Keep Your Gallbladder!: How to eliminate the pain of gallbladder attacks and reverse gallstones naturally, without the risks of surgery

By Arlan Cage

If you, or a friend or family member has gallstones, or is having gallbladder attacks, you have no doubt been told by a medical doctor that you need to have surgery to remove your gallbladder. This procedure, called a cholecystectomy, which results in the permanent amputation of an important internal organ, is advertised as a safe

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr. Cage Says, LLC
• Release date: Dec 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781087890524

Book preview

Dr. Arlan Cage Biography

Dr. Arlan Cage, ND, MSOM, MS, is a retired Naturopathic physician and acupuncturist.  He has worked in the aerospace industry as an engineer in rocket science and satellite programs, not limited to but including the Space Shuttle.  When he suffered from a chronic bronchitis issue for many years with no help from Western Medicine, he sought out alternative treatment.  With the help of chiropractic sessions his bronchitis completely healed.  This started his interest in natural and alternative medicine.  Not only treating himself but offering nutritional advice to friends, family and co-workers, his suggestions led to successful reports from those who followed his directions.  Natural healing shifted from an interest to a passion.  After these experiences, Dr. Cage decided to pursue a career in alternative medicine.

Upon leaving the aerospace industry in 1998, Dr. Cage returned to school and attended the esteemed Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, receiving his Doctorate.  During his studies at Southwest College, Dr. Cage led a team which conducted the first homeopathic proving for the plant Larrea tridentata, or Chaparral.  This research led to the findings that homeopathic chaparral was effective at treating infections and gastrointestinal system conditions.  It was established as a homeopathic medicine that treats not only the above conditions but a variety of other illnesses as well.  This study was published in the Journal of Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians in the spring of 2004.  Shortly afterward, he attended the prestigious Samra University of Oriental Medicine and earned his Master’s degree in Oriental Medicine.  In 2003 Dr. Cage opened his first holistic clinic in Torrance, CA. 

As a health care professional Dr. Cage is also uses his prior experience in rocket science to combine quantum mechanics and physics to catapult alternative wellness into the future.  His current research is focused on the integration of quantum mechanics, physics as it relates to the energetic medicine of homeopathy, acupuncture and other subtle energies such as qigong and Aka Dua.

Dr. Cage was invited to serve as a board member for the California Naturopathic Doctors Association for four years and as president for two years.  This association promotes access to naturopathic medicine and alternative healthcare in California as well as maintaining professional standard and serving as a watchdog organization for legislation in Sacramento that may affect alternative healthcare.  The CNDA also lobbies the state for broader access for naturopathic doctors in the California healthcare system.  The CNDA served on the panel sponsored by the governor’s office for prevention as a way of reforming healthcare and successfully defeated legislation directly aimed at eliminating naturopathic medicine

He is retired from clinical practice and is engaged in research on the physics of subtle energies and human consciousness, works as a consultant in the nutritional supplement industry and teaches martial arts.

Author’s Introduction to First Edition

As I gradually learned more and more about the world of Alternative Medicine, I felt it just seemed right. With my rigorous scientific background, I knew that finding and treating the root cause of an illness is the only thing that could possibly guarantee long term health.  Doing short term suppression of symptoms as the only form of treatment simply made no sense to me.  What was scientific about that?

Likewise, when I learned the true cause of gallbladder disease and gallstones, and came to fully understand that gallbladder removals – amputation of internal organs – was the preferred form of treatment for a purely nutritional illness, I became outraged.  Talk about making no sense!  I saw first hand some of the complications that came from these un-necessary surgeries.  I’ve even heard first hand, myself, coming from the mouths of various general surgeons, the abominable notion, If we don’t take it out, the gall bladder will just keep making more gallstones.  Different surgeons, in different states, at different times, from different medical schools, all repeating exactly the same litany – word for word – they all were taught in their training.  As you’ll see in throughout this book, this is patently untrue, because gallstone formation depends almost entirely on the quality of bile produced by the liver, NOT the gallbladder or anything it is doing.

As my education and later career in private practice progressed, I also learned that there were an awful lot of holistic doctors – NDs, MDs, Dos, Acupuncturists, Chiropractors, etc. – who seemed to not be fully aware of the basic functions of the body you will learn in this book, and as a result were giving their patients erroneous, and sometimes dangerous, advice about how to treat gallstones. 

I’ve had a lot of basic information about health on my practice websites over the years.  It still amazes me that after all this time, my page about basic natural gallstone treatment still receives more hits than any of the hundred or so other pages in my website about other conditions.  There is a real need for basic gallstone information; how they form, how to prevent acute gallbladder attacks, and how to reverse gallstones, safely and naturally.

