Murray - What the drug companies wont tell you and your doctor doesnt know : the alternative treatments that may change your life--and the prescriptions that could harm you

MOST OF ALL, I would like to acknowledge my wife, Gina. Her love, support, and patience are the major blessings in my life along with our wonderful children, Alexa, Zachary, and our littlest angel, Addison.

I have also been blessed with many exceptional people whom I am very fortunate to be able to call my dear friends. In particular, I want to acknowledge the tremendous positive influence that Dr. Gaetano Morello has had on my life, as well as his generous assistance in helping me mold this book into its final form. Thank you, Gaetano. Others who deserve special mention for helping me conceptualize this book are Roland Gahler and everyone at Natural Factors, Dr. Joseph Pizzorno, and Dr. Michael Lyon. Thanks to you all.

Lastly, I am indebted to the team at Atria led by Judith Curr for all of their hard work in making this book as reader-friendly and practical as possible.

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A MATTER OF TRUSTMAKING MEDICINE OR MAKING MONEY?

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THE NUMBER ONE THING THAT THEY DONT WANT YOU TO KNOW

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AN OVERLOOKED GOAL OF HEALINGREMOVING OBSTACLES TO A CURE

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FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE VERSUS THE TREATMENT OF DISEASE

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IS SYMPTOM RELIEF A PATH TO BAD MEDICINE?

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CREATING A MARKET VERSUS PROVIDING A CURE

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EXPLOITING THE CHOLESTEROL MYTH

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DRUGS ARE LESS POWERFUL THAN OUR ATTITUDE

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DRUGS CANNOT OVERCOME A POOR DIET OR AN UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLE

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LOOKING BEHIND THE HEADLINES AND THROUGH THE BIAS

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HOW TO GET WELL

THE TERM CONVENTIONAL WISDOM was coined by the noted economist John Kenneth Galbraith in his book The Affluent Society , in 1958. According to Galbraith, conventional wisdom is established if it is simple, convenient, comfortable, and comfortingthough not necessarily true. Galbraith also said, We associate truth with convenience, with what most closely accords with self-interest or personal well-being. People want to believe conventional wisdom because it is indeed so simple, convenient, comfortable and comforting, even if it may not be true. And once conventional wisdom on any topic is accepted, it becomes difficult to prove otherwise.

In the United States, the medical establishment has created the conventional wisdom that drug-oriented medicine is the best form of medicine. Yet many of these drugs only make us feel better in the short term, while exposing us to the risk of dependency, producing side effects worse than the condition being treated, or actually causing the condition to worsen. These substantial risks, and the rising costs associated with a drug-oriented medical system, are creating an opportunity for change.

Change is definitely coming; in fact, we are in the midst of it. There has been a subtle revolution in medicine for years, and a new paradigm is emerging. A paradigm is a model used to explain events. As our understanding of the environment and the human body evolves, new paradigmsnew explanationsare developed. For example, in physics the cause-and-effect explanations of Descartes and Newton were superseded by quantum mechanics, Einsteins theory of relativity, and theoretical physics, which takes into consideration the tremendous interconnectedness of the universe.

The new paradigm in medicine also focuses on interconnectedness: in this case, of body, mind, emotions, social factors, and the environment in determining the status of an individuals health. And whereas the old paradigm viewed the body basically as a machine that can be fixed best with drugs and surgery, in the new, emerging model these measures are secondary to natural, noninvasive, techniques to promote health and healing. The relationship between the physician and the patient is also evolving. The era of the physician as a demigod is over. The era of self-empowerment is beginning.

NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE

By definition and philosophy most conventional medical doctors (M.D.s) practice allopathic medicinethe system of medicine that focuses primarily on treating disease rather than promoting health. In contrast, you may have noticed the N.D. after my name on the cover. This signifies that I am a naturopathic doctor. I graduated from Bastyr University with a doctorate in naturopathic medicinea system that emphasizes prevention, treatment, and the promotion of optimal health through the use of natural, nontoxic therapies. The scope of practice of an N.D. includes all aspects of family and primary care, from pediatrics to geriatrics, as well as the full range of human health conditions including cancer. Naturopathic medicine is based on seven time-tested principles:

1. First, do no harm. N.D.s seek to do no harm with medical treatment; therefore, they employ safe and effective natural therapies.
2. Employ the healing power of nature. N.D.s believe that the body has considerable power to heal itself. The role of the physician is to facilitate and enhance this process with the aid of natural, nontoxic therapies.
3. Identify and treat the cause. N.D.s are trained to seek the underlying causes of a disease rather than simply suppress the symptoms. Symptoms are viewed as expressions of the bodys attempt to heal, whereas causes can spring from physical, mental-emotional, and spiritual levels.
4. Treat the whole person. N.D.s are trained to view an individual as a whole, composed of a complex set of physical, mental-emotional, spiritual, social, and other factors.
5. The physician is a teacher. The word doctor comes from the Latin docere , which means to teach. N.D.s view our roles as primarily those of teachers: to educate, empower, and inspire our patients to assume more personal responsibility for their health by adopting a positive attitude, lifestyle, and diet.