Doctors of Death

Many of you are aware of Rav Lazer Brody’s recent emergency hospitalization. I’d like to share my thoughts on what happened, even though nobody asked me. If I would wait for someone to ask me for my opinion, this article would likely never get published.

To recap, Rav Brody was doing a routine physical that is done for professional athletes at the Wingate Institute here in Israel. During one of his tests, his heart rate began to rapidly climb above 200. Amazingly, he didn’t feel any dizziness or lightheadedness when it happened. The cardiologist started freaking out and sent him by ambulance to the emergency room.

That’s when all the fun began. They admitted him and started giving him drugs to regulate his heart rate. When it didn’t fully regulate, they began giving him blood thinners without telling him. Later in the day, they decided to keep him overnight and do an echocardiogram in the morning, in order to check the heart for blood clots. If they found none, they would do electrical cardioversion, which means they would shock the heart to make it re-establish a normal sinus rhythm. He would also have to be on blood thinners for the rest of his life.

At first glance, this sounds great. The doctors appeared to know the best way to treat his problem. In reality, though, this method of treatment would have put him at risk for all kinds of future complications.

His experience highlights two major problems with mainstream medicine: first, it approaches every individual with the same methodology of treatment; the one-size-fits-all approach. Second, in most cases, it doesn’t attempt to identify and cure the cause of the problem in the first place.

In Rav Brody’s case, they could have taken into consideration his already low cholesterol and his extremely healthy lifestyle. After having seen that he in fact had no clots in his heart, why was it necessary to want him to go on blood thinners? This seems more appropriate for a person with high cholesterol who eats unhealthy foods, who is at very real risk for a heart attack.

Furthermore, they did not tell him that 70%+ of cases that undergo cardioversion return to their previous atrial fibrillation. It turns out that if the condition is chronic, usually lasting over six months, then cardioversion is not a permanent solution. The procedure also has a high likelihood of scarring the heart, and yes, death is a possible side effect.

Thank God, Rav Brody decided to question their methods and get a second opinion. He met with a wonderful doctor of Chinese medicine, who created a personalized treatment just for him. She discovered that his heart wasn’t acting up for no reason; it was going crazy because it was gasping for blood, as his body just doesn’t make enough. Along with a healthy diet (which he already follows,) she told him to take it easy on the exercise and not to get his heart rate above a certain level. She also recommended certain foods to eat that will help support his heart, and made a tonic to help build up his blood, among other things. This is an approach that is truly “wholistic” – it works with the entire body and supports the healing process.

Speaking of Chinese medicine, I want to point out that the mind games the modern medical establishment plays, don’t stop with doctor/patient interaction. Look at the label they gave to all natural avenues of treatment: “alternative medicine.” That right there should show you that in their minds, their approach is best, and anything else is second-class.

All forms of natural healing are considered alternatives to modern medicine. We are living in a backwards world, where we run to the doctor for the magic pill first, and change our diets last. We need to turn this around! If we have tried other natural forms of healing, and we see no positive results, then if we have no other alternative, we should go to the doctor.

In reality, modern medicine should be called alternative medicine. It’s great for treating an acute condition or an emergency, but usually does nothing to solve the problem at its root. Here’s a great example: did you know that the body develops high cholesterol as a defense mechanism? When a person consistently eats an unhealthy diet and doesn’t exercise, his blood turns to sludge and puts enormous amounts of pressure on the arteries. Plaques are actually the body’s way of protecting those arteries against rupture!

As is written in the Asher Yatzar prayer, Hashem created our bodies with such unbelievable wisdom. We just have to do our best not to mess them up with toxic diets, toxic pills, and toxic, unnecessary treatments. It’s our responsibility in this age of unlimited information to do our research, and always look into natural, less offensive treatments to resolve our ailments instead of running to the doctor for every little thing.