Natural Biomolecules: Avoid Inherent Pharmaceutical Drug Toxicity
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We remember studying in schools how scurvy was cured by simply eating fruits rich in vitamin C but the word "cure" has been replaced by "treatment" with a pharmaceutically prescribed drug.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 treatment or the use of natural antioxidants. If natural antioxidants are given to an “AIDS” patient with liver disease, chances are that the liver function will improve, not get worse.
Unfortunately, “practically every single medicament from the following groups have been found to have immunotoxic properties: antibiotics; antifungal, antiviral, and antiparasitic agents; tranquilizers, antiepileptics, antiparkinson, and anesthetics; antihypertensive, anti-anginal, and antiarrhythmic drugs; gastrointestinal medications; antidiabetics, antithyroid drugs, and sex hormones including oral contraceptives; antiallergics; bronchodilating agents; anticoagulants, drugs acting on fibrinolysis, blood expanders, clotting factors, and inhibitors of platelet aggregation; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, antirheumatismal, and anti gout drugs; and immunodepressive and immunomodulating drugs such as antitumoral drugs and medications to avoid graft rejection,” (Roberto Giraldo MD: Dale MM, Foreman JC & Fan TD Eds. Texbook of Immunopharmacology. Third Edition. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford , 1994; Dean JH, Luster MI, Munson AE & Kimber I Eds. Immunotoxicology and Immunopharmacology. Second Edition. Raven Press, New York , 1994; Descotes J. Immunotoxicology of Drugs and Chemicals, Second Updated Edition. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1988).
Idiosyncratic drug toxicity (IDT) is a major complication of drug therapy and drug development. Such adverse drug reactions (ADRs) include anaphylaxis, blood dyscrasias, hepatotoxicity and severe cutaneous reactions. They are usually serious and can be fatal. At present, prediction of idiosyncratic ADRs at the preclinical stage of drug development is not possible because there are no suitable animal models and we do not understand the basic mechanisms involved in the toxicity when it does occur in man. Many idiosyncratic reactions appear to have an immunological aetiology. For example, there is increasing evidence for the role of T lymphocytes in severe skin reactions (Advances in molecular toxicology-towards understanding idiosyncratic drug toxicity, Park et al, Pubmed. Toxicology, 2000 Nov 16: 153 (1-3): 39-60).
Drugs are developed and administered to patients at an established efficacious but “safe” dose. But, the occurrence of idiosyncratic drug toxicity illustrates that dose alone is not the determinant factor – a host of factors such as genetic differences, age, sex, disease conditions, and environmental factors such as co-administered drugs and foods, may play key roles in drug toxicity. A key determinant factor in drug toxicity is that drug molecules are not part of the normal and healthy biochemistry of cells and drugs generate free radicals in the body that lowers or disrupts this biochemistry. Toxic chemicals are used in the production of many products including drugs.
Benzene is a natural part of crude oil, gasoline, and cigarette smoke. As an industrial chemical, benzene is widely used to make other chemicals which are used to make plastics, resins and nylon and synthetic fibres. Benzene is also used to make some types of rubbers, lubricants, dyes, detergents, pesticides and drugs. Benzene causes harmful effects on the bone marrow and can cause a decrease in red blood cells leading to anaemia. It can also cause excessive bleeding and can affect the immune system, increasing the chance for infection. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that benzene is a known human carcinogen. (Benzene Toxic Chemical, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Division of Toxicology). It is an additive in gasoline and we all breathe it in various amounts everyday, especially those in cities.
"Ninty-five percent of chemicals used in fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum. They include acetone, benzene derivatives, aldehydes and many other known toxics and sensitizers - capable of causing cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions" (Twenty Most Common Chemicals in Thirty-one Fragrance Products [based on a] 1991 EPA Study, Compiled by Julia Kendall (1935 - 1997); distributed by Environmental Health Network. An FDA analysis (1968-1972) of 138 compounds used in cosmetics that most frequently involved adverse reactions, identified five chemicals (alpha-terpineol, benzyl acetate, benzyl alcohol, limonene and linalool) that are among the 20 most commonly used in the 31 fragrance products tested by the EPA in 1991.
