"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power."
"We have guided missiles and misguided men."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I mentioned in a previous article how health insurance worked and I am flabbergasted by the feedbacks I have received so far: although most people did not “trust” insurance companies and had had bad experiences, they did not understand why and simply blamed their agent for not having given them enough information to allow them to make an “informed” decision.

In addition to being a medico-legal interpreter and translator, I am also an insurance agent and, being a Christian, I firmly believe in “do unto others”. Since I do not like being rushed into decisions without knowing exactly what I am up against, it would never occur to me to do it to others. As a result, when people approach me about health or life insurance, I go through a great deal of trouble to educate them first, oftentimes at the expense of a quick sale: the way I look at it, my purpose in life is to make their life easier, not more difficult. Forcing anyone to write a check with the full knowledge that whatever I am selling will not serve their interests goes against my core values. Needless to say, I am not yet “successful” by our society’s standards. What matters to me is that I am at peace with my conscience and, in that respect, I am successful by God’s standards.

As an insurance agent, I do meet a considerable number of people who have been turned down by several insurance carriers on the basis of “pre-existing” conditions or who simply can’t afford the high premium resulting from said conditions. Although the company I represent is more liberal than most in its underwriting policies, there are still many people whom I can’t help. There is, however, something I can always do for them: direct them to DrNatura. It should come as no surprise to you that that’s exactly what I do. Those who choose to order the Colonix and Toxinout programs are appreciative and thankful and I have yet to meet anyone who has not, in some way, greatly benefited from them. What makes me the happiest is knowing that, even though they may not be able to purchase health insurance for another two years –most insurance companies require that one not be treated for two years in order for the condition to be considered healed- at the very least, those people no longer live with the fear of impending doom. The objective improvement they see in their condition tells them that, even though they may need a costly medical care, they have at least successfully bought themselves enough time to become insurable before they seek it.

What troubles me, though, is a reaction I am commonly seeing in certain people and which I do not understand: when talking about colon cleansing, I often hear statements such as “My doctor told me that the colon doesn’t need to be cleaned and messing up with it can be dangerous”, or “My doctor says that the body heals itself and that no one needs a colon cleansing”. What troubles me even more is that those are the same doctors who prescribe to their patients extremely potent and potentially dangerous drugs. Common sense dictates that if, indeed, the body healed itself, there should be no need for drugs and a wait-and-see approach would suffice for people to get better. So, what am I missing?

Many among those people are also routinely prescribed fiber supplements such as Metamucil or laxatives. I do not doubt that Metamucil may work for some but, based on the thousand of testimonials contained on www.DrNatura.com, it is not the case for everyone: many writers indicated that it never worked for them. Others found themselves trapped on the laxative road with endless bouts of constipation-diarrhea and without ever seeing any permanent relief for an uncomfortable and sometimes debilitating situation.

While waiting to interpret for a patient in a medical office, I recently read a four-page brochure on Metamucil: I found it very interesting that nowhere, in the pamphlet, was there any advice on the need to drink plenty of fluids (let alone water) while taking it. In fact, the only time water is mentioned in the instructions is in connection with the one glass to drink with the powder in the morning http://www.drugs.com/cdi/metamucil_powder.html.

I read additional information concerning laxatives and, again, found very little information about the need to drink water throughout the day. I have to wonder why so many people report diarrhea while taking laxatives: where is all the fluid they eliminate coming from? Might they, in fact, be systematically dehydrating their body and thus worsening their constipation? Mind-boggling…

I have a tremendous respect for doctors: it takes commitment and dedication to put oneself through medical school for seven to ten years and most report that they did so at the expense of everything else and that it took them years of deprivation to repay the horribly expensive student loans they had contracted. In addition, the highly litigious environment in which they operate fosters a considerable amount of stress few of us could sustain on a regular basis and it is not uncommon to hear that our dear doctor was victim of a heart attack (I have known quite a few myself) before reaching 65.

We need, however, to put things into perspective: doctors do not know everything, as I pointed out in previous articles. Further, what they have been taught is to deal with existing illness, to recognize it, diagnose it and treat it according to standardized methods. They have not been taught how to naturally prevent it. We consult them only when something is already wrong with us, unlike in many other developed countries where yearly physicals are not only strongly encouraged but also required. Unfortunately, the highly regulated system under which physician practice forbids them from advising patients about anything not endorsed by certain government agencies, lest they would expose themselves to harsh punishments. In fact, they sometimes find themselves compelled to chastise healthy, intelligent and articulate patients for refusing certain treatments considered “necessary” even in the absence of any illness. I found myself in such situations several times in the past and, being human, I blamed the doctor at the time for his lack of understanding and what I perceived as an encroachment on my freedom. When they don’t like the message, humans tend to shoot the messenger…

Case in point: 21 years ago, I gave birth to my daughter. Although aware that she was the best thing that ever happened to me, I was also conscious that she was only “entrusted to me” and that my job, as a parent, was to bring her up to be a physically, mentally and emotionally well-balanced individual, fully functioning in society while dotted of solid values she would be morally strong enough not to compromise. Having myself grown in a vegan family for the first 5 years of my life where antroposophy and Rudolf Steiner were commonly and openly discussed, I knew all the pros and cons of vaccinations, most of which I never received. Although my mother eventually did away with the vegan diet, since I was healthy, energetic and well-functioning, I decided that my daughter did not need immunizations anymore that I had. I am, however, not adverse to them as a matter of principle and, in certain cases, I believe that they have a place in our life. As an example, we lived in San Francisco at the time of my daughter’s birth. Common sense told me that, if the earth shook quite a bit there (and it did), the likelihood of water mains being broken was fairly high. Contamination of the water supply was, therefore, a serious risk. Further, being raised as a European, my child never wore shoes until the bones of feet were fully formed: she walked bear foot for her first two years. The risks to her health were through potential polio, diphtheria and tetanus. She received immunizations against those three diseases: common sense means weighing benefits and risks. I refused, however, to have her immunized her against what is commonly known as “childhood diseases”: I had contracted them as a kid and fared extremely well. I did not anticipate her to fare any differently.

