Archive for the ‘Drug Alerts’ Category

17.08.10

Girls developing breasts as early as age 7

young girls on the beachSome American girls are developing breasts as young as age seven, researchers have found. Although there’s no conclusive evidence as to what is causing girls to develop early signs of puberty, environmental exposure to estrogens and chemicals that mimic estrogen are among the key factors suspected. The early onset of puberty may lead to obesity, hormone imbalances and cancer.

A new study, published in the August 9, 2010, online issue of the journal Pediatrics, looked at more than 1,200 girls age six to eight examined between 2004 and 2006, in New York, Ohio and California. It compared the age when the girls showed early signs of puberty with the results of a similar study from 13 years ago.

Over that time period, the age at which girls began showing early signs of puberty decreased significantly among all races:

Among 7 year-olds, about 10.4% of white girls, 23.4% of black girls and almost 15% Hispanic girls had started developing breasts.

Among eight-year-olds, 18.3%of white girls, nearly 43% of black girls and just under 31% of Hispanic girls showed evidence of breast development.

The rate has about doubled since 1977, when 5.0% of 7 year-old white girls showed signs of breast develoopment and 15.4% of black girls. No comparison data was available for Hispanic girls.

“The proportion of girls who had breast development at ages seven and eight years, particularly among white girls, is greater than that reported from studies of girls who were born 10 to 30 years earlier,” the study’s authors concluded.

Lead author Dr. Frank Biro of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and his co-authors explained that the stage of development in which a girl’s breasts begin to “bud” is considered the onset of puberty, not her first menstrual cycle.

The average age of the first period has declined as well, says Nickel. “Girls used to get their first menstrual period at 14 or 15,” she says, but now the average is closer to 12.

Previous research on puberty, specifically the menstrual cycle, has indicated that girls who start menstruating at age 11 or younger have an increased life-long risk of breast cancer.

Suspected Cause: Environmental Exposure to Estrogens

The researchers have no conclusive evidence about what could be causing girls to develop teenage bodies earlier. They postulated that obesity could be a factor since girls who developed breasts early tended to have a higher body-mass index than those who didn’t.

New research shows that chemicals in plastics may lead to obesity, early puberty, endocrine disruption and cancer.

Chemicals in Plastics mimic Estrogen

Dr. Frank Biro of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital said no matter where they are found, pollutants that mimic the female hormone estrogen might also be contributing to early puberty. Whether these pollutants are found in the food that they’ve eaten, products used for personal care, or even products used at their homes they are all contributing factors.

Estrogenic Compounds in Plastics Linked to Cancer

Chemicals in the environment – most notably bisphenol-A (BPA), and Polythylene Terephthalate (PETE), are found in many plastic bottles widely used for water, sodas, fruit juices, sports drinks, ketchup, mayonnaise, peanut butter, vinegar and just about every other food you can think of.

These estrogenic chemicals leach into the bottles’ contents and they have now been linked to the disruption of both male and female hormones and may be a significant reason for the early onset of puberty and the dramatic increase in PMS, uterine fibroids, endometriosis and breast and ovarian cancer.

Researchers at the University of Missouri found that one bottled water brand spurred a 78% increase in the growth of the breast cancer cells compared to the control sample, with 1,200 initial breast cancer cells multiplying to 32,000 in 4 days, versus only 18,000 for the control sample.

This study indicates that chemical contaminants in the bottled water sample stimulated accelerated division of cancer cells. When estrogen-blocking chemicals were added, the effect was inhibited, showing that the cancer-spurring chemicals mimic estrogen, a hormone linked to breast cancer.

While the specific chemical(s) responsible for this cancer cell proliferation were not identified in this pilot study, ingestion of endocrine-disrupting and cancer-promoting chemicals from plastics is considered to be a potentially important health concern (Naidenko O, Leiba N, Sharp R, Houlihan J. 2008. Bottled water quality investigation. Ref.: http://www.ewg.org/reports/bottledwater).

A growing body of research links PETE from plastics with a variety of adverse outcomes, including increased body fat and insulin resistance (Grün and Blumberg 2009), decreased anogenital distance in male infants (Swan et al. 2005), decreased levels of sex hormones (Pan et al. 2006), and other consequences for the human reproductive system, both for females and males (reviewed by Hauser and Calafat 2005). Infants and children may be especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of PETE (Sathyanarayana 2008).

All of this indicates that early onset of puberty and childhood obesity may be the result of environmental exposure to plastics during early childhood or from prenatal exposure during pregnancy.

Estrogens also found in Dairy products and Beef

The synthetic drug 17-beta-Estradiol is fed to beef cows in the U.S. to make them put on more weight so they can get them to market sooner and sell them for more money.

Estradiol is also concentrated in milk due to modern dairy farming techniques designed to boost milk production, including feeding cows hormones and milking pregnant cows until very late in their pregnancy.

Unfortunately, the trade-off we suffer is a higher rate of Estrogen induced disease, including cancer, which is not recognized or at least not admitted by the Dairy and Beef Industry.

Dr. Hansen’s Rx

To protect yourself and your family here’s what Dr. Hansen recommends:

1. Avoid environmental estrogen exposure wherever possible.

Eliminate or reduce exposure to plastics, especially PETE (Recyclable #1) and BP-A (Recyclable # 7).

Make your own at home or look for products that come in glass jars, e.g. Apple Juice, Spaghetti Sauce, Water, etc.

If you use bottled water, make sure not to store your bottles in your hot garage. Heating plastic bottles will greatly increase the amount of estrogenic chemicals that leach into the water or soda, etc.

Eat beef and dairy sparingly and eat only organic beef and dairy products (hormone and antibiotic free) when you do eat them.

2. Eat Brassica family vegetables (broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower) often. They contain Indole-3-carbinol, which activates rapid clearing of estrogens out of the body.

3. Test your hormones, especially if you have any symptoms of Endocrine Disruption, including PMS, Irregular Menstrual Cycles, Heavy Periods, Endometriosis, Uterine Fibroids, Hot Flashes, Osteopenia, Osteoporosis, etc.

4. Take natural bio-identical progesterone to counteract the harmful effects of the environmental exposure to estrogens. Progesterone activates Tumor Suppressor Protein. Breast cancer cells do not multiply when women have a sufficient supply of progesterone. Progesterone likewise also prevents cancer of the ovaries and uterus as well as the lungs.

To learn more about Natural Bio-Identical Progesterone, click here.

To learn more about how PETE plastics may affect your health, click here.

08.06.10

WARNING: Don’t Take Fosamax or Boniva

As cute as Sally Fields is, she is not a doctor, she’s just an actress who is getting paid to advertise a drug. Now it appears that her radio and TV ads for Boniva, which is similar to Fosamax, may need to add a new WARNING: “Tell your doctor if your femur snaps in half while you’re just standing in the kitchen doing nothing.”

This of course would have to be added to the already worrisome list of side-effects that are recited so fast that you can’t really comprehend them anyway.

The other previously known side-effects include the following: “Don’t take Boniva if you have low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or you can’t sit or stand for at least one hour.” (because it could wear a hole in your stomach, or cause cancer of your esophagus).

