In this section:

* Appetizers- In this section, I have decided to place a short summary of the most vital issues in human and veterinary health and how the principles put forth in the four major papers on this site apply to them. For those of you who read the opening welcome message, you know that this is a contradiction to my basic philosophy of how we obtain information. But, just as I used to think that people could give a cat 6 pills a day when I was first entering practice, I have been hoping that people would find the time to read these papers from start to finish in order to get the full impact of what they are saying. However, I am more of a realist now, especially after doing a fair amount of internet consultation. I now see from the questions being asked that most have not read the work and they really just want a "quick fix" for their dog's or their own personal medical problem.

Well, I'm going "halvsies" with you. I am going to list the most serious health problems one at a time, as I get to them, and try to get you interested enough to go back and read how it could be true that the food plays such a huge role in these conditions. These will be boney descriptions with a little meat on them to hopefully increase your appetite for more. Thus, the title of the section. Hopefully, they will stimulate your hunger for a full course meal.

Appetizers

In this section, I plan to list a number of the conditions and "diseases" that are of the most concern to the general public and give a brief description of their relationship to the food issues described in my essays. Once again, this is clearly not in keeping with my overall philosophy, that "fast food" information should be kept to an absolute minimum and should in no way replace deeper study into the true causes of the conditions that affect both man and animals. But that being said, I am offering these little "appetizers" in an attempt to stimulate the reader into a full course meal of study into the true pathogenesis of whatever medical condition is of importance to them

Some of the conditions described below affect only humans while many also affect our pets. During my exam room lectures, the focus often shifts from the pet to the client and back again as we discuss what the trouble foods and additives are causing in all of us. Once again, this is why a veterinarian would take on such a monumental project as to try to include both human and veterinary medicine in a research study or a Website. But like I have said many times before, "The only real difference between a pet and a person is what's between the ears and sometimes that difference is very small. Haha."

I hope that these snippets will serve their intended purpose. They are not meant to be a full explanation of the listed condition but rather an introduction into that medical problem. The points that are made here are the ones that now mean the most to me after having performed a more intensive probe into that particular condition's history, incidence, development, course, treatment, and outcome. I would like to think that this section will then lead the reader into either reading The Answer or launch them into their own investigation of the problem that concerns them.

If at any time you would like to contact me concerning what is said here or what you find on your quest for information, please contact me at the following Email address. As always, this site is not meant to be a substitute for an accurate diagnosis or proper medical attention.

Dogtor J.

Today's Appetizers:

(This area is under construction)

* ADHD  * Allergies  * Asthma (New!!!) *Atherosclerosis 

* Autism (New!!!)   * "Autoimmune" Diseases (New!!!)   

* Cancer (NEW!!!) 

* Chronic Fatigue   * Diabetes     * Endometriosis  

* Epilepsy   * Fibromyalgia    

* Food Addiction  *  Insomnia   *Immune-mediated diseases (New!!!)

* Intervertebral Disc Disease    * Iron Deficiency Anemia     

* Irritable Bowel Syndrome     *Meniere's Disease  (New!!!) 

See Page 2 for:

*Menopause (New!!!)     *Migraine Headaches  

*Mononucleosis, E-B virus (New!!!)  * Morgellon's Disease (New!!!)    * Multiple sclerosis    

*Osteoporosis   * Pain (chronic) Management   

* Parkinson's Disease    * Post-partum Depression     

* Sickle Cell Disease (really)  *Sleep (New!)   * Stuttering 

* ADHD- It is fitting that this would top the menu. It is a serious issue and in serious need of attention. There are 25 million kids on Ritalin and the number is rising rapidly. Ritalin is now being sold illegally by the intended user to other kids as a party drug or study aid. Many of those put on Ritalin end up on secondary drugs like fluoxetine and other antidepressants. The combinations can have disastrous results. We have a very serious crisis in the making here.

Why the epidemic proportions of ADHD? Why do most kids with ADHD have allergies? Is it restricted to the young? Can't we explain this phenomenon better than we have? The answers are actually right in front of us. The reader just has to understand a few, but ellusive, concepts to get a better grip on this runaway condition.

60-70% of the American diet is wheat and dairy alone. This percentage is probably even higher in the young thanks to pizza, macaroni and cheese, burgers and shakes, quick pasta meals in the microwave, ice cream and other flour-based desserts, soy cheese burgers in the school lunch room, and on and on. The number one childhood allergen is cow milk. Number two is wheat. (FDA). Do the allergies cause ADHD? NO. But, the same foods that cause the allergies drive the ADHD.

The reader needs to understand two sets of terms to be well on their way to seeing the truth: casomorphins/gliadorphins AND glutamate/aspartate. Look them up on the Internet. If you have read the epilepsy or pain paper, then you have already heard these terms. The casomophins are derived from cow milk and gliadorphins from wheat. They are depressants and are responsible for the abnormal drop in energy after meals, caffeine addiction to a great extent, symptoms of autism, and the down cycle to the ADHD child. This is when they get ornery or belligerent. They need a nap, really, but the time is not right so they get combative. BUT, 4-6 hours after the meal, they become so hyper that we have to peel them off the ceiling. This is due to the "antidote" in the same food...the glutamate and aspartate. These neurostimulants that cause seizures in some and migraines/pain in others are responsible for the hyper cycle of the up and down ADHD child. It is as predictable as anything. These stimulants are also what wakes up the insomniac at 1-2 AM, about 4-6 hours after their last meal or dessert was consumed. Again, preictable.

Therefore, it is easy..very easy... to see that the same foods that are causing the allergies are also driving the ADHD. Other stimulants are diet drinks (aspartate/aspartame), peanuts (loaded with glutamate), sugar, caffeine, chocolate, other glutamate-containing grains (like corn and oats), and SOY (Errrh). So, the soy cheese burgers they have at school might have a "little" something to do with why they come home so wired, and you as parents then feel so compelled to get them on a medication.

