Currently viewing the category: "magic bullet"

New Warning on Statins

By On · Add Comment · In diabetes, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), healthy lifestyle, heart disease, high blood sugar, lifestyle modification, magic bullet, memory loss, number needed to treat (NNT), statins

Well, well, well…didn’t I just say so? Looks like statins–those mega-popular cholesterol lowering drugs pushed by every general practitioner in existence–are getting new safety warnings about risks of memory loss and elevated blood sugar. You don’t say? Why yes, looks like the ol’ magic-bullet is being knocked down a notch or two, and with good reason.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that it’s making labeling changes to the statin drugs–like Lipitor, Crestor, and Zocor–that will warn of memory loss and confusion reported among certain patients taking statins. Although the feds reassure us that the brain effects are not permanent–apparently going away with discontinuation of the drug–still they find it best to label the drugs to warn us of the potential for waking up in Niagara Falls with no recollection of how we got there. Doh!

Further, the updated labels will also mention elevated levels of blood sugar, associated with diabetes, that have been reported in some patients taking statins. Wait…early onset Alzheimer’s-like symptoms and diabetes?! Wow, get some right away…thanks doc. Yes, although the increased risk is small, an increasing number of studies is showing it’s there nonetheless.

Cardiologists, however, are sticking to their guns, stating that the benefits of statins outweigh the risks. “Patients should not see this as a new danger with the drugs, but as a known abnormality that appears in blood testing and should be discussed with their doctor,” said Dr. Kevin Marzo, chief of cardiology at Winthrop-University Hospital in New York. He goes on to say that he doesn’t see the new warnings making much of a dent in how (read: how much) the drugs are prescribed.

Okay well this much we can assume, doctor; but let me paint a more complete picture for the generally trusting public. What cardiologists mean when they say “the benefits of statins outweigh the risks” pertains to a certain demographic, in reality a minuscule fraction of the tens of millions that are currently taking the drugs. Remember from a 2008 post on statins, the number needed to treat (NNT) for even one person to receive benefit from statins is 100. So in other words, for every person receiving benefit, 99 do not; or in bigger numbers: 9.9 million of every 10 million people on statins gets NO BENEFIT!

So what they really mean is the best ways to lower heart disease risk are (in descending order):

  • Lifestyle modification including exercise, healthy diet, omega 3 fatty acid consumption, healthy vitamin D levels, healthy gut microbiota
  • Statins + lifestyle modifications
  • Statins
  • Doing nothing

What cardiologists assume (and for some people correctly) is that many patients will do nothing. But that’s not you, right? No need to assume the risks associated with statins. Do the right things and you won’t have to, no matter how much your medical drug dealer pushes.

French for Fen-Phen

By On · Add Comment · In benfluorex, blood sugar, fen-phen, fenfluramine, France, hyperlipidemia, Inserm, lipid lowering medication, magic bullet, Mediator, pulmonary hypertension, type 2 diabetes

France in the health news again as a second major scandal to hit the country in the last few months has surfaced. This one having to do with a widely prescribed lipid lowering medication called Mediator, which is now being implicated in the deaths of 1,300 and the hospitalization of over 3,000. According to a spokesperson for National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), the numbers may be even higher than that.

Mediator, known pharmacologically as benfluorex, was originally licensed to combat hyperlipidemia and control blood sugar in type 2 diabetics. But because the drug also acted as an appetite suppressant, it was routinely given to people just wanting to lose weight.

As a result, between 1,000-2,000 are thought to have died from using the drug, which is structurally similar to fenfluramine, the dangerous half of the popular weight loss combo, Fen-phen. If you don’t remember, in the 1990s fenfluaramine was found to damage heart valves and lead to pulmonary hypertension–definitely not worth the weight loss–and as a result it was pulled off the market in 1997.

Same thing happened to Mediator in 2009, when it was pulled off the European market. The drug was also shown to damage heart valves and cause pulmonary hypertension. To make matters worse, the drug’s manufacturer is being probed on suspicion of dishonest practices and deception. You don’t say? Yes, according to France’s national health insurance system, a whopping 303,000 patients used Mediator in 2006 alone, with 145 million sold before the drug was pulled. Woowee!

Well, looks like the U.S. doesn’t have a monopoly on shady drug manufacturing practices or stupidity. Not knowing all the details yet, I am guessing the makers of Mediator knew of the dangers to the public, and kept quiet–bad, bad, bad drug dealers. And as for the people looking for a magic bullet…well, what can I say that I haven’t said before? No free lunch, folks–so I guess it’s 1,300 dead to learn a lesson. Just wondering when the next American lesson will come. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…statins.

Obesity Paradigm Wrong

By On · Add Comment · In behavioral approaches, epidemic, magic bullet, mental patterns, metabolism, obesity, Scientific American

Just finished reading an article that was as good an analysis on obesity as I think you’ll find today.  The latest issue of Scientific American featured a piece titled, How to Fix the Obesity Crisis, and it does a great job of explaining the multi-factorial complexity of today’s obesity epidemic.

