The Disease Delusion

Question 1

The author states that “so-called diseases” are dysfunctions of each individual’s physiological
functioning: they are due to varied causes, and they demand treatment approaches as different from
one another as there are individuals.

Answer 1

T

Question 2

According to the author, the incidence of chronic diseases is on the rise, with the incidence of
arthritis, hypertension, and chronic fatigue syndrome taking up more time in the doctor’s office each
year.

Answer 2

T

Question 3

The quarter century from 1985 through 2010 saw a dramatic increase in the number of individuals
diagnosed with diabetes, COPD, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and depression

Answer 3

T

Question 4

In 2014, nearly half of the adults in the United States suffered from at least one chronic disease.

Answer 4

T

Question 5

A study published in 2012 identified the factors that lead to the “global burden of disease.” The
study covering the years from 1990 through 2010 used a measure called the disability-adjusted life
year, or DALY.

Answer 5

T

Question 6

Medical schools offer little education on how to manage and even prevent chronic illnesses.

Answer 6

T

Question 7

Drugs used for chronic illnesses do not help an individual; they manage major symptoms or a set of
symptoms. Over time, the symptoms become worse, with the outcome of treatment not being a
return to good health, but rather an increased disability and a diminished quality of life.

Answer 7

T

Question 8

Polypharmacy is defined as a single drug to treat many symptoms of an illness or disease

Answer 8

F

Question 9

Many patients actually become well when taking medications for their illnesses due to the benefits
of the drugs and limited adverse reactions of a drug or drugs combined together.

Answer 9

F

Question 10

The author states we are hard-wired to develop chronic disease as a result of faulty genes from our
parents and grandparents

Answer 10

F

Question 11

The BRCA gene and the incidence of developing breast cancer have decreased from 85 percent in
1940 to 24 percent in 2013. The author states it is not the gene that changed, it is instead the
environment influencing the gene’s expression that has changed.

Answer 11

F

Question 12

Research continues to demonstrate that only about 70 percent of chronic diseases result from
inheritance, while at least 30 percent were shown to come from something else—namely, from the
influence of the environment, diet, and lifestyle on genetic expression.

Answer 12

F

Question 13

The total number of genes in the human genome is approximately 100,000, with more than 1 million
variants called single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs] in the human body.

Answer 13

F

Question 14

Dr. Roger Williams suggested that the recommended dietary allowance [RDA] levels of nutrients
established by the FDA were more than adequate to cover the largest percentage of the population.

Answer 14

F

Question 15

Dr. Linus Pauling coined the term “orthomolecular” and titled a paper “Orthomolecular Psychiatry,”
proposing that certain forms of mental illness were the result of an alteration in the patient’s
metabolism, which Dr. Pauling believed resulted from insufficient nutrient intake.

Answer 15

T

Question 16

Autism has increased in the past 50 years from one confirmed case in 8,000 to one case in 50,
according to the CDC in 2012. The author poses the question: Is it just better detection, or are more
children being affected, or both?

Answer 16

T

Question 17

According to Dr. Michael Stone, autistic spectrum disorder [ASD], while unique in the presentation
of symptoms for each child, shares a common range of environmental factors, including diet,
lifestyle, and therapies that may increase or decrease the genetic expression of characteristics that
are termed autism.

Answer 17

T

Question 18

The ApoE4 gene associated with Alzheimer’s disease does not create the disease by itself; rather, it
describes an increased susceptibility to the disease as a result of the individual’s lifestyle and diet,
which have the greatest effect.

Answer 18

T

Question 19

In a study published in 2005 in the New England Journal of Medicine, it was suggested that given
the chronic disease problems in children in the USA, the greatest possibility exists that the current
generation of children will be the first in history to have a shorter life span than their parents.

Answer 19

T

Question 20

The inhabitants of the island of Ikaria live well into their nineties. The author says their good health
and the fact that they avoid chronic disease are the result of their diet of fresh food, exercise, and
good lifestyle.

Answer 20

T

Question 21

The Ikarian people seem to have stronger genes than many populations, for as they move to other
locations, they appear to be protected from developing the chronic diseases of the countries to which
they move.

