This past week Biogen and Elan stock dropped some 25% or so on the news that the MS wonder drug Tysabri had caused deadly brain infections in two people in the US. I think a story like this higlights a lot of issues related to long term health care and disease. Read my post on the A-fib I have a couple weeks ago and the blessing and curse it turned out to be. A blessing because there was an ER ready and able to deal with a serious issue like a heart, but a curse because of an overlealous cardiologist who wanted to go for the cut without any workup. (By the way, I've been back in the pool since the day after I got out of the hospital without a hiccup in my heart, which really leads me to believe there was some type of loss of prime in the pump. Swam a personal best in the 50 and 100 meter this past Friday.)
The news on Tysabri underscores several things in my eyes. First, it confirms to me that altering the body's chemistry with long term use of medication isn't a good idea. Second, it confirms that people have to take an active role in their health.
We hear all the time about these giant congomerates out for the buck pushing medications through the FDA only to hear about unfortunate events. Recall Vioxx, for one. I think it is easy for people to blame the pharms on the money grubbing idea, but I think it's going way too far to say these pharm companies are run by people who want a sick country so they can profit. Much like attorneys, people complain about them until they need them.
I also think the pharm companies have a valid defense in the above argument by claiming this country has a "fix me now with a pill" mentality. The drive for instant gratification feeds the system, and yes they profit, but in profit lies motivation. Necessity isn't the mother of all invention; profit is.
So what's the average person to do when ther is a litle bit of "right" in everyone's argument? People suffer, companies profit, but people get second chances on life too and companies take losses.
I think we have to recognize the difference and find the right time to use big medicine. The more urgent the problem, the more medicine has to play a role, whereas the more a problem is related to overall health, the less medicine should be involved. Doctors in this country are quite good at diagnosing things, but not as good at the right thing to do for a person's health. A urologist has a protocol to follow which is based on studies and legal proceedings over time. If a severely overweight patient comes in complaining of blood in their urine, it wouldn't be too prudent for the doctor to tell the patient to stop eating hamburgers and go do a colon cleanse.
Where I lose faith in the system is in the name calling. Proponents of Natural Healing argue Big Pharm doesn't care about anything but money whiile the medical industry labels alternative medicine as quackery.
Is there a balance? I think so. But currently balance only exists for people willing to look for it. The severely overwight patient who saw the urologist for blood in the urine should follow the orders for that specific treatment, and then ask himself what he could do to stop it from happening again. But will he? The statistics are pretty overwhelmingly against it. As soon as the blood goes away, he'll be drinking a case of beer a night again or eating calories excessively until something else goes wrong.
MS is a disease that happens slowly over time, mimicking the symptoms of old age. This is a disease that gives the benefit of time, because it generally doesn't lead to death. It's like a fire that burns little pieces and parts of a tree, affecting its overall health but letting it live. MS is one of the best diseases for patients to make lifestyle changes because we still have time on our side.
MS patients have got to come to a realization at some point that there is no synthetic cure, no pill, no drug, and no doctor that is going to remove MS from their body. Sure they will help a person deal with the symptoms, but nothing further. A person has to have the mindset that they aren't going to tolerate the disease, set out to find the way to cure it through eating, exercise and enzymes, and stick to that road with a real commitment to the cure.
Conversely, MS doctors have to stop telling patients there is no cure and there's nothing left to do but ride it out as comfortably as possible. They also have to stop lying about the notion that some magic pill is right around the corner. Of all the things I heard from various doctors about the disease, I think I found this the most hurtful. Though it might provide some sort of short term hope as the patient leaves their office, it really doesn't do anything for the longer term except add to the frustration.
The body doesn't respond to synthetic drugs in curing anything. Cold medicines don't cure the comon cold anymore than painkillers actually stop pain or Interferons cure MS. All these drugs do is chemically alter the body to suppress a natural reaction, allowing the person to manage symptoms until the body heals itself. The trick is understanding that MS is a lengthy cold that is going to require an enormous investment of time and energy to commit to the cure.
But what a challenge we're faced with. The information is out there. It's readily available. Once a person realizes the doctors are limited in their scope and a life change is required, sorting through the sea of supplements, MLM's, scams and other nonsense is enough to drive a person right back to the pharmacy.
As I tell all my friends, it really is easy. Forget the science and the little head. It’s simple. Here’s the easy rules.
1) If God made it and it will rot in a day if you leave it on the counter, eat and drink more (think fruit, veggies, fish, chicken). If humans did stuff to make it last longer so they can raise their profits, eat and drink less (think chips, coke, cake)
2) The body knows what it wants more than the mind does. This means if you mess up one day on rule #1, you will live. Just try to get back to rule #1
3) The body was designed to do stuff. So do stuff. Swim, walk, run, beat a rug. Moving the thumbs on a video game doesn't count.
The news on Tysabri underscores several things in my eyes. First, it confirms to me that altering the body's chemistry with long term use of medication isn't a good idea. Second, it confirms that people have to take an active role in their health.
