon cards stand open. But getting better soon is a forlorn prospect because Rufus, oldest son of Phones4U tycoon John Caudwell, has been sick for half of his life.
‘It is a public health scandal, a travesty, a tragedy that people are being left to suffer. The negligence at the top of the Health Service and in the Government is almost starting to border on the criminal and actionable.’
Behind this accusation are two beliefs which both fly in the face of medical orthodoxy about Lyme disease as recognised by Public Health England (PHE).
First, PHE says it can only be caught from a bite by an infected tick, whereas Caudwell is convinced it can be transmitted to a baby during pregnancy, or an adult by sexual contact, and lie dormant inside a body for years before attacking.
Second, PHE says it has no connection to any other conditions – Caudwell is certain there is a link to some of man’s most feared conditions including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and myalgic encephalopathy (ME, or chronic fatigue syndrome).
So can a billionaire tycoon really have hit upon a potential epidemic that has eluded the medical establishment? His outspokenness has certainly made him a figurehead for other families in the UK who share his views, claiming their lives have been similarly blighted by undiagnosed, chronic Lyme disease.
However, it also makes him vulnerable to the argument that he is a desperate father chasing a chimera as he seeks to explain the mental and physical collapse of his son.
And while his plan to launch a new Lyme disease charity in 2016 is to be applauded, there can be no doubt the publicity it generates will cause people to fear an illness which PHE states is caught by only 2,000-3,000 people each year, and can be usually be cured with a course of antibiotics.
Caudwell believes it is time to confront the medical establishment and its accepted beliefs. He says: ‘We had, in the main, a happy life and a healthy life.
‘All my five children were born healthy, I was born healthy, we are a healthy family which has been turned into a wreck by Lyme disease. I am determined to achieve change in the UK, I will get the authorities to understand it and start treating it, and then we can be a role model for the rest of the world.
‘I don’t know that I would blame anyone for what has happened – but if people don’t start sitting up and taking notice soon then I will. I have a new calling in my life: it’s this.’
The full article can be found here.
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