My father is a classic example of metabolic syndrome patient. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, a high blood sugar level, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels — that occur together. He is aged 75 and had an angioplasty done a year ago because two of his big arteries were above 90% blocked. After undergoing coronary stent placement, he was put on Co-Plavix medication, which is a vital blood-thinning drug that contains aspirin, before switching to Plavix after a year. His prescription includes 4 to 5 other drugs for his heart and blood pressure conditions. These drugs cause his feet to swell and gastric pain almost every day. To counter the side effects, he was given more drugs including acid blockers. After some months, his arms began to show patches of dark brown colour and the skin colour tone also darkened and turned very dry. His doctor told us these were the side effects of drugs.

My father also endured a few rounds of antibiotics treatment for his other health problems. His immune weakened. His metabolism was poor and toxins built up in his body and reflected in the arms.