Breakthrough by Suzanne Somers - Interview

The following passage is an excerpt from Suzanne Somers’ book, Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness. Introduction – Dr. Michael Galitzer

INTRODUCTION

Dr. Michael Galitzer and I go back a long time. He has graciously written the forewords for many of my books. I practice energy medicine with him, and here he will explain the healing aspects of his work. I send many friends and patients to him, and each and every one of them can’t say enough good things about his approach. He makes people well. He is able to pinpoint what other doctors can’t, and as a result chronic conditions and diseases other doctors have given up on are healed or brought under control. Whether it is BioIdentical Hormones, thyroid problems, adrenal problems, a lack of energy, autoimmune disease, or cancer, his approach to all conditions is the same: Gently, naturally, people get well. I always look forward to what he has to say, and his medicine keeps progressing, keeping up with the damaged world in which we live. Dr. Galitzer understands the toxic assault on all of us and what we need to do to stay healthy in spite of it. From his years in the ER to his anti-aging energy medicine practice in Santa Monica, California, he is a doctor who is truly cutting-edge.

INTERVIEW

SS: How would you describe your specialty?

MG: I work in energy medicine, electrical medicine.

SS: Okay this needs explanation. It sounds like you work on cars.

MG: Well, traditional medicine basically looks at the body from a physical point of view; x-rays, CT scans, Biopsies, MRI, Mammograms. Those are all physical ways of looking at the body, and medicine also looks at the body from a chemical point of view. Blood tests are a great example of chemical analysis of the body fluids, but there is very little electrical medicine being practiced, except for the EKG of the heart, the EEG of the brain, and the nerve-muscle EMG. So I would say that our kind of medicine looks at the body from an energetic or electrical point of view. I am concerned about the energy level of the liver, pancreas, kidneys, and adrenals.

SS: But If I weren’t practicing this kind of medicine with you and feeling the amazing results, this would sound like gobbly-gook.

MG: Okay, for instance, anger is an emotion that affects the liver, but if you did a liver scan you wouldn’t see it physically. If you did liver blood tests you wouldn’t see that chemically, but the anger would manifest in some symptoms such as migraines or insomnia. These are electrical or energetic changes.

SS: Is it German in origin?

MG: Yes, it came out of the 50′s and the 60′s with Dr. Reinhard Voll who had an extensive background in acupuncture. In acupuncture, there are meridians that traverse the body, and there are 12 major meridians. He was able to measure skin resistance along these different meridians which allowed him to correlate these meridian channels to different organ systems. So, for instance, the large intestine meridian would start on the index finger and end up at the nose. The different points along this large intestine meridian would correlate to different areas of the large intestine. He could demonstrate that when a point had a change in skin resistance, there existed a weakness in the large intestine that was associated with symptoms that the patient was experiencing. His great discovery was that he was able to show that when he added a natural substance to return the skin resistance to normal, that substance helped the patient feel better.

SS: This is not easy for we lay people’ to grasp but I think I get what you are saying.

MG: The real value of this type of medicine is to discern what substances work for people, and at the same time do no harm. For instance, a great example of something that is effective but not tolerated in cancer chemotherapy. It kills cancer but also harms the body. My kind of medicine makes sure I give the patient everything from an antibiotic to an herb, vitamin or mineral, and to be sure it is effective and tolerated. I think this is one of the great advances in this kind of medicine. I actually feel if you’re not testing at this level you’re not as complete as you could be as a physician.

SS: When people come to you are they well or are they sick?

MG: Most people aren’t well and the major complaint is that they feel fatigued. After analyzing their blood tests which are frequently normal, I utilize electrical tests such as Bio-impedance Analysis, Heart Rate Variability, Applied Kinesiology, and Electrodermal Screening to determine where the energy weakness is located.

SS: Why is everybody so tired?

MG: I think it’s a combination of lifestyle, unhealthy nutrition, toxicity in the environment and a lack of understanding of how to get rid of these toxins. The liver, kidney, and lymph systems are the organs of elimination. These organs get rid of the toxins. When they are overwhelmed they put in a call to the hormonal systems; adrenals, thyroid etc. Hormones aid the liver, kidney and lymph systems but eventually the glands that secrete these hormones get tired and at that point you’ve got a toxic person with tired hormonal glands, which are the set up for being fatigued and not feeling well. People are on the go all the time. Right now the goal appears to be; work as hard as you can and be as successful as you can. This allows for huge amounts of stress, ultimately resulting in poor sleep and most likely fast foods. Travel takes its toll, airplanes with re-circulated air and ionizing radiation, too much coffee and alcohol, too many soft drinks, too much sugar and not enough water. Add to this mix that people are not taking enough vitamins and supplements and when you put it all together this person doesn’t feel well’.

