Folks I have been writing to you for many years now about the dangers of solely relying on prescription medications. Nearly all prescription medications work by poisoning enzymes and blocking receptors in the body. As I stated in my book, Drugs That Don’t Work and Natural Therapies That Do, “You can’t poison a crucial enzyme or block an important receptor for the long-term and expect a good result.” Health care providers should be searching for ways to make our patients healthier, not just treating symptoms with prescription drugs that provide no health benefits. Drugs do not make us healthier. And, keep in mind that many commonly prescribed drugs fail most who take them.
For example, the standard-of-care when treating a patient for heart disease is to use a statin drug. In fact, nearly one-third of adult Americans currently take a statin drug. A statin drug poisons an enzyme in the body—HMG CoA reductase. The best of statin studies show that it results in a 1% (primary prevention—preventing a first heart attack) reduction in non-fatal heart attacks if it is taken for at least three years. That means the drug fails 99%–they will not have any benefit from taking the drug. And, they are subjected to the myriad of side effects from taking a statin such as muscle pains, congestive heart failure, brain dysfunction and diabetes. I have written extensively about the failure of statins in my book, The Statin Disaster. How could one-third of Americans be taking a drug that fails 99% who take it?
Dr. Peter Gotzsche, director of the independent Nordic Cochrane Centre claims that taking too many ineffective and unsafe prescription drugs could be the biggest problem we are facing today. He said, “It is an enormous problem. It’s one of the biggest problems we have in the world today, but people don’t realize how terrible it is. I have estimated that our prescription drugs are the third major killer after heart disease and cancer. And I have recently looked at psychiatric drugs, and these drugs are so harmful that they alone are also your third major killer after heart disease and cancer.”
It is interesting to note that Dr. Gotzsche used to work for Big Pharma.
I could not agree with Dr. Gotzsche more. I have written about psychiatric drugs in my book Drugs That Don’t Work and Natural Therapies That Do. These drugs fail to work better than a placebo in most studies and they fail when compared to exercise in every study.
Before I continue, I want to make clear that I prescribe prescription drugs. There is a time and a place for many drugs. If you have pneumonia, I think appropriate antibiotics should be prescribed. However, there are many prescription drugs that should never be prescribed, such as a statin medication, since they fail the vast majority who take them.
How did we get to this point? Why are doctors prescribing so many drugs that fail and seriously harm or kill so many?
We are at this point because most health care providers simply cannot understand how to critically read a study nor do they understand much about what is health and how to optimize it.
I do not take pleasure in writing this. I also feel that it is important to state that you must take control of your own health care decisions. You must educate yourself about any medication prescribed to you. If you don’t do your own due diligence, you could experience serious adverse effects from commonly prescribed prescriptions.
Finally, it is also important to find a health care provider who is working for you, not working for Big Pharma or the insurance companies. If your health care provider does not think as you do, then I suggest it is time to find another one.
The International College of Integrative Medicine (https://icimed.com/) is a good source to find a holistic practitioner.
DrB
(1) The interview with Dr. Gotzsche can be heard here: http://www.thevaccinereaction.org/2017/01/big-pharma-extorts-people-worse-than-somali-pirates-peter-gotzsche-md/
Dr B,
Have you ever used iodine to reduce complications of getting floxed? I wonder if those most vulnerable to it are low in iodine?
Regarding Celia Younger’s question, Losartan is not a statin drug, but a hypertensive drug. I am interested in the answer to her question. Thank you.
Conventional medicine has definitely sold the public mostly profitable hype about the seriously toxic statin drugs. However, “natural therapies” can inflict similar damage to statins.
Take the dietary supplement garcinia cambogia.
There are good reasons to think that (the longterm use of) garcinia cambogia diet pills will increase the risk of diabetes, similar to statin drugs through processes like the impairment of oxidative cell metabolism, the increase in inflammation and cell destruction, the lowering of cholesterol and steroid hormone production, the promotion of pancreatic injury, the blocking of insulin release, etc. – described rather in detail in the scholarly report “Do Garcinia Cambogia Side Effects Boost Diabetes?” by Rolf Hefti (do an online search with this title).
We don’t just deal with a corrupt toxic medical orthodoxy but there are many profit-seeking hucksters among alternative medicine. Yet, far far more damage is done by allopathic medicine than alternative medicine.
