A number of drugs interfere with digestion and the absorption of all foodstuffs and of most vitamins and minerals, resulting in deficiencies which, in turn, cause some damage to every part of the body. Several drugs, such as sulfanilamide and aminopterin, called vitamin antagonists, are effective because they replace vitamins in cells and enzyme systems without performing their functions; when these drugs are no longer needed, their toxic effects can be overcome by eating foods rich in the B vitamins. Dicumarol, given to retard blood clotting, inactivates vitamin A; and its effectiveness can be increased by giving this vitamin. The toxicity of isoniazid, used in treating tuberculosis, is prevented by vitamin . Penicillin also increases the need for vitamin B6, and can cause brain damage which this vitamin is said to prevent. Young children given the antibiotic tetracycline develop unsightly yellow pigmentation on their teeth, thought to be due to the destruction of vitamin E.

Streptomycin makes manganese unavailable and keeps it from being used in many vital enzyme systems, thus causing paralysis, convulsions, blindness, and deafness in infants, and dizziness, ear noises, and loss of hearing in adults, all said to be prevented if manganese, supplied by wheat germ, is added to the diet.

Oral antibiotics have brought on hemorrhages and multiple B-vitamin deficiencies by destroying valuable intestinal bacteria, which synthesize vitamin K and the B vitamins. The fungus Monilia albicans then frequently develops and may grow not only in the intestines but also in the vagina, lungs, mouth (causing thrush), or on the fingers and under the fingernails; sometimes it induces ulcers in the colon, or large intestine,89 but severe itching around the anus is generally its most annoying symptom. Although such an infection frequently continues for years, it can be prevented or corrected by unusually large amounts of the B vitamins; and often it disappears from the intestine in a few days after bacteria have been supplied by taking yogurt or acidophilus milk or culture. Such fungus infestations can occur without antibiotics if the intake of B vitamins is low, but rarely in the intestine.

Diuretics, given to increase the flow of urine, bring about such a marked loss of potassium, magnesium, the B vitamins, and apparently all nutrients that dissolve in water.

Although research indicates that drug toxicity can be largely prevented by an adequate diet, the problem is to know which nutrient or nutrients may be required in excessive amounts to meet the increased needs caused by different drugs. It may never be known how all the medications now on the market affect vitamins, minerals, enzyme systems, and other body compounds. For example, approximately 12 per cent of patients given certain drugs containing benzothiadiazines have developed diabetes, but no one knows which nutrients to increase to prevent the disease. Dozens of drugs cause anemia by destroying nutrients needed for blood building and/or by breaking down red blood cells,99 but exactly how the diet should be varied to cope with each of the drugs is not known. Approximately 1,000 promising new drugs are released each year to be tested on patients; neither the physician nor the manufacturer knows what toxic effects may appear, and the patient is usually unaware that an untested drug is being given him.

Why did the thalidomide tragedy occur? The fact that nutritional requirements increase tremendously during pregnancy undoubtedly played some role. Other tragedies are being caused by giving pregnant women oral synthetic progesterone, which is resulting in girls being born with overdeveloped male sex organs, thus bringing untold anguish to parents and unimaginable psychological damage to the children themselves. Instead of determining sex by the time-honored method of a glance, the chromosome pattern of these babies must first be studied.

Possibly vitamin E would prevent the toxicity of this drug, which is still being sold, and make its use unnecessary, but as yet no one knows. When a drug must be taken about which little is known, it becomes of paramount importance to see that the nutrition is improved to the utmost. The attitude is all too prevalent that a drug is safe simply because a reputable doctor " has prescribed it. The reason the law requires that most drugs be sold only on prescription is that they are dangerous."

Let Your Physician Be The Judge

Drugs have received so much publicity that patients frequently demand that one or another be given them. Many a doctor, in order to protect his patients' health, has wisely given a placebo, an inert tablet, perhaps of milk sugar, or a somewhat expensive injection of distilled water, which, incidentally, often achieves amazingly good results.

Although the American Medical Association has long pointed out that antibiotics are ineffective in treating virus infections, last year in our community a young mother who requested penicillin for slight sniffles died minutes later in anaphylactic shock. Unfortunately, this case is far from an isolated one. The reason for consulting a doctor is to obtain the advantage of his years of experience and specialized training. Let him be the judge of the medications needed; and if a drug does prove to be toxic, realize that neither it nor the doctor may be at fault, but, rather, the inadequacy of the diet.

Drugs induce stress. All drugs, by their toxicity, induce a condition of stress, which particularly increases the need for vitamin C, pantothenic acid, the antistress factors, and perhaps for everybody requirement. Because most drugs can damage the liver, the body's demands for protein and vitamin E are also especially high. The more adequate the diet can be made, therefore, the more effective the drug, and the shorter the time it need be taken.

Physicians are often criticized for writing too many prescriptions, but none has ever been written for the person who maintains good health.