The FDA and drug companies: Must read

Kaara

In order to prevent the drugs from going "off patent" drug companies change one or two ingredients and submit it as a new drug.  There has been an ongoing struggle to get generic drugs on the market due to this process, which also involves lawsuits filed by the drug companies.  Medicare and the public at large is being hurt by this process which drives up the price of even the generic.  I'm sure someone can explain this better than I can, and include a link to read further about it.

Anonymous

grannydukes,

Yikes, that's high cholesterol. My cousin has a cholesterol of around 400 for 20 years and is still around. She's in her 80's now.

I get a lot of info from my naturopath who is far smarter than any MD I have met.  So I don't buy supps w/o him knowing what I'm taking.

All I'm say, is do a little research on coconut oil to see if that will help your problem, and check your sources. If you could get an appt with a good naturopath who is skilled with oncology that would be good, too!

kingjr,

Oh, that's funny!! Sorry I wasn't clearer about that!!  Sure, docs get perks from prescribing drugs. Some quite big, others not.  Docs don't have time to read about every pill on the market, they rely on the PDR (physicians desk reference) written by drug companies. When a new pill comes on the market the drug reps are knocking on the doc's door and the docs listen to their spiel, maybe take some samples to give to patients. 

I think more & more people are beginning to get what the FDA and Big Pharm are doing. It sure is in the news  

ciao,

tucker

FireKracker

Tucker---did your aunt take any meds for that 400 cholesterol?

Do you know her secret?

wanna share?

chef127

kingjr

I posted above about the drug phenphen. Thats exactly what they did with that drug. It was very successful and pricey. Then people started to get heart troubles and dropping dead so they pulled it and now they tweaked it and plan on reintroducing it to the market............scarey

chef127

Grannydukes,

I know someone who had great results lowering their cholest with Grapefruit seed extact. If you take a statin your not supposed to eat grapefruit because of an adverse reaction. 

Anonymous

chef,

that's mind blowing that the FDA is allowing this drug onto the market, tweaked or not.  But I shouldn't be surprised given their history.  

grannydukes, I don't know what my cousin's secret is. She is way overweight and short so she looks like a little round ball. She has never been good about remembering to take her meds and thinks docs are full of poo. She goes out with her friends and drinks beer and eats crab salads. She relies on prayer a lot and trusts God in everything. She'll probably outlive her doctors You know, I think it's just genetic. Some folks abuse their health and live to be in their 90's or more like George Burns,  who smoked and drank up til he was 100 and other people take good care of themselves and end up sick anyway.

Exercise is really good for lowering cholesterol, as well as cutting back on high fat food (the tasty stuff). Eat lots of veggies. Cholesterol is made in the liver so there is no way to make it go away completely, but some folks just make more of the bad cholesterol...you can help to balance it with the right herbs and supps, but you need to get guidance on this!

blessings

tucker

FireKracker

Im  goin off the statins for a week.Then I will go to my internist who is very open about the entire drug deal.knows that i know what she knows about the writing of the scripts.she is not like that.No one in her family takes any kind of flu,pneumonia,shingle shots.I also have a wonderful wellness center who i work closely with vitamins.I know i cannot just take myself off them but im startin tomorrow increasing the intake of the coconut oil.

thanks again for all the info...hugggs K

Kaara

Anyone see the movie "Forks over Knives"...great documentary about eating a whole food plant based diet that is back up by numerous studies.  There are cases of diabetes, heart disease, breast, prostate and colon cancer, all put in remission.  You can rent on Netflix.

 Granny, if you want to lower your colestrol the natural way, just follow this diet for two months and see what happens.  One guy in the documentary had his colesterol drop almost 100 points in two months. All you do is eliminate meat an dairy products and eat only whole grains, fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds.  One lady our age had breast cancer mets and she ended up in remission and running a marathon...amazing.

Anonymous

imho from reading lotsa books, I believe that cholesterol,  all of it, is there to capture toxins when we need it.  People who have a lot of fat cells have more toxins than most, imho..... That food plan Kaara just mentioned will help detox too.