This book is written using common language wherever possible.  I’ve tried to keep medical jargon to a minimum, and where it has been necessary, I’ve defined it carefully.  That said, there is probably more discussion of the details of anatomy, physiology and biochemistry than the vast majority of books or ebooks aimed at the general public.  If you are a health care professional you should have no trouble using this book to treat your patients successfully.

The purpose behind this book is to allow you to treat and prevent gallbladder attacks and gallstones naturally; to give you the information you need to reverse the conditions that gave you the gallstones in the first place, and to Keep Your Gallbladder.

Dr. Arlan Cage

Introduction to Second Edition

Wow, ten years already, since the first edition of this book appeared, and I continue to be more and more amazed and gratified by its reception.  I still am receiving calls and emails from all over the world from people who have been helped by this information.

That said, it is time for an update.  I have new information to share, I have the time to reformat the information I simply didn't have time to do when getting the first edition published. I have new patient success stories to share.

The first section of the book covers the basic scientific and demographic information needed to understand this information.  I have pulled some of the information that used to be buried in the appendices and brought it forward into a new chapter which will reduce the amount of flipping back and forth through the book.  Figures have been updated from the crude line drawings which were the best I could manage at the time.  At the request of my first publisher, two chapters had been pulled out of the book and offered as special reports as an incentive to purchase the book.  Unfortunately, after the first printing, these chapters had been omitted from all future printings.  These are the chapters on using Oriental Medicine, both acupuncture and herbs, as another valuable treatment option for those for whom the other methods here may not always work.  The other chapter, now restored is: what to do if you’ve already had your gallbladder removed, but are still experiencing symptoms – an all too frequent occurrence. 

I feel this new format of the book will enable anyone using it to have better results.  I wish you well on your healing journey.

Dr. Cage

IMPORTANT CAUTION:

By reading this book, you are demonstrating an interest in maintaining good and vigorous health.  This book contains methods of doing this, for the particular class of individuals suffering from gallstones or gallbladder attacks.  As with anything else in health and medicine, there are no guarantees.  The purpose of this book is educational.  It is intended to help you make an informed decision, but the ultimate decision is yours.

This book is not intended to replace the advice or care of doctors or other health care professionals, nor is it intended to enable readers to diagnose or treat their own health conditions without the assistance of medical professionals.  Nothing in this book is intended to constitute personal medical advice for any one individual. 

Please note that many of the things discussed and presented in this book may be considered controversial by the conventional medical community.  Indeed, that is the very purpose of this book: to provide you with information that the general medical community will not.

Because there is always some risk involved in any medical treatment, the author and publishers are strongly suggesting that you maintain a relationship with your health care provider, and refer to them appropriately as suggested throughout this book.  The author and publishers cannot be responsible for any adverse effect associated from the use of any of the information contained in this book.  Please do not use this book if you are not willing and able to assume the responsibility and risks of managing your own health care.

SECTION I: Background and Science of Gallstones and Gallbladders

This book is written both for health professionals and for everyday people.  My intent has been to write this in such a way that the complex anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and pathology related to gallstones is understandable to anyone.  Over the years I have received enough positive feedback in this regard that I believe I have succeeded.  It also contains everything needed for trained health care professionals to have all the detail they desire for analyzing the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and pathology needed to manage these cases.

This section covers the basics you must know when treating yourself.  Keep in mind, this book has been written because the conventional medical system is not telling you that you have options, and that the permanent amputation of your gallbladder is not required.  When you treat yourself, however, you do need the basic science behind how your body functions, as well as how to prevent gallstone attacks while you are treating yourself.  This section will provide this crucial information for you.

Chapter 1: Background – Why Do We Have a Painful Gallstone Epidemic?

1.1 The Medico-Political Background of Gallstones

When you start taking control of your own health, which you are doing right now by buying and reading this book, you will inevitably reach a point where you are smack up against the schism between the worlds of Conventional Medicine and Alternative Medicine.  Sometimes this difference of opinion can be minor and ignored, and perhaps conventional and alternative treatments can be pursued simultaneously, an approach which in a few circumstances may give better results than either approach could separately. At other times, however, the differences between the Conventional and Alternative approaches are extreme.  This book talks about one such difference – gallbladder disease, and in particular, gallstones. 