There are other factors at work as well, such as the lack of Omega 3 fatty acids in their diet, the malaborption syndrome created by the same foods, and the violence in the media. BUT, the driving force behind ADHD...why one child (or adult) is afflicted and other isn't...is much more defineable than you've been told up to this point.

Understand this concept very clearly. It will change your child's life. It did mine.

* Allergies- How common are these? Wow. The problem in both human and veterinary medicine is that we have been focusing on the wrong ones all of these years, in my opinion. We spend all of our time worrying about and treating the symptoms of the inhalant allergies, such as those to ragweed, house dust, and cat dander, when I am now 1 million percent convinced that these allergies are secondary to something else. What could they be secondary to?

If you have read The Answer or my paper on gluten intolerance, then you have an idea. If not, then here is a brief explanation. I feel certain now that any individual that has inhalant allergies has serious food "issues" that preceded them. These food issues are what are referred to as food intolerances, which also lead to food allergies. The three foods that do the most harm to the gut are wheat (and other glute-containing grains), cow milk (with it's main protein, casein), and soy. These three foods all have substances that are used in industry as adhesives. Soy protein, for example, is used as the adhesive to stick your rear-view mirror to your windshield.(That's some powerful stuff.) These glues stick to your duodenum after they leave your stomach, despite that organ's valiant attempt to break it down (thus, the heartburn).

Once the glue is stuck to the delicate villi of your intestine, the immune-system is called in to help dislodge it. In the worst cases, as in those with celiac disease, this immune response is very serious leading to severe atrophy of those villi. In the process, antibodies are formed to the glue from the various foods leading to what we call food allergies. This is why the FDA list of childhood allergens stacks up the way it does: cow milk is number one, wheat is number two, and soy is number four (glue, glue and more glue). But, what is number three? Eggs. Eggs represent the first secondary allergen, meaning that we become allergic to them because of the damage done to the gut by the first three. The cow milk and soy formulas do the initial damage to the gut and allow any other proteins that pass through it to be exposed to the blood and immune system in forms that the body doesn't recognize. Eggs are usually the first protein fed to a baby after being on formula and the immune system reacts to it as a foreign substance once the intestine has been damaged by the formula. Celiacs, for example, are renowned for having multiple food allergies, exhibiting reactions to 5, 10 or up to 30 foods. The reason for this is now clear.

The other thing happening in this damaged gut is the malabsorption of essential nutrients. The duodenum is responsible for absorbing all calcium, iron, iodine, vitamin C, B-complex, and most trace minerals (zinc, boron, manganese, magnesium, etc). These are all vital to good health, of course.

Therefore, once the combination of problems reaches a critical level, the immune system goes into what I call "safe mode". As stated in The Answer, the immune system is overworked and underpaid. Once in safe mode, it starts to react to other foreign proteins that try to make their way into the body through the respiratory tract. I believe down to my socks that this is the origin of inhalant allergies. Why else would the immune system of one individual react violently to something normal in the air, like oak pollen, while someone else's doesn't?

We need to put it out of our mind that allergies are caused by a "malfunctioning immune system" and that "some day we'll find the gene that causes them and remove it." That, folks, is INSANE!!! Your body does not make that kind of mistake. Allergies are there for two main purposes: to warn us that something has gone wrong and to try to protect us from further harm. It is that simple. NOW we know that allergies are also warning us that the damage is taking place in the gut and that we have serious food issues, as well.

Therefore, the rationale behind long-term use of antihistamines should be closely re-examined. Is it the right thing to do to keep blocking the histamine that is trying desperately to limit the entrance of more allergens? Should we keep using the nasal spray that simply opens up the congested nasal passages and lets more and more of the offending substances into our lungs? Come on. We're smarter than that...... aren't we?

* Atherosclerosis- This is my personal "favorite" since both of my parents suffer from this number one killer of Americans. A person every 3.5 seconds dies from a stroke or heart attack in this country. 44% of American deaths (and rising) are attributable to atherosclerosis or "hardening of the arteries". BUT, and here's the interesting part, dogs and cats don't have this all-too-common condition. Surely the reader wants to know how this could be. Those who have read The Answer already know.

Yes, atherosclerosis takes more women's lives now than all cancer combined, including breast cancer, and yet dogs and cats never die from this devastating condition. The reason, I firmly believe, is so simple that it is stupefying. Two words: hydrogenated oils (You must read David Dewey's article on these hazardous substances. Here's the link: www.dldewey.com/hydroil.htm.) These unnatural, man-made oils are the key to atherosclerosis in that they are what allow the foreign materials that are found in the wall of the affected artery to get there in the first place. Think of these oils...hydrogenated this, partially-hydrogenated that...as "solvents" that carry anything mixed them into tissues that would normally not contain them.

With the aid of the hydrogenated oils, foreign materials such as dietary proteins (glycoproteins), viruses, and even bacteria find their way into the wall of the artery and begin to attract the immune system. This sets up the inflammation that, in turn, releases the C-reactive protein that you are (finally) hearing so much about on the news. This protein is a measure of the "degree" of inflammation in the arteries and used as an indicator of the severity of atherosclerosis. The idea of this arterial condition being inflammation is only new to the public. Scientists have known for years what occupied this area just inside the lining of the artery but have clearly withheld this information until a clearer understanding of the process was obtained.

In a recent study by leading cardiologists, a new ingredient was uncovered. In this study, it was found that 85%...that's 85%...of lesions in the carotid and coronary arteries were found to be positive for Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria associated with stomach ulcers. Wow, what a finding! How could this be? Well, it is likely that these bacteria enter the bloodstream from the stomach ulcer, especially at a time when the immune system is suppressed, and make their way to a damaged area of artery and set up housekeeping. This may even immediately trigger the atherosclerotic event, such as a heart attack. These areas of cholesterol plaque formation are accidents just waiting to happen.

