Pharmaceuticals Anonymous

NAMI Lies: A brief analysis of NAMI sponsored misinformation about “schizophrenia”

2012-01-02T00:52:00.000-08:00

http://recoveryfromschizophrenia.org/2011/12/nami-lies-a-brief-analysis-of-nami-sponsored-misinformation-about-“schizophrenia”/

NAMI Lies: A brief analysis of NAMI sponsored misinformation about “schizophrenia”
Author: Ron Unger

At least as of today, if a person Googles “schizophrenia recovery” the first link that is not an advertisement is to a document titled “Understanding Schizophrenia and Recovery” authored by NAMI. (I would link to it for your convenience, but I hesitate to do anything that would further increase the Google rankings of a site that claims to be increasing “understanding” yet seems more dedicated to deliberately distorting the facts.)

I’ll start with a disclaimer. While I am seriously challenging the national organization of NAMI that is responsible for the document under discussion, I am not expressing an opinion about any local NAMI chapter. Local NAMI chapters have some degree of independence from NAMI national, and some of them are fairly progressive. But hopefully NAMI chapters that wouldn’t spread misinformation will do more to challenge the national organization that seems only too willing to lie to the public.

NAMI’s propaganda efforts start within the title of the document, which is: “Schizophrenia and Recovery; What you need to know about this medical illness.” NAMI is implying that it is a fact that “schizophrenia” is a “medical illness” and wants us to think that it is not in any way an understandable reaction to life events; but there are actually large numbers of both research studies and individual stories that point to the opposite conclusion.

The next sentence spreads more confusion, with its claim that “Schizophrenia interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, manage emotions, make decisions, and relate to others.” NAMI wants us to ignore the possibility that the person diagnosed with “schizophrenia” may be having problems with thinking, emotions, decisions and relationships because of what happened to them and how they were treated, and wants us to think that some theoretical “illness” called “schizophrenia” did it instead.

It is worth reflection on the likely consequences of telling someone that their experience and behavior is definitely being caused by a “medical illness,” and not by what has happened to them and how they chose to react to it. A very probable effect of this sort of “explanation” is the creation of confusion within the person that in itself is likely to interfere with that person’s ability to handle thinking, emotions, decisions and relationships. Of course, if the NAMI explanation creates more difficulties for the person, those difficulties will also be attributed by NAMI to the “illness” and not to the misinformation.

On page 2, it is stated that “Research has linked schizophrenia to changes in brain chemistry and structure….” Reading this, one might assume that changes in brain chemistry and structure have been found to go along with “schizophrenia” in the same way that having high blood sugar goes along with diabetes, a condition NAMI suggests in the next sentence is “like” schizophrenia. But this simply isn’t true. Instead, researchers have only found that the people diagnosed with schizophrenia are LIKELY to have brain differences compared to the AVERAGE person who doesn’t have the diagnosis: many people diagnosed with schizophrenia don’t have the differences, and some people not diagnosed do have the differences. And it isn’t clear where all the differences come from: someare likely caused by the drugs, others by being inactive, and most all of the differences have also been found in people who suffered abuse in childhood.

This last issue, abuse in childhood, is something NAMI clearly doesn’t want anyone to associate with “schizophrenia.” NAMI states definitively in the next paragraph that “Schizophrenia is not caused by bad parenting….” NAMI makes this statement despite what is now a very large amount of research that shows that abuse in childhood dramatically raises the odds of getting a diagnosis of schizophrenia in adulthood. This applies to all types of abuse: neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse. More severe levels of abuse have been associated with more severe levels of later psychosis in all the studies that looked for such a “dosage relationship.”

NAMI’s denial of the possible link between bad parenting, or abuse, and later “schizophrenia” amounts to collaboration with abusers in denying the effects of abuse even for people who have been severely mistreated. “You are just “schizophrenic,” you can’t blame your problems on anything that happened to you!” Such denial is itself “crazy-making” and results in further emotional abandonment of already abused people; but of course if any “symptoms” result from the “schizophrenic” person encountering such lies, it will just be blamed on “the illness.”

In making the above statements, I am definitely not saying that all people diagnosed with “schizophrenia” had abusive childhoods or that it is definitely true that any NAMI parents are abusers. There was a period of time when many clinicians would automatically blame parents when a child appeared to have “schizophrenia” but such approaches were seriously over-simplified. More complex perspectives acknowledge that children may experience abuse and trauma growing up even when parents are doing their best to keep them safe, and in other cases, children may have a non-traumatic childhood but experience problems that lead to the difficulties labeled “schizophrenia” later in life. So NAMI would have my full support if their point was that we should not assume that bad parenting caused any particular case of “schizophrenia,” but when they claim that bad parenting is definitely never a cause, they appear to have deliberately lost touch with reality. (The information on the connection between having an abuse history and a later diagnosis of “schizophrenia” is now widely enough know that I believe there is no way NAMI leadership could be unaware of it, which is why I am suggesting that NAMI is “lying” and not just misinformed or misunderstanding.)

NAMI goes on to declare in the next paragraph that “schizophrenia” is completely unrelated to “dissociative identity disorder’ (a disorder common among those severely traumatized as children.) While NAMI is only repeating here what many so-called “experts” have to say, the truth seems to be that the same sorts of problems exist for people with both diagnoses, and the “voices” that often plague those diagnosed with “schizophrenia” are not fundamentally different from the “dissociated identity states” that plague those diagnosed with “dissociative identity disorder.”

Toward the bottom of page 2, NAMI states that “Medications are crucial to symptom control….” The fact is that only some people find medications crucial to symptom control. Many people find ways to completely recover and definitely do not need medications. Others don’t recover but also find that the medications don’t make things better and may make things worse. Of course, some people do find the medications helpful, but even in those cases it is often unclear if they are truly necessary; it may just be that the right alternatives have not been offered to some of these people.

I won’t even bother trying to sort out the distortions in the rest of the document. It isn’t all misinformation: NAMI mixes in some facts and some helpful details. But the existence of so many false claims in just the beginning of a document indicates that NAMI is more committed to spreading propaganda than it is to the truth.

I hope that if enough of us comment on these sorts of lies, we can embarrass NAMI into cleaning up its act. And by confronting NAMI, we can also make some headway in getting more accurate information out to those who need it, accurate information that is seriously overdue for most of those in our mental health system.
&&&&&&

Link to article on 29 Medical Causes of Schizophrenia

Peter Lehmann on coming off psychiatric drugs

2012-01-02T00:40:00.000-08:00

Warning signs re psychiatric drugs
http://www.peter-lehmann-publishing.com/articles/lehmann/pdf/warningsigns.pdf

Thank you, Peter Lehmann, for sharing this information!

Video: The Marketing of Madness - Are We All Insane?

2011-12-31T15:37:00.000-08:00

Link

UK: Doctors sued for creating Valium addicts

2011-12-31T00:38:00.000-08:00

It's about time! Link

For help on getting off Benzos, check out Dr. Ashton's site and manual.

D.J. Jaffe

2011-11-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

http://youtu.be/-CwM4wMOBiw

How to prepare for an emergency
by
D.J. Jaffe
Sometime, during the course of your loved one’s illness, you may need the police. By preparing now, before you need help, you can make the day you need help go much more smoothly. There are three things to do.
First, you should establish contact with your local precinct, before you need help. (That’s right. Violate your loved one’s privacy and get them flagged by the local cops. This way, they will know to show up with one hand on their balls and the other hand on their tasers.)
Secondly, you should have the attached info sheet filled out in duplicate, ready at all times.
Thirdly, you should read the article at the end of this page on how to make 911 respond to your calls. (The part where we explain how to make a false report and support it with “evidence” such as furniture we turn over ourselves to make it look like our loved one is violent.)
1. ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH PRECINCT
Someday your loved one may be missing from home or hospital. Normally, the police will not fill out a missing persons report & start looking for them until they are gone 24 hours. But by making arrangements beforehand, you can insure that if this happens to you, they will start looking immediately. Or, let’s say your relative is becoming increasingly agitated & uncontrollable & you have to call the police to take them to a hospital. It is very likely that the police will go to the hospital of their choice, not yours. But by making arrangements beforehand, you can have a say in where that person is taken. In addition, if your relative is picked up for some crime (drugs, let’s say); by making prior arrangements, you can help see that they go to a hospital instead of jail. Finally, it may make it easier for you to get someone involuntarily committed, if & when you have to do that.
The way to make these arrangements is to call the “Community Patrol Officer Program” (C-POP Officer) at your local police precinct, now, before you need help. If you do not have a C-POP program (i.e, outside NYC), call the station commander.
Tell them that you have a MI relative at home & that you want to make the police aware of it, in case you ever need help. Tell them you are worried that if they are ever missing the police won’t start looking until after 24 hours; or that if you need police to take your relative to a hospital, they won’t go to the one you want; or that if your relative is busted, they will go to jail, instead of to a hospital. Tell the C-POP (pronounced, “see-pop”) officer, that it was suggested that individuals with MI relatives contact the C-POP officers, before help is needed to make them aware of the situation, & that is why you are calling. The officer may think this is unusual, but you should do it anyway. FOLLOW THE CONVERSATION UP, WITH A LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE C-POP OFFICER & SEND A COPY TO THE PRECINCT COMMANDER.
If you ever do need help, call 911 if it’s an emergency. If not, call your local precinct. When the police come, mention the C-POP Officer & Precinct Commander by name. The police who come to your door do not know what to expect. By mentioning these names, you help calm them & help identify that it is not you who needs help, it is your relative. They will also be more likely to listen to you, & may even get the Commander on the phone or walkie talkie. Because you have prepared ahead of time, they are more likely to take the person where you want them to be taken, & to listen to you carefully. Be calm. (and bring donuts)
2. PREPARE INFORMATION & HAVE IT READY
If your relative needs emergency hospitalization, it will be extremely stressful to everyone. It is made more difficult by the myriad of questions that need to be answered. By having the answers to these questions written and ready, you can insure that the emergency hospitalization will not only be less stressful, but that your relative is more likely to get proper care. For instance, identify his doctor, & what medicines he is currently on, so those medicines can be continued, increased, or removed as appropriate. Indicate what hospital you use. Below is a form you should fill out. After filling it out, make two copies & keep one on hand (in your wallet) all the time. One for you, one for the police, one for the hospital.
FILL OUT THE FOLLOWING FORM AND KEEP DUPLICATES HANDY
CRISIS INFORMATION PAGE (FOR POLICE/HOSPITAL/EMS)
Please take this person to _____________________hospital.
This person is not a criminal. He/she has a mental illness. Please treat with compassion and dignity. Thank you. (That part is to assuage your conscience, so you can sleep without concern that your loved one has been arrested, hand-cuffed, four-point-restrained, or coerced under threat of physical force to remove them from their home to a locked facility where they will be drugged and, perhaps, restrained to a bed, placed in an empty room with a mattress on the floor, or even electroshocked against their will with your consent. Better yet, just invent your own definition of compassion and dignity to include these degrading human rights violations.)
Name__________________________________Age_________
Address____________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Telephone_______________________Birthday____________
Social Security #______________Blue Cross #_____________
Blue Shield #_____________Other Med Ins #_____________
Is on SSI?_________Is on SSDI?________Other?__________
Eye Color______Hair Color_________Skin______________
Blood Type_________Eyeglasses?_______
Height_______________Weight__________________
Tatoos? Other Identifying Marks_______________________
Military/VA Status?__________________________________
Current Primary Diagnosis____________________________
Secondary Diagnosis__________________________________
Name of Commanding Officer where patient lives______________
Name of Community Officer where patient lives_________________________
Precinct Phone Number______________________________
Name of Doctor______________________________________
Doctor’s Phone Number_______________________________
Name of Hospital____________________________________
Current Medicines and Dosages________________________
___________________________________________________
Suicidal?_____________Violent?________________________
Date of Last Hospitalization_________How Long?________
Date of Last Crisis____________________________________
Allergies?________________Hi Blood Pressure?__________
Name of outpatient program___________________________
Number of outpatient program________________________
Name of Case/Social Worker__________________________
Number of Case/Social Worker________________________
In Emergency Contact________________________________
Relationship to Patient________________________________
Address_____________________________________________
Day Phone__________________Eve. Phone____________
How to make 911 respond to your calls
(This article was based on information provided by Dr. Darwin Buschman, Chief Psychiatrist, Manhattan Mobile Crisis Intervention Services.)
Individuals with neurobiological disorders (“NBD” formerly known as serious mental illnesses) are occassionaly danger to themselves, suicidal and/or danger to others. When this happens, you may want to call 911.
It is often difficult to get 911 to respond to your calls if you need someone to come & take your MI relation to a hospital emergency room (ER). They may not believe that you really need help. And if they do send the police, the police are often reluctant to take someone for involuntary commitment. That is because cops are concerned about liability. They don’t want to be sued for taking someone to the ER involuntarily. Another reason is that they must stay with the person until he or she is admitted. This can take between 2-48 hours. Cops don’t want to sit in ER; sergeants don’t want to take two police off the streets. Following is how you can make 911 & the police overcome their reluctance to help.
When calling 911, the best way to get quick action is to say, “Violent EDP.” Or “Suicidal EDP.” EDP stands for Emotionally Disturbed Person. This shows the operator that you know what you’re talking about. Describe the danger very specifically. “He’s a danger to himself” is not as good as “This morning my son said he was going to jump off the roof.” Be specific. “He’s a danger to others” is not as good as “My son has just struck a neighbor for no reason.” Also, give past history of violence. This is especially important if the person is not acting up. Again, be specific. “Every time my son gets psychotic, he has hurt himself. Last spring, he cut his wrists. I think he’s going to do it again.”
When the police come, they need compelling evidence that the person is a danger to self or others before they can involuntarily take him or her to ER for evaluation. If the person stops acting out by the time police arrive, this can be difficult. Again, give specific recent examples of danger.
Realize that you & the cops are at cross purposes.
You want them to take someone to the hospital. They don’t want to do it. You need to get on common ground with the cops to gain their cooperation. Say, “Officer, I understand your reluctance. Let me spell out for you the problems & the danger. I understand that if you take my son to the ER involuntarily, you’ll have to wait with him until the doctors make a decision on whether to admit. I also understand your concern about litigation if you take him involuntarily. Therefore, why don’t we work together so my son goes voluntarily.” Cops will often change their attitude dramatically if you say this. If a person goes voluntarily, the cops don’t have to stay in the ER. They don’t have to use handcuffs. If a person goes involuntarily, they go the same way, except in handcuffs. This can often be used to convince a person to go voluntarily. You can say, ” I know you don’t want to go, but I think you need to go.” The cops can say, “You’re going to go one way or another, cuffs or no cuffs.” Usually the person will go voluntarily when faced with this choice. (Threats work! We call this giving them a “choice”. You can get a woman to “voluntarily” have “sex” with you using the same methods. “Either you let me put my penis in your vagina, or I hold you down and shove it in. Either way, you’re going to get fucked.” See how effective that can be? If you have a gun or a taser like the cops will have when they come for your loved one, you can very quickly get the woman to “voluntarily” have “sex” with you.)
Once the person is taken to the ER, cops leave. So it’s a good idea to have a family member accompany the patient. Let the ER security guard, triage nurse, & others know that the person is MI & a danger to self or others. When you go to ER, make sure you have the “How to Prepare for Emergencies” form that is in this newsletter (Note: This is a form with the name, address, SS#, Med history, current med, diagnosis, name and number of doctor, name and number of next of kin, insurance, etc. In other words, all the info you would be asked in an emergency).
911 should be first resort in an immediate emergency, & the last resort when it’s not. If your family member needs help, not necessarily hospitalization, try Mobile Crisis Intervention Services.
The fact is that some families have learned to ‘turn over the furniture’ before calling the police. Many police require individuals with neurobiological disorders to be imminently dangerous before treating the person against their will. If the police see furniture disturbed they will usually conclude that the person is imminently dangerous.
Read How and why to change involuntary treatment laws in your state.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT WHICH MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO PROVIDE THIS INFORMATION TO THOSE WHO COULD BENEFIT FROM IT.
NAMI/ NYC (formerly AMI/FAMI) does not endorse any medicines or treatments. This info is a public service as part of our efforts to educate and help others affected by these disorders. Do not rely on it. Consult your doctor before making any decisions. NAMI/NYC is a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of people with neurobiolgical disorders (“NBD”, formerly known as ‘mental’ illness) through education, advocacy, support, and research. If this has been useful to you, PLEASE JOIN US . Send a deductable contribution of $30 (or more) to NAMI/NYC, 432 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 to get on our mailing list or call (212) 684-3AMI. To join chapter outside NYS: 1 800 950 NAMI. This was downloaded from http://www.schizophrenia.com/ami

Signs and Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency

2011-07-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

With thanks to Sepp Hallberger, who posted this on his blog - go visit him!
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/

Dr. Ashton's Benzodiazepines Co-operation Not Confrontation (BCNC) Group

2011-07-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.bcnc.org.uk/

"Do You Have a Problem with Benzodiazepines or Z drugs?

