New research from Denmark has found that use of hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic drug widely prescribed for high blood pressure, substantially increases the risk of developing skin cancer. Based on the analysis of around 80,000 Danish cases of this disease and 1.5 million healthy people, the research shows that patients taking hydrochlorothiazide had up to seven times greater risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma, one of the most common forms of skin cancer. With this drug having already been strongly associated with lip cancer, the research adds to the growing body of evidence pointing to the considerable dangers it poses to public health.
In addition to raising the risk of squamous cell carcinoma, the researchers found that hydrochlorothiazide also increases the likelihood of patients developing basal cell carcinoma, another common form of skin cancer. Notably therefore, with these same Danish researchers having also published the earlier study associating hydrochlorothiazide with lip cancer, they say their findings are in line with the results of previous research from the United States and the recent classification of the drug as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.In their classic reference book, The Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook, Ross Pelton, PhD, and his coauthors state a little known fact: “Many of the side effects from drug therapy may not be directly due to the drug itself, but rather are the result of nutritional deficiencies that are caused by the drug when taken over time.” The primary mechanisms responsible for the depletion of nutrients, they say, include inhibition of nutrient absorption, synthesis, transport, storage, metabolism, or excretion. A large and growing number of studies now exist to prove that around 150 different classes of drugs can cause nutrient depletion. Unfortunately, however, only rarely is this information communicated to patients.
In the case of hydrochlorothiazide, one of the particularly critical nutrients inhibited is coenzyme Q10. Significantly, a deficiency of coenzyme Q10 is well known to be associated with high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and other cardiovascular problems.
A serious deficiency has also been noted in patients with cancer. As such, far from providing a safe and effective long-term answer to high blood pressure, the use of hydrochlorothiazide inevitably only makes things worse. This is not a problem for the pharmaceutical industry, of course, which continues to benefit from the sale of additional drugs as the health of patients deteriorates.
Fortunately, research conducted at the Dr. Rath Research Institute has proven that there is a safe natural alternative to drugs such as hydrochlorothiazide. Utilizing a carefully chosen group of micronutrients, the institute’s researchers demonstrated this by conducting a clinical pilot trial with high blood pressure patients aged between 32 and 60 years old.
Based on the Cellular Medicine understanding that the main cause of high blood pressure is a chronic deficiency of essential micronutrients in the smooth muscle cells that line the blood vessel walls, the patients were given a specific combination of nutrients including vitamin C, lysine, proline, arginine, magnesium, and others.
At the beginning of the clinical pilot trial, all of the patients had elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure values. Their average systolic blood pressure value was 167 mm Hg, while their average diastolic pressure was 97 mm Hg. After taking the micronutrient combination for a period of 32 weeks, the blood pressures of all the patients had improved. At the end of the trial they had an average systolic reading of 142 mm Hg and an average diastolic reading of 83 mm Hg. These values represent a reduction in systolic pressure of 15 percent, and a reduction in diastolic pressure of more than 14 percent.
As this Cellular Medicine trial shows, high blood pressure patients need no longer subject themselves to an increased risk of cancer and other life-threatening diseases by taking dangerous drugs such as hydrochlorothiazide. With the science to prevent and control high blood pressure naturally now in place, the eradication of this health problem as a scourge of humankind is within sight. The more people who learn about this, the sooner it will happen.