The report below shows one simple truth: All drugs, FDA approved or not, are dangerous and harmful to your health. Even supplements such as vitamin supplements are not good. The best source of vitamins is food. Eat balanced diet instead of taking supplements. These drugs add burden to the liver — and over time, damage it little by little — which is the “plant” in our body for processing chemicals and for detoxification. And it is a “silent” organ — unless you have unusual sensitivity (developed, for example, in meditation) you usually don’t hear liver’s message sent out to you (“Stop taking those drugs!”).
It’s no secret that the American culture has somehow evolved to become a culture of drugs. Nonprescription drugs can be bought easily and are used widely, such as painkillers. While the short-term side effects may not be so evident, it does have side effects and it gradually consumes your health. Perhaps it leads to your later developed allergy. Perhaps asthma. Perhaps even cancer. The “time delay” makes you overlook their connection. The real danger of these drugs lies in the chemicals contained, as well as in the testing process which “proves” its safeness of use by statistics (90% of time it’s safe, or effective; it improves a previous medication by 3% in survival rate; or something of similar sort). This is a dangerous criterion. Every life is a life. Statistics means nothing.
Drug companies are one of the most profitable industry in the US. New drugs are coming out every several months, and they are all shown to be more effective than their predecessors. The truth is however not as exciting. The truth is that these companies often hide the truth about their drugs and push them to the market for the enormous profits that follow. The result is more and more reports like this one below, which happen to come out just as frequently as new drugs do.
Take the advice: Stay away from pills and tablets. There are many alternatives out there that are much safer and effective. Try Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for instance, which I am earnestly studying and should have more to share soon. (I can also recommend doctors.)
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090501/ap_on_bi_ge/us_med_diet_pill_recall
FDA warns dieters: Stop Hydroxycut use immediately
By Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON Government health officials warned dieters and body builders Friday to immediately stop using Hydroxycut, a widely sold supplement linked to cases of serious liver damage and at least one death.
The Food and Drug Administration said the maker of the dietary supplement has agreed to recall 14 Hydroxycut products. Available in grocery stores and pharmacies, Hydroxycut is advertised as made from natural ingredients. At least 9 million packages were sold last year, the FDA said.
Dr. Linda Katz of the FDA’s food and nutrition division said the agency has received 23 reports of liver problems, including the death of a 19-year-old boy living in the Southwest. The teenager died in 2007, and the death was reported to the FDA this March.
Other patients experienced symptoms ranging from jaundice, or yellowing of the skin, to liver failure. One received a transplant and another was placed on a list to await a new liver.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. distributor of the diet pill, Iovate Health Sciences, headquartered near Buffalo, N.Y. Made by a Canadian company, Hydroxycut is used by people trying to shed pounds and by body builders to sharpen their muscles.
Dietary supplements aren’t as tightly regulated by the government as medications. Manufacturers don’t need to prove to the FDA that their products are safe and effective before they can sell them to consumers. But regulators monitor aftermarket reports for signs of trouble, and in recent years companies have been put under stricter requirements to alert the FDA when they learn of problems.
Katz said it has taken so long to get a handle on the Hydroxycut problem because the cases of liver damage were rare and the FDA has no authority to review supplements before they’re marketed. “Part of the problem is that the FDA looks at dietary supplements from a post-market perspective, and an isolated incident is often difficult to follow,” she said.
The FDA relies on voluntary reports to detect such problems, and many cases are never reported, officials acknowledge.
Health officials said they have been unable to determine which Hydroxycut ingredients are potentially toxic, partially because the formulation of the products has changed several times. A medical journal report last month raised questions about one ingredient, hydroxycitric acid, derived from a tropical fruit. The article said it could potentially damage the liver.
Filed under: Life
