Setting The Stage

Getting rid of a chronic illness is the first half of ridding oneself of disease. However, that’s where most people stop.

A chronic disease is one that is long lasting or recurrent. It is often defined as lasting longer than three months or one that has developed over a period of time.

The immediate concern is to rid your body of the disease. That’s a loaded statement but not the concern of this post.

I regard ridding your body of the immediate cause of concern as just the first half of the total process. What is the “second half”?

The “Second Half”

As I studied chronic illness, I understood a very simple, logical framework of disease and healing. If you get a chronic illness, one that took some time to develop, it means that your body’s immune system broke down over time. Therefore, you need to 1) find out the causes that broke down the immune system, 2) remove those causes, and 3) build up the immune system again.

This process is what I call the “second half” of recovering from chronic illness. Without going through these steps, your chances of having some sort of recurrence of the same or another chronic illness is much greater than by going through this “second half” of the process.

Keep in mind that my terminology of the “second half” is conceptual. It is not intended to describe an amount of time or effort that each part takes. It is simply intended to recognize that there are two overall parts to a complete healing process.

The Three Points

My “Three Point Plan” refers to the execution steps I conceptualized for the “second half” of the healing process.

Step One: Discover the causes that broke down my immune system. I learned of many evaluative tests that conventional medicine wasn’t using. These tests provided much better and more complete information about the health of my entire body and all its organs. I made a list of all the tests that I wanted to have done. These tests reveal what is often referred to in Alternative Medicine as the "biological terrain" of one’s body.

They included such tests as the EAV, Electro Acupuncture According to Voll, (also referred to as EDS, Electro Dermal Screening), Hair Mineral Analysis, Darkfield Microscopy (also referred to as Live Cell Analysis), Biological Terrain Assessment, and many, many others.

These tests and numerous others are described in “An Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide to Cancer” by W. John Diamond, M.D. and W. Lee Cowden, M.D. I consider this book to be the single most important reference for anyone who has or has had cancer. Although, as the name states, it is specifically targeted at cancer, it provides an excellent overview for any chronic illness in how to view one’s health and healing process.

For a much broader perspective of Alternative Medicine, another excellent reference is the “Alternative Medicine: A Definitive Guide” presented by Burton Goldberg.

Step Two: I made a list of preventive actions that I wanted to take including a variety of nutritional support. Although this step will come out of the results of the evaluative tests in Step One, I still made a list of nutritional support that I wanted to use. This step helped me to become familiar with the vast variety of support that is available yet not utilized by conventional medicine to build our bodies.

Step Three: I made a list of Alternative Medicine therapies that I would use if cancer should return. I wanted to be prepared ahead of time.

Of course I hope you never hear these words, “you have cancer”, however if someone ever said them to me again, I wanted to be knowledgeable and prepared as to what I would do. Once someone says those words, or some other seriously chronic illness, my experience, which I know is extremely typical, is that your mind goes into a “fog.” From then on, it is hard to think straight. It is especially near impossible to think about “alternative treatments” outside of the conventional mainstream.

Well, that’s my Three Point Plan For Healing. I hope it’s given you some insight into your own healing processes.

Note: Glyconutrients are such an interesting subject when one talks about health that I asked Dr. Tom Taliaferro, an authority on this topic, to write an article for this blog. Be sure to visit Dr. Tom’s blog for many enlightening posts about health, weight loss, wellness care, and the pharmaceutical drug industry. Also visit Dr. Tom’s web site. - Ed Mass

The Glyconutrient supplement is one of the cornerstones required for optimal health.

Have you ever wondered how the cells of your body know when to fill in the damaged area of a cut or correct any type of damage to your body?

When you eat, how does your digestive tract know which food components to absorb and send into the blood stream and which ones to allow to pass?

How do the cells in your kidneys choose the correct molecules to filter?

The cells of your body are all capable of communication and it is through the use of glyconutrients that the cells have the "alphabet" of the cellular language. This form of communication is how the trillions of cells in your body work together to create you as you are today.

