Influenza Books

With the specter of a major influenza pandemic on the horizon, this book is a timely review and update on therapeutics for this sometimes-lethal disease. Even if today's bird flu does not evolve into a major killer as feared, seasonally epidemic influenza remains a serious disease throughout the world. Abascal's book looks back to the 1918 epidemic, the worst influenza epidemic in recent history, which killed millions of people worldwide. During that epidemic in the U.S., both homeopaths and herbalists claimed a better survival rate than that achieved by physicians of the day. Abascal's review of Eclectic herbal materia medica goes beyond the standard Felter and Ellingwood texts, and includes dozens of references to articles in the Eclectic Medical Journal. A primary source for the book is a survey of Eclectic remedies used during the 1918 Epidemic - the survey was done by the Lloyd brothers pharmaceutical company in 1919. She also includes historical and contemporary naturopathic and herbal sources. The fifteen most commonly-used Eclectic remedies are described in detail. About half of these, including four of the five top herbs, are Class IV low-dose toxic botanicals or other strong herbs generally not available to the non-physician herbalist. She also covers twenty more herbs covered in somewhat less detail. The relevance of this book for the clinical practitioner is four stars out of four. It is sure to broaden your thinking about materia medica and tailoring treatments to the presenting symptoms in the various stages of flu, including fever, muscle pain, headache, and respiratory complications.

This book is a great, relatively quick read. After a brief overview of influenza itself, including interesting thoughts about cytokine storms and herbs, Abascal launches into the fascinating history of the Eclectic physicians and their experience during the 1918 influenza pandemic. The fascinating history of the period and the surprising data on efficacy of herbs for this deadly epidemic are well worth reviewing. The details discussions of the herbs are excellently done, brief, too the point, yet fascinating and looking at sides of these herbs largely lost and ignored. This is not another book heralding the same tired herbs for influenza discussed in the current literature. This is a powerful, fascinating review, useful to patients and clinicians alike. I learned a lot from it and believe many others will also.

This book by Kathy Abascal is a lucid survey of the nature of influenza, of current efforts to develop flu vaccines and antiviral drugs that would be efficacious in both seasonal epidemics and pandemics as well as strategies for decreasing transmission of the virus. But Abascal goes far beyond this in presenting a unique and well documented review of the use of herbal treatments in France and in the United States. In fact, by far the greater part of the book deals with these herbal remedies and their use not only in the 1918 pandemic but also in regular practice. Of necessity, with the notable exception of data from a French hospital study in 1918, the evidence for the efficacy of herbal treatments is largely anecdotal. Authors of published reports were primarily adherents of the so-called Eclectic school of physicians who, in addition to having a knowledge of herbal medicines, appear to have been unusually aware of the variety of symptoms and sensitive to their progression in each patient.
While Abascal deals with some 35 herbs, about six were most widely used. Among these were Gelsemium sempervirens (yellow jasmine), Eupatorium perfoliatum (Indian sage), and Aconitum napellus (aconite or wolf's-bane). The limited availability of these herbs (both with respect to quantity and to knowledge of their proper use) would preclude their having wide applicability in a pandemic. But it is easy to imagine and to argue for the advisability of planning modern clinical trials during seasonal epidemics to determine their efficacy. It would then be a further (and not inconsiderable) step to determine what compounds are effective in ameliorating the miseries of "the flu".
This is a book worth reading and pondering. The references alone are worth the price.

This book does not pretend to have found a cure for colds and flu but rather it offers various remedies to lower the chances of getting a cold or flu and tips on reducing the misery associated with the ailments. The People's Medical Society has done an excellent job of sensitising readers about this common ailment.

After reading this book, I have a better understanding of the causes, nature and impact of flu and colds. I have now acquired some basic knowledge about viruses and bacteria and the different ways they make people sick. The authors do not come up with brand new ideas but they managed to consolidate the various ideas into a small book that is handy for those who need advice on how to confront this common and annoying affliction.

The authors, who are executives of the non-profit consumer health advocacy organisation, People's Health Society that is based in the USA have to be commended for suggesting the 77 tips on prevention of colds and flu. The government ministries responsible for public health would save a lot of money by distributing this book widely in schools and libraries and elsewhere particularly in third world countries where the resources to deal with health issues is limited.

