Medicine Pros/Cons


Growing up I’ve always heard my father saying that knowledge is power. Girls around me liked being called pretty or beautiful while I would get really excited if somebody called me smart (along with pretty because let’s face it who doesn’t want to hear they’re pretty?)

Anyway, I have always had this opinion that smart girls are cool and that one day I wanted to be that kind of cool. So I started finding informative videos, books, articles basically anything I could find to expand my knowledge; You’d be surprised by what you can learn. And one of such sources is Ted talks.    
So, going through Ted talks, I found this video by Daniel Levitin which was basically about how to program your brain to foresee problematic situations and preventing them. Something in psychological terms is referred to as a Premortem. 

Talking about hard decisions he mentioned medical choices we have to make. He suggested that when you’re prescribed a medicine by the doctor, ask for the statistics like the number needed to treat, the NNT for the drug. He gave the example of a High cholesterol drug Statin. Now the NNT for this drug in 1 in 300. Which means 300 people have to take the Drug in order to help 1. This is confirmed by Bloomberg.com. So you have 1 in 300 chance. Also know the side effects occur in 5% of those 300 people. Which is 15 out of those 300. So you should know all this before making a decision to start taking the drug. 

Next he mention the prostrate surgery in which the prostate is removed to prevent cancer. The NNT for this surgery is 49, 49 surgeries and 1 person is helped. Side effects occur in 50% of the people. 

These are scary but accurate numbers. GlaxoSmithKline GSK is major British pharmaceutical company, which we identify as most used in our country. GSK estimates that 90% of the drugs only works on 30-50 people. Not something doctors inform you about. Because the pharmaceutical companies would stop making money if people found out. 
To conclude, medicines might be causing more side effects and actually helping us. And here we take medicine for everything. A little headache or muscle ache and it doesn’t go away till we take that one pill. Making us completely dependant on drugs. Imagine what it’s making you’re body go through. The unknown side effects it causes. 

How many times have we heard our grandparents telling us that there weren’t as many strange diseases back in the old times as there are now. Now we hear a new disease discovered everyday. We justify that by thinking that’s because the technology wasn’t advanced enough to detect them back then. But is this really true? Why is it the more advanced we become the more problems we seem to have. Just something to think about. 

You can find this video on YouTube. Ted talks David Levitin. 

Love,

Manal 

82 thoughts on “Medicine Pros/Cons”

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  2. Interesting! I’ve heard that our body becomes dependent upon painkillers, so that it stops producing its own painkillers if we take them constantly. However, this perspective is an interesting contrast (or complement?) To the way we’ve been successfully eradicating certain diseases.

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    1. That’s true. Most medicine aren’t habit forming but painkillers are. They body gets dependant on drugs pretty easily. Which is not good for the immune system. Since it stops getting utilised.
      Also about the diseases I’ve watched/read research that talks about these diseases being self created by big corporations as a way of earning. Best way to start a business, make people realise they need your product. About 78% of the diseases are only psychologically caused.

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      2. I agree the historic ones were mostly severe bacteria reactions. Like the Black Plague that wiped out half of Europe’s population. But the modern diseases are too complicated to decipher the cause. Which works out great ge the pharmaceutical companies.

        Liked by 2 people

  3. Great post, I always have doubt about what chemical I put in my stomach.

    I have been recently diagnosed with High BP. So far I have been avoiding medicine I took once but didn’t continued it.

    I have suffered for 10 years with sinus. Until recently when Doc said I have to go through the surgery. Got no option left. It’s when my sinus started spreading towards Brain. I went. Else one can survive without medicines.

    There are so many natural cures, that we don’t know or avoid it. But they make wonders.

    Like Hijama / Cupping I find it as amazing. The results are fascinating.

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    1. We’re never told about the side effects one medicine has. Sure it cures something temporarily but what about the damage it causes for the long run. I’ve kept myself at a distance from medicine for as long as I can remember and I see the difference.
      High BP can be treated with perhaiz as we say instead of medicine. It runs in my family and I’ve seen taking caution working well.
      About the sinus. What sounds serious! I’m sorry for that. Did you have the surgery already?

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      1. Yes my diet has been same for the last 10 years, my wife is sick of it partially. Since I don’t allow her to use oil at all.

        BP and stress runs in my family, I can’t change it, that’s why have been in sports for a very long time. Unfortunately, for the last 3 years, it’s been a very hectic life for me. I can’t able to settle down properly. So my gym routine is gone. I used to be regular gym guy.

        But I intend to start it asap. Miss my swimming pool alot.

