History of American Medicine since WWII

As I have contemplated what to say in this article I decided to talk about some of the US. history of modern medicine as it relates to the mission of Herb-Discovery.com's web site.

Prior to WWII there were some people with diabetes but not on the scale it is today. It was the same for many other diseases especially those related to the immune system. Each has multiplied thousands of times since the end of the 1940's. So what happened and why are these diseases increasing at an alarming rate?

Here are some facts that provide a glimpse into this condition.

WWII expanded on the discovery of mustard gas first used in WWI. WWII saw a vast increase in the development of chemical warfare as well as many other compounds. This new chemical age continued after the war with tens of thousands of new chemicals. Items we now use and take for granted such as nylon, composite metals, new metals such as aluminum and carbides as well as plastics and petroleum base composites. Of all the new compounds and chemicals probably the ones that have effected our health the most are pesticides and penicillin. The concept of injections to cure or heal was a new concept and those who like me attended public schools in the mid to late 50's experienced the introduction of the miracle cure for polio.

Plastics and plastic composites changed the world from one of only wood, steel, cotton and wool to one that cannot exist without the new composites and chemicals. Wonderful inventions but at what cost? Some claim there are over 10,000 new chemical compounds since WWII that we use everyday that have not been tested for their effects on the human body. What are they doing to us that we do not yet realize? The world of chemistry is out of control looking for another miracle compound that will make millions often without considering what it will do to our health. Today we are faced with the new and dangerous effects of bio chemically altered foods.

Penicillin and the related antibiotics preformed miracles and still do. However at the same time doctors are increasingly sounding an alarm at what they are doing to the immune system of our bodies. They report infectious bugs are mutating and becoming resistant to antibiotics. Projections that a plague may come and the antibiotics will have lost their ability to stop it is not slowing down the medical industry or the publics demand for antibiotics. Drug companies are searching for a new cure before it is too late. They are not ignoring the proven facts that there are natural herbs that perform better and safer. They are working hard to learn about every one, then alter it so they can make millions in profits. They then tell us and congress that the original herb should be banned from our access like they did with Ephedra and like they are trying now to ban colloidal silver. Ephedra is helpful for health if used in its proper dosage. Unscrupulous manufacturers over prescribed it and weight loss people over used it. Colloidal silver is reported to act as an antibiotic, so no wonder the drug industry is trying to ban it. Yet at the same time Tylenol is proven to cause hundreds of more deaths and heart problems and we are not even being warned about it. You don't have to see the skunk to know it's in the wood pile. Meaning the facts are fully evident and the whole process stinks yet the proof is being hidden so that few believe it.

Prior to WWII doctors only had herbs to use. The new chemical age and the discovery of miracle cures along with the FDA and AMA resulted in the discouragement of herbs in favor of altered drugs. Altered means that the drug is usually an herb that is altered in order to get a patent in order to make millions of dollars in profits. This process ignores the fact that the natural herb may be better and safer than the new altered drug. The miraculous discover and power of penicillin changed the minds of people to believe herbs were not as good as an altered drug. Herb-Discovery.com hopes to bring the pendulum back to the center. The center being what ever is the safest and best for health should be what is prescribed whether it is a drug or an herb. It would be foolish for a diabetic to ignore insulin just as getting a tooth filling without pain killers. Likewise it is foolish to ignore that Pawpaw root will kill prostrate cancer 100 million times better than chemo, yet that is exactly what is happening today.

Since WWII there has been astounding changes in American Medicine. President Roosevelt initiated the FDA. The FDA began shutting down medical schools and today we have 1/3 as many. With the shortage of doctors this is a terrible direction. Some claim it is so the FDA can better control the education and practice of doctors. Since WWII and the vast information age, doctors have specialized into the numerous branches of medicine. Everyone thinks this is great because we now have specialist to treat the heart and so on. Sure it was impossible for our former country doctor to keep abreast of all the new technology. However now we have no one to mind the store so to speak. We have psychologist prescribing numerous antidepressants, our family doctor prescribing antibiotics and other drugs, our heart specialist our liver, lung and other doctors all prescribing other drugs and treatments. Seldom do any of them work together to see what they are doing to the whole body. This concept is referred to as compartmentalized medicine. Like anyone else I would prefer that a specialist operate on my heart. However the question is, could a heart operation be avoided? Either way, who is making sure the psychotic drugs, the cardiovascular, antibiotics and so on are not conflicting with each other.