Until recently medical science did not know how a cell in the body worked to restore, protect and defend itself. Doctors have always known that the body heals itself–that is self evident–but the actual mechanisms were unknown. Recent discoveries in science have found that complex combinations of sugar molecules on the outside of cells provide the means to communicate all biological data.

This breakthrough discovery in biological science has opened up a new field of research called Glycomics or Glycobiology and has been identified by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as one of ten emerging technologies that will change the world, in their February, 2003 Technology Review Magazine.

The most amazing thing about this new field of science is that every cell in your body is already an expert in its application. When applied through nutrition, glyconutrients are a necessary component of natural, normal cellular function. In other words, every cell needs these nutrients to obtain and maintain optimal health.

What are glyconutrients? Put simply they are monosaccharide sugars which have been identified as having a biological function, instead of just being used for calories as has been taught for decades. This discovery led to the rewriting of Harper’s Biochemistry, the text book used to teach our next generation of doctors and health care professionals. But unless your doctor graduated from medical school after 2002, chances are they are uninformed in this field.

In the same way a few basic shapes form all of the letters of the alphabet, these glyconutrients provide the basic structures your cells need to build for proper communication and normal function.

The eight sugars found on the outside of the cell form receptors called glycoforms. Glycoforms are a combination of eight basic building-block sugars known as glyconutrients. The combination of sugars in a glycoform determine the information that is communicated.

What sorts of things do cells talk about? Every cell needs to be recognized by the immune system (seen), to be defended if it is under attack by a virus or bacteria, repaired if damaged, fed when needing energy, regulated by hormones to operate in synchronization with the rest of the body and cleansed as it collects and builds up toxins during normal function as well as exposure to toxins in the environment.

Due to numerous and complex reasons, people with health issues often have glycoforms that are not structurally correct. Usually this is because their body has insufficient quantities of one or more of the basic sugars and the body is then unable to build the glycoforms properly.

In addition to glycoform construction, clinical research has shown there is also an explosion of stem cell production in the body when glyconutrients are present in larger than normal quantities, allowing the body to rebuild organs that have long been considered impossible to repair.

How are glyconutrients absorbed into the bloodstream to gain access to the cells? In a recent experiment, researchers radioactively tagged glucose, galactose, and mannose sugar molecules and monitored their activity when ingested. The sugars went into the bloodstream and went directly to the cells and created glycoforms.

In spite of all this scientific information it is still important to understand this science is about nutrition. When we nourish the body we are providing the raw materials necessary for life. This is not the same approach as taking a pharmaceutical drugs where we take a pill for a symptom. Nutrition is something we require every day. When we are ill our nutritional requirements are often greater because the cells of the body require more nutrients to defend against disease to repair the damage caused by the disease process.

In other words, the science is simple: Open your mouth and swallow. How much do I need? Until it works!

Dr. Tom Taliaferro has trained thousands in lifestyle improvements over the course of 9 years. As a Lifestyle Adjusting Coach Dr. Tom takes what you bring him and helps you to see the potential of your health and wealth.

Dr. Tom can be contacted at drtomt@verizon.net or 760-446-1088.

Go here for information on weight loss. Read Dr. Tom’s blog. Visit Dr. Tom’s web site.

"Silver Filings" Are Mis-Labeled Instead Of Truthful Name Of "Mercury Fillings"

So-called "Silver Fillings" or "Dental Amalgams" are usually at least 50% mercury. So why weren’t they called "mercury fillings?" Because mercury has been a known toxic substance to humans for 2,000 years. That would not have been good marketing.

Who decided this issue? Well, the American Dental Association (ADA) or its related entities, such as the ADA Health Foundation, has had patents on mercury amalgams for a very long time. Therefore, they have a definite conflict of interest in making statements about the safety of mercury amalgams or denying that mercury amalgams are hazardous. In fact, they have persecuted  dentists for informing their patients about the health risks of dental mercury exposure.

Where the ADA should be protecting the public, they are only protecting their own organization and the money they derive from any royalties on their patents. This, of course, is my opinion as stated here. However there is ample information substantiating these statements.

