Unsung Heroes

They may march to the beat of different drummers, but these scientists and healers are dedicated to changing the tune of health care

THEY'RE FIGHTING CANCER. They're reversing heart disease. They're making house calls in third world countries. And while they may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, the 20 individuals (three of whom serve on our editorial advisory board) and institutions profiled here certainly are the superheroes of alternative medicine. Through research, education, advocacy and public relations, they've brought intelligent, well-reasoned new voices into the discussion of health care by introducing, and proving the efficacy of, nutritional therapy, holistic mind-body cures, Eastern healing modalities and spirituality. Yet for every one mentioned, there are countless others doing equally important work. Because of their efforts, we can look forward to the day when every doctor takes to heart Hippocrates' recommendation: "If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health."

Andrew Weil, M.D. Tuscon, Ariz. www.drweil.com

With his shiny head and fluffy white beard, Weil has become an icon for the viability, as well as the acceptance, of alternative healing. Possibly the best-known advocate in his field, the 59-year-old ethnobotanist spends his time integrating the best of traditional medicine with alternative therapies. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Weil specializes in mind-body interactions and medical botany. He is also the founder of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson, where he's training a new generation of like-minded doctors. But as much as anything he's done in the classroom or lab, Weil's greatest impact may be on public perception. He's made countless television appearances and recently published the latest of his eight best-selling books, Eating Well for Optimum Health: The Essential Guide to Food, Diet and Nutrition (Knopf, 2000).

Neal Barnard, M.D. Founder, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) Washington, D.C. www.pcrm.org; (202) 686-2210

As a young nutritionist, Neal Barnard had a vision: a weekly think tank in which 20 doctors would explore ways to spread the word on the value of nutrition. So in 1985 he founded PCRM, which currently boasts a membership of some 5,000 physicians and 100,000 lay people. Laboring for a national standard of good nutrition and higher ethical standards for research, the group counts among its accomplishments the revision of the FDA's original meat- and dairy-heavy Food Pyramid; a lawsuit that revealed the unethical influence of the meat and dairy industries in creating federal diet guidelines; and success in stopping 95 of the 125 U.S. medical schools from using animal labs. Today this 47-year-old doctor spends his time running PCRM and writing nutrition books, the latest of which is Turn Off the Fat Gene (Harmony, 2001).

Dean Ornish, M.D. Founder, Preventive Medicine Research Institute (PMRI), Sausalito, Calif. www.pmri.org; (415) 332-2525

This Harvard-trained heart surgeon had an epiphany about alternative medicine in the operating room. "I was performing bypass surgery and realized it was a perfect metaphor," Ornish recalls. "We were bypassing the problem, not treating the cause of it." Shortly afterward, in 1984, he founded PMRI, a nonprofit research center that promotes mind-body healing and integrative care as the core treatment for heart disease. Fourteen years later, Ornish shook up the medical community with his five-year study of bypass- and angioplasty-eligible patients, in which 77 percent avoided these procedures simply by switching to a low-fat vegetarian diet and exercising regularly. Ornish's next bombshell proved, with clinical studies, that it's possible to reverse severe heart disease without drugs or surgery. The author of five books, including Love & Survival (HarperCollins, 1998), he's now studying whether lifestyle changes including a plant-based diet can help prostate cancer patients.

Doctors Without Borders (DWB) New York, N.Y. www.doctorswithoutborders.org (212) 679-6800

Doctors Without Borders does not practice alternative medicine so much as traditional medicine in an alternative way. Founded by a small group of French physicians in 1971, DWB believes that all people, regardless of nationality, religion or creed, have the right to immediate medical care. Each year, more than 2,000 volunteers--doctors, nurses, engineers and administrators--join 15,000 locals to provide emergency aid to victims of armed conflict, epidemics and natural and manmade disasters in some 80 countries (which have included Bosnia, Afghanistan and Burundi). The group has rehabilitated hospitals and clinics, developed nutrition and sanitation programs and trained local medical personnel. In a world that may be unaware of the atrocities committed to man, DWB is one of the voices that speaks up.