A doctor's discoveries promote good health

Manila, Philippines - Ricardo O. Fernandez, MD, chairman of Makati Medical Center’s Department of Otonrhinolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat) comes from a family of doctors. His father, the late Dr. Manuel C. Fernandez, was one of the founders of MMC and a brother, Manuel Jr., specializes in cosmetic surgery at the same hospital.

“I always wanted to be a scientist,” he confesses, “but I gave in to my father’s wishes and took up medicine, which is close to science anyway.”

The sixth of eight children, he finished his medical studies at the University of Santo Tomas and opted to specialize in otorhinolaryngology at the Philippine General Hospital, surprising his father at the time, for this meant really hard work.

He later joined MMC, however, and became the training officer of Dr. Ariston Bautista, whom he replaced as chairman of the Otorhinolaryngology Department. As chairman, he confers with some 30 consultants in his department every Thursday at the Diagnostic Center which he designed and is proud of. He sees patients from Monday to Saturday (9 a.m. to 12 noon).

Dr. Fernandez has also spearheaded the hospital’s drive to raise funds for the less fortunate head and neck cancer patients treated at MMC. A specific project in this regard was the fun run held last year at Dasmariñas Village, participated in by foreign and local dignitaries, including US Ambassador Harry Thomas. The project successfully raised funds needed for the hospital’s outreach program.

What to him is his lifetime achievement is not the great number of patients he has treated but his introduction of CoEnzyme Q10 or CoQ19 into the Philippines in the late ’80s.

“CoQ10 is a natural substance in the body that helps cells produce energy and serves as an antioxidant to protect cells from free radicals,” he explains. “It hunts down free radicals responsible for damaging cells and causing certain cancers, premature aging, and other diseases. It does this by neutralizing free radicals, thus rendering them harmless.”

He adds, “Though naturally found in the body, the amount of CoQ10 declines once a person turns 23, mostly due to unhealthy lifestyle choices and environmental stress. It has been observed that an inadequate supply of CoQ10 can have an adverse effect on the body and that cancer patients have very low blood levels of it in their system. Consequently, CoQ19 is popularly used to supplement existing cancer therapy.”

Fernandez adds that CoQ10 has also helped the heart, the organ in the human body where it is highly concentrated. CoQ10 can help increase the pumping force of the heart through enhanced cellular energy production. It also reduces blood viscosity, allowing the easier blood flow through the arteries and veins, thus preventing heart attack and stroke.

Because CoQ10 in the body decreases with age, it has been synthesized in its pure form and is widely used as a nutritional supplement and additional therapy for cancer and heart patients. In the Philippines, it is available as ADDLIFE CoQ10 at all Mercury Drug Stores. Each capsule contains 20mg pure CoQ10 to be taken daily without adverse effects since it is a natural substance.

Less known but as effective is another product which Fernandez is enthusiastic about: Capsibiol T, a suppressant of cancer and what he considers “a miracle cure” for the common cold. A dietary supplement created and formulated in Switzerland, Capsibiol T is a combination of decaffeinated green tea and red chili peppers in capsule form that increases viral immunity, resulting in the suppression of flu-like symptoms. It prevents the spread of existing cancer cells by slowing down their growth and development.

“If the cancer cells cannot reproduce, then the cancer will not spread, “ he declares.

His patients can attest to the fact that Capsibiol T is indeed an effective cure for colds, which is why they have spread the good news by word of mouth.

His latest “discovery” is a product called Transfer Factor, sourced from colostrum found in mothers’ and cows’ milk, eggs, and chickens. According to Fernandez, Transfer Factor contains the information molecule that educates the immune system.

“With Transfer Factor,” he points out, “a person’s immune system is able to correct itself.”

He cites the case of his mother, now 90, whose heart and body were strengthened by CoQ10 and who was able to regain her vitality after taking Transfer Factor. “Now, believe it or not, she is back to her old self!”

Today, the doctor, whose passion for science has never waned, continues to seek ways and means to alleviate his patients’ ills, through medical breakthroughs, not for material gain but out of a desire to promote good health, which ultimately is man’s true wealth.