alternative medicine Archives

The Voice of Hippocrates

Published on December 31, 2018

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The Hippocratic Oath, supposedly sworn to by all physicians when they graduate, is well known to contain the sentence “Thou shalt do no harm”. In spite of this, the “Table of iatrogenic deaths in the United States” (deaths induced inadvertently by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedure) lists 106,000 cases of adverse drug reactions, 98,000 cases of medical error and 37,000 cases of unnecessary procedures. Neither is this the complete table. I came across a September 2018 issue of “Life Extension” that discussed the use of preventive nutrition as an emerging medical methodology. Perhaps the most arresting statement made in this issue concerned the fact that about 250,000 Americans die from sepsis each year and that a recent study has shown that intravenous treatment with vitamin C, hydrocortisone and vitamin B1 reduces sepsis mortality by 87%. A statement like that should make headlines but it is very likely that it will be confined to a few physicians by association, at least for some time. A December 2018 issue of the magazine “Discover” claimed that Alzheimer’s disease is under attack and describes “lifestyle plans that improve brain health”. Our new book, “Thiamine Deficiency Disease, Dysautonomia and High Calorie Malnutrition” presents many case records of patients with symptoms that haunt thousands of doctor offices in the United States. The early recognition of these common symptoms as evidence of nutritional deficiency may well be a key factor in the prevention of much more serious disease.

Perhaps a short case history may help the reader of this website to be aware of the rising importance of a relatively new branch of medicine known as “Alternative Complementary”, sometimes as “Integrative”. The use of these terms indicates that the development of scientific medicine has come a long way, but that it needs an extension. The best developments are in surgery, but the removal of a sick organ as a therapeutic measure surely must be an indication of medical failure. When I was in practice, I was a member of a group of physicians whose medical fraternity was known as the “American College for Advancement in Medicine” (ACAM). Like all innovations, it has had to struggle for survival. Another group of like-minded physicians is known as the “International College of Integrative Medicine” (ICIM). There is no doubt that this branch of medicine is growing. However, in my association with friends, the idea of using nutrients in the treatment of disease is completely foreign to them. They are understandably baffled by telling them that dizziness, heart palpitations, and even fainting attacks could often be relieved by taking a simple vitamin supplement.

Nutrients, Energy, and Health

I will tell the story of an eight-year-old girl who had a lifelong history of extremely severe asthma. She was so allergic that she could not use any form of mattress and in fact she had been sleeping on a plastic lawn chair for years because of this. When I performed a clinical examination, I noticed that her body was covered with “goose bumps”. A reader may or may not be conversant with this phenomenon and it is likely that few would have any knowledge of why this occurs.

To give you an idea of the treatment that I chose, I must provide a simple explanation. At one time, the human body was covered with hair and if an individual was confronted with a dangerous situation he would get a well-known reflex known as the “fight-or-flight”. Each hair grew out of a tiny cavity in the skin known as a hair follicle and a tiny muscle known as erector pili (Latin for hair raiser) would be activated by this reflex, raising each hair to an erect position. It was thought that this mechanism in primitive hominins, (forerunners of the human race) by raising all the body hairs, would make the individual look much more aggressive in the confrontation. Well, most people have very little hair on the body but we have retained both the follicles and the erector pili muscles. “Goose bumps” are caused by follicles standing up on the surface of the skin as a result of the muscle contraction, even without the presence of a hair growing from the follicle. Some people will remember that a frightening situation may be associated with a feeling of hair rising on the back of the neck, another marker of this primitive reflex. Therefore, this child’s asthma was associated with at least part of the fight-or-flight reflex, known to be activated by the nervous system known as autonomic (automatic).

Because of my knowledge concerning nutrients and their reactions, I knew that thiamine deficiency would not only activate this reflex unnecessarily, but that it could produce an imbalance in the autonomic system that could result in bronchial constriction. Since giving a water-soluble vitamin like thiamine in a large dose could do no harm, I thought that it was worth trying. She began 150 mg/day of thiamine hydrochloride, readily available at a health food store. During the next five months she experienced only two mild attacks of asthma and her body weight had increased by 6.4 Kg. When I examined her chest, there was no evidence of wheezing. This remarkable increase in weight was probably because her energy metabolism had accelerated as a result of the introduction of an important factor in its production. She had grown to the normal body weight that she would have had if she had not had energy deficiency. You can perceive that the diversity of clinical expression was explicable from the single entity of thiamin deficiency, not several distinct diseases with separate causes.

The Practice of Medicine

Several factors enter into discussing a treatment that was not only completely safe, but derived from medical school training. It required knowledge concerning energy production and the effect of malnutrition in the nervous control of the body organs. It depended on a simple clinical observation and knowledge of its underlying mechanism.

The “practice” of medicine must surely indicate that the physician’s knowledge is expected to grow with clinical observation and experience. Since the body is a biochemical machine that relies on appropriate fuel for healthy and normal function, knowledge of nutrition is an essential element that has been sorely neglected in the modern world. Physicians have to understand how nutrition is turned into energy and then used for function. The present practice of medicine for the primary physician is almost confined to listening to the pharmaceutical industry in the production of the latest drug. The time allowed for each patient is restricted and it is no wonder that physicians are becoming disenchanted, often retiring earlier than usual. Surely we should be trying to follow the example set by “the father of modern medicine” in 400 BCE.