Do You Need Help and Support?

The group is known as: Benzodiazepines Co-operation Not Confrontation (BCNC). It is primarily aimed at prescription supplied benzodiazepines, although help will be given wherever it is needed...

We need people to join us in helping to run this group which will be a local branch of what will eventually be a nationwide group whose aim amongst others is to challenge current knowledge of benzodiazepine and Z drugs in the medical profession and to change it for the better. This will include reducing prescribing rates for benzodiazepines and Z drugs beyond 2 - 4 weeks to new patients and improved withdrawal guidance and knowledge for managing long term users of benzodiazepines or Z drugs.

The benzodiazepine problem is largely a medically induced one and if it is to ever change it will require the medical profession to change. This website it is hoped will provide knowledge for the long term users of benzodiazepine or Z drugs internationally, to recruit volunteers to take up the task of changing the medical professions views on benzodiazepines and Z drugs and as well as to serve as a platform to get our views across to the medical profession.

Long term use of benzodiazepines is associated with considerable numbers of both general and mental health problems Included amongst these are over sedation, which has contributing effects on Road Traffic Accidents, accidents in the home and also accidents at work, forgetfullness, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, emotional blunting, suicidal thoughts, and an extreme or irrational fear of open or public places (agorophobia).

These side effects as well as others are more pronounced in the elderly often causing mental confusion and dizziness which results in falls and fractures which often leads to hospitalisation.

There are over 1.2 million people dependent on this class of drug in the UK. Are you or any of your family affected by the dependency on long term prescription supplied benzodiazepines, which can be used by the medical profession for a variety of illnesses both of the physical and psychological nature?"

PROTOCOL FOR TREATMENT OF XANAX WITHDRAWAL

2011-07-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

Our friend Gwen Olsen talks about the dangers of highly addicting tranquilzers and how to withdraw safely.

Gwen Olsen spent fifteen years as a pharmaceutical sales rep working for such health care giants as Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Abbott Laboratories. She enjoyed a successful, fast-paced career until several conscious-altering experiences began awakening her to the dangers lurking in every American medicine cabinet. Her most poignant lessons, however, came as both victim and survivor of life-threatening adverse drug reactions. After leaving pharmaceutical sales in 2000, Gwen worked in the natural foods industry first as an Account Manager for Nature's Way, and then as a Regional Sales Manager for Gaia Herbs. She is currently a writer, speaker, and natural health consultant.
In this video Gwen discusses anxiolytics (anti-anxiety medications). These medications are sometimes also called minor tranquilizers. These drugs include the benzodiazephines such as Valium, Xanax and Ativan. Buspar is also non-benzodiazephine anxiolytic.
These drugs are highly addictive and people experience severe withdrawal symptoms when coming off of these drugs.
Gwen specifically talks about her own Xanax addiction.
She also discusses "rebound syndrome" and "discontinuation syndrome", which are basically just withdrawal symptoms.

http://www.gwenolsen.com/

http://www.youtube.com/psychtruth

Food for thought... seems to be in keeping with the approach of Dr. Heather Ashton, though taking a different tack.

Reposted from http://www.benzoliberty.com/information/xanaxwd.php

"PROTOCOL FOR TREATMENT OF XANAX WITHDRAWAL
By: Ronald A. Gershman, M.D.  
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT HAVE A DATE FOR THIS ARTICLE
BUT THERE IS VERY VALUABLE INFORMATION IN IT.
ADDITIONAL DUE DILIGENCE SHOULD ALWAYS BE DONE TO TRY TO CONFIRM RESEARCH
SUCH AS THE FOLLOWING EVEN THOUGH THE DOCTOR
APPARENTLY PRACTICED AT CEDAR SINAI HOSPITAL IN LOS ANGELES   
BACKGROUND    Xanax is a triazolobenzodiazepine that is very similar to other benzodiazepines
in most of its properties, but does have some properties that distinguish it from
the group in general, which are specifically its anti-panic and anti-depressant properties.
As an anxiolytic or anti-anxiety agent, it functions more or less indistinguishably from other benzodiazepines.
In that capacity, it is a relatively short-acting anti-anxiety agent with a half life of somewhere between 8 and 12 hours.  
Xanax, when administered on a regular basis, will produce physiological dependence
with a severe withdrawal syndrome that relates to both dose and duration of usage,
with duration being more important than actual dosage.
Higher doses will produce more rapid physiologic addiction than lower doses,but severe levels of physical addiction can occur in even the low therapeutic range of dosaging at 1 mg. or 2 mg. per day.
Average length of time necessary to occur to the extent that the patient will clinically experience clearly noticeable symptoms of withdrawal is approximately four to six months at dosages between 2 mg. to 4 mg.
If there is a history of addiction to benzodiazepines, an addiction can occur
much more rapidly over a shorter period of time, with a more intense withdrawal.  
Since Xanax is a relatively short-acting agent, the symptoms of withdrawal have a relatively rapid onset and rapidly accelerate, producing severe dysphoria and symptoms of withdrawal in the patient beginning at approximately six hours from the last dose and generally peaking at
approximately 24 to 72 hours after discontinuation.
What has become clinically apparent with Xanax which appears to be somewhat different than the other benzodiazepines is that the patients ability to self-detox or be able to be gradually tapered off of the medication is markedly more difficult. Thusly, once the physiologic dependence has occurred with Xanax, the ability of the patient to discontinue use successfully on their own is quite low, and medical assistance becomes of significant necessity in the majority of cases.     
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME
The withdrawal syndrome from Xanax and other benzodiazepines are quite similar, with the exception that Xanax has a much higher incidence of panic attack and a bereavement type of emotional lability that is singularly more severe.
Since the symptoms are almost all internal, with a few physical or objective manifestations,
the diagnosis of it can be very difficult. Patients have a difficult time verbally describing
what is occurring, and much of the descriptions often take on a quality or character
reminiscent of the emotional or psychiatric problem for which they originally
began taking Xanax, and is not understood or elucidated as withdrawal symptomology.  
The withdrawal syndrome, though, is quite clearly different and can be easily diagnosed
with a clear understanding of some of the more defining features.
In the early stage of withdrawal, there is a presentation of a sense of anxiety and
apprehension associated with increasing subjective sense of tremor and mild bifrontal headache.
This rapidly progresses to feelings of panic-like anxiety with tachycardia and palpitations,
as well as a rapidly progressing feeling of de-realization, which is an altered sense of reality, additionally associated with marked startle response and a general amplification of most sensory input. As the withdrawal syndrome progresses, there is a marked disturbance of proprioception, with difficulty in ambulation relative to feeling "dizzy" and "unsteady,"
needing to use reference and physical objects to steady oneself. With the proprioceptive problem increasing in severity simple acts such as swallowing, signing one's name, talking or even buttoning a shirt can become extremely difficult. Many patients at this stage describe
hot/cold sensations and generalized myalgia.  
There is also a progession of extreme emotional lability with sudden outbursts of crying or near panic levels of anxiety and fearfulness which will have sudden onset without clear connection to external events.
Associated with this are frequent hypochodriacal fears of morbid consequence from the sensations they are feeling, such as fear of heart attack or stroke.
Patients will also experience a type of emotional dysphoria which is very difficult for them to verbalize, but which come very close by cumulative description to a bereavement type of feeling that is very painful emotionally.
Additionally, the amplification of almost all sensory information coming into the brain,
other than that of taste, can produce many bizarre misinterpretation of sensory stimulation ranging from feeling one's teeth rotating in their sockets to parts of their bodies disassociating or "falling off".  
As the withdrawal symptom further progresses, illusionary and hallucinatory phenomena, predominately of a visual nature, will begin to manifest themselves, initially with patterns and geometric shapes, and then into full-formed complex visual hallucinations. These also often will become associated with delusions of bodily dysfunction or discorporation.
It is very frequent and common for the patient to conclude that he is having a nervous breakdown, or "going crazy" as an attempt to try to understand the process at hand,
not understanding it as withdrawal phenomena.
With further progression, disorientation to person and place will occur with full delirium, and eventually withdrawal will finalize with tonic-clonic major motor seizure activity,
generally singular in nature, although several cases of status have been reported.  
The last triad of symptoms--of hallucinosis, delirium and seizure--are classified as major symptoms of Xanax withdrawal, with the others classified as minor symptoms.
The withdrawal syndrome can take from six months to two years to fully resolve and is well-documented in literature regarding this.
Not all patients will experience withdrawal symptomology for that length of time, but most will have withdrawal for at least several months.  
TREATMENT APPROACH  
The treatment approach is focused primarily on the utilization of Tegretol, which has been shown to be extremely effective in preventing and of the major symptoms of Xanax withdrawal, as well as attenuating significantly most of the minor symptoms.
The Tegretol is utilized along with Klonopin as a cross-over benzodiazepine to stabilize and
to create control of withdrawal until adequate Tegretol blood levels have been achieved,
then allowing one to discontinue the Klonopin.
The total length of treatment will span somewhere between 10 to 30 days which, relative to the natural course of this withdrawal syndrome, actually represents a short period of time.  
The first step is to estimate the total daily dose of Xanax and start the patient on an equivalent amount of Klonopin, which relates to Xanax on a ration of 2 mg. Klonopin to 1 mg. of Xanax.
Thusly, a patient with a daily dose of 4 mg. of Xanax would be givena single bedtime dose of Klonopin at 8 mg., which will quickly and effectively stabilize them and prevent further symptoms of withdrawal. Additionally, the patient is started on Tegretol at 50 mg. three times a day and is increased by 50 mg. increments until a total daily dose of 400 mg. daily, in divided doses q.i.d., is achieved, at which the first Tegretol blood level will be ascertained.
It will generally take four to seven days to reach therapeutic blood levels.  
Since Klonopin has an extremely long half life of 40 to 60 hours, the patient is well covered with a single bed time dosaging, and this benzodiazepine has shown little abuse potential for drug seeking behavior and provides smooth, steady serum levels during the course of treatment.
Generally, beginning day 2 or 5, the dose of Klonopin is decreased as the dose of Tegretol being increased. Since therapeutic levels of Tegretol can often be achieved while the patient is being titrated to a therapeutic blood level of Tegretol, the Klonopin is reduced at a rate of approximately 1 mg. per day. generally, with doses in excess of 6 to 8 mg. per day of Klonopin,
there is enough time with this rate of withdrawal to slowly establish a Tegretol level without neurotoxicity during the cross-over, and there is little probability of any breakthrough major symptoms of withdrawal due to Klonopins very long half life.
Since both Klonopin and Tegretol are very potent anti-convulsants, the incidence of seizure has been essentially 0 in over 300 cases that we have treated so far. The Klonopin is thusly being
decreased at 1 mg. daily until one reaches 1 mg., at which point decreases are then done by 0.25 mg. increments anywhere from once a day, on average, once a week.  
It is important to understand that Tegretol has a significant impact on auto-induction of liver enzymes, and initially, for the first exposure to Tegretol, a dose as low as 200 mg. may produce a blood level in the therapeutic range of somewhere between 4 to 10 mcg/L necessary for control of seizure and withdrawal; but as liver enzymes are induced, increasing doses will be necessary over the necessary weeks to maintain an adequate blood level. The average dose eventually that is achieved in steady state with induction of liver enzymes is somewhere between 400 mg. and 800 mg. daily, with an average of approximately 600 mg.
Additionally, the half life of Tegretol will be essentially 20 to 26 hours when initially used,
but will progressively shorten as liver enzyme induction takes place, approaching a half life as short as six to eight hours and requiring multiple daily dosaging at that time.  
The major complications with Tegretol are neurotoxic effects when blood level will be generally too high, or above the level of 10 mcg/L, or due to an accumulation of its first order epoxide metabolite.
These complications of neurotoxicity present themselves as nauseousness and vomiting, significant sedation, dizziness and dyscoordination.
Also frequently reported is a sense of significant gastric retention with delayed gastric emptying.
Although the side effects of Tegretol can be successfully treated with Reglan, Tigan and/or Antivert, it is far better to slowly titrate the dose and avoid developing these side effects.
The presense of them can be ascertained to represent blood levels that are unacceptably high and
to slow the rate of increasing of the Tegretol dosage.
There is a small percentage of the population of people who simply do not tolerate Tegretol because of the GI side effects.  
As noted, Tegretol is almost 100% effective in controlling major symptoms of Xanax withdrawal,
but will very in its effectiveness in attenuating the minor symptoms,
thus requiring sometimes slower titration down off the Klonopin.
It is infrequent that one needs to go slower than once a week in the 0.25 mg decreases,
and often one can be decreased on a daily basis without symptoms of withdrawal, but at times the decrease may have to be as slow as once a month.
Once the patient is off the Klonopin and on the Tegretol in a steady state basis, the patient is maintained on Tegretol for approximately one to two months after achieving this state, and then tapered off of the Tegretol over a four to five day period of time.
Should there be a recurrence of withdrawal symptomology, then the Tegretol is reinstated for an additional month, and then the process repeated.  
CBC and checks of white blood count should be done periodically while the patient is on Tegretol.
There often will be mild leukopenia with white count at 3000 to 4000 found with Tegretol, which is benign.
The incidence of agranulocytosis is extremely rare with Tegretol, and there is support in the literature for the lack of need for rigorous routine white count testing while on this medication.
Prudence, though, would require some periodic evaluation of white blood count while the patient is being maintained on the Tegretol.    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POST WITHDRAWAL TREATMENT
Once the patient has been successfully detoxed off Xanax and/or the Tegretol, the issues of underlying conditions, such as Agoraphobia, Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or Major Depressive Disorder, often must still be dealt with.
Whereas Buspar is of no utility in managing Xanax withdrawal or Xanax-generated anxiety,
it can be quite helpful for anxiety that is non-benzodiazepine withdrawal related, and patients, after completion of withdrawal, can be, and often have been, successfully maintained on Buspar at 40 to 60 mg. daily as a final dose with good control of underlying anxiety.
Treatment of Panic Disorder and/or Agoraphobia will often require a tricyclic anti-depressant in conjunction with Buspar, with essentially good success.
The introduction of the anti-depressant can be begun at the time withdrawal is started,
or can be deferred to a later date, depending on the intensity and frequency of panic attacks that the patient may be having.  
It should be kept in mind that a patient with underlying Agoraphobia or Panic Disorder
will have a marked exacerbation of his/her pre-existing illness during the course of withdrawal.
It is often then of necessity to start an anti-depressant to stop panic attacks in order to get the patient through the withdrawal process successfully.
The presence of a tricyclic will not interfere materially in any way with the medications for withdrawal.  
Patients having gone through this process will generally need a significant degree of emotional support and constant re-assurance during the withdrawal stage that they are indeed in withdrawal and are not suffering some morbid physical or psychiatric disorder other than the withdrawal process.
Weekly visits with medication management, plus frequent phone consultation generally is what is required and generally produces a successful outcome on an outpatient basis.
In more severe cases, and in situatioons where time or efficiency is paramount, then inpatient treatment is the most effective route to be travelled, and the detoxification can be accomplished much more rapidly in that modality.  
It is critically important during the course of this that the patient refrain from use of all psychoactive drugs, particularly alcohol and stimulants, as well as over the counter preparations that contain pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine.
Lastly, caffeine must be avoided by the patient for a period of approximately six months to one year.
Caffeine is a benzodiazepine antagonist and will occupy the receptor site, blocking Klonopin or other agents and intensify withdrawal markedly. Innocuous or inadvertant ingestion of high doses of caffeine is often a major complication to the withdrawal process,
and patient education in this area is very important, as well as reassurance should it happen that it will wear off within a relatively short period of time.  
Lastly, for patients who have severe symptoms of tachycardia or palpitations as an attendant withdrawal symptom, the addition of a beta blocker such as Atenolol at 50 mg. q. day is highly effective in stopping this and generally does not need to be continued for more than 4 to 6 weeks."

