Forecasting Disease?

Do you Ted?  If you don’t, you really should. It’s for individuals who want to learn something new, watch an inspirational video, or just be informed on what’s going on around the world…and it’s better than watching a three-minute video of nonsense on YouTube.

One of the latest Ted Talks that I watched is entitled, Ivan Oransky: Are we over-medicalized? In it, Mr. Oransky explains, “…everyday thousands of people in this country are diagnosed with preconditions. We hear about pre-hypertension. We hear about pre-dementia. We hear about pre-anxiety and I’m pretty sure that I diagnosed myself with that in the green room. We also refer to subclinical conditions. There’s subclinical-atherosclerosis, subclinical-hardening of the arteries…obviously linked to heart attacks potentially. One of my favorites is called subclinical-acne. If you look up subclinical-acne, you may find a website, which I did, which says that this is the easiest type of acne to treat. You don’t have the pustules or the redness and inflammation…maybe that’s because you don’t actually have acne. I have a name for all of these conditions, it’s another precondition, I call them preposterous.”

“If you take, for example, subclinical-osteoporosis, a bone thinning disease, a precondition, otherwise known as osteopenia. You would have to treat 270 women for three years in order to prevent one broken bone. That’s an awful lot of women when you multiply it by the number of women who are diagnosed with this osteopenia. And so, is it any wonder, given all the costs and the side effects of the drugs that we’re using to treat these preconditions, that every year we’re spending more than $2 trillion on healthcare and yet 100,000 people a year, and that’s a conservative estimate, are dying not because of the conditions they have, but because of the treatments we’re giving them and the complications of those treatments. We’ve medicalized everything in this country.”

In another Ted Talks that I watched, shortly after Mr. Oransky’s, is entitled, Alanna Shaikh: How I’m preparing to get Alzheimer’s. In it, Ms. Shaikh tells a heartbreaking story of her father getting Alzheimer’s disease and the steps she’s taking to prevent herself from getting it, as well as preparing herself in case she does since Alzheimer’s tends to run in families. Ms. Shaikh concluded her Ted Talk by saying, “I don’t want to get Alzheimer’s disease. What I want is a cure in the next twenty years, soon enough to protect me, but if it comes for me, I’m going to be ready.”

Pharmaceutical companies are making millions upon millions of dollars from us by categorizing us as pre-fill in the blank of your most feared disease. By instilling fear in us, we naturally try to do any and everything in our power to prevent that disease from becoming reality. By taking pills to prevent certain diseases, studies have shown that many times, the pills do the exact opposite of what we’re taking them for or absolutely nothing at all. Pharmaceutical companies are essentially forecasting diseases and we’re paying them in hopes of prevention. In his Ted Talk, Mr. Oransky stated, “Previvor is what a particular cancer advocacy group would like everyone who just has a risk factor, but hasn’t actually had that cancer, to call themselves. You are a previvor.”

 

In class, we’ve discussed forecasting and how it’s essential for companies. How do you feel about pharmaceutical companies forecasting diseases? How is it any different from forecasting anything else? Does this raise any ethical issues?

http://www.ted.com/talks/ivan_oransky_are_we_over_medicalized.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/alanna_shaikh_how_i_m_preparing_to_get_alzheimer_s.html

5 thoughts on “Forecasting Disease?

  1. This is a very interesting topic in which I have been exposed to as well. My grandmother recently moved from overseas to America a few years back . She was fine when she was living overseas and at most took two pills a day just to give her energy and protect her immune system. As she came to America she continued her doctor visits, just to make sure she is still in good health. I noticed after every visit she was prescribed a new pill. This was very unusual for me to see, since I knew she came here in good health and barely had to take any pills. The doctor informed her she might get these certain illnesses in the future and that she should prepare for it now. Today she is taking more than 14 pills a day and she is convinced that if she does not, she will die. I dont think it is right for these doctors and pharmaceutical companies to allow us to rely on the pills they prescribe. In my grandmothers case, she was healthy and came here healthy and now she is consuming too many pills, in which I believe she truly does not need whatsoever.

  2. You have to remember that a pharmaceutical company is a business, there to make profit, maximize wealth and return money to share holders. Prescription medication is there business, it is no different than a fashion retailer forecasting the amount of jeans to order for the fall season. Medication is their products and they have spent millions and millions researching these drugs it’s only fair they try to make maximum profit back. To the other commenter before me, I would like to add that health care in America is very different than health care over seas. Taking medication to prevent upcoming diseases is just the way health care in America is, right or wrong? I am not arguing that, its just different here than there.

  3. I am pretty passionate about this topic… I could write for days, but I will try to be short and non-controversial.

    I believe that the pharmaceutical and medical industries use a scare tactic marketing technique because of their forecasting; and there will always be ethical issues in these industries. These industries sometimes use forecasting to bring in new business or create a new target market to create a huge business.

    It frustrates me to hear of people who instead of changing their diet or fitness lifestyle, use pills, or worse, surgery as their “quick fix.” Case and point, there was a new cardiologist at the hospital near my hometown and after his arrival the number of open-heart procedures nearly doubled. Both of my grandparents and an uncle, all on the same side of the family, had open-heart surgery at this hospital to “fix” their per-hypertension due to clogged arteries. They now are on at least 10 pills a day for the rest of their lives and have metal wires to hold their sternum closed, but a doctor the doctor had scared them that if they didn’t do it they would die sooner. In my opinion this was his way to forecast the future and create a business for himself.

    The alternative, that doctors don’t want people to know, is that instead of surgery there is studies that prove that natural supplements such as Garlic and Vitamin E help to thin the blood and clear blocked arteries, but if they told everyone that then they would be out of a job.

    Obviously there is two sides of every story however, and there is not a correct answer for every medical case, plus I don’t want to be all Tom Cruise on the topic, like his statement that Depression doesn’t exist, but I truly believe that there is some huge ethical issues on this topic and that the forecasting poses some educational challenges for the American population.

    1. I forgot to add to it that one of the medications my grandpa is on is Coumadin. It is a medication that helps to thin the blood and is strangely the same chemical that is used to make rat poison. It obviously has to be highly regulated and can be fatal if over diagnosed, it seems pretty scary to me.

  4. I have to agree with the above comments. I have done a little research on the topic in the past and I think many of the scientists who come up with these drugs often have different ideas about the drugs use before the pharmaceutical companies get their hands on them. I have even found information that claims the planned use for the ever popular HPV vaccine was not supposed to be used on women under 30. But how would the pharmaceutical companies swindle parents and young adults out of millions if they couldn’t recommend high schoolers and college students get the vaccine before entering school? it’s a lot easier to scare a parent of an 18 year old than a 40 year old woman into purchasing.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *