COPD drugs may significantly boost risk of heart attack and stroke
Breath Taking & Giving
Q: What might be nearly as dangerous as a chronic disease that often leads to respiratory failure?
A: The drugs used to treat the disease.
Q: Is there a safer alternative treatment that most mainstream doctors probably don’t even know about?
A: Absolutely.
Dire risks
As I’ve noted in past e-Alerts, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an umbrella term that refers to emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma, or any combination of the three. There’s no cure for this long-term deterioration of the respiratory system, but proper treatments can slow the decline.
COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. According to the World Health Organization, almost three million patients die of COPD-related complications each year, but a 2003 review of more than 300,000 UK death certificates concluded that that the actual yearly toll may be closer to five million.
A new study raises a disturbing question: Could COPD medications actually add to that yearly toll?
The study appeared last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine screened 17 trials that tested inhaled anticholinergic medication in nearly 15,000 subjects. (More than eight million patients have used inhaled anticholinergics since approval of the drug in 2002.)
Results showed that inhaled anticholinergic use increased the risk of heart attack by more than 50 percent, and increased the risk of cardiovascular death by 80 percent! Risk of stroke was also significantly higher.
Another way to inhale
Stroke. Heart attack. Cardiovascular death. You might be thinking there’s got to be a better way, and there is.
In the August 2002 issue of his Nutrition & Healing newsletter, alternative medicine pioneer Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., discussed COPD at length, and stated that nebulized, inhaled glutathione is “the No. 1 natural treatment for COPD in my practice.”
E-Alert readers will recognize glutathione as the powerful antioxidant and amino acid molecule that I’ve written about many times. In Dr. Wright’s COPD regimen, glutathione is taken via a nebulizer; an apparatus that dispels liquid in a fine mist to be inhaled.
In a 2005 issue of Health e-Tips, Dr. Wright elaborated: “The best natural treatment for COPD is nebulized, inhaled glutathione, a safe, natural treatment that has helped countless patients with COPD, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis to breathe easier.
“A dose of 120-200 milligrams inhaled twice a day is what I usually recommend. Each day’s glutathione should be prepared in its own separate vial since it rapidly loses strength when exposed to air. A compounding pharmacist can prepare it for you with a physician’s prescription and can usually supply the nebulizer, too.”
Additional steps in Dr. Wright’s COPD regimen include Vitamins C and E, magnesium, zinc, N-acteylcysteine, and lecithin – all of which should be administered with the help of an experienced health care professional.
You can find more specific details in the Health e-Tips titled “Package Deal.”
Dr. Wright notes that by the time a COPD diagnosis is made, lung tissue is already badly damaged. But he adds, “I can safely say that this type of therapy usually stops and at least partially reverses the progression of the disease. Often, improvement can be quite significant.”
Sources:
“Inhaled Anticholinergics and Risk of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 300, No. 12, 9/24/08, jama.ama-assn.org
“Officials Call Off Controversial Autism Study” Will Dunham, Reuters, 9/17/08, reuters.com
