Two Book Reviews on Health Remedies

If you’re uncertain about your doctor’s orders for medication, surgery or testing or if they don’t help, you may be interested in these two books. The second one will cure you by dealing with unconscious issues! The first book will teach you ways to improve your health by taking less medication, eliminating toxins and boosting the immune system through diet, exercise, probiotics and supplements.

Natural Remedies for Essential Tremor     

By Donna Gagnon

Natural Remedies for Essential Tremor by Donna Gagnon is chock full of information about remedies other than drugs and surgery that may offer symptom relief for those suffering from essential tremor. Gagnon supplies background information on Essential Tremor and on conventional drugs and surgery treatments and then covers a multitude of natural remedies that will help our health today including food choices and life style choices, eliminating toxins, nutritional supplements, alternate therapies and more. The book is well written and easy to understand plus it is documented with references. At the end of the book Gagnon puts it all together with a step by step plan for implementing lifestyle changes gradually. The information in this book will help all of us be healthier and hopefully will reduce or even eliminate tremors.

The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders

By John Sarno

The Divided Mind by Dr. John Sarno is about the principles and practices of psychosomatic medicine written by a well known doctor who for decades specialized in helping people with back trouble using mindbody methods. Sarno is concerned that medical care in this country is in crisis. He says that over six million Americans suffering from fibromyalgia are being treated by specialists who don’t have a clue about what causes this disorder. The same is true for other disorders. He says there are hundreds of disorders that are psychosomatic. In spite of the prevalence of these disorders psychosomatic medicine is almost unknown today. Instead, doctors treat the symptoms.

Sarno writes the first four chapters in this book – about half of the book. He writes excellent chapters on the history of psychosomatic medicine, and the psychology and treatment of psychosomatic disorders. Case examples amplify his convictions about proper treatment for many people. His treatment involves teaching patients to at least keep an open mind to the fact that their problems are often due to underlying unconscious anger and the pain experienced by patients is to protect them from these feelings of rage. The patients who are open to this are often helped by realizing their unconscious issues and some accept a need for psychotherapy. Their unbearable pain goes away.

The second half of the book is written by six doctors who studied with Sarno and who use his methods. They support with their stories the need for an understanding of psychological needs and childhood or background issues. They include a doctor who specializes in hypertension, one who works in rehabilitation, a rheumatologist, an orthopedic surgeon, a doctor in sports medicine, and a family doctor. All of these doctors have similar stories of success with helping many people who were hopelessly sick prior to using this method. Chapter six by the orthopedic surgeon is terribly long and not well edited. The rest are excellent.

For those of us who recall seeing a family doctor in a leisurely setting in which time was not rushed and the doctor really knew you – I wish many of you could realize what we are missing today with managed care and doctors looking at their computers and doctors pushing medication or surgery for every ill. I know most doctors are caring but are trapped in the system. I hope some doctors will read this and open up their own practice to a kinder, more helpful way of treating illnesses. People need to exercise and eat right and quit most meds

“O Lord, my God, I cried out to you and you healed me.” Psalm 30:3

Blessings, Dottie

Two Books on Improving Your Health

If you’re reluctant to follow your doctor’s order for medication, surgery or testing you may be interested in these two books. You will learn ways to improve health by eliminating some medication, and eliminating toxins plus boosting the immune system through diet, exercise, probiotics and supplements.

Mind Over Meds: Know When Drugs are Necessary, When Alternatives are Better – and When to Let Your Body Heal on its Own

By Andrew Weil, MD

Mind Over Meds by Andrew Weil, MD, is an important book about the over use of medication and the importance of life style changes in order to improve health. Weil reports that “adverse drug reactions are the fourth leading cause of death in our country and rank between the fourth and the sixth more common cause of death in hospitalized patients.” He also says “antibiotics that we use to kill or inhibit the growth of disease-causing bacteria may alter liver and kidney function and interfere with digestion.”

Through chapter after chapter Weil gives examples of people who have been terribly over medicated, describes in detail the medical issues of over use and misuse and then explains the integrative approach using meds when needed, plus diet, exercise, supplements, and mind/body approaches to achieve health.

The medications he found most concerning are “over prescribed, mis-prescribed, over used and misused.” They include antibiotics, statins, GERD medications, antihistamines, sleep aids, steroids, anti-inflammatory drugs (aspirin and ibuprofen) and more. Even over the counter medications can have many side effects that cause more harm than help.

There is a wealth of information in this book. Most of us need to at least reduce the number of medications we take and learn from this book how to be healthier without them.

The End of Alzheimer’s: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline

By Dale E. Bredesen, MD

This is an exciting and amazing book that describes Dr. Bredesen’s careful scientific research to find a way to reverse Alzheimer’s and to also prevent the disease. His cure for Alzheimer’s is not a simple fix and many doctors will not admit cure is possible. (Your doctor may pooh, pooh it.) After studying brain abnormalities over some decades the author found that Alzheimer’s is not one disease but several. He discovered that thirty-six metabolic factors impact the brain. The way to reverse these changes requires a complex array of tests to rid the body of toxins and changes in life style. Some of the changes in my layman’s terms include eating organic food, taking vitamins and supplements, exercising daily, fasting 12-14 hours to give the digestion a rest and ridding the body of all toxins.

I learned about Dr. Bredesen’s protocol from a former neighbor whose wife in her fifties developed Alzheimer’s. To gain more understanding of this you can read my former neighbor’s blog. He writes beautifully and details his wife’s improvements since they went on the protocol in September 2017. She has improved already! See Matthew’s blog at www.savingjacquelynn.com. The book also describes this in detail and with case examples of cures.

“O Lord, my God, I cried out to you and you healed me.” Psalm 30:3

Blessings, Dottie