. . . there is almost always a better natural alternative to toxic medications Prescription drugs are the 3rd leading cause of death in the US. Properly prescribed prescription drugs kill an estimated 300,000-400,000 yearly. How many deaths have vitamins caused? None! Researchers at the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service were disturbed to find that the US government's American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) attributed 11 deaths to vitamins in the 27 years for which they have data. Now that's less than one death every two years from vitamins compared to hundreds of thousands of deaths from drugs yearly, but the researchers were skeptical that there was even one death from vitamins, so they probed a little deeper. The AAPCC uses a 4-point rating scale in attributing "Relative Contribution to Fatality:" (1) undoubtedly responsible, (2) probably responsible, (3) contributory, and (4) probably not responsible. When the researchers delved into the records, they found one of…

. . . symptoms considered signs of aging may be the effects of prescription drugs Appetite loss, muscle pain and weakness, increased risk of falling and fractures, sedation, depression, poor memory and general cognitive decline, hallucinations, confusion, lethargy and fatigue, constipation, orthostatic hypotension, and renal failure are some of the symptoms commonly attributed to aging. But they may instead be the effects of prescription drugs. A guest blog for Scientific American by journalist Laura Newman was prompted by the death of her 92-year-old mother from statin side effects. At 5'1" and 105 pounds, Newman's mother had been prescribed 80 mg/day of the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin -- a dose that's been criticized as too high for anyone. When she developed muscle weakness (later diagnosed as life-threatening rhabdomyolysis), her physician attributed it to aging and considered it no cause for concern. Her final diagnoses were rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure, both…

A recent article in the New York Times featured a young woman who had been prescribed 10 different psychiatric drugs by the time she graduated from high school. She’s one of the millions of U.S. children who are now taking one or more drugs to manage an array of mental disorders. In 4th grade, Renae Smith found herself struggling in school and was given Focalin, a prescription drug for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Still on her ADHD meds, she reported severe depression and anxiety as a freshman in high school and was prescribed the antidepressant Prozac. When the effects of Prozac dissipated over time, she was given an additional antidepressant, Effexor. Subsequent drugs were prescribed to stabilize mood, and more to dull the side effects of existing prescriptions. By the time she graduated from high school, she was taking 5 different mood-altering drugs and had been prescribed ten different psychiatric drugs in her young life The Centers for Disease Control an…