Welcome to Straight Talk on Health.. I’m your host Dr. Chet Zelasko. Straight Talk on Health. is a joint production with WGVU in Grand Rapids MI. I examine the practical application of health information. Nutrition. Exercise. Diet. Supplementation. I look at the science behind them, and let you know whether it’s something to consider or not. You can check out other things that I do on my website Drchet.com and sign up for my free emails.
I currently don't have much of a presence in social media. It's not that I don't have a lot of friends on some of my accounts; I do. But some of the things that people post do not seem to be accurate and I can't help but throw in my opinion. Especially when it's related to health. It becomes a never-ending argument and I'd rather try to discover something significant then check the research about what people say or people repost—and then try to defend my questioning their non-existent authority. Also, I don’t suffer fools very well. I don’t need the aggravation.
But this one I can’t let go. I see it stated several ways but essentially it says that the pharmaceutical companies are not interested in curing disease. They just want to keep you sick so they can continue selling you medications. This is the basis for many conspiracy theories related to health. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Medications, as we know them today, don’t cure disease with a couple of exceptions. They treat symptoms of disease. That’s it. Let me explain.
There are two medications that are very common that actually do cure diseases. Antibiotics can attack bacteria and destroy them or destroy their ability to replicate. Antifungals attack fungi and do the same thing. Other than that, no matter what the disease or the condition is, they either focus on alleviating symptoms or interfering with the conditions ability to worsen. But no medications to this point cure diseases. And by curing diseases what I mean is they eradicate or repair the damage that's causing the disease. Perhaps giving you a few examples will give you some perspective.
Let's say you have a headache. You may decide to take a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory like aspirin or ibuprofen or you may take a pain reliever like acetaminophen. They may alleviate the symptom of the headache but they do not cure the cause of the headache whatever that might be. For example, some people may be photo sensitive and if they are exposed to too much sunlight, they get a headache. Stress is also a cause of headaches, often referred to as tension headaches. The causes may vary but medication alleviates the symptom until the hormone levels or blood vessels return to normal.
Type 2 diabetes has several medications that are used including metformin, insulin, and the latest medication semaglutide or its other derivatives. All of those can impact blood sugar levels in various ways but they do not cure type 2 diabetes. They may impact the pancreas or the liver but they don’t repair either organ. All they can do is to help the body process sugar better and that's it. Stop taking the medication and blood sugars will rise. So will body weight unless lifestyles are changed.
How about something like an autoimmune disease? There are many pharmaceuticals that have been developed that work on the result of the autoimmune disease whether it's rheumatoid arthritis or lupus and try to alleviate some of the symptoms. But they do not cure the autoimmune disease.
Cancer? Well, surgery can remove tumors so from that perspective, depending on the degree of the cancer, that could be a cure. Radiation may also be used to help eradicate the cancer and that could be a cure. But neither of those are medications. There are many forms of chemotherapy that try to eradicate the cancer. They also destroy other fast-growing cells as well. I’m not suggesting to avoid chemo. There are a lot of people alive today because of chemotherapy as horrendous as it can be but with some recent exceptions, they are not specific to the actual cause. But unless a cancer is found very early, most of the time the medications are just trying to extend life until the next thing comes along.
I could continue on. Hyperthyroidism. Hypothyroidism. Hypertension. Congestive heart failure. Atrial fibrillation. High cholesterol. All medications can do is treat the symptoms. They don't cure the condition or the disease. And we know that lowering blood sugar, raising thyroid levels if they're too low, and lowering cholesterol if it’s too high reduces the risk of getting a more severe set of symptoms as those conditions progress. And those symptoms will continue until a cure is found.
In some cases, degenerative disease like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cholesterol may be impacted with a change in lifestyle. But not all diseases or conditions fall into that category of lifestyle disease. So while I'm not a fan of the pharmaceutical industry, many people have better lives because they exist. Not perfect lives and not the lives they would have chosen but they are alive and as long as they are, there is a hope for finding actual cures in the future.
And wouldn't you know it, as I reviewed my health news feed while writing this script, a new study was released by a pharmaceutical company that may just actually attack and repair the cause of one condition at the source: the genes.
The company developed a base editor and a guide RNA that targets the specific gene that increases LDL cholesterol. The gRNA is carried inside a lipid nanoparticle to the target gene and it is one and done. One infusion. Gene repaired. Cholesterol levels decreased by as much as 68%. No more medication. Understand this is a Phase 1 trial and there are many steps to go. They have to find out long term effects if there are any. But fixing genes will result in real cures. It’s just going to take some time. As for now, it’s either change your lifestyle to see if that works or take a medication that can help for now. Medications don’t cure disease but they are where we are at this point while research grinds on to find real cures for the conditions that afflict us.
How about an update? I’ve focused on gaining strength since I began this quest to get to a normal body weight. My weight still fluctuates a couple of pounds up or down but that hasn’t been the focus of my efforts. I’m still eating the berries and cruciferous every day. I just haven’t focused on volume yet.
Why strength? I think that some of the balance issues I’ve been having is related to the loss of strength, at least in part. The inner ear changes over time so that could be an issue but I appear to have little grip strength or upper body strength compared to what I used to be able to do. My legs are also not as strong as they once were.
I hit the weights and began by doing a weight I could do for 12-15 reps. I began with arms, chest and back, and then added legs to my routine. I did that to get the muscles used to lifting again. I also focused the eccentric phase of lifting. That’s when you return the weight to starting position for the most part. The eccentric phase is where you damage the muscle so it can grow back stronger.
Then I began lifting heavy—at least as heavy as I could handle. 3 sets of 6-8 reps with 1 minute rest after taking at least 2 seconds to return the weight to starting position. It’s working. Especially for my lower body. Now that the weather as finally turned the corner, I’m walking more. I can tell I have more “bounce in my step” if you please. I still have a long way to go, especially in my shoulder and chest. When I tried to do a pure bench press, I couldn’t even lift 40 pounds. I’ve used a machine that allows you to adjust the starting level. If I can start with the weight about 2 inches above my chest, I can handle 55 pounds for 8 reps. There is something wrong with the anterior deltoid that really impedes my progress. It may be related to the torn biceps muscle I have or maybe something new. I’ll get it checked out but for now, while I’m starting weaker than I feel I’ve ever been, I’m stronger than I used to be. How about you? How are you doing?
That’s it for this episode. If you like this podcast, please hit the like button and tell your friends and colleagues about it. Until next time, this is Dr. Chet Zelasko saying health is a choice. Choose wisely today and every day.
