Sooner or later everyone of us will have our lives saved by modern medicine, perhaps even more than once. And over the past several decades more and more diagnostic tests have become available to us which are invaluable for letting us know if our pathologies have gone too far and developed into a disease. Or if we’re lucky the tests will show that even though we have symptoms there is thankfully no disease. This too is very important for us to know.
And it’s also comforting for us to know that modern medicine is always there to pull us out of a crisis — if we break a bone and need surgery, if we need an antibiotic for a serious infection, or if we need to reverse a flare up of an autoimmune disease. We’ve all been there and we are all grateful for these heroic attempts to help us in times of need.
There are some times, however, when we might want to consider avoiding modern medicine since the side effects may not be worth it. It’s always good to learn how to navigate your way throughout our mainstream medical system, since, yes, we always have to use it several times throughout our lifetimes, but then there are times when the cure is worse than the disease.
In my 40 years of experience I can give you some circumstances that I feel don’t warrant the use of modern medicine and instead it might be a better idea to sidestep the potent side effects of these drugs while at the same time trying to get to the root of the problem by taking a more holistic approach. One that uses natural herbal remedies, dietary changes and detoxification techniques. And the know-how of a good Ayurvedic physician who is familiar with handling these diseases. So let’s take a look at some of the times when it might not be safe in the long-run to take the standard medical approach.
Let’s start our discussion by taking a look at problems with the menstrual cycle. It is always better to try to fix irregular menstrual cycles, a painful cycle and/or a very heavy menstrual flow rather than take birth control pills to try to control these issues. There are numerous reasons for skipping menstrual cycles, for cramping and heavy flows and it’s more important to identify all the reasons these problems are happening, tell the patient to stop doing those things and then work on fixing those imbalances using herbs, dietary changes, changes in the daily routine and by learning correct detox techniques.
Just rushing to the use of the birth control pill actually doesn’t fix anything because what looks like a regular cycle is just breakthrough bleeding when you stop the pill for one week. It hasn’t actually addressed the underlying reasons that the cycle won’t come on time. And of course there will be less bleeding and less pain since it’s not a real cycle.
Even worse, many of the patients I have seen have gotten hormonal injections which stop the menstrual cycle for months or even years. A good rule of thumb throughout your life is to not interfere with the body’s natural rhythms of release of hormones, neurotransmitters or any other cycles which occur. Doing so could cause reverberations throughout the physiology since so many of the body’s systems interact with each other in a balanced and harmonious way.
People aren’t used to seeing doctors who use herbs and are surprised to learn that herbs can control menstrual cramps, pain and bring regularity back to the cycle once the underlying causes are addressed.
The birth control pill destroys the friendly bacteria in the gut, allowing all kinds of infections to grow, such as candida albicans yeast, bacterial vaginosis, urinary tract infections, human papilloma virus (HPV) and many others. The pill creates gall bladder sludge and gall stones since the pill is a source of cholesterol which makes the bile very thick as it concentrates the bile with so much fatty cholesterol being dumped into it every day. If the bile stays too thick for too long with this heavy amount of fat congealing in it every day you run the risk of forming gall stones.
The pill can also depress thyroid function which in itself can lead to a whole host of other health problems.
The next big mistake modern medicine is making is treating acne with antibiotics. Many of the patients I have seen were on antibiotics for months or even years — some even more than 10 years. We all know the devastating effects on the gut micro biome from just taking an antibiotic for one week. But the long-term use over several months or years destroys not only the friendly bacteria, allowing pathogenic organisms such as yeast, fungus, bacteria and parasites to grow, but it also destroys the mucus layer in the gut where the friendly bacteria grows in the first place.
It takes quite a while to fix both the leaky gut, the mucus layer and the layer of friendly bacteria after taking antibiotics for such a great length of time. I was told as I was setting up my holistic health practice over 40 years ago that some of my sickest patients would be those who have taken long-term antibiotics for acne. And I have to say that I have met many of those patients through the years who are now suffering the consequences of this dangerous approach as they now have to deal with food allergies and sensitivities, disturbed digestion and gut health, repeated infections and many other problems.
The same is true for recurring ear infections in babies — once you go down the path of taking too many antibiotics for these infections, you can get caught in a viscous cycle as the antibiotics destroy more and more of the immune system, allowing the next infection to grow. And at the same time not much attention is given to teach the parents to avoid the channel-clogging foods in the baby’s diet which can promote infection. The ear canals are very tiny channels, as we call them and if the diet is filled with foods which can clog these delicate ear canals, it becomes a breeding ground for infection to grow. Through the years I have helped hundreds of parents break the cycle of repeated ear infections in their babies and children by taking this more natural approach.
Next we want to consider the medicines given to strengthen the bones. It’s always best to look at the diet, make sure you are nourishing your bones with good quality milk and that you fix your digestion and assimilation of the milk, learn how to prepare it so it absorbs into the bones. Also learn about the calcium bhasmas we use in Ayurveda where the coral, pearls and shells are incinerated for several months to create nanoparticles for best absorption into the bones. We also recommend transdermal magnesium products, transdermal Vitamin D, and cleaning of the bone marrow because if toxins absorb into the bone arrow (think vaccines, air pollution and pesticides) then the osteoclasts become more activated than the osteoblasts resulting in bone loss. The osteoblasts are the bone cells which build up the bone tissue and the osteoclasts break down the bone. So it’s important that there is a balance between building up and breaking down the bone.
Not only that, the ancient doctors said that toxins in the bone marrow could upset the immune system, which is where the cells of the immune system are born — the red blood cells, the white blood cells and platelets. Autoimmune diseases and cancer can both result if toxins enter this very important tissue.
The bone medicines in use today poison the osteoclasts allowing more osteoblasts to build up the bone. Playing Russian roulette with our health like this could give serious consequences as toxins are now being inserted into the bone marrow. Not only that, the type of bone that results when we disturb the normal growth and repair of the living bone tissue could give a type of brittle bone that breaks easily, even in the very large bones, and especially in the jaw bone which is the bone we use the most.
Next let’s take a look at how best to manage depression. Always try to identify all the reasons for the depression: lack of exercise, lack of sunlight, improper diet, lack of sleep, lack of detox, and damage to the gut micro biome where the majority of the neurotransmitters are made. Then once these issues are addressed there are so many herbal remedies and treatments that can be given to help someone overcome the depression.
If the depression is life-threatening and the person is suicidal, it’s always good to know the antidepressants are there. But if time can be given to gently and efficiently bring the body and mind back into normal functioning, you might be able to ward off the use of antidepressants which might have some severe side effects later on down the road. Synthetically controlling the neurotransmitters in the brain can be tricky especially when the body gets used to the insertion of the new way of functioning while on the drug. Then when you decide to try and go off the medication it can be difficult because your body has gotten used to the new physiology built around the drug.
Next on the list is acid reflux. If you have acid reflux, make sure you work with someone who can help you figure out the underlying causes. More than likely, the real problem isn’t that the stomach is making too much acid, but instead is happening due to lack of bile flow out of the gall bladder.
The gall bladder squirts bile into the duodenum as soon as the stomach acids begin emptying into it. The bile is responsible for moving the food downwards and for alkalinizing the acids as they come pouring through. If the bile doesn’t flow then the acids in the stomach will turn around and reflux upwards.
In my practice we treat all the reasons why the gall bladder isn’t emptying the bile. There are several reasons why the bile might not release. The answer isn’t to take away the stomach acid, but instead to encourage the flow of the bile out of the gall bladder. Plus, the acid reflux medicines weaken the bones, and promote dementia as they upset the production of an important neurotransmitter known as acetylcholine in the brain. And they are also toxic to the liver.
Finally, we have to look more deeply into the cholesterol issue. Please look at my video on the Cholesterol Myth. The guidelines for treating cholesterol date back to the 1940’s and they are no longer relevant and are quite outdated due to the new research which has been published over the past 80 years. We need to update the way we treat this problem, if it is a problem at all.
The real issue here is whether we are clogging the arteries. There are some foods which contain cholesterol that can clog the arteries, so they need to be avoided. Then there are some foods which don’t contain cholesterol which also need to be avoided since they are also capable of clogging the arteries. Then there are some foods which contain cholesterol which keep any plaque from building up in the arteries. Eating these foods could raise your cholesterol, which is fine since the arteries will remain clean even though the cholesterol goes high.
The outmoded version of treating cholesterol is by looking at the total cholesterol number, the HDL (which are known as the good guys) and the LDL (which are incorrectly labeled as the bad guys). Nowadays we know there are several types of LDL’s, most of which are very good for the arteries. There is only one type of LDL that could clog the arteries which comes from eating white refined sugar and vegetable oils, neither of which contain cholesterol. In fact, eating ghee in the diet can protect your arteries from ever forming any plaque — and eating ghee can raise you good LDL’s, so just having a reading that the LDL’s are high doesn’t mean much of anything. There has to be more definitive tests done to pinpoint the type of LDL’s that are high.
Cholesterol medicine is dangerous since the brain needs a continuous source of cholesterol — it eats up about a third of the cholesterol you eat each day. In fact the brain needs so much cholesterol that you can’t possibly eat enough to satisfy its needs. So to make up for that, the liver has to produce the cholesterol to keep the brain functioning smoothly.
The statin drugs block an enzyme that the liver needs to make cholesterol, which disables the liver function so your cholesterol goes down. So you can imagine how much the brain will be starving for its daily dose of cholesterol and what might arise if its needs aren’t met. Fogginess, brain fog, forgetfulness, and dementia, to name a few.
Research shows that the statins decrease CoEnzyme Q10 (CoQ10). CoQ10 is important for many different functions such as improving the muscle mass and its function. This is why many people develop pain in their leg muscles as soon as they go on a statin drug and their CoQ10 drops.
And the latest research shows how it could increase your risk of getting both diabetes and cancer, due to its effects on the liver.
It’s always important to see why the cholesterol is high and fix those functions rather than using a dangerous drug riddled with side effects to lower the cholesterol. When our cholesterol is high we begin by looking at the health of the liver and gall bladder, since they are responsible for processing the cholesterol out of our blood. Also we need to look at thyroid function because whenever the thyroid is weak the gall bladder won’t empty the bile which makes the cholesterol go up.
So you be the judge — it’s your body and you should do what feels best to you. We live in a country which doesn’t have a long-standing tradition of holistic medicine — we don’t even know most of our herbs — so we’re not used to thinking in terms of a powerful system of holistic medicine which boasts over 700 herbs and many treatment modalities which are just as good if not even better than what modern medicine has to offer. If you have any of these ailments it might be good to try Ayurveda, since it’s been around for over 5,000 years and is time-tested.
I always tell my patients that it’s better to start with the least invasive and least offensive treatments first. Usually these methods will work, and if they do, you just saved yourself from years of rebalancing your physiology after the powerful side effects of some of the drugs listed here. And even more importantly, you fixed your health condition by getting to the root of the problem and not just patching up symptoms using a dangerous drug.
Thank you,