Study Shows Proof Of Mercury Vapor Release From Mercury Fillings

The IAOMT, International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, is an organization that describes themself as "The Vanguard Of Science-Based Biological Dentistry." They’ve released a study that shows the release of mercury vapor from dental amalgams when agitated, such as by chewing. Mercury vapor is highly toxic. When released from the amalgams where does it go? Of course, it’s breathed in by the person who owns that mouth!

Here’s a reference for the IAOMT mercury release study:

Hg (Mercury) Release from Amalgams Actually Measured! A STUDY ON THE RELEASE OF MERCURY FROM DENTAL AMALGAMS MADE FROM DIFFERENT MANUFACTURED MATERIALS AND PRODUCED BY NINE DIFFERENT DENTISTS. 3 May 2007 Summary: Mercury emissions from single-spill samples of three popular precapsulated amalgams, Tytin, Dispersalloy, and Valiant, were measured in water at room temperature, 23 degrees C. Daily emission was 4.5 to 21 micrograms per day, much higher than previously "estimated" values offered by ADA (American Dental Association) spokespeople in the past. It is now obvious why pro-amalgamists never actually measured these values. Reference: IAOMT (International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology) - Mercury Release Measured - Full Article

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Questions To Ask Your Dentist About Their Mercury Removal Procedure

If you have your mercury fillings removed, here are a few guidelines you should use to ask questions of your dentist to see if they use the proper procedures.

When I had my mercury fillings removed, the dentist and assistant both wore gas masks. The dentist placed a "dam" in the back of my mouth to keep the fumes and debris from going into my throat. It sounds worse than it is. It was not uncomfortable and I didn’t really pay much attention to it after it was first positioned.

The dentist also had a large diameter hose connected to a vacuum (obviously a special type) that sucked the air and mercury vapor into it. Once everything was positioned I didn’t really notice it much. Of course, I usually close my eyes while all this work is being done in my mouth.

Before starting the process, they used a meter to check the release of mercury vapor in my mouth. The meter was connected to a small tube that I put in my mouth and breathed into. They took a measurement. They told me to grind my teeth a little bit like I was chewing. They took another measurement. The reading was exceptionally higher. It was a reading of the amount of mercury vapor in my exhaled breath. That was a very dramatic demonstration of what’s been going on for all those years.

Actually the most vivid image I remember is the first time I looked up and saw these two people wearing these heavy duty gas masks and looking down at me. I thought "oh my gosh, they have to use this kind of equipment to remove something that’s been in my mouth for around 35-40 years?!?!"

Here’s a pdf file of Safe Mercury Removal procedures from the IAOMT web site.

Measuring Mercury In Your Body

By the way, I did have my mercury level checked with a "chelation challenge" test. Chelation simply means "to bind." A chelating agent is one that binds with other substances. So an IV (intravenous) chelation treatment consists of injecting a chelating agent into the body intravenously. The mercury is drawn out of the tissues and organs and attaches itself to the chelating agent which is then expelled through the urine.

I gave a urine sample before and after this test. They measure mercury in both samples to determine the effect of the chelation treatment. Ideally you want a "zero" level of mercury. The "acceptable" level for this test is up to 3 units of their measurement. My level was at one time up to 120. I have done many chelation treatments to bring this down into the single digits.

After the first time, where you test the urine before and after the treatment, a series of approximately six to eight chelation treatments is done to remove the mercury. The urine is then re-checked but only needs to be collected after the IV treatment to measure the amount of mercury still being released from the body.

There are also oral mercury chelating agents taken in capsule form. The IV treatments will remove more mercury, faster, than oral treatments.

Mercury Resources

These organizations promote mercury-free dentistry:

DAMS - Dental Amalgam Mercury Syndrome - www.dams.cc - not a fancy site at all but good content for what they have

Consumers For Dental Choice - Working toward mercury-free dentistry - www.toxicteeth.org

Here is a two-part article that provides an excellent overview of the Mercury issues:

Mercury: A 21st Century Killer - Part 1

Mercury: A 21st Century Killer - Part 2

Mercury In Food Crop Soil

In addition to the mercury in our mouths, there is a lot of mercury in the soil in which our food is grown. Logic tells us that it is taken up by the food itself. We know that the quality of all crops, such as their nutrient values, varies according to the soil in which their grown.