I do have the D3 checked, it was terribly low last winter, found bc in summer, but who knows how long it was really there.  I have always preferred synergistic blends and sulingual sprays if I can find them, extracts, homeopathics.  All my skunksused to periodically get osteosporosis before I started giving them the D3 sprays and Sea Calcium.  I also added CoQ10 because  we were having probs w enlarged heart for one, it worked too, vet said 50mg day, I gave her 100  mg 2 x day.  On CoQ10 I am taking 200 IU 2 x day I think.  D3 8000 IU day.

TuckerTwo, yes, the worry sometimes really gets to me, and the food worry and supplement uncertainty is it right now.  Cannot seem to find a naturopath that is completely there for me and knows at least as much as I do about everything I need to know, really, I  want someone so badly to just tell me what to do and I can trust them to be right.  But maybe my trust is broken, too far gone, after all been through.  and maybe that is as it should be, hhmmm?

That is a harsh story about your mom, the angio and all, what are they thinking.  My dr had put me on bp meds I did not need and my bp kept dropping to something over 40 then back up, in ER too on monitor.  I suffered repricussions for a few years then had anxiety attack when I had to try the next bp med, heart raced at nearly 160 sitting still, I was out of my mind w fear.  Did a number.  Now I use heart support on a bi-annual basis, to clear arteries.  CircuFlo and Cardio VH for two, sometimes others, been doing it for years, perfect bp w/o meds and I weigh 300.  Maybe when the GP or my new endiocrin gets me on the right thyroid and iodine support, the next 80 pounds will fall off like nothing.  Can you believe that with giving up sugars, dairy, most fats, almost all meat and juicing now, eating even more salads than before and all I do, I have gained weight?  And just yesterday i found out the thyroid meds are not strong enough, but don't know more yet.  The GP had not been checking the original test hat found the problem, it seems.  I am so fed up, love her but just fed up.  

kingjr66

maybe there is too much hype about cholesterol to get one to take a pill when high cholesterol actually does not harm most in the way they say.  Sounds like the right propaganda.

Anonymous

Tucker, here's a study....re nurses and alt. med:

"Contemporary nursing strives to incorporate more holistic principles into the environment in
which nurses are expected to practice. The general public is becoming more demanding and
expects a high quality service which health care professionals are struggling to provide. This has
led to a surge of interest in non-orthodox or complementary therapies.  

Conclusions:Τhe potential benefits of incorporating complementary therapies into nursing
practice have been well illustrated in a wide selection of literature."

http://www.hsj.gr/volume3/issue3/334.pdf 

I've been curious about QiGong, no more, I'm looking to attend classes, how much do you pay ?

"The analysis indicates extraordinary experiences of Qi Gong practitioners on various levels of bio-psycho-spiritual/energetic functioning. The results indicate how Qi Gong influences the complexity and multidimensionality of individuals' health. In the discussion, the author compares and contrasts his results with other recently performed research.

http://chp.sagepub.com/content/15/2/84.abstract 

Anonymous

Grannydukes, here's something that could help:

"A Review and Update of Red Yeast Rice

Unfortunately, a number of patients cannot tolerate statins, leading to practitioners searching for alternative regimens. One alternative that has been extensively studied is red yeast rice (Monascus purpureus), a dietary supplement. In patients with dyslipidemia, red yeast rice was efficacious and safe for short-term use (<16 weeks). Red yeast rice has also been studied head to head with statins and was shown to be noninferior in reducing cholesterol levels and cardiovascular risk.

http://chp.sagepub.com/content/17/1/33.abstract  

Essa, hoping your thyroid issues are addressed soon, hang in there  

Circles

Grannydukes, high carbohydrate diet will make cholesterol go up as well.  Interestingly, we did the high fat Atkins diet and as we lost weight our cholesterol came into the normal levels.  Do you know the good to bad ratio?  This is very important.  Right now my cholesterol is 240 BUT my good cholesterol to bad is so high that my Doctor said he didn't care what the total number was.  And that is one Doctor who is right.

