I encourage everyone to watch this series of videos about the true causes of almost all chronic, degenerative diseases, presented by Dr. Lorraine Day, a former Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, who recovered from advanced stage breast cancer 17 years ago without chemotherapy or radiation:

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8L0Fb5ybcg

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xloV0S-26Q&feature=related

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gg1kMoMIyo&feature=related

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDdFt7u-nTk&feature=related

Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aRavEIEwlc&feature=related

Part 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezjmxYSZw2w&feature=related

Part 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezjmxYSZw2w&feature=related

For the rest of the 14 part video, just follow the screen directions when you are in YouTube and click on the appropriate screen icons on the right.

To learn more about Dr. Lorraine Day, visit her website at:  www.drday.com.  Her profile can be found at:  http://www.goodnewsaboutgod.com/studies/dr_day/doc_day.htm.

So, what is the true cause of almost all chronic, degenerative diseases?  Dietary, lifestyle and stress factors!  So, the answer for them cannot be found in drugs or surgery.

Our local health authorities and the PUB have been assuring us, over the years, that fluoridated water (i.e. water coming out of our taps) is safe to drink.  It helps prevent tooth decay, they say.  It may shock or surprise you that there is now a huge number of scientists, more than 2,000  (comprising medical doctors, dentists, environmental scientists, lawyers, naturopathic doctors, nurses, etc.) calling for a worldwide ban on the fluoridation of drinking water.

What we need to know is that only about 60 countries worldwide, comprising a population of only about 330 million, fluoridate their drinking water.  Many of the advanced European nations do not fluoridate their water.  The vast majority of the world’s population (6 billion less 330 million) do not drink fluoridated water.  Studies show that those countries which do not fluoridate their drinking  water do not suffer from higher rates of tooth decay at all.  The answer to tooth decay is simple – avoiding sugary, refined and processed foods, eating nutritious foods that are high in calcium and other minerals and brushing teeth regularly.  Use of topical fluoride toothpaste may be of some benefit but not absolutely necessary so long as the other dietary and lifestyle habits are in place.  You see, fluoride works best topically, not when ingested.

In Singapore, drinking water is fluoridated at 0.7 parts per million.  That means that for every liter of water you drink, you are getting 0.7 milligram of fluoride.  Assuming an average person drinks 2 liters of water a day, over a lifespan of 80 years, he or she will be ingesting 40 kilograms of fluoride.  Many people drink more than 2 liters a day.  Fluoride is a known neurotoxin and carcinogen.  In fact, it is one of the most harmful substances known to man, almost on par with mercury.  Fluoride has been implicated in osteoporosis, arthritis, endocrine disorders, infertility, certain cancers, dementia, ADHD and autism.  All these diseases have been on the rise since fluoridation began in 1956.

I strongly encourage you to watch the following two videos which highlight the dangers of fluoridating drinking water:

http://www.fluoridealert.org/ You will see a video screen entitled, “Professional Perspectives on Water Fluoridation”.  Click on the “Play” button to watch the video.

The Fluoride Deception Video

You will learn there there is no solid science behind the purported benefits of fluoridation.  You will learn that fluorides are toxic, chemical waste products of American industry.  These industries found a clever way of cheaply disposing of them without further treatment to make them non-toxic:  by convincing the water authorities that adding fluoride to drinking water will prevent tooth decay.  Once again, we find our local health authorities merely “parroting” the official statements of organizations like the FDA, AMA, ADA, WHO, etc., without doing any independent research or literature review of their own.  These are the same organizations that used to say that smoking is safe; encouraged women to smoke, and that lead in petrol is safe.  We now know these to be untrue.

Even the American Dental Association (ADA) has issued an official statement warning that infants should not be fed formula milk made up from fluoridated water because the levels of fluoride in that water may be harmful to the infants.  Yet, our local health authorities have not looked into this issue at all and mothers in Singapore still prepare infant formula with regular, fluoridated water.

Richer households can simply circumvent this problem by installing expensive water filters to remove the fluoride.  Poorer households cannot afford to do so.  They are thus most vulnerable to the cumulative toxic effects of fluoride.

If you would like to learn more about the dangers of fluorides, do visit the videos page of the Fluoride Action Network’s website:

http://www.fluoridealert.org/videos1.html

The following is an executive summary of the best-selling book, “Beating Cancer With Nutrition” written by world-renown nutritionist, Dr. Patrick Quillin, PhD (who is a Christian by the way).  He specialises in the treatment of cancer by nutritional and herbal medicine.  Highly recommended for cancer patients or those who are in remission, to prevent cancer recurrence!

You can also listen to his audio CD which is a condensed version of his book by clicking here:  Beating Cancer with Nutrition CD

For more information about Dr. Patrick Quillin, go to:  http://www.patrickquillin.com/home.html.

Executive Summary of Beating Cancer With Nutrition

IF YOU ARE TOO SICK TO READ MUCH,THEN READ THIS SECTION

21 days to a healthier cancer patient

“Dance as if no one is watching. Work as if you don’t need the money.” Anonymous

BEATING CANCER THROUGH:

DAY 1: HOPE, OPTIMISM, AND A FIGHTING SPIRIT

Focus on the parts of your body that are working properly, not on the cancer. Since you are alive enough to read this book, then something and perhaps quite a bit are working in your body. Give thanks for everything that you can think of. Thanksgiving is a healing balm on the body and soul.

What are your priorities in life? Have they changed since finding out about your cancer diagnosis? Have they changed for the better? Is it possible that cancer has become a life-threatening, yet valuable wakeup call for you?

We are all going to die. The question is not “if”, but rather “when”. For cancer patients, sometimes this “when” becomes a more immediate issue. But our finite lives should be an issue for all of us, all of the time. Life is precious. Not to be wasted. Many of us cram our days with minutia, trivial details. We spend too much time worrying about insignificant events and lose sight of the real issues in life:

• be here now
• value your mission
• cherish your friends and family
• savor sunsets and sunrises
• soak up the beauty and music and laughter and play that is all around you, but drowned out by the cacophony of crass commercialism
• be at peace with your Creator, however you conceive that Higher Power

People beat cancer all the time. But fear of death is not a reason to live. What do you want them to say at your funeral? “Look, I think she’s moving!!” Not going to happen. Begin today with a renewed sense of purpose and proper perspective for the truly memorable things in life. Build a fighting “can-do” spirit that will serve you well for the coming journey of treating your cancer. Find a “co-patient”, a loved one, or family member who is so supportive that they will keep you motivated when you have run out of steam.

Be enthusiastic. The word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek words meaning “God within”. With joy, enthusiasm, appreciation, and altruism, we literally become a conduit for God’s life itself.

DAY 2: KNOWLEDGE, OPTIONS, DATA GATHERING

While your doctor who made the cancer diagnosis may have a plan for you, it is probably not the only therapy that is appropriate for your cancer and may not even be the best therapy. You need to explore your options. In today’s society, getting information is easier than ever before. Get on the Internet and spend a few hours gathering data and phone numbers on who can help you with your particular cancer. The more knowledge that you have on the treatment and curing of your cancer, the more likely you are to make the right decision on which “wagon master” to choose for your vital treatment ahead.

