Arthralgia and Statin Meds
Article by the Health Science Institute
Do you suffer from "arthralgia"?
It sounds scary... and if you do suffer from it, it can be
tough for you to get through the day. When it's really acting up, even the simplest tasks can seem
next to impossible.
I'm talking about arthritis!
And being that over 50 million Americans are dealing with
the pain and stiffness of it, there's a very good chance that you have it, too.
Obviously, if you experience joint pain, drugs are a big
part of your life, as treatments typically consist of a lot of OTC pain
relievers, sometimes taken every single day. Those versed in pharma-speak,
however, know that drugs play a bigger role in arthritis than you might ever
imagine.
Because hidden in plain view are some warnings that -- if
you knew how to decode them --would have you thinking twice about popping some
of the most common meds out there.
'Severe and disabling pain'
Of course, while joint pain can come from causes ranging
from Lyme disease to illness and injury, it's most often considered to be one
of the typical side effects of aging.
Just one of those things you have to put up with, right?
Not necessarily!
Take Dolores for example. She thought the
"dreadful" pain in her knees and hips might be helped by buying a new
bed, but she found an even better (and much cheaper!) solution: ditching the
statins.
For Abby, stopping the statin her doctor had prescribed was
all it took to "cure" her erosive arthritis (a progressive form of
arthritis that affects the joints of the hand).
And during the years that Diana took a statin, she developed
severe joint pain -- yet shortly after she decided to go off the drug, her pain
disappeared as mysteriously as it came on.
Of course, it's quite well established that statins can
cause severe muscle pain and weakness, as you've read right here in eAlert.
But joint pain, too?
Yes, it's true -- and it's not a new discovery, either. In
fact, six years ago, Dutch researchers found that the drugs were linked to an
"increased risk" of developing RA.
And just this past February, some of those same scientists
published another study on the topic. This one says that their findings show
that the risk of developing RA is "substantially increased" during
the first year that a patient is on a statin.
But like the way Big Food tries to conceal the presence of
MSG and HFCS in products in the supermarket, Big Pharma has its own method of
keeping you in the dark.
Because if you read the lengthy label for Lipitor, one of
the best-selling statins, you'll find "arthralgia" (a.k.a. joint
pain) hidden among the "most commonly reported adverse reactions"
(along with another tongue-twister, "nasopharyngitis," also known as
a head cold).
I guess that drugmakers don't want us to know the whole
story, right? But unfortunately, statins aren't the only drugs that can
cripple you with pain in the joints.
Three years ago, the FDA sent out a warning on some of the
most popular diabetes meds out there -- including Januvia, Onglyza, and
Tradjenta -- saying that they can cause "joint pain that can be severe and
disabling."
Those drugs (known as DPP-4 inhibitors) can start triggering
pain from day one or even years after starting up on them. And after patients
stopped taking them, all it took was a month or less for their arthritis
symptoms to disappear!
How's that for proof positive?
Acid suppressors known as proton pump inhibitors and an
entire class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones, more commonly known under
the brand names Cipro and Levaquin, can also cause the same kind of pain.
So, before you write your arthritis pain off as simply one
of those maladies of getting older, do some sleuthing first -- starting right
in your medicine cabinet!
Talk with your doctor about getting off any unnecessary
drugs (which include a lot more than you could imagine) ASAP.
And as for those acid-reducing meds, just be careful to
slowly wean yourself off of them, as stopping cold turkey can cause the worst
case of heartburn you've ever had.
Fibromyalgia
From locales all around the globe, researchers have found a
simple way to cure -- yes, cure -- fibromyalgia. These doctors and scientists
aren't connected with each other. Yet, they have all stumbled upon almost
identical methods that really work.
First, researchers at the VA center in Gainesville, Florida,
published a study. A decade later, doctors from Dijon University Hospital in
France discovered a similar method of curing patients with this disabling
disease.
The next year, scientists at Oregon Health and Science
University in Portland reported almost identical results. Now, we're hearing
about the exact same cure from researchers at American University in Kenya.
Obviously, these doctors are onto something big.
And if you or someone you love suffers from the agony of
fibromyalgia, there's no reason in the world not to put these findings into
action immediately!
Brain-altering additives
Big Pharma is making a king's ransom selling drugs to
fibromyalgia patients. And that's a condition it once refused to acknowledge
until, of course, it realized the riches that could be gained by selling a med
to "treat" it.
Unfortunately, those meds also come along with deadly side
effects. Take the seizure drug Lyrica, for example.
This heavily advertised med for fibromyalgia can cause
life-threatening risks such as "respiratory compromise,"
"suicidal thoughts," and swelling of the throat, head, and neck, as
well as blurred vision, "thinking abnormal," and fluid retention (with
those last three said to be "most common.")
And along with the FDA-approved ones, plenty of heavy-duty
drugs are prescribed "off label."
That's why the findings that are coming from all corners of
the world are so exciting. They don't involve any meds at all -- actually, the
point is to eliminate brain-altering food additives, which are as potent as any
drug, from your diet.
But that's probably because they are drugs -- drugs
disguised as harmless ingredients in soups, gravy, sauces, chips, yogurt,
beverages, and on and on and on.
Those additives are called "excitotoxins." While
that name may not be familiar to you, these will be: monosodium glutamate and
aspartame (a.k.a. NutraSweet). They can literally "excite" or
overstimulate nerve cells, even to the point of killing them off.
But that's not all that these additives can do. They're also
linked to conditions including heart disease, a-fib, migraines, and vision
problems -- to name a few.
Of course, special diets to help with fibromyalgia are
nothing new. You may have tried them all, perhaps going vegetarian or even
vegan, sticking to a raw diet or possibly eliminating gluten. And you may have
experienced some relief... for a while anyway.
