Browsing Tag natural medicine

The FDA has, for decades, ridiculously insisted that mercury fillings pose no health threat whatsoever to children. While dismissing hundreds of studies showing a clear link between mercury amalgam fillings (“silver fillings”) and disastrous neurological effects in the human body, the FDA denied the truth about mercury and effectively protected the mercury filling racket that has brought so much harm to so many people. For over a hundred years, a cabal of “mercury mongers” made up of the American Dental Association, mercury filling manufactu-  rers and indignant dentists have reaped windfall profits by implanting toxic fillings into the mouths of children, all while insisting that mercury — one of the most toxic heavy metals known to modern science — posed no health threat whatsoever.

That reign of toxicity ended  in June 2008. Thanks to the tireless, multi-year efforts of people like Charles Brown, National Counsel for Consumers for Dental Choice (www.ToxicTeeth.org), the FDA was forced to acknowledge a fact so fundamental that, by any measure of honest science, it should have adopted the position decades ago. What position is that? Simply that mercury is toxic to humans.

The FDA has to be sued to do its job of protecting consumers. The FDA’s stonewalling on this issue has been nothing less than a circus of politically-motivated denials, much like the Big Tobacco executives swearing under oath that “Nicotine is not addictive.” In similar style, the FDA insisted for decades that “Mercury is not toxic.” Both statements, as any sane person can readily conclude, are the outbursts of lunatics. Sadly, those lunatics somehow remain in charge of America’s food, drugs and cosmetics (and dental care), meaning that any real progress to protect the People must come from outside the FDA.

And that’s exactly what happened. Consumers for Dental Choice teamed up with Moms Against Mercury (www.MomsAgainstMercury.org) and sued the FDA and its commissioner whose name sounds like an evil-minded villian right out of a Marvel comic book: Von Eschenbach. The lawsuit, entitled, Moms Against Mercury et al. v. Von Eschenbach, Commissioner, et al was concluded in June 2008 with a reluctant agreement by the FDA to both change its website on the issue of mercury and to reclassify mercury within one year, following a period of public comment (which the agency will no doubt try to drag out as long as possible in order to avoid actually sticking to the terms of the lawsuit agreement).

Remarkably, the FDA’s website no longer claims mercury is harmless. The language has now been changed in dramatic fashion, reading: “Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetus.”Speaking of people going mad with mercury, that’s the history of the term “as mad as a hatter.” As explained by Wikipedia:
There is scientific evidence behind the meaning of insanity. Mercury was used in the process of curing felt used in some hats. It was impossible for hatters to avoid inhaling the mercury fumes given off during the hat making process. Hatters and other men in working mills died early due to the residual mercury caused neurological damage, as well as confused speech and distorted vision. As the mercury poisoning progressed to dangerously high levels, sufferers could also experience psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations.

Be well

Dr Sundardas

As men age past age 40, hormonal changes occur that perceptibly inhibit physical, sexual, and cognitive function. The outward appearance of a typical middle-aged male shows in- creased abdominal fat and shrinkage of muscle mass, a hallmark effect of hormone imbal-lance. Loss of a feeling of well-being, sometimes manifesting as depression, is a common psychological complication of hormone imbalance. Until recently, these changes were attri- buted to “growing old,” and men were expected to accept the fact that their bodies were entering into a long degenerative process that would someday result in death.

A remarkable amount of data has been compiled indicating that many of the diseases that middle-aged men begin experiencing, including depression, fatigue, abdominal weight gain, alterations in mood and cognition, decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, prostate disease, and heart disease are directly related to hormone imbalances that are correctable with currently available drug and nutrient therapies. The onset of these symptoms usually appears in the early 50s, although with smokers the onset is significantly earlier.

Andropause is about biochemical changes that brings about physical and emotional changes. Mid-life crisis is an emotional event that brings about more emotional and less physical changes .They may occur independently or they may occur at the same time in which case the impact is multiplied. I think until their 40’s men generally buy into “I am a man and I have to do all this”, cultural and social programming. They do not t question that the load is heavy. At forty as they reach a certain maturity, they may begin to question why it has to be this way. They may even become aware of the load they are carrying and wonder why they should do this.

