Q: My father J. K. is a subscriber of your newsletter. Upon reading an article in April 2002 (page 3) he was confused with the directions given for a certain procedure: “to be safe, anyone using more than 1/4 to 1 teaspoon of whole cinnamon daily [should] first boil it in water, then pour off the resulting watery solution for use, and discard the solid remainder.” Is this not contradictory to natural science where oils and fat come to the surface of a water solution? Are we not discarding the wrong material (flavonoid) and using the wrong cure? If you can explain this in more detail, please do so.

I learned early on in my medical career that all too many of my colleagues had a “sink or swim” mentality when it came to associating with patent medicine companies. They saw it that clearly: either they took the bait being thrust at them and swam along with the school of patent medicine piranhas hungry for a profit, or they sank out of sight making themselves lots of very powerful enemies all the way down. Never afraid of a little unpopularity, and knowing full well that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, I decided to base my practice on natural and nutritional therapies-and avoid patent medicines unless absolutely nothing else will work (it doesn’t happen often). Thirty years later, I’ve still got my head well above water. But unfortunately, the influence of the patent medicine giants is stronger than ever. Now, it’s even affecting the credibility of one major medical journal that, up until this point, has attempted to set the standard for unbiased medical reporting.

Now, I know that this isn’t the most enticing topic of conversation, but irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a big enough problem, affecting so many people, that there comes a point where you sort of have to put any “delicate sensibilities” aside and get into the nitty gritty details in order to find relief.

I know the above headline sounds like a chapter out of a John Grisham novel-or a trailer for some Hollywood blockbuster. But it isn’t. It’s the crux of the latest scandal brought to us by the big patent medicine companies. And it may already have passed through a town near you.

Erwin stands out in my memory because when he first came to my clinic, he looked blue. Not a “down in the dumps” metaphorical blue-he was literally blue (well, bluish-toned). It became obvious rather quickly, though, that Erwin’s unusual skin tone was only one part of a much bigger problem: Erwin was struggling for each and every breath he took. He had been diagnosed with emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD (at least, that’s what it’s been called since the 1960s; in the past few years conventional docs have started calling it chronic obstructive lung disease, or COLD).

IN THIS ISSUE: Conquer COPD and breathe easier naturally–without spending your future attached to an oxygen tank!; Greed…corruption…invasions of medical privacy…; Getting to the root of IBS therapy-literally!; R.I.P: Unbiased patent medicine information officially bites the dust; Clearing up the cinnamon contradiction