Posts Tagged ‘FDA’

According to one drug giant normal cholesterol can be treated. For this we can all be thankful.

Cholesterol Myth

Since we are not sure of the dangers of higher than normal cholesterol, then why not treat normal cholesterol. This makes perfect sense in a way. We have a science based on the fact than cholesterol is bad.

Dr. R. Trattler and Dr. A. Jones, in their book “Better Health trough Natural Healing,” have 4 pages on the topic of bad cholesterol, that support the notion that the idea of high cholesterol being bad cholesterol, is an unfounded dogma (unsupported by scientific proof), a myth that makes doctors, laboratories and drug companies rich.

These two doctors point to a few facts that support their view. Using the most expensive effective lowering cholesterol drugs, the incidence of heart attack is reduced by at the very most a tiny 2%.

Cholesterol-Another Point Of View

There are about 9 scientific studies on cholesterol that backup another point of view.. Italian Americans with high bad cholesterol actually had 50% less deaths from heart attack that the rest of the USA. Either this makes a good case for being Italian or it is a flaw in the medical thinking.

Another point well taken is that diet particularly the use of margarine was likely more important in the production of coronary vascular disease.

These authors mention that there exists a strong association between sugar consumption and coronary heart disease, when comparing different societies. In these doctors opinion the cholesterol myth has kept doctors from seeing the real culprit.

According to Dr. Ron Rosedale, a nutrition and metabolic medicine expert, there are excellent scientific articles that have linked insulin resistance and leptin resistance to cardiovascular disease.  The association of insulin and leptin resistance to heart disease is stronger than the association of cholesterol to cardiovascular disease. Insulin and leptin resistance causes your body to produce many smaller dense LDL particles that are easily transported to your arteries where they cause inflammation and plaque buildup.  

Statins-New Guidelines

The new statin guidelines continued a steady expansion of the number of people considered candidates for statins over the last decade. The recommendations and guidelines by the FDA advisory committee have voted in favor of expanding the usage of statins. Many of whose members have been paid consultants for the drug industry.

The clinical trial on which the FDA approved the new Crestor use was a global study of nearly 18,000 people. It took the patients who had low cholesterol and an elevated level of inflammation in the body as measured by a test called high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, or CRP.

CRP Test

The CRP test is not disease specific. It is a general marker for infection and inflammation. Low levels of B-6 have been linked to elevated CRP levels. Nutritional treatments include Vitamin D and fish oil. A diet high in fruits and vegetables lower the levels of inflammation.

Now statins can be taken as a preventative for those with higher CPR test result.

Statin Risks 

There is no consensus in the medical community that cholesterol is a direct cause of cardiovascular problems.

There are risks, recently published evidence indicates that statins could raise the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 9 percent. “It’s a good thing to be skeptical about whether there may be long-term harm from healthy people taking a drug like this,” said Dr. Mark A. Hlatky, a professor of health research and cardiovascular medicine at the Stanford University medical school.

Statin-New Label

With the new guidelines an estimated 6.5 million plus people who have no cholesterol problems and no sign of heart problems will be candidates for statins. This will be in addition to the 80 million who meet the current cholesterol-based guidelines. Half that number are now on statins.

The new and improved label says it may be prescribed for apparently healthy people if they are older-men over 50, and women over 60-and have one risk factor like smoking or high blood pressure, in addition to elevated inflammation in the body.

Statin Claims

The study claimed that it cut heart disease cases, however the patients were so healthy that they had little risk to begin with.

The statin drug Crestor helps the bottom line of the parent company. Crestor, which had sales of 4.5 billion, last year, will not have generic competition until 2016, and each pill sells for at least $3.50 a day, compared with only pennies a day for the generic version.

Conclusion You can turn healthy people into patients, while turning them into lifetime customers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) takes on the honey bee to save American lives.

FDA News

At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Distraction (administration), U.S. Marshals on March 31, this year, seized a range of consumer products. Theses items consisted of creams, capsules, tablets, gum, throat spray, and above all shampoos from a Haywood, Wis., manufacturer.

The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Wisconsin filed a complaint on March 25 seeking the seizure of the products at Beehive Botanicals Inc. The complaint alleges that the products are misbranded and unapproved new drugs in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (comedy) Act (the “ACT”).

Honey Bee

Beehive Botanicals claimed royal jelly, honey, bee pollen and propolis had medical uses that the FDA said were unverified, therefore marketed and sold in violation of federal law.