This is recommended reading for anyone interested in their health and that of fellow men and women.

Once I read the book I tried to implement some of the suggestions. We had a definate difference on the number of times that our family was ill, as well as the duration and severity of illness. I recommended it to a nurse at work as a jumping off point for our staff to minimize office spread of illness. Very easy to read, so much so that I quickly read the book several times.

My son demands that I read him lots of books and it always makes me happy when he picks this one out. Its great fun to read. I think I enjoy it more than he does. You can really get into the rhyme and rhythm trying new ways each time you read it. The story is funny as well. I've probably read it a hundred times and haven't gotten sick of it yet.

Farm Flu is a sweet little book about a boy and his sickly livestock. I think that the rhyme is good, but the story is even better. And how charming is the repeated text "I know just what my mom would do / if it were me who had the flu."? My little son requests this book a LOT, and I am only too happy to oblige him.

Finally, a little dysfunction!! With all the stomps, sneers and slams you would expect on the third day of influenza-induced confinement, the candor of this warm, magical story is a rare and welcome treat.

This is a charming book. It also illustrates the little girl solving her boredom by using her imagination. She makes a TV, stove and bed for her Grandmother Doll out of cardboard boxes. Subtle humor for parents as well. My 5 and 6 year old girls love it

Once upon a time I read The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story, a book about emergent viruses like ebola, then read Stephen King's The Stand, which painted a graphic picture of life during and after a deadly plague. I thought this was the most terrifying combination of books I could read. I was wrong.

The Great Influenza is more blood-curdling than all that. And John Barry keeps repeating "and it was just influenza."

If we count every single AIDS fatality and add to them every single person infected with HIV, the count (summed over nearly a quarter century) is still less than the body count of the 1918 influenza epidemic.

Barry paints horrifying pictures of the suffering, but also develops the history of scientific medicine in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

He connects a lot of interesting dots, too, although he makes clear what is speculative. Had it not been for the influenza pandemic, there is a reasonably good chance that the German offensive during the summer of 1918 would have succeeded, and WWI would have been a bloody draw. Woodrow Wilson suffered from influenza (influenza can cause brain damage) and then reversed himself on holding out for a just peace (thereby laying the foundation for WWII).

One of the doctors who was trying to discover the cause of the flu epidemic kept digging away at perplexing problems. His research began in 1918 and culminated in the early 1940s with the discovery that desoxyribonucleic acid was responsible for transmitting genetic traits. He was up for a lifetime achievement Nobel in 1944, but that was retracted because this research was so controversial. Not until 1955 did Watson and Crick get the Nobel for describing the structure of DNA - which they could not have done without Avery's tireless and meticulous research.

It was a great read. It's also the last of my books carried over from last year. One thing's for dang sure, I'm gonna be getting my flu shots each year!!!

Although I purchased this book a couple of years ago, I hadn't gotten to it until just now. I moved it to the top of my To Read list after finishing The Last Town on Earth, which is a fictionalized account of the 1918 flu. I wasn't expecting the detailed history of how our medical profession modernized, and the history of the origins of Johns Hopkins, although I was pleasantly surprised to find it here. I also found the general policies instituted by the Wilson administration, utterly suppressing free speech and any discord about the war very interesting. The only problem I had with the book was excessive repetiveness -- sometimes I wondered if I were somehow re-reading a page I had read before, as descriptions or quotations were restated verbatim in several parts of the book. There were also excessive descriptions of similar events in different towns that didn't truly add to the book's point -- the impact and experience of the 1918 flu. Certain parts were reminiscent of The Coming Plague (another book which I highly recommend), and if you enjoyed that book, you will enjoy this one as well. I am very glad to have the knowledge gained by reading this book, and the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was the repetiveness of many of its points -- the book could have easily been 100 pages shorter with some good editing.

A detailed look at the horrible influenza epidemic that decimated not only the United States but most of the world in 1918, killing tens of millions and sickening many more. An excellent job of explaining the biological and medical complexities of the disease, detailing the history of often shoddy medical education in the United States, and relating the Spanish flu's human and emotional toll through vivid anecdotes of personal hardship and horror. The book reads well as a medical detective story and history, and also presents a useful lesson on the falsehoods routinely issued by government leaders and newspapers in the United States in a misguided effort to keep morale "positive," theoretically to help the war effort.

