Dr. Isaac Jennings - Publications - National Health Association

Dr. Isaac Jennings – Publications

Jennings, Issac. (1847). Medical reform; a Treatise on Man’s Physical Being and Disorders: Embracing an Outline of a Theory of Human Life, and a Theory of Disease, its Nature, Cause, and Remedy. Oberlin [Ohio]: Fitch & Jennings. Hathitrust – https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hc3vs5&seq=7&_ga=2.186671656.1669541545.1706398529-220661866.1701970530
- In this book of 392 pages, Dr. Jennings gives his views on medical reform. He starts with a general outline of Human Life followed by a discussion of his Laws of Life (Law of Action, repose, economy, distribution, economy, accommodation, stimulation, limitation, equilibrium). He next defines what disease is, analyzes various diseases, and discusses their cause and treatment. He highlights the use of alcohol, tea, coffee, tobacco, animal, food, butter, and cheese, etc. He sees these points from experience and observations with reflections and remarks.

Jennings, Issac. (1852). The Philosophy of Human Life. Cleveland, Ohio: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington. Internet Archive – https://archive.org/details/62140940R.nlm.nih.gov/page/n3/mode/2up
- Jennings starts by discussing the basis of the old systems of medicine. He then writes chapters on human physiology, general and special pathology, and reasons for rejecting heteropathy (method of treating disease with remedies) and adopting orthopathy (An alternative-medicine philosophy advocating a vegetarian raw-food diet with periods of intermittent fasting) over 284 pages.

Jennings, Issac. (1867). The Tree of Life: or, Human Degeneracy, its Nature and Remedy: Based on the Elevating Principle of Orthopathy. New York: Miller, Wood. Internet Archive – https://archive.org/details/treeoflifeorhuma00jenn/page/n21/mode/2up
- Jennings shares that this book was monumental in its approach to the problems of life. He begins with man’s spiritual degeneracy, nature, and remedy. Next, he shifts his focus to physiology, the organic laws of life, and disease. He shared the symptoms, general causation, and treatment protocols for specific diseases. 300 pages.

Jennings, Issac. (1960). “What Is Disease.” Eternal Health Truths of a Century Ago., no. June 1960, pp. 16-24, out of print/Edited by Christopher Gian-Cursio. Accessed 8 Feb. 2024.
- Check back to see if this has been added to the Internet Archive,
- “What is a disease?” asked Jennings. It was and is the question of the day. Jennings believed that disease is the abatement of health–nothing more, nothing less.
- With good health, the organs perform their parts, untiring with undeviating steadiness, as the planets move in their orbits.
- The first step on the descending scale of health is the reduction of power; second, functional derangement; third, structural derangement, or organic disease. As the force abates, action, enfeebles, and vacillates, the composition or decomposing functions of organs begin to fail to a greater or lesser degree.
- No artificial or unnatural means can make anyone feel better than he or she is in the constant habit of feeling. People of sound constitution and figure of health who live on a simple healthy diet never perceive any good effect from the use of stimulants (e.g., drugs, alcohol). It is actually the reverse.
- Dr. Jennings discusses the foundation of disease, or predisposition, as it was called. This condition has been produced by a long, persistent course of violation of the laws of life. He goes on to discuss that this predisposition or depressed state of the body differs greatly in each individual.