Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Do No Harm By Dr. Yoshitaka Ohno

Giving people hope in order to enjoy a healthier, longer, and fuller life has been Dr. Yoshitaka Ohno’s mission since he left his medical practice in Japan over 20 years ago. He knew he could not practice the kind of medicine that was causing so much suffering to his patients. Japan’s medical system had become much like other western systems. It involves mostly drugs and surgery. It supplies misery rather than hope.

Dr. Ohno’s journey away from conventional medicine led him to what his mother called "humanitarian medicine." It allowed him to bring together six generations of medicine from his father’s family, and six generations of spiritual leadership from his mother’s family. He felt very fortunate to be the product of what has led him to mind/body/spirit medicine. This new medicine is based on having a close relationship with nature. Unless we pay attention to our natural environment and respect it, there will be no life left for our future generations. We are already killing nature. Soon it will be too late.

This book is the story of one doctor’s struggle to live his vision of humanitarian medicine. It is a journey through the pain of modern medicine, and the arrival at a new way of offering hope to people who are suffering.

PREVIEW: 
DO NO HARM

by Yoshitaka Ohno, M.D., Ph.D.
The Story of a Doctor's Struggle to Live 

His Vision of Humanitarian Medicine


She looked at me calmly. She was almost too calm. 
She had surrendered herself totally to her decision. 
There was no fear in her voice or in her eyes. She 
was resolved in her conviction to die. She got up 
from her bed and closed the door quietly, wanting 
privacy so no one else in the hospital would hear.


"Please help me die, Dr. Ohno. Please show mercy 
and help me die. I have asked you to stop giving 
me the anticancer drug. I can't take it anymore! I 
know you don't want to watch me suffer. Every time 
you inject me with this drug, I know you are also 
suffering as you watch me suffer. The other 
doctors have always ignored me while I struggled 
with the agony. But your eyes have always shown 
me such concern. You are the only doctor who has 
shown me such compassion."

When I decided that my patients were being 
given too much of a dangerous drug, I decreased 
the dosage. But other doctors on the staff would 
change my order and raise the dosage without 
notifying me, because they knew that would make 
them look good to the Chief of Medicine.

She continued to talk to me as if I were her son. 
She stopped and took another sip of her tea. 
During the silence, I started thinking about what 
she was saying. It was true that I was struggling 
and I was showing the fatigue from my internal 
battle. I was not sleeping well. As tired as I was, I 
would lie in bed, unable to sleep. Then I would get 
up and sit at my desk. I would think about her and 
how I could help her. I often thought to myself, 
"Why did I become a doctor?"

When I first became a doctor, I seemed to be able 
to find ways to help my patients. But now, 
instead of being a healer, I felt more like a murderer.
 I knew my struggle would continue if I didn't find a
 better way to help my patients like her, who 
continued to suffer the pain and indignity of a death 
that I was causing.

As I watched this woman collapse in sobs while 
she continued to plead, a part of me was dying. 
But I knew that I now had to present her with the 
cruel facts. I spoke to her with tears in my eyes, as 
honestly and kindly as I could.

"Your cancer has already metastasized through 
your body, even to your brain. I am sorry but I 
am recommending that you go to hospice because 
there is nothing more we can do. The damage is 
irreversible. The more chemotherapy you are given, 
the sooner you will die. This drug not only kills 
cancer cells, but also destroys the healthy cells. 
You need to stop because the side effects are worse 
and are causing too much suffering."

Just then the Chief of Medicine of the hospital 
entered the room. He must have heard me because
 he said, "Dr. Ohno, I will take care of this patient. 
I can help her. Please have this patient signed over
 to my care."

The Chief of Medicine looked firmly at the 
suffering patient and began. "Dr. Ohno is right, but
 I think I can save you with a new drug I developed.
 It is still in the experimental stage, but it kills only
 cancer cells and has no side effects"

His words were totally unexpected by her. Her 
expression went from despair to hope. She began
 to cry with tears of joy. The Chief of Medicine 
stood there with the same arrogant and smug look
 I had come to know since arriving at the hospital.
 However, despite the deep emotion of hope that 
filled the room, I was both sad and angry. I knew
 that his anticancer drug had very strong side
 effects and would cause this poor woman even 
more suffering.

This was the first of what was to prove to be 
many rude awakenings for me. After years of 
medical school and training, of struggling to find
 humane ways to treat people, I was now facing
 the grim reality of having to allow my superior
 to treat patients as though they were 
experimental animals. It was obvious that he 
had no empathy for terminally ill people. I wanted 
desperately to step in and disagree, but I knew it 
would be futile and would spell the end of my 
medical career.

As I watched my patients suffer in agony from taking
 anticancer drugs, I was experiencing my own 
torment as well. I was becoming consumed with 
the memory of my mother's words to me after my 
father's death. The memory of that tragic period 
of my life started to overwhelm me. My father was
 a very famous surgeon who died when he was 
42 years old. He worked long and hard to keep 
his hospital operating at its peak. His dedication 
cost him his life. He died of an aneurism during 
surgery.

This book is about the times in my life when I had
to encounter many struggles in order to gain greater
insight and appreciation of the final
outcome. While I report the horrors I experienced 
during my years of practicing medicine in Japan, I 
also show how I was able to find a way to answer 
the cries of despair of my patients. This was not 
easy. It required that I make a decision that would 
put me at risk and force me to leave my practice.

 But during this process, I learned to become a 
better doctor, more concerned about the welfare 
of my patients rather than the rewards of fame 
and fortune, which, unfortunately, have become 
the driving force of modern medicine.

I did not have to take this road. It would have been 
easier to follow the program and do what my 
superiors told me to do. I come from a very 
prominent family in Japan and have always had 
choices and opportunities. But the values given 
to me by my family led to my decisions, which, 
though distressing at first, brought me to what I 
believe is my destiny.

I believe that there has always been an invisible 
force within me, guiding my direction and encouraging
 me to discover my true calling in life. As I have 
proceeded on my journey, there is one principal 
factor that has continually surfaced. This factor is 
contribution, the act of giving to others, directly 
from one's heart. This affects not only the recipient, 
but something of equal importance: the essence of 
our being.

I also believe, more than anything else, that my 
mission to help humanity is derived directly from 
giving people the awareness of how vitally 
important contribution is to the soul of the benefactor.
My vision has become a vehicle that can assist
people to gain an understanding that, as they
direct their energies to give of themselves with a 
pure and open heart, they will ultimately fill an
emptiness that resides deep within their spiritual 
center.

Through years of study and experimentation in 
seeking better ways of delivering good health care,
 I found the significant interrelationship between 
health and nature, and its impact on the quality 
of life. The best example is our precious water 
supply. After you read this book, you will 
become more knowledgeable about water; all 
water is not the same. You will learn that the 
quality, content, and even the structure of the 
water in your body can make the difference 
between sickness and health.

In order to test this theory, I tested many water 
sources. While I was conducting research in Japan, 
I discovered a naturally magnetized water that was
 being used by a prominent physician with his 
patients suffering from serious diseases, many
 which I had also been treating. As I observed
 and studied these patients, it became 
apparent that this water was unique and had 
therapeutic benefits.

About Author:Yoshitaka Ohno, M.D., Ph.D., 
Founder and President
Ohno Institute on Water and Health


Dr. Ohno resides with his wife and three children in
 Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

Published:
10/9/2001
Format:
E-Book
Pages:
172
Size:
E-Book
ISBN:
978-0-75964-052-8
Print Type:
B/W

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