Important-Natural Biomolecules: Avoid Inherent Pharmaceutical Drug Toxicity

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Long Article but important to read.

 

 

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/03/03/natural_biomolecules_avoid_inher\

ent_pharmaceutical_drug_toxicity.htm

 

 

March 03, 2006

 

 

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:

 

- - -

 

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fruits rich in vitamin C but the word " cure " has been replaced by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 reacti ons 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.

 

 

 

posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Friday March 3 2006

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