Is Big Pharma Fueling Depression?
Natural Cure for Depression Silenced!
(Revised October 2014)
“The overall improvement in scores on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was significantly greater for inositol than for placebo at week 4. No changes were noted in hematology or in kidney or liver function…
…inositol had a significant antidepressant effect in this study…”
More than likely, even if you suffer from depression, you haven’t about this study. You probably haven’t even heard of inositol!
Well if this is you, don’t feel bad. Far too many doctors are also unaware of this vital substance, and that is truly a travesty!
The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that nearly 15 million American adults suffer from a major depressive disorder. And sadly that number does not include or reflect undiagnosed mild depression or the depression that occurs in children. Each year, increasing amounts of anti-depressants are prescribed, and this translates to multi-billion dollar annual profits for pharmaceutical companies.
Naturally, any of the numerous antidepressants prescribed today come with a lengthy side-effect sheet including the increased risk of suicidal thoughts (especially in younger patients.) Other side-effects include:
- Dry mouth
- Drowsiness
- Dizziness
- Sexual dysfunction
- Blurred vision
- Skin rash
- Weight gain or loss
- Insomnia or prolonged sleep
- Irritability
- Anxiety
Whew!
Antidepressants Causing More Harm
So where does a person turn when prescription drugs are causing more problems than they are “fixing”? Especially when medical doctors advocate against the use of nutrition; let alone acknowledge that we live in a nutrition deficient country?
Sadly, the answer is that many people who do finally decide to try a more natural approach end up claiming that it didn’t work, and this is more than likely because:
- They didn’t take the nutrients long enough to experience a change.
- They needed to take the nutrient in a higher dosage but didn’t due to fears of “toxicity” based on false information presented by too many less-than-knowledgeable websites and/or healthcare professionals.
- They became confused and overwhelmed by all of the contradictory information surrounding natural treatment methods and simply gave up; now even more depressed than when they started!
All of the above-listed reasons are unnecessary and the brunt of the misinformation rests on the lap of the FDA and AMA.
Your welfare is not in the best interest of the FDA and AMA
It is also interesting how doctors boast a nearly 95% safety rate when it comes to antidepressants. However, this is a dangerously skewed percentage giving the patient a false sense that the drug they are taking is actually safe.
With regard to the alarming correlation between antidepressants, human behavior and health conditions, Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, author of ‘Prozac: Panacea or Pandora?‘ said the following in her article, “The Aftermath of Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, Fen-Phen, & Many Other Serotonergic Drugs”:
“We have witnessed no decrease in suicide, but increases in murder/suicide, suicide, unwed pregnancies, domestic violence, manic-depression, MS, hypoglycemia, diabetes, bankruptcies, divorce, mothers (parents) killing children, road rage, school shootings, cancer, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and fibromyalgia since these serotonergic drugs have become so popular and I relate it directly to the effects of these drugs.”
More Regarding so-called “Safe” Antidepressants
Dr. Joseph Glenmullen, a doctor who treated patients with Prozac and discovered significant safety issues, wrote “Personal Review: Prozac Backlash: Overcoming the Dangers of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and Other Antidepressants with Safe Effective Alternatives”. He brings to light the true darkness of how drugs are approved by our “respected” FDA. An absolute must read!
Any potential treatment depends upon FDA approval, and if a claim relating to a vitamin, mineral, or some other natural supplement is made without the FDA stamp of approval, the claimant could be looking at a serious fine and/or jail time.
However, even when the required research has been done and proves positive, conveniently the results get buried. Yet the studies bearing what might be considered negative results are allowed to surface. When it comes to many of these strategically placed studies, the cry from the skeptics and the pro-drug community is that they did not have a significantly large enough trial group or that the long term effects are still unclear.
Well, the following shows the problem with “ethical and unbiased” research.
Dr. Joseph Glenmullen found that congress had allowed itself to be manipulated by Big Pharma. (This is no secret). Shockingly, drugs are approved without confirmation of long-term safety! And short term studies (6-8 weeks) were designed for only one purpose – market approval.
If studies are designed for specific outcomes, just how unbiased are the result?
Do you think the results are skewed? You bet they are. If you are one who trusts in the FDA stamp of approval, think again for the sake of your own health!
Here are some questions that I’d like answers to:
- When studies find a substance effective against depression, without the horrific side effects, and the substance is something the body actually needs, why isn’t it given any attention?
- Where is the media if they are truly unbiased?
- If the FDA truly has our health at the top of its priority list, why isn’t inositol getting a stamp of approval as quickly as drugs such as Prozac?
- And more importantly, why isn’t the public outraged and demanding the truth?
- Furthermore, the latest research is now PROVING that antidepressants are no more effective than placebo!
Natural Cure for Depression?
An Israeli study found that inositol is an effective treatment for depression currently being treated with serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s):
“These results suggest that inositol has therapeutic effects in the spectrum of illness responsive to serotonin selective re-uptake inhibitors, including depression, panic and OCD, and is not beneficial in schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s ADDH, autism or ECT-induced cognitive impairment.”
Inositol (Vitamin B8) is vital for health, yet it has been touted as an unnecessary vitamin by conventional medicine.
Inositol, like choline (Vitamin B4), is a precursor of phospholipids which are a necessary component of cell membranes. This is important because phospholipids are vital for the electrical current and nutrient transport across and inside of cells. The Standard American Diet (SAD), compounded by a polluted environment, high-stress living, and electromagnetic pollution (the list goes on), leads to deficiencies of this nutrient as well as other B vitamins. This is why treating with an inositol supplement works so well for so many people!
Though there may be many reasons, and causes, for depression, inositol is a wonderful place to start.
The dosage that has worked for many of my patients is 1000 mg – 3000 mg 1-2/day. I prefer powdered inositol, which makes taking it very simple. Just mix the powder in a glass of purified or filtered water. Inositol can be taken with or without food, though I recommend on an empty stomach.
Wouldn’t it make sense to treat the condition with a natural substance that brings the body back into balance rather than prescribing a synthetic drug with serious side effects that does nothing more than mask the symptoms?
Side Note: After curing myself 100% naturally from MS and anxiety, and after helping hundreds of people to give up pharmaceuticals in lieu of natural remedies from conditions that include depression, I have found a commonality – nutritional deficiencies. Once the nutritional deficiencies have been reduced, and lifestyle changes implemented…the root cause of the health condition will be corrected.
For more info, see Truth about Insomnia, Depression & Anxiety
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