It's common knowledge that millions of persons in their 40s, 50s and 60s take prescription drugs for various diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, mood swings, PMS, depression, dental problems, ulcers, and many others.

It's also common knowledge that most prescription drugs cause their own diseases, called side-effects, which were already discussed in my two previous Articles (#T13 & 14). I will devote only one more Article to this topic, and then go on to other topics, such as how to reverse PMS.

In previous Articles, I have recommended certain medical doctors, books, magazines and organizations which promote and teach health through nutrition, supplements and exercise. I am doing this because these are the ways to prevent and reverse most diseases. As I mentioned in Article T04, I have studied medicine, physiology and nutrition for 46 years. In 1996, at age 57, I discovered that I had gradually become a vegetarian. The following year, I completed my first Marathon (26.2 miles) and the year after that, I completed five more, at age 59.

Dear readers, we really DO want to avoid prescription drugs and the diseases they cause. People get sick from them. People also die from them. Last year, 110,000 people in this country alone died from them. Gradually changing from a Standard American Diet to a healthy does take an effort, but I assure you, it's worth it. A healthy diet brings health. A Standard American Diet bring sickness. And so do prescription drugs.

Here's an example of the downward spiral of sickness when a person has to take prescription drugs. The following is based on an article in a Newsletter of a Health Center which I have mentioned in previous Articles, and which I highly recommend. It is called Hallelujah Acres and its Internet site is http://www.hacres.com. It was founded by a Baptist minister who developed colon cancer about 20 years ago. After doing a lot of reading and seeking the direction of the Lord, he concluded that the cancer would be reversed if he radically changed his Standard American Diet to a healthy vegetarian one, including regular exercise. He made these changes in his life, and the cancer was reversed. He is Rev. George H. Malkmus and he wrote an article on page 6 of the Summer 2002 newsletter: Back to the Garden.

He begins by pointing out that prescription drugs suppress the symptoms of disease. They do not treat the cause, but, in fact, create new problems (side-effects). He describes a typical downward spiral which begins with a person having high blood pressure. The first drug expands the blood vessels to lower blood pressure, but its side-effect is an undesirable increase of heart rate. So another drug is prescribed to slow the heart rate, but that causes the body to retain fluid. The doctor then prescribes a diuretic to help eliminate excessive fluids. However, according to the British Medical Journal, these three drugs cause impotence in 9 to 23% of the men taking them. Patients also often develop gout, diabetes, headaches, dizziness and depression. Or maybe the doctor prescribes a "beta blocker" which causes new problems such as nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, diabetes, fatigue and depression. And then cardiac surgery might follow which often results in one of the following: death, stroke, brain damage, depression, or impotence.

Rev. Malkmus concludes that up to 90% of ALL physical problems result from a poor diet. My conclusion is 95%, which is very close to his conclusion. He ends his article by restating what health magazines, health organizations and nutritionally-oriented doctors have been saying about healthy food for 20 years. And if a person will eat a healthy diet, that: "physical problems usually simply disappear".

Dear readers, I want to help you to improve the quality of your life, so I am pointing you to the magazines, books, and doctors who are the experts in the healthy living field, including real life testimonies of people of all ages whose diseases have been reversed by a change to a healthy lifestyle.

Read the books and magazines I recommend, and you will gradually acquire the revelations of health and the ability to incorporate them into your own life. It's well worth the effort. There is HOPE for your future, a future of health.