Consider the list of pharmaceutical intermediates used in making your “medicines.”
Isobutyl Benzene – Used in the manufacture of Ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory/anti-arthritic/analgesic medicine for pain management. Chevron Phillips Chemical is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of isobutyl benzene.Ethylthioethanol - Used in the manufacture of the anti-diarrhea medicine Tinidazole, which is widely used throughout Europe and the Third World as treatment for a variety of intestinal infections.
1,2-Ethanedithiol - Used in the manufacture of Spirapril for the treatment of arterial hypertension.
Methanesulfonic Acid – Used in the manufacture of the intravenous antibiotic Alatrofloxacin and the HIV drugs Delavirdine (trade name Rescriptor) and Saquinavir.
Benzyl Mercaptan – Used in the manufacture of the diuretic Benzthiazide (trade name Exna), which lowers blood pressure.
Methanesulfonyl Chloride – Used in the manufacture of the antibiotic Mezlocillin (brand name Mezlin), the antipsychotic drug Tiapride, the antiarrhythmic drug Sotalol (for irregular heartbeats), and Zidovudine (trade name Retrovir also known as AZT or ZDV), which was the first drug approved for the treatment of HIV.
Methyl Mercaptan – Used in the manufacture of Sulindac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) effective in treating fever, pain, and inflammation in the body.
Neohexene – Used in the manufacture of Terbinafine (trade name Lamisil) for the treatment of fungal infections.
Chronic benzene poisoning results in great individual variation in signs and symptoms and includes lymphomas, myeloid leukemia, Hodgkin's disease etc., much like in AIDS and mutagenesis due to severe free-radical damage. Free radical damage explains the great individual variations in signs and symptoms as well as the overlapping symptoms observed in people exposed to other drugs and chemicals. Benzene and its derivatives and many other chemicals generate free radicals in the body and produce different symptoms in different people. The cumulative effect of benzene and its derivatives takes a few to several years to develop and manifest, in most cases up to 10-12 years.
Free-radical reactions in cells produce toxic chemicals, inactivate hormones and enzymes, damage membranes and kill cells. They also start chain reactions that are harmful to health and long term exposure to free radicals can lead to chronic illness, chronic fatigue, cancers or early symptoms of aging.
Benzene "burns out" the endocrine system and speeds up the aging process 100 fold or so in some AIDS patients. The early cases of AIDS left a lasting impression of people who "died horrible deaths and looked like shriveled old men" due to immune system destruction caused by anaemia and leukocytopenia. This may be due to the shut down of the electron transport system in cells and protein systhesis, leading to a deficiency in repair proteins and natural antioxidant enzymes.
Free-radical reactions are vicious reactions. They produce other highly secondary products such as alkanes, alcohols, acids and carbonyls which react with proteins, amino-acids, amines and DNA leading to mutagenesis, cancers and premature aging. Some tumours have been shown by gas chromatography studies to exude minute amounts of formaldehyde, alkanes and benzene derivatives not found in healthy tissues and that is probably why young-adult dogs with no brain impairments can sniff out cancerous tumours in human beings. So, another postulate is that chronic benzene poisoning produces cancer cells that in turn produce benzene derivatives that continue the free-radical chain reactions in the body that accelerate tumour growth and progress of cancers.
Many allopathic drugs lower white blood cell and platelet counts, cause fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea which are early warning signs of excess free radicals being generated by these drugs in the body that cause oxidative stress and oxidative injury to cells. In other words they exhibit oxidative toxicity (OT). Prolonged use of such drugs can cause intestinal bleeding, liver problems, skin reactions, aggravate cardiovascular disease or renal problems or induce diabetes and extreme OT can cause chronic fatigue and cancers. Extreme OT disrupts cellular function to a large extent and depletes natural antioxidants in the body more rapidly as in radiation exposure or chemotherapy or by poisons like AZT. Bone marrow and small organs that perform regulatory functions through hormones such as the thyroid and the pancreas appear to be sensitive and susceptible to oxidative toxicity of allophatic drugs.
