veg diet cures MS

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John McDougall MD<mcdougall

Star McDougaller - Donna McFarland - " Food Became

My Medicine "

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:51:49 -1000

 

 

 

 

Read this Star McDougaller online at http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007star/sep/stardonna.html

 

 

Donna McFarland

“Diagnosed with MS; food became my medicine”

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Dr. McDougall's Comments

 

 

After cancer, multiple sclerosis is the diagnosis most people

hope they never hear from their doctor. The course of this

disease is very difficult to change and the outcomes are often dismal;

as a result, doctors have told me that they try to avoid caring for

people with MS—and after knowing the statistics, you will understand

why. Even with the use of the most modern medications, costing

$20,000 a year, the future prospect is: half of these patients are

unable to walk unassisted, or are bedridden, or wheelchair bound or

dead within 10 years of diagnosis.

 

Fortunately, the future would be very different—like in Donna

McFarland’s case—if doctors practiced sensible diet-based

medicine. For more than 60 years the rich Western diet has been known

to cause of MS, and for more than 50 years a low-fat, near vegetarian,

diet has been known to arrest or cure MS. The principal

discoverer of “the diet-MS connection” is Roy Swank, MD, former

head of the University of Oregon Medical School Neurology Department

(for 23 years), who has cared for over 5000 patients with MS during

his career. More information

about Dr. Swank

Dr. Swank wrote in 1959 in his book Low-fat Diet, “Gluttony and

chronic degenerative diseases have been linked in the minds of both

laymen and scientists for many years. The saying, ‘to dig your

grave with your teeth’ probably has its origins in antiquity; but,

in the prosperous areas of the Western world during the past few

decades, the maxim has taken on real and tragic meaning.”

About 20 years ago, during one of my many visits with Dr. Swank

at his Oregon Medical School office, I asked him, “Why is it that

when MS patients ask their doctors about changing their diet, they are

told this is quackery? And why does the MS Society offer a

similar message? You have published in the world’s most respected

journals that a simple, cost-free diet can stop this disease. Yet,

they summarily dismiss you and your work.”

He leaned back in his chair, took a moment for thought, and then

explained, “You know, most people in this country expect to be cured

by a pill, and have a cure that is almost instantaneous. With the

low-fat diet, the people actually have to work to get better, and have

to cure themselves. And as far as the MS Society is concerned, John,

they don't mention it because they didn't discover it. It wasn't their

research dollars that found this treatment. So they're not going to

tell anybody. I discovered it in my small office here, in the basement

of the University of Oregon Medical School.”

So it is not just money that keeps people from highly effective

dietary cures; egos are also involved—the well-known business

doctrine, “Not Invented Here,” is working to keep you and your

family sick. Self-centered people think, “If I didn’t invent it

then there is no real reason for me to promote it, especially when

there is no fame or fortune for me.”

The scientific research published by Dr. Swank shows that if this

disease is detected early, by following a low-fat diet, there is a 95%

chance of NOT dying of MS or its complications over the next 34

years.1 Even people who have had multiple sclerosis for a long time,

and have already suffered severe damage, will slow the progression of

their disease after a change to a low-fat diet. I once asked Dr.

Swank, “When followed strictly, how often does the diet fail?” His

answer was, “Only 1 in 200 people would not benefit.”

Dr. Swank is now 98 years-old; his pioneering work is left for a

new generation of scientists to research, doctors to prescribe, and

patients to follow. Over the past four years I have raised over

$600,000 to start an investigation to prove the benefits of a low-fat

diet for MS patients, using modern scientific tools (MRI scans and

disability evaluations performed by neurologists). By doing

research comparable to that used by the pharmaceutical companies to

sell highly toxic, relatively ineffective drugs,2 I hope to show Dr.

Swank was right all along, and change the way medicine is

practiced.

Would you like to help me?Donations for this study can be made to

The McDougall Research & Education Foundation A Tax Deductible

Corporation - a 501 © (3), Employer ID # 82-0573876. Click here for more

information on the Foundation

1) Swank RL, Dugan BB. Effect of low saturated fat diet in

early and late cases of multiple sclerosis. Lancet. 1990 Jul

7;336(8706):37-9.

2) Pittock SJ. Interferon beta in multiple sclerosis: how

much BENEFIT? Lancet. 2007 Aug 4;370(9585):363-4.

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In 1989 I was 32 years old. It had been two years since I had

quit my 17-year smoking habit, and I had adopted a rigorous physical

fitness regimen. I truly felt on top of the world, and nothing could

stop me. In addition, having developed a greater level of self

confidence, I began life as a student again at a local community

college. All of these successes empowered me to continue striving and

believing in myself, something that had not come easily to me before.

This was an entirely new era for me. Little did I know, however, that

the confidence that had blossomed within me would soon be

tested.

To help curb my tobacco withdrawal cravings I had begun working

out at a gym, and was surrounded by very strong, fit people. One such

person was a former Marine drill instructor and Mr. World contender

who became my personal coach. Each day, he would encourage and educate

me about fitness. He made the experience fun for me: a new addiction

had been spawned. During this time I was also learning how to make

healthful dietary changes, and I did so gladly. Living in California

at the time, with fresh produce not only abundant, but available

year-round, helped making dietary changes easier. I had never felt so

good in my entire life. What a revelation!

And then I woke up on April 17, 1989, one of the darkest, most

life-altering days of my life. As I got out of bed I was shocked to

find that my left leg collapsed under me. It felt heavy and would not

support my weight. I erroneously passed it off as a pinched nerve. My

doctor couldn’t find any cause for it, so it became a “watch and

wait” situation. I dragged that leg around for more than six weeks.