Certain characteristics displayed by individuals experiencing a mid-life crisis often include but are not limited to a vague and undefined feeling of restlessness for what they do not know . It can include the search of an undefined dream or goal, desire to achieve a feeling of youth- fulness, acquiring of unusual or expensive items such as clothing, muscle cars, jewelery, pay- ing extra special attention to physical appearance, need to spend more time alone or with cert- a certain peers, a deep sense of remorse for goals not accomplished, an underlying desire to initiate new sexual partnerships.

A poll conducted by Desertion Survivors found that 37.1% of respondents’ spouses/partners had deserted them after 20-30 years together, suggesting a strong link to mid-life crisis, with the 20-25 year bracket being the most common, accounting for 20.9% of the overall total.

Positive effects only occur if the individual succesfully negotiates the mid-life crisis.. When they do then they realise  they  are actually in a time of their lives when they can afford to do the things they wanted to do when they were young, which may explain the indulgences in certain commodities or activities. Physically we can do specific hormones and blood tests that would help identify what hormones and issues need to be addressed. We routinely check our male patients’ blood levels of estrogen, testosterone, thyroid, and DHEA to determine what they real picture is. Psychologically, I run specific seminars and programmes that help to clean up old psychological baggage as well as develop new proactive strategies for living.

Be well

Dr Sundardas               www.NaturalTherapies.com,   www.fftcentre.com

In western medicine, the whole concept of wellness is overlooked. Western medicine practitioners and scientists have made great advances in the management of pathology by studying disease. When they study physiology, they do so to better understand abnormal physiology. They do not study physiology in the hope that they can better understand how to optimize physiology.

Due to this perspective, there has been a great deal of skepticism about subtle energetic screening devices and healing technologies. The fundamental challenge in the model can be stated in the following ways.

1)      Subtle energy changes predate biochemical dysfunctions/medical conditions (i.e. liver cirrhosis)

2)      Western medical professionals will typically ignore these changes because they will maintain these changes have no relation to any changes in physiology

3)      Wellness medicine practitioners who habitually look for these changes and successfully help to optimize the patient’s condition will avert the eventual development of these conditions

4)      The Western medical professional will then claim energetic changes have no relationship to pathology because the patient never went on to develop the  alleged biochemical dysfunction/medical condition  (i.e. liver cirrhosis)

The medical model basically employs the so-called lock-and-key paradigm of biochemistry, according to which, any biochemical reaction needs a specific arrangement of the reacting molecules. Meanwhile, a living organism and its functions cannot be reduced to a set of chemical reactions, even if it were possible to account for all of them. This constitutes a serious problem of any acute treatment. Any illness – actually illness in general – generates a kind of communicational gap within the organism’s functional network. Since living beings are highly integrated open dynamic systems, their health – all health in general – is supported by a permanent mass, energy and information exchange. The dynamics of communication thus is vital for organisms.

One of the fundamental communication processes that our body uses to communicate with us when we are approaching dis-ease is our emotions. Our emotions are our primary mechanisms that our body minds use to communicate how well our lives physical, mental or emotional are working. In the Western Medicine Model when you are feeling emotionally unwell like depression, they would prescribe prozac. In the Wellness Medicine Model, when you feel unwell, you are getting a signal about some state of disharmony whether physical, mental or emotional.

So do you want to pay attention to your Body-Mind or do you wish to drug yourself so you that feel nothing? That is the real difference between Western Medicine and Wellness Medicine.

Be well

Dr Sundardas                    www.NaturalTherapies.com,   www.fftcentre.com

If you want to protect yourself from these toxic chemicals, here’s how to do it:

#1) Don’t put anything on your skin you wouldn’t eat! Avoid all mainstream consumer skin care, cosmetics and personal care products, period! Need soap? Try natural, organic brands like Dr Bronner’s, AnnMarie Gianni or Pangea Organics.

#2) Don’t eat foods made with chemicals you can’t pronounce. Read the ingredients labels. If the list of ingredients is too long and complex to figure out, it’s probably made more with chemicals than actual food.

#3) Don’t poison your body with over-the-counter drugs or prescription pharmaceuticals. If you do need to use medication for short-term emergency use, be sure to detoxify your liver afterwards.

#4) Detox your liver, kidneys and colon at least once a year. You can do this with a juice fast combined with detox supplements . (get professional guidance from a naturopath before fasting).

#5) Drink more water. Most people simply don’t consume enough water to effectively remove toxins from their bodies. If you don’t like water by itself, drink fresh vegetable juices such as celery or cucumber juice (which are actually structured water).

