Is Medicating considered the modern answer to .......?

Yesterday, listening to TV there was a comment about the side effect of an Alzheimers pill - reducing compulsion. The comments were that a "study" had been done on the reduction of compulsive shopping (where they stated 6% of the population were compulsive shoppers, and 80% women) and that it had shown a 50% reduction in the number of times people went shopping. Reproduced part of an article below.

I find it interesting that 9 people could be considered a study - pretty small sample population, no control population etc.. But that's a whole new discussion.

But the worrying thing is that we "have to have" a pill to treat "everything". Is this a push (pharmaceutical company looking for new areas into which to push their wares & create new markets) or a pull (patients/consumers)? I can't help but feel that the disappearance of the extended family is contributing - no familial support or guidance as families move and work. And I think relying on medicating is a worrying trend. Not to mention the cost it adds to the PBS.

So.. is medicating the modern answer to all life's woes?



"Scientists from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, claim the memantine pill, also known as Ebixa (normally prescribed to help treat Alzheimer’s symptoms), could also treat those with OCD, as it successfully curbed impulsive spending urges during a series of clinical trials.

Researchers enlisted the help of nine OCD patients aged 19 to 59 who were given the memantine medication for eight weeks.

Before the trial began, the volunteers admitted to spending 38 hours a week shopping and 61% of their income on impulsive buys (mostly clothes).

After the eight-week trial period, volunteers reported a decrease in their spending urges, compulsive thoughts and behavioural traits.

“Hours spent shopping per week and money spent shopping both decreased significantly, with no side effects," a spokesperson from the study said, reports the Daily Mail.

Researchers believe that the pill reacts to the brain chemical, known as glutamate, which is closely linked to OCD behaviour."

Pharma companies almost run the USA, they have huge funding and powerful lobbyists, so they can get so many things pushed through.

Interesting to note however, despite all these potential new drugs, the uptake on most is fairly small and big pharmas profits haven't moved a lot in the last 5 years if i remember correctly. There was an article in Wired magazine about it around 6 months ago.

Funny how drugs like this can become legal and yet others with decades of use and studies are still considered 'Class A'

I have a vague recollection hearing that the time from concept to launch of pharmaceuticals has decreased. With the push for profits, this could easily be a side-effect (pun intended). I feel concern that the answer to problems is to pop a pill. There are necessary requirements but sometimes....

Prawn - you thinking of any particular Class A apart from the popular ones?

johenmo said:

Prawn - you thinking of any particular Class A apart from the popular ones?

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In small studies MDMA has proven very useful in treating PTSD. Im not advocating it, but if it was developed/newly synthesised today for that purpose then it would probably get approval.

prawn_86 said:

Pharma companies almost run the USA, they have huge funding and powerful lobbyists, so they can get so many things pushed through.

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you love a corporatocracy. google image search venn diagram monsanto / goldman sachs / big oil etc.

prawn_86 said:

In small studies MDMA has proven very useful in treating PTSD. Im not advocating it, but if it was developed/newly synthesised today for that purpose then it would probably get approval.

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I have heard good things about Seriphos which is phosphorylated serine for PTSD. Those that have taken it have usually done saliva cortisol tests and cortisol levels have shown to be very high. Not advocating it, but suggest thorough research if anyone is interested.

Some reviews here: http://www.iherb.com/product-review...Phosphorylated-Serine-100-Capsules/31262/?p=1

johenmo said:

I have a vague recollection hearing that the time from concept to launch of pharmaceuticals has decreased.

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If you have such a recollection, how about researching it and providing evidence if it's genuinely the case, rather than putting out the vague but possibly unfounded suggestion?

Re your original reference to a 'study' involving NINE patients with no controls, it's just laughable.
No one would take it seriously. (I appreciate that you weren't doing so either.)