Hey ya'll, I didn't know about the milk thistle.  I will stop taking it. 

Anonymous

kaara,

thank you for the link for the Forks over Knives.  I believe 'we are what we eat', how could we be anything else!   That's amazing about the woman with mets now running marathons. I know a woman in her mid 40's with stage 4 who is receiving end of life chemo, to keep her going when in fact it's killing her. I wish she would open her mind about these alternatives.  chemo is just ruining her immune system. There are so many better alternatives out there.

essa: thyroid can be hard to control. Have you asked your doc about doing a thyroid antibody test? Don't worry about the weight too much, chemo adds weight and it takes awhile to get it off. You're on a good diet, you said lots of salads?  What do you do for protein?  Do you exercise?  Have you checked out seeing an endocrinologist (internist?) specialists with glands?  Don't get fed up with the weight loss, just keep plugging away. Until the metabolism adjusts the weight may come off slowly but if you keep at it, it WILL come off.

Did I read you right??!! You said skunks!!! You have pet skunks!!?

KINGJR:  hey, I think you're right. The medical world takes a handful of people and says this is what the cholesterol levels should be for everyone. We are all different.  Some people just make more cholesterol. People have died of heart attacks with normal cholesterols. What I hear is a good thing to check is C-reactive protein and homocystine (think I spelled it right).  There is a study going on about particle size in cholesterols which may have a lot more to do with damage from cholesterol than how high the HDL or LDL is. So much is not known, but the drug companies are happy to supply you with a drug to 'fix it'.

Maud:  Great link, Thanks!! It's about time nurses incorporate a little holistic nursing. What a novel idea....(I am being sarcastic) that the medical world has come up with. Treat the whole patient and not just the pain.  I hope that means better food in the hospitals too, like wholesome fresh stuff and not the mush in a can.

Maud, I do QiGong but I have a CD and do it at home. It's really easy. No fancy moves. You can buy it at amazon or wherever for not much. It's called QiGong for Beginners with Garripoli and Daisy Lee, husband & wife team. You don't need a mat. It doesn't take much space at all. Basically you stand in one spot and do the moves which are very slow. Let me know if you want more info about the CD.

Circles, my brother in law is on the Atkins diet and has been for years. His health has steadily gone down, and now he's supposed to go see an onc next week for chronic lung problems. He's been given high doses of antibiotics for a couple of years (so depressed immune system).  The focus on meat has wrecked his health. I'm sure he doesn't eat organic meats. I never liked these diets for that reason, they exclude some foods and od on others. IMO eating all foods that God made is ok.  Certain foods are more available certain times of the year for a reason.  So in the autumn/winter we eat more root veggies and squashes becasue there is more vits/mins stored in a root veggie or squash which is what we need at the time. My mom, bless her, lived to be 89 and believed we should eat what is in season cause it was in season for a reason.  We've certainly gone a long way from those old ideas of eating fresh from our gardens. It's no wonder our generation has so many sicknesses compared to our parents or g.parents who ate organic - there was nothing else. No processed foods, no fast food.

tucker

Anonymous

When the GP finally tested right to find thyroid issue, Feb 2009?? I was dying of CHF and weighted nearly 400 and climbing, ate healthier than anyone we knew, it was unbearable being told by I was that way because of me and no one helping, I believed them but all SE were for thyroid.

Got on Synthroid, worked up to 125 mg, GP wanted me to diet, I said no, let's see where this takes me, I will  continue to do what I have all along.  I did keep track of fats and calories for quite some time and figured with my exercise and lifestyle, with the foods I ate, I should be around 220 with no changes at all.  Sure enough, over the next year I lost almost 80 pounds with no changes.  Then STOPPED.  Often I will actually gain ten pounds then lose it and five more before the next appt.  I don't weight but cansee and feel it happen.  Almost got under the 300 mark when swimming laps all summer but got cancer and had to stop using pool because of smoke all over it from neighbor's outside wood boiler that was killing me.  So I hover now at 301 - 308 and so eexcited to get under and that even makes it easier to do more gardening, exercising, biking, walking, swimming and makes it all happen easier thereafter.  I don't care what I weigh, not so much, but I do care if I am feeling good and healthy.

