<![CDATA[Parent's Peace - Adverse Drug Reactions]]>Wed, 10 Jun 2026 01:10:04 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Fort Hood Shooter: Did medications set him off]]>Fri, 18 Apr 2014 14:25:52 GMThttps://www.parentspeace.com/adverse-drug-reactions/fort-hood-shooter-did-medications-set-him-off(My blog post is a copy of this article by Nick Tate of NewsMax Health looking for answers:  http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/newswidget/fort-hood-shooting-antidepressants/2014/04/04/id/563800/?promo_code=1370B-1&utm_source=1370BABC4&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1)

The Fort Hood Army shooting that left four dead, including the gunman, and wounded 16 others has sparked difficult questions about shooter Ivan Lopez's mental health and medications he was taking. 

Mental health experts say the shooting — like other mass killings of recent years — raises concerns about whether the nation is doing enough to identify and treat troubled individuals who may harm themselves and others.  
 
G. Health King, Ph.D, a psychoanalyst and former professor of interdisciplinary studies at Yale University, tells Newsmax Health media reports about Lopez's mental state leading to Wednesday's shooting suggest serious psychiatric problems he suffered and medications he was taking — unidentified antidepressants and the sleeping pill Ambien — may have been factors in the incident.

"It is clear that the gunman was suffering from a severe psychological condition," King says. "There were several developments in his life that could have led to depression and anxiety, which was exacerbated as it was not properly treated."
 
King adds that some medical studies have linked psychoactive drugs to suicidal thoughts and the propensity to commit violent acts, and says medication side effects were "a major contributing factor in magnifying the malaise of notorious individuals who committed acts of violence against others, bringing them over the edge."
 
What is needed to counter incidents like the Fort Hood rampage, he says, is a coordinated national effort to improve the nation's mental health system.
 
Michael C. Miller, M.D., former editor of the Harvard Mental Health Letter, agrees that the Texas tragedy spotlights the need to expand access to mental healthcare in general — an effort he said could reduce violent incidents in the U.S. 

But he also tells Newsmax Health that antidepressants are not the problem, per se, noting millions of Americans safely take them and benefit from the medications. Still, some people experience side effects from the drugs that may compound underlying problems.
 
Without knowing the particulars of Lopez's condition, it's difficult to determine what role drugs might have played, he says.
 
"There's always this rush to judgment. People seize on these factors — like antidepressants, Ambien, and PTSD," he says. "But all of these cases [of violent acts] are highly individualized. There's been a controversy about antidepressants and violence that goes back 15 years. And there's really no strong evidence that associates antidepressants and violent behavior. In fact, [recent research] has found that, in fact, antidepressants are associated with lower rates of violence."
 
Lopez, a 34-year-old Iraq war veteran, was reportedly undergoing treatment for mental health issues and being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder before he opened fire at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas on Wednesday. His history of instability and psychiatric issues are believed "to be the fundamental underlying factor" in the shootings, Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the post's commanding general, told reporters.
 
He was married with a young daughter and had moved to the post in Killeen in February from Fort Bliss.
 
Lopez took a .45-caliber handgun onto the sprawling Army facility and opened fire, killing three and wounding 16 before taking his own life, after what authorities described as an altercation with a fellow solder. Lopez was undergoing treatment for  depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances, according to media reports.
 
"We have very strong evidence that he had a medical history that indicates an unstable psychiatric or psychological condition. [We're] going through all records to ensure that is, in fact, correct. But we believe that to be the fundamental underlying causal factor," Milley told reporters. 
 
In the wake of this week's shooting, the nonprofit Citizens Commission on Human Rights said a federal investigation of links between mass killings and mental illness is "long overdue," citing 31 school shootings and related acts of violence in recent years by people on psychiatric drugs. 
 
The CCHR notes mental-health medications carry 22 warnings — potential side effects of mania, hostility, violence, and suicidal thoughts — and that there are nearly 15,000 reports to the FDA in the last 10 years of psychiatric drugs causing violent side effects.
 
A 2010 study by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a nonprofit watchdog group based in Pennsylvania, also found that five antidepressants have been disproportionately linked with reports of violent behavior. The study, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLOS One, was based on an analysis of 484 adverse drug reports to the FDA from 2004 to 2009. 

It found that Prozac (fluoxetine) was most often linked to aggression and violent behavior, followed by Paxil (paroxetine), Luvox (fluvoxamine), Effexor (venlafaxine), and Pristiq (desvenlafaxine).
 
