Disinformation Book of Lists (34 page)

 

Here are tips to alleviate 11 common medical problems. In spite of proven track records and convincing research, they're not going to be offered to you at your traditional doctor's office. Ignorance keeps them from you in some cases; in others it's a malignant territorial protection racket. Here they are, by ailment with explanations from experts in the related fields.

1

Carpal tunnel syndrome – avoid surgery

Expert opinion:
Dr. James C. Edmondson, Brooklyn, New York, board-certified adult and child neurologist.

A pinched nerve in your wrist from repetitive motion or physical stress, Edmondson says, seriously weakens the most essential muscle in your thumb. When you flex and extend the weakened thumb, it may ache, so you tend to avoid using it. Instead you may claw or scoop at items using the four fingers.

In order to increase your range of motion while using just the fingers, you have to twist your forearms, arms, shoulders and neck into awkward positions. The chronic overuse of these muscles, Edmondson explains, creates nagging spasms throughout the upper half of your body, which can trigger back pain, chest pain, all types of headaches, blurry vision, ringing in the ears, numbness of face and tongue, floating sensations, loss of balance, and dizzy spells.

For these reasons, Edmondson says, thumb problems must be addressed by protecting the nerves from further injury and reducing stresses. Many undergo surgery unnecessarily. (Edmondson sees hundreds of patients a week for this condition and refers only about 1 percent of those for surgery—ten out of 1,000.)

Here's his full treatment protocol:

• Wear wrist splints while sleeping. While awake, too, if you like.
  
• Keep arms and hands warm at all times.
  
• Do stretching exercises every day for at least 20 minutes.
  
• Take hourly stretching breaks while working.?
  
• Relax tense muscles in a hot shower or bath (watch out if you have diabetes because it can impair sensitivity to heat).
  
• Use yoga exercises to help you relax muscles and mind.
  

At the same time, do not squeeze anything, like a ball or clay or sponge; do not repeatedly flex and extend fingers, lift weights or exercise with free weights, pull or stretch an elastic strap, or dangle heavy, filled plastic grocery bags from handles across fingers. Also, don't apply ice because it will knot muscles.

Edmondson is responsible for the neurological care of about 80,000 patients a year at Central Brooklyn Medical Group, P.C. He is a New York University Medical School developmental neurologist who identified the molecule neurons use to bind to and communicate with glial cells
.

2

Childhood middle ear infections – avoid dangerous misuse of antibiotics

Expert opinion:
Dr. Gerard Clum, President of Life Chiropractic College, Hayward, California.

Middle ear infection in children can cause severe pain and complications. Physicians usually treat it by giving an antibiotic. Studies have shown this to be of no use in curing the disease and dangerous because it sets up the potential for repeated infections by stronger and more antibiotic-resistant organisms, according to Dr. Clum.

Canada, he said, is the most aggressive in treating middle ear infections in children with antibiotics. The Netherlands does not use antibiotics at all in such cases. Studies show the rates of recovery and complications in the two countries are the same. While Canadians and Americans are wasting their money on antibiotics and contributing to their dangerous overuse, chiropractic practice offers a great track record in effecting cures through spinal manipulation.

Clum says blockage of the Eustachian tube causes such infections. Upper cervical spinal adjustment, he said, can aid muscular mechanisms in normalizing the Eustachian tube. But pediatricians continue to write prescriptions.

“I wouldn't take my dog to a chiropractor,” he remembers the ophthalmologist telling his dad. That was the moment Dr. Clum decided to become a chiropractor. What the ophthalmologist called a miracle—his restored good vision—he knew, even at age twelve, had been brought about by chiropractic manipulation. In the intervening 30-plus years, the prejudice of medical doctors against chiropractors has been slow to decline. Few M.D.s write referrals to chiropractors. A national survey showed that among 36 percent of physicians who said they believed spinal manipulation would be helpful for lower back pain, only 2 percent would make a referral in such a case.

3

Cardiovascular disease – preventative/restorative known and slighted by doctors for three decades

Expert opinion:
Dr. David Sands, associate dean for academic and clinical affairs, Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Fairfield, Iowa.

Doctors are reluctant to acknowledge the connection between mind and body, but, Sands says, it's a fact that reduction of stress like that facilitated through Transcendental Meditation reduces coronary disease. There are fewer strokes and heart attacks among those who meditate. The effects begin immediately for every age group. Plaques and hardening of the arteries can be reversed just by practicing meditation, Sands says, but there's more. Calmness and sense of well-being while meditating carry over while the meditator is engaged in other activities. Anxiety is diminished at all times.

The key reason, according to Sands: Meditation enlivens the body's inner intelligence and restores fundamental vitality. “There are real physical effects—changes and repairs,” he said. These were shown in collaborative studies between his institute and the University of Iowa, but not for the first time.

Back in 1975, Harvard cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson had already gotten the same results in studies at Harvard and Boston's Beth Israel Hospital. His book,
The Relaxation Response
, first published 28 years ago, has become a classic in the field.

Other studies have had similar results. So it remains mind-boggling, according to Sands, that most doctors only pay lip service to the findings and still reach for the prescription pad first.

4

Infertility – documented dietary solutions

Expert opinion:
Fern Reiss, author of
The Infertility Diet: Get Pregnant and Prevent Miscarriage.

Reiss bases her diet on more than 500 documented medical studies, including such simple things as avoiding dairy products and ginger. And although her book is endorsed by several infertility specialists and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, diet continues to take a back seat to medical treatment for infertility, “which,” Reiss says, “is much more invasive, much more expensive, and no more likely to succeed.”

“After more than three years of infertility and miscarriage, I now have three children because of this diet!” Reiss says
.

