It’s Only Natural

Chapter I

What Is A Healing Research Center?

A Healing Research Center, at least our Healing Research Center and our sister organization, Woodlands Medical Center, are places where the establishment of the greatest possible health and stability of body, mind and Soul is attempted. We don't consider a person healthy just because he is not afflicted with a named disorder or disease. We believe there is a difference between not being sick and being filled with the vibrancy of true physical health, a positive creative mind and a contented, guiltless Soul.

As we know it is possible for an automobile to move even though its cylinders are scored and passing oil, its valves burnt, its exhaust leaking noxious vapors, its brakes worn, its steering loose, and its body nearly rusted through. It may still run, but would we really want to drive such a car if we had any other choice? We'd probably either trade it in or do what must be done to put it in reasonable working condition.

The human machine is susceptible to pressures and stresses similar to those in an automobile. At our Centers, we are experts at detecting and correcting these signs of distress and imbalance in early stages so they can be more easily corrected long before the system stops working altogether. While most medical practitioners and facilities consider themselves to be a "safety net" at the bottom waiting to catch you after you fall off the edge of the plateau of health, we look upon our responsibility to be on that plateau to guide and help you to keep from falling in the first place.

In theory, unlike the automobile, the human machine is a self repairing mechanism. And, in truth, some persons are so blessed with natural vitality that despite all the pressures and strains of modern life, they are able to retain near optimum health to the end of their days. Such persons do not need the help of our Center; unfortunately, as our environment becomes ever more toxic, such people have become all too rare in recent years. Most of us do not pass through life without a variety of indispositions; it is in preventing and correcting these problems, before they reach major dimensions, that our Healing Research Centers can best serve their unique purpose.

I do not wish to imply that we don't treat named diseases at our Centers. We accept for treatment nearly every disease known to mankind. Over the many years that I have been the Center's Director, I can count on the fingers of one hand the patients we have turned away. I merely wish to stress that one of the major purposes of our work is to aid the patient in establishing a chemical, mechanical, mental and emotional balance within his body, thereby helping him to a truly healthful and creative existence. This can and should be done before symptoms of actual specific diseases appear; for if such imbalances are allowed to exist long enough to produce a disease, the treatment is much more lengthy and complicated than if such needed corrections had been made earlier. With proper attention and sufficient dedication on the part of the physician many, if not most, so called diseases can be nipped in the bud before the patient experiences real distress.

The Health Status Evaluation
Versus the Medical Examination

Most physicians suggest an annual or semi-annual physical check-up. What, you may ask, is the difference between this type of check-up and the type of health care that I am describing? To the uninformed observer, there may appear to be little difference, but in the purpose and, particularly, in the extent of the methods used, there is a great deal of difference. By nature and tradition the orthodox medical profession is disease oriented. The standard medical examination, no matter how thorough, is therefore designed to ascertain if the body harbors any known disease entity. If no disease entity, discernible by their methods, can be found, the medical practitioner considers his patient healthy. We consider such a procedure to be valid up to a point, but basically negative and woefully inadequate to meet today's health needs. To our way of thinking, the absence of demonstrable disease is not tantamount to physical health. A truly satisfactory state of physical health can only be assured, in our estimation, if the various mechanical, nutritional, hormonal, and enzymatic functions of the body are examined and found to be nearly optimal. In order to accomplish this, examinations far more sophisticated than those usually encountered in the orthodox medical examination must be utilized. Such methods are not designed to supplant orthodox medical diagnostic measures but only to supplement them. We feel that it is impossible to have too much information on a patient's health status. Therefore, in our Centers, whenever required and practical, we try to utilize every known effective diagnostic method available to ascertain the true state of health of our patients.

The Basic Health Examination

I know of no better way to illustrate what we mean by “The Health Examination” than to give in detail the method of examination and investigation used at our Healing Centers.

The first prerequisite to any true health examination is a complete and carefully detailed medical history. I had a wise old professor in medical school who used to say, "Always listen well to your patients. They have inside information." The homeopath has always considered the patient's medical history by far the most important of the physical examination. Over the years, it has been our experience that more mistakes are made by physicians who simply have not listened carefully to what their patient had to tell them, than by all the other defects of the medical examination combined.

To aid our physicians in their evaluation of their patient's homeopathic history, we have recently installed a very complete and comprehensive computer program that helps them to detect and correctly evaluate even the most complex patient symptom patterns.

Once the medical history is completed, an extensive examination is made to discover any known pathologic conditions. All the generally known and accepted diagnostic procedures may be utilized where considered relevant. Those that entail some danger to the patient, however, are suggested only after extensive consultation has assured us that they are absolute necessities. Therefore, techniques in which dyes or other opaque substances are injected into the veins, arteries or spinal fluid are suggested by our Centers only after great deliberation and then only when we believe that the patient's condition is serious enough to warrant it and less dangerous methods would not suffice.

Modern blood chemistry is one of the physician's most useful tools. We have constantly expanded the extent of the blood, saliva and urine tests made at the Center. In almost every instance, with each new testing method utilized, we have been able to find problems that might previously have been missed. We therefore have felt it our obligation to make every effort to obtain as complete a laboratory picture of our patients as is possible in light of the current state of medical technology.

At the present time (Winter 1995) more and more specialized tests are being done by the use of saliva. These test are not only non-invasive they are often much more accurately depict the true nature of the patient's internal functioning than the traditional blood tests since they are designed to measure the levels of vital factors in the tissues where the real body functioning takes place.

X-Ray Examination

Because of the possible adverse effects of radiation, we are extremely cautious in our use of X-rays. No X-ray examination is ordered without very carefully weighing its value in relation to the possible damage that the attendant radiation might cause. While we do not shy away from X-rays we believe necessary, we don't use X-ray examination as a substitute for other less harmful diagnostic skills.

Diagnostic Ultra-Sound and Thermography

New methods are now being developed to investigate the internal functioning of the body without the use of X-ray examination. Two of the first of these are the use of ultrasound as a diagnostic device and the newer thermographic units which, by means of television camera and infrared radiation, measure various temperature changes of the skin. Records of the temperature changes can be used to detect possible pathologic conditions. These latter units were popular several years ago and the Clymer Health Clinic was one of the first to investigate them. They are still being used by some Chiropractors but the MRI seems to have stolen most of their thunder in the medical world.

The MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imagery)

The MRI has revolutionized the examination of internal soft tissue. Its main advantages over the X-Ray is that it is able to visualize soft tissue pathology that eludes X-Ray and the fact that, unlike X-Rays, it has no known detrimental effect to the body. Its main disadvantages are the time needed for its completion, the unavoidable constriction of the patient for this time period (up to one hour) and its very high cost. (A thousand dollars for a single body part is not unusual.) Where the cost, time involved and possible claustrophobe are not a deterrent, the MRI can give us information not possible to obtain in any other way.

