When the Cure is Worse Than the Disease

The number of prescriptions taken per capita in the United States has grown exponentially in the past 75 years. In 1929, the average American received less than two prescriptions per year. By 2007, the average annual prescription rate per capita in the United States was:

• 4 prescriptions per child (age 0-18)
• Over 11 prescriptions per adult (age 19-64)
• Nearly 29 prescriptions per senior, aged 65 and over!

 
Yet, adverse drug reactions — from “properly” prescribed drugs — are actually the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Only heart disease, cancer, and stroke kill more Americans than drugs prescribed by medical doctors.

Reactions to prescription drugs kill more than twice as many Americans as HIV/AIDS or suicide. Fewer die from accidents or diabetes than adverse drug reactions. And this does NOT include the negative drug reactions in outpatients, cases of malpractice, or instances where the drugs were not taken as directed.

Yet, whenever you feel sick, you probably still think that you need to go to your doctor and get some medicine to make you better. Well, this mindset is deeply engrained in us from the time we’re infants and taken to the doctor for a minor cold, or given a pill to bring down a fever (which is actually there to help you get better) or watch a television commercial or read a magazine (at least in the US).

We’re taught that we need doctors and drugs to heal our bodies, when in reality your body can, and will, heal itself if you give it the right tools (like good food, exercise and a positive outlook).

If you take only one thing from this article, make it this point: Drugs often cause more problems than the disease you’re trying to treat.

And the more you attempt to “cure” one problem after another with multiple drugs, the farther down the rabbit hole you’ll go.

The Countless Ways Prescription Drugs Assault Your Body

The article has an eye-opening list of what can happen if you rely on drugs to treat disease:

• Nearly all anti-diabetic drugs cause a person to become overweight and totally dependent upon insulin.
• Asthma drugs sensitize your body to triggers that worsen this condition.
• There is no evidence that cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce mortality rates.
• All cancer chemotherapy drugs result in tumor resistance.
• None of the many drugs prescribed to control high blood pressure address the cause of hypertension.
• Antacid “heartburn” drugs induce greater problems when withdrawing from them, locking patients into lifetime use.
• Of the many drugs used to treat age-related senility, none stop the progression of mental decline and some hasten it.
• To an increasing degree, man-made antibiotics produce germ-resistance and mortality rates are rising from infections once conquered by these drugs.

 
Are the drug companies creating these drugs with the sole purpose of keeping you sicker, and reaching for more of their dangerous elixirs? I certainly hope not, but I cannot rule out the thought completely. Their track-record is too spot-on: if you take prescription drugs, you’ll almost always wind up with side effects, many of which are worse than the original disease. Here are some other major offenders to add to the list:

• Cholesterol-lowering drugs actually CAUSE heart disease
• Migraine drugs cause severe rebound headaches
• Asthma inhalers may lead to heart attack and stroke
• Arthritis drugs can cause fatal fungal infections and cancer

 
Sadly, this list could go on and on, but one of the most glaring examples was Vioxx, the anti-inflammatory drug prescribed to millions of people that later was revealed to double the risk of heart attack. Well, 60,000 people were killed before that drug was pulled from the market, and do not think for one minute that there aren’t other similarly harmful drugs being handed out like candy (expensive candy) right now.

Breaking Free From the Prescription Drug Paradigm

I want everyone reading this to remember that, ultimately, it’s your body, and your decision what to put in it. If your doctor suggests you take a drug, do some research before you take it, because once you do, it could be too late.

Make sure you are aware of the potential side effects of the drug, read the package insert, and remember that even if it lists a side effect as rare, it can still happen to you.

And remember that many, many drugs are vastly over-prescribed and unnecessary. So make sure that you make drugs a last option, not a first choice. For example, all of the following conditions can be treated or prevented with LIFESTYLE CHANGES, yet if you go to a typical doctor, you will likely be prescribed a potentially dangerous drug instead:

• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Insomnia
• Depression 

 
I realize that it takes a massive shift in thinking to realize that your body can heal itself, and that often drugs only hinder the process. But I believe that you, and society as a whole, are ready for it.