Roy
Sat, Sep-25-04, 05:16
Is lasalocid causing or making atrial fibrillation worse?
Lasalocid an "antibiotic" given to many food production farm
animals is also a highly toxic heart poison which is turning
up with alarming frequency in poultry and eggs. Twenty percent
of all eggs are estimated to be contaminated and about 2
percent of all eggs are thought to be contaminated with high
levels of the heart poison lasalocid.
Could this be a contributory factor in the "atrial
fibrillation epidemic which is estimated to cost the UK 1% of
its annual national budget? It has been estimated that 1 in 10
over 65's and that 1 in 100 people overall suffer with atrial
fibrillation" - BBC National Radio News 17 Feb 2004.
Part 1. Atrial fibrillation and Lasalocid - a finding. Part 2.
Background Information and News Reports about Lasalocid.
1. Atrial fibrillation and Lasalocid - a finding
A continuing experiment of some 24 months duration so far has
resulted in the complete abatement of lone atrial fibrillation
attacks which were of the order of about 18 hours long each
and finally (after about 6 years history) were occurring with
a frequency of about one every two months. These attacks which
were first detected in 1997 and medically diagnosed in 1998
were severe enough to cause considerable shortness of breath
and syncope such that any movement from prone was mostly
impossible. All attacks resolved without medication. Since
October 2002 all aspects of diet which might possibly be
contaminated with LASALOCID residue have been eliminated and
no further such AF attacks have occurred. In case you don't
know, atrial fibrillation is a progressive disease which does
not ordinarily just go away.
Background to the discovery: It was reported in a news
broadcast in 2002 that lasalocid was turning up in poultry
eggs at the rate of about 2 percent. With an egg consumption
rate of about 10 eggs a week (2 per day, sometimes more and
sometimes less) this would put the frequency of attacks very
close to the frequency at which a poisoned egg would turn up
given 2 percent were contaminated. Since farmers and other
food producers feed the highly toxic "antibiotic" lasalocid to
cattle as well as poultry it was decided that all dairy and
beef would be eliminated from diet at the same time as a
precautionary measure however beef and poultry were never a
regular food item of mine, just the eggs, milk and cheese were
and it is not known whether milk or cheese are contaminated
with the deadly residue. Though I have concentrated on just
one of the ionophores (lasalocid) a significant role may have
been played by other ionophores which are finding their way
into our food. Monensin is another extremely cardio-toxic
ionophore routinely given on farms which is active at the
microgram level also.
Conclusion: It would seem that lasalocid (or some other
ionophore) residue in eggs (or milk or cheese if any) may
have played a significant role in illiciting or sustaining
atrial fibrillation or some mechanism associated with it in
my case. Also, given the worrying levels and frequency with
which lasalocid residue is being found in eggs and poultry
and the epidemic proportions that the incidence of AF is
assuming (1 in 200 over 40's has it) then it would seem that
some research and action is urgently required in order to
stop this epidemic.
This report is not meant to be medical advice and nor do I
advocate anyone begin any particular dietary regimen without
first consulting their doctor. I hope to provoke thought and
action among those who may help themselves and others by
appropriate means.
2. Background Information and News Reports about Lasalocid.
BBC Radio Four - Farming Today Programme 15 Dec 2003. Richard
Young of the Soil Association (UK) in conversation with Bob
Stevenson of the British Veterinary Association said that a
new government report due out today would show an alarming
increase in levels of lasalocid residue in eggs. Based on the
sample rates he said that last year 500 million eggs were
estimated to be contaminated with lasalocid residues and that
40 millions were contaminated to a worryingly high level.
Given that 27 million eggs are consumed daily in the UK the
figure of 500 million poisoned eggs per year represents a
whopping 20 percent contamination rate and the 40 million
highly contaminated eggs represents a significant 2 percent
of all eggs.
Richard Young went on to say that he thought the drug should
be banned and a safer alternative of which there are a few
should be used instead or failing that then vaccination of the
birds should be brought in but he didn't think that was likely
because of the cost differential. Vaccination costs are 7
times the cost of the toxic drug lasalocid. Bob Stevenson of
the British Veterinary Association urged caution at the idea
of replacing lasalocid with another drug because of a fear of
eventual drug resistance and the subsequent depletion in the
drug armoury available for veterinary medicine.