SS: So they’re not exactly sick as in they can’t get out of bed, but they aren’t exactly well. Why are men so reluctant to see what’s available with this new medicine that you and others are practicing?

MG: Men don’t really want to show their vulnerability, and frankly, most men would rather take Viagra and Cialis before they would take testosterone. You see, men don’t want to appear weak. Even when you look at the whole issue of obesity in men, they are never described as obese, they are big’. Big is viewed as strong, skinny is viewed as weak.

SS: But women are fat’.

MG: Right. But there are more overweight men than women. But men seem to overeat with happy emotions, and women crave with negative emotions. Appearance is important to women but confidence is important to men. For a man to even want to lose weight it’s got to be viewed as a problem. He’s got to see that it’s linked to diabetes or heart disease. So knowing this, you see that men are resistant to this whole element of testosterone for the same reason.

SS: Is it any difference whether the man is younger? Is a young man easier to convince?

MG: It’s no different but I do personally believe that the key to testosterone is to start it as early as possible.

SS: Which would be when?

MG: Early 50′s. An article recently came out saying that LOW testosterone levels were linked to earlier death, meaning that people with the lowest testosterone levels had a 33% greater increase of dying from any cause for the 18 years of the study. It’s obvious that testosterone is a key. It’s a heart protector, stimulates the bones, a brain stimulant, and most importantly it helps generate excitement and passion.

SS: What can a man expect by following traditional medicine, who has a poor diet, doesn’t exercise, type A executive, stressed, drinks, smokes, and doesn’t sleep?

MG: Definitely a lower quality of life and greater incidence of premature death. A man who is living this lifestyle doesn’t feel good at all, and he will definitely be susceptible to chronic cardiovascular disease and sudden death.

SS: Have you had male patients come to your office that you were able to completely turn around?

MG: Numerous, numerous men. I’ve had the fortune to attract a lot of men that are interested in this kind of work, and are ready to follow a program. I put them on a detoxification program including, liver, kidney, lymph drainage, searching for heavy metals. I have often sent them to the dentist to take care of the mercury fillings, and to look at infected root canals and cavitations in their mouth. I give them the right supplements, nutrients, and lots of vitamin C. I test their hormone levels, including testosterone; and the result is that these guys are feeling great. They are very grateful and thankful.

SS: Do these men come in already sold or do you convince them?

MG: Most are not sold but thanks to your books their wives are dragging them in…but they’ve seen the change in their wives and they’ve become extremely curious about how much better their wives look and feel and want the same for themselves.

SS: Well I know my life and health has turned around by embracing this kind of medicine. Let’s talk about your intravenous treatments. I remember the first time I looked into your IV room and it was like some kind of science fiction movie. Of course, now, I am one of those people in the IV room. Why are these IV treatments so important?

MG: When I was an ER doc we all knew in the emergency room the effects of intravenous fluids and intravenous medications because they work fast to save lives. Intravenous nutrients are very powerful because they facilitate the excretion of toxins and can rejuvenate organs such as the liver and the brain. Intravenous vitamin C detoxifies chemicals, cleanses the liver and strengthens the adrenals. The same goes for intravenous Phosphatidyl Choline for its liver and brain effects. I give chelation when appropriate to get lead, mercury and cadmium out of the body.

SS: I was surprised you found high levels of cadmium in my system. How does Cadmium get into our systems?

MG: We’ve all been exposed to lead in the gasoline that used to be in the pump, and then paint in our homes and old lead pipes, and cadmium is also a byproduct of cigarette smoke and automobile exhaust; second hand smoke is probably where you, a non-smoker got exposed. All those years when you were a nightclub performer you were breathing in everyone’s cigarettes.

SS: Yes but that was so many years ago. Maybe 20 years.

MG: Right.

SS: Well I do remember at that time they were starting to make showrooms in Vegas smoke-free, but I never pressed it being the pleaser that I am, and I do remember coughing up black stuff every morning when I was working nightclubs fulltime and thinking it was ironic that I didn’t smoke and that I was taking in so much each night. But I never thought it would stay in my tissues for this long.

MG: They’ve done studies that show our bones have 1000 times more lead than 100 years ago. Mercury is a by product of coal and its been proven that in our country we get more mercury from the Chinese who burn their coal and then the trade winds that bring it over, than from the coal that’s being burned in the United States. It is impossible to avoid the amount of pollution with which we are assaulted so it is up to each of us to stimulate our own elimination systems so we can better deal with the massive insults of chemicals that are in the environment.

SS: Talk about a bad neighbor. My god, it shows you the dire consequences if anyone were ever to release nuclear anywhere in the world. We are truly global.

MG: Right, depending on how the wind is blowing.