Consider hyperthermia as primary or adjunctive therapy for your cancer. The following can provide a detailed report on doctors around the world who have a successful track record in treating your cancer:

• Janice Guthrie, Health Resource, ph.800-949-0090
• Greg Anderson, CancerRecovery.org, ph.800-238-6479
• Frank Wiewel, People Against Cancer, ph.515-972-4444
• Susan Silberstein, PhD, Cancer Education, ph.610-642-4810
• Steven Ross, PhD, World Research Foundation ph.520-284-3300

DAY 3: THE POWER OF NUTRITIONAL SYNERGISM

Synergism means that 1 + 1 = 3 or 500, but a whole lot more than 2. Synergism tells us that the combined efforts of certain factors yield more than what would have been expected. Do not rely on any “magic bullet” nutrient to beat your cancer. There are no such things. Your body needs the 50 recognized essential nutrients plus a couple of hundred other valuable nutrients that can only be found in a wholesome diet that is supplemented with the right nutrients.

“What is the most important part of a car?” Some people answer: “The engine.” Fine. Then I will give you an engine and let’s see you drive it home. A car, like a healthy human body, is composed of many essential parts. The most important part of the car is the one that is not working. In building a house, all of the raw materials must arrive in the proper ratio at the proper time, otherwise you cannot build a sturdy home. Same thing with the human body. Nutritional synergism says that when you gather the right nutrients together at the right time in the right ratio, the body becomes a lean, mean, disease-fighting machine. Nothing less will do in your quest to beat cancer.

DAY 4: STARVE THE CANCER

Cancer is a sugar-feeder. The scientists call it an “obligate glucose metabolizer”. You can slow cancer growth by lowering the amount of fuel available to the tumor cells. Americans have become humming birds in our constant consumption of sweet fluids and foods. The resulting constant high blood glucose levels yield many diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and yeast infections. Trying to beat cancer while eating a diet that constantly raises blood glucose is like trying to put out a forest fire while someone nearby is throwing gasoline on the trees.

Stop eating sugar. Eat very few sweet foods, including high glycemic fruits. Begin an exercise program to burn blood glucose down to a manageable level. Your cancer is not going to be happy as you begin to starve it. You will develop sugar cravings worse than you currently have. Ignore them and push through the discomfort.

Make fish and colorful vegetables the staples in your diet. Eat small amounts of fresh fruits at a mixed meal, which will blunt the rises in blood glucose. Use cinnamon liberally, since it helps to stabilize blood glucose. Take supplements of chromium and magnesium. I have yet to see a cancer patient beat the disease who continued to load up on the average amounts of sugar in our diet, which is 140 pounds per year per person.

DAY 5: AVOID MALNUTRITION

Cancer is a wasting disease. Over 40% of cancer patients actually die from malnutrition, not from the cancer. Cancer generates chemicals that lower appetite while increasing calorie needs. The net effect is that many cancer patients begin to lose weight. You cannot fight a life-threatening disease while malnourished. You need all the proper nutrition you can get to feed your immune system, which is your army assigned to killing the cancer cells. The backbone of the immune system is protein. If you cannot eat solid foods, then try the Dragon-slayer shake mentioned later in this book.

DAY 6: NUTRITION + MEDICINE= IMPROVED RESULTS

While chemotherapy and radiation can kill cancer cells, these therapies are general toxins against your body cells also. A well-nourished cancer patient can protect healthy cells against the toxic effects of chemo and radiation, thus making the cancer cells more vulnerable to the medicine. Proper nutrition can make chemo and radiation more of a selective toxin against the cancer and less damaging to the patient.

DAY 7: TURBOCHARGE YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

Your immune system consists of 20 trillion cells that compose your police force and garbage collectors. The immune system is responsible for killing the bad guys, any cells that are not participating in the processes of your body, including cancer, yeast, bacteria, virus, and dead cells. “Kill the bad guys and take out the trash.” That is what your immune system is supposed to do. But since you have cancer, something is wrong with your immune system: usually either stress, toxic burden, or malnutrition.

Eat well and take professionally designed nutrition supplements. Lower your stress levels. Use guided imagery to imagine your immune cells like sharks gobbling up the cancer cells. This technique really works!! Detoxify your body. The average American body has 1,000 times more heavy toxic metals than our primitive ancestors before the dawning of the industrial age. Toxins shut down the ability of the immune system to mount a good battle against the cancer cells.

As your cells divide billions of times daily, mistake cells are the inevitable consequence. These mistake cells sometimes grow into cancer cells, which your immune system recognizes as being defective and then gobbles them up like Pac Man. The average adult gets 6 bouts of cancer in a lifetime, yet only 42% of Americans will end up in a cancer hospital. The other 58% had a respectable immune system, which protected the person against defective cells rising up to become palpable life-threatening cancer. Get your immune system working and the end of your cancer is in sight. Nutrition products that have demonstrated an ability to bolster immune functions include: colostrum extracts (lactoferrin, transfer factor), whey extracts, aloe extracts, mushroom extracts (Maitake, AHCC), yeast cell wall extracts (1,3 beta glucan), IP-6 (phytic acid), ImmKine (Aidan 480-446-8181), and Essiac tea.

DAY 8: THE HEALING POWER OF WHOLE FOODS

It is amazing how simple the answer to cancer can be. Our brilliant researchers have spent 33 years and $50 billion of your tax dollars wrestling with the complex issue of curing cancer. Yet Nature has been solving the dilemma for thousands of years. All of us get cancer all of the time, yet magical ingredients in a whole food diet are there to help the body beat cancer. Ellagic acid from berries induces “suicide” in the cancer cells. Lycopenes from tomatoes help to suppress cancer growth. Genistein in soy, glutathione in green leafy vegetables, and S-allyl cysteine in garlic are examples of the new scientifically-validated cancer fighters of the 21st century.

You don’t have to wait for 7 years while some drug company goes through the $800 million drug approval process, nor for FDA approval, nor for a doctor’s prescription for some drug that has many toxic side effects and costs thousands of dollars each month. These miracle anti-cancer agents are waiting patiently at your nearby grocery store and health food store.

• Eat foods in as close to their natural state as is possible.
• Eat as much colorful vegetables as your colon can tolerate.
• If a food will not rot or sprout, then throw it out.
• Shop the perimeter (outside aisles) of the grocery store.

DAY 9: NUTRITIOUS AND DELICIOUS RECIPES

Now that you understand the importance of eating wholesome foods to beat your cancer, you will need some tips on making this food palatable. See Noreen’s chapter on “Nutritious & Delicious” for many great tasting recipes. I have hosted many a class with hundreds of cancer patients where we would tell them what foods might help them to beat their cancer. Women, in general, seem more receptive to these new cooking ideas. Men, in general, seem less interested in changing 50 years of eating habits. Gravy is not a beverage, contrary to popular belief in America. Those same men who turned their nose up at our recipe suggestions are now dead.

