Beta Blockers. In 2006 my doctor told me they were safe. Now we are told that deaths linked to them is up 33%

I have a particular loathing for Beta Blocker drugs. In 2006 my doctor told me the drugs were safe, 'well-tolerated'. I refused to take them, even though, at the time, I was having regular heart palpitations.

Now (13th February 2020) MIMS has announced that a new report (on Propanolol) has found that the toxicity of this 'commonly prescribed' beta blocker "needs better recognition across the NHS to prevent deaths from overdoses", and that these 'over-doses' had increased by 33% between 2012 and 2017. Further, the report states that "patients with migraine ... may be at an increased risk". I was experiencing migraines at the time.

So was I lucky to have refused them? Well, not lucky. I was seeking homeopathic treatment, and had no intention of taking any pharmaceutical drug. And I also looked into the known side effects of beta blockers at the time, so refused them on the basis of good information - information my doctor did not tell me about, and attempted to gloss over.

Having read the MIMS article I looked up the known side effects of Propanolol again at Drugs.com. In the 14 years since I was offered Beta Blockers, the 'known' side effects have risen, and got more serious. Even so, doctors continue to prescribe them, at the same time, no doubt, reassuring patients that they are "safe, and well tolerated"!

Anyone who is currently taking Beta Blocker drugs should look at this Drugs.com webpage. If you did not know about these serious side effects your decision to take them was not an 'informed' decision. Your doctor probably told you the same as mine told me - "Beta Blockers are safe, well tolerated"! Quite clearly they are not - quite clearly they are dangerous drugs. I have listed some of the known side effects below.

But don't stop taking them 'abruptly' as now, there is even a boxed warning about 'discontinuing' the drug abruptly - it can cause angina - and myocardial infarction.

This is the kind of fix that patients get into once they put their trust in conventional medicine, and begin taking pharmaceutical drugs.

Back in 2006 it took me 11 months of fighting the NHS to get my homeopathic treatment. The outcome was that I have not had another heart palpitation for 12 years. And the same remedy also stopped my migraines. And all this without having to suffer from the side effects of Beta Blocker drugs. So, in this sense, I am very lucky indeed.

Beta Blockers - some of the known side effects (taken from Drug.com)

• Abdominal or stomach pain and tenderness
• black, tarry stools
• blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin
• blood in the urine
• bloody nose
• bloody stools
• blurred or loss of vision
• body aches or pain
• burning, crawling, itching, numbness, prickling, "pins and needles", or tingling feelings
• chest pain or discomfort
• confusion about identity, place, and time
• congestion
• constipation
• cough
• cracks in the skin
• crying
• decreased awareness or responsiveness
• decreased urine output
• depersonalization
• diarrhea
• difficulty with swallowing
• dilated neck veins
• disturbed color perception
• dizziness, faintness, or lightheadedness when getting up suddenly from a lying or sitting position
• double vision
• dryness or soreness of the throat
• dysphoria
• euphoria
• extreme fatigue
• fast, pounding, slow, or irregular heartbeat
• fever and chills
• general feeling of discomfort, illness, or weakness
• hair loss
• halos around lights
• headaches
• heavier menstrual periods
• hoarseness
• irregular breathing
• lightheadedness, dizziness, or fainting
• loss of heat from the body
• mental depression
• mimicry of speech or movements
• muscle or joint pain
• mutism
• nausea
• negativism
• night blindness
• noisy breathing
• overbright appearance of lights
• paleness or cold feeling in the fingertips and toes
• paranoia
• peculiar postures or movements, mannerisms, or grimacing
• pinpoint red or purple spots on the skin
• puffiness or swelling of the eyelids or around the eyes, face, lips, or tongue
• quick to react or overreact emotionally
• rapidly changing moods
• rectal bleeding
• red skin lesions, often with a purple center
• red, irritated eyes
• red, swollen skin
• reddening of the skin, especially around the ears
• runny nose
• scaly skin
• seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not there
• severe sleepiness
• short-term memory loss
• skin irritation or rash, including rash that looks like psoriasis
• skin rash, hives, or itching
• sores, ulcers, or white spots in the mouth or on the lips
• sweating
• swelling of the eyes, face, fingers, feet, or lower legs
• swollen glands
• tender, swollen glands in the neck
• tightness in the chest
• tingling or pain in fingers or toes when exposed to cold
• tunnel vision
• unusual bleeding or bruising
• unusual tiredness or weakness
• voice changes
• vomiting
• weight gain

 A safe, well-tolerated drug?

