Hands up! - Who thinks pain is caused by a shortage of aspirin in the body? - Or by lack of antidepressants?

Hands up! - Who thinks pain is caused by a shortage of aspirin in the body? - Or by lack of antidepressants? - Well I hope that none of you has your hand up. I hope that when you think about it you agree with me that pain is your body's signal to your brain that there is something wrong with your body. You know the sort of thing: you step on something sharp when you are walking around barefoot and you feel pain. If your body hadn't sent the message to your brain you might be unaware that there was something wrong and might continue walking with the wound exposed to possible infection. - And I hope you agree with me that the way to deal with the pain is to deal with what is causing the pain, i.e. move your foot away from the sharp stone, clean up the wound and apply a sticking plaster or bandage, perhaps, to keep it clean and prevent infection. You need to deal not with the pain, but with the cause of the pain. And the cause of pain is in your body, not in your mind.

Now if you happen to think that the way to deal with pain is to 'kill' it, with aspirin or another pain-killer, then I wonder if you are someone employed in the pharmaceutical industry perhaps? or a shareholder in a drug company? - Or one of their dupes? - And if you think that pain is caused by 'depression', are you a medical student or doctor who has been conditioned/brainwashed to believe such nonsense by attending lectures and seminars funded by drug manufacturers who need medics to prescribe drugs in order to swell their profits? - Or are you a dentist who believes that a woman who has agonising toothache is only 'claiming' to be in agony because that belief allows you, the dentist, a good way of covering up when you or your colleagues have failed by incompetence or negligence to diagnose an acute abscess and you lack the moral courage and honesty to admit your fault/mistake? And are you more afraid of criticism and humiliation than you are afraid of leaving a fellow human being in needless, prolonged agony which appropriate dental treatment would remedy or ameliorate...

Remember, pain is a signal from the body to the brain. A signal to you that there is something wrong with your body. It is one of your body's defence mechanisms. It is not a signal to someone other than you that you are 'depressed'. That does not make evolutionary sense. - It is a very foolish idea. Do not entertain it.

The Doorbell and the Painkillers

Decades ago, possibly when I was in my teens, I read a short story about a doorbell and painkillers. It was during my science fiction/science fantasy days, I reckon. I've tried to find it, or some reference to it, on the internet, but without success. Stripped of its gothic atmospheric detail, the story, as I remember it, was this:

Whenever visitors rang the bell at the door of a remote, castle-like edifice, a strange, piercing sound arose, seemingly from far away - the bowels of the castle? - and an uncommunicative man-servant opened the door to them.

I forget the rest of the story, except that we discover the macabre and cruel secret of the working of the bell. - There are other people somewhere in the castle, underground maybe, or housed in a distant wing. They are in great pain. They are being cared for - nursed/doctored/spoken to solicitously - by person or persons who appear to care about their welfare. The treatment for their pain is pills - soothing pills - painstakingly concocted by their carers.

When they take the pills, the pills appear to help a bit; the pain subsides a bit. They perhaps allow themselves to relax a little. There is occasionally talk of becoming well enough to leave the castle, well enough to return home. But however they may appear to improve, and maybe to rest or sleep fitfully, there are terrible, anguished relapses, when, in concert, the patients scream in agony, clutching their stomachs, as though suffering the torments of the damned.

In brief, dear Reader, the pills they are being given contain tiny metal pieces, and the doorbell governs immensely powerful magnets, cunningly positioned. And when visitors ring the doorbell, the magnetism is engaged, and the tiny bits of metal within the innards of the 'patients' are pulled/attracted by that inhuman mechanism, and tear at the delicate, long-troubled tissues and nerves of those doomed victims of ill-conceived medication. And it is the sound of their screams that alerts the man-servant that there is someone at the door, someone waiting to be admitted... 

And the moral of this story is: Put not your trust in painkillers! They may cause you great harm...

Just because a painkiller is available over the counter (otc) it doesn't mean it's harmless, especially if it's paracetamol/acetaminophen/Calpol/Tylenol/

Just because a painkiller is available aver the counter (otc) it doesn't mean it's harmless, especially if it's paracetamol/acetaminophen/Calpol/Tylenol/Panadol. See this abcnews article. And see this Google search page.This drug is particularly dangerous to children. See Philly.com Report. For children especially it can cause asthma, liver damage and even sudden death. - That's apart from starting them on the path of painkiller dependence and painkiller addiction.

It is better to deal with the cause of the pain, rather than trying to eliminate the symptom. Pain is not caused by paracetamol deficiency.