As suggested earlier, the possible value of certain diagnostic tests is undeniable, but we believe that some of them, such as X-rays, must be carefully evaluated before they are used extensively. In this category I place such examinations as spinal myelography, the various types of angiography, heart catheterization and all other tests in which foreign objects are introduced into the bloodstream or other vital parts of the system, or in which instruments are placed in extremely delicate areas where damage is difficult to prevent and even more difficult to assess until it is too late. When the patient's ultimate welfare is considered, such tests may be bypassed, for ethical reasons, even in a most extensive examination, if the physician feels that the risks exceed the possible gains.

We also place some cancer biopsies in this category. Although at times nothing can take the place of a biopsy for a positive diagnosis of cancer, with some types of tumors any interference may encourage runaway growth of the tumor. It does seem that at times a biopsy is suggested to satisfy the medical curiosity of the physician (or to guard against a possible law suit) and not necessarily for the ultimate benefit of the patient. I realize this is a controversial subject and each case must be judged on its own merits. We do not mean in any way to condemn the judgment of other physicians. However, we at the Healing Research Centers do not think it imperative that each case of suspected carcinoma automatically requires a biopsy, though we are quick to recommend a biopsy whenever we determine that it is in the patient's best interest.

The Health Status Examination

At the same time that the basic physical examination is being given our patients, we also take steps to ascertain their health status. Although great strides have been made to this end in recent years, we are not yet capable of giving a health status examination as complete or as extensive as we would like.

When I was a young doctor just our of medical school I dreamed of the day when we would have a machine that we could connect to the patient, push a button, and in a few seconds have a complete computer read-out of his body nutritional, hormonal and enzymatic chemistry. While every day that passes brings us closer to such a reality the full technology for such a machine is still not with us. But, you can be certain that when it does become available, we at the Healing Research Center will be one of the first to have it installed.

Although we may not, as yet, have such a simple all inclusive diagnostic tool, you should not surmise from the foregoing that we are not without resources or methods to ascertain the health balance of our patients. In recent years great strides have been made in discovering methods by which the health status and nutritional balances of our patients can be known. However, instead of having a single source to check these balances properly, it is necessary for us to combine a great variety of methods and then to interrelate and correlate these findings, to give us a precise health quotient that we may utilize to help patients obtain their optimum functional status, which they desire and which they expect us to help them achieve.

Besides the new methods of chemical analysis, mentioned above, a variety of unique diagnostic methods have been developed over the years for use of the natural healer. The more useful of these special diagnostic tools are utilized at our Centers to give us a view of our patients health status that is one step beyond that usually available.

Since we have been the nation's most advanced natural healing centers since 1969, we are one of the first to be given an opportunity to try out the newer and more revolutionary forms of health investigation in this field. If it is helpful in ascertaining the health status of an individual you can expect to find it at our Centers first.

Nutritional Balances

Nutritional balances can be ascertained by two methods. First, they can be detected from the symptom patterns resulting from their specific deficiencies. Unfortunately, nowadays single nutrient deficiencies seldom occur, and so it is difficult to diagnose deficiency diseases from the symptom pattern alone. However, a knowledgeable and dedicated practitioner can still obtain much useful information about the health status of his patient from a careful exploration of their symptoms.

Second, nutritional deficiencies and imbalances can be diagnosed by actual analysis of the substance present in the body fluids or tissues. Although this method might seem to be most direct and advantageous, such determinations are not simple or uncomplicated, although the newer technologies have provided us with some real breakthroughs in this area. In the following discussions, we will attempt to clarify this situation.

The Detection of Specific Nutritional Imbalances

Tissue and Hair Analysis

A revolutionary form of tissue examination was developed several years ago and, although this test has recently become much better known, we mention it here because it is used consistently in our Centers on practically every patient with metabolic problems.

This examination-the hair test-is used to detect the balance of the various minerals in the body. Today, it is possible to take a material, reduce it to an ash, and analyze that ash, in sensitive laboratory instruments, for its mineral content. It matters very little what organic material is used, as long as there is sufficient mineral matter in its makeup to be detected. When all organic matter is burned, three things are left: carbon dioxide, water and indivisible mineral elements. The carbon dioxide is given off as a gas, the water is or can be evaporated and from the combustion process we are left only with elemental mineral ash. Because these minerals are elements, they can not be broken down further, nor can they be altered or destroyed by ordinary chemical means. Thus, it is possible to take any piece of human tissue, to burn it, then to collect the ash and by a very sensitive method of analysis to analyze this ash to determine the exact number and amount of mineral elements present.

Frequently, patients with hair problems come to us for a hair test, assume that by analyzing the hair we can find out what is the cause of their hair problem. This is not the basic purpose of the hair test, although the correction of the mineral deficiencies that may be discovered could also correct their hair problem. Actually, any representative tissue of the body could be used for the test. Hair, however, is about the only tissue that most people are readily willing to part with. We could just as easily cut off a finger and send it in to be tested. In fact, in many ways it would probably be more representative of general body structure. But it is not common to find patients so dedicated to their health that they are willing to sacrifice a finger to this cause.

About the only other readily available body tissue patients are willing to surrender are fingernail and toenail clippings. But because a certain amount of bulk is needed in the representative tissue for proper analysis, it might take several months of collecting to acquire a sufficient supply of these tissues.

How do we make an analysis from a bald man? It is usually possible to use chest or pubic hair. The hormonal balances present in bald or balding men are usually such that while their head hair is thin, their chest and pubic hair may be profuse.

The hair test can prove to be invaluable. Through it, we can not only get an understanding of the balance of the basic minerals essential to human life, but we can also detect possible toxicity due to such metals as cadmium, lithium, cobalt, lead, and mercury. Time and again, problems that seemed almost unsolvable have been resolved through the agency of the hair test. However, the Healer who uses such a test must be aware that there can be many sources of contamination and he must always take this into consideration in his evaluation of this valuable test.

Another matter to consider is the fact that the amount of mineral in the hair does not necessarily parallel the amount of mineral in the body. At times, if the body cannot properly metabolize a mineral, it will distribute it in the hair. In this instance the mineral in the hair test may be much elevated while, in reality, there is a deficiency in the body. How can the Healer know which is which? That is where his long and dedicated experience comes into play. Sometimes, experience alone is the true guide leads to correcting a patient's health problem.

The hair test is not an automatic road map to health though in some instances it may be one of the most important guide posts on this road. For example, one of the most difficult problems ever presented to our Centers was that of a lovely young lady from Georgia who came to us at her wit's end. She was filled with strange sensations and pains from head to foot. She had been in several institutions and had been examined by several medical specialists without any apparent solution for her problem. We gave her every test and examination we knew of at that time. We lavished on her our most dedicated care and yet nothing seemed to help.

