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From:
Valerie Wells <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Tue, 30 Dec 2003 14:30:07 -0800
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<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I originally posted my appreciation of "alternative medicine" based on an
account of my son's bout with schizophrenia and my severe gut problems
that were resolved the help of "alternative" practicioners after
conventional medicine failed to help either of us.  I recieved a variety
of responses, but most were supportive.  I'll quote a excerpts below:
------------
I agree with every word you say, and back it up with my own
experience...and what countless others
must be experiencing.
        I was having terrible depressions, uncontrollable weeping,
inability to
think a thought, and all of the other gut probs.  Conventional doctors
either told me to go home and drink ginger tea (for my gutaches), take
Paxil
(for my emotional upheaval), or go to a shrink and talk about my
relationship to my father (for my depression).
        Instinctively, I knew in my inner self that this was all hogwash, and
quit the conventional route.  Happily, I found an acupuncturist (also an
MD, very open minded, kind, a great listener), Dr. Martin Rossman, who is
my
personal hero--he suggested one day that gluten might be my problem.  I
immediately started to feel half human again after going GF, and went
back to conventional medicine for my tests, righteously indignant, and
insistant
that they do my bidding.  I got all of the tests I wanted, and had
confirmation within a couple of months of my first serious symptoms.
        I also found a Guided Imagery person, who really helped me gain
insights
and more control over my own health.  It sounds very airy fairy, but it
was so useful to do this work.
        I have come out the other end with a renewed respect for complementary
medicine modalities--if you find the right people to help it is worth the
cost to step outside of the insurance-covered services, and just get the
job
done.  I am so grateful that I was able to afford to go this route--so
many back off because insurance won't cover.
-Chris
-----------------
I agree with you that alternative medicine should be considered and can
be helpful, but I think people should also be warned that there are
quacks out there, too. I have a friend who was absolutely taken to the
bank by a quack alternative nutritionist. And some of the stuff he took
nearly killed him, too.  Just as in conventional medicine, you have to do
your homework. richard
[ You are so right.  We all have to shop very carefully.  I believe the
most important element of my healing is my self education.  I thoroughly
check out every little thing before I try anything.  I have to read about
a particular treatment from multiple sources before I'll try it.  And,
anything I try must be time honored, trusted, tried & true.  What's
interesting is that so much of what's considered "alternative" now used
to be mainstream medicine that has since been replaced by prescription
drugs. For example the ketogenic diet for pediatric siezures used to be
the standard, until the advent of anti seizure meds.  Coffee enemas was
standard for liver disease until 1977 (Merck Manual).  Adrenal extract
was standard for Addison's disease.  Stomach acid supplementation for
hypochlorhydria.  Thyroid hormone extract for hypothyroid.  All these
used to be MAINLINE, but were brushed aside by the glitter of "modern
pharmacology" with synthetic drugs and newer fancier surgical
interventions in the 60s.  These were old trusted, tried & true therapies
that really worked with little or no side effects!  So.... now days
"alternative" doctors are really just bright & clever doctors who reject
the harsher side of modern pharmacology in favor of safer, more "natural"
but often non FDA approved treatments & therapies that have withstood the
test of time.  What's so quacky about that?]
-----------------
As Gluten is a toxin to our bodies, the chemical imbalances that result
from malabsorption have seemed to cause electrical activity in our brains
to be heightened.  I don't yet know the details but I think that
misfirings take place and circuits in the brain become incapable of
processing sensory inputs properly.  Therefore behavioral aberrations
result of which we are not aware.
        All of this is because our body is not receiving adequate nutrients.
        (An interesting book by Dr. Neppe of Seattle is called 'Cry the
Beloved
Mind'. I got an electronic copy yesterday and will read it with
entusiasm. Dr. Neppe, the author, is both an MD, Phd and Pharmacologist
who specializes in studies of the Central Nervous System -- specifically
the brain.)
www.brainvoyage.com is the website where you can get Dr. Neppe's book.
Richard
---------------
I completely agree with you about the value of alternative medicine.  It
has given me most of any help I have
received from the medical field.  I have a mystery disease, and because
my then-doctor couldn't figure it out, she recommended that I take an
anti-depressant and see a psychiatrist.  Right, like I am deficient in
little pink pills and talk-talk.  Jane
----------------
I know I've written before regarding my husband and myself being Dr.
Wright's patients since '82, but I had to write again in response to your
note today.  Only with Dr. Wright have both of us found help for our
multiple problems (both gluten intolerant and osteoporosis and then each
of us have unique additional problems).  It has taken someone with a
medical background, but working alternatively to give us help.  Other
alternative practitioners were not able to figure out or alleviate our
problems.
     It's taken a lot of time/effort but I shudder to think of where we'd
be if we hadn't gone alternative given the severe issues we deal with.
     Thanks for your note.  Too many in this country are willing to
settle for a drug to mask the underlying condition.   Gloria
----------------
I just want to thank you for this email and to tell you that I couldn't
agree more. It has been a nightmare for me to be diagnosed at age 60 by
Dr. Fine and to finally know what is at least partly wrong with my son,
who is bipolar  and gluten sensitive, in addition to whatever else. Our
medical system is a scam and it is a wonder that anybody gets much help
in so many areas.
        Dr. Fine is a real hero in my book and should be given the Nobel prize
for medicine. He seems to have it right and seems to know more than
anybody else about this business. I was reading Adele Davis in the early
sixties and admire the rest of the people you mentioned tremendously but
I can't say that about any from the conventional medicine side. They seem
to be trying only to heal their bank accounts.  --Arline
[Dr. Fine is actually a published "mainstream" gastroenterologist who got
frustrated with the "system."  He departed with the mainstream when he
decided to share his research with the public via the internet and his
lab, EnteroLab, without first submitting to the long and ardous "peer
review" process.  He is still respected by many of his conventional peers
that know him personally.]
---------------

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