This Bulletin alerts you to 7 current health notions that are so off-track, they’re dangerous. I’m giving you this early heads-up because the official news probably won’t come for many years. Here’s the story...

Health knowledge is changing so fast that many of medicine’s sacred cows and pet theories have already been slaughtered and laid to rest...

Hormone therapy was good, now it’s bad. Low-fat diets were "in," now they’re "out." Eggs were a no-no, now they’re okay. Mammograms and PSA screenings save lives...or do they?

It’s no fun discovering that something you’ve been doing (or taking) for years to stay healthy is suddenly useless, wrong, or even dangerous.

But brace yourself. A barrage of new medical "about-faces" is on the way! In the pages ahead, you’ll read about 7 medical theories that have been proven obsolete, yet doctors still haven’t changed their treatments. For example...

The cholesterol theory of heart disease has been dead for 20 years. It was shot full of holes when scientists showed that the majority of people who suffer heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels. This makes cholesterol-lowering drugs irrelevant and useless.

Later studies identified the real cause of heart disease. Now, prompted by the failure of cholesterol-lowering drugs to reduce heart disease, doctors are beginning to look into this "new" theory. But their investigations will take many years.

Meanwhile, 13 million people in this country remain on cholesterol drugs, and millions more are being urged to start taking them. It will be a long time before an official about-face comes. Tragically, hundreds of thousands of people will go to their deaths following this old-school advice in the false belief they’re being protected.

In July, 1987, I researched an inexpensive white powder made from fruit pectin. A tablespoon of this powder mixed in a glass of juice dissolves artery gunk the way Drano�?cleans bathroom pipes. And there are plenty of other substances that do this job, too—certain foods and oils…the nutrient lecithin…and specific nutritional supplements, to name just a few. I’ll tell you more about them in just a bit.

Sad to say, it will probably take many years, and many more heart attack victims, before word of these natural plaque-busters reaches the general public.

About-faces like these are common in health and medicine, because ours is not an exact science, but one that is constantly evolving. That’s how progress is usually made.

But here’s the problem: In a perfect world, you’d learn about these new discoveries right away so you could quickly benefit. Yet this rarely happens. Instead, the news is delayed as doctors debate among themselves…greedy special interest groups fight any change to the status quo…and public health officials drag their feet through "official channels."

Hormone replacement therapy for women is another real-life example�?/P>

The colossal hormone fiasco

Doctors began prescribing hormones back in the 1960s to help women through menopause. Not much was known about these drugs because little testing had been done. Even so, starting in the 80s, women were urged to stay on hormone drugs for life, because the manufacturers promised that they also lowered women’s risk of heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis.

Doctors didn’t test those claims either—but a few independent research teams did. They found hormone drugs were increasing the risk of cancer by an alarming amount!

Even though these early findings were published in prestigious medical journals, doctors overlooked them because they rarely take independent research seriously.

After 15 years of pressure, doctors finally launched a large-scale study in 16,000 women. In short order, they issued an announcement that stunned millions of women. The hormones and treatment had caused so many extra cases of breast cancer, stroke, blood clots, and heart attacks, that the study was canceled 3 years early to protect the remaining participants. Five months later, the federal government added estrogens to its list of "known human carcinogens."(1)

But the story doesn’t end there. Despite the study’s findings (which made front page news from coast to coast), many doctors continue to recommend this hormone therapy to their patients to this day!(2) Talk about info-lag!

I know you want to believe that current health advice is based on solid, irrefutable facts and up-to-the-moment insights. Sorry. We doctors know that modern medicine is a patchwork quilt of "working theories" waiting to be proven right or wrong.

I wish I could tell you it wasn’t so (and perhaps one day it will be different). But medicine today is, more or less, a huge experiment. And, unfortunately, the general public is the guinea pig.

But don’t blame science. If facts determined health policy in this country, widespread wellness would be a slam-dunk. But many obstacles are preventing new discoveries from reaching the public’s ears: Red tape. Medical politics. Professional egos. Turf wars. Big money interests. All these factors prevent you from hearing about new life-saving discoveries for many years. As a result, the general public is still following advice that is obsolete and ineffective without even realizing it!

Unfortunately, the situation will get worse before it gets better. Here’s why...

Medical knowledge is doubling every 5 years. There’s a full-scale scientific revolution afoot. But a log-jam of info-lag delays will prevent you from hearing about these new health discoveries and corrections for many years�?I>unless you can find a way to get upstream of the jam-up.

