by totalhealth editors
Drug-induced Nutrient Depletions
Every day physicians write millions of prescriptions and patients dutifully go to their local pharmacies to get their medications. People trust their doctors and expect that the drugs they are instructed to take will make them well.
Frequently things go as planned and people
get better. On the other hand, the United
States is the sickest country in the world.Our
health care budget is approaching $2 trillion
annually and Americans spend over
$150 billion on prescription drugs. Instead
of gaining health from all this money that
is spent, we have the highest rate of
chronic degenerative disease in the
world. Obviously something is drastically
wrong. One aspect of the problem may
be explained in a recently published book
titled The Nutritional Cost of Prescription
Drugs (How to maintain good nutrition
while using prescription drugs) by Ross
Pelton, Rh.D. and James LaValle, Rh. D.
These two outstanding pharmacists
and educators in the field of health and
nutrition, alert health professionals and
consumers to the fact that approximately
1,000 commonly prescribed prescription
drugs and many over-the-counter (OTC)
medications deplete one or more nutrients
in humans. Could it be possible that
millions of people are taking medications
that unknowingly deplete their bodies of
essential nutrients, which in turn creates
more health problems?
According to the authors, studies
reporting drug-induced nutrient depletions
have been appearing in the scienti.c
literature for decades. However, most of
this information did not get publicized to
health professionals or the general public.
Literally hundreds of scientific studies
remained buried in a myriad of scienti.c
journals throughout the world. Now that
all this research has been rounded up,
organized and reported in one book, the
topic of drug-induced nutrient depletions
is beginning to receive the recognition
that it deserves.
Commonly prescribed drugs that
cause nutrient depletions include oral
contraceptives, estrogen replacement
therapy medications, anticonvulsants,
antidietetic, antihypertensive, antiinflammatory and ulcer drugs, cholesterollowering
drugs, beta blockers,
phenothiazines, tricyclic antidepressants,
benzodiazepines and antibiotics.
In fact, a survey of prescription drug use
revealed that 12 of the top 20 drugs prescribed
in the United States are drugs
that can cause serious nutrient depletions.
Thus it is evident that this problem
is affecting the lives and health of tens of
millions of people.
Many individuals who regularly take
medications may not be adversely
affected by the nutrient depletions. However,
consider the following facts. Millions of
people regularly eat nutritionally-deficient
meals at fast food restaurants. A nutritional
survey sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture reported that
80 percent of Americans do not consume
the recommended dietary allowance
(RDA) for one or more of the essential
nutrients on a daily basis. Results from
the government-sponsored National
Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
(NHANES-II) revealed that 91 percent of
Americans do not eat the suggested servings
of vegetables and fruits on a daily
basis. In addition to these nutritional
problems, many people also have fastpaced,
high-stress lifestyles, can’t find
time to exercise and live in a world where
environmental pollution is at an all-time
high. Now if we give drugs to people who
are sick and those drugs further deplete
their bodies of nutrients, it just increases
the likelihood that additional health
problems will develop. Following are a
few examples of nutrient depletion
caused by major categories of prescription
drugs.
ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES
In 2001, oral contraceptives constituted
the seventh largest category of prescription
drugs in the United States,
accounting for more than 82 million prescriptions
written, which represented
approximately 2.6 percent of the total
prescription drug market.
Oral contraceptives deplete folic acid,
vitamins B6, B12, B1, B2, B3, vitamin C and
minerals magnesium, selenium and zinc.
Oral contraceptives and folic acid
depletion: Folic acid depletion can cause
some serious health problems, especially
in women. Folic acid de.ciency can cause
anemia, birth defects, cervical dysplasia,
elevated homocysteine, headache,
fatigue, depression, hair loss, anorexia,
insomnia, diarrhea, nausea and increased infections. Folic acid deficiency
also is associated with an increased risk
for developing breast cancer and colorectal
cancer.
Oral contraceptive and vitamin B6
depletion: Depletion of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
can cause depression and
insomnia and it poses an increased risk
for cardiovascular disease.
Oral contraceptives and vitamin B12
depletion: Vitamin B12 deficiency can
cause anemia, which results in fatigue,
tiredness and weakness. Vitamin B12 deficiency is a common cause of depression,
especially in elderly people. Inadequate
B12 also causes elevated homocysteine,
which poses a seriously increased risk of
cardiovascular disease. If serious B12 deficiencies are not corrected, long-term irreversible
neurological damage can occur.
Oral contraceptives deplete vitamin B1:
A deficiency of vitamin B1 can cause
depression, irritability, memory loss,
muscle weakness and edema.
Oral contraceptives and vitamin B2
depletion: Symptoms associated with
vitamin B2 (ribo.avin) de.ciency include
problems with the skin, eyes, mucous
membrane and nerves.
Oral contraceptives and vitamin B3
depletion: Women have disturbances in the
metabolism of tryptophan and outbreaks of
pellagra at twice the rate of men.