This was in the early days of the Centers and we were just beginning to use the hair test (We were one of the first Centers anywhere to use this test). Results from her hair test were unexceptional, except for mercury, which showed an extremely high level. Re-evaluation of her symptoms suggested that they might come from some form of mercury poisoning, though we couldn't find its source. Before suggesting treatment for such a rather uncommon condition, however, we decided to confirm our work by running a second hair test using a different laboratory. The second laboratory was told nothing of what we suspected, and the second report was eagerly awaited by our physicians. When the report was finally received, it also showed a very high mercury level. With this confirmation, we hospitalized the patient for further tests. These also demonstrated a higher than normal level of mercury in the blood. Unfortunately, neither the hospital nor we could find the cause of the toxicity. We did, however, give her certain nutrients and dietary suggestions that we thought would help overcome this metal toxicity and, with these, the patient was sent back home. We did suggest however that she carefully go over all the items she used each day to see if they might be a source of the mercury.

A short time later, she wrote me that at last she had found the answer to her problem. For almost twenty years, she had nightly used a certain cream that she would religiously rub into her hands and wrists to keep them soft and supple. On our advice, she wrote the company and they admitted to her that this cream had a high percentage of ammoniated mercury. Since discontinuing this so-called cosmetic, the patient's symptoms have gradually improved, although we all believe it will still take some time for her to recover completely. Mercury poisoning can be very deep-seated and tenacious.

I have described this case for two reasons. First, it shows the type of problem that can really be readily diagnosed by the hair test. Second, it shows the insidiousness of some of the so called harmless agents we use on and in our bodies each day.

Hair analysis is now being offered by several laboratories. It is hoped that the ever-growing interest in this procedure will lead to more and more information about its usefulness and that it will help us in further guiding our patients to the state of health we strive for.

Tests for Vitamins and Blood Minerals

Since I wrote my first edition of this book, the methods of testing for vitamins and minerals in the blood has been revolutionized. The development of more sensitive laboratory equipment along with the use of advanced computer technologies have made it possible to approach my dream of a machine to detect the imbalances in our bodies. While these tests are not as inexpensive yet as we would hope, they are available and insurance will pay for them in some instances.

In order to make testing as available as possible we have incorporated it into our various nutritional testing programs.

To make these tests available to as many patients as possible we have designed three different levels of tests: The Basic Nutritional Profile, The Advanced Nutritional Profile and The Ultimate Nutritional Profile. Feel free to discuss these different profiles with your Center physician. He will help guide you to the profile that best meets your needs and pocketbook.

Function Tests for and Symptoms of Vitamin Deficiency

Frequently your Center physician will be able to determine your nutritional needs by function tests and his experience rather than by the more expensive, though very accurate computer blood and tissue analysis. Some of the methods and rationales for this type of investigation are given below.

Function Test for Vitamin A

While most vitamins require laboratory procedures for determination, it is possible to determine the adequateness of vitamin A by a function test. This ability is due to the nature of this vitamins effect on the eye.

There is a substance in the eye called rhodopsin, that is generated when little or no light reaches the retina. The production of rhodopsin sensitizes the eye so that twilight or low light vision is possible.

The human eye is blessed with two distinct types of vision. The common daylight, or colored, vision is mediated through nerve endings in back of the retina of the eye called cones. Night, or twilight, vision is mediated through nerve endings in the retinal field called rods. The rods are far more sensitive to light than are the cones, but it is not possible for the rods to detect color. They are strictly a black-and-white sensing agent. The rods can only function as long as rhodopsin is present in the retina. Because rhodopsin is rapidly made inoperative by strong light, the rods are not functional during most day light or bright light activities. However, once the light reaching the retina is reduced below a certain brightness level, the rhodopsin regenerates and the rods begin to function to give us our second form of vision. This is truly one of our Creator's most elegant mechanisms.

Rhodopsin production and regeneration are under the control of vitamin A, and it has been demonstrated that vitamin A deficiency affects the degree of rhodopsin production. Therefore, theoretically, if we had an instrument that could measure the speed with which rhodopsin is formed after it is first bleached out by light, then we would be able to measure vitamin A activity in the body.

Several years ago, the American Optical Company developed an instrument to do exactly this-the Feldman Adaptometer. With this device, an intense light is shown into the patient's eyes for a very short time in an otherwise dark room. This is done to bleach out all the rhodopsin that might be present in the retina. Next, the intense light is turned off and simultaneously an exceedingly weak light is turned on. At this time, the technician begins his stopwatch. The time from when the bright light is turned off and the moment the patient is first able to discern the glow of the weak light is determined. This time is the rhodopsin regeneration time for that patient. Normals have been calculated. If it takes longer for the patient to discern the weakened light than is considered within the normal range, it is assumed the patient's vitamin A activity is proportionally deficient.

In our Centers we have found this test to be extremely effective and accurate. Surprisingly, we have found that deficiencies occur much more commonly than we had assumed. Apparently, many of our patients do not absorbed vitamin A properly, for definite slow rhodopsin regeneration times have been discovered in many patients taking vitamin A preparations at dosages well above the daily requirement. In most of these patients, normal rhodopsin regeneration times could be established once we changed the form of the vitamin A to one more adaptive for their body, or we gave nutritional substances to help these patients better assimilate and metabolize the vitamin A they were already taking.

In recent years we have been using a sublingual form of Beta-Carotene for these conditions and find that it can be tolerated even when the usual oral forms of this vitamin do not seem to be of value. Since it is assimilated directly into the blood stream it does not have to go through the liver and therefore there is much less chance of toxicity. We have found this form of vitamin A to be helpful in many conditions not helped by others. The difficult condition of dry eyes and throat called Sjogren's Disease has been help with this treatment.

Vitamin B Deficiencies

Many vitamin B deficiencies or imbalances are diagnosed at our Center by observation of specific symptomatology. Tuttle and Schottelius, in their Textbook of Physiology, (Tuttle, W. W., and Schottelius, B. A.: Textbook of Physiology, St. Louise Mosby 14th Ed. 1961.) have this to say about B complex deficiencies: "Because the various B vitamins are found intermingled in many foods, it is difficult to differentiate positively between the disturbances created by the absence of each individual member of the group. Deficiency diseases attributed to a particular vitamin have in some instances been found to be multiple deficiencies, e.g. beriberi. Their absence may lead to a decrease in general well-being of the individual showing itself in reduced work output, increased fatigue and emotional disturbances, irritability and depression."

To any practicing physician, patients who complain of fatigue, irritability, and/or depression are legion. And although not all such patients are deficient in B complex vitamins, this is the basic symptomatology of such deficiencies. As you will see in Chapter II, these symptoms are also those of what is now called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Obviously, our physicians are alert to possible Vitamin B complex deficiencies in this condition which we treat so frequently.

A shortage of vitamin B should be suspected whenever the patient tends to show muscular weakness and a loss of coordinating power. The nerves of the skin, arms, and legs may be inflamed and degenerate, sometimes with great pain. The patient loses his appetite and may tend to lose weight or may not make the proper weight gains in childhood. Again, in all such symptom patterns, one may suspect vitamin B. deficiency.