Carmen,
Agree. I was never sold on garcinia–there was no good science behind it. Red rice yeast is another example. There is simply no need for it as the side effects are the same as statins and the benefits are similar–meaning it fails nearly 88% who take it.
DrB
Oops! I just saw your reply to someone else in which you said that statins cause diabetes. Yikes! Not sure what to do now. Should he just stop taking the statin — will that cause another problem? Good grief, what a mess!
Dr. Brownstein,
Are there negative effects from long-term use of Crestor? I see a lot of comments from people who are suffering from diabetes or the effects of diabetes. My husband was prescribed Crestor after a heart attack seven years ago and his cholesterol is down but his doctor won’t take him off of it. We are watching our weight and exercising more but I think the biggest difference has been fish oil (Omega-3) and addition of fatty fish to our diet. Recently, he had blood work done and it showed he was borderline diabetic which has never been a problem before. Could this be caused by the statin? Thanks for your insight.
Janie,
Statins, including Crestor, increase the risk for diabetes.
DrB
I have a family history of heart disease and high blood pressure but I refuse the standard pharma treatments and instead I exercise regularly, (Yoga and treadmill) eat a mostly clean organic diet, take vit D, C, B12, Magnesium, Garlic, Turmeric, Ginger, essential oils, CoQ10 – I still saw my blood pressure starting to creep up 140/70 many times. My husband and I started drinking a tea called Blood Pressure Tea and I kid you not – within a few days of drinking a cup or two a day, my numbers were back down to 120/70, 130/70 and I even had one that was 108/70! This is great with my family history. I am 56 and on bio-identical hormones and NatureThroid only. My siblings are all taking statins, blood pressure medications, and psyche drugs for depression. It’s so sad because they won’t believe me that they are being harmed by those prescriptions. Well, I take hat back. One of eight has decided to use natural medicines. She is the nurse.
I am hypothyroid and have fibromyalgia, so as you can imagine, I was on several prescription meds and I was not doing well at all. I researched everything I could about my conditions and medications following which I stopped taking 4 prescribed drugs.
I lost 2 and a half stones (35 lbs) in 3 months and my health improved greatly. Instead of meds, I took specific vitamins and minerals that benefited my conditions and optimised the remaining meds that I NEEDED to take (levothyroxine and T3) and my overall health is improving steadily.
If I’d continued taking all the meds I’d been prescribed, I don’t believe I would have anywhere near the quality of life I have now!
To Les
Probably 20 years ago I started to have a bloating problem, didn’t really know what was going on, so time passes and get diagnosed with gluten intolerance which causes Hashimoto’s, which attacks the thyroid. After going GF and after further research I added organic flour or wheat products imported from Europe back into my diet and didn’t have a reaction. Come to find out that in this country farmers routinely douse wheat with Round-up prior to harvest. In my opinion I am allergic to poison on my food. Early 90’s was when Round-up was introduced to food supply.
Rea,
I have seen similar stories in my patients. Europe has banned glyphosate from their products.
DrB
I happen to be a Pharm. D. and recently have had numerous BP readings above the normal range. However I refuse to treat with prescription meds. Just as Dr. B. calls out, their risk is much greater than their benefit in most cases. I also work for a big PhRMA company and know that in most RCTs, the med works in approximately 1/3 of the population, is neutral in another 1/3, and actually causes harm in the other 1/3. This is a simplistic generalization, but pretty accurate. Direct to consumer ads have duped most of us into believing we need the meds. We don’t. God created our bodies to be very resilient with major healing properties if we treat them right. About 10 years ago I was with one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. In one high level meeting we were told by a VP that we have the drug on the market, and will need to create the disease state to match it. Today that disease state has been legitimized, and the med to treat it, Lyrica, is advertised quite heavily on all major mainstream and cable stations.
FSGS runs on my Mother’s side of the family. She has remained in stage 4 kidney disease for some time and obviously takes medicine for the high blood pressure and many other medications for the myriad of problems she has as a result of the disease. My twin sister and I have both had kidney transplants. Are there natural remedies for stage 4 kidney disease (FSGS) or is she forever to be on the medications doctors have prescribed?