I liked this book it is a big thick book that takes a long time to read. If you enjoy history and you know it repeats itself. It is an interesting book to buy.

This book contains some excellent information, but i would recommend the abridged version. I don't feel the personal lives & quirks of all of the scientists involved in the story added any insight to this pandemic.

Referencing a real life incident- the Spanish Flu of 1918, this book deals with a town that quarantined itself and the ramificantions of such a decision. The characters are well-defined. Excellent book for book clubs!

An interesting scenario plays out when a small and remote logging town quarantines itself to escape a mysterious illness that has spread through the nation. The illness is reminiscent of the plague and the fear that grips the town leads to interesting interactions. However when the illness comes anyway despite their precautions, there are new and interesting challenges they must face. This is a book worth reading.

This was a great book I couldn't put it down. My bookclub read it and we did a town hall meeting and voted on different scenarios before we discussed the book. I enjoyed reading the book and it made for a spirited discussion.

I absolutely loved this story, this would be a great read whether it was 1958 or 2008. If well-developed characters are an interest for you, start reading. If we are interested in our future, we must learn lessons from the past. I see so many parallels from this historical tale to our world of today. Don't worry about the details of the story, the less you know in advance the more interesting the tale. The writer takes you to this time and place, emotionally and physically; you can see it, taste it, smell it, feel it, and experience it. The characters are believable and their conflicts very real. As the author so delicately weaves the historical, philosophical, and ethical issues together, the importance of respect and understanding for each human being is crystalized. Enough said. I have never provided a review before but I just had to share my thoughts on this book and this author. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Astonishing that this book has gotten 5-star reviews from readers; I couldn't even finish it.

It's a worthy premise, and because I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I was hooked by the dust jacket promising a powerful piece of historical fiction set in a small Washington logging town. But the author proves to be a rather clumsy writer, his prose full of anachronisms, and his characters shallow and obvious.

The horrific incident that sets the plot in motion, when two townsmen have to kill an interloper (fearing he may be carrying the influenza virus) is handled perfunctorily to say the least. I also didn't like the way the story's hero is set up to be shy, physically handicapped 16-year-old Philip Worthy -- whose unworldly viewpoint could have provided a prism through which to follow events, in the grand tradition of so many other novels centered around a youthful protagonist -- but the author suddenly leaps into the mind and memories of his adult friend Graham. I found this jarring, and a sign of a novice writer struggling to advance the tale he wants to tell. My interest waned steadily and after a few more chapters, I ultimately put the book aside unfinished. I don't often do that.

I have loved all of Kaye Gibbons' books, and couldn't wait to get my hands on Divining Women. Started reading it immediately, and just could not get into it for about two years. I finally read it, and found it to be so one-dimensional that I would never recommend it. Such a tragedy too, because there are morsels of gold scattered here and there, which actually kept me reading and hoping (and laughing). But I honestly didn't care too much one way or the other whether Maureen stayed or left. And Troop was too much; too unbelievable, too pompous, too rediculous.

This is my first experience with the author and I thoroughly loved the experience. I found the plot and characterization well done but the best part was the language. Gibbons captures the diction of the aristocratic Old South using antique words and elaborate phrases that are fun to say and settle deliciously on the ears. Her writing is almost like poetry. She also uses a technique of combining bluntness with elocution which results in an almost humorous presentation. I would recommend this book to everyone, just for the literary style. The pages are packed and sometimes need a reread just to pick out all the details. It's a short book so pack it along on your vacation - especially if you are going south.

I like several of Gibbons books, but this one I loved. I listened to the audiobook version which was wonderful in itself and would suggest it. Gibbons puts a heart soul and mind into each character. They are fully drawn and quite wonderfully rich in details that make them come alive so that you see their faults and their triumphs. Super character detail. I personally haven't read that many books that draw on this time period. Loved the book and one of the few I would actually listen to/read again.

I've read several other books by Gibbons and enjoyed them. I listened to this one on audio cd, and I have to completely agree with the reviewer who said Gibbons hire a reader. She often sounds like a schoolgirl being asked to "read out loud" with no interest in what the words actually are.

