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Propisterol EQ
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The Purpose of Depression (And Why You Should Listen To It Rather Than Trying To D...
When I first came to Los Angeles over a decade ago, the city's love for psychiatrists was already a longstanding joke. And when Prozac and its ilk first arrived on the scene they were hailed as miracle pills that would bring instant happiness to the metropolis' two-hundred buck an hour couch surfers. But when it comes to depression, as a new study has shown, there are no quick fixes, though promisingly it seems the blues may actually serve a purpose, and indeed have the potential to make us happier in the long run.
While at my first job at a record label here in L.A. I struck up a friendship with a young girl who worked on reception. She'd just moved to the entertainment capital and this was her first job out of school. Lonely and vulnerable, she'd stumbled into a relationship with a much older, and very married man. After the initial excitement of the illicit affair had worn off, depression set in and she began to see a psychiatrist who soon prescribed Prozac for her troubles.
At the time, this struck me as beyond wrong. As a young girl alone in a big city, away from her family for the first time, it was only natural for her to feel a little home sick and down. Add a lousy relationship with a love rat into the mix and any sane person would have been depressed in her situation. It seemed to me that giving her happy pills to make her life more bearable was counterproductive. She needed to feel depressed. She needed to feel bad enough to be driven to make positive change in her life. In short, she needed to ditch the cheating dude, and learn to cope with life alone, rather than popping a pill to make life with him more livable.
And it seems that scientific studies are now supporting my inexpert observations. One new study, which for the first time combined all results from clinical drug trials, including those that had previously been withheld by the pharmaceutical companies but had become accessible under new FDA freedom of information rules, found that, "the new-generation antidepressants do not produce clinically significant improvements in depression in patients who initially have moderate or even very severe depression, but show significant effects only in the most severely depressed patients."
The research, which was published in the Public Library of Science medical journal, drew information from trials of four popular drugs: fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Seroxat), venlafaxine (Effexor) and nefazodone (Serzone). Given these results, Prof Irving Kirsch and his team concluded that, "there is little reason to prescribe new-generation antidepressant medications to any but the most severely depressed patients unless alternative treatments have been ineffective."
Furthermore, Dr Paul Keedwell, of the Institute of Psychiatry, argues that depression serves an evolutionary purpose, and may in the long term actually be good for us. "There are benefits and that's why it has persisted. It's a tough message to hear while you are in depression but I think that there's a life afterwards," said Keedwell in an interview with the BBC. "I have received e-mails from ex-sufferers saying in retrospect it probably did help them because they changed direction, a new career for example, and as a result they're more content day-to-day than before the depression."
So it seems, at least where depression is concerned, what doesn't kill you really can make you stronger. Depression can serve as a useful mechanism that lets us know we need to make profound change in our lives. And if you can work your way through your troubles, rather than reaching for possibly ineffective pills, you'll be better equipped to deal with obstacles down the road. But try telling that to someone who's depressed.
http://www.dailymantra.com When I first came to Los Angeles over a decade ago, the city's love for psychiatrists was already a longstanding joke. And when P... more -
PBS Dr. David Graham shows how FDA managers tried to silence him for indicating Vi...
Remember this horrifying story?
According to the link below it it hasn't changed.
Where is our outrage?
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FDA and Drug Approval Overview
Vioxx was one of the most widely used prescription drugs in the world and, for many, it may have been a killer. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supposed to guarantee the safety of the medicines we take, but some say it may have disregarded warnings from its own scientists about this looming public health disaster. NOW's BAD MEDICINE explores the drug approval process and talks with FDA whistleblower, Dr. David Graham, who reveals how his FDA managers tried to silence him and quash evidence that indicated Vioxx was unsafe.
Approval Process
The drug approval process overseen by the FDA has been subject to complaints from many sides. In the 1990s it was criticized for being too slow ? keeping potentially life-saving drugs off the market and adding to development costs. The most recent controversies come from another perspective, questioning whether the process is too quick and relies too much on information from the pharmaceutical industry.
Approving prescriptions drugs is the job of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). The process begins when a manufacturer has tested a new drug on animals and concluded three phases of testing on humans. The results from this process forms the basis of a "new drug application" (NDA), which the company submits to the CDER.
The NDA is then reviewed by CDER scientists who evaluate both the efficacy and safety of the drug and its risk/benefit ratio. The CDER reviewers may request more information from the developer and seek additional opinions from outside experts. CDER also checks the label information and investigates the manufacturing plant. The CDER director completes a final review and decides if the drug is ready for market. View an interactive graph of the process from CDER.
Some of the criticism Dr. Graham has leveled at the FDA process relates to what happens after a drug is approved. The FDA is also charged with monitoring drug safety of drugs on the market. The FDA tracks "adverse events" or negative "side effects" of drugs through the Office of Drug Safety, also a part of CDER. An adverse effect is a reaction which "results in death, disability, hospitalization, is life-threatening, causes a congenital anomaly, or requires treatment to prevent permanent damage."
Doctors and other healthcare personnel usually report these occurrences to the drug companies which are in turn required to notify the FDA of any serious incidents within 15 days of the original report. If a drug is new, the company must forward all reports quarterly for three years. After that time, all reports are filed annually. In addition, the FDA maintains a system of voluntary reports called MedWatch. Here, consumers and health care workers can submit reports which are then sent on to staff for evaluation.
In his November 2004 testimony before Congress, Dr. Graham suggested that the FDA is reluctant to admit that there are problems with drugs it has already approved. The FDA responded to Dr. Graham's testimony with a public rebuttal. In December 2004, THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA) echoed some of Graham's criticism, publishing a series of papers which question the relationship of drug companies to the approval process. According to THE ECONOMIST, the makers of some of the drugs mentioned by Dr. Graham are feeling a financial effect. AstraZeneca's share price fell by 10%. Shares in GlaxoSmithKline fell by 6%. And as for Merck, the maker of Vioxx, traders have made a $40 billion reduction in the company's value. (Read Dr. Graham's testimony and the JAMA articles.) Remember this horrifying story? According to the link below it it hasn't changed. Where is our outrage? ... more -
At HDDW we believe that Huntington's disease is treatable
There is exciting news in American Health care today! http://hddrugworks.org/index.php?option=com_content&...
At HDDW we believe that Huntington's disease is treatable. And in this section we provide information on prescription drugs, nutritional supplements, healthy lifestyle, and alternative therapies that can be used now by HD patients. All of the listed treatments require direction and supervision by your own doctor. We encourage you to seek out these treatments.
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-----------------------------------------DOU There is exciting news in American Health care today! http://hddrugworks.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&... more
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