In two previous articles, I highly recommended Dr. J. Wesson Ashford's Internet site, which is http://www.medafile.com, and I described him as one of the world's most qualified scientists in the field of Alzheimer's disease. The recommendations he makes in his TOP TEN are based on his 36 years of education and experience as a medical doctor and as a brain scientist (Neuroscientist). He does "pure science" in his studies and he publishes in numerous scientific journals. And he puts credence in other reports of "pure science".

Dr. Ashford, as are many doctors and medical organizations in the country, is very conservative and scientifically deliberate in changing accepted practices and that is certainly commendable.

My approach to health matters, and particularly to the use of nutritional supplements, is somewhat different. I came from the training of "pure science" and have published my own "pure science" reports in recognized scientific journals, in the neuroscience field of neurophysiology. But over many years, I began to pay more attention to what I read in popular magazines such as Prevention, Consumer Reports, Vegetarian Times, Better Nutrition, Let's Live, and Back to the Garden which I have referred to in previous Articles. I have also learned much from the magazines published by the Life Extension Foundation, whose Internet site is http://www.lef.org and from brochures published by organizations that fight common diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and diabetes.

In addition, I have read many books written by nutritionally oriented medical doctors, biochemists, medical writers, and people who have published their personal testimonies of disease reversal by changes in diet, exercise, and supplements. I have also heard first-hand testimonies of health improvements, and I have my own personal testimonies of illness reversal and health improvement.

By reading all these, including reports and studies found in many Internet sites, I have accumulated several file cabinet drawers full of health information, filed by categories of illnesses, treatments, and supplements. My files go back more than 17 years. Examples are 2 of my previous articles, The battle against cancer was won 16 years ago, and They knew how to defeat cancer 17 years ago, which describe cancer brochures published 16 and 17 years ago. In Popeye Had Kidney Stones.... Probably, I refer to a nutritionally oriented medical doctor, Dr. Stuart M. Berger, whose excellent books, which I have, were copyrighted in 1985 and 1988.

What I read, year after year, makes such good sense! I do read about new "miracle" products but I do NOT take them or recommend them. I only consider products that have been sold widely for many years, and have been taken by hundreds of thousands of people, or more. I only prefer products about which there have been 30 or 40 or more scientific studies plus epidemiological studies and surveys covering many thousands of people supporting their use and after I myself have tried them. This is not "pure science" but it does constitute "good science", in my opinion, because it's based on many "pure science" reports plus the sources I named above, plus writings by nutritionally oriented licensed medical doctors who have 10, 20 and 30 years of experience. This is a good time to explain what "epidemiological studies" are. These are also called "population studies" and "population surveys". They are simply surveys of certain populations of people, such as those who have Alzheimer's disease, or those who have high blood pressure, or those who have diabetes. These surveys are often done once and include 800 people, or 4,000 or 14,000 and the data published. Sometimes they are repeated every year over the course of several years, and they are then called "longitudinal studies".

For information on how many scientific studies have been conducted on various supplements and what the studies found, we can read about them in health magazines and books. Or we can go to the National Library of Medicine, which is a division of the National Institutes of Health, and read some of the actual reports. To find out how many studies have been conducted on a supplement and to read the reports, go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Then enter a supplement in the Search window.

For example, Ginkgo Biloba and Ginkgo have been the subject of 1025 epidemiological and scientific studies all over the world (including over 50 involving Alzheimer's disease) and have been taken for many years by hundreds of thousands of people. Coenzyme Q10 has been the subject of 1041 scientific studies (including 6 publications involving Alzheimer patients) and taken by more than 400,000 people over 12 years. Ginseng has been studied in 1560 scientific reports worldwide (including 5 that mention Alzheimer's disease) and taken for over 50 years by over 6 million people. Vitamin C: 22,636 Vitamin E: 19,737 Melatonin: 9842 Glucosamine: 13,784 Chondroitin: 10,245 and Selenium: 13,208.

It goes on and on. For flax seed oil, for vinpocetine, for saw palmetto, milk thistle, bilberry, borage oil, royal jelly, DHEA, DHA, melatonin, pregnenolone, MSM (organic sulfur), whey, soy products, wheat and oat bran, grape seed extract, alpha lipoic acid, lycopene, plus many more. At this time, it is not totally clear whether any of these substances really improves health, but many of these substances are recommended or taken by experts in health and nutrition. Also, there is little information on how any of these substances might interact with each other or with particular prescription or over-the-counter medications. I take all of these, plus other supplements, because, in my opinion, it all makes such good sense. I believe that these supplements have greatly helped me to keep up my health, together with eating healthy food and exercising regularly.

