In a world of profits before health, women
are being lied to and receiving second-rate care. In the year
2000 alone, more women went to alternative health care
practitioners than to conventional physicians, even though
insurance doesn’t pay for the majority of alternatives.
After hearing the shocking news about the dangers of hormone
replacement therapy (HRT) and estrogen replacement therapy (ERT),
women are demanding answers. They want to know why they were
told hormone replacement therapy would prevent heart attacks
and stroke, only to find out now that it increases the risk of
heart disease, stroke, invasive breast cancer, and ovarian
cancer. They also want to know how these deadly drugs could
have been approved without adequate testing. Rightfully so.
There is equal concern about the safety and effectiveness of
mammograms. Samuel S. Epstein MD, chairman of the Cancer
Prevention Coalition, warned women in 2002 that; “Mammography
is dangerous, besides ineffective.”
A Canadian Breast Screening Study, published in the Annuals
of Internal Medicine in 2002, showed that although more
breast cancers were detected in the mammography group, there
was no difference in the end in how many women died.
An announcement by the Physicians Data Query Screening found
that all seven of the major mammography studies conducted to
date had serious flaws and that mammograms may not be
beneficial. The benefit, in terms of lowering cancer rates, is
minuscule, while the downside, though rarely addressed, is
enormous.
We’ve also had it pounded into our heads that high cholesterol
and high blood pressure are the evil villains that cause heart
attacks.
The truth is, ten thousand people die from heart disease every
year from known causes such as high homocysteine levels and
insulin-resistance that they were never checked for.
The fact is, half of Americans who suffer heart attack have
normal cholesterol levels and don’t have high blood pressure.
Clever advertising for cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins) is
at the root of this lie.
Twelve million Americans are taking these dangerous drugs that
can block the production of CoQ10. CoQ10 deficiencies can lead
to liver damage, which can cause myopathy (muscle weakness and
soreness) and progress into rhabdomyolysis (significant
deterioration of muscle tissue) that can result in the buildup
of toxins leading to kidney failure, and death. All the while
Big Brother Pharma is smiling as they enjoy a whopping $10
billion a year.
What about osteoporosis? It’s made it into the top ten list of
diseases spawning a multi-billion-dollar industry. By using
dual x-ray absorptimetry (DEXA), low bone density, a simple
risk factor for osteoporosis, has been turned into a disease.
You might be surprised to learn that there are no standards
for this new technology. Yes, no standards. You can be
considered normal on one machine and have severe osteoporosis
on another. Even worse, this equipment measures and compares a
woman’s bone density against that of healthy young women twenty to thirty-five years old!
In truth fragility fractures are rare in healthy
women. Most hip fractures occur only in the very elderly and
are linked to many complicating factors.
It’s normal to lose bone as we age. Low bone density is not
necessarily a sign of brittle bones. Bone density tests
measure just that—density. They do not measure bone strength
or quality, and these are the factors that determine whether
or not a bone is apt to fracture. If bone is good, you can
actually lose 25 percent or more of bone-mass and still resist
fractures.
Despite these truths, clever marketing is causing healthy
women to treat a disease they probably don’t have with
dangerous drugs like Fosomax, which have minimal bone-sparing
or anti-fracture evidence to justify their use. In some cases
the evidence is non-existent.
Yet, these drugs that are hard on the kidneys, cause
deficiencies of calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D (all
essential to building strong bones), cause severe permanent
damage to the esophagus and stomach, can cause diarrhea,
flatulence, rash, headache, and muscular pain, are being
prescribed to millions of women.
So, why are women being lied to? And, why is the FDA approving
dangerous drugs? Money and politics is the answer. In my book,
Finally the Truth About Women’s Health Care, you’ll
learn that the FDA’s involvement with pharmaceutical companies
has been called the most notorious revolving door in
Washington, with one conflict of interest after another.
For example, a study reported in USA Today found that
more than half of the experts hired advised the government on
the safety and effectiveness of medicine had a direct
financial interest in the drug or topic they were asked to
evaluate. These conflicts of interest included helping a
pharmaceutical company develop a medicine, then turning around
and serving on an FDA advisory committee that judges the drug.
It’s like having the coyotes watch over the hen house.
Another concern is this: pharmaceutical companies only have to
submit two studies showing satisfactory results to get their
drugs approved, even though other studies might show the drug
causes adverse reactions in an unacceptable number of cases.
And, the so-called “academic scientists,” who are the authors
of these studies, are often just a “window dressing.”
They or their universities are hired and paid by the drug
manufacturer to lend credibility to the papers (studies) that
are really the work of the drug companies.
An article in the New York Times (February 6, 2002)
discusses this very convenient setup: “A survey of medical
experts who write guidelines for treating conditions like
heart disease, depression, and diabetes found that nearly 9
out of 10 have financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry,
and the ties are never disclosed.”
This might explain why hundreds of thousands of people are
dying each year and millions are injured from FDA-approved
drugs.
This is just a brief example of the greed and deception that
are rampant in our medical system. It extends far beyond what
I can cover in this article.
To learn more about how you’re being lied to, who the National
Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society really are, and
how to take control of your health, I invite you to read,
Finally… The Truth About Women’s Health Care - How and Why
Women Are Lied to by the Medical Establishment.
As Dr. Julian Whitaker MD, author of Health & Healing
and director of the Whitaker Wellness Institute in Newport
Beach, CA says, “Kathy Smiley has written a very important
book. She writes not only about natural therapies that are
available for various health conditions, but also about the
efforts of conventional medicine to prevent their use.”
“Her book is well referenced. Her information is solid. Her
recommendations are clear, concise and extremely useful. She
is to be congratulated and you as a reader will be enriched.”
Kathy Smiley has been helping women heal, naturally, from a
wide variety of symptoms since 1990. She has appeared on
national and public television and has written hundreds of
articles on alternative health. Women love Kathy’s passionate
teaching style and her direct approach to sharing truthful;
information in clear, concise language.
Kathy Smiley is an NHF member and healthfreedom activist.
Her book may be ordered from the NHF and, thanks to Kathy,
profits will go to help further the cause. To order by phone,
please call NHF 1-626-357-2181. To order online www.thenhf.com
(Click "Booklist").