To confirm such a diagnosis for this or any of the B complex vitamins, the most practical measure is to use a test known as therapeutic diagnosis, which merely consists of giving the patient a reasonably large dose of the vitamin(s) suspected of being deficient and observing the patient for symptom improvement over a short period. If the patient's problems are caused by vitamin B deficiency, dramatic improvement should occur within this period. If no improvement occurs, the physician should then look further for other unsuspected causes.

Vitamin B2 Deficiency. Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency causes skin lesions, especially fissures at the corners of the mouth-a disorder known as cheilosis. In these patients, the cornea (transparent part of the eye) becomes bloodshot and may even ulcerate in severe cases. In animals, cataracts are formed in the lenses of the eye, possibly causing blindness. Although riboflavin has been used to treat cataracts in man, there is no specific evidence that its deficiency causes human cataracts. In our Center we have used a natural form of vitamin B2 with its various synergists to treat cataract with satisfying success for many years. Though not a cure-all we can honestly recommend this product to all who suffer from this condition.

Niacin Deficiency. Niacin (nicotinic acid) deficiency gives rise to pellagra, a disease characterized by want of strength and vitality, loss of appetite, indigestion, diarrhea, skin eruptions, pain, and sometimes great mental disturbances. Pellagra is not caused by niacin deficiency alone: for the full manifestations of this disease, deficiencies of thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), and perhaps other B vitamins are necessary.

A diet lacking the essential amino acid tryptophan also produces effects very similar to those due to niacin deficiency. Tryptophan apparently can replace niacin in abolishing many of the pellagra symptoms. Recent research has shown that tryptophan is probably the precursor of niacin and can be used to produce niacin in many animals.

Interestingly, the symptomatology of pellagra parallels, though in a much more severe degree, many of the more common chronic complaints of Americans. Many investigators think the great demand for tranquilizers today is a sign of subclinical pellagra caused by a deficiency of the vital B vitamins and perhaps tryptophan. In our own practice, we have found time and again that we can frequently wean patients off tranquilizers and have them lead nearly normal lives by substituting these nutritional factors in supplemental form. We have used a product called "Hi-G" to this end for many decades and find it as useful to day as it was when we first began its use.

Vitamin B6 Deficiencies. Whenever we think of vitamin B6 deficiencies, we generally think of swelling (edema) in the arms and legs that seems to occur without specific cause-that is, where there are no heart, kidney, or other organic defects. Tingling of the hands and arms particularly is also a symptom due B6 deficiency. There are many contradictory statements and opinions about the symptoms of B6 deficiency. We believe further research will shed more light on this useful vitamin.

Because a high-protein diet demands a greater than normal intake of vitamin B6, our patients put on high-protein diets to lose weight or for hypoglycemia are also given adequate amounts of B6 to ward off possible future deficiencies.

Some patients are not able to take B6 in its usual form. For these patients it is necessary to use a partially metabolized form known a Pyridoxal 5-Phosphate. This nutrient has been a great boon to those patients who require the benefits of B6 but who previously were not able to take it.

Vitamin B12 Deficiency. The only real sign of B12 deficiency is pernicious anemia. This condition is due not so much to a lack of B12 but to the body's inability to utilize the B12 from food intake. Because this is caused by a deficiency of a certain stomach compound, B12 must be injected directly into the muscle or bloodstream to effect a cure. Recently sublingual B12 has become available and, while we would not recommended that it be substituted for the injectable form for the treatment of pernicious anemia, we do find that many patients with other weakening conditions assure us that they feel better using it.

Undiscovered B vitamins

One of the main problems we encounter in attempting to ascertain the patient's need for B complex vitamins is that there seem to be several important factors that haven't yet been isolated. Therefore, even if we had simple adequate tests for determining the amounts and balance of the currently known factors, a patient could be deficient in some of the unknown factors and therefore be below optimum levels in these elements, even though our tests made it appear otherwise. Owing to this possibility, it has become routine, in our Centers, to recommend a balanced B complex formula obtained from a variety of specially processed natural sources to all of our patients in whom deficiencies of any of these elements may be suspected. This practice has proven most successful in controlling such possible deficiencies.

We don't advise patients to take large doses of the individual B complex vitamins unless they are specifically recommended to do so by a physician. Such dosing can cause definite relative deficiencies of some other members of this vitamin family. Even if an attempt is made to take large amounts of all the B complex factors so that a balance is established, one must remember that several factors of the B complex necessary for human nutrition have not yet been isolated. Even if a balance of all the known B complex vitamins is given, a relative imbalance in relationship to these unknown factors may be produced, and no one can say for sure what disorders may thereby be created.

Vitamin C Deficiencies

Because most of our patients are health-oriented, most of them are already taking adequate amounts of vitamin C, and it is only rarely that we find a patient deficient in this factor. However, some patients seemingly require much more than the accepted dosage, and sometimes it is necessary to raise the patient's daily intake up to one hundred times the normal amount before adequate levels are excreted in the urine.

Many authorities consider vitamin C to be a complex similar to vitamin B complex, and they hold that what we call ascorbic acid is but one component of this complex. They also suggest placing in this grouping such compounds as rutin, hesperidin, bioflavinoids and other related but as yet unnamed substances. There are to my knowledge no practical ways of ascertaining whether the body has adequate levels of all these related compounds, although the new blood testing methods are attempting to take these factors into consideration.

Years of practice have demonstrated to me that pains due to varicose veins can often be relieved by vitamin C and rutin and that the bioflavinoids are extremely useful in viral and bacterial infections. Chemical results also seem to demonstrate that certain of these factors present in specific commercial products are successful in preventing chronically bleeding gums and allied vascular difficulties.

Some patients have trouble with the acidic nature of this vitamin and so many buffered forms have been created. If you have such a problem please us let know and we will suggest the best form of this vital nutrient for you.

Vitamin D Deficiencies

Blood levels of vitamin D can be accurately measured by chemical analysis. In this instance, such a test could prove useful, especially in patients who may be using large amounts of synthetic D2 for some specific purpose. Vitamin D2-the synthetic vitamin D-is particularly toxic; if we fear that the patient is nearing toxic levels, we do such blood testing.

In our more ordinary examinations, however, we usually test the functioning activity of this vitamin by measuring the urinary calcium level.

Vitamin D brings calcium from the digestive system into the blood, maintaining the blood level of calcium. Unfortunately, vitamin D does not take this calcium out of the blood and place it in the tissues where it may belong. If too much vitamin D is ingested, too much calcium may be drawn into the blood, producing toxic levels. On the other hand, if too little vitamin D or calcium is ingested, blood calcium levels may be low, in extreme cases causing cramps or even tetany.

The urinary calcium test commonly used is called the Sulkowitch test, in which a specific reagent is mixed with an equal amount of the patient's urine. In a normal patient, a small white cloud (precipitate) forms when these two are mixed, indicating that the calcium levels of the blood are within a reasonably normal range. If no precipitate forms, the blood calcium level is low, indicating that the kidneys are not able to eliminate calcium from the blood as they should. If the precipitate is very heavy or almost milky, the urinary calcium is high, indicating the possibility of vitamin D toxicity.

