Natural Biomolecules: Avoid Inherent Pharmaceutical Drug Toxicity

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Pharma

Pharmaceutical medicine has become one of the leading causes of death in countries where western medicine is the prevalent form of treatment for the sick. This seeming paradox can only be explained by examining the mechanism of action of synthetic pharmaceutical medicines. These drugs have one inherent drawback: they are made up, in large part, of molecules that are foreign and disruptive to the natural biological processes that characterize all cells in our bodies.

Natural biomolecules, on the other hand, are the "food" of cells. They were incorporated in energy production pathways and repair mechanisms as a result of long adaption and evolution. Substances such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes and other, more complex molecules formed in plants, must be present in sufficient quantity for a living organism to function properly.

It is this fundamental difference between pharmaceutical medicine and other, nutrition-based approaches to health, that will determine success and failure in medicine. The question has been raised recently: Will allopathic medicine be replaced by more gentle, less toxic alternatives?

Beldeu Singh seems to be convinced, and he details why, in his recent article:

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NATURAL BIOMOLECULES vs DRUGS

Beldeu Singh

Researchers in pharmaceutical science saw the many health problems and chronic conditions as an opportunity for drug discovery such as penicillin and quinine to alleviate human suffering but later, under a corporate structure, companies began to organize such research to generate revenues. The focus shifted to the bottom line and companies saw the need to shift to drug development in order to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry. Competition took a turn towards a more efficient and targeted means for drug action and the industry has evolved into a patent driven race for products.

We remember studying in schools how scurvy was cured by simply eating fruits rich in vitamin C but the word "cure" has been replaced by "treatment" with a pharmaceutically prescribed drug. Vitamin C restored health to the skin by scavenging (neutralizing) free radicals that removed oxidative stress in the cells resulting in improved cellular function. Improved cellular function restores health while a decline in cellular function impairs health of tissues and organs.

There are now references to the pharmaceutical drug industry as "an industry that has repeatedly demonstrated to be the most dangerous, corrupt and ruthless of all industries". There are websites to alert readers to the poisonous nature of the vast majority of pharmaceutical drugs, the incalculable damage these dangerous substances are causing to public health and the debilitating impact this is having on our economy. Such information also covers the unethical and criminal activities engaged in by drug companies and those in their employ in pushing their chemical-based "treatments" onto the unwary public. It is also referred to as a “pharmaceutical drug racket".

If the amount of money and the amount of drugs consumed represented the quality of health, the US population would be assumed to be the healthiest. Approximately 15,000 new preparations are marketed each year, while some 12,000 are withdrawn. The United States has the greatest annual sickness-care expenditure of any nation; $912 billion in 1993 alone. However, the US only ranks 16th in the world in female life expectancy, 17th in the world in male life expectancy and only 21st in the world in prevention of infant mortality (cf; Robert Ryan; Why Do Pharmaceutical Drugs Injure And Kill?)

According to the United States' Food and Drug Administration, 1.5 million Americans were hospitalized in 1978 alone, as a consequence of pharmaceutical drugs administered to "cure" them. It was also found that some 30% of all hospitalized people suffered further damage from the therapy prescribed them. In the 1990s, studies showed that 180,000 medically-induced deaths occur each year in the USA. These astronomical figures are in spite of the fact that a large number of drug damages go unreported. Of course, a percentage of drug damages are due to the incorrect administration of drugs by physicians and patients (cf; Robert Ryan; Why Do Pharmaceutical Drugs Injure And Kill?).

There are 1.5 million autistic children, thanks to excessive vaccinations and the mercury ion used as a preservative in vaccines. And there is an increasing number of people with cancers, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, erectile dysfunction (ED), multiple sclererosis, skin conditions, lupus and infertility problems. That gives rise to the interesting but tragic paradox of increasing health problems by increasing health costs.
How harmful are pharmaceutical drugs and why are drug toxicities not explained to patients? In order to get some idea of drug toxicities let's briefly examine some of them.

Lithium can promptly “correct” acute mania and may help to control aggressive behavior but it can have fatal toxicity and could induce diabetes or increase cholesterol levels. Glipizide is a drug that stimulates secretion of insulin and enhances utilization of insulin but can cause allergic skin reactions, bone marrow disorders and increase cardiovascular mortality.