There is other troubling news. The powerful drugs used in chemotherapy can themselves cause cancer and pose a risk to nurses, pharmacists and others who handle them (The Washington Post, Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page HE01, Jim Morris). Chemotherapy drugs in human and animal studies have shown they have the potential to cause cancer or reproductive problems, said Thomas Connor, a research biologist with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
In July 2005, a study conducted at the Mayo Clinic, was published in the Archives of Neurology. The study identified 11 Parkinson's patients who developed a compulsive gambling problem while taking Mirapex or similar drugs between 2002 and 2004. Since the study was published, 14 additional patients have been identified with the problem, said Mayo psychiatrist, Dr M Leann Dodd, the lead author of the study (Evlyn Pringle, 2006). Drugs that are targeted to act in the brain may end up with producing behavioral changes or headaches or sleep problems. New research has conclusively linked diseases in the brain and mental illnesses to free radical stress in the central nervous system (CNS). Increasing oxidative toxicity in the brain or the central nervous system only serves to compound the problem and drugs therefore pose a serious question on their value in restoring individuals with mental illnesses to society.
The irony here is that drugs are not developed to cure anything: They are desingned to keep the patient coming back for more Drugs and more Diagnostic Procedures. Yet the FDA, says that only a Drug can Cure, Diagnose or Treat a Disease (Veterinarians & Medicine In Crisis, Eric Weisman). So, any possibility of laws that require doctors to inform their patients of side efects, complications and drug toxicities is extremely remote, even though it is ethical and there is a fundamental right to information to make informed decisions possible.
When you study cell biochemistry, you will be struck by the fact that none of such drugs are a part of the normal and healthy functioning of cells. They are not part of the Krebs cycle or the electron transport system and these drugs are not used in cell division or in the synthesis of DNA or antibodies or to repair proteins or produce hormones or antibodies. These drugs are different from the natural biomolecules that constitute cell biochemistry to sustain life.On the other hand, you will also be struck by the fact that plant cells produce antioxidants such as vitamins, anthocyanins and flavonoids etc through photosynthesis and the minerals in edible plants are bioavailable, which means that these natural biomolecules can be utilized for the normal and optimal functioning of animal cells. In fact, evolutionary biology, stretching to about a billion years, has integrated vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from edible plants into the normal biochemistry of animal cells and as a result the animal cell need not carry on photosynthetic activity to produce these biomolecules. Hence, edible plants are a source of minerals and antioxidants that are naturally utilized in cell biochemistry in animal cells. Many plants are not edible because they have evolved in ways that afforded natural selection the use of certain toxic biomolecules as a defense mechanism or as part of such mechanisms.
Vitamins and other antioxidants from plant sources perform free radical scavenging activity (neutralization of free radicals so that they become stable molecules and do not rob other molecules of electrons) in mitochondria and in Krebs cycle biochemistry and the minerals from plant sources are utilized for producing biomolecules by cells. Selenium from plant sources is used in the production of selenoproteins including glutathione which is an important natural antioxidant enzyme and a critical factor of the body's natural antioxidant defense mechanism together with coenzyme Q10, alpha lipoic acid and the other natural antioxidant enzymes.
It is important, if not critical to understand the oxidative toxicity of drugs or chemicals in drugs and the harmful effcts of free radicals on cells and cellular activity and what antioxidants can do to alleviate such harmful efects. Let's take the example of heart beat and arrythmias or abnormal heart beat.
An interesting experiment was devised by researchers at Harvard to observe the effects of toxic chemicals and the role of omega-3 fish oil. Dr. Alexander Leaf and other researchers cultured neonatal heart cells from rats. Under the microscope, these cells clumped together and as a clump of heart cells beat spontaneously and rhythmically just like the heart as an organ. Toxic agents known to produce fatal arrhythmias in humans were added to the medium bathing the cultured cells, and the effects of adding the omega-3 fatty acids were observed. Increased extracellular Ca2+, the cardiac glycoside ouabain, isoproterenol, lysophosphatidylcholine and acylcarnitine, thromboxane, and even the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 were tested. All of these agents induced tachyarrhythmias in the isolated myocytes (Leaf A Circulation. 2003;107:2646, 2003 American Heart Association, Inc.).
