From: rpattree2@gmail.com   
      
       
   Home | Columnists | Blog | Subscribe | Podcasts   
      
      
   When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease   
      
   by Bill Sardi   
   by Bill Sardi   
      
      
   DIGG THIS   
      
   Mary wonders why the new young doctor she visited recently says to nearly   
   every patient, after examining their throat, that it looks like their   
   esophagus is being eroded by stomach acid and they need to start taking   
   acid-blocking pills.   He hands    
   patients free samples provided by pharmaceutical companies.  The patients are   
   oblivious to the fact that if they begin using the drug, they may never be   
   able to stop taking it without experiencing an excruciatingly painful bout of   
   rebound heartburn.   
      
   One way to build an income in private medical practice is to hook patients on   
   drugs that continually require re-examination, testing and prescription   
   renewal.    
      
   For example, blood thinners require prothrombin tests to determine how long it   
   takes the blood to clot.  Blood pressure pills require monitoring of blood   
   pressure.  And in the example above, once patients start taking acid-blocking   
   medications they will    
   find it is nearly impossible to stop taking them because withdrawal will   
   provoke rebound acidity with throat-gripping pain.   
      
   Since the early 1990s it has been known that acid-blocking (histamine   
   blocking) drugs commonly prescribed for heartburn create dependency.    
   Withdrawal from the drug will create rebound hyper-acidity that causes the   
   patient to reach for the antacid pills    
   in desperation again. [1] , [2]   To make matters worse, acid blockers may   
   induce more, not less, disease.  Stomach acid is a defense against invading   
   pathogenic bacteria that enter the gut in food (foods are not sterile, but   
   have low bacteria and mold    
   counts that stomach acid normally kills).  The habitual use of acid blockers   
   may result in infection and even cancer. [3]     
      
   Most drugs don't work, are inappropriate or are designed to make things worse   
      
   Critical examination of the effectiveness of prescription drugs reveals that   
   there is (1) convincing data that most prescription drugs are not only   
   ineffective but may worsen the condition being treated (yet are approved by   
   the FDA), that (2) some of    
   these medications appear to be designed to create life-long dependency upon   
   the drug (drug withdrawal exacerbates symptoms), and that (3) some   
   long-standing drugs that are the hallmarks of modern medicine have begun to   
   lose their biological punch.   
      
   There are many examples of this:   
      
   It has recently been shown that asthma symptoms worsen upon withdrawal of the   
   drug Accolate (zafirlukast), with benefits lasting only for the first five   
   weeks and then symptoms return soon thereafter.  The FDA approved this drug   
   based upon short-term use    
   data.  Benefits are seen for only the first five weeks, after which symptoms   
   return to their original state within seven weeks. Side effects range from   
   diarrhea to liver damage.  With no long-term benefits, the drug is only   
   problematic for users. [4]     
      
   Other asthma drugs, such as albuterol, ventolin and salbutamol, work in the   
   short term to relax airways, but over the long term over-sensitize the body   
   and make the drugs less effective.  Then airways become more sensitive to   
   asthma triggers. [5]     
      
   Quetiapine, a drug commonly used in nursing homes to treat agitation and   
   related symptoms in people with Alzheimer's disease, actually worsens their   
   condition and speeds the rate of their mental decline. [6]     
      
   First-line drugs used to treat Alzheimer's do not stop the progression of the   
   disease and are largely disappointing, [7] and side effects caused by   
   second-line treatments (like Quetiapine) for Alzheimer's-related psychosis,   
   aggression and agitation,    
   offset any modest advantages of first-line drugs. [8]  Drugs like these ensure   
   your loved ones will never make it out of the Alzheimer's care facility.   
      
   Diabetes rates are exploding in America.  Millions of Americans are being   
   placed on anti-diabetic drugs.  But nearly all anti-diabetic drugs result in   
   weight gain and eventual total dependency upon insulin injections. [9] ,   
   [10]   This is another example    
   of drugs locking patients into inevitably more severe disease.   
      
   Disease substitution, not disease treatment   
      
   All too frequently, drugs substitute one disease for another.  For example,   
   most anti-psychotic drugs induce weight gain and diabetes. [11] , [12]   This   
   is so typical that many people believe a pudgy body always accompanies mental   
   disorders.    
      
   Another example of disease substitution is the treatment of high blood   
   pressure with diuretics which can induce a vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency   
   that results in heart failure.  One study found a third of patients   
   hospitalized for heart failure, who are    
   often treated with diuretics, were vitamin B1 deficient. [13]   Vitamin   
   therapy is uncommon in hospital settings.   
      
   Blood pressure drugs: inappropriate treatment   
      
   Consider drug therapy for high blood pressure, what doctors call   
   hypertension.  The idea is to lower blood pressure with medications and reduce   
   the risk for a stroke.  But no single blood pressure pill seems to work.  More   
   than one drug is often needed,    
   and there are few if any studies that prove combination therapies are safe and   
   effective. [14]     
      
   Most blood pressure drugs do not address the cause of the disease, which   
   commonly are age-related changes in blood sugar or hardening of the arteries,   
   resulting in inability of the blood vessels to dilate (widen) upon physical or   
   mental exertion or    
   stress.    
      
   Age-related inability to control blood sugar levels is generally caused by   
   insulin resistance (inability of insulin to enter cells) which is induced by   
   iron overload, [15] , [16] , [17] and hardening of the arteries by   
   calcification which impairs    
   dilation.   
      
   Diabetics experience buildup of underlying calcium in their arteries, which   
   largely explains diabetic hypertension. [18]     
      
   Calcification of the inside wall of arteries induces coronary artery disease   
   and hypertension, which can be measured by a CT scan. [19]   Rats that   
   spontaneously develop hypertension exhibit calcified aortas (the aorta is the   
   first blood vessel outside    
   the heart). [20]     
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)