Anyway I love to blog and share.Did not know it until I set up the blog 6 months ago.
It helps that I am very opinionaed I suppose.
Take care young Sir.

Ah but surely Steven , even you have to conceed that some people have tried radical things for for whatever reason and it has worked, .. Once you cut through all the misleading hype of people trying to "cash in" on the latest cancer cure , their are people who have tried that jucing diet and have professed it to work ?

They "professed" it to work, but did it really work?

Actually, I haven't heard of anyone with a cancer that is biopsy proven (microscopically shows cancer cells), who has truly been cured (meaning the cancer is totally gone and does not recur) by any special diet or herbs or whatever.

This link here is about a study that was done to look at whether or not vitamins (specifically Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and selenium) would do what advocates of them claimed in reducing the risk of various types of cancer. The NIH did the same studies, at the same cost that pharmaceutical companies have to pay, to see whether or not these supplements did any good. And the results showed that not only did these not help, sometimes they caused problems.

Frankly, I don't look at this with any gloating, bur rather with disappointment. It would be wonderful if there was something safe, effective, and inexpensive that worked for these kinds of diseases.

Anecdotes about how this person took that herb to treat some disease, and got great results are not, in isolation, much help. Was the disease proven? Was the cure proven? (Not just "I feel so much better!", but did the tumor regress and disappear on x-ray?) Was there some other factor that happened at about the same time that had an influence on the disease (they chose to stop drinking, or shooting up drugs, or began to exercise, or whatever).

I could name several "tried and true" pharmaceutical treatments in medicine that have been abandoned in the past 10 years, because someone finally did a controlled study that evaluated that treatment, and found it to be of no value, despite thousands of doctors who were certain that they worked.

sure thing, the cancer can be cured with tens of other techniques, but everyone these days just sticks to chemo and radiation. it's a money, it's a big business...

Well, as a member of the "big conspiracy", I have yet to see anyone whose biopsy proven cancer was cured by any of those "tens of other techniques". It's a free country, and you can use whatever you please, but when you come to the oncologist after your other technique has failed, your more advanced cancer will be just that much more difficult to treat.

This is not like a Mac vs PC argument, or Chevy vs Ford; this is Mac vs colorful umbrellas or PC vs blue jeans; the opponent simply does not have the same capabilities in any way, shape or fashion. If I need a computer to do the job, I'm not going to start typing on the light switch on the wall; I'll get a computer. And if I've got cancer, I'm going to seek a proven treatment that has a chance of curing me.

You did mention insurance companies which I would not touch at this moment because it would start another fire, but I would direct you to a much older post of mine called Understanding America today (and possibly provoke even bigger flame :)

In my experience physicians do very little to promote healthy lifestyle as the safest cure against most of today's diseases. They are too entangled in this net of commercial medicine where it is much easier to prescribe a pill for the symptom as it appears and move on.

Sadly, there are physicians who will not or cannot take the time to find out what your underlying problem is, but find it easier to just throw a pill at it and move on to the next patient.

On the other hand, there are a large number of patients who view their trip to the doctor like they do a trip to Burger Doodle: They want it their way, and in 30 seconds or less. If the doctor is running behind, they get all bent out of shape ("I'm sick! I don't have time to wait!"). They want a quick solution, and please don't tell them they have to change something in their life, just make them better and get them back to their life.

As a physician, I'm popular and unpopular at the same time. I take the time to listen to what is wrong with you, and try to find a solution. However, that takes far more time than the allocated minutes for the appointment, so I rapidly get 30, 45 or 60 minutes behind.

And, in defense of the rush in and rush out physicians: Some of them work under an arrangement where they must take no more than seven minutes for a visit. Their contracts with insurance carriers put them in the position that they stand to lose significant income if they don't keep churnin' them through.

Finally about this:

Hypertension, diabetes, and cholesterol .... All three problems come as a result of an unhealthy life style, endorsed by big pharma by advertising pills that auto-magically remove the symptoms when they appear.

I disagree. All three problems have a genetic predisposition as their basis, and lifestyle often (but not always) causes them to appear. The lifestyle is not a result of the drugs that "big pharma" has provided for them, but rather because of things these people have chosen to do: Eat too much, drink too much alcohol, smoke, and exercise too little. If The Conspiracy by big pharma extends so deeply as to somehow make people do these things, then I can agree that it is indeed their fault. Otherwise, it is a cultural and societal issue. I would maintain that there are extremely few prescription medications that cause hypertension, diabetes, or elevated cholesterol as a side effect, and if they are used it is because there are no better alternatives available.

I am aware that you would happily cure hypertension, diabetes, and cholesterol instead of just control it if you could, but my point is not to allow it to happen in the first place. All three problems come as a result of an unhealthy life style, endorsed by big pharma by advertising pills that auto-magically remove the symptoms when they appear.

Same goes with migraine, I really did know much about it so I looked it up and first page on search that came up was Mayo clinic, probably the best example of 'commercial medicine' representative.

Causes of migraine are (quoted from Mayo Clinic):
* Hormonal changes
* Foods
* Stress
* Sensory stimuli
* Changes in wake-sleep pattern
* Physical factors
* Changes in the environment
* Medications (certain medications can aggravate migraines)

I as a laymen see that most causes for migraine are created from an unhealthy lifestyle, even from the same medications Mayo clinic probably recommends elsewhere.

