Dr. Mercola June 07 2003 1,459 views
When atypicals were first released 14 years ago, they were promoted as being much safer than older drugs used to treat schizophrenia. However, now some scientists are questioning the drugs’ effectiveness and say they can lead to serious side effects such as diabetes, which may lead to death.
The controversy grows even more serious as the drugs are also being prescribed to people with manic depression, Alzheimer's disease, personality disorders and non-psychotic depression, and for cases of severe aggression in children.
In 2002, prescriptions for the two leading drugs alone, Zyprexa and Risperdal, reached more than 15 million, and national sales of anti-psychotics reached $6.4 billion. This made them the fourth-highest-selling class of drugs after cholesterol-lowering drugs, ulcer drugs and antidepressants.
While the newer anti-psychotics do appear to carry a lower risk of tardive dyskinesia, a disorder that causes repetitive movements that was associated with the older drugs, patients may now be faced with the risk of diabetes (type 2 and type 1), hyperglycemia, and excessive weight gain, which have all been associated with the newer atypicals.
The article includes a detailed look at the drugs’ potential side effects as well as their growth since 1990.
To read the entire article, please visit the New York Times site below. You will need to register (it’s free) with the New York Times site to view the article.
New York Times May 20, 2003
This makes perfect sense to me. Drugs are in no way, shape or form the answer for mental illness. They may control symptoms, but at quite a significant price. Why exchange one set of horrible side effects for diabetes or other problems?
It makes no sense to me, unless you are the drug company. Then it makes perfects "cents."
Fortunately, we do have some natural options. New evidence has come out supporting the use of omega-3 oil for mental illness. Dr. Stoll, the director of the psychopharmacology research lab at Boston's McLean Hospital and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, discusses the use of omega-3 for mental illness extensively in his book The Omega-3 Connection.
An excellent source of omega-3 that includes the two fatty acids DHA and EPA, which are essential to fighting and preventing both physical and mental disease, is fish oil and cod liver oil. With fish oil, I have found through clinical experience that the brand definitely matters. While I am sure there are a few other high-quality brands available in the world, the only one I can currently recommend with total confidence is Carlson's fish oil and cod liver oil.
Carlson's quality is exceptional, and their purity is documented by independent organizations. I now offer Carlson's fish oil and cod liver oil in my "Recommended Products" section, or you may be able to find Carlson's in your local health food store.
Now is the time of year when almost everyone should be switching from cod liver oil to fish oil, because the vitamin D in cod liver oil is unnecessary in the summer months when sun exposure is higher. I do not recommend consuming cod liver oil in the warm weather months or climates, as this can result in an excess of vitamin D in your system.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your vitamin D levels, I strongly encourage you to have your vitamin D level tested, as high levels of vitamin D are very difficult to reverse and can cause osteoporosis and hardening of your arteries.
EFT can also be very helpful in the treatment of many psychotic disorders. Although my free 25-page EFT report is helpful to learn EFT, treatment of more severe illness needs to be done by a mental health professional who has extensive training in this area. Gary Craig has compiled a list of EFT Practitioner Referrals to help you find trained EFT professionals in your area.
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