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Shocking report by Seb

ANTI-DEPRESSANTS TO CHILDREN

Here's a headline: "5 year olds on anti-depressants!"

Hundreds of thousands of children as young as 5 are taking Prozac and other mood-altering drugs that have been approved only for adults and have undergone little or no pediatric testing. Sounds like a joke, right? That's what you think when you hear something like this, but you will be amazed that it is true! In Northern Ireland, children as young as 5 years of age are on anti-depressants; same in the US and many other countries. How crazy. What a sad statement about the world we live in.

As a company, heavily concerned with your general health as well as physical health, LA Muscle will address the issue of anti-depressants in this article.

From 1996 to 1997 in the USA, the number of children ages 5 and under taking the most commonly prescribed anti-depressants climbed from 8,000 to 40,000. During that same 12-month period, the total number of youngsters 17 and under who were prescribed Prozac or its primary competitors, Zoloft and Paxil, rose by more than 120,000 from 669,000 to 792,000. [Prozac was launched in 1988.]

The National Institute of Mental Health in the USA has estimated that as many as 1.5 million children and adolescents are seriously depressed. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry puts the number of "seriously" depressed children and adolescents at 3.4 million.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft only for use in adults, although it's legal for doctors to prescribe them for children. It is also profitable for them to prescribe them to children.

From a US survey of office-based physicians, it was found that in 1998, doctors issued a total of 1,664,000 prescriptions for Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and Luvox for patients 18 and younger. You don't need to work out that this was a lot of profit for a select group of people, mainly the chiefs of pharmaceutical companies that hold the patents for these drugs. What is disturbing is that these hundreds of thousands of children on anti-depressants are in addition to the nearly one million children who are on Ritalin, a drug which physicians themselves believe is one of the most over-prescribed drugs for children.

WHAT IS DEPRESSION?

The exact cause of depression is not known. There are two different types of depression, clinical and situational. Clinical is the result of a long-term imbalance of chemicals in the brain and situational is a result of catastrophic yet temporary events in a person's life. Depending on what type of depression it is determines the way it is usually treated.

Women appear to experience depression about twice as often as men. This may reflect hormonal changes that occur with the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, miscarriage, postpartum, perimenopause and menopause. Although men have less reported cases of depression, the suicide rate among men is four times greater than women. Hey guys, take it easy!

There are many symptoms of actual clinical depression such as:

• Feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and worthlessness
• Feeling sad most of the day, nearly every day - usually for 2 weeks or more
• Thoughts of death and suicide
• Loss of interest in things you used to enjoy
• Lack of energy, lethargy
• Changes in sleep and your appetite
• Changes in weight, can go up or down depending on the individual
• Difficulty making decisions or mental slowing

Major chronic depression is very common, affecting about 25% of the population at some time in their lives. Depression can ruin lives, relationships and even lead to death. The risk of suicide in the general population is 1%; in the depressed population it is 15%.

WHAT HAPPENS CHEMICALLY?

Neurotransmitters are chemicals in the brain that carry messages from one cell to another. When there are improper balances in neurotransmitters, various diseases result, including depression.

When a neurotransmitter is released from a cell, it is only allowed a short time to relay the message to a neighbouring cell before the body destroys it or takes it back up into the cell (known as reuptake), thus ending its effects. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibiting drugs (SSRIs) inhibit the reuptake of serotonin. [although they may also have a little activity inhibiting the reuptake of other neurotransmitters, thereby accounting for the varied effectiveness of different SSRIs in a given individual.]

SSRI's are the first-line of treatment for major depression used by doctors. They increase levels of serotonin in the brain by inhibiting its reuptake and destruction. Because they act specifically on serotonin, they have fewer side-effects than do tricyclic anti-depressants, which affect a number of chemicals in the body.

Tricyclic anti-depressants affect the uptake of norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine to different degrees. Several new anti-depressants are classified as atypical because their action is not well understood. An older class of antidepressants, the monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), increase the levels of norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine by inhibiting an enzyme that inactivates them (similar to inhibiting the reuptake).

Various anti-depressants are widely used by doctors all over the world, according to what they feel is necessary. The question is though, is it necessary to give a 5 year old child anti-depressants? What kind of a world are we living in, that we accept a prescription for anti-depressants to a child who has barely entered this world?

Here are some common side effects of anti-depressants: Hair loss, sleepiness, weight gain, feeling hazy in the morning, decreased sex drive, increased sleep required, increased appetite, anxiety, nausea, crying jags, aggression, constipation, lack of appetite, insomnia, brain tremors, sweating, general sexual dysfunction, difficulty urinating, aggravated carpal tunnel syndrome, tremors, sweating, confusion, loss of memory, dizziness zombie-like feeling...

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Psychological problems and depression are a major problem in today's society. Whether you agree or not, the way we live has changed dramatically. Our foods are full of artificial ingredients - that's if they contain any real food in the first place - our media is full of violence and sad stories and the general mood of the world an unhappy one.

