A New Beginning

When a thing is understood, the cure is half accomplished.
—Anne Shannon Monroe

On June 10, 1997, one week before I began my European speaking tour, the
following e-mail came to my office from a Mr. Charles Shannon of St. Albans,
West Virginia:
I am sixty-eight years of age, and for sixty-three years of my life, I have
suffered with psoriasis. Every method has been tried, from tar baths to
PUVA [psoralen-ultraviolet light A], being in the trial government study of
the PUVA method. The disease always came back more severely—
sometimes covering 80 percent of my body. I ordered the book [Healing
Psoriasis: The Natural Alternative] on February 27, 1997. After receiving
the book, I started reading and getting the supplies ready. I really started
the diet toward the end of March 1997. Now, three months later, I can’t
believe the results. My skin is almost completely healed! I have followed
the regimen—diet, etc.; I even stopped smoking. When I started, my back
looked like the before picture on the back cover of your book. My legs
healed first, then my back, stomach, face—the arms were the last. I would
like to thank you wholeheartedly. No scales—no itching—no bleeding. I
feel as if I can wear a short-sleeve shirt with peace of mind, for the first
time in my life. May God bless you and thank you so much for caring!
Mr. Shannon followed the suggestions in the first edition of my book and was
practically 100 percent clear of psoriasis in less than three months, after having
suffered with it for sixty-three years! However, let’s be realistic. This is an
unusually successful case, considering the many years he had the disease and
how quickly he cleared up.
Unsolicited letters, e-mails, and reports like this one have come into my
office from every part of the globe since my book was first published in 1991.
The reason for such results is that I use an approach to the disease that the
scientific community has never taken before. The path I have followed for forty
years is one that views the problem of psoriasis from the inside out rather than

the outside in. The answer to the riddle of psoriasis will never be found by
focusing the attention on the skin. We must go inside to seek origins and look for
causes that once found and understood put the patients on the road to recovery,
provided they are willing to cooperate.
The purpose of this volume is to bring a ray of hope to the tens of millions of
people worldwide who suffer from psoriasis, one of mankind’s oldest, most
elusive, chronic inflammatory skin diseases. This hope is not based merely on
theory and speculation, but on solid, concrete evidence of results obtained by
following a regimen of therapy I have developed over the major part of my
professional career.
During this time, particularly in the past thirty years, I have concentrated my
efforts on proving, indisputably, that psoriasis—long classified as “incurable”
by the scientific community—can be healed in a perfectly natural way. The
method I have developed is devoid of any systemic or topical drug (they often
have harmful side effects), uncomfortable messy tar baths, or even potentially
dangerous forms of ultraviolet light. In short, I contend that psoriasis is one
incurable disease that the patient does not necessarily have to live with. In many
cases it is possible for every psoriatic lesion, rash, or abrasion to completely
disappear, leaving the patient in control of the problem throughout his or her
entire life. That is the message of this book and the purpose for which it was
written.
It may come as a surprise to many that I, a chiropractic physician, have taken
it upon myself to investigate this dermatological enigma that for centuries has
frustrated researchers who were seeking a cause and a cure. It may come as
even more of a surprise to learn that the results I have obtained were achieved
by practicing well-known, time-honored principles and techniques that fall
completely under the heading of natural or holistic healing. In other words, I am
utilizing natural methods, in a new way, on an old disease.
It is not my intention in any way to minimize the efforts of dedicated
researchers and physicians in the field of dermatology. Clearly, they have made
life more bearable for many victims of the disease through endless research and
various therapies they have developed. Rather, it is my desire to share with
them the results I have obtained, by revealing the methods I used when attacking
this disease from a different perspective—from the inside out, as opposed to
from the outside in.
Since the cause and true cure for psoriasis remain unknown in the field of
dermatology, I ask merely that these findings be taken into consideration.
Without question, further research is needed under better controlled conditions;
but, given the facts contained here, perhaps a new beginning emerges in
understanding the disease that will justify such research. I submit that the
information presented here warrants such investigation.

