Diabetes is now running at epidemic levels, and rising. On 1st September 2020 week the UK's NHS suggested that thousands would benefit from a diet of soup and shakes. I was pleased to see this - perhaps yet another recognition by conventional medicine that pharmaceutical drugs had failed, and that the treatment of serious diseases has far simpler, safer, and more natural treatment.
My pleasure did not last long. The pharmaceutical industry never gives up gracefully! Later, that same day, Pulse, the GP's e-magazine, and Nursing in Practice, proudly announced a new wonder drug, semaglutide.
One doctor "with a special interest in diabetes" is quoted with this glowing testimonial of these new drug.
"Oral semaglutide will allow GPs to intensify treatment for people with type 2 diabetes with a GLP-1 RA in a new and novel way. Patients could achieve their target blood sugar with an additional benefit of weight loss with just a tablet. Previously this group of people would have required an injectable GLP-1 RA via specialist referral. This could help to address delays in treatment intensification, improve patient adherence and help patients reach their treatment goals. This is especially important during the Covid-19 pandemic and will ensure those most vulnerable, including people with type 2 diabetes, receive the care they need.NovoNordisk said the drug had the potential to help over 900,000 people in England whose whose blood sugar is above optimum levels (HbA1c >58.5 mmol/mol or 7.5%).
But other doctors, apparently, have discovered a problem. Some GP's have warned that 'local prescribing protocols' may ration the drug because of 'cost concerns'. This is perhaps not too much of a surprise, it is a common problem with all 'wonder drugs'. Once the pharmaceutical industry can convince us that a drug is a 'game changer' they will want to profit from it. Anything wrong with that? Well, not if the drug does what they claim it will do,. But they rarely do so. Drug companies profit for as long as they can, then, once it is discovered the drug has dangerous and harmful side effects, it is quietly dropped.
Of course, side effects is another problem, barely mentioned in either Pulse or Nursing in Practice. One doctor is quoted, cautioning that the new drug would also be "troubled by the same gastrointestinal side-effects as others in the class". For conventional medicine to mention publicly, even to the medical profession, that any drug has side effects is unusual; but this heavily discounted warning will just not do.
Semaglutide is NOT a new drug. It was discovered in 2012. Clinical trials began in 2015, and were completed in 2016. It was approved later in the same year. And this 'wonder drug', even after just 5 years, is already known to have serious side effects that go far beyond the gastrointestinal system. Certainly it causes stomach upset, stomach tenderness, stomach fullness, nausea, gaseous abdominal pain, indigestion, etc. But, according to the Drugs.com website, it is also known to cause recurrent fever, yellow eyes or skin, blurred vision, chills and cold sweats, confusion, discouragement, dizziness, fast heartbeat, feeling sad or empty, headache, increased heart rate, increased hunger, irritability, loss of consciousness, loss of interest or pleasure, nervousness, nightmares, seizures, shakiness, slurred speech, tiredness, trouble concentrating, trouble sleeping and unusual tiredness.
Strange that these side effects, some of them extremely serious, are not mentioned by either of these medical magazines. Perhaps even some doctors and nurses, certainly those who do not bother to check for themselves, are not supposed to know - leave alone the patients who will be prescribed the drug. Strange? Yes, but so typical of the conventional medical establishment.