Complementary alternative medicine (CAM) is popular in Los Angeles. In fact, physicians and scientists at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have focused some of their research on the topic. Julia Schopick is not affiliated with UCLA and she is not a physician. She is a woman who became a patient advocate in 1990 when her husband was stricken with brain cancer. Over time, side effects from his treatment (radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery) surfaced. She then began searching for CAM that might increase his survival and quality of life. She discovered a number of beneficial treatments, which allowed her husband to live for 15 years following his cancer diagnosis. She amassed a wealth of data regarding alternative treatments for serious illnesses, which culminated in the publishing of her book: “Honest Medicine: Effective, Time-Tested, Inexpensive Treatments for Life-Threatening Diseases.”
The book might benefit patients suffering with a variety of serious illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, Crohn's disease, HIV/AIDS, and cancer. In her book, Ms. Schopick notes introduces four lifesaving treatments that have been effectively treating, and sometimes curing, individuals for many years. However, for reasons of profitability—or lack thereof—these treatments have not been universally accepted.
The treatments are: low dose naltrexone for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Crohn’s disease; the Ketogenic Diet, for pediatric epilepsy; intravenous alpha lipoic acid, for terminal liver disease and some cancers; and Silverlon, for non-healing wounds. Ms. Schopick notes that all the therapies she discovered have similar, very compelling characteristics:
- They have all been around for many years, ranging from 25 to 90 years.
- These treatments have benefited hundreds, sometimes many thousands of patients, as documented by many experts.
- These treatments have all benefited extremely sick patients with life-threatening illnesses ranging from epilepsy to multiple sclerosis, and even HIV/AIDS and cancer.
- These treatments all work for conditions for which conventional medicine does not have adequate solutions.
Ms. Schopick notes that in some cases, “the results have been stunning .” For example, epilepsy patients became seizure-free and multiple sclerosis patients regained the ability to walk. The treatments have been endorsed by healthcare professionals, including MDs. In most cases, the patients who have benefited from these treatments are extremely passionate about helping others to learn about them. The patients often devote a great deal of their time, mostly unpaid, to holding fundraisers and educating the public.
Some of the treatments are natural ones, such as diets or supplements, and others are off-label uses of generic drugs. However, they all have one common denominator: no one is making large amounts of money from them—in stark contrast to the large profits made from many pharmaceuticals on the market today. Contributors to the book include MDs, registered dieticians, and PhDs.
For further information about “Honest Medicine,” click on this link.
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