I recall seeing former Indian prime minister Morarji Desai interviewed on
the USA television program "Today"--while I was having breakfast.  He was
quite old--in his 90's--and during the interview said he drank a glass of
his own urine each day. He attributed his long life and good health to the
practice.

I, too, went surfing on the www tonight and found so many references to
urine therapy that I think all of us will have to be aware of this.
(Who knew?) Reuters news service carried an announcement of an International
conference held February 96 to address the issues of "Auto Urine Therapy"
(press release at http://homepage.eznet.net/%7Epatches/ws/india96.txt). For
those who cannot access, let me excerpt bits:

"The three-day meeting, organised by the Indian chapter of the Water of
Life Foundation, brought together leading proponents of a 5,000-year-old
therapy considered taboo in much of the world because it involves drinking
one's own urine... Delegates came from Austria, Australia, Britain, China,
Dubai, France,Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Pakistan,
South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and the United States...The
conference's poster depicted a young boy urinating into a glass...Actress
Sarah Miles swears it improves her health.Doctors and therapists who
recommend the treatment say urine contains hormones, enzymes, vitamins and
minerals that can cure diseases from heart disease to cancer. But many
mainstream doctors debunk the claims, saying small doses of urine are not
harmful but surely no magic medicine..."

"The most widely recommended treatment combines one or more glasses of
fresh urine a day, regular body massages using stale urine at least four
days old and a strict diet barring alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee and meat."

There are statements recommending urine therapy for AIDS patients, and one
doctor is quoted as saying: " "Most diseases ranging from the common cold to
cancer and arthritis to AIDS are curable by urine therapy." One woman states
she was cured by urine therapy after refusing chemotherapy to treat  cancer
of the lymph nodes, intestine and liver in 1988.

I wonder if the patient who has been using this therapy read "Your Own
Perfect Medicine" by Martha M. Christy published by FutureMed, Inc.
Scottsdale, AZ. You can read a brief article by her (from the book)

http://www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/1995/October/12-1095.html

in which she touts the values of urine and even quotes an analysis of the
nutrients in urine. It reads rather like one of "our" treatises on human
milk :-D She says "When you look at the real facts, the tragedy of the
general disinformation campaign on urine is surpassed only by the irony of
our unwitting, and often incredibly expensive purchases of what we all
mistakenly but firmly believe to be our bodies' "useless" and "offensive"
waste-product, urine."

Who is lining up speakers for the next conferences?
(Lets see, so far we need someone to present on milk-proof adhesives for
pasties, the use of hookers in marketing of bf promotion, urine therapy...)
;-}

Margery Wilson, IBCLC
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
--------------
ILCA Region I (New England States) Representative