Pill Popping Nation! | FerrariChat

Pill Popping Nation!

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by Stackhouse, May 17, 2004.

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  1. Stackhouse

    Stackhouse F1 Rookie
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    Feb 14, 2004
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    Is it me or are we a nation that relies on popping pills to solve life’s little problems.

    From Crank Enlargement pills to adult A.D.D. med's, it just seems to me that Americans are swallowing more than they realize! Like the “Gotta Have It” onslaught of advertising you see on TV. Ever count the commercials, billboards, radio and print ads you see and hear every day promising a better life if you just pop the pill.

    I can just imagine myself carelessly skipping through a flower patch without worrying about the allergic consequences. But what they don’t show on the commercial is the beautiful young woman in the white silk pants ducking into a dirty outhouse due to “Unexpected” side effects like bowel irritation.
    Are we buying into a Fantasy created by drug makers? Are they playing us? Is it our lifestyle that creates a need for the quick cure? What do you think?

    Maybe I’ll go ask Alice…

    PD
     
  2. Dom

    Dom F1 Veteran
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    Nov 5, 2002
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    I work for the pharmacuetical industry, and I must say, I am shocked at how many drugs (both prescription and OTC) that we take. It seems like everyone is taking something regularly.

    I am a toxicologist, so in general, I like to stay away from most drugs, mostly because I have a good knowledge of the toxicity of xenobiotics in general. I just don't like to take anything unless I really have to.

    However, part of this stems from our mentality. If you go to visit a physician for any ailment, you expect a pill. If the physician told you to just eat less and excercise, you would probably consider him a quack and go somewhere else where you could get a pill, because god forbid you should eat less and excercise.

    So, instead you go to your herbalist, who basically gives you the same advice (i.e. changes your diet to vegetarian, gets you to come to yoga classes, etc), and also sells you some of his expensive herbal supplements. Shortly afterwards, you feel better, and attribute them to his herbal medicines, not realizing that you have changed your lifestyle to also eat less (and better) and excercise.

    We have the most expensive urine in the world.

    Dom
     
  3. Stackhouse

    Stackhouse F1 Rookie
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    Isn’t that what Red Bull is? Bottled piss??

    I’m with you on the diet thing. I cant count how many women my wife knows who sit on their arses popping pills to “Melt” those pounds off only to gain them back with their bad eating and exercise habits. Come on GET OFF YOUR LAZY ARSES AND BREAK A SWEAT!

    PD
     
  4. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,252
    There are two sides to this equation:

    1) On the one hand, healthy adults should take as few drugs as possible (and should excersize, eat well, give back to the community,...)

    2) On the other hand, free adults should be able to basically anything they want behind closed doors.

    Everything else is just trying to draw a dividing line in the spectrum between 1 and 2.
     
  5. TexasF355F1

    TexasF355F1 Six Time F1 World Champ
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    Anyone see the new Chris Rock act on HBO? He talks about how funny it is we can't 'freely' do cocaine or heroin or other drugs b/c the govt. says they're 'addictive'. But every 2 seconds we're bombarded with commercials for drugs to help with ADD, Depression, anxiety, etc which people get addicted to.
     
  6. PeterS

    PeterS Four Time F1 World Champ
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  7. Stackhouse

    Stackhouse F1 Rookie
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    Interesting!!

    Conspiracy Theory….

    So did all those drug lords from the 80’s just invest their coke profits to build legitimate pharmaceutical companies who are now selling “legal” versions of their illegal blow to the baby boomers?

    Wow… there I go again someone pass me those A.D.D. meds.

    PD
     
  8. alanhenson

    alanhenson Formula 3

    Dec 2, 2003
    1,357
    It really is sad and pathetic, the shape this country has goten into. we are so unhealhy we a grasping for anyhing to help us feel better. Except of course a healthy lifestyle because that may actually require some effort. Here are some scary statistics for you. Approx. 150K deaths /year are due to medical error. Meds, surguries and the like. That is equivelent to crashing about one jumbo jet /day, every day. Think the airline industry would get away with that? They estimate that every hospitl in the US has approx. 40 potential fatal errors/day.
     
  9. alanhenson

    alanhenson Formula 3

    Dec 2, 2003
    1,357
    Interestingly enough, California just did a study and found that immigrants had a life expectancy that was about 5 years longer than the average Americans. Could it be that they are in a lower socio-economic class usually, which resticts their access to all of our fine drugs and surguries. hhhmmm.
     
  10. Artherd

    Artherd F1 Veteran

    Jun 19, 2002
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    Well, it ain't you.

    Personally, I take nothing at all if I can manage it (almost always.) I'm not on any perscription anything, and other than for the occational tick bite or tetnis shot, I stay away from all that crap.

    I find I'm about a thousand times healthier after I stoped going to the 'family doctor's office' for 'check ups' (oops, I mean this week's communicible dissease.) at least, not as often as they'd like.

    Infact, I don't think I've been 'sick' since.


    I like my unbalanced, ADD, LysDexic, crazy-ass self not under any meds. I'm happy, free, and loving life. Infact, I equate most of the stronger pharmacutical crap out there with putting a bullet in my head.


    How come it's the most futzed-up people whom we see belt-feeding themselves pills? How many of them really are better off doing <ghasp> nothing?
     
