Banfield Research

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A display of the worlds best and most successful research at the Northern Business Breakfast in the Parafield Gardens Community Club on the 27th July 2016 including . . . 

1976-83: World first effective method for treating chronic fatigue and its related symptoms (Now called PACING).

1975-80: World first discovery that sitting at a desk for prolonged periods can cause various ailments (Now described as “SITTING IS HARMFUL TO HEALTH”).

1975-1998: World first STANDING COMPUTER DESK as a method for preventing the ailments of desk workers (Now manufactured in their millions).

1975-2014: World first discovery of  THE CAUSE OF LOWER LEFT SIDED CHEST PAIN (Postural compression of the 8th rib which makes it loose and occasionally slip to pinch an intercostal nerve).

1975-2016: Numerous other world first discoveries, inventions, and methods.

 

My sources of ideas and evidence

I have been doing research for more than 40 years now but many of my ideas and methods have been stolen by individual or groups of academics who talk about their qualifications and the strings of letters after their names, and argue that I am an unqualified fringy kook whose ideas are based on mere anecdote, and are nonsense and rubbish.

I would therefore like to start by describing my sources as detailed observation, combined with the best scientific and research literature I could find, and included Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, Lord Horder’s British Encyclopaedia of Medical Practice (the Queen of England’s personal physician), Gray’s Anatomy, Dorland’s Medical Dictionary, and more than 300 other medical books which I once kept in the library shelves at home, and I would attend the University of Adelaide library on many occasions to find specific information from medical research journals when necessary.

I had books from the medical, scientific, and general literature, including those from history, and books on  the topics of medical specialties and surgery, and cardiology, gastroenterology, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology, urology, public health research and policy, sociology, and psychiatry, and many more which provided me with an insight into the nature and cause of diseases from every perspective.

My starting point would generally be where patients were saying “we need more government funding for research into our disease“, and researchers would say “our funding has run out so more funding is needed or we will have to stop“.

At the age of 19 I was offered three scholarships to study leadership at the Institute of Technology, one from the National Fitness Council of Australia, another from the state government, and the third from the Australian Government, which I accepted.

I did my research without payment with the objective of solving problems and gaining the appreciation of patients and a lucrative income.

A list of some of my published items can be seen below.

Available now

1. The Posture Theory – The physical cause of undetectable illness (previously a 1005 printed book) now an ebook for $7.69 here

The first and main diagram in the 10th edition of that book, published in August 1999, shows the standing computer posture, which is a conclusion of 23 years of my research. Recently John Coveney of Flinders University, was interviewed on television where he said that he had been using and evaluate the beneficial effects of that method of using computers, and has been discussing it with his colleagues and students for ten years. He has many qualifications and is “Professor Discipline of Public Health Associate Dean, Prevention, Promotion and Primary Health Care cluster, School of Medicine”.    

I have contacted him by phone since, and he advised me that he was not aware that I was the developer of that concept.

2. The Health Biographies of Alexander Leeper, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Fanny Stevenson (previously a 253 page printed book) now available as an ebook for $9.95 here.

The following quote is from a letter sent to me by James S. Winegar, President of The Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, International Offices, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A.  . . . “The Minister of Youth Sports and Culture in Samoa loves the book. We presented him with his own copy and he devoured it.” (end of quote).

3. How I cured angina with a vegetarian diet,  35-40 minute audio CD available from iTunes for $0.99 here. I treated my own angina in 1997, by using a modification of the Pritikin Diet instead of having bypass surgery.

The British Medical Journal

One of the top four medical journals in the world today, which has a new policy of accepting articles from all sources, with the criteria that they contribute substantially to the topic being discussed

Most of my early publications from the 1970’s and 80’s were published in the Australasian Nurses Journal, and then in newspapers and magazines, and later, in the early 1990’s, I published most of the information in my own books and website.

Although I suspected that other authors might try to steal my information and ideas and claim them to be their own, and although I occasionally saw some possible examples of it, I didn’t become fully aware of the extent of it until recent years, and when I accused them of copyright theft they tried to portray themselves as highly educated respectable individuals, and defamed me as a fringy kook who had no medical qualifications, and nothing in the “real” medical literature to back my claims.

However, I recently saw some information on Twitter, provided by Tom Kindlon, about how people could contribute to The British Medical Journal, regardless of whether they had qualifications or not, so I wrote an essay and submitted it. I didn’t think that it would be accepted, so when I had a look to see if it had been published, and couldn’t find it, I assumed that it hadn’t. However, a few months later I saw another comment which made me check again, and I found it. I therefore wrote another essay which was accepted, and then another. I then decided to submit my research paper from 1982-3. However, before doing that I decided to get my pencil and biro graphs drawn professionally, and was then advised that, at 3000 words, it was too long, and to submit it as an attachment. I therefore prepared an introduction and did so. It was published, as have been several more essays since then. As of February 15th, 2015, 37 have been published in total, including one in which I solved another major medical mystery which was the previously unknown cause of non-cardiac chest pains, on July 13th 2014. I would like to thank the BMJ editors for that. A list of those essays can be seen below

A list of essays published in BMJ

1. Banfield M.A., 2013 (Oct.4th), Development of the design principles for safely conducting research into chronic fatigue and exercise at the South Australian Institute for Fitness Research and Training in 1982, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731, http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5731/rr/665176

