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XTEND-YOUR-LIFE
THE 3RD BIGGEST CAUSE OF DEATH
It will surprise you!
Did you know that if you become ill and you put yourself in the hands of
'mainstream' medical care and need to be admitted to hospital that the
chances of you dying from an unrelated problem are high?
In fact, in the USA, deaths from 'iatrogenic' cause rank # 3 after Heart
Diseases and Cancer!
Let me explain what 'iatrogenic' means. This is a term used when a
patient dies as a direct result of treatments by a physician, whether it
is from misdiagnosis of the ailment or from adverse drug reactions used
to treat the illness. (drug reactions are the most common cause).
Today's newsletter will provide you with some facts which you should be
aware of. I am not presenting these facts in order to have a 'shot' at
physicians or indeed for that matter, hospitals.
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS OUT OF CONTROL!
The facts you are about to read are purely symptoms of a system that is
largely out of control. Out of control, thanks largely to the
overbearing influence that the pharmaceutical industry has on mainstream
medicine. Mainstream medicine has for some decades now placed more
emphasis on medical intervention as opposed to primary care, prevention,
and helping the body heal itself by natural methods.
The negative results of these policies which can never work are becoming
more apparent each year. To determine how serious the problem is you
need to consider some statistics. Ironically the most reliable
statistics have been published in none other that the JOURNAL of the
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA) Vol 284, No 4, July 26th 2000.
The researcher who wrote the article is Dr Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH,
of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
Now let's review what Dr Starfield has unearthed!
THE FACTS, There Are...
2,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery.
7000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals.
20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals.
80,000 deaths/year from nosocomial infections in hospitals.
106,000 deaths/year from non-error, adverse effects of medications.
These total up to 225,000 deaths per year in the US from iatrogenic
causes which ranks these deaths as the # 3 killer. Well above motor
vehicle accidents and violent crime.
One of the most sobering components of these statistics, although I
don't find it surprising is that 106,000 of these deaths result from
CORRECTLY prescribed medications. In other words the physicians were not
to blame. They just administered the drugs as per the manufacturer's
recommendations.
MORE DEATHS FROM LEGAL DRUGS THAN FROM ILLICIT ONES
Fascinating isn't it... when you consider that deaths from legal drugs
far exceed deaths from illicit drugs and yet these deaths go virtually
unnoticed and nobody makes a fuss!
Dr Starfield also warns that these figures only tell one part of the
overall story.
They only relate to DEATHS from HOSPITALIZED patients.
They do NOT include non fatal adverse effects such as disability or
discomfort.
Even if you make it through the hospitalization process you are not 'out
of the woods'. Consider these further facts. 4% - 18% of patients
experience further negative effects in outpatient settings resulting in
the following:
116 million extra physician visits.
77 million extra prescriptions.
17 million emergency department visits.
8 million hospitalizations.
3 million long-term admissions.
199,000 additional deaths.
$77 billion in extra costs.
IS THIS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG?
With human nature being as it is you can rest assured that the above
'official' figures are just the 'tip of the iceberg'. I have no doubt
that for each 'official' iatrogenic death that there are others which
are recorded as 'legitimate' deaths.
As an example... when a patient dies of a heart attack in hospital
whilst being treated for something else its easy enough to dismiss it as
'bad luck' and write it off to the fact that the patient had a bad heart
and that they just happened to be in hospital at the time when the heart
attack occurred.
Is the hospital or physician going to tell the patient's family that
perhaps some of the treatments the patient was having could have
precipitated the heart 'event'? In these days of litigation I don't
think so... if they can avoid it.
I have no doubt that hospitals are the equal of politicians when it
comes to 'cover ups'.
OK, I've said my bit about this problem and I am sure that you have the
message, so what's the point of knowing these sad facts?
Avoid falling into the hands of hospitals and the 'health' system,
because it can make you sick...OR EVEN KILL YOU! This means that you
must be constantly aware of the health demands on your body such as the
need to give it correct food, adequate exercise and rest, and of course
adequate intakes of essential nutrients.
Liken it to your car... give it poor fuel and neglect the maintenance
and it will either run badly or stop altogether.
IT'S NOT NATURAL TO BE ILL
Illness is UNNATURAL and can generally be avoided. The cause of almost
all illness is people doing unnatural things to their body, whether it
is due to the environment they live in, the food and liquids that they
ingest, or living the life of a 'couch potato'. Each person controls
their own health OR illness, not their physician or their 'Health Care'
provider.
I am sure that you are aware that the average diet is very much lacking
in essential nutrients due to the high level of food processing,
exposure to toxins such as pesticides etc, etc.
The lack of these essential nutrients has been shown to 'trigger' off
many ailments which can start a cascade effect and lead to serious
problems in the future. The lack of these nutrients can be largely
overcome in most people by dietary supplementation. The problem is
getting ALL the nutrients into your body in the correct proportion.
Until our next issue,
In good health,
Warren Matthews
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