I think I can help you with that—starting here and now.

Believe me, when my family’s health is at stake, the last thing I want is a treatment that’s obsolete, or some theory that’s unsubstan-tiated and potentially harmful.
I don’t think you do either.

Instead, I want the most current advice backed by facts. And treatments that have the best success and safety records. I don’t care if it’s an herbal remedy, a vitamin treatment, a nutritional therapy, or a wonder drug. Just tell me: "Does it really work?" and "Is it safe?"—and show me the scientific evidence.

That’s what my readers want, too. So for the past 18 years, every issue of ALTERNATIVES has provided that. I’m proud to say that no other health publication has such a stellar track-record of separating the fakes from facts...unmasking dangerous health notions…and being right and being first with what’s truly new in the health world. ALTERNATIVES has been first to report some of the biggest breakthroughs in the health world. Additional new discoveries on my desk right now will likely top the list and benefit my readers immediately—without info-lag delay.

As a result, ALTERNATIVES readers often get the news years before word reaches the general public.

ALTERNATIVES readers are among the savviest, best-informed, and I daresay, healthiest people on the planet. (A large percentage of my readers are doctors and health care professionals.)

My purpose for writing you today, however, is to call your attention to 7 popular health notions that you should resist like the dickens, because they are flawed and dangerous.

Most people (doctors included) have yet to see the facts about these now-obsolete health beliefs. They’re still running with the herd, but that’s not very wise these days! If that’s not your style, here are the facts and how you can protect yourself—beginning on the next page...

(1) "Estrogens added to carcinogen list;" USA Today, Dec. 12, 2002; p. 3A
(2) With hormone drugs no longer an option, millions of menopause-age women now wonder: "Where can I turn for relief?" Other women, long-term hormone users, worry if they’ve been harmed by years of being on the drug. If you’re in either group, be sure to send for my FREE Special Report The Safest Alternatives to Menopause Drugs. You’ll find solutions for both queries. ..................

Japanese researchers have uncovered a remarkable new way to boost your immune system's ability to kill cancer cells, viruses, and pathogenic bacteria by up to 300%. This is breaking news, and you're one of the first to hear about it, right here...

Cancer rates in the U.S. are officially "off the charts." A century ago the disease occurred in 1-in-100 people. Today, half of all adults will get some form of cancer in their lifetime. That’s 1-in-2 people!

Why this alarming increase? It’s being caused by a steady and widespread breakdown of the immune system among our population. Cancer cells, you see, are naturally present in everyone’s bloodstream, but are kept in check by a special immune cell called NK (short for "natural killer"). When NK activity weakens—either from old age, poor nutrition, or stress—cancer cells are free to multiply and become tumors. That’s what’s happening throughout our country today.

Once a person is diagnosed with cancer, the only treatments permitted in this country are chemotherapy and radiation. Both have horrendous side effects, such as hair loss and vomiting. Both poison the immune system and destroy NK cells, thus increasing the chances of relapse. And both have poor long-term survival rates.

This isn’t the case in other countries. In Japan, for instance, a surprising new, natural cancer treatment involves stimulating the patient’s immune system so tumors are gobbled up by a feeding frenzy of NK cells.

You might be surprised to learn that doctors trigger this sudden blast of immune activity with a natural substance found in certain Japanese mushrooms. These mushroom extracts are now one of the leading cancer prescription treatments in that country!

Using the immune system like this is the next big frontier in medicine. It holds the promise of finding real cures, not just for cancer, but heart disease, arthritis, allergies, and many other ills. It’s one of my favorite topics, which is why I report on these discoveries so often in ALTERNATIVES.

But even though the Japanese are doing a better job in the battle against cancer, it will take many years�?I>if not decades!—before U.S. doctors accept the idea that the immune system is the key to beating cancer and other diseases. Sadly, that will be too late for most Americans who are now over 50—or younger people with a family history of these diseases.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that scientists have recently isolated the active substance in these medicinal mushrooms (called active hexose correlated compound, or AHCC) and put it into capsule form.

AHCC accomplishes the "impossible"

Initial studies done with AHCC since the 1980s suggest that this is one of the most powerful human immune boosters ever tested. It appears to increase NK cell activity by up to 300% or more! And it works quickly, usually within hours. Officials at NASA have even found that AHCC can be useful in preventing and treating infections in astronauts while they’re in space.

