Michael Gerber, MD, HMD

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Michael Gerber, MD, HMD, to the Townsend Letter. I first met Dr. Gerber at an AAMPS (American Academy of Medical Preventics) meeting in the 1980s. I took an immediate liking to Michael and his wife, Inge, who both share an infectious enthusiasm for working in medicine – taking care of people with all their heart and soul. Beyond the many hours that they share in their multidisciplinary, alternative clinic built organically and “green,” the Gerbers share a wonderful family and live life ebulliently. Dr. Michael not only has the time for seeing many patients who travel locally and from abroad to see him in his Wellness Center, he also continues his musical career singing for the Reno Opera. Michael carries his deep baritone voice into the office, singing some chords and songs as he works his way through the difficult diagnoses of a chronically ill patient. His big smile and full laugh offset the tension and anxiety that many patients bring into the clinic. The Gerbers have set up a medical mecca that is perfect for getting a second (or third) opinion. Additionally, Dr. Gerber has brought together a cadre of health professionals to share his insights and offer a wide range of treatment options appropriate for intensive and long-term care.

The use of electronic diagnostic aids is a major component in many nutritionally oriented medical practices. Dr. Gerber’s use of a variation of EAV (electroacupuncture according to Voll) is critical to his initial patient consultation. There is a considerable learning curve to be able to use such instrumentation effectively. For Michael, the device is integrated in the medical history, physical, and general exam, and it provides remarkable information to diagnose and determine treatment. Dr. Gerber finds that diagnoses and treatments are often missed in routine exams. He orders laboratory examinations and seeks information from the biochemical data. But the insights in the electrical diagnostics are tremendous and very discriminatory. Whether a patient should be using certain homeopathics, herbals, chelation, ozone treatment, or other modalities can be difficult to decide; the electronic diagnostics often sort out these difficulties and present direction for complex strategies.

In this issue of the Townsend Letter Dr. Gerber examines the gallbladder case – when a patient is being urged to undergo gallbladder surgery for stones blocking the bile duct. Gerber prefers to “rescue” the gallbladder in most circumstances. Also in this issue, we reprint Dr. Gerber’s outstanding review article, first published in 2006, on 30 years of nutritional and alternative medicine. Anyone who doubts the efficacy of chelation therapy must read this article. In three pages, Gerber lays out study after study supporting chelation’s role in cardiovascular disease.

New Printer

With this issue, we have changed printers. We are now using Dartmouth Printing Company in Hanover, New Hampshire, to do our printing. We bid adieu to Consolidated Press in Seattle, who printed the magazine for more than two decades. The Dartmouth Printing Company is a specialty press that prints many of the journals in the US. The printing will be different; the text pages will appear on semigloss paper. With a press in New Hampshire, we will no longer be sending the magazine from Port Townsend; instead, we will be mailing from Chicago. (Our subscription and editorial offices remain in Port Townsend). We hope that you will enjoy the new printing!

Jonathan Collin, MD