You are wise to question whom you can trust when it comes to maintaining, enhancing or rebuilding your health. Very slowly, the mainstream media has come around to realizing what millions of you have already figured out.
With so many websites, newspapers, magazines and other publications offering health advice, with every new multi-million dollar TV ad for another proclaimed miracle drug, and with the endless recommendations offered by traditional and natural physicians, it is essential to ask this question, above all others:
"What is their real motivation?"
If the answer provides you with a sense of security, move on to the next important question:
"What are their qualifications?"
The primary ploy of the existing medical establishment is to get you to forget the first question -- their real motivation -- by dazzling you with what appear to be magnificently glowing qualifications.
But beware of the following scams masquerading as medical science:
- Clinical trials conducted by heavily biased "researchers" with various ties to interested corporations and pharmaceutical companies
- Advertisements and news stories carefully scripted to scare you into belief
- Posh corporate offices and flashy websites
- An extreme focus on whatever funnels in the most profit, rather than on what will enhance your health or save your life
Don't fall for these schemes!
My motivation is to make you as healthy as you can possibly be. This requires that I do the following:
- Provide you with the most up-to-date natural health information and resources that will promote your highest degree of health, and
- Expose corporate secrets, government misinformation, and mass media hype that can steer you toward an early grave.
In other words, Mercola.com is not a tool to get me a bigger house or fancier car, or to run for Senate. I fund this site; therefore, I’m not handcuffed to any advertisers, silent partners or corporate parents.
Nearly All New Ideas are Initially Ridiculed
There are many skeptics who violently oppose the truths I reveal, vilifying me for seeking to open the eyes of the public.
I am reminded of a statement by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who pointed out over 200 years ago that each newly discovered truth has to pass through three stages:
- First, it is ridiculed.
- Next, it is violently opposed.
- Finally, it is accepted as self-evident.
My experience on the web mirrors his 18th century wisdom.
There are some so-called "skeptics" whose REAL motivation is profit, rather than genuine disagreement about science, and these folks share one agenda -- to sabotage your access to the truth.
So it boils down to a matter of intention. Those with your best interests at heart will eventually come around. But those with profit as their bottom line will oppose the truth to the bitter end, since the facts simply don’t earn them big enough paychecks.
When I offer or recommend products, I do so because I have thoroughly researched them and found they are the absolute best. I will not recommend substandard products, and I will not push products at you that you don’t really need, regardless of any potential financial upside.
I use the profits generated by product sales to make the Mercola website better and more functional for you.
I’m a Fully Licensed Physician
First and foremost, I am an osteopathic physician, also known as a DO.
DOs are licensed physicians who, like MDs, can prescribe medication and perform surgery in all 50 states. DOs and MDs have similar training and licensing requirements, beginning with four years of study in the basic and clinical sciences, followed by the successful completion of licensing exams.
But DOs bring something special (and I believe critical) to the practice of medicine.
Osteopathic physicians approach medicine holistically, treating the entire person rather than a collection of symptoms. DOs help patients develop attitudes and lifestyles that don't just fight illness, but help to prevent it as well.
I am also board-certified in family medicine and served as the chairman of the family medicine department at St. Alexius Medical Center for five years. I am trained in both traditional and natural medicine.
Honored by the Huffington Post in 2009
In November 2009, I was named the by the Huffington Post as the "Ultimate Game Changer in Wellness," an honor bestowed upon me by her readers themselves.
The Huffington Post defined Ultimate Game Changers as:
"100 innovators, visionaries, and leaders in 10 categories who are harnessing the power of new media to reshape their fields and change the world."
Of the 100 candidates, a single top Ultimate Game Changer is selected for each of the 10 categories, of which Wellness is one.
I am truly honored to be doing this work on your behalf. I promise to continue helping you separate fact from fiction when it comes to your health, undauntedly bringing you accurate, relevant information through Mercola.com.
Practice Profile:
I am dedicated to finding long-term solutions for my patients who suffer from chronic illnesses. A number of prescription medications are beneficial tools that can help provide relief from some acute illnesses, and as a fully licensed physician, I occasionally prescribe them for these purposes. However, I believe that most medications provide only temporary relief at best, and as an osteopathic physician, I seek to treat the whole person, not just the symptoms.
