Study: Statins cause memory loss, depression

(NaturalNews) The growing list of serious negative side effects caused by statin drugs now includes memory loss and depression, according to a new study published in the Cochrane Library. Researchers discovered that the vast majority of drug trials allegedly showing statins to be safe have been conducted by drug companies, and that way too many people are being prescribed the dangerous medications as a result. Researchers pulled data from 14 drug trials involving 34,000 patients and found that, while statins appeared to help prevent heart attacks and strokes in some patients, there was simply not enough evidence to prove that people with no history of heart disease can safely take the drugs. And yet millions of healthy people needlessly taking statins every day at the direction of their doctors. “[W]e found that evidence of potential harm is not being taken seriously,” said Professor Shah Ebrahim, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “The adverse effects are not included in the trials.” Amy Thompson, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, added that “[i]t is still unclear whether statins provide any real benefits for people without heart and circulatory disease and who are at low risk.” She and others are thus advising people without any history of heart disease to avoid statins altogether. But do statin drugs actually provide any real benefit for anyone? According to a study published in the British Medical Journal in 2010, for every heart attack allegedly prevented by statins, two people suffer liver damage, kidney failure, cataracts or extreme muscle weakness from taking the drug. And statistically, less than three percent of people experience any benefit at all from taking statins (http://www.naturalnews.com/028988_statin_drugs_side_effects.html). Sources for this story include: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1348435/Statins-cause-loss-memory-depression.html

GSK study suggests its antidepressant drugs cause suicidal tendencies

(NaturalNews) A new study released by drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) suggests that its very own antidepressant drug Paxil (paroxetine) is linked to an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and tendencies among adult patients. The findings appear to confirm those of previous studies and cases that have linked selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) like Paxil to suicides, suicide attempts, and even murders (http://www.naturalnews.com/019342.html). Published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry , the GSK study reveals a nearly sevenfold increase in suicide attempts among those taking Paxil versus those taking a placebo. In clinical trials, 0.34 percent of participants taking Paxil attempted suicide, while only 0.05 percent of those taking a placebo did. Besides increasing the risk of suicidal tendencies, a GSK study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in early 2010 showed that Paxil does not even appear to work as intended in patients with varying levels depression (http://www.naturalnews.com/027962_Paxil_antidepressants.html). Combine this with the fact that Paxil technically makes depression symptoms worse by causing more suicides and suicide attempts, and you are left asking how or why this drug ended up on the market in the first place. GSK has known since at least 2006 that Paxil is linked to increased suicide risk, and yet the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to allow the ineffective, harmful drug to remain on the market. Sure, the agency has upped its warning labels over the years, but based on the drug’s safety and performance record, is there any legitimate reason for it to even be on the market in the first place? The FDA first modified warning labels for Paxil in 2004 after suicide rates among children taking the drug was found to be twice as high as it was among those not taking Paxil. In 2006, the FDA extended the warning to include adults up to age 25. Today, the drug carries a “black box” warning for everyone that says it may increase risk of suicide. A 2009 study published in the online journal PLoS One revealed that among 832 different drugs, which represent 99 percent of the total suicide-related events reported in the Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS), Paxil was the worst of all. Among the 27,012 adverse events reported for suicide attempts between 2004 and 2008, 1,323, or 4.9 percent, were linked to Paxil (http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007312). Sources for this story include: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/31/us-suicidal-thoughts-antidepressants-idUSTRE72U4EW20110331