"But, what about the cholesterol?" most people ask. Great question. The answer will surprise those of you who think that cholesterol in the culprit here. The fact is that cholesterol is "nature's band-aid". It is called in to adhere to those areas of damage that have been created by the hydrogenated oils and all of the garbage that they dragged in. Once the damage is bad enough, the arterial wall starts to weaken. Cholesterol, your "hero", comes in to strengthen this area. If it didn't, the area could balloon into an aneurysm. But, if the cholesterol is properly laid down, this doesn't happen. However, if we don't get to the roots of the problem...the hydrogenated oils and all of the stuff that goes along with it...the cholesterol keeps being laid down in layers and layers until, ultimately, an occlusion forms OR a plaque flakes off, traveling downstream and causing a stroke.

The body, once again, is desperately trying to do the right thing. We are simply not helping it all with the steady "fast food" diet we feed it: dairy and wheat (two major sources of immunoreactive glycoproteins) and the hydrogenated oils. So is cholesterol the enemy? Absolutely not. All you have to do is ask yourself this question: What would you rather die from- a stroke or heart attack at age 70- 80 OR an aneurysm at age 30- 40? The bad news is that those mean ages are ancient history, aren't they? We now have 19-33 year-olds dying of heart attacks, don't we? The good news? It doesn't have to be this way. You can do something to reverse this trend. Now you know what...and the answer does not lay in those cholesterol lowering statin drugs, does it? The recall on that last one was a warning shot fired across our bow. Once again, counteracting the body's natural mechanisms often comes with a major price tag.

Oh yeah. So, why don't pets get clinical atherosclerosis? No hydrogenated oils in their diet. End of story.

*Autism (New!!! as of 3/06)- I will be writing much more on this in the very near future. In the meantime, here is a letter that I just wrote in response to a question about the use of The G.A.R.D. for autism. I hope this at least starts the ball rolling. As always, please write to me if you have any questions about this.

             ***********************

Hi B.,

I'm glad that you are interested in this approach. In the past, I simply sent people with autistic children to www.gfcfdiet.com to read their success stories ( http://www.gfcfdiet.com/Successstories.htm ). But now I have had personal cases that have responded dramatically to the elimination diet so I AM getting more personally involved.

The GARD in the strictest sense was mainly designed for those suffering from "excitotoxin" related disorders...over-excitement by those neurostimulating, non-essential amino acids glutamate and aspartate. I believe that this does include autistics, as some of the repetitive and even self- injurious behaviors that many exhibit are due to over-stimulation by these neurostimulants. But in the autistic, I am more concerned about the casomorphins, gliadomorphins and neurologically depressing substances like the mercury, chronic latent viral/mycoplasmal infections, malabsorption induced malnutrition, and secondary allergens that are keeping them in the depressed state. When there are repetitive behaviors, outbursts, and self-injurious actions, I believe that they are in that same cycle that the ADHD child is in where the stimulants hit that brain that is malfunctioning from the above things and over-react to those stimulants because the neurons of the brain are doing everything they can to overcome the depressants, much like the drug addict's does. The brain, in these situations is in an interesting state, isn't it?

Again, think "drug addict". If a person is addicted to downers, the brain adjusts to these depressants by "uploading"...becoming more sensitive to stimulants in a desperate attempt to overcome the depressants. That is why this drug addict requires more and more drugs to feed his habit and why he starts to SHAKE when his drug levels drop. His neurons are trying hard to overcome the depressing action of the downer drug in order to reach homeostasis/equilibrium and they do this by "uploading". When the balance is altered by dropping levels of depressant, the individual becomes OVER-stimulated...the DTs set in (just like in alcoholism) and the person feels like they are going to come apart.

This also happens to people like celiacs with the "big 4" food intolerances who have acute drops in their serotonin production because of sudden onset damage to their intestinal villi, where 98% of their body's serotonin is made and the nutrients (B complex and C) that are required to make more (including the 2% made by the brain) are absorbed. See that? Celiac disease can be and typically is very insidious in nature and development. But it can also be very acute, sometimes following a viral or bacterial infection. And, we know exactly why this happens. I suffered from "acute endogenous depression" in my 30's (In April, when the days are getting longer. Light is very stimulating!!!). This was the very FIRST real sign of my celiac disease. Suddenly, I could not make adequate serotonin and the resulting anxiety disorder preceded my years of depression that I later suffered from. The "reflex" action to overstimulation is depression. That is the purpose of depressing...to help you deal with being over-stimulated, whether it be purely physical or following severe emotioanl stress.

Conversely, if a person is addicted to stimulants, the brain "down loads" to be become less sensitive to these chronic  uppers" and the reverse of the above occurs. But with Ecstasy, the brain levels of serotonin very specifically get depleted and all h*ll breaks loose (that's a Biblical term.:):):) ). Serotonin is CRUCIAL to normal brain function and without it, severe emotional and physical symptoms can arise.

So, think of the autistic as a "drug addict" who is addicted to casomorphins and gliadorphins and depressed by a myrid of secondary factors but whose brain is desperately TRYING to upload to overcome this situation. (Did you know that there are some wise autism clinics in this country that do a urinalysis to detect the levels of casomorphins/gliadorphins in the urine when making a clinical diagnosis of autism?). Now, also think of autism as a spectrum disorder. We know that  there are degrees of affliction and this should not be a surprise to anyone. It IS a "syndrome" like epilepsy, with multiple factors coming together to produce the result. Mercury is not THE issue but it can be a major contributing factor. Personally, I now believe that fluoridated drinking water is potentially an even bigger problem. And, I am starting to research more into chelation therapy for autistics.

So, believe the testimonies of mothers whose kids had dramatic results when taken off of all gluten and casein. They are very real!!! I have had some cases just like this myself. BUT, we can also explain why some do not have that miraculous response. They are "category two"...those with the more severe secondary issues above, including viral infections, some of which they acquired from the same vaccines that provided the mercury. Hey, not ALL kids that acquire the measles and mumps virus from that modified live virus vaccine are going to develop epilepsy/seizures (errrrrh). Some are "just" going to experience severe neuronal dysfunction/depression. But have you ever heard of kids with both??? Of course you have. I write on BrainTalk Communities Website and I hear about these kids all of the time.