Take a look at this U.S. map by county showing mercury levels in the soil. Pay particular attention to California where much of our food in the U.S. is grown. This map was created by the USGS, the U.S. Geological Survey of the Department of the Interior.

(Note: We all know the Internet is dynamic and constantly changes. If any links don’t work, please note this in the comment form below. It will notify me so I can fix them.)

Parasites Influence Or Cause Hundreds Of Illnesses

Parasites and other hidden microbes infest not only the intestinal tract but also migrate into the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, lung, stomach and every part of the organ system. There can be many species of parasites infecting different parts of one’s organs at the same time. Specific treatment may be required for each parasite.

Parasites And Allergies

Allergy problems have been on the rise for the last 50 years. Over 20% of the U.S. population is suffering from allergy related problems. This increase has coincided with the increase in the incidence of all chronic degenerative diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and cancer.

Allergies have been associated with a whole list of symptoms including asthma, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome, ADD/ADHD, chronic sinusitis and bronchitis, canker sores, bedwetting, ear infections, dermatitis and hives, joint pain, behavioral problems and migraine headaches. This is only a partial list of allergy related symptoms.

Is there a missing link between allergies, allergy treatments, and parasites?

As an example, night coughs and asthma have been frequently associated with Ascaris (roundworms) in the lung. Bloating, flatulence, nausea, and change in appetite have been associated with gallbladder/liver involvement from Strongyloides (parasites) or liver flukes (another form of parasites).

Allergies and parasites are intimately related from an alternative medicine perspective. Yet they seem so far apart in the conventional medical understanding of the role of parasites in allergies. Unfortunately, parasite infestations are hard to detect by the current medical tests of standard blood tests, stool ova and parasite evaluation. Most of the parasites are deeply embedded in the organs and very difficult to eradicate. They reproduce quickly and migrate to different parts of the body.

Conventional medical treatments for allergy related symptoms are mainly designed to suppress the symptoms. The treatments rarely correct the underlying problems. They may even create a condition for the proliferation of chronic degenerative medical conditions later in life.

Parasites are only one example of the causes of allergies. One should also explore other potential causes such as environmental pollution, heavy metal toxicity, hidden dental infections, and unresolved emotions that trigger responses which mimic the allergic reactions. (See the “Five Primary Causes Of Illness” post on this web site.)

Parasites And Cancer

“Chronic inflammation” is a new catch phrase for the explanation of all chronic degenerative diseases from asthma, arthritis, heart diseases, and irritable bowel disease to cancers. Unrecognized low grade infection is one of the main culprits causing chronic inflammation. The link between infection and cancer has been recognized for many years and reported by many older medical practitioners. However, it has never been widely accepted by medical authorities due to a lack of reliable, reproducible data to support this observation — until now.

A missing link in the relationship between infection, inflammation, and cancer was finally provided by the brilliant, ground breaking research on stem cells done by Jean Marie Houghton, MD, Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Her work, specifically related to the formation of stomach cancer and, published in 2004, showed the cause and effect relationship between bacterial infection and cancer.

In addition, she showed that this relationship is hidden under the disguise of chronic inflammation. Her work led to an understanding that all forms of infectious microbes, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites, can create an inflammatory immune response which, under toxic environmental conditions, can cause cancer cells to grow.

Some other major sources of chronic inflammation to consider include: hidden dental infections, old trauma, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, chronic allergies, over training in athletes, electromagnetic stimulation, and unresolved emotional trauma. These multiple sources of inflammation create a “ring of fire” in our body. This “ring of fire” causes our immune system to lose control which then allows cancer cells to evade our immune surveillance and proliferate.

Therefore, due to the complexity of the behavior and biology of cancer cells, rather than micromanage the biochemistry of the cancer cells as in conventional treatments, our primary focus should be on detecting and eliminating the sources of inflammation. In particular, eradicating hidden infections should be one of the highest priorities for all cancer patients. Infections may come from viruses, parasites, and root canal dental infections. They can also be hidden in many different parts of organs and different layers of tissues.