“Stop taking Boniva and tell your doctor if you have difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain, or severe or continuing heartburn, as these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems.” (like an ulcer or Osteonecrosis of the Jaw, which is the disintegration of bone in your jaw)

“If severe bone, joint and/or muscle pain develops tell your doctor.” (this could be a sign that the drug you’ve been taking for five years or more has actually stopped your bones from remodeling as they should every year and now you’ve got new bone on top of the old brittle bone that has become so heavy that it’s now about to snap in two and perhaps cause more severe problems sooner than would have resulted had you never taken the drug at all)

Watch the Boniva ad with Sally Field on the player below. Remember the age old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

The truth is that diet and exercise along with balancing your hormones is the only way to truly prevent and reverse Osteoporosis.

To learn more about the best way to prevent, test and treat Osteoporosis naturally, click here.

07.06.10

Osteoporosis Drugs Causing Bone Breaks: Patients Speaking Up

Why has the FDA moved so slowly on this issue. Bisphosphonates as a class of drugs should be taken off of the market immediately.

Fosamax and femur fractures : FDA is investigating possible links

By Mary Rice Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Original Source: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2010/03/09/fosamax-and-femur-fractures-fda-investigating/

The femur is one of the strongest bones in the body. Image from Flickr.

A connection between Fosamax and femur fractures is currently under investigation by the FDA. Fosamax is a drug intended to treat bone weakness, though some doctors have been noticing a possible connection to Fosamax and fractured bones. The Medicine and Healthcare Regulatory Agency out of the UK published information in March of 2009 about the “atypical stress fractures” in patients taking Bisphosphonates such as Fosamax.

What is Fosamax?

Fosamax is a drug intended to treat osteoporosis – the weakening of bones that happens due to age or lack of certain nutrients. These drugs work kind of like short term installment loans – they shut down the cells that cannibalize bone tissue, which strengthens the bone. It’s a member of the class of drugs called “bisphosphonates.”

How are Fosamax and femur fractures connected?

However, just like an installment loan, this bone has to eventually be paid back to the body. Dr. Robert Bunning, a rheumatologist at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington DC theorizes that extended use of these drugs (over 5 years) lead to “frozen bone” syndrome, where the bones are so dense they become very brittle.

What is the FDA doing about the connection between Fosamax and femur fractures?

The FDA has stated that it is “aware of and investigating” the connection between taking Fosamax and femur fractures. It has not yet presented any study results or required a warning to patients and doctors. In the past, though, the FDA has put out safety reviews of the bisphosphonate drug class that include warnings about severe bone and joint pain that can be caused by these drugs.

What if I take Fosamax?

If you currently take Fosamax or any other bisphosphonate drug, you should first and foremost talk to your doctor. Osteoporosis, the condition Fosamax is intended to treat, can be very dangerous if left untreated. The FDA and the company that makes Fosamax have yet to come out with any definitive studies on connections between Fosamax and femur fractures, so you should make a decision based your opinion and that of your doctor.

Comments

Patricia O’Dea says: April 24, 2010 at 6:05 am

Hello–
I have been on Fosamax for probably 6 or 7 years. I have osteoporosis and R.A. I am on methotrexate and a low dose of prednisone for my R.A. After hearing the report on fractures due to Fosamax, I went to my general doctor who said to stop taking it. I also consulted my rheumatologist, who said I should stay on it due to my osteoporosis. Whom am I to believe?? I am totally confused and have been off of it for a month, but I am torn in my decision.

I fell a year ago and fractured both bones in my arm, requiring two surgeries to put in a new radial head and a plate to secure the bones. So, I know I am susceptible to fractures. I am so careful now, walking very trepidly, wanting to avoid any more mishaps. I hope someone finally clarifies this issue!

Jeffrey Dach MD says: March 23, 2010 at 3:53 pm

The 2010 AAOS meeting which presented studies from the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and Columbia University Medical Center which showed that Fosamax disturbs bone formation, and implicated Fosamax in spontaneous mid-femur fractures (without trauma).

Clarita Odvina MD reported nine cases of spontaneous femur fracture on Fosamax. Dr. Goh, a doctor in Singapore, identified nine more cases in his 2007 report of subtrochanteric femur fractures with minimal trauma in women on long term Fosamax. Joseph M Lane MD reported 15 cases of spontaneous femur fracture in women on Fosamax with a unique radiographic pattern.

Perhaps we should re-evaluate a drug that causes spontaneous mid femur fractures, jaw necrosis, and diffuse bone and joint pain. You don’t need a double blind placebo controlled study to show a drug disturbs bone physiology. The bone histology slides don’t lie.

jeffrey dach md

Linda Blackburn says: March 23, 2010 at 5:37 am

My 95 yr old Mother just broke her femur just below the hip. She has been on Fosamax for years. She had to go through a very difficult surgery & probably endless rehab. They put a long rod & screws & is living on strong pain mecication. She had a light fall on the carpet which should not have caused such a break. A week prior to this fall, she had been at her sewing machine & had made 24 hot pads for gifts. Now all she can do is lay in a bed & sometimes sit up to eat.

Jeffrey Dach MD says: March 22, 2010 at 5:21 pm

Dear Dr Lynch,

Perhaps you should also be calling insanely irresponsible the 2010 AAOS meeting which presented studies from the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and Columbia University Medical Center which showed that Fosamax disturbs bone formation, and implicated Fosamax in spontaneous mid-femur fractures (without trauma).

Perhaps you should also be calling reckless, biased and irresponsible Clarita Odvina MD who reported nine cases of spontaneous femur fracture on Fosamax. Or Dr. Goh, a doctor in Singapore, who identified nine more cases in his 2007 report of subtrochanteric femur fractures with minimal trauma in women on long term Fosamax. Or Joseph M Lane MD who reported 15 cases of spontaneous femur fracture in women on Fosamax with a unique radiographic pattern.

Rather, I would say it is insanely irresponsilbe to give women a drug that causes spontaneous mid femur fractures, jaw necrosis, and diffuse bone and joint pain.

You don’t need a double blind placebo controlled study to show a drug disturbs bone physiology. The histology slides don’t lie.

Conflict of interest? That is a laugh. Drug companies clean up on Fosamax,a 3 billion dollar industry. Now that kind of money can generate a real conflict of interest, documented by Aubrey Blumsohn MD who blew the whistle on the Actonel studies.

jeffrey dach md

Bonnie Hay says: March 22, 2010 at 7:59 am

3/22/2010 Real life incidents do count! 10 years ago (I was 48) I had a spontaneous hip fracture (while being treated for what doctors thought was a back problem). After surgery I was put on Fosamax and have been on it for the past 10 years. 3 years ago I was walking out to my car and again experienced a spontaneous mid thigh displaced femur fracture. I had been experiencing months of pain in my hip and thigh and the doctors felt the hardwear from my previous surgery needed to come out. Unfortunately before that could happen my femur broke (8 hours in surgery). I continue to have a great deal of pain on my right side along with the fear of this happening again – I will be very interested in the final findings.