Oral contraceptives and vitamin C
depletion: Vitamin C depletion can result
in a weakened immune system. Low
levels of vitamin C can accelerate aging
damage because of increased free radical
damage. In one study, ophthalmologists
expressed their concern that vitamin C
depletion might increase the risk of
developing glaucoma and cataracts.
Oral contraceptives and magnesium
depletion: In general, magnesium depletion
can cause cardiac arrhythmias, high
blood pressure and various other cardiovascular-
related problems, osteoporosis,
muscle cramps, PMS and an increase in the
frequency and severity of asthma attacks.
Oral contraceptives and selenium depletion: Selenium is an important
antioxidant nutrient. A de.ciency of selenium
increases the risk for diseases such
as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
People who are selenium-deficient are
subject to increased free radical damage,
which accelerates the aging process.
Oral contraceptives and zinc depletion:
Zinc is a mineral that is important
to the immune system. A zinc de.ciency
can cause slow healing of wounds and a
weakened immune system. A zinc deficiency
also results in insulin resistance, a
loss of the senses of taste and smell and
infertility and sexual dysfunction in both
men and women.
ULCER MEDICATIONS
Ulcer medication is one of the largest
selling category of drugs in the pharmaceutical
industry. There are two main
classes of ulcer medications. The first
group (cimetidine, ranitidine, famotidine
and nizatadine) belong to a class of
drugs known as the H-2 Receptor
Antagonists or H-2 Blockers. More
recently a class of drugs known as the
proton pump inhibitors (omeprazole and
lansoprazole) have become very successful.
Omeprazole has been one of the
top selling prescription drugs in the
United States, accounting for nearly $3
billion in annual sales.
These drugs function by lowering the
amount of stomach acid, which can
relieve the pain associated with heartburn,
acid indigestion and ulcers.
However the level of acidity in the gastrointestinal
tract is a critical factor that
regulates the absorption of many nutrients.
In the process of making the GI tract
less acidic, ulcer medications inhibit the
absorption of various vitamins and minerals.
Studies have reported that H-2
receptor antagonists deplete vitamin B12,
folic acid, vitamin D and the minerals calcium,
iron and zinc. Because the proton
pump inhibitors are a newer class of
drugs, fewer studies have been conducted
regarding nutrient depletions. To
date vitamin B12 is the only vitamin that
has been documented to be depleted by
the proton pump inhibitors. There is an
added concern regarding the H-2
receptor antagonists because the FDA
has allowed them to be taken off
prescription-only status. This means
people can have unlimited access to these
medications without any monitoring or
advice from health professionals.
The possible health problems related
to the depletion of folic acid, vitamin B12
and zinc were mentioned earlier during
the discussion of oral contraceptives.
Additional nutrient depletions associated
with ulcer drugs include the following.
Depletion of vitamin D could
result in skeletal problems such as osteoporosis
as well as muscle weakness,
tooth decay and hearing loss. Problems
associated with calcium depletion
include osteoporosis, heart and blood
pressure irregularities and tooth decay.
Depletion of iron could result in hair loss,
brittle nails and anemia, with accompanying
feelings of weakness, fatigue and
low energy.
CHOLESTEROL LOWERING DRUGS
The pharmaceutical alternative for hypercholesterolemic
people is to use cholesterol
lowering medications called statins.
The term statin is a common term used
for this drug category because they all
end with the suffix “-statin.” Commonly
used drugs in this category include atorvastatin
(Lipitor), cerivastatin (Baycol),
lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin
(Pravachol) and simvastatin (Zocor).
Statins are the top-selling drugs in
America with projected sales in 2004 to
reach $19 billion. However, statins are
associated with many negative side
effects including liver problems, cancer,
nerve damage and depletion of CoQ10.
The “statin” drugs work on the enzyme
HMG CoA reductase, the rate-limiting
enzyme responsible for cholesterol synthesis.
CoQ10 also shares this same
biosynthetic pathway. Therefore, one
unfortunate consequence of consuming
a statin drug is the unintentional inhibition
of CoQ10 synthesis.
Coenzyme Q10 is an extremely important
antioxidant that also performs vital
roles in generating energy in the mitochondria
of all cells. Because the heart is
the most active muscle in the human
body, a decline in energy resulting from a
deficiency of CoQ10 first affects the heart,
and now it is thought that a CoQ10 deficiency might be one of the main causes
of congestive heart failure. In addition to
providing antioxidant protection within
the mitochondria, coenzyme Q10 protects
LDL cholesterol from free radical oxidation.
Individuals who are deficient in
coenzyme Q10 are at increased risk for
cardiovascular disease and also incur
more free radical damage, which accelerates
the aging process.
The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs
is available from Morton Publishing
Company at 1-800-348-3777 or
www.morton-pub.com.
Retail price is $19.95.
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