These are your "worst of the worst" and now, hopefully, you have a better idea of why. You can also now see why there are "splinter" groups called Angelman Syndrome and Rett syndrome. These are of particular interest to me because they can be accompnaied by growth abnormalities (small heads, short legs, etc), more signs of the malabsorption syndrome seen in celiacs. Down Syndome has now been linked directly to celiac disease. Once we see the true underlying causes, we can start to understand these variances. This basic understanding of the food issues is like passing through a doorway. Suddenly, there is a whole new room of knowledge to enjoy.

So basically, there is a WAR going on in their brain. The brain is scrambling to find homeostasis but between the casomorphins/gliadorphins, glutamate/aspartate, sugar, Nutrisweet ("because sugar is so evil"...not
really.) and the DRUGS they are on (some of which do more harm than good), the brain is losing the battle. These kids are horribly malnourished from the malabsorption syndrome being driven by the foods to which they are horribly addicted...the wheat and dairy. These kids are notoriously addicted to mac and cheese, bread, milk, ice cream, cake, pancakes/waffles, etc etc and it is like pulling teeth to get them to eat a  vegetable. How obvious does it have to be for us to see that they are just like drug addicts, with the drug
being their food??? And once again, ALL addictions are bad...without exception. And we will become sick from the things we are addicted to.

The main warning sign??? Cowmilk and wheat are the number one and two childhood allergens. "Warning, warning!!!" That should be sooo obvious, painfully clear in retrospect. The allergies form at the time of the damage to the gut, the malabsorption syndrome sets in, the casomorphins/gliadorphins flood the brain, the immune system goes down from the malnutrition, the brain becomes unhealthy from lack of proper nutrition, the viruses/mycoplasma jump onto the scene, the mercury/fluoride/air pollution/environmental chemicals, etc hit the brain, the secondary inhalant allergens kick in, and VOILA' ...we're sick. Surprise, surprise. :(:(:(

That's medicine in a nutshell. And what started it all? Yep...the FOOD. So, how do we correct it again??? :):):)All we haven't covered is why some  kids go down this road and other don't getting the same diet,  environmental challenges, etc. Is it their "genes"? No, but there is something IN their genes.

Did you know that there is more viral information in our
double-stranded DNA than there is are genes??? Yep. So, what is the truth about "genetics"? Do the genes that give you blue eyes and blonde hair mutate and cause autism??? NO, but there are some guys mixed in between those genes that do. Wrap yourself around that for a minute and then we'll discuss what "unleashes" these guys. For a clue, you can go to my newest section called "Viruses...Friend or Foe." This IS medicine in a nutshell.:):):)

Hope this helps,

John

* "Autoimmune" Diseases- Here is a post that I just made on one of my favorite Internet forums. I was discussing the interesting observation that the majority of the immune-mediated diseases of the eye and peripheral neuropathies I have seen have occurred on the left side. I would estimate that over 90% of the immune-mediated ocular (eye) disorders that I have seen (uveitis, glaucoma, cataracts, dry eye) have occurred first in the left eye. Last week, a oncology nurse who had brought in her dog for its left-eyed problem had just been diagnosed with lupus and was experiencing a manifestation in her left eye. When I leaned out of the room to tell Gena (my main tech) that we had another left eye (which I have been doing for a couple of years now), the owner inquired as to why I was doing this. She found it very interesting because in her oncology practice, they were doing the exact same thing about breast cancer, which they saw much more often in the left breast. Hmm...

* Cancer- "Now, how is he going to cover this incredibly broad topic in a few paragraphs?" the reader might be asking. Very simply, actually. Believe it or not, it can almost be summed up in a single word. The "cure" for cancer can be summed up in an equally "simple" statement. "Whoa, I gotta hear this!" the skeptics are saying.

Here is a news flash for you. The cause of the vast majority of...if not all...cancers is................the virus! Yes, there have been medical researchers that have suspected this for years and years but as most medical discoveries go, you don't hear about them until they are proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. This practice has both good and bad qualities, the way I see it. Certainly, the world has enough to fear in it without having unproven medical enemies presented to us. BUT, the other side of the coin is that there have been many viral cancers that we have known about for years and years that the public has never been told about. I discuss this openly with people in the medical profession (nurses, technicians, etc.) who have never been told that viruses ever cause cancer. That extreme is just as bad to me.

Tell you what. Put "virus and cancer" in the search engine of your computer right now. Now, come back to this article in a few months when you run out of material to read. You will not only see how many types of cancer have known viral etiologies but you will undoubtedly find researchers that have boldly stated that ALL cancer is likely caused by viruses and that they have been saying this for over 20 years.

"But what about all of the carcinogens we keep hearing about?". Yes, there are many well-known "carcinogens", but many can now be labeled as contributory factors rather than the actual causative agent. With the virus being the primary cause of cancer, I now put these "carcinogens" into three categories: 1) Those agents that damage the immune system and allow the virus to gain its foothold in our tissue and DNA; 2) Those agents that damage the tissue itself and allow the virus into that area; and 3) Those agents that damage our DNA (and RNA) itself, allowing the virus to incorporate ITS DNA or RNA into that of the host tissue and thus cause the tissue to begin growing out of control. (This is the virus's MO...they inject their genetic material into ours.)

Of course, in a nutshell, this is what cancer is all about....our tissue starts growing out of control. Why and how does it do that? Something...and now we have a good idea what... fouls up the cell's normal growth regulation and that cell starts dividing wildly, independent of the normal checks and balances that keep this from happening at any given moment. What normally prevents this? There are both intracellular (inside the cell) and extracellular (outside the cell) mechanisms that normally prevent cells from growing out of control. You and I are fighting cancer as we "speak". The immune system is vitally involved in this process, as most anyone knows. Similarly, most people know that a weakened immune system leads to alls sorts of medical problems and that, as we age, it is "normal" for our immunity to wane and for bad things to start happening. But is it that cut and dried? Do all older people get cancer? Is it restricted to the elderly? The answer is "no" to all three.