"Cold turkey" withdrawal from Xanax can be a very harmful thing to do. You may feel as if you are having a heart attack, a seizure, or rebounding (needing more than what you were originally on). And studies indicate that "cold turkey" has a lower success rate than tapering.

Tapering schedules here for Xanax and other kinds of medications:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm

Info on Xanax
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanax

DOCTOR YOURSELF by Dr. Andrew Saul - Audiobook

2011-06-15T03:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.archive.org/details/DoctorYourself
Free to download - DOCTOR YOURSELF by Dr. Andrew Saul - a wonderful audio book about how to build health with good food.

Would you like to read the passages too? Dr Saul's website is here: http://www.doctoryourself.com/

Treatment for Benzodiazepine Withdrawal by Charles Gant, N.M.D., Ph.D.

2011-06-15T02:47:00.001-07:00

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/benzo.htm Link

Treatment for Benzodiazepine Withdrawal by Charles Gant, N.M.D., Ph.D.

(This protocol should not be used in place of a recommended treatment provided by your health care provider and should only be used with their approval. I have found this protocol to be useful for many of my patients but I cannot guarantee that it will be effective for everyone. Normally, I would recommend a full integrative medicine workup including amino acid plasma levels, RBC minerals, essential fatty acids and other diagnostic testing to determine precisely which of the interventions noted here are actually needed.)

Benzodiazepines are a class of drugs often used as tranquilizers. Full information on "benzo" problems is available at www.benzosupport.org

Here is my current and ever-changing protocol for benzodiazepine withdrawal.

1) GABA 500 to 2000 mg., two or three times a day (GABA, like tyrosine, may not cross the BBB unless the patient is very stressed and it appears that the studies that suggest that GABA does not cross were done on unstressed subjects.)

2) Theanine 200 to 600 mg., two or three time a day (Theanine competes with glutamate receptors to mitigate the neuroexcitatory effects. In another elegant balancing mechanism, the brain balances glutamate (excitatory) which is made into the generally inhibitory GABA (requires B6) The theanine in green tea may be one reason that the also present caffeine does not seem to stimulate tea drinkers as much.)

3) P5P (pyridoxal-5-phosphate) 50 mg. - One capsule two or three times a day (Some people don't phosphorylate B6 well). (Vitamin B5)

4) Glutamine powder - One level teaspoonful twice a day to three heaping teaspoonfuls a day, dissolved in water, one hour before meals, last dose at bedtime (Especially important for hypoglycemic patients, as glutamine deficiency is by far the main immediate cause of hypoglycemia and glutamine is the precursor for glutamate).

5) Magnesium taurate - 1000 mg. twice a day to 2000 mg. three time a day

6) Salt food lightly with NuSalt/NoSalt (potassium chloride)

7) 5HTP - 100 mg. twice a day to 200 mg. three times a day

8) Purified soy lecithin - 1000 mg. three times a day (B5 (pantethine (not pantothenic acid) needed to acetylate the choline to acetylcholine, generally relaxing and downregulating of catecholamines)

9) Pantethine 500 mg. - One twice a day

10) Optizinc - 20-30 mg. twice a day. (Lowers the commonly high copper, which inhibits 5HTP decarboxylase. Activates digestive enzymes to help with amino acid absorption.)

11) Lipoic acid - 300 mg. twice a day (oral chelation for neuroexcitatory heavy metals, especially mercury)

12) Mutivitamin/multimineral

13) Distilled fish oil (omega 3) 4000 mg a day and Borage oil (omega 6) 1000 mg. a day (Essential fatty acids ultimately increase the neuroplasticity of cell membranes, possibly assisting receptor activity).

14) Add herbal "sedatives" if necessary

http://www.understand-andcure-anxietyattacks-panicattacks-depression.com/5-htp-Melatonin.html Did you know that sleep deprivation is used as a torture technique? Sleeplessness can occur during meds withdrawal, and Melatonin and 5HTP can help - this article explains need-to-know biochemistry.

Another Doctor on Big Pharma’s Payroll

2011-05-29T04:05:00.000-07:00

When Dr. Victor Tapson, a Duke University researcher, wrote the Food and Drug Administration urging that the agency delay the approval of a generic blood thinner, it was a recommendation that carried some clout. Tapson, after all, was writing on behalf of the American College of Chest Physicians. But now it seems Tapson has some explaining to do. A Senate Finance Committee report released last week found that Tapson was on the payroll of a pharmaceutical company that was trying to protect its profits by blocking the release of a generic rival. POGO Investigator Paul Thacker explains how Tapson was part of a major lobbying push by drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis. Link

Google Under Criminal Investigation Over Drug Ads: Report

2011-05-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/13/google-drug-ad-investigation_n_861532.html

Earlier this week, Google revealed in a cryptic filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was setting aside $500 million--equivalent to around one sixth of its revenue in the first quarter of 2011--to resolve a mysterious case with the Department of Justice.

Now, sources say that Google is nearing a settlement with regulators following a criminal investigation into allegations that the search giant profited from selling online ads to illegal pharmacies. These illicit pharmacies may violate U.S. law by peddling expired or counterfeit prescription medication, or selling medicine without a physician's prescription.

The $500 million Google may be required to pay would be unprecedented: According to the Wall Street Journal, "A payment of that size would be among the highest penalties paid by companies in disputes with the U.S. government."

Though Google has attempted to crack down on rogue pharmacies in the past--the company filed a suit against illegal prescription drug sellers last year and now requires pharmacies to receive accreditation before purchasing ads--people "familiar with the matter" said investigators are probing "the extent to which Google knowingly turned a blind eye to the alleged illicit activities of some of its advertisers—and how much executives knew," notes the Journal.

Google and the Department of Justice have declined to comment on the investigation. Google co-founder Sergey Brin dodged a question on the probe during Google's I/O conference.

"Luckily, since we changed roles a few months ago, I don't have to deal with filings, and the DOJ, the SEC or other acronyms," Brin said, according to the Journal.

The investigation could have far-reaching implications for Google's lucrative ad business.

We wonder if a lot of people who find their substance of choice is unavailable will be forced to go off their meds... that could be disastrous if done "cold turkey". But information on how to withdraw from psychotropic meds without doing yourself further harm is on this site. Check out our LINKS in the right-hand column - you will find info on halting antidepressants/SSRI's by Dr. David Healey and the excellent work by Dr. Heather Ashton on getting off Benzos - and other resources.

Long-term use of bipolar drug questioned

2011-05-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

Long-term use of bipolar drug questioned
05/03/11 06:18 PM, EDT

The growing use of a popular drug in the long-term treatment of bipolar disorder is based largely on a single, flawed clinical trial that may be steering doctors and patients away from drugs with a more established track record, a new review published this week in the journal "PLoS Medicine"
suggests. Read the full story at

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000434

Tranquillizers: They can kill you fast...or kill you slow

2011-04-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

Tranquilizers can kill you fast - or kill you slow. They deplete glutathione and cause premature aging. Doctors should not just give pills for anxiety without proper diagnosis of underlying physical conditions - nor for extended periods of time - creating "accidental addicts", morbidity and mortality.

Heath Ledger, star of “Brokeback Mountain”, died in 2008 of a prescription cocktail of anti-anxiety medications, pain killers and an antihistamine. ABC News states, “According to the medical examiner’s office, Ledger took “prescribed therapeutic doses … or less” of each medication he ingested…”

The cocktail consisted of -
Oxycodone – Pain Medication
Hydrocodone – Pain Medication
Diazepam (Valium) – Anti-Anxiety Medication
Alprazolam (Xanax and Niravam) – Anti-Anxiety Medication
Doxylamine – Antihistamine

Have you been given a benzodiazepine as "medicine" for an undiagnosed physical condition? To identify which physical problems might create mental symptoms, start with Blake Graham's excellent checklist. PDF

If you are considering withdrawing from benzos, you will want the best information you can find. Withdrawal has to be done carefully to prevent causing further harm. Please check out this great guide - by benzodiazepine withdrawal expert Dr. Heather Ashton - it's FREE. http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

Dr. Ashton tells us what benzos do in the body - http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha01.htm

Dr. Breggin writes about the effects of benzodiazepines on behavior and personality
http://www.benzo.org.uk/breggin.htm

Wikipedia has an article on long-term effects of benzodiazepine use - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_effects_of_benzodiazepines

Supplementing GABA - a natural substance which benzos were designed to replace - may be a better solution - and may be right for many of us.
Margot Kidder is probably the best-known person who has overcome substance abuse and regained mental stability with GABA. Read about her recovery here -
http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/aminobipolar.htm

GABA is available at the Life Extension Foundation - here.

Do cell phones cause psychiatric illness?

2011-04-30T13:45:00.001-07:00

Do cell phones cause psychiatric illness? This psychotherapist thinks so - and wrote about it. Read at Scribd - decide for yourself.
Link

From http://www.livinghealthiernow.com/page_4.html

About Stephen King's sci-fi novel CELL

The Game: Anatomy of the White House - PhRMA Deal

2011-04-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

http://youtu.be/ta_FOY_9ZR8

Ontario taxpayers pay out $1.1 billion in decade reimbursing doctors for malpractice fees

2011-04-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.thespec.com/opinion/article/101710--right-to-know-doctors-deal

Right to know doctors' deal

THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR

(Feb 10, 2009)

For many professionals, insurance is one of the costs of doing business. That holds true for the province's doctors.

Where doctors differ, though, is that most of the cost of their insurance is picked up by the taxpayers.

As The Spectator revealed Saturday, Ontario taxpayers have spent $1.1 billion in the past decade reimbursing doctors for most of the cost of their malpractice fees. Last year, it amounted to about $112 million.

The doctors themselves paid $24 million collectively. That means we -- the taxpayers, the patients -- covered about 83 per cent of the cost of malpractice insurance.

There is an argument to be made that this makes sense. Doctors' incomes are restricted by the province, so it's logical that the province, using taxpayers' money, would cover at least part of the cost of insurance. Doctors are essentially employees of the province, although they would likely argue strenuously against that kind of definition. No doctor would practise without malpractice insurance; if we want people to become doctors, it's reasonable for the employer -- that's us -- to pay some of their insurance fees. It becomes a recruitment tool as well, which takes on more importance, given the shortages of doctors in many Ontario municipalities.

But the situation is also an outrage. These are, by and large, high-income earners who have a sweetheart deal with the province. And that's not only because they don't have to pay the bulk of their sometimes substantial insurance premiums. If they do face a lawsuit, their insurance covers representation by high-powered attorneys who seem averse to coming to reasonable settlements and prefer to draw out the legal proceedings as long as possible. And who pays for that? We do.

At the same time, those who take doctors to court over alleged malpractice are left to finance their own fight as best they can. In effect, the provincial government is funding one side of a legal battle, but not the other. The playing field is anything but level.

This situation raises many troubling questions. Is it possible that some doctors might not be as careful as they should be because this arrangement provides a safety net for them? Is it possible that some doctors might not take the outcomes of legal proceedings as seriously as they should because there is virtually no impact on their income streams? Does it make them less accountable to legal decisions?

The only reason we know anything about this at all is that a divisional court panel ordered the release late last year of details of this agreement between the provincial Health Ministry, the Ontario Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Protective Association. The court ruling came after a Freedom of Information request.

It is absolutely reasonable that those who foot the bills -- that would be us -- have a right to this information. And we should be able to exercise that right without being forced to go to court. At the very least, we should be able to expect some public accountability, perhaps through the Ontario ombudsman's office. After all, it is our money.

How the west won mental health thinking

2011-04-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/apr/05/west-foisting-mental-health-doctrines-world

"The way the west reacts to natural disasters such as the tsunami of 2004 and latterly the Japanese earthquake – namely by parachuting in counsellors and "trauma experts" into disaster zones to offer psychological first aid – is just one highly visible illustration of the growing dominance of western mental health orthodoxy, Watters argues. What if a group of shamans had turned up in Manhattan knocking on doors in the wake of 9/11 offering to counsel traumatised survivors, he asks. Is that the cultural equivalent to dispatching British and American counsellors who "don't speak the language and don't understand the culture" they are trying to help?"

Indeed.

Pfizer: No More Free Lunch in Sandwich

2011-03-23T22:08:00.001-07:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/mar/23/budget-2011-sandwich-pfizer-jobs

The residents of Sandwich, where the pharmaceutical company Pfizer is soon to close its research and development facility – with a loss of 2,400 jobs – will be watching to see how that pledge materialises over the next few months. Viagra was made, created, designed and invented here; new drugs will not be.

Iodine for Health: Some Resources

2011-03-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Could iodine be part of the solution to your health problems?

