The American health care system is terminally ill. It is astonishingly expensive, remarkably variable in quality, and incapable of stemming the rising tide of chronic illness in our population. Yet, the majority of Americans believe it is the best system in the world and cling to the belief that, far from ailing, it delivers care superior to those of countries across the globe. The system has obliged us by providing an elaborate set of myths and misconceptions about American health care that significantly shape our beliefs. These myths keep us blissfully ignorant about the true quality, safety, and value of the care we receive. This ignorance has a price: it leads us to draw erroneous conclusions about our conditions, fail to properly evaluate potential treatment options, and rarely question our providers’ competency. The Myths of Modern Medicine looks at the real issues contributing to the dysfunction of our healthcare system and how these issues affect the care we receive. The book, based upon John Leifer’s 30 years of immersion in the healthcare industry, challenges some of our most commonly held misperceptions about this vitally important industry. Leifer strips away the elaborately constructed myths that conceal the ugly underbelly of healthcare and lays bare the truth about an industry that serves special interest groups far better than it serves its patients. A survival guide for anyone entering the healthcare system, this timely work helps consumers better research provider competency; ask the right questions to evaluate potential treatment options; and communicate the information that will help yield the right treatment decisions. Several studies have shown patients today have only about a 50 percent chance of getting the generally accepted best treatment for their conditions. This book helps consumers increase these odds with step-by-step directions on how to interact more productively with their doctors and become true partners in making what may be the most crucial decisions of their lives.

Myth, a symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief. While I understand, these myths have been prevalent for generations; They gave hope to our friends and family members. But, we have to understand that more than 100 years back, knowledge was very limited. We need to weigh both risks and benefits equally whenever we try to treat any medical conditions by following old myths. We did not have choices for the last several generations, but now we do have choices.

The #1 New York Times bestseller by Senator Al Franken, author of Giant of the Senate Al Franken, one of our “savviest satirists” (People), has been studying the rhetoric of the Right. He has listened to their cries of “slander,” “bias,” and even “treason.” He has examined the GOP's policies of squandering our surplus, ravaging the environment, and alienating the rest of the world. He’s even watched Fox News. A lot. And, in this fair and balanced report, Al bravely and candidly exposes them all for what they are: liars. Lying, lying liars. Al destroys the liberal media bias myth by doing what his targets seem incapable of: getting his facts straight. Using the Right’s own words against them, he takes on the pundits, the politicians, and the issues, in the most talked about book of the year. Timely, provocative, unfailingly honest, and always funny, Lies sticks it to the most right-wing administration in memory, and to the right-wing media hacks who do its bidding.

The history of medicine in non-European countries has often been characterized by the study of their native "traditional" medicine, such as (Galenico-)Islamic medicine, and Ayurvedic or Chinese medicine. Modern medicine in these countries, on the other hand, has usually been viewed as a Western corpus of knowledge and institution, juxtaposing or replacing the native medicine but without any organic relation with the local context. By discarding categories like Islamic, Indian, or Chinese medicine as the myths invented by modern (Western) historiography in the aftermath of the colonial and post colonial periods, the book proposes to bridge the gap between Western and 'non-Western' medicines, opening a new perspective in medical historiography in which 'modern medicine' becomes an integral part of the history of medicine in non-European countries. Through essays and case studies of medical modernization, this volume particularly calls into question the categorization of ‘Western’ and ‘non-Western’ medicine and challenges the idea that modern medicine could only be developed in its Western birthplace and then imported to and practised as such to the rest of the world. Against the concept of a ‘project’ of modernization at the heart of the history of modern medicine in non-Western countries, the chapters of this book describe ‘processes’ of medical development by highlighting the active involvement of local elements. The book’s emphasis is thus on the ‘modernization’ or ‘construction’ of modern medicine rather that on the diffusion of ‘modern medicine’ as an ontological entity beyond the West.

The instant New York Times bestseller By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing. In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health? Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Cowritten with his son Daniel, The Myth Of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.

In the words of George Noory, "Monumental Myths, is a veritable buffet for so-called conspiracy theorists." So, put on your seatbelt and prepare to be thrust headlong into the world of "conspiracy reality." "In Monumental Myths, Ty Bollinger welcomes you into a scenic tour of some of the most outrageous events in our modern history - and he is an excellent tour guide. You'll move at a good pace, knocking back topic after topic with gusto. You won't be bogged down with the kind of tedious excess that is the death of most PBS-endorsed political guidebooks, but neither will you lose essential and enlightening detail. And Ty's good-humored, common-sense but well-reasoned approach will keep you involved (and smiling) throughout, wanting to see what big lie gets skewered next. The events are covered, major and minor, from JFK to GMO, Boston to Waco, aspartame to Oklahoma City, fluoride to Monsanto-land, MLK, chemtrails and beyond. The book functions as a kind of 'greatest hits, ' or sportsman's guide to a 'World Series of Conspiracy.' Ty brings that feeling to his work: the love of a good sports writer for a game. The game here is our history of national and international deception, played by the jackals who've manipulated their way into power. Most authors take on one issue to excess, burying us in useless and irrelevant data, without drawing our eye to the hundred similar (or identical) events on the horizon. But what we really want - and what Ty delivers - is a compendium, a means to compare and contrast the lies of history: how much better it is to have it all laid out in one, colorful, entertaining volume. And what's wrong with being entertaining? The bad guys don't know what to do when the truth-tellers crack wise and get funny - it throws them off their pitch. So much the better for the truth-seekers that we keep our sense of humor - and Ty certainly does. Even when the material goes into dark country, even when we're faced with acts of willful destruction so callous, brutal and monstrous you'd think we'd just lay down and give up, Ty marshals us on by shining a light on the things that make us human: our curiosity, wit and humor, compassion, integrity, critical thinking; and, thank goodness, the thing that governments and media ignore - our irreplaceable common sense." Liam Scheff, author of Official Stories. "Why did Monumental Myths need to be written? To fill the monumental gaps in the real history not taught to most Americans! And Ty Bollinger is just the man for the job, covering a comprehensive array of events from perspectives unapproved by any government agency, but guaranteed to cure your historical deficiency diseases. The time is right and the people are finally hungry enough to see through the empty calories fed to us by the mainstream media. What Ty has done with this book is to satisfy the most voracious of appetites for those who are the hungriest to know what has gone wrong over the last 100+ years right up until today. With great breadth, depth and humor, prepare to have your historical and contemporary chakras aligned to see through some of the most monumental myths that, up until this point, have misled generations of freedom-loving people into 'misinformational' bondage. I can't thank Ty enough for putting all of this information into one book!" Robert Scott Bell, Syndicated host of the "Robert Scott Bell Show."

This book is the result of many years wading through myths about health and identifying the link between nutrition and health. Some of these myths have been diversions created by 'science'. Hypocrates, know as the father of modern medicine, said 'Let food be thy medicine'. One of the first things he asked a patient was what they had been eating. How many medical practitioners ask that these days? It's the source of our food that is important. The book provides historical evidence to support this and points out that organic is not necessarily nutritionally more dense. The book points out how some science, faulty for whatever reason, has led us astray. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has not been able to find a single disease that is not linked to nutrition. However, the author points out two other factors that come a close equal second.