All the health news for 2011, pre-written for your convenience

(NaturalNews) As the year 2011 begins, an interesting thought occurred to me. Rather than spending the whole year writing the news one day at a time, I was thinking it would be much easier to just write all the headlines for 2011 in advance and let you read them today. So what you’ll see below is a list of (virtually) all the health news headlines of 2011 , condensed into a “fill in the blank” format using X and Y to represent variables. As the news comes out each day in the mainstream media, simply replace these variables with the names of various corporations, drugs, nutrients or individuals as the news cycle requires. This will cover about 90% of all the health news for the upcoming year. It really works, too! After all, these are the news formulas used by the mainstream media in the first place. All the health news headlines for 2011 – in advance Drug X found to cause heart attacks and death. FDA panel members found to be taking money from company X. Chemical X is found in food item Y, which probably comes from China. Drug company X found to be engaged in marketing fraud. The TSA wants to feel your X because they think terrorists might be carrying Y. Wikileaks releases information X which reveals that government agent Y is actually working for corporation Z. Clinical trial researcher Mr. X found to be engaged in science fraud. Factory animal farm X caught abusing animals in secret videos filmed by PETA. Nutrient X prevents disease Y. Nutrient X reported by the mainstream media to be dangerous, but the truth is that the research was actually paid for by drug company Y. The FDA threatens to shut down company X for selling nutrient Y, calling it an “unapproved drug.” New research reports that disease X causes disease Y. Homeopathy is attacked by scientist X. Vaccines once again “proven” not to cause autism in a really, really serious scientific article published by medical journal Y. The flu is on the rise! Hurry, everybody go get vaccinated again! Drug company X is found guilty of felony crimes but buys its way out of the situation by paying a fine of $Y while admitting no guilt. Food ingredient X found to be dangerous to your health. E.coli scare story reveals that bacteria has been found yet again in X vegetables. Hence we need more food safety laws. World governments warn about the dangers of Chinese Medicine herb X and try to ban it. The industry that manufactures chemical X announces that X is perfectly safe for human consumption (even though we know it isn’t). Celebrity X dies following chemotherapy. Company X gets caught trying to sell hormone-induced milk as “organic” milk. Fast food restaurant chain X introduces new, natural-sounding menu item. Gleeful family celebrates joy of being medically microchipped (as part of microchipping propaganda campaign fronted by company X). Food prices skyrocket because of X. Oil prices skyrocket because of Y. Vaccine pushers decry that not enough people are getting vaccinated, and governments try to force more people into vaccines in order to prevent the new, dangerous X strain of the flu. The new Republican Congress keeps spending America into a debt catastrophe while doing nothing to solve the health care bankruptcy problem. Rates of diabetes and obesity rise X percent among population Y. Scientists announce disease X is caused by gene Y (but they’re actually wrong). Komen for the Cure announces a new campaign to raise X dollars by selling Y products adorned in pink, even though Y products actually cause cancer. Hospital announces it removed the wrong X organ during patient surgery. The McDonald’s Happy Meal hamburger still won’t decompose. Scientists announce that medical radiation device X is actually exposing patients to too much radiation, causing cancer. The FDA announces it is pulling drug X off the market, but only after stalling for several years in order to let Big Pharma rake in yet more profits while patients taking the drug keep dying from heart attacks. The X species suffers a devastating population collapse due to Y chemicals in the environment. Health authority X announces that natural medicine Y doesn’t treat cancer (even though it does) and should be banned. Fast food item X found to contain industrial chemical Y. Flu shots cause X number of children to be sent to the hospital suffering from convulsions, but the authorities dismiss it as coincidence and keep pushing the jabs. Johnson and Johnson recalls product X due to yet more metal fragments or poisonous fumes being found in the product. Pfizer commits more felonies but creates a new shell company X to take the hit while returning to business as usual. Desperate to vaccinate more men, Walgreens announces free sex with every flu shot. Gift cards fly off the shelves. (Remember, they already used strip clubs to promote flu shots in 2010, so this isn’t much of a stretch…) Senator X found to be a dirty, corrupt liar protecting the businesses interests of company Y which supported his campaign. Health authorities demand that food X be irradiated to eliminate pathogen Y. Big oil companies trash the environment. And there you have it! Those are the main headlines you’ll see through 2011. Just replace the X and Y with whatever facts are being presented on that particular day. You now have 90% of the news for the year in a compact form. Sure, there will be exceptions in 2011 — really unique stories that stand out. We’ll be covering those here on NaturalNews, of course, along with anything that’s especially timely such as a new effort to legalize free speech about nutritional supplements. But most of the health news you see year after year is just a regurgitation of the themes presented here. That’s why this year, we’re going to focus on bringing you truly unique information about health freedom, health preparedness, how to grow your own organic vegetables in your back yard and other such content that rises above the predictable pattern of recycled news. Stay tuned to NaturalNews throughout 2011 for the most impactful health news and how-to information that you can use in your own life. If you haven’t already subscribed to our email newsletter where we announce the news headlines each day, you can do that here (it’s free): www.naturalnews.com/readerregistration.html