We hear all the time about these giant congomerates out for the buck pushing medications through the FDA only to hear about unfortunate events. Recall Vioxx, for one. I think it is easy for people to blame the pharms on the money grubbing idea, but I think it's going way too far to say these pharm companies are run by people who want a sick country so they can profit. Much like attorneys, people complain about them until they need them.
I also think the pharm companies have a valid defense in the above argument by claiming this country has a "fix me now with a pill" mentality. The drive for instant gratification feeds the system, and yes they profit, but in profit lies motivation. Necessity isn't the mother of all invention; profit is.
So what's the average person to do when ther is a litle bit of "right" in everyone's argument? People suffer, companies profit, but people get second chances on life too and companies take losses.
I think we have to recognize the difference and find the right time to use big medicine. The more urgent the problem, the more medicine has to play a role, whereas the more a problem is related to overall health, the less medicine should be involved. Doctors in this country are quite good at diagnosing things, but not as good at the right thing to do for a person's health. A urologist has a protocol to follow which is based on studies and legal proceedings over time. If a severely overweight patient comes in complaining of blood in their urine, it wouldn't be too prudent for the doctor to tell the patient to stop eating hamburgers and go do a colon cleanse.
Where I lose faith in the system is in the name calling. Proponents of Natural Healing argue Big Pharm doesn't care about anything but money whiile the medical industry labels alternative medicine as quackery.
Is there a balance? I think so. But currently balance only exists for people willing to look for it. The severely overwight patient who saw the urologist for blood in the urine should follow the orders for that specific treatment, and then ask himself what he could do to stop it from happening again. But will he? The statistics are pretty overwhelmingly against it. As soon as the blood goes away, he'll be drinking a case of beer a night again or eating calories excessively until something else goes wrong.
MS is a disease that happens slowly over time, mimicking the symptoms of old age. This is a disease that gives the benefit of time, because it generally doesn't lead to death. It's like a fire that burns little pieces and parts of a tree, affecting its overall health but letting it live. MS is one of the best diseases for patients to make lifestyle changes because we still have time on our side.
MS patients have got to come to a realization at some point that there is no synthetic cure, no pill, no drug, and no doctor that is going to remove MS from their body. Sure they will help a person deal with the symptoms, but nothing further. A person has to have the mindset that they aren't going to tolerate the disease, set out to find the way to cure it through eating, exercise and enzymes, and stick to that road with a real commitment to the cure.
Conversely, MS doctors have to stop telling patients there is no cure and there's nothing left to do but ride it out as comfortably as possible. They also have to stop lying about the notion that some magic pill is right around the corner. Of all the things I heard from various doctors about the disease, I think I found this the most hurtful. Though it might provide some sort of short term hope as the patient leaves their office, it really doesn't do anything for the longer term except add to the frustration.
The body doesn't respond to synthetic drugs in curing anything. Cold medicines don't cure the comon cold anymore than painkillers actually stop pain or Interferons cure MS. All these drugs do is chemically alter the body to suppress a natural reaction, allowing the person to manage symptoms until the body heals itself. The trick is understanding that MS is a lengthy cold that is going to require an enormous investment of time and energy to commit to the cure.
But what a challenge we're faced with. The information is out there. It's readily available. Once a person realizes the doctors are limited in their scope and a life change is required, sorting through the sea of supplements, MLM's, scams and other nonsense is enough to drive a person right back to the pharmacy.
As I tell all my friends, it really is easy. Forget the science and the little head. It’s simple. Here’s the easy rules.
1) If God made it and it will rot in a day if you leave it on the counter, eat and drink more (think fruit, veggies, fish, chicken). If humans did stuff to make it last longer so they can raise their profits, eat and drink less (think chips, coke, cake)
2) The body knows what it wants more than the mind does. This means if you mess up one day on rule #1, you will live. Just try to get back to rule #1
3) The body was designed to do stuff. So do stuff. Swim, walk, run, beat a rug. Moving the thumbs on a video game doesn't count.
4) Use digestive enzymes to improve the movement of food through the body, making sure to eliminate waste frequently (at least once a day).
Oh.......and be a human. Use the 80/20 rule and allow yourself the joys of life once in awhile. Eating a piece of cake on a weekend will be ok......just get back to it the next day.
1 comment:
Hi Mike, I found this article relating to your thoughts. I hope the link works. Glad your doing well. Rob.
By MICHAEL POLLAN
Published: January 28, 2007
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
That, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we humans should eat in order to be maximally healthy. I hate to give away the game right here at the beginning of a long essay, and I confess that I’m tempted to complicate matters in the interest of keeping things going for a few thousand more words. I’ll try to resist but will go ahead and add a couple more details to flesh out the advice. Like: A little meat won’t kill you, though it’s better approached as a side dish than as a main. And you’re much better off eating whole fresh foods than processed food products. That’s what I mean by the recommendation to eat “food.” Once, food was all you could eat, but today there are lots of other edible foodlike substances in the supermarket. These novel products of food science often come in packages festooned with health claims, which brings me to a related rule of thumb: if you’re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid food products that make health claims. Why? Because a health claim on a food product is a good indication that it’s not really food, and food is what you want to eat.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Post a Comment