Eradicating infections and inflammation should be combined with cleansing and detoxification of internal toxins and providing the nutritional support for our body to heal. Detoxification and nutritional support are the best preventive actions to reducing the cancer risk factors mentioned above.

Treatment Options

Conventional medical professionals are too eager to treat the symptoms of illness with medications without recognizing the multiple, hidden, correctable causes.

Does conventional medicine really use the proper tools to uncover parasitic infestations? One of their primary, if not sole, tests is a microbiology lab test. How reliable is this test? This test of routine stool evaluation for ova and parasites picks up less than 10 % of active infections. There are hundreds of parasites with very complicated life cycles that can exist outside the intestinal tract. Therefore they wouldn’t be detected by this test. Many of these parasites can penetrate through skin, lung, nostril and every known organ and tissue in the body.

In alternative medicine, some natural herbal remedies are often used for parasites. However, these are often not strong enough to eradicate the parasites which have been embedded deeply into one’s organs. These cases often require multiple high doses of pharmaceutical parasite medications in conjunction with herbal parasite remedies. When the patient receives the right medications for the correct dose in a proper sequence, the response can be dramatic.

For example, I know of someone who had a bronchial infection for three years that couldn’t be resolved by conventional treatments. One doctor said this person would have to live with it for the rest of his life. When he saw an alternative medicine practitioner knowledgeable in parasites, he was prescribed one course of treatment over three months that cured the “permanent” infection.

The analysis and understanding of the relationships between illnesses, symptoms, and parasites along with the proper understanding of the natural and pharmaceutical treatment options requires a special expertise even by an alternative medicine practitioner.

Unfortunately, the connection between parasites and allergy symptoms, and parasites, infection, and cancer, has not been well recognized. The only reliable proof we have for the cause and effect relationships of parasites and allergies, cancer, and other illnesses is based on clinical observation of the improvement of allergy symptoms with properly prescribed medications for the parasite infections when treated by a knowledgeable alternative medicine practitioner.

For a knowledgeable practitioner, see the description of Dr. Yu on the “Expert Friends” page of this site. Also, look for the series of articles he wrote (and I edited) on parasites.

The best course of healing is for you to see a practitioner who will create a specific course of treatment for your symptoms and condition. If you want a first start at cleansing and detoxification, I recommend this colon and parasite cleansing program.

Soybean

I saw a friend yesterday who said to me, “I quit eating soy products because of you.” I asked him “why?” He told me when we saw each other a few months earlier I told him about soy.

What I said made him so concerned it motivated him to change his eating habits. So what did I say?

I mentioned to him that I used to eat a lot of soy products including tofu. At various times I used to use soy milk almost daily on my cereal.

One day, while talking with an Alternative Medicine M.D., the conversation drifted into a discussion of soy products. He mentioned several very negative effects from eating unfermented soy products. I immediately drastically cut my unfermented soy consumption.

Unfermented soy products like tofu and soy milk and yogurt cause the following:

• Block absorption of essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc. This results from a high content of phytic acid and phytates.
• Estrogenic effects from the isoflavones causing increasing estrogen levels higher than what’s healthy
• Suppress thyroid function which is referred to as Goitrogenic effects and disrupt endocrine function
• Inhibit growth due to the trypsin inhibitors that it contains
• Can cause blood clots due to haemagglutinin

Whew! That’s quite a list of negatives. By the way textured vegetable protein is really bad due to the way it’s processed with high temperature, high pressure, and the use of acid and alkaline chemicals.

Soy allergies are common but often undetected. The doctor I mentioned above said he conservatively estimates that about 10% of his patients are allergic to soy. Many of them don’t even know this until they are tested. Pay attention to how your body reacts to soy when you eat it in any of its many forms and as part of the ingredients of many foods.

Some of the symptoms caused by soy include acne, canker sore, inflammation and infection of the mucous membrane lining of the eyelids and the exposed surface of the eyeball, dermatitis, diarrhea, eczema, hives, heart palpitation, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, panic attack and PMS like symptoms.

