Disease Reversal Association
The Disease Reversal Association (the “Association”) is a public charity established by Dan and Edna Purjes with several goals:
- To fund important research in disease reversal, especially plant-based
- To publicize these research findings in the media and in scientific circles
- To provide funds to people suffering from chronic disease who cannot afford to pay for plant-based guidance
- To educate the public and the media about the ability of a plant-based, whole foods lifestyle to prevent and reverse disease
- To publicize how a plant-based lifestyle is ecologically important and eliminates animal cruelty
- To fund and distribute books, films, and educational material that support a plant-based lifestyle
- To advocate legislative initiatives supporting a healthy, plant-based lifestyle in all areas of communal life – hospitals, schools, prisons, corporations, societies, etc.
- To support organizations that promote a plant-based lifestyle
Longer term objectives of the Association are to establish a hospital and medical school that practice a plant-based approach to initially treat chronic disease. Drugs and procedures will still be taught and used in these facilities, but only on an emergency basis and as needed if the disease has not reversed through diet.
Today, most drug research is funded by pharmaceutical companies. These companies stand to make substantial money from their products. Hence, they are willing to spend large sums of money on research studies with the aim of obtaining government approval for their drugs. In many studies, the researchers or their institutions have financial ties to the companies sponsoring and funding the research studies.
No such taint is involved with plant-based research. There is nothing proprietary about pears. This is both good and bad. Since there is no real way to make money on plant-based research, it is free from conflicts of interest. On the other hand, since there is no real way to make money from plant-based research, it is difficult, almost impossible, to get funds for this research. This is where the Disease Reversal Association comes in.
The Association has as its primary goal to support plant-based research for the reversal of all chronic diseases. The Association solicits contributions from wealthy donors and from the general public. The Scientific Advisory Board of the Association, comprised of distinguished physicians and researchers, vets applications for grants and decides which research projects merit funding. It monitors the progress of research projects funded by the Association, and reports the results to its board, management, donors, and also to professional societies and the media.
The Association actively publicizes successful disease reversal studies through the media and public relations firms. Very few people suffering from chronic disease are aware that in many, if not most cases, such diseases are better dealt with through a whole foods, plant-based lifestyle.
Most people believe that the only way to deal with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, asthma, Crohn’s, and other chronic diseases is through drugs. Other than in emergency situations, such as during a heart attack or stroke, where drugs can make a critical difference in the outcome and prognosis of the disease, a plant-based lifestyle is the best approach to reversing disease, naturally and permanently. The Association will fund rigorous scientific studies to demonstrate this, and to publicize it as widely as possible in scientific circles and in the general media.
The Association works closely with the International Journal of Disease Reversal & Prevention. The Association has separate directors, management and operations from the Journal, though some people are on the boards of both organizations. The two organizations are separate and distinct, with every effort made to prevent bias and conflict of interest between the two. They each have their own vision and mission, board of directors, advisory boards, executive management and staff, bank accounts, donors, and activities.
The Journal has adopted a pre-registration approach for article submissions. Research intended to be submitted for future publication, must first be presented to the Journal’s peer reviewers as a proposed study. The peer reviewers decide if the proposed study merits publication, and then make recommendations on how to modify the study for greater credibility and impact. If the researcher adopts these suggestions, it greatly enhances the prospect of the study being published, though publication ultimately depends on the results and the quality of the study.
Naturally, a study that has been accepted for pre-registration by the Journal would be welcomed for a grant application by the Association, if funding is needed. This would result in the study being vetted and approved by two different groups of scientists. While some physicians might be on both boards, there will be many who are not. In addition, there are non-plant based physicians on the boards vetting the studies to assure an even higher level of scientific credibility.
The Association has other disease reversal objectives in its mission.
There are a growing number of physicians adopting a plant-based lifestyle. More and more people suffering from chronic disease are finding their way to them, but some do not have sufficient funds to pay the fees involved, and there is no insurance or Medicare coverage. The Association intends to provide funds to those who cannot afford to pay those fees, so that they have access to plant-based nutrition guidance.
There are many misconceptions about health and nutrition. For example, many people believe that meat and other animal-derived foods are needed for sufficient protein. They don’t realize that 100% of all protein is from plants. The only source of protein on the planet is plants. Animal protein is secondary protein – beef has protein in it from the grass consumed during grazing. There is nothing superior about animal-based protein as compared to plant-based protein. The strongest animals on Earth – gorillas, elephants, rhinos – eat plants all day.
In fact, plants provide the best and most immediate source of nutrition. That is why a plant-based, whole foods lifestyle prevents and reverses disease.
The Disease Reversal Association is committed to educating the public about the true facts of plant-based health and nutrition, and the ability of a plant-based lifestyle to reverse and prevent dreaded chronic diseases. This will be done through published research articles, through books and documentary films, through educational material, and other means.
In addition, the Association’s public outreach programs will highlight the ecological importance of plant-based lifestyles, and how they eliminate animal cruelty. The greenhouse gasses and other pollution involved in the animal industry is greater than all those pollutants produced by the entire transportation sector – cars, planes, boats and trains. The amount of water used to grow animals is several times that used by humans every day. By the time a hamburger gets to someone’s plate, 4,000 gallons of water were needed to get it there. The average person uses 100 gallons of water a day.
As the population of humans continues to rapidly grow, we are destroying the planet rapidly. Much of that destruction is attributable to the growing of animals for food. To prevent the destruction of our planet habitat, we must convert to a plant-based lifestyle. The Disease Reversal Association delivers that message in many ways.
A great deal of work needs to be done at the government level to change laws and attitudes towards nutrition. This is especially so for regulations that govern food that is served in schools, hospitals, prisons, government facilities and other public institutions. The food that is served there is of horrendous nutritional quality, and serves to create physical and mental health problems that reverberate throughout life and society. The Association advocates legislative initiatives to introduce plant-based nutrition programs in those public institutions.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is heavily dominated by animal industries and other special interest groups. This has resulted in USDA guidelines and programs that are skewed towards animal products and unhealthy recommendations. The Disease Reversal Association supports initiatives to change the USDA’s direction and that of other government agencies towards plant-based, whole foods nutrition.