Merck and the Vioxx saga

"The Vioxx saga continues. Nearly eight years after Merck withdrew the controversial painkiller over links to heart attacks and strokes, a new paper indicates the drugmaker hid evidence that Vioxx tripled the risk of cardiovascular death for more than three years before taking the pill off the market in 2004. During the same period, the paper in the American Heart Journal notes, Merck had regularly insisted such an increased did not exist."
Read article at pharmalot.com

Pfizer involved in deception over new arthritis painkiller drug Celebrex

"A research director for Pfizer was positively buoyant after reading that an important medical conference had just featured a study claiming that the new arthritis drug Celebrex was safer on the stomach than more established drugs. “They swallowed our story, hook, line and sinker,” he wrote in an e-mail to a colleague. The truth was that Celebrex was no better at protecting the stomach from serious complications than other drugs. It appeared that way only because Pfizer and its partner, Pharmacia, presented the results from the first six months of a yearlong study rather than the whole thing."
Read article in the New York Times (USA)

Really I don't think arthritis painkilling drugs are worth the candle. They've done a great deal of harm over the years. See my posts about Vioxx, for example.

You can reduce the pain of osteoarthritis by the simple expedient of seriously cutting down on salt and salty food. This dietary measure also lowers high blood pressure, reduces your risk of heart attack, stroke, depression, fractures, some cancers and many other degenerative illnesses, as well as reducing excess weight caused by fluid retention and helping with breathing problems. - What's not to like? - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Thinking about the painkiller acetaminophen/Tylenol/paracetamol/Calpol)

We tend to think of the painkiller acetaminophen, aka Tylenol or paracetamol or Calpol (sickly pink liquid containing paracetamol plus sweeteners, flavourings, preservatives and colourants, formulated to appeal to toddlers) as fairly safe, don't we? But I'm beginning to realise that's probably wrong. Even if you've never taken more than the recommended dose or taken too frequently, and never actually noticed any ill-effects from it, it's nonetheless an unnatural substance for the body to metabolise and so there there is the risk of cumulative liver damage. It has also been found to have a link with the risk of childhood asthma.

I've written previously about the dangers of giving paracetamol/Calpol to toddlers (serious liver damage).Parents will find this article particularly arresting. Sometimes Tylenol can even cause death. Since these products can be bought OTC - over the counter - as well as obtained on prescription, and since, increasingly, painkiller addiction is becoming an illness in its own right (see here and here and here) I suggest that such painkillers need to be resorted to with caution, especially as far as children are concerned.

Group claiming to speak for pain sufferers is funded by drug companies that make and profit from sale of painkillers

The American Pain Foundation, a group that claims to speak for pain sufferers, is funded by drug companies that make and profit from the sale of painkillers. They downplay the risks of these drugs and this is compounding the growing incidence of painkiller addiction. "Overdoses now kill nearly 15,000 people a year — more than heroin and cocaine combined. In some states, the painkiller death toll exceeds that of car crashes. The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared the overdoses from opioid drugs like OxyContin an “epidemic.” And a growing group of experts doubts that they work for long-term pain."
See this article in The Washington Post.

New Year Resolution Suggestions

If you've not yet decided on your New Year Resolution, here are some suggestions that will benefit the health of your body, the efficiency of your brain and the happiness of your spirit:

1) Give up dieting. It is a major cause of ill-health and depression. Dieting to try to lose excess weight is ineffective, unnecessary and harmful. Calorie counting and advice about increasing exercise and reducing fat intake to reduce obesity are ineffective, counter-productive and often damaging. - See the article in the British Medical Journal of November 2003 http://www.bmj.com/content/327/7423/1085.full for actual research on what happens when this advice is followed! - Over 800 obese adults were put on energy deficit diets, given diet sheets and plenty of instruction and help from trained staff, and apparently, visited fortnightly for a year, at the end of which they had GAINED weight! This mirrors the real experience of obese people, viz. - dieting makes you fat.

It is commonly accepted now, except by the 'experts', that less than 5% of dieters actually lose weight, and most gain weight as a result of dieting. - Even the ones who manage to lose weight do not usually improve their health. - See http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/jun/27/sciencenews.research for a report in The Guardian of Monday, June 27th 2005. It is about a huge research study of nearly 3000 people over a period of 18 years. The study found that overweight people who diet to reach a healthier weight are more likely to die young than those who remain fat. It also found that dieting causes physiological damage that in the long term can outweigh the benefits of the weight loss.

2) Seriously cut down on salt and salty food.

3) Avoid prescription drugs, especially antidepressants, steroids and painkillers, unless they really are necessary and you have checked out their side-effects. The adverse effects of pharmaceutical drugs are often far more damaging than the problem for which they have been prescribed.

I wish you better health, success and happiness in this New Year of 2012!

Beware Tylenol!

