Book excerpt: The events that took place on September 11th caused Dr. John Brighton, a naturopathic health consultant, to ask himself questions about what role natural forms of healing might have in a scenario involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD). As he examined the issues and the nature of the threat, he felt assured that a naturalistic approach could make a significant contribution in conjunction with that offered by conventional medicine. Moreover, he felt that to use both would provide a more powerful deterrent than if either were used alone. The naturalistic approach would augment the use of drugs by adding 5 extra lines of defense aimed at supporting and strengthening the immune system to deal with such a dire event. These lines include: A psychological dimension A social dimension A preventative dimension An environmental dimension A specific dimension The whole idea of this holistic strategy is to employ prevention and immune-enhancing factors in order to reduce the level of crisis to begin with. As a result, the dependency on antibiotics (there are no effective antivirals) and other valuable medical resources can be considerably reduced, and, most importantly, preserved for when they would be needed most. Another benefit of integrating these two systems would add what Dr. Brighton calls "synergistic complexity" as a way to reduce the current crisis of germ resistance to many most potent antibiotics and to provide a holistic approach to all forms of WMD. The book clarifies the scope of the threat we face by examining: The variety of biological, chemical, and nuclear threats The factors involved in the creation of WMD The uncanny capacity of microbes to develop resistance to our medications The threat of bioengineering and the creation of superbugs How synergistic complexity could provide a possible solution A chapter is dedicated to focusing on the specific nature and challenges posed by each biological, chemical and nuclear agent. This includes: A description of the agent How it causes harm How it might be used as a weapon, and the possibility of it being used How it is detected diagnostically and in the field The conventional method of care and treatment The suggested natural forms of defense including herbs, vitamins & minerals, and other natural substances and healing therapies. The book ends with a forward-looking chapter on emerging technologies that have promise of increasing our level of defense against WMD. A bibliography and a full section on resources are available.