Iodine

View more presentations from MedicineAndHealth14

The miracles of iodine
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2006/03/13/the_miracle_of_iodine_and_its_nearly_free.htm

Consequences of iodine deficiency
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2007/01/31/consequences_of_iodine_deficiency.htm

World Health Organization http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/idd/en/

Lugol's Iodine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugol's_iodine

Townsend Letter - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_279/ai_n16865318/

...to be continued

Bonkers: Sell Eli Lilly stock now

2011-03-09T22:33:00.000-08:00

Coming in 2011: The end of Eli Lilly as we know it.
Urgent message to Lilly shareholders: Sell now.

"No country can afford not to have periodic showcase prosecutions of serious corporate abuses to foster deterrence.
– John Braithwaite, Corporate Crime in the Pharmaceutical Industry (Routledge, 1984)

To prepare for the drama that's about to unfold, here's a little history.

On Jan. 30, 2009, Eli Lilly and Company pleaded guilty to a violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). The Court sentenced Lilly to pay a criminal fine of $515 million and asset forfeiture of $100 million, the largest criminal fine imposed against an individual defendant in the history of the United States.

The Government believed this historic criminal fine reflected the seriousness of the offense and Eli Lilly's earlier violations of the FDCA. The Government believed the criminal fine would promote respect for the law, and that the sentence would deter Eli Lilly from further unlawful promotion of its pharmaceutical products. The Government believed a criminal fine of this magnitude would serve as general deterrence to others who might be tempted to go down the road of off-label marketing.

Under the Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) between Lilly and the U S. Department of Health and Human Services, the parties agreed that Eli Lilly would not be placed on probation. However, the agreement imposed a strict compliance program to ensure that Lilly's criminal conduct would not recur.

Eli Lilly is subject to exclusion from Federal Health Care programs, including but not limited to Medicaid, for a material breach of the CIA. A material breach includes failure by Lilly to report a reportable event and take corrective action. A reportable event means anything that involves a matter that a reasonable person would consider a probable violation of criminal, civil, or administrative laws applicable to any Federal Health Care program and/or applicable to any FDA requirements relating to the promotion of Lilly products.

The CIA applies to Eli Lilly employees and all contractors, subcontractors, agents and other persons who perform promotional and product services on behalf of Lilly. Exclusion will have national effect and apply to all other Federal procurement and nonprocurement programs.

Shareholder lawsuits filed against the company for engaging in a long list of illegal activities were settled in March 2010, with Lilly agreeing to abide by strict new measures guaranteeing that matters affecting patient safety and benefit shall be of paramount importance.

That's the background story, in a nutshell. Future WikiLeaks to follow.
For details regarding the precise nature of the substance that will soon be hitting the fan, watch this space"....
http://www.bonkersinstitute.org/goodbyelilly.html

We hope Lilly stockholders get the bath they need.

Thanks and a tip of the Mad Hatter's Hat to
The Bonkers Institute - http://bonkerstinstitute.org

Anatomy of an Epidemic: Psychiatric Drugs and the Rise of Mental Illness in America

2011-03-09T21:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22563

Anatomy of an Epidemic: Psychiatric Drugs and the Rise of Mental Illness in America

by Robert Whitaker

The percentage of Americans disabled by “mental illness” has increased dramatically since 1955, when Thorazine – remembered today as psychiatry’s first “wonder” drug – was introduced into the market.

There are now nearly 6 million Americans disabled by “mental illness”, and this number increases by more than 400 people each day. A review of the scientific literature reveals that it is our drug-based paradigm of care that is fueling this epidemic. The drugs increase the likelihood that a person will become chronically ill, and induce new and more severe psychiatric symptoms, often psychiatric drug-induced, in a significant percentage of patients.

E. Fuller Torrey, in his 2001 book The Invisible Plague, concluded that insanity had risen to the level of an epidemic. This epidemic has unfolded in lockstep with the ever-increasing use of prescription psychiatric drugs.

The number of disabled “mentally ill” has increased nearly six-fold since Thorazine was introduced.

The number of disabled “mentally ill” has also increased dramatically since 1987, the year Prozac was introduced.

Anti-psychotics, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs create perturbations in neurotransmitter functions. In response, the brain goes through a series of compensatory adaptations. Neurons both release less serotonin and down-regulate (or decrease) their number of serotonin receptors. The density of serotonin receptors in the brain may decrease by 50% or more. After a few weeks, the patient’s brain is functioning in a manner that is qualitatively as well as quantitatively different from the normal state.

Conditions that disrupt brain chemistry may cause delusions, hallucinations, disordered thinking, and mood swings – the symptoms of insanity. Infectious agents, tumors, metabolic and toxic disorders and various diseases could all affect the brain in this manner. Psychiatric medications also disrupt brain chemistry. Psychotropic drugs also increase the likelihood that a person will become chronically ill, and they cause a significant percentage of patients to become ill in new and more severe ways.

CAN THE “CURES” BE WORSE THAN THE “DISEASE”?

Neuroleptics (AKA Anti-psychotics, Anti-schizophrenics, Major Tranquilizers)

In an NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) study, short-term (6 weeks) anti-psychotic drug-treated patients were much improved compared to placebo (75% vs. 23%). However patients who received placebo treatment were less likely to be re-hospitalized over the next 3 years than were those who received any of the three active phenothiazines.

Relapse was found to be significantly related to the dose of the tranquilizing medication the patient was receiving before he was put on placebo – the higher the dose, the greater the probability of relapse.

Neuroleptics increased the patients’ biological vulnerability to psychosis. A retrospective study by Bockoven also indicated that the drugs were making patients chronically ill.

There were three NIMH-funded studies conducted during the 1970s that examined this possibility (whether first-episode psychotic episodes could be treated without medications), and in each instance, the newly admitted patients treated without drugs did better than those treated in a conventional manner (i.e. with anti-psychotic drugs).

Patients who were treated without neuroleptics in an experimental home staffed by nonprofessionals had lower relapse rates over a 2-year period than a control group treated with drugs in a hospital. Patients treated without drugs were the better functioning group as well.

The brain responds to neuroleptics – which block 70% to 90% of all D2 dopamine receptors in the brain – as though they are a pathological insult. To compensate, dopaminergic brain cells increase the density of their D2 receptors by 30% or more. The brain is now supersensitive to dopamine and becomes more biologically vulnerable to psychosis and is at particularly high risk of severe withdrawal symptoms should he or she abruptly quit taking the drugs.

Neuroleptics can produce a dopamine supersensitivity that leads to both dyskinetic and psychotic symptoms. An implication is that the tendency toward withdrawal psychosis in a patient who had developed such a supersensitivity is determined by more that just the normal course of the illness.

With minimal or no exposure to neuroleptics, at least 40% of people who suffered a psychotic break and were diagnosed with schizophrenia would not relapse after leaving the hospital, and perhaps as many as 65% would function fairly well over the long term. However, once first-episode patients were treated with neuroleptics, a different fate awaited them. Their brains would undergo drug-induced changes that would increase their biological vulnerability to psychosis, and this would increase the likelihood that they would become chronically ill (and thus permanently disabled).

In the mid 1990s, several research teams reported that the drugs cause atrophy of the cerebral cortex and an enlargement of the basal ganglia. The drugs were causing structural changes in the brain. The drug-induced enlargement of the basal ganglia was associated with greater severity of both negative and “positive” (schizophrenic) symptoms. Over the long term the drugs cause changes in the brain associated with a worsening of the very symptoms the drugs are supposed to alleviate.

Antidepressants

The story of antidepressants is a bit subtler, and it leads to the same conclusion that these drugs increase chronic illness over time. Well-designed studies, the differences between the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs and placebo are not impressive. About 61% of the drug-treated patients improved, versus 46% of the placebo patients, producing a net drug benefit of only 15%.

At the end of 16 weeks (in a study comparing cognitive behavior therapy, interpersonal therapy, the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine and placebo) there were no significant differences among treatments, including placebo plus clinical management, for the less severely depressed and functionally impaired patients. Only the severely depressed patients fared better on a tricyclic than on placebo. However, at the end of 18 months, even this minimal benefit disappeared. Stay-well rates were best for the cognitive behavior group (30%) and poorest for the imipramine group (19%).

Antidepressants were making people chronically ill, just like the anti-psychotics were. In 1985, a U.K. group reported that in a 2-year study comparing drug therapy to cognitive therapy, relapse was significantly higher in the pharmacotherapy group. Long-term use of antidepressants may increase the patient’s biochemical vulnerability to depression and thus worsen the course of affective disorders. An analysis of 27 studies showed that whether one treats a depressed patient for 3 months or 3 years, it does not matter when one stops the drugs. The longer the drug treatment, the higher the likelihood of relapse.

Benzodiazepines

Xanax (a benzodiazepine class “minor” tranquilizer) patients got better during the first four weeks of treatment; they did not improve any more in weeks 4 to 8, and their symptoms began to worsen after that. A high percentage relapsed and by the end of 23 weeks, they were worse off than patients treated without drugs on five different outcomes measures. Patients tapered off Xanax suffered nearly 4 times as many panic attacks as the non-drug patients and 25% of the Xanax patients suffered from rebound anxiety and insomnia more severe than when they began the study.

Today’s drug-treated patients spend much more time in hospital beds and are far more likely to die from their mental illness than they were in 1896. Modern treatments have set up a revolving door and appear to be a leading cause of injury and death.

MANUFACTURING “MENTAL ILLNESS”

It is well-known that all of the major classes of psychiatric drugs – anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, benzodiazepines, and stimulants for ADHD – can trigger new and more severe psychiatric symptoms in a significant percentage of patients. It is easy to see this epidemic-creating factor at work with Prozac and the other SSRIs.

Prozac quickly took up the top position as America’s most complained about drug. By 1997, 39,000 adverse-event reports about it had been sent to Medwatch. These reports are thought to represent only 1% of the actual number of such events, suggesting that nearly 4 million people in the US had suffered such problems, which included mania, psychotic depression, nervousness, anxiety, agitation, hostility, hallucinations, memory loss, tremors, impotence, convulsions, insomnia and nausea.

The propensity of Prozac and other SSRIs to trigger mania or psychosis is undoubtedly the biggest problem with these drugs. The American Psychiatric Association warns that manic or hypomanic episodes are estimated to occur in 8% to 20 % of patients treated with anti-depressants.

Anti-depressant-induced mania is not simply a temporary and reversible phenomenon, but a complex biochemical mechanism of illness deterioration. Yale researchers reported that 8.1% of all admissions to a psychiatric hospital they studied were due to SSRI-induced mania or psychosis.

Thus the SSRI path to a disabling mental illness can be easily seen. A depressed patient treated with an anti-depressant suffers a manic or psychotic episode, at which time his or her diagnosis is changed to bipolar disorder. At that point, the person is prescribed an anti-psychotic to go along with the anti-depressant, and, once on a drug cocktail, the person is well along on the road to permanent disability.

CONCLUSION

There is an outside agent fueling this epidemic of mental illness, only it is to be found in the medicine cabinet. Psychiatric drugs perturb normal neurotransmitter function, and while that perturbation may curb symptoms over a short term, over the long run it increases the likelihood that a person will become chronically ill, or ill with new or more severe symptoms. A review of the scientific literature shows quite clearly that it is our drug-based paradigm of care that is fueling this modern-day plague.

Robert Whitaker’s ground-breaking book, Mad In America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill was published in 2002, That critically acclaimed book should be, but is not, required reading for everybody in the medical profession, including psychiatric patients and their loved ones. (www.madinamerica.com)

Whitaker’s latest book (published in 2010) Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America, further documents the epidemic of “mental illness” disability (which, in many cases, are not mental illnesses at all, but rather drug-induced neurological illnesses that manifest psychological symptoms or drug-induced withdrawal both of which can be mis-diagnosed as mental illnesses).

Each of these books have been essentially black-balled by the pharmaceutical, medical and psychiatric industries, neither book having even been reviewed in any mainstream medical journals.

Excerpted, with minimal editing, by Gary G. Kohls, MD
Dr. Kohls warns against the abrupt discontinuation of any psychiatric drug because of the common, often serious withdrawal symptoms that can occur with the chronic use of any dependency-inducing psychoactive drug, whether illicit or legal. Close consultation with an informed physician who is familiar with treating drug withdrawal and who is also willing to read and study the above books and become familiar with the previously poorly understood dangers of these drugs.

Introducing... The E. Fuller Torrey Brain Trust

2011-03-09T01:32:00.001-08:00

Has Dr. Torrey actually accomplished anything with his decades of work on theories and hoard of brains?

http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2003/janfeb/features/torrey.html

Are some of the brains Torrey obtains and uses actually stolen?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Fuller_Torrey

http://www.cafepress.com/dd/28403286

State budget cuts decimate mental health services

2011-03-09T01:06:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110309/ap_on_he_me/us_states_mental_health

By KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press – 4 mins ago

DENVER – State budget writers looking for cash to balance the books have stripped a cumulative $1.8 billion from mental health services over the last 2 1/2 years, putting the public at risk as the mentally ill crowd emergency rooms and prisons, according to the nation's largest mental health advocacy group.

The Washington-based National Alliance on Mental Illness tallied state budget cuts to mental health services between 2008 and today and found that 32 states and Washington, D.C., cut funding just as economic stressors such as layoffs and home foreclosures boosted demand for services.

"These are really dangerous times," warned Michael Fitzpatrick, NAMI's executive director. The group reviewed state mental health budget cuts in the wake of the January shooting in Arizona, in which six people died and 13 were injured, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The man charged with shooting them, Jared Loughner, showed signs of mental illness but was never referred for treatment.

Indeed, the picture looks only grimmer in many states where legislatures still at work on next year's budgets are considering making things worse.....

"Any time you make cuts this massive in mental health cuts, the needs in prisons and hospitals and emergency rooms and homeless shelters start to pile up," Fitzpatrick said.

(snip)

Tough times - for NAMI? Recently NAMI got 60% or so of its cash from Pharma - and a large percentage of the rest came from County, State, and Federal funding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Alliance_on_Mental_Illness#Funding_and_US_Senate_Investigation_of_NAMI

http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/blogcategory/23/60/

A World Health Organization study indicated that those who were never medicated got better sooner than those who took meds.

http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-global/sartorius-on-who

Antidepressants may cause many more problems than we ever imagined.

http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Depression.html

Isn't it time doctors started checking for the real physical causes of mental illness rather than handing out prescriptions for something the drug rep recommended when your 15 minutes is up?
http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/diamond.htm

For those who want to find out if they are on medications they actually need, and how to withdraw from meds they don't need to be on, check out the resources in our LINKS section - start at the top of the right hand column.

Cancer Defeated - Neuroblastoma - Cancer Control '07 Part 1

2011-03-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

What an incredible Dad! What a brave little son!

May this information save the lives of many more.

http://www.cancertutor.com/

VRM: Alternative Cancer Cures That Work & Your Government Still Can't Ban Them From Use!