There is no doubt that some people are chronically depressed and need serious medical attention. However for the majority, they can first try changing their diets, their associations (hanging out with happier people) and their lifestyle, such as the things they watch on television or read in newspapers.

Obviously if someone is depressed because of a death in the family, there is not much that can be done. It is however important to distinguish between mourning, being upset, being lost and actually being "chronically depressed". Whilst doctors do a good job dealing with chronically depressed individuals, it does seem like they are too willing to prescribe anti-depression medication to anyone who is not "happy".

SOME SELF-HELP TIPS

1. Have goals and things that you look forward to. Have both short term and long term goals. By the way, these need to be "happy" goals. Your goal can't be: "I am going to kill myself tomorrow!".
2. Have short term goals like: "I am going to go to the gym today". Or long-term like: "I am going to get fitter or healthier".
3. Don't label yourself depressed and try not to moan too much. It is good to talk to others, but if your mind keeps hearing you moaning and talking about how depressed you are then that's what it will believe.
4. Make sure you exercise. Whether this is just walking or hitting the gym, you need to exercise.
5. Remember what you used to enjoy and do them. Ask no questions and make no excuses, just do what you enjoy no matter what.
6. Think of what you might enjoy doing and plan to do it. This can be anything like starting a hobby to changing some aspects of your life.
7. Don't over-sleep. Get up after around 8 hours then get moving. Excess sleep can make you worse.
8. Go out in the sun. One of the major reasons why some countries have a higher depression rate is that they see less of the sun. So make sure you go out in the sun and enjoy it.
9. Stay away from alcohol and drugs. These may seem like solutions to your problems, but they don't help. Not only do they bring depression on, they also delay you from dealing with your life.
10. You can try increasing Omega-3 Fatty Acids in your diet. Take around 1-3g a day.
11. Supplement with a good Vitamin B-Complex. This can help you greatly.
12. Stay away from anything that contains Aspartame. This toxic man-made substance has been shown to increase symptoms usually associated with depression. Aspartame is routinely found in diet products, chewing gum, diet drinks and these days most protein powders. In fact, it is pretty much every-where.
13. Take one day at a time. Don't think too much about the past or the future. Do things in bits and don't take too much on. If you start getting unhappy thoughts, break them. Do an activity. Get out of the pattern. Remember the good times and bear it in mind that everyone's life has ups and downs. There are many people far less fortunate than you right now.
14. Don't blame yourself for feeling unhappy. It is most definitely not your fault.
15. Use St John's Wort (more below)

ST JOHN'S WORT

This is an amazing herbal supplement that seems to really work for depression. Millions of people who can benefit from this amazing herb don't take it because either they haven't heard of it or they don't believe in it.

Common reasons for not trying it are things like "it has not been tested". Well, let's have a look at this "testing question":

The testing of any medicine, herbal or man made, cost's a lot of money. A pharmaceutical company is no different than any other company insofar as the main goal is to make money. Spending, lets say, £400,000 to test Prozac during it's onset, is what anyone would call a good investment. The reason is this; anti-depressants such as Prozac are patented. They cannot be sold generically. The pharmaceutical company that makes Prozac can charge whatever they want for the it. Same with the Pharmaceutical company that makes Zoloft, well over £60 a bottle. It is obviously going to do well as depression is big business. So the £400.000 investment for Prozac testing is very wise from a business standpoint.

Now lets take that same £400.000 and test St John's Wort. St John's Wort and other supplements have been tested and proven to be as effective as Prozac and Zoloft with less side effects. St John's Wort however, cannot be patented, it's a plant. When converted into supplements, St John's sell for about £6 a bottle. If I was a pharmaceutical business man I would opt for the Prozac testing. In fact, not only would I opt for the Prozac testing. I would do whatever I could to keep the public from knowing about the £6 alternative. It's good for business. So now do you get the picture?

St John's Wort can greatly help many people with depression. This may not be the "cure" for depression, but it can really help. In preparation for this article I spoke to many people who have taken St John's Wort. They all speak of this herb taking them out of the helpless doom and gloom feeling they had. They talk about how even if they wanted to cry, they couldn't. How St John's Wort gave them a breather so they can sort their lives out.

There are some drug interactions with St. John's wort. It can increase the metabolism of some drugs, including birth control pills and the protease inhibitors used in the treatment of AIDS; so it may be worth mentioning it to your doctor (though their reaction may not be so positive). There is also increased sensitivity to the sun with St. John's wort.

CONCLUSION

As you know, LA Muscle does not sell St John's Wort. This article has not been written to sell you a product. Hopefully by now you are aware that we are not just about selling you products. We want you to benefit from your association with us in many ways. We believe the points in this article can help a small number of our customers, so for us it was worth doing the research. We sincerely hope you have benefited from this article. Remember that being unhappy does not equate with being chronically depressed. If you are chronically depressed, there are many things you can do about it.

The views in this article are in no way a substitute for medical opinion or treatment. If you suspect you have a problem, always consult your doctor.