| True preventive health care is nonexistent | | | | continues to fund the same unproductive |
| for most Americans. That's because | | | | "plaques and tangles" theory as the cause of |
| traditional medicine focuses on treatment of | | | | AD. |
| symptoms, and that's not prevention. Our | | | | |
| health care system operates like the old barn | | | | At the same time, credible Alzheimer's |
| door - it's left open and then the farmer | | | | research at universities (with the help of |
| tries to figure out why the horses ran off. | | | | government funding - not usually the |
| | | | pharmaceutical industry) clearly shows there |
| Preventive or "alternative" medicine is | | | | is a probable answer to AD but more research |
| available, but it's not the norm. You have to | | | | needs to confirm preliminary findings. Why |
| be informed enough, open minded enough and | | | | isn't promising research followed up by the |
| have enough money to get it. If you find a | | | | entities that claim to want prevent or cure |
| traditionally trained physician who | | | | AD?This brings me to a true story. The |
| integrates alternative medicine into his or | | | | husband of a close friend, Mary, was |
| her practice, and still takes your insurance, | | | | diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In the |
| you are in luck. | | | | early stage, he had some hand tremor but what |
| | | | was most disturbing to Mary was evidence of |
| Most often you will not be in luck because | | | | cognitive decline. A math whiz, her husband |
| alternative practitioners are usually fed up | | | | now had difficulty with simple arithmetic. |
| with the traditional system. Part of their | | | | |
| gripe is dealing with insurance providers who | | | | The doctor said medication was not yet |
| dictate what medications the insurer will pay | | | | indicated. He could offer nothing to help the |
| for. So doctors stop taking insurance. The | | | | cognitive problem. Mary asked if I knew |
| result is that patients seeking alternative | | | | anything that might help. |
| medicine must either pay the entire cost of | | | | |
| care or do without. | | | | I had recently seen research that showed |
| | | | progression of Parkinson's could be slowed a |
| Our overburdened health care system is | | | | staggering 44 percent by taking 1,200 mg. of |
| controlled by the pharmaceutical and | | | | CoQ10 a day. (Normal daily dose is 50-150 |
| insurance industries. The pharmaceutical | | | | mg). The Life Extension Foundation protocol |
| industry holds the "solution" (prescription | | | | for treatment of Parkinson's indicates up to |
| drugs) to medical problems. That prescription | | | | 3,000 mg daily. There are no known side |
| drugs usually don't cure a condition doesn't | | | | effects or contraindications for high doses |
| matter. Drug companies are not interested in | | | | of CoQ10. |
| finding cures. A cured condition does not | | | | |
| require medication. No profit it | | | | Mary started her husband on 1,200 mg a day |
| that!However, it is profitable just to manage | | | | and about two weeks later bumped up the dose |
| symptoms (high blood pressure for example) | | | | up to 2,400 mg. |
| with medication for years, or until the | | | | |
| patient changes lifestyle habits or the | | | | Within a month, her husband's cognition was |
| patient dies. | | | | almost back to normal. Was it luck? Was it a |
| | | | "miracle" that would have occurred without |
| If you think about how long it is taking to | | | | the CoQ10, or was it the CoQ10 that produced |
| find a cure for cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's | | | | the benefit? Will the improvement last?Shall |
| and other devastating diseases, you must | | | | we wait for Alzheimer's advocates or the |
| conclude that something doesn't add up. We | | | | pharmaceutical industry to fund adequate |
| are the most technologically and | | | | trials of CoQ10? We should not hold our |
| scientifically advanced country on the planet | | | | breath. CoQ10 is not patentable. |
| and it still takes forever to find cures. | | | | |
| | | | When the traditional health care system fails |
| Take the amount of time and money spent over | | | | us all we can do is take personal |
| the years to find a cure for cancer. Yes, | | | | responsibility and act on our own behalf to |
| there are cures (which often become | | | | the best of our ability. |
| relapses), but treatments that poison the | | | | |
| entire body in an effort to get at the cancer | | | | Taking personal responsibility includes |
| and usually end up killing the patient are | | | | developing a prevention-oriented mindset - |
| barbaric. There has to be a better way. | | | | learning how to stay well without reliance on |
| | | | a health care system that talks a lot about |
| Look how long we have been dallying with | | | | prevention but doesn't seem to know how to |
| Alzheimer's disease. Research money provided | | | | provide it. |
| by corporations and advocacy organizations | | | | |