DOCTORS ARE MORE HARMFUL THAN GERMS

Frank, cautionary message about the possible dangers of invasive medicine.

Bigelsen, a 30-year veteran of the medical industry and co-founder of the American Holistic Medical Association, sounds the alarm on the overwrought state of modern medicine. He argues that surgery often does more harm than good and few patients escape without lasting trauma, warning against trends like “one-stop surgery,” where doctors take care of many maladies with one procedure. The author rails against an overdependence on damaging antibiotics as a catch-all in treating the symptoms rather than eliminating the root cause of an ailment. Using statistics, charts and illustrations, Bigelsen justifies theories on disease transitions, the correlations between medicine and emotion and the perils of questionable preventative surgery, scar tissue and invasive dental procedures. The doctor advocates for more holistic and alternative approaches rather than traditional methods; he urges readers to trust their own bodies and their intrinsic intelligence rather than the opinions of medical doctors, who may or may not have the best intentions. Though some sections center on repetitive, arbitrary notions, the author elaborates with real-life medical cases and cites a number of media references and varying opinions from the medical and naturalist communities to substantiate his claims. Thankfully, his frequently pejorative thesis on 21st-century health care is combined with sensible advice stressing the importance and widespread availability of choices (second opinions) for anyone eager to weigh their options before “blindly trusting” in a health professional.

Despite slack, heavy-handed prose, Bigelsen contributes much-needed material to the ever-expanding canon of consumer-focused health literature.