I continued to work out but was unknowingly worsening my condition

every day. Almost as soon as this first symptom began to wane, a new

symptom of tingling on the right side of my body began. More doctor

visits and tests were ordered, but nothing was determined.

Following this I had roughly six weeks of very odd sensations on

one side of my body that couldn’t be explained. While additional

tests were conducted, I continued to believe it was all fairly

harmless. How could anything bad be happening to me now? I was

certainly on a high of optimism, so much so that I ignored all the

signs (tingling, burning, fatigue) my body was giving me and continued

my gym workouts. Nothing was going to stop me.

When the fourth symptom—very fuzzy eyesight in one

eye—occurred, I was sent to an eye doctor. He diagnosed me with optic

neuritis and suggested that I see a neurologist as soon as possible.

My family doctor scheduled an appointment with a neurologist in

Phoenix, Arizona at a well-known neurological institute. My doctor

warned me ahead of time that the physician he was referring me to did

not have a pleasant bedside manner but that he was very proficient in

his field.

How can one hour, one day, change a person’s life so

dramatically? The MRI was performed and the follow-up meeting with the

neurologist went something like this: “The MRI shows that you have

multiple sclerosis. You are among the top third of the worst cases

we’ve ever seen here. You have a few good years left.” The

neurologist delivered the news with as much compassion and sensitivity

as a weatherman might deliver the day’s highs and lows. Talk about

devastating! The fact that I had had four exacerbations within a

five-month time frame further made for a dismal prognosis.

My mother had died of systemic Lupus at the age of 33, and here I

was at 32 years old thinking, “I guess this is it.” When I asked

if there were any dietary changes I could make to help my symptoms, an

emphatic “No” was given. I was told that my exacerbations would be

treated with high doses of steroids given in the hospital. Having

watched my mother go through her agonizing decline, I wanted nothing

to do with hospitals or doctors ever again.

Fortunately, within a short amount of time, I discovered Dr. Roy

Swank, MD, the head professor of neurology at Oregon Health Sciences

University. I learned that he had studied multiple sclerosis (MS)

since 1946 and, based on his scientific findings, had successfully

treated MS patients through a healthful diet. His track record and

credentials were impeccable. I was truly fortunate that he was still

practicing in his 70’s. As broken-spirited and emotionally shattered

as I was when I first met Dr. Swank, his words to me were the most

healing balm for the soul there was: “If you do as I say, Donna, you

can live a normal life.” With those words he gave me back my life. I

was a patient of his for the remaining ten years of his

practice.

 

Hearing his success stories about controlling the progress of the

disease through dietary measures was inspiring. I studied the program

intensely. I ate a very low saturated fat diet (15 grams max a day)

and ate lots of clean, whole foods. I didn’t look at it as a diet

but as a lifestyle, one that I enthusiastically embraced. Also, to

help reduce my symptoms, I was instructed not to do exercise that

would overheat my body’s core temperature, and to reduce stress as

much as possible while making time for daily rest breaks. As time

passed in that first year, I not only regained all the functions that

I’d lost, but I felt increasingly better.

No one can believe how this program has stabilized my health.

When I share my story, most people want to hear the details, which I

am happy to share. I feel that if I don’t talk about my journey at

least once a day, I’m not doing my job. I now search out open-minded

physicians—not closed-minded authoritarians—who will work with me

as a partner in my health care. Nowadays when I learn that someone has

been diagnosed with MS and put on a drug protocol, it saddens me

greatly. Many patients are shattered, as I was after my diagnosis, and

feel that they must follow their doctor’s advice. To them I say,

okay, but incorporate a healthy diet as well. For every day lost,

it’s going to be harder to regain ground.

Multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system,

affects around 350,000 Americans (mostly Caucasians, and more often

women than men). Its numbers are higher in populations where

typical diets are comprised of beef, butter, cheese, and other

saturated fats. The addition of so many trans-fats has also escalated

numbers. MS is often treated with one of three or four very expensive

and toxic drugs. Dr. Swank’s work, however, is completely

nutrition-based and carries no dangerous side effects.

It’s been 18 years now since I first met with Dr. Swank, and

today I do not use any kind of aids or devices (such as a walker,

cane, or braces), but I do take the daily rest breaks that he strongly

advised (to allow my body’s compromised nerves adequate time to rest

and recover). I am grateful for each day of health that I enjoy, and

only occasionally do I feel some extremity tingling (when I’ve

allowed myself to overdo it without rest).

I volunteer at a local hospital and cook healthful and tasty

meals for my very supportive husband and myself. Keeping to a simple

diet of brown rice, legumes, fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as

minimizing fats, has done a world of good. I also volunteer for the

Swank foundation as a mentor, via email, to the people who find their

way to the Swank program or to those who simply need a comforting,

friendly ear.

To Dr. McDougall, a heartfelt “Thank you!” for your dedicated

efforts to continue the work of Dr. Roy Swank. The legend lives on

because of you. I’ve since adopted Dr. McDougall’s low-fat,

plant-based diet as another layer to my health restoration and

preservation. To quote Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, “Let

your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” This is

certainly the message in the work of Dr. Swank and Dr.

McDougall.

Note: Visit Dr. Swank’s website at http://www.swankmsdiet.com/.

For more

information on Multiple Sclerosis see my Hot Topics

 

 

 

We encourage you to pass this Star McDougaller along to

friends.

2007 John McDougall

McDougall Wellness Center P.O. Box 14039, Santa Rosa, CA

95402

http://www.drmcdougall.com

 

 

 

 

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