But, dear reader, please note what I have stated in previous Articles, that I have gradually increased the number of supplements I take over several years, one at a time. I do not advocate a "quick-fix" but a gradual change of lifestyle over one, two and three years, and I recommend you do it under the direction and monitoring of your health care professional. Some supplements are harmful to some people and some supplements interact adversely with each other or with medications.

Another point is that the most popular supplements have no side-effects for most people. But, for anyone who is sick and taking one or more prescription drugs, it is reasonable and wise to take supplements and to begin an exercise program under the direction of your nutritionally oriented medical doctor, because there are some supplements which interact adversely with medications. My definition of sickness is if you are taking a prescription drug such as a cholesterol-reducing drug, or if you take an over-the-counter drug regularly, such as aspirin for repeated headaches, or an antacid for upset stomach. But I want you to know that you don't have to be sick and be inactive. You can improve your health.

This reminds me of one of the excellent books published by the health center referred to in previous Articles, Hallelujah Acres, whose founder reversed his colon cancer 20 years ago by becoming a vegetarian. He wrote a book about disease reversal: "You don't have to be sick". It's #206 in their Internet site http://www.hacres.com for $3.95. I recommend it highly, as I recommend other books written by nutritionally oriented medical doctors such as "What your doctor may not tell you about menopause" #363; "Prescription for Nutritional Healing" #353; and "Cancer Doesn't Scare Me Any More" #803; and "Stop the Medicine" #351. You can order by phone 1-800-915-9355.

There are many excellent books listed in the A.C.A.M. site, which is an organization of nutritionally-oriented medical doctors who reverse diseases through nutrition, supplements and exercise.

You can also find many excellent books on disease reversal in your local health food store, and in the Vitamin Shoppe site http://www.vitaminshoppe.com. Some of the books written by medical doctors are "Reversing Fibromyalgia" #BK-2529, "Nutritionally Incorrect" # BK-2528, "Soy Smart Health" # BK-2376, "Reversing Hypertension" #BK-2453, and "The Yeast Connection Handbook" #BK-1681.

As I have already stated in Article T16, I receive no financial benefit or "perks" from the doctors, organizations, or books I recommend. In fact, I give money to them when I buy their products. Some of my readers may wonder why I frequently recommend licensed medical doctors but not other health professionals. It's because these are the health professionals with which I am most experienced, and because they have rigorous licensing procedures. I know there are other health professionals who are licensed through rigorous procedures and as I advance my knowledge of them, I am sure I will recommend them also. But for the time being, I can best serve you, my readers, by discussing what I know and what I, myself, benefit from. This is also the safest for me, from a liability perspective, because many of you, my readers, are very sick and are taking a lot of prescription drugs; so the safest course for a turnaround in your lives is for me to point you to a nutritionally-oriented medical doctor who will work with you to gradually free you from the downward spiral of prescription drugs (see The downward spiral of prescription drugs and How to avoid the side-effects of prescription drugs for information on drug side-effects; and Nutritional Supplements to prevent Alzheimer's Disease for information on how to find a nutritionally-oriented medical doctor).

When we read book after book, magazine article after magazine article, and testimony after testimony, it becomes constantly obvious that most diseases are preventable and reversible by proper nutrition, supplements and exercise. For example, in Dr. Tim Smith's book RENEWAL described in previous Articles, he notes on page 433 something about the hormone DHEA. He says: "Low DHEA predicts breast cancer more accurately than any other known marker. Women with breast cancer consistently have lower-than-normal DHEA readings. DHEA may help protect against breast cancer by inhibiting an enzyme required for cancer growth. In animal studies, DHEA has provided dramatic protection against tumors of many types." And on page 432, he makes a similar statement about heart disease: DHEA is a more accurate predictor of heart attack than elevated cholesterol. DHEA levels were significantly lower in men who died of heart attacks than in men who were healthy. See? It all makes such good sense.

