The Inflammation Cure: How to Combat the Hidden Factor Behind Heart Disease, Arthritis, Asthma, Diabetes, & Other Diseases

258 Pages·2003·2.07 MB·English

by  William Joel Meggs

The
Inflammation
Cure
Simple steps for reversing
• Heart Disease • Arthritis • Diabetes • Asthma
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Osteoporosis • Other Diseases of Aging
William Joel Meggs, M.D., Ph.D.
with Carol Svec
Copyright © 2004 by William Meggs, M.D., Ph. D. and Carol Svec, M.A. All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States
Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any
form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.

0-07-147125-1

The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-143871-8.

All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol
after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and
to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.
Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps.
McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales
promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more information, please contact
George Hoare, Special Sales, at [email protected] or [phone].

TERMS OF USE

This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its
licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms.
Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one
copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify,
create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or
sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw- Hill’s prior consent. You may use the
work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly
prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these
terms.

THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO
GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR
COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK,
INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE
WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY
WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions
contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted
or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for
any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages
resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information
accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be
liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that
result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the
possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause
whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise.

DOI: 10.1036/0071438718
������������
Want to learn more?
We hope you enjoy this
McGraw-Hill eBook! If
you’d like more information about this book,
its author, or related books and websites,
please click here.
7
To the loving memory ofPhilip B. Meggs
Artist, Writer, Designer, Educator, Humanitarian, Humorist
Who wrote great books that will endure
Who touched everyone who admired our postage stamps
Whose unfinished work is everyone’s loss
A great husband to Libby
A great father to Andrew and Elizabeth
A great son to Lib and Wallace
The best friend and twin brother a person could possibly have
—William Joel Meggs
To “Billy Lee,”
who knows that the journey
is too short not to have fun along the way.
—Carol Svec
7
This page intentionally left blank.
For more information about this title, click here
Contents
7
Acknowledgments.................................................vii
Introduction........................................................ix
part I
Inflammation and Your Health
1. The Inflammation Connection...........................................3
2. The Body’s Alarm System...............................................13
3. Inflammation Risk Quiz ...............................................25
part II
Inflammation’s Damage
4. The Worst Offenders: Heart Disease, Stroke, Diabetes...................33
5. Like Gasoline on Fire: Cancer..........................................47
6. Why Am I Always Tired? Fatigue, Obesity, Depression, Insomnia........59
7. Mistaken Identities: Autoimmune Diseases, Allergies, Asthma ............71
8. Inflamm-Aging: Aging, Arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease ...................85
v
vi Contents
part III
The Anti-Inflammation Game Plan
9. What We Eat: Dietary Solutions.......................................101
10. Where We Live: Home and Workplace Solutions.........................125
11. What We Do: Lifestyle Solutions ......................................149
12. How We Think: Mind-Body Solutions.................................159
13. What Medicine Can Do: Tests and Medications ........................175
14. The Anti-Inflammation Prescription..................................195
Appendix: The Path to Medical Knowledge..............201
Selected References............................................205
Index.................................................................227
Acknowledgments
7
So many people are involved in taking a book from concept to reality. We are
indebted to them all. We wholeheartedly thank our editor, Judith McCarthy. This
book would never have existed without her vision and guidance. Special thanks also
to Jane Dystel, of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. She’s the type of
responsive, enthusiastic, and supportive agent most writers think exists only in their
dreams. And thanks to Kathy Dennis for smoothly making the manuscript a book.
W.J.M. wishes to thank the many patients I have had the privilege to treat and
help over the past two decades, for all you have shared and taught. Thanks to my
many physician colleagues and mentors, most notably Drs. Donald Mitchell, Dean
Metcalfe, Robert Hoffman, Lewis Goldfrank, and Theron Randolph. Thanks to
my Chief of Service, Dr. Nicholas Benson, for your unending support and toler-
ance of my multifaceted interests and pursuits. Special thanks to my family,
Thomas, Josephine, Jerome, Benjamin, Jason, and most especially my wife, Susan
Martin Meggs, for your love and support and for tolerating the insanity of writing
a book while also working a demanding and more than full-time job.
C.S. thanks Alan Lee Jones and Joanna Jones for their guidance during the early
stages of writing, and Sid Kirchheimer for teaching me everything I know about
health writing. Thank you also to everyone who made my life a little easier dur-
ing the writing of this book through their support and encouragement, including
Teresa and Jay Lawrence, Ann Agrawal, Marina and Ted Rudisill, Virginia Svec,
Rhonda and Chris Sutton, Doris and George Margosian, Wendy and Gene Potkay,
Amy and Joe Pellerito, Peter Guzzardi, and Diana Dell. And heartfelt thanks to
Bill Svec, the most patient man in the world.
vii
Copyright © 2004 by William Meggs, M.D., Ph. D. and Carol Svec, M.A.Click here for terms of use.
This page intentionally left blank.