The Ultimate Medical Mistake
Chapter 4

What Is
Disease

This chapter constitutes an attempt to condense a very broad subject into a few pages. As such, we will only be touching on the general rules and principles. No attempt will be made to deal with any possible exceptions to these rules and principles.

In order to fully appreciate the subject matter that follows, it is important that we first consider the various generally accepted categories or “stages" of disease. In this regard, please refer to the table following. Certain schools of thought interpret these various stages of disease slightly differently but, for the sake of this exercise, the interpretation that is presented below will more than suffice.

Reading from top to bottom of the table, we will notice that these categories or stages of disease progress from the less serious, less deep-seated manifestations, which are usually relatively easy to overcome, to the more serious, more deep-seated manifestations which can be life-threatening and which are far more difficult to overcome.

Please Take Careful Note: Until such time as we specifically refer to chronic and degenerative diseases, we will be discussing the acute stage manifestations of disease as presented above - that is, we will be considering diseases such as colds, boils, pimples, fevers, and diarrhea, etcetera. Please do not overlook this point.

With this caution in mind, let us now get back to the question: What is disease?

In order to answer this question, and this with authority, I would like us to consider four inspired definitions of disease:

Remembering that our focus right now is on acute diseases such as colds, coughs, boils and diarrhea, etcetera, and with reference to Definition A, let us ask ourselves two very important questions:

If acute disease is trying to “free the system” from an undesirable condition, is acute disease a good thing or a bad thing?

Let’s put that another way.

If acute disease is working to free the system from a negative condition that we have brought upon ourselves through the “violation of the laws of health,” is acute disease “an enemy” or “a friend?”

No matter how we consider this definition, we have to conclude that something that is working to free the system from an undesirable condition is a good thing - a “friend” indeed.

Some will no doubt grapple with the thought that our acute diseases are “friendly agencies,” yet the inspired statement below reveals that a misunderstanding on this point can be fatal. While this statement was penned many decades ago, the scenario that is here spoken of is still a very common scenario today:

“In all their habits . . . they have manifested a recklessness in regard to health and life; and when, as the result, sickness has come upon them they have made themselves believe that God was the author of it, when their own wrong course of action has brought the sure result. When in distress they send for the doctor, and trust their bodies in his hands, expecting that he will make them well. He deals out to them drugs, the nature of which they know nothing, and in their blind confidence they swallow anything that the doctor may choose to give. Thus powerful poisons are often administered which fetter [hinder] nature in all her friendly efforts to recover the abuse the system has suffered, and the patient is hurried out of this life.” (2SM441.1 Emphasis supplied)

Please notice that in this case the drugs only made matters worse by hindering nature “in all her friendly efforts" to promote healing. Through the agency of disease, nature was doing her "friendly" best to rid the system of an undesirable condition that had come about because of "their own wrong course of action." Yet, because they knew no better, they called for a doctor, who also did not know any better. In his sincere desire to help his patient, he administered drugs that worked against Nature’s “friendly” healing efforts, and this unwise action ultimately caused the untimely death of the patient.

Contrary to popular belief, therefore, and contrary to that which is generally taught in mainstream medical schools, acute disease, as manifested in coughs, colds, fevers, pimples, boils and diarrhea, etcetera, is usually nothing other than a “friendly” attempt on the part of nature to cleanse our systems and to facilitate the healing process.

To further reinforce this understanding of acute disease, let us carefully analyze yet another inspired definition of disease:

In the light of this definition, let us again ask the question:

Is something that is trying to “free the system” of poisonous impurities a good thing or a bad thing - is it “a friend” or “an enemy?”

Obviously it is a good thing – a “friend.” While this friendly effort of nature is usually “termed disease,” and while it may well be accompanied by some measure of “dis-ease” or discomfort, it is obviously a good thing.

To confirm the point, let us consider what Dr Stanley Lief, N.D., D.O., D.C., has to say about disease. Dr Lief is a renowned author, and has long been a forerunner in the Nature Cure movement.

“Disease is a physical house cleaning. This can be borne out by indisputable evidence. The process of acute disease is one that actually saves life. It enables the body to cleanse itself of dangerous excesses of impurities that the depurating organs [the lungs, bowels, bladder & skin - aided by the liver and the kidneys] have been unable to eliminate in the normal way. The situation has become one in which the body is full of filth [impurities] and so the body must seek some way by which to throw it off, or death will ensue. The most usual way is by means of a fever - a burning up, a feverish cold, [or by way of a cough, a boil, diarrhea, pimples or sneezing], etcetera. These processes are produced by the body in an effort to purify and soothe itself. If the purpose of disease were universally understood from this standpoint, it would quickly loose its terrors, and instead be regarded as a friend in disguise.” (Health for All, Editorial, Volume 62)

What else can we conclude, therefore, except that acute disease is a friendly healing agency?