My rating of four stars is for the book itself, however, I have to say that the audio versions of her books are ruined by her reading of them. I've listened to two of her books which she read and not only is she a boring reader, but her lack of voice change makes it difficult to identify the speaker and scene changes. There are so many excellent readers available and its a shame one isn't used to read Gibbons.

This book is well-researched, and has pulled together, in narrative and tabular form, the disparate data and details of the influenza pandemic of 1918. Although the timelines move back and forth through the narrative, the evolution of epidemiology and research chronicled in the book is fascinating. The hair-raising depiction of widespread illness and resulting deaths during the pandemic paint a far different picture than is discussed in epidemiology or history courses. Extrapolating events from 1918 (and other pandemics) to current events with Avian influenza makes for sobering and thought-provoking consideration of worldwide pandemic preparedness, or lack thereof.

This book was written several decades back, yet is entirely relevant to today. The subject matter is the great flu pandemic of 1918 -- one of the worse mass die-offs in human history that somehow we seem to have collectively forgotten. Full of interesting statistics, the author describes the waves of the disease and the terrible mortality, especially among the young. I first heard of the pandemic many years ago when my great grandmother showed me family pictures. There was one particular picture, a beautiful young woman (her daughter), over which she wept as she described her and how quickly she died. I was surprised that I hadn't heard the story before, but my mother told me that no one talked about that time -- it was just too terrible to think about. I can also recall having the "Asian Flu" as a child. That was truly awful. You find it difficult to breath, you are delerious, you ache horribly. Now we find that there is possibly a new pandemic coming, if and when the Avian flu mutates. Be afraid. So read this well written book if you want to know what may happen.

Crosby's classic account of this pandemic begins in the spring of 1918 with the virus just getting started in American military training camps. He then discusses how it devastated Philadelphia and San Francisco, contrasting the two cities handling of the crisis. The rest of the book looks at how the flu affected the US army in France and how it impacted the Paris peace conference. Toward the end we get a fascinating but grisly description of how Alaskan native towns were destroyed by the disease.

Crosby focuses on the US here, and does not take a global perspective, as most books have. We learn nothing, for instance, about how over twelve million perished in India. But then Crosby is an American historian, and we gain something by limiting our focus.

Why is this disaster forgotten? Of course the war had much to do with it; people have trouble absorbing two calamities at the same time. But I also believe the public remained calm for a simple reason: the sickness was known to be flu. An unusual and deadly flu it was to be sure, but it is hard for many to be truly afraid of a disease that strikes every year and lasts a season. Most probably thought they would make it through until spring. For a half million in the states, this turned out to be a delusion.

Without a doubt this is an excellent, provocative, and thoughtful book. In and of itself I'd give it 5 stars... But that would make it impossible to rate John Barry's The Great Influenza higher. Of course Barry's book came out 25 years after Crosby's, and to some extent is derivative. But it goes so far beyond Crosby, and adds so much context about scientists, the virus itself, and politics, there is unfortunately no reason to read Crosby any more. Actually that's wrong-- there is a reason. If you wnat tables and statistics, Crosby includes them. Barry does not. Although Barry's book does read better, and has a real narrative flow and scientist-characters.

Like another reviewer here, I'd say that unless you're looking for tables and statistics, you should get "The Great Influenza" by John Barry instead of this book. Also like that reviewer, this is not a knock on Crosby at all, but a tribute to Barry. Barry's book really is an incredible work by any standard. Compared to Crosby, it is simply richer and deeper, whether the 2 writers are addressing the same thing-- for example, both focused on Philadelphia, possibly the hardest hit city in the country-- or in the way Barry explains things that Crosby never addresses at all-- such as the political and scientific context, how viruses behave, immunology. Yet you certainly won't be disappointed if you buy this book and you're interested in the subject.

One thing you should NOT do is get any of the other books on influenza. Most of them are outright crap. None of the other books can compete with Crosby's, not to mention Barry's.

After having read Ms. Kolata's version as well as several others, I do understand the story is best told objectively by Mr Davies. It is the best account and is NOT interchangeable with other books on the same subject (respectfully disagreeing with the Library Review).