You are trying to take simple food straight from Nature and use healthy seasonings to make a quick and tasty meal. Crock pot, pressure cooker, steaming, and grilling are all wonderful means of cooking nourishing foods. Some produce is most nutritious when eaten raw, such as many vegetables and all fruit. A high speed blender can take any leftovers or foods that are not appealing and blend them in to a smoothie drink or a nice soup.

Try a couple of boiled eggs with a bowl of oatmeal and a half cup of cantaloupe for breakfast. Move on to a lunch with grilled chicken breast sandwich with spinach and onions, wild rice, a bowl of deep-colored fresh vegetables with homemade Italian dressing, and a half cup of raspberries for dessert. A sample dinner might be grilled halibut with lemon, baked sweet potatoes, fresh tomato slices with onions and homemade Italian dressing, and a dessert of a half cup of fresh papaya.

This is all nourishing food that you can learn to savor, easy to prepare, and easy to find at your local grocery store. And it will help you to beat your cancer.

DAY 10: HERBAL MEDICINE

There are thousands of herbs that have been used for thousands of years to treat cancer. None are guaranteed cures for all cancers, but many are non-toxic boosters of immune function and detoxification pathways. If you want just the basic herb that all cancer patients should be using daily, then start with garlic–as a food, seasoning, and/or pill supplement.

Many other herbs merit attention, as you will see in the chapter on herbs. Astragalus, echinacea, goldenseal, licorice, ginseng, ginkgo, ginger, Rhodiola rosea, and cat’s claw are on the golden hit parade of herbs to help you toward recovery from cancer. Work with a professional who can help guide you toward which herb is best for your disease, your therapy, your wallet, and your stomach tolerances.

DAY 11: HEALTHY FATS

While too much fat and the wrong kind of fat have been killing millions of Americans for the past 50 years, we are now finding a new form of fat malnutrition: deficiencies of the essential fats. Fish oil, borage or primrose oil, flax oil, conjugated linoleic acid (from the meat and milk of ruminants like cows and sheep), and shark liver oil are all fats that can help you to beat your cancer. For a simple starter, begin taking a few capsules of fish oil daily, preferably basic cod liver oil with all the good vitamin A and D still intact. You can also make a delicious, healthy Italian salad dressing by using flax oil, olive oil, water, vinegar, and some seasonings.

The right fats in your diet will feed the precious pathways for beneficial prostaglandins, which are crucial to beating cancer. Healthy fats line the cell membranes and help to lower blood glucose by making insulin more effective. Healthy fats make the immune cells more likely to recognize and destroy cancer cells.

DAY 12: MINERALS

Before modern agriculture, farmers would use manure and compost to nourish the soil before planting the crops. Today, we use only nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (N:P:K) as the basic fertilizer. With each passing harvest, the American soils and our bodies become more deficient in essential minerals for health. For instance, scientists have found that a dust speck of selenium (200 micrograms daily) can lower cancer incidence by 60% and raise immune functions dramatically. Deprive animals of magnesium and they spontaneously develop lymphoma. Some of our cancer epidemic in America is due to our serious and widespread deficiency in essential minerals.

Buy a basic mineral supplement, containing decent amounts of calcium, magnesium, chromium, and selenium. Add some kelp, which is rich in the trace minerals that are found both in the ocean and supposed to be found in your body fluid.

DAY 13: VITAMINS

Vitamins are the factory workers that get things done. Calories are the fuel for energy, and minerals are part of the structure or help vitamins to get things done. Most Americans are deficient in vitamins, even on the basic survival Recommended Dietary Allowance level. For a starter package, buy a quality broad spectrum vitamin supplement; then add extra vitamin C (1-4 grams per day), E (200-800 mg/d), green tea capsules, curcumin, and fish oil. If your stomach and wallet can tolerate it, take ImmunoPower (ImmunoPower.com or 800-247-6553), a convenient and cost-effective mixture of 87 nutrition ingredients or ImmunoPower EZ with 44 ingredients (GettingHealthier.com).

DAY 14: PROBIOTICS–FRIENDLY BACTERIA

Professor Elie Metchnikoff won a Nobel prize in 1908 for his work on the immune system. He later discovered the bacteria that makes yogurt (lactobacillus) and declared “Death begins in the colon.” Indeed, it may. And the colon and gut of most Americans are under siege by unfriendly organisms and free radicals.

When we eat nourishing food, our well-established colony of friendly bacteria in the colon eats yeast like a bird munches on insects. Many Americans eat too much fat, too much sugar, not enough fiber, and very little probiotic food (like yogurt and tempeh); take antibiotics (which wipe out all bacteria in the body, including the friendly bacteria); and subject ourselves to stress– all of which affects the balance of power between good and bad microorganisms in the gut. The net effect is an overgrowth of yeast, along with a deficiency of friendly bacteria that feed the immune system via the lining of the intestines. The yeast, which are there to degrade feces upon elimination, become hateful dictators in the gut. Many health problems result from what is called “dysbiosis” of the gut, or not having the right kind of microorganisms in charge.

Eat more fiber and no white sugar. Drink plenty of clean water. Eat yogurt daily or take a probiotic supplement. Make sure that you have a daily bowel movement. Use gentle herbal laxatives, like senna, if necessary. After 40 years of poor diet and chronic constipation, some people need colon flushing. Find a qualified expert to help on this issue.

At least 40% of our immune system surrounds the gastro-intestinal tract. For better or for worse, the status of our gut will begin the healing or the deterioration of a cancer patient.

DAY 15: WATER

Only one substance is found in all forms of life: water. Our bodies and the earth’s surface are composed of 2/3 water. Water is the most amazing substance on earth, providing the fluid of life in your body and the bathing solution for all cells in your body. Yet, most Americans do not get enough water and are drinking contaminated water.

Our water pollution situation in this country has been called “a ticking time bomb.” by the Environmental Protection Agency. We have used our rivers, lakes, and oceans as if they were sewers to dump unconscionable amounts of toxins. And we end up drinking that stuff. Pollution in our water supply is part of the reason for our growing cancer epidemic in this country.

Buy yourself a good water filter system and install it on your kitchen tap. Dual stage carbon filtration may cost $100-$200, with reverse osmosis costing two or three times that much. If need be, buy bottled water from a respectable vendor. Some bottled water is merely bottled city tap water with sugar added to make it taste better. Drink enough water to dilute your urine so that it is nearly clear in color and inoffensive in odor. Chronic dehydration first shows up in wrinkled skin, poor concentration, constipation, frequent infections, and eventually may appear as cancer. Water is your friend. Drink lots of clean water.

DAY 16: BREATHING

Cancer is an anaerobic growth. Healthy cells in your body are aerobic, meaning that they need oxygen. Cancer hates well-oxygenated tissues of the body. Lung tissue, which is well oxygenated, develops cancer as the result of smoking carcinogens and excessive “rusting” of tissue in the absence of antioxidants to protect the lung tissue. I have found lung cancer in non-smokers to be quite reversible if the person is willing to follow the guidelines in this book.