2. Banfield M.A., 2013 (December 9th), Re: Response to Ellen CG Grant’s question about why anyone would expect anything of scientific importance from the £5m PACE trial for CFS, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731, http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5731/rr/676548

3. Banfield M.A. 2013 (December 16th), The Banfield Principles: Some methods of preventing adverse effects when using exercise programs to treat the chronic fatigue syndrome, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731, http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5731/rr/677779

4. Banfield M.A. 2014 (January 8th), A 1982-3 research paper on the effects of regular exercise on chronic fatigue, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731, http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5731/rr/680738

5. Banfield M.A. 2014 (January 21st), The value of exercise research in the diagnosis, measurement, and treatment of the chronic fatigue syndrome, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731, http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5731/rr/683022

6. Banfield M.A. 2014 (January 26th), The origin of exercising within limits in CFS, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731, http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5731/rr/683819

7. Banfield M.A. 2014 (February 2nd), Banfield’s Definition of the chronic fatigue syndrome, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731, http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5731/rr/684913

8. Banfield M.A. 2014 (February 9th), Kyphosis as a cause of the chronic fatigue syndrome, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731, http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5731/rr/685825

9. Banfield M.A. 2014 (February 26th), Why I recommended tilt table testing for diagnosing CFS, (Main topic – Let the patient revolution begin), The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731 http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f2614/rr/688160

10. Banfield M.A. 2014 (March 4th), Centrifugal forces which influence faintness in CFS, (Main topic – Postural hypotension), The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731, http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.d3128/rr/688930

11. Banfield M.A. 2014 (March 30th), The Posture Theory as an explanation for many previously unexplainable symptoms (Main topic – Assessment and management of medically unexplained symptoms), The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2008; 336 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39554.592014.BE (Published 15 May 2008). Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page of response for 30-3-14 is http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/692354

12. Banfield M.A. 2014 (April 6th), The biomechanics of writing, typing, and computing, and it’s relation to recurring abdominal pain,  The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2008; 336 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39554.592014.BE (Published 15 May 2008), BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page of response for 64–14 is http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/693338

13. Banfield M.A. 2014 (April 20th), The cause of poor posture and previously unexplainable symptoms, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2008; 336 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39554.592014.BE (Published 15 May 2008), BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/695127

14. Banfield M.A. 2014 (April 27th), Posture as a cause of previously unexplainable left sided chest pain, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2008; 336 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39554.592014.BE (Published 15 May 2008), BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/695879

15. Banfield M.A. 2014 (May 6th),The postural and bio-mechanical causes of nerve pain in previously unexplainable chest pains, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2008; 336 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39554.592014.BE (Published 15 May 2008), BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/696832

16. Banfield M.A. 2014 (May 11th), An example of injury to rib attachments as a cause of previously unexplainable chest pains, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2008; 336 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39554.592014.BE (Published 15 May 2008), BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/697563

17. Banfield M.A. 2014 (May 19th), The cause and cure of previously unexplainable severe itching, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2005; 330 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38391.604826.7C (Published 3 March 2005), BMJ 2005;330:522. Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/330/7490/522?tab=responses

18. Banfield M.A. 2014 (May 28th), Tight leg garters as a cause of varicose veins, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2006; 333 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.333.7562.287 (Published 3 August 2006).

Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/333/7562/287?tab=responses

19. Banfield M.A. 2014 (June 4th), The cause and treatment of itching due to varicose veins, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2005; 330 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38391.604826.7C (Published 3 March 2005), BMJ 2005;330:522. Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/330/7490/522/rr/700686

20. Banfield M.A. 2014 (June 20th), The cause and treatment of chest pain due to kyphotic strain on the sterno-xyphoid junction, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2005; 330 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38331.602384.8F (Published 24 February 2005). Cite this as: BMJ 2005;330:452, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/330/7489/452/rr/702803

21. Banfield M.A. 2014 (June 25th), The value of population studies in determining the cause and treatment of disease, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g3617, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3617/rr/703395

22. Banfield M.A. 2014 (July 6th), Biographical observations and evaluation of previously unexplainable breathlessness, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/330/7489/452/rr/702803

23. Banfield M.A. 2014 (July 13th), The Banfield explanation for anterior displacement of the eighth rib and the cause of previously unexplainable chest pain, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:1124, http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/760594

24. Banfield M.A. 2014 (July 30th), Four more examples to clarify the cause and effect of displacement of the ribs and chest pains, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/761779

25. Banfield M.A. 2014 (August 10th), The causes of poor posture with evidence from history, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2008; 336 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39554.592014.BE (Published 15 May 2008), Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/762433

26. Banfield M.A. 2014 (August 10th), The causes of previously unexplainable Kidney and loin pain, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2008; 336 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39554.592014.BE (Published 15 May 2008), Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/762833

27. Banfield M.A. 2014 (August 31st), Ear Wax Blockage and stalagmites, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2002; 325 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.325.7354.27 (Published 06 July 2002). Cite this as: BMJ 2002;325:27, Actual page http://www.bmj.com/content/325/7354/27/rr/763484

28. Banfield M.A. 2014 (October 26th), There is more than one way to skin a cat – combining empiricism with science, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013; 346 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f2614 (Published 14 May 2013). Cite this as: BMJ 2013;346:f2614, Cite this as: BMJ 2002;325:27, Actual page http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f2614/rr/778762

Including an attachment with two essays as follows . . .