Jorge Anglin says: March 18, 2010 at 6:36 pm

I am truly appalled it is absurd that nothing has been done about this drug that has been allegedly linked to causing femur fractures. My mother just had an operation on her hip and she sustained an femur fracture and she was taking fosamx prior to the surgery had I had known she would possibly had been at risk of having her femur fractured the surgery would have most likely not have taken place. Please send me more information regarding this potentially dangerous medication

Terri Lewis says: March 12, 2010 at 11:43 am

I am going through the same hell. My femur broke spontaneously while standing on a sidewalk in Spain on June 6, 2008. It was a complete shearing of the leg. I am still on a cane and still in therapy nearly two years later. I was on Fosamax for 11 years prior to the break–and just as a preventive measure since my bone densities were low normal. Now FDA has investigated and has concluded that there is no firm evidence supporting the association between bisphosphomates and femur fractures. I don’t believe it!!

Jeffrey Dach MD says: March 11, 2010 at 4:21 am

Fosamax, A Drug in Litigation, Under FDA Review

The Fosamax (Alendronate) study done for FDA approval failed to show any benefit for the majority of the worried well, which is the osteopenia group defined as T score greater than -2.5. This Osteopenia Group actually had higher fracture rates than placebo. This data was data published by Cummings in JAMA in 1998 Fracture Intervention Trial.

Bisphosphonate drugs like Fosamax have severe adverse side effects of jaw necrosis (OJN), spontaneous mid-femur fracture, heart rhythm disturbances, and severe bone and joint pain.

The spontaneous mid femur fractures are especially troubling, since these are spontaneous fractures without any trauma. Subtrochanteric fractures are pathological fractures, indicating the underlying bone matrix is abnormal. This anormal weakening and brittleness is directly caused by the bisphosphonate drug.

Bottom Line: These are BAD drugs that actually make the bones weaker not stronger, and they should be banned by the FDA . However, knowing the FDA which is in the pocket of the drug companies, no action will be taken until many more women victims suffer from these drugs, and many more cases work their way through drug litigation court..

S.Lynch MD says: March 16, 2010 at 8:45 pm

Dear Dr. Dach:

What an INSANELY IRRESPONSIBLE thing for you to say. You have NO SCIENCE to back up such a statement. The reality is that bisphosphonates are WELL PROVEN with double blinded, randomly controlled studies to REDUCE FRACTURES in those at the most risk. If there appears to be a link here, then it should be thoroughly investigated with SCIENCE, as opposed to blanket statements by “doctors” with CLEAR CONFLICT OF INTEREST. Maybe there is a role for a drug holiday, maybe there are predisposing factors in these particular individuals such as drug-drug interactions. To impugn an entire class of medications with undeniable benefit to humanity: YOU ARE RECKLESS, BIASED, AND IRRESPONSIBLE. Your statement carries weight purely because of your “Dr” in front of your name. For god’s sake, your a freaking radiologist who went to a bio-identical hormone seminar, and suddenly became an “expert”: god bless america. You speak of the financial motives: oh yes, you clearly are above such influences. You are a hippocrate.

A few case reports does not make a study. If there appears to be a link, then it should be, and is being, investigated. However the fact remains that bisphosphonates are beneficial to humanity, especially those with osteoporosis and thus at tremendously high risk of both vertebral compression fractures and femur neck (hip) fractures.

Your statement is analogous to me saying bioidentical hormones such as estradiol causes fatal blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, and breast cancers and should be banned by the FDA. Though the side effects are real, they are relatively rare and the bad does not necessarily outweigh the good.

S.Lynch MD

PS: “Bio-identical” Estradiol is $4 per mth at Walmart: ask your “tainted” main-stream doctor for a prescription today and skip your trip to the “hollywood radiologist bio-identical specialist”.

Jeffrey Dach MD says: March 22, 2010 at 5:20 pm

Dear Dr Lynch,

Perhaps you should also be calling insanely irresponsible the 2010 AAOS meeting which presented studies from the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and Columbia University Medical Center which showed that Fosamax disturbs bone formation, and implicated Fosamax in spontaneous mid-femur fractures.

Perhaps you should also be calling reckless, biased and irresponsible Clarita Odvina MD who reported nine cases of spontaneous femur fracture on Fosamax. Or Dr. Goh, a doctor in Singapore, who identified nine more cases in his 2007 report of subtrochanteric femur fractures with minimal trauma in women on long term Fosamax. Or Joseph M Lane MD who reported 15 cases of spontaneous femur fracture in women on Fosamax with a unique radiographic pattern.

Rather, I would say it is insanely irresponsible for any caring physician to give a drug that causes spontaneous mid femur fractures, jaw necrosis, and diffuse bone and joint pain.

You don’t need a double blind placebo controlled study to show a drug disturbs bone physiology. The histology slides don’t lie.

Conflict of interest? That is a laugh. Drug companies clean up on Fosamax,a 3 billion dollar industry. Now that kind of money can generate a real conflict of interest, documented by Aubrey Blumsohn MD who blew the whistle on the Actonel studies.

jeffrey dach md

steve livermore says: March 10, 2010 at 12:47 pm

My wife just went through this issue. Broken right femur just below the hib joint. The Hell she went through can not be described. Surgery…4 hours. Now therapy/rehab. She has stopped the fosamax after hearing the report given by Diane Sawyer and has an appointment with her regular doctor late this week. Being a vetern and in that system, she talked with her Vetern Doctor and that doctor knew nothing about the report. While on the phone she read the article on the computer and admitted that she, as a doctor, knew nothing of any issues until reading this. Log us in as one of many. We are praying for the ladies who will yet experience what my wife just went through.

Peter Stone says: March 9, 2010 at 3:40 pm

How’s this for a headline: FDA Fingers Fosamax For Femur Fractures!

Reply Carmen Berger says: April 26, 2010 at 9:04 am

I am replying for my wife – She has been taking fosomax for approx 7 years until
two years ago she broke her left femur by bending over during some work in
the home. Following recovery she discontinued taking the medication. The doctor
did not advise to the contrary. I would appreciate info on further developments in
this very important in this matter. Thanks.

17.04.10

Stop Allergies Fast without Drugs

As many as 50 million Americans have allergies, including 36 million who suffer from seasonal allergies and at least 14 million who have food allergies.

Seasonal Allergies, also known as hay fever, can make you miserable. Millions of Americans hate the springtime because for them it means constant sneezing, congestion, watery, itchy eyes, runny nose, mental dullness, poor concentration, headaches and fatigue.

Most Americans reach for a prescription drug or OTC anti-histamine to treat their allergies, however, these drugs often cause significant adverse effects and unwanted symptoms that can be worse than the allergies.

What does Dr. Hansen Recommend for Seasonal Allergies?

Dr. Hansen says, “If you want to stop allergic symptoms fast without resorting to taking drugs, you can take the formula that I prescribe to my patients called Flavinox™. It contains a combination of Leucoselect® grape seed extract (equivalent to 4 lbs of seeded grapes), green tea extract, quercitin from onion skins and Vitamin C.

Leucoselect® grape seed extract is sold as a prescription drug in France and Germany, but is available without a prescription in Flavinox™.

I have seen many patients who come to my office in the spring carrying a box of Kleenex and their Claritin or Zyrtec who are still sneezing incessantly, and unable to see out of their watery red eyes and unable to think due to hay fever congestion.

Some are skeptical to learn that their allergies are due to a deficiency of bioflavonoids, but they are quickly convinced when their hay fever symptoms clear up within 15 minutes after taking their first dose of Flavinox™.