Of all nutrients required by the human body, oxygen is the most essential. We can go weeks and even months without food, days without water, but only a few minutes without oxygen. We are aerobic creatures by design. Cancer is the opposite. Unfortunately, many Americans breathe shallowly, thinking that sucking in our stomach is more important than diaphragm breathing to fully oxygenate our tissues.

Get some exercise. Do some yoga. Start breathing properly all the time. Lay on the floor with a book on your stomach. Begin breathing by pushing the book up and sucking in air to the bottom of your lungs. Continue breathing by filling the lungs fully and expanding your chest. Reverse the process on exhaling. This “belly breathing” will fully oxygenate your body to help make it less friendly to cancer cells, like shining sunlight on a vampire.

DAY 17: CHANGE THE UNDERLYING CAUSE

No one with a headache is suffering from a deficiency of aspirin. And no one with cancer has a deficiency of chemo or radiation. While these therapies might temporarily reduce tumor burden, they do not change the underlying cause of the disease.

Mrs. Jones might be suffering from metastatic breast cancer because, in her case, she is still hurting from a hateful divorce of 2 years ago, which drives her catecholamines into a stress mode and depresses her immune system; she goes to bed on a box of high sugar cookies each night; she has a deficiency of fish oil, zinc, and vitamin E; and she has an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone in her body. Her oncologist may remove the breasts, give her Tamoxifen to bind up estrogen, and administer chemo and radiation; but none of these therapies deals with the underlying causes of the disease. And it will come back unless these driving forces for the disease are reversed.

Find a nutritionally-oriented doctor (listed in the back of this book) and determine what got you into this condition, which will provide a detailed map on how to get you out of this situation.

DAY 18: IS CANCER AN INFECTION?

There is compelling evidence that some or many cancers are advanced infections. Medline literature shows us that stomach cancer is often from the bacteria Helicobacter pylori, liver cancer from the infection hepatitis, cervical cancer from the infection human papilloma virus, and more. Hence, the need to address the infection is crucial in reversing the cancer. Yeast (fungi), virus, bacteria, mycoplasma, and parasites are among the critters that dwell within us and can create life-threatening diseases, like cancer. There are over 400,000 different strains of yeast, of which 400 can cause diseases in humans. Yeast is the “undertaker and the ecologist”, decomposing all of life back to mother earth. Unfortunately, due to lowered vitality we are becoming premature victims of yeast and other infections. Just like wolves attack the weakest of the herd, opportunistic pathogens attack the weakest of cells within our body. Your mission is to make your body so full of wellness that there is no room for illness.

Take a simple urine test to see if you have a yeast overgrowth (Great Plains Labs 913-341-8949) or blood test (ImmmunoSciences 310-657-1077) to see if you have other infections. Your doctor will then:

• kill the infectious organism with prescription medication and/or nutrition supplements
• starve the yeast, by eating a diet that lowers simple carbohydrate intake
• make the environment uncomfortable for the infectious agent, by bolstering your body’s defense mechanisms

DAY 19: BEATING CANCER SYMPTOMS

“If the heat don’t kill you then the humidity will.” “And if the cancer don’t kill you then the side effects will.” Actually, both are worthy of your attention. Nausea, depression, insomnia, constipation, diarrhea, anemia, weakness, fatigue, pain, and more can be common side effects of cancer. Depending on how advanced your cancer is, your medical therapies being given, your general health, etc., you can reduce symptoms to a tolerable level. See chapter 27 in this book. This is crucial because some cancer patients just give up, after suffering too much for too long. Much of this suffering can be reduced by allopathic and naturopathic treatments. Pain and discomfort induce stress, which lowers immune functions, which can be a real show-stopper for cancer patients. Pain management is crucial for many cancer patients. Get help.

DAY 20: SELECTIVELY REDUCE TUMOR BURDEN

It is very likely that your body needs some help in removing 10 or 20 trillion cancer cells, in order to reduce tumor burden enough to get your own anti-cancer defenses up and running. Working with the information that you gathered on day 2 (know your options of treatment), begin the process of debulking your tumor. Surgery, chemo, radiation, immune therapies, and hyperthermia are all common options. The key here is “restrained” tumor debulking. Anyone can kill all the cancer cells in your body. A thimble full of arsenic will do the job. No more cancer cells. No more you.

Surgeons used to take the aggressive cowboy approach and remove all surrounding tissue near the tumor. Then they found that by removing too many lymph nodes, that lymphedema, or pooling of lymph fluid, could create such pain that amputation of limbs became necessary. “Remove the target organ” was the battle cry of many an oncology surgeon. The hemi-ectomy was the pinnacle of aggressive surgery, where the cancer patient with a sarcoma below the waist had the body removed from the waist down. The survival statistics of these poor victims were no different than sarcoma patients who did nothing. Pelvic exenteration, taking out all internal organs near the tumor, yielded no improvement in survival curves and a serious reduction in quality of life for the remaining months. “Maximum sub-lethal chemo” has been the mantra of many oncologists. Bring the patient to the therapeutic brink of death, and then salvage the patient if possible.

Find a doctor who will work with you on RESTRAINED tumor debulking. Just like the childhood fable of Goldilocks, you want a doctor to remove–not too much, not too little, but just the right amount of tumor mass. Your oncologist can be the beginning of your demise or can give your body some breathing room so that your natural host defense mechanisms can take over. Choose your doctor “wagon master” wisely.

DAY 21: ILLNESS AS A TEACHING TOOL

What have you learned since being diagnosed with cancer? How have your priorities changed? Do you see life differently? Do you appreciate sunsets and friends more? If so, then you are heading in the right direction toward healing. If not, then wake up.

In working with over 3,000 cancer patients individually and speaking to many thousands of cancer patients, there is a clear message in the appearance of a serious disease in anyone’s life. Illness can be an unavoidable teaching tool. You can ignore advice from friends and loved ones. But you cannot ignore a terminal diagnosis.

I have had my own health challenges and each has taught me much. We are here on this earth for a very limited amount of time. What are we doing with our precious time and talents? Are you a human being or a human doing? Do you hate more than you love? Take more than you give? See the glass as half empty rather than half full? Spend more time contemplating regrets than your dreams? Treat people with respect or victimize them? Understand your unique skills that the world needs?

Cancer is more than just a physical systemic disease. And it requires more than just good nutrition and medicine to cure. It is a wake up call of the highest magnitude. Cancer patients who heed the call become better people having experienced this acid bath, this gauntlet, this baptism of fire. Many a cancer patient has stood in front of an audience and said: “Cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me.” If you are nodding in agreement with this statement, then you are moving toward healing.

In Oriental language, “crisis” is written with two characters: one meaning “danger”, the other character meaning “opportunity”. Cancer is truly a dangerous disease. Nearly 600,000 Americans die from this disease annually. Yet, for thousands of cancer patients, the disease has forced them into rearranging their priorities and lifestyle. Respect your body, your “temple of the Holy Spirit”. Fill your mind and your hours so full of joy, passion, helpfulness, music, laughter, play, worship, thanksgiving, friends, family, and your work that there is no room left for cancer in your life. A diamond is nothing more than a piece of coal that was put under a lot of pressure. You can become a diamond through the healing of your cancer.