SS: Ok, but why do we care if we have mercury in our systems?

MG: The EPA ranks mercury either number one or two depending on who you are talking to, with arsenic being the other one, as the two most toxic substances in the environment. Mercury has been linked to illnesses involving the kidney and the prostate. Mercury blocks enzymes and there is a lot of information that it plays a big role in autism. There is the mercury that was in the preservatives in vaccinations. I really don’t understand why anyone would want to vaccinate a kid for hepatitis on the first day they enter the world. There has been major mercury contamination in our environment.

SS: When I was a kid we used to have those thermometers that we would break on purpose to play with the mercury. The other great fun was to look through your feet in those x-ray (radiation) machines in the shoe store.

MG: Some people can be exposed to mercury and can excrete it, but most people are non-excreters; they just can’t get rid of it and it can stay in their body for 30 years.

SS: So it this a silent killer?

MG: I’d say it’s a silent weakener of the body. Absolutely.

SS: So it’s systemic; the blood, bones, organs?

MG: Everywhere, and it is dangerous for the central nervous system and the brain.

SS: How does it rear its ugly head?

MG: For me, it’s usually when people complain of fatigue, then right away mercury is suspect. I also see it in the thyroid, especially in regards to teeth because mercury leaks out of old fillings and the thyroid isn’t very far from the lower jaw, so often we come across something called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis which is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks the thyroid gland with antibodies. I frequently neutralize the mercury with selenium and then at some point down the road when they’re less toxic and feeling stronger I have them take their mercury fillings out. Thyroid issues are huge with mercury, as is blood pressure and mercury, high cholesterol and mercury, heart disease and mercury, kidney disease and mercury, and prostate disease.

SS: Should everyone be taking selenium?

MG: Yes. Selenium is an antioxidant, and selenium neutralizes mercury, and also selenium has anti-cancer effects. 200 micrograms a day in tablet form is what I usually recommend.

SS: Let’s talk about the other heavy metals. I think my readers will be very interested in this. What about aluminum, and how does it get in our systems? What damage does it create? For years my deodorant had aluminum in it and they bragged about it.

MG: We’ve all stored our food in aluminum foil; we’ve been drinking soda in aluminum cans. Aluminum is all over the place. They found aluminum in the neurofibrillary tangles in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients. Tangles are nerve cells that have become bunched together and knotted. Many of these heavy metals affect the neurological system. So whether it’s Parkinson’s or dementia or slow thinking or forgetfulness, I look for heavy metals first. When I was in ER medicine it taught me to look for horses, not Zebras’.

SS: What does that mean?

MG: In our kind of medicine, heavy metals is the horse that’s most likely associated with neurological deterioration, so I look for aluminum, cadmium, lead, and mercury, and then I start the detoxification of those substances from that person.

SS: What about acetylcholine levels? Would that be an indicator of neurological problems?

MG: Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter, and low levels have been linked with Alzheimer’s. But levels could be low due to the presence of heavy metals, so you would first want to eliminate the heavy metal before you attempted to increase levels of acetylcholine.

SS: New medicine, or as I call it, (Breakthrough medicine), is more complex than ever yet it all seems to be about restoring the deterioration. The world we live in today is stressful, polluted, and chemicalized, plus our enormous stress pushes hormonal imbalances earlier, so no one is feeling quite right’. Am I imagining this or were we always this sick or out of whack’?

MG: Two things, we’re living longer, and we’re exposed to many more chemicals and toxins than ever before. And then there are the electromagnetic frequencies that we are exposed to. A person with mercury fillings in their teeth generates electrical currents in the mouth due to the added presence of saliva. Electrical currents can also be generated by the presence of two different metals as fillings, such as mercury and gold. Those electrical currents can override the currents in the brain and therefore lead to symptoms such as insomnia, headaches, and irritability. Now, if this person has a Blackberry attached to their body 12-18 hours per day, those electrical currents will be amplified. And if he now sits in front of his computer, there is an even greater generation of electrical currents. It’s almost like sticking your head in the microwave oven in terms of the potential damage. I mean I’m not going to tell people they can’t use their cell phones but our parents were not subjected to this amount of electromagnetic radiation and these are some of the big issues that are undermining people’s health.

SS: Plus, our parents weren’t eating fake food.

MG: Right. And adding to this whole problem is that the soil doesn’t have the proper minerals. The selenium is depleted, the water isn’t as healthy, and we’re drinking less water as well, and we’re eating food that isn’t as nutrient-dense as it once was, plus we’re exposed to toxins and electromagnetic radiation as never before.

SS: Do you ever feel overwhelmed that people are coming to see you in such deteriorated states, or do you feel with your type of medicine that you can restore anyone?