Soy has been linked to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility.

Like many other foods, unfermented soy products should be eaten in moderation of 1-2 servings per week. It just goes back to having a well rounded diet that contains a variety of foods.

Are any soy products good for you? Yes. Fermented soy products like miso, tempeh, natto, and soy sauce are good for you. The fermentation process reduces or eliminates the phytic acid and phytates in soy and changes soy’s other effects mentioned above.

Fermentation creates probiotics, the “good” bacteria necessary for your body, such as lactobacilli, that increase the availability, digestibility and assimilation of nutrients in your body.

Immune System

Illness develops because one’s immune system is weakened. This is indisputable yet often not acknowledged. Alternative Medicine is based upon this premise.

The disease itself represents a large “red warning sign” that a person has sustained immune system deterioration for some time. To eliminate illness, your immune system needs to be revitalized. Alternative Medicine uses therapies and remedies that allow your body to restore its own immune system. Only your own immune system will rid your body of illness.

Though “Five Primary Causes Of Weakened Immune Systems” would more accurately title this article, it doesn’t have the same allure as the word “Illness.” So where does illness really begin?

A single vulnerability in one’s immune system creates favorable conditions for a vast array of diseases. More commonly, many factors attack the immune system over time.

While symptoms are not immediately recognizable, the slow deterioration of the immune system leads to chronic illness that isn’t linked to one specific cause. Unlike most conventional medicine that often focuses on a narrowly specified area of the body, alternative medicine examines the whole person as a means to discover the clues necessary for proper therapy.

Five Primary Factors

Heavy Metal Toxicity	Parasites	Food Allergies	Diet and Nutrition	Dental Problems

Five primary causative factors of immune system deterioration are: Heavy Metal Toxicity, Parasites, Food Allergies, Poor Diet and Nutrition, and Dental Problems. This article specifically addresses Heavy Metal Toxicity. Other factors are addressed in other articles.

Heavy metal toxicity is among the most disregarded destroyers of immune systems and therefore causes of illness. It stems from air pollution, water pollution, and pesticides, insecticides, and fungicides found in food. Dental amalgams, or silver-mercury fillings, are another primary source of heavy metal toxicity.

Toxic Mercury: Unperceived Degeneration

Mercury is a major neuro-toxic substance. It is one of the most widespread forms of heavy metal toxicity. So called “silver” tooth fillings or “amalgams” are typically at least 50% mercury plus silver, tin, and copper, and possibly other metals.

For more information on the health effects of mercury amalgams, see the web site for DAMS, Dental Amalgam Mercury Syndrome at www.dams.cc. (The web site isn’t fancy but the content is well documented.)

The effects of mercury toxicity are subtle and accumulate over time. Other common heavy metal toxicities are lead, aluminum, cadmium, nickel, tin, copper, and arsenic.

Heavy metal toxicities have been associated with a vast range of “illnesses” including chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, ADD/ADHD, autism, thyroid problems, depression, insomnia, anxiety, excessive salivation, ringing in the ears, neuropathy, osteoporosis, memory loss, irritability, moodiness, headaches, intestinal problems, muscle weakness, unexplainable cardiovascular problems, and many others.

Symptoms vs. Illnesses

Although the above are routinely labeled “illnesses” by conventional medicine, alternative medicine views these as “symptoms” indicative of an imbalanced condition of the body. As “symptoms” they’re a collection of conditions that can be eliminated through proper nutrition, detoxification, drainage remedies and appropriate chelation therapy for specific heavy metal exposures.

Tissue hair mineral analysis is a simple and non-invasive means to measure heavy metal toxicity. Chelating agents can also be used to discover hidden heavy metal toxicity.

With the goal of long-term good health, rather than merely attempting to cover up or stop an immediate illness, nutrition therapy and chelation treatments provide a gradual and rewarding recovery from heavy metal toxicity.

If you, or anyone you know, feel chronically “unwell” with multiple vague complaints, you probably won’t fit into a standard medical classification. If your doctor reports that everything is fine - but you know you aren’t “fine” - you may want to seek out an alternative medicine practitioner who understands these five destroyers of immune systems.