When a urinary calcium reading is discovered to be abnormal by our lab, we run a concurrent blood calcium test. If the urinary reading is low but the blood calcium normal, the vitamin D levels are probably adequate, indicating some abnormality with the excretory function of the kidneys. A careful search is then made to discover this possible kidney malfunction.

At our Centers we have found that this last situation often occurs in children who have a condition that simulates epilepsy. The children have seizures very similar to those of epilepsy, but their brain wave patterns are generally normal, and their physicians are at a loss to explain their difficulties. Most of these patients respond fairly well to the use of unsaturated fatty acids, previously called vitamin F. which helps to transport calcium from the blood into the tissues. This nutrient, plus the indicated herbal remedies and mild cervical manipulation, has proven of definite use in these cases. Our own number of patients, however, has been too few to make any positive statements about a direct connection between the condition and low urinary calcium. I mention it here only for those physicians who may encounter a similar case and may find a similar therapeutic trial worthwhile.

High urinary calcium levels are found in hyperparathyroidism, hyperthyroidism and acidosis, but the most common cause in our practice has been the overuse of vitamin D. Calcium levels usually return to normal within a reasonable time once the patient restricts his use of vitamin D, or at least switches to a lower dosage of the natural or D3 form of this vitamin, instead of the D2 or irradiated ergosterol type, which is so commonly used in the so-called natural or organic vitamin compounds.

Vitamin D can prove useful in a variety of disorders in relatively large doses, but such doses should only be prescribed by a physician and they should be controlled by the physician with fairly frequent urinary calcium determinations. We rarely recommend that the lay person take more than two or three times the daily minimum of vitamin D and this amount should be in the natural D3 form.

Vitamin E Deficiency

As popular as vitamin E has become, I know of no simple way of ascertaining the amount present in the body. If we could ascertain such levels, there would still be great dispute over what would be adequate. Even now, few authorities agree on the optimum amount of this vitamin for best body function.

To ensure an adequate supply, we usually recommend that a patient take 300 to 600 units of vitamin E daily in the natural, or d-alphatocopherol, form. In our Basic Health Maintenance Diet, we specifically recommend certain manufacturers of this product. Experience has taught us that with vitamin E particularly, "all that glitters is not gold." An inferior type of vitamin E can easily be produced by using inferior and/rancid oils or poor manufacturing procedures. We therefore only recommend vitamin E from sources whose integrity is well known to us. Unfortunately this varies from time to time as manufacturers are purchased by profit seeking conglomerates or are not able to meet the competition from less conscientious producers. Therefore, it is best that you always contact us for the best form of vitamin E available when you need it.

In specific conditions of circulatory insufficiency and certain heart problems, we may recommend, as do the Schute brothers, much higher doses of this vitamin than our general suggested dosage. We cannot, however, recommend that any patient take more than the prescribed 300 to 600 units a day unless he is under a physician's care.

Much has been written about not taking vitamin E at the same time that iron salts or female hormones are taken. Some authorities believe that iron salts particularly are capable of neutralizing the beneficial effects of vitamin E. In such instances, they are usually referring to inorganic iron salts such as ferrous sulfate. We don't use such compounds in our Centers, and the natural forms of iron we do use seem to combine with vitamin E without difficulty. One should always remember, that in many natural foods, vitamin E and iron are found dwelling happily along side one another. If this were such an inimical combination, surely the all-wise Creator would not have made them such common bedfellows. However, if you so desire, you can take vitamin E and iron at separate times. Because vitamin E is fat-soluble, it is stored in the body, thus making once-a-day vitamin E dosages acceptable.

The Lesser Known Nutrient Elements

Many other nutrient elemental compounds, such as bioflavinoids, vitamin F (unsaturated fatty acids, Co-enzyme 10, choline, inositol and the various amino acids, are useful, and some even essential to the human body, but only recently have practical tests have been discovered to ascertain their proper levels in the body. Since these tests are very expensive they are used only on those patients who remain resistant to all our other healing efforts.

Many years devoted to nutritional research have given the physicians at our Healing Centers the ability to discern deficiencies of certain of these elements from a careful review of the medical history and investigation of certain specific symptomatology.

Structural Examination

The integrity of the structural system of the body is often ignored in most general physical examinations. At our Healing Centers, we consider it to be of paramount importance.

One of my medical school professors (a different one) used to say, "Your patients will usually have two things wrong with them. One will be chemical and the other mechanical. You'd better keep looking until you find both." The passing years have proven all too well the value of his words. We find in general that more mistakes have been made in evaluating structural difficulties than with any other single part of the diagnosis. It is not at all uncommon for us to treat patients who have been suffering for up to twenty years from undiscovered structural distortions that we are able to correct within a few weeks through proper diagnosis and treatment.

We analyze the structural stability of our patients by the use of the most modern methods available. However, we still find that the experienced eye of a well trained Chiropractor or Osteopath is one of the best tools for such an evaluation.

Before entering active practice, I always considered such postural examinations as more or less academic and clinically of little value. Years of clinical experience have proven this assumption to be unfounded. Postural stability is an absolute requisite to good health. All parts of the body tend to suffer to some degree if the structural foundation is unstable.

After the postural examination, the patient is checked for bone-muscle-nerve involvements. The two great American sciences of Osteopathy and Chiropractic provide the source material for the great bulk of this examination. In recent years, however, we have increasingly begun to investigate the various nerve reflex centers away from the spine itself, and we have also investigated many of the Oriental methods such as Acupressure and Acupuncture.

From our correlation of these therapies, we find that there is a common pattern behind much of the mechanical distress each of these methods purports to treat. We find that they are all effective, even though, in theory at least, they work on somewhat different principles. The Chiropractor works on bones in order to remove pressure on nerves; the Osteopath works on bones and muscles to free blood supply. Oriental physicians work on both muscle and nerves but do not attempt to move bony structures. In the end, however, all the results seem similar if the practitioner is knowledgeable and skillful.

From our extensive work and experimentation, we have hypothesized that most of these mechanical defects occur in the following manner:

First, the patient undergoes some sort of assault on his system. It could be nervous tension, physical exhaustion or strain or even some type of trauma (accident) that affects his structural integrity. This assault may in turn cause a nervous tension that is transmitted to the muscles, producing a muscle spasm. This muscle spasm exerts more pressure on the nerves, thereby increasing the spasm through the effect of the reflex arc created. This spastic muscle in time can pull on some of the bony structures of the body, causing what the Chiropractor calls a subluxation. When the bone, if it happens to be a vertebra, slips out of alignment, it in turn may further increase pressure on the nerve, the whole cycle being aggravated further. In certain traumatic cases, it may be that the injury will first of all cause the bony displacement, in which case the same bone-muscle-nerve disorder is caused except that it begins with a different component.

