Practical Practitioner

Americans Need to Assume Responsibility for Own Health

FEBRUARY 02, 2008 – Last week it was reported that nearly a third of anti-depressant drug studies are never published in the medical literature due to negative outcomes.

This week the popular cholesterol drug Zetia was shown in April 2006 to have no medical benefits, but the drugs manufacturer Merck and Schering-Plough’s only agreed to release the results after media outlets focused on their continued delays. Zetia and Vytorin account for about 20 percent of the cholesterol drugs on the U. S. market.

The makers of the popular cholesterol drug, Zetia, appear to have conducted other studies that indicated that the drug could pose risks for the liver, but never published those troubling findings.

The studies, according to documents on the Food and Drug Administration’s website, indicated that non-statin Zetia could cause liver damage, when used long-term and combined with statin cholesterol drugs like Lipitor, Crestor or Zocor.

Nearly a third of antidepressant drug studies are never published in the medical literature and nearly all happen to show that the drug being tested did not work, researchers reported this month.

Rather than depend on medications that ultimately disappoint us, isn’t it time that Americans take responsibility for their own health? Unfortunately, we’ve allowed ourselves to become addicted to soft drinks, sugar, white flour and refined foods. Many of us don’t walk enough. We overeat knowing that certain foods are bad for us and will lead to disease, but we continue to practice these unhealthy patterns.

Food plays a major role in disease prevention. Some scientists say that 70% of disease can be prevented by what we eat and drink. We are seeing an epidemic of disease in our children such as Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity, & Attention Deficit Disorder. Western Medicine’s solution to this problem is drugs. Ideally, we would limit the soft drinks that our children drink, serve more fruits & vegetables, less cookies & chips and encourage our children to go outside and play in the sun. When we as parents serve as role models to our children by exercising and exhibiting restraint from unhealthy food & drink, our children will be all the healthier for it.

As always, I would much rather see my patients take good quality nutritional supplements and stay hormonally balanced than develop disease and need drugs that could potentially harm them.

Pamela Egan, FNP-C, CDE is a board certified Adult & Family Nurse Practitioner, Certified Diabetes Educator & Clinical Specialist in Mental Health. She practices in Women’s Health with Kathy Posey, MD & can be reached at 985-867-1700 or www.pamelaegan.com.

PamelaEgan.com > Health Articles > Health and Wellness