The Myth of "Side Effects"
“In 1995, about 170,000 pharmacists in just under 50,000 retail drug stores dispensed
roughly two billion outpatient prescriptions to more than 260 million Americans. These prescriptions covered 40 billion pills... at a cost to the public of more than $60 billion.”*
This represented about 10% of total U.S. health care costs in 1995 (or, roughly, $600 billion). The projections just released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services calculate the nation’s health care tab will reach $3.6 trillion by 2014, or nearly 1/5th of the entire U.S. economy.
As I was growing up, television ads about medicine were limited to cough syrup and aspirin. Today, the airwaves are dominated by commercials for prescription medications, most with potentially serious side effects.
Side Effects/Main Effects
Conventional medical theory would have us believe that there are “main effects” and “side effects” of medications. In truth, there are no such things as side effects. All effects of a drug should be considered its main effects – exerting major influences on the body and impacting our health. I pulled the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) from the shelf, closed my eyes and randomly picked one drug listed among the thousands listed in that book. The documented side effects of this one drug included pulmonary embolism, liver dysfunction, partial or complete loss of vision, migraines, depression, edema, rash, jaundice, nausea, thrombophlebitis, changes in appetite, nervousness, fatigue, backache (most likely kidneys), loss of scalp hair, itching, dizziness and a warning not to use the drug during pregnancy. In addition, there are those symptoms that arise when this one medication interacts with others. These are all commonly described as “side effects.”
The side effects are almost always treated with drugs, each of which exerts side effects of its own. In short order, a host of symptoms appear as drugs interact. Physical problems multiply and spiral out of control. Eventually people lose the ability to clearly recognize the causes behind their original symptoms, relegating themselves to passive participants in their own recovery. And it rarely is about “recovery” at that point, but more like disease management. They are then referred to specialists who rarely address the underlying causes behind the symptoms, and who merely possess the technical skills to juggle the medications and interactions.
People often begin practicing the macrobiotic diet and lifestyle after having been diagnosed with one specific, often serious, illness. But rarely are they experiencing just that one physical difficulty. They might also be suffering with such symptoms as low back pain, skin rashes, fitful sleep, poor appetite, inflammation, depression.... Most people then adapt themselves to living with these symptoms, believing them to be either simply part of the aging process or of minor consequence compared to their more serious diagnosis. The beauty of macrobiotics is that, as we change our diet and lifestyle, many symptoms begin to diminish across the board, simultaneously. The whole body responds favorably: rashes diminish, sleep deepens, appetite returns, back pain subsides, energy levels increase. Such are the “side effects” of macrobiotic lifestyle practices.
We have evolved for over 100,000 generations under conditions of natural light, pure water, and simple, unadulterated food. Environmental influences that range over such a vast span of time have fashioned the human body like the hands of a sculptor, and we can safely assume that the very essence of who we are has been defined by that relationship. Any deviation at all from this natural order will invite a measure of stress and, eventually, disease.
Most of us have been raised in a culture that encourages the very worst eating and lifestyle habits. From the earliest years onward, our immune systems are compromised through immunizations and the accumulation of antibiotics and hormones that we have taken in through the consumption of chicken, beef and dairy products; in general, our symptoms are suppressed rather than addressed; we eat poor-quality food; we eat too much food; we consume chlorinated water, air and ground pollutants, herbicides, fungicides, pesticides and numerous carcinogens that are spun off as “side effects” of our manufacturing processes... the list is familiar and uncommonly long. From the moment of conception onward, the body does its best to walk through life under these gale-force winds of adversity. And as the body begins to falter, as it eventually must, it then becomes subject to still further chemical and medical insults: from routine x-rays and antibiotics, progressing to invasive surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, organ removal and the artificial replacements for living tissue.