Diabetes. Is it caused by pharmaceutical drugs?

Diabetes UK, via their website, have warned us that the number of people living with diabetes in Britain has soared by nearly 60% in the past decade. Extracting the statistics from NHS data, they say that more than 3.3 million people now have some form of diabetes compared with 2.1 million in 2005. They remind us that the inability to control blood sugar levels can lead to nerve damage, loss of vision, organ damage, and limbs amputations.

Barbara Young, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK. draws our attention to the cost this epidemic on the NHS budget in Britain.

     “Diabetes already costs the NHS nearly £10 billion a year, and 80 per cent of this is spent on managing avoidable complications. So there is huge potential to save money and reduce pressure on NHS hospitals and services through providing better care to prevent people with diabetes from developing devastating and costly complications?.

The BBC informs us that the NHS are aware of this issue when they quoted Dr Martin McShane, NHS England's Director for Long Term Conditions, saying:

     "These figures are a stark warning and reveal the increasing cost of diabetes. We've said it before and we'll say it again, it's time to get serious about lifestyle change."

There is a similar pattern throughout the world, particularly in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia. Anywhere, in fact, where Big Food dominates our diet, and Big Pharma dominates our medical care.

Nor is this a new problem for the conventional medical establishment. The Independent newspaper, on 24th February 2009, told us that the problem of diabetes was getting so big, it is "threatening to overwhelm the NHS".  So it would appear that little to nothing has been done to reverse the situation for the last 6.5 years!

Whenever diabetes is discussed, the reason for the epidemic appears to be universally agreed. It is about our diet. As the BBC says, "the explanation for the soaring cases of type 2 are being placed squarely on the nation's ballooning waistline".

And certainly, it is undeniable that the food processing industry causes a large part of the diabetes epidemic, not least as a result of its long-standing love affair with the profits it makes by feeding us with sugar, and sugar substitutes. 

Yet there are other important factors giving rise to the diabetes epidemic, not the least of which are the pharmaceutical drugs used routinely by the conventional medical establishment for the treatment of other medical conditions.

Statin drugs 

Statins are being prescribed to increasing numbers of people to lower cholesterol, as well as to people who have type-2 diabetes. Yet even the USA drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, has admitted there is a risk of developing diabetes when taking statin drugs. Indeed, they now place warnings about the risk of diabetes on the labels of all statin drugs distributed in the USA. However, this warning is not required in Britain, and in many other countries, the reason for this lack of caution being rather uncertain, but probably having something to do with being told for decades that these drugs were 'entirely safe'!

The Daily Mail confirmed this in an article dated 5th March 2012 - over 4 years ago.

     "So while popular brands ... (of Statins)... will need to include a new warning on their labels in the US they will not have to on the same products in the UK.

So the conventional medical establishment is dishing out Stating drugs to millions of people, fully aware that they cause diabetes, and then bemoaning the fact that there is an epidemic rise in the numbers suffering from Type-2 diabetes!

• Is this link mentioned by the pharmaceutical industry?
• Is this link mentioned by Diabetes UK?
• Is this link mentioned by NHS spokesmen?
• Is this link mentioned by the BBC, and other media outlets?

Of course it is not. Patients suffer from a conspiracy of silence. We are not supposed to know that the drugs doctors give us cause diabetes. It might upset the profitability of a major industry! So it can all be blamed on the food we eat. Big Food, after all, is less powerful than Big Pharma!

Yet Statin drugs are not the only pharmaceutical culprits linked to the creation of the diabetes epidemic.

Beta Blocker and Diuretic Drugs

In 2006, the Daily mail reported that Beta Blockers drugs have been found to increase the risk of diabetes by 50%. It was quoting a study conducted at Imperial College, London, by Professor Neil Poulter. The study looked at 14,000 patients in the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia. Yet, instead of focusing on the dangers of these drugs, the study sought to compare the risk of the "old style" combination of a beta blocker and a diuretic, and to highlight that 'new' drugs were better! And we are told that "the benefits outweigh the risk", without any real or substantial corroberation about what the benefits are, and just how substantial the risks are!