See today's article about Tylenol by Dr Mercola. Many people tend to think of painkillers as pretty harmless, perhaps because they are so easy to obtain, both as prescribed medications and as OTC (over-the-counter) drugs. But they are by no means harmless in themselves and also many kinds of painkiller too often tend to cause addiction, and addiction can easily lead to overdose. So I'd say it's best to try to avoid taking painkillers regularly, and better still, to avoid taking them at all. If you would like to experience a safe, drug-free way to reduce pain, I suggest you try seriously cutting down on salt and salty food. This reduces most chronic (long-standing) pain, e.g. arthritis and back pain. Salt reduction also benefits your health in a great many other ways, including lowering high blood pressure and reducing excess weight. - Why not try it? - It costs nothing and is completely safe. - You have nothing to lose by trying it - nothing but some pain and risk and ill-health and excess weight...

Pfizer Research Scandal: FDA debars fraudster doctor, Scott Reuben

He was accused of faking research for a dozen years in published studies suggesting after-surgery benefits from Vioxx and Celebrex. Last year, he was sentenced to six months in jail plus three years supervised release after pleading guilty to fraud. The former chief of acute pain at Baystate Medical Center received grants from various drugmakers but never performed the studies, fabricated patient data and submitted info to journals that was unwittingly published. Now, the FDA has permanently debarring [sic] him from providing services in any capacity to a person that has an approved or pending drug product application, according to the debarment order, which was published today in The Federal Register.
Read article at pharmalot.com

Personally, I favour avoiding painkillers. - I've had two major operations and I refused painkillers for both of them. Yes, it hurts a lot when you come round from the anaesthetic, but you know the pain will gradually get less severe and you can steel yourself to cope with it. But with painkillers - especially the 'strong' ones - there are always adverse side-effects. And, as in this case, you cannot be sure that you have been given the facts about drugs. Drug companies indulge in criminality, including bribing key opinion leaders such as Scott Reuben was, to recommend their drugs, falsifying drug trial data, corrupting medical journals, etc. Painkiller drugs in particular seem to be problematic. The most recently publicised settlement for criminality of a drug company of which I am aware is the Merck/Vioxx scandal reported on the BBC News website last Tuesday. (Vioxx was a prescription painkiller.) Sadly, although Merck have had to pay almost $1bn (£640m) in settlement, this will not deter them from their criminal practices. That huge sum is insignificant in comparison to the colossal profits they garner from the sales of their dangerous products. Criminals, in my opinion - criminals whose crimes destroy the lives and health and happiness of millions of innocent people the world over - should be punished with the utmost rigour of the law, and that should, of course, mean imprisonment for the people at the top of the company, the people who instigate, fund and perpetuate the criminality.

Thousands of Americans die from an overdose of prescription painkillers

U.S. deaths from painkiller overdose surge
Nearly 15,000 Americans died from an overdose of prescription painkillers in 2008, a record rate that has outstripped fatalities from illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin combined, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday.
Read article in the Montreal Gazette (Canada)

Painkillers are not harmless. And many of them are addictive. And just because a drug is prescribed by a doctor, it doesn't mean it's safe.

You think that painkillers are pretty harmless?

You think that painkillers are relatively harmless? Then I think you may be wrong. See these most recent reports about harm caused by painkillers:

J&J To Pay $48M To Man Hurt By Motrin
A Los Angeles jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson and its McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit to pay $48.2 million to a man who developed a severe skin disorder and blood blisters in his mouth after taking the Motrin over-the-counter pain reliever.
Read article at pharmalot.com

Diclofenac Deaths May Dwarf Vioxx Disaster: Health Agencies Helped It Happen
The world was shocked by the number of deaths caused Vioxx, but that number may be dwarfed by another NSAID, diclofenac. Vioxx was sold only by prescription. Diclofenac is sold both by prescription and over the counter.
Read article at gaia-health.com

Nurofen Plus Recall: Sabotage suspected

BBC News reports that in the matter of Nurofen Plus recall of stock, sabotage is suspected in some packets. "Four packs were found to contain Seroquel XL 50mg. The packs were bought in Victoria, Bromley and Beckenham in south London. Another tampered pack, containing a prescription medicine for epilepsy, was uncovered in Northern Ireland." Seroquel is an antipsychotic drug. "Most people who take one Seroquel will just experience sleepiness, but those on sedatives could feel stronger effects."

So there are dangers, hopefully small, if anyone mistakenly takes Seroquel or possibly an anti-epilepsy drug, and this prudent, well-publicised product recall will minimise those dangers. - But I would like to point out that Nurofen Plus is itself a dangerous drug, despite being an OTC (over-the-counter) medication. - It is a highly addictive painkiller, which should not be taken for more than 3 days because of this highly addictive quality. In overdose, it can also cause serious liver damage and death. It is a mistake to assume that painkillers are harmless drugs. They are not.

Overprescribing of powerful painkillers soars in UK, leading to addiction and to death by overdose

The Independent has a report on massive overprescribing of powerful painkillers by UK GPs, leading to addiction and to death by overdose among their unfortunate patients. It is, or ought to be, well-known by doctors that chronic pain is often unresponsive to painkillers. When patients return for more and more pills in order to take a higher dose it should be obvious that the pills are not working and should be gradually discontinued. - A safe, non-drug way to reduce chronic pain is to lower sodium intake, i.e. eat less salt and salty food.

NSAIDs painkillers increase risk of heart attack and stroke for heart disease patients

Study: Certain painkillers may raise odds of stroke, heart attack
Heart disease patients with high blood pressure who take a class of painkillers called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are at greater risk for heart attack, stroke or even death, new research shows. NSAIDs include popular medications such as such as aspirin, Celebrex, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve).
Read article on the USA Today website

A bit of good news about Calpol, the version of paracetamol that is, unfortunately, given to children.

A bit of good news about Calpol, the version of paracetamol that is, unfortunately, given to children. - See BBC News report. - The bit of good news is that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency says there will be more specific dosing instructions for this product, with narrowed age brackets. This will probably reduce some of the dangerous and damaging over-prescribing of paracetamol to toddlers that has been going on.

"Dr June Raine, the MHRA's director of vigilance and risk management of medicines, insisted the change was not because of safety concerns.

"The change is to ensure children get the most optimal dose of paracetamol suitable for their age.

"This updated dosing advice will clarify the doses, making it easier for parents and carers to know exactly how much paracetamol they should give their children.""

I'm sorry, Dr Raine, that you " insisted the change was not because of safety concerns". - It damn well ought to have been for safety concerns! I regard giving painkillers to little children as harmful, risk-laden folly.

Apart from the very real and present physical harm that can result, the practice of medicating every little pain and symptom in a child's life can produce an adult who will carry on the habit, looking for health and well-being in pills and potions, instead of in good food, good nutrition, good friends, fresh air, exercise and all the other good, drug-free benisons you, Dear Reader, would yourself list.

Here's an excellent article that gives information about the harmful ingredients that are added to Calpol as well as the paracetamol itself. And here's another such article.

Doctors are over-prescribing paracetamol to toddlers

The Telegraph reports that doctors are over-prescribing paracetamol to toddlers. "One-in-four young children are being given too much of the pain relief drug, putting them at risk of liver damage, scientists found. A study of medical records of some youngsters found that a quarter between the ages of one and three were prescribed an "excessive" paracetamol dosage by their doctor."

That is an extremely high proportion of toddlers being overdosed. I have blogged with my views about giving painkillers to babies/toddlers before. No-one wants to risk their child getting liver damage from taking painkillers. Paracetamol, aka Calpol, is not harmless. I advocate comfort and cuddles for little ones, rather than pharmaceutical painkiller drugs with all their risks. Unlike drugs, a kiss and a cuddle have no adverse side-effects:

Give a kiss and a hug,
Not a painkiller drug.

Addictive prescription painkillers big problem in US

US Aims at Its Deadliest Drug Problem: Painkillers
The White House drug czar wants doctors, states and law enforcement working harder to stop America's deadliest drug-abuse problem: highly addictive prescription painkillers. They are killing more people than heroin and cocaine combined as they foster a slew of illegal "pill mill" clinics centered in Florida.
Read article on the ABC News website (USA)

Parents too readily give children paracetamol and ibuprofen for mild fever

Parents too readily give children paracetamol and ibuprofen for mild fever, the Telegraph reports. There are problems with dosage and over-dosage for children, and with combining the use of each of these drugs in turn, and with the very decision to try to lower the fever anyway, since fever is one of the ways in which the body seeks to fight infection.

Personally I deplore giving these painkiller drugs to children at all. Children should be protected from pharmaceutical drugs and their many potential and actual adverse side-effects. But parents are assailed by frequent advertisements for painkillers, and doctors' training is laced with over-reliance on the prescribing of drugs, i.e. the treatment of illness rather than the promotion and maintenance of health. Painkillers for children were unheard of when I was a child and we were all the better for not being given them. I'm sure we are all better off without most drugs and without their harmful side-effects.

Making sure we eat nutritious meals and get sufficient vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin D and calcium, the vitamin and mineral most often deficient or depleted in people's diets, is the best protection from infection, and prevention is always far better than cure.

Painkillers linked to increased risk of heart problems

Commonly used painkillers for treating inflammation can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, according to an analysis of the evidence published in the British Medical Journal. The drugs include traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) as well as new generation anti-inflammatory drugs, known as COX-2 inhibitors.
Read article at physorg.com