Never Be Sick Again (39 page)

How much surgery is necessary? Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, in
Confessions of a Medical Heretic,
said, “My feeling is that somewhere around ninety percent of surgery is a waste of time, money, energy, and life.” Dr. Mendelsohn cites an independent review of people recommended for surgery. The study found that most of these patients did not need surgery and half of them needed no medical treatment at all. In another case, a hospital oversight committee reviewed surgically removed tissues. In the year prior to the formation of the committee, the hospital performed 262 appendectomies—after the committee was formed, the number dropped to 62. The committee found that most of the tissues being removed were healthy! In March 1997, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine published a statement saying that only 10 percent of hysterectomies are justified. In addition to being almost entirely unnecessary, surgery is risky; possibilities exist for surgical error, complications from anesthesia and infection, not to mention the physical, mental and emotional shock to the body.

Should You Take Medicine?

All drugs have potentially damaging “side effects.” Because a malfunctioning cell is the definition of disease, and drugs deliberately cause cells to malfunction, drugs cause disease. Drugs are foreign to the body; the mechanism by which drugs work is to alter the body's biochemistry in order to suppress symptoms. Side effects often are worse than the diseases the drugs are used to treat. Perhaps these hazards would be justified if drugs cured disease, but they do not, they control and suppress symptoms. Even with symptoms suppressed, the true cause of the problem may be growing worse while the body's natural healing mechanisms are being compromised by the drugs.

Billions of dollars are spent in the war against street drugs, but the number of people killed and injured by street drugs is minor compared to prescription drugs. Prescription drugs kill a couple of hundred thousand people every year and are a leading cause of disease and death. If your doctor prescribes a drug, consider that it may cause your cells to malfunction, and that alternatives exist that are both safe and effective.

Even aspirin and other common over-the-counter drugs are dangerous, so find alternatives that work for you. Books such as
Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide,
edited by the Burton Goldberg Group, and
Finding the Right Treatment,
by Jacqueline Krohn, M.D., and Francis Taylor, M.A., are excellent resources for those wishing to find natural alternatives to toxic prescription drugs.

Unfortunately, when drugs cause disease, we have all been trained not to call it disease. Instead, we use the deceptive term “side effects.” In 1984, the drug industry attempted to obtain a legal exemption from the liability laws that apply to virtually all manufacturers. Why? Because even the people who make the drugs know they are not safe; “all prescription drugs are unavoidably unsafe” argued the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. Of course, this wording is not used in drug advertisements aimed at the public.

A hospital patient receives, on average, twelve different drugs. Yet, often when as few as three are prescribed, absolutely no one understands all the dangerous interactions between the drugs. Bad enough taken one at a time, combinations of drugs can be particularly toxic. Prescription drugs are notorious for causing many adverse effects in the elderly, including memory loss, depression, confusion, constipation, Parkinson's disease, falls and urinary incontinence. All too often, a second drug is prescribed to suppress the symptoms caused by the first, then another to suppress the symptoms of the first two, and so forth. Many illnesses of the elderly really are manifestations of adverse drug reactions. A 1991 study in the
Journal of the American Medical Association
showed that 14 percent of in-hospital cardiac arrests followed a complication, usually because of a medication. Well-known combinations of commonly prescribed drugs can kill, and alert pharmacists have saved many lives.

Up to 29 percent of all hospital admissions are caused by adverse reactions to drugs, according to a 1995 study in the
Archives of Internal Medicine.
Many reactions result in liver damage, long hospital stays, permanent disability and even death. In 1990, an estimated 659,000 Americans aged sixty years and older were hospitalized due to adverse drug reactions. In addition to toxicity, drugs also can cause deficiency by depleting the body of essential nutrients. Diuretics cause excessive loss of potassium and other essential minerals. Anticonvulsants cause loss of vitamin D. Antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and steroid hormones can indirectly cause numerous vitamin and mineral deficiencies by causing digestive damage. Because of the complexity of the human organism, predicting the effects of drugs in each individual, especially with combinations of drugs, is impossible. Other facts:

• A January 1997 study in the
Journal of the American
Medical Association
stated that drug-related morbidity and mortality costs more than $136 billion a year—more than the cost of cardiovascular disease, our leading cause of death.