This focus is typical of medical research. It has the ability to identify a problem, but not to highlight it. So Beta Blocker drugs ar a problem, but they are no longer a problem because there are 'newer' drugs that can be used instead. 

Yet Beta Blocker drugs continue to be prescribed in huge amounts to large numbers of patients.

So despite the risks, little or nothing is done to protect patients. The assumption is made that the drug is safe - until proven otherwise. So Beta Blockers continue to be prescribed to patients. At the same time diabetes continues to rise, exponentially. And we are not told about the link between the two.

Antihypertensive drugs

So what about other hypertensive drugs? WDDTY March 2007 (reporting the Lancet 2007; 369:201-7) said that "it's been suspected for nearly 50 years that antihypertensive drugs provoke diabetes because they lower a patient's glucose tolerance levels". But a 'definitive statement' has been hard to come by because (we are told) many patients with raised blood pressure are simply more likely to develop diabetes in any event. But the article states that researchers from the Rush Medical College in Chicago arrived at these conclusion after re-examining 22 clinical trials involving more than 143,000 patients who did not have diabetes when they started taking an antihypertensive drug to control their blood pressure.

A study entitled 'New-onset diabetes and antihypertensive treatment' in 2010 adds to the picture.

      "Numerous analyses have demonstrated that antihypertensive therapies promote the development of type-2-diabetes mellitus".

Again, the study suggest that using angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor-blockers (ARB) leads to less new-onset diabetes compared to beta-blockers, diuretics and placebo. Note the wording here. It does not say that ACE inhibitors and ARB drugs do not cause diabetes. It says that they cause less diabetes! How much less? We are not told. The conclusion is:

     "Antihypertensive treatment has a significant influence on the incidence of diabetes mellitus, whereas the incidence is higher for patients treated with diuretics or beta-blockers than for patients treated with calcium-channel-blockers, ACE inhibitors and ARB. 

Xyprexa

This antipsychotic drug is used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It is not only known to cause diabetes, it is also known that the drug company sought to hide this from patients. In a story published in the New York Times and Yahoo News (17 December 17 2006) and Consumer Affairs (18 December 2006) evidence had been obtained by an attorney representing patients in a lawsuit suggested that Eli Lilly covered up concerns about the drug. Although the company denied this, the documents suggested that the company withheld important information about the drug's links to obesity and increased blood sugar levels for the 10 years it was being marketed. 

So this is yet another  drug implicated in causing diabetes, and this one shows the lengths that drug companies, and the conventional medical establishment, will go to prevent us knowing about the full enormity of the side effects that they cause.

So one of the results of taking these, and no doubt other pharmaceutical drugs, is that patients, in ever-increasing numbers, are contracting diabetes. Common pharmaceutical drugs are an unmentioned and unacknowledged cause of diabetes. The conventional medical establishments calls this a 'side effect' but of course it is not. Diabetes is a disease. Drugs are causing disease!

And as a result of the diabetes epidemic health resources are required to deal with it. It has been estimated that diabetes medication now accounts for 10% of the entire NHS drugs bill, amounting to nearly £1 billion! These diabetes drugs, in turn, go on to cause of side effects (that is, other diseases) for which other drugs are required. 

Yet although we (as tax payers) are required to continue paying for the drugs, and (as patients) take them, and suffer the consequences, we are not told the real consequences of doing so.

Beta Blockers kill 800,000 patients in 5 years!

"Beta Blocker drugs are well tolerated".

This is what my doctor told me in May 2007, meaning that they have few side-effects or adverse reactions. I wrote a blog about this here in 2010, and this is what I wrote at the time.

"Now, Beta Blockers have been found to cause fatal heart attacks, alongside SSRI drugs like Proxac, and Cox-2 pain-killers (research conducted by University of Rochester, New York, and reported in the magazine What Doctors Don't Tell You, April 2010). So I was being offered the usual ConMed deal - swop an illness with a more serious disease, and perhaps even death".

I declined the 'deal', and fought for homeopathic treatment instead. Now my heart palpitations are a thing of the past. Had I not done so it is more than likely that I would still be taking these drugs.

What concerned me at the time was that the NHS were not telling patients about the DIEs (disease/death inducing effects) of their drugs, or perhaps not even aware of them, even though Beta Blocking drugs had been around since the early 1960's.