Of particular interest are the effects of elevated perfusate Ca2+ and ouabain on the myoctes. Both agents induced rapid contractions, contractures and fibrillation of the myocytes. When EPA was added to the superfusate, the beating rate slowed, and when the high Ca2+ or ouabain was added in the presence of the EPA, no arrhythmia was induced. Furthermore, after a violent fibrillation was induced in the cells by both elevated calcium and ouabain, addition of EPA stopped the arrhythmias, and the cells resumed their fairly regular contractions.
When the neonatal heart cells were subject to toxic chemicals which were either free radicals or generated free radicals in the heart, they attached to the cell wall and subjected it to oxidative stress. Under this condition ions flowed in one direction across the cell membrane out of the heart especially magnesium ions, sodium ions, potassium ions and calcium ions, thereby severely disrupting metabolic activity in the heart cells resulting in arrhythmia and when this metabolic activity stopped under continued severe oxidative stress, the heart cells died. The carbonyl with the negative charge readily gives its electrons to the free radicals and they become neutral and stable which renders them harmless because in the neutral state they cannot cause oxidative stress. The free radical scavenging activity of antioxidants clearly demonstrate the therapeutic role and possible role in reversing degenerative conditions or slowing down the progression of disease conditions initiated or accelerated by free radicals.
Tragically, allophatic drugs are not antioxidants. A few new synthetic antioxdants have been patented but by and large, they generate free radicals in the body and are either immunotoxic or immunosuppressive. In that capacity they do not add to the ability of the immune system to defend the body against disease and in fact they weaken and debilitate it. Their free radical generating capacity (ie oxidative toxicity) depletes natural antioxidants that in turn results in a decline in the efficiency of the electron transport system in the cell and lowers the ability of cells to produce antibodies, repair proteins, selenoproteins and the natural antioxidant enzymes. Their long term use in treatments lowers the ability of the immune system and at the same time weakens the natural antioxidant mechanism while lowering the production of repair proteins and decreasing cellular energy output. It is quite natural that the long term use of drugs, including recreational drugs suppresses the immune function as seen by the decreases in white blood cell counts and produces free radical damage is evidenced by the varied side effects. Continued oxidative toxicity will eventually depress the immune system with attendant oxidative injury and open up the body to secondary infections.
There was increasing and widespread use of benzene and its derivatives. Was there ever an epidemic of immuno-suppression? One such occurrence was in Japan. An outbreak of immune suppression occurred between 1955 to 1978 called SMON (subacute myelo optico neuropathy). As in other cases, SMON was thought to have been caused by a virus but after 20 years and many deaths, it was traced to a prescription drug called clioquinol, a medication for stomach upset. Clioquinol contained 8-hydroxy-quinoline, a benzene derivative. This drug was prescribed for stomach upset but actually caused it, requiring higher and higher doses, thus insuring more exposure to the toxin. The symptoms were: abdominal pain, fever, rash, diarrhea, neuropathy, weight loss, skin lesions, retinitis leading to blindness, fatigue, paralysis, and pneumonia (Benzene Lubricants and AIDS, Stephen C. Byrnes, Ph.D., D.N.T.: Explore vol 8, no 1, 1997). That looks like symptoms encountered in AIDS patients. AIDS is a condition associated with oxidative toxicity or oxidative stress in malnourished people and could very well represent a global epidemic of immunosuppression. It appears to be a sign of undernourishment in an environment degraded by oxidative toxicity in the air we breathe, the chemicals we use daily and the nature of our medicines that work against cell biochemistry, which evolved to sustain life and sustain the peak of health through optimal cellular function.From 1973 to 1998, the overall incidence of cancer rates has increased by about 24% and cancer is now an epidemic. About US $100 billion is spent annually on cancer treatment alone in the US. This increase parallels the increases in many other chronic illnesses and it coincides with the phenomenal increase of oxidative toxicity through toxic chemicals, chemicals used in products and widespread use of toxic medication.
