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Customizing medicine to the patient is a practice
that dates as far back as 4000 years in China. The oldest known form
of individualized treatment is Classical Chinese Medicine where
practitioners read pulses, tongues, and faces to diagnose the
medical needs of a patient. Descriptions like, damp, dry, heat,
wind, yin and yang, to name a few, would indicate the pathology
present and treatment needed. They would suggest foods and plants
that would balance the exacerbation the patient had presented with.
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Ayurveda is another form of customized health care originating from
India. Ayus meaning "life and longevity" and veda meaning science, or
"the science of life and longevity". This method individualizes
treatments by classifying a body into three predominant types: vata,
pitta, and kapha. The practitioner determines the Ayurvedic
constitutional type by observing the body size and shape, temperature,
and reading the pulse among other qualities. From this a proper diet and
specific medicines can be chosen that would be best suited for the
specific person. These ancient forms of diagnosis eventually evolved
into body and personality typing like that developed by Kretschmer and
expanded upon by his successor Sheldon with the ectomorph, endomorph and
mesomorph types. Dr. Abravanel suggested similar body characteristics in
his typing of the Adrenal, Gonad, Thyroid and Pituitary types (also
known as the A type G, T or P types).
Besides these researchers, there were others way ahead of their time
that used chemistry to determine individualized food and medicine
protocols. From a the softer science of body typing came scientists
highly trained in the fields of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and
biology that mastered methods of diagnosing chemistry patterns to
determine dietary and nutritional needs. Carey Reams, a biochemist,
biophysicist and mathematician who created the Reams Biological Theory
of Ionization (RBTI), based his findings on the understanding of pH, or
the relative acidity or alkalinity of body fluids along with findings of
carbohydrate, electrolyte, and nitrogenous waste metabolism. He was a
great pioneer with his early beginnings in soil chemistry and
agriculture. With his strong faith he was lead to an equation that he
utilized to determine how mass (food) turned into energy within the
body. He helped thousands regain health in his fasting retreats and
taught numerous others which carry his legacy today. Dr. Iverson is
fortunate to have been mentored and befriended by two of Reams' long
time students Ken Meadows and June Wiles. Classes in RBTI are still
being taught by June Wiles, the founder of NCA (Nutritional Counselors
of America), in Tennessee.
Emanuel Revici MD, a successful practitioner from Romania, may one day
be honored for his ground breaking work on fatty acids, pH, and their
unique application for the treatment of cancer and chronic pain. He put
great emphasis on the terms "anabolic" and "catabolic" and their shifts
as controlled by specific sterols, fatty acids, and mineral elements.
His techniques and beliefs were highly refuted by the American Medical
establishment for over 50 years despite the fact he achieved excellent
success in patients with cancer and chronic pain.
Metabolic typing was further investigated and developed by George Watson
and his observations of fast and slow oxidizers and their relation to
common psychiatric illnesses. These oxidation states were later examined
and studied further by Rudolf Wiley. They similarly concluded if they
provided a diet that was primarily vegetarian to slow oxidizers they
would become well while the same diet for fast oxidizers would create
poor outcomes.
Complementarily Francis Pottenger, who modeled the work of John Beard,
developed an understanding of the autonomic nervous system and the
dominance of either the Sympathetic or the Parasympathetic branch to
determine the appropriate diet for patients. He found that a sympathetic
dominant pattern with the increased activity of adrenal hormones faired
better on a vegetarian diet than the Parasympathetics who were better
balanced with higher fat diets. William Donald Kelley and his successor
Nicholas Gonzales later expanded on Pottenger's work and have worked
with thousands of cancer patients to regain health through metabolic
nutrition and enzyme therapy.
James D' Adamo developed another form of patient specific typing, which
was made popular by identifying foods most compatible with specific
blood types. It is by no coincidence that the above methodologies and
types have many crossovers and similarities. For instance blood type A
persons with their tendency to need a predominantly vegetarian diet will
often test constitutionally as vata or pitta, A or T-type, Slow
oxidizers or Sympathetic. This validates the common trend being found
from ancient diagnostic methods and across multiple variants of
scientific practices.
* Introduction
* Traditional Diets & Weston Price *
How We Test
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