MG: I really feel I can bring anyone back if they are willing to work with me and believe in it. I have an underlying faith that people are more resilient than we are led to believe and with proper guidance, education and tools we’ve got everything we need to help these people. The key is getting these people to come in and get going. I’ve worked in this arena of medicine for 20 years and I know there are statistics that say, 1 woman in 8 will get breast cancer’. But in my practice it’s more like, 1 in 1000′. So the question is why? Is it because of what I know? Is it because my practice attracts a health-conscious patient? Is it because of the synergy between myself and my patients? These people really want to get better and consequently, the levels of diseases in my practice and my fellow practices are much less than the general population.

SS: That’s true. I enjoy that I go to you when I am well, and frankly, when I think about it, I am almost always well. Yet we have found things deep within me that I never would have known were there until they had reached a disease state. Your medicine is proactive which I like. For instance, we found tiny amounts of plaque in my small arteries…which was profound. I had been feeling cocky because my tests showed zero plaque in my heart and large arteries, yet you had me take a new blood test and we find small amounts of plaque in my small arteries. This was significant for me because I come from an Irish family, we have low homocysteine levels and my family dies of heart disease and stroke. I remember the day we received the test results and you said this was huge relative to preventing a stroke. I can’t think of anything worse than a stroke as I have watched it so often with my loved ones.

MG: The best example is coronary artery disease. There are the large coronary arteries – the left anterior descending, the left circumflex, and the right coronary artery. Over time these arteries slowly get occluded as the process of atherosclerosis continues. The patient will complain of chest pain and then they’ll get an angiogram, and usually bypass surgery is recommended or stents. But frequently in medicine it is a small artery within the heart that gets inflamed, cholesterol and platelets rush to the site of inflammation, and suddenly you can go from a 10% to a 90% occlusion. We call this Vulnerable Plaque. You can’t see it on a CT scan, you can see it on a CT angiogram but that’s a test that costs several thousand dollars. The test I gave you basically measures the elasticity of the arteries; it’s an office test, it takes 10 minutes, costs $150. and is actually reimbursed by insurance companies; it’s FDA approved and it was that test that we were able to pick up what we call small artery disease or vulnerable plaque. Under the right set of circumstances, this Vulnerable Plaque could lead to a heart attack or stroke.

SS: And that is why I love this kind of medicine.

MG: But these tests are an indicator.. .first thing that comes to mind are heavy metals or viruses. As I recall we actually found the heavy metals, treated them with chelation but it didn’t change the artery test at all. It was only when we went to this other test, through a lab called Hemex, which looked at abnormalities in blood coagulation, that we found that there you had some blood coagulation problems most likely due to viruses. When we started treating the viruses, that’s when your artery test improved. Very few cardiologists use this test and it’s a great screening tool.

SS: Why is everyone on some form of statin?

MG: Well for some people they make a lot of sense, but for the majority of people there are probably better ways to take care of that issue.

SS: Is Niacin the alternative?

MG: I think Niacin is great. I usually combine it with garlic, and Red Yeast Rice, baby aspirin, and fish oils. Fish oils lower your triglycerides; they have anti-inflammatory effects. They help improve blood flow, because it keeps blood thin, and in medicine, we prefer that the blood be like red wine as opposed to ketchup.

SS: So thick, sticky blood is not a good thing?

MG: No it’s not. Thick, sticky blood is caused by inflammation. Lots of saturated fats in the diet cause it, chronically high levels of microbes in your body such as viruses and yeast cause it. The major cause of thick blood is chronic viral infections and a poor diet. Too much sugar results in inflammation and then thick blood.

SS: How do we get these viruses and do we know we have them?

MG: Think about all the people you meet and shake hands with. People are carriers. Other reasons may be the people that are not vigilant about washing their hands. You have to live a healthy lifestyle and pay attention to hygiene. Viruses are everywhere and they stay hidden in your blood making it thick and sticky until your body is weakened by poor diet or stress or just being run-down…then one or more of these viruses can be activated. Fish oil helps tremendously. The pharmaceutical companies have realized this and have created fish oil capsules with high, high, levels of fish oil. It costs about $150.00 a month which is very pricey but most people don’t care because their insurance will pay for it. You can see how the rising cost of health insurance happens. But you can get great fish oil for about $30. from either your physician or from a high-quality health food store. It’s the one thing we doctors who embrace natural strategies for health have in agreement with mainstream cardiologists. We all recognize the importance of fish oil and that it should be a part of every man and woman’s diet.

SS: What about CoQ-10?

MG: Co-Q10 is another great supplement that helps with energy production within the body. The five nutrients that improve energy production in the heart are Co-Q10, fish oils, magnesium, carnitine, and a sugar called D-Ribose.

