Sunday 1 February 2009

Depression-Allopathic med false approach

2009; start of a new year. And uppermost, I find, I need to get something off my chest. It has been occasioned by a personal, 'Real Life' story I read today in the Independent on Sunday's New Review magazine about a young woman's "lovely, lost best friend" who, while on an anti-depressant - after years of being so medicated - drove to a quiet lane, poured a can of petrol over herself, and lit it. Dying shortly thereafter in a burns unit, nearly unrecognisable.

I shall take a moment here, to collect myself, and then proceed.

Questions, questions. And answers, answers.

Depression. Depression - what is called clinical depression - can be caused by a number of things. A wonky thyroid. (Which can be caused by fluoride, which displaces the iodine.) Vaccines. Stress in general - and here we come to the kernel of my anger.

Any physician worth his or her salt should know (notice that I didn't say 'knows') that stress, in particular prolonged stress, increases the nutritional requirements to keep the adrenals functioning properly, especially in the B vitamins and in vitamin C. ("Vitamin C not only increases the production and utilization of cortisone, but also appears to prolong its effectiveness." - Adelle Davis, 'Let's Get Well'.) And speaking of the B complex: another cause of stress is a malnourished diet. Which can come from poor eating habits; but can also come from our modern-day diet, which has been stripped of much of its nutritional value. One cause of that is the over-abundant use of artificial fertilizers, which has leached many nutrients out of the soil, and thus out of the foods grown on that soil. Another cause is the delay between harvesting and eating. And another cause - directly relating to the issue at hand - has been the invention of the high-speed milling process, which strips the B complex out of a large percentage of our bread & other wheat products.

As to that relationship to 'the issue at hand'; again from A Davis's book:

"When too little vitamin B6 (pyridoxin) is obtained, an essential amino acid from complete proteins, tryptophane [sic], is not used normally; instead it is changed into a substance known as xanthurenic acid." This substance damages the pancreas and can cause diabetes; but for our purposes here, the key factor in this statement has to do with the subsequent lowering of levels of tryptophan. For this essential amino acid is the precursor for serotonin; the so-called feel-good neurotransmitter.

What do the major class of anti-depressants do? They artificially increase the levels of serotonin in the brain, by not allowing it to be reabsorbed normally (Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor, or SSRIs). Besides this not being a normal biochemical process, the question arises: Why the shortage of 'normal' levels of serotonin in the first place?

One answer: A deficiency in the B complex, esp. in B6.

For the want of a nail...

And as to the whole of the B complex: components of this vitamin complex are responsible for our wellbeing in many ways, INCLUDING OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.

Irritability. Apprehension. The feeling of not being able to cope. Mental confusion.

Sound familiar?

There's more to this aspect of our mental wellbeing. For example, magnesium is also a major factor in all this (it decreases the body's need for vitamin B6, and can clear up a lot of these SYMPTOMS OF NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES by itself). And where do we get our magnesium from, mostly? From green leafy vegetables. And who eats their greens well these days?? But I highlight this role of the B complex, and vitamin B6 in particular, in affecting our states of mental wellbeing, to make a point: that it is well-nigh criminal for a medico to treat depression just with a drug, without checking for the factors that could be causing that symptom to appear. Or it will most likely just keep coming back. Because IT IS A SYMPTOM; NOT A DISEASE IN ITS OWN RIGHT.

And thus why I'm so angry. That this approach to our wellbeing has been going on for so long, by a type of medical training - the allopathic school of medicine - that ignores the causative level of conditions, and concentrates rather on treating the symptomatic level of conditions.

Why? One good reason: because of a medical-pharmaceutical complex. And unfortunately, as well, a government component of that complex.

Personally, I prefer the B complex approach to these problems - these problems, of our iatrogenically-induced state of ill-being.

A couple of references (besides the Adelle Davis book referenced herein):

* 'Racketeering in Medicine' by James P. Carter, M.D., Dr. P.H.

* 'The Truth About the Drug Companies' by Marcia Angell, M.D.

Read, and weep, for our country, and far too many individuals therein. Who could be helped, meaningfully, if only we will release our trust in our current medical-profession authorities, and allow the new breed of doctors to take their places - doctors working as well with the likes of naturopathy, and energetic medicine - CAM: Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

And thus will we save our country, and the whole world, from charlatans. The kinds of charlatans who would prescribe, endlessly, drugs for a depressed young woman, without at least as well checking her out for the root cause of her mental condition.

I'll say it again, and end on the note, of calling that sort of person a criminal. I don't care how overworked he or she is. That is a criminal practice. And should be treated as such.

The young woman who wrote about her best friend hoped that some physician somewhere would read her story, and take something of value from it into their medical practice.

I agree. And that would ease my anger. Somewhat.

And confession time: perhaps I feel so strongly about this, because - having been a pre-med in university - I might just as well have been one of those arrogant, hubristic criminals that I now act as an accuser of, if I had stayed on that path in life. I hope I wouldn't have. But who knows. Life plays out its dramas in mysterious ways...

Perhaps, about now, I should be feeling some forgiveness. Sort of, 'they know not what they do'. But they DO know, dammit. Just as they know better than to tell a parent with a child with autism that there's nothing that can be done for the child. They say that, because they are protecting themselves, from the wrath that is building to a boil. 'But we didn't know. All the studies...' Yeah yeah. Nice try. But no cigar. YOU - KNEW. And justice will be served.

Unfortunately, too late for some.

And now I need to let the anger pass, and grieve a little. For all those for whom justice is too late.

But better late than never.

3 comments:

Alan said...

One sad example amid a sea of such stories. Couldn't agree with you more about the needless deaths caused by a callous and unfeeling medical system. And doctors wonder why people are turning to complementary and alternative therapies? They shouldn't because they work and the practitioners care about their patients.

Besides nutrition (the fuel for the system) there are many effective complementary and alterantive therapies for depression such as EMDR, CBT and even PSYCH-K. There is ALWAYS hope!

Anyone wanting a good place to start learning about CAM therapies should check out UnBreak Your Health - The Complete Guide to Complementary & Alternative Therapies (Loving Healing Press). There are free podcasts available at www.unbreakyourhealth.com.

Stan said...

Thanks for your comment, Alan. And I've checked out your site, and book. Sounds very good. Well done, in pulling all that info together, and spreading the word so well.

We're getting there. Slow, but sure.

Stan said...

Thanks for your comment, Alan. And I've checked out your site, and book. Sounds very good. Well done, in pulling all that info together, and spreading the word so well.

We're getting there. Slow, but sure.