Last month, we talked about the endocrine disruptor atrazine (it induces formation of aromatase…which plays a role in the conversion of testosterone to estrogen).

The timing was perfect, as the AP concluded a 5 month investigation into pharmaceuticals in national water supplies last month as well. They found trace amounts of pharmas in 24 major metropolitan areas, including San Francisco. In SF, the AP found the sex hormone estradiol present in trace quantities in our water. Scary stuff eh? Let’s break it down.

Let’s start at source: You take drugs. Drugs are designed to flood your system. You pee the extra out.

Pee travels down to the wastewater treatment plant. We went on a tour of a waste water plant….remember how they mentioned they don’t clean a number of organics (including cooking oils)? Well, that fun stuff often gets flushed out into the ocean or lakes unperturbed. Maybe some bacteria break it down along the way. It gets diluted through the water cycle…ends up in minute/microscopic quantities back in our water supply.

Studies have shown exposure to estrogen is part of path to certain cancers, including breast and prostate cancer.

We don’t know what long term exposure to these low levels of pharmas will do. Probably nothing on their own, but they are part of a greater picture of “stress” on our bodies.

If you’re scared, protect yourself by using a carbon filter…it effectively removes most of these pharmas even at low concentrations. And take the time to properly dispose of your drugs.

But let’s back up for a sec…how come these items go untreated at the wastewater plants? I specifically asked for the effluent data on my last visit to the wastewater treatment plant…got the runaround with no luck. And I think that’s the point…how are we “treating” our waste? Where is the transparency of data (the AP mentions how difficult it was to get this data)?

Well, I for one care about what is getting pushed out into the Pacific from my toilet. And I’m going to write my local water authority to ensure they do as well.

More Info:
AP Report on Pharma’s in Water
AP’s Test Results
SFPUC Response to AP Report
Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs

I’ve had a couple of long-term conditions (migraines, chronic back pain after a back surgery) over many years, and so I’ve been to the doctor more frequently than many people my age (mid-30s). Since my early 20s, I’ve noticed a dramatic uptick in my doctors’ pill pushing.

Partly I think it’s managed care, which dictates that I only get 10-15 minutes with my doctors, so they really don’t have time to get to know me, to look at the “whole patient.” A pill solution signifies to the insurance company and to me that they are Doing Something.

Partly it’s our health care model as a whole, which is focused on putting out fires, not on preventative care or health maintenance, alternative approaches, encouraging exercise, etc.

And then there are the BigPharma reps I see in the elevators at the medical buildings, dressed to the nines with their little wheelie suitcases of samples, making rounds.

One of my doctors is a total pusher, opening up his cabinet of BigPharma treats and dispensing oversized free samples of whatever’s New! whenever I visit, even though I’ve been taking the same drug for migraine for 15 years.

My odyssey through eight years of chronic pain was a debacle, as it is a condition completely misunderstood by the medical industry? cynic might say willfully misunderstood. Over the years, they threw every narcotic in the book at me, and my drug drawer was overflowing because most didn’t work for me so I’d try a couple and then stop. And it’s difficult to dispose to excess drugs responsibly because they seep into the groundwater from landfills, contaminating critters.

After a car accident complicated my back pain situation, I was barely able to work and extremely stressed. The stress manifested itself in symptoms like itchy skin and shortness of breath. But luckily my docs had drugs for those conditions too! Steroids for skin itchiness and, after an expensive test to diagnose me with asthma, two different types of inhalers, one steroidal. I think I was on about 10 drugs simultaneously at that time. And I was basically healthy!

It was insanity. Especially when I started having digestion issues because my system was overloaded on drugs!

I decided to say no. I decided that a doctor who spent 10 minutes with me did not know my body better than I do. I stopped looking to them as the authority and following their advice. Although I had tried alternative therapies like acupuncture, massage, and physical therapy over the years, along with all the drugs, at that time I read a couple of books about the mind/body connection and tried hypnotherapy.

It worked for me. I learned to think about my body in new ways and retrain my brain to “think healthy.” I know it sounds kind of woo-woo, but that’s what happened. I feel my age (which actually feels younger since I felt old for so many years), I am able to exercise, I feel strong and healthy.

I still take drugs for migraines (because they are chemical/hormonal), but that is only necessary occasionally. But that’s it. I don’t have asthma, I don’t have chronic pain, I don’t have a couple of other “conditions” I have been diagnosed with over the years.

I am grateful for advances in medical science that allow a level of comfort, health, and longevity our forebears did not enjoy. However, greed (BigPharma), narrow-mindedness (health care model), and accidental authority (doctor over patient) are keeping us from truly effective health care, in my personal experience.

Pics and Videos from the Drug companies event are up on the website. As always, you can watch snippets of the video on YouTube as well.

In addition, check out my recap of a NY Times article on the pharma’s marketing tactics.

An attendee at the Drug Companies event alluded to an article in the NY Times regarding a psychiatrists experience working for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals marketing their drug Effexor. It is a fascinating read, describing a sympathetic doctor who compromises his professional integrity ever so slowly until he is too deep in the pockets of Wyeth. Rarely do ever see such a strong narrative from a scientist.

Quick synopsis – Daniel gets hired to give short talks to other doctors and present data on Effexor. He is subtly influenced to hide damaging data as he slowly becomes aware that the drug doesn’t live up to the claims (it increases hypertension risk in many). The drug reps are ruthless in their monitoring of his performance, making him more and more uneasy. After making roughly 30K over 1 year, he gets fed up and quits.

One of the most telling points of the story:

At my next Lunch and Learn, I mentioned toward the end of my presentation that data in support of Effexor were mainly short-term, and that there was a possibility that S.S.R.I.? were just as effective. I felt reckless, but I left the office with a restored sense of integrity.

Several days later, I was visited by the same district manager who first offered me the speaking job. Pleasant as always, he said: ?y reps told me that you weren? as enthusiastic about our product at your last talk. I told them that even Dr. Carlat can? hit a home run every time. Have you been sick??r

At that moment, I decided my career as an industry-sponsored speaker was over. The manager? message couldn? be clearer: I was being paid to enthusiastically endorse their drug. Once I stopped doing that, I was of little value to them, no matter how much ?edical education?I provided.

It was clear that Daniel has turned a corner on the drug’s effectiveness and his willingness to discuss that openly (something he struggles with earlier). And who is waiting there for him? The drug company, tracking him, ready to dismiss him at the slightest sign of rebellion. You have to admire the ruthlessness.

Over the course of the year, he made 30K. Not a whole lot for the number of doctors he potentially influenced.

Takeaway
Your doctor’s integrity is the only protection you have as a patient. Patients aren’t educated on the drugs, not equipped to analyze/provided with the data. So I humbly ask, how much do you trust your doctor?

More Info
The Nytimes Article