For more information and the recommended dose for Flavinox™, the natural alternative to Allegra, Claritin and Zyrtec®, click here.

What Causes Seasonal Hayfever Allergies?

People who have allergies have an immune system that is over reacting to a normally harmless substance such as pollen, mold, animal dander, etc. These substances are called allergens.

Mast Cells are the cells of the immune system that release histamine and other allergic chemicals that cause allergic symptoms, including a runny nose, sneezing, watery, itchy eyes, itchy throat and swelling of the mucous membranes when triggered by antigens.

All of these symptoms are produced by the body to attempt to remove the allergen from the body. When you get into a dust storm or walk through a field of weeds with lots of pollen blowing in your eyes, nose and lungs, you want your immune system to react to wash the pollen out of your eyes, blow it out of your nose, or cough it out of your lungs. However, you certainly don’t want your Mast Cells over reacting to every single pollen or every food.

When the Mast Cells are healthy they have a thick membrane around them like a thick peel on an orange. However, when the Mast Cells are deficient in bioflavonoids their membranes are very thin. And just like a thin peeled orange that breaks open too easily and squirts its juice all over, a Mast Cell that is lacking bioflavonoids is so thin that it breaks open much too easily and releases its histamine and other allergic chemicals far too easily.

That is why two people who go outside together can have such opposite reactions to inhaling the same air in the Spring. Standing side-by-side, one will take a deep breath and proclaim how much he loves the smell of citrus blossoms in the Spring, while the other stands there sneezing, and wiping her watery itchy eyes, cursing the smell and the wind.

Natural Bioflavonoid Stops Allergy Symptoms Fast!

New research indicates that allergies are caused by a deficiency of specific bioflavonoids known as Proanthocyanidins that are found in fruits and vegetables such as grapes, cranberries, plums, blueberries, raspberries, apples, cherries, pomegranates, tomato skins, green tea and onions. Proanthocyanidins stabilize over reactive Mast Cells and thereby prevent histamine from being released too easily.

When you eat foods rich in Proanthocyanidin bioflavonoids they actually get incorporated directly into cell membranes throughout the body, including Mast Cells. When the Mast Cells are healthy they have a thick membrane around them like a thick peel on an orange. However, when the Mast Cells are deficient in bioflavonoids their membranes are very thin. And just like a thin peeled orange that breaks open too easily and squirts its juice all over, a Mast Cell that is deficient in bioflavonoids is so thin that it breaks open much too easily and releases its histamine and other allergic chemicals far too easily.

When you have enough of these bioflavonoids in your cell membranes the Mast Cells don’t over react. you don’t need a drug to block the histamine. Here is a list of great tasting foods that contain

Table 1. Proanthocyanidin Content of Selected Foods (Units = mg per 100 grams)

Food Proanthocyanidin
Grape seeds, raw 373 mg
Chocolate, dark 198 mg
Plums, red with peel, raw 72 mg
Grapes, green, raw 53 mg
Cranberries, raw 52 mg
Plums, black, with peel, raw 47 mg
Apple, Red Delicious, with peel, raw 33 mg
Raspberries, raw 17 mg
Apple, Golden, with peel, raw 17 mg
Strawberries, raw 14 mg
Blueberries, raw 13 mg
Tea, brewed 13 mg
Cherries, raw 10 mg
Blackberries, raw 10 mg
Wine, sherry 9 mg
Grape juice, purple, bottled, unsweetened 7 mg
Cranberry juice, bottled 6 mg
Pomegranates, raw 1 mg
Grape juice, white, canned 0.41 mg

Source: USDA Database for the Proanthocyanidin (monomers-trimers) Content of Slected Foods 2004

Patient Success Stories: Stopping Allergies Fast with Natural Medicines

Deborah, Phoenix, AZ

I had recently purchased your product Flavinox for my 12 year old son who has always suffered from allergies. For years I have been giving him allergy medicine - Claritin, Tylenol, Zyrtec - all types of medicines that didn’t really work and made him very tired and drugged out. I saw Dr Hansen on our morning news show here in Arizona as he was talking about Flavinox, a natural allergy product, and explaining how it works and it really made sense to me. I drove over to the Scottsdale office that morning to get a bottle and went directly to my sons school to start him on these capsules.

When he came home from school about 3 hours later he was like a different person than when he left that morning. I could see it in his face and eyes. He was feeling 100% better and he told me about an hour after he took the capsule he could feel the difference and he kept feeling better as the day went on. Since then I have been giving him about 3 capsules a day and he’s a baseball player so sometimes before a game I give him an extra one and I am truly amazed at how Flavinox has really made a difference in his allergies. No more drowsy, drugged out state. No more sneezing 20 times in a row or constant watery eyes and runny nose. I have recommended this to everyone I talk to and know this product has been the answer for my son.

Anne Marie, Scottsdale, AZ

All three of my sons have been suffering from sinus allergies for years. After two weeks on Flavinox herbal allergy formula the boys no longer have any sniffling, sneezing or congestion. Flavinox has stopped the sinus allergy reactions in all three of my sons-a special blessing to my 6-year-old because I was afraid that I was going to have to give away our cats to stop his allergies. The kids are most grateful. They now call you the doctor who saved our cats! Thank you!

I have battled skin allergies for year. After two weeks on Flavinox my skin cleared up completely and has stayed clear. As soon as I feel any food allergy symptoms I now take the Flavinox and it stops the itching without the side-effects that allergy medicines cause. Thanks so much!

Missy Gilliland, Phoenix, AZ

I am a horse trainer and I run a Dressage Horse Training Stable. I spend most of my time outdoors every day riding horses and giving lessons. Every spring, my hayfever allergies flare up. They are horrific when the dust, the wind and the pollen combine. I have tried all of the anti-allergy drugs, including Allegra, Benadryl, Claritin, Zyrtec, etc. and they just don’t stop my eyes from itching, burning and watering. At times my allergies get so bad that I can barely see or think. But within 15 minutes of taking my first dose of Flavinox my hayfever symptoms completely stopped and I could see and think clearly again. Flavinox is simply fantastic.

John, Phoenix, AZ

I work in the home inspection business and spend a lot of time outside. Every year I suffer with seasonal hayfever allergies. I have tried almost every medicine on the market. None of them seem to work very well and they make me feel drowsy and irritable, so I usually just suffer through the springtime with a drippy nose and tearing eyes that itch and sting. Fortunately, last spring, a very nice lady saw me suffering while I was working at her home. She offered to share her Flavinox herbal allergy formula with me. She said here take this and you’ll clear up in a few minutes. I was skeptical, but she was so nice and assuring that I said okay. Sure enough, within 15 minutes, before I had finished my inspection, my drippy nose and watery, itchy eyes had all cleared up. I had been suffering with allergies for so long that I had forgotten how good it felt to be clear headed. I will be forever grateful for the kind lady who cured my allergies by telling me about the Flavinox natural allergy formula.

Don’t do Drugs!