#6) Cleanse your body with parsley, alfalfa, red clover, chlorella or chlorophyll. All these substances can help cleanse your body and eliminate toxic substances that may be detrimental to your health.

#7) Don’t fill your home or apartment with products that off-gas toxic chemicals: Air fresheners, perfumed candles, particle board furniture, carpets, glues, etc.

#8) Don’t cook on non-stick cookware. These are the worst! Invest in quality copper-clad stainless steel pans and use those. They’ll last a lifetime and they don’t contaminate your body with chemicals. Don’t eat at restaurants that use non-stick cookware. (That’s just about every restaurant in the world, it seems…)

#9) Buy certified organic products. In the USA, the USDA Organic Seal is a trusted seal that genuinely indicates organic quality (both in foods and personal care products). Don’t be fooled by brand names that use the word “organics” in their name but aren’t really organic. Organic Consumers Association (http://www.organicconsumers.org/) can keep you posted on what’s what.

#10) Get the cancer out of your laundry! Stop washing your clothes in toxic brand-name laundry detergents, and stop using brand-name fabric softeners or dryer sheets. Do you have any idea what chemicals are used in those products? The truth would astonish you.

Be well

Dr Sundardas

A new study from the Universityof California, San Francisco reveals that 100% of expectant mothers (sample size = 268) are contaminated with highly toxic synthetic chemicals. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, concluded, “Certain PCBs, organochlorine pesticides, PFCs, phenols, PBDEs, phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and perchlorate were detected in 99 to 100% of pregnant women.”

These chemicals are known to exhibit various harmful effects on human biology, covering everything from neurological and infertility problems to cancer and hormonal disorders. Many of the chemicals found in these women have been banned for not just years, but decades.

The poisoning of our bodies by chemical companies

Where do all these chemicals come from? Pesticides are sprayed on crops, of course, and the new so-called “Food Safety” bill passed by Congress does absolutely nothing to reduce pesticide levels of food (that’s not part of their definition of “safety,” apparently). In addition, S.510 actually places a new burden on U.S. farmers, shifting the competitive advantage to food importations from countries where the most toxic pesticides are still legal to use.
Phthalates are chemical plasticizers. Pharmaceutical pills are often coated with phthalates to give them a shiny finish. They’re also used in children’s toys, medical devices, personal care products, sunscreens and even sex toys. On the personal care side, phthalates are found in perfumes, eye shadow, liquid soap, nail polish and hair spray. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677823/?tool=pmcentrez).

Phthalates are known as “endocrine disruptors” because they interfere with normal endocrine system function — potentially leading to obesity and birth defects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalates#Endocrine_disruption).
Perchlorate, also known as the “rocket fuel chemical,” is used in the manufacture of automobile airbags and other vehicle parts. It’s also present in many fireworks, and is frequently found contaminating the water supply.

We could go on with more details, but here’s the point: We live in a toxic stew of synthetic chemicals — chemicals that the plastics industry and the American Chemistry Council tend to say are all completely harmless, of course. The FDA allows thousands of other chemicals to be used in food and personal care products, and the processed food manufacturers inject an alarming array of toxic chemicals into their foods (and food packaging materials).

The average U.S. consumer bathes their clothing in extremely toxic fabric softeners and perfumed laundry detergents that make them smell like walking fragrance factories. The exhaust air from dryer vents even pollutes the air in residential neighborhoods and apartment buildings.With all this going on, is anybody really surprised that 100% of pregnant women are contaminated with toxic chemicals?

The Roman Empire poisoned itself with lead in the water supply. The American empire has decided to poison itself with the “miracle of modern chemistry” as found in all the pesticides, plasticizers, additives, preservatives and other chemicals that a typical first-world consumer poisons themselves with a thousand times a day.

Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever and all the other consumer product companies using synthetic chemicals to manufacture personal care products. It is corporations like these, in my opinion, whose products are poisoning our bodies and contaminating our world with dangerous synthetic chemicals.

You have a choice to make. Support them or tell them it’s got to stop.

Be well

Dr Sundardas

Chlorella is another great superfood for protection against radiation. Chlorella has been used after nuclear accidents and even nuclear bombings to help clear radioactive elements out of the body. Spirulina and chlorella have been used heavily by the Russians after the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. And the Japanese love their miso soup and that was said to help some of their citizens survive the fallout after the Americans attacked two of their cities. This is why I recommend Dr PPARS  because of its high chlorella content and because it is like refined rocket fuel for the cells providing them with a broad range of concentrated nutrients.