5

Osteoporosis – hold the Fosamax

Expert opinion:
Barbara Morris, registered pharmacist, author of
Put Old on Hold: The Only Guide You'll Ever Need to Go From Baby Boomer to Whatababe!.

It's simply Vitamin D—2,000 units per day—says this 74-year-old pharmacist who works full-time for a national grocery chain and maintains a vivacity that belies her age. A doctor will prescribe products related to the material used to remove lime deposits from faucets, she says. “That's why patients are cautioned not to lie down for an hour after taking Fosamax—because if it gets caught in the esophagus it may erode it.”

A check of the online National Library of Medicine turns up a recent Japanese study finding that “Vitamin D(3) may contribute to the local production of estrogen, thus leading to protective effect against osteoporosis especially after menopause.”

Early in her life, Morris, a graduate of Rutgers University College of Pharmacy, became convinced that signs of “old age” associated with the normal aging process resulted not just from heredity but also from lifestyle choices and, as such, could be manipulated and controlled. She's dedicated to helping Boomers and others retain the vital characteristics of youth.

Other tips from Barbara:

6

Irritable bowel syndrome/overactive bladder – end “the runs”

Using five or more grams daily of l-glutamine is a “real wonder worker” for bringing bowel movements back to normal, assuming there is no underlying disease, she said. For women with a bladder retention problem, the answer is vaginal testosterone and Kegel exercises. “Most traditional docs don't know anything beyond Detrol L.A. As a plus, the proper testosterone regimen will restore libido.”

7

High cholesterol – protect your muscles

To lower cholesterol, doctors will prescribe statin drugs, which are “diabolical,” Morris warns. That's because they inhibit an enzyme called CoQ10, necessary for the strength of any muscle in the body. So if you take a drug to lower cholesterol, you need to take additional CoQ10. Or, she says, try policosanol. It's a plant derivative available in health food stores. “It works wonders, but most traditional M.D.s don't know it exists,” she says.

8

Chronic fatigue syndrome/ fibromyalgia – yes, something can be done

Expert opinion:
Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, author of
From Fatigued to Fantastic.

“Five different doctors told me there was nothing they could do” is the type of comment that floods the
Amazon.com
reviews of Teitelbaum's book. By their own testimonials, many chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia patients have finally been helped by Teitelbaum.?

He rejects both the view that the ailments are nonexistent and that nothing can be done.

CFS comes because the body has “blown a fuse,” he says. There may be a variety of causes, but the key fuse is in the hypothalamus, which controls production and release of hormones as well as temperature regulation, blood pressure, and other functions of the autonomic nervous system. Teitelbaum treats all symptoms involving these functions at once with four key steps:

• Eight to nine hours of sleep a night.
  
• Nutritional support.
  
• Normalizing thyroid function (blood tests don't tell the story here, he warns).
  
• Treating any infections—usually yeast.
  

Although some of the protocol for tests and supplements can tend to be expensive, Teitelbaum gives economical ways to accomplish them via his website,
endfatigue.com
.

Teitelbaum may be particularly compassionate with CFS sufferers because he battled the disease himself. In 1975, while in medical school at Ohio State, he had a bout of “drop-dead flu.” After a month, he still couldn't get out of bed before noon. The debilitating fatigue forced him to drop out of school even though pursuing a medical career was his life-long dream. After a year of studying his own illness he recovered enough to continue—and devote his career to helping others similarly afflicted
.

9

Hormone replacement – the hottest topic going

Expert opinion:
Dr. Charles E. Anderson, Burlington, Vermont, author of
Rage Against Age
and
Secrets to Healthy Aging.

For years, menopausal women had no options. There was Premarin and there was Premarin—a substance made from the urine of female horses.

“Not exactly analogous to the human body,” says Dr. Anderson. Today, Anderson offers three options.

• A compound utilizing three components of estrogen—estrone, estradiol, and estriol. It's called Triest and is derived from plants. Alternative and complimentary physicians use it.
  
• A low-progesterone cream.
  
• Or an herbal blend of black cohosh, Don-Quai, and Vitex.
  

Years ago Anderson became convinced that the increase in breast and cervical cancers was due to the western diet and Premarin. Most doctors were slow to see the danger, now supported by research, in Premarin.

Although Anderson may seem out on a limb, compared to the huddled masses of physicians, he is supported by a growing cadre of divergent thinkers. These doctors make up the memberships of the American College for Advancement in Medicine, formed in the 1980s, today with about 1,300 members, and the more recent A4M—American Association of Anti-Aging Medicine.

Talking to most doctors outside these groups, Anderson said, is a dead end. They are not interested in learning.

What Anderson and his colleagues have learned so far is that most ailments, aging along with them, are related to diet.

“What is killing us?” Anderson asks. “Destruction of our cells through toxicity or deficiency of nutrients.

“We have free radicals, which cause irritation, impacting every cell.”

What do we do to protect ourselves? Anderson advises eliminating sugar as much as possible (yeast feeds on it), get the heavy metals and toxins out if present in our systems (arsenic, lead, and mercury are among the top dangers), alleviate our allergies, supplement hormones, support the immune system, and weed out infections.

Dr. Anderson, who has been in practice more than 30 years, veered from the traditional medical path in the 1980s when his wife developed a cancerous lump on her leg. After the tumor was surgically removed, they decided on heavy dosages of anti-oxidants. Anderson, a favorite referral physician of the late Dr. Robert Atkins, said he doesn't mind criticism from colleagues. “Sooner or later they usually end up bringing a family member to me.” His wife, by the way, is doing fine.

Also from Dr. Anderson, advice on:

10

Hyperactivity and Attention Deficit Disorder – food is the prime suspect