Re: More neurological discoveries /Brain Scans To Diagn...

[Guest guest]

Hi,

This may ruffle some feathers, but I really had to just jump in with my

distaste for the mediacl establishment and their quick fix of prescribing more

drugs for our children.I know that meds maybe the only answer for some children

but there HAS to be a reason that the children today are falling into a drugged

existence. My son's OT said her son is 7.5 and was just put on ritalin for

ADHD and she said it is so upsetting to see the change in him, (gave her my LCP

book) I found this article:

Wednesday, April 7, 2004

 

Cheever

Now is the era of 'little helpers

March 24, 2004

Everyone I know is on drugs. What are you on? Fosamax for bone loss, Lipitor

for high cholesterol, Allegra for allergies, Paxil for sadness or Ambien to

sleep? We've stopped taking fen-phen and HRT and giving our kids a lot of

antibiotics. Those drugs were bad, very bad. Now, there are good drugs for

things

such as acid reflux, impotence or aging, concerns that until recently we didn't

even know were diseases. The kids can go on Ritalin to improve their math

homework or on Singulair for those pesky allergies that kept them from enjoying

baseball and swimming. Fashionable renovations include walk-in medicine

cabinets. When my brother went on Lipitor, he said he finally felt like a real

American - he, too, had a prescription.

I've been on Synthroid since a doctor diagnosed an underactive thyroid 20

years ago. My new doctor thinks I should reduce the dose. When I asked about the

depression, weight gain and drowsiness that might result, he opened his mouth

and appeared to begin speaking in tongues. It took me a moment to realize that

what sounded like weird Latin was a recitation of the names of drugs he might

recommend to combat my symptoms.

The drugs are everywhere we turn. On the Internet, dozens of solicitations

seduce us with promises of marathon sex and miraculous weight loss. On

television, models frolic in soft- focus for Celebrex, Claritin or Prilosec,

while

reassuring voiceovers ask about our digestive problems or our sex lives. " When

the

moment comes, will you be ready? " one Cialis ad inquires archly, showing two

attractive adults playing a sexy game of peek-a-boo.

In another ad, a woman loses her adorable Boston terrier because she doesn't

take her pill. Even the dog is disgusted at an owner too dumb to take her

antihistamine. A grandmother's arthritis keeps her from bathing her grandchild.

She forgot grandmothers' little helpers. In yet another ad, I'm assured that

Aricept will help forgetfulness, which could be a sign of early Alzheimer's. Who

can even remember the names of the drugs we're supposed to take?

Advertising is a portrait of a culture. According to new studies from the

U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 6.2 million

Americans abuse prescription drugs - more than abusers of cocaine, Ecstasy and

heroin combined. This figure has more than quadrupled since 2000.

This month, National Drug Control Policy Director Walters, along with

the surgeon general and the FDA commissioner, announced the president's

$12.6-billion national drug control strategy targeting the illicit use of

prescription

drugs. The problem is that many of these are the same drugs pharmaceutical

companies are spending billions urging us to take. For someone convinced Viagra

will make him a stud or Vicodin will remove chronic pain or Prozac will

eliminate the sadness of loss, there is hardly a choice. The government wants to

target " nonmedical use " of medicines. In a culture that spends billions of

dollars creating users, it may be hard to eliminate abusers.

Don't get me wrong. I love drugs. They have saved my life and my children's

lives. I know we live longer and more happily with the smorgasbord of chemical

alteration available to us. We are experiencing better living through

chemistry. But every drug changes us in some way. " No side effects " is the

watchword

for many of these new drugs, but every change in our body chemistry causes

other changes. All drugs have side effects, although some are dangerous and

significant, while others are negligible.

