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Natural Health: There are lies, more lies and statistics in the effectiveness of pharmaceutical drug

Author Admin

The words in the title about statistics are well known, usually in a slightly different version, but I feel it is a little unfair on statistics. However it is true that most of us don’t know how to interpret statistics and even if someone does know it might take a few minutes to sit down and decode what the figures are actually saying.

I have spent a good amount of time looking at research articles over the last couple of decades and have become interested in the question of when or whether one should take the drugs recommended by doctors. I have been asking people how effective they expect a drug to be that is prescribed by their doctor. Most of them expect the drug to be 90 – 100% effective, a few drop the figure to 80% or more and only one person has thought that it might be as low as 70%.

This is in stark contrast to the fact where there is often less than 5% effectiveness and drugs with a proven effectiveness of less than 0.4% are regularly prescribed to the tune of billions of dollars a year for the drug companies. Doctors often talk about patients being unrealistic in their expectations. But who is being unrealistic?

A good case in point is a paper I looked at about Herceptin, a much hyped drug for women with hormone positive breast cancer. It sounds absolutely great when the advertising says “the treatment group has only 62% of the risk of recurrence, metastasis or death.” It sounds at a quick reading that things are 62% better.

Well not quite… Not at all in fact. – The 62% of the risk of recurrence or spread of the disease or death is… – An improvement of 37% against what it would have been without treatment which means an improvement of 37% of 22% (deaths which could have happened) which is – An absolute improvement of just over 8% for disease free survival – But if we look at overall survival it is only a 0.9% improvement – that is, out of 1000 patients only nine extra survive two years, or less than 1 in 100 – Or if it is averaged out over the life of everyone, an increase of just under 3 months of disease-free survival and four to five months of additional time till death.

Somehow one life saved out of 100 or an extra five months of survival doesn’t sound so great – nothing like the 62% in the advertising. And when you take into account the suffering due to side effects during treatment and the reduction of quality of life during that time you might like to think of much more fun ways to use up the last years of your life.

When a doctor wants you to take some drugs, especially when it is a life and death issue you don’t want to know the advertising figures, you want to know how much disease free survival time the studies show and how much overall survival time there is. And if the doctor waffles on about a few more months, work out whether months of suffering during chemo is worth the few more months that you might or might not get.

So, with all this in mind – is the problem one of statistics? Or is it that the marketers, the drug companies, are just doing the best they can for their shareholders by promoting their products in the best way they can.

One of the problems is that most doctors wear rose tinted spectacles when it comes to interpreting the figures. At best the doctors are intensely caring, want to do the best for their patients and are incredibly busy, too busy caring to delve into the vast swamp of biomedical literature. It is much easier to read the guidelines provided by the drug companies, or their medical associations which are sponsored by the drug companies.

You deserve better than that. You deserve to know the facts of actual effectiveness. As an example, the average survival time for women with breast cancer is 20 years. In Australia and elsewhere in the developed world between 78% and 85% of women survive 5 years (depending on where I get the figures). Chemotherapy only contributes 1.5% to survival at five years. That isn’t a typo. Only 1.5% of the 78% to 85% survival is due to chemo.

If it is going to cost you a lot of money for your drugs, of any sort, then work out whether you could do better by taking regular exercise, eating more raw and lightly steamed fresh vegetables, fruit and use the money to improve your overall quality of life than to take a drug with little effect.

Posted in Pharmaceutical Drugs |

Tags: Drug, effectiveness, health, lies, more, Natural, Pharmaceutical, Statistics, There |

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How Vested Interest in Selling Pharmaceutical Drugs May be Having an Adverse Affect on Your Health

Author Admin

The major contributor to the big picture of health is the pharmaceutical company’s research and development (R&D, where the making of new drugs begins. There are other research institutions outside of pharmaceutical companies, such as universities. The drug companies however, fund many of these.

In spite of all the clinical trials that go on, it is worth remembering it was reported that 106,000 died from adverse drug side effects prescribed by doctors on the advice of pharmaceutical companies in the USA. That, of course, doesn’t even take into consideration the numbers that were made ill and lived, or the unreported incidents.