1. The symptoms of the flu and community acquired pneumonia – an example.
2. Normal fatigue compared to chronic fatigue Acrual webpage http://static.www.bmj.com/sites/default/files/response_attachments/2014/10/TwoEssaysForBMJ.pdf

29. Banfield M.A. 2014 (August 10th), Amendment to the link to a 1982/3 research paper on chronic fatigue and exercise, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013; 346 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f2614 (Published 14 May 2013), Cite this as: BMJ 2013;346:f2614, Actual page http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f2614/rr/778855

30. Banfield M.A. 2014 (November 12th), Posture and chest shape, and their combined affect on the lungs and voice, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2008; 336 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39554.592014.BE (Published 15 May 2008), Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/779893

31. Banfield M.A. 2014 (November 19th), Lower left-sided chest pain and the Slipping Rib Syndrome associated with sports injuries, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/780339

32 Banfield M.A. 2014 (November 23rd), The influence of chest shape on posture, health and ageing in relation to the spino-sternal triangle, BMJ 2008; 336 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39554.592014.BE (Published 15 May 2008), Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:1124

Actual page http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/781644

33 Banfield M.A. 2014 (November 30th), Why there is a numerical accumulation of morbidity after the successful treatment of multiple diseases, BMJ 2014; 349 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g6680 (Published 10 November 2014), Cite this as: BMJ 2014;349:g6680Actual page http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6680/rr/795882

34. Banfield M.A. 2015 (Jan 18th), Angina and its relation to diagnosis, diet, exercise, and cure, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), Cite this as: Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g3617, Actual page, http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3617/rr

Attacment page; Angina and it’s relation to diagnosis, exercise, and cure, http://static.www.bmj.com/sites/default/files/response_attachments/2015/01/AnginaAndExercise.PDF

35. Banfield M.A. 2015 (Jan 25th), Comments on the response to exercise in the chronic fatigue syndrome, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2013;347:f5731, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5731/rr

A PDF essay was attached called “The chronic fatigue 1976 – 1985 studies” (which includes a reference list of newspaper and other reports of the research and self-help groups which I organised in that period). See here http://static.www.bmj.com/sites/default/files/response_attachments/2015/01/CFS1976to1985.pdf

36. Banfield M.A. 2015 (Feb 8th), Response to Leandro M.T.Garcia’s comments about diet and physical activity as it relates to health, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2015;350:h23, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h23/rr-1

37. Banfield M.A. 2015 (Feb 15th), Response to Marco F. Narajos about the change of name from the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) to systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID), The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2015;350:h775, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h775/rr-1

38. Banfield M.A. 2016 (Feb 7th), The world’s first standing computer desk was invented in 1998, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2014;348:g1558, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g1558/rr

39. Banfield M.A. 2016 (March 20th), Banfield’s Chest Pain – Finding the elusive cause, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2008;336:1124, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr

40. Banfield M.A. 2016 (May 5th), The Family Diet and Heart Disease, The British Medical Journal (Online Rapid Responses), BMJ 2014;348:g3617, Actual page of response is http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3617/rr-0

 

The importance of facts, evidence, and proof

I was educated to regard facts, evidence and proof as being more reliable than baseless opinion, so when I became interested in undetectable illness I searched for reliable information, and between 1994 and 2000 was able to compile 1000 pages of details to show the actual physical causes here. See also here. However, despite that massive amount of evidence there are still people who argue that such problems are imaginary.

As they say, some people don’t want the facts to get in the way of their stories.

Facts and evidence cut through opinions like a hot knife through butter.

Preface about prejudice

See an example of what unbiased people think of my ideas when they don’t know that I wrote them, and find them useful when assessing their value for ten years. here.
See an example of what prejudiced people think of my ideas.  here.

I have found since I started that there have been other people in history who have used various methods to avoid the pitfalls of prejudice. For example they were pale blacks, who referred to themselves as whites, or they were women who published their books under a mans name.

I considered it to be an advantage because other people who had the same illness as me were describes as lazy, stupid, cowardly, malingering, sympathy seeking hypochondriacs, and mental cases. In that regard, it seemed likely that  the process of dealing with those issues, and with defending themselves and arguing with every person they met, would be a likely cause of bitterness or mental disturbance in their personality.

I had enough problems with my health, without having to deal with those issues as well, so, although I mentioned my name, I did it in such a way that no-one would recognise the fact that it was me. For example. the editor of the Scientific Australian referred to me as “Max, a South Australian“, and the essays published in the Australasian Nurses Journal were under the name of M.A. Banfield, so, given that it was a nurses publication most people would assume it was a woman, and never even suspect that it was me. I also decided not to include a photo of my face in any of my  essays or books.

It did turn out to be a very successful choice because the reaction I get from people who know me is totally different from the ridiculous hostile and offesnsive nonsense that I get from literary or internet critics. Consequently I have an amiable attitude to people in general.

Nevertheless it did create one major problem. Namely it gave other researchers the opportunity to steal my ideas and claim them to be their own. I was so busy trying to develop ways of effectively treating my own ailments, and being involved in other activities, that, although I suspected that someone would copy me, I didn’t look for or find any evidence of it until I joined Wikipedia and saw evidence of it in 2008, and it would probably have ended there except that I later saw, in November 2012 that Simon Wessely had been given the John Maddox Prize for this contribution to the study of chronic fatigue syndrome and exercise, and a month later was given a knighthood.

I then found a trail of evidence that he, and many other people have been copying me.

One way they got away with it was by publishing in other countries. Simon Wessely started his research in London, only four years after I scientifically proved my methods in Adelaide.

