Poisoning our Mitochondria with Pharmaceuticals

It is no secret that most drugs are mitochondrial poisons. A study published in the scientific journal Cell Reports, calls for caution when using this family of antibiotics because they are suffocating the mitochondria of a wide range of organisms. The authors of the study said that the effects were huge. “After several days of treatment with high doses of doxycycline, mitochondrial respiration was visibly altered. More surprising still, the consequences were observed all the way down the food chain, from mammals to flies to nematode worms to plants.”

Dr. Gary G. Kohls says, “Common iatrogenic (drug- or doctor-caused) diseases can be caused by commonly prescribed drugs and/or commonly injected vaccine ingredients, which are making many of us highly drugged, malnourished, environmentally-toxic and also thoroughly vaccinated.” Dr. Kohl continues, “Many of these disorders are actually caused by prescription drugs, vaccines and/or other toxic chemicals that are poisoning the mitochondria in our brains, nerves, muscles and other organs. Thus we are being afflicted by preventable, iatrogenic- or industry-caused diseases.”

“All classes of psychotropic drugs have been documented to damage mitochondria, as have statin medications, analgesics such as acetaminophen, and many others. Mitochondrial damage is now understood to play a role in a wide range of seemingly unrelated disorders such as schizophrenia, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Recently it has become known that iatrogenic (physician or treatment-caused) mitochondrial damage explains many adverse reactions from medications,” writes Dr. John Neustadt and Dr. Steven Pieczenik. Statin medications are also implicated.[1]

Many articles talk about how fluoroquinolones damage mitochondria, which then leads to mitochondrial dysfunction, have been published. In Science Translational Medicine, “Bactericidal Antibiotics Induce Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Oxidative Damage in Mammalian Cells,” it is noted that bactericidal antibiotics, including ciprofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone, “damage mammalian tissues by triggering mitochondrial release of reactive oxygen species (ROS).”What can we possibly say about a professional field (medicine) that still uses fluoroquinolones, which have been reported repeatedly to have horrendous side effects?

I received a letter from a professional colleague named George Eby in 2007 that stated that his daughter was destroyed by the terrible side effects of a special type of antibiotic called fluoroquinolones. He said:

“My daughter was stricken with this horrible affliction. Cipro sensitivity causes long term (multiple years to life) chronic pain, weakness and tendon weakness leading to tendon breakage and many other horrible effects, some physical and some mental. This is something that everyone needs to know about. We have been destroyed by cipro. I don’t think there is much anyone can do, except to give her magnesium, which is somewhat of an antidote. I am very worried but I haven’t lost hope, but I am being realistic. Some of the tendon damage is necrotic and permanent. However, we have studies with rattlesnake venom that produce necrosis on animals and simply applying magnesium (chloride) and zinc (gluconate) topically, the necrosis vanishes.” Ten days later I received this email from George.

“Topical magnesium chloride for 10 days = well daughter!”undefined

There is a power and a force in magnesium chloride that cannot be equaled anywhere else in the world of medicine. There is no substitute for magnesium in human physiology; nothing comes even close to it in terms of its effect on overall cell physiology. It goes against a strong gale wind of medical science to ignore magnesium chloride used transdermally in the treatment of any chronic or acute disorder.

Obviously mitochondrial function needs to be supported, not impeded but that is just too difficult for the medical establishment, addicted to the use of mitochondrial poisons, to understand. Dr. Katherine Sims from Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital explains why identifying potential toxic agents from medications to environmental factors is an essential part of managing mitochondrial disease. Dr. Sims says that establishing mitochondrial toxicity is not an FDA requirement for drug approval, so there is no real way of knowing which agents are truly toxic. Her list of mitochondrial toxic agents include:

Table of Reported Drugs with Mitochondrial Toxicity

Anticonvulsants

Psychotropic Drugs

Cholesterol Medications

Analgesics and Anti-inflammatories

Aspirin and the NSAIDS

Antiobiotics (specifically tetracycline, minocycline, chloramphenical, and Aminoglycosides)

Steroids

Anesthesia

Surgery

Environmental Agents

Endogenous Stress Related Hormones

[1] Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 2008, 52, 780 – 788