Most drugs work by blocking a normal body function rather than correcting the problem and they all have side effects. The top selling allergy drugs are no exception, including Allegra, Benadryl, Claritin, and Zyrtec. They all work by blocking histamine, which temporarily relieves some of the symptoms but often cause headaches, dry mouth, fatigue and drowsiness as well. Some side-effects can be life-threatening. Seldane (terfenadine) was taken off of the market because it was found to cause fatal heart irregularities. It was replaced by Allegra (fexofenadine) which is a metabolite of Seldane.

Anti-histamine Drug Side-Effects:

Common side-effects include headaches, fatigue, drowsiness, dry mouth, dizziness, cough, upper respiratory infections, back pain, painful menses and hyperactivity in children; very young children are usually more sensitive to the effects of anti-histamines; symptoms may include increases in blood pressure, nightmares or unusual excitement, nervousness, restlessness, or irritability.

Additionally, anti-histamines have side-effects that are not reported in the patient information or in the physician’s drug reference manual because the clinical trials used by the drug companies to establish the effectiveness of the drugs are often too short and conducted on too few patients.

The average clinical trial for the current anti-histamine drugs lasted only 2-4 weeks and included only 2500 to 5000 patients. It is only when these drugs are used for longer periods of time on millions of people that we discover the true and complete list of side-effects.

Additional Side-Effects discovered after the initial clinical trials include depression, irritability, uncontrollable crying, anxiety, irrational behavior, rage, aggression, muscle and joint pain, erratic sleep, fatigue on waking. Here is a representative sample of side-effects registered by patients after the initial clinical trials.

Patient Reported Side-Effects (See www.AskaPatient.com to view more patient reports)

Zyrtec Side-effects (3/31/2010): heart palpitations-rapid and irregular heartbeats; severe muscle pain-leg cramps and bursitis; chronic fatigue-felt exhausted all the time; nosebleeds; mental fog-unable to concentrate; difficulty finishing a sentence because I would forget what I was saying. The palpitations caused me to be diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in the ER a month ago. My leg muscle pain was so bad I couldn’t walk 1/4 of a block. Bursitis so bad at night I couldn’t sleep. I stopped taking Zyrtec 4 days ago and everything except the palpitations has disappeared. AVOID ZYRTEC !!!

Zyrtec Side-effects: My 5-year-old developed extremely volatile mood swings, including tearfulness, depression and erratic sleep patterns. They began the day I started giving him Children’s Zyrtec and ended the day after I stopped giving it to him.

Zyrtec Side-effects (3/27/2010): I gave this to my 9 year old son who just struggles with awful allergies to everything. 1 tsp about 6 pm. He went to sleep at 8pm and slept soundly for a while with no sneezing but still sniffling. Woke up around 2 am and was just angry. Yelling, stomping, gritting his teeth mad at everything. Couple hours later fell asleep .Got up for breakfast in a worse rage. Went from room to room forgetting why he went there.

I kept him home from school, he fell back asleep after breakfast and woke up at 1:30pm (when I woke him up) Wow, that was scary. Never again. This completely changed his personality in one dose and he was very, very sleepy with it. I really was hoping we had found something to help him. I’m angry I wasn’t warned.

Zyrtec Side-effects:My 7 year old daughter took Zyrtec for 1 1/2 weeks. I am sorry that I ever put her on it. She is a sweet, loving child who behaves very well. She turned into a demon child. She lost her appetite and would not eat anything at all. She complained about stomach aches and dry throat. She was afraid to eat or drink because she said her throat felt as if it would close up.

This drug should be taken off of the market immediately. I spoke to several moms tonight at a PTA meeting and they had the same complaints about their children. My daughter would scream at me and tell me that I don’t understand her. She would wake up and just start yelling at me. Normally she would wake up happy every day. She was not herself in anyway. I took her off of the Zyrtec and within 4 days her appetite came back and my sweet, loving, caring child came back. It breaks my heart that I put her through that grief. Never again.

Claritin Side-effects: Cleared my sinuses but caused foggy head, inability to complete fairly simple tasks, sweating and sense of not feeling like myself. Possibly also caused bouts of short temper and snapping at my family. This drug should not be OTC. There should be a very clear warning about possibility of ‘foggy head’, and depressive symptoms in particular.

IT IS IRRESPONSIBLE TO MARKET THIS DRUG AS NON-DROWSY as it easily leads the consumer to believe there is little danger of not being able to function normally at home and at work, NOT TO MENTION DRIVING A VEHICLE.

BE VERY CAUTIOUS WHEN TAKING THIS DRUG. I would start taking it over the weekend or when you can stay home for a couple of days to be able to assess what side effects you may experience. Also, if you have family, it would be good to have another grownup around to care for the kids in case you feel foggy or have depressive symptoms. DO NOT GIVE CLARITIN TO KIDS.

Allegra Side-Effects: So glad I found this site!(www.askapatient.com) I to was perfectly fine till I started taking allegra. I experienced weakness, insomnia, problems with my stomach, confusion, depression, mood swings, extreme tiredness, heart palpitations, tremors, leg pain. I still do not feel quite myself. I would rather suffer with all the symptoms of allergies than face what I have over the last month. Wish I would have found this site before I started taking the allegra. If taking this drug and you experience any unusual symptoms “STOP TAKING THIS DRUG” This has been a nightmare!

Allegra Side-Effects: Extreme anxiety, panic attacks, hopelessness, depression, crying, general paranoia and feeling on the brink of craziness. I wish I had found this site (www.askapatient.com) earlier - I have had the most horrible 7 months (emotionally) while taking this drug - the only time I felt like “myself” was when I was not taking it, but since it is an allergy drug I never made the connection. It works wonderfully to deal with allergies, but it seems to amplify all sorts of emotions to a dangerous level (for some people). Wow, after seeing other similar reviews, I am stopping IMMEDIATELY.

How to Stop Hay Fever Allergies Fast

Unlike the drugs that only block histamine or histamine receptors but never cure the problem, nature makes some great tasting foods that actually stop the symptoms by correcting the cause of the allergic hypersensitivity.

If you want to stop Hay Fever symptoms fast you can take the formula that I prescribe to my patients. It is called FlavinoxTM and it contains a combination of Leucoselect® grape seed extract, green tea extract, quercitin from onion skins and vitamin C.

Leucoselect® grape seed extract is sold as a prescription drug in France and Germany, but is available without a prescription in FlavinoxTM.

I have seen many patients who come to my office in the Spring carrying a box of Kleenex and their Claritin or Zyrtec who are still sneezing incessantly, and unable to see out of their watery red eyes and unable to think due to Hay Fever congestion. Some are skeptical to learn that their allergies are due to a deficiency of bioflavonoids, but they are quickly convinced when their Hay Fever symptoms clear up within 15 minutes after taking their first dose of FlavinoxTM.

For more information about Flavinox™, the natural alternative to Allegra, Claritin and Zyrtec®, click here.

How About Food Allergies
Unlike airborne allergies and a few food allergies that are associated with IgE antibodies that cause immediate hypersensitivty reactions, most food allergies are associated with IgG antibodies and cause delayed hypersensitivity reactions that typically take 8 to 72 hours to manifest.

Food allergies may be the cause of your fatigue, moodiness, eczema, asthma, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine headaches and even weight gain, as well as your child’s temper tantrums or ADHD and auto immune disorders including multiple sclerosis. You can reduce your food allergy symptoms by getting more proanthocyanidin bioflavonoids but to eliminate them completely you need to avoid them for 120 days.