        About sinus i have to do the surgery, did it 2 years back. My sinus was started moving towards brain. A little bit of delay, had to go on emergency surgery all of a sudden. It was a scary call. A person I know, his name was same like me, he died due to the same reasons like I had with sinus. People take sinus a bit lightly, however, Sinus can kill people if not treated properly.

        Liked by 2 people

  4. Doctor’s are simply highly educated “pimps” for the pharmaceutical industry. New diseases are identified, not because of new technology in all cases, but because to identify an illness is to prescribe a “cure” or “treatment” for said illness, thereby keeping the cash-flow both positive and profitable. “Heal Thyself” is the best advice. But…you’re both smart and pretty…so it seems with the help of Ted Talks, you’ve got this industry figured out. You think they can’t cure cancer? If they did, who would purchase next years expensive new treatments? Think about it. Capitalism creates self-perpetuating industries who’s first and ultimate goal is to profit and survive. All IMO, of course.

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    1. Thank you for the compliment. And I agree with you. Best way to run a successful business is making people believe they need your product.
      I’ve actually read about cancer as well. Some people claim it can be cured with natural products. The same way dengue is cured by papaya leaves. All diseases start from the brain, in an earlier post I mentioned Mind Over Matter. It’s the same. Media stuffs our brains with ideas about serious illness making us paranoid over a simple mole or redness. Psychologists have proved how believing something makes it actually happen. It’s capitalism like you said. Making money off of anything and everything.

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  5. If you take any commercial based product, It got Sodium which is a substitute of salt.

    Just read any product ingredients, the amount of it, we consume daily through various ways.

    We have almost stop putting any salt in our food. The other ingredients placed in the food, have so much salt that it help reduce my BP level as well.

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  8. Such an excellent post! I agree with you 100%. I have also read an article which says our body has natural powers to heal we should never intervene with unnecessary medicines. All we need is to be patient and give that time to heal on its own. I follow this till today!

    Liked by 3 people

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  9. I think we all suspected there was and the over use of drug but this does open your eyes. Yes it is true, many mainstream disease and conditions known today where not known then. Polio, measles and mumps where the biggies. What has change?

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Modern diseases are self inflicted. Byproducts of large companies caught up against the race to the age of technology. The progress we’re making comes at a price. In the old times the roots of diseases were bacteria. We’re dealing with a lot more than that now.

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  11. I totally agree that the drug companies push so may drugs that really have very little, no benefit, or side effects onto us. I think more emphasis should be put on eating healthily and changing to a healthier lifestyle.

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  13. Cholestral medicine is biggest scam run by drug mafia. There is no proof other than the pharma company sponsored study in this topic. The statin treatment have really bad side effects than advertised. Thanks to the govenment agencies hand in hand with these drug manufacturors. Avoid taking any medecine blindly. Btw great post!

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      1. Interesting..that girl is cool, that girl is witty, that girl is honest but sometimes shitty. Oh! Poet feels.. :’) No hard feelings! Great blog, keep the great work up mate! 😊❤

        Liked by 1 person

  20. Fascinating and pertinent to me at this point. I am wary of the relationship between governments, pharmaceutical companies and private healthcare companies. Those companies exist for one purpose and one purpose only – to make as much money for their shareholders as possible. They should have no place in administering health care but because they are so wealthy, they are able to gradually buy influence over governments via corrupt officials, loopholes and ruses. This is one of many downsides of capitalism. That said, it’s hard to think of a system involving human beings where all of the usual suspects would not try to get more for themselves.

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  23. Great post! I always have this battle in my mind before taking any medicine!! So many side-effects!! 😦
    Btw..thanks for following!!! And you got a unique name for yourself!! 😛

    Liked by 2 people

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      3. Haha…. accidents have sometimes given great things to the world!! 😊 It has got that mysterious feeling attached to it…i like it! So how would you like to be addressed – iamthatgirl23 or manal? 😊

        Liked by 1 person

  24. Hmm…i like the mystery of the first one and simplicity of the second….but i like being mystified more….so will prefer thatgirl! 😊😛 .. you can call me sifar! 😊

    Liked by 1 person

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      1. Allergic to most antibiotics too so I never want to overuse the few I can take because you build up immunity to them too. Or take this ACME Pill for headache but it may cause permanent blindness, heart murmur and finger to fall off!

        Like

  26. Sometimes, we have no choice , we have to take medicines for further treatment or else health will deteriorate into worse. I tend to believe that medicines have pros and cons but its cons much bigger than pros, thanks to share this important topic, liked it straight from my heart! 👍

    Liked by 1 person

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  27. Ted talks are one of the best things to watch over youtube…Promoting n awaring about a topic which sm1 wuld not evn thnk z a grt idea..

    Like

    Reply
  30. Pingback: Pro/Cons of Medicines – Health Knowings

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