King notes a number of violent incidents have involved individuals with mental health problems who were taking medication. Among them:
  • Charles Whitman, the sniper on the tower at the University of Texas at Austin, took barbiturates and amphetamines;
  • President Reagan's would-be assassin John Hinckley was on Valium;
  • Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold — who killed 12 students and a teacher, before taking their own lives in the 1999 Columbine school massacre — both had been treated for psychological problems. Harris was on the antidepressant Luvox.
  • Luke Woodham, who stabbed his mother to death and then went on a rampage at his school killing and wounding several students, was on Prozac.
King also notes that Jeffrey Dahmer took tranquilizers and antidepressants, child killer Jeremy Strohmeyer was on Dexedrine; and Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children, was prescribed Haldol. It has also been widely reported that Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooter James Holmes was on the anti-anxiety drug clonazepam and the antidepressant sertaline, the generic version of Zoloft. 
While authorities continue to focus on what might have triggered the Fort Hood tragedy, Dr. Miller argues that more attention should be paid to what can be done to improve the nation's mental-health system. Doing so, he says, is more likely to reduce the likelihood of such incidents by targeting and helping large populations of individuals who need counseling and therapy. 
Comparing mental illness to other types of physical ailments, he believes treating underlying health problems will result in fewer bad outcomes — "that's as true for mental illness as it is of heart disease."


Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Health-News/fort-hood-shooting-antidepressants/2014/04/04/id/563800#ixzz2zFNsWydw 

]]><![CDATA[Unwanted side effects]]>Sat, 21 Sep 2013 18:17:22 GMThttps://www.parentspeace.com/adverse-drug-reactions/unwanted-side-effects
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This is a funny exaggeration but there is some truth to it.  There is an unwanted spiral of negative side effects that begin when a person starts to take drugs for health maintenance.   
]]><![CDATA[Lipitor lawsuit]]>Sat, 20 Jul 2013 19:45:53 GMThttps://www.parentspeace.com/adverse-drug-reactions/sat-jul-20-2013I saw another ad for a drug lawsuit. It applies to any female who developed diabetes after taking the cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor.

Apparently there is enough of a link between Lipitor and diabetes that people can get paid from the drug company.

It makes sense to me: the liver makes cholesterol and it stores glucose. If you take a drug that alters the production of cholesterol in the liver, you may also be changing the way the liver stores glucose.

It seems quite simple to me. What is not so simple is why only women can join the lawsuit. I guess whatever study the lawyers are using for evidence shows the stronger link between diabetes and Lipitor in women, but not enough for men.

I am pretty sure that if the link is there for women, it is there for men, too.]]><![CDATA[Most perpetrators of shootings were on psychiatric medications]]>Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:59:06 GMThttps://www.parentspeace.com/adverse-drug-reactions/most-perpetrators-of-shootings-were-on-psychiatric-medications

Perhaps you’re wondering why this issue of psychiatric medications should be so important.

As I documented in “How Evil Works,” it is simply indisputable that most perpetrators of school shootings and similar mass murders in our modern era were either on – or just recently coming off of – psychiatric medications:

  • Columbine mass-killer Eric Harris was taking Luvox – like Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor and many others, a modern and widely prescribed type of antidepressant drug called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. Harris and fellow student Dylan Klebold went on a hellish school shooting rampage in 1999 during which they killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 24 others before turning their guns on themselves.Luvox manufacturer Solvay Pharmaceuticals concedes that during short-term controlled clinical trials, 4 percent of children and youth taking Luvox – that’s 1 in 25 – developed mania, a dangerous and violence-prone mental derangement characterized by extreme excitement and delusion.
  • Patrick Purdy went on a schoolyard shooting rampage in Stockton, Calif., in 1989, which became the catalyst for the original legislative frenzy to ban “semiautomatic assault weapons” in California and the nation. The 25-year-old Purdy, who murdered five children and wounded 30, had been on Amitriptyline, an antidepressant, as well as the antipsychotic drug Thorazine.
  • Kip Kinkel, 15, murdered his parents in 1998 and the next day went to his school, Thurston High in Springfield, Ore., and opened fire on his classmates, killing two and wounding 22 others. He had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.
  • In 1988, 31-year-old Laurie Dann went on a shooting rampage in a second-grade classroom in Winnetka, Ill., killing one child and wounding six. She had been taking the antidepressant Anafranil as well as Lithium, long used to treat mania.
  • In Paducah, Ky., in late 1997, 14-year-old Michael Carneal, son of a prominent attorney, traveled to Heath High School and started shooting students in a prayer meeting taking place in the school’s lobby, killing three and leaving another paralyzed. Carneal reportedly was on Ritalin.
  • In 2005, 16-year-old Jeff Weise, living on Minnesota’s Red Lake Indian Reservation, shot and killed nine people and wounded five others before killing himself. Weise had been taking Prozac.
  • In another famous case, 47-year-old Joseph T. Wesbecker, just a month after he began taking Prozac in 1989, shot 20 workers at Standard Gravure Corp. in Louisville, Ky., killing nine. Prozac-maker Eli Lilly later settled a lawsuit brought by survivors.
  • Kurt Danysh, 18, shot his own father to death in 1996, a little more than two weeks after starting on Prozac. Danysh’s description of own his mental-emotional state at the time of the murder is chilling: “I didn’t realize I did it until after it was done,” Danysh said. “This might sound weird, but it felt like I had no control of what I was doing, like I was left there just holding a gun.”
  • John Hinckley, age 25, took four Valium two hours before shooting and almost killing President Ronald Reagan in 1981. In the assassination attempt, Hinckley also wounded press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and policeman Thomas Delahanty.
  • Andrea Yates, in one of the most heartrending crimes in modern history, drowned all five of her children – aged 7 years down to 6 months – in a bathtub. Insisting inner voices commanded her to kill her children, she had become increasingly psychotic over the course of several years. At her 2006 murder re-trial (after a 2002 guilty verdict was overturned on appeal), Yates’ longtime friend Debbie Holmes testified: “She asked me if I thought Satan could read her mind and if I believed in demon possession.” And Dr. George Ringholz, after evaluating Yates for two days, recounted an experience she had after the birth of her first child: “What she described was feeling a presence … Satan … telling her to take a knife and stab her son Noah,” Ringholz said, adding that Yates’ delusion at the time of the bathtub murders was not only that she had to kill her children to save them, but that Satan had entered her and that she had to be executed in order to kill Satan.Yates had been taking the antidepressant Effexor.In November 2005, more than four years after Yates drowned her children, Effexor manufacturer Wyeth Pharmaceuticals quietly added “homicidal ideation” to the drug’s list of “rare adverse events.” The Medical Accountability Network, a private nonprofit focused on medical ethics issues, publicly criticized Wyeth, saying Effexor’s “homicidal ideation” risk wasn’t well-publicized and that Wyeth failed to send letters to doctors or issue warning labels announcing the change.
  • And what exactly does “rare” mean in the phrase “rare adverse events”? The FDA defines it as occurring in less than one in 1,000 people. But since that same year 19.2 million prescriptions for Effexor were filled in the U.S., statistically that means thousands of Americans might experience “homicidal ideation” – murderous thoughts – as a result of taking just this one brand of antidepressant drug.