There are situations that require conventional treatment: acute, late-stage infections raging through a body; drug interventions to check the spread of fatal epidemic diseases; treating severe mal- and undernourishment; low-dose radiation in order to pull people back from the edge, buying them time for longer-term and lasting treatment and cure. There is also the aspect of technology that performs miracles re-attaching limbs and reestablishing sight and sound, and the pace of technological changes quickens and delights. But in an idealistic world (and people practicing macrobiotics are nothing if not idealistic – it comes with the change in lifestyle and is part of the natural human condition), the need for much of the present-day conventional medicine should diminish, as the worst is culled from the best. Medical advances in laser technology, minimally invasive surgery, in-vitro toxicology (testing the toxicity of substances in Petri dishes as opposed to experimenting on animals), high-tech systems that diagnose health by measuring subtle energies of the body (from meridians to auras) are ushering in an era of humane and effective diagnosis and treatment. Technology that works in the direction of minimizing and eliminating current, more damaging conventional practices holds a place within the macrobiotic point of view. It supplies a means toward a commonly shared end.
Technical change is accelerating and still far outpaces our understanding of its effects on the relatively more complex world of living things. As we are discovering the “side effects” of our industrial and technological revolutions – which include air, ground and water pollutants and the manufacturing and release of carcinogens, and the overall degradation of life on this planet – we adjust our direction in order to create a more technically sophisticated and healthy world. This is part of the evolutionary thrust that propels us forward.
Health as a Goal?
People today take pride in casting off the mantle of “tradition” and maintaining a state-of-the-art speed in most everything we do. People mistakenly equate the word “traditional” with the notion of “old” and “outdated.” Although many of the techniques and knowledge behind macrobiotics and other holistic disciplines were first recorded in texts dating back thousands of years, they have undergone generations of change and refinement ever since. Many of the techniques upon which macrobiotics is based are, indeed, traditional, but they are not “old”: they are mature, and have passed the test of time.
When I explain to people that one of the unique and refreshing aspects of the macrobiotic approach to health is that what we eat, and how we choose to conduct our lives, directly influences the constitutional strength of our children and their fetal health, even cynics are at a loss for words. They almost seem startled by the thought because so little attention is paid toward that aspect of our lives – or, I should say, toward other people’s lives. The macrobiotic approach to health moves beyond the pale of self-serving diet plans and cosmetic change. Its currents run deeper than fad or fashion, and it strikes a response on physical, emotional, social, and spiritual levels.
Many of us, by necessity, have set for ourselves the goal of regaining our health. But a healthy body should not be an end in itself. Health is our birthright, and we must eventually use our health to pursue our goals. In a word: macrobiotics.
roughly two billion outpatient prescriptions to more than 260 million Americans. These prescriptions covered 40 billion pills... at a cost to the public of more than $60 billion.”*
This represented about 10% of total U.S. health care costs in 1995 (or, roughly, $600 billion). The projections just released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services calculate the nation’s health care tab will reach $3.6 trillion by 2014, or nearly 1/5th of the entire U.S. economy.
As I was growing up, television ads about medicine were limited to cough syrup and aspirin. Today, the airwaves are dominated by commercials for prescription medications, most with potentially serious side effects.
Side Effects/Main Effects
Conventional medical theory would have us believe that there are “main effects” and “side effects” of medications. In truth, there are no such things as side effects. All effects of a drug should be considered its main effects – exerting major influences on the body and impacting our health. I pulled the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) from the shelf, closed my eyes and randomly picked one drug listed among the thousands listed in that book. The documented side effects of this one drug included pulmonary embolism, liver dysfunction, partial or complete loss of vision, migraines, depression, edema, rash, jaundice, nausea, thrombophlebitis, changes in appetite, nervousness, fatigue, backache (most likely kidneys), loss of scalp hair, itching, dizziness and a warning not to use the drug during pregnancy. In addition, there are those symptoms that arise when this one medication interacts with others. These are all commonly described as “side effects.”
The side effects are almost always treated with drugs, each of which exerts side effects of its own. In short order, a host of symptoms appear as drugs interact. Physical problems multiply and spiral out of control. Eventually people lose the ability to clearly recognize the causes behind their original symptoms, relegating themselves to passive participants in their own recovery. And it rarely is about “recovery” at that point, but more like disease management. They are then referred to specialists who rarely address the underlying causes behind the symptoms, and who merely possess the technical skills to juggle the medications and interactions.
