Have you ever been frustrated not knowing what to do when you have an irritating health problem not serious enough to be a disease or to be a drug deficiency? If so then this book is for you.

Subtitled "Good Ideas for Irritating Problems", Dr. Donald McDowall’s new book "CLINICAL PEARLS FOR BETTER HEALTH" is a collection of observations and advice gathered during the author’s experience and research in practice as a Chiropractor for 28 years. Many of these ideas and remedies were also gleaned from discussions with colleagues and patients as they described how they helped themselves when ill.

Every person is as different in the way their body works as they are in their personality. In this book the variety of remedies for similar problems is a reflection of how different people are.

Compared to many books on this self help subject Dr. McDowall has simplified the information for quick easy reference.

Have you ever tried a little bicarb soda in a glass of water before heavy exercise to prevent lactic acid buildup and muscle fatigue? If you had, then you might not have strained your back or leg muscles as easily. Did you know a good way to suppress your appetite is to eat a banana 15 minutes before your meal? Then you don’t eat so much during your meal. Do you know how to stimulate your appetite when someone is going to buy you a nice meal even though you are tired? Try adding a teaspoon of lemon juice to a little water 5 minutes before you eat. These and many other ideas in this book will make your life much happier.

Donald McDowall is a practicing chiropractor in Canberra, Australia. He has conducted a private practice since graduation from Palmer College of Chiropractic (Iowa, USA) in 1974. He is a Diplomate of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners and a Diplomat of the International Board of Applied Kinesiology since 1978. He has continually served in leadership positions of professional and community organisations.

Dr McDowall’s interest in the subtleties of healing has caused him to explore and gather information from many parts of the world. He has lectured in the United States, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.

Dr McDowall was born in Australia into a family of dairy farmers from the southwest of Victoria. He is the eldest of ten children. Impressed by the benefits and experiences of chiropractic over the years, his father gathered up the family and travelled to the United States to study chiropractic at Palmer College in Iowa in 1961. His interest in pursuing a career in health care began by watching his father’s work.

Donald and his wife, Annie, have nine children.

This book was originally published in 1976 as "A Clinical Approach to Health through Food Programming". It was a collection of notes I used to assist people who came to me for help in my practice as a Chiropractor that I made available to my friends and colleagues. I have often been asked for an update. I hope this volume will satisfy that request.

You may ask what do these pieces of information have to do with spinal adjustments. I used this information as an addition to chiropractic care to strengthen the patient so they would heal quicker. I found that I was often asked by patients for advice they could use to help themselves for the many and varied problems they presented with. I would make a note of the questions that I did not have an answer to. I then researched after work for ideas that would help and presented the information to my patient at their next visit. This process caused me to develop a resource library of over 3000 volumes, 28 different journals and with the advent of computers a database of 9000 abstracts.

This book is a collection of notes from these sources. It is a reference that I now use to save a lot of work after office hours. Simple problems are often overlooked by modern medicine. Similar symptoms are common to many diseases. Nothing is more exasperating than being told by your doctor that "nothing is wrong with you", when you still don’t feel right. Here is a collection of things to do for those less serious but annoying "irritants" to your health.

I have designed this book to assist those readers who desire to have extra information about their health and habits. The reader should not forget that it is the responsibility of each individual to care for their WHOLE PERSON.

Man is a spiritual, structural, chemical and psychological being. Combining all these functions, our life should be in perfect balance. When an imbalance occurs, sickness and disease begins. This book is designed to help that balance. The advice suggested makes use of as many basic natural food sources as possible.

This work consists of suggestions and aids for many different problems that are slow to respond in a person out of balance. These suggestions are designed to assist in conjunction with nervous system balance (chiropractic care), rest, correct exercise and a healthy attitude to living.

My desire is that those readers who use this work to help others, illustrate its effectiveness, by their own example. All people deserve to have the knowledge of learning how to become healthy, feel healthy and stay healthy. To this end may we fulfil our purpose in life.

Donald A. McDowall, D.C.