Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Dr. Andrew Weil and Boris's Liver

About 11 years ago, just by a complete stroke of luck, I happened upon Andrew Weil's book, "8 Weeks To Optimum Health". Boris was struggling with a team of doctors who, for 15 years, had been mystified over his increasingly problematic liver. The docs were at the point of putting him on a highly toxic drug (Prednisone) with little hope that it would actually fix his problem and simultaneously putting him on a list for a liver transplant! In desperation, I went to the bookstore and looked for anything I could find about liver function and liver health (this was before we had internet). I found several great books, but Dr. Weil's book, as well as another book of his called "Natural Health, Natural Medicine", turned out to have most of my answers. Within 6 weeks, a 15-year long health saga was completely over and Boris now lives with his own liver that Thor or Tarzan or even Zeus himself would envy (yeah!). Since that time, I've read everything I could find that Dr. Weil has written as well as works he's recommended from other doctors and scientists. It was the beginning of a brand new path of thinking for me.

The thing about Dr. Weil that is so great is that he's just so incredibly intelligent, curious, and open-minded. He's not interested in following any one particular line of thinking, or in simply enhancing his own image. He just wants to find out what works. So he researches Eastern, Western, whatever kind of medicine, looks for the sound science behind it, and makes his recommendations. He's one of the great thinkers of our time. His website is amazing in its helpfulness and accessibility.

Dr. Weil attended both college and medical school at Harvard University. He is the founder and Program Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine (formerly the Program in Integrative Medicine), which he started in 1994 at the University of Arizona.

3 comments:

  1. That's great, thanks for the link!

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  2. You're welcome, Jeremy! It's such a great website--you'll love it!

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  3. Dr. Weil's book "8 weeks to optimum health" was the very first health and nutrition book that I ever purchased! It changed the way I ate forever; I got away from sodas and fast food and now stick mostly to whole foods, which has helped with every chronic health issue I've had. I'm SO happy that you were able to find his book and help bring Boris back to full health again! Funny thing; I know that Boris and my father are the same age, but I always think of Boris as being at least 20 years younger than he is because he carries himself like a much younger person and just radiates good health.

    A GP I know has a saying "it's not alternative medicine if it works; it's just good medicine." I think Dr, Weil helped thousands of physicians to understand the truth of that sentiment!

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