" I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, " wrote Henry

Thoreau, whose cabin site on Walden Pond is now within walking distance of

a

CVS, " to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn

what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not

lived. "

Poor Thoreau, he lived in an age before Wellbutrin, Zyrtek, Valium and Vioxx,

an age when the only way to control digestive problems was to alter your

diet, when sadness was an occasion for poetry and insomnia was an opportunity to

study the stars. Little did he know that the essential facts of life, from

sneezing to despair, would one day be curable by pretty little pills. I wonder,

though, at what point do we stop curing our illnesses and begin curing our

humanity?

Cheever's e-mail address is susancheever@....

Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.

Need I say more?

[Guest guest]

Colleen -due to my parrot Woodstock I'm quite used to ruffled

feathers, so doesn't bother me!

As a parent of one child with ADHD, 9 year old Dakota, who is

successfully using EFAs (fish oils) and no medications at all -I

posted the article from ABC I did about the use of brain scans to

detect ADHD, and what that coulc mean to the future of diagnosing

other conditions such as apraxia -not about medications.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/health/edell/040504_he_adhd.html

Here is more on the topic of the article you posted written by

Cheever -too bad the main part of the story was left out. It's far

more severe than missing puppies.

" Baker, whose 12 year old daughter, Kara Jaye-Anne Otter,

committed suicide when she had been on the antidepressant Paxil for

seven months, recalls: " I was told the worst side effects would be

flulike symptoms. "

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040209-586237,00.html

" Government's warning that people newly taking antidepressants can

become suicidal and must be closely monitored grew at least in part

from concern that drugs are being handed out too freely and without

enough follow-up, especially in children and teenagers; Dr Wayne K

Goodman, member of expert panel that advises FDA, says he thinks

many physicians, and particularly nonpsychiatrists, have been lulled

into notion that these drugs are safe; photo "

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20D13FF3F540C778EDDAA0894DC40448\

2

" FDA kept suicide findings secret

By ELIZABETH SHOGREN

Los Angeles Times

Published on: 04/06/04

WASHINGTON -- Ten months ago, when concerns arose about a possible

link between children taking antidepressant drugs and suicide

attempts, senior officials at the Food and Drug Administration

ordered their leading expert to head up an examination of the

evidence.

When the government scientist filed his report last winter, however,

his bosses decided to keep it secret — even though it found that

children who took the drugs were twice as likely to be involved in

serious suicide-related behavior as those who did not.

Instead of revealing the findings, senior FDA officials ordered more

studies, which are not expected to be completed until summer. They

also squelched plans to have the author, Dr. Mosholder,

present his conclusions to an FDA advisory committee when it took up

the issue in February.

Mosholder's report still has not been made public, but news of his

conclusions first surfaced in a CBS News report last week. His

findings were detailed in an internal FDA document obtained by The

Los Angeles Times and authenticated by government officials. " ...

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0404/06suicide.html

" (CBS) Congress is investigating whether the FDA -- which is

supposed to protect the public -- sat on medical evidence and failed

to act quickly on a possible link between anti-depressants and

suicidal behavior in children, reports CBS News Correspondent Sharyl

Attkisson.

With ten million American kids a year prescribed Paxil or other

popular anti-depressants, the question of whether the drugs actually

cause suicidal behavior in children is crucial.

Last summer, a link was revealed in data from Paxil's maker,

GlaxoKline.

" It has us worried, " said an FDA internal document.

So the FDA assigned one of its respected medical officers,

Mosholder, to look at studies of eight anti-depressants and

thousands of troubled kids.

What he found added fuel to the fire.

According to documents obtained by CBS News, there were twice as

many suicide-related events in children who took antidepressants as

those who got only sugar pills.

Mosholder called the findings " difficult to dismiss. " But the public

never got to hear those results. As Mosholder prepared to report to

this FDA panel last month, there was an incredible turn of events.