The approach to psoriasis that I have used is based on the works of Edgar
Cayce (1877–1945), a remarkable individual whose discourses on healing are
legendary and are becoming more popular with each passing year. Using his
advanced theory as a guide to understanding the cause of the disease, as well as
a suggested regimen of therapy, I have combined my clinical experience and
slowly evolved a working hypothesis, a natural alternative that, over the years,
has proven to be extremely beneficial in many cases. I have shown that when
psoriasis is understood from this new perspective, faith in the process is
strengthened by logic and reason—or, to put it more succinctly, “It makes
sense!” as so many patients have said.
Unquestionably there have been failures, as there are in all research projects.
In practically every case, however, the reason for failure was found to be the
patient’s own impatience. Outstanding results were not achieved overnight.
Most patients who succeeded in ridding themselves of psoriasis did so by
giving a great deal of time and honest effort and, above all, being persistent.
Without these invaluable mental ingredients, healing is not only difficult, it is
impossible. Unless a patient is committed to freeing himself of this disfiguring
disease, the efforts of both the patient and the physician are ultimately futile. It
does not necessarily follow, however, that success is guaranteed; but with
dedication to the regimen, the chances are infinitely greater. To this day, when
success is achieved, I am amazed to see how a patient’s skin can renew itself
totally and completely, without even a trace of the devastating lesions that once
covered the body. I believe it can be done for the simple reason that it has been
done. This is not speculation; it is a declaration, the proof of which is found in
the pages that follow.
The late Gina Cerminara, PhD, author and lecturer, once told me, quite aptly,
that “the secret of good writing is to be understood.” For this reason, I have
endeavored to keep it simple, so my readers may grasp the underlying principles
of the nature of the disease. Consequently, sophisticated medical terminology
was purposely kept to a minimum. I hope I have succeeded.
Within the pages of this book, psoriasis may be understood for what it is, and
with this understanding comes the hope that despite present conditions, a natural
healing is possible. It is my ardent wish that this is so, for then psoriasis
sufferers can begin putting their lives in order and get on with the business of
living, no longer burdened under the yoke of this disfiguring, all-consuming
disease.
This book was first released in May 1991 at the Edgar Cayce Center in
Virginia Beach, Virginia. The very first bookstore to carry it was the little
Monmouth Beach Book Shop on the Jersey Shore, where I was raised. Now,
years later, orders for the book come in from virtually every country on Earth.
Psoriasis is a global affliction with more than a hundred million people

wrapped in its clutches. If ten people can be helped by taking the approach
outlined in this book, then a hundred can; if a hundred, then a thousand; if a
thousand, then why not millions? With only a minimum of advertising, the book
grows in popularity simply by word of mouth, the most effective way to
determine the value of a book. I sincerely thank the many sufferers who have
read the book and spread the word. I also thank those who have taken the time to
write or contact me to express their overwhelming gratitude. There is no greater
reward for this physician turned author than the results of his labors manifested
in such a glorious way.
At the time of this writing, Healing Psoriasis: The Natural Alternative is in
its seventh printing and has sold over fifty thousand copies in the United States
and around the world. It has been the number-one best seller in its category with
both Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com for the past nine consecutive years.
To date, it has been translated into Russian, Italian, Finnish, and Japanese. This
is a far cry from humble beginnings in the early 1970s, when my first case of
psoriasis walked into my office and was healed in a matter of a few months,
changing the course of the patient’s life and mine.
Now, John Wiley & Sons, of Hoboken, New Jersey, has taken over
publishing rights to the book. With this honor granted me, the third phase of one
of Edgar Cayce’s directives is about to be fulfilled. “First,” he said, “go to the
individual, then to the groups, and then to the masses.” With John Wiley & Sons,
the book can now reach the millions of psoriasis victims with a message of hope
for the healing of a disease that has plagued mankind probably since the dawn of
history.
This eighth year of the new millennium marks my forty-eighth year in active
clinical practice as a chiropractic physician. It has been a rewarding adventure
—the joy of healing patients goes far beyond what words can express. But it is
time to move on to new adventures; not to retire, but to aspire. There is much
more for me to do before I check out here and check in there!
It has given me indescribable joy and an enormous sense of accomplishment
to have played a part in this revelation. I have always been of the opinion that
mankind was not put on this earth to suffer but to live. The misery that plagues
man is of his own making, through ignorance, selfishness, greed, and an
unprecedented disregard for natural laws. Know the natural laws and respect
and adhere to them, and sickness and disease will vanish. This is our natural
heritage. Psoriasis is only one of the diseases mankind is burdened with, but
with the evidence presented here, as far as psoriasis and eczema are concerned,
I would say we are off to a pretty good start.