    Effexor is Wyeth’s best-selling drug, by the way, which in one recent year brought in over $3 billion in sales, accounting for almost a fifth of the company’s annual revenues.

  • One more case is instructive, that of 12-year-old Christopher Pittman, who struggled in court to explain why he murdered his grandparents, who had provided the only love and stability he’d ever known in his turbulent life. “When I was lying in my bed that night,” he testified, “I couldn’t sleep because my voice in my head kept echoing through my mind telling me to kill them.” Christopher had been angry with his grandfather, who had disciplined him earlier that day for hurting another student during a fight on the school bus. So later that night, he shot both of his grandparents in the head with a .410 shotgun as they slept and then burned down their South Carolina home, where he had lived with them.”I got up, got the gun, and I went upstairs and I pulled the trigger,” he recalled. “Through the whole thing, it was like watching your favorite TV show. You know what is going to happen, but you can’t do anything to stop it.”Pittman’s lawyers would later argue that the boy had been a victim of “involuntary intoxication,” since his doctors had him taking the antidepressants Paxil and Zoloft just prior to the murders.  Paxil’s known “adverse drug reactions” – according to the drug’s FDA-approved label – include “mania,” “insomnia,” “anxiety,” “agitation,” “confusion,” “amnesia,” “depression,” “paranoid reaction,” “psychosis,” “hostility,” “delirium,” “hallucinations,” “abnormal thinking,” “depersonalization” and “lack of emotion,” among others.
The preceding examples are only a few of the best-known offenders who had been taking prescribed psychiatric drugs before committing their violent crimes – there are many others. Whether we like to admit it or not, it is undeniable that when certain people living on the edge of sanity take psychiatric medications, those drugs can – and occasionally do – push them over the edge into violent madness.                 


***Remember, every single SSRI antidepressant sold in the United States of America today, no matter what brand or manufacturer, bears a “black box” FDA warning label– the government’s most serious drug warning – of “increased risks of suicidal thinking and behavior, known as suicidality, in young adults ages 18 to 24.” Common sense tells us that where there are suicidal thoughts – especially in a very, very angry person – homicidal thoughts may not be far behind. Indeed, the mass shooters we are describing often take their own lives when the police show up, having planned their suicide ahead of time.


 


So, what ‘medication’ was Lanza on?

The Sandy Hook school massacre, we are constantly reminded, was the “second-worst school shooting in U.S. history.” Let’s briefly revisit the worst, Virginia Tech, because it provides an important lesson for us. One would think, in light of the stunning correlation between psych meds and mass murders, that it would be considered critical to establish definitively whether the Virginia Tech murderer of 32 people, student Cho Seung-Hui, had been taking psychiatric drugs.

Yet, more than five years later, the answer to that question remains a mystery.

Even though initially the New York Times reported, “officials said prescription medications related to the treatment of psychological problems had been found among Mr. Cho’s effects,” and the killer’s roommate, Joseph Aust, had told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Cho’s routine each morning had included taking prescription drugs, the state’s toxicology report released two months later said “no prescription drugs or toxic substances were found in Cho Seung-Hui.”

