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Frequently Asked Questions |
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FAQ's |
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Doctor Yourself? Do you honestly think you can become your own doctor? Very often, yes. This is
neither impossible nor illegal, and is more and more essential all the
time. Healing is too big a topic for any one person to know it
all. While that statement includes me and you, it also includes your
doctor. But it is not impossible to learn more than your doctor knows,
particularly in key areas. You can go to any book or paper in print,
read it, apply it, and draw practical conclusions from it. What you
will read is just what any physician reads. In fact, you may discover
material that your doctor never saw, or did see and never investigated.
With a good bibliography, an inquiring mind, and gradual experience, there is
no reason why you cannot gain considerable competence in treating yourself
and your immediate family in many instances. Remember that in doing your
research you will also learn when you really do need a physician. How can you say
this? Aren't doctors the ones for this duty; isn't it their special
province to be the formally educated authorities on health? Commonly, yes: but a
doctor's authority in Isn’t the
science of modern medicine is too much for a layperson to learn? Medicine is aptly
described as an art, not a science. To this end, four different doctors
may have up to four different diagnoses or prescriptions. "Who will
decide when doctors disagree" is an epigram that calls the
question. Indeed, whose judgment is final for your health and
life? Why not have you decide? This seems an
awesome responsibility, yet we do it every day. Any mother or father, adult
or child constantly makes the most immediate health decisions as the occasion
arises. The cut, the cold, the fever, the ache: all these and the
serious emergencies too are in our hands first. Even if help is called
for, who decides until the doctor arrives? The persons present.
The Red Cross would like all of us to be educated and trained to capably
"hold the fort" until medical reinforcements arrive. This is
good, but so incomplete. When medical technology takes over, too many of
us breathe a sigh of relief. What can I do to take
charge of my own healthcare? This is the pivotal
question: It is not necessary for us to turn over the responsibility
for our wellness to another. The pioneers in this country couldn't, and
evidence is mounting that we, today, shouldn't. In 2004, a major paper
entitled Death by Medicine statistically demonstrated that medical
care kills about one million Americans each year, making it the number one
cause of death in the Easy to say; hard to
do. What if we do it ourselves, and do it wrong? Much of the fear of doing
something wrong vanishes when we are knowledgeable about what we are
doing. There is no fence around health information. to
keep us from learning it. Likewise, there is no law preventing us
from applying our acquired knowledge in practice to benefit ourselves and our
immediate family. The key is to gain the knowledge by wanting to learn,
by wanting the responsibility for our own health, and doing something to
learn to do it ourselves. Let no fear, nor any culturally-implied
uniqueness of the doctor's profession keep you from wellness self-reliance. Are you a
physician? Who are you to talk?
I am most certainly not a
physician. I am a natural therapeutics consultant. My clients all
have their own attending physicians. I do not in any way take the place
of your doctor(s), nor do I diagnose, treat or prescribe. I am an
educator, trying to provide people with as much specific, detailed
and practical alternative health information as possible. What I offer is
based on 30 years’ experience. You can read more about me
elsewhere on this website if you choose. Or, you can click “home”
or “back” and get out of here with your values unaltered. What do I need this
website, or for that matter, do I need you for? Surely doctors today
have far more open minds about alternative health methods? Medical doctors are
called medical doctors for a reason. They go to medical schools and they
learn medicine and practice medicine. Now substitute the word “Nutrition”
for the words “Medicine” and “Medical” in the
sentences above and see how impossible it sounds. So most medical personnel
remain largely unfamiliar with non-medical treatments, and tend to dismiss
them without knowing about what they're dismissing. This is a great loss
to the doctor as well as to the public. Are you selling
something? Yes. I offer my
books for sale. Aren’t you
selling vitamins or herbs or some multi-level marketing thing? No. I have no
financial connection with any manufacturer, sales organization, or
distributor. I’ve had an incredible number of offers to do so over
the past decades, but no, I won’t do it. If I sold juicers or
supplements, I think most people would (correctly) see that as a conflict of
interest. How do I know you aren’t
just a crank or some wacko posting all of this just to mislead people? Let the methods mentioned
here stand on their own merits; don't take my word for it. I do choose
to share useful information that I've gathered together and tried out. What
you do with this information is up to you, just as
how you apply your education to your life is up to you. You can either
click out of here, or read my references.
