Disease Proof

From the November 2004 edition of Dr. Fuhrman’s Healthy Times:

Immunosuppressive medications used by rheumatologists for autoimmune diseases are fraught with danger. That is the reason these drugs are used only by rheumatologists and not by internists, family physicians, or other medical specialists. Rheumatology is a medical specialty developed to prescribe and monitor the side effects of these high-risk medications.

Cytotoxic (toxic to cells) agents and chemotherapeutic agents, traditionally used in cancer therapy, also have become an established part of therapy for autoimmune diseases. The most powerful and dangerous drugs in the medical arsenal often are needed to control the raging immune system in cases of autoimmune illnesses. In rheumatology, chemotherapy is designed to decrease immune cell production and suppress the immune system, which is why these drugs are sometimes called immunosuppressive drugs, instead of chemo. Although much of the initial data on toxicity was accumulated in the setting of cancer treatment, these agents can cause illness or death even at the doses used to treat autoimmune disease. For this reason, the risks of treatment with a cytotoxic agent or any of the other immunosuppressive agents must weigh against the potential benefits.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned health-care professionals of an increased risk of lymphoma, leukopenia, and opportunistic infections with fatal outcome associated with the use of Remicade. Imuran is known to have mutagenic and carcinogenic potential and cause pancreatitis. All the immunosuppressive agents increase one’s risk of cancer. The risk of developing malignancies is related to the duration of immunosuppressive drug exposure in general. A study published in the Journal of Rheumatology followed 1,773 patients started on treatments by rheumatologists for ten years and found a 400% increased rate of cancer in the treatment group in the ten-year period compared to controls.1

Doctors know the dangers of these drugs, and patients are supposed to be informed about them. Patients choose conventional medical care because they wrongly assume there is no other approach. The rationale for doctors is that we can’t have a person suffering with pain while their joints and internal organs are being destroyed by autoimmune illnesses. Patients and their doctors evidently believe the increased likelihood of cancer and a premature death from immunosuppressive drugs is worth the risk. Unfortunately, patients are not informed of the nutritional options.

A significant body of literature exists documenting the effectiveness of nutritional intervention for treating autoimmune diseases, but these articles are not being read by doctors or distributed to patients with autoimmune disease. I feel strongly that giving a potentially life-threatening drug with no other option for treatment is malpractice and should be stopped.

A packet of medical journal articles documenting the results achievable with nutritional intervention could be given to every patient, and physicians could offer simple nutritional protocols for people initially presenting with autoimmune diseases. The earlier this information is given, the better, because it is early on—before years of medication use—when there is the greatest possibility of achieving a remission.

Autoimmune illness is serious. It causes immense suffering and pain and can kill. Autoimmune diseases, just like heart disease and cancer, are caused predominantly by the inadequate diet consumed in our youth and are potentially preventable with prolonged breast-feeding and better childhood nutrition. It is always preferable to prevent illness rather than just offer treatments to the sick. However, even after these diseases develop, recovery is still possible in most cases. The opportunity to live a life fully recovered, free of illness, and free of the toxic effects of drugs should not be passed up. Today, we have an epidemic of autoimmune illnesses that continues to grow daily, and the offices of rheumatologists are flooded with suffering people. I am hoping that one day rheumatologists only will treat a small segment of patients with autoimmune disease; the rest will simply recover with modern nutritional intervention.
1. Asten P, Barrett J, Symmons D. Risk of developing certain malignancies is related to duration of immunosuppressive drug exposure in patients with rheumatic diseases. J Rheumatol 1999 Aug; 26(8):1705-14.