Perhaps so, but one of the most notoriously unstable and unpredictable times for users of SSRI antidepressants is the period shortly after they’ve stopped taking them, during which time the substance may not be detectable in the body.

What kind of meds might Cho have been taking – or recently have stopped taking? Curiously, despite an exhaustive investigation by the Commonwealth of Virginia which disclosed that Cho had taken Paxil for a year in 1999, specifics on what meds he was taking prior to the Virginia Tech massacre have remained elusive. The final 20,000-word report manages to omit any conclusive information about the all-important issue of Cho’s medications during the period of the mass shooting.

To add to the drama, it wasn’t until two years after the state’s in-depth report was issued that, as disclosed in an Aug. 19, 2009, ABC News report, some of Cho’s long-missing mental health records were located:


The records released today were discovered to be missing during a Virginia panel’s August 2007 investigation four-and-a-half months after the massacre.


    The notes were recovered last month from the home of Dr. Robert Miller, the former director of the counseling center, who says he inadvertently packed Cho’s file into boxes of personal belongings when he left the center in February 2006. Until the July 2009 discovery of the documents, Miller said he had no idea he had the records.

    Miller has since been let go from the university.

    Although Cho’s newly discovered mental-health files reportedly revealed nothing further about his medications, the issues raised by the initial accounts – including the “officials” cited by the New York Times and the Richmond paper’s eyewitness account of daily meds-taking – remain unaddressed to this day.

    Some critics suggest these official omissions are motivated by a desire to protect the drug companies from ruinous product liability claims. Indeed, pharmaceutical manufacturers are nervous about lawsuits over the “rare adverse effects” of their mood-altering medications. To avoid costly settlements and public relations catastrophes – such as when GlaxoSmithKline was ordered to pay $6.4 million to the family of 60-year-old Donald Schnell who murdered his wife, daughter and granddaughter in a fit of rage shortly after starting on Paxil – drug companies’ legal teams have quietly and skillfully settled hundreds of cases out-of-court, shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars to plaintiffs. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly fought scores of legal claims against Prozac in this way, settling for cash before the complaint could go to court while stipulating that the settlement remain secret – and then claiming it had never lost a Prozac lawsuit.

    All of which is, once again, to respectfully but urgently ask the question: When on earth are we going to find out if the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook school massacre, like so many other mass shooters, had been taking psychiatric drugs?

    In the end, it may well turn out that knowing what kinds of guns he used isn’t nearly as important as what kind of drugs he used.

    That is, assuming we ever find out.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/the-giant-gaping-hole-in-sandy-hook-reporting/#zwWz7AWuhvhJw0qv.99 
]]><![CDATA[Why Statins are Bad for the Brain, Part 3]]>Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:06:22 GMThttps://www.parentspeace.com/adverse-drug-reactions/why-statins-are-bad-for-the-brain-part-3CHOLESTEROL DRUGS CAN CAUSE MEMORY LOSS
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Why Statins are Bad for the Brain
by Julian Whitaker, M.D.

More Reasons Not to Take Statins

Lowering cholesterol is not an end in itself
Besides their serious side effects—cognitive problems, muscle pain and weakness, fatigue, liver damage, and even heart failure—these drugs are just not all that helpful. Yes, they lower cholesterol, but lowering cholesterol should not be an end in itself; rather, it should be a means of reducing risk of heart attack and death from heart disease. In this regard, statins fail miserably.


Science does not support

Statins are not beneficial for women
Not a single study shows that statins are beneficial for women. Not one!

The largest randomized clinical trial of statins in women found that those who took Lipitor actually had 10 percent more heart attacks than women taking a placebo.

Statins are not beneficial to anyone over age 70
Nor is there any research suggesting that these drugs prevent heart attacks or extend life for anyone over age 70—women or men—including those at high risk of heart disease.

The same goes for younger men who have a high cholesterol level but no other significant risk factors for heart disease—statins just don’t help. In fact, potential cardiovascular benefits are counterbalanced by equivalent increases in death and debility from other causes. Yet millions of low-risk men, older men, and women of all ages take these drugs daily.

Only those with two or more high risk factors benefit
The only people ever shown in clinical studies to benefit at all from these drugs are middle-aged men at high risk of heart attack (high risk being defined as having existing coronary artery disease, diabetes, disease of the blood vessels to the brain or extremities, or two or more risk factors, such as hypertension and smoking).

But even for this group, there are far safer and more effective ways to lower risk than these very dangerous drugs.