It has long been my concern that there is a growing tendency to medicalise/pathologise ordinary human emotions, viz sadness in response to an unhappy event, depression when suffering a debilitating illness, grief following the death or other loss of someone loved. Such emotional responses are normal, are part of the ups and downs of just living, and shouldn't - unless continuing to pathological levels - be considered problems to be treated.

Rather, I'd say that such emotional responses are a reassuring indication that someone is 'normal'.

I'm really alarmed at the spread of antidepressants in really young people and in the broader population at the slightest hint of anything less than glorious happiness. And the increasing use of potent stimulant medication for hyperactive children, even in infants, is worrying. Then the apparent intolerance of people to just ride out a period of insomnia, before swallowing potent hypnotics.
As you suggest, we seem to be getting ever closer to that expectation that there's a pill for everything.

Julia said:

If you have such a recollection, how about researching it and providing evidence if it's genuinely the case, rather than putting out the vague but possibly unfounded suggestion?

Re your original reference to a 'study' involving NINE patients with no controls, it's just laughable.
No one would take it seriously. (I appreciate that you weren't doing so either.)

It has long been my concern that there is a growing tendency to medicalise/pathologise ordinary human emotions, viz sadness in response to an unhappy event, depression when suffering a debilitating illness, grief following the death or other loss of someone loved. Such emotional responses are normal, are part of the ups and downs of just living, and shouldn't - unless continuing to pathological levels - be considered problems to be treated.

Rather, I'd say that such emotional responses are a reassuring indication that someone is 'normal'.

I'm really alarmed at the spread of antidepressants in really young people and in the broader population at the slightest hint of anything less than glorious happiness. And the increasing use of potent stimulant medication for hyperactive children, even in infants, is worrying. Then the apparent intolerance of people to just ride out a period of insomnia, before swallowing potent hypnotics.
As you suggest, we seem to be getting ever closer to that expectation that there's a pill for everything.

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I wasn't taking it seriously. It was that they used the word study of 8 or 9 people (reports differ) that caught my attention - almost an oxymoron. And I share yr concern re medicating/medicalising human emotions. I worked with a guy who went off Prozac after many years and he improved. And I have talked with others who have witnessed this - also mentioned in the alternative medicines thread.

I take yr point re the reduced launch time - everest group and McKinsey & Co are companies that advertise that they help to reduce trial times and costs. Some/many of the side effects take time to appear, which should be of concern - Vioxx was one where the cardiac concerns didn't appear until later.

On a broader note, people seem to be more sensitive - i came through the period where if you did something wrong at work yr boss would let you know & the matter would finish there - it was upfront, honest and dealt with. Now one has to have meetings with support people & claims of harrassment ring out left, right & centre (ok - a bit dramatic but...). Is this "sensitivity" a sign of a society where, as you put it Julia, anything less than glorious happiness is met with a dramatic response?

johenmo said:

I take yr point re the reduced launch time - everest group and McKinsey & Co are companies that advertise that they help to reduce trial times and costs. Some/many of the side effects take time to appear, which should be of concern - Vioxx was one where the cardiac concerns didn't appear until later.

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That's a really important point.

On a broader note, people seem to be more sensitive - i came through the period where if you did something wrong at work yr boss would let you know & the matter would finish there - it was upfront, honest and dealt with. Now one has to have meetings with support people & claims of harrassment ring out left, right & centre (ok - a bit dramatic but...). Is this "sensitivity" a sign of a society where, as you put it Julia, anything less than glorious happiness is met with a dramatic response?

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Thanks, johenmo. I'm glad I'm not alone in my concern about how precious we seem to have become.

johenmo said:

Yesterday, listening to TV there was a comment about the side effect of an Alzheimers pill - reducing compulsion. The comments were that a "study" had been done on the reduction of compulsive shopping (where they stated 6% of the population were compulsive shoppers, and 80% women) and that it had shown a 50% reduction in the number of times people went shopping.

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Courtesy of http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2151381/Alzheimers-medication-used-kick-habit.html