One in 5 have chronic pain. What's the cause? Could be drugs prescribed for pain (yes, pain), diabetes, or osteoporosis. Or it could be from muscle imbalances, heavy metals, or nutrient deficiencies.
A series on identifying the root causes of disease. Use quick links to verify research and sources.
FDA: Osteoporosis Drugs Caused “Severe” and “Incapacitating” Pain
Bisphosphonate drugs [prescribed for osteoporosis]… may cause severe and even “incapacitating” musculoskeletal pain, says the FDA in an alert.
Opioids Cause Increased Sensitivity to Pain
Even at safe doses, [opioids] can cause… increased sensitivity to pain.
A Common Effect from Metformin is Pain
Common side effects [of metformin include]… lower back or side pain, muscle pain.
Contents
Genes Aren’t the Problem (So, What Is?)
Implications
Chronic Pain is Very Different from Acute Pain
Root Causes of Chronic Pain
Toxic Drugs as First-Line Treatment?
Context: See how this subject fits in the bigger picture, and get links to related topics
Genes Aren’t the Problem (So, What Is?)
With knowledge of causal factors, true healing is possible.
Establishment medicine has long promoted the belief that genes are a “blueprint” for a person’s biology and health. This was proven incorrect by the Human Genome Project completed in 2003.
Defective genes are spoken about as if they are “disease time bombs,” fatalistically programmed to go off inside of us... And yet, despite common misconceptions… diseases that result from errors in the nucleotide sequence of a single gene… [account for] less than 1% of all diseases… Following the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, it is no longer accurate to say that our genes “cause” disease.
Genomic researcher Craig Venter remarked… “Genes have very little impact on life outcomes. Our biology is way too complicated for that and deals with hundreds of thousands of independent factors. Genes are absolutely not our fate. They can give us useful information about the increased risk of a disease, but in most cases they will not determine the actual cause of the disease, or the actual incidence of somebody getting it.” … As we migrate from one country to another, our chances of being diagnosed with most chronic illnesses are determined not by the country we come from but by the country we migrate to… [and] the concordance between identical twins for breast cancer was found to be only 20%. Instead of our genes, our lifestyle and environment account for 90–95% of our most chronic illnesses.
Genes are better understood as potentialities.
Genes express differently based on the cells’ environment — which means our exposure to toxins, nutrients, stress, exercise, and so on.
Those environmental factors determine whether genes are “signaled” or not.
Implications
The presumption that conditions that seemed to “run in the family” were due to genetic inheritance overlooked all the other things (the “environment”) that family members may share: the food they eat, the toxins in their water, the electro-magnetics in their area, the chemicals in their cleaning products, the way they deal with emotions, their stress levels and so on.
The implications of the genetic “blueprint” model were profound and long-lasting. Western medicine promoted the false belief that disease is due to genetic inheritance, propagating a medical system built on the false belief of fated outcomes and “no cures”, resulting in:
Helplessness, disempowerment
A focus on symptom management
Excessive use of pharmaceutical drugs
Distraction from identifying and addressing root causes
Dr. Bruce Lipton: “We are not victims of our genome”
My research on how environment [toxins, nutrition, exercise, stress relief, etc] shapes genetic activity was published in 1977… Twenty years after I started my stem cell research, the same conclusions were officially recognized by science in advancing the revolutionary field of Epigenetics … the science of how environment controls genetic activity. The most exciting consequence of these studies is the revelation that we are truly masters of our genome… We are empowered creators, not victims of our genome.
While genes play a role in life and disease, there are innumerable epigenetic triggers that differentiate us from mice and each other [and express as health or illness].
Chronic Pain is Very Different from Acute Pain
While chronic pain often has roots in an injury or illness, it’s a condition resulting from a sensitized nervous system.
Chronic pain is not just a symptom. It takes the form of disease through active processes, in the form of multiple plastic changes that together determine the duration and intensity of the pain. There is central and peripheral sensitization in the nervous system with neuro-chemical and neuro-anatomical components that eventually results in hyperexcitability, recruitment and disinhibition of the pathways, that amplifies and perpetuates chronic pain.