PATIENT PROFILE: BEAT ENDSTAGE TUBERCULOSIS

True story. The number one cause of death throughout most of the 19th century was tuberculosis. Galen Clark went to Yosemite Valley to die of endstage tuberculosis at age 42 in the fall of 1856. His doctor told him that coughing up chunks of his lungs meant he had up to 2-6 months to live. There was no cure for this disease. Clark reasoned that “If I’m going to die soon, then I’m going to die in Yosemite, the prettiest place I’ve ever seen.” He got happy. Scientists now tell us that happiness brings on the flow of endorphins, which supercharge our immune system and may slow down cancer.

Next, Galen Clark carved his own tombstone, thus accepting his mortality, a ritual that would give us all a better appreciation of our finite time on earth. He then started eating what was available in Yosemite in those days; clean and lean wild game, mountain trout, nuts, berries, vegetables, and lots of clean water. No sugar and no dairy products. He then began doing what he wanted to do, hiking and creating trails, in the place he treasured the most, Yosemite Valley. He didn’t die 6 months later, but rather 54 years later, just shy of his 96th birthday. He bolstered his “non-specific host defense mechanisms” with good thoughts and good nutrition.

Our bodies want to be well. There is an innate wisdom within all of life that knows how to fix disease. No one has to tell the scab on your hand how to heal properly. Your body knows what to do. We just have to give our body the proper physical and metaphysical resources to do its job right while purging our systems of toxins that inhibit healing.

Feed your mind the good thoughts of music, beauty, laughter, play, art, and friends; share a glass of wine or a cup of tea at sunset, and discuss the events of the day with a loved one. Feed your heart the good feelings of love, forgiveness, confidence in your abilities, a sense of purpose in your life, and a trusting relationship with your Creator. And feed your body good nutrients through diet and supplements, thus providing your body the raw materials that it needs to rebuild itself. You can recover from your cancer.

I have just read a short paper on why you should not get the flu shot, written by Dr. Joseph Mercola, who runs the world’s most popular website on natural health, visted by millions of people every day.  Much of what he says in the paper applies to the H1N1 vaccine as well.

Click here to download his paper:  http://balmofgilead.info/Flu-Shot.pdf.

Together with Barbara Loe Fisher, founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center (USA), Dr. Mercola hosted an audio presentation on the H1N1 flu hoax.  I strongly urge everyone to listen to it and learn why there is no compelling reason to fear the H1N1 influenza or get the vaccine:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/27/Obama-Declares-Swine-Flu-Emergency.aspx

He has just launched a website specifically to warn people about the H1N1 flu vaccine and post updates on this crisis: 

http://swineflu.mercola.com/sites/swineflu/home.aspx

Dr. Mercola is a Christian and osteopathic doctor.  Although he suggests yoga and meditation as ways to reduce stress, I would advise Christians to explore alternatives such as Pilates, exercise and Christian meditation as effective stress management techniques instead.

Finally, for this post, here are two Powerpoint/Flash slide presentations (with audio) from Neil Z. Miller, founder and president of ThinkTwice Global Vaccine Institute:

On the influenza vaccine:  http://www.thinktwice.com/flu_show.htm.

On the link between vaccination and autism:  http://www.thinktwice.com/aut_show.htm.

The bottom line is this:  vaccines are not safe.  They are medical procedures that carry risks of injury.  Hence, we need to make an informed choice whether the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

Well barely half a year after the world woke up to the threat of another potentially dangerous flu bug – the H1N1 viral flu bug – pharmaceutical companies have been working overnight to come up with vaccines for it and these have become available worldwide even as I write.  Our Ministry of Health has ordered 1,000,000 shots of it and are now offering these to first of all, frontline healthcare workers and next to the polyclinics and finally to private clinics.  It appears that there may not be enough to go around, so hurry!  If you want a shot, better tell your doctor about it and he will reserve stocks for you, so advises the MoH.  But should you get the vaccine?

It costs anywhere between S$20 to S$30 to get a vaccine shot, similar to the regular flu shot.  I guess the ones that will be laughing all the way to the banks are the pharmaceutical companies.  Just do the mathematics.   A million doses at say, S$29 per dose (that’s what the polyclinics are charging), and that works out to S$29,000,000.  If they manage to convince the whole population to get the shots, then multiply that by four times:  more than S$100,000,000.

What we need to know that the H1N1 flu is not any more lethal than regular flu.  In the tropics, with strong sunlight, the flu virus doesn’t even survive long.  The number of deaths worldwide so far has been very, very small (about 5,000 according to the WHO, assuming those figures are reliable), despite all the fear-mongering and the fact that people have not been vaccinated against it.  In Singapore, those who died from H1N1 were either already immune-compromised or had other medical complications.  Did you know that more people die of malaria in the world each year than the flu (about 1,000,0000, that’s 100 times more)?  How come governments are not committing billions of dollars to protect the vulnerable from malaria?  How come we do not read much about the disease at all in the popular press?  And do take note that vaccines and flu drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza carry risks.  The evidence that they really work is scanty at best.  Besides, did you know that you can nourish and support your immune system so that you can fight off many types of infections?  I for one have not taken any cold or flu medication for 8 years.  So who says that you need vaccines and drugs to fight the flu?

Before you consider going for a H1N1 vaccine shot, I think it is advisable that you take a look at these videos by Dr. Lorraine Day (some of the things she says will probably shock you):

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oEOP9m8hl0&feature=related

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ldNgo6h8N8&NR=1

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoHreYwwb_g&feature=related

Part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvlE1nysMXk&feature=related

Part 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv4wfGyO-q0&feature=related

Part 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SQmu429gR4&feature=related

There is a series of excellent articles written by Evelyn Pringle on the Profit Driven Swine Flu Propaganda on the NaturalNews.com website that you should also read:

http://www.naturalnews.com/027294_swine_flu_vaccines_H1N1.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/027301_swine_flu_influenza_pandemic.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/027310_swine_flu_health_Tamiflu.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/027336_swine_flu_health_propaganda.html

Two more parts will be coming out soon.

Be sure to check out the previous posts that I made on what you can do about the flu:

http://pinkofhealth.biz/blog/?p=818

My wife and I just watched the tear-jerking movie last night – My Sister’s Keeper. 

It tells the story about a teenage girl who is in terminal stages of leukemia and how the younger sister (who has been genetically conceived to be a biological match for her sick sister) decides to fight her parents legally for the right to decide what to do with her own body, instead of giving up body parts to save her dying sister.  Be warned:  you must bring enough tissue to the cinema!

To watch a trailer, go to:  http://www.mysisterskeepermovie.com/#home

After the movie, I kept thinking to myself:  why is it that conventional medicine (oncology) does such a poor job with treating cancer?  In the 1970s, President Nixon of the United States declared war on cancer.  Yet despite the passage of nearly 40 years and billions of dollars spent in research, we are still far from finding a safe, effective cure on cancer.  The USA and other countries have successfully sent man to the moon and beyond.  But our best scientists cannot even control and tame a malignant growth inside our body successfully without doing further damage to the body.  What conventional oncology has to offer is surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.  These treatments don’t heal the body.  They may shrink the tumor for a while but after the treatment is over (assuming the patient survives), the cancer returns with a vengeance because the body’s own immune system is already severely weakened.  Yes, in the last few years, smart drugs have been developed which are supposed to target only the cancer cells and leave normal cells unharmed.  However, these drugs tend to be very, very expensive.  They are out of reach of ordinary folks, unless you are heavily insured.   It is sure to send most common folks into personal bankruptcy if they try those drugs.  Most of them only extend life by a matter of months (to quote Dr. Keith Block).