SS: D-ribose as in the tea?

MG: Right. Regarding the heart, it doesn’t matter what heart disease you have; valvular, cardiomyopathy, or hardening of the arteries; what’s happening is that the heart isn’t making enough energy.

SS: Explain

MG: The heart is a muscle and the muscle has mitochondria or Energy Factories’. Each cell has mitochondria but the heart muscle has 100 times as many mitochondria as some of the other cells in the body. But if your mitochondria are impaired with one of the heart diseases, your heart is not making enough energy. Co-Q10, magnesium, carnitine, fish oils and D-ribose increase energy production which will help all people with heart disease.

SS: And they haven’t taken a drug. Ahh…… I just put it together… This is ENERGY MEDICINE! This explains what you do. So you do this not just for the heart but for the whole body.

MG: Yes.

SS: But instead everyone is on a statin, like Lipitor or Zetia which inhibit the body’s ability to produce any more cholesterol. But our body needs cholesterol for our brain and our gut. I know we have neurons in the brain and in the gut and these neurons are made in part by cholesterol, so for those taking statins, it seems to me that down the road we’re going to start seeing problems with dementia and severe GI problems.

MG: Right. Statins reduce levels of cholesterol. Cholesterol has many valuable uses in the body. We don’t want our body to be without it. Cholesterol is the building block for all the steroid hormones. Steroids are any hormones made by the adrenals, ovaries, and testes. Cortisol is a steroid hormone, DHEA is a steroid hormone; estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are steroid hormones. So if you are a guy and trying to reduce your elevated cholesterol with a statin, you definitely should be taking testosterone and DHEA, and for women; estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and DHEA .

SS: But men have a huge fear that testosterone is going to give them cancer.

MG: A man deficient in testosterone isn’t going to have a healthy prostate, but that doesn’t mean he is going to get cancer. An unhealthy prostate makes men have to urinate a little more and they might develop conditions like BPH, (enlarged prostate) so the first thing to do is get the prostate healthier which is a very easy thing to do. When you get the prostate healthier then testosterone can be optimized. Red meat, excessive coffee and excessive alcohol irritate the prostate; whole grains, vegetables, and fruits like pomegranate help the prostate. Removing mercury fillings is important because mercury has an affinity for kidney and the prostate. The two front teeth, above and below are energetically connected to the prostate, and sometimes there is a root canal in those teeth. When I have their root canal cleaned out, or if a lower tooth has to be pulled if it is extensively infected, the prostate gets healthier. The prostate can be strengthened by taking saw palmetto, giant redwood, vitamin E, selenium, fish oils, vitamin D, zinc, minerals. Lymphatic drainage in the abdomen, pelvis and groin has been shown to help the prostate get healthier. Sex helps to keep the prostate healthier and very important are Kegel exercises.(the same ones women do for pregnancy, so instead of having a bowel movement where you push out, push in with your internal rectal muscles, and in doing so you are using your internal sphincter to massage the prostate. You can do 10 of these sitting in your chair, or on your car, two or three times a day).

SS: Well, I hate to be commercially crass but there is no better way to do Kegel exercises than with a Thighmaster. Let me just throw that out there.

MG: All right, well there you go. You’re probably right.

SS: I just happen to know where you can get one!

MG: I try to encourage men. I tell them I can get you ultimately healthy and we can make testosterone work as well as possible by getting your prostate healthy. Now there’s one other issue, the prostate represents the ability to give of yourself to your sexual partner; it’s the same issue with women and their uterus. The emotional aspect needs to be addressed and very early on in our work together. It’s the whole deal; mind, body spirit, and there are sometimes deeper issues rather than toxicity and hormones, that are causing the prostate to act up. When you look at the prostate from these different perspectives, you can address the issues and get the prostate healthier. Then when you put the man on testosterone you can explain to him why he is not going to get cancer.

SS: In your opinion…is testosterone an antidote to prostate cancer? Would you give a man with prostate cancer testosterone as the remedy? You know this therapy is being done in Europe.

MG: I would stay away from testosterone and prostate cancer. There are too many issues with men at that point and cancer is the result of a toxic accumulation within the body. Cancer represents a state where the hormonal systems are at a very low level.

SS: Well, with all due respect, wouldn’t it make sense that you optimize the hormonal levels and return the body to its optimal hormonal prime including testosterone?

MG: We just don’t know that yet. I do find in ALL cancer patients that their pituitary gland is not making enough growth hormone. Now, this is anecdotal, but I’ve looked at hundreds of people with cancer and you can generalize that in cancer there exists an extremely high level of toxicity, and that the key hormonal systems, such as adrenals and thyroid – all the hormones including testosterone – are very LOW.

SS: Well………….

