Customer Reviews

Beyond Aspirin : Nature's Answer to Arthritis, Cancer & Alzheimer's Disease

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As a chronic sufferer of Back Pain, I find the recommendations in the book, Beyond Aspirin, are not only useful, but they work!!! I have suffered chronic back pain for twenty years now. All the drugs I took for the pain just gave me a bleeding ulcer ten years ago. For the last ten years I have just dealt with the pain, avoiding all the anti-inflammitory drugs. Well, here is the cure I needed. Beyond Aspirin discusses natural approaches to pain and inflammation management and it really works. While Advil and Naproxen still left me with a dull throbbing pain and ill feeling, the herbs discussed work 100% for me and leave me feeling healthy!! There is a product found at health food stores called ZYFLAMEND that has all the herbs listed in the book, and it does not cost too much. Go for it! Tell the world that there is an alternative to pharmaceuticals!!!

Newmark and Schulick don't patronize their readers, don't make glib cure-all claims for the herbal COX-2 inhibitors, don't disparage normal medical practice, and do make good sense that anyone suffering from osteo arthritis (as I do) should pay close attention to.

Inflammation is, as the authors make clear, a critical component in many other disease processes, a fact prominent in recent medical news. The core of their book, though, is the well-argued claim that the remarkable improvement over the likes of aspirin, ibuprofen and other NSAID's achieved in the last year or two by new COX-2 inhibiting drugs (such as Celebrex and Vioxx) is also attainable via a number of herbs that have been used for centuries and whose "biochemistry ... is infinitely more complex, balanced, effective and safe than the silver bullet approach of using one synthetic molecule."

I found their general explanation of the paradoxically helpful/harmful nature of the body's natural inflammatory response to injury very clear and most interesting for understanding my own particular case. I also enjoyed the rather bold analogies frequently employed in their explanations as well as the literary quotes and herbal drawings. In general, this is a book that anticipates and pleases a skeptical reader.

For the record, I took their advice and found a highly concentrated source of several of the herbs they mention. The very substantial and rapid reduction in swelling and pain in my ankle impressed and delighted me. The product I used (Zyflamend) is actually produced by Newmark and Schulick, but is not even mentioned in their book!

We all want relief for what ails us. It seems everyone has a different approach, all better than the rest. I have read a number of books on alternative health and healing, Beyond Aspirin is the first book I found to be as concise and understandable about such a complex issue as COX-2 inhibition. I particularly like the way that the authors write about the botanicals in their book not only as Cox-2 inhibitors, but also go into depth about the amazing healing qualities of each herb individually and in concert with one another...a truly holisitc approach. I found Beyond Aspirin so chock full of useful, understandable information that it is the first book of its kind that I felt I could send to my mother who has a very limited understanding of the topic, but who also suffers from arthritis. Hurray for Newmark and Schulick for being able to educate so many people and help so many with what ails them!

Beyond Aspirin is a wonderful story of how our bodies are influenced by specific herbs. We can work to better our health by using herbs to treat arthritis, cancer, and alzheimers disease (maybe more! ). It is written by master herbalist Paul Schulick and the educator Tomas Newmark. I have found that for my own purposes, I get amazing relief form constant back pain, and insomnia using their recommendations. I have found products at health food stores that have many of the herbs in the book all in one product! Buy it, It can change your life!

I am always searching for natural and safe alternatives to drugs. My aunt has severe arthritis that has limited what she is capable of doing. My mother has just recently been diagnosed with early Alzheimer's. This book is such a wealth of knowledge; it is both educational and fascinating. I couldn't put it down. It has given our family such new and inspiring hope. If you or any one you know suffers from any inflammatory disorders, I highly recommend this book for you.

Newmark and Schulick have hidden the best of their message in the very last few chapters. So don't give up before you get there. The first of the book is largely a compendium of herbal knowledge. But, if you are a newly diagnosed sufferer of an inflammatory disorder some very good information written in easily understood language is hidden away in the back. It is a "quick-read" but a book that you will keep on the shelf to refer to if you are seeking to take control and understanding of your own disease. And not just for arthritis suffers. Those with dermatomyositis, fibromyalgia, fatigue syndrome, etc. can glean some gems.

As a novice on the subject of herbal remedies, "Beyond Aspirin" truly opened my mind to the healing powers of natural elements. This book is easy to read, and doesn't overwhelm with technical content. Invaluable information for anyone interested in the natural path to healthy living.

For anyone truly interested in exploring alternative methods of prevention and healing this book is a must. Not only does it give a concise and clear explanation of the main thesis -- that of the efficacy of botanical inhibition of the COX-2 enzyme -- but it gives an easily understandable explanation of the qualities and uses of several common and extremely useful herbs. The book is written in such a way that the information can be understood by those of us not necessarily schooled in alternative methods of healing, and it is convincing enough in its arguments to cause even the most sceptical to consider the awesomeness of the possibilities proposed. All of us know someone whose life has been effected by arthritis, cancer, or Alzheimer's disease. Thomas M. Newmark and Paul Schulick have done a great service in explaining the workings of the COX-2 enzyme as it relates to those diseases. Anyone who wants to be informed in approaching their own or a loved one's health should read this book.