The average American consumes about 400-600 grams of toxic medication annually. Those with chronic conditions and cancers consume even more. This toxicity is unprecendented in hominid and primate evolutionary biology. The mammalian and hominid cell biology did not evolve in an external environment that we face today and certainly it did not evolve with an internal environment with 400-600 grams of annual consumption of toxicity. Fruits, nuts and shoots provided the antioxidants for healthy cell function and today our health is declining because we cannot adapt to the rapid onslought by free radicals and free radical generating chemicals that have polluted our lives at an alarming rate since 1970. It is now part of our economy. And so are the escalating health costs.
Since benzene is a known carcinogen and has harmful effects on the bone marrow, scientists have started to develop a biosynthetic route using glucose as a startic point to produce organic and aromatic compounds that serve as precursors to a range of industrial chemicals, including pharmaceuticals.
Chronic fatigue syndrome or muscle weakness and a host of complications that fall within idiosyncratic drug toxicity represent a conundrum regularly faced by primary care physicians and specialists alike. The symptoms may overlap. They are caused by excess free radicals and oxidative toxicity.
Pharmaceutical drugs, having oxidative toxicity, exercerbate or aggravate or compound the problem and the long term use of such drugs may create a new disease condition. So how do you help a patient who presents with nonspecific but severe symptoms for which there is no clear pathogenic cause, no widely accepted diagnostic test and no agreed-upon treatment? The answers lie in making a shift away from oxidative toxicity and immunotoxic or immuno-suppressive drugs and towards the use of natural antioxidants and that means a new antioxidant pharmacoepia.
The pharmaceutical industry has all the capacity to produce natural antioxidants for therapeutic use but it has lost its focus on health. Its new focus is on impacting the bottom line and consequently it has become a patent-driven industry. The long-term aim of such research is to provide test systems for the evaluation of drug safety and patient susceptibility to idiosyncratic drug toxicity. They still think they ought to look at how to make really safe drugs even though it is almost impossible to replicate how plants make vitamins and minerals and antioxidants that are so naturally integrated into our cell biology.
Another approach puts the problem on the patient and suggests that we ought to have personalized medicine. By finding an association between drug toxicity and gene expression and predicting the efficacy of drugs tied to certain genes or genetic make-up, it might be possible to tailor a cocktail of drugs for individuals. And that means more cost for the biodiagnostics to determine the genetics that are likely to be associated with less side effects. The fact remains that drugs are less associated with genes and genetic tolerance and are more directly an issue in cell biochemistry – ie that drugs as a class of chemicals have a radically different action of generating large amounts of free radicals in the body that lower cellular function or disrupt it or disrupt the natural biochemical pathways for healthy physiology. Drugs acts as blockers or inhibitors or stimulatory agents and can block or inhibit healthy biochemical pathways directly or through biofeedback mechanisms.
Genomic tailoring is centred around the science of maximizing the benefits of drugs with a benefit/risk profile. It is about the use of genetic and genomic information, respectively, to tailor drugs to the treatment of individual patients. It is not about using biomolecules that are compatible with the natural biochemistry in cells and how such interventions will improve cellular function and improve the natural biochemical pathways that promote health. Its promise of making it possible to use information from the human genome in ways that will radically transform the prevention and treatment of human disease is therefore in grave doubt.
Why are basic facts of disease initiation and progression being ignored and why is the fundamental biochemistry in human cells that is dependant on free radical/antioxidant reactions and the optimal functioning of the electron transport system in cells to produce antibodies, natural antioxidant enzymes and repair proteins being ignored? Well, the answer may lie in the fact that while any drug that comes out of a lab chemical reaction will only harm those fundamental but vital aspects of cell biochemistry, it can be the subject of a patent whereas, on the other hand, you may not take out a patent on vitamins or black pepper as an anti-cancer agent or as a cholesterol (LDL) lowering agent.