---
Soil Association (UK) press release 16 Jan 2002 Crack down on
toxic drug found in 750,000 eggs eaten every day Up to
three-quarters of a million eggs eaten every day contain
residues of a toxic drug that is widely used by intensive
poultry farmers, according to a new report published today (16
January) by the Soil Association.
The UK's leading organic organisation is calling for an
immediate ban on lasalocid (pronounced la-sal-o-sid) which is
found in 2.6 per cent of chicken eggs and also in chicken
meat. Lasalocid was present in 60 per cent of the quails eggs
tested by the Government's Veterinary Medicines Directorate.
The report will be discussed at a meeting with the Food
Standards Agency today, which will be attended by nearly 100
organisations and called as a result of a previous Soil
Association publication "Too hard to swallow" the truth about
drugs and poultry.
Lasalocid is too toxic to ever be used in medicine and has
been shown to have potent effects on animals at low levels:
rabbit hearts contract when exposed to the drug a discovery
which prompted an experiment in 1974 using human heart muscle.
Rapid contractions were observed and were still evident an
hour after the drug had been given.
Alison Craig, the reports author says, "Even low levels of
lasalocid are dangerous to mammals and this raises concerns
about how toxic the drug is to humans. We know that this drug
hangs around in the body, so we could be accumulating it every
time we eat eggs or chicken. The Government's testing
programme for such residues is wholly inadequate, only one out
of every 18 million eggs is analysed."
Consumers are theoretically protected from veterinary drugs
residues by maximum residue limits set by the European
Commission. However, as lasalocid is classified as a feed
additive, no limit has been set.
Daily doses of lasalocid are routinely given to chickens and
turkeys in their feed as a preventative treatment against
coccidiosis - an infectious disease caused by a parasite which
damages the birds intestines and causes illness and sometimes
death. When large numbers of animals are crowded together (up
to 100,000 birds may be kept in one unit) in warm and moist
conditions, outbreaks of coccidiosis are likely to occur.
Lasalocid is not prescribed by vets but sold as a feed
additive directly to producers by pharmaceutical companies and
feed merchants.
Consumers who want to avoid poultry that may contain residues
of this drug should look for Soil Association certified
organic meat and eggs as lasalocid is not used by the
organisation's licensed farmers.
Lasalocid is not the only highly toxic drug fed to poultry
which was finding it's way onto the kitchen table. A June 2001
Soil Association report details the following:
Nicarbazin has never been carefully evaluated for safety in
humans. Studies have shown it can cause both birth defects and
hormonal problems in animals. In 1999, the last year for which
full figures are available,
3.8 per cent of chicken livers tested has residues of
nicarbazin in excess of the Maximum Residue Limit of 200
micrograms per kg., the highest being 10,500 micrograms per
kg., over fifty times the legally permitted level. Since
then 127 out of 700 (18 per cent) of chicken livers tested
have contained residues of nicarbazin. It is also been
found in approximately 2 per cent of eggs. Where nicarbazin
is present in liver it will also be present in flesh at
lower levels.
Dimetridazole (DMZ) has never been properly evaluated for as
a contaminant of human food. Scientific committees disagree
about its safety, but it is suspected of being able to induce
both cancer and birth defects. It is licensed for turkeys and
pheasants rather than chicken or laying hens yet in 1998 2
per cent, and in 1999, 0.5 per cent of eggs contained
residues of DMZ.
Lasalocid is not licensed for laying hens. It is a member of
the potent cardio-toxic ionophores which have never been
properly evaluated as residues in food. No Maximum Residue
Limit has been set. Yet in 1999, one in every dozen eggs (8.5
per cent) tested contained residues of lasalocid above the
informal action level of 100 micrograms per kg. The highest of
these was 5,400 micrograms per kg. 12 per cent of chicken
muscle also tested positive. In addition the drug is found in
quail muscle and chicken liver.
Here is the rest of the report: In a new report published
today the Soil Association believes government regulators have
seriously misled the public about the high incidence of
dangerous drug residues found in chicken and eggs. Richard
Young, coordinator of the Soil Association's campaign against
the overuse of antibiotics in intensive farming says, 'Despite
repeated assertions by regulators that nearly all poultry
products are free from detectable residues, figures show
clearly that about 20 per cent of chicken meat and 10 per cent
of the eggs tested contain residues of drugs deemed too
dangerous for use in human medicine.'
Richard Young and Alison Craig, authors of the Soil
Association report 'Too Hard to Swallow, the truth about drugs
and poultry' challenge statements from senior officials in the
Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD, the executive agency of
Maff responsible for residue surveillance), who assert that
approximately '99 per cent of poultry meat and 97 per cent of
eggs are free of detectable residues.'
The report exposes that this distortion is achieved by a
statistical trick. The results of positive tests for
individual drugs are expressed as a percentage of all tests
undertaken for all substance (most of which are never found).
Of most concern are the drugs used to control tiny intestinal
parasites in poultry and game birds that can cause severe
losses in intensive production systems. These include
nicarbazin, lascalocid and dimetridazole, all of which pose
potential risks to animal or human health.
Mr. Young continued, 'These antimicrobial drugs have never
been properly evaluated for safety, but there is evidence
that they have the ability to cause cancer, birth defects
and heart attacks. Some residue samples are more than 50
times over the legal limit, yet the VMD has brought no
prosecutions. We want to see their use stopped as quickly
as possible.'
The Soil Association says that more chickens should be reared
organically where the routine use of drugs is not permitted.
Intensive poultry producers could use vaccines instead of
adding antimicrobials to feed, which would effectively reduce
the risk of residues. However, vaccines cost almost 7p per
bird, which for some producers is their entire profit margin
per chicken. The Soil Association believes that consumers
would willingly pay a little extra for chickens produced
without these drugs.
---
www.foodwatch.ca/know/eggs.htm: There are no studies
evaluating the toxicity of ionophore to humans. Laboratory
tests have, however, shown that the ionophore lasalocid has a
strong effect on the human heart muscle at low levels and
monensin, another routinely used ionophore, has been found to
have a similar cardio-vascular effect in dogs at levels as
low as one millionth of a gram per kilogram. Many of the
animals that have died from ionophore poisoning have died
from heart failure.
Ionophores could be a particular danger to children and older
people as they eat more eggs than any other group. Also,
ionophore drugs can react negatively with some prescription
medicines, yet doctors have not been notified of the possible
presence of dietary ionophore residues in eggs.
---
Comments to g4dge@yahoo.co.uk
Lasalocid an "antibiotic" given to many food production farm
animals is also a highly toxic heart poison which is turning
up with alarming frequency in poultry and eggs. Twenty percent
of all eggs are estimated to be contaminated and about 2
percent of all eggs are thought to be contaminated with high
levels of the heart poison lasalocid.
Could this be a contributory factor in the "atrial
fibrillation epidemic which is estimated to cost the UK 1% of
its annual national budget? It has been estimated that 1 in 10
over 65's and that 1 in 100 people overall suffer with atrial
fibrillation" - BBC National Radio News 17 Feb 2004.
Part 1. Atrial fibrillation and Lasalocid - a finding. Part 2.
Background Information and News Reports about Lasalocid.
1. Atrial fibrillation and Lasalocid - a finding
A continuing experiment of some 24 months duration so far has
resulted in the complete abatement of lone atrial fibrillation
attacks which were of the order of about 18 hours long each
and finally (after about 6 years history) were occurring with
a frequency of about one every two months. These attacks which
were first detected in 1997 and medically diagnosed in 1998
were severe enough to cause considerable shortness of breath
and syncope such that any movement from prone was mostly
impossible. All attacks resolved without medication. Since
October 2002 all aspects of diet which might possibly be
contaminated with LASALOCID residue have been eliminated and
no further such AF attacks have occurred. In case you don't
know, atrial fibrillation is a progressive disease which does
not ordinarily just go away.
Background to the discovery: It was reported in a news
broadcast in 2002 that lasalocid was turning up in poultry
eggs at the rate of about 2 percent. With an egg consumption
rate of about 10 eggs a week (2 per day, sometimes more and
sometimes less) this would put the frequency of attacks very
close to the frequency at which a poisoned egg would turn up
given 2 percent were contaminated. Since farmers and other
food producers feed the highly toxic "antibiotic" lasalocid to
cattle as well as poultry it was decided that all dairy and
beef would be eliminated from diet at the same time as a
precautionary measure however beef and poultry were never a
regular food item of mine, just the eggs, milk and cheese were
and it is not known whether milk or cheese are contaminated
with the deadly residue. Though I have concentrated on just
one of the ionophores (lasalocid) a significant role may have
been played by other ionophores which are finding their way
into our food. Monensin is another extremely cardio-toxic
ionophore routinely given on farms which is active at the
microgram level also.
