There is Hope

Before beginning this week’s newsletter I’d like to apologize for being away last week. Living in beautiful sunny Florida brings with it a certain degree of risk related to storms with random alphabetically descending names…  This is especially true of the extreme weather that has dominated the headlines across the world in recent years.

Is this the result of human-induced global warming or a natural variation in weather patterns that the world has experienced throughout time before the involvement of humanity? This is an important question in the minds of millions, but one I will not address…

Instead, I’m going to make a change in the pattern of my newsletters and discuss my motivation to begin this undertaking. Ultimately, this has to do with a single overlying factor…Aging. We all recognize the philosophical certainty of aging, just as we realize the certainty of “death and taxes”.  However, the process of “becoming” old is entirely different because it involves a slow process, not intellectual acceptance of our fate.

Aging is not a simple or graceful transition. When we are young, we can’t wait to be “older” because we look forward to becoming more autonomous and acquiring material possessions that require a certain degree of wealth. We desire the things our parents or characters in a movie have, without realizing the responsibility that it requires, or the sacrifices we must make to achieve those things. Eventually, we become what we always wished and worked for…and in the process we find ourselves a different person…someone we barely recognize…having forgotten exactly how we got there.

…Such is life…and then we move on…Soon we begin to lose our parents…then our friends…then our spouse, perhaps even our children…Time marches on…our bodies begin to breakdown, our minds deteriorate,  and we lose those things that we have always taken for granted…things that provide the greatest pleasures in life which are invariably linked to our genetic programming…reproduction…and survival.

I’m here to tell you that within reason, these things can be delayed for an indefinite period of time. But that is usually expensive because these services are not covered by conventional insurance. Depending on our location, we may not have the resources to successfully treat these conditions, or they may not be a focus of education in modern medical schools. There is simply too much knowledge to convey within a short period of time to maintain the medical profession as we know it.

I can’t begin to tell you how much the typical enrollment in medical schools has changed since I attended. At that time, only the brightest and best students were admitted to good schools because a medical degree usually assured a wealthy lifestyle that could not be obtained with comparable education. This is no longer true, due in large part to the significant changes that have occurred in the profession over the past 50 years. When I graduated, I was treated with a great deal of respect, but over the years I saw that respect dwindle. In large part I believe this has to do with the general notion that doctors are “only in it for the money”. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Not only that, the ever-increasing scrutiny, endless regulations, and skyrocketing insurance costs make a practitioner’s life miserable. This largely explains why the best college students are no longer attracted to the medical professions; instead, they choose to major in business or technology. This also explains the enormous influx of women, foreign candidates and domestic minorities. For them, the practice of medicine still offers opportunities that were previously unavailable.

The most important factor responsible for the exponential proliferation of age-related diseases is poor diet that leads to metabolic syndrome. Metabolic Syndrome is a group of risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and other health problems. It's defined as having at least three of the following five conditions:

• Waist size: A waistline of at least 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men

• Blood pressure: 130/85 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher

• Blood sugar: 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) or higher

• Triglycerides: 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), or 1.7 millimoles per liter (mmol/L), or higher

• HDL cholesterol: Less than 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L) in men or less than 50 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L) in women 

Each of these contribute to the most important causative factor responsible for these diseases in the world, known as Insulin Resistance (IR) which lowers the ability of insulin to allow glucose in our bloodstream to pass through cell membranes including the blood-brain barrier. This enables glucose to fuel our mitochondria, that in turn produces ATP (adenosine triphosphate) that provides energy to support metabolic function throughout the body.

Before you start blaming yourself for that doughnut you just ate, I need to let you in on a secret…you have been perverted by your tastebuds…just look at all the items above and tell me honestly, which one of these items do you think are not delicious?  I didn’t say “not good for you”.  Do you see the conflict?  Believe me, the large food and beverage corporations that inhabit the earth see it…and are getting richer because of it…and they will do everything possible to keep it that way!

We have been seduced! Not by some dastardly criminals, but by our innate pleasure-loving desires…we live for them…we dream about these things.

There is only one solution…discipline! While were at it, a little exercise wouldn’t hurt…if we have the time😊

Before you lose yourself in depression, I would like to point out that climbing this mountain does not have to be so painful…just remember the centrist saying, “all things in moderation”. Maybe not “all”, but “most”. Taking care of your body is not a simple or easy thing, but it does pay dividends. If you stick with me and trust me when I say things that might sound outrageous, I promise to lead you to a longer lifespan and more importantly, a longer “Health Span”. What good is living if you are in pain and miserable?

