Universal Health Care Will Damage Everyone in Massachusetts (and the Nation) Poor, Rich, Patients and Doctors --- All Will Lose          Politicians keep telling us this election year that they will save us all from every physical or mental problem, with Universal Health Care.        Mitt Romney is a viable candidate for President because of his alleged concern for all Massachusetts residents. Even Pres. Bush is going along with a national plan because some of his advisors say that the Democrats will crucify him if he doesn’t.        Everyone knows that medical doctors have not solved all the puzzles about life. Actually, they have solved very few. No one wants to lose the ability to consult many doctors if they should have a serious problem. We don’t want to be assigned to one doctor, as is the inevitable end for every plan of socialized medicine.        Never in U.S. history have the citizens ever said that doctors are always right about everything.

Michael Janson M.D. Has Suffered Constant Harassment from State and Federal Governments for Recommending Vitamins, and Not Prescription Medicine
Universal Health Care Will Drive the “Dr. Jansons” Out-of-Business
Vitamins Will No Longer be Allowed   All the Vitamin “C” That Is Recommended by the Federal Government Today Is a Tiny 60 milligrams/day
       Michael Janson, M.D. became a pioneer when he opened the first holistic medical practice in New England more than twenty-years ago. Today, he is an internationally known natural-health expert, author and lecturer.
        But he has suffered harassment from the state and federal government --- including threats of losing his license. He would not be allowed to operate under universal health care. He has had important leadership roles involving many medical doctors who have banded into new organizations to fight back. But universal health care will destroy all that has been achieved.
        Asked to explain what a holistic doctor does, Janson tells MassNews that he tries to find alternative therapies that are safer and less expensive for most people, as well as better for their health. Although he recommends mainstream medicine as it is needed, he believes that surgery and drugs are needed a lot less than they are commonly administered.
        "There are natural remedies that people should try first, unless there is an emergency," he said. "If you have high blood pressure, it’s not usually an emergency.” He said that if blood pressure did suddenly get dangerously high, you would use a drug. However, "If it is the kind of long-term blood pressure problem that most people have, you should try something natural first. If that does not work, you always have the option of using medication." He says that vitamin C also helps with asthma. Therefore, if somebody has mild asthma and they take vitamin C and get better, why should he or she take the drug?
       He recommends innovative medical treatments before medication, such as intravenous vitamins and minerals, chelation and oxidative therapies. Proper medical testing assures the safety and appropriateness of the treatments. "I don’t want people to give up their primary care doctor, I think their doctor and I can work together," he said.
       Dr. Janson integrates medical care with nutritional therapy, counseling and lifestyle change. Attention to nutrition and exercise are not only for when one needs a doctor. They can work toward prevention of sickness and disease. He, himself, has always been a dedicated runner.
       With advances in medical science this century, people grew to rely on drug therapy and surgery to fix symptoms arising from an unhealthy lifestyle. The holistic approach, however, encompasses healthy choices affecting one’s diet plus exercise and mental outlook, which can prevent sickness and help the body to heal itself naturally.
       According to the American Holistic Health Association, "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the key factors influencing an individual's state of health have not changed significantly over the past 20 years. Quality of medical care is only 10%. Heredity accounts for 18% and environment is 19%. Everyday lifestyle choices are 53%. The decisions people make about their life and habits are, therefore, by far the largest factor in determining their state of wellness.
       People pay out of their pocket for Dr. Janson’s services. He said private insurance companies occasionally will cover some of the alternatives, but most of the time, HMO’s and Medicare are not interested in the natural approaches to health care. He said there is increasing interest, though, because the public demand is there. Some doctors in HMO’s will now prescribe a natural treatment for arthritis before putting people on medication, according to Janson.
       What about cancer? Janson said a person should absolutely try natural methods for cancer although not to the total exclusion of conventional therapy. "For most cancers, conventional therapies don’t really help. Chemotherapy has a very poor record."
       Janson said there are some conventional therapies for cancers like lymphomas or leukemias that people can benefit from quite a bit, but there are lots of tumors for which conventional therapy doesn’t work.
       "That is really dangerous in a sense, because people get terrible side-effects from the therapy but don’t get any long term benefits, based on the current state of our medical research.
       Even if people use the conventional route, Janson said the nutrition and other therapies that have been beneficial are good adjuncts to the conventional ones and actually improve their value. He said diet does relate to cancer without a doubt.

Other Doctors Are Agreeing
       What sort of reaction from the medical establishment and the government has he received because of his approach to medicine? Dr. Janson said it was “frowned upon, to say the least." But it has been changing over the years. "When I started, of course, a lot of them thought it was quackery. Gradually they found that the public wanted it and they were having trouble trying to suppress it. Now they are increasingly accepting it."
       Janson said there are departments of alternative medicine in medical schools now. "David Eisenberg has an alternative medical conference every year. He’s a Harvard physician at Beth Israel Hospital. They don’t include everything that I do, but at least it’s a good beginning and they no longer say what I do is completely crazy."
       Dr. Janson has a colleague at Cambridge University School of Medicine who is involved in alternative medicine and is getting it into the medical community.
       "It’s common sense that if people put the wrong gasoline and oil in their car, it’s not going to work very well. They kick the doors, slam it into gear, take off laying rubber, put the wrong gas into it and wonder why they have so many repair bills. People have to reduce stress, they have to eat better. Notice the way they feed animals in a zoo. They have vending machines with little signs on the side that say, ‘Do not feed this to the animal, it will harm them.’ It’s okay for a 40 pound kid, but it’s going to poison a 600 pound gorilla."

Eat Natural Foods
       Janson recommends eating whole fresh foods. "Eat real natural foods. Eat things that grow and have nice natural colors instead of artificial colors and sugar added to them." He said to eat less meat, more fish, vegetables, beans and whole grains. "If you refine the food, make white flour out of whole wheat, it’s not the way it occurs in nature. There is a huge variety of meals you can make from vegetables, fruits, beans and grains."
       Taking vitamins can be very beneficial according to Dr. Janson. "Exactly what sort of program people should be on is not so clear. I have my own opinions and interpretations I use for my patients and myself. "I take vitamins because I think they protect me from a poor environment. When I travel I have to eat at restaurants. I have to make compromises and most of the time it is not organic food, so I am eating pesticides. I like to protect myself from pesticides and from pollution in the air and from the chemicals in the water. Even if I get a vegetarian soup, I’m drinking tap water with chlorine and other chemicals."
       Janson said he takes vitamins partly for that reason and partly because he is getting older and the medical literature is clear these things protect you from the effects of aging. "I want to do the best I can for myself."

 Coming on Monday:
► How Much Vitamin C Did Linus Pauling Take?  Was He Also Harassed by Federal Government?

► How Is Largest and Best HMO In Country, Kaiser Health on West Coast, Handling These Problems