MG: When I am looking at cancer I first want to see how we can reduce the toxicity in the body… how can we strengthen the adrenals, how can we strengthen the thyroid? How can we optimize nutrition? What intravenous therapies such as vitamin C could help detoxify the patient? I personally believe that toxic people in weakened states are going to be turned around with testosterone. There may be a point, or a place for testosterone, but I’m not convinced it’s anywhere in the beginning of the treatment. I’d be very hesitant to replace testosterone with proven prostate cancer patients.

SS: Well I’m not a doctor but if I were a man with prostate cancer, I would do all of the above; all the detoxification, all the IV treatments, I would strengthen the adrenals and thyroid and the other hormones…I would do everything you mentioned but in connecting my own dots I would also roll the dice and replace the testosterone. My thinking would be that when I was young and making a full complement of hormones including testosterone, I didn’t get cancer. But I’m a risk-taker, and I’M NOT A DOCTOR.

MG: You are just one of those patients that think for themselves and you have done very well for yourself. There are theories that the primary cause of cancer is a lack of oxygen use by the cells of the body, that instead turn to fermentation of sugar in order to create energy. This is called Anaerobic Metabolism. The normal body cells meet their energy needs by using oxygen (Aerobic Metabolism), whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs by fermenting sugar.

SS: Ah………..now we’re getting back to your kind of medicine, energy medicine.

MG: Yes, this may be one of the key issues in medicine. I would first ask how we get cells to start utilizing oxygen and not fermenting sugar to produce your energy before I went towards hormones. Energy may be the biggest issue we have to pay attention to, and also, how do we change people’s beliefs about cancer?

SS: What do you mean?

MG: How do we get rid of the fear? How can you live with cancer for 30 or 40 years without dying a slow painful torturous death? I think that maybe one of the huge issues facing medicine in the future. How do we change the mindset and reduce the fear? Frequently, people are told that they have cancer and they have 6 months to live, and to get their affairs in order. Very often those people end up dying at that six-month time frame just due to the fear. Just getting the diagnosis of cancer greatly depresses the immune system. As doctors we have got to be very tender with people when we tell them they have cancer. But I feel the big issue and it is where medicine has to make a big jump so people will get to live to be 100, is to get our patients to get over the fear that we don’t have to die from cancer and that they can live a fairly normal life with the disease. This is where the global belief system kicks in that we can live normal, happy, healthy lives even with cancer. It’s going to require a multi-pronged treatment protocol on many different lines which might include pharmaceutical medication, like RNA interference technology where you can silence certain genes in cancer.

SS: Ok, what’s RNA?

MG: It’s called RNAI and it stands for RNA interference where you basically create chemical products that can actually stop certain genes from expressing themselves.

SS: I get nervous whenever I hear the word chemical. Isn’t it our chemicalization that has gotten all of us in such trouble?

MG: I’m saying that we use all the tools.. We have pharmaceuticals, intravenous nutrients, homeopathics, enzymes, nutraceuticals. We know how to eat healthfully if we would just do it, and I think the time has come for us to put it all together….for East to meet West in medicine and try to figure out how we can use all treatments together. One of the problems with alternative medicine is that there are many practitioners that tell their patient, don’t do that drug, we can do it better our way’. Maybe they can, maybe they can’t. It’s certainly difficult in the area of hypertension not to use pharmaceuticals and just use alternative medicine. Not to take advantage of drugs when it might be the answer does a great disservice. It alienates traditional medicine and I don’t think you have to do that. There is so much in alternative medicine that works. I’m saying that when called for, traditional medicine has its place, especially as we go into the future.

SS: Well, I do find all the new areas; stem cell possibilities, genomic drugs, nanotechnology, biotechnology, neurotechnology, mapping DNA profiles and linking that knowledge to prevent illness, are all new ways to radically change medicine by making it predictive and progressive. These truly are exciting new measures on the horizon and I know I will be taking advantage as it is available and feels safe. I already take advantage of nanotechnology. What I like right now is that there is a groundswell, a movement or a knowing’, that the present traditional medicine is not adequate or relevant to today’s world. Those of you that are thinking outside the box’ call it alternative or whatever, know that traditional medicine is not making the cut. With Standard of Care’, people are maintaining but not getting well. People are dying of the treatment and being over-drugged and over treated. We see it every day and that has contributed to this groundswell. That is why I am so involved. I did not like the treatment offered me when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I realized that I had to think outside of the box until I could find a doctor or doctors with whom I could work creatively. What you are describing is the Art of Medicine…the highest form of medicine where thinking is required. This has to happen. Right now testing has replaced thinking. You and I were talking the other day that because of technology, we are able to see a teeny little spot and immediately everyone jumps on it as cancer, right away, surgery and violent after treatments’ of poison try to kill a spot’ that actually could have been there for 20 years not bothering the person. I had a friend like that, even when they went inside his stomach and could no longer find that little spot they gave him chemotherapy and radiation just in case’. That body is put in a violent state and maybe that spot’ could have sat there not bothering him for his entire life. Now he is sick as a person, and will never be the same. This is the kind of medicine that bothers me.