With this type of disorder, a so-called vicious cycle is produced that therapeutically can be broken by working with any of its separate components. Thus, if the vertebra or other bony parts are replaced and kept from exerting their abnormal pressures, it is wholly possible that the nerve and muscle components will, in time, relax, resulting in a cure. If one works on the muscles with deep massage and other therapeutic methods to reduce their inflammation and spasticity, it is theoretically possible that the resulting muscular relaxation would remove the pressure on the nerve, enabling the bony component to return to its normal position.

Finally, if we were therapeutically able to reduce the nerve irritability, the muscle would relax and with luck the bony displacements would also be corrected.

It therefore is possible to cure a single entity by a variety of means; simply because a specific therapeutic method is effective in these cases does not mean that this method is the only useful therapy or that its explanation of the disorder is thereby verified and substantiated.

At our Healing Centers we attempt to understand bone muscle-nerve disorders as single entities and we attempt to treat them on all levels of involvement-that is, we correct bony displacement, we work to relax the muscle and we make every effort to reduce the nerve inflammation.

In our structural examination of patients, we attempt to find whatever bone-muscle-nerve disorders may be present. Although such problems are definitely far less romantic than the complicated chemical ones we may discover by other means, they nevertheless can cause much more patient distress and discomfort than some of the more exotic chemical imbalances.

Some of the most important of these structural problems are fully discussed in Chapters 3, 4 and 10.

Further Diagnostic Measures

Besides the Adaptometer mentioned above, many medical diagnostic instruments have been designed that are particularly useful in detecting chronic disorders and in ascertaining optimum body functioning. Many of these are used routinely in most medical Centers and will not discussed here. A number, however, are rarely used by orthodox physicians but we have found them to have great diagnostic value. Among these are the Oscillometer, the doppler vascular units, the phonocardiograph, the plethysmograph and the Telefunken Clinical pH meter.

The Oscillometer, Doppler Units and Plethysmograph

Although designed to work on different principles, the Oscillometer, doppler units and the plethysmograph are all capable of giving us a direct measurement of the circulation capabilities in the body extremities .

Restricted blood flow is a part of many chronic ailments, such as diabetes, Raynaud's disease, scleroderma, arteritis obliterans, varicose veins and thrombophlebitis. Besides these severe conditions, we find this difficulty in a great variety of lesser conditions in which the patient complains of cold hands and feet or of burning and tingling in the extremities.

The only truly scientific way we have found of ascertaining the degree of circulatory activity, or of evaluating the extent of improvement of such conditions without invasive procedures, is by the use of these instruments.

The Oscillometer has been with us for some time and is produced by several manufacturers. The one we use is produced in Germany and has proven particularly efficient because it is able to measure both legs or both arms at the same time, thereby making an immediate and direct comparison of the bilateral circulation.

The Oscillometer, in itself relatively simple, is composed of a blood pressure cuff-like mechanism wrapped around the extremity and containing two rubber bladders. One bladder functions as in the blood pressure cuff to constrict the vessel; the other is a sensing unit that sends the pulse wave beat back to the meter in the instrument. Such pulse waves are then recorded for each extremity and comparisons are made with those considered normal. From these readings a most accurate measurement of the arterial circulation in the extremities is made.

Their circulation must be reduced to at least half of normal before the average patient shows any particular symptoms. If the arterial circulation is less than normal, but above half normal, and we detect no serious organic diseases, we usually place the patient on a special diet and supplementation to improve the arterial circulation. If the patient's circulation is less than half normal, we usually suggest a course of chelation treatments**, for this patient is on the brink of trouble, and chelation alone usually produces the improvement needed at this stage. Chelation as a method of treatment will be thoroughly discussed in Chapter 22.

While the Oscillometer is extremely valuable diagnostically, it has proven even more beneficial as a therapeutic guide. Once the circulatory disorder is discovered and the patient placed under treatment, the oscillometric evaluation of such treatment is imperative. It is most difficult for the average patient to honestly know in the early stages of such treatment if they are improving or not. Conditions of weather, emotions and diet can all affect their subjective responses to such a degree that they may unwittingly mislead the physician about the efficacy of the treatment being used. The Oscillometer is unaffected by such influences. It accurately informs the physician if his therapy has been effective. In these vascular problems, it is often necessary for many treatment methods to be tested before the most useful and effective for each patient is discovered. In this search, the Oscillometer has proven invaluable.

The doppler vascular analyzer and plethysmograph are much more complicated instruments than the Oscillometer. They are also considerably more expensive. However, they can detect many conditions that elude the Oscillometer and are thus essential to a complete evaluation of any vascular disorder.

The plethysmograph records the degree of capillary circulation in a finger or toe. Such a measurement is made by a small sensing unit attached to the finger or toe by a Velcro strap. By the action of a minute photoelectric cell, the pulse wave in the capillaries is read and graphed by this instrument through complicated electronic means. From this we obtain a measurement of circulation at the point where arterial blood flow ends and venous blood flow begins-the point where circulatory trouble usually begins. The plethysmograph therefore enables us to discover difficulties in blood flow at the earliest possible time.

This instrument also has one other advantage over the Oscillometer. Because Oscillometer readings are made in the forearm of the upper extremities and in the calf of the leg for the lower extremities, if a vascular lesion should occur in the wrist or hand, or in the ankle or foot, the Oscillometer reading would not show abnormalities. Plethysmograph readings are made at the tips of the fingers and/or toes, and such lesions would thus immediately be discovered.

An important recent development is the doppler effect vascular analyzer. With this expensive but fascinating instrument, the accurate flow of blood in the vessels can be measured and graphed, thereby facilitating the discovery of all sorts of circular difficulties. This vascular analyzer permits the doctor to readily evaluate the most important treatment procedures and to choose rapidly the most effective method.

This instrument is applied similarly to the Oscillometer but is considered to be far more accurate in its readings than this much less costly tool.

The Phonocardiograph

The phonocardiograph is an instrument for analyzing heart problems and it differs in certain fundamentals from the more common electrocardiograph (EKG). This latter instrument reads the electrical impulse potentials as they traverse the heart, while the former uses a microphone to graph the sound of the muscular contractions of the heart.

The electrocardiograph's measurement is a very important indicator of heart activity and it is used in all general examinations at our Centers. However, certain heart malfunctioning do not substantially affect the cardiac electrical impulses, and these disorders usually are not easily detected by the electrocardiograph. For analysis of these conditions, we turn to the phonocardiograph. The phonocardiograph consists of a sensitive microphone that feeds a wide-band amplifier, which in turn drives a stylus to produce a graph on a motor-driven piece of waxed tape. If the phonocardiograph microphone is placed over the areas on the chest where a physician would normally listen for heart sounds with a stethoscope, it will produce a graph of these sounds. This graph gives us a permanent objective record of the heart sounds instead of the fleeting subjective impressions obtained by using a stethoscope.

