More Drug Risks Exposed

(AP) Research from the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine indicated that the diabetes drug Avandia is linked to a significantly higher risk of heart attack and possibly death. The maker of Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, states that the drug is safe and that other studies did not confirm a higher heart-attack risk. Most experts say the actual risk to any single patient does appear to be small but that more studies are needed. The notion of a greater heart attack risk is especially troubling, however, because two-thirds of diabetics die of heart related issues.
More than 6 million people worldwide have taken Avandia for Type II diabetes since it came on the market in 1999. Nearly one million diabetics take Avandia in the US where sales topped $2.2 billion last year.
However, the Food and Drug Administration knew nearly five years ago about the dangers associated with Avandia, an internal FDA memo shows. The 2002 memo showed that FDA scientists recommended that labels for Avandia and Actos, another widely prescribed diabetes drug, be amended to include an increased risk of heart failure among patients taking the drugs, yet nothing was done.

Dr. Zach's Comments:

• First Vioxx, then Celebrex; now Avandia and Actos. What's the next drug to be exposed for the health risk that it is? This proves two very important things folks: 1) Drugs fix nothing. They simply cover up the symptoms created by a very, very sick body. PLEASE, PLEASE REALIZE THAT SYMPTOMS ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR BODY'S REGULATORY SYSTEM!! Symptoms tell us that something abnormal is happening, but also understand that the symptom itself is created by your body to restore normal.


• Examples: Fever is an abnormal body temperature created by your body to kill bacteria (who can only survive at a very specific temperature). Diarrhea is a normal body process designed to eliminate toxins and pathogens in the GI tract. If we prevent these normal processes from happening we actually prolong the manifestation of the disease organisms in our bodies. How about high blood pressure? Again, a normal response by the body. We should stop and ask why would my body create an increased blood pressure in the first place? Our blood has a pressure in order for our body to circulate oxygen and nutrients throughout the system. If the pressure is high, it tells us the body is having trouble pushing the blood through the system. Do we really want simply pop a pill to make our systolic and diastolic "numbers" look normal or would it be a better idea to investigate why the body is struggling to circulate nutrients.


• Why is our body increasing it's blood pressure? Why is our body creating too much cholesterol? Why is our body producing too little progesterone or too much estrogen? Why would our body let our blood sugar get too high? These thing don't "just happen". There is a very specific reason for these changes in body physiology and covering up the symptoms with a man made potion will only push the body further away from health. Case and point, an increased risk of heart failure with Avandia, Vioxx, and Celebrex.


• Start asking the right questions, and you'll start finding the right answers!