WDDTY e-News Broadcast - 12 August 2004

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> WDDTY e-News Broadcast - 12 August 2004

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WHAT DOCTORS DON#8217;T TELL YOU - E-NEWS BROADCAST

No. 95 - 12 August 2004

Please feel free to email this broadcast to any

friends you feel would appreciate receiving it.

 

CONTENTS

 

News section:

Statins available in pubs

Tooth whiteners linked to oral cancer

The new 5-in-1 vaccine

Mental health: 15% of Americans have personality

disorder; new health alert for antipsychotic drugs

 

 

Readers' Corner

Your therapies and suggestions for:

Painful ball of foot

Bedwetting

Neuropathy

Omega-3 sources

 

 

Readers' health queries

Twig cure

Peeling skin

Ganglions

Neuralgia

Appetite suppressors

Ear wax

 

 

 

ONE PINT OF LAGER and a packet of statins

 

Statins, the cholesterol-lowering agents, have become

the single most successful drug family in the world

with annual sales of $20 billion. But some heart

specialists are concerned that they may not be the

wonder drug they're cracked up to be - in fact, they

may cause congestive heart failure (CHF).

 

One statin, Baycol, was withdrawn after 31 people died

while on the drug. Other documented side effects

include cancer, nerve damage, memory loss and other

cognitive problems. There's also the strong

possibility that statins may cause diabetes, and that

they deplete the body's natural store of antioxidants.

 

So with that track record, it's not surprising that

the UK drug watchdog last month made them available at

every pharmacy without the need of a prescription.

 

Better yet, one pharmacy group is taking full

advantage of the relaxation of controls by touting

statins around Britain's pubs, where they think the

drinkers and smokers are most likely to be potential

customers.

 

The Co-Op Pharmacy will be offering on-the-spot health

checks for high cholesterol to regulars at pubs and

clubs before offering them some statins. The Co-Op

will set up stalls in clubs, pubs and community

centres in trial areas as a first stage.

 

At least we're keeping a tight rein on vitamins.

 

 

 

GREAT SMILE: Shame about the oral cancer

 

Tooth whiteners may cause oral cancer, new research

suggests. Researchers have found a possible link

between the whiteners and metastatic lymph nodes.

 

The research team, from Georgetown University, said

that the ingredients found in whiteners - including

white carbamide peroxide and hydrogen peroxide -

caused inflammation and mucosal trauma at high

concentrations, even though they are not thought to be

carcinogens. But it was the interactions of the

inflammations that had an unpredictable effect on

tissues, the researchers observed.

 

The researchers stressed that their supposition is

based on just two case studies, and one study that

involved fewer than 20 people.

 

They presented their research at the International

Conference on Head and Neck Cancer in Washington DC.

 

 

 

A GOVERNMENT PUBLIC HEALTH ANNOUNCEMENT: The new

five-in-one vaccine is perfectly safe (oh yes, and

Iraq has weapons of mass destruction)

 

We've landed a live, exclusive interview with a top

official at the UK's Department of Health following

its decision to launch a new five-in-one vaccine next

month. The new vaccine, which combines the old DTP

(diptheria, tetanus and whooping cough) jab with Hib

and polio vaccines, will be given to babies as young

as two months.

 

WDDTY: British parents have been concerned about the

triple MMR vaccine. They fear that the combination

increases the risks of autism, and so they've sought

out centres that offer single vaccines. What's been

your response to these concerns?

 

Gov official: We've really listened to their worries,

and now we're introducing a bumper five-in-one

vaccine.

 

WDDTY: But how can that be safer?

 

Gov official: Well, for one thing we've removed

thiomersal. . .

 

WDDTY: Oh yes, the mercury-based preservative that's

also been linked to autism. So you're finally

accepting that it is dangerous?

 

Gov official: Not at all, it's perfectly safe. What

we're saying is that it's time for parents to start

trusting us. The five-in-one has also been used in

Canada for some time, and they tell us it's safe.

 

WDDTY: But the British public trusted you over the

last mass immunization programme for the MMR booster.