Food Allergy Success Stories

Delaney was only 2 1/2 years old when her mom first brought her to see me. She had severe mood swings and temper tantrums. At times she would screech non-stop every 30 seconds for hours, or slap hands in the air repeatedly for hours. She would fly into a rage within 45 minutes of eating wheat and became a little devil. Once we determined her allergy foods and eliminated them she turned into an angel. She is a different person now, sweet and patient and helpful. The transformation was truly amazing.

Donna was a 45 year old woman who suffered from Multiple Sclerosis. She was always fatigued and had been plagued by weakness and numbness for years before her diagnosis. Once we tested and eliminated her food allergies all of her symptoms went into remission. She felt so great and had so much energy that she asked if she could stay on the allergy elimination diet forever.

Katherine came to see me because she was stressed out. She was anxious, depressed and overweight. A 34 year old hair dresser, she had tried to lose weight but couldn’t. She was working out and eating next to nothing but still couldn’t lose weight until we discovered the foods that she was allergic to. Once she eliminated those foods, the pounds just seemed to melt away and she went from size 12 to size 4 in four months on the allergy elimination diet. She looks sensational and feels great.

Heather is a 35 year old mom of 3 who was 70 lbs over weight and could not lose the weight even though she ate very few calories and exercised daily. After testing and finding out that she was allergic to she lost 70 lbs in 5 months. She couldn’t believe how easy it was once she eliminated the trigger foods that were causing her body to hold onto the extra weight.

Food Allergy Testing
If you or your family members have any of these conditions you should get tested. At the Hansen Clinic we perform an advanced allergy test that requires only one tube of blood to test both IgE and IgG allergies in 100 foods. The old-fashioned scratch test is inferior because it only measures IgE allergies only. It is also barbaric because it requires 100 different injections of the suspected allergens under the skin to test 100 items.

For more information about our advanced allergy testing, click here.

28.03.10

FDA Suspends Rotarix Vaccine due to Viral Contamination

An independent academic research team recently found that GlaxoSmithKline’s Rotarix vaccine contained a viral strain from pigs known as Porcine Circovirus 1.

FDA officials said they have confirmed that unwanted virus is in the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine that has been given to at least 1 million children in the U.S. since 2008.

Click here to read the rest of the story: Posted on Medscape Medical News on March 22, 2010

08.03.10

HPV Gardasil Vaccine Should be Recalled

young girl getting a Gardasil HPV Vaccine sceaming in horrorAs of January 31, 2010, there have been 15,829 reports of adverse events, including 49 deaths, from 28 million doses of Merck’s Gardasil Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine administered in the United States to girls ages 9 to 26. (see CDC: Reports of Health Concerns Following HPV Vaccination)

The adverse events reports following Gardasil vaccinations have included fainting, pain, and swelling at the injection site (the arm), headache, nausea, fever, neurological disorders, paralysis, Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) and 49 deaths in the United States.

Although the cause of the adverse events is not known, the HPV Vaccine contains 225mcg of Aluminum, a known neurotoxin, and 50mcg of Polysorbate 80, which has been shown to cause severe anaphylactic reactions, in every vaccine dose.

Why shouldn’t Merck Pharmaceutics, the manufacturer of the Garasil vaccine, be forced to recall this vaccine? It should be taken off of the market until it can be fixed and proven safe.

Toyota’s Adverse Event numbers pale in comparison to those of Merck. According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, no more than a few thousand complaints have been filed against Toyota vehicles possibly linked to unintended acceleration, which have caused 43 fatal crashes with 52 deaths and 38 injuries in a ten year period from 2000 to 2010.

Merck advertising campaign deceptive – pressuring – scary

teenage girl gets the Gardasil vaccine and pretends to be cool about it - because it the Moms and their young daughters are feeling pressured into getting the Gardasil vaccine. Young girls get the message that it’s the hip – adult thing to do and that they are somehow a heroine if they get the vaccine.

Moms get the message that they are being irresponsible if they don’t get their daughters vaccinated before they hit puberty. They both are deceived into believing that the Gardasil vaccine is completely free of side-effects and totally prevents cervical cancer.

The truth is the Gardasil vaccine does not prevent cancer at all. It is licensed only to prevent 2 of the 30 sexually transmitted types of HPV virus that may cause cervical cancer.

The massive advertising campaign for Gardasil by Merck claims that it is “the only vaccine that may help protect you from the four types of Human Papilloma virus that may cause 70% of cervical cancer.”

Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, Feb 28, 2007), revealed that only 2.3% of young girls and women that get HPV are infected with one of the two HPV types, which can cause cervical cancer that are included in the Gardasil vaccine.

The CDC reports that approximately 6.2 million women are diagnosed with HPV every year and 12,000 get invasive cervical cancer and 3900 die. Although that is too many deaths, 12,000 cases of cervical cancer out of 6.2 million cases of HPV means that only 0.2% of women go on to develop cervical cancer from HPV. That means that 99.8% of women with HPV do not get cervical cancer.

The truth is as the CDC’s website also states, “HPV usually goes away on its own, without causing health problems. So an HPV infection that is found today will most likely not be there a year or two from now.”

According to the American Cancer Society’s website “In 90% of cases, the body’s immune system clears the HPV infection within 2 years. This is true of both high-risk and low-risk HPV types.”

So why does anyone need this vaccine? Is it worth the risks?

If you are considering getting the Gardasil vaccine for yourself our your daughter please read the following story.

MY GIRL DIED AS ‘GUINEA PIG’ FOR GARDASIL

Jessica Erickzon died 2 days after third Gardasil vaccination

New York Post Article: July 20, 2008

On the advice of her family doctor, Jessie Ericzon, 17, had taken a series of three Gardasil shots to prevent cervical cancer caused by the sexually transmitted virus known as HPV - the Human Papilloma Virus.

The vaccine is marketed by Merck Pharmaceuticals & Co. as the hip thing to do for girls age 9-26 to prevent cervical cancer. Jessie got her first injection in July 2007.

After her second shot in September, she complained to her mom of a pain in the back of her head, fatigue and soreness in some joints.

The day following her 3rd and final shot, she again complained of the nagging pain in the back of her head.

The next day she didn’t show up at school and her mother found her dead on the bathroom floor at home.

Jessica’s mom, Lisa Ericzon, believes the vaccine killed her daughter and that she was “a guinea pig” for Merck & Co. She is urging parents to research the vaccine before letting their daughters get it.

To learn about the natural non-vaccine approach to prevention and treatment of HPV and Abnormal Pap Smears, click here.

06.03.10

Diabetes Drug Causing Heart Attacks

Diabetes drug Avandai causing heart attacks and heart failureQuoted from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/20/health/policy/20avandia.html

Research Ties Diabetes Drug to Heart Woes

February 19, 2010 - NY Times - Hundreds of people taking Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports that recommend the drug be removed from the market.

The reports, obtained by The New York Times, say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart. Avandia, intended to treat Type 2 diabetes, is known as rosiglitazone and was linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009.

“Rosiglitazone should be removed from the market,” one report, by Dr. David Graham and Dr. Kate Gelperin of the Food and Drug Administration, concludes. Both authors recommended that Avandia be withdrawn.

The internal F.D.A. reports are part of a fierce debate within the agency over what to do about Avandia, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. Some agency officials want the drug withdrawn because they believe there is a safer alternative; others insist that studies of the drug provide contradictory information and that Avandia should continue to be an option for doctors and patients. GlaxoSmithKline said that it had studied Avandia extensively and that “scientific evidence simply does not establish that Avandia increases” the risk of heart attacks.

The battle has been brewing for years but has been brought to a head by disagreement over a new clinical trial and a Senate investigation that concluded that GlaxoSmithKline should have warned patients earlier of the drug’s potential risks.

Story by GARDINER HARRIS

[Article continues at original source: www.nytimes.com]

21.10.09

26-Year-Old Cheerleader Disabled by Flu Shot

11.10.09

Swine Flu Vaccine Fears: What Questions Must be Answered?

Lesson we apparently didn’t learn from the Swine Flu Fiasco of 1976

This “60-Minutes”video from 1979 is a video you must watch. The 2009 H1N1Swine Flu Vaccine is being rushed through production so fast that it will not be tested by sufficient numbers or given sufficient time to determine whether or not the vaccine is even safe or effective. This new vaccine could kill more people than the Swine Flu itself, just like the Swine Flu fiasco of 1976, in which the Swine Flu only killed 1 person, but the vaccine killed or injured thousands of Americans and led to billions of dollars in claims of damages for Guillain-Barré syndrome, a  paralyzing neuromuscular disorders that left thousands injured or paralyzed for life.

What Questions Need to be Answered Before Anyone gets Vaccinated?

How severe is the 2009 H1N1 Swine Flu compared to the typical seasonal flu? It may be very contagious but may not be very harmful. How virulent is this Swine Flu?

What’s in the Vaccine?  Is the Vaccine safe?

Does the vaccine contain mercury (Thimerosal)? How much mercury does it contain? What other toxic chemicals are in the vaccine? Does it contain formaldehyde, formalin, antibiotics, egg proteins, green monkey kidney cells, insect cell culture remnants, adjuvants like squalene that have been linked to the Gulf War Syndrome from the Anthrax vaccine?

How long does it take for neruological damage or Guillain-Barré syndrome to show up after the vaccine?

Does the Vaccine work? The clinical trials were specifically limited to a very small (100+) number of patients per group for a very short time. Were these studies sufficient to prove safety and effectiveness?

Which will cause a higher percentage of serious harm: the vaccine or the Swine flu?

We Deserve to Know these Answers

What was disturbing in 1976 and today is the speed by which the H1N1 vaccine was developed and rushed to market. The lack of a detailed public explanation is not inspiring confidence. As a result a Consumer Reports poll shows that only 35% will surely get the H1N1 flu shot.

The Food and Drug Administration has formally approved all of the 250 million doses of the Swine flu vaccine purchased by the U.S. Government before studies required to prove their safety or effectiveness have been completed under the cover of The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act).

What are the Results of the Clinical Trials of the Vaccines?

So far, top U.S. health officials have given only vague details about the results of the clinical trials underway to test the safety and effectiveness of the Swine flu vaccine. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is giving only guarded answers.

Vague explanations like the following should make us all ask a lot more questions.

“A single dose of vaccine could be enough to immunize adults against swine flu, Fauci said.”

Preliminary data from our trials indicate that a single 15-microgram dose of … vaccine is well tolerated and induces an immune response in most healthy adults, said Fauci.”

Among children 10 to 17 years old, 76 percent had a “robust” immune response to the vaccine. For children 3 to 9 years old, 36 percent had a robust response. Among children 6 months to 36 months, the immune response rate was 25 percent, Fauci said.

Results of NIH-sponsored clinical trials which began last month showed that a swine flu vaccine produced by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur produced “a robust immune response” in 96 percent of adults aged 18 to 64 after “the rather short time point of eight to 10 days after vaccination,” Fauci said.

This is all only “preliminary data.” How many individuals were involved in the “preliminary” clinical trials? Only about 100 per study.  When will we get the proven final data? The formal clinical trials will not be completed until sometime next year between March and October of 2010.

What is a “robust immune response?” This is intentionally vague and not quantifiable. No one really knows or at least know one is willing to tell the American public. The preliminary clinical trials have not been published and the top U.S. officials are not being frank or forthcoming.

What s “well tolerated mean?”

We Need More Answers!

Fortunately for now the Swine Flu vaccine is not mandatory. However, a declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization gives them the authority to make the vaccines manditory and to declare marshal law to enforce them at any time.

Why are the Vaccine Manufacturers Immune from Liability Lawsuits?

Vaccine makers and all federal officials have been granted total legal immunity from any and all lawsuits that may result from the new swine flu vaccine, under a document signed by U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Kathleen Sebelius, in June 2009.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, has granted vaccine makers total legal immunity from any and all lawsuits that may result from any new swine flu vaccine, because if the governement did not grant them this immunity they would not have made the vaccines.

It turns out that DHHS Secretary Sibelius has not only given immunity to the manufactures of swine flu vaccines, but also the makers of Tamiflu and Relenza for injuries stemming from their use against swine flu. She also granted immunity to future swine flu vaccines and “any associated adjuvants.” The order was published in the June 25, 2009 Federal Register.

Since the 1980s, the government has protected vaccine makers against lawsuits over the use of childhood vaccines. A federal court handles all vaccine injury claims and decides who will be paid from a special fund. Thousands of parents whose otherwise perfectly healthy children developed autism after getting a vaccine are still waiting for compensation. Most have been frankly denied.

The document signed by Secretary Sebelius grants immunity to federal officials and drug manufacturers under the provisions of The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREPA), a 2006 law for public health emergencies.

Vaccine Rush Sacrifices Safety for Profits of Vaccine Manufactures

“Here is the problem,” according to Dr. Meryl Nass, M.D., vaccine expert and board member of the Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP):

“Once the PREP Act is invoked to shield manufacturers from liability, the pharmaceutical firms have no financial incentive to make the safest product, and have a negative incentive to test it for safety. As long as they do not deliberately harm consumers of the product, they will not be liable for damages.

Are you following this argument closely? In order to avoid having prior knowledge of possible harm to users of the product, for which they could be found liable, it is in the manufacturers’ best interest to know as little as possible about adverse reactions caused by their product.

Thus manufacturers can be expected to perform minimal testing, as they have been incentivized by PREPA to avoid learning of potential harms related to their product. Thus the speed at which the product will be distributed serves two purposes: it provides the needed excuse to avoid adequate testing, as well as providing rapid vaccine availability.”

Will There Be Enough Vaccine Soon Enough for Everyone?

The vaccine manufacturers are having difficulty producing sufficient quantities of the Swine flu vaccine.

The U.S. government has purchased 250 million doses of the Swine Flu vaccine for $10 Billion dollars. Approximately only 45 million doses will be available by the middle of October. The five pharmaceutical companies making the vaccine for the US hope that they will be able to collectively provide an additional 20 million doses per week from mid October through December. This would deliver approximately 240 million doses.