• In 1995, Duke University researchers showed that drugs commonly prescribed for stroke patients actually hampered their recovery. Even after a single dose, the negative effects could be long-lasting.

• A 1994 study in the
Journal of the American Medical
Association
concluded that inappropriate and potentially dangerous drugs are prescribed for one in four older Americans every year.

• A 1994 study published in the
Journal of the National
Cancer Institute
and
The Journal of the Federation of
American Societies for Experimental Biology
warned that antihistamine and antidepressant drugs (including Prozac) contain chemicals known to accelerate tumor growth. While these drugs do not cause cancer directly, they can speed its growth.

Three Classes of Common Drugs Are of
Special Concern

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs):
NSAIDs include over-the-counter drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen, and prescription drugs such as Indocin, Feldene, Naprosyn and others. Use of NSAIDs is a significant national health problem, causing long-term damage to large numbers of people, particularly the elderly, who are the largest users of these drugs. According to data published in
Hospital
Practice
in December 1996, up to two hundred thousand Americans are hospitalized every year for problems caused by NSAIDs, and as many as twenty thousand people a year die from the damage.

NSAIDs usually are prescribed for a noble purpose, to relieve pain, and they are among the most commonly pres-cribed pharmaceuticals in the world. About 60 million NSAID prescriptions are written every year in America, and an estimated 14 million people take these drugs for symptomatic relief of arthritis alone. These drugs relieve pain, but at a cost. About one third of chronic NSAID users experience noticeable gastrointestinal discomfort, which is only the tip of the iceberg, indicating that digestive damage is occurring. In most people, NSAID-inflicted damage to the digestive system is asymptomatic (no obvious symptoms to warn of the damage being done). By the time the stomach or gut is in pain from NSAIDs, massive damage has already occurred.

Most physicians think it is acceptable for people to take NSAIDs, believing that they cause minimal and acceptable damage. Virtually everyone who takes these dangerous drugs has their health damaged, and the longer they are taken, the worse it becomes. People who take NSAIDs for arthritis for years suffer worse joint damage than those who take nothing. NSAIDs have been linked to kidney failure, cognitive dysfunction, hearing loss, ringing in the ears, macular degeneration and hormone disruption. Examples include:

• In a 1992 study published in the
Scandinavian Journal of
Rheumatology,
long-term NSAID users were hospitalized six times more often than nonusers. Deaths from gastrointestinal causes occurred twice as often, and half of all patients who died of ulcer-related complications had reported recent use of NSAIDs.

• A 1996 study in the
Archives of Internal Medicine
found that patients taking NSAIDs were four to seventeen times more likely to suffer acute kidney failure.

• A 1996 study in
Physiological Behavior
showed NSAIDs interfere with melatonin production, with a 75 percent nighttime reduction. Decreased melatonin production has been associated with sleep disorders as well as promotion of cancer.

• A 1996 study in
Lancet
showed that aspirin, in any form, such as buffered or coated, causes gastrointestinal bleeding. As few as one aspirin can cause bleeding.

NSAIDs cause intestinal bleeding by blocking action of messenger molecules called prostaglandins. Some prosta-glandins cause inflammation and pain, and others stimulate healing and repair. NSAIDs block both types. Because the intestinal lining is renewed very rapidly (about every three days), blocking the repair process results in a gut that is weak, inflamed and leaky.

What should you do for a headache? Simple acupressure techniques and homeopathic remedies work quite well. What should you do for pain or inflammation? Eat a whole-foods diet, at least 75 percent raw. Avoid sugar, white flour, hydrogenated oils, junk foods and colas, and drink plenty of pure water. Avoid meat and dairy, but choose oily fish such as salmon (ocean harvested, rather than farmed). Take vitamin C up to bowel tolerance, 2 to 4 grams of quercitin per day, 30 to 60 mg of zinc daily, 100,000 units of beta-carotene for several days, and then 25,000 for several weeks, plus vitamin A and vitamin E. Essential fatty acid supplements also are critical. Digestive enzymes help, and especially take 1 to 3 grams of bromelain or papain per day. A number of herbs as well as homeopathic remedies are anti-inflammatory. These are excellent alternatives to NSAIDs.

