Does the FDA really have a culture of protecting Big Pharma? I think it does and quite obviously I am not alone in holding this opinion. It is supposed to be protecting consumers from Big Pharma, acting like a filter or shield to ensure that the American people who merely represent a market (or many niche markets) to the drug companies, are not simply exploited for financial gain at the expense of their health.
We have recently seen that legislation seems to be needed to force the FDA to do the right thing by consumers. This in itself suggests endemic cultural problems within the Administration. However, let’s just consider their effectiveness in their prime function.
When a prescription drug is judged by the FDA to be dangerous after the drug has already made it past the approval process, which we know happens too frequently, what actually happens? Well, in some cases it is withdrawn from the market. Amazingly, sometimes the drug companies are still looked after at the consumers risk and expense by allowing existing supplies to be sold, rather than having them recalled.
In the majority of cases however, the companies can keep selling their drugs provided they include a so-called black box warning. This clearly places a great deal of faith in the effectiveness of a system of trust. I call it this because there are many areas in which it could fail and there is no real monitoring of the system’s effectiveness. So just how effective is that little black box?
Researchers at Harvard Medical School set out to answer this question when they examined records for 217,000 prescriptions of "black box" drugs. Here are the three primary results:
- Among drugs that required monitoring of patients, about 12 percent went unmonitored
- Among drugs that required a lab test before the prescriptions could be filled, about half were filled without the "required" tests
- Nine percent of the prescriptions were filled on the SAME DAY as another drug listed as a potential cause of adverse reactions when taken with the black box drug
In other words, the black box system fails to protect consumers. It appears to me to be a system designed to protect the drug companies.
This study has already been reported in the media. For example, the Ivanhoe Newswire, 11/25/05, Ivanhoe.com, in an article titled "Docs Ignore Warning Labels" reported that the study found that for drugs restricted during pregnancy, "most doctors" adhered to the black box warning. Most! Who really cares?
Frankly, this low level of response is a disgrace. Americans should be demanding a shake-up of the FDA and an external review of their whole operation. I have asked before, who watches the watchdog? At present there really is no Administration that effectively protects American consumers from the enormity (yes, that means gross wickedness) of the pharmaceutical enterprise.
According to a study conducted by the University College London Medical School in England and published in the June 14, 2005 issue of Circulation, men with low-level jobs and little control over daily tasks are more apt than their high-performing peers to develop heart disease.
The study involved 2,197 British men, ages 45 to 68, all of whom were employed as civil servants for the government (no, really). After rating the men’s employment level, job control and social position, researchers made five-minute recordings of their heart-rate variability.
They found that men in low-level jobs had heart rates that were faster (on average, 3.2 beats per minute) and less variable than men with high-level positions. This effect was evident even when other risk factors, such as smoking, lack of exercise and poor diet, were taken into account.
Healthy hearts generally beat at lower and varying rates in response to normal challenges of exercise, occasional stress, and so on. When the hearts of men in boring, dead-end jobs are suddenly called on to pump up the volume, as during exercise or a sudden shock, they find it harder to adapt. This increases the susceptibility to heart attacks.
So rate your own job. Is it boring you to death? If so, do something about it.
Do you remember this confectionary jingle: "When you eat your smarties, do you eat the red ones last"? It had a catchy ring to it that many could relate to so it worked. So here’s an adaptation: When you eat your vegies, do you eat the green ones raw?
Eating most vegetables raw provides maximum nutrition but sometime we do want them cooked. So here’s a tip: it is far better to steam veggies than to microwave them. Approximately 36% of nutrients are lost through steaming, which is a lot, but as much as 97% can be lost by microwaving, which is far too much. Try to lightly steam, don’t obliterate.
Vegies are loaded with valuable nutrients. Green vegetables are particularly nutritious. One useful class of nutrient in greens is antioxidants. These are made up of vitamins and other compounds that help block the free radicals that can cause DNA damage, aging and even cancer.
Antioxidants are rated on an oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) scale, which is a rating of the combined antioxidant power of a food — how much antioxidant punch they (the antioxidants in the food) pack when taken together, working synergistically. The higher the rating, the better.
Here are the ORAC ratings for some common vegetables.
| Kale | 1,770 |
| Spinach | 1,260 |
| Brussels sprouts | 980 |
| Alfalfa sprouts | 930 |
| Broccoli florets | 890 |
| Beets | 840 |
| Red bell peppers | 710 |
So tuck into your vegetables and learn to enjoy them raw or lightly steamed. Maybe you could refer to the above to help with meal planning if you need to target extra antioxidants. Remember though, don’t over cook them and stay away from microwaves.
The dangers associated with aspirin, acetaminophen and ibuprofen have been well documented. They include bleeding ulcers, liver damage, and other nasty side effects. Not surprisingly, people are increasingly avoiding these pills and relying on natural remedies like willow bark and cayenne.
However, here’s an alternative remedy for pain you may not have encountered before. This one involves no drugs or supplements whatsoever. It costs almost nothing, is very effective and it works in just minutes. What is it? It’s static electricity.
Yes, static electricity, I said it was ‘alternative’! Medical science has long recognized that the human body is pulsing with tiny electrical currents. We typically measure these in clinical diagnostic tests including electrocardiograms, electroencephalograms, electromyograms, and several others. People know about these electrical currents in the body, yet somehow fail to register that the whole body has microcurrents throughout.
Somehow "normalizing" this flow of electricity promotes healing. And using the technique described below can quickly relieve pain.
Dr. Milt Hammerly, of the Center for Global Medicine in Englewood, CO, has perfected the use of static electricity for aches and pains. Here is the procedure to apply.
Go to your local hardware store and get an ordinary painter’s mitt and also a one-foot section of PVC pipe about an inch thick. Create an electric charge by rubbing the pipe vigorously with the mitt for one minute. Then slowly sweep the pipe over the painful area.
Move in a head-to-toe direction, about a half inch away from your skin. After 3 or 4 passes, recharge the pipe by rubbing it again with the mitt. Keep repeating the process until the pain subsides.
Most people get relief within a few minutes, and the relief is usually quite dramatic. Try it, you’ll be amazed! Then please let me know about your experience.
Although many people ignore the problem, surely most know by now that high blood pressure is dangerous. Generally though, people think of strokes and worsening cardiovascular disease when hypertension is mentioned.
Controlling blood pressure helps to keep the heart healthy and it can prevent strokes, but some recent findings suggest that it may also help the brain perform better as you age. That could prove to be a major benefit.
A group of Boston researchers from Harvard, Boston University and Veterans Affairs (VA) examined medical records of more than 350 older men who participated in the VA Normative Aging Study. This study included neuropsychological tests.
As the men aged, their overall neuropsychological function declined. This decline was found to be significantly more pronounced among men who developed uncontrolled hypertension. Specifically, these subjects showed reduced verbal fluency and poor word recall compared to men with controlled blood pressure.
The American Psychological Association estimates that about 60 percent of people over the age of 60 have hypertension. So, how’s you blood pressure? Had it checked lately?
I do recommend that you regularly check your blood pressure. However, I do not recommend the use of pharmaceutical antihypertensives, they are too toxic. Follow a plan to maintain a healthy lifestyle, including healthy weight, and hypertension is most unlikely to be a problem. If you do need to do more, then consult a naturopathic doctor. You’ll be in much safer hands than you would be seeing most regular doctors.