People often begin practicing the macrobiotic diet and lifestyle after having been diagnosed with one specific, often serious, illness. But rarely are they experiencing just that one physical difficulty. They might also be suffering with such symptoms as low back pain, skin rashes, fitful sleep, poor appetite, inflammation, depression.... Most people then adapt themselves to living with these symptoms, believing them to be either simply part of the aging process or of minor consequence compared to their more serious diagnosis. The beauty of macrobiotics is that, as we change our diet and lifestyle, many symptoms begin to diminish across the board, simultaneously. The whole body responds favorably: rashes diminish, sleep deepens, appetite returns, back pain subsides, energy levels increase. Such are the “side effects” of macrobiotic lifestyle practices.
We have evolved for over 100,000 generations under conditions of natural light, pure water, and simple, unadulterated food. Environmental influences that range over such a vast span of time have fashioned the human body like the hands of a sculptor, and we can safely assume that the very essence of who we are has been defined by that relationship. Any deviation at all from this natural order will invite a measure of stress and, eventually, disease.
Most of us have been raised in a culture that encourages the very worst eating and lifestyle habits. From the earliest years onward, our immune systems are compromised through immunizations and the accumulation of antibiotics and hormones that we have taken in through the consumption of chicken, beef and dairy products; in general, our symptoms are suppressed rather than addressed; we eat poor-quality food; we eat too much food; we consume chlorinated water, air and ground pollutants, herbicides, fungicides, pesticides and numerous carcinogens that are spun off as “side effects” of our manufacturing processes... the list is familiar and uncommonly long. From the moment of conception onward, the body does its best to walk through life under these gale-force winds of adversity. And as the body begins to falter, as it eventually must, it then becomes subject to still further chemical and medical insults: from routine x-rays and antibiotics, progressing to invasive surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, organ removal and the artificial replacements for living tissue.
There are situations that require conventional treatment: acute, late-stage infections raging through a body; drug interventions to check the spread of fatal epidemic diseases; treating severe mal- and undernourishment; low-dose radiation in order to pull people back from the edge, buying them time for longer-term and lasting treatment and cure. There is also the aspect of technology that performs miracles re-attaching limbs and reestablishing sight and sound, and the pace of technological changes quickens and delights. But in an idealistic world (and people practicing macrobiotics are nothing if not idealistic – it comes with the change in lifestyle and is part of the natural human condition), the need for much of the present-day conventional medicine should diminish, as the worst is culled from the best. Medical advances in laser technology, minimally invasive surgery, in-vitro toxicology (testing the toxicity of substances in Petri dishes as opposed to experimenting on animals), high-tech systems that diagnose health by measuring subtle energies of the body (from meridians to auras) are ushering in an era of humane and effective diagnosis and treatment. Technology that works in the direction of minimizing and eliminating current, more damaging conventional practices holds a place within the macrobiotic point of view. It supplies a means toward a commonly shared end.
Technical change is accelerating and still far outpaces our understanding of its effects on the relatively more complex world of living things. As we are discovering the “side effects” of our industrial and technological revolutions – which include air, ground and water pollutants and the manufacturing and release of carcinogens, and the overall degradation of life on this planet – we adjust our direction in order to create a more technically sophisticated and healthy world. This is part of the evolutionary thrust that propels us forward.
Health as a Goal?
People today take pride in casting off the mantle of “tradition” and maintaining a state-of-the-art speed in most everything we do. People mistakenly equate the word “traditional” with the notion of “old” and “outdated.” Although many of the techniques and knowledge behind macrobiotics and other holistic disciplines were first recorded in texts dating back thousands of years, they have undergone generations of change and refinement ever since. Many of the techniques upon which macrobiotics is based are, indeed, traditional, but they are not “old”: they are mature, and have passed the test of time.
When I explain to people that one of the unique and refreshing aspects of the macrobiotic approach to health is that what we eat, and how we choose to conduct our lives, directly influences the constitutional strength of our children and their fetal health, even cynics are at a loss for words. They almost seem startled by the thought because so little attention is paid toward that aspect of our lives – or, I should say, toward other people’s lives. The macrobiotic approach to health moves beyond the pale of self-serving diet plans and cosmetic change. Its currents run deeper than fad or fashion, and it strikes a response on physical, emotional, social, and spiritual levels.
Many of us, by necessity, have set for ourselves the goal of regaining our health. But a healthy body should not be an end in itself. Health is our birthright, and we must eventually use our health to pursue our goals. In a word: macrobiotics.
posted by Jeffrey Reel at
11:27 AM
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