Antibiotics:
Most of us have been given an antibiotic at one time or another, and this contributes to one of our largest sources of toxins—those generated within our own digestive systems. Antibiotics are designed to kill disease-causing bacteria, but they also kill the friendly bacteria in our digestive systems. If these bacteria are absent or out of balance, a chain of unhealthy events is initiated, including undigested or mal-absorbed food. Beneficial intestinal bacteria produce needed vitamins, such as B-complex vitamins, vitamin B
₁₂
and vitamin K. These essential nutrients are no longer produced when the friendly bacteria are displaced, and vitamin deficiency can result.

In addition, friendly bacteria prevent undesirable yeasts from proliferating by competing for food and producing biotin to inhibit yeast growth. When antibiotics kill beneficial bacterial, undesirable yeasts and bacteria thrive and take over, establishing their own ecosystem. This inhibits the beneficial bacteria from reestablishing themselves. Yeasts also produce numerous immune-reactive substances that force the immune system to form antibodies constantly. This stress may lead to impaired functioning of the immune system to the point of immune suppression or even breakdown. Also, yeasts inhibit magnesium absorption (which can lead to numerous neurological problems), damage gut tissue and cause leaking gut syndrome. A variety of health problems can result, ranging from chronic fatigue to allergies, arthritis and other immune dysfunction diseases.

A January 1996 article in
Internal Medicine World Report
stated that in 1991, more than 40 million prescriptions were written in America for antibiotics to treat people for the common cold. This use is inappropriate; antibiotics have no effect on the common cold. Vast overprescribing of this type fosters the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

In May 1996, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a report warning that “incurable” strains of bacteria are being discovered. Many infectious diseases, formerly controllable with antibiotics, are reappearing in forms difficult or even impossible to treat. “We are standing on the brink of a global crisis in infectious diseases,” said Hiroshi Nakajima, M.D., WHO's director general. The report warns that the spread of untreatable infections is threatening to undermine modern advances in health care. In many hospitals, antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus infections are epidemic. More and more people die every year from antibiotic-resistant infections, acquired in hospitals. The WHO report noted that the “inappropriate use of antibiotics” is to blame both for the increase in drug-resistant microbes and for the weakened immune systems of patients. Either factor is serious; combined, they are catastrophic. Weakened immune systems play a crucial role in the development of AIDS, autoimmune diseases, asthma, allergies and a long list of other health problems.

Antibiotics represent what may be the single most damaging category of drugs employed by allopathic medicine, and, like most drugs, are unnecessary. Only sick people get sick; prevent infections by eating a good diet and avoiding toxins. Stay away from immune-damaging foods like sugar, take high-quality supplements, reduce stress and get regular exercise. If an infection does occur, natural remedies should be considered before defaulting to the antibiotics that physicians will undoubtedly prescribe. Take lots of vitamins A, C (up to the point where you begin getting excessive gas or diarrhea, then decrease), and E, garlic, herbs like echinacea, or homeopathic remedies. Natural antibiotics like olive leaf extract are also helpful.

Hormones:
Hormones are critical to health because they are part of the body's self-regulating system. They control gene expression, and, as part of the body's vital communication systems, they help balance the body. Hormone chemistry is awesomely complex and when you begin tampering with it, the effects on the body's system of checks and balances are unknown and potentially catastrophic. Even minute hormone quantities can have a profound effect on the body. The human body manufactures only 50 to 100 millionths of a gram per day of thyroid hormone, resulting in a blood concentration of only one part per ten billion (1 in 10,000,000,000). Yet this minute amount has a major regulatory effect. Supplemental hormones are dangerous meddling in the unknown because it is so easy to interfere with the body's system of hormonal checks and balances. Prescription hormones—birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy and steroid hormones— are the most common threats, as are steroids found in overthe-counter products such as cortisone ointments and DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone).