Nexus - 0223 - New Times Magazine-pages

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DECEMBER 1994 -JANUARY 1995 Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, the No'bellaureate who discovered vitamin C, caJUs water the mother and matrix of allUfe. Water is so much a pan of nfe that we tend to ~ ignore it and look elsewhere {or the magic bullet, the secret herb or nutrient that will increase health and vigour and extend life-span. Recent discoveries about the significance of water and its functions in the lliving system may forever change our view of water. AU the symptoms of ageing are in one way or another accompanied by a slow dehydration of our vital tissues associated with free-radi­ cal oxidative damage. No matter how much tap water we drink, we cannot seem to slow down the inevitable staJVation of vitaf tissues for the fluid that is everywhere. There is much more to ,tissue hydration than simply drinking ordinary water. Tissu.e water is as dificren.n from spring water as milk is fmm apple juice. This is the story of a discovery that may help to slow down the dehydration and subse­ quent tissue damage that accompanies the ageing process. The Beginning of the Quest When Patrick Flanagan was 17 years old, he had already been a child prodigy in elec­ twnics and ch_cmistry since the age of eighr. He was consulting with a Stamford, Connecticut-based science 'fbi_nk tank' when he first met Dr Henri Coanda (1885-19'72). Dr Coanda was 78 at the time and appeared to be in exceptionally good healt,b. He had the quick mind and bright eyes of a man driven by a vast reservoir of inner energy. Dr Coanda is known as the "Father of Fluid Dynamics". In 1910, seven years after the rust flights by the American inventors Orville and Wilbur Wright, Henri Coanda designed and built ajet-prope!led monoplane which took off and flew under its own power with Coanda as pilor. He used an engine that he termed a reaction motor, but, discouraged by the lack of pUblic acceptance of his aircraft, he abandoned his experiments and designed Bristol Fighter craft foJ' the British in World War 1. While building the wonld's first jet airplane, IDr Coanda discovered an effect that has become known in the science of fluid dynamics as the "Coanda effect". Without Ithe Coanda effect, we would not have a space shuttfc or a 747 jet today. During his 78th birthday party at the home of author-scientist G. Harry Stine, Patrick toLd Dr Coanda that he hoped that he (Patrick) was in the same excellent health when he was 78 years old. Coanda looked at Patrick and said, "Patrick, when you are 78 years old we'll talk about ir." Everyone in earshot laughed at Coanda's joke. A few days later, Dr Coanda invited Patric~ into his office and told Patrick a secret that would change his entire life. He told Patrick that he had spent over 60 years searching for the secret to "the fountain of youth". He said that the human body is over 70 per cent water and that the brain is 90 per cent water. He said that water contains within its struc­ ture the secret to reversing the ageing process. Dr Coanda had developed testing methods for determining different geometries in the structure of water. He travelled at length around the world and found five places ithat con­ tained what he termed "anomalous water". Two of these places included Hunza land in the Karakoram Mountains of Northern Pakistan, and the Vileabamba in Ecuador. It has long fascinated anthro,pologists that peo­ ple who live in these areas Lend to age more slowly than ,the rest of us. In fact, people who live in these areas tend to remain healthy and disease-free well after the age of 100. There are documented 'cases of men fathering children after the age of 100. Dr Coanda discovered that the secret of longevitY in these areas was due to the special NEXUS • 23