we're all on drugs

i would like to continue my stream of scientific consciousness. particularly, in regards to medicine and pharmacy and their role in society.

one late nite last semester i came across one of those promotional tv programs where some blonde woman sits there, looks pretty, and tries to ask real questions of a guy in a suit trying to sell his product. most often its some fat-reducing miracle product, and in this case that actually was part of it. but this time there was more. he was selling his book which claimed to hold the cures for hundreds of different types of ailments, ranging from headaches to cancer! he claimed that naturally occurring cures existed for all sorts of illnesses, chronic and acute. one of his examples was how a diet containing vitamin c could completely cure scurvy.

furthermore, he claimed that the food & drug administration (fda, the american organization responsible for assuring and okay'ing the quality and distribution of foods n drugs) was trying to shut him up. the fda, he said, did not want these naturally occurring cures to be known to the public for fear of the destruction of the pharmaceutical industry.

i agree it does seem like a stretch, and a naturally occurring cure for cancer would surely have been marketable in some way, and would have been done so by now. his direct claims are the stuff of conspiracy theories.

nevertheless, there is an overriding theme here with which i do agree. pharmaceutical companies are businesses, and while they may strive to be the good guys, they are legally bound to stakeholders to make their mission about profit. the bottom line is that these companies must make money, just like any other business. thus, over time, these businesses are willing to develop and distribute as many products as possible, the real necessity of these products in healthcare is not questioned.

the competitive nature of the pharmaceutical industry is very evident in the usa. advertisements for drugs must outnumber similar canadian ads 5:1. while these commercials may be well-intentioned (or, not) they only underline the business model. first, let me say there are plenty of fantastic drugs out there, such as those battling parkinson's disease. but 9/10 of the commercials are not for these kinds of drugs. you may not need these drugs, you may be perfectly healthy, but somehow, these ads try to convince you that there is something wrong with you, stress, headaches, fatigue, depression, loneliness, anxiety, boredom, and that medication is the cure. to me, these are natural aspects of life. stress? as bill maher pointed out, of course we become stressed, we spent millions of years looking over our shoulder for predators on the hunt. these are reactions to our environment, and are aspects of life that cannot be cured by short term fixes and poorly understood pills.

we are over medicated. i think america is an extreme, since there is so much competition. around the world, millions needlessly ingest pills, while millions more die for want of medication. thus, while the man on the tv may have been raising egregious ideas, i do agree with the fact that pharmaceutical companies are poisoning much of society. these companies should be focusing on real illnesses, such as alzheimers, multiple scelrosis, cancer, AIDS, and cheaper ways of distributing quality medications, not quick fixes for stress and fatigue that could cause heart problems.

the issue becomes more dangerous now that we are entering an age of preventive medicine. based on family history, genetic profiles, and other variables, a doctor could prescribe a drug to you for something you could get. again, i think our focus should remain on promoting r&d to find cures and methods of prevention for the truly devastating illneses, such as those mentioned above. too often, it seems, big pharma goes after the "easy" fixes (with difficult side-affects) for depression and anxiety, and this should be avoided. there is no doubt we have come a long way in health care, every decade it seems people are living longer. however, this does not mean they are healthier or happier.

the science. to further aggravate the situation, i still believe our understanding of the human body as a system is quite poor. the listing of side effects one hears on the tv ads is a testament to this fact. we do not truly have a grasp of what the chemicals we ingest do to our systems. in order to improve the current quality of medication and health care, a far more holistic, systems approach will be required to understand the affects of our drugs. i often hear that doctors in asia provide better advice than doctors here, since often a more holistic approach is followed (and i have actually had first hand experience, its true). a holistic approach is especially true and necessary for preventive medecine: all aspects of any genetic profile must be considered before forming any conclusions. the number of cellular interactions are vast, and better technologies will need to be developed in order to accurately assess patients.

in conclusion, i think our reliance on drugs is just another behavioural/chemical input. we are systems of habit and addiction, and our systems are all too easily susceptible to sitmuli. our brains crave the biochemical activity that results from our behaviour. we must pacify our minds to find what it is we are looking for.