MG: Some of these cancers take 20 years to grow, but right now we use our technology and pick up that cancer and decide we have to start treating that cancer next week, and that probably isn’t correct. I believe that instead we take that same patient, and build up that body, strengthen that body and then decide how to treat the cancer but now we do it with a strong body. Treating a cancer patient with a weak body is not a recipe for success. It is to the benefit of the patient that we first utilize alternative treatments. When is the ideal time to treat any illness’, is referred to as chronobiology; trying to respect the natural circadian rhythms within the body. There is an ideal time to treat any person of any disease and we doctors have to decide if it is prudent to treat it at the time of diagnosis or better to treat it six weeks later after putting the patient through a program that increases overall health and reduce the toxicity.

SS: What are the five or ten things we each should do to live a healthy life?

MG: I’d start by impressing upon you that it’s not your fault that you’re exposed to high levels of toxicity. I liken this toxicity to a toilet bowl that doesn’t flush well so there’s always junk left in there

SS: eeeeeeewwww!

MG: But you get the picture of toxicity. I tell my patients that you’ve got to wake up your liver. Most people don’t even know where their liver is located. Remember this; the first four letters of liver are, LIVE, and the liver sits under the right breast, right behind the lower ribs on the right side. You’ve got to increase drainage within the liver, lymph, and kidney system. You’ve got to take a lemon every morning and drink the juice, with 6 ounces of water, first thing on an empty stomach. Lemon is very alkaline within the body. Lemon also helps to cleanse the liver. You’ve got to consume certain liver foods in your diet. You can juice them, cook them, eat them raw – carrots, beets, zucchini, squash, watercress and artichoke are all liver foods. Drink as many vegetable juices as you can. One day a week try to fast’ from dinner one night to dinner the next and drink raw vegetable juices. To strengthen the kidney system, you’ve got to be drinking healthy water. It can’t be distilled. Distilled water is dead water, because it has no minerals. Volvic water is great because it is slightly alkaline, has lots of electrons, and has the right amount of minerals. It’s active vibrant water. You’ve got to take care of your lymph system through exercise and decrease dairy intake. This is about getting toxins out, and recall drainage. You want to unclog the drain to make the liver, lymph, and kidney system more efficient and more miraculous in eliminating the junk that we are all exposed to. This is where I’d start. Then, you must understand the importance of nutrition. You’ve got to eat healthy foods; you’ve got to eat live foods and exercise. You’ve got to look at your body as a high-efficiency Ferrari that needs high octane fuel, so you must put good fuel into your car to get optimal performance. The body is no different. Everyone needs to be on health supplements. Next, I’d look at the stress in your life. Look at what’s really important to you. Your internal emotional health is a major part of your wellness. Are you happy in your relationship? Are you happy in your work? What excites you? What are you grateful for and what is the purpose of your life. Why do you think you are here? I try to get people to align themselves with their own purpose as opposed to just going to work every day. For instance, most people say to me, I’m doing this job because it makes sense and I’ve got to make money so we can support our family. People who have that outlook on life are not the healthy people. Healthy people are the ones that know where they are going and have a purpose in their life. Whatever that purpose, it doesn’t have to be to save mankind, it can just be to feel happy, get to know yourself’ a little better. Whatever that purpose, allow it to guide you. You will do better if you live a purposeful life with excitement, passion, and gratitude. These are the building blocks of life. People need to have more fun in their lives. People who are not having fun in their lives get sick. These people don’t know why they are here, they’re not excited about anything and they are not very grateful for their lives. Of course, when you are feeling lousy it’s hard to be grateful but when the attitude changes the excitement of life comes back and so does health.

SS: And where are hormones in this?

