84 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Have We Been Duped By Our Doctors?, February 13, 2006
This review is from: Malignant Medical Myths: Why MEdical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year, and How to Protect Yourself (Paperback)
Joel Kauffman exposes 11 common medical myths we all think are true in his book Malignant Medical Myths.
Okay, admit it! You know you've done it and I don't want you denying it. We've all done it.
You're flipping through the television channels and you stop on a station with a man in a white coat talking about what he recommends for his own patients.
"Take an aspirin a day to ward off heart attacks and live longer."
"You need to take this cholesterol-lowering drug to prevent heart attack or stroke."
"This exercise equipment will give you the workout you need to live a long and healthy life."
Sound familiar? Isn't is strange how we rely so heavily on a slick 30-second spot we see on the boob tube to give us our surface knowledge about what is good and healthy for us? But what we don't know about how wrong some of these common medical myths are has led to 200,000 deaths a year in America and there is one man who has set out to help you protect yourself from becoming the next victim in this national marketing scam.
His name is Dr. Joel M. Kauffman and he has written a controversial eye-opening book called Malignant Medical Myths.
It is very similar to Kevin Trudeau's bestselling book Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About and will appeal to fans of that book.
But unlike Trudeau's book which requires you to visit his various web sites and pay a subscription fee to find out about all the medical myths he talks about in his book, Kauffman lays it all out there in his book and provides the scientific facts to back up what he claims are lies coming from the medical community, drug companies, the Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association, the United States Department of Agriculture, and even the National Institute of Health.
Revolutionary to say the least! But Kauffman is convinced Americans need to be aware of these things to protect themselves and their families from falling prey to the ignorance that pervades our society regarding common medical claims.
In Malignant Medical Myths, he questions the following medical myths, as he calls them, put forth by health and medical "experts":
1. Taking an aspirin a day will make you live longer.
2. Low-carb diets are unsafe and don't work for weight loss.
3. Using statin drugs to lower cholesterol will improve health.
4. People over 50 should take medicine for hypertension.
5. A drink a day keeps the doctor away.
6. Exercise! Run for your life! No pain, no gain.
7. EDTA chelation therapy for atherosclerosis is dangerous.
8. Radiation is dangerous except when administered by an oncologist.
9. Yearly mammograms extend life.
10. Cancer treatments have cure rates of 60%.
11. Fluoride in the water prevents tooth decay and is safe.
If you believe ANY of the above statements as medically accurate, then you need to get Malignant Medical Myths. Kauffman outlines for you his extensive research on each of these and explains to you the truth using scientific studies and information so you can be armed for battle when you come up against these myths again in the future.
There are several appendices in the back of the book that include additional resources for you to continue to learn more about these medical myths along with some more in-depth information comparing the low-carb diet programs (I especially enjoyed reading Kauffman's analysis of the various plans) as well as the chemical make-up of statin drugs. You will be amazed by what you learn from this book.
So the next time you're flipping through those channels and you see a man in a white coat who looks like a doctor making a claim, you might want to reference Malignant Medical Myths to see if the doctor is selling you a bag of goods or not.
THANK YOU, Dr. Kauffman, for sharing this important project with the world. It's high time the medical community stops monopolizing the medical information they want to distribute just to appease their own special interests.
Malignant Medical Myths is hopefully just the beginning of the tide turning towards the truth.
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56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Healthier than one week of Lipitor!, February 14, 2006
This review is from: Malignant Medical Myths: Why MEdical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year, and How to Protect Yourself (Paperback)
With medical 'interventions' and drugs dominating our thinking about 'health care' and not far from $1 out of every $7 generated in some Western countries spent on it, this book is an important one that takes a scientific look at the underpinnings of some of the most common avenues that may well be proposed to you by your doctor.
If you are 'placed on' aspirin, cholesterol or blood pressure drugs or are facing chemotherapy, this book will give you the perspective you need to help you make your own informed choices and to educate your doctor as well. When you think mammograms and prostate testing or fluoride in your water are established health benefits, this book is for you.
Dr. Kauffman is from that old scientific school where data and studies must be examined in detail rather than taking the words of the drug-representative educated medical world, or from those in the business of promoting their own commercial products, from inflammatory vegetable oils to fluoride toothpaste for all.
This is not an easy book to read, or to review, but it has nicely divided chapters that give the low-down on specific subjects, the 'eleven myths'. Leave it on a coffee table and read the chapter about the type of drug you're on. If you benefit by just dropping one expensive non science supported drug from your daily regimen, this book is worth many times its price, and you'll likely be healthier for it. For example, if you're a woman or older person, you'll learn that your $3/day cholesterol-lowering drug will not extend your healthy life --so say the studies. And, 1 week of Lipitor saved pays for this book!
Knowledge is power and Dr. Kauffman has done a remarkable job assembling of some of the more vital studies and this with surprisingly few (minor) glitches for a book of this type. With 'modern medicine' arguably the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States, can you afford not to know this book?
One final remark: it is smart to know the medical facts beforehand since hospitals now pride themselves with how few minutes it takes to get a balloon with a metal stent into your artery. This book is indeed about preventing Malignant Medical Myths, a catchy name well chosen. Recommended and may it serve you well.
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72 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Definite Eye-Opener!, March 27, 2006
This review is from: Malignant Medical Myths: Why MEdical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year, and How to Protect Yourself (Paperback)
Malignant Medical Myths by Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D, is an eye-opening expose that shatters many common and deeply ingrained health myths. Kauffman explains how these myths are born and how they are kept thriving by favorably designed and selectively cited research.
Kauffman articulates in a convincing manner:
--Why taking an aspirin a day is unlikely to make you live longer if you don't already have diagnosed heart disease;
--Why low-carbohydrate diets won't cause you to keel over from heart disease, nor cause your kidneys to explode;
--Why cholesterol-lowering will typically cause more harm than good, and why overglorified cholesterol drugs are useless for the vast majority of people who take them;
--Why hypertension drugs are similarly useless for the majority of folks they are prescribed for;
--Why the current scare campaign against any level of ionizing radiation is misguided;
--How cancer statistics are carefully 'massaged' to favorably portray modern cancer treatments as far more effective than what they really are;
--Why the evidence used to support the continued fluoridation of public water supplies is highly dubious.
Unlike many other health commentators, Kauffman isn't spruiking any alternative services in which he has a financial interest, nor does he market his own line of nutritional supplements; he simply believes people should have access to the facts.
Malignant Medical Myths is a great antidote to so much of the medical misinformation that dominates our information networks today.
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