Overmedication Nation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what's wrong with statins. In my experience anyone who is ranting about statins is an uninformed dotard or some "big pharma" conspiracy theorist.

I’m the PP who mentioned statins. There is nothing wrong with them if you really need them. It seems like a lot of people need them though. So, I wonder if there is a way to not need them.

I had near-optimal LDL, terrific lab results in general, and I exercise regularly, eat well, etc… but I take a statin because doctors discovered I have very common heart defect that’s been there since childhood — basically a bit of extra tissue that causes no harm…unless an ordinary clot happens to hide beneath it, in which case the heart’s usual filtering process won’t clear it.

If someone just looked only at my lab tests, they’d be like, “this person doesn’t need a statin! That’s absurd!” And yet I do. (I also take a daily aspirin).

Point is, doctors are managing all kinds of risks that we can’t see. It’s easy to be cynical, but bodies are complicated, and early death and debilitation used to be the norm.

You are in the category of people who really need them. That’s exactly what it’s for. Like you said, it can have nothing to do with outside appearance or lifestyle choices. But, generally speaking, statins are heavily prescribed. There is nothing wrong with statins or any other medication. But Americans take a lot of pills without a corresponding long lifespan for equivalent countries. This isn’t MAHA or anything like that. If anything, it’s curiosity.

I’m the PP (good lab work, needs a statin anyway). I think the whole experience of discovering I need a statin — when that certainly wasn’t what I expected or how I thought about myself — has made me feel much less qualified to judge what is “overmedication” vs just medication. Never would have expected that I’d need a statin, but I do. So why wouldn’t I presume other people also need theirs?

Maybe on a population level, we could have fewer risk factors if people were healthier, but shouting “willpower” rarely works, and doctors aren’t in a position make the kind of large scale population-based changes that would actually help with population-based improvements. They treat individuals and try to mitigate individual risk using the toolkit they have,, within the context of the world that we have.

Fwiw, I’ve never had a doctor *not* ask about lifestyle diet, exercise, alcohol, smoking, etc. Maybe I’m lucky. Regardless , I guess I give the benefit of the doubt more than I used to.

[Anonymous]

I wonder how much nutrition training medical doctors get in med school. Type 2 diabetes is driven by diet so it makes sense diet should be the target when people present with it or eve back when they present as prediabetics.

[Anonymous]

Probably, but I’m sick of the woo crap, too. No, Becky, my rheumatoid arthritis will not be cured by whatever nonsense some Insta grifter is selling.

[Anonymous]

All drugs should be available to everyone without a need for doctors or prescriptions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All drugs should be available to everyone without a need for doctors or prescriptions.

Troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love medicine and I’m grateful we have it.

…especially all those cures that are just around the corner. lol

[Anonymous]

Well if people had a healthy diet, didn't eat processed crap, had a healthy BMI and exercised they would not need medication. But they don't want to hear the truth.

[Anonymous]

Yes, we are overmedicated.

For multiple reasons, but mainly because it is big business. The need for tort reform plays a big role as well.

[Anonymous]

Actual Nazis doctors were allowed to come here to start the pharmaceutical industry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably, but I’m sick of the woo crap, too. No, Becky, my rheumatoid arthritis will not be cured by whatever nonsense some Insta grifter is selling.

I mean ... yeah ... "cleansing and lubricating your joints" by drinking boiled water with a "proprietary mix of supplements" that costs $500 an ounce sold by your fave Influencer won't cure your rheumatoid arthritis. That much is obvious to anyone who has two wits to rub together. But what is less obvious is that much of the prescription drugs pushed on us won't cure us, or even help much either -- and with many of them the side effects outweigh the benefits, a problem the doctors refuse to recognize because the drug reps/reported studies done only short term convince them otherwise. Psych meds are a case in point; most aren't much better than placebo and the side effects can be life-destroying. Lots and lots of money to be made there.

I work with med students and encourage them to do research while they are in school, because it's hard to consume research well if you haven't done it. And there is a lot of money to be made in presenting studies in a misleading light. Hell ... look at what the Sacklers did, convincing virtually the entire medical establishment that Oxy wasn't addictive despite all evidence to the contrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably, but I’m sick of the woo crap, too. No, Becky, my rheumatoid arthritis will not be cured by whatever nonsense some Insta grifter is selling.

I mean ... yeah ... "cleansing and lubricating your joints" by drinking boiled water with a "proprietary mix of supplements" that costs $500 an ounce sold by your fave Influencer won't cure your rheumatoid arthritis. That much is obvious to anyone who has two wits to rub together. But what is less obvious is that much of the prescription drugs pushed on us won't cure us, or even help much either -- and with many of them the side effects outweigh the benefits, a problem the doctors refuse to recognize because the drug reps/reported studies done only short term convince them otherwise. Psych meds are a case in point; most aren't much better than placebo and the side effects can be life-destroying. Lots and lots of money to be made there.

I work with med students and encourage them to do research while they are in school, because it's hard to consume research well if you haven't done it. And there is a lot of money to be made in presenting studies in a misleading light. Hell ... look at what the Sacklers did, convincing virtually the entire medical establishment that Oxy wasn't addictive despite all evidence to the contrary.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom here. I feel like this forum is now overrun by pharma reps.

[Anonymous]

Doctors have resorted to pushing pills to solve any problem. We have become a pill-poppin ‘ society.

[Anonymous]

The government also needs to admit their flawed dietary guidelines. The food pyramid we grew up with is total BS.