The public at large have no idea how a new drug therapy can be made in R&D and get through trials in a somewhat uncritical manner. We have already seen how vested commercial interest has swayed the outcome when it comes to academia. It also extends to R&D and much further, as I will explain.

From a study, made by Dr E.G Campbell et. al. it was found that advisory panels, which comprise the Institutional Revue Boards, are made up of individuals from medical faculties. Half of the advisors were consultants to pharmaceutical companies. Because of these connections, it was feared that decisions regarding post-clinical trials would be biased in favour of commercialism rather than care.

Following this, ‘Health Daily News’ released a news report. This was the follow up to the above study from its main author Doctor E.G Campbell who was quoted in the periodical saying: “Our revious research with faculty has shown us that heavy ties to industry can affect scientific behaviour, leading to such things as trade secrecy and delays in publishing research. It is impossible to say that similar relationships with companies could effect IRB members’ activities and attitudes.”

Considering the above, ABC news came up with some very interesting revelations from a survey on clinical drug trials:

It was found that if a non-pharmaceutical company funded a trial, then there would be a 50% chance of the results being considered favourable, while a pharmaceutical company would favour 90% of the results.

-Clearly this shows self-interest is operating. If clinical trials have so much at stake commercially, where self-interest can affect good science and override public protection then this questions the moral integrity of certain individuals and hinders the progress of health.

Over the recent years, governments have cut down on funding academia and research institutions. -Big Pharma steps in, with its forever increasing funding. For example, the drug industry gave two hundred and ninety two million dollars in 1981 and over two billion in 1991…not out of the goodness of its heart of course, but because of the control it could exert over these bodies.

Derivation and Use of Environmental Quality and Human Health Standards for Chemical Substances in Water and Soil (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry)

Author Admin

Derivation and Use of Environmental Quality and Human Health Standards for Chemical Substances in Water and Soil (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry)

A balanced, comprehensive overview of Environmental Quality Standards (EQS), Derivation and Use of Environmental Quality and Human Health Standards for Chemical Substances in Water and Soil addresses the selection and prioritization of substances for standard derivation. With integrated content and up-to-date information on assessment of regulations that affect the derivation and use of EQS, it examines the derivation of these standards and their implementation to protect human health and the environment.

The book is based on contributions from thirty-five scientists, regulators, and policy makers from eleven countries with individual expertise across disciplines such as risk assessment, environmental, health, economic, and social sciences. These scientists summarize current knowledge on aquatic and terrestrial environmental quality standards, placing these standards in a wider socioeconomic and regulatory context. The book explains how to derive environmental standards that are defensible from a scientific and socioeconomic perspective. Using multidisciplinary techniques applicable to water, sediments, and soils; the text demonstrates how to select the best form and derivation method relative to individual environmental standards.

The book presents an in-depth examination of when, where, and how to implement environmental standards based on the social and economic context. It includes detailed coverage of technical approaches that shed light on the derivation and implementation of EQSs. It also identifies future research that will help to underpin the science of environmental and human health standards.

List Price: $ 139.95 Price: $ 58.99

Related Chemical Substances Products

Posted in Chemical Substances |

Tags: Chemical, Chemistry, Derivation, Environmental, health, Human, Quality, Society, Soil, Standards, Substances, Toxicology, Water |

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Pharmaceutical Drugs and Health

Author Admin

Excerpt from “Working Toward Wellness” Audio CD by Dr. Brandon DiNovi

Drugs, Do they really make you healthy?

“I know is sounds kind of funny, but have you really stopped and though

“Do pharmaceutical drugs really make me healthy?”

Well think about it. When you see a person who is in great shape we usually think that person must eat right, take vitamins and workout. Yet if medications make us healthy we should picture every healthy person we know downing handfuls of medications, but that is not the case.

We usually do not associate medications with a healthy lifestyle. In fact most people associate medications with sickness, dysfunction and disease. When you talk to a person who is of poor health the first thing they tell you is how many medications they are on. Yet if we listen to the allopathic community we should be thinking sick people are downing vitamins and healthy people are taking medications. But this is never the case!