TuckerTwo, I have not opted for conventional chemical therapy, since I believe in gentle, do not harm, all my life.... I have been using 'alternative' and gentle chemical therapy since I found the mass back in July before I ever went to the GP and BS, and plan to do this one way or another for the rest of my days, now that I understand more.  I haven't felt this good in years, but there were days at beginning when I was too harsh in treatment and nearly had to be off in an ambulance, but now I am gentler and systematic.

Big Pharma hates people like me, I know.  LOL. And now I am going to get off the Synthroid, one less rx in their pockets.  But I am upping the Metformin, so I do use what is available if benefits are there. 

Thanks for asking. 

Diane Essa

kingjr66

Tucker:  my high cholesterol was not cured with the pill.  It remained the same or went higher, hence changing to another pill.  That's when the muscle aches got real bad and the research began.  I have had to stop the fish oil for now because of rads but will start back up in 3 weeks. 

 What is your take on CLA, conjugated linoleic acid?  Heard this was a good weight loss trick.

Circles

tuckertwo, I'm sorry to hear that.  So often people don't move past atkins level one because they lost weight and are afraid to eat more veggies.  We did move up the carb ladder and the more good carbs (fruits and veggies) we added the less meat and fat we ate.  I agree too much meat is not good--especially not organic.  I agree that what's in season is what to eat.  All goes back to nature.  Even now I just can't give up all of my Atkins ways, even with BC.  But I am staying clean and organic as much as possible.  And doing level three and sometimes four.  Been limiting organic meat to once a day though I do have occasional eggs and uncured organic bacon.  Using low carb tortillas but can't get them organic, unfortunatly.  I tried plant based diet and started to gain weight back so it's not for me.  But I can meet it somewhere in the middle. 

barbiecorn

A friend's mother who developed breast cancer is an oncologist nurse....she refused chemo!!!  Just thought that was interesting.  Maybe she knows something....like 1.4% of cancer patients benefit from chemo....1.4% (not enough of a percentage for me) to kill all my good immunity...ugg!!

Anonymous

Barbie,

Welcome to the thread. Hope you pick up some good info here! There are great articles posted that you might like to read.

 Interesting about your friend's mom!  I read that most oncologists would not have chemo, either. Yeah..they know it doesn't work. Like I said, if 'they' say cancer can't be cured, then why subject us to harsh drugs that destroy the immune system (which fights disease incl cancer).

My neighbor just got dx again with bc. She had mastectomy 15 years ago but not bilat, now she says she wishes she had. They didn't know about her2+ then. 

Breast cancer really is an epidemic. And it isn't because more women are getting mammos, because they didn't find my bc with a mammo.

tucker

Anonymous

Hey all,

Here is a good website by Keith Block, MD - a chemo medical oncologist with over 30 years in practice. He supports integrative oncology - yay!  www.lifeovercancer.com

tucker

FireKracker

Hi All

I was off for a day but im really interested in the Red Yeast Rice.I asked my internest and she said sure it works but they dont know how much you should take.Does anyone know the dose?

I am taking the coconut oil and drinking the coconut water daily.

I dont know my exact numbers now but even my good cholesterol is not workin  right.

Thanks for all the info.hugggggs K

Anonymous

Hi grannydukes,

What a good question!  Guess what? The FDA supposedly pulled red yeast rice off the market. Why? Because it was working too good and competing with their nasty statins. Here's a clip from Medscape:

What is the present status of red yeast rice?

