Dear Healthy Friend,

Feeling depressed is bad enough. It can take over your whole life and make you feel like you're sinking into a deep hole. But how would it make you feel if you knew that the meds that were supposed to help you could actually cause you to go blind?

See below for what Dr Martin has revealed...

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

P.S. Kidney stones are agonising. Once you've had them, you start wishing that it never happens again... Dr Wright reveals how you could prevent them without a magic wand...

Senior cataracts linked to antidepressants
Dr Martin
Editor, House Calls

Love your eyes? Then look away from antidepressants - because a new study finds yet another awful side effect to add to the list: Cataracts in seniors.

But look on the bright side: If you lose your vision, you won't have to read any more studies about how awful these meds are. Now there's a side effect only pharmaceutical companies could love!

Researchers looked at data on 19,000 seniors taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and 190,000 people the same age who were not. And they found that, on the whole, the meds boosted cataract risk by 15%, according to the study published the journal Ophthalmology.

In plain talk, the increased risk means 22,000 seniors will get cataracts thanks solely to their antidepressant use.

The reason can be found in the eye itself: Your peepers have serotonin receptors in them. That means when you load up on these meds, you can get an eyeful of this stuff... And animal studies have found that excess serotonin in the eyes could cause cataracts.

Three meds in particular had the highest cataract risk:
•    Fluvoxamine - 39%
•    Venlafaxine - 33%
•    Paroxetine - 23%

Not every antidepressant was linked to cataracts in the study, but that doesn't mean you should look for a med with a lower risk, either. You don't need any of these drugs to beat your bouts of the blues - and that's true whether you're a senior or a spring chicken.

Remember, antidepressants are among the most-prescribed and least-effective drugs on the market - in studies, they're routinely beaten by everything from exercise to sugar pills. There's a new study that even finds simple B vitamins could lower the risk of depression in seniors.

Not only that, but the increased cataract risk is only the beginning of the possible side effects that can come from using these meds. Antidepressants could lead to weight gain, nausea, diarrhoea, rashes, agitation, headaches and the sweats. In some people, they can cause insomnia. In others, drowsiness. And these pilss could even reduce the flames of your intimate life into a pile of ashes.

Even worse, these drugs could lead to an increased risk of suicide or attempted suicide - something you'd hope an antidepressant would stop, not cause.

If you're having trouble beating depression on your own, or can't get relief from proven natural remedies such as St. John's wort, talk to a naturopathic doctor - because your condition may be caused by easily correctable nutritional or hormonal deficiencies.

No more kidney stones thanks to nutritional changes

Q: I recently passed a kidney stone. I've heard that once you have kidney stones, you're more likely to get them again. I don't want to go through that horrible pain again! What can I do?

Dr. Wright: Get yourself started on a basic kidney-stone prevention programme. Limit your intake of meat, sugar, salt and fruit juice (except lemon juice, which is high in stone-reducing citric acid and citrate). You should also increase your dietary fibre and supplement with the following: 10,000 units of vitamin A, 300mg of magnesium citrate and 100mg of vitamin B6 each day. Even though studies have "dispelled the myth" that higher amounts of vitamin C promote calcium oxalate kidney stone formation, I've seen two such cases first hand. So if you take three or more grams of vitamin C each day, have your doctor measure your urinary oxalate.