Food leading cause of death

[Guest guest]

>Whether or not you agree completely with everything presented in this

>article, it is still true that pharmaceutical drugs kill more people every

>year than any herb or dietary supplement. In that statement there is no

>spin.............Satya

If you wish to make blanket statements without context I would say that

food kills far more people than anything else!

Death by Medicine

Does American medicine " cause more harm than good " ?

by Harriet Hall, MD

============================================================================

As part of an interesting discussion of a misleading article series on

Mercola's website, Dr. Harriet Hall wrote the following:

Doctor-bashing is a hobby of many alternative medicine proponents. They

point out everything that is wrong with conventional

medicine, but they don't put their criticisms into perspective. They don't

mention how much good medicine does and how many lives

it saves. A typical statement (from

<http://mercola.com/2003/nov/26/death_by_medicine.htm>http://mercola.com/2003/no\

v/26/death_by_medicine.htm

says:

" A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals,

and government health statistics shows that American

medicine frequently causes more harm than good. The number of people

having in-hospital, adverse drug reactions (ADR) to

prescribed medicine is 2.2 million. Dr. Besser, of the CDC, in

1995, said the number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed

annually for viral infections was 20 million. Dr. Besser, in 2003, now

refers to tens of millions of unnecessary antibiotics. The

number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed

annually is 7.5 million. The number of people exposed to

unnecessary hospitalization annually is 8.9 million. The total number

of iatrogenic deaths shown in the following table is 783,936.

It's evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of

death and injury in the United States. The 2001 heart disease

annual death rate is 699,697; the annual cancer death rate, 553,251. "

Pardon my parody, but:

A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals and

government health statistics shows that food frequently

causes more harm than good. The number of overweight Americans is 100

million and continues to rise. Overweight is known to

cause hypertension, heart disease and early death, as well as a huge number

of other health problems. Attempting to control weight

has led to a proliferation of dangerous drugs such as the recent Phen/Phen

scandal and the ephedra catastrophes. Unnecessary

surgical procedures mutilate the gastrointestinal tract of these

unfortunate victims of food. Concerns about food lead to anorexia

nervosa and bulimia. More money is spent on food than on any other class of

products; just think how much more good that money

could have done if it were spent instead on valuable research into unproven

remedies such as homeopathy. Frequent trips to grocery

stores in automobiles cause accidents, depletion of fossil fuels, and

contamination of the atmosphere. Food and the resultant obesity

are directly related to hospital admission rates. Certain foods are deadly

for those with allergies. Food may not contain all the vitamins

and minerals and trace nutrients required for good health; people who

depend on diet and refuse to take supplements can be seriously

harmed. If you add up all the years of life lost due to overeating,

obesity, allergic reactions, contaminants and toxic chemicals in food,

deficiency syndromes, botulism, food-transmitted diseases like hepatitis,

salmonella and E. coli, etc. etc. you will quickly come to the

conclusion that food is the leading cause of death and injury in the United

States.

For that matter, no illness has ever developed without previous food

ingestion. Yes, I'm being ridiculous, but I think this points out

why you can't take the doctor-bashers seriously. We don't give up food just

because it can harm people; we don't give up scientific

medicine just because effective treatments can have side effects.

Harriet Hall, MD

(used by permission)

============================================================================

Supplementary information:

The article referred to above is authored by Null PhD, Carolyn Dean MD

ND, Feldman MD, Debora Rasio

MD, Dorothy PhD.

Null:

<http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/null.html>http://www.quackwatch.o\

rg/04ConsumerEducation/null.html

" Null..... is one of the nation's leading promoters of dubious

treatment for serious disease. " Dubious promotions, Dubious

credentials, Dubious Products.

Dean:

<http://www.canoe.ca/Health0011/24_dean-can.html>http://www.canoe.ca/Health0011/\

24_dean-can.html

" Dr. Carolyn Dean was defrocked in 1995 because of " disgraceful,

dishonourable and unprofessional conduct, " according to a

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) document. "

Mercola: <http://mercola.com/index.htm>http://mercola.com/index.htm

I consider Mercola (an osteopath, not an MD), and his website to be

among the most insidious purveyors of medical

misinformation on the internet. Some of his advice, such as

anti-vaccination sentiments, can cause the needless deaths of many

people.

Dubious Aspects of Osteopathy:

<http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/QA/osteo.html>http://www.quackwat\

ch.org/04ConsumerEducation/QA/osteo.html

============================================================================

Doctor-bashing tactic

This doctor-bashing article puts a very negative spin on many statistics,

saying more about the motives of the authors than about the

state of American medicine. Here's just one example from the article:

" In 16.4 million people, 2.1% chance of a serious adverse drug reaction. "

Now if 2.1% equals " more harm than good " , then the authors are obviously

ignoring the 97,9%, most of whom have probably gotten

the desired effect from the prescribed drug. This is a typical, glaring

discrepancy, revealing the malice and dishonesty of these

authors. A superficial glance at the websites of Mercola and Null will

quickly reveal just who is boosting sales of dubious products

by bashing American medicine. This is one of the more obvious examples of

gutter tactics typically used by these characters.

Regards,

Lee

[Guest guest]

In that we are in agreement....