When I discovered what was happening the advantage of being unknown was gone, and turned into a problem, so I began putting photos on my website 2013.

See also my report on the prejudice against Semmelweis who discovered the cause of transmission of disease from one ward in a hospital to another must have been something invisible on his hands here and prejudice against women scientists here

Introduction

I began studying disease 38 years ago to treat my own health problems, and have had many of my detailed descriptions of symptoms and their management published to help doctors and patients understand those problems. In particular those related to posture and health, and those related to chronic fatigue and it’s associated symptoms.

Anyone who reads my published descriptions should be able to see that my ideas and methods have since been copied by some of the best researchers in the world, and are the best methods available today. Such detailed understanding did not exist when I started, and it would be far-fetched and ridiculous to suggest that someone else could develop almost exactly the same ideas independently by co-incidence in the next three decades. Consequently, anyone who argues that I haven’t been copied is just playing dumb, which is not a good idea, considering that I am the person who was intelligent enough to develop the ideas when no-one else could.

Although I am not widely known, my ideas and methods have the power to influence people.

More of my Publications

I have provided two of my printed books as ebooks, which are now available through Amazon.com, and one 40 minute public talk which has been published as a CD and is now available through iTunes as a download. I have also published several other smaller books, and had more than 30 essays and 100 letters published in various journals and newspapers, and this is my 2nd website with the first one being established in about 1994.

1. The Posture Theory (12th edition) $9.95 at Amazon.com. (A 1000 page book containing everything about the symptoms, cause, prevention, and treatment of posture related health problems – with a comprehensive table of contents in the front pages, and an index to thousands of items at the back).

Read 162 pages of The Posture Theory for free by looking inside  here.

Amazon.com allows buyers to see the first group of pages for free, and in the case of my 1005 page book it is the equivalent of the first 162 pages.

While writing that book I would get abdominal pain after leaning toward a desk to add a few sentences. If I wrote a large paragraph I would generally stop and wait for the pain to go away, and then add another sentence, diagram, or paragraph. Sometimes I wrote essays which would take me a day or two, but sometimes I would try to complete it in one session of perhaps two hours, in which case I would have to wait for one or two days for the pain to subside before starting again. At the end of the year I had to edit dozens of pages to get the next edition ready for printing, in which case it would take several weeks for the pain to subside. In the seventh edition or later, when I had to edit 100 pages or more, I would have to wait for several months for the pain to subside fully.

While writing the 1998 edition I saw a “learn to type” program at the local library, and after establishing the possiility of typing instead of writing, I brought a typwriter with a small screen, and later a small computer.

My typing speed soon became 40 words per minute, which is double average writing speed, and it increased. I also started adding platforms onto my desk until I had the keyboard at waist height, and the screen at eye height and I was able to write for the first time in several decades without getting any pain at all.

I didn’t get severe pain again for about 10 years, and was able to identify the cause, and treat it effectively within 2 weeks.

My book was written between 1994 and 2000 while I had a form of cancer called Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I had been told at the start that my body, blood, and bone marrow was riddled with it, and that I should write my will because I had a life expectancy of only two months with no hope of a cure. I continued to write it while undergoing 6 months of CHOP chemotherapy in 1998, and DHAP chemotherapy in 1999, and after being asked to write my will again later that year, I posted the final 12th edition to the printers, for it to be published regardless of whether I lived or died.

I survived, sold it to my usual customers, which were school and public libraries throughout Australia and New Zealand, and some to the United States.

When you read it you will find a massive amount of information from modern literature, the nineteenth century, the seventeenth century, and all the way back to ancient Greek medicine and beyond.

It contains all of the bits and pieces, the sum of all useful and important knowledge on the subject, which I used as clues to put together the jig-saw puzzsle of posture and health that no other person has ever been able to do.

It is the basis and proof of The Posture Theory, and you can read the equivalent of 162 pages of it for free here .

2. The Health Biographies of Alexander Leeper, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Fanny Stevenson.$9.95 at Amazon.com.  (About the causes of health problems in the nineteenth century, in the pre-antibiotic, and pre-x-ray era, when industrial pollution, poor sanitation, and plagues were major factors).

3. How I Cured Angina with a Vegetarian Diet  $0.99 at iTunes. (a 40 minute public talk on an audio CD).

I provide factual accounts of events to solve problems, and report the results, and in this CD I mention in the introduction that I am not a doctor, and that is what people get to hear when they listen to the sample text, so it may deter some people from learning more details. However, I have extensive knowledge of health as evident from my 1000 page book, so when I was diagnosed with angina in 1997 it did not take me long to gain a good understanding of the problem. Most of my initial knowledge came from a book called The New Health Revolution by Ross Horne and his review of Nathan Pritikin’s research and the Pritikin diet. I had to make some modifications from his diet to fit in with my other health problems, and needed to take a medication called Noten, which is an artery dilator, which was very effective in relieving the pain, but it doesn’t cure the problem. The diet was necessary to reduce the amount of cholesterol in my blood, and reverse the build up of cholesterol on the inner walls of my coronary arteries. It was effective, so, after six months, as the pain gradually became less of a problem, I was able to stop taking the medication without it returning.