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Bobbys-Healthy-Shop UK

http://www.alphaomegalabs.com/ USA and worldwide

March 1st: Mad as a March Hare

2011-03-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Hare

The March Hare is a character most famous for appearing in the tea party scene in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The main character, Alice, hypothesises,

"The March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won't be raving mad -- at least not so mad as it was in March."^[1]

"Mad as a March hare" was a common phrase in Carroll's time, and appears in John Heywood's collection of proverbs published in 1546. It is reported in The Annotated Alice by Martin Gardner that this proverb is based on popular belief about hares' behavior at the beginning of the long breeding season, which lasts from February to September in Britain. Early in the season, unreceptive females often use their forelegs to repel overenthusiastic males. It used to be incorrectly believed that these bouts were between males fighting for breeding supremacy.^[2]

Like the character's friend, the Hatter, the March Hare feels compelled to always behave as though it is tea-time because the Hatter supposedly "murdered the time" whilst singing for the Queen of Hearts. Sir John Tenniel's illustration also shows him with straw on his head, a common way to depict madness in Victorian times.^[3]^[4] The March Hare later appears at the trial for the Knave of Hearts, and for a final time as "Haigha" (which Carroll tells us is pronounced to rhyme with "mayor"), the personal messenger to the White King in Through the Looking-Glass.

This diagnostic software is guaranteed to make some physicians mad - and patients giddy with joy.
Patient Knowledge Center
http://pkc.com/

The Fisher King and Adrenochrome

2011-02-16T23:11:00.000-08:00

What really causes Schizophrenia?
A good work-up to determine any underlying physical illnesses is key.
http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/diamond.htm
The 29 causes of Schizophrenia are listed here

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/causesofschizophrenia.htm

One cause is too much of an adrenal secretion - Adrenochrome. The best thing may be no caffeine for the fictional Perry of the film THE FISHER KING. Add Zinc to his diet, as well as Vitamin C and Niacin (B3), and his pesky Red Knight may be gone forever.

What Really Causes Schizophrenia

by Harold D. Foster

Trafford Publishing, Suite 6E, 2333 Government St., Victoria, BC V8T 4P4, Canada; 250-383-6864; www.trafford.com

Softbound; [c]2003; 257 pp.; $30; available as a free download at http://web.archive.org/web/20070105213900/www.hdfoster.com/Foster_Schizophrenia.pdf

What Really Causes Schizophrenia, written by Canadian geomorphologist and professor of medical geography Harold D. Foster, explains the adrenochrome hypothesis. This hypothesis was first published by Drs. Abram Hoffer, H. Osmond, and J. Smythies in 1954. It asserts that excess adrenochrome, not excess dopamine, produces the symptoms of schizophrenia. Conventional drug treatments for schizophrenia aim to lower dopamine levels. These drugs reduce symptoms by "15 to 20 percent," according to Dr. Foster; and they also have serious adverse effects over the long term, including parkinsonian involuntary movement. Adrenochrome, a neurotoxic metabolite of the catecholamine adrenaline, apparently disrupts major biochemical systems in people with a genetic predisposition to developing schizophrenia. Anxiety, rapid mood swings, thought disorders, fatigue, and sensory illusions and hallucinations characterize this increasingly common mental disorder.

Unlike the dopamine hypothesis, the adrenochrome hypothesis accounts for many biochemical patterns common among schizophrenic patients. For example, chronic schizophrenics tend to have damaged thyroid glands. Adrenochrome and the hormone triiodothyronine are antagonists. Adrenochrome is known to damage the thyroid. Also, adrenochrome, a highly reactive compound, generates free radicals that need to be neutralized by antioxidants. Cornerstones of the body's antioxidant defenses--glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase--are deficient in schizophrenic patients. Doctors have long recognized that diverse factors can trigger schizophrenia in susceptible persons. Each of these factors--which include various kinds of stress, excess sugar consumption, and exposure to allergic reactions--"either stimulates the body's production of adrenaline or promotes its metabolism to adrenochrome and its derivatives."

Orthomolecular psychiatrist Abram Hoffer identified adrenochrome as a possible factor in schizophrenia when he developed paranoia after ingesting the substance. He and coworkers hypothesized that giving people with schizophrenia high doses of the methyl acceptor niacin would slow noradrenalin's conversion to adrenaline, thereby producing less adrenochrome. Niacin, a nutrient deficient in people with schizophrenia, competes with the methyl acceptor noradrenalin and has become one of the mainstays of orthomolecular psychiatric treatment. (Orthomolecular medicine employs high doses of supplemental nutrients.)

In addition to examining what is known about the biochemistry of people with schizophrenia, What Really Causes Schizophrenia discusses five unconventional but effective therapies for schizophrenia: controlled fasting, histamine therapy, thyroid hormone therapy, biochemist Dr. Carl C. Pfeiffer's protocols, and Hoffer's protocol. Fasting and restrictive diets (monitored by a doctor) have normalized urine catecholamines, histamine, and serotonin levels in schizophrenic patients. Restrictive diets also help identify food sensitivities that stress the body, causing increased production of adrenaline. Milk and grains are the most common contributors to schizophrenic conditions. Histamine abnormalities, elevated homocysteine, and high levels of kryptopyrrole in the urine are other biochemical patterns commonly found in schizophrenic people. Pfeiffer developed five orthomolecular protocols to address the various subtypes.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070105213900/www.hdfoster.com/Foster_Schizophrenia.pdf

Quit Smoking

2011-02-10T15:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to all our friends and readers.

Give your heart a gift this Valentine's Day - Quit Smoking!

George Washington University has helpful resources here
http://www.gwu.edu/quitsmoking/

Quit smoking Wikis are here
http://quitsmoking.wikia.com/wiki/Quit_Smoking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_cessation

Our favorite method is to reduce smoking cravings with Vitamin B3 - nicotinamide - which the brain may perceive as identical to nicotine.
Pharmaceuticals Anonymous: Niacin for Smoking Cessation

Medications to quit smoking can have unwanted side effects.
http://pharmaceuticalsanonymous.blogspot.com/2008/05/spoof-death-cures-smoking.html

She (Tribute to Vivien Leigh)

2011-01-25T19:57:00.000-08:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivien_Leigh

Did Vivien Leigh suffer from "classical" Bipolar Disorder - or could she have had another biochemical problem? Much can be done with tests and nutrition to identify and correct mood problems today.

Material below from the wonderful site of Blake Graham

Nutritional healing for Bipolar Disorder
http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/content/condition.php?category=neuro&condition=Bipolar+Disorder

Conditions > Bipolar Disorder

Welcome to the site of integrative nutritionist Blake Graham, director of Nutritional Healing in Perth, Western Australia. You may book an appointment for a consultation by phoning us via the Contact page. You may also wish to join our FREE e-NEWSLETTER.

Definition

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition in which periods of mania alternate with periods of depression. Mild cases of bipolar disorder can often go undiagnosed, with symptoms being mistaken for normal mood swings. Bipolar Disorder was formerly know as Manic Depression.

The are three main classifications of bipolar disorder:

Bipolar I Disorder (mania with or without major depression)
Bipolar II Disorder (hypomania [mild mania] with major depression)
Cyclothymia (hypomania with mild depression)

Issues

Omega-3 fatty acids and Bipolar Disorder

Andrew Stoll M.D. is director of the Psychopharmacology research lab at Boston's McLean Hospital and assistant professor of Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry. He has published research on the relationship between omega-3 fatty acids and bipolar disorder. His research found that high-dose, concentrated omega-3 fatty acids (EPA & DHA) have effective mood stabilizing and antidepressant effects for many people with bipolar disorder. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential components of brain cell membranes, including those of neurotransmitter receptors. Omega-3 fatty acids also alter signal transduction and electrical activity in brain cells and control the synthesis of chemicals such as eicosanoids and cytokines, which may have a direct effect on mood. The following is an overview of a lecture by Dr. Stoll:

Omega-3 Fatty Acids & Bipolar Disorder

The Omega-3 Connection: The Groundbreaking Anti-depression Diet and Brain Program
by Andrew Stoll, 2001.

In this book Stoll outlines the evidence for omega-3 fatty acids in treating illnesses such as bipolar disorder anddepression.

Research relating to bipolar disorder by Dr. Stoll:

Omega 3 fatty acids in bipolar disorder: a preliminary double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999 (full text pdf file)
Omega-3 fatty acids and bipolar disorder: a review, Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 1999

Psychiatrist Jerry Cott, PhD has a graph available on his site comparing the lifetime prevalence of bipolar disorder against seafood consumption. (It should be noted that association does not necessarily mean causation.) This corresponds to Dr. Stoll’s findings concerning omega-3 fatty acids, which are concentrated in fish:

Bipolar Affective Disorders (Spectrum) and Seafood Consumption

Pfeiffer Treatment Center protocol

The Pfeiffer Treatment Center (PTC) possesses an extensive database of biochemical data from more than 1500 patients they have treated for bipolar disorder. The PTC express their concern that many nutritional treatments offered are highly generalized and can produce unpleasant effects. Their research has found that a subgroup of bipolar disorder patients are deficient in arachidonic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid. They have developed three primary biochemical classifications of bipolar disorder as follows (written by and printed with permission of co-founder and chief-scientist of the PTC, William Walsh, PhD):

Undermethylation: This condition is innate & is characterized by low levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, high whole blood histamine and elevated absolute basophils. This population has a high incidence of seasonal allergies, OCD tendencies, perfectionism, high libido, sparse body hair, and several other characteristics. They usually respond well to methionine, SAMe, calcium, magnesium, omega-3 essential oils (DHA & EPA), B-6, inositol, and vitamins A, C, and E. They should avoid supplements containing folic acid. In severe cases involving psychosis, the dominant symptom is usually delusional thinking rather than hallucinations. They tend to speak very little & may sit motionless for extended periods. They may appear outwardly calm, but suffer from extreme internal anxiety.
Overmethylation: This condition is the biochemical opposite of undermethylation. It is characterized by elevated levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, low whole blood histamine, and low absolute basophils. This population is characterized by the following typical symptoms: Absence of seasonal, inhalent allergies, but a multitude of chemical or food sensitivities, high anxiety which is evident to all, low libido, obsessions but not compulsions, tendency for paranoia and auditory hallucinations, underachievement as a child, heavy body hair, hyperactivity, "nervous" legs, and grandiosity. They usually respond well to folic acid, B-12, niacinamide, DMAE, choline, manganese, zinc, omega-3 essential oils (DHA and EPA) and vitamins C and E, but should avoid supplements of methionine, SAMe, inositol, TMG and DMG.
Pyrrole Disorder: This condition, also called pyroluria, is a genetic stress disorder associated with severe mood swings, high anxiety, and depression. The biochemical signature of this disorder includes elevated urine kryptopyrroles, a double deficiency of zinc and B-6, and low levels of arachidonic acid. Pyrolurics are devastated by stresses including physical injury, emotional trauma, illness, sleep deprivation, etc. Symptoms include sensitivity to light and loud noises, tendency to skip breakfast, dry skin, abnormal fat distribution, rage episodes, little or no dream recall, reading disorders, underachievement, histrionic behaviors, and severe anxiety. They usually respond quickly to supplements of zinc, B-6, Primrose Oil, and augmenting nutrients.

Table 1. Bipolar disorder subtypes

	Under-methylated (high histamine)	Over-methylated (low histamine)	Pyroluria
Subtype patient distribution	35%	25%	~18%
Potentially harmful supplements	Folate, choline, DMAE, copper and histidine	Methionine, SAMe, inositol, tryptophan, phenylalanine, St. John’s wort, tyrosine, copper, TMG and DMG	Histidine, copper and omega-3 fatty acids

The following on site link is a tabulated catalog of typical characteristics of these subtypes, which may be used to determine an individuals subtype in many cases, although laboratory tests are required to be certain:

Major mental illness biochemical subtypes as described by Dr. Carl Pfeiffer and the Pfeiffer Treatment Center

The Pfeiffer Treatment Center claims that due to the diverse chemical nature of these different biochemical subgroups, a number of nutritional supplements for each group can exacerbate biochemical imbalances and be harmful for the individual. Biochemical sub-groupings must be determined with the help of a health professional before taking any of the supplements listed in the potentially harmful row above.

Related links:

Vitamin C and mental health research

The True Hope Institute is an organization dedicated to helping the mentally ill through nutritional supplementation. They place a major focus on bipolar disorder. True Hope has designed a nutritional supplement called Empowerplus, containing a range of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other components. The following three studies have been published concerning the Empowerplus nutritional supplement:

Effective mood stabilization with a chelated mineral supplement: an open-label trial in bipolar disorder, J Clin Psychiatry 2001 Dec;62(12):936-44

"RESULTS: For those who completed the minimum 6-month open trial, symptom reduction ranged from 55% to 66% on the outcome measures; need for psychotropic medications decreased by more than 50%."

Nutritional approach to bipolar disorder, J Clin Psychiatry 2003 Mar;64(3):338

"It [was] clear that the effectiveness and safety of EMP remain to be established in controlled trials, but this approach does appear to represent an exciting potential direction for new research in bipolar disorder."

Treatment of mood lability and explosive rage with minerals and vitamins: two case studies in children, J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2002 Fall;12(3):205-19.

“These cases suggest that mood lability and explosive rage can, in some cases, be managed with a mixture of biologically active minerals and vitamins, without using lithium or other traditional psychopharmacologic agents.”

Unfortunately, these studies have limited value as they were not placebo-controlled. A more individualized approach, as performed by thePfeiffer Treatment Center, balances biochemistry with more precision.

Hypoglycemia and bipolar disorder

Hypoglycemia is characterized by abnormally low blood sugar. Hypoglycemia can reduce the glucose supply to the brain, contributing to mood swings and depression.

Sensitivities and bipolar disorder

Food and chemical sensitivities can contribute to bipolar disorder. Some people find hidden food sensitivities are a major contributing factor. Common sensitivities include:

Gluten (a protein in many grains such as wheat, rye, oats and barley)
Aspartame (an artificial sweetener) [Biol Psychiatry 1993 Jul 1-15;34(1-2):13-7]
Chocolate
Caffeine
Casein (a protein found in dairy products)

Related book:

Brain Allergies: The Psycho-Nutrient Connection by William Philpott, MD, 1980

(In memory of LMGSK)

The genetic basis of brain diseases

2011-01-18T22:55:00.000-08:00

https://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/press/2010/101219.html

Don Powell

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

A set of brain proteins is found to play a role in over 100 brain diseases and provides a new insight into evolution of behavior

In recent research scientists studied human brain samples to isolate a set of proteins that accounts for over 130 brain diseases. The paper also shows an intriguing link between diseases and the evolution of the human brain.

Brain tissue samples were removed from patients undergoing brain surgery (left image). As shown in the middle image, two nerve cells are shown with their long branches which contact one another at synapses and one of them is boxed (for illustration purposes). From the synapses, the proteins were identified and as shown in the right image, each protein can be represented as a point, and the lines show the connections between proteins. This shows how the many proteins in the PSD are connected in a network or roadmap. Many of these proteins are involved in human diseases and these are shown as 'stars' in the protein network map.

Brain diseases are the leading cause of medical disability in the developed world according to the World Health Organisation and the economic costs in the USA exceeds $300 billion.