Small scale studies using pharmaceutical-grade red rice yeast have continued to demonstrate efficacy and safety. However, in the United States it is no longer legal to sell supplements of red yeast rice that contain more than trace amounts of cholesterol lowering substances. For example, the active ingredients of red rice yeast have been removed from Cholestin marketed in the United States. (Hypocol, another product containing red yeast rice is no longer being sold in the United States.)

• The FDA considers the products containing red yeast rice with high levels of cholesterol lowering substances to be new, unapproved drugs for which marketing violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

What a total joke! As if they had our health the #1 priority.

~~So, essentially the FDA is ticked off because they have competition from a natural, safe compound that has been used for a thousand or more years in China. Go figure.

This is why supplements/herbs that can help or stop cancers are not heard about. The FDA kills the research before it gets off the ground. Grannydukes, if you can't get the red yeast rice from the US, try going online and getting it in Canada. I live here and will be happy to help as well.

Good luck!

tucker

apple

I helped my dad in his final years.. Not only did he have Alzheimer's but he was diabetic and his cholesterol meds made him crazy (he said).. he wouldn't take them.

Anyway, reducing fat, increasing exercise and adding a few foods really helped.

I made him an oatmeal, flax seed  and ground almond breakfast cereal mix.. kept in the freezer (because of the potential racidity of the almonds)

2 apples a day.. my mom peeled these for him

Add olive oil and lots of garlic (its really good)  instead of butter.   - no animal fats.  To that i would definitely add a tblspoon of coconut oil.. I've started taking it.  I have my blood tested like once a month and it has gone down significantly.. of course i don't eat all that much, but i think it is the coconut oil.

metamucil.. (easy for some people to take)

and dancing to DVDs..anything to reduce body weight and get the fats out of your system if they are there.  some very skinny people have high cholesterol  (like my sisters in laws).

Cholesteral certainly didn't kill him.. he had advanced Alzheimer's.   

My husband's siblings all have high cholesterol.. 2 of 9 have already died of heart attacks.  My husband's cholesterol readings are sky high if he doesn't take his lipitor or whatever it is. 

I do not IN ANY WAY suggest that my suggestions should be followed in lieu of a prescriptive course of treatment.. i do feel it may help grannydukes and others and wish you luck..

crazy4carrots

Re cholesterol:  What has worked for me is aged garlic  with lethicin(Kyolic is the brand name).  I take one 300mg capsule every night, and my doc noticed the difference within 3 months after starting it.  My normal levels are high, but the big change was the increasing difference between my HDL and LDL levels.

Re Red Yeast Rice:  the active ingredient IS a statin.I don't want to get into any kind of argument here, but perhaps the FDA took it off the market because of the numbers of people experiencing significant and harmful SEs from the pharma statin drugs?

Anonymous

Hi Tucker: thanks for the tip, found the DVD on Amazon, that easy hein ?

Grannydukes, it really sucks that you can't march down to your health food store and get this natural product:

"Red yeast rice is the product of yeast ( Monascus purpureus ) grown on rice, and is served as a dietary staple in some Asian countries. It contains several compounds collectively known as monacolins, substances known to inhibit cholesterol synthesis. One of these, "monacolin K," is a potent inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, and is also known as mevinolin or lovastatin (Mevacor®, a drug produced by Merck & Co., Inc).

Red yeast rice extract has been sold as a natural cholesterol-lowering agent in over the counter supplements, such as Cholestin TM (Pharmanex, Inc). However, there has been legal and industrial dispute as to whether red yeast rice is a drug or a dietary supplement, involving the manufacturer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the pharmaceutical industry (particularly producers of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor prescription drugs or "statins").

The use of red yeast rice in China was first documented in the Tang Dynasty in 800 A.D. A detailed description of its manufacture is found in the ancient Chinese pharmacopoeia, Ben Cao Gang Mu-Dan Shi Bu Yi, published during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In this text, red yeast rice is proposed to be a mild aid for gastric problems (indigestion, diarrhea), blood circulation, and spleen and stomach health. Red yeast rice in a dried, powdered form is called Zhi Tai. When extracted with alcohol it is called Xue Zhi Kang"

What we have here is big pharma selling patented red yeast rice and now has monopoly on this natural product. 