Since two shots will be required for all of the approximately 20 million children ages 6 months to 9 years, that leaves only 200 million doses for the remaining 285 million Americans. Any possible immunity from the vaccine is not expected to occur for 30 days after the vaccine This would make it the middle of November before the first Americans vaccinated can expect any possible immune protection from the vaccine. If the virus comes a little early, any vaccine may be too late.

Are There Safer Alternatives That Can Protect Us Now?

To read Dr. Hansen’s article: The Top Ten Natural Alternatives to the Flu, click here.

19.08.09

HPV Gardasil Vaccine causing more deaths

Gardasil Vaccine for HPV is associated with multiple side effects including 32 reported deaths“The rate of serious adverse events (from the Gardasil vaccine) is greater than the incidence rate of cervical cancer,” which the vaccine is intended to prevent, according to Dr. Diane Harper, director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group at University of Missouri.

As of June 1, 2009, the CDC reported that over 25 million doses of Gardasil, which is recommended for women between ages 9-26, have been distributed in the U.S. and there was an average of 53.9 VAERS reports per 100,000 vaccine doses. Of these, 40 percent occurred on the day of vaccination, and 6.2 percent were serious, including 32 reports of death.

CDC Report Stirs Controversy For Merck’s Gardasil Vaccine

Cervical Cancer Vaccine Linked to Deaths, Incidents of Fainting and Blood Clots

By RADHA CHITALE

ABC News Medical Unit

August 19, 2009

A government report released Tuesday raises new questions about the safety of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil. The vaccine has been linked to 32 unconfirmed deaths and shows higher incidences of fainting and blood clots than other vaccines.

A look at whether the benefits of a cervical cancer vaccine outweigh the risks.

______________________

The results of the report appeared along with an accompanying editorial discussing whether the potential benefit of the HPV vaccine is worth its potential risks in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The editorial, in particular, could give pause to many parents faced with the decision of whether or not to have their 11- and 12-year-old daughters vaccinated against the certain strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV.

Those who search for more information on the vaccine may also find stories from other parents who say the vaccine had ill effects on their daughters.

One of these parents, Emily Tarsell, started her daughter Christina on Gardasil — a vaccine that protects against four of the most common cancer-causing strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV) — after her first visit to a gynecologist and at the doctor’s recommendation.

Eighteen days after Christina received her final vaccine shot, she died.

“I know it was the Gardasil,” Tarsell said, although the official cause of death was undetermined.

“They were really recommending it, saying that there weren’t any side effects, that it was safe. So I kind of went against my better instinct [and let her] get the shot.”

Deaths like Christina’s are one of several types of complications reported to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) following Gardasil distribution in 2006.

Some of these adverse events were serious, including blood clots and neurological disorders, and some were non-life threatening side effects from the vaccine, including fainting, nausea and fever.

Source: ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/gardasil-hpv-vaccine-faces-safety-questions/story?id=8356717


11.08.09

ADHD Drug Causing Suicides and Liver Failure Warns FDA

The FDA continues to receive reports that the ADHD drug Strattera (atomoxetine), is causing serious liver injury and deaths, in spite of the BOLD TYPE WARNING in the drug insert. Strattera, which is manufactured by Eli Lilly & Co, was approved by the FDA for ADHD in November 2002, for adults and children aged 6 years and above.

The Strattera label does have a BLACK BOX WARNING about the increased risk of SUICIDE in adolescents and children taking the drug. Unfortunately, this does not seem to deter doctors from prescribing it to unaware or uniformed parents who are frequently pressured by teachers to put their kids on the drugs. Between 2002 and 2007, about 3.3 million people were prescribed Strattera, and over 2 million were children under 18 years old.

Drug induced liver injury is the most common reason for acute liver failure in the United States. A drug may cause chemical damage to liver cells which can result in serious injury to the liver and may cause death. Signs of liver damage include nausea, jaundice, vomiting, bleeding, abdominal pain or mental confusion. Kidney failure may also be present in some cases.

In 2004 the warning label for Strattera was updated to indicate that it could cause severe liver injury, which may progress to liver failure resulting in death or the need for a liver transplant in a small number of patients.

However, as with most drugs, as long as Strattera cannot be definitely linked to more than 100 deaths, the FDA will most likely leave it on the market and simply recommend that healthcare providers and patients taking it watch for symptoms of depondency, depression, nausea, jaundice, vomiting, bleeding, abdominal pain or mental confusion, or death, which could be signs of liver toxicity or kidney failure.

Perhaps, on the other hand, any drug with a BOLD TYPE WARNING or a BLACK BOX WARNING, SHOULD BE AVOIDED LIKE THE BLACK PLAGUE, ARSENIC, OR A 3 ALARM FIRE.

Dr. Hansen simply says “Don’t do drugs!” There are safe and effective natural alternatives to Straterra, Ritalin, Adderall, Cylert, and all the others.

For more information about ADHD and the natural alternatives, click here.


18.06.09

ADHD Drugs Killing Children

Children taking ADHD stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta are five times more likely to suffer sudden, unexplained death than children who are not taking such drugs according to a new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry and funded by the FDA and the National Institute of Mental Health. Despite these new findings, however, FDA regulators are urging parents to keep their children on these dangerous drugs.

Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta already carry FDA warnings about risks of heart attack and stroke in children with underlying heart conditions, but this was the first study to investigate whether or not they posed a similar risk to healthy children without those problems.

The study, which compares information about 564 children in the United States who died suddenly and inexplicably between 1985 and 1996.
For every child who died suddenly and inexplicably, the researchers then found another child closely matched in terms of age, sex and other variables who died in a traffic accident.
The researchers found that 10 children in the group that suffered sudden, unexplained death had been taking stimulant drugs, whereas only two children in the group were killed in traffic accidents were taking such medications. That means that the children taking the ADHD drugs were five times more likely to die than those not taking the drugs.

However, FDA officials said that given the seriousness of ADHD and the rarity of sudden death — which strikes fewer than 1 in 10,000 children — the benefits of the drugs outweigh their risks. Agency officials urged parents to discuss concerns with doctors rather than deciding on their own to discontinue a child’s medication. I say its not worth the risk!

According to government researchers, about 2.5 million U.S. children currently take drugs for ADHD. At a rate of 1 in 10,000 children, approximately 250 will die a sudden horrible death from these stimulant drugs. If one of those children happened to be your child, no benefit could outweigh the risk. In the not too distant past, even one death was not acceptable. Why do we now allow the FDA and the Pharmaceutical industry to have such power? Why do we allow them to downplay the statistics to the point that they call 250 deaths a rarity?

There can only be one of two answers – greed or ignorance. Which do you think it is? Sales of these ADHD drugs topped $4.8 billion dollars in the US last year for the most popular brands including Ritalin from Novartis, Adderall from Shire Pharmaceutical and Concerta from Johnson & Johnson, according to the health care analysis firm IMS Health.

18.06.09

ADHD Drug Abuse on College Campuses

The May 7, 2009, episode of CBS DOC DOT COM took Chief medical correspondent for the CBS Evening News, Dr. John LaPook, to a college campus where he got schooled by two students about the widespread use of ADHD meds - by kids without a diagnosis of the condition - to study, stay attentive, and sometimes just to feel good. A 2005 Web Survey found that 5% of US undergraduates reported having used stimulants over the previous year for non-medical reasons. But the real number may be much higher.