Speaking tour reunites schoolmates

US-based Napier-born Dr Daryl Turner (left) was surprised old schoolmate Kevin Atkinson now has an interest in medicine. Photo/Glenn Taylor

A chance chat with a nurse in Perth resulted in two Napier schoolmates reuniting in Hastings yesterday.

The nurse was Hawke's Bay District Health Board chairman Kevin Atkinson's daughter, who put US-based Dr Daryl Turner in touch with her father.

While they didn't have an interest in medicine while students at William Colenso College, yesterday they discussed contemporary health challenges at length.

Dr Turner is a hormone specialist. His work is celebrated in the United States, where it has been featured on medical TV shows such as Dr. Phil.

He said hormones helped control the quality of life and when the thyroid gland was not operating properly, diseases such as Alzheimer's and cancer were more prevalent.

"By the time you get into your 60s the hormones get pretty low," he said.

"With low life expectancy it didn't matter in years gone by, but now of course people are living much longer."

Dr Turner is in New Zealand on an eight-centre speaking tour for doctors, including Hawke's Bay.

The son of Hawke's Bay inventor Ray Turner, he has invented a system for diagnosing thyroid disease and disorders.

"You either have the ability to invent and patent or you don't," Dr Turner said.

He said his Four Pillars of Health will soon be "standard protocol" in the United Arab Emirates.