Tracy asked; Why are herbs better than drugs?

Joe's reply; The answer is chemistry and profits.

First: Drug companies spend thousands of dollars to search all over the world for a miracle herb or natural compound as portrayed in the 1992 movie"Medicine Man" with Sean Connery in the jungles of South America looking for an herb the local tribe medicine man was rumored to know about. They do preliminary research to scientifically prove the herb has medicinal properties.

Second: If it checks out with sound research they take it to their lab and break it down into its multiple chemical compounds. Then because the only way they can make a profit on it is to get it patented so no one else can market it. The U.S. patent office will not grant a patent on a natural compound considered a food. For example corn or wheat are foods that cannot obtain a patent. However corn is easily hybred and the hybred corn can be patented.

Third: The drug company then remove a few chemical compounds from the natural herb and add a few others so they can patent it just like hybred corn. Or they evaluate the chemistry of the natural compound and create a new chemical compound that will provide a similar action to the original compound. Then they apply for a patent. The patent office has a classification for trade secrets and drug companies may patent the new compound as a trade secret and no one can find out what its compounds are.

Fourth: Now here is the chemistry. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand when you take a natural (God Created) compound and alter its chemistry that you are creating a new compound that is less safe than the original. It simply does not happen. It is impossible to chemically improve mother nature. Therefore the new compound is less safe than the original It will invariably cause greater side effects and problems than the natural compound. Never forget that some natural compounds are harmful and some have powerful medicinal properties and some are just food with little medicinal properties. The fact that altered drugs become less stable and more harmful is proven every day you watch TV and see the ads run by lawyers who want to profit from the harmful side effects of different drugs. Probably the first real publicity of this was with the diet drug fen-phen reported to harm heart valves. Thousands of people died and others are living with limited mobility like a good friend of mine from this drug. There have been hundreds or even thousands of drugs approved by the FDA and then pulled from the market because they harmed and killed people. Next read carefully about the side effects of any pharmaceutical drug. Compare that to the side effects of natural compounds used to treat the same health issue and you will see a frightening lop sided balance against the drug compared to an herb.

Fifth: Once a drug company has altered the natural compound it is time to test it on humans. To do this the FDA requires an extensive testing process. It cost up to 8 million dollars for a single drug to be researched, altered, and tested to secure FDA approvals. The testing accepted by the FDA is double blind testing. This is a process of selecting people with the condition the drug is created to treat, then dividing them into two groups. One group is given the new drug. The other group is given a placebo or similar looking pill often with sugar or a inert compound. Both groups are kept from knowing if they are taking the real drug or the placebo. FDA and others claim this is the only way to secure accurate human testing to prove the new drug is safe and provides medicinal help. This process can best be described with the Pepsi challenge where a person is blindfolded and asked to drink from two cups, one with Pepsi and other with Coke and then select the one that has the Pepsi. see Description on Wickipediai.

Sixth: Double blind testing can be a complete farce. Here is why; Often the selection process eliminates anyone who's health would not react favorably to the new drug. Such tests are very expensive and part of the 8 million dollar cost mentioned above. This means the ones hired to do the testing and those paying for the testing will do all they can to rig the results in the favor of the new drug. It is suppose to be a blind and fair test but seldom is. If you eliminate all those for the test that are believed to have an adverse reaction such as the sickest of the type being tested and select only those who are most likely to have a favorable reaction it is not a true double blind test. I personally was a test subject for Prozac conducted by a medical school and hospital. When I my joints became swollen and arthritic with extreme pain the hospital put in their reports that I had a reaction to a chemical used in my work. The fact that I had used this chemical hundreds of times before and since was ignored. This way they could prevent this negative reaction from being used against the drug. They then kicked me out of the testing program and told me to stop taking the drug. Within days the adverse swelling and pain left and never occurred again. This is part of the fallacy of double blind testing where in this case the Hospital did not want to lose the funding by the drug company to conduct the testing. Now in all fairness a properly run double blind test may be done and obtain reliable results. However in today's environment of theft and graft do you really believe such a test will not be tainted when the tremendous costs then exhortative profits are at stake? This claim of tainted testing is proven by the hundreds of drugs that are being recalled because they kill and maim. See this list of recalls by a legal firm advertising to sue for your damages.

Seventh: Here is the terrible truth about this whole situation. It is that the altered drug is less stable than the original natural compound it was copied from. The FDA, AMA, drug companies tell us that the altered drugs is safe but the natural compound it came form is not safe. They spend thousands of dollars lobbying congress to get the natural compound off the shelf and make it illegal for us to buy. If you do not think that is so consider the diet drug fen-phen pulled because it harmed so many people. Its harm has been carefully obscured by the drug companies while in contrast they loudly attacked Ephedra a natural compound used for weight loss. The difference is that pen-phen is an unstable or altered drug where as ephedra is completely safe if used in its therapeutic dose. The fact that Ephedra is safe in its correct dose and that its problems came from greedy manufacturers obese people who over used it was ignored. Instead of a warning like the FDA gives for food and drugs causing greater harm then Ephedra they banned it from being sold in the U.S. They use any and every misuse of a natural compound to lobby against natural compounds while completely obscuring that drugs are killing thousands more than the natural compound.

Eighth: All the previous items portray a horrible but true aspect of altered drugs. I believe every drug is less stable than a natural compound yet many are prolonging and saving lives. This gives them credibility but what is overlooked is the fact that if doctors were allowed to use the natural compound it often would produce better results with less side effects. I would like to see doctors given the latitude to use natural compounds without being sanctioned by the FDA, AMA and other doctors. Hundreds of medical clinics in the U.S. have been secretly shut down because they used natural compounds. Yes their are some that deserve it like those who use Hydrogen Peroxide internally, but there are many more who have used natural compounds safely. It seems only those who become popular, who are attracting attention by their greater healing that are shut down. Not because they are using natural compounds although that is the excuse but because they are healing people the other doctors can not. It is a jealousy and protect our profits mentality, not what is best for our health. Did you know when doctors licenses are sanctioned it is by a State board made up of other doctors. In other words it is the old adage of the fox in the chicken house. It has occurred many times where a clinic or a doctor is sanctioned with the excuse of using a natural compound not approved by the FDA. The real reason is they are healing people the other doctors cannot heal which is embarrassing them and threatening their profits.

Conclusion: Altered less safe drugs make millions of dollars for drug companies, doctors, hospitals and clinics that they cannot make with natural compounds. They have big bucks and use their money to fight the use of natural compounds even when, and especially if it is proven to be safer and provide superior results.