Recommendations:

  • If you are taking a cholesterol-lowering statin drug, discuss this information with your physician—or find one who is willing to by visiting acam.org or calling (888) 439-6891. To schedule an appointment at the Whitaker Wellness Institute, call (800) 488-1500 or visit whitakerwellness.com.
  • I highly recommend Dr. Graveline’s books, Lipitor, Thief of Memory, available at amazon.com, and Statin Drugs Side Effects, sold at spacedoc.net. To order CDs of my interviews with Dr. Golomb and Dr. Graveline, visit healthytalkradio.com.
  • If you or someone you know has had an adverse reaction to a statin drug, report it on statineffects.com and spacedoc.net.
  • To learn more about safe, natural therapies for preventing and treating heart disease, read Reversing Heart Disease, available at (800) 810-6655, or visit the Subscriber Center at drwhitaker.com.
References

  • Elias PK et al. Serum cholesterol and cognitive performance in the Framingham Heart Study. Psychosom Med. 2005 Jan-Feb;67(1):24–30.
  • Golomb BA. Impact of statin adverse events in the elderly. Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2005;4(3):389–397.
  • Muldoon MF et al. Randomized trial of the effects of simvastatin on cognitive functioning in hypercholesterolemic adults. Am J Med. 2004;117(11):823–829.
  • Pfrieger FW. Role of cholesterol in synapse formation and function. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2003 Mar 10;1610(2):271–280.
  • Physicians’ Desk Reference, 61st Edition. Montvale, NJ: Thompson PDR; 2007.
  •  
Julian Whitaker, MD, has practiced medicine for more than 30 years, after receiving degrees from Dartmouth College and Emory University. In 1979 he founded the Whitaker Wellness Institute, located in Newport Beach, CA. For more information on the clinic, call (800) 488-1500 or visit www.whitakerwellness.com.

Dr. Julian Whitaker is the author of 13 health books, including Reversing Hypertension, The Memory Solution, Shed 10 Years in 10 Weeks, The Pain Relief Breakthrough, Reversing Heart Disease, Reversing Diabetes, and Dr. Whitaker's Guide to Natural Healing.
]]><![CDATA[Why Statins are Bad for the Brain, Part 2]]>Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:03:01 GMThttps://www.parentspeace.com/adverse-drug-reactions/why-statins-are-bad-for-the-brain-part-2CHOLESTEROL DRUGS CAN CAUSE MEMORY LOSS
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Why Statins are Bad for the Brain
by Julian Whitaker, M.D.


How Statins Harm the Brain
When you really think about it, it’s obvious that these drugs would adversely affect cognition.

Your brain contains an abundance of cholesterol, much of it in the myelin sheaths that insulate the neurons and speed up nerve conduction. Recent research reveals that cholesterol is also required for the formation of synapses, the areas between neurons where nerve impulses are transmitted and received.

In fact, cholesterol is so important that it is manufactured by the glial cells in the supportive tissues of the brain.

Curbing synthesis of such a crucial compound has an inevitable downside. Suicide and violent behavior have long been linked to very low cholesterol levels.

Now, data from the ongoing Framingham Heart Study demonstrates that older people with low total cholesterol (under 200) are much more likely to perform poorly on tests of mental function than those with high cholesterol (over 240).

These drugs harm the brain in other ways as well. As you may know, the enzyme pathway that statins disrupt in order to suppress cholesterol production is also involved in the synthesis of coenzyme Q10, which is required for energy production in the mitochondria of the cells. When you block that enzyme, cholesterol goes down, but so does CoQ10—by as much as 50 percent in some patients!

Low CoQ10 Levels = Bad News
The brain, heart, and skeletal muscles are the body’s most voracious consumers of energy, and it’s only natural that these are the systems most acutely affected by inadequate stores of CoQ10. Deficiencies in this essential compound are known to underlie the muscle problems and heart failure so often linked with statins. It’s high time we recognize that CoQ10 depletion is also a factor in cognitive dysfunction and other neurological consequences of these drugs.

Statins also appear to adversely affect tau, a protein made by brain cells that helps maintain their structure. Abnormal tau proteins promote the formation of the neurofibrillary tangles that appear in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Abnormalities in tau proteins are also linked to other neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease). Among the thousands of patient stories Dr. Graveline has amassed are a disturbing number with these and other serious neurological problems. He, I, and others believe the link with cholesterol-lowering drugs is clear and unequivocal.





Julian Whitaker, MD, has practiced medicine for more than 30 years, after receiving degrees from Dartmouth College and Emory University. In 1979 he founded the Whitaker Wellness Institute, located in Newport Beach, CA. For more information on the clinic, call (800) 488-1500 or visit www.whitakerwellness.com.

Dr. Julian Whitaker is the author of 13 health books, including Reversing Hypertension, The Memory Solution, Shed 10 Years in 10 Weeks, The Pain Relief Breakthrough, Reversing Heart Disease, Reversing Diabetes, and Dr. Whitaker's Guide to Natural Healing.
]]><![CDATA[Why Statins are Bad for the Brain,  Part 1]]>Sat, 17 Nov 2012 18:05:41 GMThttps://www.parentspeace.com/adverse-drug-reactions/why-statins-are-bad-for-the-brain-part-1CHOLESTEROL DRUGS CAN CAUSE MEMORY LOSS
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Why Statins are Bad for the Brain
by Julian Whitaker, M.D.

