Alberto Peña, MD, has worked with Sanoviv Medical Institute for years as a doctor and consultant. Through his work at Sanoviv, he has treated many patients using the best of Western medicine and the most advanced complementary therapies from around the world. At the core of Dr. Peña’s philosophy is the belief that the body has the power to heal itself when provided with the proper environment and is relieved of its accumulated toxic burden. It’s a remarkable approach that challenges conventional medicine, all the while respecting science and the wisdom of the human body. The following article is an excerpt from a recent interview regarding “How to Predict and Prevent Disease.” Interviewer:
I’ve heard people say that they don’t want to do genetic testing because they don’t really want to know when they’re going to die. They say, “I want to live while I’m living and not worry about something that might happen down the road.” What would you tell someone who says something like that?
Dr. Peña:
I would tell them that genetic testing is not really about predicting what you’re going to die from because we also find people who have genetic strengths. The fact that you have a certain gene doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily going to suffer from that. These are just the tendencies, so, on the contrary, we want to know what our tendencies are, so we can prevent a problem from occurring to begin with. Information is power and, in this case, we have the information to keep ourselves healthy. This is not about being condemned, because remember, many of the SNP’s have developed to protect us. In other words, genetic differences have developed over generations in order to protect us from a specific environmental problem. For example certain populations that were in high malaria areas or endemic areas for malaria developed sickle cell anemia because the plasmodium, which is the bug that gives us malaria, cannot reproduce in a person with sickle cell anemia. This is just one classic example of how genetics help us adapt to our environment. So, when we do a genetic test, it’s not really about knowing what we’re going to die from, but instead, knowing how we can avoid dying from a particular cause. What I recommend for all people who want to know their current state of health is to go through Sanoviv’s program, which is what we call the complete health assessment program. The genetic testing will tell me what might happen, but how do I know if what you’re doing right now is really serving the purpose for your health? If we find you have a predisposition for cholesterol LDL production, I really want to know what you’re cholesterol level is right now.
Interviewer:
I know that the Mayo Health Clinic, for example, is well known for having verycomprehensive health assessments, but it’s very expensive - much more expensive than Sanoviv. Sanoviv prides itself in having a very comprehensive health test. How may tests approximately does Sanoviv go through, and how does that compare to the Mayo Clinic’s program?
Dr. Peña:
Well, we could go through every test that we do, but it would just take us too long. We do about 35 different tests to start.
Interviewer:
And how does Sanoviv’s Complete Health Assessment compare to the Mayo Clinic’s program?
Dr. Peña:
Well, we do all the same tests that Mayo does, and some additional ones. For example we test for food allergies. You might be doing everything right for your health, but if your in poor health or you have an inflammation of the intestinal tract and it’s not related to an infection, it could be that you have an undetected food allergy — you’re just not eating the right type of food for your system. So, everybody who comes into our program, for example, we conduct a test which tells us if they have antibodies against a specific food, and I’m not talking about the typical food allergy that we all know where you get hives, and…
Interviewer:
Let’s say, lactose intolerance, or whatever?
Dr. Peña:
Right. Or, let’s say, shrimp or your allergic to peanuts, etc. and you break out or you develop an angioedema and then you can’t breathe. That is what we call an immune globulent E allergy. What I’m talking about is something called IGG or Immune Globulent G Food Sensitivity Test, and what happens when a person eats a specific type of food is they develop a longer-term inflammatory condition in their intestine and their immune system gets challenged. Some people eat a specific food and they don’t notice it, but they feel tired a few hours after, or they sneeze, develop asthma or itching. We have found that many people who have specific diseases have an underlying food allergy. Unlike the Mayo Clinic, we run a series of functional tests to be able to know how the body is doing. For example, we test for Ph levels of the blood.
Interviewer:
And why is that important?
Dr. Peña:
It’s very important because most people today eat a very acidic diet. Acidosis or what we call the presence of acid or too much acid condition in the body is connected to the appearance of many degenerative diseases. Another very important assessment that Sanoviv emphasizes heavily is dental health. Most hospitals do not assess your dental health and yet it is of supreme importance. Modern medicine tends to look at the body as being one thing and the mouth being something separate. But it’s at our own peril that we do so. Dental health and the dental assessment we do is very comprehensive.
Interviewer:
And why is that important?
Dr. Peña:
Well, it’s important because a lot of people have underlying problems in their jaw like an ischemia or not enough oxygenation or blood flow. Certain treatments like root canals will damage their circulation and they produce toxins that could be a source of the problem in their overall health.
Interviewer:
What could happen if this isn’t checked? Is this very unusual that dental tests are done during a medical test like this?
Dr. Peña:
It’s very unusual. Most people, when they have a general health check up never get a dental checkup. Western medicine knows that gum disease can put an individual at risk for a heart attack, yet rarely is this assessed in a general physical. Often all these cardiac tests are done but no one looks in your mouth!
Interviewer:
So, if an individual is having continuous heart problems, Sanoviv might be able to help them find the true source of the issue rather than just putting them on a bunch of medication that will mask the true source of the problem?
Dr. Peña:
Exactly. You want to go to the source of the problem.
Interviewer:
What other kinds of diseases could be detected or checked by examining the mouth?
Dr. Peña:
Well, let’s talk about mercury. We know that mercury is the most toxic, non-radioactive substance in the world. Enough mercury is contained in one amalgam of filling to contaminate a small lake, so we are forbidden from dumping mercury into the environment, into the water, into our soil, but we put it in people’s mouths. Often we find that amalgam fillings are a a major source of toxicity that affects the person’s immune system and their capacity to produce energy from their cells.
Interviewer:
Is this truly detectable? I know that there is certainly a lot of controversy about mercury amalgams and that Dr. Wentz is very committed to getting this information out there through his book A Mouth Full of Poison. Is this something that’s measurable and detectable?
Dr. Peña:
Yes. This is something that is very measurable and detectable. Certain states now prohibit dentists from placing mercury in people’s mouths. Ironically, they didn’t pass that law because of the risks to put it in the person, but instead because of the environmental risks of having mercury disposed of improperly from dental offices. So, you can imagine the irony of that, it is a very toxic substance, and it’s very easy to detect. Most people have it. Every time you brush your teeth, you can detect it with a mercury vapor detector. We’re able to see how the mercury vapor increases in the person’s mouth, and this is something called methyl mercury which is very toxic, it goes to the brain, it does not let brain cells develop, and it affects people’s lives.
Interviewer:
And, what diseases have been connected with mercury poisoning?
Dr. Peña:
Well, everything from Parkinson’s disease to ADHD in children and it has even been implicated in autism or was suggested that the mercury contained in vaccines, which is even minimal compared to the amount in the amalgams, can affect a child’s developing brain. During the health assessment, our patients undergo what we call a psycho-spiritual or psycho-emotional evaluation. Many of the times the causes of a person getting high blood pressure, for example, or getting an allergic reaction is related to their emotions, their toxic emotions, or they cannot handle stress, or they’ve had a past issue that they haven’t been able to completely resolve that is affecting their health. Unlike many or most health assessments, we want to look at the “whole” person to get the complete picture of what could be impacting their health. We teach them how to manage their stress, how to do relaxation exercises, so that they can get out of the cycle of anxiety and live a happy life. As we know, it’s more likely for happy people to be healthy. It sounds sort of Utopic, but you release more adrenaline when you’re angry. This changes your whole circulatory system. It makes your arteries contract. It raises blood pressure. It decreases oxygenation to certain tissues, for example, your intestine, then you can’t digest etc., etc.
Posted: True Health Is True Wealth
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