Many of the drugs can precipitate the same problem they are supposed to “cure”. Nafarelin is very effective in treating endometriosis but can lower white blood cell count and lower bone marrow density. This drug stimulates the pituitary gland in the brain to secrete two additional hormones that regulate the production of estrogen by the ovaries. There is an initial increase in estrogen but its continued use triggers a biological feedback mechanism that results in a decrease in ovarian estrogen secretion and precipitates endometriosis – the original problem!

The warning on the AZT label states that “PROLONGED USE OF RETROVIR [AZT] HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH SYMPTOMATIC MYOPATHY SIMILAR TO THAT PRODUCED BY HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS. RARE OCCURRENCES OF LACTIC ACIDOSIS IN THE ABSENCE OF HYPOXEMIA, AND SEVERE HEPATOMEGALY WITH STEATOSIS HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THE USE OF ANTIRETROVIRAL NUCLEOSIDE ANALOGUES, INCLUDING RETROVIR AND ZALCITABINE, AND ARE POTENTIALLY FATAL" but it is used to treat people identified as AIDS patients. Zalcitabine is given to AIDS patients as it is thought to slow the progression of AIDS but it has liver toxicity and worsens pre-existing liver disease and adverse effects include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Another interesting example is procainamide, used as an antiarrythmic (abnormal heart rhythms) and is effective in the treatment of selected heart rhythm disorders. It can reduce white blood cells and platelets, induce systemic lupus and provoke abnormal heart rhythms while potentially producing mental depression or vomiting and diarrhea. Propanolol, another drug used in treating certain heart rhythm disorders and in preventing migraine headaches can cause congestive heart failure, provoke asthma and lower white blood cell and platelet counts. Equally, interesting is diazepam. Diazepam is used in the relief of anxiety and nervous tension and its possible risk includes minor impairment of mental functions and in rare cases, blood cell disorders. Tamoxifien is stated to be effective in adjunctive treatment in advanced breast cancer and its possible risk include retinal injury and uterine cancer, indicating that drugs used in chemotherapy can cause cancers. It also decreases white blood cell count and disrupts liver and thyroid function as seen by increases in blood thyroid hormones and increase in bilirubin.

Digoxin is an effective heart stimulant in congestive heart failure. It is also used in the treatment of certain heart rhythm disorders. Its possible risks include frequent and sometimes serious disturbances of heart rhythm. Indapamide is effective in the treatment of mild to moderate hypertension but can cause excessive loss of blood potassium, increase blood sugar level and increase blood uric acid level. It can also cause muscle weakness and allergic skin reaction and the resultant mineral deficiencies may cause headaches and dizziness. It can decrease libido and may activate diabetes, gout and systemic lupus erythmetasus. Lab tests indicate slight decreases in good cholesterol (HDL). So, one drug can be used to treat a condition, say mild hypertension and its long term use can produce another condition, say gout that will then be treated with other drugs that add to the oxidative toxicity in the body.

Histamine (H-2) blocking drugs are used in the treatment of peptic ulcer disease as the drug blocks the action of histamine and inhibits the ability of the stomach to produce acid. It can, in some cases, lower white blood cell count by depressing cellular function in bone marrow. Evidently, it has inhibitory activity in the cells of other parts of the body and can cause impotence by inhibiting nitric oxide (NO) production or block the NO pathway and can also block male hormone function by free radical damage to the circulating hormone molecules resulting in male breast enlargement. It can suppress cellular function in the thyroid gland and thyroid hormones may decrease. In some cases there could be liver damage.

Oxicams provides effective relief from mild to moderate pains and inflammation and it is approved for use in patients with mild pains due to rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Its long term use may produce its possible risk effects that include gastrointestinal bleeding, kidney damage and reduced white blood cell and platelet counts. Methyclothiazide is an effective diuretic with possible risk of loss of blood minerals and consequent abnormal heart beat, increase in blood sugar and uric acid and it can cause rare blood cell disorders.

This is a very small list of allophatic drugs but it serves to give some idea and create some awareness on the benefit/risk profile of such drugs. All allophatic drugs have a benefit/risk profile. The point to drive across to consumers is that "there’s no such thing as a safe medication. They all have side effects" (Norman Swan, The Health Report, 2004), in contrast to the ayurvedic form of treatme