A lot of the media,
professional organizations, politicians, and physicians aren’t going to
concur with your ideas here, are they?
Nope, especially since I
believe that alternative healing methods are much more than just temporary or
half measures. I am not going to give you yet another "use drugs
wisely" or "help your doctor help you" speech. That stops
short of true wellness self-reliance because it always defers final say
to the doctor, and trust medical, conventional treatments for the "real
illnesses." That will not be the case here. I believe that
your doctor works for you, not the other way around. Your physician is
your contractor, and it’s your jobsite. Following the government's
health advice, the American Medical Association, the American Dietetic
Association, the syndicated doctor's advice columns in the newspaper, or
television commercials for patent remedies will not be recommended,
either. Rather, I offer some unusual substantiation, references,
research summaries, obscure clinical material, unpopular preventive or therapeutic
measures, little known or under-used facts and approaches to do-it-yourself
health. My presentation is incomplete, of course, because there is so
much to know. Hopefully, this will be a starting point, sort of a
"health homesteader's handbook."
You have listed some
serious illnesses on the index page. Do you really believe that natural
healing can go that far? Yes. Natural
therapies aren't just another way to fight disease but are often a superior
way to eliminate disease. This website focuses as much as possible on
the “real” diseases. Natural healing gets down to the real
basics such as your diet and everyday lifestyle... the things that really
cause our illnesses, and are really difficult to change. Nature cure is
so simple yet all-embracing that it is best carried out by the patient daily
life. No one can follow you around to see that you eat right, exercise
and live happily. While it is true that in Certainly more people
have more confidence in hospitals, MDs and pharmacists than in nature-cures,
don’t they? Probably, but it is
changing fast. Over half of all Americans will see an alternative
practitioner this year. Still, why do we so mistrust home remedies,
supplements, rest, water treatments, juice-fasting and diet revision when
they have so very few harmful side effects? Often because we haven't
seen the evidence that they work, or because they lack official recognition
and the prestige that comes with a treatment being expensive and
complicated. The evidence exists that natural therapies work, in fact
work better than allopathic (drug) methods. I cite such evidence, ask
you to email me if you can help me cite it better, and provide bibliography that
will enable you to cite still more.
If nature-cure is so
effective, why have my doctors not prescribed it for me? It's unreasonable to
expect medical doctors and pharmaceutical companies to tell you how to avoid
their services by trying the alternatives. You are not going to get a
Republican politician to tell you to vote Democratic, and you can’t get
chow mein in a French restaurant. Hospitals,
doctors and pharmaceutical companies all share a common Achilles’ heel:
they all profit from disease. I wish this were not the case, but follow
the money and consider the results. What is the legality
of all this? It is not illegal to
treat yourself or your immediate family. We do have the right to freedom
of the press, which means I can print information, and you can read it.
If you choose to treat yourself and your family, that
is within your rights also, and is necessarily your sole decision based on
what you know to be best. Self care means accepting some risk, and
accepting much responsibility. It is not for all people or all
cases. It has been highly effective for my family. My kids made it
all the way into college without ever having even one dose of any antibiotic. Copyright 2007 and
prior years by Andrew W. Saul. Andrew Saul is the author of
the books FIRE YOUR DOCTOR! How to be Independently
Healthy (reader reviews at http://www.doctoryourself.com/review.html
) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing
that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html
)
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AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This page is not in any way offered as prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness, infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision. Neither the author nor the webmaster has authorized the use of their names or the use of any material contained within in connection with the sale, promotion or advertising of any product or apparatus. Single-copy reproduction for individual, non-commercial use is permitted providing no alterations of content are made, and credit is given. |
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