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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
FORMER FINANCE MINISTER JIM FLAHERTY SUFFERED FROM A SKIN DISEASE WHICH WAS TREATED WITH PREDNISONEThe massive heart attack which took the life of former finance minister, Jim Flaherty, on April 10, 2014 brought renewed public attention to the potential dangers of Prednisone.Back in January 2013, in response to increasing public concern about Flaherty’s bloated appearance and facial redness, a spokesman for the minister had stated: “Minister Flaherty is undergoing treatment for a non-life-threatening but serious dermatological condition known as Bullous Pemphigoid. To help clear up the condition the Minister has been prescribed a steroid called Prednisone. This treatment has side effects such as bloating, weight gain, redness in the face, and bouts of sleeplessness.”Bullous Pemphigoid is a skin disease which causes the immune system to produce antibodies that attack the body, triggering large painful blisters on the arms, legs, and back. The conventional medical treatment utilizes a powerful steroid called Prednisone, which works to clear the lesions from the skin, giving the patient relief from discomfort, pain, and itching.Prednisone is a synthetic corticosteroid used widely for numerous acute and chronic inflammatory conditions like asthma, temporal arteritis, autoimmune diseases (i.e. Bullous Pemphigoid, Crohn’s disease) and numerous skin conditions (especially eczema and hives). Its basic effect is to suppress the immune system’s natural inflammatory response.While often lifesaving in the short term, Prednisone is associated with serious side effects in the long term such as cataracts, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), fluid retention, osteoporosis, fractures, infections, adrenal disease, and numerous metabolic disorders. In my practice I’ve seen some patients develop diabetes, angina, and heart attacks as a result of long-term use.Those who use Prednisone daily for months or years tend to gain weight and appear puffy-faced and hump-backed. They also develop ulcers requiring more drugs to suppress acid in the stomach, and complain of all manner of digestive disorders. As with most drugs, prednisone is likely to cause a great deal of damage when used long term for any reason.With the exception of the famous Dr. W. Gifford-Jones, few have questioned the use of Prednisone or suggested safer alternatives to steroid injections to deal with severe skin diseases. So are there effective alternatives to this highly toxic steroid? What might have been this unfortunate man’s other options? Is there any evidence supporting the use of a natural anti-inflammatory diet and supplements to clear eczema, skin disease, and joint pain?Natural Anti-Inflammatory
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