The Magic Bullet – Is Modern Medicine Really a Cure Or Just a Bandage?

For thousands of years, people thought of diseases and illness as spiritual matters or things from the outside of the body attacking a person. They used herbs, rituals, manipulative therapy (massage, chiropractic, water therapies) and especially food to counteract the malevolent forces. But they all agreed, if the body wasn’t susceptible to the force, the person wouldn’t have gotten sick.

Then, in the 1800s, an accidental discovery opened human eyes to the microscopic worlds, and led to the germ theory of modern day. This theory states that all illnesses are caused by a single cause, a microscopic entity and therefore can be cured by a single treatment, known as a magic bullet. For nearly a century after, this was called penicillin. Today we know of a large number of bacteria that are not affected by antibiotics at all. Viruses have rarely been susceptible.

Ever since the germ theory arrived, there have been a small minority of scientists that rejects the single cause theory, magic bullet theory, and believe that it is the host’s susceptibility the infection that determines if the bacteria or virus can cause illness or not. Dr. Roger Williams expounded upon this idea in the 1950’s in his book Biochemical Individually. He was able to show how ‘normal’ people varied in their biochemistry and showed that ‘normal’ covers a very wide range. He also explained this is the reason some people can be severely disabled by a substance, while others feel no effect and still more that thrive. This correlated to the idea if the host is susceptible, it will get sick.

This idea of biochemical individuality is the reason why the theory of a magic bullet will not work. To eliminate illnesses, cancers and allergies in people, the individual must be taken into account when treating the problem. It has been well documented that certain people have been infected with a bacteria or virus and successfully eradicated it without becoming sick.

This is not to say modern medicine and pharmaceuticals have not been beneficial. Indeed, society would be much worse off without them and many, many people would not be alive. However, modern medicine often only treats the symptoms, not the cause, of such illnesses. An antihistamine stops the body from reacting to an allergen, but does not treat why the body reacted in the first place. The arthritis drug stops the pain of arthritis but does not fix the joints. There needs to be a better way. And there is, keep the body healthy through nutrition.

Ancient peoples had fewer health problems than we do based on analysis of preserved bodies. Many nutritionists have found that the diets of the people consisted of mainly fruits, vegetables and lean game meats. Grains were complex and always eaten cooked, with their hulls intact. We can recreate that type of diet we are programmed to eat is a very simple way. Removing processed foods, excess sugars and trans-fats from out diet in a huge start. Further refining this is to eat lean proteins, and many different types of vegetables and fruits. Many people feel instant energy and improved health within days of beginning to eat healthier. Of course, to reach full heath takes time, most people did not become sick right away. Be sure to contact your physician before starting a new health regime.

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