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Alternative Medicine 101 and the Fuel to Energy Equation

by Derrick Lonsdale MD, FACN, CNS

Published on May 21, 2018

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Whether we like to recognize it or not, the human body is a “hybrid”, meaning that it burns fuel and uses electricity for function. I have found that trying to explain Alternative Medicine is a very difficult task and so I am going to try to do it by using an advanced analogy. I am going to compare the human body with an automobile since both are machines that consume energy.

Of Engines and Fuel

At the average gasoline station, there are three different fuels to choose from. Each is calibrated to engine design. The owner of the automobile knows what fuel should be purchased because he has read the owner’s manual and was instructed when the car was purchased. Knowing which fuel is optimal and choosing that fuel are two different things. We know very well that putting the wrong gasoline into the car is not good for the engine, but oftentimes because of cost, we ignore this advice. We choose a lessor grade fuel. Hence we have millions of cars, some of which may break down because of this failure of choice.

Human beings have evolved from a more primitive species about which we know surprisingly little. However, we are all perfectly aware that the fuel was available throughout our developmental history. From our teeth design we are known as omnivores (an animal that can eat both meat, vegetables and fruit). Very early in our career we were “hunter gatherers”, meaning that we hunted animals for meat and gathered the nuts seeds and vegetation that were available as food. This is still the fuel that was designed for our machinery. Until very recently in our history, there was no food industry to supply us with the variety of processed foods that we have today.

Fuel Storage, Processing, and Transmission: Mechanics 101

Gasoline is stored in a tank: it does not run directly into the engine and it is not consumed until the engine is running.

Similarly, natural food yields a proper combination of protein, fat and carbohydrate, all of which are processed in the body. The primary fuel is glucose, extracted by chemical processes in the body from the food source. This is conveyed by the blood to the liver where it is turned into a more complex, multi-glucose molecule called glycogen for storage, equivalent to a gas tank.

Gasoline is directed from the tank into cylinders that contain pistons. The gasoline is ignited and the explosion drives the pistons connected to the transmission, thus passing the energy to the wheels. The only function required by the car is to move. Note that the engine is producing energy: the transmission is consuming it.

For the body, the process is more complicated but the principles are the same. All cellular action requires the glycogen to be broken down and released from the liver as glucose that now becomes the fuel source, conveyed by the blood throughout the body. This is an important step because storage of glucose in this manner enables it to be released in proportion to the need for action. It might be compared to fuel injection in an automobile.

The body consists of 70 to 100 trillion independent cells, all of which require energy to function. Each cell contains microscopic organelles known as mitochondria where energy is generated. This is done by “burning” glucose that is “ignited” by the action of vitamin B (Glucose + oxygen + vitamin B yields energy). The energy derived from ignition (oxidation) of glucose is stored in the form of a chemical compound known as ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Although an imperfect analogy, ATP can be thought of as somewhat like a battery. Every action, every function of the human body is dependent on this production of energy. ATP is often referred to as the currency of energy transmission

The automobile’s transmission is responsible for passing the energy derived from the engine to the wheels.

In comparison, it is the function of mitochondria to create energy. The next question is how that energy is used. Here there is a striking difference because the body uses that energy in renewing itself as well as dictating function. It uses energy consuming enzymes, chains of which are capable of converting a given substance A to another substance B to C etc. Chains of enzymes carry out the structural details of building new cells as the old ones die off. This is the equivalent of a transmission and energy is consumed.

Energy In Must Match Energy Out

From theses analogies, we can see that all the functions of the human body are detailed in terms of energy production and energy consumption. The production must always keep up with consumption. If the production is inadequate or the consumption is excessive, changes in cellular function follow. If that functional change is not spotted and treated by filling the deficit, cellular damage follows. This must be the basis of true preventive medicine

What about the driver of the car?

Well, until the driverless car becomes a reality, a human being must direct the passage of the car. If we extend the analogy, the driver is the brain that guides the car to its destination.

What about the driver of the body?

It might be said that the brain is the driver of the body. The body is merely a chassis that enables the brain to move around. It is the personality of every human and nothing happens in the body without the brain. Indeed, the brain can be compared to the conductor of an orchestra. The organs in the body are like banks of instruments, and like instrumentalists, they all know exactly what they have to do but require guidance from the conductor. In order to understand this analogy, the lower part of the brain organizes and computes the functions of all body organs through a nervous system known as autonomic (automatic) and a bunch of glands known as the endocrine system. The autonomic system is a two-way street, used for messages into the brain and out to the organs. The endocrine system produces hormones which act as messengers of the brain. When all of this works appropriately, the “symphony of health” follows. The brain uses a disproportionate amount of energy as compared with the rest of the body. It is therefore not surprising that brain disease is a reflection of a defective energy equation.

The present approach in medicine is to kill the offending bacteria and viruses that attack us. Alternative medicine, recognizing that the body possesses sophisticated defenses, seeks to assist those defenses by stimulating energy production by the use of nutrients. In other words, alternative medicine looks at correcting the energy equation as the basis for health.