None of these drugs could possibly correct endothelial dysfunction in order to put the NO secretion into healthy balance. On the contrary they may themselves become a cause of endothelial dysfunction resulting in excess NO production that in turn acts as free radical and causes chronic conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, arthritis or ED (the NO family of conditions).
Nevertheless, some scientists have made interesting discoveries about natural biomolecules. Dr Karl Fokers, Director of the Institute for Biomedical Research at the University of Texas (Austin) discovered that heart disease patients had 25% less coenzyme Q10 and the heart muscle of these patients had 75% less coenzyme Q10 than patients free from the disease.
Coenzyme Q10 is an essential requirement in the post-Krebs cycle energy release in the cell as cellular energy that can be used for movement such as the pumping action of the heart. Inadequate usable cellular energy slows down cell function and the organ suffers as a whole and when this available energy drops, disease conditions and symptoms appear. And, quite naturally, consumption of coenzyme Q10 was found to improve cardiac function and three-fourths of elderly patients with cardiomyopathy improved significantly.
Since it is an ubiquitous enzyme found in all cells, the improving cell function throughout the body is expected to improve quality of life and reduce other problems in the body. Conversely, theorectical biology would predict and it is proven that a coenzyme Q10 deficiency actually results in a number of conditions such as periodontal disease, congestive heart failure and fatigue. Low levels of coenzyme Q10 are found in about 39% of patients with high blood pressure. This is consistent with studies that show a decline in cell function with declining levels of natural antioxdant enzymes in the body. When the levels of these enzymes drop by more than 60% disease states may result while a drop of 80% may lead to death of the cell. Chronic functional glutathione deficiency is associated with immune disorders and with an increased incidence of malignancies. Excess alcohol over time depletes glutathione in the liver and accelerates pathogenesis of disease conditions. Acute manifestations of functional glutathione deficiency can be seen in those who have taken an overdosage of acetaminophen. The dramatic depletion of glutathione in liver cells leads to liver failure and death of liver cells.
All ubiquitous biomolecules are important for overall health and most of them play a role in the Krebs cycle and mitochondrial output and their deficiencies will cause health to decline. It comes as no surprise that studies show coenzyme Q10 to be consistently effective, even in cases of arrythmia, in about 20-25% of cases and helpful to another 40%. If glutathione from natural sources or bioavaliable selenium is also given, the results would improve significantly or dramatically with the expected increase in the natural antioxidant in the body. Glutathione (GSH) deficiency impairs key T-cell functions and naturally the administration of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to replenish glutathione (GSA) deficiency would improve T-cell function.
Natural vitamin C administration also improves white blood cell and cellular function in all cells. Hence their combined administration would dramatically improve immune function and reduce the chances of opportunistic infections or slow down the progress of disease conditions. An important point to note is that the intake or administration of a single natural biomolecule is not the correct approach in biomolecular medicine for improving cellular function. Cellular function is dependent on a number of natural biomolecules and many of these biomolecules work in an integrated fashion but vitamin C is a very special natural biomolecule.
British researchers Steve Hickey and Hilary Roberts show how humans can triple their blood concentrations of vitamin C and dramatically reduce their risk for heart attacks, cataracts, aneurysms, allergy and many other maladies. The interesting effect on a wide range of disease conditions is simply attributable to the fact that the common trigger and cause of progression of these conditions are free radicals and natural vitamin C is an effective free radical scavenger in the blood and cells. Additionally, white blood cells are rich in vitamin C which is required to reverse the complex biochemical reactions that create an oxidative burst used to kill bacteria and cancer cells during phagocytosis after its radical is used to generate hydrogen peroxide that is cytotoxic to bacteria. But, vitamin C has a far more useful and unique role in cancer cell death.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, report that intravenous vitamin C may be an effective treatment for cancer. The study clearly shows that high-dose vitamin C, when administered intravenously, can increase hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels within cancer cells and kills them (Qi Chen, 2005, Medical Sciences, Pharmacologic ascorbic acid concentrations selectively kill cancer cells: Action as a pro-drug to deliver hydrogen peroxide to tissues).