You told them the vaccine was safe, based on evidence

from the USA, but when we saw the same evidence it

said nothing of the sort.

 

Gov official: Well you know how it is with the folk

from the other side of the pond. . .

 

WDDTY: But Canada's on the other side of the pond. .

..

 

Gov official: Only technically. And I'm sure one day

they'll back up their claims with some useful medical

studies. Look, we need to protect our children from

harmful diseases. Vaccines have done a great deal to

achieve this, you know.

 

WDDTY: But so have nutrition and sanitation, and

without side effects. . .

 

Gov official: Ah yes, but where's the money in that?

 

WDDTY: Finally, why have you made the announcement in

the middle of the summer when most parents with small

children are on holiday?

 

Gov official: We work on the basis of need-to-know

and trust. We need to know that they don't get to

hear about it, and so we trust they won't pick up a

newspaper while they're away.

 

 

 

MENTAL TESTING: Momma we're all crazy now

 

Some good and bad news for President Bush's bold New

Freedom Initiative, which will test the mental

wellbeing of every American citizen, including

preschool children. Anyone who fails to meet the

psychiatrist's exacting standards will be invited to

take one of the new antipsychotic or antidepressant

drugs.

 

The good news for George is that he'll be tilling very

fertile soil. A new study has discovered that 31

million Americans - 15 per cent of the adult

population - suffer from at least one type of

personality disorder. Roughly half of these have

obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a sizeable minority

is paranoid and harbours an unusual distrust of

others.

 

The survey, carried out by the American Psychiatric

Association, was based on in-depth interviews with

43,000 adults as a representative sample of the entire

population.

 

Psychiatrists recognize 10 personality disorders,

seven of which were well represented in the survey.

 

The bad news for George is that the US Food and Drug

Administration has just issued a safety alert on the

antipsychotic drugs. They can increase your chances

of developing hyperglycaemia and diabetes, the agency

has discovered.

 

Janssen Pharmaceutica, manufacturer of Risperdal

(risperidone) has been the first to conform, and has

already issued its alert to doctors. In some cases

drug-induced hyperglycaemia has been so extreme that

the patient has died, the alert reads.

 

It will be interesting to see if the new warning stays

the hand of the prescribing doctor, because little

seems to have done so thus far. The use of

antipsychotic drugs by low-income families in

Tennessee nearly doubled between 1996 and 2001. The

growth has mainly been among children diagnosed with

attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), even

though the drugs should not be prescribed to children.

 

Not that the news about antidepressants is very much

better. A recent study confirms the alarming findings

of earlier trials that antidepressants, and especially

the SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors),

can increase the risk of suicide among teenagers.

 

The suicide risk is similar for all the

antidepressants, even for Prozac (fluoxetine), which

earlier studies had not linked to suicidal behaviour.

 

(Sources: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, July 2004;

FDA website; Archives of Pediatric Adolescent

Medicine, August 3, 2004. Journal of the American

Medical Association, 2004; 292: 338-343).

 

* Find out the best way to good mental health from

the WDDTY Guide to Mental Health. It's a sign of

great sanity to buy it! Follow this link for your

copy:

http://www.wddty.co.uk/shop/details.asp?product=19

 

 

 

ALLIANCE FOR NATURAL HEALTH: Wrong website

 

Last time we related the heroic work of the Alliance

for Natural Health and its legal challenge against the

EU directives that will force many natural remedies

from our shelves by next summer. We mentioned the

website in case you wanted to make a donation - but we

got it wrong. It should be:

http://www.alliance-natural-health.org. We apologise

to the ANH and to any readers who were frustrated in

their attempts to reach the site.

 

 

 

WHAT YOU'RE MISSING

 

Every so often we like to drop in on the medical

columns of the UK's national newspapers. This week we

paid a visit to Dr James Le Fanu who writes a weekly

spot in the Daily Telegraph. This week he is

reminding readers of the importance of eyebrows.

Without them, sweat would get in our eyes. Keep up

the good work, James.

 

 

 

 

 

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