Natural Anti-inflammatory Properties of
Green-Lipped Mussel Oil

Are natural anti-inflammatory oils the answer to those searching for safe alternatives to NSAIDs (Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs) and all the resulting complications and dangerous side effects?

Why are so many looking for something safer to help control their pain, inflammation and stiffness?

Part of the reason is that pharmaceutical NSAIDs have been responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in the US alone.

Are NSAIDs Really Dangerous?

Did you know that Vioxx, a COX-2 drug, manufactured by Merck and approved by the FDA, was responsible for over 50,000 deaths? And those are the ones we know of; the number may very well be higher. Some have estimated that this figure is more than all US military killed in both the Vietnam War and the War on Iraq combined!

Every year 14,000 Americans die from internal bleeding caused by taking NSAIDs. These drugs destroy the lining of the stomach and intestines and cause so much damage that patients literally bleed to death.

We don’t have figures on Vioxx-caused deaths from other countries. I live outside the U.S., and I was advised to take Vioxx for dental inflammation and pain shortly before it was taken off the market. I didn’t take it, though, because after reading up about it in the vade mecum at the pharmacy, I decided not to

Dr. David Graham's Testimony Before the Select Senate Finance Committee

Dr. David Graham testifying before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee

According to WhistleBlower.org, Dr. David Graham, a 20-year veteran Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist, rocked the pharmaceutical industry with testimony given at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee that shook six multinational corporations and drew vital public attention to the secret life inside the FDA.

On November 18, 2004, Dr. Graham warned, "The problem you are confronting today is immense in scope. Vioxx is a terrible tragedy and a profound regulatory failure. I would argue that the FDA, as currently configured, is incapable of protecting America against another Vioxx. We are virtually defenseless."

It is important to note that many countries around the world look to the FDA as a reference, since they themselves don't have the resources to conduct their own safety studies. What gets approved in the United States has great impact on health around the world.

Dr. Graham finalized his testimony before the Select Finance Committee with these words:

There are 2 analogies I want to leave you with to illustrate the unreasonableness of CDER’s standard of evidence as applied to safety, both pre- and post-approval.

If the weather-man says there is an 80% chance of rain, most people would bring an umbrella. Using CDER’s standard, you wouldn’t bring an umbrella until there was a 95% or greater chance of rain.

The second analogy is more graphic, but I think it brings home the point more clearly. Imagine for a moment that you have a pistol with a barrel having 100 chambers. Now, randomly place 95 bullets into those chambers.

The gun represents a drug and the bullets represent a serious safety problem. Using CDER’s standard, only when you have 95 bullets or more in the gun will you agree that the gun is loaded and a safety problem exists. Let’s remove 5 bullets at random.

We now have 90 bullets distributed across 100 chambers. Because there is only a 90% chance that a bullet will fire when I pull the trigger, CDER would conclude that the gun is not loaded and that the drug is safe.

(Click here to download the pdf file of his testimony.)

It’s just good common sense to seek out safer, gentler, more natural alternatives to pharmaceutical anti-inflammatory drugs.

Green-Lipped Mussel Oil Has No Negative Side Effects.

According to scientific research, green-lipped mussel oil has a high natural anti-inflammatory index with no known side effects--no internal bleeding, no depletion of nutrients, no increase of risk of heart attack or stroke, nor any other side effects have been observed

In Anti-Inflammatory Activity Of A Lipid Fraction(Lyprinol) From The NZ Green-Lipped Mussel, Whitehouse. et al, the researchers found that Lyprinol, a natural anti-inflammatory oil produced from the green-lipped mussel, was "nongastrotoxic in fasted disease-stressed (arthritic) rats at a dose of 300 mg/kg. The same dose of aspirin caused massive gastric hemorrhage."

Rats fed green-lipped mussel oil during the experiment were not found to suffer from any injuries in their stomachs from the oil. In contrast, the researchers found that massive gastric bleeding was caused by feeding the rats the same doses of aspirin. Doesn't it make sense to look for a natural anti-inflammatory?.

In Summary

The bad news is that NSAIDs can double the risk of heart attacks, double the risk of strokes, and cause death by internal bleeding.

And the good news is that there is a safe, natural anti-inflammatory. According to the research, green-lipped mussel oil is a safe, effective, and natural alternative to NSAIDs, without any known negative side effects.

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