MG: Yes, hormones, thank you for reminding me. The hormonal system modulates our detoxification and metabolism, by interpreting our internal and external environment, through the release of messenger hormones from the Hypothalamus and Pituitary glands in the brain. I obtain information about my patients from blood, urine, and saliva tests, where we look at the adrenal and thyroid hormones, then the sex hormones; estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. These are all key, but, the granddaddy is growth hormone. Growth hormone is like turbocharging your car. You’ve got to have 4 wheels before you can even think about turbo-charging your car. The four wheels are insulin, sex hormones, thyroid, and adrenal. Once those wheels are on the car and once your body is less toxic, that’s the place to turbocharge. You wouldn’t want to turbocharge it in the beginning, it would be too much, and you’ve got to do all these other things first. In order to determine growth hormone deficiencies, we check the IGF-1 level. (Insulin-like growth factor). Unfortunately, growth hormone has been misrepresented because of its name. It’s not really just about growth; it does cause kids to grow, but it’s really a metabolic hormone. It stimulates protein synthesis, burns fats, and conserves carbs. If you are taking growth hormone you are obligated to exercise. Plus you must eat protein at each meal. You can’t just inject something and not do the other necessary things in your lifestyle that will support it. Growth hormone should not be given until the body is less toxic, then with exercise and protein at each meal, you will get the maximum benefits from Growth Hormone. When you add growth hormone at the right phase of restoration, when everything else is in balance, when you are less toxic, you will get great benefits from growth hormones.

SS: Absolutely… and it's so satisfying to see muscle definition come back and amazing to see your body respond to exercise so beautifully. To me growth hormone is just another missing piece of the hormonal song’. It’s like making a cake, you don’t put the frosting on top until the cake is finished and cooled off.

MG: I never give growth hormone until the liver is cleaned up.

SS: I’m glad you said that. People look to GH as a magic bullet. You’ve got to get the rest of the song’ in tune before you add the GH, then when you do it, IT makes you feel healthy….very healthy. You have to exercise and you will enjoy working out because the body responds like it did when you were young. But I think what is giving GH a bad name is that so many people are buying inferior brands online and then athletes are over-using it. In some cases, athletes’ are injecting 100 times more than the body ever required plus they add to their cocktail, synthetic anabolic steroids which are very dangerous.

MG: That’s what I try to do…it’s about timing…doing the right things at the right time. With growth hormone we know it is something you do at the end. Timing is key.

SS: In the field of anti-aging, in terms of the future, what excites you?

MG: There are two areas. Anti-aging will be useless in the future if we don’t get our children on track; soda machines in school, junk food, sugar, Gatorade which has yellow dye #5 in it, these are just some of the factors that are creating a generation of children in poor health. We’ve got to stop the autism epidemic, we have an overload of children with ADD, we have adults with ADD, we’ve got to get a handle on vaccinations and educate our children so they truly understand the value of nutrition. Adults need to be role models for them not only in life lessons but as it pertains to health.

SS: I so agree. We cannot continue to let children eat their usual diet of non-food and expect them to grow up healthy.

MG: And the second area is getting a better handle on cancer. We’ve got tremendous technology and if we can combine this anti-aging medicine we can change people’s beliefs about cancer. In the not so distant future, a person will be able to place their hand on a machine and it will tell you how much energy your cells are making.

SS: And then as a doctor, you would know how to build up that energy?

MG: And then we’ll be able to measure energy fields. We all have energy fields; patients have energy fields and so do doctors. I know it sounds a little ‘Star Trekkie’ but say for instance in choosing a doctor; you will be able to put your energy field in the machine along with the energy field of the doctor to find if there is a compatibility.

SS: But why would we want this, why would we care?

MG: Matching people’s energy fields with energy fields of healers, practitioners, and physicians, will improve treatment. You will be with the right person for the right circumstance. I also believe there will be a lot greater use of homeopathy in the future. Homeopathy represents information and the key to healing is to combine information with energy. Kids have tons of energy and respond dramatically to homeopathy because you are combining information with their inherently high levels of energy. The real problem with sick people is they don’t have enough energy and that’s why I use intravenous nutrients. That’s also why we use hormones. Intravenous treatments and hormones raise energy. The reason homeopathy doesn’t work well in older people is because the information is great but there’s no energy to kind of suck it in. In the future homeopathy will be used with more success because more and more people with serious illnesses will find their way to doctors who practice this kind of Energy Medicine, and will be able to increase their energy. Once you increase their energy you’ll get them back to health.

SS: You know, homeopathy is not understood by many of us. Could you in a sentence describe homeopathy?

MG: Well you know about herbs, Herbs are comprised of plants, Homeopathics are dilutions of herbs, and also dilutions of substances from the mineral and animal kingdom. Homeopathics can help balance the emotional and mental energy of a person.

SS: And what would you say to men who are reluctant to cross over to this new form of medicine that integrates hormones, detoxifying, and increasing energy?

MG: If men want to work hard, play hard, stay hard, and stay healthy, if men want to keep their hair then this is the kind of medicine they would want to practice. The boomers get the concept of exercising. I even think the bulk of boomers know how to eat correctly. If they add to that this new approach to medicine, of increasing energy, building up with intravenous nutrients, replacing lost hormones and growth hormone, then men and women can expect to live a long healthy quality life.

SS: Sounds good to me. Thanks.