Medicine Or Myth: Neurosurgeon Charlie Teo in new TV series

Leading neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo stars in a new TV series, Medicine Or Myth, which looks at home remedies. He reveals some of the “crazy potions” they put to the test.

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Leading neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo stars in a new TV series, Medicine Or Myth, which looks at home remedies. He reveals some of the “crazy potions” they put to the test.

As a neurosurgeon you have raised millions of dollars for research into brain cancer. Have there been positive steps forward?

My old foundation raised more than $20 million but my patients are not living longer, they’re not being offered research trials and essentially they are dying at the same rate as they were 20 years ago.

What will it take, do you think, to find a cure for brain cancer?

Brain surgeon Charlie Teo stars in a new TV series, Medicine Or Myth. Picture: Jonathan Ng

It is naively thought you need to fund researchers who have good credibility and a record to help find a cure. But if you look at cancer research literature, many of the discoveries are not funded by well-established scientists but the left-of-field thinkers.

Do you think there will be a cure for cancer in our lifetime?

Yes, absolutely, and I wouldn’t have said that 10 years ago.

You left your charity, Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, in 2017. Why did you leave?

The major reason was I thought I could do it better, it got so big I’d lost control. So I left. But I still felt obligated to my patients so I founded a charity under my name, the Charlie
Teo Foundation.

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So, are you in fact now doing it better?

One of the things I’m most proud of is that some of the big charities run at over 90 per cent overheads; that means only 10 per cent of what they raise goes to the cause. In the last quarter, the Charlie Teo Foundation was running at 15 per cent and the quarter before that at 7 per cent.

You have long spoken about the dangers of mobile phone use, but I called on your mobile …

There was a time I was mocked for speaking out about mobile phones and their link to cancer but now the International Agency for Research on Cancer has come out and classified phones as a potential carcinogen. I only put the phone to my ear when I first answer, then I swap to the speaker.

The Charlie Teo Foundation worked with salons across Australia to raise funds for brain cancer research. Picture: Instagram

What do you find most interesting about the brain?

They have done MRI scans on people who are savants with remarkable intelligence, and they found the structure and anatomy of their brains are exactly the same as ours. So, when you think about that, your brain has the ability to memorise the phone book. We have to tap into that potential.

Your new TV series, Medicine Or Myth, puts home remedies to the test. What were some of the crazier potions you’ve ever heard about?

Probably the most disgusting one was using earwax on cold sores. As it turns out though, earwax contains anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties and it creates a physical barrier. The whole purpose of earwax is to protect the ear canal from bacteria so you don’t get an earache. Who knew that one would have held up?

Did your mother ever use any crazy potions?

Yes, absolutely! She’s Chinese and tiger balm was her panacea for everything. She’d rub it on your head if you had a headache or your belly if it hurt. She wasn’t far off the mark though — tiger balm contains salicylates, which have anti-inflammatory properties, so it has some credibility.

You have four daughters. Do you feel outnumbered?

My daughters and I have a great relationship, in fact I’m sure I was their favourite parent. But what I didn’t realise is young girls become women and I can’t understand them any more, it’s like I don’t speak their language.

What do you love to do on a free weekend?

Exercise, I love it — kayaking on the harbour or riding my motorbike on the open road with
my buddies.