The Herbal Medicine
of
Bruce W. Halstead, M.D.
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| WORLD LIFE RESEARCH INSTITUTE |
In
his early work, wherein he earned the credit for becoming the father
of Biotoxicology, Bruce W. Halstead, M.D. began his life-long search
for new medicinals from natural resources.
In
his early work, wherein he earned the credit for becoming the father
of Biotoxicology, Bruce W. Halstead, M.D. began his life-long search
for new medicinals from natural resources.
Prior
to obtaining his M.D. Degree from Loma Linda University and even
before he had earned his B.S. Degree in Zoology from UC Berkeley, he
had already become an expert in Ichthyology (study of fish). He
accomplished that expertise as an understudy of his mentor, Eugene
Clark at the Golden Gate Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
So
it was natural for him to focus on the idea of 'Drugs from the Sea'
as his initial research investigations. The premise of his work was
that natural occurring poisons and venoms had the keys to developing
new medicinals for treating human illness and disease. It was his
love of the ocean and marine biology which compelled him to focus on
the bio-toxins found in the ocean organisms.
This
was the ground work that led to his hallmark, monumental three volume
work entitled: Poisonous and Venomous Marine Animals. It was twenty
years in the making and it was the largest undertaking by the U.S.
Government Printing Office.
His research that began at the School of
Tropical and Preventive Medicine, STPM, at Loma Linda University,
LLU, (1948-1958) was driven by his quest for medicinals from the sea.
Countless expeditions to the South Pacific and years of research on
the subject, gave him the undisputed title as the leading authority
on poisons and venomous marine animals. For Dr. Halstead every poison
and venom was a potential cancer cure. Studying these bio-toxins was
his key to learning how to unlock nature's secrets for curing
disease.
While
ocean life was his foremost passion, at the same time he started
exploring medicinals from Mexico, throughout South America to the
botanicals of the Amazon. Doctor Halstead's work with the 'head hunting/shrinking' Jivaro Indians of the Amazon was the basis for the movie, The Medicine Man with Sean Connery. It was also the beginning of his search for new cures from herbal/botanical sources.
The
research into medicinal botanicals began in 1948 at STPM and
continued with Dr. Halstead founding the World Life Research
Institute in 1958 and lasted throughout his life. Countless
expeditions were conducted throughout Mexico, South America, and the
Amazon Rain Forest to collect any and all botanical specimens for
research into medicinal compounds.
Often
these expeditions led to remote regions where privative tribes have
been using medicinal plants for thousands of years. It was the
tribal witchdoctors, shaman, sorcerers, etc. who would show them
which plants they used, for what health problems, where they
collected the plants, how they prepared it, and how it was
administered. The plants were then identified by their scientific
names and sufficient specimens collected to conduct research into
possible new cures.
Doctor
Halstead's world-wide research into medicinal botanicals led him to
the then USSR where he worked closely with Dr. Breckman who
discovered the health benefits of Eleutherococcus Senticosus or
Siberian Ginseng.
In the early 50's, Dr. Halstead was the first to
introduce Siberian Ginseng into the United States under the Imedex
Company label. He continued his research on Siberian Ginseng at WLRI
which eventually resulted in his book entitled: Eleutherococcus
Senticosus ~ Siberian Ginseng: An Introduction To The Concept of
Adaptogenic Medicine.
While
Doctor Halstead's research focused on new cures from medicinal
botanicals his specific driving goal was to find the cure to cancer.
One of the compounds he devoted much research time and effort to was
Laetrile which comes from apricot pits and other natural sources.
It
wasn't until years after his own independent research and book on the
subject that he was to learn it was his own biological father, Newton
Mellars, who along with Charles Gurchot and Ernest Krebs, that were
the co-founders of the cancer fighting properties of Laetrile.
The
search for cancer cures was his path for learning about the immune
system. With the advent of AIDS his focus on the relationship
between medicinal botanicals and the immune system became more
relevant than ever before.
That
search along with his research, eventually led to his development of
various herbal formulas for which each targeted some of the more
common human illness and disease. Inevitably this led to his
extensive involvement with Chinese Traditional Herbal Medicine.
Over
the course of his life he worked extensively with the Chinese in what
became a perfect marriage of Western science with thousands of years
of Chinese Traditional Herbal Medicine.
It
is note worthy that when the herbal formulas developed by Doctor
Halstead were compared to the current formulas from Chinese
Traditional Medicine, they were a near perfect match. In
consultation with the Chinese the formulas were adjusted to
accommodate the best of both worlds.
The
last book he published was 'The Scientific Basis of Chinese
Integrative Cancer Therapy.' It is actually a small extraction of a
much larger work on Chinese Traditional Medicine which is yet
untitled and yet unpublished. Some of his colleagues familiar with
the work believe it is undoubtedly his best work ever.
On
May 5, 1987 Doctor Halstead received a large 'Certificate of Merit'
for his work with the Chinese
Institute of Radiation Medicine.
The
recognition with this award was based on Doctor Halstead's
involvement with a high-level research study with the Chinese
government. The Chinese were intensely interested in developing a
compound that could defend against the devastating effects of
radiation exposure.
The
study was conducted on cancer patients receiving radiation
treatments. But as a nuclear power military power, and as a country
utilizing nuclear energy, the Chinese had much to be concerned about
regarding the threat of radiation exposure.
The
study was conducted for the purpose of developing the best herbal
formula protect against the onslaught of the radiation and modulate
the immune system to maximize the post-exposure healing recovery
process. Ideally the compound would simultaneously inhibit the
growth of any cancer.
The
results were both remarkable and promising on all fronts. Doctor
Halstead's research on these natural medicinal compounds focused on
the free radical pathology and components like antioxidants that
would modulate the immune system for optimum defense against the
radiation exposure.
The
research with the Chinese continued throughout the remainder of Dr.
Halstead's life. He worked closely with the foremost Chinese Herbal
Medicine Institute to develop a series of herbal formulas for the
primary illness and disease confronting the human body.
A variation
of at least 25 of these formulas were grown, produced, and packaged
in China for marketing here in the U.S. Under the label of
Bio-Defense Nutrionals.
In
the wake of the Fukushima disaster the demand for the best natural
herbal compound for dealing with radiation sickness has never been
higher. All of the formulas developed by Doctor Halstead are the
compilation of his life effort marrying western science with the
anecdotal evidence from thousands of years of Chinese Traditional
Medicine.
These
formulas may possibly need to be updated with any new research that
may have come to light in the decade since Doctor's Halstead's voice
was silenced. But the time is now to bring all of these wonderful
scientific formulas to a market hungry for natural cures to human
illness and for protection against a growingly toxic world.