I KNOW because it affected me when a doctor prescribed a combination of medicines I ended in emergency room. Some Doctors don’t know o dont’ care.
I AM taking staten drug “LOSARTAN’ because my doctor tells me i need it since I am diabetic to protect my kidneys. I hate taking this med. Is it possible to take something more natural that will protect my kidneys? I will like to know more about it and what other choices I have. Thank you. Celia younger
Celia,
Statins cause diabetes, in case you did not know. And, statins can cause kidney problems.
Perhaps it is time to find a new doctor.
DrB
What about using a product with plant sterols and stanols for reducing cholesterol instead of statins?
Also, could it be that doctors prescribe so much medication because patients are unwilling to make lifestyle changes and just “want a pill”? My daughter is a nurse and has told me they see so many patients that just want a quick and easy fix. It is a lot easier to take a pill than to watch your diet, exercise, research alternative treatments, etc.
I am glad there are people like you advocating for more responsible health care. Thanks!
Anne,
Half the people who have fatal heart attacks have high cholesterol levels. That means the other half does not. I see no reason to ever take a drug or supplement that drops cholesterol levels.
DrB
I have been a Paid-On-Call Firefighter/Paramedic for over 25 years in the community that I live in, and I am shocked by the amount of prescriptions some people are on when responding to their calls for help. We need to know what medicines people take and to also list them in our reports and relay those when transferring care at the hospital, and it is just borderline criminal how many different medications some people take, especially the elderly. Like you said, some medicines are necessary for sure, but it’s just incredible how many some people are on. Sometimes when we ask a family member to bring us the patients current medications that they are taking, they bring them to us in a shopping bag!
I am 54 and do not take any pharma drugs and work hard to keep it that way! My BP was creeping up and my doc wanted to put me on BP meds but I refused. I happened upon your site and read about unrefined salts and the essential minerals that are in them from your book ‘Salt Your Way to Heath’ that I recently bought. My BP was getting up at times toward 165/100 and was feeling pretty blah, and this morning my BP was 136/80! Still raises some toward evenings but I have only been adding unrefined salt to my drinking water for a little over a week now, and feel much better. Hope I continue to see an improvement.
Can’t wait for my next physical so I can tell my doc about unrefined salt and your book! So glad I found your site!
Thank You Dr. B!
Why are so many people gluten intolerant? I find that a large percentage of those that are supposedly intolerant have no reaction if the grain is genuinely Certified Organic. Could it simply be an overload of chemicals from pre emergent (atrazine)to in crop pesticide & weed control to “dry down”(roundup) to weevil control in storage (methyl bromide). Flour from wheat that has been cross bred with various other plants to promote so called “resistance ” to various crop disease (totally unnecessary if the farmer has sufficient area to “spell & / or rotate the crop areas.” The germ & the bran is then removed from the grain. The remains are then ground into flour with a label that may say “added wheat germ &/or bran” This “THING” labeled “Wheat Flour” may then be stored for quite a long time before it is made into “BREAD”?? Sometimes labeled as to having “added protein “. Well, The chicken abattoirs aren’t allowed to burn the feathers.( Oh no that would be pollution!!)
Hey! Chicken feathers are protein!! GLUTEN INTOLERANT. Honestly……..I ask you…….
I have had the worst experience this week. Was given the wrong script for bronchitis. Took if for 7 days and wound up in emergency room with worst rash all over my body. Now I’m on prednisone & Benadryl., TLC & probiotics and hoping for the best.