[ ] Food leading cause of death

>Whether or not you agree completely with everything presented in this >article, it is still true that pharmaceutical drugs kill more people every >year than any herb or dietary supplement. In that statement there is no >spin.............SatyaIf you wish to make blanket statements without context I would say that food kills far more people than anything else!Death by MedicineDoes American medicine "cause more harm than good"?by Harriet Hall, MD============================================================================As part of an interesting discussion of a misleading article series on Mercola's website, Dr. Harriet Hall wrote the following:Doctor-bashing is a hobby of many alternative medicine proponents. They point out everything that is wrong with conventionalmedicine, but they don't put their criticisms into perspective. They don't mention how much good medicine does and how many livesit saves. A typical statement (from <http://mercola.com/2003/nov/26/death_by_medicine.htm>http://mercola.com/2003/nov/26/death_by_medicine.htm says: "A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals, and government health statistics shows that American medicine frequently causes more harm than good. The number of people having in-hospital, adverse drug reactions (ADR) to prescribed medicine is 2.2 million. Dr. Besser, of the CDC, in 1995, said the number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed annually for viral infections was 20 million. Dr. Besser, in 2003, now refers to tens of millions of unnecessary antibiotics. The number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually is 7.5 million. The number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is 8.9 million. The total number of iatrogenic deaths shown in the following table is 783,936. It's evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the United States. The 2001 heart disease annual death rate is 699,697; the annual cancer death rate, 553,251."Pardon my parody, but:A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals and government health statistics shows that food frequentlycauses more harm than good. The number of overweight Americans is 100 million and continues to rise. Overweight is known tocause hypertension, heart disease and early death, as well as a huge number of other health problems. Attempting to control weighthas led to a proliferation of dangerous drugs such as the recent Phen/Phen scandal and the ephedra catastrophes. Unnecessarysurgical procedures mutilate the gastrointestinal tract of these unfortunate victims of food. Concerns about food lead to anorexianervosa and bulimia. More money is spent on food than on any other class of products; just think how much more good that moneycould have done if it were spent instead on valuable research into unproven remedies such as homeopathy. Frequent trips to grocerystores in automobiles cause accidents, depletion of fossil fuels, and contamination of the atmosphere. Food and the resultant obesityare directly related to hospital admission rates. Certain foods are deadly for those with allergies. Food may not contain all the vitaminsand minerals and trace nutrients required for good health; people who depend on diet and refuse to take supplements can be seriouslyharmed. If you add up all the years of life lost due to overeating, obesity, allergic reactions, contaminants and toxic chemicals in food,deficiency syndromes, botulism, food-transmitted diseases like hepatitis, salmonella and E. coli, etc. etc. you will quickly come to theconclusion that food is the leading cause of death and injury in the United States.For that matter, no illness has ever developed without previous food ingestion. Yes, I'm being ridiculous, but I think this points outwhy you can't take the doctor-bashers seriously. We don't give up food just because it can harm people; we don't give up scientificmedicine just because effective treatments can have side effects.Harriet Hall, MD(used by permission)============================================================================Supplementary information:The article referred to above is authored by Null PhD, Carolyn Dean MD ND, Feldman MD, Debora RasioMD, Dorothy PhD.Null: <http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/null.html>http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/null.html " Null..... is one of the nation's leading promoters of dubious treatment for serious disease." Dubious promotions, Dubious credentials, Dubious Products.Dean: <http://www.canoe.ca/Health0011/24_dean-can.html>http://www.canoe.ca/Health0011/24_dean-can.html "Dr. Carolyn Dean was defrocked in 1995 because of "disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional conduct," according to a College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) document."Mercola: <http://mercola.com/index.htm>http://mercola.com/index.htm I consider Mercola (an osteopath, not an MD), and his website to be among the most insidious purveyors of medical misinformation on the internet. Some of his advice, such as anti-vaccination sentiments, can cause the needless deaths of many people.Dubious Aspects of Osteopathy: <http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/QA/osteo.html>http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/QA/osteo.html============================================================================Doctor-bashing tacticThis doctor-bashing article puts a very negative spin on many statistics, saying more about the motives of the authors than about thestate of American medicine. Here's just one example from the article: "In 16.4 million people, 2.1% chance of a serious adverse drug reaction."Now if 2.1% equals "more harm than good", then the authors are obviously ignoring the 97,9%, most of whom have probably gottenthe desired effect from the prescribed drug. This is a typical, glaring discrepancy, revealing the malice and dishonesty of theseauthors. A superficial glance at the websites of Mercola and Null will quickly reveal just who is boosting sales of dubious productsby bashing American medicine. This is one of the more obvious examples of gutter tactics typically used by these characters.Regards, Lee

[Guest guest]

Satya says: In that we are in agreement....

I am glad you can recognize the folly of quoting statistics out of context

and that pharmaceuticals help far more than they hurt.

regards,

BobK

[Guest guest]

I'm in agreement that some foods can be harmful. Satya

Re: [ ] Food leading cause of death

Satya says: In that we are in agreement....I am glad you can recognize the folly of quoting statistics out of context and that pharmaceuticals help far more than they hurt.regards,BobK