Hugh Downs helping to Hawk Alternative Medicine 'Secrets'

Everyone is trying to grab your dollars. Often this is done by hyping a desperate need for something unique -- information, product, service, etc. -- and creating a sense of urgency in obtaining what's being offered.

After watching Face the Nation this morning, I was assaulted by an infomercial hawking a newly expanded, 'must have' book of the season.

The World's Greatest Treasury of Health Secrets

"Drug industry doesn't want you to know about...."

"It's true -- warts can be cured by ducktape."

"buy one for yourself and more for your loved ones"

So that's it...buy, buy, buy...spend YOUR money for a collection of articles, for secrets that "THEY" don't want you to know, for 'cures' to common chronic illnesses.

Are we to infer that the 'big money medicine' and 'big pharma' industries really want us all to stay ill and unhealthy so that "THEY" can make huge profits off of our illnesses?

Well, there may be some truth to that...but let's get real.

I am confident that my doctors sincerely wish the best for my health and wellbeing. The idea of 'secrets' is offensive and questions the role of 'evidence-based' medicine in our medical/healthcare system.

I wonder if the ingestion of colloidal silver is included in the Treasury. If so, I would question the validity of the entire collection.

The Treasury is over 545 pages and touts the expertise of over 450 experts. Seems to me that each contributor did not receive much print space. How detailed can one get being limited to one page of information?

Below are some details taken from their website:

The world's greatest traditional and alternative doctors join forces at last... and their findings could extend your life by 40 happy, healthy years.

Over 500 pages of secrets including:

• The little-known heart attack symptom that so many people tragically ignore (often you feel no pain at all)...
• Grow your own army of cholesterol-cutting microbes in your gut. These friendly bacteria normally help us digest our food and keep our cholesterol down. Discover the little-known nutrient that restores them to healthy levels.
• The common pain pill that secretly raises your blood pressure. It's a side effect that drug manufacturers hate to talk about, because they make so much money from this remedy. But if you substitute an equally effective pill, your pressure may normalize all by itself.
• Double your immunity to colds. Echinacea... Vitamin C... Zinc... You've tried them all, and they don't work, do they? But our team found this to be foolproof.
• Reverse brain drain. Neurologists call this breakthrough "arborization." It makes your neurons secrete new growth hormones, reactivating your brain. And you can do it yourself in just 20 minutes a day!
• The eating cure for arthritis now proven in 15 different studies. Scientists have long known that some foods reduce inflammation. Others make it worse. This amazingly effective program simply increases the helpful type and dials the others down. Doesn't cost you anything!
• Did you know that breast cancer patients who don't meekly obey doctor's orders are twice as likely to be alive 15 years later? See the surprising reason why.
• The powerful natural powder that stops most prostate tumors from spreading. Totally safe!
• Switch migraines off with simple 3-vitamin formula.

And much, much more!

Over 450 experts, including:

DAVID ALBERTS, MD, Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson
ANN M. ARVIN, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA
JOHN BARON, MD, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH
HERBERT BENSON, MD, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA
KEITH BLOCK, MD, The Cancer Institute Edgewater Medical Center, Chicago
JEFFREY BLUMBERG, PhD, chief, Antioxidants Research Lab, Tufts University, Boston
DR. JOYCE BROTHERS, renowned psychologist and best-selling author
THOMAS BROTT, MD, professor of neurology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL
DEEPAK CHOPRA, MD, founder, Chopra Center, Carlsbad, CA
JOAN BORYSENKO, PhD, New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, MA
RACHELLE DOODY, MD, PhD, director, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas
PETER D. FRY, MD, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
JOE D. GOLDSTRICH, MD, former medical director, Pritikin Longevity Center; author, Healthy Heart, Longer Life
WILLIAM B. GRANT, PhD, senior research scientist, NASA
JAMES GORDON, MD, Georgetown Medical School, Washington, DC
JUAN C. GUARDERAS, MD, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL
STEVEN F. HOROWITZ, MD, Stamford Hospital, CT
HENRY D. JANOWITZ, MD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY
DANIEL LEVY, MD, director, Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA
CHRISTOPHER LINSTROM, MD, chief of otology, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
BERNARD LOWN, MD, professor emeritus, Harvard University School of Public Health, MA
NORMAN MARCUS, MD, Norman Marcus Pain Institute, NY
JOHN MCDOUGALL, MD, director, McDougall Program for controlling heart disease
SAMUEL MEYERS, MD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY
RANDOLPH M. NESSE, MD, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor
MICHAEL J. NORDEN, MD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry, University of Washington; author, Beyond Prozac
THOMAS PICKERING, MD, Mount Sinai Hospital, NY
SHELDON PINNELL, MD, professor, division of dermatology, Duke University, NC
DAVID S. PISETSKY, MD, Duke University Medical Center, NC
STEVEN PIVER, MD, director and founder, The Gilda Radner Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry
BANDARU S. REDDY, PhD, chief, Division of Nutritional Carcinogenesis, American Health Foundation, NY
RICHARD M. RESTAK, MD, clinical professor, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC; author, The New Brain
PERRY ROBINS, MD, New York University Medical Center
KENNETH ROTHAUS, MD, Cornell University Medical College, NY; coauthor, Hospital Smarts
ROBIN I. RUSSELL, MD, PhD, chief of gastroenterology, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Scotland
BARRY SEARS, PhD, author of The Zone, former scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
HARVEY B. SIMON, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
MARGARET A. CAUDILL-SLOSBERG, MD, PhD, MPH, instructor of medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH
JAMISON STARBUCK, ND, University of Montana, Missoula
JASON THEODOSAKIS, MD, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson
JUDITH WURTMAN, PhD, research scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; author, Managing Your Mind & Mood Through Food