Tan Koon Peng from Singapore writes: “Miso is effective for detoxifying your body of radiation. During World War II, two hospitals that were located side by side were hit with atomic radiation, in one hospital people consumed Miso and all of them survived while many people in the other hospital that did not take miso died. Miso is rich in vitamin B therefore it is suitable for vegetarians who are in shortage of vitamin B. For best results do not cook miso.”

There are a number of foods that can better help our bodies tolerate the effects of pollution. Eating lower on the food chain minimizes our chemical intake. Consuming more whole grains has a multitude of benefits. Their high fiber content binds with toxins and lessens intestinal transit time. Their vitamin B6 content nourishes the thymus gland and their vitamin E content helps the body to better utilize oxygen. The grain buckwheat is high in rutin and helps to protect against radiation and stimulates new bone marrow production. The mucilaginous fiber in seaweed helps to prevent the reabsorbing of radioactive strontium 90.

The sulfur compounds in the broccoli family trigger increased expression of your glutathione system, which results in both metal detoxification and free radical neutralization. The other group of food compounds that do this is the polyphenolic antioxidants – pine bark extract, green tea extract, grape seed extract, and my favorite Haritaki or terminalia chebula, an Ayurvedic fruit that is the basis for many medicines including the intestinal detoxifier Triphala. This fruit is used extensively in Tibetan Medicine where it is pictured being held by the Medicine Buddha and call the “King of Herbs”. It has potent effects on the glutathione system and on expression of other intracelluar antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase. Haritaki is one of the superpowers in Clear Way. Clear Way also includes other polyphenolics such as Pine Bark extract, large amounts of liver cleansing dandelion root extract, natural iodine and minerals from fucus extract (or what is known as bladderwrack, a sea vegetable), the metal chelator and super antioxidant R-Lipoic acid, nerve protectors gotu kola and bacopa monniera, and B-vitamins 1, 5, and 6.

Research on animals indicates that curcumin (an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound found in the curry spice turmeric) may help protect against radiation-induced damage to the skin. Other research in animals shows that the herb ginkgo biloba may help shield against organ damage resulting from radiation therapy. And aloe vera is often touted as a natural remedy for radiation-induced skin changes preventing or minimizing radiation-induced skin reactions.

Be well

Dr Sundardas

In the aftermath of Japan’s nuclear catastrophe and the fear that winds could blow radiation into the west coast of North America, there has been a sudden rush on potassium iodide, which helps protect your glandular system from radiation poisoning if you’re exposed. The Japanese government is handing out this supplement in huge quantities to the survivors north of Tokyo. These “radiation pills” are being sold out everywhere. NukePills.com says they were completely sold out over the weekend. Pharmacies in California are receiving a stampede of phone calls from near-panicked residents there, reports Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/15/drug-stores-report-sudden-increase-potassium-iodide-sales /
Dr. John W. Gofman, Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology in the University of California at Berkeley, has written extensively about the effort to belittle the menace of low-level radiation. People associated with the nuclear and medical industries assert falsely, “there is no evidence that exposure to low-dose radiation causes any cancer — the risk is only theoretical,” or “the risk is utterly negligible,” or “the accidental exposures were below the safe level,” and even “there is reasonably good evidence that exposure to low-dose radiation is beneficial and lowers the cancer rate.” By any reasonable standard of scientific proof, the weight of the human evidence shows decisively that cancer is inducible by ionizing radiation even at the lowest possible dose and dose-rate — which means that the risk is never theoretical.

Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling described this process as follows: “The rays of high-energy radiation are like little bullets that shoot through the body. They tear electrons away from molecules and through subsequent reactions of the molecular ions that are formed, the molecules may be broken in two, some atoms may be torn away from them, some new molecules may be formed. The dose of 500 roentgens that usually leads to death by acute radiation sickness causes about 500,000 changed molecules to be formed in each cell. If any of the special molecules [that control the process by which the cell divides] happen to be damaged by a single little bullet of radiation from a single radioactive atom, it may be changed in such a way as to cause the cell to divide much more rapidly than the other cells. This cell may then produce a colony of rapidly dividing cells, which in the course of time would outnumber the normal cells of that type. Then the human being may die from cancer — perhaps leukemia, bone cancer, some other kind of cancer — caused by the single radioactive atom that produced the single little bullet of radiation.”

