Taken From Chapter One

A Reality Check
“The world is governed more by appearance than realities,
so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it.”
Daniel Webster

Let’s take a look at disease. Face it …doesn’t belong. Now what does belong is LIFE. And after life there’s death and then decay, due to the living organism not being able to sustain itself. What has become somewhat of a norm in today’s society is first life, then decay and finally death. This is a backwards cycle of life. There seems to be a little mix-up, or misunderstanding of what constitutes the norm. Let’s face the reality, terms like health and disease must be clarified. To avoid any misconceptions, we’ll review some definitions.

Health & Disease
Health – “A normal condition of the body and mind, with all parts working normally”. (Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 23rd edition, W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia)
Disease – “Disease is disturbed function... out of time, out of tune, as well as disordered structure.” (Wm. S. Boyd, Boyd’s Pathology, 6th edition, Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger)

Food & Drug
Food - “A material consisting of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and other substances (minerals, vitamins, and enzymes) that are essential for an organism to sustain growth and repair and to furnish energy for all activity of the organism.” (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, G. C. Merriam Co., Chicago)
Drug - “A substance, other than food, intended to affect the structure or function of the body of a human or other animal.” (Webster’s Third)

Nutrition & Pharmacology
Nutrition – “The science of food and the processes by which the organism ingests, digests, absorbs, transports, utilizes, and excretes food substances.” (Webster’s Third)
Pharmacology – “The science that deals with the study of drugs in all their aspects.” (Webster’s Third)

Today’s society focuses on pharmacology to address its diseases and suffering, through prescription drugs, over the counter medications, and even street drugs. The afflicted are pushed into obtaining them by any means necessary.

Concerning drugs, according to Prevention Alert, Volume 6, Number 4 March 7, 2003, “There are an estimated 800,000 web sites which sell prescription drugs on the internet and will ship them to households no questions asked. Today, about one-third of all U.S. drug abuse is prescription drug abuse.” Check out these stats!

ER & Mortality Stats
In the year 2000...

• 43% of those who ended up in the ER were from drug overdoses.
• About 1/2 million were there due to the misuse of prescription drugs.
• 626 died from painkiller and tranquilizer overdose in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Seattle, and Washington, DC.

The following year the death rate increased by 20% in Miami and Chicago.

I understand very well that everyone has a right to choose whatever lifestyles they desire, because that’s their choice. What needs to be perfectly clear to everyone is disease has its root due to your lifestyle choice. Any and all chemicals taken into the human body will cause havoc and destruction. Chemicals in the form of….

• Prescription drugs
• Over the counter drugs
• Recreational drugs
• Household chemicals
• Environmental chemicals
• Food additives

The list goes on and on…

Not to mention ecological toxins from the personal use of shampoos, soaps, toothpaste, antiperspirants, even the food we eat that is commercially processed with additives and preservatives. The war on street drugs should encompass pharmaceutical and over-the counter drugs as well. Something that needs serious consideration by the powers that be.

Cancer
In 1971 the “War on Cancer” was commenced by President Nixon with the “Cancer Act” and implemented by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Ever since then, they have been on a search for a cure for cancer. Well over $30 billion has been spent on this futile quest. The Journal of American Medical Association (J.A.M.A.) declared the war on cancer a failure in 1994.

The realization is “There’s no such thing as a cure, only correction”. And in order to find the principle cause, you must go to the primary source, which will often times lead back to diet and lifestyle. Hippocrates, who is called the father of medicine, says, “Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” But I like to say, “Let your food be your medicine and your lifestyle be your cure.”

Mankind goes around like a chicken with its head cut off. Wondering around in an aimless frenzy in search of the miracle cure, the magic bullet, and a pill for every ill. Not realizing all the while wasting time and money on snake oils, placebos, and parlor tricks, causing more damage to their bodies than good. Disease in fact is on the rise. It affects our loved ones, friends, and even next door neighbors. It has no boundaries of who it affects. Check out these frightening facts.

There are 360,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s Disease per year. That’s 980 new cases per day or 40 new cases every hour! JAMA 2002.

“More than 26 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s disease, and a new forecast says the number will quadruple (4X) by 2050.” The Associated Press (Last Updated: 12:55 PM ET Monday, June 11, 2007).

51% of U.S. adults take 2 pills or more a day, Survey Reports (Scripps Howard News Service). San Diego Union-Tribune, Wednesday Jan. 17, 2001.

Side Effects
106,000 people die each year in US hospitals from medication side effects according to JAMA. That’s nearly 300 deaths per day, due to legal drugs prescribed by a medical doctor.

The Public Citizen April 18, 2002 explains how drug companies are the most profitable industry in the world today. Putting other industries to shame by 3 to 1. This is very possible due to the expensive pricing that doesn’t have to come directly from your pocket, but from your insurance company, who foots most of the bill. Only 1 out of every 5 dollars that’s collected goes to drug research. But almost twice as much goes for advertising and marketing than is spent for research. The returns are mind-boggling, we’re talking hundreds of billions of dollars and then some, for a product costing literally pennies to manufacture.

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2006, about 1,399,790 Americans will receive a new diagnosis of invasive cancer and 564,830 Americans will die of this disease.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has estimated that in 2006, the overall annual cost of cancer would be about $206.3 billion, broken down as follows:

• Direct medical costs, including health expenditures: $78.2 billion. (Things like treatment and testing)
• Indirect costs associated with lost productivity due to illness: $17.9 billion. (Time off from work)
• Indirect costs associated with lost productivity due to premature death: $110.2 billion. (Funeral cost and debts)