Alzheimer's, arthritis and heart disease have been linked to a common cause suggesting that they as well as other chronic degenerative diseases are amenable to a common treatment. The thesis was originally presented 40 years ago by cardiologist Kurt A. Oster, M.D. and Professor Donald J. Ross, Ph.D. The argument is presented that more than 50 chronic illnesses may be prevented and even reversed by regulating two enzymes at the center of inflammation, the most damaging of which, with respect to free radical formation and oxidative stress, is xanthine oxidase (XO), plentiful in homogenized milk. Certain nutrients in foods and supplements activate the enzymes, others inhibit them - nutritional guidelines that are part of a self-help therapy for reversing chronic illness, the ORS Method.