Natural Medicine 101,  21st Century Medical Renaissance

Image at left: Natural Redhead courtesy of Wikipedia

You might ask, why even write a book about Natural Medicine?  Firstly, I wanted a book I could hand out to explain to new patients the programs we offer at the office, and what to expect during your first visit.

Secondly, the book contains a compilation of one year of my newsletters circulated to readers and posted on my blog at www.jeffreydach.com from May 2007 to May 2008.  We average now 4000 readers per week.

Thirdly, the book might be of interest to other health care professionals who are alert to the winds of change, and would like to quickly get up to speed with a natural medicine practice.

My Second Medical Education

Medical education for a health professional is a continuous process beginning with medical school and continues indefinitely.  Traditionally, medical knowledge has been carefully guarded trade secrets, and available by attending expensive medical  meetings or engaging knowledgeable experts as tutors in a medical apprentice system called internship and residency.  As you will read in this book, the internet has changed all that, and I can report my second medical education was obtained from a high speed internet connection providing immediate access to a wealth of full text medical journals, and instantaneous interactive communications with knowledgeable heath professionals and E-patients.

References are Online  

Finally, the Internet Revolution has rendered all books, including this one, instantly obsolete the moment it is printed. For that reason, the user is referred to my blog www.jeffreydach.com to experience the richness of the hyperlinked environment, review new material, or interactively ask a question or post a comment.  

Instead of placing the references at the end of each chapter of the book, the references are hyperlinked at a mirror image of the book online on my blog, www.jeffreydach.com, allowing instant viewing of the reference article.  Hyperlinking allows the reader to mouse click on the text, and the computer then jumps to the reference article.
  
Conventional Methods

My background and training is hospital based medicine.  As a result, our office approach to diagnosis and treatment is much the same as any other conventional medical office.  We perform a detailed medical history, physical examination, do laboratory work and careful follow up.  You will find this same approach at all conventional medical offices.

Lab Testing: Combined Conventional and Non-Conventional

We depart from strict conventional medicine regarding lab testing.  Most of our lab tests are standard Quest and LabCorp tests which, by definition, are in mainstream medicine.  However, some of our labs are outside of mainstream medicine such as the salivary cortisol test which is quite useful, and in many ways superior to the cortisol blood test.   Salivary cortisol testing has been accepted and widely used in medical research for 30 years. For example, NASAl uses salivary cortisol testing on the astronauts on the space shuttle.  Amazingly it is not accepted by mainstream medicine, and your doctor may not even be aware of it.

Treatment Protocols

Our treatment protocols are mostly outside of mainstream medicine because we prefer to use natural treatments such as bio-identical hormones, natural desiccated thyroid and vitamins and minerals for deficiency states.  There is no question in my mind that natural treatments are by and large more effective and superior to chemically altered drugs.  For example, we have found that natural thyroid is much more effective with superior clinical results when compared to synthroid.

The Great Achievements of Modern Medicine

Although surgical techniques perfected by modern medicine are nothing short of miraculous and can bring the near-dead back to life, perhaps the greatest achievement of modern medicine is the conquest of infectious disease with antibiotics and vaccines.  One might argue that these achievements would not be possible without the drug patent system, which provides the financial incentives to bring new drugs to market.  This same financial clout makes the cultural influence of the drug industry  dominant throughout conventional medical practice.

The Patented Drug Paradigm

Patented drugs are chemically altered versions of natural substances.  This state of affairs was created by a quirk in our legal system which allows patent protection for new chemical structures not found in nature.  There is no patent protection for the chemical structures of natural substances.   However, the manufacturing technique of a natural substance can be patented.  I think we will see more of this in the future.

Patent protection restricts competition and allows huge profits from drug sales.  This has created the most profitable industry in the history of the world, the US pharmaceutical industry.   Like any other self-interested corporation, the drug industry uses standard business practices to increase profits.  In order to bring new drugs to market, they fund and carry out the studies showing medical benefit, these are submitted for FDA approval, and then the new drug is marketed to the public and medical profession. 

Somewhere along the line things went wrong, and we find the medical studies are manipulated to show benefit for drugs which are marginal, ineffective or actually harmful.  In addition, we find drug marketing advertising to be deceitful and misleading.  We also find that drug companies behave like any self interested corporation.  They lobby the government and peddle influence to gain favor for their products while suppressing competitors in natural medicine.

