“Show me the evidence.  Show me the double blind clinical trials”

I hear the above statements almost every day.  We see articles from people like Dr. Mercola and others that demand to see the results from clinical research trials performed in the USA.  It is not enough for the naysayers to read research from Korea or Japan, because they are supposedly “not up to American standards so you can’t trust them”.  It has not been enough to provide them with a mountain of anecdotal evidence in the past, but maybe it is time to take a closer look.  

I can’t provide a list due to privacy reasons, but I have been informed that there are a number of research trials being conducted that are testing the benefits of ionized water in the USA.  While we wait for the results of the studies, lets look at the whole anecdotal evidence versus clinical trial argument.

Let me start off by saying that clinical trials are important and necessary.  Our society relies upon doctors to prescribe us safe and effective drugs.  Our doctors learn about the pharmacology, efficacy, safety, and side effect profiles from the pharmaceutical companies.  In effect, we rely upon the pharmaceutical companies to satisfy our enormous and expensive appetite for fixing the problems in our bodies that would never fall into disrepair if we just took better care of them. 

Should we trust the drug companies? 

The FDA doesn’t.  That is why it costs up to a billion dollars for the drug companies to satisfy the FDA before the almighty stamp of approval is given. 

Don’t think for one second that the drug companies are doing anything but trying to enhance their profits for their shareholders.  I’m not against profits, but lets just make sure everyone understands how things work.

Should we trust the FDA?

Yes and no.  The FDA has the burden of responding to an endless amount of research from drug companies and the organization is always under a tremendous amount of pressure to approve drugs that may be able help our citizens. 

Here are just three drugs that have gone very very wrong:

Thalidomide (tranquillizer): caused 10,000 disfigured children bef0re being withdrawn

Phenformin (diabetes): caused 1,000 deaths annually until withdrawn

Isoproterenol (asthma): caused 3,500 deaths before being withdrawn

The list of approved drugs that were later withdrawn is long and scary.  The push to approve Celebrex and Vioxx a  few years ago created enormous profits before the side effects forced the products off the shelves.  The “outbreak” of H1N1 that was “threatening our nation” created a panic of unseen proportions in recent times to have people get vaccinated.  Funny how the $10 billion of profit was made by the company that provided the drugs and then the entire issue just disappeared almost overnight.  The H1N1 vaccination was never properly tested, but there it was in your face every time you turned on the TV or radio.

Clinical trials start with animals, and animals are not humans and are not like humans in many important ways.

Human clinical trials are subject to all kinds of errors and omissions. They often rely upon submissions by doctors who are paid handsomely to provide the information.

The FDA officials that we entrust our safety to, enjoy easy access to high paying jobs with the drug companies that they are supposed to be monitoring, once they leave the FDA.  I’m  not pointing any fingers here, I’m just relaying the facts.

I don’t want to bash the FDA, as I believe they play an important role in our health care system, but if you want to read an alarming article about the pharmaceutical industry, click here: www.detoxifynow.com/drug_racket.html and the follow up article at www.detoxifynow.com/drug_racket2.html

What about anecdotal evidence?

Anecdotal evidence can be both good and bad. 

The downside to anecdotal evidence is that just like the information that is provided from clinical trials, the information can be biased or incomplete. The fact that anecdotal evidence is not monitored by a regulatory authority obviously leaves it open to manipulation.  For instance, someone selling a product could claim that their cancer was cured by their product, when in fact, the vendor may have never had cancer or the product was not responsible for the cure at all.  When it comes to making a profit, greed extends far beyond the pharmaceutical companies. 

I’m a big believer in anecdotal evidence when it comes to ionized water.  Why?  I have experienced the benefits of the water myself.  I have also talked to hundreds of people that have benefited from the water who have no financial incentive to share their stories. 

The key to making anecdotal evidence reliable is to verify the validity of the story.  Without validation, a story is just a story.

Please help me build a mountain

I invite anyone reading this article to share their story about how ionized water has helped you. You won’t receive anything but my thanks, and the appreciation of our readers. I will verify your story by contacting you and discussing your story.  I hope to use this blog to create a mountain of verifiable anecdotal evidence that supports the use of ionized water. The naysayers have every right to question anecdotal evidence, especially if it comes from isolated stories that can’t be verified. However, if we can build a mountain, people will be much more likely to take notice.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.