Herbals and alternatives

[Debi]

I had an interesting experience this last week. My insurance company decided I was dead...yes, you heard me correctly. I have a very common name, and it appears that someone with my name crossed over and my insurance mixed us up. Due to this, my medications were "unavailable." Now, I don't have that many.....one to control a heart beat that likes to flutter on occasion, one for pain as needed, and the two big boy toys that are for a little something called BREATHING. One of them costs almost $400 a month, so I was NOT paying the price for that one. I did manage to get my emergency inhaler, since it's spring and all and every allergen out there is currently assaulting me.

What I found, to my dismay, was that being off the one medication that is steroid based and that I had been on for 5 years, actually turned out to be a good thing! For the first time in 5 years, I could actually pull a good, deep breath and I felt better OFF of it than ON it. So now, I'm looking at herbal alternatives for more of my my medical requirements. It occurred to me that I am at the mercy of big Pharma and Obamacare and I'm not happy about that at all!

So, do you take supplements? Herbs? How dependent are you on big pharma? If the SHTF, do you have alternatives?

 

[Naked Apple]

I am a big believer in alternative medicine, but as of right now, I don't take anything. And lest you think I am a wacko for not trusting doctors, read this:

Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US, Killing 225,000 People Every Year

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/07/30/doctors-death-part-one.aspx

This article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is the best article I have ever seen written in the published literature documenting the tragedy of the traditional medical paradigm.

If you want to keep updated on issues like this click here to sign up for my free newsletter.

This information is a followup of the Institute of Medicine report which hit the papers in December of last year, but the data was hard to reference as it was not in peer-reviewed journal. Now it is published in JAMA which is the most widely circulated medical periodical in the world.

The author is Dr. Barbara Starfield of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and she desribes how the US health care system may contribute to poor health.

ALL THESE ARE DEATHS PER YEAR:

• 12,000 -- unnecessary surgery
• 7,000 -- medication errors in hospitals
• 20,000 -- other errors in hospitals
• 80,000 -- infections in hospitals
• 106,000 -- non-error, negative effects of drugs

These total to 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!!
What does the word iatrogenic mean? This term is defined as induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of a complication of treatment.

 

[Naked Apple]

Pharmaceutical Companies Causing 106,000 Deaths a Year -

http://healthimpactnews.com/2012/ph...ng-106000-deaths-a-year/#sthash.DoWn3uRm.dpuf

Over the course of the past two decades, U.S. spending on prescription drugs increased from $40 billion to more than $230 billion.

Illegal drug company activities are one factor contributing to this inflated spending.

One 2010 study looked at trends in federal and state criminal and civil actions against drug companies in order to assess the impact of such shady activities.

Among other findings, the study showed that while the defense industry used to be the biggest defrauder of the federal government under the False Claims Act, the drug industry has now overtaken them.

Big Pharma: Biggest Defrauder of Federal Government
In fact, the drug industry now tops all other industries in the total amount of fraud payments for actions against the federal government under the False Claims Act.

Four companies stand out as the worst of the worst.

GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Schering-Plough accounted for 53 percent of all financial penalties imposed on pharmaceutical companies between 1990 and 2010.

Most recently, on November 3, the New York Times reported that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has settled another round of litigation against them to the tune of $3 BILLION. (The previous record was held by Pfizer, which in 2009 paid a fine of $2.3 billion for illegal marketing.) The charges against GSK included illegal marketing of the dangerous diabetes drug Avandia, kick-backs to doctors, and manipulation of medical research. Three billion dollars is no chump change, but it’s still just a drop in the bucket when you consider the astronomical profits these companies rake in, which are significantly bolstered by their criminal activities.

For example, GSK has an annual revenue of about $28 billion, so how much of a deterrent can $3 billion really be?

The record over the past 20 years tells us that financial fines have done nothing to curb the criminal mindset within the pharmaceutical industry. On the contrary, it has increased in the past several years, despite larger fines being levied. This is largely due to the perversion of corporate influence on the government, as most eloquently explained by one of the most famous political lobbyists of all time who was able to freely spill the beans about the process in the 60 Minutes sequence below, after having served time in federal prison.