I suppose that it was about 2004 that I gradually returned to a more normal diet by increasing the amount of cheese, meats, and wine etc, but by 2010 my blood pressure began to rise, and a year or so later I began getting a variation of the angina again. I started taking Noten and blood pressure medication as I had before, and became more of a vegetarian, but not as stirct as I had been in 1997. Nevertheless the pain eventually became less of a problem, perhaps after a year, so I was able to stop taking medication to reiieve it, and my blood pressure returned to normal within the next year.

Now, in 2013, sixteen years after being first diagnosed with angina in 1997, I am free of pain, and have no symptoms. I haven’t had bypass surgery, and I am not taking any medication and my blood pressure is normal.

However I have met some people who have had angina, and they have not changed their diet, and they are still taking medication, and some have had  bypass operations. I have also seen reports of many famous and wealthy people who have died of heart attacks and strokes within that time.

My talk is not advice on what to do, but it does give information on the nature of the problem, and the steps I took to solve it.

Other places where my ideas have been published

Apart from producing my own books I have also had more than 130 letters and essays published in newspapers and magazines.

One of the first articles was a review by Devon Cook, the editor of the Scientific Australian, which was published in the December 1978 edition.

I explained to him that I wanted to avoid the prejudice associated with opinions about the ailment called the Effort Syndrome being psychosomatic, so I didn’t want him to mention my name or the fact that I had that problem, but just wanted him to describe my idea of that time, of the possible cause being a disorder of the adrenal glands.

He resolved that issue by stating the following words in the third paragraph . . .

“Max, a South Australian extremely interested in medical science has been contemplating the ES dilemma for some years now . . . “

Soon after that I wrote an essay which provided a detailed description of the breathlessness, and a theory on it’s cause such as leaning forward, and wearing tight belts etc. which restricted the upward and downward movement of the lungs during the breathing cycle.

I then found out about a publication called  The Australasian Nurses Journal, so I sent them a copy, and it was accepted and published in the May 1978 edition.

Each time I sat down to write an essay I would have to lean toward the desk, and would soon start getting abdominal pain, which would get gradually worse the longer I wrote, and each essay took me about two weeks to write and edit, which meant 2 weeks of pain, 2 weeks of recovery, and then 2 weeks of rest before I started another essay. I had no choice in that because there was no other way of finding how to relieve the problem, so I had the objective of eventually determining that for myself.

I sent my next essay to the same journal and it was published in the July edition, so I decided to just send my essays there instead of other journals, which may or may not publish them.

A few essays later, after many of my essays had been published, I went to the offices of that journal and met the editor, Edna Davis, to explain my objectives, and in 1979 I wrote an theory on the anatomical cause of the fatigue, and another essay on how to prevent recurrances of it, and they were published in September and December of that year. Essentially I described how to reduce the number of activities in each day or week etc, and to gain rest in between to prevent the fatigue from accumulating.

One of them was called “A Pattern of Events in the Effort Syndrome” which discussed the physical nature of the ailment, but in order to gain the favour of people who had argued a psychosomatic cause, I changed the title to “A Pattern of Events in Anxiety Neuroses”.  However, it didn’t seem to gain me any support so since then I have focussed primarily on the physical causes.

During the following year I concluded that poor posture was the common feature in all of the main symptoms so I wrote an essay called The Matter of Framework, which was published in the June 1980 edition.

I have since referred to that essay as The Posture Theory, and it contained a diagram drawn by myself, but I have since had it properly drawn by an artist and called it The Posture Theory Diagram.

I continued sending my essays to that journal until the final one was published in March 1983.

In the meantime I had 2 essays published in a N.S.W. Nurses Journal called The Lamp.

The essays which changed world opinion about chronic fatigue

A list of essays published in the Australasian Nurses Journal in the five years from May 1978 to April 1983

This is a quote from that journal . . .  “11 issues per annum, listed in the cumulative index to nursing literature and allied health literature and the international nursing index and authors guide to journals in nursing and related fields – Circulating throughout Australia, Papua-New Guinea, New Zealand and every quarter of the globe” (end of quote).

Before I wrote these essays there were the general opinions that the symptoms were just normal tiredness, or just the normal response to exercise, or were due to the fear of exercise, or were “all in the mind”. My objective was to describe the differences to end that misunderstanding so that future researchers would know what to look for and explain, instead of assuming that the differences didn’t exist.