Further, previous reading about other epidemics (including the fabulous book by Ms L. Garrett "The Coming Plague"), Mr Davies' account of the magnitude of this epidemic is a real eye opener. Between the two books, these gifted writers, Mr Davies and Ms Garrett, provide invaluable information and the reason the global community should be concerned - always - about our world health.

Be warned, its' not easy to put the book down once you've started - he's a gifted writer that depicts the history outstandingly well.

Need a little more fear in your life? Well, you're in luck! The latest source of global terror is the so-called "Asian bird flu," a.k.a., H5N1. Worldwide, only about 75 people have died of this nasty little bug to date, if you don't count millions of birds who were either infected or purposely destroyed for prophylactic reasons. Now China has announced a plan to innoculate 14 BILLION birds as a precaution.

So far, the virus is spread primarily by direct contact with bird blood or droppings. However, with a couple of small genetic variations this bug could jump to a much more threatening stage -- aerosol transmission through sneezing and coughing. If that happens, we're in for a very bumpy ride. Scientists estimate the global death toll at up to 100 million people. No kidding.

So what does the bird flu have to do with the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed more than 40 million people? That's the scientific mystery behind Pete Davie's fast-reading book, "The Devil's Flu," originally published in the U.K. in the late 1990s under the title "Catching Cold."

Ever since the 1918 pandemic, virologists have been trying to find human tissue with samples of that terrible virus so they could analyze it and compare it to new bugs like the bird flu. That's the focus of this story. After prepping the reader with some scientific background, Davis takes us on a wild ride through places like Hong Kong, Alaska and the arctic islands of Norway as competing scientists search for traces of the old bug. Along the way, we learn where viruses come from, how they mutate, how they spread and what's likely to happen next.

"The Devil's Flu" isn't a scholarly work, but it sure is great fun to read. I finished it in about three hours. More recent authors have explored this topic with greater depth. Nevertheless, I'd recommend this book for people who want just enough detail to understand the big picture -- in a very entertaining way. And if you must sneeze, please cover your nose.

I found the story about the dig in the frozen tundra looking for the Spanish flu to be exciting.
In my novel, Reign of the Rat, I explored the same operation Mr. Davies wrote about but in a fictionalized version.
The next deadly flu pandemic is waiting and the more I research the Avian, the more I suspect it may be here soon.

I used to be a virologist. Let me tell you, I was ASTONISHED at how much I hadn't been told about flu. Pete Davies is obviously no virologist, but he just wades on in there and hacks out the story and tells it to you. It doesn't have to be great; he's got lots to tell you. And he's a good writer. The portrayal of Kirsty Duncan as a pompous ass is priceless. By the way, I had NO idea that Parkinsonism was one of the sequelae of the 1918 flu. If you find that sort of info interesting, of course you'll get this book and read it. One last note: Several places in Davies' book sound to me like they were edited by some dumbass editor (the kind of editor who would remove the word dumbass from this comment); note for example the use of the phrase "flu like symptoms" on page 260, which is NOT in Davies' voice. So this book isn't perfect, but it's a really good book.

While researching FINAL EPIDEMIC, my novel of the re-emergence of the Spanish Flu of 1918,I was fortunate enough to have one of the epidemeologists I used as a source send me Pete Davies' book in its original British title (it was issued in 1999 in England under the title: "Catching Cold.")

Then as now, the depth of Davies' own research into both the history and the contemporary study of the H1N1 killer flu virus is as impressive as it is extensive. THE DEVIL'S FLU ranks with the best of medical non-fiction narrative on this unfortunately again-timely subject.

A startling fact about the original 1918 plague that devastated humanity --notable, since it occurred within the lifespan of many still alive today-- is the collective amnesia that so often surrounds that event.

Few Americans realize that it's extremely probable that they have a family member only a generation or two ago who fell prey to the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic; tales of when the cry "bring out your dead!" echoed along American streets were seldom passed from those who witnessed it to those of us who descended from the survivors. It takes a trip to virtually any cemetery to bring the death toll home to us, as marker after marker identifies the victims of the 1918 flu pandemic. Worldwide, deaths in 1918-1919 totalled at least 40 million humans, and very likely as many as 100 million-- all within a timespan measured in months.