My child was a Kaiser baby: born in a Kaiser hospital, she would come under the care of a Kaiser pediatrician. One cannot imagine the pressure under which I was to have her vaccinated against measles, mumps, chickenpox and pertussis (whooping cough). I was accused of irresponsibility, neglect and child endangerment and it took all the strength and energy I could gather to remain steadfast. Eventually, Kaiser relented, not without fights, however.

I subsequently moved to Boston when my kid was 2 and, because of the health insurance program I was under, I was required to select a pediatrician immediately upon starting my new job. My daughter was healthy. She had been brought up at home by live-in nannies (au pairs) and was seldom in contact with other children. Due to my new financial situation as a single mother and the breadwinner, I found a wonderful woman with two children to care for her during the day (daycare centers have never been attractive to me). She referred me to her own pediatrician and, to my grave, I will always remember our first (and only) conversation.

The pediatrician, Dr. V., was a sweet and probably very good doctor. She came highly recommended. However, she and I did not see eye-to-eye on the subject of immunizations. She immediately decreed that my daughter “needed” to be vaccinated against pertussis and other childhood diseases. She explained to me their benefits as other physicians had in the past and handed me a three page consent flyer extolling their advantages, half-a-page of which listing all their potential adverse effects (the disease itself, infection, convulsions, seizures and death), asking me to sign it so that she could proceed with the immunizations. I read the pamphlet and asked her several questions:

- How many children actually died of childhood diseases in the US every year? She did not know.

- How old were the children who actually died of said diseases? To her knowledge, mostly infants a year or younger. (my kid was already past the age of two).

- At her age, and should she contract any of those diseases, what was the worse that could happen? Well, she could develop cardiac or pulmonary problems, she could run an extremely high fever, she might need to be hospitalized.

- Did the doctor know to how many children it happened yearly? No.

- Could one tell ahead of time which children would develop adverse side effects from the vaccinations? No but given my daughter’s health, it was unlikely.

- How unlikely? Well, less than 1/1000.

- If it was that unlikely, why then did I need to sign a consent form acknowledging that I understood all the potential risks and was willing to take them? It was the law.

- How likely was it for my child to develop complications from a childhood disease? Less than 1/1000, given her current health and family history.

- Under the circumstances, what rationale did she have to pressure me into vaccinating my kid? Well, should my kid not be immunized and should she contract any of those diseases, she would be responsible for passing them on to someone else.

- Dr. V., since all other children will be immunized, how can that be possible? Are you telling me that the vaccinations, which come with definite risks, may not be effective? In that case, are the benefits really outweighing the risks?

Dr. V. became defensive and stated that, given my apparent refusal to comply with her professional recommendation, she would decline becoming my child’s pediatrician. I left her office, mentioning that her statement was very close to blackmail and that I did not believe it to be in agreement with the Hippocratic Oath. I soon came to realize that I was up against an established system of monumental proportions. Shopping for a pediatrician I could trust took me several months but I did eventually find one with an open mind. My kid never received the immunizations, she did contract mild cases of benign childhood diseases and her healthy immune system fought them adequately.

I strongly suggest that anyone curious about vaccinations read Allan Phillip’s excellent article at http://www.relfe.com/vaccine.html. The evidence compiled against them is sobering. The medical community itself is divided on the subject. Anytime a community is divided on any subject, one should view it as an indication that simple, immovable and undeniable truth is lacking. Lately, there even has been extensive media coverage on the apparent correlation between early childhood vaccinations and autism. Worth looking into… or, at the very least, thinking twice before putting our children at risk. Anyone willing to do some research can read extensively the existing information by keying “vaccinations and danger”. In fact, countless medical journals have reported on it, including one of the nation’s authorities in medical matter, the New England Journal of Medicine, as documented on http://chetday.com/novacarticles.html. Shouldn’t that be enough for us to question our own doctors? As I said, sobering…

Our medicine is based on what is called “the standard of care”. So long as a physician abides by said standard of care, he cannot be held liable for the poor outcome of his medical decisions. Unfortunately, the standard of care is not as exact as 1 + 1 = 2: it follows medical trends established by government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry. Certain drugs may be heavily pushed onto patients one day and recalled the next, once it has become obvious that they harmed more than they helped. God-given Nature, on the other hand, is not subject to trends. Nor is our body. It will need to eat, drink and eliminate until the day we die. Rather than injecting into it chemicals that, in the long run, destroy the immune system, doesn’t it make more sense to return to Nature’s way and look into her for the answer on how to boost our immune system? That’s what DrNatura is all about. Reassuring, as far as I am concerned. Come to think of it, why is Europe so liberal about vaccinations? Could twenty countries be all wrong and the US be the only right one?

Just a question…

Christine
CBrightlife@aol.com