The brain is the most complex organ in the body with millions of nerve cells connected by billions of synapses. Within each synapse is a set of proteins, which, like the components of an engine, bind together to build a molecular machine called the postsynaptic density - also known as the PSD. Although studies of animal synapses have indicated that the PSD could be important in human diseases and behaviour, surprisingly little was known about it in humans.

Brain diseases are the leading cause of medical disability in the developed world according to the World Health Organisation and the economic costs in the USA exceeds $300 billion.

The brain is the most complex organ in the body with millions of nerve cells connected by billions of synapses. Within each synapse is a set of proteins, which, like the components of an engine, bind together to build a molecular machine called the postsynaptic density - also known as the PSD. Although studies of animal synapses have indicated that the PSD could be important in human diseases and behaviour, surprisingly little was known about it in humans.

A team of scientists, led by Professor Seth Grant at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Edinburgh University, have extracted the PSDs from synapses of patients undergoing brain surgery and discovered their molecular components using a method known as proteomics. This revealed that 1461 proteins, each one encoded by a different gene, are found in human synapses. This has made it possible, for the first time, to systematically identify the diseases that affect human synapses and provides a new way to study the evolution of the brain and behaviour. "We found that over 130 brain diseases involve the PSD - far more than expected," says Professor Grant. "These diseases include common debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders as well as epilepsies and childhood developmental diseases including forms of autism and learning disability."

"Our findings have shown that the human PSD is at centre stage of a large range of human diseases affecting many millions of people," says Professor Grant.

"Rather than 'rounding up the usual suspects', we now have a comprehensive molecular playlist of 1000 suspects," says Professor Jeffrey L Noebels, Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. "Every seventh protein in this line-up is involved in a known clinical disorder, and over half of them are repeat offenders. Mining the postsynaptic proteome now gives researchers a strategic entry point, and the rest of us a front row seat to witness neuroscience unravel the complexity of human brain disorders."

The findings open several new paths toward tackling these diseases.

"Since many different diseases involve the same set of proteins we might be able to develop new treatments that could be used on many diseases", says Professor Grant. To aid in this objective the group has created the first molecular network, a roadmap of the molecular organisation of human synapses, which shows how the many proteins and diseases are interconnected. "We also can see ways to develop new genetic diagnostic tests and ways to help doctors classify the brain diseases".

To accelerate discovery and application of their data, the scientists have released all their data into the public domain on their website - G2Cdb. The team suggests that the data on the proteome of the PSD will be extremely useful for understanding the brain in the same way the genome was useful for understanding DNA.

The scientists were able to use their study of diseases to identify the biological roots of human behaviour. They found that proteins in the PSD are especially important for cognitive behaviours such as learning and memory, emotion and mood, as well as social behaviours and addiction or drug abuse. The findings provide deep insights into how a DNA mutation can impact on fundamental aspects of our behaviour.

The team examined the rate of evolution of the PSD proteins over millions of years of mammalian evolution, expecting the proteins to evolve at the same rate as other proteins. In a fascinating and unexpected twist to the story, the team found that the PSD proteins changed much more slowly than expected, revealing that the PSD has been highly conserved or constrained from changing during evolution.

"The conservation of the structure of these proteins suggests that the behaviours governed by the PSD and the diseases associated with them have not changed much over many millions of years," said Professor Grant. "It also shows that synapses in rodents are much more similar to humans than we expected showing that mice and rats are suitable models for studying human brain disease."

Professor Jonathan R Seckl, Moncrieff-Arnott Professor of Molecular Medicine and Executive Dean, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The Queen's Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh, says: "This splendid collaborative study is a major step forward which will surely illuminate the causes of many of the major mental health and neurological disorders that are so common in Britain as well as indicating new ways to develop treatments for these most disabling diseases."

This project was conducted as part of the Genes to Cognition Program, which is a research program aimed at understanding the molecular basis of behaviour and brain disease.

Robert Whitaker: Rethinking Psychiatric Care

2011-01-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

From the Buffalo Center for Social Research

Watch Robert Whitaker's presentation:
Rethinking Psychiatric Care: If We Follow the Scientific Evidence, What Must We do To Better Promote Long-Term Recovery?
http://stream.buffalo.edu/shared/sw/research/whitaker.html

Robert Whitaker's Anatomy of an Epidemic investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of adults and children disabled by mental illness skyrocketed over the past fifty years? There are now more than four million people in the United States who receive a government disability check because of a mental illness, and the number continues to soar. Every day, 850 adults and 250 children with a mental illness are added to the government disability rolls. What is going on?
http://www.robertwhitaker.org/robertwhitaker.org/Anatomy%20of%20an%20Epidemic.html

Psychiatric Drugs as Agents of Trauma by Charles L. Whitfield, MD

2011-01-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

http://www.musehousepress.com/Psychiatric_Drugs_As_Agents_of_Trauma_JRS508.pdf

Psychiatric Drugs as Agents of Trauma by Charles L. Whitfield, MD

Excerpted from: The International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine 22 (2010) 195-207
DOI 10.3233/JRS-2010-0508

IOS Press

Volume 22, Number 4, 2010
Private Practice of Trauma Psychology, Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine; Consultant and Research
Collaborator at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3462 Hallcrest Dr., Atlanta,
GA 30319-1910, USA and Board of Directors of the Leadership Council on Child Abuse
& Interpersonal Violence, Baltimore, MD, USA
Tel.: +404 843 3585; E-mail: c-bwhit@mindspring.com

Abstract. Drawing on the work of numerous psychiatrists and psychopharmacologists and my own observations, I describe how most common psychiatric drugs are not only toxic but can be chronically traumatic, which I define in some detail throughout this paper. In addition to observing this occurrence among numerous of my patients over the past 20 years, I surveyed 9 mental health clinicians who had taken antidepressant drugs long-term. Of these 9, 7 (77%) experienced bothersome toxic drug effects and 2 (22%) had become clearly worse than they were before they had started the drugs. Based on others’ and my observations I describe the genesis of this worsened condition which I call the Drug Stress Trauma Syndrome.

These drug effects can be and are often so detrimental to the quality of life among a distinct but significant minority of patients that they can no longer be considered trivial or unimportant. Instead, they are so disruptive to many patients’ quality of life that their effect becomes traumatic, and are thereby agents of trauma. These observations and preliminary data may encourage others to look into this matter in more depth.

Dollars for Docs Widget

2010-12-29T16:08:00.000-08:00

The Dollars for Docs Widget from ProPublica lets you track which doctors/health care providers are taking Pharma money.

"As part of ProPublica’s “Dollars for Docs” series and interactive news application, we've created a small widget that you can embed on your web site. It will let your readers look up whether their health care providers are taking money from the drug companies in our database. The widget shows the amount of money paid to each practitioner in our database, which company made the payment, and in some cases, what the companies saidthey were paying for: speaking fees, consulting, etc. The widget also lists what drugs each company sells so readers can check their own prescriptions.
We’ll be keeping this data up-to-date roughly quarterly, and the widget running on your site will always have the latest data."

http://www.propublica.org/nerds/item/use-our-dollars-for-docs-widget-on-your-site

We are going to grab this gadget, and hope you do too!

WikiLeaks cables: Pfizer used dirty tricks to avoid clinical trial payout

2010-12-09T17:14:00.000-08:00

"The world's biggest pharmaceutical company hired investigators to unearth evidence of corruption against the Nigerian attorney general in order to persuade him to drop legal action over a controversial drug trial involving children with meningitis, according to a leaked US embassy cable.
Pfizer was sued by the Nigerian state and federal authorities, who claimed that children were harmed by a new antibiotic, Trovan, during the trial, which took place in the middle of a meningitis epidemic of unprecedented scale in Kano in the north of Nigeria in 1996.
Last year, the company came to a tentative settlement with the Kano state government which was to cost it $75m.
But the cable suggests that the US drug giant did not want to pay out to settle the two cases – one civil and one criminal – brought by the Nigerian federal government."

Link at The Guardian

Shades of John le Carre's The Constant Gardener...

You can help fight these crimes - at The Constant Gardener Trust

Welcome! Looking for Information About Getting Off Meds?

2010-12-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

You've come to the right place.

Browse through the Links in the right-hand column for a wealth of resources, or use the Search utility to see the articles we have collected by topic.

http://pharmaceuticalsanonymous.blogspot.com

USA: Desperate jobless pharmacists?

2010-12-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON -- Isang Inokon, a headhunter for Amherst Healthcare recruiting firm, posted a Craigslist job ad on November 18 for clinical pharmacists -- but only the kind who already have jobs.

"Do yourself and favor and start looking now," he wrote in the ad. "When you lose your job, you will interview from a position of weakness."
With the U.S. unemployment rate still soaring at 9.8 percent and 6.3 million Americans having been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, employers can now afford to be extremely picky about whom they hire. In addition to seeking very specific skills, degrees, and numbers of years of experience, many employers are specifying in job ads that candidates be "currently employed" elsewhere to be considered for the position.
Inokon, who has worked in staffing and recruiting for almost 15 years, said he has trouble placing jobless pharmacists because the reality of today's job market is that employers "want somebody who's wanted."
"When you show desperation in your face and your tone during an interview, management is going to pick up on that vibe. They're gonna feel it and see it and notice something's off," he told HuffPost. "It's like somebody who hasn't been on a date in a while -- they're awkward, and the other person's gonna be turned off. It's always better for a person to interview while they're employed."

Why would pharmacists be jobless? Who's next?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/03/employers-wont-hire-the-u_n_791710.html

Vitamin D deficiency may be cause of chronic pain

2010-11-19T12:33:00.001-08:00

"There has been increasing interest in determining the underlying cause of chronic pain syndromes, and vitamin D deficiency is currently under the spotlight.

The body uses vitamin D to help with the absorption of dietary calcium from the small intestine, and calcium is used to help with the development of bone. A deficiency in vitamin D means calcium cannot be efficiently absorbed which results in poorly formed bones. In children this can develop into rickets which causes a bowing of the legs, and in adults this causes osteomalacia, or poorly mineralized and softened bones. This has been found to contribute to chronic muscle and bone pain. There are numerous studies that associate vitamin D deficiency in patients who suffer from various conditions such as osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, certain forms of cancer, depression, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, headache and migraine, neuropathies, and chronic pain..."

Click on the link for the full article:
http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2010/11/19/living/health/doc4ce44996d98ee697127793.txt

Mental Illness and Vitamin D Deficiency

2010-11-15T05:09:00.000-08:00

From the Vitamin D Council

Vitamin D has a significant biochemistry in the brain. Nuclear receptors for vitamin D exist in the brain and vitamin D is involved in the biosynthesis of neurotrophic factors, synthesis of nitric oxide synthase, and increased glutathione levels—all suggesting an important role for vitamin D in brain function. Animal data indicates that tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme for all the brain's monoamines, is increased by vitamin D. Rats born to severely vitamin D deficient dams have profound brain abnormalities.

Link

Clearly this is an issue that affects us all! We ask about the most vulnerable - how many children, seniors and incarcerated persons are deficient in Vitamin D - and show abnormalities in behavior and thinking as a result?

Incarcerated kids drugged with antipsychotics

2010-11-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

Evelyn Pringle reports on chemical child abuse being pushed by psychiatry in juvenile detention centers.
LINK
Archive of Evelyn Pringle's articles

2010-11-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

From THE ATLANTIC magazine

The Drug Pushers
"As America turns its health-care system over to the market, pharmaceutical reps are wielding more and more influence—and the line between them and doctors is beginning to blur

By CARL ELLIOTT
Back in the old days, long before drug companies started making headlines in the business pages, doctors were routinely called upon by company representatives known as “detail men.” To “detail” a doctor is to give that doctor information about a company’s new drugs, with the aim of persuading the doctor to prescribe them. When I was growing up, in South Carolina in the 1970s, I would occasionally see detail men sitting patiently in the waiting room outside the office of my father, a family doctor. They were pretty easy to spot. Detail men were usually sober, conservatively dressed gentlemen who would not have looked out of place at the Presbyterian church across the street. Instead of Bibles or hymn books, though, they carried detail bags, which were filled with journal articles, drug samples, and branded knickknacks for the office.

Today detail men are officially known as “pharmaceutical sales representatives,” but everyone I know calls them “drug reps.” Drug reps are still easy to spot in a clinic or hospital, but for slightly different reasons. The most obvious is their appearance. It is probably fair to say that doctors, pharmacists, and medical-school professors are not generally admired for their good looks and fashion sense. Against this backdrop, the average drug rep looks like a supermodel, or maybe an A-list movie star. Drug reps today are often young, well groomed, and strikingly good-looking. Many are women. They are usually affable and sometimes very smart. Many give off a kind of glow, as if they had just emerged from a spa or salon. And they are always, hands down, the best-dressed people in the hospital.

Drug reps have been calling on doctors since the mid-nineteenth century, but during the past decade or so their numbers have increased dramatically. From 1996 to 2001 the pharmaceutical sales force in America doubled, to a total of 90,000 reps. One reason is simple: good reps move product. Detailing is expensive, but almost all practicing doctors see reps at least occasionally, and many doctors say they find reps useful. One study found that for drugs introduced after 1997 with revenues exceeding $200 million a year, the average return for each dollar spent on detailing was $10.29. That is an impressive figure. It is almost twice the return on investment in medical-journal advertising, and more than seven times the return on direct-to-consumer advertising.

But the relationship between doctors and drug reps has never been uncomplicated, for reasons that should be obvious. The first duty of doctors, at least in theory, is to their patients. Doctors must make prescribing decisions based on medical evidence and their own clinical judgment. Drug reps, in contrast, are salespeople. They swear no oaths, take care of no patients, and profess no high-minded ethical duties. Their job is to persuade doctors to prescribe their drugs. If reps are lucky, their drugs are good, the studies are clear, and their job is easy. But sometimes reps must persuade doctors to prescribe drugs that are marginally effective, exorbitantly expensive, difficult to administer, or even dangerously toxic. Reps that succeed are rewarded with bonuses or commissions. Reps that fail may find themselves unemployed.

Most people who work in health care, if they give drug reps any thought at all, regard them with mixed feelings. A handful avoid reps as if they were vampires, backing out of the room when they see one approaching. In their view, the best that can be said about reps is that they are a necessary by-product of a market economy. They view reps much as NBA players used to view Michael Jordan: as an awesome, powerful force that you can never really stop, only hope to control.

Yet many reps are so friendly, so easygoing, so much fun to flirt with that it is virtually impossible to demonize them. How can you demonize someone who brings you lunch and touches your arm and remembers your birthday and knows the names of all your children? After awhile even the most steel-willed doctors may look forward to visits by a rep, if only in the self-interested way that they look forward to the UPS truck pulling up in their driveway. A rep at the door means a delivery has arrived: take-out for the staff, trinkets for the kids, and, most indispensably, drug samples on the house. Although samples are the single largest marketing expense for the drug industry, they pay handsome dividends: doctors who accept samples of a drug are far more likely to prescribe that drug later on...."

