Traditional medical treatments focus on symptom relief, not identification and resolution of the underlying cause. Drugs and surgery have an important place in health care, but should be carefully considered. First, drugs are toxic. The only difference between drugs and poisons are dosages and intent. Second, surgery is invasive, healing slow, and results often limited and unsatisfactory.

Another good reason that you need to take a common sense, proactive approach to your health is that the wonder drugs of the past are losing their effectiveness. In 1996, 36 national and international medical journals warned against the overuse of antibiotics, and that a number of resistant infections are spawning that are difficult if not impossible to stop. The studies showed that U.S. deaths from infection rose 56% between 1980 and 1992, becoming the third largest killer, second only to heart disease and cancer.