If you need a recommendation, I strongly recommend Dr. Simon Yu, M.D., as you know if you’ve read “Ed Mass - Alternative Medicine Background” in the sidebar. Check out his web site at preventionandhealing.com.

This Is “My Story”, What’s Yours?

Please share your successful experiences with Alternative Medicine on our forum.

Be sure to read the page titled “What’s Your Story?” You can access it in the sidebar navigation.

Who Is Ed Mass?

This site presents a perspective of Alternative Medicine from Ed Mass, who has worked closely for many years (and continues to do so) with a M.D. who practices Alternative Medicine, also called Complementary Medicine, Integrative Medicine, and Biological Medicine, presented from a unique perspective. Ed also works with a Dentist who practices Biological Dentistry. Here you’ll find Alternative Medicine presented from an evidence based perspective of what has worked for many people.

I encourage you to participate and provide your feedback in comments to my posts. I truly think you’ll gain a significantly greater understanding of health and healing that you won’t find in either conventional medicine or other Alternative Medicine sites.

My Story —

Kidney Cancer Follow-Up — The Next Vital Step: Building My Immune System

From one day to the next, I developed kidney cancer! Of course, it wasn’t just in one day. It had been developing for some time. How long? Very fast in one month? Slowly over several years? No one will ever know.

I went to the hospital at 9:00 am one morning because I had blood in my urine and pain in my side. By 5:00 pm that day, I’m going into surgery to have my right kidney removed…and the tumor that was half the size of the kidney.

I was “fortunate”, not, of course, in having the cancer, but in that the cancer had not spread outside my kidney. Therefore, I did not need any chemotherapy or radiation.

This Is Follow-up?

After the initial shock and scare of having cancer and recovering from the surgery, the next step was to have follow-up exams. Although I had utilized homeopathy, which is one aspect of Alternative Medicine, I was so scared by the thought of cancer, and the words from the conventional medical establishment, that I went to a nationally renowned hospital for follow-up.

I was on, what I now call, the “fringes” of Alternative Medicine. I hadn’t fully embraced it because I simply knew too little about it.

My follow-up consisted of x-rays and blood work every six months and CAT scans once a year. I kept wondering what they — the medical professionals — and I were doing with this information. It finally dawned on me that all they were doing was waiting; waiting to see when cancer would return.

They were checking to see if they could catch it early in its stages, as if they could treat it any better by catching it early. After all, the cancer studies follow patients for five years, as if that’s enough to extend one’s life.

Since the early 1970s and after tens of billions of dollars spent on cancer research, cancer rates are still increasing. Doesn’t this suggest that maybe this research is looking in the wrong places to cure it? How about the novel idea of just taking all of the known carcinogens out of our environment, out of our air, water, and food, and of products and manufacturing processes so people don’t get cancer in the first place? But, I digress.

My Life Rocketed Into “Serious Researcher” Mode

I had studied Alternative Medicine off and on for almost 20 years up to this point. However, I now catapulted into serious research and reading into Alternative Medicine for cancer. A “light bulb” finally lit up in my head one day when logic and common sense took hold of me.

My thinking went like this: I realized, from my study and talking with doctors, that everyone has cancer cells. A healthy immune system keeps them in check; kills them off. Since I got cancer, my immune system must have broken down. Therefore, why don’t I remove all the causes of cancer — the causes that weakened my immune system — for which I have control? Why don’t I simultaneously build the strength of my immune system? Yes, that’s exactly what I decided to do.

A Three Point Plan

In my research, I developed a three point plan. First, I learned of many evaluative tests that conventional medicine was not using. These tests provided much better and more complete information about the health of my entire body and all its organs. I made a list of all the tests that I wanted to have done.

Second, I made a list of preventive actions that I wanted to take including a variety of nutritional support. Third, I made a list of Alternative Medicine therapies that I would use if cancer should return. I wanted to be prepared ahead of time.

Once someone says that “you have cancer” your mind immediately goes into a state of great anxiety and it’s difficult to think objectively and evaluate options, especially unconventional ones. The time to prepare is ahead of time.

