Well words have been slow in coming for me lately; the laptop was crashing and went into the shop for a time, but mostly I’ve been focused on other things…
Did anyone catch the article on beta blockers in the N.Z. Herald a few days ago? Heart patients will know what I’m talking about. They (the drugs) are prescribed for patients after surgery to prevent further Heart events and they are given to patients during other surgery. They have now found that at least 800,000 deaths may have been the result worldwide over the past decade! Although the American College of Cardiology approved the use of the controversial drugs back in 1996 because it was proved that they do reduce Heart Attacks; this was ‘recommended to be used in all non cardiac surgery’! ‘The drugs did lower the incidence of heart attacks by more than a quarter (from 5.7 percent to 4.2 per cent) but according to a randomised trial involving 8,350 patients who had surgery in 190 hospitals around the World, found that ‘the benefit was outweighed by the “side effects” of INCREASED STROKE AND DEATH! The researchers said! Hell!!!…when I had my heart attack in September 2004 I was told during surgery that the Event was caused by Weed arteries in the Heart that were probably there because I had Smoked cigarettes for half my life (by then I had stopped 30 years previous, thank God) I have since learned that I have Peripheral Vascular Disease meaning there’s a lot of damage in arteries outside my Heart… in legs etc.
The EECP treatment at the Cardio Clinic…Primary Heartcare 524 Parnell Road, Auckland. has gone a long way to reversing that now happily. But let me tell you that after the 3 stents were put in my Heart (‘cosmetic heart surgery’….many doubters call that process).I returned home and instead of feeling wonderful ‘like a repaired car out of the workshop’ an analogy My brother Barry uses……I was a terrible colour, had zero energy and visitors… family and friends left in tears, treated Linda My wife, with the deference and respect usually reserved for Widows! ”make sure he has his affairs in order” one close and caring friend told her….I had just been back from the repair shop!
The next time I saw the Cardiologist at North Shore Hospital…the first thing he asked me was ‘are you still taking the drugs…beta blockers in the morning, Lipex (statins) at night!. I asked him why we have to take the beta blockers.. and he replied that it’s standard treatment for heart patients. ”What do they do?” I enquired…’they lower your blood pressure’.. ”But I don’t have High blood pressure…my ‘Heart attack’…occurred because of bad habits…30 years of smoking cigarettes…I don’t wish to take the beta blockers…they make me cadaverous in every way?” Anyway to cut a long story short…he agreed to noting the file accordingly if I signed a waiver absolving the Hospital and the good Doctor from any responsibility? I did so with pleasure, and went home. The results were amazing, I got my energy back and even though my brain was still a bit thick…I am now a happy chappy. You see although I am in the Rock’n Roll business I have never done drugs…I knew I was addicted to cigarettes, cigars et al ..and couldn’t give them up for years…they were my drug if you like. One benefit was that they kept me off pot, marijuana, LSD and all other recreational nasties…what would my health be like if I had done those too? Further, I have never liked taking prescribed Drugs (unlike Elvis!)…didn’t like taking control of my body out of my hands. I only started smoking as a boy to (like James Dean) get girls and cars…to be cool! I tell that to every young person I meet today with a cigarette in hand or mouth.
They must think ‘silly old fart’, but I implore them that it’s common knowledge now what smoking does to you… IT KILLS YOU…CANCER OR HEART take your pick?
Whereas when I was young no-one knew that…!The frightening thing about the Medical profession to day is that they are cajoled into solving problems with drugs,
by the big Pharmaceutical companies. The headline in the Herald says it all ‘Heart drugs cost more lives than they saved’ the article goes on quoting a Dr. Philip Devereaux, cardiologist and epidemiologist at McMaster Uni in Hamilton Canada who led the study published in the LANCET. He said ‘Even if only 10 per cent of doctors followed the guidelines, and that is a conservative estimate, 100 million patients would have been give beta blockers during surgery in the past decade. On the basis of our findings, that means 800,000 would have died prematurely and 500,000 would have suffered stroke. If our findings are true, that is death on the scale of a World War.” YIKES!!! Apparently the body can go into shock after surgery in which the blood pressure fails, and that effect may be amplified by the beta blocker Dr. Devereaux said.
From my experience I believe it! They lowered my already normal to low blood pressure so much that I looked like I was dying! Imagine if I had had major surgery like that! There’s a wonderful book available called “LEFT FOR DEAD” by an open heart surgery patient in the US. Exposing giant Pharmaceutical companies who make billions of $$ out of drugs that kill. I’ve loaned it to a friend so more about that soon.
Take care out there and question what medical people tell you to put into your body!
They are doing their best but they are like you and I ….. only HUMAN.
Deansie - 16 years ago
My husband has stentsand is on medication Lipitor and Duride Took quite some time to get doses sorted everyone’s different speak up don’t follow like sheep Most Drs are open to discussion they certainly are only human and if you don’t tell them how drugs are affecting you how do they know