Here is an excerpt from the article:
Most psychiatric drugs have not been adequately tested in children, and some drug combinations occasionally prescribed for children — particularly stimulants and antidepressants — have not been fully tested even in adults. We don't know enough about either the risks or the benefits of these medications to say whether they are being overused or underused.
Children's bodies do not absorb and eliminate drugs in the same way adult bodies do, and their brains may be affected differently as well. A child's development could be detoured by a misapplication of drugs. But depression and other conditions for which the drugs are prescribed may also have long-lasting deleterious effects on psychological and social development and even on brain structure and function. Both the risks of medicating and the risks of not medicating are likely to be greatest in the earliest years of life.
Click here to read the full article.
At Arche Wellness, we know that adolescents who abuse drugs experience a lack of congitive developement throughout the period of substance use. Reducing toxic burden and restoring the body'snatural levels of biochemicals such as neurotransmitters, enzymes and hormones can provide a physical condition that is conducive to regenerating cognitive growth and development. But administering psychotropic drugs too early in the recovery process can further stunt this cognitive repair, facilitating further impairment.
FDA FACILITATES BIG PHARMA'S "WITCH HUNT" OF ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT PROVIDERS
January 10, 2011
Big Pharma has been facilitating "witch hunts" of alternative treatment providers for years. Typically these have come in the form of political contributions to elected officials who harass and investigate alternative providers without cause until the provider's funds are depleted and they are forced out of business. But now it looks as though the FDA may effectively put alternative medicine providers and suppliers out of business as they have banned IV vitamin C as well as other essential IV micronutrients as of Dec 28, 2010. These products have been safely used for decades and studies have shown there has never been a single death recorded as a result of micronutrient infusions. Despite these infusions consisting of naturally occurring nutrients that are found in foods we consume every day, the FDA has apparently received enough pressure from the pharmaceutical industry to influence their decision to ban these highly effective, natural and unpatentable treatments. Furthermore, it has been repeatedly proven that these treatments have virtually no side effects, no risk of overdose, no addictive properties, no mind-altering effects and no toxins, chemicals or non-nutritive additives to justify the scale and scope of this interference.
Vitamin infusions have become a safe and healthy staple in the treatments of numerous diseases and health problems. They play an important role in the effective treatment of cancer, addiction, Hepatitis, Aids, Mononucleosis and many other health issues that affect a person's ability to receive adequate nutrition through the gastrointestinal tract. This ban requires IV vitamin C to go through the same lengthy, expensive clinical trial process as a medication, a toxin which does not occur in nature and is created completely by a pharmaceutical company. Yet vitamin C, a nutrient that is found in numerous healthy foods, demonstrates extraordinary healing and antioxidant properties and is essential for healthy living is being evaluated for safety and effectiveness.
Please examine the importance of this vital nutrient as well as the "Myer's Cocktail," a micronutrient IV formula which has been used in alternative medicine for over 50 years with no reports of complications, side effects or deaths. The FDA is now targeting all of the ingredients of the cocktail, but is oddly not targeting other injectable micronutrients. This is evidence that the FDA has agreed to facilitate the "witch hunt" on alternative providers by stopping access to the building blocks of the alternative medicine community's most effective and widely used treatment tool, while allowing similar substances deemed non-threatening to Big Pharma to go unchecked.
Stop the FDA: Contact the FDA and tell them to stop the ban on IV micronutrients today.
Related Links:
Contact your congresspersons and tell them to stop the FDA.
Contact your Senator and tell them to stop the FDA.
Newer antipsychotics overused, U.S. study suggests
January 7, 2011
A new study published in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety reports that use of atypical antipsychotic drugs has skyrocketed despite little evidence that these highly expensive medication are any more effective than the cheaper alternatives. The study reports that antipsychotic drug use has tripled since 1995. While these drugs are often only FDA approved for schizophrenia, they are prescribed to treat a number of less severe disorders without any evidence that they are effective or safe. The worst part of this overuse is the severe side effects that these drugs can cause which include weight gain, diabetes and heart disease.
At Arche Wellness we have seen a sharp rise in overmedication and misuse of prescribed medications including psychotropics. Side effects that we have seen and treat include liver process disruption, insomnia, fatigue, and sever GI distress such as malabsorption and leaky gut. These issues can lead to further mental instability and increase the severity of mental health symptoms. Arche Wellness encourages all physicians to regard their patients' bodies as complex adaptive systems and work to address health issues as systemic problems that must be resolved as opposed to the "throwing darts at a wall" strategy of prescribing random medications to treat symptoms without addressing the underlying cause.
Reuters Story: Newer antipsychotics overused, U.S. study suggests
Related Stories:
The epidemic of overmedication: Use of multiple drugs, especially in older adults, can exacerbate ailments
Musings of a Distractible Mind: Thoughts of a moderately strange (yet not harmful) primary care physician.
Overmedication: Are Americans Taking Too Many Drugs? Those now popping multiple pills a day may face consequences later, experts say
Pittsburgh Business Times Article - October 11, 2010
Lawmakers consider proposals to crack down on methadone
Pittsburgh Business Times Article - September 6, 2010
Addiction to drugs such as Valium on the rise, specialists say
Pittsburgh Business Times Article - August 5, 2010
Methadone becomes big business as drug addiction treatment evolves
Pittsburgh Business Times Article - October 12, 2009
What's the best business lesson you've ever learned?
Industrial Engineer Magazine Article - February 2009
Root Causes: A Second Look at Arche Wellness
WPXI Channel 11 Report - February 25, 2009
Pittsburgh Ranks Among Top Cities With Chronic Abuse Problems
Pittsburgh Business Times Article - December 26, 2008
Providence Care Home spruces up rooms to attract patients
Pittsburgh Business Times Article - October 5, 2007
Rehab Centers Buck Old Trend
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Thursday, November 20, 2003
Understanding Needed in Treating Addicts
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Sunday, November 16, 2003
Anti-drug seminar hopes to help
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Sunday, December 7, 2003
Heroin top drug threat in region
Click Here