Ghost in the Machine, Part 4 — The War on Supplements, Essential Oils and Homeopathy
December 30, 2017 • 94,143 views
֍ As supplements and alternative therapies become more popular, Pharma is calling them ineffective and possibly harmful
֍ The drug industry accuses the supplement industry of false claims and manufacturing irregularities — the same problems which afflict Pharma
֍ Even as Big Pharma discredits supplements, many drug companies market their own vitamins and supplements
SNIPPET:
Examples of Supplements, Essential Oils and Homeopathy Therapy at Work
The medical literature includes notable examples of supplements and natural remedies that function as valuable medicines. Why do we so rarely, if ever, hear of them on health news sites or TV? Supplements and natural substances cannot be patented and hence present no profit potential for Pharma no matter how dramatic their actions. Here are some supplements for which there is promising evidence of effectiveness:
Folic acid, when added to enalapril (an ACE inhibitor used to treat high blood pressure, diabetic kidney disease and heart failure) produced a significant reduction in stroke occurrence in 2015 JAMA research.
20Oregano might be effective against the norovirus, say investigators at the University of Arizona.
21High doses of vitamin C may be useful in the treatment of ovarian cancer, boost the power of chemotherapy and ward off stroke, research indicates.
22,23,24Multivitamins and olive oil are under investigation for their roles in managing breast cancer.
25,26A compound found in a Japanese mushroom could be a cure for the currently untreatable human papilloma virus.
27Vitamin E likely plays an important role in deterring miscarriage.
28Preliminary evidence even suggests that micronutrients could be beneficial in treating adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to 2014 research published in The British Journal of Psychiatry.
29When children with ADHD inhaled vetiver essential oil three times a day for 30 days they had improved brain wave patterns and behavior and did better in school.
In patients with allergies, those using homeopathy reported improvements in nasal airflow compared with a placebo group and researchers described a "clear, significant and clinically relevant improvement in nasal inspiratory peak flow, similar to that found with topical steroids."
In the past few years, vitamin D has gone from a vitamin "hero" whose deficiency potentially explained many maladies, to VNG (Vitamin Non Grata).
30,31 The same flip-flop has been seen with calcium, once a good guy, now potentially another supplemental bad guy.
32 In fact, vitamin D has been so demonized, the pro-Pharma Forbes site actually writes:
33"Vitamin D supplements, to put it plainly, are a waste of money. (For those concerned about osteoporosis, the widely used drug alendronate (Fosamax®), has been shown to increase bone density by about 5 percent, as explained in a 2011 article by Dr. Sundeep Khosia. But Fosamax has side effects.)"
The "side effects" mentioned by Forbes are an understatement. Bisphosphonate bone drugs such as Fosamax and Boniva have been linked to esophageal cancer, jawbone death, heart problems, intractable pain and the very fractures they are supposed to prevent.
34 They are one of the most dangerous drug classes ever marketed.
Far from a waste of money, vitamin D made such a difference in a 2014 breast cancer survival study, an investigator said "There is no compelling reason to wait for further studies to incorporate vitamin D supplements into standard care regimens."
35 Research suggests it may have a valuable role in multiple sclerosis management, diabetes and depression, chronic liver disease and diseases of older age.
36,37,38,39Pharma Is a Pot Calling the Kettle Black
Full article: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/12/30/war-on-supplements-essential-oils-homeopathy.aspx