Here is the sad truth. As I have written before, we become walking "virus hotels" over our lifetime, starting at a very early age...even prenatally. How does this occur? We acquire viruses either naturally through infection or through vaccination with modified live virus vaccines or even "vertically" from our mothers. I discuss the middle mode on my section about vaccines so I will let that one lay. The first one is self-evident and has also been covered elsewhere but I want to re-emphasize one point about "natural" infections. STOP TAKING FEVER REDUCERS FOR VIRAL INFECTIONS! Got it? We are literally inviting viruses to come and stay by killing our body's first line of defense known as the fever. My favorite analogy is that of the war in Afghanistan. What if we sent ground troops there without first launching the extensive bombing campaign? We would have seen very different results, wouldn't we? We may have flat out failed. At best, we would still be dug in there fighting all of those guys hidden in caves. Artificially stopping the normal fever that your body produces to kill a virus is like calling off that bombing campaign. It is a phenomenally harmful and downright ludicrous thing to do. Once you understand the role of viruses in cancer (and immune-mediated diseases), you will easily see the folly in this approach.

"But what about that last mode of viral infection...the "vertical" transmission from our mothers? That one is news to me?" It may be news to you but not to the medical professions. We have some "interesting" example of this, such as the AIDS virus (HIV). I recently had a totally indoor cat that developed an obscure illness consistent with FIV (feline AIDS). It turned out to be FIV positive and the owner said that this was "impossible" as it had never gone outside over the two years of its life. Unfortunately, the answer was easily found in the mother of this patient (which the owner also had). When tested, the mother...and the other two kittens... all tested FIV positive. It was a tragic but illuminating case. YES, some viruses can be (and are) transmitted from mother to offspring. "Well, duh!" is what I say. Why wouldn't a virus that had infected a mother get into the body of a fetus in her womb? That's why we don't vaccinate pregnant animals with modified live virus vaccines...we have seen the negative results.

Could this vertical transmission of viruses explain why some cancers run so strongly in families? Could this be why certain breeds of dogs suffer so badly from specific cancers and immune-mediated diseases? Are "genetics" the real culprit?? Do genes kill people and pets ??? Do you see why I was much less enthused over the mapping of the human genome than most people in the scientific community? In most cases, that is the wrong rock to be looking under for medical answers, I'm afraid.

The bottom line here? Viruses are the true enemy, folks. We heard a few months ago about the viruses that cause cervical cancer. We heard a while back that viruses also caused leukemias and lymphomas in people, didn't we? I'll tell you. Veterinarians like myself have been wondering for years when we were going to be told this as we have known for years that viruses caused leukemia and lymphoma in birds, mice, cattle, and cats. Why would it be different in people?

The bad news is which viruses that have identified as causative agents in these cancers of the lymph system. One is our "old friend" Epstein-Barr. Oh, oh...that is VERY bad news. Why? Because he is one of the most ubiquitous (omnipresent, common) viruses around. According to medical literature, a staggering 50% of our children have the EB virus in their body by age FIVE. Wow! That is (or should be) a bit frightening, especially in light of the new evidence that this critter causes cancer.

Ahhhh...things are starting to make sense, aren't they? When they show those leukemia wards in hospitals, how old are the usual victims? Yes, many are children age five and older, aren't they? Where did they get that virus again? Was it from a natural infection? Would 50% of five year olds get "the kissing virus" of mononucleosis (the EB virus) from a natural infection or is it possible that they got it directly from mom by the vertical transmission route? Hmmm....

The fact is that leukemia and lymphoma occur just as one would expect when viewed from the viral perspective. The first occurrence is around age 5-6 (which we now understand, right?). Then, the next spike is at age 15, when the teenagers hormones (and acne) are raging. Then, it shows up again at age 40..."the wall" as I call it. We're not termed "over-the-hill" after this age for no reason at all, I'm afraid. And finally, the incidence of these conditions rises steadily after age 60, as we age and our immune systems wane "naturally" as most would expect. But why does one individual succumb to the virus at age 5 while others get cancer at age 78...or never? Great question. It leads us to that "simple" answer of how to "cure" cancer. ("I've been waiting for this.")

The cure for cancer...here it is....ready???... is "simply" to get your immune system healthy enough to kill the virus, isn't it? Now, I said it was simple...not easy. With my tongue planted firmly in my cheek, I tell people in the exam room that all you have to do to cure ANY disease is do everything right and do it for a long enough time. But, I am trying to make a number of points here. We have to use the resources available (and our brains ) to identify as many things as possible that we must address to correct a problem and deal with them. (That is what this site is all about.) Then, we must be faithful to hold to those changes for as long as it takes.

The "bad news" is that the changes are usually permanent, as one should expect. The other bad news is that some of the things that are affecting the health of your immune system are (seemingly) out of your control. The main culprit here is air pollution. This is too broad of a topic to cover in this Appetizer (that has already turned into a full course meal) but let it be sufficient to say that air pollution is a HUGE issue in the demise of our natural immunity. My city is in the top 100 percentile in the nation for air pollution related cancer. Do I move? Ideally, I should.

The good news? Once again, YOU have your health destiny more in the palm of your hands than you ever thought imaginable, certainly more than you have been told. This site should be screaming at you how we are doing ourselves in with certain foods. Between the gluten grains, cow milk products, soy (errrrrh), hydrogenated oils, chemicals/preservatives, artificial sweeteners, microwave cooking, lack of balanced meals and more, we are literally handcuffing, torturing, and ultimately killing our immune systems. We MUST ...and can (hey, I'm an optimist)...stop doing this. If we control what is going into that hole below our nose, then it is less important (albeit still important) what is going into the two holes in our nose. In other words, if you are healthy in general, you can better handle the air pollution.

BUT, if we take our immunity for granted and continue on our present course, it is likely that we will be overrun by our enemies. Now you know who the real enemy is, don't you?