Continues at Link

OCD and Nutrition

2010-10-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

We are glad that Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is getting some attention in the mainstream media.
OC87 - The Movie

However, we think the public would benefit from the inclusion of material on nutritional correction of OCD.
Nutrition for OCD

Charles Gant, MD - End Your Addiction Now

2010-10-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

Dr. Charles Gant writes,
"I specialize in molecular health and healing, especially as it supports psychospiritual growth and mental health recovery from problems such as AD/HD, autism, mood problems, addictions, food and carbohydrate compulsions and nicotine dependence.
Most people believe that their psychological well-being has little to do with the molecules in their body. However, a rapidly growing body of scientific evidence has amassed suggesting that one’s molecular status is the most important factor in causing symptoms such as mood instability, substance and alcohol cravings and inattentiveness,and that it can be altered by 3 kinds of interventions: nutritional restoration, detoxification and hormonal balancing.
Like a weight lifter who takes vitamins and goes into the gym to pump iron, efforts directed at enhancing attentiveness and mindfulness is the "iron pumping" part of psychospiritual growth and mental health recovery. A successful body builder must have both parts, good nutrition and exercise. The same is true for psychospiritual growth and mental health recovery, because the brain is an organ just like the muscles. Good nutrition, detoxification and hormonal balancing, along with mindfulness-directed exercises of the mind/brain get the best results."

Watch the video to learn about Dr. Gant's beliefs of the current status of addictions treatment and what really should be done to effectively overcome an addiction.

About End Your Addiction Now -
Here is the write up from the publisher about the book:
"Whether it is to alcohol, drugs, smoking, or food, addiction is an overwhelming and destructive force that negatively impacts the lives of those in its grip. While there are programs galore that promise an end to these dependencies, the truth is, far too many “reformed” addicts fall right back into their old habits.
Why?
Because powerful biochemical factors override the psychological will to quit.
End Your Addiction Now is a unique book that not only explores the real cause of this recurring problem, but also offers a proven biochemical approach that can break addiction once and for all.
Written in easy-to-understand language, End Your Addiction Now is based upon the extensive research and medical practice of Dr. Charles Gant and other pioneers in the field of orthomolecular medicine. It both guides readers to physicians and facilities that support a biochemical approach to the treatment of substance-use disorders, and provides step-by-step directions for those who want to quit their addictions on their own.
At the heart of Dr. Gant’s approach is a unique “Quick-Start” program of nutritional supplements. After completing a questionnaire to determine which key brain chemical disruptions are causing their substance cravings, moods, and behaviors, readers are given a targeted list of nutritional supplements designed to jump-start their recovery–supplements that help reduce cravings within twenty-four to seventy-two hours.
The book then walks readers through a natural process of detoxification and additional biochemical testing to establish a complete biochemical profile.
Finally, it addresses the specific nutritional deficiencies that must be addressed for a full psychological and spiritual recovery."

Click on the link below to order from Amazon:
End Your Addiction Now: A Proven Nutritional Supplement Program That Can Set You Free

Download and read some of Dr. Gant's articles here - free
http://www.charlesgantmd.com/articles.html

Novartis Paid Doctor Who Urged Use of Seizure Meds on Bipolar Kids

2010-10-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.bnet.com/blog/drug-business/novartis-paid-doc-who-urged-use-of-seizure-meds-on-bipolar-kids/6050

Novartis (NVS) gave research funds to a doctor who advocated using the anti-seizure drug Trileptal as an anti-bipolar depression treatment in children — an unapproved use of that drug — the company confirmed to BNET. The doctor, Michael Jay Reinstein, once told a newsletter for parents with bipolar children that “high enough” doses of Trileptal were useful in quelling aggression in bipolar children. Novartis spokesperson Anna Fradle said:

He has done clinical studies on Trileptal on our behalf.

She declined to detail how much money Novartis had paid Reinstein over the years. The use of antidepressants and other pyschiatric drugs in children is controversial. It is not well-established that conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder or mania exist in children, or that if they do the appropriate treatment is a seizure medicine like Trileptal. Yet Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Shire(SHPGY) and AstraZeneca (AZN) have all funded research by doctors who advocate antidepressants for kids, and so did Forest Labs (FRX).

The admission illustrates how a small group of doctors can end up on the payroll of multiple drug companies, triggering illegal “off-label” sales.

Novartis agreed to pay $422 million to end Department of Justice allegations that the company promoted Trileptal for unapproved uses and paid kickbacks to health care providers to induce them to prescribe the drug. In the whistleblower complaint that led to the settlement, former Novartis pharmaceutical sales rep Steve McKee alleged that he and other reps would encourage doctors to ask about off-label uses of Trileptal...

Continues at link

Photo of the doctor

Statin Drugs Side Effects...

2010-09-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

and the Misguided War On Cholesterol is an incredible book (an update of an the earlier book LIPITOR,® THIEF OF MEMORY, no longer available, now includes all statin side effects not just cognitive, hence a new a title and cover). A must read for anyone who is even remotely interested in how our sickness care, billed as health care, system works. Dr. Graveline, like many, obviously a very conscientious doctor, was suddenly faced with a number of dilemmas when he experienced transient global amnesia (memory loss) induced by Lipitor (one of the statin cholesterol lowering drugs). Interestingly the manufacturer even proclaims that there is no connection with its use to prevent heart disease or heart attacks yet the use of this useless drug continuers through slick marketing. For example:

"The Ontario government in Canada spends nearly 50% of its budget on health care, up from approximately 35% twenty years ago. In Canada $1.1 billion is spent on cholesterol lowering statin drugs like Lipitor each year. Ontario taxpayers spent $170 million for Lipitor in 2003-04." From NPI Daily <news@npinewsletters.com> June 21, 2005

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2005/06/28/statin_drugs_side_effects.htm

More bad news on Statins and why you should avoid them here

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2003/11/07/bad_news_about_statin_drugs.htm

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2003/12/05/statin_drugs_memory_loss.htm

http://www.spacedoc.net/mitochondrial_damage_introduction

http://www.spacedoc.net/lipitor_thief_of_memory.html

Video - Food Matters

2010-09-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

Education, not medication
Nutrition and prevention for cancer, mental health and other conditions
http://bjunki.com/Video/115/Food-Matters.aspx

"It's the lives that count"

2010-09-25T02:48:00.000-07:00

What's wrong with psychiatry? A psychiatrist explains.

Canada: Mentally ill prisoners "warehoused" - CBC

2010-09-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

"Canadian penitentiaries are becoming the largest psychiatric facilities in the country," said Howard Saper, correctional investigator of Canada.

"The Correctional Service of Canada assumes a legal duty of care to provide required mental health services, including clinical treatment and intervention. In failing to meet this legal obligation, too many mentally disordered offenders are simply being warehoused in federal penitentiaries. This is not effective or safe corrections."
Commissioned by the correctional investigator, the expert report entitled Under Warrant: A Review of the Implementation of the Correctional Service of Canada's Mental Health Strategy was written by John Service, former chief operating officer of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
In reviewing offender access to mental health services, the report found that the intermediate care component of the correctional service's mental health strategy has not yet been implemented due to a lack of funding. Offenders requiring intermediate care fall between those needing primary care and acute inpatient care.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/09/23/mentally-ill-prisons023.html#ixzz10O4Gfhv2

Fortunately, there are often nutritional solutions. Because they require only proper physical screening and appropriate (orthomolecular) vitamins, they are easy and inexpensive. Let's get started!

Alex Schauss - Vitamin C for Hepatitis C and Heroin withdrawal

Information on physical causes of mental health problems, behavior and learning difficulties, and violence

http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/

Related symptom checklist

http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/content/questionnaire.pdf

The Extraordinary Walker Exam

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/stradford.htm

29 Medical Causes of Schizophrenia

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/causesofschizophrenia.htm

Some of our previous posts on the prison system

http://pharmaceuticalsanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/04/culture-soaked-in-alcohol-and-drugs.html

http://pharmaceuticalsanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/08/nyt-mentally-ill-offenders-strain.html

For more information on nutrition and mental health, please see our Links section.

For further information on Corrections Canada

http://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/

Ivan Zinger, LL.B., Ph.D.
Director of Policy and Senior Counsel
Office of the Correctional Investigator
(613) 990-2690

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

2010-09-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

Ending sugar addiction....an approach that works from a doctor who has had the courage to speak publicly about what is really happening to our food. Fascinating!

Robert H. Lustig, MD
Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, in the Division of Endocrinology Director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health (WATCH) Program at UCSF
Dr. Lustig is a nationally-recognized authority in the field of neuroendocrinology, with a specific emphasis on the regulation of energy balance by the central nervous system. He is currently investigating the contribution of biochemical, neural, hormonal, and genetic influences in the expression of the current obesity epidemic both in children and adults. He has defined a syndrome of vagally-mediated beta-cell hyperactivity which leads to insulin hypersecretion and obesity, and which is treatable by insulin suppression. This phenomenon may occur in up to 20% of the obese population. He is interested in the hypothalamic signal transduction of insulin and leptin, and how these two systems interact. He is studying the cardiovascular morbidity associated with hyperinsulinemia, and developing methods to evaluate and prevent this phenomenon in children. He is also analyzing the contribution of the autonomic nervous system to insulin secretion and insulin resistance in obese children, and the utility of assessing insulin dynamics in targeting obesity therapy.
Dr. Lustig graduated from MIT, and received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. He performed his pediatric residency at St. Louis Children's Hospital, and his clinical fellowship at UCSF. From there, he spent six years as a post-doctoral fellow in neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University in New York.
Dr. Lustig has authored over 70 research articles and 35 chapters. He is the Chairman of the Obesity Task Force of the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, a member of the Obesity Task force of The Endocrine Society, and on the Steering Committee of the International Endocrine Alliance to Combat Obesity.

http://chc.ucsf.edu/coast/faculty_lustig.htm

Hypoglycemia, mental health and addictions

2010-09-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hypoglycemia

This is a common condition of an abnormally low level of sugar in the blood. Sugar levels frequently change throughout the day and may be normal sometimes and abnormal at others. Symptoms include weakness, shakiness, excess hunger, anxiety, outbursts, faintness, headaches, passing out, delirium, coma, hallucinations, excess sweating, the appearance of intoxication, marked personality changes, irritability, negativism, mood swings, depression, crying spells, and a panorama of similar mental symptoms.

Numerous patients given psychiatric diagnoses have actually turned out to have hypoglycemia, including those classified with depression, manic-depressive disorder, and schizophrenia.

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/causesofschizophrenia.htm#Hypoglycemia

What is hypoglycemia?

http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/what_is_hypo.html

http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/i-articles.html

Questionnaire to help determine what ails you. From Blake Graham in Australia (PDF)

http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/content/questionnaire.pdf

‘What Doctors May Not Tell You About Psychiatric Drugs’

2010-08-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

Frightening - and a must-read.

Presentation by Grace E. Jackson, MD

Public Lecture, UCE Birmingham, UCE Birmingham,

June 2004

In PDF form

http://whale.to/drugs/Jackson.pdf

Zombie Drug Rep

2010-08-22T11:03:00.001-07:00

Pharmageddon 2012 – the end of an era for pharmaceutical marketing?
"According to a story from MedAdNews, Pharmageddon 2012 is an experimental lab on social medias where communications agencies Friday Morning and S+R Medical Communications expose – in a very unusual and somewhat anonymous way – the findings of a round-table discussion they have had with doctors in early 2009. It’s meant to shed a light on the state of the relationship between healthcare professionals, the pharmaceutical industry and the marketing efforts behind pharma products by using an analogy to “2012“. They use the social media with apocalyptic scenarios to tell that story in quite an entertaining way."
Link

Pharmageddon 2012

More fun videos are here
http://www.youtube.com/user/pharmageddon2012

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Nutrition

2010-08-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

OCD is a kind of anxiety disorder that is caused by the overproduction of adrenaline, due to an inner metabolic disorder that can be treated nutritionally.

http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/OCD_and_Nutrition.html

Kafkaesque interrogation at Vienna court: Are the Baxter charges behind this?

2010-08-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

Bird flu whistleblower Jane Burgermeister defends herself against proceedings designed to strip her of her civil rights in Austria

Judges are supposed to make their decisions on the basis of evidence, documents and facts, But in the court Döbling in Vienna, this is clearly not a requirement.

An email from an unknown person appeared to be set to be the basis of the decision to appoint a legal guardian and strip me of all my civic rights at top speed when I went at 10 am this morning to the court in Döbling, Vienna, for my interrogation by judge Dr Hannes Winge.

I was told the interview would probably last only 15 minutes and not to bother bringing any documents along as they were all.

To my surprise, Dr Winge’s first question to me in his spacious office was about an email from a person I have never heard of called „Christina Braun“, writing apparently about my role in the swine flu pandemic.

He clearly wanted to focus on this email from this Christina Braun and seemed intent on appointing a legal guardian for me without delay, even asking me to name a representative. I refused because the whole procedure is not justified by the law.

He seemed to have absolutely knowledge at all or even the slightest interest in the copies of the appeals I had handed in one month ago with documents proving that Judge Michaela Lauer’s reasons for appointing a legal guardian in connection with my Dad’s inheritance are all false even though this should have been the focus of our interview.

A copy lay on his desk. But the pristine pages betrayed that they had come straight out of the photocopy machine and had lain untouched ever since - and that even though Dr Winge is making such a weighty decision about my future and is supposed to be studying the evidence.

I had to insist that Dr Winge look at the proof, documents, bills, emails and evidence that Judge Lauer is pushing to appoint a legal guardian for me on the basis of false accusations and in order to bury evidence of her corruption.

In the end, I had to spend two hours in the office as I laid out all the evidence to Dr Winge – evidence so strong he could not ignore it. At some point, even the most capricious justice system has to take account of reality.

Dr Winge graciously agreed at the end to look at the files and study the evidence. Foolish me! I had been under the impression the examination of evidence also happened before the interview – and not only after.

He said he would need about a month and would then make his decision about whether to drop the case or not.

I pointed out to him that he would have to give reasons for his decision and that the reasons had to have some basis in facts and that appointing legal guardians etc for me just to silence me is actually a criminal offence.

Instead of a fair hearing , Dr Winge appeared to wish to discuss only an irrelevant email from a person I have never heard of and to move forward to appoint a legal guardian immediately.

That remainds of the fake criminal charges created by the corruption state prosecutor Katja Wallenschewksi out of letters of protest about my persecution by Heiner Lohmann and Christine Cote.

It seems any, „false flag“ email or criminal charges will serve as a happy excuse not to look at the facts at hand and to continue with framing me.

I have to ask myself: why is the Austrian government so desperate to silence me? Why do they risk such a scandal to strip me of my rights? Anyone who reads the appeals and criminal charges on the internet can see that the accusations made against me are trivial or lies.

Being stripped of your civil rights because you allegedly have not done things like pay the insurance of your Dad’s house when you have the bill proving you paid — and when it was the job of the Judge Lauer and solicitor Hutz anyway to do this is the first place — is like a black, black comedy. Knowing you could be detained forever because Judge Lauer falsely claims I “made ever new demans for the evaluation of various properties” is like a twist in a Stephen King novel.

What the judge says about me amounts to defamation.

One reason the Austrian government could be so deseperate to remove me is because the Council of Europe report by UK MP Paul Flynn on the swine flu pandemic hype is set to be debated in the Austrian parliament, along with all other parliaments in Europe, in the next session. Also, 220 MEPs demanded an investigation into the swine flu at the European Parliament, though this has been blocked for now.

