I was chatting with an M.D. woman friend, and told her my medications and my natural supplements and herbs and my “numbers” — my blood sugar and my blood pressure — when I still was convinced that I had those things.
My blood sugar was 120 mg/dL. My blood pressure with medications was around 140/85.
She surprised me with her reaction. Read more on What The Heck Has Happened To Medicine?…
Anaphylaxis is frightening — it can and does kill people. It is an acute allergic reaction that affects about 0.5 to 2% of the population, at some point in life, and the frequency seems to be rising as we speak. Symptoms include hives and itches and swelling, which about 20% of the time can affect the upper breathing system and close the windpipe.
In theory any substance that is not included as part of the body can cause it. I have heard about it being caused by bee stings, snake bites, foods and drugs and such. I have actually treated people for post-traumatic stress disorder caused by an allergic attack. It is a serious stress to find your windpipe closing up and not know why. The lifesaving immediate emergency treatment is injected epinephrine (adrenaline) and getting the victim to a medical center to follow up with antihistamine and steroids as needed. My own allergies have given me some weird things over the years — lots of positive skin tests. I used to suffer through “desensitization” protocols — allergen injections that made me sick, and prize-winning hay fever attacks. Read more on The EpiPen Mess and How To Work Around It…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, Diagnosis, Disease, Doctors, Education, FDA, Government, Healthcare reform, medicine, News, prescription drugs by on Sep 6th, 2016. Comment. 
Filed under depression, Doctors, End Of Life, Family, Government, military, News, Stress by on Sep 11th, 2016. Comment.
I remember, several years ago, going to a national drug development meeting; the first time I had been at such a meeting, with drug company folks from the highest national levels. I remember how excited I was. Maybe someone could develop an antipsychotic that really could escape all those neuromuscular side effects. Maybe they had new things that were more powerful than antibiotics, which I already knew were not working as well as they ought to. I remember, with characteristic naivete, that it felt impossible to find anyone with whom I could discuss the pharmacology that so impassioned me, for the “big” drug guys seemed to be more interested in the business and politics of the thing. Read more on Could Fish Oil Prevent Schizophrenia?…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, FDA, Government, medicine, News, politics by on Sep 26th, 2016. Comment.