Typical examples
A retired professor of business law and computer science who was taking Zocor to lower his cholesterol was diagnosed with rapidly progressing probable Alzheimer’s disease. It got to the point that he had trouble carrying on conversations and recognizing people he’d known for 20 years, and long-term care was looming. After hearing about the association between statins and memory loss, he stopped taking Zocor, and over the next few months his cognitive function returned to normal.

A successful 50-year-old business owner started taking Lipitor in 1998. Within three years he was wracked with pain and weakness, and his memory and concentration were so poor that he was forced to close his business. Although he’s improved somewhat since getting off Lipitor, he continues to have severe cognitive problems.

Seeing split wood scattered all over her porch, strange footprints in the snow, and a plate of partially eaten food in her kitchen, a 69-year-old woman became convinced that someone had broken into her house. The next day, she realized that the footprints were hers—but she had absolutely no memory of what happened. After stroke, blood clots, and other causes were ruled out in the ER a few days later, she was told she had experienced temporary loss of memory, or transient global amnesia (TGA), of unknown origin. She had started taking Lipitor four months before.

A woman reports, “My husband has been on Lipitor for years, and I/we have noticed that more and more his memory and focus have been impaired. We are told that there is no such evidence that Lipitor could cause this. I have watched my husband change from a Harvard Business School graduate who could accomplish more in four hours than most could in four days to someone who has already had a TGA attack and, in the two years since, has become more forgetful, unable to complete tasks, loses track of time...”

Statins’ Second-Most Common Side Effect
These are not isolated incidents. After muscle pain and weakness, cognitive problems are the second-most common side effect of Lipitor, Zocor, Pravachol, Mevacor, and other cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Hundreds of cases of statin-induced memory loss and TGA have been reported to MedWatch, the FDA’s system for filing adverse drug events. And these are just the tip of the iceberg.

That’s because people taking these drugs—more than 12 million in the United States—who develop memory problems are unlikely to put the two together. They aren’t warned sufficiently on drug labels or inserts about this adverse effect, nor do they hear about it in TV, newspaper, and magazine ads. Doctors aren’t telling them about it either, largely because they don’t know about it themselves.

Doctors: Don’t Know, Don’t Tell
Take Lipitor, for example, the best-selling drug in the United States. The Physicians’ Desk Reference includes reasonable mentions of the potential for liver toxicity, muscle aches, and weakness. However, nowhere does it allude to Lipitor’s cognitive side effects other than a one-word mention of “amnesia” in a long list of things purported to have occurred in less than two percent of patients. And in the clinical studies on the drugs—virtually all of which are funded by drug companies—benefits are emphasized while adverse effects are downplayed. To make matters worse, government and cardiology “opinion leaders” are so conflicted by drug money that they ignore the obvious red flags.

Without this awareness, physicians and patients alike are much more likely to attribute declining memory or blackout spells to dementia, stroke, or just old age than to cholesterol-lowering drugs. In fact, if a patient complains about memory problems related to the drugs, the doctor will almost always discount it.

But the word is getting out, thanks to people like former astronaut Duane Graveline, MD, MPH, and researcher Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD.

Lipitor Caused Complete Amnesia
In 1999, Dr. Graveline was put on Lipitor to lower his moderately elevated cholesterol. Six weeks later, his wife found him wandering around their driveway, unable to recognize her, or his surroundings. She managed to get him to his doctor, who was perplexed by this episode of severe memory loss, which passed after a few hours. Dr. Graveline, who was in excellent health, had a hunch that Lipitor was involved because he had just started taking it, and it was the only drug he was on. His doctor disregarded his concerns and, a year later, talked him into getting back on the drug. Sure enough, he had another episode of TGA, this one lasting 12 hours.

Despite his physician’s naysaying, Dr. Graveline was convinced that Lipitor had caused his problems. When he came across the Statin Effects Study, headed by Dr. Golomb of the University of California, San Diego, he was vindicated. Since 2000, Dr. Golomb has been gathering case reports of patients who have had changes in thinking, mood, and behavior while on statin drugs.

I recently interviewed Dr. Golomb on my radio show, and she told me that while physicians might not make the association between memory problems and statin drug use—or take the time to report adverse events—patients trying to get to the bottom of their problems have a vested interest in doing so. So far, she has received more than 4,000 reports of cognitive dysfunction—some of them so severe they were diagnosed as rapidly progressing Alzheimer’s disease.

Once Dr. Graveline made his experience public, he, too, was inundated with reports of statin-related amnesia, forgetfulness, disorientation, and other memory problems. His Web site, spacedoc.net, and message board contain nearly 10,000 accounts of statin damage, plus a plethora of information on the adverse effects of these drugs.

