Twenty ago I got herpes and it was awful. I think I got it from my
girlfriend during oral because it was very slight--indicating Type I. On the
other hand I had a lower back injury at the same time which was suspicious.
Perhaps the virus was dormant in my lower back and I had been an
asymptomatic carrier. Who knows? "Oh, it's probably herpes," the doctor said
nonchalantly. "There is nothing that can be done for it, either." Over the
course of a year marked by continual recurrent infections I visited several
physicians. "Tests show that vitamin C can improve your immunity," said one.
"You're getting too worked up about this," cautioned another. "There's a
link between stress and recovery so lighten up and stop thinking about your
gonads." A third suggested light fitting underwear. Another warned against
hot tubs. Some recommended acyclovir others rejected it as ineffective,
which it was. None mentioned the only medicine that worked and worked well.

A year later I visited a naturopath who gave me the second opinion I longed
for. The prescription was to avoid eating citrus fruits, nuts, seeds, and
beans. Also to be avoided, as much as possible, were caffeine, alcohol, and
sugar. In addition, I was to eat less dairy foods and to cease from taking
megadosages of vitamin C. Following these directions about 70 percent of the
time, the results were immediate. The frequency of the recurrences dropped
from once every three weeks to less than twice every year.

Few physicians, today, deny the link between nutrition and immunity but few
of them are trained to treat illness with diet. This is a mystery to me. Is
modern medicine biased against treatments that don't cost a lot of money or
are doctors manipulated by the pharmaceuticals? Perhaps patients are
unwilling to try remedies that require time and effort on their part.

John