Hydrogen peroxide is cytotoxic to bacteria and intravenous vitamin C was also demonstrated to kill germs and may be an effective therapy for infectious disease. This observation corroborates traditional medicine therapies used in north India, using lime in certain topical preparations for treating boils, certain wounds and scars.
Unlike cancer drugs, intravenous vitamin C selectively killed cancer cells, but not healthy cells, and showed no toxicity. The ability of intravenous vitamin C to kill lymphoma cells was remarkable – almost 100% at easily achievable blood serum concentrations (Bill Sardi, 2005, Breakthrough Report; Knowledge of Health, Inc.).
Since H2O2 generation was dependent on ascorbate concentration, incubation time and displayed a linear relationship with ascorbate radical formation, we have proof that vitamin C produces a radical under anaerobic biochemical reactions as those in cancer cell and hence it selectively kills cancer cells while promoting cellular function in normal cells by scavenging free radicals in them.
Other biomolecules can provide partial and accumulative improvements in cellular function. Mitochondrial-supported bioenergetics decline and oxidative stress increases during aging. Feeding acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) and lipoic acid (LA) to old rats significantly improves metabolic function while decreasing oxidative stress (Tory et al, Biochemistry: PNAS | February 19, 2002 | vol. 99 | no. 4 |1870-1875). ALCAR+LA partially reversed the age-related decline in average mitochondrial membrane potential and significantly increased liver cellular oxygen consumption, indicating that mitochondrial-supported cellular metabolism was markedly improved by this feeding regimen.The point of therapeutic value in biomolecular therapy to note is that while the adminstration (by oral means) of these enzymes or biomolecules in single mode improves health, it may not improve significantly in the majority of cases and certainly not in all cases. Combinations work better. Including combinations with minerals from natural sources. Much better results can be achieved if the oxidative stress is removed by suitable free radical scavenging activity that also improves the functioning of the cell's electron transport system and improve the efficiency of the Krebs cycle and in turn improve the overall mitochodrial function. Such free radical scavenging activity by natural antioxidants must be sufficiently broad to remove oxidative stress on enzymes involved in the Krebs cycle. This is important because oxidative stress on these enzymes can inactivate them, leading to a decline in the efficiency of the Krebs cycle or leading to its total shut-down.
The decline in the efficiency of the Krebs cycle in cells is accompanied by muscle weakness and fatigue or chronic fatigue and the administration of natural antioxidant enzymes helps to a certain extent. The plus factor in using natural biomolecules in treatments is that they do not have a benefit/risk profile, only a benefit profile as they promote free radical scavenging activity unlike drugs that generate free radicals and produce oxidative toxicity. However, Krebs cycle efficiency must improve along with the electron transport system and minerals in bioavaliable form from natural sources are critically important. These notions are the cornerstone in the use of natural antioxidants and bioavailable minerals in cellular medicine – a therapeutic approach aimed at improving cellular function through free radical scavenging activity by the application of a broad range of antioxdants.
The use of omega-3 fish oil, indole-3-carbinol, tocopheraols, unpolished rice (vitamin B complex) and olive oil is part of this range of antioxidants. Dietary supplements that help to increase the amount of selenoproteins and other natural antioxidant enzymes promote aerobic respiration and improve cellular function.
A recent report in the Journal of Cancer states that their findings suggest a clear molecular process that would explain the connection between diet and cancer. Professor John Toy, medical director of Cancer Research, UK said that it had been established that eating a diet high in fibre plus plenty of fruits and vegetables lowered the risks of developing many forms of cancer. Indole-3-carbinol, a biomolecule in vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage can boost DNA repair in cells and may stop them from becoming cancer cells as shown by a team of researchers lead by Professor Rosen (Georgetown University, Washington). These natural biomolecules are antioxidants and boost the electron transport system activity while other antioxidants from those vegetables help alleviate free radical stress on the Krebs cycle and improve cellular function based on aerobic respiration.
