Dr Dingle dangerous?

Penelope Dingle died in 2005 having rejected conventional cancer treatment in favour of alternative therapies. Here's husband Dr Peter Dingle – an academic; not a medical practitioner – in a TV interview arising from the inquest into wife Penelope's cancer death:

"This isn't Peter Dingle the academic or the researcher, this is Peter Dingle the husband, who just got lost and didn't know what was going on in the end," he says.

“The treatment by the homeopath was a catastrophe, and in hindsight what a stupid thing I did supporting Pene, and what a stupid thing Pene did in going down that line.”

"At the end there was no sleep, caring 24/7 . . . I was starting to believe it  . . .I have no doubt I was delusional, in shock, traumatised . . . I was caught up in this nightmare . . . an absolute nightmare”.

Dr Dingle is in fact still delusional, as this November 2009 post from his blog clearly shows:

Psoriasis is an inflammatory disease that begins in the gut and often involves the liver and other organs. Yep not the skin. The skin is only the elimination organ where it manifests. If you go through allopathic medicine (your GP or specialist) they will treat the skin and it might get better then it will come back and get worse each time and the creams get stronger each time. You are only treating the symptom. If your medical professional or advocacy group does not talk about nutrition and lifestyle I suggest you look for better information, one that is not influenced by a drug company.

The primary cause of this problem is dysbiosis in the gut. The probiotic bacteria are disturbed and dysfunctional. This can come about for a lot of reasons such as antibiotics, processed foods, other medications and even stress. Psoriasis is also an inflammatory disease linked with an increased risk of heat attack and some cancers, hence why it is obviously not a skin disease, it is chronic inflammation.

First thing to do is modify your diet to be unprocessed, lots of salad and raw food, no milk, minimal wheat and absolutely no white flour products. Cut down meat (it is pro inflammatory). No vegetable oil or margarines but lots of unprocessed olive oil. Lots of salad, nuts, vegetables, beans, fruit and oily fish. The best formula for eating is outlined in our book “the 6 week healthy eating planner" on our website (www.drdingle.com).

So despite possessing no medical qualifications whatsoever Dr Dingle, an environmental scientist, contradicts the accepted science in stating that psoriasis "begins in the gut and often involves the liver and other organs" when the cause or causes of psoriasis are unknown but it is known for certain that many psoriasis suffers are genetically predisposed to the condition. Note that along with the suspect dietary advice Dr Dingle also suggests that readers consult, that is, buy, one of his books.

None of this is surprising considering that Dr Dingle's second wife Martine is a naturopath who, together with her husband, runs the Children's Healing Centre. Martine Dingle, Naturopath (Advanced Diploma), hypnotist and life balance coach promotes The Six-Week Healthy Eating Planner she and husband Peter co-wrote. Bear in mind that neither Dingle has any formal nutrition qualifications, at least none that are stated, whatsoever.

But as they say in the TV advert pitching low quality products at "bargain prices", there's more. Despite Dr Dingle's apparent lack of nutrition expertise the University Of Western Australia bills him as follows:

Dr Peter Dingle, Health and Nutrition Specialist

Easily 80-90% of the chronic illnesses we suffer from are a result of our diet and lifestyle. The solution is not in any miracle drug, but in healthy eating and digestion. Food is the best medicine, but only if you can digest it. You will learn how good foods can be your lifelong medicine, and also, how to improve your digestion and why digestion begins before you get the food near your mouth. This course will change the way you eat and feel – for the better!

10311032 Monday 2 Aug 6.30-9.30pm $89

Yet according to Murdoch University, here are Dr Dingle's research interests:

Indoor air quality in homes and office buildings; toxic chemical use; air pollution and health; environmental education; environmental management systems and industry; risk management, environmental leadership.

And Dr Dingle's Murdoch page shows no research demonstrating expertise in either health or nutrition.

Dr Peter Dingle has established a veritable alternative health industry that's probably quite lucrative but that almost certainly offer precious little benefit to his clients and could even, as in his wife's case, prove highly detrimental.