Month: April 2006

I have been saying that this has been going on a LONG time! Now, others apparently are seeing it as well!

Drug Companies Are Inventing “New Diseases!”

“The practice of ‘diseasemongering’ by the drug industry is promoting non-existent illnesses or exaggerating minor ones for the sake of profits, according to a set of essays published by the open-access journal Public Library of Science Medicine. The special issue, edited by David Henry, of Newcastle University in Australia, and Ray Moynihan, an Australian journalist, reports that conditions such as female sexual dysfunction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ‘restless legs syndrome’ have been promoted by companies hoping to sell more of their drugs.”

This is unconscionable. As the old saying goes, “Caveat Emptor,” (Let the buyer beware.) You need to realize that healthcare is just another area of commerce to these people, and scams are still scams! Dr. Mercola in his Health Blog puts it well: “Always remember that the drug companies are trying to sell you something. They’re not really concerned whether you’re sick, well, get healthy, or stay ill; they just want to get you to buy their products so they can increase profits to their shareholders. That is the mandate of nearly every corporation, and I haven’t seen a drug company that has gone off this path. And they will do whatever it takes to do that, including selling you cures for diseases that don’t exist.”

Well, Naturopaths and other Natural Health professionals have been saying for years that our fruits and vegetables are losing nutritional value over the “days of yesteryear.” Now, it seems that the more mainstream health world is coming to understand this as well.

Fruits and Veggies Losing Nutritional Value

“Donald Davis, a biochemist at the University of Texas, said that of 13 major nutrients in fruits and vegetables tracked by the Agriculture Department from 1950 to 1999, six showed noticeable declines — protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and vitamin C. The declines ranged from 6 percent for protein, 15 percent for iron, 20 percent for vitamin C, and 38 percent for riboflavin. ‘It’s an amazing thing,’ said Davis, adding that the decline in nutrient content has not been widely noticed.'”

“Not been widely noticed…” except for the natural health field. Come on, folks!

So… yet another drug is approved for “over the counter” sales… this time a fat blocker that has been linked in one study to abnormal cell growth… which could lead to cancer.

FDA Approves Dangerous Fat Blocker

“In one study, Xenical was found to cause abnormal cell growth in the lining of the colon, an early cancer indicator. And, since Xenical has been approved as a prescription drug in America, 28 incidents of breast cancer have been reported, or 14 times the number who used the appetite depressant Meridia.”

Omega-3 fatty acids could prevent or inhibit the growth of liver cancer cells, say researchers from the University of Pittsburgh at today’s annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research:

Omega-3s Could Stop Liver Cancer Cells Growth

“’It has been known for some time that omega-3 fatty acids can inhibit certain cancer cells. So, we were interested in determining whether these substances could inhibit liver cancer cells. If so, we also wanted to know by what mechanism this inhibition occurs,’ explained lead researcher Tong Wu, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.”