The following is an excerpt from Dr. Cass Igram's book The Cure is in the Cupboard .

"Infectious Disease and Oil of Oregano.

A microbe is described in the dictionary as a minute form of life. A microorganism is one that causes disease. We are surrounded by an infinite number of microorganisms. We tend to think of them as something outside the body, but if truth be known, the number of microbes residing in the body would be shocking.These microbes or microorganisms have a critical influence on our health. Infectious diseases are responsible for many of our modern day diseases, disabilities and deaths. Most of the hospital visits are infection related and more than 90% of doctor visits are due to infections.

While the major cause of death in this country is degenerative diseases, infectious diseases are the major cause world wide. However, between the 1600's to the early 1900's, a large number of deaths were infection related. For example in the early 1900's several million people died from a flu epidemic. In that same era, other killers such as cholera, diphteria, tuberculosis, small pox, typhus, pertussis, hepatitis, shigella and amebic dysentery claimed many lives.

In the 1940's, we see a dramatic reduction of these untimely deaths due to improved sanitation and nutrition and the advent of antibiotics. Yet infections still kill even in spite of the advances in moderm medicine. The latest statistics show that the number of infection related deaths have risen by 60% between 1980-1992. It is expected that at this rate, by the year 2000, infectious diseases will rival heart disease and cancer as a primary cause of death.

Many viruses and bacteria have become immune to the current arsenal of antibiotics. There is no drug available that is guaranteed to cure any of the major infectious diseases. In fact, drugs, particularly antibiotics, have aggravated the dilemma. The widespread use of antibiotics have created mutant resistant microbes and because these microbes alter their genetics, they have become immune to the antibiotic.

These mutants are a major cause of severe illness in western culture. These genetically altered microbes are not only able to resist the antibotic, but they are also able to invade the immune system. Some bacteria are even able to digest the drug and use it for fuel. They are extremely difficult to kill.

The diseases that result can be life threatening. The "Hippocrates" magazine quotes that 130,000 hospitalized patients in this country die each year due to antibiotic resistant microbes. In "Germs that won't die" by Lappe tens of thousands of Americans who have never had a serious infection develop one simply by entering a hospital as a patient or a visitor. Millions of people lose their health or lives from infections which could be potentially cured if physicians only knew about the antiseptics of nature.

Many people are also allergic to antibiotics. Some reactions are sudden and often severe. Many have died or have suffered serious damage to their immune system and/or internal organs. Americans spend thousands of dollars on antibotics. Sadly, this is not money well spent. Most of the drugs are ultimately ineffective and tend to aggravate the illness. There are several reasons why.

Antibiotics create mutant microbes. These mutants continue to cause trouble and do not respond to treatment. Antibiotics also destroy the friendly bacteria that perform useful functions, i.e., Lactobacillus acidophilus. These friendly bacteria aid the immune system and help prevent infection. Drug toxicity is another problem arising from the widespread use of drugs.

Some drugs such as aminoglycosides, erythromycin and tetrecyclines damage vital organs such as the liver, bone marrow and kidneys. Antibiotics are a regular cause of hepatitis, inflammatory damage to the liver. Antibiotics have their place, but they are prescribed excessively and this has led to a much more serious and dangerous health crisis.

Incredibly, drug companies are investigating the use of natural substances in the treatment of infectious diseases. Before the advent of penicillin, such substances as sulfur, garlic, ginger, goldenseal, Echinacea, thyme, camphor and horseradish were commonly used as natural antiseptics.

A look back at history either to a museum or an old pharmacy will reveal that natural medicines were the mainstay and served as such for over 200 years. Many physicians and herbalists for years used these natural substances to fight infections and microbial resistance was not a problem.

We must once again return to our natural resources to eradicate the enormous number of infectious diseases including those which are now resistant to antibiotics. Synthetic drugs are unreliable and are responsible for complicating the sickness. Side effects are numerous and often severe and lead to a host of new problems which then might require treatment. Natural antobiotics are essentially non toxic.

Oil of Oregano is a premier antiseptic and contains a wide range of antimicrobial powers. It is unequaled in its ability to kill a wide range of microbes and it does not promote microbial resistance. The oil is derived from certain species of oregano plants, similar to what is grown in herb gardens. Its odor or fragrance is pugnant and its flowers are quite colorful.

This is not to be compared to what we find in the spice section of the grocery store or in Italian foods. Oregano, as we know it, is not the same medicinally. You won't achieve the desired results by eating pizza or spaghetti.

The oil is derived from a unique species of plant that grows wild throughout the world. The oregano is rich in essential oil and is processed in a special type of distillation. This procedure ensures minimal alteration of the active ingredients and the curative properties are preserved. The result is an amber colored liquid which has a powerful and hot tasting flavor. Its odor is similar to camphor. It takes 200 pounds of herb to produce 2 pounds of oil. It is difficult and expensive to produce. What you find in health food stores is not a medicinal grade of oregano.

The premier features of this product are:
- its valuable inflammatory actions
- can neutralize a wide range of spiders, scorpions, bees, ants and snake bites and stings
- natural antiseptic, can treat various painful lesions and pain disorders
- mucolytic, helps to mobilize and thin mucous, useful in lung disorders
- antitussive, halts cough and eases spasticity of the lung tubules
- antispasmodic, obliterates tightness and spasms of muscles
- its greatest attribute is its antimicrobial property

Some of the infectious diseases are; staph/strep, E. Coli, veneral disease, salmonella, cholera, typhus, flesh eating bacteria, camphylobacter, dysentery, mycoplasma, Epstein Barr, HIV Heliobacter, herpes, colds, flu, hepatitis, tuberculosis, Lyme, Shigella, Candida, Cyclospora, Cryptosporidium, Meningoccoccus, Encephalitic virus, dengue and hantavirus. They can strike at anytime. Not only is it the epitome of distess to contact one of these diseases, many of them are fatal and have no medical cure.

What is little known is that in addition to the acute infections, many chronic diseases are also caused by infections. Diseases including arthritis, cancer, fibromyalgia, lupus, ulcerative colitis, chronic fatigue syndrom, rosacea, gastritis, and Chron's disease are not usually correctly treated. Antibiotics will not work for these conditions, rather, it is the natural antiseptic and nutritional therapies that are the answer."