I have just come across a series of three short videos by Lorraine Day, MD, on the dangers of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.  I strongly encourage you all to watch it and learn of all the devastating effects of conventional cancer treatment.  Dr. Lorraine Day survived serious breast cancer by adopting a wholly natural program based on diet, detoxification and supplements.  She refused major surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and is still alive after 17 years.  She was formerly chief of orthopedic surgery at San Francisco General Hospital and an Associate Professor in the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.

Go to the following YouTube links to watch the videos:

Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q2G1rHMOYc&NR=1

Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCb-4VT26yY&feature=related

Part Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OULfQjyxsSc&feature=related

I have just gotten hold of the full scientific paper written by Dr. David L. Macht in 1953 about the fascinating experiment he and his colleagues (at Johns Hopkins University) did on the effects of the flesh and blood of clean and unclean animals on plant growth.  I am really excited about it and would like to share it with you all.  Please do take time to read it as it is not very long.  The results were simply amazing.  100% correlation was achieved.  Every animal that the Bible called unclean was found to be phytotoxic.  Those animals that were classified as clean were not.

Click on the following link to read:  http://balmofgilead.inf/Macht1953.pdf

Please note that keeping the dietary laws has nothing to do with spiritual acceptability or holiness.  It is all about health.

For a fuller grasp about the Old Testament Dietary Laws, please read the article which I wrote on this subject:

http://balmofgilead.info/?page_id=91

Together with Dr. Macht’s research paper, I hope it will fill us with wonder at the wisdom and kindness of God!

To quote Sir Isaac Newton:  “The Scriptures of God are the most sublime philosophy.  I find more such marks of authenticity in the Bible than in profane history anywhere.”

Posted by James Ong

Here are four fascinating scientific papers coming out of Japan documenting the immune enhancing effects of forest walks.  The Japanese call them “forest baths”.  They stimulate production of NK (Natural Killer) cells and their activity; the expression of anti-cancer proteins and reduce levels of stress hormones (adrenaline) on a significant basis!  NK cells are of course one of the most important internal defense mechanisms against cancerous cells.  It was found that the effect lasts for 7 days or longer.  Interestingly, they could not find the effect for city walks.  So retail therapy (walking along Orchard Road) doesn’t seem to confer any benefits.  One of the papers call forest walks a form of “natural aromatherapy”.  Forest trees and plants emit phytonicides which are believed to play a part in enhancing the body’s immune system.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18394317

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18336737?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=1&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17903349?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=2&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19568839?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=3&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed

It is therefore great for everyone and especially anyone with immune challenges to go on such walks on a weekly or fortnightly basis.  Besides the immune-enhancing effects, they will be getting a good exercise, breathing in pure air and getting lots of sunshine and Vitamin D (which also boosts immune function).

King Solomon was into something because the Bible records that he named his palace, the “House of the Forest of Lebanon”.  He built his palace like the famous forest, surrounding himself with cedars and cypresses and other fragrant trees/plants everyday!

For those who have never gone on long walks, always start modestly.  Begin with 30 minute walks and build up to 2 hours gradually.  Doing them weekly or fortnightly would be a great self-help program for restoring or maintaining optimum immune function.

If you are a regular reader of the Straits Times, you may have caught my letter which was published on the Forum page on October 20, 2009, calling for a paradigm shift in the regulation of foods and supplements.  Click on the link below to read the published letter:

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_444175.html

As there is a word limit on the letters that ST Forum publishes, important details were left out.

I am reproducing below the full contents of my letter:

PARADIGM SHIFT NEEDED IN CERTAIN ASPECTS OF HEALTHCARE POLICY

I refer to the letter entitled, “HPB shouldn’t be playing catch-up on healthy diets,” written by Mr. Richard Seah.  I strongly agree with his view that the HPB has not been at the forefront of nutritional science and as a result, the public does not always get the right information on what truly constitutes healthy eating.  The problem goes deeper however.

I feel that the three government agencies that are responsible for safeguarding and promoting the health of Singaporeans – the HPB, AVA and HSA – have not done a good enough job so far in fulfilling their objectives.  Here’s why.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable (also known as chronic, degenerative) diseases are the major cause of death in almost all countries today – whether rich or poor.  Statistics for Singapore show that such diseases account for 83% of all deaths in this country in 2002.  That’s 15,000 deaths out of 18,000.  The economic cost to the country of these diseases is enormous, not to mention the emotional, psychological and financial distress they bring to the patient and their loved ones.  Since 2002, little has changed.  Cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and other chronic diseases continue to claim about the same number of lives each year in percentage terms and have remained among the top ten leading causes of death in Singapore year after year.  It was not always so.  In 1950, statistics for Singapore showed that cancer and CVD was quite rare then (cancer was not even listed in the top ten).  So, we have not made real progress, despite all that conventional medicine promises.  If we compare with the progress made in IT and aeronautics, conventional medicine has performed very badly indeed.

The WHO estimates that 80% of premature heart disease, stroke and Type II diabetes and 40% of cancers can be prevented through healthy diet, regular physical activity and avoidance of tobacco products.  That is without supplements.  If one adds supplements and mind-body techniques to the protocol, many of these diseases can be effectively overcome.  Yet, despite the strong and indisputable link between diet and chronic, degenerative disease, distributors of health foods and supplements are not permitted to make health and therapeutic claims on their products.  This defies simple logic.

What is especially ironic is that books on nutritional therapy, herbal medicine and other forms of natural medicine are allowed to be freely sold in Singapore.  Such information is also easily accessible on the Internet, radio and TV.  Yet, for some strange reason, this same information is not allowed on foods and supplements.

Examples of prohibited health claims include chromium and its effect on blood sugar metabolism, selenium an its effect on cancer prevention, Vitamin D and its immune-enhancing benefits, folic acid and its role in preventing neural tube defects, probiotics and immune health, melatonin and sleep benefits, etc.  CoQ10 was not permitted to be sold in Singapore for many years despite its tremendous benefits for cardiovascular health.  Vitamin K, which is crucial for building strong bones, preventing osteoporosis and reversing arterial calcification, continues to be prohibited.  All this in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence documenting the therapeutic benefits of these nutrients.

It often saddens me that casinos are being built on this island-state and sexually explicit, coarse language or violent materials are allowed in videos, films and magazines in Singapore while foods and supplements that have documented health benefits are not allowed to carry health and therapeutic claims or worse still, are prohibited outright.  Why are the authorities permitting the “evil” while gagging/suppressing the “good”?

Practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM, e.g. those practicing TCM, therapeutic massage, aromatherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, naturopathic, ayurvedic, herbal and nutritional medicine) rely on foods and supplements as a large part of their treatment protocol.  Denying the health and therapeutic benefits of such products is tantamount to denying the value of these professions in the treatment and alleviation of disease.  It should be borne in mind that what is termed CAM is actually “original” medicine, relied on by millions of people through the ages for health and wellbeing.  And conventional medicine is actually “later” medicine (only blossomed in the last 100 years), which has proven to be quite ineffective in the prevention and treatment of chronic, degenerative diseases and, besides, carries many potentially toxic side effects.

What is urgently required is a paradigm shift in the way these organizations regulate the industry and market.  While one would not consult a marine engineer if his sports car is developing engine problems, we continue to form panels of “experts” to regulate food and supplements who have received little or no training in CAM and may have no experience whatsoever with reversing health conditions using food and supplements.  These “experts” are invariably trained in allopathic (conventional)/pharmaceutical medicine or dietetics (which, as a profession has committed itself not to encroach on conventional medicine’s turf).  In their world view, only approved pharmaceutical drugs, prescribed by conventional MDs, can treat and overcome disease.

Hippocrates, the Father of Western Medicine said, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.”  There is a Chinese proverb that states that the cause for disease is linked to what we put into our mouths.  There is so much truth and wisdom in these ancient sayings.  Let’s hope that the authorities respect our diverse ethnic and cultural roots and create a level playing field for all legitimate parties involved in healthcare.  One that does not stifle the efforts of the private sector – be they distributors of health foods and supplements or practitioners of natural medicine – by suppressing truthful health information from being communicated to the public.  Since the authorities have not done a very good job with overcoming the prevalence or reversal of chronic, degenerative disease, the private sector should be given a freer hand, even encouraged, to play a bigger role in promoting and safeguarding the health and wellbeing of Singaporeans.

Do make it a point to read Richard Seah’s as well as Dr. Yik Keng Yeong’s letters.

I recently got hold of Dr. Andrew Weil’s latest book, “Why Our Health Matters,” published by Hudson Street Press, a division of Penguin Books.  I’ve started reading a few chapters and must say that this is a very good book indeed!  Dr. Andrew Weil is one of my favorite authors.  He is of course a world-renown authority on Integrative Medicine, which combines the best of conventional medicine and complementary & alternative medicine for the most effective treatment of many diseases.  I strongly recommend his latest book to anyone who is concerned with improving his/her own health while managing his/her own healthcare costs at the same time.  I feel that healthcare policymakers and healthcare professionals (especially MDs, pharmacists, anyone trained in conventional medicine) should also read this book.

The following is an excerpt taken from the book.

Chapter 1

You Have a Right to Good Health Care

“I now understand that when you lose your health, nothing else that you have matters. All you can think about is being well again.”

That’s what a patient of mine said to me recently, a woman in her mid-sixties who was well until a sudden painful illness, an inflammation of bones in her pelvis, disabled her completely and landed her in a hospital. Even with bed rest and aggressive drug treatment, her recovery was slow. For several weeks she lost control of her life, felt helpless and dependent.

It often takes an experience like this to make us realize the paramount importance of health. Without it, the worth of life diminishes.

I have long taught that health is an individual responsibility. It is up to you to learn how to maintain it and to protect your body’s potential for self-healing as you go through life. No doctors, no treatments, no system can do this for you or force you to do it on your own. Medical professionals and institutions can help, however, by improving your understanding of health. They can inform you about the influence of lifestyle choices on your risks of disease. They can provide preventive medical services to protect you from common serious conditions—for instance, by immunizing you against infectious illnesses and screening you for forms of cancer that are curable if detected early. They can identify and explain problems that require expert diagnosis and treatment, and then guide you in selecting the best therapy. Usually, the health-care establishment will be there for you if you are a victim of trauma, suffer a heart attack, or need other emergency medical or surgical attention.

I believe strongly and passionately that every American has a right to good health care that is effective, accessible, and affordable, that serves you from infancy through old age, that allows you to go to practitioners and facilities of your choosing, and that offers a broad range of therapeutic options. Your health-care system should also help you stay in optimum health, not just take care of you when you are sick or injured. You should expect and demand this of your country, whether you are rich or poor and whatever the circumstances in which you live. A free democratic society must guarantee basic health care to its citizens—all of them—just as it guarantees them basic security and safety. It is in society’s interest to do so: The healthier our population, the stronger and more productive we will be as a nation.

Our Declaration of Independence identifies life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as inalienable rights of all persons. A stated intent of our Constitution is “to promote the general Welfare.” These documents say nothing about the right to good health. Yet, as I’ve said, without health, life is diminished. Loss of health restricts lib¬erty as much as imprisonment does. Without health, the possibility of happiness is drastically reduced. To enjoy our inalienable rights we must be healthy, which means we must also have access to good health care.

Too many Americans today do not have that. In fact, we do not have a “health-care” system at all. Instead, we have a disease management system that is horribly dysfunctional and getting more so every day. Our health is deteriorating, and we have the high¬est percentage of uninsured citizens of any democratic society; no other nation comes close. With unemployment rising at an alarming rate, great numbers of Americans are losing their health insurance along with their jobs, further swelling the ranks of the uninsured. This is unacceptable if we want our nation to be a model democratic society.

We used to boast that American medicine was the best in the world, and once upon a time, it was. Today, with limited exceptions, that is no longer true. Even in some of our most prestigious medical centers the quality of care is poor, with nursing services in short sup¬ply and hospital-caused illness on the rise. In fact, we are beginning to see a trend toward outsourcing of care to other countries. Our citizens—American citizens—are going to first-class hospitals in Belgium, Thailand, and India for hip replacements, coronary artery bypasses, and reconstructive surgeries. Patients here are dissatisfied, frustrated, and increasingly angry about insufficient attention from doctors in managed care settings, the impersonal nature of medical encounters, and the adversarial attitude of insurers, not to mention the staggering costs of prescription drugs, medical tests and proce¬dures, and hospital services.

I am sure you or people you know have had disastrous interactions with our so-called health-care system, resulting in physical, emotional, or financial harm. Almost daily I hear medical disaster stories from patients, colleagues, friends, and those I meet when I give talks on the subject. Some have been misdiagnosed and mistreated. Others have come out of hospitals and clinics with more and worse problems than they had when they entered. Still others have been denied health insurance because of common preexisting conditions. The most unlucky ones were denied treatments for life-threatening diseases because insurance companies deemed the treatments “experimental” or “unnecessary.” More and more Americans are taking their chances by going without insurance altogether—they simply can’t afford it. Without access to primary care physicians, they go to the emergency room instead of a doctor’s office.

Doctors, for their part, are dissatisfied, frustrated, and increasingly angry about losing autonomy to corporate bosses and payers. The emotional reward of the therapeutic relationship has dwindled because “the system” has limited the time of patient visits in order to save money. Selection of treatments is dictated by policies of reimbursement, not by practitioner judgment and experience. Many good doctors are leaving the practice of clinical medicine. In the past few years a dismaying number of physicians have told me that they regret their choice of medicine as a career. A recent survey of U.S. primary care providers documents this trend: Nearly 50 percent said they would seriously consider getting out of medicine if they had an alternative. I cannot blame them.