Sources claim Mosholder's FDA bosses intervened and " pressured him

to change his conclusions " to make them " ambiguous and less

definitive. "

At the last minute, they took his report off the agenda entirely. "

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/30/eveningnews/main609491.shtml

And...may want to read this PDF

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/grassleyDrugs.pdf

=====

[Guest guest]

if there's that much of a change in the child's personality/disposition, he's on

the wrong ADHD meds. There should be an alleviation of symptoms.....not a

change in personality. She needs to contact her doctor PRONTO.

~K

Re: [ ] More neurological discoveries /Brain Scans

To Diagn...

Hi,

This may ruffle some feathers, but I really had to just jump in with my

distaste for the mediacl establishment and their quick fix of prescribing more

drugs for our children.I know that meds maybe the only answer for some

children

but there HAS to be a reason that the children today are falling into a

drugged

existence. My son's OT said her son is 7.5 and was just put on ritalin for

ADHD and she said it is so upsetting to see the change in him, (gave her my

LCP

book) I found this article:

Wednesday, April 7, 2004

Cheever

Now is the era of 'little helpers

March 24, 2004

Everyone I know is on drugs. What are you on? Fosamax for bone loss, Lipitor

for high cholesterol, Allegra for allergies, Paxil for sadness or Ambien to

sleep? We've stopped taking fen-phen and HRT and giving our kids a lot of

antibiotics. Those drugs were bad, very bad. Now, there are good drugs for

things

such as acid reflux, impotence or aging, concerns that until recently we

didn't

even know were diseases. The kids can go on Ritalin to improve their math

homework or on Singulair for those pesky allergies that kept them from

enjoying

baseball and swimming. Fashionable renovations include walk-in medicine

cabinets. When my brother went on Lipitor, he said he finally felt like a real

American - he, too, had a prescription.

I've been on Synthroid since a doctor diagnosed an underactive thyroid 20

years ago. My new doctor thinks I should reduce the dose. When I asked about

the

depression, weight gain and drowsiness that might result, he opened his mouth

and appeared to begin speaking in tongues. It took me a moment to realize that

what sounded like weird Latin was a recitation of the names of drugs he might

recommend to combat my symptoms.

[Guest guest]

I think we need to consider WHY these doctors are prescribing so

much medication and WHY the drug companies continue to seek

the 'quick fix' drugs.

It is the consumer. That's right... you and me. We expect so much

from the medical profession and we have gotten lazy. Nobody wants

to diet and exercise anymore to control high blood pressure,

diabetes, etc. They want a pill. There are also many parents who

don't want to bother looking inside their family and fixing internal

problems. They'd rather have a pill to make them happier or a pill

to calm their child down.

Parents taking the time and effort to partake in this list serve are

not the norm. You are justified in your anger but to soley blame

doctors isn't quite right in my opinion.

I know many physicians; both family practice and specialty docs.

They are very frustrated with the patient's need to have a pill for

everything that ails them. I also think some of the psychiatrists

out there have been trained by us to dole out the pills as a first

resort. It certainly never used to be that way...

Of course, there are exceptions. Many a doc out there who only

wants to make a buck. That is where consumer awareness if key.

Don't ever accept a medication at the first appointment for your

child (within reason, of course. Take insulin if you need it!).

Oh, I ramble. Can you tell I am a doctor's daughter? I'm also a

long time antidepressant taker so I know how it feels...

> Hi,

>

> This may ruffle some feathers, but I really had to just jump in

with my

> distaste for the mediacl establishment and their quick fix of

prescribing more

> drugs for our children.I know that meds maybe the only answer for

some children

> but there HAS to be a reason that the children today are falling

into a drugged

> existence. My son's OT said her son is 7.5 and was just put on

ritalin for

> ADHD and she said it is so upsetting to see the change in him,

(gave her my LCP

> book) I found this article:

>

> Wednesday, April 7, 2004

>

>  

> Cheever

> Now is the era of 'little helpers

>

> March 24, 2004

>

> Everyone I know is on drugs. What are you on? Fosamax for bone

loss, Lipitor

> for high cholesterol, Allegra for allergies, Paxil for sadness or

Ambien to

> sleep? We've stopped taking fen-phen and HRT and giving our kids a

lot of

> antibiotics. Those drugs were bad, very bad. Now, there are good

drugs for things

> such as acid reflux, impotence or aging, concerns that until

recently we didn't

> even know were diseases. The kids can go on Ritalin to improve

their math

> homework or on Singulair for those pesky allergies that kept them

from enjoying

> baseball and swimming. Fashionable renovations include walk-in

medicine

> cabinets. When my brother went on Lipitor, he said he finally felt

like a real

> American - he, too, had a prescription.