- See more at: http://healthimpactnews.com/2012/ph...ng-106000-deaths-a-year/#sthash.DoWn3uRm.dpuf

 

[Debi]

Just came across this:
http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/04/kidney-stone-removing-bed-and-cancer-fighting-barbecue-pit/
From the article:

I couldn’t stand on my head if my life depended on it, yet that’s exactly what doctors in China told rice farmer Zhu Qinghua that his wife had to do after a kidney stone was found in her remaining kidney (one was removed in 1993). To avoid risky surgery, doctors told Zhu’s wife to stand on her head until the stone dislodged.

Instead, Zhu spent $161 and built a kidney stone-removing bed. Based on the concept of the gravity-inversion bed, Zhu’s invention straps his wife in securely while upside down, then vibrates her vigorously using the driving wheel of a tractor. The bed quickly and safely dislodged her kidney stone and Zhu was granted a patent to manufacture and sell his life-saving contraption.

Also:


One of the many treatments for cancer is heat therapy – exposing affected areas to high temperatures to kill cancer cells. Another Chinese farmer, Jia Binhui, has leukemia which did not respond to a bone marrow transplant. When doctors in China told him that blasting cancer cells with 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit) heat could kill them, he decided try the expensive treatment at home.

While the doctors recommended using hot water, Jia found he couldn’t keep the temperature constant so instead he built a barbecue pit in his garden After stoking the coals to the proper temperature, he lies between two logs suspended over the heat for as long as he can tolerate it.

 

[sal]

we already invented it, just have to stand on your head

now the bbq one.......if i ever get cancer , the first thing i am going to try is stick my ass in the bbq pit... stick some mesquite right up the chute.....the smell of smoked Sal billowing from the backyard....a real treat for the neighbors .

 

[Debi]

LOL!!! All I can say is Ewwwww! Smoked Sal!

I can tell you that heat therapy actually goes waaay back in history as a treatment, Sal. It's efficacy is questionable, granted. Never heard of "stuffing" the bird quite that way, but hey...who knows???

 

[sal]

I had an interesting experience this last week. My insurance company decided I was dead...yes, you heard me correctly. I have a very common name, and it appears that someone with my name crossed over and my insurance mixed us up. Due to this, my medications were "unavailable." Now, I don't have that many.....one to control a heart beat that likes to flutter on occasion, one for pain as needed, and the two big boy toys that are for a little something called BREATHING. One of them costs almost $400 a month, so I was NOT paying the price for that one. I did manage to get my emergency inhaler, since it's spring and all and every allergen out there is currently assaulting me.

What I found, to my dismay, was that being off the one medication that is steroid based and that I had been on for 5 years, actually turned out to be a good thing! For the first time in 5 years, I could actually pull a good, deep breath and I felt better OFF of it than ON it. So now, I'm looking at herbal alternatives for more of my my medical requirements. It occurred to me that I am at the mercy of big Pharma and Obamacare and I'm not happy about that at all!

So, do you take supplements? Herbs? How dependent are you on big pharma? If the SHTF, do you have alternatives?

being serious now, doctors only seem to treat the product of the problem, not the problem itself. I myself should be on 10 different medication because of my ailment. When I first got it, they said I was going to die that night in the er. I left and said i would see a specialist. Specialist told me 5 years tops.......6 years ago. They gave me prescriptions for so many pain medications,blood pressure pills, you name it. I did keep the Vicodin one though I asked the doctor what each one would do,one by one and made my own decisions. I did make some changes to clean the body out. No soda,fast food ......crap like that. I have green tea in the morning( after my coffee and cigs) I do take a vitamin supplement. Started eating a ton of veggies,all home grown. It made a huge difference in my ability to deal with my problem. It worked for me. They say the body will repair itself in 2 weeks and if it doesn't. good night nurse. The Man upstairs either likes me or can't stand me because i am still here.

 

[sal]

I read this book and it has some great ideas

 

[Debi]

You are a wise man, Sal. Most doctors over treat just to make sure they cover "all the bases." Lawsuits and all, ya know. My doc assumes I'm on many more meds than I am. I was told 14 years ago I would be in a wheelchair in 5 years due to my back. Nope. Still up and walking around, thanks.

 

[Debi]

I read this book and it has some great ideas

Thanks for the link. I may have to give it a try.