As I write this, an avian influenza virus not unlike that which triggered the 1918 pandemic, if forcing the mass slaughter of chickens and other birds throughout Asia. It is an attempt to forestall the very real possibility that the virus (which already has infected human victims through bird-to-human transmission, and currently has a 70 percent mortality rate among human victims) could acquire genes which would allow for human-to-human transmission.

During research for FINAL EPIDEMIC, I interviewed dozens of medical researchers and epidemeologists. Without exception, each stated that their greatest fear was a resurgence of a influenza virus similar to the 1918 variant, which through incubation in humans mutated into a unprecedented killer of humanity. Based on the cyclic nature of flu pandemics, I was told, mankind was already overdue-- and, worse: woefully unprepared-- for such an emerging viral Shiva.

Influenza was, and remains, a universal threat: As A.W. Crosby wrote in "America's Forgotten Pandemic," his own classic examination of the 1918 Spanish Flu, "I know how not to get AIDS. I don't know how not to get the flu."

Davies' book on this reemerging threat deserves attention, as he reminds us that this kind of horrific killer virus is considered by the medical community a certainity to arise again.
At best, we can only prepare ourselves -- and wait.

--Earl Merkel
Author, FINAL EPIDEMIC (PenguinPutnam 2002)
and DIRTY FIRE (PenguinPutnam 2003)

I am always pleased with the items I've bought through Amazon because
they keep me informed of delays & shipments, etc. Some things take
longer than others but I understand due to the multi party involvement.
I do appreciate that they seem to care when/if I get the items. I hope
they keep up the good work

I dove into reading Dr. Mercola's The Great Bird Flu Hoax expecting a thorough treatment of the science behind the bird flu laid out in such a way that it would show why we don't have to worry about bird flu. This was not the case. In fact, there was little sicence in the book and even less dealt with why Dr. Mercola felt bird flu was a hoax. What became apparent was how little Mercola knew about this highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 strain. The only two reasons he seems to have for believing the flu won't surface as a threat in the US are that it hasn't shown up in chickens in the US and that the human infection rates of bird flu are on the decline. Unfortunatley, neither of these reasons are correct. H5N1 doesn't need to appear in US flocks, nor does it need to enter via any non-human animal. Once the H5N1 mutates into a form that is highly contagious for humans, it will go global from human to human - airline flights will deliver it everywhere. Similarly, Mercola is oblivious to the fact that the bird flue is constantly mutating, again incorrectly trying to support his hypothesis with the current H5N1's inability to transmit easily to humans. Once it gets the right mutation - and it's only a matter of time - it will spread like a wildfire.

As for the rate of human bird flu infections, not only are they not on the decline, but 2006 was the deadliest year so far for humans (granted, the book came out prior to the year's end)(World Health Organization. 2007. Avian Influenza Update Number 76. January 2.
(.......). Mercola again seems to be lacking in his understanding of disease rates when he tries to reason away the lethality of this flu strain. Just like the 1918 bird flu that passed to humans and killed more people than any single war, death rates are based on reported incidents. So, not only is the lethality rate valid based on this, but his hypothesis of lots of unreported cases has been disproven. In the Cambodian province of Kampot, an outbreak of H5N1 killed dozens of chicken flocks and only one young farmer. Researchers swept in and tried to take blood from every family in the area to determine the actual human infection rate. They analyzed blood work from 351 area villagers. Not one person showed evidence of present or past infection. (Vong S, Coghlan B, Mardy S, et al. 2006. Low frequency of poultry-to-human H5N1 virus transmission, southern Cambodia, 2005. Emerging Infectious Disease 12(10). (...........).

The focus of the book deals with his nutrition and health recommendations, and even here, he can't keep his facts straight. For example, he claims that only .003% of eggs are infected with salmonella (p. 171), so that people shouldn't be afraid of eating raw eggs even if they can't get the "healthier" eggs. Yet, he goes to great lengths to show how dirty and contaminated chickens and eggs are from the intensive farming practices of factory farms earlier in the book.

The Great Bird Flu Hoax is not without its good points. Mercola questions the benefits of Tamiflu based on its risks, although I'm hesitant to believe what he states because of his shoddy research on the flu itself. He points out the problems with vaccines and dangers of legislation that could take away our rights not to vaccinate in an emergency. And, he rightly accuses factory farms for being the source of the HPAI H5N1. Oh, I did appreciate being reminded about the benefits of naturally-fermented sauerkraut in fighting bird flu.

