Was Natural Medicine Destroyed in 1910?

I am now 68 and over the years I have relied upon alternative medical solutions for almost all my health problems. A change in diet, herbs, vitamins, minerals and lots of exercise ended up being almost all the medicine I ever needed! In 2010, when I was 61, I cured myself of arthritis with vitamins and minerals alone. I had suffered since I was in my 20s. My doctors said arthritis was not curable, but Western medicine was wrong about arthritis. After that simple cure, I quit suffering, became skeptical, and started to research the history of medicine in North America. What I discovered is astonishing!

From a young age, I was fascinated by medical technology. When I was about 7 years old, in 1956, a very old lady next door was using an antique electric muscle stimulation tool on her leg muscles, which were stiff. She said it made her feel better. I was fascinated as a child to see her leg muscles pulsing from the electric field. When I asked our family doctor what that electric stimulation tool was about, he told me it was all ‘quack medicine’ that did nothing at all.

In 1963, I was 14 years old. My parents went on holidays in Barbados and left me with a Latvian couple who had a farm outside Hamilton, Ontario. They grew many mysterious plants called ‘medicinal herbs’ on their farm for healing. When they told me about herbalism in Latvia, I was astounded to know that medicines came from herbs. My parents knew nothing about herbs as medicine. In all my schooling up to that point, ‘herbs for medicine’ was a topic that never came up. When I researched it at the local library, I found that herbs had been used as medicine for thousands of years. How did the history of herbal medicine become virtually erased by the mid 20th century?

The Unknown History of Alternate Therapies

As an inventor, at age 65, I designed electro-medicine brain stimulation devices for brightening mood and for relaxation.

I was surprised to learn that similar machines were first used in France, in 1903. And I was astounded to learn that electro-medicine was first used in ancient Egypt, where electric eels were used to treat migraine headaches. In ancient Rome, electric fish were used to treat epilepsy and headaches. Electro-medicine remained popular worldwide throughout the 20th century, except in North America, where it was almost unknown until the late 1980s. How did the use of electro-medical treatment become virtually erased from our culture in North America?

The Origins of Western Medicine

The creation of Western medicine starts with John D. Rockefeller (1839 – 1937) who was an oil baron and America’s first billionaire. In the 1800s, using ‘organic chemistry,’ or the chemistry of carbon, the petrochemical industries were created. In the 1800s, it came to light that various traditional herbal remedies contained active ingredients called ‘alkaloids.’ These alkaloids could often be produced synthetically by the petrochemical industries. Sometimes the active ingredient of a medicinal herb could be chemically modified and patented. This new business was called the ‘pharmaceutical industry.’ The resulting patent medicine could be sold at great profit, compared to the herb from which it was originally derived.

By the turn on the 20th century, Rockefeller controlled 90% of all oil production in the U.S. through a multitude of oil companies owned by him. There were only 1,000 cars in existence in 1900 that burned gasoline. Not much profit was to be found in cars. The petrochemical industry, however, was flourishing. The pharmaceutical industries promised to be the most profitable part of the oil industry. Rockefeller invested heavily in the newly created pharmaceutical companies. He formed the Rockefeller Foundation in 1913 and focused on the pharmaceutical industries and medical education.

Andrew Carnegie, in 1900, was also very wealthy. He had made his original fortune by investing in Columbia Oil in 1862; made an even bigger fortune in steel and formed the Carnegie Foundation in 1905. The foundation was known for its expertise in funding, and carrying out, educational ventures.

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