Hope you are feeling better, BB,
DrB
Antibiotics lower the immune system/hurt mitochondria (engines of the cells)/hurt the gut lining/lower Mg and wipe out the good bacteria in the large intestines. I have Lyme recently and MS due to Celiac. MS/Lyme people may die from antibiotics which hurt more than help and cause a vicious cycle of not healing. What hurt me mostly was drugs. F in antidepression medicine which may block the thyroid/lower oxygen in the brain and cause worse depression and suicidal thoughts. Drugs are strong and may hurt a person permanently compared to herbs which may only help and not hurt. Ozone may help infections. Statin drugs block coenyzyme Q10 production which is the spark plug for the mitochondria. High cholesterol maybe due to low thyroid due to gluten. Thyroid medicine may lower cholesterol and give energy to the heart. Many people don’t get thyroid medicine due to a strange TSH due to gluten also hurting the pituitary. I think millions have a strange TSH …MS people and more so they suffer without thyroid medicine. Getting free T4 and free T3 in the upper range may help with Amour thyroid and taking Zn/Se/enough iron/probiotic, but often they don’t test beyond the TSH. I was in ICU with Lyme and they took away Zn/Vit B12 methylcobalamin shot/Mg/Vit C/Vit D3 5000IU/fish oil 2000mg/my thyroid medicine I had for 30 years/progesterone etc and said I didn’t need it, but these helped my immune system and were my “life support”. My body/brain crashed due to what they took away and then they gave me antibiotics which hurt. I almost died from what they took away and now my right adrenal is very burned out and I still have Lyme sine they didn’t help tell me I still needed help. Drugs are not a good substitute for natural help….. the Celiac diet/supplements/detoxing etc. They hated Alternative medicine so tried to hurt me. I walked into the ER, but could hardly walk out due to what they took away. I can never go to a hospital again. They would remove my “life support” protocol again thinking it is just “extra” and not needed and THEIR way was better.
I have felt that properly prescribed prescription drugs is actually the #1 cause of death for a few years.
The comment above about that not being put as the cause of death is right on.
Perhaps Marg is gluten intolerant and would benefit from a GF lifestyle.
Dr. B I have poured my heart and soul into writing an award-winning, life-transforming book, Toxic Staple: How Gluten May Be Wrecking Your Health and….
Could I send you a copy and might you consider a review or comment on your site…or an endorsement I could use
Please visit my site for endorsements from professionals in-the-know who suggest doctors should read Toxic Staple….and for much more info.
Thanks for your input.
Best of health,
Anne
It doesn’t help that there is a standard treatment protocol that drs follow. I had pseudomona infection on my foot last year. First dr prescribed Cipro. I freaked, and asked for an alternative, to be told that was the only option. I saw a second dr at a different practice who also said that was the only option. Take it or I could lose some toes. I found the govt decreed treatment was Cipro. My husband and I hit Google and cured the infection with white vinegar, baking soda and colloidal silver.
He has had various urology procedures over the past year. He was given Cipro to prevent infection three times. We had major fights but he is a ‘the dr must have prescribed it for good reason’ person so he took it. The last two times he has had Bactrim and urocarb, so I am not sure if he asked for the change or if the dr has now educated himself. He has had chronic diarrhoea for months and I took no pleasure in telling him what caused it. If that is his only side effect, he was lucky.
I have pulmonary hypertension. Standard treatment is blood thinners, beta blockers, digoxin. I googled blood thinners and didn’t like the odds so take ginkgo bilobo, lots of magnesium, ubiquinol, vit b complex to keep homocysteine levels under control. I get told I am a very difficult patient. I have asthma but won’t take the heavy doses of cortisone because it will cause diabetes. All very frustrating when you go to the dr and get nothing but prescriptions.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a majority of cases where the functional cause of death is actually a drug, or even more likely some combination of drugs, the official cause of death is listed as the disease or condition that the drugs ultimately caused rather than the drugs themselves. For example, if a cancer patient dies from the side effects of a chemotherapy drug, it’s not very likely that the drug will be listed as the cause of death. If a psych med causes a patient to become suicidal, the cause of death will be listed as suicide, not the drug. If the true cause of death was listed correctly in every case, prescribed medications taken as directed would very likely appear as the leading cause of death in America today instead of in third place.
Greg,
Agree 100%.
DrB
Is Red Rice Yeast with CoQ10 safe for replacement of stain drugs? I have read it does the same thing. I have hypothyroidism and have had a high cholesterol count for a long time. Should you only take these for a short period of time and not your entire life?
Thank you!
Arlaine,
I do not recommend red rice yeast as it has the same action as a statin. Therefore, it can be expected to fail 99% who take it.
DrB
Do you feel taking a myriad of vitamins long term would have any of the same receptor blocking effects? I am healthy and take a multi-vitamin along with Vitamins C, D, B-12, Tumeric, Co-Q10, a pro-biotic and Occuvite daily
Helen,
Absolutely not. Vitamins are essential nutrients, they do not poison enzymes nor block receptors. They support the body’s physiology.
DrB