Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/100

 However, if the structural defect has not reached the point that includes the case in the following class, and, if care be exercised during the period of convalescence, recovery is certain.

3. Organic defect of such degree that the functioning of a vital organ is rendered impossible. A gradual decline, beginning before treatment and continuing with a short interval of relief after entering the fast, is the characteristic indication. The relief noted may be such as to offer hope of recovery, but, if the condition is as stated, there is no possibility of cure.

In functional disease, when her laws are obeyed, nature never fails of cure. She is helpless only when organic defects exist that defy repair.

The careful study of the symptoms of disease, as they occur either while feeding or fasting is' in progress, reveals the law through which nature works to a cure. It may briefly be stated as a process of elimination, upon lines of least resistance, of the toxins produced by functions imperfectly performed. These signs of distress may often be locally relieved by mechanical means embodying heat, water, sunlight, air, and manipulation,