Answer 21

F

Question 22

Dr. Bland coins the term “thrifty” in relation to the Pima Indians genes. He states: If anything, the
Pima Indians over centuries and out of a necessity to survive starvation developed the ability to
“hold on to food calories.”

Answer 22

T

Question 23

The seven core processes are: Assimilation & Elimination, Detoxification, Defense, Cellular
Communications, Cellular Transport, Energy, and Structure.

Answer 23

T

Question 24

Biomarkers measure characteristics that are known to be associated with specific physiological
processes and that can thus signal health or disease.

Answer 24

T

Question 25

Enteric microflora belong to one of three families of bacteria—symbiotic, commensal, or parasitic,
with both symbiotic and commensal bacteria living in harmony with our bodies.

Answer 25

T

Question 26

A diet too low in fiber can cause friendly bacteria to die of starvation and to be replaced by parasitic
bacteria.

Answer 26

T

Question 27

The “gut” is dubbed the “second brain” with its own nervous system (the enteric nervous system)
containing billions of neurons, with the same type of neurotransmitters found in the brain.

Answer 27

T

Question 28

A link between dementia and Celiac disease has been discovered, starting with the activation of the
intestinal immune system and the triggering of inflammation of the brain.

Answer 28

T

Question 29

The author makes the case for eliminating gluten and wheat products from the diet to normalize
gastrointestinal function as a sensible first step instead of giving the patient multiple medications
without addressing the underlying cause.

Answer 29

T

Question 30

The four Rs stand for Remove, Replace, Reinoculate, and Repair.

Answer 30

T

Question 31

The enzyme cytochrome PY450 is involved in both detoxification and metabolizing substances
native to all living cells. The protection this enzyme provides includes removing toxic bacteria from
the intestinal tract and preparing them for elimination from the body

Answer 31

T

Question 32

Adverse drug reactions have become less common in the population as a result of better drug
screening by doctors as well as better controlled studies by pharmaceutical companies.

Answer 32

F

Question 33

Toxins tend to stick and be deposited in fatty regions of the body instead of being washed out of the
body.

Answer 33

F

Question 34

Recreational drugs (including ecstasy and cocaine) can contribute to significant neurological injuries
that lead to Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and possibly ALS.

Answer 34

T

Question 35

Dr. Elizabeth Jeffrey was involved in the discovery how cruciferous vegetables have a unique ability
to promote detoxification of chemicals and toxins in the body.

Answer 35

T

Question 36

The alkaline ash diet, based on a high intake of vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains, has been
found to decrease the production of acid metabolic by-products that may impede the kidney’s job of
detoxification.

Answer 36

T

Question 37

The author states that what we used to think of as immune-related or autoimmune diseases are really
functional disorders arising from an altered immune response.

Answer 37

T

Question 38

Dr. Bland states that if we alter the environment, diet, and lifestyle behaviors that influence the
expression of the genes regulating our immune system processes, we can end, reverse, and avoid the
injury.

Answer 38

T

Question 39

Humans are born with genes that sense factors and events in our environment, lifestyle, and diet as
either friend or foe and respond accordingly. The response can be “extreme” [immune disease], or
less threatening [intermittent chronic symptoms].

Answer 39

T

Question 40

Dr. Michael Holick states there is a substantial difference between the level of vitamin D needed to
prevent rickets and the level of vitamin D desirable to promote optimal immune function.

Answer 40

T

Question 41

Fight or flight is a basic response mechanism. It helps humans escape from danger or do things that
seem beyond our normal capability.

Answer 41

T

Question 42

Dr. Peter Libby has suggested that chronic inflammation is associated with the alternation of cellular
communication and is a hallmark of most chronic diseases

Answer 42

T

Question 43

Different plant foods, as well as botanical medicines derived from plants, do not influence cellular
function in different ways based on the fact they cannot modulate the kinase network

Answer 43

F

Question 44

Food processing is harmful to our health due to the fact that one of its core purposes is to remove
phytonutrients from the products.

