HowDocsCare is the brainchild of Dr Frank Berry, a retired GP in his 80s,  who served patients in Howick for many years. He continues to be available to people who have chronic diseases such as angina, type II diabetes, arthritis, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and the many other diseases that occur following the standard South African diet.   

Frank and Sheila’s father started developing dementia in his late 60s. It was distressing to see him decline from a highly inventive man with numerous patented inventions, who led an active life and was engaged in numerous civic endeavours. His sister also developed dementia in her later years. Dementia appeared to be in the Berry genes and so Frank and Sheila prepared themselves for what appeared to be inevitable, convinced that they would  follow in their father’s footsteps and develop dementia as they got closer to their 70s. 

However, before then, when Frank was 61 years old, he had an unexpected heart attack. He was shocked when this happened because did not appear to be a candidate for a heart attack…his blood pressure was ‘normal’, he was active but slightly corpulent, he had never smoked and he followed all the advice he gave his patients. Fortunately he recovered without needing an operation but he was concerned that his heart attack and a prior mild stroke could portend a fate similar to the one that befell his father. 

Within 6 months he was given a book to read called The China Study by Prof. T. Colin Campbell. This is when Frank discovered the remarkable health benefits of eating a plant-based diet. A complete change to a whole food plant based diet brought about a host of dramatically beneficial improvements in his health and well being within 48 hours. Not the least of this was a striking mental improvement. The brain fog that had gradually blunted his perception cleared.  Over the next 6 months the abdominal “long range tank” was easily shed and has never returned. His blood pressure fell to “low” levels. These “low” readings are the norm in rural elderly people who follow their traditional diets. He became very interested in how food is the best medicine. He reads widely on the subject and has become a very good vegetable gardener and a cook. This is how he came across Dr Dean Cornish’s work. Since then he has been driven by a desire to share this knowledge with people faced with the terrifying spectre of Alzheimers/Dementia. From this desire HowDocsCare emerged.