Our sister Tucker is willing to help you obtain it from Canada where it is available at the health food store with Health Canada's blessing, but I have to warn you Tuck, if it is considered a drug in the USofA, you might get in trouble with customs, if you were to mail it to granny 

Don't despair yet grannydukes, see what Mayo says:

Artichoke extract may reduce total cholesterol and LDL, or "bad," cholesterol 

Barley may reduce total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol 

Beta-sitosterol (found in oral supplements and some margarines, such as Promise Activ) may reduce total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol

Blond psyllium (found in seed husk and products such as Metamucil) may reduce total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol 

Fish oil (found as a liquid oil and in oil-filled capsules) may reduce triglycerides

Flaxseed, ground may reduce triglycerides 

Garlic extract may reduce total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides 

Green tea extract may lower LDL cholesterol 

Oat bran (found in oatmeal and whole oats) may reduce total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol 

Sitostanol (found in oral supplements and some margarines, such as Benecol) may reduce total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol 

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol-lowering-supplements/CL00013

Blessings 

FireKracker

wow all this info.im on overload.I will probably wait about 2 more weeks before i have my cholesterol checked.But in the meanwhile I will talk to my wellness center about it.I cannot eat any kind of nuts or seeds.diverticular disease but i will check out the other things that were posted.Thank you so much.I do exercise and im not overweight in fact im under weight.I dance all around my apt.another problem is my stomach doesnt tolerate veggies.Im a mess and im tryin to do the right thing

the biggest thing is im not takin any of the ALs.either.

Anonymous

Hi ladies,

I can send grannydukes a link to get the product she wants. I believe they will ship anywhere. I get some products from the US and it ships to Canada w/o a problem. Grannydukes, check out the website & see if they ship international.

lindasa and apple - you sound like you're on the right track.  A friend of mine gives his wife coconut oil daily for her Alzheimers...unfortunately he found the info about the oil too late to help her but he said she does seem to improve when she is given the oil. Garlic, dancing - all that is great and won't leave you with side effects. Also, lindasa, no I don't believe that's why the FDA removed the red yeast rice products. They are notorious for taking products off the market that are actually helping people. Have the drug companies stopped prescribing statins? Red yeast rice has been used in China for over a thousand years...it is safe.

Maud - Yup, QiGong is not hard at all. I like the CD because I can stop it when I want to and redo a move or skip one altogether. You just feel good when you're done! It's very calming. If you're hesistant to buy a CD you can probably check out a QiGong CD at your library?

grannydukes - how come you can't eat veggies!!?? Are you serious? Sounds like you maybe need some probiotics and digestive enzymes, or aloe vera?? Is this a recent problem? have you had tests? 

blessings, all,

tucker

FireKracker

Oh Tucker---I would love the link.I know people from America who send to Canada for scripts.dont know how it works but im willing to try....

I take probiotics and Alo Vera..nothing helps all my stomach issues.veggies run throu me real fast.You name it and i have it.whatever pertains to stomach...have it for over 30 yrs.And yes i have tests all the time including colonoscopies regularly.Now i just got irritable bowel disease on top of the acid reflux,colitius that is in remission,diverticular disease and i had an abces on my colon.I have to be real careful  with everything i eat.

thanks again for this wonderful info.good nite all.huggggs K

Anonymous

grannydukes,

This is one company that ships to the US and they carry red yeast rice:

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/vitamins_minerals/index.jsp?_requestid=1107267

There are other companies so let me know if this doesn't work out!

blessings and goodnight!

tucker

Anonymous

grannyduke - one more site:

http://www.nutrawayscanada.com/Red-Yeast-Rice-Plus_p_1782.html

just remember that the dollars are in Canadian $$. It's not that much more

tucker