--> Why are hospitals literally dumping uninsured patients on the street, abandoning the sick to protect profits while our politicians actually negotiate on behalf of Big Pharma to make sure Americans keep paying the highest prices in the world for medications? (Click here to see our CounterThink cartoon on President Bush's price negotiations with drug companies.)
What's wrong with America's health care system?
SiCKO is a must-see documentary
SiCKO creator Michael Moore answers that all-important question in his best documentary yet. |
 No scientific testing whatsoever has been done to fully document the toxic effects of combinations of medications. Deadly drug interactions are simply noted after the fact. Consumers who take multiple prescription drugs are literally serving as Big Pharma's guinea pigs.
There is currently no requirement whatsoever that drug side effects noticed by doctors be reported to the FDA. The entire system of reporting is purely voluntary.
The entire paradigm of pharmaceutical medicine makes no sense. |
 Red Robin restaurants have pulled the Viagra bears from their game machines, replacing them with Prozac Pistols that let children simulate violent school shootings after taking psychotropic medications.
Alzheimer's drugs for Congress
The FDA has approved a new Alzheimer's patch that delivers brain-saving drugs through the skin. The agency was so thrilled by the performance of the drug that they not only approved it, they MANDATED its use on anyone with poor brain function. A massive shipment of the skin patches are now on their way to the U.S. |
 Popular anti-flea and anti-tick medications, all by themselves, are so toxic to the liver of any animal that if they were prescribed to humans, their side effects would make the Vioxx fiasco look like a harmless prank.
The idea of actually feeding your dog such high doses of poison that it ends up in the skin tissues where it kills ticks and fleas should be horrifying to any intelligent pet owner, yet most pet owners just buy what their vet tells them to buy, and they feed one chemical after another to their pets, oblivious to the fact that they're actually poisoning them. |
 His parents were told that they would need to be prepared for their son to be in and out of hospitals for the rest of his life. They were counseled that the debilitating aspects of the disease could spill over and destroy the family.
Upon his first release from the hospital, J.S. was on three different medications with multiple side-effects and slept up to 20 hours daily. His parents felt that this treatment regimen was taking their son and their family down a road they no longer wanted to travel. |
 This allows them to study or complete tasks at hand much more effectively minus the feelings associated with the medications' "speed-like" effects.
Schedule II drugs, such as Ritalin and Adderall, however, have a high propensity for misuse, abuse, and dependence. Widely prescribed for school-age children by medical professionals, many adolescents and young adults snort Ritalin and Adderall as they believe that they are safe alternatives to cocaine. This could not be further from the truth. |
 After all, even if we had the best possible medications and treatments, they would be useless if people were not sufficiently motivated to embrace them. ("You can lead a horse to water . ..")
When I was first exposed to the Stages of Change model, the experience was like the proverbial light going on. I was working in my first year as a case manager at an agency providing supportive housing for the homeless mentally ill. I was working, or attempting to work, with people suffering from rampant substance abuse problems in addition to their mental illness. |
 In the past, some people have wondered why I drink no alcohol, use no drugs, drink no coffee, take no medications, etc. People have asked me if I'm a member of some specific religion with pristine dietary practices, but the answer is quite simply that I have arrived at my own spiritual practice and I choose to respect my body and mind as tools for creating a better future. I actually came to this conclusion mostly on my own, and have since found that it is aligned with the spiritual paths found in virtually all world religions. |
 If this trend continues, it won't be long before anyone who rejects vaccinations, drugs and psychiatric medications will be considered a criminal (or terrorist). Parents, be warned: The State is out to medicate your child, and if you resist, you may have your children taken away!
In a nation where so many people claim we're sending soldiers off to war in order to "fight for our freedoms," I find it astounding that patients in hospitals are being treated like Guantanamo Bay prisoners. |
 Disease mongering is rampant, and drug companies are now resorting to the most absurd, ridiculous leaps of the imagination to try to convince people they need more vaccines and medications. |
 THE BOTTOM LINE
Our goal is to provide a comprehensive, evidence-based strategy to prevent metabolic disease, or if you already have insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes, to reverse the course of the disease. medications are tools that can help with this goal. We strongly advise you to speak with your doctor about the best tools and interventions to use in your case, based on your medical needs. |
 The drug companies just call it that to convince everyone that they need to take medications to ease the symptoms. But in reality, all you probably need is aloe vera. Drink aloe vera gel on a regular basis, and your heartburn symptoms will usually vanish within a few days. Of course, it would also help if you'd stop eating fried foods and processed foods. |
 Millions of Americans who have greater need for vitamin C (growing children, pregnant females, smokers, diabetics, the elderly, and those who take vitamin C-deplet-ing medications such as aspirin, steroids, birth control pills and estrogen) are all likely to be in a state of semi-scurvy and falsely believe their diet or low-dose vitamin pills provide sufficient amounts of vitamin C. This is due to the misinformation distributed by the National Institutes of Health.
