I hang onto my lab results from my annual exams. Can't help but notice how readings which once were in the "normal" range have now been reclassified into abnormal - re blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. necessitating lifelong prescriptions. As many others have observed, Big Pharma has no interest in cures, only in lifelong treatments. Antibiotics fall into the "cure" class, and infectious disease experts have been warning us for years that as bacteria mutate to overcome existing antibiotics, the pharmaceutical industry has fallen way behind in developing new antibiotics.
A huge moneymaker for Big Pharma is HGH (Human Growth Hormone). One couple I know, on their pediatrician's advice, had both their sons injected weekly with HGH for years. Dad is 5'8"; Mom is 5'4" and both sons - now adults - are six feet four inches tall. That's eight inches taller than their father (or their grandfathers or uncles).
Treatments, not being medically necessary, were not covered by insurance, so no oversight re approval/necessity of treatment. The expense was $15,000 per child per year. "Dad" liked the idea that his boys could be jocks (which he never was) if they were tall, and more attractive to girls. Oddly, both boys have extremely long legs and are awkward - neither of them ever played even Little League, let alone team sports in grade school or high school. Once I learned what had happened to these young adults, I took a closer look at the teens at the local Y. A lot of the girls had legs like giraffes, out of proportion to their torsos - we're talking 5'10" - 6' tall, while their moms were 5'2"-5'6". Suddenly I got the picture of a popular pediatrician in a well-to-do community hyping HGH like mad and getting lots of perks from Big Pharma.
Here are some of the researched side effects for prescribing HGH to "normal" kids.
If HGH is given to children with normal growth, serious side effects may occur because levels in the body become too high (http://www.msnbc.com/news/785625.asp?cp1=1#BODY). They include development of diabetes; abnormal growth of bones and internal organs such as the heart, kidneys and liver; hardening of the arteries, and high blood pressure (http://www.msnbc.com/news/785625.asp?cp1=1#BODY). New research also suggests a link to colorectal cancer later in life (http://www.msnbc.com/news/785625.asp?cp1=1#BODY). Long-term over-dosage could result in symptoms of acromegaly, or excessive bone growth (http://www.msnbc.com/news/785625.asp?cp1=1#BODY). HGH injections should not be given to children with normal growth because they could get diabetes and develop malformed growth of bones and internal organs, hardening of the arteries, and high blood pressure (http://www.msnbc.com/news/785625.asp?cp1=1#BODY).
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