Answer 44

T

Question 45

LDL cholesterol is found in neurosteroids that are critical in regulating brain function and mood; too
low a level of LDL is not healthy for the brain.

Answer 45

T

Question 46

. Dr. Bland states that cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, and that cardiovascular disease
occurs primarily in the arteries of “unmuscled” areas of the body, places where the lymphatic
system plays a role in the transport of lipoproteins and cholesterol.

Answer 46

T

Question 47

Dr. Reaven studies the dysfunctional intersection between a person’s genes and lifestyle, which
today we know to be type II diabetes.

Answer 47

F

Question 48

The ability of the mitochondria bioenergetics declines or diminishes with age. By adjusting our
environment, lifestyle, behaviors, and diet, we can slow down this decline.

Answer 48

T

Question 49

Phytonutrients from berries, green tea, grape and peanut skins, and spices, including rosemary,
thyme, basil, and turmeric, do not have the ability to prevent oxidation damage to the mitochondria

Answer 49

F

Question 50

Researchers have found the most effective way to stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis is through a
process of cross training between aerobic cardiovascular exercise and anaerobic strength training.

Answer 50

T

Question 51

Dr. Vlassara found the damaging effects of cooking at high temperatures, changing glycation end
products into glyoctoxins, has been found to contribute to the rising incidence of chronic illnesses
such as type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, and dementia.

Answer 51

T

Question 52

Obesity is solely a matter of excess calories. It results from too many calories in the presence of an
accumulation of environmental POPs

Answer 52

F

Question 53

Brown fat is critical in maintaining internal body temperature as well as converting a calorie of food
into heat energy. High-fructose corn sweeteners found in many processed foods and beverages are
one of the greatest ingredients known in damaging and destroying the beneficial effects of brown
fat.

Answer 53

T

Question 54

According to Dr. Bland, our health is not pre-determined by our genes. Instead, our pattern of health
and illness is determined by how families of genes are expressed through lifestyle, exercise, diet,
and environmental factors.

Answer 54

T

Question 55

The absence of illness equates with the presence of wellness.

Answer 55

F

Question 56

Over-consumption and under-nutrition is a term Dr. Bland uses when discussing why many
Americans in the twenty-first century are malnourished. He states this is not from eating too little,
but rather eating too much of too little.

Answer 56

T

Question 57

The HALE [Healthy Aging Longitudinal in Europe] study conducted over a ten-year period of over
1,500 people found, in those individuals who followed the Mediterranean diet, their death rate from
all causes was 50 percent lower than those individuals who did not follow the Mediterranean diet
and similar lifestyle healthy habits.

Answer 57

T

Question 58

One of the key discoveries in 2009 was that diet, lifestyle, and environment profoundly influence the
health of DNA, and especially telomere length and health.

Answer 58

T

Question 59

In a study conducted on 586 women, it was found that those taking a daily multivitamin supplement
had a 75 percent increased length of their telomeres.

Answer 59

F

Question 60

In the baseline exercise program, researchers have found that a forty-minute post-meal walk
significantly improves blood sugar and insulin regulation.

Answer 60

F

Question 61

Dr. Bland believes the “jury is still out” regarding GMO foods. Studies are mixed whether or not the
increasing incidence of food allergies and food intolerances is a result of the alteration in the genetic
makeup of foods such as rice, corn, soy from GMO foods, or POP [persistent organic pollutants], or
both.

Answer 61

T

Question 62

In Dr. Bland’s “Health Self-Assessment,” he discusses that if you answer yes to a majority of the
questions, it is likely that you have multiple imbalances in your core physiologically processes.

Answer 62

T

Question 63

Reinoculate means to add prebiotic and probiotic supplements to improve assimilation-elimination
process, with the prebiotic acting as “food” for the probiotic, which then assists in the digestive
process.

Answer 63

T

Question 64

The Mayo Clinic found that early intervention with lifestyle medicine could delay the onset of
dementia, and other studies that have found that a Mediterranean diet can lower the incidence of
both Alzheimer’s and dementia

Answer 64

T