Dr Alexander James, of Wollongong, N.S.W., has achieved spectacular results in the treatment of asthma. Dr James is 88 and is ill health himself. He has about 1,000 patients on his waiting list and is physically unable to cope with any more. However, his methods can be learned by other, younger doctors and for this purpose the National Health and Medical Research Council has made a recording of the James exercises. This recording is available to any doctor who wants to use the James method for the treatment of asthmatic patients.

Russian-born Dr Alexander James, 88, is called "the wonder worker" in Wollongong, N.S.W. He says he has proved that he can cure asthma without drugs, and often within two to three weeks. He has more than 1,000 patients on his waiting list, asthmatics from all over Australia and from other parts of the world, willing to come any distance, at any expense, to try his treatment.

But Dr James is seriously ill with a heart disease, and it is not likely that he will live long enough to treat many more of these desperate cases. He knows he is a dying man, but he struggles to live longer to see his treatment accepted by Government medical authorities, so that asthma clinics can be established all over Australia to carry on his work. Sceptical doctors say his hypnotic personality must have a lot to do with his remarkable results. He is certainly a most fascinating man, handsome in old age, with immense charm, gentleness and unquestionable integrity.

Wollongong's Asthma Action Society, formed by people who have been treated successfully by Dr James, has been working hard for the recognition and adoption of his treatment by Government health departments.

The Federal Minister for Health, Dr A.J. Forbes, ordered an investigation into Dr James' work, and has received a favourable report on the treatment. However, the report, made by the National Health and Medical Research Council, said that Dr James' methods were "simple and practical, but did not vary radically from accepted practice." So it does not seem likely that the Government will set up clinics to carry on the James treatment of asthma.

HE WILL FIGHT UNTIL HIS LAST BREATH

Dr James is disappointed, but not bitter about the Government's failure to take action on his ideas. He says he will go on fighting for his cause until his last breath. "I am sure my methods will be accepted one day," he told me. "My treatment is very different from orthodox treatment because about 95 per cent of my patients are cured without the use of drugs. And the cures are permanent. I have hundreds and hundreds of patients to testify to this fact." His treatment is simple. No wonder some doctors who have not witnessed it are sceptical. It seems too simple to be true, but it is true. I saw him giving treatment to a young girl and was astounded by the change in the girl after one treatment.

The treatment starts with the use of a vibratory machine designed by Dr James. This electrical device is applied up and down the spinal cord, the back of the head, over the solar plexus, and over the sinus areas of the face.

Dr James explained, "The vibrator activates the nervous centres controlling breathing and thus helps to restore normal breathing. It has the same beneficial effect on other vital centres in the central nervous system and helps to regulate the function of all internal organs."
The vibratory treatment lasts only about five to 10 minutes. The next step is to teach the patient how to breathe properly in and out through the nose. Dr James teaches a number of breathing exercises, to be done in different positions, and to be practised by patients at least three times a day.

The whole treatment takes about 25 minutes and is repeated daily for 12 to 15 days, sometimes longer, depending on the severity of the case. But the patients usually get relief after the first treatment.

The young girl I saw being treated on January 19 was Cheryl Garland, 15, of Fisher Road, Oak Flats, near Shellharbour, N.S.W. It was her second treatment. She had suffered from asthma since she was two years old, had been from one doctor to another, and had become completely dependent on drugs to get a night's sleep. Drugs, however, could give her only temporary relief.

She had just gained a high pass in the School Certificate and wanted to be well enough to cope with the more difficult studies in fifth and sixth forms. She said to me while waiting for her appointment:
"I had asthma every day and night while I was doing my exams. It was sheer torture. I feel I just can't cope with life at all unless I get rid of it.

THE RELIEF SEEMED TO BE A MIRACLE

"In desperation, my mother appealed to Dr James to take me as a patient. The great relief I got after the first treatment seemed a miracle. That night I slept the first time without drugs, and the next morning I felt I was walking on air."

When Dr James tested Cheryl's chest expansion before the first treatment, it was only 1 1/2 inches. After the treatment it was 4 1/2 inches.

He invited me to witness the second treatment. After asking her to loosen any tight clothing, he applied the vibrator, then told her to lie down on an examination table. He began teaching her to breathe in and out through the nose.

He moved her body into a number of different positions, all the time urging her not to breathe through the mouth. It was evident that the girl had complete faith in her doctor.

He said to her, "My darling, do not be afraid to breathe. You will not have an asthma attack. You will now begin to breathe more and more easily. You will never have to struggle for breath again. You will breathe deeper and deeper every day and you will have truly restful sleep." These breathing exercises lasted about 15 minutes, Cheryl got up from the couch, and Dr James measured her chest expansion. It had gained another inch and was now 5 1/2 inches.

Five days later I visited Mrs Garland to see how Cheryl was responding to treatment.

I would like to say, though, that I am very grateful to the other doctors who tried to cure Cheryl. They came quickly whenever she was bad, and did all they could for her. But the fact is they could only give her relief, even with the latest drugs. She has not had one attack since going to Dr James. It's almost unbelievable."

I THOUGHT, 'THIS IS IT, I'M DYING'

Another interesting patient I met in Dr James' surgery is Mr V. Belousoff, of Bell Street, Biloela, North Queensland. He had come to Wollongong to spend his Christmas holidays being treated by Dr James. He had seen a feature about him on the TV program "This Day Tonight."

"I have had severe asthma for 2 !/2 years and I was really desperate," he said. "No doctor could help me. My condition got increasingly worse, probably because I work as a shovel-operator in an open-cut mine. During every attack of asthma I thought "This is it, I'm dying.'
"After that TV show I wrote and begged Dr James to take me, and here I am for my eleventh treatment, getting better and better every day."