I am Chiropractor in Manhattan and I utulize many holistic methods in my practice.Dr.Mercola points out some ideas that are very unpopular within "modern medicine" but pretty common among alternative medicine.
I highly recommend it to all the hypochondriacs.
Visit my website at [...]

I am a former patient at Dr. Mercola's clinic, and I truly support everything he is trying to do with our current health crisis. His clinic helped me to overcome a serious illness when all other "regular" doctors, including the prestigious Mayo Clinic, had written me off. He truly helps many people every day, I have seen it first hand. However, I admit I was worried when I looked at the book and saw "SHOCKING LIES" on the cover. I was afraid this was a sign that he would follow the trend he uses all too often, dispensing extremely important health information in a format similar to the National Enquirer. I wish he could use a little more humility and respect for the intelligence of his readers both in his books and on his website. For example, the video he has on his website, "The Town of Allopath", is very, very good, and the message critically important, but it turns my stomach to see "Highly Acclaimed Video Causes Flood of Hate Mail" in big letters at the top of the page. Calling such an important video "highly acclaimed" himself just cheapens it, cheapens his reputation, and insults his readers.
In his book the Great Bird Flu Hoax, however, for the most part, he writes in a professional, but sometimes dry, manner. I appreciated the effort he took to document everything, especially in comparison to his book "Total Health Program", where nothing is documented, and his recipes all have cutesy names so you can't find them later because you can't remember the stupid name he gave them! (Again, he calls this book "BLOCKBUSTER!" on his website. Again, it turns my stomach, mostly because a little more professionalism and humility would go a REALLY LONG WAY and it's just kind of sad.)
But I did find myself cheering for Dr. Mercola as I read this book. I think that he did "get it right" this time. He goes after the industries who need someone to go after them! I do hope that this book does get some press, and that folks will pay attention to it. Personally, I wish that he would have devoted more time to talking about the health benefits of saturated fats versus trans fats in his section on improving your health, and also I think folks with no natural health exposure will be confused by his section on fermented foods and will go out and buy regular canned sauerkraut, but these are not large deals in the whole scheme of the book. I laughed out loud (in a good way!) in the section on vaccinations when he asked the folks who are not used to this kind of thinking to take a deep breath, step back, and calm down. You go, Dr. Mercola!!!
In the end, my wish is that he would write a book that I could give to a highly intelligent but VERY sceptical family member and have it not embarass me with overly cute, and sometimes arrogant talk and undocumented claims. With The Great Bird Flu Hoax, he comes the closest that he has yet. Thank you Dr. Mercola.

I found this text to be of real value and very informative if a little verbose and repetitive at times.

The story line reads - there is a potential for a world wide crises but despite the various governments telling us that there is a cure (although it cannot really be afforded) there is in reality no adequate cure or medicine available.

He states that the global (mainly American based) giant pharmacutical industry has blinded us with - well science and rather than look to simple and cheap alternatives and sensible precautions these industry giants have persuaded our governments that they alone have the remedies needed and effectively their lobbying has now given them the right to write for themselves large value cheques.

The example of the bird flue exacts his comment that colloidal silver a very inexpensive product containing a small percentage of the heavy metal silver has the potential to entirely wipe out the patheogenetic effects of the bird flu virus whereas "Tamiflu" has not even been tested and in his opinion will not work at all agains bird flu. I can testify to the effective working of colloidal silver.

Mercola goes on to conclude that the would be pandemic has directly arisen out of greed by large scale and totally unaccontable agricultural businesses who have basically neglected natural breeding and sensible housbandary giving a world choked with waste containing bugs that go on to contaminate swathes of land and effect lives of people across the world.

He adviszes that there is simply no need to trade globally in agricultural produce when we are all in a position to take locally produced supplies - a point to which I say - Amen!(although remember to be prepared to pay a little bit more for the better product)

Although primarily an american text for the American People this book has reinforced my own thoughts on the best way to negate the effects of any forecast pandemic.

A well recommended read for those who are not just conspiracy theorists but who are pledged to taking back responsibility for their own health.