The discovery of cortisone was hailed by medical science as one of the milestones of medical progress. We all remember, about 15 years ago, how much enthusiasm and excitement there was, both among doctors and arthritis sufferers. The world was made to believe that medical science finally had conquered this baffling disease.

It didn’t take many years before it became evident that cortisone was one of those remedies which are so pertinently called “remedy worse than the disease.” The “miracle” drug was found to have so many dangerous side effects that now many responsible and conscientious practitioners would not even touch it.

Cortisone is a hormone and is normally secreted by the adrenal glands. Now it is manufactured synthetically. Many other related hormone drugs are on the market, such as prednisone and prednisolone.

Although it is recognized that a derangement of the functions of the adrenal glands and other glands of the endocrine system contributes to the development of arthritis, the artificial use of these hormones, especially synthetically produced ones, does not mean the same as support or correction of the body’s own impaired glandular functions. On the contrary, instead of rehabilitating and revitalizing the functions of the glands, these drugs only damage them further and may bring about a complete breakdown of the body’s own healing powers, as far as arthritis is concerned.

Here is a partial list of side effects caused by cortisone: peptic ulcers; osteoporosis (softening of bones) with spontaneous fractures; mental disturbances; psychoses; neuropathy or the degeneration of nerves; PSC (posterior subcapsular cataracts); acne; hirsutism (excessive hair growth, particularly in women); diabetes; hypertension; disturbance in the metabolism and utilization of protein and fats; reactivation of tuberculosis; retention of salt and water in the tissues with resultant strain on heart and kidneys;11 probable reduction of resistance to carcinogenesis (susceptibility to cancer); etc.

This list should be enough to discourage anybody from using this dangerous drug. It can damage the liver, the kidneys, the blood, the bones, the nerves, as well as other vital organs of the body.

Worst of all, cortisone therapy causes adrenal atrophy and undermines and disturbs the entire biochemical stability of the arthritic patient.13 Corticosteroid therapy has a damaging effect on the joints12 and can cause deterioration of the tissues of the joints.13 Once cortisone is taken or injected over any appreciable length of time, it will cause such a breakdown of the organs and the functions of the body that often it will be impossible to bring the patient back to a state of health again. The Swedish doctors, Karl-Otto Aly, M.D., Lars-Erik Essen, M.D., and Jem Hamberg, M.D.—the pioneers of biological medicine in Sweden, whom I spoke with in regard to cortisone therapy—all unanimously stated that by far the worst adverse effect of cortisone therapy, even worse than its toxic side effects, is its damaging and undermining effect on the body’s own healing activity. It is very difficult, often impossible, to successfully employ biological treatments and restore a patient to complete health if he has used cortisone for any extended period of time.

Cortisone is a diabolical drug. It suppresses symptoms of arthritis so well that the patient believes it has made him well-suddenly he can walk, run, dance. But this is only for a moment. When the effect of cortisone wears off, the patient feels worse than ever. So he becomes addicted to it, and the withdrawal symptoms grow more painful the longer he uses it. Discontinuance of cortisone therapy is, therefore, accompanied by a great deal of suffering.

It is evident from the above why cortisone failed to fulfill its early promise and why now it can be counted out as an effective arthritis remedy.

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No, the San Diego Clinic (SDC) does not sell CMO. But we know who does. SDC is a research and treatment facility. We are not involved in the sale of any products. We do, of course, dispense CMO to subjects enrolled in our studies, and to clinic patients who may be part of one of our diagnosis and treatment programs for arthritis or other chronic ailments that have autoimmune components.

Since it was SDC that conducted the human clinical studies on CMO, most health care professionals, retail sales outlets, and distributors communicate with us frequently to ask for advice about unusual cases or to report the results of their experiences with CMO. Consequently we know just about all the sources providing authentic CMO and can readily confirm the legitimacy of yours.

Considering how many new CMO counterfeiters seem to crop up every week and how quickly some of them disappear, it is not practical for us to try to compile a list of those counterfeiters to publish here. The list would be out of date by the time this book is off the press.

There are so many impostors, it can be quite a chore trying to decide if the product you’ve found or are being offered is real CMO or some ineffective imitation. The best you can do on your own is use the information provided in the previous chapter on CMO impostors. Anything that deviates in the slightest from our description of the authentic product should be suspect.

For example, you know that CMO is derived from certain fatty tissue of beef, so that means anything claiming to be derived from a vegetable source couldn’t possibly be the authentic product.

You should also be suspicious of products that seem to be priced unusually low. The process for extracting CMO is costly. We’ve seen many counterfeit products offered at prices lower than it actually takes to produce the authentic CMO. That bargain priced counterfeit CMO is most likely to be nothing more than a waste of your money.

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