The best news of all is that AHCC is now available here in the U.S. without a prescription.

ALTERNATIVES is one of the first and only U.S. publications to report on AHCC. (I recently devoted nearly an entire issue to it.) Since then, I’ve received so many inquiries that I’ve created a Special Report about AHCC and its unique, cancer-killing properties. If you’d like to learn more, I’d be happy to send you a copy absolutely free. Here are just a few highlights from my Report�?

�?AHCC stimulates NK cell activity quickly, literally causing them to destroy cancer cells in hours. A medical test (the NK cell function test) shows increased NK activity just 4 hours after treatment.

�?Patients with liver cancer who took AHCC as part of their treatment regimen had fewer recurrences of tumors and enjoyed higher survival rates after surgery.

�?AHCC often reverses the presence of pre-cancerous cells on the cervix (shown by abnormal Pap smears), returning tissue to normal in as little as 6 months. (Cervical cancer is one of the most difficult to treat, so this is a Godsend for high-risk women.)

Studies show it can also be a powerful tool in the treatment of other cancers too—including leukemia, breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer.

�?Unlike many cancer treatments that weaken the patient over time, AHCC makes patients healthier and stronger by increasing immune function.

What I’d do if I had cancer

If I discovered I had cancer, I would certainly take AHCC immediately to give my body extra power to fight the disease. If I had a history of cancer in my family, I’d definitely take it as a preventive.

Most of the studies on AHCC were done on patients currently undergoing conventional cancer treatments. Research suggests that AHCC can greatly improve survival rates, while reducing the bad side effects of chemo and radiation.

Since your immune system is your first line of defense against more than just cancer (it’s how your body fights off the flu, colds, recurring infections, pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and virtually any other disease), AHCC offers benefits that go far beyond just cancer protection.

People who would also greatly benefit from AHCC include:

�?Those with a history of smoking or heavy drinking.

�?Individuals working in the medical field who are exposed to highly contagious diseases.

�?Elderly individuals with weakened immune systems. That’s because NK cells respond slower as we get older, resulting in recurring bouts of infection and noticeable decline in general health.  ..........

Finally, A Real Solution To Heart Disease

People are exercising like crazy, changing their diets, gulping supplements, and taking expensive drugs to lower their cholesterol. Yet none of this is making a dent in heart attack statistics. Why? Because high cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease. Here’s what does and what cures it...

Doctors are finally having second thoughts about cholesterol’s role in heart disease. The reason has been obvious for years. Cholesterol-lowering drugs have failed to make a dent in heart attack rates. And not one study has been able to show that these drugs do anything to lengthen a person’s lifespan. Yet, 20 percent of all Americans over 55 currently take a cholesterol drug and most M.D.s believe more people should be on them. But these doctors are barking up the wrong tree. Here’s why�?/P>

FACT: More than 60% of all heart attacks occur in people with normal cholesterol levels.

FACT: The majority of people with high cholesterol never suffer heart attacks.

FACT: Half of all heart attack victims have none of the standard risk factors (i.e., smoking, obesity, genetics, or high cholesterol).

I’ve been proclaiming cholesterol’s innocence since 1992, and plenty of convincing research confirms this. The real culprit is inflammation in the arteries, not cholesterol. Finally, the American Heart Association is beginning to agree.(3) They’ve found that people with heart disease all have one factor in common, and it isn’t high cholesterol. It’s inflammation in their arteries.

But given their bias against any vitamin therapy, doctors probably won’t advise this simple approach. Instead, their answer will be anti-inflammatory drugs, the next new "miracle cure." Unfortunately, this approach will prove to be as misguided as cholesterol medications were.

The real solution is to halt the causes of inflammation, one of which is homocysteine, a harmless acid-like waste product that forms when you eat red meat and other protein foods. Homocysteine is quickly broken down by certain B vitamins, so it isn’t usually a problem. But if a person isn’t getting enough of these B vitamins (a widespread and disturbing problem in our country today), then homocysteine builds up to dangerous levels and "burns" the delicate tissue of artery walls. Plaque is then formed at the site of this inflammation as the body attempts to heal the damage.

If you’re thinking a little extra B-vitamin intake would correct the problem, you’re on the right track. That’s exactly how some alternative M.D.s handle the problem. Studies as far back as 1988 show that this B vitamin lowers homocysteine levels back into the safety zone in just weeks. It has an 80% success rate. And the cost is about 5 cents a day.

...............continued /2