What the drug companies won't tell you and your doctor doesn't know : the alternative treatments that may change your life--and the prescriptions that could harm you

304 Pages·2014·2.59 MB·English

by  Murray

WHAT THE
DRUG COMPANIES
WON’T TELL YOU
and
YOUR DOCTOR
DOESN’T KNOW
This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to
provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed in the
publication. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are
not engaged in rendering medical, health, or any other kind of personal
professional services in the book. The reader should consult his or her medical,
health, or other competent professional before adopting any of the suggestions in
this book or drawing inferences from it.
The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any
liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence,
directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this
book.
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Copyright © 2009 by Michael T. Murray, N.D.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof
in any form whatsoever. For information address
Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department,
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
ATRIA and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
BOOKS
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Murray, Michael T.
What the drug companies won’t tell you and your doctor doesn’t know /
Michael T. Murray.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Naturopathy. 2. Alternative medicine. 3. Pharmaceutical industry—Corrupt
practices—United States. I. Title.
RZ440.M88 2009
615.5'35—dc22
2008019980
ISBN-13: 978-1-43916429-7
ISBN-10: 1-4391-6429-0
Visit us on the Web:
http://www.SimonandSchuster.com
In loving memory of my father, Clifford G. Murray, Jr.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
would like to acknowledge my wife, Gina. Her love, support, and
MOST OF ALL, I
patience are the major blessings in my life along with our wonderful children,
Alexa, Zachary, and our littlest angel, Addison.
I have also been blessed with many exceptional people whom I am very
fortunate to be able to call my dear friends. In particular, I want to acknowledge
the tremendous positive influence that Dr. Gaetano Morello has had on my life,
as well as his generous assistance in helping me mold this book into its final
form. Thank you, Gaetano. Others who deserve special mention for helping me
conceptualize this book are Roland Gahler and everyone at Natural Factors, Dr.
Joseph Pizzorno, and Dr. Michael Lyon. Thanks to you all.
Lastly, I am indebted to the team at Atria led by Judith Curr for all of their
hard work in making this book as reader-friendly and practical as possible.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
1
A MATTER OF TRUST—MAKING MEDICINE OR MAKING MONEY?
2
THE NUMBER ONE THING THAT THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO
KNOW
3
AN OVERLOOKED GOAL OF HEALING—REMOVING OBSTACLES
TO A CURE
4
FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE VERSUS THE TREATMENT OF DISEASE
5
IS SYMPTOM RELIEF A PATH TO BAD MEDICINE?
6
CREATING A MARKET VERSUS PROVIDING A CURE
7
EXPLOITING THE CHOLESTEROL MYTH
8
DRUGS ARE LESS POWERFUL THAN OUR ATTITUDE
9
DRUGS CANNOT OVERCOME A POOR DIET OR AN UNHEALTHY
LIFESTYLE
10
LOOKING BEHIND THE HEADLINES AND THROUGH THE BIAS
11
HOW TO GET WELL
APPENDIXES
APPENDIX A: ARE YOU AN OPTIMIST?
APPENDIX B: OSTEOPOROSIS: RISK ASSESSMENT AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
APPENDIX C: HUNGER FREE FOREVER PROGRAM
APPENDIX D: DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS FOR DIABETES AND HIGH
BLOOD PRESSURE
APPENDIX E: GLYCEMIC INDEX, CARBOHYDRATE CONTENT,
AND GLYCEMIC LOAD OF SELECTED FOODS
APPENDIX F: WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A MULTIPLE VITAMIN AND
MINERAL SUPPLEMENT
NOTES
PROLOGUE
“The enemy of the conventional wisdom is
not ideas but the march of events.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith
was coined by the noted economist John Kenneth
THE TERM “CONVENTIONAL WISDOM”
Galbraith in his book The Affluent Society, in 1958. According to Galbraith,
conventional wisdom is established if it is simple, convenient, comfortable, and
comforting—though not necessarily true. Galbraith also said, “We associate
truth with convenience, with what most closely accords with self-interest or
personal well-being.” People want to believe conventional wisdom because it is
indeed so simple, convenient, comfortable and comforting, even if it may not be
true. And once conventional wisdom on any topic is accepted, it becomes
difficult to prove otherwise.
In the United States, the medical establishment has created the conventional
wisdom that drug-oriented medicine is the best form of medicine. Yet many of
these drugs only make us feel better in the short term, while exposing us to the
risk of dependency, producing side effects worse than the condition being
treated, or actually causing the condition to worsen. These substantial risks, and
the rising costs associated with a drug-oriented medical system, are creating an
opportunity for change.
Change is definitely coming; in fact, we are in the midst of it. There has
been a subtle revolution in medicine for years, and a new paradigm is emerging.
A paradigm is a model used to explain events. As our understanding of the
environment and the human body evolves, new paradigms—new explanations—
are developed. For example, in physics the cause-and-effect explanations of
Descartes and Newton were superseded by quantum mechanics, Einstein’s
theory of relativity, and theoretical physics, which takes into consideration the
tremendous interconnectedness of the universe.
The new paradigm in medicine also focuses on interconnectedness: in this
case, of body, mind, emotions, social factors, and the environment in
determining the status of an individual’s health. And whereas the old paradigm
viewed the body basically as a machine that can be fixed best with drugs and
surgery, in the new, emerging model these measures are secondary to natural,
surgery, in the new, emerging model these measures are secondary to natural,
noninvasive, techniques to promote health and healing. The relationship between
the physician and the patient is also evolving. The era of the physician as a
demigod is over. The era of self-empowerment is beginning.
NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
By definition and philosophy most conventional medical doctors (M.D.s)
practice allopathic medicine—the system of medicine that focuses primarily on
treating disease rather than promoting health. In contrast, you may have noticed
the N.D. after my name on the cover. This signifies that I am a naturopathic
doctor. I graduated from Bastyr University with a doctorate in naturopathic
medicine—a system that emphasizes prevention, treatment, and the promotion of
optimal health through the use of natural, nontoxic therapies. The scope of
practice of an N.D. includes all aspects of family and primary care, from
pediatrics to geriatrics, as well as the full range of human health conditions
including cancer. Naturopathic medicine is based on seven time-tested
principles:
1. First, do no harm. N.D.s seek to do no harm with medical treatment;
therefore, they employ safe and effective natural therapies.
2. Employ the healing power of nature. N.D.s believe that the body has
considerable power to heal itself. The role of the physician is to facilitate
and enhance this process with the aid of natural, nontoxic therapies.
3. Identify and treat the cause. N.D.s are trained to seek the underlying
causes of a disease rather than simply suppress the symptoms. Symptoms
are viewed as expressions of the body’s attempt to heal, whereas causes can
spring from physical, mental-emotional, and spiritual levels.
4. Treat the whole person. N.D.s are trained to view an individual as a
whole, composed of a complex set of physical, mental-emotional, spiritual,
social, and other factors.
5. The physician is a teacher. The word “doctor” comes from the Latin
docere, which means “to teach.” N.D.s view our roles as primarily those of
teachers: to educate, empower, and inspire our patients to assume more
personal responsibility for their health by adopting a positive attitude,