Radioactive materials, plutonium in particular, affect the deepest level of the human being — bone marrow, DNA, genetic structure, inner organs and the deepest of emotions. The message is clear. We have created a horrific heritage. – Jeremy Sherr
Potassium Iodide is a man-made chemical. It is used to prevent only one type of radiation poisoning (for radioactive iodine isotopes). It is only effective for 24 hours so taking it now is not going to help but it may just hurt. Basically it works because it closes the receptor sites to the thyroid so the nuclear fallout (heavy metals) which destroy the thyroid will not get to it.
Be well
Dr Sundardas

The latest “new” discovery by the mainstream media is that McDonald’s Happy Meal hamburgers and fries won’t decompose, even if you leave them out for six months. This story has been picked up by CNN, the Washington Post and many other MSM outlets which appear startled that junk food from fast food chains won’t decompose in the US.

The funny thing about this is that the natural health industry already covered this topic years ago. Remember Len Foley’s Bionic Burger video? It was posted in 2007 and eventually racked up a whopping 2 million views on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYyDXH1amic). And this video shows a guy who bought his McDonald’s hamburgers in 1989 — burgers that still haven’t decomposed in over two decades! Now, he has an entire museum of non-decomposed burgers in his basement.

Did the mainstream media pick up on this story? Nope. Not a word. The story was completely ignored. It was only in 2010 when an artist posted a story about a non-decomposing McDonald’s hamburger from six months ago that the news networks ran with the story.

This is especially interesting because the more recent “Happy Meal Project” which only tracks a burger for six months has drawn quite a lot of criticism from a few critics who say the burgers will decompose if you give them enough time. They obviously don’t know about the mummified burger museum going all the way back to 1989. This stuff never seems to decompose! So why don’t fast food burgers and fries decompose in the first place? The knee-jerk answer is often thought to be, “Well they must be made with so many chemicals that even mold won’t eat them.” While that’s part of the answer, it’s not the whole story.

The truth is many processed foods don’t decompose and won’t be eaten by molds, insects or even rodents. Try leaving a tub of margarine outside in your yard and see if anything bothers to eat it. You’ll find that the margarine stays seems immortal, too! Potato chips can last for decades. Frozen pizzas are remarkably resistant to decomposition. And you know those processed Christmas sausages and meats sold around the holiday season? You can keep them for years and they’ll never rot. With meats, the primary reason why they don’t decompose is their high sodium content. Salt is a great preservative, as early humans have known for thousands of years. McDonald’s meat patties are absolutely loaded with sodium — so much so that they qualify as “preserved” meat, not even counting the chemicals you might find in the meat. To me, there’s not much mystery about the meat not decomposing. The real question in my mind is why don’t the buns mold? That’s the really scary part, since healthy bread begins to mold within days. What could possibly be in McDonald’s hamburger buns that would ward off microscopic life for more than two decades?

As it turns out, unless you’re a chemist you probably can’t even read the ingredients list out loud. Here’s what McDonald’s own website says you’ll find in their buns:

Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, enzymes), water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, yeast, soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated soybean oil, contains 2% or less of the following: salt, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, wheat gluten, ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, datem, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated monoglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, enzymes, guar gum, calcium peroxide, soy flour), calcium propionate and sodium propionate (preservatives), soy lecithin.

The reason nothing will eat a McDonald’s hamburger bun (except a human) is because it’s not food! No normal animal will perceive a McDonald’s hamburger bun as food, and as it turns out, neither will bacteria or fungi. To their senses, it’s just not edible stuff. That’s why these bionic burger buns just won’t decompose. Welcome to the Happy Meal. You need to decide where you will eat it though.

Be well

Dr Sundardas

The fraud started in the 1940’s when the Rockefeller Foundation wanted to corner the drug market. The Carnegie Foundation established a commission headed by Abraham Flexner and subsidized by John Rockefeller who had just purchased stock in pharmaceutical companies.

The commissions final report, in 1910, produced an almost instantaneous revision of medical education. The total absence of standards for medical education and clinical practice in the USA led to the passage of the federal Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906, and to the publication in 1910 of the Flexner report.

