A friend of mine is a nurse in a burn intensive care unit. It’s not a job for someone with a weak constitution, as you might imagine. His cases are usually the result of unimaginable tragedies. And many times, his patients survive more through miracles and divine intervention than medicine. When he shares some of their stories with me, I am often reduced to tears.
But nothing has come close to the one he told me about the other day about a patient who had never been in a fire, but who was burning from the inside out. I’ll spare you the details, except to say that even my friend, who is a seasoned nurse, was haunted for weeks by the mental images he had of his patient. He said he’d never witnessed such a painful and horrible death, ever.
What does his story have to do with natural healing? Everything. You see, the patient had something called Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), which progressed into an even worse complication called TENS (toxic epidermal necrolysis), both of which are caused by adverse drug reactions. And unless I tell you about it here, the odds are you won’t hear of it until you or someone you know encounters it — which is too late in my book.
Here’s the thing you need to know some very commonly prescribed drugs can lead to this often-fatal reaction. The list includes: antiepileptic and anticonvulsant drugs, sulfonamides, ampicillin, allopurinol, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs), as well as some vaccinations (such as anthrax). And another frightening fact: the reaction is completely unpredictable. You might have taken ibuprofen, a popular NSAID, a thousand times with no problem at all. But one day, your body might become hypersensitive to it and go into an extreme inflammatory immune response that causes the skin to die. It occurs in every age group, from infants and children to the elderly and any age in between. Mortality rates are a frightening 25-80 percent, and survivors are often scarred or impaired for life.
Another problem: the current belief is that this extreme adverse drug reaction is rare. But the Stevens Johnson Syndrome Foundation feels that the numbers are higher than the one in a million the FDA and drug companies would have us believe — and getting a little higher every year as the numbers of people taking them increases. SJS is commonly misdiagnosed, chalked up as unexplained, or not reported at all.
Of course, this is just one more reason for me to reiterate one of Dr. Wright’s main tenets: Avoid pharmaceuticals whenever possible, opting instead to solve health problems by natural methods. If you do need to take a prescription that puts you at risk for SJS or TENS, watch out for any signs of allergic reaction, such as rash, blisters, a scalding sensation, or fever, and discontinue the offending medication immediately. You may need to be the first one to suggest SJS or TENS before your physician will consider it, since this diagnosis is often missed, or it comes too late. Also, if you or any of your family members have ever had a reaction to a drug before, you are in a higher risk category to begin with.
If you’d like to learn more about SJS or TENS, you can visit www.sjsupport.org. If nothing else, it will strengthen your resolve to find natural alternatives to pharmaceuticals before you reach for something as seemingly innocuous as ibuprofen.
Bad is in the eye of the beholder
Q: Help! I have a “bad” cholesterol reading of 142, and my physician wants to put me on a statin drug that I’ve heard has horrendous side effects. Can you suggest a natural alternative? I really don’t want to go down the statin path.
JVW: As the recommendations for cholesterol levels go lower and lower like an impossible game of limbo, more people will be faced with a decision to either follow doctors orders — or find another path unsupported by the medical mainstream.
Your level is in the borderline high range and it’s important to take it into consideration with your other levels, such as your “good” (HDL) cholesterol level and your triglycerides.
If everything points to a real need to lower your levels, there are some natural steps you can take. First, pay attention to lifestyle issues that can raise your good and lower your bad cholesterol levels, such as getting enough exercise and eating a diet that is low in carbs and completely free of refined sugar. I also recommend incorporating niacin, chromium, and essential fatty acids into your nutrition plan as well. Since your levels are borderline, these simple steps might be enough to do the trick.
If not, you can try a couple of natural remedies that will work just as well as statins in most cases, without the negative side effects. One is policosanol, a long-chain alcohol that is performing well in research — and standing up to statin drugs without the side effects. (I wrote a lengthy article on policosanol in the January 2002 Nutrition & Healing newsletter that subscribers can look up in the on-line archives by visiting www.nutritionandhealing.com). If your doctor won’t support you in naturally managing your cholesterol level, you might want to find one who will. You can contact the American College for Advancement in Medicine (949-583-7666; www.acam.org).
What is cholesterol?
Like fat, this much-maligned substance is actually essential to your health and well-being. Cholesterol can be found in the cell membranes and nerve fiber insulation of all animal tissue. It is a critical part of the metabolism and transport of fatty acids, and the production of hormones and vitamin D. Cholesterol is manufactured by the liver, and can be found in eggs and shellfish.
There are two types of cholesterol in the blood, high-density (HDL), which is referred to as the “good” cholesterol, and low-density (LDL) lipoproteins, which are termed the “bad” cholesterol. Too much LDL is most commonly linked to heart disease. Very low cholesterol levels may indicate malnutrition and lead to severe health complications as well. Like most of our natural systems, balance is the key to good health.
Yours in good health,
Amanda Ross
Managing Editor
Nutrition & Healing
Sources:
Roujeau JC, et al, “Medication use and the risk of Stevens-Johnson syndrome or toxic epidermal necrolysis.” N Engl J Med 1995;333(24): 1,600-1,607
Hauben M. “Early Postmarketing Drug Safety Surveillance: Data Mining Points to Consider.” Ann Pharmacother 2004; 38(10):1,625-1,630
“Group Urges Review of New Statin Drug Advice,” Reuters Health News, 9/23/04