The phonocardiograph, although capable of detecting tachycardia, bradycardia, and other heart irregularities as readily as the electrocardiograph, is most specific and useful in analyzing muscular disorders of the heart. One of the most common heart problems is that in which the heart muscle itself becomes somewhat weakened and unable to respond to the electrical impulse to its fullest capability. If this muscle weakness becomes severe enough, it can readily be detected by orthodox diagnostic means. In the early stages of muscle weakness, however, most orthodox tests, including electrocardiography, will be normal. Such early muscle weakness, however, is rapidly and easily detected in properly run phonocardiography. It is in the detection of these early muscular defects that phonocardiography has proven invaluable to us. We find such muscular weakness much more common than generally realized and a not uncommon cause of unexplained tiredness that does not respond to general therapeutic measures. This subject is discussed in detail in Chapter 19.

Along with its use in detecting cardiac muscular weakness, the phonocardiograph has proven successful in diagnosing many forms of nutritional deficiencies. It would appear that various forms of nutritional deficiencies cause rather sudden but subtle effects on heart function. Many of these deficiencies can be detected at very early stages with the phonocardiograph and proper corrections made before any permanent damage has occurred.

Some phonocardiograph operators are so proficient that they perform the following test to display their skill. The phonocardiogram of ten persons are taken. They all leave the room and rest for ten minutes, except for one who is asked to smoke a cigarette. They all return and the phonocardiogram are run again. When this is done, the operator is able to pick out the person who smoked the cigarette because of the adverse changes in his heart's phonocardiogram.

The Telefunken Clinical pH meter

The wonders of electronics and miniaturization have recently provided us with a new, exciting tool in the diagnosis of digestive problems. The Telefunken Clinical pH meter allows us to follow the digestive enzyme production of the body without the usual distasteful and unreliable methods of the past. The patient swallows a small non-toxic radio transmitter no larger than an ordinary capsule and a receiver outside the body records the pH (acidity or alkalinity) of the entire digestive tract. This information allows the doctor to pinpoint exactly which part of the digestive system may be malfunctioning and is thus able to prescribe the needed healing therapies.

Therapeutic Diagnosis

Therapeutic diagnosis is a technique used by most physicians in one form or another. It is mentioned here, not because it is unique with us, but because it is generally misunderstood and maligned without good reason.

In discovering an unknown factor-and this is the basis of all diagnosis-we must travel from the known to the unknown. If we have a patient with an unknown condition who is taking unknown supplementation or medication, following an unknown diet and living in an unknown and uncontrolled environment, our chances of making a diagnosis of a complicated metabolic problem are almost nil. This patient's problem is compounded with so many variables that the physician doesn't know where to begin to make a proper diagnosis.

To bring some reason out of this diagnostic chaos, the physician must reduce the number of variables to a minimum. To accomplish this end, in our Centers, the patient is first placed on one of our Basic Health Maintenance Diets, which is a balanced, nutritionally oriented diet, the results of which we know well. Next, the patient is placed on certain specific nutrient remedies whose nature is also well known to us, and that seem indicated by his symptom grouping. We then await results.

In this way we have removed as many unknown variables as possible and have substituted in their place a diet and nutritional substances with which we are very familiar. The way in which these substances act on the patient's constitution tells us much about his body functions. For our diagnostic purposes, it matters little whether he feels better or worse, or shows no improvement. Each of these responses tells us a story that is important in ascertaining his basic difficulty. This is the nature of the procedures involved in therapeutic diagnosis.

If the patient is not well-informed about the nature and purpose of such testing, he may feel that the physician is "experimenting" on him. Nothing could be further from the truth. Properly used therapeutic diagnosis is just as valuable and useful as any laboratory or X-ray examination. It has the particular advantage of examining the body in action and as a functioning entity, rather than measuring only one small part of the body chemistry.

Unfortunately, patients may compare our therapeutic diagnosis to the testing of their responses to various drugs by medical practitioners. Because most drugs have more or less serious side effects, no one likes to take them unless absolutely necessary. Any physician, therefore, should be loath to use such remedies in therapeutic diagnosis; such methods are not generally used by reputable physicians.

The natural remedies at our disposal are all inherently nontoxic and they can therefore be used in such diagnosis techniques with complete safety. At times, some momentary physiologic upsets may result, but because this is an integral part of the therapeutic diagnosis, such upsets are very helpful to the final diagnosis and only rarely do these reactions become greater than slightly annoying.

Esoteric Diagnostic Methods

There are a group of diagnostic measures that have been advanced by various groups at one time or another, but that have never been fully accepted by the general medical body. Some of these have been developed by medical doctors, some by drugless practitioners and some are of unknown parentage. The real value of most of them has never adequately been ascertained, though in general they are condemned as quackery by the political active portion of the orthodox medical profession.

The Healing Research Center has been established as a research center for all forms of natural therapy and diagnosis. We are always in the process of investigating various methods of diagnosis (as well as treatment), some of which may prove useful in our future examinations. Below we describe a few of the methods now under investigation. I do not, however, want such a description to be confused with an endorsement, for such is not the fact. I make no claims of value, nor assume any responsibility for the accuracy of these unaccepted methods.

Albert Abrams and Radionics Diagnosis

The radionic diagnosis technique was developed by Albert Abrams, M.D. in the early 1930s. This man, a true genius, was so far ahead of his time that even today his ideas are considered fantastic (read quackery) by most physicians. Abrams, a scientist and medical practitioner, developed many revolutionary concepts during his lifetime. Surprising as it may seem, he was originally an avid medical conservative who embarked on a program to disprove the medical heresies of the day. His work brought him into pointblank confrontation with Chiropractic, Osteopathy and Homeopathy. Not too surprisingly, his investigations did not succeed in disproving the theories of these irregular sciences, but, on the contrary, offered considerable scientific justification for their precepts. Because Abrams was more of a scientist than a politician, he accepted his discoveries even though they were not what he had expected and in true scientific fervor continued to investigate until he was able to establish to his satisfaction methods and techniques in diagnosis and treatment that went not only well beyond anything within the medical profession of his day, but also well beyond anything the other irregular schools had to offer as well.

In his later research, Abrams began to develop a strong belief in the vibratory nature of disease and health. This work resolved itself into his acceptance of the theory that the cellular structures of all healthy tissues have specific normal vibratory rates. According to Abrams, when these tissues become diseased, this normal cellular vibratory rate changes, each disease producing its own specific change in the affected cells vibratory rate. He also found that the various toxic elements in the body cause a specific change in the vibratory rates as well. He then postulated two concepts. First, if he could develop a machine that measures these vibratory rates, it would be possible to determine if any specific organ system was in good health or was diseased and by measuring the vibratory change, he could ascertain exactly the type of disease was afflicting the organ. Second, because he knew that the various toxic substances, bacteria and viral agents each had individual vibratory rates, if he could detect these specific vibratory rates within the body, he would know that the body was contaminated by these elements and could proceed accordingly.

