“one-half of what we know in medicine is wrong”

by Dr. Jeff Prystupa

Previously: Dirty Aquariums and Sick Fish

“The problem is we don’t know which half.” Today, people are trapped in a knowledge gap. My scientist and inventor friend, Thomas Smith, says: “Good information is hard to come by these days.” He’s absolutely right. Since the 1930’s, the big multi-national chemical companies have exerted a poisonous influence over research. Now, there is no more independent or free research done in the pursuit of knowledge.

Research is not being done to simply push back the boundaries of what we know. All the research done today is funded by private institutions for the sole purpose of gaining a financial windfall. This is true of public universities also. They depend on these corporations for donations. The donors and the donations are targeted for specific projects and for developing the future employees of that particular field.

Consider the development of the Agri-business industry. Research is not done to learn more about the necessary relationship between bacteria and healthy microbes that make soil suitable for growing nutritious food. The research is aimed at discovering which chemicals can be added to increase crop yield and to control insects which can lower that yield. The result? Ruined farmland that can, year after year, produce a tremendous yield of eye-pleasing crops with little to no nutritional value. Empty Harvest by Dr. Jensen and Mark Anderson warned of this danger decades ago. It seems that their cry for sanity fell on deaf corporate ears.

For example, to treat epidemics like Cancer and Autism, we search for solely chemical solutions. Forty years ago, the diagnosis of Autism did not exist. Today, one out of every 150 children in California are stricken by this disease which steals the minds of our babies. It’s worse than that however, more damage is done by Autism-lite – two other subclasses of this disease – ADD and ADHD. Nor does this account for another sister disease that similarly strikes the elderly – Alzheimer’s. Why are we losing the war against these types of neurologic disease? Why have we not made any progress in the war against Cancer? We’ve spent billions, yet the Cancer rate has grown from 1 in 300 in 1900 to nearly 1 in 2 in 2000. Have we uncovered any evidence that links the cause of Autism and Cancer to a lack of drugs? No. What leads us then to believe that we can cure these conditions by adding drugs?

The answer is: “One half of what we know in medicine is wrong. The problem is we don’t know which half.” It is my contention that there have been men and women throughout the modern scientific era who have discovered and known the truth about health and disease. Their story is told in volumes of excellent books and writings that are available to the interested seeker. At various times, their voices began to draw attention in numbers that threatened the perceived security of the corporate status quo. These voices crying in the wilderness were silenced.

Throughout history, the story is told of a redeeming remnant, a relative but highly significant minority of human beings with a heart that will not, that cannot, compromise. The United States was founded by such men and women. It is estimated that the American Revolution was fought and won by 3-5% of the population. The course of history was changed forever by a very small minority who agreed with Patrick Henry who said: “Give me liberty – or give me death.”

My friends, the enemy is again at the door. I do not feel threatened by Al-Qaida. I am threatened by those within our borders who are taking away my rights to choose how I can care for my own body, those of my family and my patients. The enemy has become those in governmental positions who make laws, the enemy has become those in corporate positions who buy those in government positions to make laws that benefit their corporations. The enemy has become those in media positions who broadcast the lies that continue to deceive and poison our minds and bodies. One of the lies that has become a pattern in our thought process is that there is a pill for every ill. How did we arrive at this illogical conclusion?

There are physical conditions that affect us as we stand in defiance of the constant pull of gravity. Muscle tension develops that strains and distorts the skeleton. This musculo-skeletal type of physical problem does not respond to chemical solutions. Yet millions take this pill and that pill trying to find relief for headaches, TMJ, neck pain, shoulder, arm and hand pain, Thoracic outlet syndrome, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, pain between the shoulders that affects the heart and digestion, low back pain, scoliosis and sciatica, hip, knee, ankle and foot pain. Physical problems must be treated according to their nature with physical remedies such as Chiropractic, Massage, Physical Therapy, exercise and stretching. Taking pills for these conditions will hasten the onset of the various forms of arthritis with its increasing stiffness, pain and disability.

There are mental or neurological problems that require therapy in kind. Stress in its various forms create tensions that must be relieved through the same or similar channels through which they come. The mis-application of chemical solutions to mental problems soon leads to the warehousing of unplugged, disengaged, emotionless, bodies that no longer possess the mental faculties, emotions, creativity and qualities that make us fully human. Taking pills to quiet the anxieties, fears, and depression that stir within us is to give up the very struggle that makes us alive and interdependent upon one another. I lay that blame at the feet of the same enemy I speak of. (see: Affluence: Spawning A Wealth of Ills in America. [broken link])

Only chemical problems warrant chemical remedies. Because the human body utilizes a multi-dimensional communication system that has a chemical component is not justification for treating every condition that arises within that body with chemicals. Applying synthetic pharmaceutical compounds, which are highly toxic to the overall system, because they can bully a symptom into submission leads to other problems. The other problems they cause are called side-effects, the majority of which are unknown. I suggest that before someone take any prescription drug that he or she go to the library and read all the information regarding that drug in the Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR). There are indeed situations in which a chemical therapy is appropriate, but in my estimation, those situations are very few. It is a crime of genocidal proportion, a form of euthanasia, that our mothers and fathers, our grandmothers and grandfathers, that for those above the age of 60, the average senior citizen takes 9 prescription drugs. The fact that our Federal government feels that these drugs should be paid for through socialized medicine proves my earlier assertion about the Fascist (private business/government) nature of health care. But what about you? Are you already on your way to double-digit prescriptions?

