We Are Turning To Alternative Medicine Despite The Government and Medical Community.
By Elisabeth Lawrence
Despite widespread media coverage of the health care crisis in America and helpless hand wringing among Washington power brokers, a health care revolution is taking place. Millions of Americans – 36 percent of adults, according to the National Institutes of Health – are turning to alternative and complementary medicine to make up for the real or perceived deficits in the American health care delivery system.

Dr. Conrad Maulfair, director of the Maulfair Medical Center (www.drmaulfair.com) in Topton, Pa., suggests that the reason Americans are turning to other forms of healing is twofold. “In general, Americans are becoming more distrustful of the medical establishment and are taking increasing responsibility for their own health. Specifically, they’re becoming less interested in treating symptoms of disease and more interested in treating the underlying causes.”

Although slightly more than half of those who use complementary and alternative medicine do so in conjunction with conventional medical treatments, a surprising 26 percent seek alternative treatments at the suggestion of conventional medical professionals. The government estimates that Americans spend between $36 billion and $47 billion each year on complementary medicine.

As an example, Dr. Maulfair points to the nature of symptoms and treatment of heart disease, saying that most people don’t understand that heart disease develops long before the first symptoms appear. “While the symptoms of atherosclerosis, commonly referred to as hardening of the arteries, may appear suddenly as chest pain or a stroke, the disease may have begun 20, 30, or even 40 years earlier.”

“Even those who understand that atherosclerosis develops slowly over long periods of time may have misconceptions about the factors that contribute to the disease and draw the wrong conclusions about its prognosis,” says Dr. Maulfair,

“I doubt there is a person in the United States over 40 who does not believe, with certainty, that cholesterol is bad and that it causes blocked arteries. Most people regard high levels of cholesterol in the diet and in blood akin to a death sentence from atherosclerotic disease,” he notes.

On the contrary, Dr. Maulfair says that only a certain type of cholesterol makes up a significant part of the plaque that blocks arteries. “Damaged LDL cholesterol is the main ingredient in plaque, not undamaged, normal cholesterol.”
 

According to Dr. Maulfair, free radicals – reactive molecules that rob cells and tissues of electrons – damage LDL cholesterol, which is then more likely to adhere to the arterial wall. “Damage from free radicals left unchecked day after day, week after week, year after year results in the inability of cells and tissues to function normally, and can lead to the destruction, decreased function, and death of those cells.”

This information has profound implications for the way atherosclerosis is perceived and treated. “When a diagnosis is made,” explains Dr. Maulfair, “it has traditionally been accepted by both the patient and the health care professional that the disease will be present for the rest of the patient’s life.” As more patients are turning to complementary and alternative medicine, though, their understanding has shifted. “As people move away from simply treating symptoms of disease, then the underlying causes of the condition – in this case, free radical damage – are treated, and the disease process can often be slowed or reversed.”

The most promising candidate for the eradication of free radicals is intravenous chelation therapy. Chelation works by binding to the toxic metals and excessive iron and copper in the body that cause free radical damage, allowing those toxins to be excreted through the urine. Likewise, chelation lowers the body’s level of metastic calcium, which is a form of calcium that deposits itself in the walls of the arteries prior to the formation of arterial plaque.

Dr. Maulfair explains there are three components of a chelation therapy program. “First, intravenous chelation treatment removes the metastic calcium and the iron and copper that accelerate free radical damage. It also removes toxic metals, such as lead and cadmium. Second, specific mineral nutrients and antioxidants essential for healthy cell function are taken orally. Third, a comprehensive diet and exercise program supports the progress toward wellness.”

The efficacy of alternative treatments is making its way into the scientific literature. According to a 2005 study published in the journal Evidence Based Integrative Medicine, people with vascular disease who underwent non-invasive intravenous chelation therapy experienced fewer cardiac events in the subsequent three years than those treated with bypass surgery, angioplasty, or other conventional medical therapy.

Dr. Maulfair stresses that knowledge enables Americans to understand and reduce their risk for disease, as well as the treatment options available to them. Summing up, Dr. Maulfair says, “It’s important to note that many conditions considered chronic, degenerative diseases with no hope for improvement can be treated and, in fact, reversed.”

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