* Chronic Fatigue Syndrome- Here is a condition that I know like the back of my hand. I lived with it for years under the generic name of depression. It is a complex condition but one with an explanation...and a solution. This syndrome was first described in the 1980s, a fact I find interesting in light of the relatively high incidence of it today. What changed in the years prior to this condition crawling out of the woodwork? It couldnt be Americas love affair with the fast food industry again, could it? Hmmm....

Many theories have been proposed for this life-altering, yet elusive group of symptoms, often coupled with fibromyalgia. Like many of the conditions I have studied, I believe the answer lies in the proper combination of these ideas. Yes, Epstein-Barr virus is likely to be a factor, but not the cause. Yes, alterations of brain chemicals such as serotonin are also contributing issues, but not the issue.

Just as a syndrome should have, chronic fatigue has a complex origin but one that I believe can be understood by the least medically-minded. Lets start with a medical fact from the medical texts: 50% of our children have Epstein-Barr infection by age 5. Wow! I think we can assume that the rest of us get it at some point between then and our twenties or so. Teenagers seem to readily pick it up in the form of mononucleosis. More on that in a second. This virus is a classic example of a latent virus. Once acquired, our immune system takes care of the initial infection but does not completely eliminate the virus from the body. (Why this occurs is described in The Answer. Hint: Taking fever reducers for fevers caused by viruses. Errrh.) Chicken pox and the related shingles 40-70 years later is another example.

Once in our body, this virus lays in wait for innocent blood, dormant until there is a change in the status of the immune system that would allow it to resurface and become active again. What causes this crash in our immunity? Well, those who have read any of the papers on this site know the answer to that question. This syndrome is another example of our system being overworked and underpaid. Once the problem in our duodenum...Pandoras Box... reaches a critical state, our immunity suffers, unleashing the plagues onto mankind. This includes losing its grasp on Epstein-Barr. As in most viral infections, the symptoms include depression; a normal response of the body to the invaders and one that reinforces needed rest by the host. So, this transient sort of depression associated with lesser viruses should be considered normal. But, the lengthy and often debilitating depression that is chronic fatigue syndrome is of course totally abnormal. But once the reader sees that the virus is unleashed by a faltering immune system, they better understand the process.

This can actually be seen by looking at the two different presentations of mononucleosis in teenagers. My daughter and I actually illustrate the point. My daughter had mono last year and was over it in 3-4 days. I, on the other hand, had it twice: once at age 13, when I was out of school for 6 weeks and again at 15, when I was out for a month. Why the difference? I have celiac disease, the poster condition for the overworked/underpaid idea. My daughter tested negative for this immunosuppressive disease. So, it may be easy to distinguish between those who just acquired the EB virus and those who have had it all along by the clinical course. Those who are healthy and newly acquire the virus fight it off in short order. Those who acquired it in the first five years of life but who later become immune-suppressed like I became from the celiac disease will have lengthier courses and even suffer relapses like I did. When the immune system really gets in trouble, this virus comes up and stays active. I know of two teenage girls that developed mononucleosis last year and have yet to recover from the associated fatigue. This is now very explainable.

But, there is another element here. Those same foods that cause the duodenal damage also contain the depressants described in the ADHD section above. The casomorphins and gliadorphins play a huge role in chronic fatigue as well. Once again, the cow milk provides the casomorphins and the gluten-grains provide the gliadorphins. Because 60-70% of our diet is dairy and wheat alone, we are constantly consuming major quantities of these morphine-like compounds. As these saturate our brain over time, it takes less and less of them to cause major depression after meals. How many meals have you eaten in the recent past that did not include wheat or dairy products? How about in between meal snacks? Hmmm.... Get the point? Once the saturation takes place, a little more morphine goes a long way.

It takes a full year for us to clear these substances from our brain once we eliminate them completely from our diet. It also takes differing periods of time for individuals to reach the saturation point determined partially by their different diets and partly by their immune response to foods. Therefore, once again, we are all on a spectrum here. The worst of the worst are called autistics (we will get to this one). The best of the worst are called normal.

So, the treatment for chronic fatigue becomes relatively simplified, doesnt it? Eliminate the foods that are damaging the gut and crushing your immune system. These foods just happen to be the same ones that have the depressing morphine-like substances in them.

Initial response can be rapid, as soon as 4-7 days as the levels of casomorphins and gliadorphins drop. The long-term cure comes as your immune system recovers and gets Epstein-Barr under control.

Do we ever completely eliminate the EB virus? Great question. I know that we should be capable of that...if that were possible. Our immune systems are under full assault these days. We just have to identify the culprits one by one and knock em down with a two-by-four.

* Diabetes- As most readers know, there are two basic forms of diabetes: type 1- the immune-mediated form, and type 2- otherwise known as insulin resistance. Once the mechanisms behind these two devastating conditions are understood, you will see why I say that type 1 occurs way too often and type 2 should not even exist at all.

Type 1 diabetes results when the immune system attacks the islet cells of the pancreas, which are responsible for the production of insulin. The lack of insulin then causes the blood sugar to rise out of control. Many mechanisms for this autoimmune attack have been proposed. The diligent researcher will repeatedly come across references to alpha s-1 casein, one of the principle proteins found in cow milk (absent in sheep and goat milk). They will also see that early exposure (before age 5) is also considered a key.

Are there any other dairy connections? Hmmm...How about the fact that the groups of people most at risk are Black Americans, Native American Indians, Asians, and Hispanics? What do they have in common? They are the most lactose intolerant of all Americans, with incidence approaching 100% in some groups. Does lactose intolerance cause diabetes? Of course not. Lactose is just a sugar. It causes a few minor symptoms such as diarrhea and gas, but it is the protein in cow milk that does the true harm. It is the protein that is involved in immune-mediated reactions ranging from allergies to autoimmune disorders. The lactose intolerance is just another warning sign that worse things are on the way. This is key and worth repeating. Lactose intolerance is simply a warning sign to stay away from cow milk products. What is it warning you of? Would you believe diabetes, for one? Just look again at the above "ethnic" groups. They are the newest groups of people to start consuming cow milk relative to the Caucasians from Western Europe. The latter have had much more time to adapt to cow milk consumption, haven't they?

