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Honest Medicine: Effective, Time-Tested, Inexpensive Treatments for Life-Threatening Diseases

HONEST MEDICINE introduces four lifesaving treatments that have been effectively treating--and in some cases curing--people for 25-90 years. However, for reasons of profitability (or lack thereof), these treatments have not been universally accepted. The treatments Low Dose Naltrexone for autoimmune diseases (e.g., multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, etc.) HIV/AIDS and some cancers; the Ketogenic Diet, for pediatric epilepsy; intravenous alpha lipoic acid, for terminal liver disease and some cancers; and Silverlon, for non-healing wounds. This book has already received a great deal of Ronald Hoffman, "I predict that Honest Medicine will become an instant classic." Jeffrey Dach, "A revolution is at hand, and Julia's new book, Honest Medicine, is leading the charge with banner held high." Mary "Julia Schopick is one of those rare people who can go through an agonizingly difficult experience and go on to transform her pain into a passionate, clear-headed campaign to help others." David Brownstein, "Honest Medicine should be required reading for all physicians and patients searching for safe and effective therapies." Julia Schopick is the creator of the award-winning blog, HonestMedicine.com, and has been a published writer and a public relations consultant for more than twenty years. When her husband Tim Fisher became ill in 1990 with a cancerous brain tumor, Julia became his medical advocate and began writing on topics relating to health and medicine published in American Medical News, ADVANCE, SEARCH and Alternative and Complementary Therapies. Her work and essays have been featured in the British Medical Journal, Modern Maturity and the Chicago Sun-Times. Her mission is to use her writing and public relations skills to inform the world about little-known but promising treatments via her website, her presentations and this book, and to empower people in their health choices.

310 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

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Julia Schopick

8 books2 followers

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5 stars
32 (64%)
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7 (14%)
3 stars
8 (16%)
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2 (4%)
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1 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Alicia Bayer.
Author 10 books259 followers
December 29, 2017
A really fascinating, well researched, maddening, captivating, empowering, knowledgeable book.

I absolutely love this book and read entire sections of it out loud to my husband, my 19 y/o daughter and her fiance. The author lost her husband to brain cancer but she became a health advocate in the years she spent helping him survive, and then carried on with the work after his death. It is filled with first person accounts from doctors and patients about low cost, effective medical treatments that have been proven to halt or cure diseases. The treatments are not "woo" or crazy herbs, oils, etc. They are recognized medically-approved treatments with years of testing behind them but no pharmaceutical interest pushing them into the mainstream. Specifically, the author focuses mainly on the ketogenic diet for epilepsy (which was developed at the Mayo Clinic), a very low dose of an FDA approved drug to halt the progression of MS and cure or greatly improve other autoimmune diseases like Crohn's Disease that costs less than a dollar a day, and an IV treatment that cures liver poisoning and cancer, among other treatments.

The book is filled with first-person stories by patients who were told they had incurable cancer and a few months to live and are thriving and cancer-free over a decade later, by parents whose children with epilepsy were permanently damaged by anti-seizure drugs and whose seizures either stopped completely or greatly diminished on the ketogenic diet, MS patients who were not helped at all by drugs that cost thousands of dollars a month but whose progression stopped and symptoms lessened as soon as they started this inexpensive daily pill, and so on. Most of these people have gone on to volunteer their time spreading the word about these treatments and they do not make any money at all for their work. They just believe in them and want to help others who have suffered the way they have or their loved ones have.

I cannot recommend the book enough. It's filled with references, studies, web links and more to empower patients to learn more. I got it from the library but want to see if it's on Kindle because it is so packed with information and suggested links and reading.
Profile Image for Diane Fogel.
108 reviews
August 20, 2017
A must read for anyone who may be contemplating surgery, dealing with cancer, or taking prescription meds for something a diet change or other options available could fix and save not only your life but heartache and lots and lots of money!! These options are not mentioned by your doctors and are even frowned upon by them because they are not BIG PHARMACUITCIAL money makers. So their are no government studies, only person success stories to back them. A major one is epilepsy, they would rather poison you with anti-seizure meds than try the Ketogentic diet that could not only stop the seizures, but possibly prevent brain damage, loss of eyesight and loss of a quality life just because its not backed by BIG PHARMA!
I am a firm believer in doing your own medical research first and foremost, I have had to have surgery in my past and I had the doctors looking at both me and my husband with utter shock because we asked the hard questions no one ever asks the doctors. We had the nerve to ask why we should follow the medical training they received without asking hard honest questions as to why the surgery was necessary and if there where other options available first that would cure the problem. I wish I had seem this book back than, I might have held out longer before surgery to be sure it was necessary to go under the knife. In the end I did have the surgery, but with much apprehension.
In my husbands case we have avoided surgery because we have done our own research and are maintaining a healthy lifestyle thought diet, thus avoiding surgery and expensive medications that more likely than not would cause sever side effects.
I just wish the book covered more than it does but its a great starting point for a real eye opening experience!!
A good example:
Its possible to cure, yes cure pancreatic cancer and live many happy healthy years after stage IV. I wish I'd known this information in 1988, when my mother (September 1988) and my Aunt (February 1988) both died from Pancreatic cancer. They would possibly still be here today with us. The cancer treatment is FDA approved, but because it doesn't cost and arm and a leg its rarely used and even frowned upon.


Take the time to do your own research, don't settle for the medical norm, don't be afraid to try alternative methods that actually work!!
288 reviews3 followers
January 21, 2013
Well researched, well written and easy to understand book outlining inexpensive yet effective treatments for MS, childhood epilepsy, liver disease and other illnesses. Julia Schopick has a gift for making medical lingo easy to understand and includes interviews with people who have used these treatments successfully. This is not a "don't listen to your doctor kind of book but rather a very valuable testament on the need to look beyond (as well as within) conventional medical treatment when faced with a serious illness.
Profile Image for Rena.
3 reviews1 follower
Currently Reading
July 28, 2012
Great read. A Lance suggestion. A book I refer to often. Effective, time-tested, inexpensive treatments, for life threatening diseases. Interesting and thought provoking!
12 reviews
July 27, 2026
It isn't so much the alternative approaches that I took away from this book, but some of the lessons she learned:

1. When a doctor says they can't help your situation or don't know how to make something better (eg, don't know how to cure xyz), believe them... as in believe that *they* don't know. Stop trying to get them to do something they are not capable of (for whatever reason). But that doesn't mean someone else doesn't know. Find someone else. (Sadly, this assumes this is an option.)

2. It is better to make decisions and prepare for emergency situations in advance rather than reacting amidst the extreme and emotional stress of an accident or sick/dying loved one. Have at least a little bit of a plan.

3. Most doctors are trying to do good, but even good doctors have bad days and/or blind spots. Advocate for yourself and loved ones when you can.
Profile Image for Benjamin Westleigh.
1 review
October 3, 2021
A dangerous book pushing 'cures' for serious illnesses that have not been found to be effective in medical studies.
The lack of scientific studies supporting the treatments in this book should be a warning sign however, the author pushes them as truth in order to garner sales in the misinformation era - ironically exactly what the author accuses medical professionals of doing.
For health advice, see your doctor, not this book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews