What the drug companies won't tell you and your doctor doesn't know2009

It is estimated that approximately 70 percent of patients with chronic daily headaches suffer from drug-induced headaches. Antibiotics are widely prescribed for ear infections, bronchitis, and sinusitis and yet in more than 90 percent of cases, the drugs are useless. Careful review of all the major statin drug studies in subjects without clinical evidence of heart disease shows that there are no significant differences in mortality between people who took cholesterol-lowering agents and those who took a placebo. Individuals whose diets include a higher intake of fish oils or who take fish oil supplements can reduce their risk of heart disease or stroke by roughly 47 percent compared to those individuals who do not eat fish or take fish oil supplements. With about 700,000 practicing physicians in the United States, it is estimated that the drug industry spends approximately $60,000 in marketing dollars per physician per year. In 1992, the average senior received 19.6 prescriptions per year; in 2005 that number had nearly doubled to 34.4. It is estimated that simply by supplementing the diet with 1,000 to 1,200 mg of calcium and 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D more than half of all hip fractures due to osteoporosis might be prevented. Special preparations of peppermint oil have been shown to be more effective than standard drug therapy and have no side effects in relieving all the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Peppermint oil preparations produce dramatic clinical improvement in approximately 70 to 85 percent of cases within a two- to four-week period. Book jacket.