Researchers suggest Viagra for young boys

(NaturalNews) New research out of the University of Washington (UW) has some astounding new propositions for the use of Viagra, an erectile dysfunction drug made by Pfizer Inc. According to the report, young boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) can benefit from taking the drug because it allegedly treats the heart problems that typically emerge as a result of the disease. Eager to expand the scope of Viagra’s prescribed uses, some researchers are now claiming that the drug helps to treat all sorts of diseases, even though it is linked to hearing loss (http://www.naturalnews.com/029875_Viagra_hearing_loss.html), infertility (http://www.naturalnews.com/023856_viagra_fertility_risk.html), and nerve damage (http://www.naturalnews.com/020186_drugs_nerve_damage_risk.html), among other things. But none of this has stopped co-authors Stanley Froehner, a professor of physiology and biophysics at UW, and Joseph Beavo, a professor of pharmacology at UW, from suggesting that Viagra now be used on adolescent boys. DMD is a severe degenerative disease that eats away at spinal muscles, confining people who have it to wheelchairs by the time they are roughly ten years old. DMD can eventually cause heart failure as well, which is what the study authors claim Viagra will help prevent. But such a proposition is not only irresponsible based on the drug’s many side effects, but insane when considering the repercussions. Froehner and Beavo have even suggested that young boys between the ages of eight and twelve be given Viagra as a preventive measure, before they even show any signs of heart problems. And they say that the dosage amounts for such purposes will most likely be higher than those given to older men to treat erectile dysfunction. Some helpful, natural treatments for muscular dystrophy include reishi mushrooms (http://www.naturalnews.com/025568_mushrooms_Maitake_reishi.html), Coenzyme Q10 (http://www.naturalnews.com/022706.html), and possibly even gene therapy (http://www.naturalnews.com/007372.html). Sources for this story include: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/viagra-helps-hearts-muscular-dystrophy-patients/story?id=11909252

Adderall has extreme side effects, but FDA says keep taking it

(NaturalNews) The attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Adderall is known to cause serious physical side effects including heart attack, stroke, elevated blood pressure and heart rate, and even sudden death. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is aware of this and more, but insists that people continue taking the drug anyway. Adderall is basically a cocktail of various amphetamine stimulants and is often referred to as “prescription speed”. And because it is similar in makeup to illegal methamphetamines, it is highly addictive. So in addition to its many side effects, users will have a difficult time functioning without Adderall once they start taking it. Adderall also comes with a full slate of mental side effects as well as physical ones. Ironically, the drug can actually cause behavior to become worse, leaving one to wonder how or why such a drug was ever approved as a legitimate medicine to treat a disorder that it may actually aggravate. Taking Adderall can also thwart proper brain function, increase behavioral aggression, and even cause episodes of psychosis in which the patient becomes maniacal and starts hearing voices. In other words, it is absolutely insane for this dangerous drug to be on the market, let alone be touted as a safe medicine for children. And the FDA is aware of the seriously dangerous nature of this drug because it warned the public back in 2009 about its many extreme side effects. The FDA conducted its own study of Adderall’s effects on children and early data pointed to the fact that the drug increases the risk of sudden death in children. But neither the study nor any of the other facts about the drug’s dangerous effects prompted the FDA to actually pull the drug from the market. In fact, the FDA made a point of denying the results of its own study and insisting that patients continue to take the drug. The best way to deal with ADHD is to focus on getting proper nutrition, which includes supplementing with powerful superfoods. Cleansing the body of built-up toxins and feeding it with rich nutrients is the number one priority when trying to maintain mental clarity and boost energy and focus. Remember to avoid excessive caffeine, refined sugars and processed foods, because these things only help to intensify the undesirable symptoms. Sources for this story include: http://topnews.us/content/218105-despite-detrimental-side-effects-adderall-fda-advises-not-stop-giving-drug-patients

Cancer cells tricked into responding to new treatments and undergoing cell suicide

Cancer researchers have found a way to turn ineffective new cancer drugs into cancer-fighters. By using their patented chemical compound, SHetA2, researchers tricked cancer cells into responding to new treatments and undergoing cell suicide. All studies to date have not found any side effects of taking the drug, giving hope that it can prevent cancer in healthy people, and improve treatment for cancer patients.