Conclusion: It would seem that lasalocid (or some other
ionophore) residue in eggs (or milk or cheese if any) may
have played a significant role in illiciting or sustaining
atrial fibrillation or some mechanism associated with it in
my case. Also, given the worrying levels and frequency with
which lasalocid residue is being found in eggs and poultry
and the epidemic proportions that the incidence of AF is
assuming (1 in 200 over 40's has it) then it would seem that
some research and action is urgently required in order to
stop this epidemic.
This report is not meant to be medical advice and nor do I
advocate anyone begin any particular dietary regimen without
first consulting their doctor. I hope to provoke thought and
action among those who may help themselves and others by
appropriate means.
2. Background Information and News Reports about Lasalocid.
BBC Radio Four - Farming Today Programme 15 Dec 2003. Richard
Young of the Soil Association (UK) in conversation with Bob
Stevenson of the British Veterinary Association said that a
new government report due out today would show an alarming
increase in levels of lasalocid residue in eggs. Based on the
sample rates he said that last year 500 million eggs were
estimated to be contaminated with lasalocid residues and that
40 millions were contaminated to a worryingly high level.
Given that 27 million eggs are consumed daily in the UK the
figure of 500 million poisoned eggs per year represents a
whopping 20 percent contamination rate and the 40 million
highly contaminated eggs represents a significant 2 percent
of all eggs.
Richard Young went on to say that he thought the drug should
be banned and a safer alternative of which there are a few
should be used instead or failing that then vaccination of the
birds should be brought in but he didn't think that was likely
because of the cost differential. Vaccination costs are 7
times the cost of the toxic drug lasalocid. Bob Stevenson of
the British Veterinary Association urged caution at the idea
of replacing lasalocid with another drug because of a fear of
eventual drug resistance and the subsequent depletion in the
drug armoury available for veterinary medicine.
---
Soil Association (UK) press release 16 Jan 2002 Crack down on
toxic drug found in 750,000 eggs eaten every day Up to
three-quarters of a million eggs eaten every day contain
residues of a toxic drug that is widely used by intensive
poultry farmers, according to a new report published today (16
January) by the Soil Association.
The UK's leading organic organisation is calling for an
immediate ban on lasalocid (pronounced la-sal-o-sid) which is
found in 2.6 per cent of chicken eggs and also in chicken
meat. Lasalocid was present in 60 per cent of the quails eggs
tested by the Government's Veterinary Medicines Directorate.
The report will be discussed at a meeting with the Food
Standards Agency today, which will be attended by nearly 100
organisations and called as a result of a previous Soil
Association publication "Too hard to swallow" the truth about
drugs and poultry.
Lasalocid is too toxic to ever be used in medicine and has
been shown to have potent effects on animals at low levels:
rabbit hearts contract when exposed to the drug a discovery
which prompted an experiment in 1974 using human heart muscle.
Rapid contractions were observed and were still evident an
hour after the drug had been given.
Alison Craig, the reports author says, "Even low levels of
lasalocid are dangerous to mammals and this raises concerns
about how toxic the drug is to humans. We know that this drug
hangs around in the body, so we could be accumulating it every
time we eat eggs or chicken. The Government's testing
programme for such residues is wholly inadequate, only one out
of every 18 million eggs is analysed."
Consumers are theoretically protected from veterinary drugs
residues by maximum residue limits set by the European
Commission. However, as lasalocid is classified as a feed
additive, no limit has been set.
Daily doses of lasalocid are routinely given to chickens and
turkeys in their feed as a preventative treatment against
coccidiosis - an infectious disease caused by a parasite which
damages the birds intestines and causes illness and sometimes
death. When large numbers of animals are crowded together (up
to 100,000 birds may be kept in one unit) in warm and moist
conditions, outbreaks of coccidiosis are likely to occur.
Lasalocid is not prescribed by vets but sold as a feed
additive directly to producers by pharmaceutical companies and
feed merchants.
Consumers who want to avoid poultry that may contain residues
of this drug should look for Soil Association certified
organic meat and eggs as lasalocid is not used by the
organisation's licensed farmers.