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Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash.

Health Lessons from the Amazon

by Lisbeth Prifogle, MFA

Published on March 20, 2018

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The morning after I picked up my discharge papers from the Marine Corps, I boarded a plane bound for Peru. After 4 years of being told where, when and what to do, I decided that the best plan was to have no plan. Against the advice of my direct supervisor, parents and a lot of friends, I left for 2 months with the attitude, whatever will be, will be.

On the first morning in Lima, I met Dany, a tour guide – sorta, in my hostel. In America our tour guides accompany large groups of people around cities explaining the historical significance of buildings and areas. In Peru, tour guides have licenses, but their tours can be a little less formal. I was a single woman in a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language and I accidentally hired Dany as my personal guide along the Amazon for 2 weeks (I misunderstood and thought I was joining a group already going – oops! Whatever will be, will be).

We flew from Lima into Iquitos and from Iquitos took a riverboat along the Amazon for 15 hours. Not intentionally trying to get off the beaten path, I was the only gringa on the boat. The children were as fascinated with me as I was with them. We got off in a town with some electricity and running water thanks to an abandoned missionary. After a quick lunch, Dany hired a couple to take us on a peka-peka (a hand carved canoe with a little motor on it that made the sound, “peka-peka”) further into the abyss. A few hours down a smaller river and deep into the rainforest, we stepped onto the muddy bank and walked into a village of about fifty or sixty people. There was no electricity or running water and some of the younger children had never even seen a white person before.

We stayed with the village elders and the children came over to play with my hair, draw pictures in my journal and try to communicate with the strange, tall white woman who had mysteriously shown up with Dany. I tried their various foods and discovered that the Amazonian miracle foods that are sold here aren’t even comparable to the true miracle foods in the jungle. Down there food is life and life is a miracle. During my time in the rainforest, I learned that virtually everything that we can cure with a magic pill in America can be treated with a root or leaf brewed into a tea or soup. On the third day, I started to develop the symptoms of a urinary tract infection and was concerned that if left untreated it could travel into my kidneys. I explained to Dany my concerns about being so far away from a doctor or hospital if the infection got worst. He explained to me that he went to school in Iquitos to learn about medicinal plants before moving to Lima to become a tour guide. Dany placed his hand on my lower back, on my stomach, felt my forehead and said my kidney’s felt warm. He made a delicious tea of roots, berries and leaves and within an hour my symptoms were alleviated. I didn’t have any further problems during the whole trip. On another morning I complained of a headache and Dany concocted a remedy for it as well. It was clear that these people didn’t need health insurance, doctors, hospitals or pharmaceuticals. They simply weren’t plagued with incurable diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s, or autism.

Fortunately, I have always had great health and have never had to take a long-term prescription. I drink plenty of water, get plenty of sunshine, and hardly ever take OTC medications. However, now I wonder if I will ever be quick to reach for a bottle or prescription in the future. According to the CDC approximately half of Americans are on at least one prescription and many on multiple. Furthermore, CNN reports that: “Today, the United States consumes most of the world’s supply of opioid painkillers. By 2010, enough opioid painkillers were prescribed to medicate every American adult around-the-clock for a month. And every year, nearly 15,000 people die from overdoses involving these drugs… more than from heroin and cocaine combined.” And it’s not just the pharmaceutical companies that spent nearly 60 BILLION DOLLARS in 2004 on advertising, twice as much as they spent on research and development; last year the outgoing chairman of Aetna, the third largest health insurance company in the US, got a 68.7 MILLION DOLLAR farewell package. Is there a place for conventional medicine in my life? Yes, but only as a secondary resource or when it’s obviously necessary (I recently cut my hand open on glass and had to get stitches – in the jungle they probably would have wrapped it up in a leaf and I would have survived all the same). I go to doctors appointments prepared to fight the “take a pill, numb the symptom” approach to my health. Thanks to ProPublica, there is now a database which lists doctors that are on big pharma’s payroll. This database is not all-inclusive yet, but is growing and now list 761.3 million dollars of disclosed payments to doctors from 12 different pharmaceutical companies.

The lesson I learned in the Amazon wasn’t “down with pharmaceutical companies and western medicine,” although I do question our societies pill popping problem. The lesson was that health starts with our diet and lifestyle. We can’t all move to the Amazon or harvest and market their indigenous plants for our benefits, but we can learn from their way of life. The families that I briefly lived with woke up with a clear purpose each day – to survive. Their day was spent repairing their huts, farming, hunting, and caring for one another. They laughed, unfortunately a lot of it was at the silly gringa. They were out in the sun, drank water instead of soda, lived without cell phones, wireless Internet and computers everywhere they went. I don’t know if they live longer than we do, but I know they lived healthier lives without new diseases that can now be cured with a pill. The first thing I did when I came home was get rid of my smartphone and make it a daily habit to disconnect from the virtual world at least once a day. I also eat more whole foods, ask my doctor to find and fix the problem not the symptom, and I laugh, a lot, everyday.

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Photo Credit – Lisbeth Prifogle, 2009

This article was published originally in October 2014.