It’s amazing how medical scientists will get rough and tough when attacking homeopathy, touting how their own medicine is “based on the gold standard of scientific evidence!” and yet when it really comes down to it, their scientific evidence is just a jug of quackery mixed with a pinch of wishful thinking and a wisp of pseudoscientific gobbledygook, all framed in the language of scientism by members of the FDA who wouldn’t recognize real science if they tripped and fell into a vat full of it.

Big Pharma and the FDA have based their entire system of scientific evidence on a placebo fraud! And if the placebo isn’t a placebo, then the scientific evidence isn’t scientific.
Oh, but wait. They’ll call it science because they wish the placebo to be a placebo. Yep — the clinical researchers are now psychics, mediums and fortune tellers who simply decree that little pill of olive oil to “be a placebo!” while waving their hands over it in a gesture borrowed from David Copperfield.

Hope also has a huge role to place in all this. The more you hope your placebos are really placebos, the better results you’ll get. In fact, in reporting on this whole fiasco, the lead researcher of the study uncovering all this, Dr Beatric Golomb, said, “We can only hope that this hasn’t seriously systematically affected medical treatment.”

But of course it has. (And by the way, no disrespect toward Dr Golomb. She deserves kudos for being willing to tackle this subject which will no doubt make her very unpopular among the cult of Scientism as practiced by conventional medical researchers today.)

How to improve your clinical trial results? For improved results, try to use the most harmful placebo substances you can. For example, in real clinical trials involving AIDS patients — who tend to be lactose intolerant — researchers have used pills made of, guess what? Lactose!

That’s sort of like running a clinical trial on a cure for heroin addiction and using heroin as the placebo, isn’t it? Somehow our drug worked “better than placebo.” Funny how that works, isn’t it? And if you still don’t get the results you want, just start inventing your own data like other clinical trial researchers do. Remember Dr Scott Reuben? This highly-respected clinical trial researcher faked at least twenty-one clinical trials for Big Pharma.. His fraudulent clinical trials are still being cited to sell prescription medications!

Be well

Dr Sundardas

We already know that clinical trials are rife with fraud. Most of the clinical trials used by pharmaceutical companies to win FDA approval of their drugs, for example, are funded by pharmaceutical companies. And it is a verifiable fact that most clinical trials tend to find results that favor the financial interests of whatever organization paid for them. So what’s to stop Big Pharma from scheming up the perfect placebo that would harm patients just enough to make their own drugs look good by comparison?

It now appears that all those thousands of clinical trials conducted over the last few decades comparing pharmaceuticals to placebo pills must now be completely thrown out as utterly non-scientific. And why? Because the placebos used in the studies weren’t really placebos at all, rendering the studies scientifically invalid. This is the conclusion from researchers at the University of California who published their findings in the October issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. They reviewed 167 placebo-controlled trials published in peer-reviewed medical journals in 2008 and 2009 and found that 92 percent of those trials never even described the ingredients of their placebo pills.

Why is this important? Because placebo pills are supposed to be inert. But nothing is inert, it turns out. Even so-called “sugar pills” contain sugar, obviously. And sugar isn’t inert. If you’re running a clinical trial on diabetics, testing the effectiveness of a diabetes drug versus a placebo then obviously your clinical trial is going to make the diabetes drug look better than placebo if you use sugar pills as your placebo.

Some placebo pills use olive oil which may actually improve heart health. Other placebo pills use partially-hydrogenated oils which harm heart health. Yet only 8 percent of clinical trials bothered to list the placebo ingredients at all!

It turns out there are absolutely no FDA rules regarding the choice or composition of placebos used in clinical trials. Technically, a clinical trial director could use eye of newt or lizard’s legs as placebo and would not even be required to mention such nefarious details in the trial results ala Shakespeare. That would cause trouble, trouble, boil and bubble!

Placebos are usually provided by the very same company funding the clinical trial! Do you detect any room for fraud in this equation? How drug companies can fake clinical trials with selected placebo pills

Placebo performance strongly influences whether drugs are approved by the FDA, by the way. As the key piece of information on its regulatory approval decisions, the FDA wants to know whether a drug works better than placebo. That’s the primary requirement! If they work even 5% better than placebo, they are said to be “efficacious” (meaning they “work”). This is true even if the placebo was selected and used specifically to make the drug look good by comparison. You see, if there are no regulations or rules regarding placebo, then none of the placebo-controlled clinical trials are scientifically valid.

Be well

Dr Sundardas