For More Energy and More Time, Kill the First Disease! Read It! Then Do It! Before all chronic diseases, the body is struck by a surreptitious disease, "the First Disease!" The First Disease sucks the oxygen of the body, and on the whole, it plants the seed for infectious, chronic, and degenerative diseases such as cancer, by instigating accelerated aging, wearing out the immune system, weakening the bones, and stressing the brain. The widespread variety of symptoms such as low grade inflammation, general aches and pain and headache, tenderness and stiffness of muscles and joints, sleep disorders, high cholesterol levels, hypertension, fatigue, impaired concentration and memory, and the majority of prevalent chronic, degenerative, and infectious diseases affecting our population have their origin in the First Disease. The First Disease is one of the most neglected and unmanaged health conditions in spite of the fact that it is a worldwide malady, a pandemic which is preventable and can be controlled effectively and safely. It affects nearly everyone at some point, or during most of their lifetime, and yet it is one of the most overlooked aspects of public health. The good news is that the First Disease can be effectively stopped to prevent premature aging, to reduce inflammation, and to strengthen the immune system to prevent most cancers and other chronic and degenerative diseases. The evidence from epigenetic studies tells us that preventive intervention can be achieved to the extent that development of many illnesses among people who may even have genetic tendencies for them can be stopped. The First Disease and its many aftermaths killed my beloved husband, Henry. So, passionately and dutifully, I am pursuing my mission in life and have written this book for our general population to impart knowledge about this least talked about disorder to support prevention or undoing of this surreptitious and not widely known disease. I wrote this book because our people are our greatest national asset! I wrote this book because generally, doctors do not talk to our people about the First Disease and its impact on the course of infectious, chronic, degenerative diseases. Throughout the book, my objective is not to give any medical or clinical advice, but to present and to reinforce the facts about the First Disease, its significance and its consequences when not prevented or managed effectively. "Kill the First Disease" is a holistic approach to prevention or undoing of the First Disease without unnecessary and perfunctory use of pharmaceutical drugs and chemicals, or invasive medical interventions. My ultimate goal in writing this book is to make the First Disease a household word like diabetes and cancer, two of the many aftermaths of this malady. It is my hope that this book helps our people not to experience the excruciating pain that my dear Henry, I, and our family suffered, and to live a healthy and long life. Dr. Simin S. Wong
About the Author: Dr. Simin S. Wong is an international community health research scientist, an educator, an artist, and a multi linguist with extensive training and experience. As a senior research principal investigator or co-investigator in the United States and internationally who practices community medicine, she has over twenty years of extensive relevant educational and professional practice in preventive medicine and community-based public health research, needs assessment studies, and knowledge transfer. Her studies have included epidemiological studies of cancer, prevention and control of infectious diseases, assessment of the dietary guidelines for Americans, physical and cognitive growth in children, hearing impairment, rheumatic heart disease, and prevention, primary care, management, and control of risk factors of priority and chronic diseases. A dedicated public health educator for over two decades, Dr. Wong, an associate professor of community medicine, has supported pioneering community-based medical research in several parts of the world, and is a frequent lecturer in prevention of multiple chronic and degenerative disorders. She has published in both domestic and international peer-reviewed scientific journals in a wide range of topics. Dr. Wong is a recipient of the Westinghouse Scholarship and the White House's 2002 Patriot Day Proclamation. She is an active member of the Potomac Lions Club. She received her Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh; and earned her certificates in health outcomes research and nutrition from the Harvard School of Public Health.