The next problem is that the method a doctor is trained and practices is alarming. First the drug industry pays millions of dollars in research grants and endowments to doctors, research labs and medical schools. Some claim most of the text books are written from grants from the drug industry. Do you think the writer getting the grant is going to say anything negative about drugs? So now a doctor completes his initial medical schooling of how the human body works and the drugs to treat the symptoms. Then they start their internship. Did you know an intern in the very best of hospitals are compelled to work a minim of 30 hour shifts. Sure if they are slow they get to sleep in a room where they can be immediately called for an emergency. The minimum for this training is one year and depending on the area they are going into it can be 3 years. There are hundreds who have researched sleep depravation with alarming information including permanent psychotic results. Is that the kind of doctor you want to treat you in the emergency room or extended care for a heart attack?

Now the new doctor has completed their internship and then goes on to a residency. My son is a little more than half way through his internship of one year and will soon be a resident for 3 more years as a dermatologist. Not to brag but did you know that only the brightest and most scholarly can even apply for advanced training and dermatology is one of the hardest to enter. This means that unless a doctor chooses to be a family practitioner that those with the lowest scholastic accomplishments can only become a family practice doctor. This itself it not bad, but consider they may be the only doctor who may be our connection with all the others. It means that the doctors who are specialist consider the family doctor unqualified and how dare they question the specialist. So who is minding the store to prevent drug and procedure conflicts?

Now bear with me I know this is getting to be a long article. After all this training and work a doctor now goes to their final field of medicine. Here is what they then have to do. The State they practice in requires a licence governed by other doctors. They have to present their certifications for their four year medical school, their internship and residency along with reports and letters from their supervisors and teachers. So they are compelled by a system that completely puts them at the mercy of many people and other doctors in order to get their licence to practice. Then this process is repeated if they want to have hospital privileges. Did you know that they cannot enter a hospital to treat even their own patient if they have not been approved by the hospital board, again a board of doctors.

Here is the real rub. If the doctor has a brain and a conscience they will know that drugs are not always the best protocol. Herein comes the great AMA and FDA who tell doctors what they can and cannot prescribe. Since herbs are discouraged by them, if a doctor prescribes herbs they are are subject to the possibility of being sanctioned by the AMA, FDA, State licensing Board and the Hospital Board. Now if the doctor starts a clinic that is showing remarkable results, taking patients away from the other doctors, and using herbs, these four entities come down on them like a ton of bricks and they lose their licence. This is not speculation, it has occurred hundreds of times. There is one other government agency that is used as the policemen. It is the FTC, who are contacted and told by the other four that the doctor is practicing untrue medicine or false advertising. Now we all know that it is probably not true but the news reports to the public stating, "hooray the government is saving our lives"!! The government enters the clinic, seizes everything and shuts it down without a single warning. The clinic goes away silently to keep from getting greater fines and prosecution. The doctor who obtained a bachelors degree, a four year medical school degree, an internship and a residency a minimum of eleven years at a cost of hundreds of thousand of dollars is now unable to practice medicine anywhere in the US and they cannot get State or Hospital approvals.

So in recap; we have wonderful new technology but with harmful results to our health, doctors who are trained to prescribe drugs,who are monitored and jealously sanctioned if they use alternative concepts, and no one who is minding the whole body's health.

We need to overcome the wrongful teachings about herbs and alternative healing that is being promoted by the medical industry and given a black eye by unscrupulous herbal marketers. We need to promote a change in the way doctors are trained and practice by getting herbs acceptable for them to prescribe. We need to get the public and our elected representatives informed and aware of these problems. The mission of Herb-Discovery.com is to collect the proven science of herbs then publish it free for everyone. Only the facts of science will be able to counter this powerful unhealthy trend. That is why we need volunteers not for me or this site but to protect and educate about the best health options for each of us and our world, before they are completely taken from us.