Doctors who are into the fusion of conventional and alternative medicine, like Dr. Omar Arabia, believe that prevention of illnesses should focus on the health of all three aspects of being. It is his opinion that the management of diseases must address all three aspects to succeed.
Dr. Omar Arabia is a licensed physician and physical therapist, married to Suzanne, a nutritionist-dietitian. They make a formidable duo of inspiring and enthusiastic holistic healing proponents. It is almost as if their marriage was formed, considering their personal disciplines and expertise, to serve the Hippocrates dictum "let food be your medicine and medicine your food." The good couple would rather call it complementary and alternative medicine.
I visited their homey Quezon City clinic with some uneasiness. I knew I would enter a room of cancer patients hanging on to dear life and doing everything possible to preserve their lives. I felt guilty that I can still be "bad" and "wayward" in my lifestyle choices and accommodate foods that the doctors believe should be restricted. But I left enriched, knowing that these patients are in good hands. The Arabia couple and cancer survivors who encourage the patients to manage cancer through cleansing and super nutrition for the body, visualization for the mind and faith and meditation for the spirit. Healing the whole being.
Dr. Arabia warned that cancer and other degenerative diseases are a result of a lifestyle that promotes chronic stress, dietary hazards, nutritional deficiencies and blocked pathways for detoxification (primarily and inefficient or highly burdened kidney and liver). On the contrary longevity according to Dr. Alexis Carrel comes from a body of healthy cells. The latter is made possible by the efficiency of providing nutrition and efficacy of eliminating waste.
It is no wonder then that the core of the regimen prescribed by Dr. Arabia focuses on detoxification through coffee (or chamomile) enemas and a super good plant-based nutrition. It does not end there though. As a young doctor, he has investigated various alternative methods. He claims that he does not believe any single one will be effective. Management of the disease entails a comprehensive evaluation of one’s lifestyle and an assimilation of therapies that will work well in one’s case.
What I find interesting about this doctor is his genuine desire to reach out to a person’s wholeness. He has a genuine concern not only to alleviate the physical condition but more importantly to help the person spiritually, mentally and emotionally to stay alive and well.
It is a refreshing thought that there is a couple like the Arabias because there is a whole world out there of deceiving schemes promoting cure-alls (refer to article last week on questionable cancer therapies) that are so costly yet fail to even matter. It is so easy to be extremely gullible when we are told that we have only a few months to live. At that point, you will probably be prepared to spend all that you have and maybe even what you don’t just for some life extension.
The message of Dr. Arabia and others like him is simple. The best answer to cancer is to prevent it with a healthy lifestyle of total wellness (mind-body-spirit). Once you have cancer, the best course of action is to restore normal immune functions to stop mestatases.
Glowing testimonials also overflowed. Here is one: "Della Robinson, liver cancer. 1974 jaundiced. Portland, Oregon hospital liver scan and biopsy proved cancer. Given three to five weeks to live in January 1975. Weight down to 67 lbs. Sent home in severe pain, heavy drugs, semi-coma, hopeless prognosis. Family started Gerson Therapy at home. Able to leave bed in three months, no more pain or drugs. Regained normal 115-lb. weight. Remained well, cancer-free for 20 years. Passed away 1995, age 90, of causes other than cancer."
But of course there are numerous failures too. A STAR reader relayed: "I knew of somebody who underwent this therapy last year when she was diagnosed to have cancer. She went to Mexico for several months and underwent the treatment. By the time she came back to Manila she had lost a lot of weight. The Gerson Institute sold to her a wide array of equipment to extract the necessary juices from organic fruits and vegetables. The mixture of organic juices and salad would basically make anyone go crazy."
"I somehow think that the diet is healthy but it robs the body the strength to fight any disease. Her cancer spread throughout her entire body and soon after made her lower extremities swell to a point of her not being able to walk. She died on Oct. 18, 2000 due to the failure of her organs. I was at her deathbed and saw that the therapy failed to control her cancer and it also failed to give the person the strength to fight her disease. It is sad to know that this therapy is being marketed to the whole world as a cure-all remedy but fails to perform its basic goal of saving lives."
Dr. Arabia lamented that most cancer patients troop to his clinic when hospitals and doctors have already given up on their case. The point when they are told that there is no known medicine or treatment which can prevent death in a few weeks or months. Since alternative methods work on building immune defenses and enhancing the body’s natural healing process, they do not offer miracle next-day relief or cure. Most often than not it is always a case of really being too late.
Without belaboring the point, Dr. Arabia believes that Gerson or other therapies alone do not work by themselves. Management of the diseases should be holistic, as the person is a whole being. (To be continued)