Did you know that currently 2 out of 3 Americans are using a medication and that approximately 32 million Americans are taking 3 or more medications daily? As a nation we are getting sicker and sicker year after year and the most disturbing portion of this is that we are getting sicker younger every year. More and more children are being placed on drugs weather it is for ADHD, depression or diabetes. Are drugs really going to make these people healthy? Most pharmaceuticals are used to suppress our symptoms, not correct the problem. Remember our body talks to us in code and drugs usually just mute the communication process from our body. Plus the side effects from these synthetic chemicals can be detrimental. Americans would rather take something for acid reflux that could cause kidney and liver damage rather than change their dietary habits.

Remember only two things can cause a dysfunction either….

A. Environmental overload which causes your physiology to become toxic and unable to adapt.

OR

B. Having a deficit, which handicaps your innate intelligence and inhibits your body from adapting.

These are the only two things that can cause dysfunctions.

America is supposed to have the most advanced technology and healthcare system in the world. Then why are we as Americans the most obese, and most afflicted with illness outside of AIDS in some 3rd world countries. Yet as a nation we take more pharmaceutical drugs than any other.

I am not saying pharmaceuticals are causing our unhealthy culture, it is just they are not what is needed. Lifestyle changes are what is needed! Remember choice is what is needed to change your health. And the last time I checked you never needed a prescription to make a choice.

Now please do not run to your cabinet and throw away all of your medications. Your body may have adapted to them and you should talk to your health care provider who prescribed them.

Whenever a drug is prescribed you should ask the doctor 2 things.

1. How long will I be on this drug? This is important because besides water, vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates and fats I cannot think of anything your body needs. When you have a headache it is not because there is a lack of aspirin in your blood so more than likely it is not a lack of this drug that is causing your problem.

And

2. What can I change in my lifestyle habits to help lower the duration I am on this drug?

More than likely you will have to find an integrative healthcare provider to help you with your lifestyle habits. These can be chiropractic physicians, naturopathic physicians or psychotherapist to name a few.

So do drugs really make you healthy? Are they dealing with your Environmental overload or deficiency? Or do they simply suppress your symptoms so you do not have to change your lifestyle.”

Pharmaceutical drug guideline for your health care

Author Admin

Pharmaceutical drug guideline for your health care

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Pharmaceutical drug guideline for your health care

By: Jessi Anderson
Posted: Jan 02, 2011

If asked to name one thing which impacts our life generally in most phases one could barely say pharmaceutical drugs. But wait it is a idea that most people since our birth rely on medicines in one way or some other. Definitely by age our dependence on pharmacy products increases but even teenagers and young ones consume a big percentage of pharmaceutical derivatives. For your healthcare you must be aware of these issues.

Pharmaceuticals play a vital role in our day to day living. And hence their rising costs are destined to be our major concern. The ever growing prices of medicine products severely pinch one’s pocket, because this is one area where there is no choice of take or leave. If a person is struggling with certain disease as well as the medical doctor prescribes him any treatments he or she must buy it whether or not it fits his pocket or not. One is left with no option but to pay for the chemist. Therefore there’s a great need to regulate the values of medicines, perhaps to view that its costs are very little above the price incurred and also a marginal profit for that production organization. As of this moment several industry leaders are discovered to cost their monopoly medicines at a quite high price. Even drugs or regular use are certainly costly. Medicines sold by prescription being much more expensive than those sold over the counter by the chemist. Hence, you are often tempted to go for over the counter choice.

Even before any medicine is presented to Fda it undergoes intensive testing which is carried on animals and even humans. These tests confirm concerning the effectiveness of the medicine and makes sure that the invented drug does not have any serious side effects. Animals that are used to carry these tests often raise a controversy among the environmentalists. They strongly object about animals being tortured for the benefit of mankind. While the companies defend by saying that it is essential to save mankind and those animals can easily reproduce. Whatever be the case this controversy goes on forever without having a suitable answer. All of this study is critical so the ultimate customer gets only the very best.

Using the large rate of growth in the pharmaceutical drug market many of the organizations employed in this market are experiencing though contest. There’s a regular endeavor to attract the customers by direct effective advertizing and marketing programs targeted towards clients.

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Jessi Anderson – About the Author:

Jessi Anderson
researching ways to save in a difficult economy

Free discount pharmacy cards

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/pharmaceutical-drug-guideline-for-your-health-care-3957344.html

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