Maybe the Austrian govenrment fears that the upcoming debate will highlight once more the incident where 72 kilos of seasonal flu was contaminated by Baxter in February 2009 in Orth an der Donau. Because the deadly bird flu virus has to be kept in a biosecurity level 3 lab, an accidental contamination can be virtually ruled out. The material was sent to 16 labs in four countries. Only an alert lab technician in the Czech Republic detected the virus after testing it on ferrets.

I filed charges against Baxter on April 8th after there was no meaningful investigation by the authorities. A vet was sent to inspect the lab. The state prosecutor did start an investigation which was dropped in September 2009.

Baxter could have sparked a global bird flu pandemic, triggering mass vaccinations, in Februrary 2009. These pandemic vaccinations can even be made compulsory under the pandemic level 6 declaration by WHO.

A few days after I filed charges, the swine flu mysteriously appeared in Mexico.

That the swine flu virus was hyped by WHO and by the pharamceutical companies for profit has been confirmed, in the meantime, by evidence presented reports by the Council of Europe and studies such as have appeared in the BMJ.

It could well be that Baxter and the international corporate crime syndicate that I accused of deliberately starting a pandemic for profit in April 2009 is feeling less confident about ist ability to withstand scrutiny.

Only about 3% to 4% of the Austrians took the swine flu vaccine in spite of the gigantic media hype and the exhortations of the health minister Alois Stöger. About 40% take the seasonal flu shot every year as a matter of routine. The authorities clearly anticipated that 60% to 70% would take the swine flu shot.

But the Austrians did not believe the hype. And the government must be worried about its ability to give its spin to the whole swine flu pandemic and Baxter bird flu incident.

As pharamceutical companies and government gear up for unprecedented vaccine campaigns, any scrutiny of the Baxter’s contamination in February 2009 may be seen as a increasingly big threat.

Indeed, if Baxter were ever convicted in a court of law of deliberately attempting to start a global bird flu pandemic, it could well deal a death blow to the whole pharmaceutical industry and vaccine complex around the world.

Getting rid of me though a legal guardianship under false and trivial accusations and also by framing me by fake criminal charges may seem a better option given the possible repercussions of a substantial investigation into Baxter.

The sheer amount of publicity my case is getting will, however, make it impossible for them to remove me. The legal basis is non existant and there is only so much caprice and eccentricity a justice system can allow itself in the age of the internet before it discredits itself totally in the eyes of the general public.

As soon as the court guardianship is dropped, I can and will file for compensation because this unjustified legal guardianship actually boils down to an attempt at an illegal detention and the silencing of a whistleblower.

The longer this drags on before it is finally laid to rest as it must finally be, the higher my compensation claims can be and the more publicity this case will generate.

The Baxter case is once more already in the spotlight along with the corruption of the Austrian justice system that failed to investigate the contamination of 72 kilos of seasonal flu vaccine material with the bird f u virus that could potentially have endangered people all around the globe.

On a personal note, the last few weeks have made me understand what the word “Kafkaseque” and “surreal” really means. Being hounded by a malevolent state is no joke at all.

Nightmarish as this time has been, I have been overwhelmed by the amount of support I have had from people all over the world.

I don’t have time to answer all the emails, alas , as the likes of Dr Winge force me to go on filing documents etc, though I try to answer as many emails as I can.

But the support of so many people, also from Switzerland and from We Are Change Austria, has been truly amazing, and I feel humbled and grateful to have experienced so much generosity, kindess and good will from so many people around the world.

Link

Video and petition

PriceWaterhouseCoopers bankers tell Pharma that they bungled public trust on antidepressants and that vaccines shall be the new cash cow.

WHO reveals names of secret committee: Nancy Cox of the CDC and other experts admit to pharma industry ties

2010-08-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

Third of WHO advisers on the swine flu epidemic that never was received support from drugs firms

By Sophie Borland

Daily Mail

A third of the experts advising the World Health Organisation about the swine flu pandemic had ties to drugs firms, it has emerged.

Five of the 15 specialists who sat on the emergency committee had received funding from pharmaceutical giants, or were linked to them through their research.

The revelation will prompt speculation that the ‘pandemic’ was wildly overestimated and largely fuelled by the drugs industry who stood to benefit from the panic.

Read more at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1302505/Third-WHO-swine-flu-advisers-received-support-drugs-firms.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#

Link

The Hidden Tragedy of the CIA's Experiments on Children

2010-08-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Mary is only five years old. She sits on a small, straight-backed chair, moving her legs back and forth, humming the same four notes over and over and over. Her head, framed in a tangled mass of golden curls, moves up and down with each note. For the first three years of her life, Mary was thought to be a mostly normal child. Then, after she began behaving oddly, she had been handed off to a foster family. Her father and mother didn't want her any longer. She had become too strange for her father, whose alcoholism clouded any awareness of his young daughter. Mary's mother had never wanted her anyway and was happy to have her placed in another home. When the LSD Mary has been given begins to have its effects, she stops moving her head and legs and sits staring at the wall. She doesn't move at all. After about ten minutes, she looks at the nearby physician observing her, and says, "God isn't coming back today. He's too busy. He won't be back here for weeks."

From early 1940 to 1953, Dr. Lauretta Bender, a highly respected child neuropsychiatrist practicing at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, experimented extensively with electroshock therapy on children who had been diagnosed with "autistic schizophrenia." In all, it has been reported that Bender administered electroconvulsive therapy to at least 100 children ranging in age from three years old to 12 years, with some reports indicating the total may be twice that number. One source reports that, inclusive of Bender's work, electroconvulsive treatment was used on more than 500 children at Bellevue Hospital from 1942 to 1956, and then at Creedmoor State Hospital Children's Service from 1956 to 1969. Bender was a confident and dogmatic woman, who bristled at criticism, oftentimes refused to acknowledge reality even when it stood starkly before her.

Despite publicly claiming good results with electroshock treatment, privately Bender said she was seriously disappointed in the aftereffects and results shown by the subject children. Indeed, the condition of some of the children appeared to have only worsened. One six-year-old boy, after being shocked several times, went from being a shy, withdrawn child to acting increasingly aggressive and violent. Another child, a seven-year-old girl, following five electroshock sessions had become nearly catatonic.

Years later, another of Bender's young patients who became overly aggressive after about 20 treatments, now grown, was convicted in court as a "multiple murderer." Others, in adulthood, reportedly were in and of trouble and prison for a battery of petty and violent crimes. A 1954 scientific study of about 50 of Bender's young electroshock patients, conducted by two psychologists, found that nearly all were worse off after the "therapy" and that some had become suicidal after treatment. One of the children studied in 1954 was the son of well-known writer Jacqueline Susann, author of the bestselling novel "Valley of the Dolls." Susann's son, Guy, was diagnosed with autism shortly after birth and, when he was three years old, Dr. Bender convinced Susann and her husband that Guy could be successfully treated with electroshock therapy. Guy returned home from Bender's care a nearly lifeless child. Susann later told people that Bender had "destroyed" her son. Guy has been confined to institutions since his treatment.

To their credit, some of Dr. Bender's colleagues considered her use of electroshock on children "scandalous," but few colleagues spoke out against her, a situation still today common among those in the medical profession. Said Dr. Leon Eisenberg, a widely respected physician and true pioneer in the study of autistic children, "[Lauretta Bender] claimed that some of these children recovered [because of her use of shock treatment]. I once wrote a paper in which I referred to several studies by [Dr. E. R.] Clardy. He was at Rockwin State Hospital - the back up to Bellevue - and he described the arrival of these children. He considered them psychotic and perhaps worse off then before the treatment."

Continues here

FSD: Sex for our pleasure or their profit?

2010-08-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

FSD - "Female Sexual Dysfunction"

Challenging the Medicalization of Sex

WELCOME

The New View Campaign was formed in 2000 as a grassroots network to challenge the distorted and oversimplified messages about sexuality that the pharmaceutical industry relies on to sell its new drugs.

The pharmaceutical industry wants people to think that sexual problems are simple medical matters, and it offers drugs as expensive magic fixes. But sexual problems are complicated, sexuality is diverse, and no drug is without side effects.

The goal of the New View Campaign is to expose biased research and promotional methods that serve corporate profit rather than people's pleasure and satisfaction. The Campaign challenges all views that reduce sexual experience to genital biology and thereby ignore the many dimensions of real life.

The New View Campaign is devoted to education, activism, and empowerment. We invite you to benefit from the information on this website, and we invite your support and participation.

Link

Western fast-food diet could be major cause of ADHD

2010-08-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

Western fast-food diet could be major cause of ADHD

Attention deficient disorder (ADHD) is a growing problem, afflicting around 5 per cent of children. Now researchers say they have pinpointed one of its main causes. Adolescents who eat a Western diet of fast food - processed, fried and refined meals – are twice as likely to suffer from ADHD as those who mainly eat healthier fare. A processed, fast food diet is very low in fatty acids, and high in total fat, saturated fat, refined sugar and sodium. Omega-3 fatty acids, folate and fibre - which can be found in fish, whole grains, fruits and vegetables – help develop mental health, and aid optimal brain function. Researchers at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Australia studied the diets of around 1800 adolescents aged up to 14 years. Of these, 115 had been diagnosed with ADHD. Prof Wendy Oddy, who headed up the research, said that the fastfood diet also wasn’t providing enough micronutrients that can aid attention and concentration.

Source: Journal of Attention Disorders, 2010; doi: 10.1177/1087054710365990

Book Review: Natural remedies for psychiatric conditions

2010-08-02T00:18:00.000-07:00

Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs

by Ethan Russo, MD

The Haworth Press, Inc. 10 Alice Street, Binghampton, New York 13904 USA; 800-429-6784; sales@haworthpress.com

Softcover, 2001, $29.95, 352 pp.

In the late 1980s the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) burst upon the psychiatric landscape, and fueled by massive advertising campaigns, these new "miraculous" drugs for depression began to generate enormous profits from the ensuing parade of pharmaceuticals: fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), fluvoxamine (Luvox), and citalopram (Celexa). A major change in the treatment of psychiatric disorders came with the new drugs: family doctors began to prescribe them--to children as young as four--and today we are seeing the sequelae of suicidal ideation in young people taking these drugs, as well as aggression (most of the school shooters, such as Columbine, were taking one of the SSRIs)

Now that we know the deadly side effects of these drugs, it seems imperative to find alternatives to the SSRIs. Although many people use herbs occasionally, most are unaware of a number of well-researched herbs found to be effective in treating depression, insomnia, dementia and cognitive impairment, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Ethan Russo, MD, author of several books on psychotropic herbs, and a well-known neurologist with vast clinical experience, has remedied this lack with the Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs.

Dr. Russo's books are solidly rooted in scientific data. His analysis of herbal remedies for psychiatric conditions includes history of usage, botany, preparation of extracts, and the newest research, making his Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs a unique and reliable resource for practitioners.

Continues at link

Mental health experts ask: Will anyone be normal?

2010-07-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

The APA started the DSM as a fundraiser. Now look where it's got us.

Mental health experts ask: Will anyone be normal?

By Kate Kelland

LONDON | Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:23pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - An updated edition of a mental health bible for doctors may include diagnoses for "disorders" such as toddler tantrums and binge eating, experts say, and could mean that soon no-one will be classed as normal.

Leading mental health experts gave a briefing on Tuesday to warn that a new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is being revised now for publication in 2013, could devalue the seriousness of mental illness and label almost everyone as having some kind of disorder.

Citing examples of new additions like "mild anxiety depression," "psychosis risk syndrome," and "temper dysregulation disorder," they said many people previously seen as perfectly healthy could in future be told they are ill.

"It's leaking into normality. It is shrinking the pool of what is normal to a puddle," said Til Wykes of the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College London.

The criteria are designed to provide clear definitions for professionals who treat patients with mental disorders, and for researchers and pharmaceutical drug companies seeking to develop new ways of treating them.

Wykes and colleagues Felicity Callard, also of Kings' Institute of Psychiatry, and Nick Craddock of Cardiff University's department of psychological medicine and neurology, said many in the psychiatric community are worried that the further the guidelines are expanded, the more likely it will become that nobody will be classed as normal any more.

"Technically, with the classification of so many new disorders, we will all have disorders," they said in a joint statement. "This may lead to the belief that many more of us 'need' drugs to treat our 'conditions' -- (and) many of these drugs will have unpleasant or dangerous side effects."

The scientists said "psychosis risk syndrome" diagnosis was particularly worrying, since it could falsely label young people who may only have a small risk of developing an illness.

"It's a bit like telling 10 people with a common cold that they are "at risk for pneumonia syndrome" when only one is likely to get the disorder," Wykes told the briefing.

The American Psychiatric Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The scientists gave examples from the previous revision to the DSM, which was called DSM 4 and included broader diagnoses and categories for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and childhood bipolar disorders.

This, they said, had "contributed to three false epidemics" of these conditions, particularly in the United States.

"During the last decade, how many doctors were harangued by worried parents into giving drugs like Ritalin to children who didn't really need it?," their statement asked.

Millions of people across the world, many of them children, take ADHD drugs including Novartis' Ritalin, which is known generically as methylphenidate, and similar drugs such as Shire Plc's Adderall and Vyvanse. In the United States alone, sales of these drugs was about $4.8 billion in 2008.

Wykes and Callard published a comment in The Journal of Mental Health expressing their concern about the upcoming DSM revision and highlighting another 10 or more papers in the same journal from other scientists who were also worried. DSM 5 is due to be published in May 2013.

'Angel-faced monster': A case of Pyroluria?

2010-07-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

From the DAILY MAIL:

'Angel-faced monster' - Boy, 8, hit teacher, set fire to family home, pushed his grandfather down stairs and tortured the dog

"Kieran was permanently excluded from Northbrook Primary School in Leyland last October.
Teachers wrote to his parents warning that his behaviour 'posed a serious threat to the welfare, health and safety of fellow pupils, staff and not least himself'.
He has since been attending a short-stay school where staff are trying to deal with his behavioural difficulties.
His diet has been changed and he has been treated with drugs for ADHD, but to no avail.
A Lancashire county council spokesman said its priority with young children with behavioural difficulties is 'always to support them to return to a mainstream setting as soon as possible'."

This sounds like a case of Pyroluria, also known as the Mauve Factor. It is a disorder that leads to a deficiencies of essential brain nutrients. Fortunately it is easy to correct.

What are the effects of Pyroluria?
http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/content/articles-content.php?heading=Pyroluria

Dr. Kaslow on Pyroluria
http://www.drkaslow.com/html/pyroluria.html

How can you tell if you have Pyroluria? Here is Blake Graham's checklist
http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/content/questionnaire.pdf

Dr. Woody McGinnis PDF on identifying and treating the Mauve Factor
http://web.mac.com/autismprotocols/Site/Pyroluria_files/woodymcginnis.pdf

Our previous posts on Pyroluria are here

http://pharmaceuticalsanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-lsd-leads-to-mental-illness.html

http://pharmaceuticalsanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/03/charles-mansons-biochemistry.html

http://pharmaceuticalsanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/10/that-smell.html

http://pharmaceuticalsanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/07/michael-jackson-they-keep-feeding-him.html