New research
Recent studies conducted 28 years after Drs. |
 Drug Interactions: In cases of chronic use or abuse, loss of potassium may potentiate cardiac glycosides and have an effect on antiarrhythmic medications.
Pregnancy: The drug should not be used during pregnancy or while nursing.
Pediatric Use: Not to be used by children under 12 years of age.
DOSAGE
Mode of Administration: Comminuted herb, powder or dried extracts for teas, decoctions, cold macerates, or elixirs. Liquid or solid forms of medication exclusively for oral use.
Preparation: To prepare an infusion, pour hot water (not boiling) over 0. |
| Signs of poisoning following the intake of cola drinks (20 to 60 mg caffeine per glass) or medications or stimulants containing cola extracts are hardly conceivable (Coffeae semen). Small children should avoid the intake of larger quantities of cola drinks. No administration should be carried out in the presence of stomach or duodenal ulcers, due to the drug's stimulation of gastric juice secretion.
DOSAGE
Mode of Administration: Powdered drug and other galenic preparations are for internal use. |
| Drug Interactions: Although reports are sketchy, and most involve animal subjects and in vitro research, there is a strong possibility that Feverfew may interact with antithrombotic medications such as aspirin and warfarin. The mechanism of action is believed to be inhibition of arachidonic acid, which is a precursor for prostaglandins that are involved in the clotting mechanism.
DOSAGE
Mode of Administration: Feverfew preparations are used both internally and externally.
Preparation: To make an infusion, use 2 teaspoonfuls of the drug per cup, allow to draw for 15 minutes. |
| DOSAGE
Mode of Administration: Comminuted drug and dried extracts for infusions, bitter-tasting forms of medications for oral administration.
Preparation: Tea is prepared by pouring boiling water over 1/2 tsp. of the drug (1 to 2 gm) and allowing it to steep for 5 to 10 minutes. The tea may be sweetened with honey to alleviate the bitter taste.
Daily Dosage: The average single dose is 1 gm of the drug; daily dose is 2 to 4 gm. The average daily dose of tincture is 1 to 3 gm; liquid extract: 2 to 4 gm; root: 2 to 4 gm.
Storage: The drug must be stored away from light sources. |
| Surgery 136: 57-66, 2004]
Safety
Because resveratrol disables detoxification enzymes produced in the liver, it may interfere with certain medications and should not be used at the same time as blood pressure, cholesterol or other drugs.
Up to 300 mg of resveratrol per kilogram of body weight (21,000 mg human equivalent) showed no detrimental effect upon animals. [Toxicological Science 82: 614-19, 2004]
Resveratrol has passed the safety arm of three human clinical studies including two ongoing cancer studies. |
| For people suffering from moderate to even severe depression, CBT can be as effective as medications.10 For insomnia, CBT has been shown to be more helpful than the sleep aid Ambien. In 2004, CBT was shown to help alleviate hypochondria in six sessions and, in conjunction with drugs, to help depressed adolescents and kids with obsessive-compulsive disorder. There are currendy about 150 clinical trials being conducted to test CBT for an ever-widening number of problems: Tourette's syndrome, gambling addiction, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome, and as a therapy for sexually abused kids. |
| Garlic and medications ... 472
Garlic tolerability... 473
Garlic pills... 473
Mistletoe (Iscador)... 474
Licorice... 475
Milk thistle... 475
Resveratrol... 476
The professor finds a cure for his leukemia ... 476
Small molecules rule ... 477
Resveratrol tackles lymphoma ... 478
Who spread the falsehoods? ... 478
Many pathways blocked by resveratrol... 478
Resveratrol: the nine ways it fights cancer ... 479
How resveratrol gently kills cancer cells ... 480
Warburg Effect Reversed ... 480
Resveratrol and the p53 gene ... 481
Resveratrol and the bax gene ... |
 The cardiologist prescribed the blood thinner Coumadin and placed Wayne on several other medications in an attempt to strengthen his heart. He was then able to leave the hospital, though he was very weak and could hardly move.