What is wrong with the health of America? There is less wrong with the health of America than there is wrong with the manner in which health is cared for in America. The problem with health care in America is that the Emperor is wearing his new clothes. There are a few courageous ‘kids’ in the crowd who are tugging at their Mom’s sleeve and whispering a little too loudly: “Hey, Mom, that guy is naked!” “Half of what medicine knows is wrong, the problem is – we don’t know which half.”

When I began my health career thirty years ago, I was inspired by the wisdom of men like Dr. Weston Price, Dr. Royal Lee, Dr. Wiley, Dr. Enderlien, I was fortunate enough to meet and study under Dr. DeJarnette, Dr. Cook, Dr. Hagen, Dr. McMullen, Dr. Odvarko. I had access to the archives at Palmer College where I read the original writings of Dr. Daniel and his son, Dr. B.J. Palmer. All of these wise men and women knew and know the simple truths about health. Here is what they taught me:

Health is simply a matter of sowing and reaping. There are no mysteries to health. Any computer programmer will tell you the anthem: Garbage in: Garbage out. Health follows the same order. It takes a tremendous amount of ignorance, neglect, and abuse to lose our health. Because the human body is so wonderfully designed, it can withstand the affects of abuse for a long time. It is true that a poison can kill quickly, such as certain carcinogens, radiation, or a reaction to a medication. But the majority of time, we mistake the body’s patience for permission. If the first time a person smoked a cigarette, their nose fell off and they permanently lost their voice, I dare say that we would not have much of a problem in our society or the world with smoking.

What about Coke and Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Mr. Pibb, Mountain Dew, and the rest? These are poisons. The phosphoric acid, the nine tablespoons of sugar, the caffeine, the colorings, these are the ingredients for diabetes, stomach problems, neurologic problems, insomnia, etc. How have we responded to this threat? We have placed dispensing machines that charge $1.00 per can in our schools. In my opinion, the people who made that decision to so endanger our youth should go to prison for the same length of time as someone selling other drugs out of his car in the parking lot. I suspect that the fact that these machines generate nearly $100,000 per year in ‘very soft’ money for school administrators reveals a clue in explaining why they are there in the hallways and cafeteria. How many kids take the money from Mom and Dad, that is intended for lunch, and stuff it into the corporate belly of the vending machines instead?

So the kid chugs the 12 ounces of poison and goes into the classroom. The nine tablespoons of sugar provide chemical stimulus to the pancreas to release acids and enzymes along with the insulin needed to transport that sugar to the brain. The amount of insulin required to balance that sugar overload has a fattening effect on the liver and other tissues. But after a 45 minute ‘rush’ the body starts to crash and relative fatigue sets in. The brain is trying to keep up with this roller-coaster ride of fluctuating sugar levels. Maybe a Snickers bar will help? And we shake our heads at the failure of education to maintain the interest level of students in the classroom. The result? Another prescription for Ritalin.

“Half of what we know in medicine is wrong. The problem is we don’t know which half.” The problem with medicine is the lack of a competing paradigm. The problem with medicine is that there is no other model for health care that feeds the greedy corporate appetite for profit. Historically, whenever a health model arose that could provide that alternative, the agents were sent to destroy and assassinate. The Wilke vs. the AMA lawsuit revealed the underside of the corporate beast and the tactics that it will employ to maintain its monopoly over the minds, bodies, and bloodstreams.

If you want out of this system, you are a part of a growing number of people who have in common no special characteristic except that their vision is still keen enough to read the writing on the wall. We are clearly on the wrong road, seated on the wrong bus, going in the wrong direction, being driven by incompetent practitioners who do not know the way. We need to get off the bus, get a map, ask for directions and start driving ourselves.

If you want help in learning how to employ the simple rules of sowing and reaping, if you would like to learn where you are on the road of health, I would like to help you. For over twenty years, I have been teaching my patients how to stay out of the doctor’s office – even mine. As I have said over and over: “All things considered, Mrs. Jones, your body is out-of-balance, but its your lifestyle that is very sick!” Your health is a composite picture of the choices you have made over time. The picture of health that you present, your weight, your complexion, your ability to circulate blood, to breath the air, to digest your food, to sleep at night, etc., all of these various functions of your total health picture are in exactly the condition that you have created. Your health is nothing more and nothing less than the product of the little decisions we have made day-by-day, meal-by-meal, workout-by-workout. Let’s face the facts. We did it. We have met the enemy, Pogo said long ago, and he is us! The threat is not ‘out there’, it’s in here.

But let’s be wise and mature, starting now, if we need to, and ask ourselves a very important question: Is it time to make some changes? The way I see it, personally, I do not have a choice. All the men in my family have died of heart attacks and heart disease before the age of 65. No male on either side of my family has seen their 65th birthday. Bad stats, eh? If you were me, what would you do? The same things they all did or do you think it would be wise of me to adopt some different lifestyle habits? When should I adopt them? When I am 64? Or would I be wise if I began to plan for my 70’s and 80’s while I was still in my teens and early 20’s?

I will not take prescription drugs. I have yet to see the person whose life was improved as a result of allowing themselves to compromise on the issue of pharmacia. As I read of the mighty men of the Scriptures, they lived long lives full of years, held their grandchildren and great grandchildren on their knees without the ‘benefit’ of prescription drugs. If I die, I die. I just do not want to be found negligent in the care I render to this vessel. The Creator teaches me that this body was created as the temple He has provided as an in-dwelling for His Spirit.

“If it is to be – it is up to me.”

To be continued …

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