According to studies by its manufacturer, Avandia, a diabetes drug, increased the risk of heart attack by 33% ⁽¹⁾

According to Dr. Steven Nissen, diabetics who mix Avandia and the heart medicine, nitroglycerin are creating a virtually sure-fire recipe for a heart attack ⁽¹⁾.  Furthermore, Dr. Nissen states that Avandia should have been pulled from the market in 2005. ⁽¹⁾

Who is Dr. Nissen?  He is the chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and the author of a study showing that Avandia is harmful and should be pulled from the market.

So what does hypnosis have to do with Avandia?  Everything when you know what hypnosis really is and what it isn’t.

Hypnosis is your ability to convince yourself of anything in such a way that your belief must be reflected by your body and by your behavior. 

Hypnosis is NOT a mental “power” that someone has and uses to manipulate unwilling subjects.  That does not exist. 

However, when given enough supposedly good evidence by someone, a person can convince themselves that a certain product is safe and helpful.  In other words, a person can hypnotize themselves into a belief that can actually harm them or others.

For example, a well meaning doctor prescribes a “new and improved” diabetes drug because s/he is convinced it is in their patient’s best interest to take the medication; at least this is what they have been told by the drug manufacturer.  Interestingly, at least 50% of your doctor’s education comes from drug manufacturers ⁽¹⁾

So, what has happened is that the drug manufacturer has hypnotized medical professionals to believe something that in far too many cases has hurt their patients!

Avandia is not the only case of marketing hypnosis.  Many antidepressants are nothing more than expensive but not helpful pills.  This is according to unbiased research⁽²⁾ also known as research not funded by a drug company.

The unsubstantiated belief in the usefulness of certain drugs is a clear demonstration of marketing triumphing over science.  Another way to put it is that drug companies are very, very skilled at hypnotizing very intelligent people.

Of course, the drug companies may tilt the “facts” in their favor so that doctors and others are more inclined to believe them.   “No!” you may cry.  “The drug companies would cheat in order to sell huge amounts of useless and sometimes really harmful drugs?” you ask aghast. 

I’m not saying pharmaceutical companies have fooled your doctor into prescribing harmful drugs. 

I am suggesting that you Google the name “Scott Reuben”.  What you will find will disturb you greatly.   You see, Scott S. Reuben was a professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Reuben was considered a prolific and influential researcher in pain management, and his “scientific study” findings (21 of them) altered the way millions of patients are now treated for pain during and after orthopedic surgeries.

Reuben has now admitted that he never conducted any of the clinical trials on which his conclusions were based and upon which many, many hospitals based their procedures and medication recommendations.

The point here is that a number of Reuben’s studies were the entire basis for doctors prescribing Celebrex and Lyrica.  Imagine how happy the drug companies were.

Let me please remind you what hypnosis is.  It is your ability to convince yourself of anything based on what you consider to be acceptable evidence. 

Are you hypnotized into believing that the drug companies have your best interests in mind?  Your doctor could be.  Take control of your health.  Do not rely on someone else. 

By the way, have you started a new medication lately and felt “funny”? 

My rule of thumb is this: I will never take a medication that has not been on the market for at least 8 years.  I used to say 5 years but for some reason it is taking longer and longer for the harmfulness of some medications to be taken seriously.

Here’s a few final points to this brief but very important article:

1-      Hypnotists are trained to help you to take control of your health and happiness in deep and powerful ways.

2-      Drug companies have made some important contributions but let’s look at the bottom line: Do they really want you to get better?  What really motivates them?

Avandia, a harmful diabetes medication, has been sold to millions because of massively funded “hypnotic marketing”. 

Remember these two words: “Buyer Beware" - especially before you buy what you see advertised on TV.

The article author,  C. Devin Hastings, (pictured above) is the President of the Minnesota Institute of Advanced Communication Skills, owner of MindBody Hypnosis and creator of several hypnosis books and over 30 hypnosis/self-help audio and video programs.

REFERENCES:

(1)    Facts expressed by doctors Steven Nissen and Richard Bergenstal can be heard here: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/tools/podcasts/midmorning-podcast-hr2.php

(2)    http://www.newsweek.com/2010/01/28/the-depressing-news-about-antidepressants.html