Follow-up studies of Wayne's heart a few weeks later showed that his ejection fraction had improved to 23 percent. The cardiologist wasn't very optimistic, though, and felt that this was probably the most Wayne's health would ever improve. His heart was still filled with blood clots, and he still was in atrial fibrillation. |
| But advancing age, recent ejaculation, infection, medications (even finasteride) or inflammation can cause PSA elevation, and mass screening of men with PSA above 1.0 would lead to many needless biopsies and false positive tests. So the FDA set the PSA level considered 'We" at 4.0 for healthy men with no additional risk factors. This sounds very arbitrary.
For healthy males 45-50 years of age who have an immediate relative who developed prostate cancer at an early age, or who have black skin pigmentation, doctors now recommend a PSA cutoff of 2.6. |
| Cancer 91: 2238-45, 2001] Various medications, calcium and vitamin D may be recommended to strengthen bones. However, these measures alone may be ineffective. [Canadian Journal Urology 12: 9-15, 2005S]
As men with prostate cancer live longer, the prevalence of bone loss increases. Many men with prostate cancer who are prescribed hormone therapy are not provided with any preventive measures to help maintain bone health. Exercise, exposure to the sun (vitamin D production), avoidance of excessive alcohol, and cessation of smoking helps to maintain bone integrity. |
 Taken together, pain relievers accounted for one-third of all medications. The next most category of drugs (15%) were antibiotics, the overprescription of which, documented in the preceding chapter, is a significant public health problem.
Only one in twenty patients arrive at the emergency room with that most fearsome symptom—chest pain—as their primary symptom, though heart problems are the most common ED physician diagnosis among those over age 45. Although the number of patients is relatively small, the potential consequences of chest pain are life or death. |
| A survey of psychiatrists, conducted in 1997, showed that 89% of all patients received at least one psychotherapeutic medication; 14% received four or more medications. The most commonly prescribed drugs were antidepressants (62% of all patients), followed by antianxiety agents (32%) and antipsychotic agents (27%).12
DSM
Our evaluation of psychiatry—be it therapy with talk or drugs—is made difficult by the very issue that vexes the practice. That is, what psychiatrists do has never really fit into the medical model. |
| In other words, on average about one-third of all patients stop taking their medications,49 probably because of real or perceived (is there any difference?) side effects such as movement disorders, weight gain, or emotional dullness. These drop-out rates make statistical generalizations, the goal of randomized and blinded studies, almost meaningless.
Neuroleptics (Thorazine, approved for use in 1954, was the first one) are called "first generation" antipsychotic drugs. After six to eight weeks of treatment, about 20% of all patients have a complete remission of their symptoms. |
| The authors concluded (perhaps a bit defensively) that: "despite calls to restrict access to medications, medical management of [major depression] with Prozac, including careful monitoring for adverse events, should be made widely available, not discouraged.38 This conclusion received a cautious endorsement—"as is usually the case with good research, the study provides not only important answers, but also raises several important questions"—from a JAMA editorial in the same issue.39
Other commentators were more critical. |
| The patient and family members are engulfed in trips for blood tests, x-rays, biopsies, doctor's office visits, and purchasing medications, without even questioning if any of this activity will result in a cure.
Many cancer patients wait until they hear the doctor's words, "there is nothing else we can do," before they begin to search for alternatives. Then, grasping at straws, they often fall prey to any charlatan who offers a cancer cure. |
 In another animal study, normally brewed black tea given to rats inhibited the formation of ulcers, even when the rats consumed aspirin and other medications that can increase the risk of ulcers.10
GREEN TEA AS A SECRET WEAPON FOR WEIGHT LOSS
A cup of tea (without added sugar or milk) provides only four calories, which certainly makes this beverage acceptable for any weight-loss diet. Weight-loss experts hypothesize that green tea reduces the rate and amount of dietary carbohydrates absorbed, but without putting the body at risk of malnutrition. |
 If people do try Butekyo, and other treatments, we still recommend continuing with the medications prescribed by their doctor. A complementary approach with support of your doctor and your asthma action plan is still the best and safest option.
If reactions from participants are any indication, the Butekyo Method is proving very beneficial for some severe asthmatics. It would seem that most people who have attended a course are pleased with the improvement in their asthma and have lessened their reliance on medication. |
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