BEWARE of alternative ways to treat aging. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear about, or am asked about, or read about, or see advertised — some type of product that is supposed to make you look or feel younger. There are herbal medicines, Asian roots, special juices, and all types of mail order drugs that “enhance” your health in some way. “Problems with the tips of fingers” is what was written on her chart. When I examined the female college student in my examining room, my eyes were immediately drawn to the tips of all her fingers. They were as black as charcoal, and from the base of her fingernails to the tips of her fingers, the skin looked like wrinkled dried black leather. She was taking some type of herbal capsule to lose weight. Many of her classmates had lost a lot of weight. She had actually lost eight pounds herself. It was working. But something else was working within her body. With her, that “medicine” caused her to lose the tips of all her fingers because it had caused severe spasm in the small arteries of her fingers. The FDA runs tests on all drugs presented to them. Their first test is to make sure the medication causes no harm. I have had cancer patients try similar alternatives. Whether you want to lose weight or defeat cancer, beware of alternative treatment. If there has not been a certified trial on a drug — if there has not been a double-blind study on the medication — beware.
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