Two examples: the GAG Rule, and Request to Ban Bio-Identical Hormones

An unconstitutional FDA “gag rule” makes it unlawful for vitamin companies to give any information to its customers about their products.  It is illegal for them to inform the public about the usefulness of vitamins, supplements and natural medicines.  This is one example of the power of the drug lobby to influence government to suppress its competition and increase profits.  Another example is the “Citizens’ Complaint” filed by Wyeth with the FDA, asking the FDA to ban bio-identical hormones which have directly competed with synthetic hormones causing massive losses at Wyeth for many years.  This is discussed in the article, FDA Declares War on BioIdentical Hormones by Jeffrey Dach MD, located here. 

Natural Medicine is More Effective

Natural substances are more effective than the synthetic drugs, which in many cases are chemically altered versions of the more superior natural medicine product.

The natural medicine will usually show better medical efficacy when studied fairly and objectively, and this creates potential loss of market share and declining profits whenever the inferior drug competes with the superior natural version.  This basic truth creates a natural rivalry between the drug industry and natural medicine.

The Information War between Drug Medicine and Natural Medicine

This natural rivalry plays out as an information war in the media.  This is a war for the minds of the public. For example, the article entitled, “My Vitamins Are Killing Me”, reveals how a media story about a flawed medical study trumpets the ridiculous notion that vitamins are killing people. 

We are bombarded with print and television mis-information with the drum beat of the same message over and over, telling us that drugs are good, and natural substances are bad.  In reality the reverse is true.  When a new patient walks into the office on the first visit, there is always this issue of media mis-information which must be dealt with.  We spend a lot of time reviewing data from medical studies, correcting the false beliefs and medical myths acquired through years of media exposure.  Another reason for this book is to provide another viewpoint, the other side of the story, to dispel the myths and falsehoods created by the information wars and drug company advertising.

Television and Print Advertising

Again, like any other self interested corporation, the drug industry utilizes sophisticated Madison Avenue television advertising techniques (also known as disease mongering) to sell more product to the public.  With the exception of New Zealand, the US is the only country that allows Direct to Consumer Television drug advertising.  This has been banned elsewhere because it is deceptive, misleading and harmful to the public interest.
Read more about disease mongering by the drug industry in the article, Restless Leg Syndrome, Requip and Disease Mongering by Jeffrey Dach MD .

Prior to the Information Renaissance provided by the Internet, there was no contest in the media information war.  Having no alternative media, there was no other source of information, and the information in the television and print media ran un-opposed.  However, this control has been challenged by medical information freely available on the Internet.  This has created a new era of openness, a Medical Renaissance, for millions of empowered e-patients. 

It is no longer possible for the Pharmaceutical industry to engage in disease mongering advertising, or to market marginal or ineffective drugs.  The Internet Medical Renaissance won’t allow it any further.  The true medical information on the internet is like a bright spotlight shining on the years of dirty tricks, media manipulation, false advertising and deceitful conduct of the pharmaceutical industry, and  it is not a pretty picture. 

All this is quite obvious to the millions of internet savvy e-patients who are drawn towards natural medicine, and repulsed by the tarnished chemically altered drug paradigm.  The e-patient has learned the obvious truth that natural medicine is more effective and yields better results than conventional drug based medicine.

The Demise of the Patented Drug Paradigm

As discussed in my article, the Future of Medicine, rapid advances in technology are making the chemically altered drug paradigm obsolete in the long term.  Instead, advances in personal medicine, genomic medicine and orthomolecular medicine involving DNA expression and protein synthesis are driving medical science towards natural medicines such as biotechnology manufactured human hormones and human proteins.  

Since a natural substance cannot be patented, we will ultimately see movement away from patents for chemical structures, and towards patents for manufacturing technique.  To survive, mainstream medicine must transform itself and embrace natural medicine. This transformation is not as difficult as you might think.  There are many examples of the use of natural medicine already in the mainstream such as: Blood transfusions, Intravenous fluids, hormones such as human insulin, and growth hormone made with  recombinant technology, Slo-Niacin (B3), L-arginine and Omega 3 oils for reversal of heart disease, Lithium for depression, IV magnesium for eclampsia, etc. 

Modern Surgery and Natural Medicine Similarities

While the internal medicine doctors have always been caught up by the drug industry, I observed over the years the independence of surgery from the drug company influence.  Modern surgery therefore shares in common with natural medicine a type of independence from drug company influence. Surgical techniques cannot be patented or even submitted for FDA approval.  The procedures change and evolve rapidly based on a medical criteria for effectiveness.  As a result, some widely accepted surgical procedures are later abandoned.  Some are shown to be sham procedure (arthroscopy for Osteoarthritis), or else replaced by something new. (laparoscopic techniques).

One thing I have learned over the years is: 

Never underestimate the ability of medicine to change. 

Jeffrey Dach MD
4700 Sheridan Suite T
Hollywood, Florida 33021
954-983-1443
www.jeffreydach.com
www.drdach.com