Soon, there won't be any need for you to go to your doctor for the treatment of any medical condition. You'll be able to just turn on your tap and fill your glass with a cocktail that includes sex hormones, anticonvulsants, anxiety meds, and something for cholesterol for good measure. And that's just a sampling of the possible ingredient list coming straight out of your tap!
A disturbing analysis of our nation's drinking supply shows that 1 in 7 of us are drinking traces of pharmaceuticals in every glass. With prescriptions handed out for every symptom known to mankind, it was only a matter of time before they were trickling down—out of our bodies and into our water supply.
And if you think the government is doing anything to protect you—think again. There are currently no testing requirements nor safety limits for how much pharmaceutical waste can be in your drinking water.
Pharmaceuticals present in the water supply are not "new" news. But for some reason, officials ignored the possibility that it could actually affect us if only because the stories centered on fish and amphibians with odd physical anomalies.
A consultant to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) states that there's "little or no risk from pharmaceuticals in the environment to human health"—with the qualifier "based on what we know" thrown in for good measure.
The VP of PhRMA issued a statement assuring us by saying that their studies "suggest" no health and safety issues for humans.
I "suggest" they give us solid answers and quit beating around the bush with their wordplay.
In his statement, he also said they're committed to doing further research to get a "better understanding" of this topic. So if they don't have an understanding of the issue, how can they comment intelligently at all, or dare to even try to assure us? It would be like me saying to a patient, "I don't have any idea what's wrong with you, but everything is okay!" It's dismissive, and it's an insult to our intelligence.
My favorite statement was from a Big Pharma mouthpiece giving us their assurance that they're working closely with the FDA to ensure our safety.
That's enough to keep me up at night.
This is the same FDA that advises us that it's okay to go ahead and flush a whole bunch of powerful medications right down our toilets and into the water supply. In their guidelines for disposing of prescription drugs, they say to flush rather than toss a range of drugs not limited to but including: painkillers such as oxycodone, morphine and fentanyl, hepatitis B medications, antibiotics, and powerfully dangerous drugs like Sodium Oxybate, used to treat narcolepsy.
They're working to ensure our safety?
You may think you're safe if you reach for bottled water or draw your water from your own well. I'm sorry to report that you're not. Many bottled water manufacturers earned the title of "marketing genius" in bottling up regular old tap water and affixing nice labels to it—then selling it for a healthy profit. While they're filling, sealing and selling—they're not testing for the presence of pharmaceuticals in that tap water.
And if you draw from a well, please realize that the aquifers from which your water is sourced is most likely contaminated with pharmaceuticals as well. When researchers tested water in 24 states, they found traces of unnatural elements in those water samples, which included antibiotics and hormones.
To fix the state of aquifers would require an environmental overhaul the likes of which I can't begin to imagine. But for plain old city water, you would think the reasonable answer would be to filter that water a lot more thoroughly while it's still swirling around at the water treatment plants. Unfortunately, the science hasn't caught up to our reality: most water treatments don't remove all the pharmaceutical byproducts out of the finished product. We just aren't there yet.
I recommend you take matters into your own hands and invest in a good water filter for your home. I prefer the reverse osmosis variety for filtering out all kinds of impurities. There's enough evidence for me to believe that it's effective, and it sure beats relying on the "experts" to take care of you.
Reverse osmosis systems have been used for years to make salt and brackish water potable. A sediment filter traps particles that would otherwise end up in your glass.
Nature abhors a vacuum. Evidently, so does the FDA. No sooner were cold meds for children pulled off of shelves than the FDA approved Nexium for treating kids aged one to 11.
Nexium. You know, the medication used to treat acid reflux.
Yes, it appears that there are swarms of kids out there, ranging from infant-age on up, who evidently have a pressing need to suppress their stomach acid.
It's horrifying to think what kinds of health problems these babies are being set up for long-term. I think it's criminal, and as big a mismanagement of prescription drugs as was ever fostered onto small children. For one thing, you need stomach acid to properly absorb important nutrients such as calcium, zinc and magnesium. Depriving young children of the nutrients needed to run their bodies and promote normal healthy growth is thoughtless and irresponsible.
And it's only by the grace of God that it hasn't been approved for infants even younger than the age of one—but only because its safety and effectiveness haven't been established. Yet.
Currently, doses between 20 milligrams and 40 milligrams are approved for the 12- to 17-year old crowd. For the younger set, doses of 10 milligrams to 20 milligrams are approved.
Also, it's approved only for short-term use. But the way prescription meds are handed out like candy, I can see that being easily overlooked by harried doctors, and parents who are unaware of the dark side of giving their children acid- blocking medications ad nauseum.
Here's a quick breakdown of the side effects these young children could potentially face—and may be too young to tell you about:
If your child or grandchild is offered this "treatment," run—don't walk—to the nearest exit. A second opinion is definitely in order
This advice may seem to go against the grain, but hear me out: If you're fatigued—exercise!
One of the most common complaints I hear from my patients is, "I'm tired all the time!" I even refer to it as TATT (tired all the time), and it is as debilitating to its sufferers as any other disease.
A study supports what I've told them—and you—all along: Exercising will help you feel better, not worse. According to the study results, you could boost your energy level by 20 percent. Even better, you could decrease that tired feeling by 65 percent. All you have to do is find a moderate, low-intensity exercise and stick with it.
To really measure the impact, they tested their theory out on sedentary individuals. The participants suffered from significant levels of fatigue, but just short of a diagnosis for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. One researcher estimates that 25 percent of our population suffers from this level of fatigue.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups:
1) 20 minutes, three times per week of moderate-level aerobic exercise for a period of six weeks
2) 20 minutes, three times per week of lower-intensity aerobics for six weeks
3) No exercise for the length of the study
Those who exercise, regardless of their level of intensity, experienced the 20 percent increase in energy compared to the control group. What was especially promising, though, was the more significant decrease in fatigue: a 65 percent decrease in the low-intensity group compared to only 49 percent in the moderate- intensity group.
It just goes to show there's always a tipping point, and more is not always better.
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