The article discusses the numerous metabolic, genetic and molecular process that might be involved in the mechanism of developing obesity, but it focuses on the behavioral approaches to breaking mental patterns involved in overeating and poor food choices.  The history on the obesity epidemic is pretty good, too.

Where I think the article fails is that it still approaches obesity from the same mechanistic thinking that has been unable to figure out the malady to begin with.  This sentiment can be summed up by the line,

“Maybe someday biology will provide us with a pill that re-adjusts our metabolism so we burn more calories or resets our built-in cravings so we prefer broccoli to burgers.”

Continuing to hope for a magic bullet that will allow us to live a faulty life style consequence-free is foolish. That IS the problem!  I’m going to leave my full assessment for a later time, because I think the article is worth reading.  But stay tuned.

More Risks Tied to Antidepressants

By On · Add Comment · In antidepressants, gastrointestinal bleeding, magic bullet, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
Seems like the risks keep piling up for antidepressants. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac and Paxil have enough side effects to fill a book, like:

  • Dry mouth
  • Urinary retention
  • Blurred vision
  • Constipation
  • Sedation (can interfere with driving or operating machinery)
  • Sleep disruption
  • Weight gain
  • Headache
  • Nausea
  • Gastrointestinal disturbance/diarrhea
  • Abdominal pain
  • Inability to achieve an erection (limp D)
  • Inability to achieve an orgasm (men and women)
  • Loss of libido
  • Agitation
  • Anxiety

They have also been proven to increase suicidality (have you read my book?). And if taken with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), another type of antidepressant, the combination can kill you. But if that ain’t enough, a new study has come out linking the SSRI antidepressants to intestinal bleeding. Woowee! Ever poop blood, boy? Keep taking that Prozac and you just might.

Never fear, though, medical science has an answer. According to the research team, the gastrointestinal bleeding associated with antidepressant use can be easily remedy with…a simple antacid. No really, a magic bullet is all that’s needed. So if you’re hooked on antidepressants you should rest assured that by simply countering with an acid-suppressing medication, your risk for GI bleeding will be almost nil. You’ll simply need to deal with the other annoying side effects of the SSRIs and possibly a few more caused by the antacid. Piece of cake! Ain’t science grand?

And who may we thank for this study? Why AstraZeneca, that’s who…you know, the makers of Nexium and Prilosec, those quite useful acid-suppressing drugs that you’ll need to combat GI bleeding, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah……..

Now This is Getting Sick!

By On · Add Comment · In child abuse, childhood obesity, children, cholesterol, diets, magic bullet, obese, parenting, pediatric, statins
Okay, now I’ve heard it ALL! Check this out: the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued guidelines stating that children as young as two should be screened for high cholesterol. And even better, get this: they are recommending that children as young as eight should be started on statins. Whoa, ho, ho…hold on, Nellie…isn’t that the sickest thing you’ve ever heard? Our nation’s pediatric association–the professionals taking care of our children–is recommending statins, cholesterol lowering drugs, for our youngsters? I don’t know about you, but I’ve effin’ heard it all now.

Let me get this straight: the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that American children should be screened for high cholesterol and given statins to combat any risk of future heart disease, instead of getting their asses up and moving and exercising like normal kids? Holy crapoly!

Now to be fair, I understand where this idiocy stems from; I mean, let’s face it, Americans are blowing up to gargantuan proportions. Recent reports disclose that the number of obese Americans has grown significantly, yet again, over the last two years, making the current numbers 25% of the general population. I spend a great deal of ink on this tragic situation in my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, and, yes, it’s a many-faceted problem for the obese adult.

But childhood obesity? Excuse my language, but…that’s effin’ child neglect and abuse by lazy, undisciplined, ignorant parents. There, I’ve said it, and you all know it’s true. Letting your kid drink more than one Coke a week is child abuse. Feeding your kid Frosted Flakes is asinine and inexcusably ignorant or neglectful, or both. Letting your kid sit his or her fat ass in front of the T.V. for hours watching the Kardashians’ fat asses is equally ignorant and neglectful, and is also child abuse. According to a recent Canadian study on childhood obesity, kids who watch television while eating lunch take in 228 more calories than those who ate without the television on. Duh! Wake the eff up, parents! Sitting on your ass all day watching the boob tube and stuffing your face makes you fat. It does the same to your kids who–guess what?–learn from you! Duh!

And another study points out that parenting styles are what have the greatest effect on children’s eating habits. Duh! We need a study to know that? Wake the eff up, parents! Being too permissive in what you let your children eat will eventually lead to obesity. Yes, Junior wants PopTarts. Too bad…you’re getting an apple…now put down that WiiFii and go out and play.

And being too strict isn’t any good, either. You know exactly who I’m talking about, Food Nazis. Let the kid have an ice cream every now and again. Being authoritarian when it comes to food practices can also lead to obesity…the closet kind. I don’t know why Junior is blowing up, he only gets radishes at home. Duh!