Education:
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1972-1976
- Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine 1978-1982
- Chicago Osteopathic Hospital 1982-1985 Family Practice Residency. Chief resident 1984- 1985
- Board Certified American College Osteopathic General Practitioners July 1985
- State of Illinois Licensed Physician and Surgeon
Professional Organizations:
Affiliations:
- St. Alexius Medical Center, Hoffman Estates, IL
- Chairman, Department of Family Practice 1988-1993
Publications:
- Aspartame Can Harm Your Health British Medical Journal October 3, 2004
- Fish Oil Far More Effective Than Aspirin For Pre-eclampsia British Medical Journal September 12, 2003
- Managing Hypertriglyceridemia Canadian Medical Journal April 1, 2003
- Nutritional Ignorance Will Sabotage Treatment British Medical Journal September 13, 2002
- Dietary Manipulations That Resolve Atopic Dermatitis British Medical Journal June 7, 2002
- Myopia Possible Link to Increased Refined Carbohydrate Intake and Hyperinsulinemia British Medical Journal May 17, 2002
- Recent Advances in Nutritional Alternative to Parathyroid Hormone for Osteoporosis British Medical Journal February 26, 2002
- Omega-3's and Childhood Asthma Thorax March 2002:57(3)281
- More on Terrorism, Journal American Osteopathic Association (JAOA) January 2002
- Many People are Taking Insulin Like Growth Factor Without Even Knowing It Western Journal of Medicine Vol 175 (6):378, Dec 2001
- Fluoride and Apoptosis: Trading Dental Caries for Cellular Death? British Medical Journal July 20, 2001
- Accuracy of Hair Analysis Journal American Medical Association (JAMA) 285:1576-77, March 28, 2001
- Mercury Toxicity and Systemic Elimination Agents Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine 11:53-62, March 2001
- Columnist for The Townsend Letter, a nationally prominent alternative medicine periodical, from October 1997 to June 2001
- Recurrent Otitis? Think Allergy Family Practice News page 12-13; October 1, 1996
- Natural Progesterone for PMS Patient Care 30:27-28 September 15, 1996
- The Basis For Microcurrent Electrical Therapy in Conventional Medical Practice J Advancement in Medicine 8:107-120, 1995
- Cracking Down on "Neck Cracking" Am Family Physician 45:452-459, February 1992 (article to discourage patient's self-manipulation which leads to ligamentous laxity)
- Minocycline Trials in Rheumatoid Arhtritis Patient Care January 20, 1992 p.20-21
- Calcium Channel Blockers and Dysmenorrhea J Adolescent Health 1:1-2, January 1992
- Better Sleep For Less Pain in Hand Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient Care December 15, 1991 p. 15
- Nutrition Software Helps Monitor Patients' Diets Computer News For Physicians, p. 29-30. June 15, 1990
- Premarital HIV Testing JAMA 261:2198, April 21, 1989
- Served as editor for HIV Monograph by Abbott Laboratories published in 1989 and distributed to physicians nationally
- Private Resources Should Share AIDS Funding Responsibility J Amer Osteo Assoc 88:313, March 1988
- What Physicians Should Know About AIDS Antibody Testing Osteo Med News December 1988
- Premarital HIV Test Is Worth the Money Am Med News p.45 September 9, 1988
- Pediatrics and AIDS JAMA 258:3119-3120, December 4, 1987
- Recent Developments In Smoking Cessation. Osteo Annals 14:31-32, 1987
- The New American Diet (Book Review) J Amer Osteo Assoc 153:107-108, 1987
- Update On Rubella, Hepatitis, and H. flu Vaccines Osteo Med News 3:31-32, 1986
- Calcium Supplementation in the Treatment of Hypertension J Amer Osteo Assoc 85:104-107, 1985
- NMR Analysis of Human and Rabbit Lens Experimental Eye Research 34:545-552, 1982
Personal:
My passion is to transform the traditional medical paradigm in the United States, and that consumes most of my free time after seeing patients. Since 1968, though, I have been an active runner; I completed the Chicago Marathon in just over three hours, among other accomplishments. I have also been a computer hobbyist since 1985, with an interest in the Internet that dates back to the early 1990s.
The existing medical establishment is responsible for killing and permanently injuring millions of Americans, but the surging numbers of visitors to Mercola.com since I began the site in 1997 - we are now routinely among the top 10 health sites on the Internet - convinces me that you, too, are fed up with their deception. You want practical health solutions without the hype, and that's what I offer.
Begin Your Journey to Independent Health!