Author: Ian McAllister
Why doesn't the FDA ban killer asthma drugs instead of compelling black-label warnings in the fine print? Because the alternative to killer drugs would be a free cure, and there is no profit in that.
There would be some excuse for using deadly medicines if there were no natural cures for asthma, but there are. Read how you can get rid of the cause of your breathing difficulties without drugs by breathing properly.
Pain Relievers
Dr. Seif Shaheen of King's College, London said that acetaminophen might increase the risks of asthma, which is so much more prevalent in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand than elsewhere. They have some of the highest levels of acetaminophen sales, and some of the world's highest rates of allergic disease. Each gram increase in acetaminophen use per head is matched by half a percent increase in wheeze in adolescents.
Of course, you don't use acetaminophen - or do you? Here are some common trade names to disguise the poison. It may be safe for human use in recommended doses, but deliberate or accidental overdoses are fairly common.
Tylenol, Paralen, Panadol, Perdolan, Doliprane, Dafalgan, Efferalgan, Tachipirina, Efferalgan, Crocin, Gelocatil, Efferalgan, Benuron, Alvedon, Panodil, Pinex, Acamol, Dexamol, Rokamol, Pinex, Paracet, Depon, Lekadol, Daleron, Plicet, Adol and Biogesic.
Antibiotics
Research suggests that antibiotics encourage this lung disease. By the age of seven, children given at least one antibiotic during their first six months were 2.5 times more likely to have the problem than those who were not given antibiotics. They were also 50% more likely to have some form of allergy.
Doctors should be less reckless about prescribing antibiotics to babies under six months, according to scientists at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit
Antibiotics can interfere with development of the gut and therefore the immune system. If you must use antibiotics, use probiotics too to replace the beneficial bacteria which live in the gut.
FDA Attitude
You may think that I am being alarmist, but the FDA don't agree. They are there, primarily to suppress competitors of conventional medicine. For example, when there were two deaths from Ephedrine, they banned sale of ephedra, the herb from which the drug is extracted, but not the drug itself. So when the FDA says that there were too few deaths to ban an asthma drug but they give a warning of the dangers, you can be sure that the dangers are high.
On Friday, November 18, 2005 the FDA ordered the manufacturers to update the product labels for Advair, Foradil and Serevent because they make breathing worse. That is right - the drugs that are supposed to make it better make it worse.
The small print on the packaging now has to state "may increase the chance of severe asthma episodes, and death when those episodes occur." When did you last read the small print on what your trusted doctor recommends? Or was it hidden under a sticky label?
"Even though LABAs decrease the frequency of episodes, these medicines may make attacks more severe when they occur.", according to the FDA.
Placebo-controlled tests showed that more people taking these asthma drugs died than those receiving only a placebo, but there weren't enough deaths to worry about, so the FDA allowed the killer drugs to be sold with a warning label.
They say that
- LABAs shouldn't be the first medicine used. They should be added to the treatment plan only if other medicines do not give control, including the use of low- or medium-dose corticosteroids.
- Don't stop using your LABA or other prescribed medicines unless you have discussed it with your doctor. (Don't decrease your doctor's profit.)
- Don't use your LABA to treat wheezing that is getting worse. Call your doctor right away if wheezing worsens while using an LABA.
- Always have a short-acting bronchodilator medicine (such as Proventil inhaler) with you to treat sudden wheezing. LABAs do not relieve sudden wheezing.
More Killer Drugs
Did you notice that advertisement for Proventil in their last recommendation? Albuterol (Ventolin or Proventil) works almost instantly to relax the smooth muscles surrounding the airways. It quickly opens the airways and reduces symptoms. Unfortunately, asthma is your body's desperate attempt to compensate for bad breathing habits. So you will be using these drugs to fight your body's attempts to protect itself, which may cause death.
Often child asthmatics will use a Proventil inhaler each time they have breathing difficulties. They feel better immediately because it opens up the airways that the body is trying to close down. But all the time the airways are filling with mucus and fluid and becoming more inflamed.
When the Proventil inhaler has opened the airways as far as it is possible to open them it is too late to treat the inflammation and fluid, so the drug victim suffocates. It's an unpleasant way to die, when simple breathing exercises or other natural cures for asthma could prevent the problem.