This was the foundation of his theory of radionic diagnosis. While I cannot discount the validity of Abrams' theory, I am, however, somewhat skeptical of the value of the instruments he and later practitioners of this method have constructed to carry out, in practice, the tenets of this method.

The instruments that Abrams and his disciples have constructed are purported to measure individual vibratory rates, either from the patient directly, or from a drop of the patient's blood on a specially prepared piece of filter paper. In a good radionic analysis, well over one hundred various disease entities and body organs are tested. Unfortunately, although the construction of the machines is impressive, the final detecting mechanism has always been the human nerve arc. That is the detection method depended on the ability of the operator for its sensitivity. This factor alone has kept Abrams' wonderfully conceived method from being accepted by the most of the scientific community.

In operating the radionic diagnostic device, the patient, who is connected into the circuit of the machine, rubs his fingertips over a piece of Bakelite or rosewood until, through changes of the dials, a certain resistance is felt at his fingertips-the readout signal. The setting of the dials at the times of the read-out signal indicates the disease involved or the specific state of organ activity.

In practice, some people seem much more capable of making the radionics instrument work than do others. In operation, the whole procedure reminds one of a Ouija board. I say that, not disparagingly, but only as an observable fact. I personally know of many fine physicians who used this method almost exclusively in their diagnosis and who were noted far and wide for their diagnostic ability and cures.

It has also been my pleasure to meet a younger generation of physicians who are interested in radionics and who hope to be able to substitute a sensitive electronic sensing unit for the human nerve reflex, so that this method could be placed on a firm, scientific foundation. I don't know whether they will be successful, but, if they are, the advantages of radionic diagnosis could then be made available to many of our sick and ailing.

Iridiagnosis

(Click to see Iridology chart)

Iridology (iridiagnosis, as it is referred to by some practitioners) is the science of diagnosing diseases by examining various markings in the iris of the eye. According to early naturopathic practitioners, each organ or section of the body is represented by a specific area in the iris. Furthermore, they thought that if the organ were diseased or abnormal, certain distinct changes would occur in the corresponding area of the iris.

If this theory were correct, it would be possible by a careful examination of the iris to detect the various sites of disease or abnormality that may exist in the examined patient. Owing to the nature of the alterations in the iris, some authors also claim that they can ascertain the exact state of the disease process-if it is acute, chronic, or at an in-between stage.

The problem of verification in iridiagnosis is somewhat different than that in radionics. The technical problems of iridiagnosis have been solved. It is possible to take a sharp color photo of the iris and of the lesions that are supposed to exist. The basic contention is whether the theory itself is valid.

Our own research has not yet given us a definitive answer to this question, though we plan to continue our investigation until we think all avenues have been exhausted, or until we are convinced of its value.

Though we make no claims, we include an iridiagnosis chart, in this book, which you may use for your own amusement and/or investigation. This chart comes from Henry Lindlahr's great landmark of natural healing Nature Cure originally published in 1914. The chart, though not as complete as those of later years, will nevertheless give you adequate information for experimentation.

Reflex Diagnosis

The theory behind all forms of reflex diagnosis goes like this: An internal organ is in trouble. Nerves from that organ grow to some specific area of the skin. If one touches or presses on this specific area, it will produce pain. This indicates that the organ whose reflex center is at this point is in trouble and therefore a diagnosis can be made of organ disease from the mere finding of a specific sensitive area of skin.

The foregoing has been somewhat intentionally vague because there are many theories about where these various reflex areas are. Certain acupuncturists tell us that there are places on the ear that correspond to most of the disease entities of mankind. The so-called reflexologists, or zone therapists, tell us that these reflex centers also occur on the feet and that if we know exactly where to touch or press on the feet, each of the various organs and portions of the body can be tested. Others say that the reflex areas occur all over the body and testing thus must be made in a very widespread and intensive manner.

Probably the most common use of this method in recent years has been the use of the foot reflexes. Eunice D. Ingham, in her book Stories That The Feet Can Tell, ( Eunice D. Ingham: Stories That the Feet Can Tell. Eunice D. Ingham P.O. Box 948, Rochester. N.E. ) has had a very profound effect on this type of diagnosis and treatment.

In the hands of a knowledgeable practitioner, the various reflex methods of diagnosis can prove most effective and in some instances they are not to be despised over any other known form of diagnosis.

In our own humble way we have developed a group of reflex diagnostic areas known affectionately as "Poesy's Points." These points are most commonly found in the neck area on either side of the cervical spinous processes. They are present in many conditions but demonstrate their most painful presence in our Chronic Fatigue patients.

Intuitive Diagnosis

When all the other diagnostic measures have been exhausted, one final factor often may be the most important of all in diagnosis and helping a patient to an optimum health status. This factor is the intuitive feeling of the physician about the nature of his patient's difficulty.

After interviewing a patient, an experienced physician often is aware of a sense of calmness or peace and an inner knowledge that his patient is going to be all right. In another case, even though diagnostic signs may indicate otherwise, the physician is not able to shake a sense of uneasiness or impending difficulty. Such feelings are definitive signs of diagnostic intuition. The more materialistically inclined physicians have recognized such signs but usually dismiss them as merely the subconscious reactions of a highly developed state of mental perception. Those of us who are more liberal in our feelings on this matter consider these feelings to be intuitively perceived help from unknown forces that help man in times of trial and tribulation.

Dr. R. Swinburne Clymer, to whom our Centers are memorials, told me one time that all true physicians had such intuition, and it would grow in strength and vitality if they would but listen to it. Unfortunately, most physicians disregard such hunches and tend to stick to the so-called strict scientific examination procedures.

I mean in no way to discredit any of the scientific methods of diagnosis, at our Centers we make full use of them all. But I do believe that subconscious attention to this intuitive nature was probably the secret that made the family physician of a hundred years ago the equal, or sometimes even the superior in the long run, of some of our modern practitioners. Today, we often find an attempt to depersonalize medical care. This is especially true as more and more medical care is dictated by insurance companies instead of physicians.

There is, in medicine, an increasing desire to computerize medical investigations so that errors are minimized. As far as this goes, it could be used for good. Unfortunately, a computer has no intuition; I think that if this trend goes far enough to further injure the already weakening rapport between doctor and patient, much of great value will be lost from the practice of medicine.

At our Healing Centers, we encourage the use of this intuitive diagnosis and treatment. We try to establish a close understanding and rapport with our patients. We take time to get to know our patients as individuals. We believe this is far more important in the long run than any so-called professionalism we may lose by such a close association. We try to make our patients feel at home and to make them feel a part of one big happy family in the truest and most useful sense of that word. This is our final diagnostic tour de force. It is something that can't be put down into figures, nor can we show it to you in a picture. Yet, it is there and can be felt by almost everyone. In the last analysis, we believe that it is an absolute essential to the functioning of a true Healing Center.

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