NSAIDS, CHF, Statins, Stents, BPA

Let’s take a look at some of the main medical stories of 2009

NSAIDS Cause Congestive Heart Failure

For people with heart disease, Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is usually a death sentence. Australian researchers have discovered that among the elderly, almost one-fifth of all the new cases of CHF is due to the chronic use of pain killers (NSAIDS).

Here is a partial list of the most common NSAIDS:

aspirin
celecoxib (Celebrex)
diclofenac (Voltaren)
diflunisal (Dolobid)
etodolac (Lodine)
ibuprofen (Motrin)
indomethacin (Indocin)
ketoprofen (Orudis)
ketorolac (Toradol)
nabumetone (Relafen)
naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn)
oxaprozin (Daypro)
piroxicam (Feldene)
salsalate (Amigesic)
sulindac (Clinoril)
tolmetin (Tolectin)

Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is not on the list because it belongs to a class of drugs called analgesics (pain relievers). But Acetaminophen isn’t any safer than the NSAIDS. It's the leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States. In 2005, acetaminophen overdoses sent 106,000 adults and 25,000 kids to emergency rooms, leading to 73,000 hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths, according to the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease. And those are conservative numbers. Other side effects include abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, the sweats, convulsions and even coma. Kidney failure and heart problems are also possible.

Instead of taking NSAIDS daily for joint pain, address your joint pain with nutrition and treat the real, underlying cause for long-term relief. I can send you information on ending your joint pain if you request it.

So prevent your risk of heart damage by the over use of pain killers like NSAIDS. And if you already have heart disease, you can treat it with the most effective, completely safe, nonprescription phytonutrient protocols available. Just use the protocols recommended by Dr. Bruce West in Health Alert and by me in Real Health. One other thing you can try is Bromelain. It's is a natural enzyme from pinapples that is effective at reducing pain and inflamation. If you are interested let me know and I'll give you information on how to use Bromelain.

Statins Are Big Money

Big money is made by promoting the use of Statins for lowering cholesterol to artificially low and unhealthy levels. Millions of people are taught that they need to test, retest, and keep testing their cholesterol level. They are told that cholesterol is the most critical factor in heart disease, when it isn't. That lowering cholesterol to ridiculous levels at all cost is the "gold standard" in medicine; and cholesterol lowering statin drugs provide major protection against heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes, when they don't. A 2004 government committee of physicians greatly expanded the use of statins. Out of nine doctors on the committee, eight had financial ties to drug companies producing statins.

The new plan in the statin world is to treat everyone—including people without heart disease. In a meta-analysis of ten trials with over 70,000 patients without heart disease, but with heart disease risk factors, statins "lowered the risk for death and major coronary events." But the impressive numbers were only for relative risk reduction. The absolute risk reduction numbers were far from impressive—less than 1%. Or in simple terms, more than 100 people would have to be treated with statins for more than 4 years to prevent even one event. And of those treated there would be a litany of serious side effects—including memory loss, severe muscle problems, pneumonia, and even heart failure.

Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease. The almost non-significant absolute risk reduction shown in all these studies should put an end to the idea of prescribing statins for healthy individuals. But it won't. Rather, statin manufacturers will continue to tout the meaningless relative risk reduction numbers to sell drugs to everyone for as long as possible.

A better idea, whether you are on statins or not, is to treat the underlying cause of your heart disease and high cholesterol (if you even have it, typically anything up to 300 is normal). The most effective treatments are phytonutrient protocols that really work, with no manipulation of results and data, and with no risk of side effects of any kind.

Be Cautious With Stents

Stents for renal artery atherosclerosis, just like stents for coronary artery clogs, turned out to be no more effective than drugs. More and more people are being diagnosed with clogged renal arteries—often with resultant kidney damage or dysfunction. And more and more urological surgeons are implanting stents in this artery in a dramatic, high-tech, and expensive surgery. If you get a diagnosis like this, remember that stents are futile band-aid procedures, with lots of serious side effects that can really cost you dearly.

