Three Prescriptions to Never Take (according to Dr. Mercola)

Hi Everybody,

On the Dr Oz show, Joseph Mercola claimed there were three medications you should never take. Here is a little more info on those three:

1. STATIN DRUGS- The earliest research showed that people with heart disease had cholesterol deposits in their arteries, so the researchers at that time assumed that cholesterol was the culprit. Instead, it has turned out that cholesterol is the “fire extinguisher” of the body, so to speak.

Inflammation in the arteries seems to be the main cause of heart disease. Cholesterol is the body’s way of regulating this inflammation, or “putting out the fire”. By lowering cholesterol, we are actually hindering the body’s way of dealing with inflammation. Many studies have now shown that as we age, those people with the lowest cholesterol levels die earliest.

Additionally, it seems that cholesterol in the arteries is not a problem.  It only becomes a problem if that cholesterol is “oxidized” by free radicals. So basically, the best way to prevent heart disease is with anti-inflammatories and anti-oxidants. Additionally, statin drugs wreak havok on the body by depleting it of coenzyme Q10.

2. BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATIONS- Some people really do have very high and very dangerous blood pressure that needs to be brought down quickly. In these cases, medication seems to be the best answer.

However, the pharmaceutical companies keep lowering the numbers for “ideal” blood pressure to increase profits. Additionally, doctors are not supposed to prescribe blood pressure medication after only one elevated blood pressure measurement, but they often do. Instead, if high blood pressure is suspected, you are supposed to monitor your blood pressure regularly for a period of time to make sure it is routinely high, and not just high because you are in a doctors office (“white coat syndrome”).

Also, blood pressure tends to respond nicely to diet and exercise. In these cases, medication doesn’t treat the root cause, but instead treats the symptoms. However, it is very hard to get people to change the foods they eat and the amount of exercise they get.  It is much easier to simply take a pill.

3. ANTI-DEPRESSANTS- Anti-depressants are handed out like candy these days, and at the first sign of being anything other than joyously happy. New “diseases” are being thought up daily and advertised on TV so that more of these medications can be handed out. They are even routinely dished out to children. However, serious depression is one of the worst diseases you can have, and medication can often be life-changing.

One of the main problems with anti-depressants is how quickly these very strong medications are prescribed.  So many people are put on these meds for problems that are not severe enough for something so strong to be warranted, and often people are put on anti-depressants if they have another unrelated problem no one can figure out. (It is assumed if the doctor cannot find the problem then it must just be in your head.)

Additionally, there are so many therapies, like acupuncture, chiropractic, vitamins, and herbs, that have a big effect on depression. In other countries, depression is treated with these more conservative therapies first. If that doesn’t work the doctor will move on to prescribing mild medications. And if that doesn’t work, they will move on to the strong medications. Here in the U.S., we often seem to skip straight to the strongest.

Hope this helps,

Dr Matt and Dr Robin

mattandrobin@yahoo.com (email)

This week’s bit of Useless Information:  There are 311,875,200 five-card hands possible in a fifty-two card deck.

This email is courtesy of Matthew Barnes, D.C. and Robin Barnes, D.C.  Neither this nor any of our emails are intended to be medical advice and should not be taken as such.  They are opinion and are for informational purposes only.  None of the nutrients discussed here are meant to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.

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