Here's another example. From Dr. Wes Ashford's Internet site, to which I referred at the beginning of this Article, I went to a link http://www.infoaging.org which is the Alzheimer's Information Center. In their article "The latest research on stopping beta amyloid and plaques" they note several nutritional supplements which have been found to be beneficial in preventing or delaying Alzheimer's Disease, such as zinc, Vitamin E, melatonin, Ginkgo Biloba, IGFs, and by general strengthening of the Immune System. The evidence is overwhelming when we read the right books, magazines, and Internet sites, that most diseases are preventable and reversible by eating the right foods and nutritional supplements and doing regular exercise. It all makes such good sense.

And I'm a living example of the benefits of a healthy diet, regular exercise, and many supplements. At age 64 (my DOB is 11/38) I have the health of a college athlete. I'm 5'9" tall, weight 140 lbs., with waist 32" and chest 38". My resting heart rate is 47 (this is not a misprint- 47). Blood pressure, which I measure with a manual aneroid sphygmomanometer, is 115/65. Last month, October, 2002 at age 63, lab tests showed: Total Cholesterol: 169 (below 180 is superb) HDL (good Cholesterol): 61 (above 50 is superb) LDL (bad Cholesterol): 95 (below 100 is superb) VLDL (bad Cholesterol): 13.2 (below 20 is superb) Chol/HDL 2.77 (below 3.0 is superb) Triglycerides (fats in blood): 66 (below 110 is superb) Another test was ultrasound of both internal carotid arteries (sonography). The Sonographer (ultrasound operator) said: "Perfect". The vascular specialist doctor's diagnosis was normally thickened walls with smooth linings and smooth laminar blood flow.

At age 58, I completed my first Marathon (26.2) miles and at age 59, I completed five more (four of them were in one month). When I was 57, my traditional doctor said: If all my patients were as healthy as you, I'd be out of business! At age 61, my dentist said the same thing, and he repeated this when I was 63. From December, 1994 up to today, I have needed only two dental fillings and two old crowns repaired (I have dental checkup and cleaning every 6 or 7 months).

Just two more points of how I believe I benefit from healthy living.

1. "Age spots" are brown spots, similar to freckles, which form in many persons over 50. These are due to accumulation of melanin, and appear on skin areas exposed to the sun, so these are also called "sun spots". They are also called "liver spots" because they are brown like the liver, but have no relation whatsoever to the liver or any of its functions. All my life, every summer I have spent a LOT of time in the sun while boating on the water, swimming, on beaches, and hiking in mountains. I never wear a cap to shade my face from the sun. I have no "age spots" on my face at age 63. When I was 61, I had two "age spots" on the back of each hand. Two months after I started taking a new nutritional supplement, I noticed that they had disappeared. Now, I still have no "age spots" on my face or hands at age 64.

2. When I wake up in the morning, I have no joint pain or stiffness. When I go walking or running on a cold, windy rainy night, I have no joint pain or stiffness. When I stayed on my sailboat for a week on San Francisco Bay in the winter of last year (age 62), it rained all week but I had no joint pain or stiffness, or any other ailment either. The point I want to make is that healthy food, regular exercise and a lot of supplements seem to have preserved me very well. I do make a day-in and day-out effort to practice "good science" by reading a lot of health-oriented books, magazines and Internet sites. It's much better to try to prevent cancer, stroke or arthritis by healthy living than suffering many years while waiting for a drug that will cure it, which might be 20 years from now and which will cause its own sickness (side-effects), as prescription drugs do. It is my opinion, that some of battles against cancer were won 16 and 17 years ago, as discussed in my previous Articles T04 and 05, but these have just not been widely acknowledged by the medical establishment that focuses on treating disease rather than practicing prevention and the maintenance of good health. But the number of medical doctors who are practicing nutritional medicine is constantly increasing, as you can see in the Directory of A.C.A.M. to which I have referred in previous Articles.

My dear readers, no matter what your age or illness, I encourage you to read all my Articles and find a nutritionally-oriented medical doctor, and begin reading my recommended books, magazines and Internet sites. It all makes such good sense. Healthy living works for millions of persons around the world and it can work for you. It does take an effort, but it's worth it. You, as I am doing, can become healthier as you get older, and I want to help you to accomplish this. Look at the next year for small gradual changes in your life as you learn, learn, learn about healthy living. It is working for me and it can also work for you. Your life CAN be worth living again.