It’s widely understood that chronic pain is a nervous system response that amplifies pain. In addition to the nervous system process, chronic pain may be considered from a cellular perspective, where there is likely to be mitochondrial and metabolic dysfunction. [source and source]
Pain often persists in patients with an inflammatory disease, even when inflammation has subsided… Inflammation-induced mitochondrial-dependent disturbances in sensory neurons predispose to a failure in resolution of inflammatory pain and development of chronic pain.
Root Causes of Chronic Pain
The following conditions may activate the nervous system in a way that leads to chronic pain:
Cancer
Chronic fatigue syndrome (may be considered a chronic pain disorder) [source]
Fibromyalgia (a chronic pain disorder)
The root causes of chronic pain include the following. Select the quick links for research and references documenting the evidence.
Air, toxic, contaminated with heavy metals (See heavy metals)
Anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) [source and source and source]
Cellular (mitochondrial) dysfunction [source]
Diet, inflammatory foods or excess oxalates [source and source and source and source and source and source and source and source and source and source and source and source and source and source and source]
Fascia, densification, loss of elasticity, weakened, scar tissue [source and source and source]
Foods, non-organic or processed, using seed oils or contaminated with heavy metals (See heavy metals and see seed oils)
Heavy metals [source and source and source and source]
Lead poisoning (See heavy metals)
Metformin (and vitamin B12 deficiency) [source and source]
Military combat exposure [source and source] (See also: trauma)
Muscle imbalances, postural issues [source and source and source and source and source] and source and source and source]
Nerve damage (neuropathy) [source]
Sedentary lifestyle [source]
Seed oils / vegetable oils / PUFAs / omega-6 dominance / linoleic acid [source and source and source]
Sleep issues [source and source and source and source and source]
Statin drugs [source and source and source and source]
Steroids (See anti-inflammatory drugs)
Sunscreens, excessive use (vitamin D deficiency) [source and source]
Thoughts, words, perspective, that are negative [source and source]
Trauma, unprocessed emotions, abuse in childhood, recurrent pain-suffering cycles [source and source and source and source and source and source]
Vaccines contaminated with heavy metals (See heavy metals)
Vitamin B-3 deficiency or absorption issues [source]
Vitamin B-12 deficiency or absorption issues [source and source]
Water, contaminated with heavy metals (See heavy metals)
Among the Most Common Effects of Statins is Muscle Pain that can Lead to Destruction of Muscle Tissue and Death
Six statins are currently available, and they are known by a variety of brand names… The most common adverse effects reported include muscle pain or weakness that can progress to rhabdomyolysis [“the destruction or degeneration of muscle tissue… accompanied by the release of breakdown products into the bloodstream and sometimes leading to acute renal failure”] and mortality [death].
Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal
Pain May be Caused by Muscle Imbalances & Weakness as a Result of Functional Patterns and/or Sedentary Lifestyle
Two of the most common causes of chronic back pain include poor posture and a sedentary lifestyle… In otherwise healthy hips… [chronic pain] often comes down to functional patterns or muscle weakness… Jobs that require extended standing on hard surfaces, especially when the hips are kept relatively still, can be highly aggravating to the hips and other joints. Sitting for long periods of time can also cause chronic hip pain… for example, weak gluteal muscles can allow the lower back to arch while the pelvis rotates to the anterior, which can lead to chronic lower back and hip pain… Abnormal head positioning was shown in a systematic review to have a significant effect on muscle activity, breathing patterns, ability to sense movement, and yes—neck pain… Neck muscles can become weak due to sedentary lifestyles or habitual behaviors that limit neck movement and exercise. Weak neck muscles can lead to alignment and movement limitations that enable neck pain to develop… The shoulders are designed to move a lot. Unfortunately, technology and the modern workplace can limit activity in the shoulders, causing chronic pain to develop because of joint tightness and muscle weakness. Pain isn’t usually caused by a singular incident but by longstanding muscular imbalances.
The Epoch Times, Chronic Pain, Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 5 and Part 8
Oxalate Poisoning Can Cause Painful Nerve Damage
Neuropathy is a nerve damage condition that can cause a variety of symptoms, including pain, numbness, tingling, swelling, and muscle weakness. Oxalate is a nerve toxin. Neurological diseases like neuropathy, may be a sign of oxalate poisoning. Neuropathy from oxalate poisoning is discussed in medical journals but not widely recognized by most doctors.