On the basis of a feverishly enthusiastic recommendation from a long-time friend, I purchased (from amazon.com) and read Beyond Aspirin, by Thomas M Newmark & Paul Schulick, in order to attempt to form an objective opinion. I was very interested in trying to learn how the two authors, neither of whom possesses any discernible medical or scientific credentials that I have yet discovered, were able to solve the mysteries of diseases like arthritis, cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

After reading this book, the bottom line for me is that, while I find it conceivable that many of the authors' assertions in this book may one day be proven to have been 100% correct, I find it impossible to substantiate today that they are correct on the basis of the data they provide in the book to support their positions.

The authors assert that it is now established that "COX-2 inflammation" causes rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and Alzheimer's disease and recommend that herbal remedies, which incorporate constituents that inhibit the production of the COX-2 enzyme, be taken for prevention and treatment of these diseases.

I have two problems with accepting these assertions:

(1) After checking the websites of accepted medical authorities, including those of the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins, I can find no independent corroboration for the assertion that recognized medical experts today know the cause of these diseases, nor can I find any mention of the term, "COX-2 inflammation".

(2) In Beyond Arthritis, the authors never seem to me to substantiate their assertions with verifiable data. Instead, the "support" they offer seems to fall exclusively into one of the following three categories of "proof":

· More assertions ("It is known that . .", etc.) without data

· References to "studies" which purport to support the authors' claims, but without attribution, leaving me unable to validate or invalidate the claim

· Occasional references to studies that I was able to find and examine but which, once I carefully studied the original document, failed to support the authors' assertions.

In the following example, a speculation by the scientists who conducted the study was taken out of context and presented as a "conclusion" in order to support the central premise of Beyond Aspirin.

Page 50 Beyond Aspirin: "A recent study, published in the U.S. government's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, identifies some of green tea's prominent constituents called polyphenols (GTP) as causing a "marked reduction" in COX-2 induced arthritis. The scientists from Case Western Reserve University concluded in this study that a "polyphenic fraction from green tea that is rich in antioxidants may be useful in the prevention of onset and severity of arthritis."

That sounded pretty convincing to me at first glance. Had I been reading superficially and uncritically, my tendency might have been to conclude that such a prestigious research institution recommends that we should drink green tea to prevent and treat arthritis. However, that's not actually what it says. Also, the phrase "COX-2 induced arthritis" is from Newmark and Schulick, not the study. It is not a term used anywhere in the study they cite.

When I found the actual report itself on the website of the National Academy of Sciences, I discovered that the scientists from Case Western who conducted this study:

(a) Used the following "green tea polyphenic fraction": ". . dried green tea leaves were extracted twice with hot water and three times with 80% ethanol under nitrogen. The combined extract was concentrated and then extracted with an equal volume of chloroform. The aqueous layer was extracted three times with ethyl acetate under nitrogen, and the total organic soluble fraction was concentrated under vacuum, dissolved in water, and freeze-dried . ." (N.B. That is not "green tea" and may well have properties that differ from those of "green tea".)

(b) Administered this "herbal extract" to 18 mice in a scientifically accepted, but artificial, chemically-induced, experimental model of arthritis. That is, the scientists speculated that this "polyphenic fraction", not "green tea", might conceivably have salutary effects in human beings based upon the results of a small mouse study, not on results in actual people with arthritis.

While it is certainly customary in the conclusions of scientific papers reporting on animal studies for the authors to speculate about possible effects in human beings, I feel that the authors of Beyond Arthritis could have better served their readers by fully describing the basis of the scientists' speculation -- and by making it clear that it was only a speculation and an extrapolation to a totally different species, not a "conclusion" based upon observed effects in human beings.

This is not to say that green tea isn't good for patients with arthritis (it may very well be), but I don't think one can intelligently reach that conclusion on the basis of this kind of "data".

I also found myself puzzled by the inclusion of the impressive list of references at the end of the book (which added 53 pages to its length). Because they're not referenced to specific statements in the book (as is normally done for the purpose of enabling the reader to verify sources), I don't understand the intended function of this long list for the reader.

In conclusion, while I found Beyond Aspirin to be entertainingly written, I was unable to independently verify any of the authors' major assertions and thus I remain skeptical of the authors' proposal that it is sensible to use herbal remedies to prevent and/or treat diseases such as arthritis, cancer and Alzheimer's Disease.

Incredibly insightful, I immediately thought of all the friends and family members I have that need to know this information. After reading Beyond Aspirin why would anyone choose a pharmaceutical when you have a natural choice that makes so much sense! I highly recommend this book.