1. May 1978 – To breathe or not to breathe – is that the question – This essay describes my observation and conclusion that leaning forward with a stoop applies pressure which restricts the upward expansion of the lungs when breathing in, and that wearing a tight belt impairs the downward expansion of the lungs, where those and other factors cause a sense of breathlessness.
2. July 1978 – I found my heart in paradox – This essay was written to show that the symptoms of chest pains and breathlessness etc, may appear to be those of heart disease, emotion, or exercise, but are in fact, quite different.
3. March 1979 – Introduction to essays on Effort Syndrome – This essay would have been written to explain that the symptoms of chronic fatigue are different to those of normal fatigue.
4. September 1979 – A  Pattern of Events in the Effort Syndrome (Some people appeared to object to me suggesting a physical cause for the symptoms, so in an attempt to appease those concerns I changed the title to “A pattern  of events in anxiety neurosis” and it was published in that name – however, it is a description of physical aspects of physical fatigue. Up until that time bouts of fatigue were commonly called “a series of nervous or mental breakdowns”, but since I wrote that essay they have been referred to correctly as “relapses of fatigue”).
5. December 1979 – Some hypothetical mechanisms for the symptoms of neuroses during pregnancy and exercise. (This essay shows how poor posture can compress the chest cavity to cause Valsalva’s manoeuvre, and eventually result in the inefficient circulation of blood. and how the  enlarging womb of pregnancy can have a similar effect, and then the consequent effects which explain the abnormal symptoms of exertion).
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7. June 1980 – The matter of framework. (my original title for that essays was The Posture Theory, but I changed it before sending it off for publication, and later decided to call the concept in that essay by that name, because that is what it is.
8. December 1980 – S-bends. This essay describes the fact that I experienced faintness when I was a passenger in a car each time it wound it’s way around S-bend curves in the road, and attributes the effect to centrifugal forces on the blood stream, and how and why that happens.
9. April 1981. Riddle me riddle me re from my bellyache I flee. This essay describes the abdominal pain which I experienced after sitting at a desk and leaning forward to read and write, and how it was difficult to determine the cause and manage, and what I was doing to solve that problem – I actually did solve it 17 years later, by typing instead of writing, and standing with the keyboard at waist height, and the screen at eyehight, so that I didn’t have to lean forward to read or write.
10. July 1981 – The Psychology of a neurasthenic  – In this essay I discuss the various psychological concepts about stress & fatigue etc, and how such factors may be a cause or consequence of the symptoms. I also mention the fact that the pain caused by a combination of poor posture and desk work were the initial causes of all of those aspects. When the real cause is not known it is understandable that some people will draw the conclusion of psychological cause.
11. December 1981 – Coincidences
12. April 1982 – Explanations
13. September 1982 – The kyphotic posture and irritable colon – This essay explains how leaning forward with a stooped spine compresses the abdomen, and everything in it to affect or damage the colon. It also discusses related factors such as the high fibre diet which can improve colon function and relieve the pain.
14. March 1983 – Observations plans and problems – I think that at this time I decided that I knew enough about the symptoms to manage them, and that I would try to do something with my time other than study medicine. It was the last essay that I sent to the Australasian Nurses Journal.

Publications related to my research into chronic fatigue and exercise

Also, during that time, I discussed my theories on the cause and treatment of fatigue with Tony Sedgewick, who was the head of the South Australian Institute for Fitness Research and Training. He told me that he would like to research that topic, and that his own research staff were busy on other topics, and invited me to design and co-ordinate the project myself.

During that process I asked the medical editor, Diane Beer, of the “News” newspaper, to publish an article which invited volunteers to join the course, and three months later she reported the success of the project , and again six months later, after the second study was completed successfully.

I was then asked to increase the study to include 200 people for the purpose of having an influence on world attitudes, but I had already scientifically proven that the chronic fatigue had a physical basis, and that some patients with moderate levels of fatigue would respond favorably to an exercise program designed with my principles.

I was also having other problems, and therefore declined that offer, but I completed a research paper and sent it to the Australian Medical Journal.

When  I received a standard reply saying that it wasn’t accepted at that time, I then sent a copy to the New Guinea Medical Journal, and that editor sent me a courteous reply commenting on the value of the project, but adding that the paper was not written in the style required, and so could not be accepted.

I then contacted a freelance journalist in Melbourne to get a newspaper summary of the successful results to get proof that it was my methods which solved that research problem, and to protect myself from copyright thieves who might try to copy me and claim credit for my method in the future.

The summary was probably sent to Australian and international newspapers, but I only found those available at my local newsagent which included items in the “Sydney Morning Herald”, The Queensland “Courier Mail”, and “The West Australian”.

See more about those and other newspaper and journal articles here.

Other publications

Between 1983 and 1993 I became involved in other activities, but continued to write brief letters to newspapers, and occasional essays. One of my early objectives was to get my theories about the cause, nature, and affect of poor posture published more broadly, so that other people could ‘t steal them in the future and claim them to be their own.

In that regard I looked at the health section in newsagents to find publications from Australia and New Zealand and sent them letters and articles. Some of them published several items. For example, the Australasian Health and Healing, which was based in Queensland, published a total of about nine in that period, including the January/March edition of 1984 where a summary of  The Posture Theory was included as their lead article.

Here is a list of some of the main ones  – essays which I wrote to change and improve world attitudes toward posture, chronic fatigue, and other undetectable symptoms and their treatment . . .

1. Nov/Dec 1980, Probe, Are you sitting comfortably, page 17 (discussing the difference between The Posture Theory and previous theories of cause).

2. June/July 1993, Access, A new look at hypochondria (The Posture Theory p.19)

3. January/March 1984, The Posture Theory, Australasian Health and Healing, p.13

4. April 1984, The Posture Theory Revisited, Natural Health, p. 11

By this time I had completed two consecutive research project at the South Australian Institute for Fitness Research and training where I had scientifically proven, and reproven that chronic fatigue was a physical condition. However, when the head of that organisation asked me to increase the size to a study of 200 patients ‘to have a major influence on world attitudes’ I had already achieved my objectives, and was having health problems with the work load when there were only 60 files, so to increase it to 200 would have caused more problems than it was worth. Soon after that I set up a support group for chronic fatigue patients with the objective of having their assistance with various aspects of the research but many of them were too ill too help, and others thought the task was impossible, so I decided to stop running what was effectively the world’s first chronic fatigue society. Since then many other individuals have had the confidence to set up self-help groups without the concern of being branded as mental cases, and have flourished in many countries.