Oxidative stress on the aerobic respiratory mechanisms in the cell may shut it down. The energy requirement of the cell will no longer depend on the natural antioxidant network and the cell may switch to anaerobic respiratory systen that uses alcohol to produce energy. Under anaerobic respiration it becomes a cancer cell. The cancer cell produces toxic molecules that have oxidative toxicity and the free radicals they generate begin to exert oxidative stress on neighboring cells and tumours begin to form.
Under oxidative stress, whether in old age or in malnourished people or excess free radicals from drugs, the Krebs cycle may be shut down and the depletion of natural antioxidants in the body by excess free radicals may shut down the electron transport system. This state produces a cell in need of energy. If the energy is not forthcoming from aerobic respiration, under certain circumstances it is able to switch to anaerobic respiration for its energy and becomes a cancer cell.
In the final analysis, it is all about efficient electron transfer reactions for producing proteins, natural antioxidant enzymes and DNA synthesis and energy generation from the efficient functioning of the Krebs cycle in healthy cells. A decline in cellular function and aerobic energy output is associated with the development of chronic conditions such as in diabetes, arthrtis, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, ED or fatigue or decline in liver function. The development of many chronic conditions revolves around decline in cellular function mediated through excess NO secretion due to endothelial dysfunction and mitochodrial output in aerobic respiration. In cancer cell formation and progression, there is a complete switch in cellular biochemistry through oxidative stress. In all cases, it involves free-radical antioxidant reactions.
Because of their ability to directly oxidize and damage DNA, protein, and lipid, radicals such as ROS (radical oxygen species) play a key direct role in the pathogenesis of disease conditions. Through their ability to directly inflict macromolecular damage and cause reactions such as glycolysation, and oxidative stress that depresses mitochondrial activity after depleting the natural antioxidants, radicals cause late complications of disease in patients while excess of signaling molecules (such as NO) may activate or deactivate a number of cellular stress-sensitive pathways that cause physiological damage and are ultimately responsible for chronic conditions and late complications of such conditions. BRCA1 genes may be damaged by excess free radicals, especially the highly reactive hydroxyl radical and blocks the synthesis of repair proteins but that itself may not be the cause of cancer cell formation.
The biological basis for health is in the optimal functioning of cells. Improving health and the quality of life has only one premise – promote the natural biochemical reactions in cells in order to improve cellular function and aerobic energy. Drugs have no role in this process. They only promote cancer cell transformation or the progression of disease through the generation of free radicals in the body.
We do not need new strategies in drug development or drug administration. Drug science is defective. It is in conflict with the cellular biochemistry that promotes health and sustains life. We need new science that aims to promote health by promoting the natural biochemistry and aerobic respiration in cells. The way forward lies in biomolecular therapy using natural biomolecules and cellular medicine that promotes natural biochemical reactions to remove oxidative stress in cells to improve the efficiency of the Krebs cycle, aerobic energy output and efficient functioning of the electron transport system.
See also:
FOOD TECHNOLOGY RUN AMUCK
This article, by Carolyn Dean, MD, discusses the food side of the dismal situation. Somehow, the direction of both medicine and food production, all seem to be directed straight towards achieving more illness instead of better health.Drug Companies Use Natural Cures to Design New Drugs
Most medical doctors are hostile toward the use of nutritional supplements. They parrot that they are ineffective and possibly dangerous due to a lack of scientific evidence supporting them. Not true. Mountains of evidence exist. And it points to some fascinating and highly effective nutritional supplements. To obtain new drugs, pharmaceutical chemists, like myself, rigorously study nutritional supplements (i.e. natural products). Once a single active ingredient is identified a chemist makes a "copy-cat." The drug company then calls it their own. Simply put, if the study of nutritional supplements did not exist then drugs would not be possible.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Friday March 3 2006
updated on Sunday March 5 2006URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/03/03/natural_biomolecules_avoid_inherent_pharmaceutical_drug_toxicity.htm
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