Most people I talk to—patients, doctors, and other health-care providers—feel powerless to do anything to change the cost of health care, its impersonality and the minimal time allowed for visits, or the reimbursement practices of insurers. Most of us feel as if we are up against implacable forces and institutions that are beyond our influence.

You know all this, or most of it. There are plenty of words in print and online that document the medical establishment’s dys¬function and accelerating collapse. You don’t need me to give you more depressing details, facts, and figures or make you feel more anxious and angry about the colossal mess that is American health care.

What you may not know and what I must emphasize, even if you have heard it before, is that we spend more per capita on health care than any other nation in the world—by a long shot. Yet, by virtually every measure of health outcomes, including longevity, infant mortality, fitness, and rates of chronic diseases, we are at or near the bottom compared to other developed countries. We are paying more and more and have less and less to show for it. We are also paying more and more for health insurance plans that cover less and less. The average American family’s premiums now exceed the gross annual income of a full-time minimum wage worker.

Costs of medical care have spiraled out of control, rising at such an accelerating rate that they have become a leading cause of personal bankruptcy. (Every thirty seconds someone in America files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a personal health problem.) Despite a citizenry so clearly in dire need of help, when I listen to talks about health care in America, especially from politicians and candidates for high office, I hear next to nothing about the real causes of the present crisis or the radical changes required to address it. I do not mean “radical” in the political sense—that is, left-leaning solutions such as socialized medicine in which the government runs the show. The word comes from the Latin, radix, meaning “root,” and only changes that go to the root of the health-care crisis can save us from disaster. Most commentators assume that the root problems are (a) how to give more people access to the present system and (b) how to pay for it. I strongly disagree.

The challenge is not figuring out how to give more people access to this disintegrating system. The challenge is to envision what we can create to replace it. In this book I will give you a picture of the kind of health-care system that America should have and that every citizen should demand. I will focus on medical philosophy and practice, my areas of expertise. I am not an expert on policy or medical economics, and therefore I will not make recommendations in either of those areas. It is the government’s job to find the money for the new system, and it should—must—recoup the millions of dollars lost to the present system’s administrative waste. The government must also end the abuses of those individuals and corporations in the health-care industry that are making outrageous profits while so many Americans cannot afford to buy health insurance or pay their medical bills.

I believe I have a unique perspective on the problem. I have worked for three decades to promote health, to encourage greater self-reliance and responsibility for well-being, and to transform medical education and medical practice in the ways needed to sup¬port a radically new and better health-care system for our country.

It is obvious to me that the root of the crisis is unmanageable costs. Over the past hundred years medical bills have gone up steadily and relentlessly. Worse, the rate of increase has accelerated, especially in the past few decades. Maybe the insane amounts of money that we spend on health care would be justified if they resulted in superior health of Americans, but, as I’ve said, they do not.

To understand how health care in our country has become the disaster it is today, just follow the money as it makes its way to the big health insurers, manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and for-profit hospitals, and into the pockets of their breathtakingly overpaid executives. If we cannot contain these costs and stop their accelerating rise, there will be no solution to the crisis and no hope of avoiding catastrophe. The best superficial fixes will merely postpone the inevitable. Even an efficient and fair system of national not-for-profit health insurance for all Americans will eventually be taken down by unmanageable costs. (Runaway costs will also sink the health-care systems of other countries, even those that now seem to be faring better than ours—Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan, to name a few. Sooner or later the crisis that has brought American health care to its present sad state will engulf all developed countries.)

Why is health care so expensive?

I have two answers to that question:

First, because we give little more than lip service to the prevention of disease and the promotion of health, the whole industry of health care is geared toward intervention in established disease—much of it preventable. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is more than a cliché; it is a profound truth that translates directly into dollars spent.

Second, the kinds of interventions that the present system favors are expensive because they depend on costly technology. The Congressional Budget Office reports that 50 percent of recent in¬creases in the cost of health care are attributable to the introduction of new technology. (I include pharmaceutical drugs in the category of treatments dependent on expensive technology.)

Our long-term goal must be to shift our health-care efforts from disease intervention to health promotion and disease prevention. That does not mean withholding treatment from those who need it. My concept of prevention goes well beyond immunization, sanitation, and diagnostic screenings. I am suggesting that the time has come for a new paradigm of preventive medicine and a society-wide effort to educate our citizens about health and self care. This must include the creation of incentives and disincentives to encourage people to make better lifestyle choices, better in that they reduce risks of the chronic dis¬eases that now absorb so many of our health-care dollars. I realize that this is a tall order, requiring that the government, private sector, and individuals all pull together and move in the same direction, but it must be done.

Breaking dependence on costly high-tech medical interventions will necessitate making fundamental changes in medical education and practice as well as rethinking the nature of health and healing, the role of treatment, and our expectations of medicine. Without a transformation of medicine we cannot have the health care we so desperately need: health care that is effective, serves everyone, and does not bankrupt us individually or collectively. It can happen. It is happening. I lead an effort at the University of Arizona to train doctors in “integrative medicine,” which values low-tech methods such as dietary change, exercise, breath control, and stress management as alternatives to outrageously priced pharmaceutical drugs. In fact, my work to advance this new field has provided part of the inspiration to write this book, because its early success makes me absolutely certain that it is key to getting American health care back on course.

My two main objectives in writing this book are to convince readers that we must:

1. Change the focus of health care in this country from disease management to prevention and health promotion.

2. Minimize interventional medicine’s dependence on expensive technology.

By taking these two fundamental actions I am certain that we will stop and then reverse the relentless rise of the cost of health care that has caused all the trouble. It is the radix—the root problem that must be addressed.

To get you to share my vision, it is my job to convince you that these steps are essential for our welfare. Then I will call on doctors, allied health professionals, corporate America, and you—the citizen-consumer-patient—to join the effort to fix the system.

The Three Major Myths of American Health Care

As a first step I would ask you to question a few powerful myths that support the massive enterprise of disease management that must be replaced.

Myth #1: Because America has the most expensive health care in the world, it must have the best.

Reality: The World Health Organization recently rated America thirty-seventh in health outcomes, on a par with Serbia.

Myth #2: Our medical technology is our greatest single asset.

Reality: We have powerful technology, but we misuse it and over-use it, driving up costs and worsening health outcomes.

Myth #3: Our medical schools and research facilities excel at creating the world’s finest physicians and most productive medical investigators.

Reality: Our medical and scientific infrastructure is extensive, but it is controlled by an almost fundamentalist orthodoxy that limits our ability to understand and promote health and to prevent disease. Medical education today omits whole subject areas of great relevance to those ends, including nutrition, mind/body interactions, and environmental effects on health. We train researchers to think simplistically and focus narrowly on single interventions directed at the physical body, especially pharmaceutical drugs. (The manufacturers of those drugs strongly influence researchers, practitioners, and the journals that report research results.)

I will discuss the power of these myths and my suggestions for moving beyond them in the following chapter.