According to nutritional experts conducting the study, the best thing parents can do to influence healthy eating habits in their children is to “set a good example with their own diets.” Duh! Both strict and permissive parents typically fail to serve as good dietary role models for their children, according to the researchers.

But here is my biggest beef: What the hell is wrong with the parent who sees their kid blowing up and doesn’t make him run his fat ass around the block every damn day till he gets back in kid shape? But he doesn’t want to…Yeah, no kidding. Get up and run, Engelberg! You mean, you’d rather give your kid statins than make him exercise or send him to military school? WTF?!?! And the American American Academy of Pediatrics recommends this???

According to one idiot doctor: “If we are more aggressive about this in childhood, I think we can have an impact on what happens later in life…and avoid some of these heart attacks and strokes in adulthood, says Dr. Stephen Daniels, of the academy’s nutrition committee. You know, this is what’s so pathetic about our current health system and it’s downright brain-dead paradigm: drugs like statins have been developed for lazy, undisciplined individuals who know better but just can’t get themselves to do what’s right because they have zero willpower. Doctors know this, and many will rightly say, “Patients don’t comply.” Yeah, that’s why they recommend statins and other meds, because they know the average lazy American (or busy, or challenged, or depressed, or underprivileged, or whatever convenient BS excuse is needed to not work hard) won’t do what it takes, so give ’em the ol’ magic bullet. Kids, however, are under the guidance, and yes, control of their parents. In no way should non-compliance be allowed–not by doctors, not by P.E. teachers, not by parents, nobody. Period!

So now you know how I feel. If you want to eat whatever you want to, at whichever quantity you want, if you don’t want to exercise, if you would rather be obese than do the work to bring it down, I’ll be the first to say, “That’s your choice, killer…do as you please.” But when it comes to your kids, if you are not teaching them the right dietary habits, if you are not acting as proper role models for their health and future well being, if you are not insisting that they go outdoors and play and exercise like normal kids should be doing, and you are thinking about giving them statins, then you are a child abuser plain and simple. Don’t do that to your kid. Shape up!

Chalk One Up for the Magic Bullet

By On · Add Comment · In magic bullet, obese, surgically induced weight loss, weight loss

Guess that ol’ magic bullet gets another notch up on the pedestal today. Current research shows that surgically induced weight loss significantly reduces death as long as 10 years following the operation. Not only that, but this procedure also reduces diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, as well as improves the quality of life for the former obese patient.

All right, I’ve got nothing against this concept. I think it’s wonderful that people can get their lives back after becoming morbidly obese, but I’m afraid that news like this might do more harm then good. Any time a new magic bullet comes around, human health suffers.

A magic bullet is any drug, therapy, or procedure that is considered a miracle solution or cure. As I’ve discussed on the Dr. Nick Show (Episode 2), the concept of a cure is a fallacy. The body heals, plain and simple. It might have help, but it’s the innate healing ability of the body that gives and preserves life. Whenever, medical science seems to find a magic bullet, it gives society a false sense of security, and practical wisdom goes out the window.

“Well, I know I’d be better off not drinking this 12-pack of Bud, but…well…aw shoot, what the heck, I’ll try to exercise tomorrow, and if I can’t, heck, I’ll just get a stomach reduction.” If it’s good enough for Star Jones, dammit, then it’s good enough for Al Roker.

Oh, by the way, I saw an incredible interview with Al Roker urging people not to get this surgery unless it’s the most-absolute-gonna-drop-dead-tomorrow-last-resort they have (Read this icredible interview here). I gained a lot of respect for the man for that, and I couldn’t agree more.

Once again, it’s truly a blessing that we have a surgery like this to give people a second chance. But be careful not to rely on it as a magic bullet. The magic bullet fantasy is one of the major factors leading to our poor health status in this country today, and if we don’t let it go, things will only get worse.

Start With the Basics – Health First

By On · Add Comment · In bodywork, Centers of Disease Control, exercising, health, health care system, health practices, health theory, magic bullet, medical doctors, mentally balanced, nutritious foods, rest, toxins

Our health care system is in a shambles – so says the director of the Centers of Disease Control, Dr. Julie Gerberding. Her solution: start from the ground up – train medical doctors in health theory and practice, and not just the treatment of diseases.

Bravo! I’ve been pushing this agenda for the last seven years. In fact, my upcoming book – The Six Keys To Optimal Health – runs precisely on that premise. It makes no sense to me to neglect basic health practices and hope that, in the future, a magic bullet will be waiting to save us. That’s a big fat fantasy. Dream on.

If you are not eating wholesome nutritious foods, not exercising regularly, not getting sufficient rest, not working out the stress and tension of your body with regular bodywork, not keeping mentally balanced, and regularly ingesting toxins – like prescription and over the counter medications, recreational drugs and cigarette smoke – then you’re flirtin’ with disaster. And…guess what? It’s going to continue to tax an already overloaded and overpriced medical system. Michael Moore can make 5,000 films and presidential candidates can campaign on the Universal Health Care platform till kingdom come – if the people of this country don’t start with the basics, then it ain’t gonna get any better – just worse. Nuff said.

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