But unfortunately, the same is true of another major food item. Yes, it's the number two food allergen again, wheat. People with celiac disease have a 50 times higher rate of type 1 diabetes than the general population. Caucasians of western European decent have been eating their "common wheat" they made back in 400 AD for over 1500 years (see The Answer). Those groups listed above are relative newcomers to this powerful grain. In fact, the slaves taken from their homeland in Africa were first exposed to bread on the slave ships. Over 40% of them never made it to their ports of destination due to the death rates on those ships from dysentery and the like. Sounds a lot like celiac disease. The point is that the number one (cow milk) and the number two (wheat) human allergens are the newest foods to these four groups of people and they had devastating effects on their immune systems, including their role in diabetes. But wait until you read about Sickle Cell Disease. Now there's a story.

But what about type 2 diabetes? The incidence of this condition is absolutely skyrocketing in this country. There has been a 70% increase in type 2 diabetes in this country in the age group of 9-19 years old in the last 5 years alone.... last 5 years. Then, how in the world could I say that it should not even exist when we have so many afflicted? Again, once the mechanism is understood, this statement is easy to make.

Insulin is a crucial hormone, as we all know. It is critical for blood sugar regulation. However, it is a two-edged sword in that too much insulin is harmful. The "short-version" of the explanation is that chronically high levels of blood sugar from over-consumption of complex carbohydrates causes the pancreas to keep insulin levels abnormally high. Because persistently high levels of insulin can be damaging to our system, the body develops a "defense mechanism" known as insulin resistance. As a result, the insulin being secreted loses its effectiveness and the blood sugar rises. This condition has the same net effect as type 1 diabetes (in which there is a lack of insulin)...a rise in blood sugar occurs...but in the case of type 2 diabetes, this occurs in the face of more than adequate insulin levels. This all makes sense doesn't it? Now I'm going to throw wrench in the works for you.

That is the conventional explanation for type 2 diabetes. The more accurate explanation, I believe, is found in the understanding of hydrogenated oils. These abnormal oils were invented in the early 1900's and marketed for the first time in 1911 in the form of salad and cooking oils. By the mid 1950's, margarine was outselling butter. In the late 1930's and early 1940's, there was a dramatic increase in a new form of diabetes that they later termed type 2 diabetes. By 1950, there had been a 585% increase in the incidence of diabetes since the turn of the century. In the ten years between 1985 and 1995, there was a 60% increase in the number of deaths from diabetes. In the past 5 years ALONE, there has been a 70% increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes in the "unlikely" group ranging from 9-19 years of age.

What in the world could be causing the skyrocketing incidence of this horrible condition, especially in our children? I think you know. It's what I call the all-too-convenient-food industry. This is a combination of prepared convenience foods and snacks AND the fast-food industry. 90% of prepared foods such as frozen dinners, microwave snacks, and finger foods now have hydrogenated oils in them. Also, try to find a candy bar without them. Then we look at the fast-food market and really see the fuel for this bonfire. Yes, everything is deep-fat fried in hydrogenated oils, covered with cheese, put on a wheat bun, and served with more complex carbs (that were deep-fat fried in more hydrogenated oils) and a big glass of sugar water (or sugar saturated cow milk-shake... take your pick). Do we really need to be a rocket scientist to figure this one out? Complex carbs + hydrogenated oils = Disaster.

For more information on type 2 diabetes and hydrogenated oils, please read the very important article found here:  www.dldewey.com/hydroil.htm.

* Endometriosis- The fertility rates in women are dropping like a very bad day on the Dow. The period of time that women can conceive appears to be shrinking from both directions. At the same time, the incidence of miscarriage is rising, with more than one in five pregnancies ending this way. What could be happening to the reproductive tract of our women?

First, a very brief review of the hormonal balance during pregnancy. Very superficially put, progesterone maintains the pregnancy and excessive estrogen can end it. Veterinarians know about the latter due to our previous use of estrogen compounds to intentionally end unwanted pregnancies in dogs. Also, the evidence that progesterone is maintaining the pregnancy is the fact that pregnant women are almost "bullet-proof" during most of their pregnancy due to the high levels of this anti-inflammatory hormone. I had one woman tell me recently that she can only drink milk without a problem during pregnancy. Otherwise, it really upset her stomach. I explained that this was because the progesterone in her body at that time was so high that she might as well be taking cortisone to cover up her milk-related allergies and intolerance. (We use progesterone in cats with allergic skin problems when cortisone stops working. Wow!)

So, we know that progesterone is anti-inflammatory and maintains the pregnancy. We also know that estrogen can terminate the pregnancy. BUT, there are plenty of doctors out there who also know that estrogen is the culprit in endometriosis. A great book for the interested reader is found here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0890877734/ref=lib_dp_TFCV/104-1166292-5088722?v=glance&s=books&vi=reader#reader-link) A fabulous article on endometriosis is also found here: (http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Womens%20Health/price62.htm) Note the chart toward the middle of the article which contains the foods that the author recommends be eliminated from the diet in those women with endometriosis. It will look very familiar to those who have spent time on this site.

So, if estrogen is the culprit in endometriosis, is it our own body's production of this hormone that is likely to cause this devastating condition? Highly unlikely. Then where are the "toxic" levels of estrogen coming from? I think if you have spent any time on this site that you have guessed it by now- the food. Yes, and it shouldn't surprise you that it is the same guys.... the usual suspects. Cow milk is a huge source of estrogen as is soy. These two dietary sources are the ones responsible for lowering the age of our little girl's first menses from 15.5 years down to 8. Yes, 16.7% of our female children have their first period now by age eight. The most logical explanation, which I fully believe, is found in the dietary source of estrogen found in cow milk and soy formulas followed by the overwhelming amounts of dairy and grains in their diet once they start eating solid food. Macaroni and cheese, anyone?