  11. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
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    If somebody's got an injury or a genuine ailment, that's worthy of Meds. Hell, my 3 years ('80-83) of round-the-clock headaches (read: 72 sledgehammers a minute, non-stop) from a severe accident (rear-ended by drunk doing 100+ while I was pulling away from stop) were made somewhat tolerable as I ate 16 prescribed, (do not drink) pills & 16 OTC pills a day... while using sharp, dangerous power tools.

    But if it's simply "Mommy's little helper"... no.
     
  12. alanhenson

    alanhenson Formula 3

    Dec 2, 2003
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    Interestingly enough, I own a mulidisciplinary clinic in Arlingon that employs MDs, Chiropractor's, Physical therapists, Massage therapists, and an acupuncturist. We used to be just a rehab clinic but over the years we have evolved somewhat into wholistic/traditional healthcare clinic that specializs in getting people healthy again. We have the rare bility to see all sides of medicine, alternative and traditional, and how they can be blended together for the best results, with the least invasion and damage to the patient. We have seen things that are not supposed to be possible. Patients coming off of thyroid medications, heart meds, insulin(rare). It has become our mission to get these people healthy again and off the meds. Most people can get off their meds if they are willing to work hard. One example of over medicating: I had a 14 year old girl come in our office for headaches and she gives me this laundry list of things that she has, Lupas, Rheumatoid, migraines etc... She was on 9, yes 9, medications from the age of 6. She ate fast food all the time, she smoked and she ate lots of refined sugar and dairy products. It took about 4 months to detoxify her body from the drugs and bad habits, but she is now currently being weened off the last med. Her blood chemistry is at normal levels. No more lupas or rheumatoid detected. Did she really have all that? Who knows? This was all done by the best Dallas children's hospital. Not some bad doc. She feels like a million bucks and her mom is seriously pissed. She was talking about suing the hospital. I am discouraging her from that because they did eactly what they were trained to do and what is within medically acceptable standards. Don't get me wrong, I think there are many instance in which meds and surgery are warranted. There is no one better at saving lives than american doctors. They are absolutely the best.But we seriously go over board in this country. The real problem with the MDs that we hire is that they really don't know what health is. They know how to manipulate the body with chemicals to get it to do what they want, but they have a very difficult time describing health, much less how to achieve it. Get exercise and eat better is a passing thing they say to their patients, but most of them don't do it so they don't expect their patients to. I live the whole lifestyle I preach everyday and it works. I love to see patients that have lost hope, turn their lives around. We are starting to get people that come from out of state to come see us. It has been truly rewarding for us. Again, no offense to medical professionals out there. We hire many and they are some of the brightest people we hire and eager to learn what we do. Almost 100% of them love what we do and embrace it. It changes the way they look at patient care. I truly believe i will be the future of health care in America. I saw a sign in Houston recently on the side of a hospital that read, " now offering accupuncture nd chiropractic". Never thought I would see that.
     
  13. Dom

    Dom F1 Veteran
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    Alan.

    Good point. But the fault does not lie entirely with the physician. As I said earlier, it also comes down to patient expectations. Most of the time, a person goes to visit his physician and expects a pill. If they are told to eat less and excercise instead, I believe that they will just go to see another physician that will prescribe a pill.

    People don't want to work if they can just take a pill. Why go through the effort of raising your children, if you can just put them on the latest ADD drug?

    Eat less and excercise. I think it would probably solve 80-90% of the health problems in the US. I only wish it were easier.

    Dom
     
  14. alanhenson

    alanhenson Formula 3

    Dec 2, 2003
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    I agree totally, in fact i dont think much of the blame lies with the physician. They are doing what they are trained to do and what the public expects them to do. It is a never ending viscious cycle.
     
  15. Stackhouse

    Stackhouse F1 Rookie
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    I’m gonna take it a step further and blame the Pharmaceutical co’s who sell us on their “nirvana “. Just look at their ads. The pharmaceutical market has gone from necessary cures to beefing up their portfolio’s with “life enhancing” drugs to improve the bottom line and make more $$.
    It seems that they are the ones convincing the average Joe that popping pills is the only way to enjoy your lifestyle. Where does it end. Pop a pill to improve your memory or Pop a pill to see in the dark…side effects include loss of bowel control, nauseous, vomiting, swelling of the tacticals… seems you are trading one problem for another.

    PD
     
  16. UroTrash

    UroTrash Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Well...., Docs DO share a huge part of the blame. Its so much easier and less time consuming to give an antibiotic, than to actually look at the patient and actually look at the urine, and sit down and explain the urine is clear but the patient has some emotional issues that manifest as physical, and often genito-urinary symptoms. I see it every day: referral: "chronic UTIs, no response to antibiotics". Never a culture, often not even a urinalysis....

    Yes, Docs certainly have a hand in it. The drug companies with their direct to comsumer advertizing have generated an expectation of the docs giving what ever pill is requested by the patient (See the Viagra and Cialis thread: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17857 )


    BTW, anybody need a prescription? We're running a special on Cipro this week...
     
  17. Stackhouse

    Stackhouse F1 Rookie
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    No thanks Just got back from Canada. ;)
     

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