As Dr. Hartley-Hennessy confirms:

“Disease is exactly what the word implies, “dis-ease”, or discomfort. This discomfort is experienced during nature’s effort to correct a fault, restore the balance, expel poisons in the system, or in any way throw off an offending cause - a ceaseless effort to save the vital organs. From the common cold to tumors, all are Nature’s effort to throw off poisonous matter.” (Dr. T. Hartley-Hennessy A.R.C.A., Healing By Water, pp.175, 176)

In the light of our discussion around Definitions A and B, let us now consider two more inspired definitions of disease. Because these two definitions are almost identical, we will consider them in parallel:

With reference to the above table, let us now reflect on the sub-sections labeled [i], [ii], [iii] and [iv].

Sub-Section [i]: We will notice that in all four definitions that we have thus far considered, nature is the active agency that initiates disease; but just what is Ellen White referring to when she uses the term “nature?”

According to her . . .

“Deity is the author of nature. The natural world has, in itself, no power but that which God supplies. Nature is God’s physician. Through the agencies of nature, God is working, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, to keep us alive, to build up and restore us. When any part of the body sustains injury, a healing process is at once begun; nature’s agencies are set at work to restore soundness. But the power working through these agencies is the power of God. All life-giving power is from Him. When one recovers from disease, it is God who restores him.” (6BC1068.2, CH170.1; CH168.1)

If God is the author of nature, and if nature works through our acute diseases to restore wellness, may we conclude that God is the author of our acute diseases?

Where the orthodox medical/drug industry has given the world the idea that our acute diseases are “enemies” that must be warred against and suppressed without delay, and where the orthodox medical/drug industry has profited immensely as a result of this erroneous assumption, the sure word of inspiration assures us that our acute diseases form part of an all-wise strategy that has been set in place by an all-wise God for the purpose of preserving life.

Sub-Section [ii]: Next we will notice that Nature does not always respond immediately to the ill treatment that she suffers. According to the Nature Cure philosophy of disease, nature usually allows toxic impurities to build up in the system. A large proportion of these impurities will be stored within mucosal and/or fat deposits in the body. Then, when nature senses that the body has sufficient vitality to cleanse itself, she will attempt to rid the system of this undesirable condition, and this she will usually seek to accomplish through an acute, friendly, eliminative outbreak such as a cough, a cold, a fever, diarrhea, and/or sneezing, etcetera.

Thus we will appreciate why it is that we do not always suffer today for the indiscretions of yesterday.

Sub-Section [iii]: With reference once more to definitions A to D, please notice again that acute disease is a vital, friendly, God-initiated healing agency, the purpose of which is as follows:

To free! To relieve! To rid! To remove!

Clearly, therefore, our acute diseases were designed by God for the good of His children; they are the kindly housemaids of nature, and they play a vital supportive and protective role that is critical to the maintenance of life?

Dr. Russell Trall was a contemporary of Ellen White. Some of his articles have been published together with her articles in the book, How to Live. Let us notice how Dr Trall describes disease:

“Disease is the life principle at war with an enemy. It is the defender and protector of the living organism. It is a process of purification. It is an effort to remove foreign and offensive materials from the system, and [to] repair damage the vital machinery has suffered.” (How to Live, p. ix)

Please take careful note that Dr Trall does not refer to disease as an enemy, but as “the life principle at war with an enemy.”

This thought is hugely significant, for if disease is an enemy we should fight against it, but if disease is “the life principle at war with an enemy,” in other words, if disease is our ally, then the last thing we would ever want to do is to fight against it.

How tragic, therefore, that this momentous truth has long been obscured by erroneous teachings, teachings that have cost humanity dearly – both in terms of fiscal cost and in terms of unnecessary suffering and premature death.

Sub-Section [iv]: Finally, let us carefully observe that Nature’s healing effort gives rise to certain conditions and discomforts, such as:

Definition C: “Headaches, chills, fevers, nervousness, paralysis and other evils too numerous too mention.” (CD125.2)

Definition D: “Fever and various other forms of sickness.” (MH235.3)

In the context of definitions C and D, this means that these discomforts and disorders are not diseases in themselves; that is, they are not isolated incidents. Inspiration leaves us in no doubt that they are nothing other than the seen and/or felt conditions that manifest themselves when nature’s kindly healing processes are at work within the body. In other words, headaches, chills, fevers, nervousness, paralysis, etcetera, are all too often little more than symptoms or effects of a deeper cause – which deeper cause is usually God’s acute healing and cleansing initiative working through the power of nature.

