NurtritionandHealing
Nutrition and Healing
Patent medicine companies always attempt to justify the stratospheric prices they charge for their products by citing the enormous costs of research. But what they aren't telling you is that a large percentage of this cost is created by their attempts to figure out how to copy the action of the natural molecules that produced the positive results in the first place. In order to profit from the benefits brought about by natural molecules, patent medicine companies need to make an artificial-patentable-version of the original substance. So they chemically twist, deform, and otherwise manipulate them to do a similar job. It can take quite a lot of time and resources to manipulate and, essentially, de-nature nature. That's why patent medicines are so expensive. But if they just used the natural molecules to do the job that nature intended, costs would be much less, and hazards to patients, while not zero, would also be considerably less. Then again, profits would be a lot less, too.
This has been going on for what seems like forever. Just off the top of my head, I can think of three examples. The first one goes back to the early 1940s, when flavonoids were widely and effectively used to treat allergies. Patent medicine companies couldn't make an exorbitant profit on all-natural flavonoids, though, so their chemists twisted and distorted them into never-before-found-on-Earth (but patentable) shapes and invented antihistamines. With the economic power of patents, massive advertising, thousands of "detail men," and pressure from the FDA, physicians were convinced to switch to prescribing the patented antihistamines, and flavonoids for allergies fell into disuse.
But things have only gotten worse since then. I came across two more examples recently, and the patent medicine interests at work in each instance make them worth reviewing so you can see just how corrupt this system can be. First, there's the research on vitamin D's blood pressure lowering effects-a truly breakthrough discovery. After thoroughly discussing how vitamin D itself does the job, the author wrote: "The notion of vitamin D suppressing...blood pressure raises the possibility of using vitamin D analogues in the prevention and intervention of hypertension in the future."1
"Analogues" are twisted, deformed, synthetic versions of the real thing. If vitamin D does the job, as the rest of the review describes, then why not just use vitamin D? Duh!
The other example explored how "estrogens"-specifically estriol-can reduce the risk of and help alleviate auto-immune diseases. The researchers showed that women with multiple sclerosis responded dramatically to large doses of estriol because it stimulated an estrogen receptor known as "estrogen receptor alpha." Then they wrote: "These findings are central to the design of selective estrogen receptor modifiers..."2
Estriol stimulates "estrogen receptor alpha" in just the way needed to decrease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. So what's the matter with using estriol? Why do we need "selective estrogen receptor modifiers"-synthetic versions of natural estrogens-to do the job?
The answer is always the same two words: Patent and profit!
Unfortunately, this has been the system for nearly 100 years. But this is one instance where, if you're not happy with the system, you really do have the power to opt out. You'll be a lot healthier for it and save money besides. JVW
Citation available upon request and on the Nutrition & Healing website: www.wrightnewsletter.com
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