In my experience physicians do very little to promote healthy lifestyle as the safest cure against most of today's diseases. They are too entangled in this net of commercial medicine where it is much easier to prescribe a pill for the symptom as it appears and move on.

I'm a Family physician, so I have more than just a passing interest in the topic and the author's solution. I wish it were just as simple as he indicates that it is.

Let's talk first about disease states and lifestyle changes.

It is absolutely true that a fair number of the problems people experience are related to poor diet, lack of exercise, etc. It is also absolutely true that for virtually EVERY person whose cholesterol panel returns elevated, who I tell "eat better and exercise, and let's recheck this in 2-3 months" NONE of them return for the retest. They have the impression that if "all" the doctor recommends is exercise and diet, it must not be too bad. In the meantime, during the next two years before they return and check that cholesterol again, they have NOT done either recommended item, and their cholesterol is STILl elevated, and during the interval they have built up a larger layer of plaque in their arteries that may lead to a stroke or heart attack in the future.

Suppose that I get that unique individual who really DOES what I suggested, comes back, and his/her cholesterol is still too high. Hey, good news, I have a number of highly effective prescription drugs that have been tested and found to bring down the cholesterol, and have been shown in well done clinical studies to _significantly_ reduce the chances that person will have a stroke or heart attack.

I could say the same story about diabetes and hypertension. All three are diseases that, when left untreated, can wreak a catastrophic toll on someone's life due to the complications caused by the disease. And the medications that are used to treat these problems are all shown in clinical studies to be effective and in most circumstances quite safe.

Okay, so I don't want to toe the line with "big pharma", and so I'm going to go out to "the Internet" to get my information. How well you do with that endeavor depends on exactly WHERE you decide to go, and, usually, on what is your philosophy before you start searching. If you are convinced that big pharma is simply out to take as many of your dollars as possible while prolonging your condition, you will certainly not go to any web sites that are sponsored by major medical research centers (Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, etc), because they've been tainted by money from big pharma. Can't go to the big pharma web sites either; they are the enemy. That leaves me to go to someone's rant site, IHateLipitor.com or NorvascKilledMyFather.com or whatever. Or wait; you can go to the sites that promote natural or herbal products, virtually none of which have well researched studies to prove the claims of their lobster elbow extract, or whatever. "University studies showed that ..." Which university? How was the study done? Even expensive, well funded studies do not necessarily result in valid results if it is not conducted in a double-blinded manner.

Does this mean that I believe big pharma is entirely blameless and pure as the driven snow? Absolutely not! I take what any pharmaceutical rep I see says with a grain of salt, and I look to see what are the results from using the product, using the study results and personal experience with the drug. If it doesn't live up to their claims, it doesn't get used. If it does, I'll prescribe it.

About the claim that drugs simply prolong the problem, so the patient continues to have to take the drug: Until someone creates a CURE for hypertension, diabetes, and cholesterol problems, all we have available are ways of CONTROLLING the problem. Sure, I can give you Penicillin to cure your strep throat. That's easy. We don't have a treatment as effective as Penicillin for Herpes, because the technology for such a cure does not yet exist. And so we can CONTROL herpes outbreaks with a medication that you take daily or when you have outbreaks; sadly, we cannot yet cure or eliminate the problem.

Regarding the statement that Medicine is focused on treating the symptom and not the underlying problem is, again, simplistic. If you presented to me with a headache, I would not tell you to take an aspirin for it, because by the time you have come to see a doctor (taken time off work, counted the cost of an office visit, etc), you have already tried aspirin and Tylenol and Advil and who knows what else, to solve the problem yourself. You are seeing me because those treatments aren't working. It is correct that the headache may be a symptom of something else (sinus infection, brain tumor, elevated blood pressure, etc), but sometimes the headache is the symptom AND the disease. Ask anyone who has had to deal with migraine headaches. The migraine is the problem; if it is a symptom of another problem, it is not a migraine, it is something else.

A proper workup for a headache involves a lot more than just giving you a pill; it involves trying to identify who needs the million dollar workup to find the brain tumor (and therefore save your life), and who just needs to be told how to manage their sinus headaches when the weather changes.

Me? I would absolutely LOVE it if I could give you something that would just eliminate your illness or medical problem. I have more people coming to my office than I have time to see, and being able to CURE you would be the happiest day of my life. I want to GET you healthy, and KEEP you healthy, so I don't have to see you in the hospital after some calamity caused by a disease. Nothing would make me happier. If we cure everybody, I'd be perfectly happy to find a new career doing something else, because I fulfilled my goal of getting all the sick people well.

Until the day comes when such a thing is possible, I have to use what tools I have to help you with your problem when you come in to see me. And unfortunately, not all of the people I treat respond to the treatment; they may have side effects to the medication and be unable to treat it, or the drug may just not work for them, or something else may happen that prevents things from getting better. So we either try something else, or I find a specialist who may be able to do a better job.

What a wind bag. I've probably written more words than the original article. Sorry Vladimir.

Too hyper, pop a pill. Don't even think about getting off the couch and moving. :)

Too fat, must be you need some weight-loss pills. Exercise doesn't fit with our "modern" lifestyles.

Granted there are some illnesses that require medication but the knee-jerk reaction shouldn't be to prescribe a new Rx.