Prescription Drugs

The Dangers of Acetaminophen (Tylenol): Is it Time for the FDA to Remove it from the Market?

Introduction Most people consider acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol) as being an extremely safe pain reliever for both children and adults. The reality is that it can be extremely dangerous and causes significant side effects. Each year acetaminophen causes over 100,000...

Does Tylenol Help Or Hurt You?

When most people think of Tylenol (acetaminophen), they consider it a gentle pain reliever — safe enough for their children to take. Here’s the reality: Every year acetaminophen is the reason for over 100,000 calls to poison control centers, 50,000 emergency room...

Blood Pressure Drugs Increase Risk for Breast Cancer

Introduction: More than 60 million Americans have high blood pressure (high BP) including more than half (54.3%) of all Americans age 65 to 74 years old and almost three quarters (71.8%) of all American blacks in the same age group. High BP is a major risk factor for...

A Baby Aspirin a Day is a BAD Prescription for Most

Introduction One of the most popular recommendations for preventing a heart attack or stroke in healthy people is the recommendation of a baby aspirin or low dose aspirin. Although extremely popular, this advice has NO scientific support. According to two detailed...

Unbelievable! FDA Approves New Sleep Drug Despite Lots of Questions Unanswered

Introduction: The FDA recently announced the approval of a new type of sleeping pill from Merck known as Belsomna® (suvorexant) despite significant safety concerns. This approval calls into question whether the FDA is more concerned about protecting the health of...

Is Your Medicine Making You Sick?

  Ever since we were children, we’ve been told to take pills when we feel bad—for headaches, insomnia, indigestion, aches and pains, even mild depression, to name a few common complaints. TV ads reinforce this message, with experts telling us what pills to take...

FDA Issues New Warning on Anti-inflammatory Drugs

Introduction: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is strengthening an existing label warning that non-aspirin nonsteroidal…

Continue Reading

Another Strike Against Acid-Blockers – Now Linked to Dementia Risk

Introduction One simple rule that would save a lot of suffering in the world is to “never take a drug that has more severe side effects than…

Continue Reading

Another Nail in the Acetaminophen (Tylenol) Coffin: New Study Links its Use to Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity

Introduction Another damning study indicates it is simply time to pull the plug on this outdated drug. The study just published in JAMA Pediatrics…

Continue Reading

Statistics on ER Visits Due to Dietary Supplements Misleading

Introduction: The media has once again failed to report the whole story or put things into the proper perspective when they reported on a study…

Continue Reading

Acid-Blocking Drugs Increase Heart Disease Risk

Introduction Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a group of drugs whose main action is blocking the secretion of gastric acid. They are dominant…

Continue Reading

Statins Increase the Risk of Diabetes Even Greater than Expected!

Introduction: A new study again highlights the fact that using statin drugs to lower cholesterol levels are not at all risk free. Researchers…

Continue Reading

Saying “No” to Statins

Maintain a healthy cholesterol balance without potentially harmful drugs Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs such as Crestor (rosuvastatin), Lipitor…

Continue Reading

Tamiflu for Flu Symptoms and Viral Infections? The Emperor has No Clothes!

Introduction Oseltamivir, brand name Tamiflu, was released onto the market in 1999 for the treatment of influenza. Despite is wild popularity –…

Continue Reading

Why Are Drug Companies Sponsoring Studies on Natural Products? Taking a Closer Look at a Recent Evaluation on Glucosamine/Chondroitin in Osteoarthritis

Introduction: In the late 1990s, St. John’s wort (SJW) extract rocketed to tremendous success in the United States and Europe as a natural…

Continue Reading

Antidepressant Drugs Blunt Feelings of Love and Sexual Function

Introduction: A recent study raises a new issue with long-term antidepressant use, adding another reason for consumers to seek alternatives. The…

Continue Reading

Is Your Medicine Making You Sick?

  Ever since we were children, we’ve been told to take pills when we feel bad—for headaches, insomnia, indigestion, aches and…

Continue Reading

Vitamin D Levels Drop Despite Massive Education Effort

Unbelievable! FDA Approves New Sleep Drug Despite Lots of Questions Unanswered

Introduction: The FDA recently announced the approval of a new type of sleeping pill from Merck known as Belsomna® (suvorexant) despite…

Continue Reading

A Baby Aspirin a Day is a BAD Prescription for Most

Introduction One of the most popular recommendations for preventing a heart attack or stroke in healthy people is the recommendation of a baby…

Continue Reading

Blood Pressure Drugs Increase Risk for Breast Cancer

Introduction: More than 60 million Americans have high blood pressure (high BP) including more than half (54.3%) of all Americans age 65 to 74 years…

Continue Reading

Does Tylenol Help Or Hurt You?

When most people think of Tylenol (acetaminophen), they consider it a gentle pain reliever — safe enough for their children to take. Here’s the…

Continue Reading

The Dangers of Acetaminophen (Tylenol): Is it Time for the FDA to Remove it from the Market?

Introduction Most people consider acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol) as being an extremely safe pain reliever for both children and adults. The reality…

Continue Reading

 

Welcome

 

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most diagnosed form of cancer in American men. Each year there are roughly 200,000 men that are diagnosed with PC and over 30,000 will die from it. In many respects, PC is the mirror of breast cancer in women. It is a hormone-sensitive cancer that will affect at least one out of every six men now living in the United States.

Most PCs are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive PCs. The cancer cells may metastasize (spread) from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly the bones and lymph nodes. Next to lung cancer, in men PC is the second leading cause of death due to cancer.

The big push conventional medical circles will make this month is encouraging men over the age of 50 years to see a physician for two tests:

  • A digital rectal exam–the doctor inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum and feels the prostate through the rectal wall to check for hard or lumpy areas.
  • A blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA)- which will usually be elevated in men with PC. A normal PSA ranges from 0 to 4 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml). A PSA level of 4 to 10 ng/ml is considered slightly elevated; levels between 10 and 20 ng/ml are considered moderately elevated; and anything above that is considered highly elevated. The higher the PSA level, the more likely it is that cancer is present. However, approximately 35% of men with diagnosed PC will have a “normal” PSA of less than 4. The level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood tends to rise with PC, but minor elevations may be due to less serious conditions like prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (enlargement of the prostate).

However, recently there has been a bit of controversy regarding the fact that screening for prostate cancer has led to harming many more men compared to the number that have died from prostate cancer. Many doctors will state that the rationale for early detection of prostate cancer is that it leads to more effective treatment. Unfortunately, the data on PSA screening for PC does not support this notion. Several reviews on the impact of PSA screening show no statistically significant difference in death due to PC between men randomized to screening and those who were not screened.In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force believe that PSA screening produces more harm than good based upon very extensive analyses.

Harmful effects of screening included high rates of false-positive results for the PSA test resulting in over-diagnosis and the adverse events associated not only with biopsies (such as infection, bleeding and pain), but also in the treatment of PC with chemotherapy and radiation. It is believed that in most cases, the PC would not have seriously affected many lives if it had simply been left alone. Most PCs are extremely slow growing meaning that men can live with PC, rather than die from it. In fact, autopsy studies report that more than 30% of all men over the age 50 have evidence of PC, but only 3% will die from it.

My feeling is that the problem with early screening is not the screening; it is what happens after the screening that is the issue. In the case of PSA screening, the approach should be “watchful waiting” versus immediate biopsy unless accompanied by significant recent increase in PSA levels, family history, or in African-Americans. And, if the biopsy is positive, even then a conservative approach should be taken with the majority of men. Now, that does not mean that I advocate idleness with “watchful waiting.” In fact, I recommend just the opposite; focus aggressively on the  preventive measures against PC detailed here: https://doctormurray.com/health-conditions/prostate-cancer-prevention/.

 


For more information, please see the completely revised and updated 3rd edition of The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine.

On the Dr Oz show

DrOz-Sho569

On the show I discussed the failure of conventional medicine to address the underlying issues in many health conditions offering little more than drugs as biochemical “band aids.”

Sign-up for my Weekly Newsletter

Signup For Our Weekly Newsletter

These are critical times in our quest for good / safe health practices...

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and articles from Doctor Murray

You have Successfully Subscribed!