As a newly settled resident in the US, one of the most shocking aspects of American culture to an outsider is that pharmaceutical companies are permitted to advertize directly to the public. It is hard to imagine anything more cynical and ridiculous. How can an ordinary Joe or Jane Public know anything about the intricacies of prescribing and therefore what medication could be appropriate or safe for their condition?

Drug companies, with their legendary greed and lack of scruples, of course, have been quick to exploit the opening and have not been shy about touting their wares to the gullible and ignorant. Neither has decency or integrity troubled them much, with outrageously exaggerated benefits from drugs which do more harm than good. Many hours of air time every week vanish under a murky tide of slick talk and phoney sweet images.

The "Ask your doctor about" commercials, which sometimes do not even say what a drug is for, have been widely derided and cited as one reason health care costs are rising faster than general inflation.
A recent study by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Aug 2007) followed the growth of this phenomenon and found that 10 years after a rule change allowed drug companies to advertise directly to consumers, the overall amount spent promoting medicines has increased by 330%. However the TV budget still only makes up 14% of the staggering $29.9 billion the companies spend to promote their drugs.

What is troubling is that the FDA policing of such ads is (predictably) very lax and declining sharply. While 64% of the ads broadcast on television in 1999 were reviewed by the FDA, the ratio had declined to 32% by 2004. The researchers also found that the FDA has been sending out fewer letters to drug companies warning them that their commercials are minimizing risks or exaggerating effectiveness. In 1997, 142 such letters were sent. Last year there were only 21. Moreover, a report from the Government Accountability Office concluded that FDA warning letters often were not sent out until false or misleading ad campaigns had run their course (my italics).

The only other “civilized” nation to permit this abuse of the airwaves is lil’ ‘ol New Zealand. However the piratical drug companies will not be deterred and are constantly trying to breakdown the resistance of countries like Canada and the European Union, which have made it quite clear they don’t want this invasion of rights.

You can be sure they are willing (and probably already are) spending $millions in bribes, to try to get their wicked way and rape the virgin child. It’s an ugly, disgusting and ultimately degrading process, causing far more deaths and damage than the whole hordes of terrorists that are supposed to be beating at our gates.

Would you let Al-Qaeda advertize their evil beliefs on TV? Well then, why permit the pharmaceutical brigands to do so, who kill more citizens every day than terrorists have ever killed, worldwide, in the last 10 years?

Soft bones and sugar!

I've been teaching for years that soft drinks (sodas) are deadly for bone health. Aside from all other health negatives, one thing is clear: drinking sugary pep foods softens bones. We are now seeing young women in their 20s with osteoporosis, directly related to consuming sugary drinks. Sugar takes out phosphorous and that comes from the bones; the calcium is lost in consequence. Moreover, phosphoric acid (the brown "taste" ingredient in colas) also drains away calcium.

Bad news all the way to the bone bank!

Now a new study has tied bones and sugar together in a completely different way. Or maybe not: maybe what the scientists have found is just the chief metabolic principle, linking the two. Strong bones protect against diabetes! More specifically, osteocalcin, a sort of hormone protein that stimulates bone growth ALSO down-regulates blood glucose levels and increased insulin sensitivity.

No I-told-'em here. This came at us all right out of left field.

What got the scientists thinking was that obesity seems to protect against osteoporosis. I always thought that was due to extra exercise and bone stress, known factors to protect against osteoporosis. But apparently there is this much subtler level of interaction. The osteocalcin stimulates proliferation of beta cells in the pancreas; the ones which secrete insulin. Rapid removal of glucose from the blood helps avert obesity. No surprise then that mice bred for low osteocalcin secretion tended to be obese.

Anyway, the evidence is pretty good. The scientists double-checked their discovery by breeding mice missing a gene that encoded for osteocalcin and, sure enough, these mice were both glucose intolerant and fat. Of course there will be a push to develop a patented variant of osteocalcin, so you can only be healthy if you pay some pharmaceutical company a fortune. Meantime, chewing on a bone could keep you slim and free of diabetes? (just kidding!)

[published in the journal called Cell, Aug. 10, 2007l

"Star Trek medicine" again

Many of you will know I coined this special phrase for the Russian SCENAR device (sometimes spelled skenar). I featured it in the first edition of my book Virtual Medicine and predicted scenars would change the face of medicine over the next 2 decades.

I am enthusiastic about getting these brilliant healing devices in every home. Now someone has introduced me to a range of very inexpensive scenars, priced so that everyone can afford one. They provided me with a website and product page, which you can review here: http://www.scott-mumby-scenar.com Go get one.

If you are a professional practitioner, MD, ND, DO and chiro, then I think you would do better to join forces with Pacific Health Options and get their RITM model here.

To read more about scenars, go here: http://www.alternative-doctor.com/scenar/scenar.htm

10 amazing food secrets and how food can damage your health, without you knowing...

Did you know that most foods contain poisons? Some people don’t have the genes to process these toxins properly.
Did you know that many foods can cause serious brain malfunction? It’s like being drunk or hungover in the morning.
Did you know that you can be addicted to foods which hurt you? The very foods you like might be doing you the most harm.
Did you know that fatigue and mood swings can be caused by something you are eating? Altered mood is one of the very common responses to food toxins.
Did you know that a destructive food can disguise itself, so you would never guess which one it is?
Did you know that continuing to eat the wrong food will speed up aging? Bad diet is stressful and raises damaging cortisol levels.
Did you know that the reason folks wake up crabby and slow in the morning is because they are addicted to one or more foods? For most people breakfast is the “fix” that clears their symptoms and gets them going.
Did you know the wrong foods switch can on damaging genes and the right foods can switch off bad genes? We call this new science nutrigenomics.
Did you know that losing weight easily is possible by eliminating certain foods, not necessarily eating less? Eat all you want if you stick to the safe foods. No need to be hungry!
Did you know foods can cause inappropriate sexual arousal? It’s not about aphrodisiacs, it’s about excessive brain stimulation.

More value from me

I have been searching lately for ways to give more. I want the website to at least pay for itself but beyond that, I'd like to add more and more value for subscribers. The first of a series of free special alternative-doctor reports was released a few days ago. In case you missed the e-mail or your spam killer blocked it, download it now from here. And yes, you can copy it and share it, provided you do not remove my name or copyright line.

The alternative-doctor-radio site will soon go back live. I've been having my summer recess from broadcasts and, consequently, no postings. If you missed any, you can go to thew web page. Just to celebrate summer, I'm reposting an old webcast that talks about the hazards from teeth and dentistry! http://www.alternative-doctor-radio.com

Video Link

A broadcast on Fox 5 which was, naturally, suppressed by the rest of the network and other major media. Go quick because this link will probably be suppressed too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELgW4KBY-o4

THE GUESS WHO? QUOTE: