Gustavo Ferrer MD - Cough Cures: The Complete Guide to the Best Natural Remedies and Over-the-Counter Drugs for Acute and Chronic Coughs

C O U G H

C U R E S

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BEST NATURAL
REMEDIES AND OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUGS
FOR ACUTE AND CHRONIC COUGHS

G U S T A V O F E R R E R, M D &
B U R K E L E N N I H A N, R N, C C H

Moxie Life Press

Disclaimer: The information provided in this book is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. This book is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any medical condition. For diagnosis or treatment of any medical problem, consult your own physician. The publisher and author are not liable for any damages or negative consequences from any treatment, action, application or preparation, to any person reading or following the information in this book. References are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of books, websites or other sources.

The authors and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibilities for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents in this book. Readers are responsible for following the safety guidelines in this book. It is not possible to anticipate all possible circumstances. It may be necessary to seek conventional medical help even when the safety guidelines indicate that a condition is safe to treat at home. Readers are responsible for using common sense about when to consult their physician.

Photographs of Dr. Gustavo Ferrer, and of Nicole Ferrer on page 34: Jayson Escalona
Photograph of Burke Lennihan: Savas Studios
Photograph of romerillo: Forest and Kim Starr
Cover design and illustrations: Lets Write Books, Inc.

ISBN (paper): 978-0-9973307-0-0 0-9973307-0-8
ISBN (ebook): 978-0-9973307-1-7 0-9973307-1-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016904677

Copyright 2016 by Gustavo Ferrer, MD and Burke Lennihan, RN, CCH

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced, translated, electronically stored, or transmitted in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in their reviews.

Moxie Life Press, Weston, FL
www.coughcuresbook.com
Printed in the United States of America

D E D I C A T I O N

To the love of my life, Nicole, the inspiration for this book. You provide the best medicine to ALL you touch: Love.

To my beloved children, Diego, Amanda and Lauren. You are the highlight of my days. May you pass the knowledge from this book to the next generation. I am very proud of you all!

Dr. Gus

To all the courageous physicians who are pioneers in bringing natural healing to the world of mainstream medicine.

Burke Lennihan

C O N T E N T S

T A B L E S

S H O R T C U T G U I D E S

I L L U S T R A T I O N S

P R E F A C E

Health care in the U.S. is in crisis. Costs increasing by double digits every year are breaking the budgets of cities, states and the federal government, while 50% of what would otherwise be corporate profits are being eaten up by employee healthcare costs. Brilliant experts have proposed solutions: Stephen Brill in Americas Bitter Pill highlights huge charges even at nonprofit hospitals and proposes greater transparency plus integrated hospitals and insurance systems. Jonathan Bush, founder of athenahealth and author of Where Does It Hurt? , suggests bringing in disruptive innovationin the form of the latest cloud-based software for more efficient delivery of health care. Dr. Gilbert Welch in Overdiagnosed proposes fewer screening tests and interventions as a way to improve our health while lowering costs.

But what about the actual care being delivered? The best and most expensive health care in the world places the United States below all other industrialized nations, down among the developing nations, in many measures of public health. Nearly every other country in the world includes some form of holistic health carewhether herbal medicine, homeopathy or Traditional Chinese Medicineas part of its mainstream health care system, in the process saving money and ensuring better overall health for its citizens. In Francewith the best health care in the world, according to the World Health Organization

Cuba has notably achieved health outcomes comparable to ours at only 4% of the cost. Thats rightlongevity and other parameters similar to the United States for only 1/25th of the cost. How did they do it? To be sure, Cubas hospitals are shabby and dilapidated for lack of funds. One positive factor, though: faced with a shortage of drugs due to the embargo, Cuba developed its green medicine based on herbal and homeopathic medicines.

It is no coincidence that Dr. Ferrer is Cuban, scion of the green medicine tradition, as we propose a healthcare innovation as old as the hills and as new as the latest research in physics. This book is an attempt to bridge the chasm that now separates natural-health-seeking patients from physicians who prescribe pharmaceuticals. Every time patients use an inexpensive natural medicine that works, they are saving money for themselves and for the whole health care systembut research shows that they are not telling their doctors!

The change we propose is already happening in America. Consumers are taking matters into their own hands, searching the internet for natural solutions, finding herbs and remedies that work better than their prescribed drugs.

Meanwhile physicians are also quietly consulting holistic practitioners for their own health problems, as Burke Lennihan can attest, having faculty from Harvard Medical School and physicians from the Harvard teaching hospitals as clients in her homeopathy practice.

We present here practical information about treating coughs, for the patient and busy doctor alike, while summarizing more than 200 research studies to validate our recommendations. Especially hoping to welcome physicians, hospital administrators and insurance executives into the conversation, we have attempted to convey in this book the mutually respectful and appreciative relationship between the authors who created it.

The medical information in this book is the contribution of Dr. Gustavo Ferrer, who grew up in rural Cuba with his grandmother and her herbs acting as the village healer and pharmacy. He went to medical school in Cuba, where he discovered his professors secretly going home to their herbalist grandmothers when they became ill. Redoing his internship and residency after coming to this country, Dr. Gus has become a pulmonologist who uses herbal and homeopathic medicines in his own home and recommends them to his patients.

The information about natural medicines herein is from Burke Lennihan, who went to Harvard expecting to become a physician like her father but discovered natural healing instead. She then operated a health food store where she learned about herbal medicine (the old as the hills part of our proposal) and now practices as a homeopath (the new as the latest research in physics part).

Burke also credits conventional medicine with saving her life during a health crisis ten years ago. So we have two authors, each an expert in one aspect of the health care equation while rooted in and respecting the other aspect. From our own collaboration we hope to promote a positive and fruitful conversation, drawing on the best of both forms of health care to benefit our patients. We hope you will enjoy the reading of this book as much as we have enjoyed the writing of it.