Lasalocid is not the only highly toxic drug fed to poultry
which was finding it's way onto the kitchen table. A June 2001
Soil Association report details the following:
Nicarbazin has never been carefully evaluated for safety in
humans. Studies have shown it can cause both birth defects and
hormonal problems in animals. In 1999, the last year for which
full figures are available,
3.8 per cent of chicken livers tested has residues of
nicarbazin in excess of the Maximum Residue Limit of 200
micrograms per kg., the highest being 10,500 micrograms per
kg., over fifty times the legally permitted level. Since
then 127 out of 700 (18 per cent) of chicken livers tested
have contained residues of nicarbazin. It is also been
found in approximately 2 per cent of eggs. Where nicarbazin
is present in liver it will also be present in flesh at
lower levels.
Dimetridazole (DMZ) has never been properly evaluated for as
a contaminant of human food. Scientific committees disagree
about its safety, but it is suspected of being able to induce
both cancer and birth defects. It is licensed for turkeys and
pheasants rather than chicken or laying hens yet in 1998 2
per cent, and in 1999, 0.5 per cent of eggs contained
residues of DMZ.
Lasalocid is not licensed for laying hens. It is a member of
the potent cardio-toxic ionophores which have never been
properly evaluated as residues in food. No Maximum Residue
Limit has been set. Yet in 1999, one in every dozen eggs (8.5
per cent) tested contained residues of lasalocid above the
informal action level of 100 micrograms per kg. The highest of
these was 5,400 micrograms per kg. 12 per cent of chicken
muscle also tested positive. In addition the drug is found in
quail muscle and chicken liver.
Here is the rest of the report: In a new report published
today the Soil Association believes government regulators have
seriously misled the public about the high incidence of
dangerous drug residues found in chicken and eggs. Richard
Young, coordinator of the Soil Association's campaign against
the overuse of antibiotics in intensive farming says, 'Despite
repeated assertions by regulators that nearly all poultry
products are free from detectable residues, figures show
clearly that about 20 per cent of chicken meat and 10 per cent
of the eggs tested contain residues of drugs deemed too
dangerous for use in human medicine.'
Richard Young and Alison Craig, authors of the Soil
Association report 'Too Hard to Swallow, the truth about drugs
and poultry' challenge statements from senior officials in the
Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD, the executive agency of
Maff responsible for residue surveillance), who assert that
approximately '99 per cent of poultry meat and 97 per cent of
eggs are free of detectable residues.'
The report exposes that this distortion is achieved by a
statistical trick. The results of positive tests for
individual drugs are expressed as a percentage of all tests
undertaken for all substance (most of which are never found).
Of most concern are the drugs used to control tiny intestinal
parasites in poultry and game birds that can cause severe
losses in intensive production systems. These include
nicarbazin, lascalocid and dimetridazole, all of which pose
potential risks to animal or human health.
Mr. Young continued, 'These antimicrobial drugs have never
been properly evaluated for safety, but there is evidence
that they have the ability to cause cancer, birth defects
and heart attacks. Some residue samples are more than 50
times over the legal limit, yet the VMD has brought no
prosecutions. We want to see their use stopped as quickly
as possible.'
The Soil Association says that more chickens should be reared
organically where the routine use of drugs is not permitted.
Intensive poultry producers could use vaccines instead of
adding antimicrobials to feed, which would effectively reduce
the risk of residues. However, vaccines cost almost 7p per
bird, which for some producers is their entire profit margin
per chicken. The Soil Association believes that consumers
would willingly pay a little extra for chickens produced
without these drugs.
---
www.foodwatch.ca/know/eggs.htm: There are no studies
evaluating the toxicity of ionophore to humans. Laboratory
tests have, however, shown that the ionophore lasalocid has a
strong effect on the human heart muscle at low levels and
monensin, another routinely used ionophore, has been found to
have a similar cardio-vascular effect in dogs at levels as
low as one millionth of a gram per kilogram. Many of the
animals that have died from ionophore poisoning have died
from heart failure.
Ionophores could be a particular danger to children and older
people as they eat more eggs than any other group. Also,
ionophore drugs can react negatively with some prescription
medicines, yet doctors have not been notified of the possible
presence of dietary ionophore residues in eggs.
---
Comments to g4dge@yahoo.co.uk