From the desk of Dr Sam Shohet
BDS MGDS RCS(Eng) LiAc MBAcC ICAK
WHO CARES IF DRUGS DON'T WORK SO LONG AS THEY MAKE A LOT OF MONEY!
The “Truth”
Mr Allen Roses, vice chairman of GlaxoSmithKline, the largest pharmaceutical company in the UK and one of the largest in the world, was quoted as saying that 90% of drugs only work in 30-50% of people and that at present all pharmaceutical companies adopt a “one-drug-fits-all” policy.
He was quoting research published 3 years ago which found that different drugs had vastly different success rates in treating patients.
Targeting Genes
With the latest rush to map the genes responsible for anything from a bunion to heart disease and to create medicines tailored to deal with these genes, Cliff Prior, chief executive of mental health charity Rethink, said that: “The idea of pharmacogenetics (gene targeted drugs), that you might have a clue as to which (drug) would work before prescribing it, is excellent”. “But it is still years away from reality. Meanwhile doctors must listen to people taking medicine, and be ready to try a different one if it’s not working or if the side effects are bad”.
Foods are Drugs!
In 2002, the EU Food Supplements Directive published its recommendations to designate vitamins, minerals and herbs, collectively known as nutritionals since they all come from nutrition or food or, as in the case of herbs are actually foods, as drugs and as such with recommendations that hey should be accorded the same rigorous testing procedures, dose limitations and industry standards and approvals.
Foods on Prescription
Recently and after a great deal of research and consultation, these dose limits for vitamins and minerals were revealed and are due to take effect in 2009. Remember that the arbiters of our health are appointed to protect us from what is deemed harmful and detrimental to our health and wellbeing and for their care and vigilance we should be eternally grateful.
However, when the maximum limit of carotenoids, a form of vitamin A present in many foods including carrots, was set at the equivalent of 2 carrots, alarm bells should sound as to the real reason for these measures and it certainly cannot have anything to do with health.
Let’s Get Real
We all know that the mix of our genes, our diet, our lifestyle, our environment as well as our emotions, dictates the outcome of our health. We also know that in order for our body to work efficiently or at all, we need a set of enzymes which are responsible for all the different chemical processes for us to live and to thrive. And in order for these very enzymes to work, we need vitamins and minerals which we should get from our food. Unfortunately, since our food no longer has sufficient quantities of the necessary vitamins and minerals, and our enzymes can no longer work efficiently we end up with the signs and symptoms of disease.
Where’s the Profit in Prescribing Food?
So, surely, logic dictates that by supplying the deficient tools, the vitamins and minerals, that enzymes require to work properly we should be able to solve this situation naturally and without resorting to drugs. But then where is the profit in that? How much money can one charge for a vitamin pill, a pound of broccoli, or a few leaves of spinach? And since when did logic ever come in when there are financial considerations to be made? What does it matter that drugs and medicines do not work and that they create horrendous and at times deadly side effects; just consider the number of jobs, financial security and wealth they provide.
The Fear Factor
You would think that with the knowledge we now have about how the body functions, we should be investing more time and research into finding natural ways to combat disease and suffering instead of ways to destroy it, especially that we know the other way does not work. But then fear in its many guises is a very powerful force that drives the most intelligent and informed of people to make irrational and illogical decisions. Fear of losing face or respect, fear of admitting that perhaps medicine is money driven, that perhaps double blind clinical trials, the gold standard of scientific testing cannot be used to test alternative and natural medicine since vitamins, minerals and herbs work together not singly, affecting the whole body, not an illness, a condition, a sign or a symptom. They also require a different level of understanding outside of the five senses – touch, sight, sound, taste and smell - of conventional medicine. Above all though, doctors, as all other humans, fear having to change long held beliefs regardless of how unsatisfactory and unpleasant the present ones are.
The Parable of the Frog and the Scorpion
This reminds me of the parable of the frog and the scorpion:
A scorpion waits at the side of a pond when it sees a frog about to cross to the other side. It asks the frog for a lift but the frog refuses as it is afraid that it would be stung by the scorpion. But the scorpion finally persuades the frog that it is unlikely to do that since it would spell certain death for both of them. Half way across, the scorpion delivers a deadly sting and as they are both dying, the frog asks the scorpion why it did such a stupid thing, and the scorpion replies:
“I could not help it, it is in my nature”.
Why Not Use Both?
Well let us hope that doctors wake up one day very soon and realise that this is not a case of better or worse, of either or but a case of there being a need for both conventional and alternative medicine.
In saving life or limb conventional medicine is second to none, and to return a sick body to good health alternative medicine has a great history and tradition stretching back thousands of years.
With warm regards,
Sam Shohet