The next letters were written about that aspect, and or, to invite chronic fatigue patients to attend the meetings.

b. 22-11-84, Feeling tired – here’s help, The News, an article about the support group.

c. 29-1-85, The S.A. Neurasthenia group, The Gully Breeze – an article in a local newspaper inviting people with chronic fatigue to attend a meeting.

d. 19-3-85, Neurasthenia group, The Gully Breeze – an article inviting people to attend a meeting.

I  decided that I could spend the  limited amount of time involved in organising and conducting groups more effectively if I applied it to doing research on my own, and stopped running the meetings.

I continued to write letters or essays on that subject, with samples mentioned below.

5. August 1985, Chronic fatigue, A new alternative theory, Natural Health, p.16-17

6. April 1987, Physical breakdown, The Gully Breeze. Other researchers were describing the recurrence of periods of severe fatigue as “mental breakdowns”, so I described the physical causes and referred to them as “Physical breakdowns”. I also knew that there were many other things wrong with the previous theories but that is only one facet of that aspect.

1987 Simon Wessely has reported that he became interested in the same topics as me????? He is a London psychiatrist who has recently given the credit by being awarded The John Maddox Prize (in November 2013), for the changes that I had made to world attitudes.

7. September 1987, Physical breakdown letter, Australasian Health and Healing (A natural health magazine published in Queensland, Australia, and distributed to most newsagents throughout Australia, and many internationally), and which I sent my articles to, in order to influence Australian and world attitudes).

1988. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added the criteria of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to their official list for the first time

Many international researchers and organisations have since reported that they were the first to describe, define, and develop exercise and other treatment methods for treating the chronic fatigue syndrome? (in ways that are almost exactly the same as mine).

8. Fifth November 1988, Battle fatigue is not new (a letter to the editor)

9. 28-11-1990.  Chronic fatigue, the case for it’s existence (a letter to the editor, The Truth (A nationally distributed newspaper).

10. 6-2-91, Shell shocking (letter to the editor about battle fatigue), Messenger Leader (A local newspaper).

11. 15-5-91, Shell shock Myths – a theory which replaces psychological myths with physical explanations (letter to the editor about battle fatigue), Messenger Leader (A local newspaper). I described the symptoms, which often included fatigue, as the result of the physical impact of shockwaves from grenades and bombs, whereas the dominant view of that time was that they were imaginary or due to psychological factors.

Simon Wessely has since been given a knighthood for his contributions to military medicine and post-war syndromes (in 2013), but his ideas and treatment recommendations are a virtual copy of mine, and I found that many soldiers had the minor symptoms before enlistment, so it is not just a “post-war” problem.

16-10-91. Appreciating viral fatigue (letter about post polio and viral syndromes) (letter to the editor about chronic fatigue), Messenger Leader (A local newspaper). Many people report that their fatigue started after a viral infection such as glandular fever, or the flu etc, but this letter was about the post-polio syndrome which sometimes occurs many years later. The dominant opinion of that time was that  chronic fatigue which sometimes followed viral infections, was not caused by the virus, but was psychological.

Some people want the public to believe that I don’t know about the virus and immunological possibilities, but I have known that for more than 30 years, and they argue that I am critical of those ideas, but I am not. I simply choose to do my own research on other aspects which I find to have actual and practical value, and are useful in managing the symptoms

8-4-1992, Shockwave blindness (letter about shockwaves as the physical effect of shockwaves), Messenger Leader (A local newspaper)

9-9-92, Messenger Leader (A local newspaper) Shockwave blindness (letter about  physical problems with physical causes, not mental causes)

10-3-93, Matter of posture (letter about posture and corsets compressing the internal anatomy to cause various undetectable symptoms), Messenger Leader (A local newspaper)

20-3-93 Arataeus, hysteria and hypochondria (a letter about posture and pregnancy and how the enlarging womb compresses the internal anatomy to cause symptoms), The truth – national newspaper.

27-3-95 The Posture Theory, On Dit (University of Adelaide, student newspaper), A review by David Raftery.

9-5-1993, Posture Theory -( A brief review by one of that newspapers editors) The Sunday Mail

15-5-1993 – Research cost effectiveness (a letter about Chronic fatigue research), The Truth (national newspaper)

26-5-1993 – Postural pressure (letter about posture and pregnancy compressing and displacing the internal anatomy to cause visceroptosis and various undetectable symptoms), Messenger Leader (A local newspaper)

8-12-1994 – Posture and illness, South Australian Statewide, a South Australian broadsheet newspaper (a review by the editor)

March 1995 – 17th century medical theory: An interpretation, Statewdie (a South Australian broadsheet newspaper), A full page articles with comments on the history of ideas about undetectable illnesses.

April 1995 – Comments on a medical mystery, Statewide broadsheet newspaper, page 5. A description of how 19th century women wore tight corsets which compressed the womb to cause horrendous problems with pregnancy, childbirth, and infant mortality etc.

Winter 1997 – The Posture Theory the physical basis for hypochondria, The Australian Journal of Osteopathy (as reviewed by Alison Linn)

May 1997 – Muscle stress and strain by Osteopath Andrew Wilson (who used The Posture Theory diagram to illustrate his article). Healthy Options (A New Zealand journal).

May 1998 – The Posture Theory, p.32-33.

Since then

During 1993 I had some blood tests, a CAT scan, a bone marrow biopsy, and a surgical biopsy, which eventually led to the diagnosis of cancer, when I was given a life expectancy of 2 months with no hope of a cure, and was asked to “tidy up my financial affaire” (which is the diplomatic way of recommending that I write my will as soon as possible).

