Friday, March 09, 2007

Seems to me that ergot has been used known for a very long time... just not well identified. It is derived from a fungus that grows on grain, especially rye, and has caused out breaks of ergotism - a form of poisoning - throughout history. One of the effects of ergot is to cause vasoconstriction - a narrowing of blood vessels - which if uncontrolled, as in the case of ergot poisoning can cause tissue damage and even gangrene, is thought to be the mechanism whereby it gives relief to migraines. As with so many things in natural medicine and in "conventional" medicine (and even in everyday life!), the difference between a drug and a poison is merely the dose... FDA Tells 20 Firms to Stop Marketing Illegal Migraine Drugs FDA has told 20 companies to stop marketing unapproved drug products containing ergotamine tartrate. The products are used to treat vascular headaches, including migraines. The agency is concerned that the drugs have not undergone FDA review; thus the safety, effectiveness and quality of the products are unknown. The crackdown is part of the Unapproved Drugs Initiative, an agency effort to get unapproved drugs off the market. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01575.html I'm guessing that the FDA is doing this "crackdown" not so much because of the dangers of ergotamine tartrate, but because the products containing this are marketed as being for relief of migraines - and that is a direct threat to the profit profiles of  the patented drug offerings of their masters, Big Pharma. You have all surely seen the TV and magazine ads for these drugs - we have been bombarded by them of late. The FDA is simply protecting its own interests... Anytime a natural substance is found to compete, or threaten to compete with a patent drug you can be sure that the FDA will be there to defend the interests of the Big Pharmaceutical Companies! Cheers, Nurse Mark 10:43:57 AM

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