"I will leave you to decide which is worse - that they (doctors) know about the DIEs and don’t tell us; or they don’t know or understand the workings of their own drugs after several decades!

Now, new research (mentioned in this WDDTY article, click here, and taken from the European Heart Journal (but quickly withdrawn apparently), demonstrated that Beta Blocker drugs have caused 800,000 deaths in just 5 years - including 10,000 from the UK alone.

"Patients undergoing surgery are routinely given a beta-blocker in order to reduce stress on the heart—but the research that led to the adoption of the practice was falsified, and doctors reckon that 800,000 people have died as a result.

This Dr Mercola website carries an article (click here) that explains in more detail what has happened, including the fraud and corruption that has led to this catastrophic lack of life this Big Pharma drug has caused.

The problem started following trials conducted by Don Poldermans, a cardiovascular researcher in Holland, who was later sacked for 'scientific misconduct' in 2011, as he was: 

"…careless in collecting the data for his research. In one study, it was found that he used patient data without written permission, used fictitious data and that two reports were submitted to conferences which included knowingly unreliable data."

Polderman's study had been used as supporting evidence for the use of beta blocker drugs in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. Alone this would have been bad enough - falsified evidence about drugs leading to patient harm. 

But it took the European Society of Cardiology two years from the Polderman scandal to withdraw the beta blocker recommendation. As the Mercola article says:

"This is absolutely scandalous as nearly a half of a million people died unnecessarily due to the delay".

It would seem that within the conventional medical world patient safety comes a poor second to so-called 'scientific' research whose purpose is to recommend drug use for commercial Big Pharma profit! And even when fraud is discovered, patient safety appears to come a poor second to attempts to cover up that the fraud and corruption that appears to be rife within the conventional medical establishment.

In short, it would appear that the Conventional Medical Establishment is quite unable to protect patients from drug harm, and situations like this raise serious questions about their willingness and commitment to do so. 

(For more information on "Medical Science - the failure to protect  us from 'scientific' medicine, go to this link).

I also find it quite incredible that the mainstream media never seems willing to tell their viewers, listeners and readers this kind of information. The media appears to place patient safety in second place to the financial interests of their main advertisers, and financial supporters.

I also find it quite difficult to understand why our government, and our politicians, appear to place patient safety in second place to Big Pharma investments in our economy, and goodness know what other financial incentives used to obtain compliance.

Silence from the NHS is perhaps more understandable. The NHS has become little more than a monopoly distributor of Big Pharma drugs and vaccines, its doctors no more than sales staff, tasked to distribute them to us - quite regardless of the harm they do.

Beta Blockers. A well-tolerated Big Pharma drug?

To highlight the importance of safety in medicine, I can tell my own story.

In 2007, I began to have periodic heart palpitations. Instead of going to see a homeopath, privately, which was my first intention, I went to see my GP. Well, why not, I pay for the NHS, and I am entitled to NHS treatment! I asked my GP (I had never seen him before) for homeopathic treatment, and struggled for the next 11 months to get beyond the NHS bureaucracy, and its ConMed monopoly. I was offered all kinds of tests, drugs, and consultations, but they were not prepared to offer me homeopathy. It was the usual nonsense - “there is no evidence”, etc.

Beta Blockers were the Pharma drugs on offer. Two doctors and a registrar told me that they were ‘well-tolerated', and had 'no serious side-effects'. I told them that this was nonsense, that they had serious DIEs (disease-inducing-effects), not least diabetes. On each occasion there was silence - and no explanation for this a chronic lack of honesty.

Now, Beta Blockers have been found to cause fatal heart attacks, alongside SSRI drugs like Proxac, and Cox-2 pain-killers (research conducted by University of Rochester, New York, and reported in the magazine What Doctors Don't Tell You, April 2010). So I was being offered the usual ConMed deal - swop an illness with a more serious disease, and perhaps even death. 

What concerns me is that whilst the NHS were not honest about drug DIEs, there were other DIEs that were unknown at the time - remember, Beta Blockers have been around since the early 1960's. I will leave you to decide which is worse - that they know about DIEs and don’t tell you; or they don’t know or understand the workings of their own drugs after several decades!

Fortunately, I won my battle with my PCT , went to see a homeopath at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, and I no longer have heart palpitations.

For more information about Beta Blockers, see here also