How We Regulate Emotion is Associated with Chronic Pain
Emotion regulation (ER) includes a set of cognitive and attentional processes used to change or maintain emotional state… This review aims to summarize existing literature on the association between ER and chronic pain… Maladaptive response-focused ER… is associated with pain and psychological comorbidities.
Toxic Drugs as First-Line Treatment?
Do you consider it sound practice to use toxic chemicals as a first-line treatment rather than addressing the causes (which are often poisons in food, air and water)?
Is there any greater absurdity than a medical model that treats the symptoms of disease with sub-lethal dosages of toxic chemicals and in which there is no attempt to uncover, understand or remove the causes of those imbalances?
After all, what disease has ever been found to be caused by a lack of a drug? Is acid reflux caused by a lack of proton-pump inhibitors? Is heart disease caused by a lack of statin drugs? Is osteoporosis caused by a lack of Fosamax? Is cancer caused by a lack of chemotherapy? Is depression caused by a lack of Paxil?
Absolutely not. Then why would anyone consider it sound practice to use potentially toxic chemicals as a first-line treatment for conditions that are not caused by a lack of a chemical? To the contrary, many diseases are caused exactly by culminative exposures to chemicals that… are biologically alien to the body… We are treating poisoning with poisons!
Context, Organized Curation
This article is a subset of a vast resource curation on the failure and corruption of establishment medicine. See here for the entire curation or select links below to focus on an individual subject.
Failed Health Outcomes — The U.S. spends nearly twice the per-capita amount on healthcare than the next highest spender, yet Americans are the most chronically ill, and rank 48th in life expectancy, among other countries. In addition, medical misdiagnosis causes permanent harm and death to 795,000 people every year.
Verifiably Corrupt — Establishment medicine as a system is verifiably corrupt, serving the interests of industry — not health. (Obviously, not every individual working in establishment medicine is unethical. Rather, the system that educated / indoctrinated them, and that sets policy, hires, pays, and promotes them is verifiably corrupted.)
Big Pharma & Biotech : Immoral Business Model — Corporations, by design, are beholden to profit above all else, acting as powerful entities that are “essentially psychopathic and without conscience.” Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are the utmost example of corporate psychopathy, demonstrating inhumanity in response to human suffering.
Regulatory & Professional Betrayal — Government agencies entrusted to regulate the field of medicine fail to do so. The majority of influential professional organizations such as the American Medical Association are corrupted by industry.
Not Evidence/Science-Based — The bulk of establishment medicine’s standard of care is not based on unbiased, reproducible science. (We prove it here.)
Harms, by Drug or Test — Establishment medicine providers routinely utilize diagnostic testing and “treatments” that cause harm (“adverse”, “side” effects). Get verifiable evidence of the harms, organized by drug, treatment, or test (mammograms, CT scans, antibiotics, statins, benzos, etc).
Failed Strategies & Procedures — The philosophies, strategies, and procedures used by establishment medicine are dysfunctional and irrational, including a focus on suppressing symptoms rather than understanding them. Providers do not seek to identify and resolve the root causes of illness, and diagnosis is simply an exercise in naming groupings of symptoms, disconnected from their purpose and message.
Root Causes of Illness — With knowledge of causal factors, true healing is possible. Quickly identify drugs, vaccines, toxins, and nutrient deficiencies that cause illnesses and symptoms e.g. depression, infertility, kidney issues, cancer, seizure, etc. Quickly verify documented “side effects” and evidence of harm.
Stifling Treatments That Don’t Enrich Industry — Healing modalities that don’t benefit industry are underutilized, suppressed, and disparaged. Providers who are perceived as a threat to establishment dictates or lucrative markets are condemned, intimidated and attacked.
Suppressed Cancer Research — This curation of more than 130 clinical studies provides quick access to documented cancer reversal and recovery successes. Also includes evidence of suppression and disparagement of treatments that don’t benefit establishment medicine.
Cancer Reversal Testimonials — More than 200 medical and personal testimonials on cancer reversal and recovery successes.
The Significance of Legal Precedent — Legal precedent, breach of duty, and “standard of care” are significant factors in the state of the medical industry.
Alternatives & Considerations — Alternatives, considerations, and what you can do.