At an ideal clinic, we see numerous practitioners from different specialities applying compatible and interactive modalities to address the root cause underlying all the symptoms in an individual and taking steps to prevent illness in the future. The ideal clinic offers proven treatments�based on successful patient outcomes�for reversing major illnesses, including cancer, AIDS, and heart disease. The ideal clinic is really a sketch of what true health care ought to be and, with your help, what it eventually will be in North America.

At the top of my list of criteria for the ideal clinic is the need for each practitioner to be a generalist. Whether you're an M.D., naturopath, homeopath, acupuncturist, chiropractor, or osteopath, it's crucial that you consider the whole person, from biochemistry to psyche, nutrient status to structural alignment. The age of the medical specialist is over; we can no longer practice a medicine of unconnected body parts. This is why conventional medicine usually fails to heal. In the new era of the medical generalist, practitioners see everything in a patient's symptom picture as connected and relevant; especially important is the vitality of the immune system, a fact conventional medicine inexcusably ignores.

Three broad principles are at play in the ideal clinic. First, doctors see disease before it ever manifests as an organic disturbance. Examination by darkfield microscopy of a sample of the patient's living blood can reveal much about the health of or health threats confronting that person. By "reading" the patient's blood, the skilled physician can detect early signs of illness in the form of microorganisms known to produce disease. Specifically, darkfield microscopy reveals distortions of red blood cells, possible undesirable bacterial or fungal life forms, and blood ecology patterns indicative of health or illness.

Ideal clinicians may rely on electrodermal screening (EDS) as a way of gathering energy information signals from the patient. A blunt, noninvasive electric probe is placed at specific points on the patient's hands, face, or feet, corresponding to acupuncture points at the beginning or end of energy meridians. Minute electrical discharges from these points serve as information signals about the condition of the body's organs and systems, detecting allergies, infections, cancer processes, and immune deficiencies.

EDS gives the physician valuable information about a patient's health problems at a very early stage. EDS also enables you to pinpoint hidden obstacles to treatment and to determine in advance which remedies at what strength and dosage are most likely to succeed.

In the ideal clinic, a patient's nutritional status is carefully evaluated, by means of blood tests and questionnaires. Categories to be checked include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty and organic acids, lipid peroxides, general blood chemistries (cholesterol, thyroid hormone, glucose), and antioxidants. In each category, a patient's levels are compared with predetermined limits.

The practitioner must also find out the patient's level of toxicity. Unfortunately, no matter how healthfully they are living, almost everyone today has a variety of toxins (including parasites) in their body.

Increasingly, practitioners of alternative medicine find that low-level but chronic exposure to a variety of toxic heavy metals pose serious health dangers if the toxins are allowed to stay in the body. Such toxins are now commonly found in our food, water, and air, as well as cooking utensils, cosmetics, auto exhaust, tobacco smoke, many of the building materials and fabrics in our work and living environments, and dental materials in our teeth (specifically, mercury fillings).

In the ideal clinic, a patient's teeth and dental history are accorded prime importance. Copious clinical research has established that mercury-based dental fillings, root canals, incompatible dental materials and metals, and jawbone infections (from previously extracted teeth) can pose serious health problems throughout the body. In many cases, unresolved or undetected dental problems are a key contributing cause to acute and chronic health problems and must be addressed for permanent relief of symptoms.

As a practitioner in this ideal clinic, you must examine the patient's lifestyle for further contributing causes. Although it is more widely understood in Germany and China, geopathic factors�harmful energies emanating upwards from the Earth, usually into a house�can seriously compromise a person's health. For example, underneath the house and directly aligned with a person's bed, there may be harmful electromagnetic field disturbances that can entirely undermine one's good health. Gamma rays from the atmosphere may also enter the ground and "feed" upwards into the house, creating ill health. In Germany, such places are called "cancer houses" because of the high incidence of cancer among people sleeping in beds positioned over such energy fields.

Another key aspect of lifestyle is how people feel and express themselves emotionally. Research clearly shows that emotional and psychological factors�such as long-term unresolved trauma, resentment, anger, or grief�can set forces in motion that eventually result in physical illness. The ideal clinician must understand who the person is as well as what their problems are.

The second principle in the ideal clinic is that practitioners emphasize detoxification of the patient. All the toxins in the body must come out. Chronic constipation comes with many health conditions and even supposed bowel regularity does not preclude the likelihood that your intestines may be clogged up like an overused all-purpose closet.

If there is one thing that most alternative medicine doctors agree on, it is that too many toxins in the body produce illness. Many of these are stored in the small and large intestines as well as in key organs such as the liver and kidneys. Increasingly, a toxic body is being identified as the predisposing factor in a long list of acute and chronic, degenerative illnesses.

To flush the toxins from the body's "sewage system," the ideal clinician uses a variety of measures, including herbal detoxification formulas, colonics, coffee enemas, saunas, dietary changes, limited fasts, chelation, and "friendly" bacteria supplements such as Acidophilus. In addition, the physician addresses the patient's lymphatic system, using devices such as a light beam generator to free clogged lymph that, once moving again, helps collect and remove toxins from the body.

Chelation therapy refers to a method of binding up ("chelating") toxins (e.g., heavy metals) and metabolic wastes and removing them from the body while at the same time increasing blood flow and removing arterial plaque. Chelation therapy is especially beneficial for preventing or reducing the effects of all forms of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease including angina pectoris and coronary artery disease.

The third major principle exemplified by the ideal clinic is the fortification of the patient's immune system to prevent future illness. An efficient immune system is the key to lasting health. Once the toxins (and their burden on the immune system) have been removed from the body, an intelligent and strategic approach to eating and nutritional supplementation can ensure it will remain the efficient, dependable defense system the body requires.

The blood profiles and electrodermal screening results (mentioned above) can help identify the most appropriate and individualized nutritional and herbal supplementation program for the patient. Research shows that the physician's genuine caring, insightful attitude, and positive, optimistic outlook can also act as a valuable "health supplement." Ideal clinicians dispense these qualities liberally.

Finally, the ideal clinic itself is free of environmental contaminants and pollutants. A physician's office must be scrupulously designed and outfitted with environmentally-friendly materials so that it does not become yet another source of toxicity for clients. As one of our doctor's said in these pages, "The moment patients and staff walk through the door, the healing process begins."