Instead, with or without drug therapy, use the same protocols for clogged arteries used for heart patients. The mainstay of this therapy is phytonutrients (Cardio-Plus, Min-Tran and Cataplex B, by Standard Process Labs) and vitamin K2, found primarily in butter oil. That's right! The very substance that is banned by most physicians (real, raw butter) contains the most powerful substance known to prevent hardening of the arteries. And of course cod liver or fish oil.

Low Fat Diets Do Not Work

The combination of exercise and a Mediterranean diet are particularly advantageous in slowing and preventing Alzheimer's disease and dementia. They also provide great benefit in preventing heart disease and stroke. Once again, what Dr. West has been saying for decades has been proven true. In addition, the Mediterranean Diet proved far more effective than the standard, medically recommended Low-Fat Diet for patients with diabetes and/or heart disease.

A recent article in the Annals of Internal Medicine clearly illustrates what we have said for 20 years—the Low-Fat Diet is dead. According to the study, patients who ate the sensible, enjoyable, and easy-to-follow Mediterranean Diet were happier, needed less medication, lost more weight, and had far better control over blood sugar, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides than those eating the impossible and miserable Low-Fat Diet. Nothing more needs to be said.

Drug Companies Are the Epitome of Big Money

Pfizer was recently fined $2.3 billion for illegally marketing drugs. Federal prosecutors called the world's largest drugmaker a repeating corporate cheat for offering physicians free golf, massages, and resort junkets to sell their drugs. But that’s business as usual for the drugmakers. Pfizer is a repeat offender—not twice, but four times! It all proves again that you should be careful about putting your faith in what the drug companies tell you is good for you. They are all about the money!

Prostate Treatment Advances

On a positive note, laser prostate surgery continues to gain popularity among urologists.

This is a relatively simple, effective replacement procedure for the old, bloody, and debilitating TURP (roto-rooter of the prostate). Used for men with intractable prostate enlargement and all its symptoms, laser surgery is making huge inroads, as most of the old TURP surgeons are retiring or grudgingly being retrained. And most of this change is thanks to one of Dr. West’s advisors, Dr. Mahmood Hai, MD, chief of urology at Oakwood Annapolis hospital who has trained over 15,000 doctors in this new technique.

This new procedure is a step in the right direction and can help avoid negative side effects like impotence and other debilitating effects caused by the old procedures used for men.

BPA Is Nasty Stuff

The BPA scandal keeps on growing. Is your little girl or granddaughter less "girlie" than you expected? Now, we might know why -- and it's not because you've got a tomboy in the family. A dangerous chemical called BPA commonly used in plastic bottles and even baby bottles has been linked to aggression in little girls. BPA is also used to line the inside of all kinds of cans like soup and many other canned goods. This estrogen-like chemical is one I've been warning you about: bisphenol A, or BPA... and the abnormal levels of aggression aren't even the worst thing associated with it.

It's just the latest in a long and ugly list of associations that includes cancer, obesity and early puberty. In the latest study, researchers looked at 249 pregnant women, and then followed the development of their children. They found that the women who had the highest levels of BPA during pregnancy had little girls who were more hyperactive and aggressive by the age of two. Now, I know a two-year-old is practically made of energy and hyperactivity anyway, but this is something different -- and worse.

In fact, these little girls were essentially like boys in their aggressive behavior, the researchers said. Researchers plan to follow these girls at least until the age of five, to see what further effects there might be. But we don't need to wait for them to take action -- we already know how bad this junk is, for kids and adults alike. Even very low levels of BPA -- levels far below what we're routinely exposed to -- have been linked to serious problems.

Yet the FDA is engaged in its favorite sport: foot-dragging.

Already, some of the biggest makers of baby bottles aren't waiting for the FDA -- they've stopped using BPA. But it's not enough. This dangerous chemical is practically everywhere, and until action is taken, we're all at risk... especially our hyper-aggressive children. For now, do what you can to avoid this chemical. It's not always easy or obvious, so it's best to stick to containers that say "BPA free" on the label whenever possible. Instead of using plastic water bottles to carry around, try buying a stainless steel water bottle. They are cheap, lightweight, and available everywhere now that people are looking for an alternative to plastic.

Until next time, stay healthy and happy,

JD Roma