Along these lines, I need to make an announcement. Although I will continue to provide my basic newsletter at no cost, I will begin offering new premium content to paywalled subscribers that value my advice and information such that they feel comfortable offering me a small monthly contribution. Initially, I am requesting a minimum monthly contribution of $10 or more.

To be specific, my premium content consists of complete lists of vitamins, supplements, or prescription substances that are included in what I believe is the best treatment protocol for each disease or condition under discussion. This may also include links to various expert podcasts or instructional videos, recommended books or periodicals, and available national forums for a given disease or condition. If you like this value proposition, spread the word. More than anything, I want to make a difference in this world.

If for any reason you do not feel that this premium content is worth $10 monthly or $100 anually, simply cancel before the renewal date. Please understand, this newsletter has become my life… It’s all I do, and aside from working on it seven days a week, I try to provide artistic touches that cost me money but make reading more enjoyable.  Where appropriate, I will make specific recommendations and discount codes, if available, on certain products and services that I consider to be “best-of-breed” and well supported. I further believe that the majority of this content is not generally known. Additionally, your doctor may be completely unaware or unfamiliar with much of what you will learn, unless they are associated with a teaching institution such as Johns Hopkins.

Allow me to expand on this. One of the reasons for my new-found motivation is my decision to aggressively take charge of my own healthcare because I realize that I am not going to receive help from my primary care physician or any physician that I can afford. In fact, I see this as a new trend, a paradigm shift resulting from the explosive growth of medical technology since the full discovery and mapping of the human genome.  

You might think I am well off, but you would be mistaken. I have learned to live without a car, to be dependent on food delivery from Walmart (thank God for the pandemic), so I know what challenges middleclass Americans face. I can’t afford steak or fresh seafood, but guess what, I can afford ground beef and sardines that work just fine.

In general, a keto diet with plenty of green vegetables, as shown above, is ideal to help reduce the progression of Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons, ALS, and MS. On the flip side, a food that is important to limit as much as possible is sugar, sugary sodas, and especially anything with fructose or high fructose corn syrup. For those interested in becoming paid subscribers, I will introduce you to a natural sugar substitute that tastes and is used just like sugar, that actually may be good for you. I also hope to have a discount code for it soon to save you some money. I will provide you with a list of vitamins and supplements that I recommend to achieve the best possible results.

Beginning next week, I will outline my treatment protocol for peripheral neuropathy, which I was afflicted by to a degree that I was afraid that I would lose the ability to walk without assistance. Today it has disappeared from my hands about 90%, and from my feet and legs about 50%, but I am confident that both will reach 100%. Please understand, it took 40 years to progress to the level it was, and nerves do not regenerate overnight. Therefore, if you suffer from this condition or you know someone who does, you might want to consider subscribing to my premium content where I will reveal my entire treatment protocol, which involves several steps, supplements, devices, and exercises to be successful. Please keep in mind that I have been told by all my primary care physicians that peripheral neuropathy is, and was incurable…

In the meantime, I will continue to work on my hypothetical adjunctive therapy, which I believe can be used in combination with a personalized dietary protocol to halt and/or reverse Alzheimer’s disease if it is caught before its final stage. I also believe that similar improvements for Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and ALS are possible. One thing I feel comfortable with is my assertion that none of these diseases will ever be “cured” with a single drug developed by big Pharma. This becomes clear when you understand the causative elements of these degenerative diseases.

Please consider my invitation to subscribe to premium services. I pledge to deliver the most up-to-date information available to educate you on these diseases and conditions that affect humans. Also, be aware that although I am confident that this information represents the most accurate and unbiased current medical information available, I recommend that you consult your physician before proceeding. At the very least, they can provide testing to monitor your progress.  As I previously cautioned, there is a strong possibility that they may not be familiar with, or even aware of the things you will learn, so please don’t be discouraged if this occurs.

You must always bear in mind that ultimately YOU are responsible for your health. You should never rely completely on another person or resource, including myself, to do this for you. The best way to accomplish this is with your own education. To that end, I will attempt to point you to supporting information from experts that I consider to be among the best in their field. Thanks in large part to the internet, you will have access to these pioneers on your computer, smartphone, and television to help you decide what is right for you…

Until next time, take care and stay positive… Dr. G