The philosophical, political and socio-economic differences between the worlds of Conventional and Alternative Medicine are amply discussed elsewhere; I will not enter that discussion except as it comes up throughout the book on particular points related to gallstones.  In general, I am of the opinion that all the various systems of medicine should acknowledge what they each do well, as well as what they do poorly.  Likewise, each system of medicine has a moral and ethical obligation to acknowledge what all the other systems of medicine do well and refer to them appropriately.  For example, if you are injured in an auto accident, don’t come see me.  Go straight to the Emergency Room, get the holes patched, bones set, imaging done to find hidden internal injuries – these are some of the things the Conventional world does well.  As soon as all that is done, get out of the hospital as fast as you can, because the longer you are there, the more likely it is you will die of a secondary infection you catch in the hospital.  Then, IMMEDIATELY, go see a natural health care provider, who will usually be able to help you heal from your injuries faster than you would have otherwise.

In the case of gallstones, you can either amputate your gallbladder in an attempt to eliminate an acute symptom of pain, or, you can keep it and treat the root cause.  You can’t do both.  Once your gallbladder is gone, it’s gone.  On the subject of gallstones and the gold standard of Conventional treatment – gallbladder amputation, better known as cholecystectomy – I happen to believe the Conventional approach is flat out wrong.  There is no nice way I know of saying this.  The Conventional method completely misses the mark, and 20-25% of patients still have as much or more pain after the surgery than they did before!  A great many others have bad complications from the surgery.  The rest of this book is devoted to proving my point.

As far as the world of Conventional Medicine is concerned, gallstones and their treatment are done.  They advertise a 99.0-99.5 percent success rate on gallbladder removal surgery, which they consider to be as close to perfect as they’ll ever get.  There is little to no modern research being done on gallstones.  When I corresponded a few years ago with the head of the National Institute of Digestive Diseases and Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD), the branch of the National Institutes of Health which studies digestive diseases including gallstones, he told me they had no plans to ever update their summary of research on gallstones last published in 1994, 27 years ago now.  In virtually every other field of medicine, anything older than 5 years is considered ancient and out of date.  Given the desperate nature of funding issues in all areas of government, including those agencies conducting medical research, I do not expect that situation to change any time soon.  Far more exotic diseases such as cancer, AIDS, heart disease and the various pandemics (real or imagined) gather far more media attention and research dollars.

When you’ve read all the information I present in this book, you’ll soon understand that gallstones are far from being done.  One quarter of patients who undergo gallbladder amputation still have their original pain, or worse, after the surgery.  Gallbladder amputation does nothing to reverse the causes which lead to gallstone formation, and you are therefore still at risk for heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stroke and other more serious illnesses, all of which share common root causes with gallstones.  If gallstone disease was really done, and the existing conventional treatment was truly effective, I seriously doubt that the Gallstone page of my website would be the number one page visited, even when I have pages devoted to heart disease, cancer, AIDS and all those other more exotic diseases that are capturing all the research dollars and the media spotlight.

What that means to you is, first, that your conventional medical doctors are not going to be changing their recommendations or treatment approach any time soon.  As soon as you find out that you have gallstones, even if you have no symptoms and found out you had them while investigating a completely different problem, it is likely your doctors will be scheduling an operating room to take your gallbladder before you even have time to get out of the office and into your car.  Second, if you have any doubts about pursuing a risky, ineffective surgery for your treatment, you really need to take responsibility for your own health, do your own research, and I applaud you for using this book as part of that process.

1.2 Nutrition and Illness

From time to time in this book and many of my other writings, in order to understand how the human body works, or doesn’t work, we have to look at the history of the human race.  While evolution is an accepted scientific fact, I am aware that not everyone agrees with it.  However we got to our present state, be it through creation just a few thousand years ago or via evolution starting millions of years ago, the current human form and function, contained in our DNA, is designed to work a particular way.  Whether we got to this point quickly or slowly is irrelevant to understanding how our bodies work. 

If we were designed to have illnesses for which the cause is nutritional and for which the only treatment is surgical, our human race could not have survived.  We wouldn’t be able to have this conversation, and proto-human remains would merely be a footnote in the fossil record for some other species to study and wonder about.  Does it make sense to think that we should have diseases for which the only cure is a surgical procedure to remove an organ, when clearly the human race did not develop with a requirement for surgery in our DNA?  Likewise, we clearly have a gallbladder for important reasons which you will come to understand as you read this book.

As corroboration that the modern nutrient deficient, low quality food lifestyle is largely, if not entirely, responsible for the gallstone epidemic, it is interesting to note that people world wide eating traditional diets have