Honoring the last great giant

“A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.” Ecclesiastes 7:1

The last of the early vitamin research pioneers, Dr. John M. Ellis, M.D., was killed in a traffic accident one year ago this week on 12/21/06. Dr. Ellis was in the latter half of his 90th year.

The vitamin called B6 was practically the last of the vitamins identified and researched. Ellis wrote the book on it – literally. His Vitamin B6: The Doctor’s Report was published in 1973 by the Harper & Row giant publishing house.

Some may question the current relevance of a book on nutrition more than 30 years old though there have been no noteworthy contributions to the subject since then other than Ellis own follow-ups including Vitamin B6 Therapy less than 10 years ago. This final writing of Ellis was primarily a condensation of his classic work with additional modern research that substantiated his postulations from the 1973 book more than 25 years prior.

Ellis work on the vital importance of Vitamin B6 to carpal tunnel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, and gynecologic and obstetric disorders I can personally attest to as a witness to the power of this nutrient in combating these problems. Each of these issues had individual chapters in his latest book devoted to them.

Dr. Ellis was a gentle giant who was kind, humble and very giving. The last several years of his life I spoke to him often over the telephone. The last conversation was my attempt to get him on national radio for some well-deserved recognition but he declined instead giving me permission to speak for him. Ellis provided some great quotes for use on the radio.

Another conversation was cut short as Ellis was on the way out the door to the funeral of a former patient who had died at age 103. A 1995 study by Dr. Ellis with Dr. Kilmer McCully published in a medical journal had demonstrated the significant extra longevity of patients consuming 200 milligrams daily of vitamin B6 for sustained periods of time.

Dr. Ellis noted that 25 milligrams daily should be a minimum consumption amount of this essential nutrient though the government recommends less than 10 per cent of that amount. Ellis routinely recommended 200 milligrams daily. His exhaustive research and extensive applications of that work with this nutrient verifies his recommendation. This nearly half century through two centuries of research and actual use also reveals the buffoonery of the Institute of Madnessedicine which is chief adviser to the government that has recently suggested an Upper Limit of 100 milligrams daily ingestion.

Answer to age old query?

“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound?”

Dr. John Ellis was a lumbering giant of a man both physically and by his greatly unmatched contributions to nutrition science. His death has been met by the field of nutrition with a resounding silence much to its shame.

The National Institutes of Health has an extensive web site on Vitamin B6 that addresses many of the issues for which Dr. Ellis blazed the trail though never mentioning him nor citing any of his many works in its bibliography to the shame of that allegedly grand institution.

The Texas State Legislature did honor the passing of Dr. Ellis with an official resolution noting that “Dr. Ellis gained national attention for his extensive research on the benefits of vitamin B6.”

At least the Mt. Pleasant Daily Tribune of his hometown for more than half a century gave significant accolades to Dr. Ellis’ life and work upon his most untimely death.

Dr. Ellis’ Arkansas and Missouri connections

The first time I spoke with Dr. Ellis some years ago he was very excited about my call from Arkansas. He related that his father had also been a medical doctor who practiced in Arkansas making house calls by horse and buggy.

Dr. Ellis started his own medical career as an intern and resident physician at St. Louis City Hospital, Missouri Pacific Railroad Hospital, and the Barnard Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.

His wife of 59 years of marriage, Lucy, was originally from St. Louis and an artist of some renown. Lucy Ellis died from the same traffic accident as Dr. Ellis.

Honor to whom honor is due.

It was one of my greatest honors to have been able to speak with Dr. Ellis numerous times in his last years. He sent me notes of encouragement for my work and often expressed great thanks for the work that I was doing with vitamin B6. The little that I have done was only standing on the tall shoulders of this truly great giant of a man.

May the great honor so richly deserved by Dr. John Marion Ellis, M.D. finally come in memorial to him very soon.

Christopher C. Barr writes Naturally Speaking from Arkansas: The Natural State … naturally! You may write him at P. O. Box 1147, Pocahontas, Arkansas 72455 or by e-mail at servantofYHVH@hotmail