These findings, however, are about a cure. The Florida
researchers said that within months of eliminating MSG, fibromyalgia patients
had "complete or nearly complete resolution of their symptoms."
In France, the scientists went so far as to even name their
study "Aspartame-induced fibromyalgia." They wrote that taking
aspartame out of the diet of a 50-year-old woman who was diagnosed with
fibromyalgia over ten years ago completely stopped her pain -- without any
"recurrence."
In Oregon, doctors put fibromyalgia sufferers on special
MSG-free diets, and when they started to get some relief, docs
"challenged" them with the food additive, finding a "significant
return of symptoms."
Over in Kenya, where many people use a popular local spice
mix that contains MSG, simply ditching that seasoning ingredient proved as
effective as taking a pain med.
Unfortunately, however, going excitotoxin-free isn't quite
as simple as checking labels for MSG. That's because the FDA has allowed Big
Food to claim that a product has "No MSG," or "no added
MSG" even when it contains a disguised version of this flavor-enhancing
additive.
So, if you should find any of the following ingredients on
the label of a processed-food product, that's a tip that it also contains some
amount of MSG -- and that you should leave it right where you found it!
Anything "hydrolyzed" such as a
"hydrolyzed protein," soy protein, including soy protein concentrate
and soy protein isolate, autolyzed yeast, yeast extract, and sodium caseinate or calcium caseinate.
And those are just the most common ones. Fact is, the longer
a product's ingredient list is, the likelier it is to contain one or more such
additives.
As for aspartame, it is most often found in "sugar-free"
or "diet" foods and drinks, although it's also added to a wide
variety of products including gum, candy, cereals, and vitamins -- often under
the brand name of NutraSweet or Equal.
Of course, when eating out, you're at the mercy of whatever the
chef is adding to his dishes. That's why it's best to order simple foods, like
broiled fish with butter and lemon or a grilled steak, and to beware of soups,
sauces, and highly seasoned items with unknown ingredients.
The Omega-3 Index and Heart Disease
Want to live longer? Here's the one test that can help!
They'll poke you, prod you, and test you 'til you can't take
it anymore. They'll run panel after panel after panel, taking enough blood to
feed one hungry vampire.
But there's ONE test you TRULY need -- a single test that
can help you predict your odds of surviving or measure your risk of death --
and your doc WON'T order it!
It's time to poke him back. It's time to demand this simple,
low-cost test next time you have your blood work done.
Your doc might be obsessing over cholesterol, but a stunning
new study shows that there's a far more important number to focus on. It's the
omega-3 index, which is just what it sounds like: It measures your levels of
the essential fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid
(DHA) in the membranes of your red blood cells.
In the new study, researchers tracked the levels of omega-3s
in healthy seniors -- or, at least, seniors who were healthy at the START of
the seven-year study.
Not all of them stayed that way!
The folks on the high end of that index -- 8 percent and
above -- were living the dream, avoiding big-time risks and enjoying
disease-free survival. It's as if they each had their own omega-powered shields
protecting them from today's top killers.
Compared to folks at the wrong end of the index (with index
levels of 4 percent and lower), they had a 39 percent lower risk of
cardiovascular disease AND a 34 percent lower risk of death from any cause.
The same study tracked cholesterol levels, with the
researchers assuming that THOSE numbers would also turn out to be important.
NOPE. They didn't matter a lick!
All that really counted was that omega-3 index, which turned
out to be a major risk factor in 4 in 5 health outcomes, including both heart
disease and death.
If you haven't had the omega-3 test, demand it next time
you're at the doctor. If he refuses, you can actually get it done yourself at a
lab or with an at-home kit that'll run you about $50.
If you're on the low side yourself, it's time to get
cracking. Eat more fish or take a fish oil supplement.
The research team calculated that moving from the
"low" category to the "optimal" side of the coin would take
eating about 3.5 ounces of salmon a day or taking 1,300 mg of fish oil daily.
Get tested again in six months to see if your levels have
hit the sweet spot -- and if they haven't, boost your intake a little more
until you get what you need.
Effects on Functional Brain Activity of Four Weeks’ Supplementation
with a Multivitamin
As Reported in (Natural News)
Nutritionists have concluded that multivitamin and mineral
supplementation can dramatically improve mood and brain activity in only four
weeks. These findings, published in the Journal of Nutrition & Intermediary
Metabolism, suggest that the continual consumption of multivitamins can benefit
neurocognitive function.
Fifty-eight healthy adults, with a mean age of 26, were
analyzed in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Blood
biomarkers and functional brain activity were assessed at baseline and after
four weeks supplementation.
Participants displayed higher levels of B-vitamin along with
a significantly lowered homocysteine count after the experiment period. These
measurements are associated with improved mood and mental well-being.
This was further highlighted by the notable reduction of the
participants’ scores on the depression-dejection subscale of the Profile of
Mood States. Brain scans likewise revealed that working memory was more
activated after four weeks of multivitamin supplementation.
The authors of the new study conclude that multivitamin
supplementation can positively affect brain function, altering neurocognitive
activity in healthy young adults.
So the bottom line is, if you aren't taking a high quality multivitamin.....you should be! And make sure it is a Whole Food vitamin. Synthetic vitamins (most store bought ones) are a waste of money. And add an Omega-3 (fish oil) supplement too. Let me know if you need any help pointing you in the right direction.
Until next time, stay healthy and happy
JD Roma
The information on this blog is provided for educational
purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care, and
medical advice and services are not being offered. If you have, or suspect you
have, a health problem you should consult your physician (preferably a
Naturopath).
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