I'll finish this mini-lecture with a true story. One of my closest friends and his wife were trying to have a baby. They had been unsuccessful for over two years. Finally, she was scoped and found to have significant endometriosis. I bombarded her with information concerning dietary estrogens with major emphasis on dairy products. She drank milk instead of water most days and went through a gallon milk by herself every couple of days. She had other signs of dairy intolerance as well, as most of these cases do. I convinced her to go off all dairy products and watch the amount of other estrogens consumed in food and within 6 months she became pregnant. However, she miscarried, something that I had warned her of because of her history. This just makes sense now, doesn't it? Well, she is now over 8 months pregnant and about to give birth, just about a year and a half after greatly reducing her dairy intake. This is not a coincidence.

Please read the above linked article. The book is also a great book for those who want or need a more detailed explanation. The consensus appears to be that there is an immune-mediated component to endometriosis. I certainly believe that this is true. This can be said of so many of the conditions from which we suffer. But what we see over and over is that the immune aspect is generated by the same foods that provide the other components of that particular syndrome. As in chronic fatigue in which the immune suppression to Epstein Barr is caused by the same foods providing the depressing casomorphins and gliadorphins,  the foods providing the estrogens in endometriosis are the same ones causing the immune suppressing aspect of this syndrome. The immune system gets "over-worked and under-paid" because of the detrimental changes in the duodenum caused by the dairy, wheat, and soy and these same foods turn right around and provide the "toxic" levels of estrogen to the victim. Another double-whammy. Same in our next subject, epilepsy. This appears to be the "M.O." of these foods, doesn't it?

* Epilepsy- Of course, this is a huge topic on this website. There is no doubt that the idiopathic epileptic can be controlled using dietary means. My main paper Idiopathic Epilepsy- The Dietary Solution goes into vivid detail here. Suffice it to say that the principles involved in epilepsy, chronic pain syndromes (such as fibromyalgia and migraine headaches), ADHD, and insomnia are all interrelated. They involve the amino acids glutamate and aspartate which cause neurostimulation and the depressing substances casomorphins and gliadorphins that cause the neurons of the brain to reflexely "upload". This process is described in full in Pain, Pain Go Away in the Pain Management section. 

The bottom line with epilepsy is that by eliminating the foods that are rich in the neurostimulants glutamate and aspartate, we can halt seizures rapidly and even allow pets (and people)  to come off of long-term medications or prevent them from requiring them in the first place. The foods are, once again, the "usual suspects": wheat (and other grains), cow milk products (particularly cheese), and SOY (errrrh). In people, aspartame (diet drinks and sugarless products), beans (pinto, lima, black, garbanzo, etc.), peanuts, and all forms of MSG should be strictly limited. The following chart can be used to look up the glutamate (glutamic acid) and aspartate (aspartic acid) contents of foods. Note the amount in wheat, barley and oats versus potatoes. Also, check out the amounts in your favorite cheeses. Then for the real impact, look at soy. Oh oh.   (http://www.doggieconnection.com/recipe/info/index.html

* Fibromyalgia- Once again, this subject has been covered in detail in the paper Pain, Pain Go Away in the pain management section of this site. I view fibromyalgia as little more than a pathologically sensitive pain center in the brain. Granted that this is not a simple issue and has a multitude of contributing factors, but I believe that the underlying pathology of this debilitating condition can be found in this specialized area of the brain that registers painful stimuli. How does this area become so sensitive that normal, everyday activity yields unrelenting pain? The aforementioned paper goes into great detail and chronicles my recovery from this horrible syndrome.

In a nutshell, there are things that normally affect the function of the pain center and cause it to become more sensitive, lowering the threshold of pain for our protection. Viruses are a good example. Even simple upper respiratory and flu viruses cause muscle and joint aches by lowering our pain threshold at the level of our pain center. This is done as a protective mechanism to enforce rest in both humans and animals. This is done for our protection and well-being. We (and they) need the rest and really have no business performing our daily tasks while ill. In animals (and us), this may even lead to a fatal mistake. However, there are viruses that become chronic and latent in our body that can have long-term affects on our pain center. The most well known is Epstein-Barr, the "guy" behind mononucleosis. He has been linked to both chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia and, I believe, rightfully so. Once our immune system is ill enough to unleash this virus from its resting (latent) state, it begins its work on the pain center doing what viruses do: signaling our brain that we are ill and that we need to slow down for our own protection.

However, there is much more to the pain phenomenon than this. Again, this is well-described in the pain paper and involves the neurostimulating amino acids glutamate and aspartate which are found in the same foods that are causing the immune suppression

(which has been outlined so many times in the papers on this site). It is the old "double whammy" again. Those foods (grains, dairy, and soy) that are rich in the pain-producing substances are also the ones causing the serious damage to the duodenum, resulting in the malabsorption of those nutrients vital in maintaining the health of the immune system. The pain that they cause through the amino acids glutamate and asparate are meant to be warning signs of the impending disaster that is just around the corner: the crash of the immune system. Once the crash takes place, then "full-blown" fibromyalgia (and chronic fatigue syndrome) occurs as Epstein-Barr is released from its jail. This situation is a great illustration of the concept of latent viruses and how they become unleashed once the immune system fails.

The "cure" then comes by reversing the process. By eliminating the foods that do the intestinal harm, we are also getting rid of the biggest suppliers of the neurostimulants that are sensitizing the pain center. To make the most rapid recovery, the sufferer needs to acquaint themselves with all of the sources of glutamate and aspartate and eliminate as many as possible. The initial recovery can be rapid and dramatic in many cases with the pain threshold rising within a week or two. Then, as the duodenum heals and the malabsorption syndrome reverses, the "real" recovery can commence, allowing the immune system to get the E-B virus back under its thumb. The million dollar question is whether we are capable of totally elimination Epstein-Barr from our body if we do everything right. I'll put it this way: I now put no restrictions on our body's abilities as long as we do everything right. Doing that is the trick. This can only occur through knowledge, application of that knowledge, and a heavy dose of will power. * Food Addiction-