To be continued in Part 2




Julian Whitaker, MD, has practiced medicine for more than 30 years, after receiving degrees from Dartmouth College and Emory University. In 1979 he founded the Whitaker Wellness Institute, located in Newport Beach, CA. For more information on the clinic, call (800) 488-1500 or visit www.whitakerwellness.com.

Dr. Julian Whitaker is the author of 13 health books, including Reversing Hypertension, The Memory Solution, Shed 10 Years in 10 Weeks, The Pain Relief Breakthrough, Reversing Heart Disease, Reversing Diabetes, and Dr. Whitaker's Guide to Natural Healing.
]]><![CDATA[Rhabdomyolysis:  'rhabdo' if you are in the know]]>Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:11:46 GMThttps://www.parentspeace.com/adverse-drug-reactions/rhabdomyolysis-rhabdo-if-you-are-in-the-know
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wildfireworld.org/2011/09/health-the-new-dirty-word-in-wildland-fire-rhabdomyolysis/

When muscle is damaged, a protein called myoglobin is released into the bloodstream. It is then filtered out of the body by the kidneys. Myoglobin breaks down into substances that can damage kidney cells.

Meds that increase risk for rhabdo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhabdomyolysis
"Many medications increase the risk of rhabdomyolysis. The most important ones are:[1][2][6]
Complications of rhabdo (besides kidney damage)
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/rhabdomyolysis/article_em.htm:
"Significant muscle injury can cause fluid and electrolyte shifts from the bloodstream into the damaged muscle cells, and in the other direction (from the damaged muscle cells into the bloodstream). As a result, dehydration may occur. Elevated levels of potassium in the bloodstream (hyperkalemia) may be associated with heart rhythm disturbances and sudden cardiac death due to ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation.

Complications of rhabdomyolysis also include disseminated intravascular coagulation, a condition that occurs when small blood clots begin forming in the body's blood vessels. These clots consume all the clotting factors and platelets in the body, and bleeding begins to occur spontaneously.

When muscles are damaged, especially due to a crush injury, swelling within the muscle can occur, causing compartment syndrome. If this occurs in an area where the muscle is bound by fascia (a tough fibrous tissue membrane), the pressure inside the muscle compartment can increase to the point at which blood supply to the muscle is compromised and muscle cells begin to die."

My experience:
I have taken care of a couple compartment syndrome patients due to rhabdo, and it is not pretty.  Surgeons have to filet the muscle open to release the pressure and leave it open until the swelling goes down.  I had to do dressing changes on the open muscle.  The poor patients were in so much pain from having me touch the dressings to their exposed muscle.  I couldn't be gentle enough to spare them pain. 

So now I want to spare anyone the pain of getting rhabdo.  Statins (cholesterol lowering drugs) can cause rhabdo.  Statins frequently cause muscle pain.  That muscle pain is the breakdown of muscle tissue. 

Before you take cholesterol lowering drugs, ask yourself the questions that the Mayo Clinic suggests in my previous post:

Weighing the risks and benefits of statins:
When thinking about whether you should take statins for high cholesterol, ask yourself these questions:

  • Do I have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease?
  • Am I willing and able to make lifestyle changes to improve my health?
  • Am I concerned about taking a pill every day, perhaps for the rest of my life?
  • Am I concerned about statins' side effects or interactions with other drugs?


Good luck.  Good health to you!


]]><![CDATA[Mayo Clinic advice on statins]]>Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:05:49 GMThttps://www.parentspeace.com/adverse-drug-reactions/mayo-clinic-advice-on-statinsPicture
google image from: www.regenexx.com
Statins are drugs given to lower cholesterol.

This post is copied from the The Mayo Clinic website http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/statins/CL00010

Weighing the risks and benefits of statins When thinking about whether you should take statins for high cholesterol, ask yourself these questions:

  • Do I have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease?
  • Am I willing and able to make lifestyle changes to improve my health?
  • Am I concerned about taking a pill every day, perhaps for the rest of my life?
  • Am I concerned about statins' side effects or interactions with other drugs?
It's important to take into account not only your medical reasons for a decision, but also your personal values and concerns. Talk to your doctor about your total risk of cardiovascular disease and discuss how your lifestyle and preferences play a role in your decision about taking medication for high cholesterol.


Potentially serious side effects

  • Liver damage. Occasionally, statin use causes an increase in liver enzymes. If the increase is only mild, you can continue to take the drug. Rarely, if the increase is severe, you may need to stop taking it. Certain other cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as gemfibrozil (Lopid) and niacin (Niacor, Niaspan), increase the risk of liver problems even more in people who take statins.

    Although liver problems are rare, your doctor will likely order a liver enzyme test before or shortly after you begin to take a statin. You shouldn't need any additional liver enzyme tests unless you begin to have signs or symptoms of trouble with your liver. Contact your doctor immediately if you have unusual fatigue or weakness, loss of appetite, pain in your upper abdomen, dark-colored urine, or yellowing of your skin or eyes.

