This is another book by the doctor who tells you the truth about the dangers of medicine, doctors, vaccines and so on.

Here he tells you some of his basic principles.

You need to take control of your own health, and yourself make the vital decisions. Doctors make mistakes.

Genes have a relatively mild impact on longevity and we must get the best out of the cards we have been dealt.

Our lifestyle is the basic factor controlling how long we live.

Obviously we need to refrain from smoking, drinking too much alcohol, eating too much fatty food and spending all day sitting on the couch watching TV. And if you eat foods "coated and laced with chemicals” then you will become weaker and more susceptible to disease.

Heart disease, cancer and other killers become commoner in old age, not as a direct result of the ageing process but because of the ways in which we abuse and mistreat our bodies by failing to exercise properly, eating poorly and exposing ourselves to unlimited amounts of stress.

“If your lifestyle does not control your body then in the end your body will control your lifestyle.”

”Too much rest and too little exercise cause an enormous number of serious and damaging changes in the body, including an increase in the proportion of body fat, a loss of body water --- a rise in blood cholesterol, a loss of calcium from the bones, a change in the way the body deals with glucose and a reduced sense of balance.”

Many of the degenerative problems which we blame on ageing are actually a result of immobility, and can be reversed by a change in lifestyle which includes increased activity.

Chronic, degenerative diseases aren’t normal or natural. “Degenerative diseases are more common among people who are older because they have had more time (and more chances) to damage and misuse their bodies.”

“Is it any wonder that hospitals, nursing homes … are full of people who can hardly move, let alone walk. when in large areas of the ‘developed’ world one in two individuals is seriously overweight and one in four confesses to living almost totally sedentary lives?”

Muscle strength, mental alertness and the ability to move around independently all depend on frequent usage. “Use it or lose it.”

The assumption that weakness and frailty are inevitable consequences of ageing is absolute nonsense.

Stored body fat may lead to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and other serious health problems.

Someone whose body contains much fat will have a low metabolic rate whereas someone with a more muscular body will have a high one.

Losing muscle is bad news for various reasons, but no matter your age you can increase muscle strength and size through exercise.

The best way to lose fat is through a combination of diet and exercise.

As you exercise you will also improve your body’s aerobic capacity, which describes your body’s ability to breathe in large amounts of oxygen and pump large volumes of oxygen-containing blood to the various parts of your body.

Improving your aerobic capacity will also improve the way your body controls your blood sugar levels, which will reduce your risk of developing type two diabetes.

As we lose muscle tissue and gain fat deposits our bodies respond less and less well to the insulin produced.

Inactivity, a fat-rich diet and increased body fat mean that it takes more and more insulin to stimulate the muscles and therefore keep the blood sugar levels under control.

A high-fibre, low-fat diet consisting of, for example, whole grains and raw vegetables, and regular exercise can often lower body fat levels and increase the body’s sensitivity to the insulin being produced.

High blood pressure is known as the silent killer. Overweight, smoking, a high-fat diet, stress and a lack of exercise can all contribute to a blood pressure problem. Drugs to reduce blood pressure are often potentially hazardous.

Broken bones are the leading cause of accidental death in frail elderly people. But weak bones, or osteoporosis, are not a normal part of the ageing process. Osteoporosis is caused by eating the wrong sort of diet and taking too little exercise.

Two weeks of complete bed rest can cause the bones to lose as much calcium as would normally be lost in a year. Even standing on one’s feet is beneficial.

Research done in California has shown that 70-year-olds who didn’t smoke, who kept their weight within 20% of the recommended level for their age, who drank moderate amounts of alcohol,who took moderate exercise three times a week, who slept 7 or 8 hours a night, and who ate regularly, were as healthy as people in their late 30s and early 40s who practised only half of these simple rules.

Illnesses caused by doctors are known as iatrogenic illnesses. The epidemic of itrogenic disease has steadily been getting worse.

When doctors in Israel went on strike for a month, the death rate dropped by 50%. The same thing happened wherever doctors have gone on strike.

Prescription drugs are one of the biggest problems. Patients are given the wrong drug, or the wrong dose of the right drug. There is an error roughly 1 in 8 times when a hospital patient is given a drug.

Antibiotics are over-prescribed, mostly because doctors are under the influence of the drug companies.

The unnecessary and excessive use of antibiotics causes allergy reactions, side effects and a huge variety of serious complications., including death.

At least a quarter of operations performed are unnecessary. In America, the death toll from unnecessary surgery has been estimated to be as high as 80,000 patients per year.

X-rays are the second biggest cause of cancer (after cigarette smoking). In Britain, around 20,000 people a year get cancer from medical and dental x-rays.

Vernon compares orthodox and alternative treatments for various health problems.

Anxiety and depression: The commonest orthodox treatment involves drug therapy, but anti-depressants have numerous side effects, some of them serious. For instance, Prozac is associated with several serious problems, including aggression and suicide.

Some doctors recommend brain surgery for such problems. Vernon, with his usual zany humour, remarks: “Chopping patients’ heads off would undoubtedly stop them feeling anxious and depressed but this is not a remedy I would recommend.”

Arthritis: There is no orthodox prevention programme for arthritis. Nutritionists recommend a vegetarian diet. Doctors will mostly not mention this because of their ignorance about nutrition.

Asthma: Inhalers contain drugs that dilate our air passages and are the orthodox treatment. Steroids are also populaar. Vernon believes relaxation is extremely effective for asthma sufferers. In an emergency a cup of coffee can give remarkable relief.

He also looks at cancer, eczema and dermatitis, headaches and migraines, heart disease, high blood pressure and irritable bowel syndrome.

He states “Chemotherapy is one of the great health scandals of our time.” I so agree with him. I know of many who died of chemotherapy, including my own sister. Vernon says it simply does not work. If it were an ”alternative” remedy it would have been banned as unsafe and ineffective. The same is the case with radiotherapy and surgery.

Vernon believes cancer should be tackled by improving the body’s immune system. He also states that a dietary approach with a low fat, vegetarian diet is the most effective way to defeat cancer. (Again, I so agree.) The high vitamin content of fruit and vegetables boosts the body’s immune system.

Visualization is also one of the most effective alternative solutions.

The causes of heart disease include too much stress, too much weight, too much alcohol, cigarette smoking, a fat-rich diet, too little exercise. Simple lifestyle changes can dramatically alter a person’s chances of developing heart disease.

Drugs and surgery are not the best way to deal with heart disease.

There are several reasons why you shouldn’t trust your doctor. Here are a few. He will have been educated by drug companies anxious to sell you products. If he gives you a packet of tablets instead of a prescription, he may be being paid to test out a new drug.

He may be out-of-date. He may be an alcoholic or a drug addict. He probably has no idea what side effects may be associated with the drug he is prescribing.

He will want to prescribe a drug for your symptoms, despite the fact that other methods of treatment may be safer and more effective.

He may be relying on test results which are wrong; most tests aren’t as reliable, useful or necessary as most people think.

Vernon advises you to take a positive interest in your own health, don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion, and remember that if you develop new symptoms while receiving medical treatment then the chances are they are caused by the treatment.

Also, also study all the options, constantly acquire information. If you’re taking a drug and a doctor prescribes another, ask if the combination is really safe.

They may think you’re someone else and treat you for the wrong disease. Doctors prescribe unnecessarily or order unnecessary tests.

There are also many chapters providing us with much more information, for example, easy steps you can take to reduce your cancer risk by 80%, one on increasing your mental abilities with age, etc, etc.

I find this to be an extremely valuable book for all and highly recommend that you read it. ( )