>

> I've been on Synthroid since a doctor diagnosed an underactive

thyroid 20

> years ago. My new doctor thinks I should reduce the dose. When I

asked about the

> depression, weight gain and drowsiness that might result, he

opened his mouth

> and appeared to begin speaking in tongues. It took me a moment to

realize that

> what sounded like weird Latin was a recitation of the names of

drugs he might

> recommend to combat my symptoms.

>

> The drugs are everywhere we turn. On the Internet, dozens of

solicitations

> seduce us with promises of marathon sex and miraculous weight

loss. On

> television, models frolic in soft- focus for Celebrex, Claritin or

Prilosec, while

> reassuring voiceovers ask about our digestive problems or our sex

lives. " When the

> moment comes, will you be ready? " one Cialis ad inquires archly,

showing two

> attractive adults playing a sexy game of peek-a-boo.

>

> In another ad, a woman loses her adorable Boston terrier because

she doesn't

> take her pill. Even the dog is disgusted at an owner too dumb to

take her

> antihistamine. A grandmother's arthritis keeps her from bathing

her grandchild.

> She forgot grandmothers' little helpers. In yet another ad, I'm

assured that

> Aricept will help forgetfulness, which could be a sign of early

Alzheimer's. Who

> can even remember the names of the drugs we're supposed to take?

>

> Advertising is a portrait of a culture. According to new studies

from the

> U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,

6.2 million

> Americans abuse prescription drugs - more than abusers of cocaine,

Ecstasy and

> heroin combined. This figure has more than quadrupled since 2000.

>

> This month, National Drug Control Policy Director Walters,

along with

> the surgeon general and the FDA commissioner, announced the

president's

> $12.6-billion national drug control strategy targeting the illicit

use of prescription

> drugs. The problem is that many of these are the same drugs

pharmaceutical

> companies are spending billions urging us to take. For someone

convinced Viagra

> will make him a stud or Vicodin will remove chronic pain or Prozac

will

> eliminate the sadness of loss, there is hardly a choice. The

government wants to

> target " nonmedical use " of medicines. In a culture that spends

billions of

> dollars creating users, it may be hard to eliminate abusers.

>

> Don't get me wrong. I love drugs. They have saved my life and my

children's

> lives. I know we live longer and more happily with the smorgasbord

of chemical

> alteration available to us. We are experiencing better living

through

> chemistry. But every drug changes us in some way. " No side

effects " is the watchword

> for many of these new drugs, but every change in our body

chemistry causes

> other changes. All drugs have side effects, although some are

dangerous and

> significant, while others are negligible.

>

> " I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, " wrote

Henry

> Thoreau, whose cabin site on Walden Pond is now within

walking distance of a

> CVS, " to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I

could not learn

> what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I

had not

> lived. "

>

> Poor Thoreau, he lived in an age before Wellbutrin, Zyrtek, Valium

and Vioxx,

> an age when the only way to control digestive problems was to

alter your

> diet, when sadness was an occasion for poetry and insomnia was an

opportunity to

> study the stars. Little did he know that the essential facts of

life, from

> sneezing to despair, would one day be curable by pretty little

pills. I wonder,

> though, at what point do we stop curing our illnesses and begin

curing our

> humanity?

>

> Cheever's e-mail address is susancheever@y...

> Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.

>

> Need I say more?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>