While it may sometimes be necessary to use natural means to ease these symptoms or effects of disease or, as in the case of a fever, to cooperate with the fever and to control it, it is logical to conclude that these conditions will usually only abate when nature has completed her cleansing work.

This being the case let us ask ourselves a very important question in the light of definitions C and D:

When faced with headaches, chills, fevers, nervousness and paralysis, etcetera,

• Should we cooperate with nature as she seeks to heal and to cleanse our systems, knowing that our symptoms will abate when nature completes her cleansing work, or

• Should we resort to drugs that suppress these symptoms of disease and that add to the toxic load on the system?

While the answer to this question is obvious, let us reinforce our understanding by considering the matter of headaches:

Headaches are usually caused by a faulty diet and/or lifestyle which leads to a toxic build up in the body. This toxic build up will demand the services of nature to cleanse the system. During this cleansing process, toxins will enter the bloodstream prior to being eliminated, and these toxins in the bloodstream are a primary cause of headaches.

It will be appreciated, therefore, that while painkillers may provide temporary relief from a headache, they do nothing to remove the underlying cause of the headache – that being the toxic state of the system. On the contrary, painkillers themselves are toxic and, as such, they will most certainly contribute to the toxic state of the system. This being the case, there is good reason to believe that today’s painkiller could well be a major contributor to tomorrow’s headache.

This is why so many people are never able to overcome their headaches, (a) because they never correct the dietary and lifestyle factors that gave rise to the headache in the first place, (b) because they do nothing to help nature to complete her cleansing work, and (c) because their painkillers are major contributors to their headaches.

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Clearly, therefore, the understanding of disease that we have been given via a pen that cannot err is nothing like the understanding of disease that has been embraced by orthodox medicine at large . . . And this fact presents us with a number of very serious challenges:

First Challenge: If acute disease is nature’s friendly effort to cleanse and to heal the system, and if, in failing to recognize this fact, orthodox medicine generally and routinely uses powerful toxic drugs to suppress and/or to war against this God-initiated healing and cleansing process, is this not one reason why disease is epidemic throughout the world today?

Second Challenge: If drugs are a primary weapon in the orthodox medical armory today, and if drugs do not possess any curative powers, is this not one very plausible reason why so many people become “permanent patients,” why genuine and lasting cures are so rare in these times, and why roughly 90% of those who die in first world countries are dying of disease instead of old age?

Third Challenge: If we add toxic drugs to an already toxic system, and we thus suppress nature’s friendly effort to remove the toxins that are already in the system, will this not create a more toxic system? will this not make our condition more serious? will this not force nature to resort to more drastic measures in order to cleanse the system? and is this not one good reason why more people today are suffering from chronic and degenerative ailments than ever before?

We will attempt to answer these questions in the chapters following.

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Dr Harry Benjamin is a forerunner in the Nature Cure movement. He provides us with a fitting summary to the material presented in this chapter:

“Disease is a self-healing process. What the medical profession calls a "cure" is merely the suppression of superficial symptoms, to cause further and more serious trouble later on! What the medical profession never understands, is that in every case disease itself, with all its varied multiplicity of expression, is merely Nature’s attempt at self-healing, and must never be thwarted, fought against, checked, or suppressed, but helped (as it were) out of the system by an understanding of the real causes at work and by active or passive collaboration, as the case may be.

“"The Nation’s Fighters Against Disease" - that is the proud title of the medical profession, and in it is expressed all their failure to understand the real essential nature of disease!

“Disease is not something to be fought against; but it is a self-healing crisis brought about by factors, which the system finds a hindrance and impediment to proper functioning! Disease, in short, is the result of man’s follies and mistakes which Nature is doing her best to rectify for him!

“In effect, therefore - and if the reader can follow this clearly - he or she will be forever emancipated from the universal besetting fear of disease. Disease is nothing more or less than Nature’s blind attempt at cure. It is the system’s attempt to deal as effectively as it can under given conditions with factors which, through man’s ignorance, folly, and self-indulgence, are causing impediment of function!” (Harry Benjamin N.D, Everybody’s Guide to Nature Cure, pp.18, 19)