Honey has been used for centuries for its healing properties. Up to the Second World War, honey was being used for its antibacterial properties in treating wounds. With the advent of penicillin and other antibiotic drugs, honey’s medicinal qualities have not been seen on the radar.

Working in his Honey Research Unit at the University of waikato, in the central North Island, biochemist Professor Peter Molan, identified one type of honey with extraordinary healing qualities. Professor Molan has shown that honey made from the flowers of the manuka bush, a native of New Zealand, has antibacterial properties over and above all other honeys.

He said: “in all honeys, there is – different levels – hydrogen peroxide produced from an enzyme that bees add to the nectar.”

Honey Can Heal

Honey can heal and it has been used for that purpose by many civilizations. Honey is made up from fructose, glucose, water and other sugars. It contains many enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that you body needs. Honey contains antioxidants.

Research carried out around the world seems to prove that honey helps in the healing and sterilization of wounds and ulcers, in the growth of new skin, and has antimicrobial and antibacterial properties.

Honey is quite acidic, and it is one of the factors that helps kill the contaminants that it comes in contact with. The main antibacterial agent in honey is hydrogen peroxide (H202), which is released when honey touches the skin.

Honey when exposed to air draws in moisture, and this keeps the skin moist. This is a factor that helps grow new tissue. It also stops bandages from becoming stuck to an open wound if applied to the bandage before use. By keeping the area moist scarring can be prevented.

Honey Over Pharmaceuticals

Cancer specialist Dr. Glenys Round has found honey to be an effective treatment. “We’ve been using honey to treat fungating wounds, where the cancer has broken through the skin,” she went on to say “The results have been excellent.” 

She also has success in using honey dressing on patients with wounds or ulcers resulting from FDA approved radiation therapy. “Most of these patients in the past have tried various other conventional treatments without good success, and that is the reason why at least initially honey was tried.”

FDA Protection

The truth is not all honey works the same, and there can be an overstatement of facts. On the other hand not all pharmaceutical drugs work the same for the identical condition. We see the overstatements to down right deception by the pharmaceutical industry. They wind up with a slap on the wrist to perhaps a more informative black box on the printed material.

FDA protection seems to be in place for the pharmaceutical industries bottom line, not the public interest.

Prescription drugs are part of American’s landscape.

Drug Enforcement

I wonder where America was when parents were forced, and threatened with jail if they did not vaccinate their school aged children.  Where was the outcry when parents were threatened with having their children made wards of the state, because they and their children wanted a cancer treatment option other than the standard treatment?  Their children were almost of legal age where they can choose treatment for themselves.  I did not hear much uttered on the streets, or read very much about in any newspapers.

In the President’s State of The Union Address he said he is for letting the American public choose, and keep the government from interfering, not if the FDA and Legal Drug Cartel have anything to say about it.  Then if you can get arrested for refusing legal drug treatment, than why not take illegal substances, which show some promise in treating certain conditions.  Oh, I get it the pharmaceutical industry does not have any financial stake in selling street drugs. If they did we would all be taking them for our health.  Oh well, so much for some good times.

Legal Drugs

I am not for street drugs, nor am I for the legal kind.  Prescription drugs are doing more harm, because it is available with no stigma attached, and free for those that can get the government to bankroll it for them.  It is dangerous when taken the right way, and extremely problematic when taken with other prescriptions, and used for long periods of time.  Yes, there are a few winners in the arsenal of the pharmaceutical industry, but even those are used and abused.

Clinical Trial

Do you know what a clinical trial shows?  Really very little, remember the drug company runs the trial and it’s usually not a long term study.  Again, it will be long term when the American public uses this new panacea.  It will be for an extended period that people will be on the new rolled out drug.  No, you don’t get any pay for this service.  Yes, your are the guinea pig.  You just hope it does not harm you, like a lot of previous rolled out drugs.  That list is quite long.  The public has a short memory; however drug recalls are beginning to take its toll on the credibility of the industry.

Pharmaceutical Stranglehold

The lengths this industry will go to keep its billion dollar stranglehold on the nation are anyone’s guess.  One way is to regulate the supplements you take, and the other is to see that the food supply keeps the pharmaceutical powerhouses a steady supply of customers.  The truth is you do not know the length and breathe of their reach from lobbying, campaign contributions, training and gifting doctors, and with in-house research.  Research companies are now taking their show on the road, and showing up on foreign shores following in the steps of the food giants. The door is open, with millions of people in foreign countries following the American diet, and developing the diseases that will require pharmaceuticals.  We are a drugged nation with the world following our lead in both diet and pharmaceutical use.