  • Muscle problems. Statins may cause muscle pain and tenderness (statin myopathy). The higher the dose of statin you take, the more likely you are to have muscle pains. In severe cases, muscle cells can break down (rhabdomyolysis- a rare condition that causes muscle cells to break down.) and release a protein called myoglobin into the bloodstream. Myoglobin can damage your kidneys. Certain drugs when taken with statins can increase the risk of rhabdomyolysis. These include gemfibrozil (Lopid), erythromycin (Erythrocin), antifungal medications, nefazodone, cyclosporine (Restasis, Sandimmune) and niacin (Niacor, Niaspan). If you take statins and have new muscle aching or tenderness, check with your doctor.
  • Increased blood sugar or type 2 diabetes. It's possible your blood sugar (blood glucose) level may increase when you take a statin, which may lead to developing type 2 diabetes. The risk is small, but important enough that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires a warning on statin labels regarding blood glucose levels and diabetes. Despite this possible connection between increased blood sugar and statin use, it's still safe for most people with high cholesterol, including diabetics, to take statins. Talk to your doctor if you have concerns.
  • Neurological side effects. Some researchers have studied whether statins could be linked to memory loss or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. While there's little evidence that statins can cause ALS, the FDA says some people who take statins have developed memory loss or confusion while taking statins. These side effects reverse once you stop taking the medication. Talk to your doctor if you experience memory loss or confusion. Don't stop taking your statin medication before talking to your doctor.
It's important to consider the effects of statins on other organs in your body, especially if you have health problems such as liver or kidney disease. Also, check whether statins interact with any other prescription or over-the-counter drugs or supplements you take.

Keep in mind that when you begin to take a statin, you'll most likely be on it for the rest of your life. Side effects are often minor, but if you experience them, you may want to talk to your doctor about decreasing your dose or trying a different statin. Don't stop taking a statin without talking to your doctor first.

]]><![CDATA[Prevent tardive dyskinesia: don't take Reglan.  Don't give Reglan to babies or children]]>Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:11:22 GMThttps://www.parentspeace.com/adverse-drug-reactions/tue-oct-16-2012Tardive Dyskinesia- repetitive, involuntary, purposeless movements.  Grimacing, tongue protrusion,  lip smacking, rapid eye blinking and rapid involuntary movements of the limbs may occur.  Walking may become difficult. 

In some variant extreme cases, affected individuals lose their ability to sit still.  Tardive dyskinesia is often misdiagnosed as a mental illness or ADHD. 

The facts are all there in wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardive_dyskinesia  And in the FDA black label website.http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/ucm170934.htm  And in attorney websites looking for victims to sue the makers of Reglan.
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Tardive Dyskinesia- I am imagining what it looks like. It is similar to tourettes syndrome with tics and involuntary movements.
The other morning 'tardive dyskinesia' popped into my head.  I thought, "That's weird." 

I remembered learning about tardive dyskinesia in my psych class in nursing school.  It happens to patients who are on long term psych meds.  I recognized it in a few patients in the lock-down unit of a nursing home I once worked at when I was a CNA.  That was a long time ago.

Why did tardive dyskinesia pop into my head today?    I googled it.

I saw an attorney website claiming that Reglan causes tardive dyskinesia and would anyone like to sue the makers of Reglan?  Call that attorney.  That's weird, i gave Reglan all the time as nurse to patients in the hospital.  It was standard.  I wondered if it was likely my patients were affected.

I found more websites, like the FDA website that reports Reglan is highly linked to tardive dyskinesia.  I read that tardive dyskinesia is permanent.  You can stop taking Reglan, but the tongue protrusions, grimacing and involuntary movements don't go away.  That is sad.  Socially debilitating. 

Then I found a slew of sites that blew my mind!

Women are advised to take Reglan to increase breast milk!  What?!!

Does it get into the breastmilk?   Yes, one site said, but not more than is normally given to babies with reflux.  

What?!!!  Reglan is given to babies?

No, no, no!  Is it worth the risk of permanent neurological damage to have more breast milk?  There are herbs and stress reduction techniques that can increase breast milk.  There are gentler ways to deal with infant reflux.   Why give prescription chemicals to a baby that risk permanent damage?  Why even give a small dose?  Why even give for a shorter time than it takes to get permanent damage? 

If it takes 12 weeks to get noticeable permanent damage, less than 12 weeks does not cause any damage at all?  It doesn't make sense.  Any dose for any length of time begins to cause changes in the brain that are noticeable and permanent after only 12 weeks.  It doesn't sound safe to me.  Tardive dyskinesia occurs in a large enough portion of the population that the FDA has made black box warnings.  Feeble warnings.  Warnings that no one is even aware of.

How many babies and children already have tardive dyskinesia but are misdiagnosed?  

Maybe it is not many...but if it is you or your precious little one, it is one too many.
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