I therefore decided to spend my remaining time writing a book and website about “The Posture Theory”, which I discussed earlier.

In 1997 I had three months of chest pain which started occrurring each 100 yards as I walked, and within three months had become gradually more frequent until it was every ten yards. I then consulted a doctor who prescribed an artery dilator called Noten which relieved the pain, and then consulted a heart specialist who recommended that I have bypass surgery as soon as possible. I decided to treat the ailment with a vegetarian diet instead, and was able to stop taking medication six months later. See my audio CD which explains how I did that here.

About a year later, beginning in 1998, I had cancer operations and chemotherapies, and a stem cell transplant, and four years of side effects, and then made a complete recovery with no long term damage being done and the only noticeable difference being baldness.

I was diagnosed with cancer in 1993, and told that I had a life expectancy of two months and no hope of a cure, but am still alive today almost 20 years later, which makes me one of the longest survivors.

See some notes on my cancer here.

In the meantime I have had a car accident where my vehicle was hit from behind, and which caused a whiplash injury with various severe side effects in the first month which were effectively relieved by a series of neck massages, followed by minor after effects for about three years.

A few years later later while moving a lounge chair at an awkward angle I slipped a disc in my neck which left me with 8 weeks of numbness in various parts of my left arm, hand, and fingers, and agonising pain in the left side  of my neck, back, and shoulder, during which time I devised a theory on cause, and two methods of treatment which were aimed at preventing the problem from getting worse, and reversing it. There has only been a minor sensation of weakness in that area since, but no recurrence of pain. See my partial report here.

 Max Banfield

I may add more details later, about other problems such as the return of high blood pressure and angina pain, and how I solved them.

In the meantime it is relevant to state that no-one else in history had been able to understand or effectively treat most of my the ailments which I had until I assessed them and drew my conclusions, and that I have done many other things in between.

Recent publications

1. Banfield M.A. 2014 (October 15th), Stand up not new, The Messenger Leader, letters to the editor, p.24. (About how otherauthors have said that they have recently developed the standing computer position which I invented in 1997).

2. Banfield M.A. 2014 (November 5th), Train at own pace, The Messenger Leader, letters to the editor, p.20. (with a link to my research paper about chronic fatigue in 1982/3 and the exercise method which I developed, and which other researchers have been using since).

3. Banfield M.A. 2014 (November 26th), Chest pain woes, The Messenger Leader, letters to the editor, p.22. (My discovery of the postural cause of left-sided chest pain which was published in the British Medical Journal on 13-7-14) here http://www.bmj.com/content/336/7653/1124/rr/760594

4. Banfield M.A. 2014 (December 4th), Chest pain, The Messenger Leader, letters to the editor, p.26. (Describing how my discovery of the postural cause of non-cardiac chest pain will save Australian and international governments billions of dollars in health costs per week).

5. Banfield M.A. 2014 (December 6th), Fresh change, The Advertiser, letters to the editor, p.76. (describing how I cured  angina pain due to narrowing of the coronary arteries in 1997 by discarding all bottles, cans, and containers which included processed foods and additives such as fats, sugars, salts, and preservatives, and replaced them with fresh fruit and vegetables).

6. Banfield M.A. 2014 (December 12th), Rewrite copyright, The Advertiser, letters to the editor, p.17. (recommending that new legislation is made so that people who try to steal ideas by rewriting them in different words can be prosecuted for committing the crime of “theft by words”).

7. Banfield M.A. 2015 (October 7th), Health Discovery, The Messenger Leader, letters to the editor, p.18. (Follow up from my previous letters on the $billions government health care costs saved by my discovery of the cause of lower left chest pain, and comments on a report on 4 Corners TV show of 28-9-15 on the extreme diagnostic costs of several other illnesses, with my recommendation on how to reduce them by identifying the exact cause). Also published in the Norther Messenger, Salisbury edition, as a letter entitled “Medical essay” on page 26, and in the Northern Messenger, Playford edition, as a letter entitled “Medical essay” on page 26.

8.  Banfield M.A. 2015 (October 20th), Protect creativity, The Advertiser, letters to the editor, p.19. (Describing the contradictions in the copyright law which protects singers and movie stars but does not apply to the developers of new health improvement processes).

9. Banfield M.A. 2016 (September 7th), Chest pain fix, Messenger Leader, p. 16 . . . and . . . Banfield M.A. 2016 (September 7th), Chest pain fix, The Northern Messenger, p. 20 . . . and . . .  Banfield M.A. 2016 (September 7th), Chest pain fix, City North News (Messenger), p.12 . . . This letter to the editor was published in three local district Messenger Newspapers and explains the diagnostic cost savings due to my discovery of the cause of lower left sided (non-cardiac) chest pain as $10,000 each for 350,000,000 patients world wide (5% of the world population), or a total of $350,000,000,000, and how, soon after the publication of my discovery the South Australian Government merged the emergency departments of six major hospitals into three, and how the Federal Government slashed the Pathology budget by $600 million. (Note the total cost savings should have been $3,500,000,000,000.

10. Banfield M.A. 2016 (September 28th), letters to the editor, Chest pain focus, page 14. Lower left sided chest pain is common in the chronic fatigue syndrome and battle fatigue (now called Post traumatic stress disorder – PTSD), and my discovery of the cause would enable to closure of Daw Park Repatriation Hospital and downsizing it to a smaller facility at Glenside Hospital.