Archive for the ‘Health Care’ Category

“The cholesterol-lowering myth being spread by pharmaceutical companies worldwide could rightly be considered the deadliest health myth in the history of mankind. Numerous studies consistently show that the higher our cholesterol the longer we live and vice-versa. (1)

Statin drugs are the most widely sold pharmaceutical drugs in history. In 2004, Pfizer’s drug Lipitor became the first prescription drug to make more than $10 billion in annual sales. Today it’s over $22 billion.

Cholesterol is a vital substance in our body. Without it we grow sick, losing our memory, weakening our immune system, compromising our hormone levels and increasing our chances of cancer. (2)

Researchers at the University of San Diego School of Medicine tell us that high cholesterol in people over 75 years of age is protective and that low cholesterol is a risk factor for heart arrhythmia, the leading cause of death if a heart attack occurs.

Hidden Truth about Cholesterol-lowering Drugs, Shane Ellison, M.Sc.

(1)  p. 1

(2)   p. 5

Harvard researchers say 1.46 million working-age vets lacked health care in 2008 which increased their death rate. The research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 military veterans under age 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and therefore did not get adequate care.

So not only is poor nutrition creating problems on the front end we don’t even support those who have risked their lives for our safety and freedom.

As we take our own health care seriously let’s work for a better system for all Americans.

Read the whole story in Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP, November 10,2009 www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/over_2200_veterans_.php

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that heart disease will cost  us $475 billion in 2009. Yet many heart conditions are avoidable with low-cost measures such as diet, meditation, and exercise. Some doctors are saying that 70 percent of our surgeries are unnecessary.

The U.S. is a leader in many areas of medical research but we rely too heavily on treatment rather than prevention. As many people say we have a health sick program. Doctors are not paid to prevent sickness they are paid to supply the drug companies with patients who will continue to need the drugs. As I have said before I weaned myself off of the drug Lipitor (a $22 billion a year income for the drug industries). I was given Lipitor for my high cholesterol. Omega-3 does a better job of lowering cholesterol at a fraction of the cost. But the drug companies don’t make money off of fish oil.

Lipitor and other statin drugs are recommended for millions of healthy men and women over the age of 69 but a 2007 analysis in The Lancet found that these medications did not reduce premature deaths in these groups.

I heard at a Town Forum last Saturday, August 1, 2009, that we had the best health care system in the world. The World Health Organization rated America 37^th in the world.

As the United States looks to reform the health care system organizations are spending over $1 million a day to keep the status quo – a broken health care system. No one questions that our system is broken but the organizations making big profits from our current system are not concerned about the common person they only want to keep making money.

You can have a voice if you contact your elected government officials and say you want a change.