I “bumped” into a friend of mine who told me how Dr. Simon Yu had helped my friend’s wife get her health back after conventional doctors had “messed her up” with prescription drugs and their side affects and interactions.

I Found My “Guide”

I was amazed when I first took my lists into Dr. Yu. I found that he was using all the diagnostic tests and preventive treatments on my lists plus many more that I hadn’t considered. He was using a variety of therapies that drew upon the best that Alternative Medicine and conventional medicine have to offer. I had found the hope and the person who would be my guide to proactive health for whom I was looking.

When I started with Dr. Yu, I began my “second half” of recovering from cancer. Most conventional medical professionals exclusively focus on ridding the body of cancer. They destroy the body and its immune system while attempting to kill the cancer by poisoning with chemotherapy and burning it out with radiation.

The U.S. has some of the best surgical and trauma care in the world. But when it comes to chronic illness we are sorely lacking…often by wide margins.

Of course, I am thankful for the surgery that I had. Of the conventional treatments, surgery is the least destructive to the immune system. The cancer, however, may only be “conquered” temporarily.

The “second half” of conquering cancer is to make sure it doesn’t return. That means two steps. First, discover the causes that weakened the immune system and destroy them. Second, build the immune system.

My “Biological Terrain”

Since starting with Dr. Yu, we discovered I had mercury toxicity, parasites, and weakened organ functions. In my Alternative Medicine research, I found that these are a few of the many causes of weakened immune systems which can lead to cancer or a variety of other illnesses.

These “weak links” of my body have been remedied through the following actions: replacement of all my mercury fillings (I like to call them for what they really are and not the euphemistic name of “silver” fillings since they are at least 50% mercury.), chelation for removal of mercury in my body, parasite cleansing, and nutritional support to strengthen weak organ function and build my immune system.

I continue with periodic monitoring of my “biological terrain.” This monitoring determines adjustments in my immune building routines to keep me on the right track.

There are no guarantees in life. However, I have been cancer-free since the removal of my kidney in 1996. I feel I am now taking the positive, pro-active steps to maximize my chances that cancer will not return so I can live a healthy life.

I am extremely thankful that Dr. Yu has chosen to use his knowledge, training, talents and skills toward what I consider to be the true practice of healing. I consider him one of the pre-eminent Alternative Medicine practitioners in the U.S. because he involves a wide variety of evaluation techniques and therapies. Often, even within Alternative Medicine, practitioners specialize in specific areas within the field

You can find more information about Dr. Yu at his web site: www.preventionandhealing.com.

Transition To Alternative Medicine and Health Researcher

I have studied Alternative Medicine on and off since 1977. However, I have studied it intensively since 1998. Plus I have a variety of business, marketing, and technical skills. Therefore, the follow up to my seeing Dr. Yu as a patient was that we developed a close working relationship.

This consists of numerous discussions on Alternative Medicine concepts, evaluation techniques, and therapies. It also includes planning his marketing activities, organizing the content on his web site, editing his articles, and resolving technical problems with his evaluation equipment. Dr. Yu has said that I know as much about his practice of Alternative Medicine as anyone, including his own staff.

Dr. Yu has sponsored five professional conferences on Alternative Medicine. I was in charge of the marketing for two of these. I moderated two of the conferences. I also gave a presentation on the “Politics of Health Freedom.”

In addition to Dr. Yu, I also have a similar relationship with Dr. Rehme who practices Biological Dentistry. Dr. Michael Rehme is also a CCN, Certified Clinical Nutritionist. It is exceptionally rare to find this combination. You can find out more about Dr. Rehme at his web site: www.toothandbodyconnection.com.

My Blog Is Born

I talk with people everywhere I go about Alternative Medicine in both social and business activities. Either I find them or they find me but the conversations often come around to unresolved health issues for themselves, their family, or their friends.

That led me to finally developing this blog to share my knowledge. I hope your healing becomes real, you gain new insights with “ah-ha” moments, and you stay healthy for the rest of your life.

That’s my story (which, of course, continues in this blog). What’s yours?