tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post544857018524892929..comments2024-02-29T03:57:00.088-05:00Comments on The Mermaid's Tale: Real Truth in Labeling for the new statin replacementAnne Buchananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-76429487445660543692015-06-25T07:54:58.840-04:002015-06-25T07:54:58.840-04:00I meant pharmas must actually believe or must _for...I meant pharmas must actually believe or must _for_ business reasons say they doKen Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-31865934536804396312015-06-25T07:51:11.195-04:002015-06-25T07:51:11.195-04:00These are strong statements that I don't know ...These are strong statements that I don't know enough to judge, but if true they reinforce the problem of conflict of interest. Drug companies either believe to must for business reasons say, that their products are safe and effective. Government and the media have a responsibility to keep things honest. On the other hand a real problem is that truth is complex and elusive and, given environmental and behavioral change, truths about risks also change.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-86331963540298693532015-06-24T20:55:20.137-04:002015-06-24T20:55:20.137-04:00The newer drugs hold promise only because the mas...The newer drugs hold promise only because the massive business of mainstream medicine says so. Not because the real non-medical industry-crafted scientific data support it.<br /><br />Some of the biggest problems with statins (e.g., increased risk of cancer, arterial calcification, pancreatitis, diabetes) are exactly the result of lowering 'bad' LDL cholesterol by blocking its production, leading to physiological events like an increase in inflammation, a higher risk of infections, the lowering of steroid hormone production, etc. (The various ways statins - and a cholesterol-lowering popular diet pill advertised by Dr. Oz - manifest their adverse effects, such as in diabetes, are rather thoroughly explained in the scholarly report at http://www.supplements-and-health.com/garcinia-cambogia-side-effects.html ). These new "advanced" drugs do all of that too. Therefore, the use of these new "advanced" drugs is equally irresponsible. <br /><br />But like with statins, here too the huge medical business claims these drugs reduce the risk of death, that they are safe as this corrupt cartel has done with statin drugs (just look at the propaganda put out by the Mayo clinic on statin drugs: "the risk of life-threatening side effects from statins is very low") when statins, in actual fact, increase mortality and morbidity, including deaths from cancer (see above report). Statins have almost no real benefit in the very vast majority of users. It's a "scientific" scam.<br /><br />And because of such medical propaganda, few people are aware that the medical claims of benefits of statins are mostly based on flawed and fraudulent "scientific" studies conducted by people with vested interests. Expect the very same here with these new drugs, positioned to become new blockbuster wares for corporate medicine.Jackienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-66390319928350721702015-06-23T10:20:58.329-04:002015-06-23T10:20:58.329-04:00I am, in fact 73, and retired though I stay active...I am, in fact 73, and retired though I stay active. Fortunately, I'm still healthy. But not everyone. I spent much of my career in research on aging and its demographic implications. We see the world from different perspectives, I guess we see the world differently, and neither will be around to gauge how accurate our projections are. That some smokers live to 100, or some in privilege see through rosy glasses is not evidence that the whole world is like that, and of course, the same who see differently and think they understand the objective facts. Time will tell.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-77863151304978494262015-06-23T08:14:52.465-04:002015-06-23T08:14:52.465-04:00Just a couple of comments here. Healthcare in the ...Just a couple of comments here. Healthcare in the US is expensive for a variety of reasons, but many of them are political. It's illegal for the government to negotiate with big pharma over drug prices. That's a purely political decision. We don't have to be that stupid. So if second generation statins really are something everyone should be taking, big pharma can be paid for the patents, told to take a hike, and the drugs manufactured as generics.<br /><br />Second, you must be really young, a long way from retirement, and not know very many old folks. It looks to me that for most folks, what old age looks like is a long period with most abilities intact, and very rapid decline afterwards. There was a review article (in your field, if memory serves) in Science by a bloke who was 100 when he wrote it. His obituary was in one of the next two issues. I play in a couple of jazz bands here in Tokyo: in both, most of the players are over 80. The amateurs are a bit rough around the edges but are having fun and the pros are still making gorgeous music. So what the world looks like to this about-to-retire 63-year old, is that I'll be able do all sorts of fun stuff that I haven't had time for while working. And what that means is that anything that puts off the next problem is really appreciated. If something lets me off the hook for heart attacks in my 60s, I'm real happy about dying from prostate cancer in my 80s. The idea that there's a down side _for the patient_ to something that helps a problem they are having now makes no sense. It's really cutesy and stupid, but it really is true that the only thing worse than getting old is not getting old.<br /><br />Also, the US has this thing about worrying about retirees busting the bank. That also doesn't have to be a problem. The US will never have as high a ratio of retirees to working age blokes as Japan does now. Japan is managing OK, for now, with a tad over 4 retirees to each 10 working age blokes. In the US it's currently a tad under 2 for each 10 now, projected to be a tad under 4 for each 10 in 2060. Japan will be 7 for each 10 in 2060. (Interestingly, Germany and Italy are similar to Japan in this.)<br /><br />Now, it may turn out that second-generation statins aren't all that wonderful. That is, after all, what happened to the first-generation ones (there was a bloke with a kewl TED talk and a book, but he was wrong). But that's a question that needs a careful, scientific answer.<br /><br />David J. Littleboynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-90703609282649449922015-06-18T19:36:40.020-04:002015-06-18T19:36:40.020-04:00Absolutely. I would go much farther, as I think ev...Absolutely. I would go much farther, as I think even a minor response should be to ban entirely advertising by docs, pharmas, clinics, hospitals, lawyers, etc. industries that prey on those desperate for solutions to life's problems. We did fine as a society before those floodgates (or is the proper term sewers?) were openedKen Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-49631990025017674902015-06-18T08:33:26.657-04:002015-06-18T08:33:26.657-04:00The field of therapeutic lipid lowering drugs is c...The field of therapeutic lipid lowering drugs is complex. PCSK9 inhibitors owe their existence to the discovery of human genetic null mutants for the PCSK9 gene, who had dramatically lower plasma LDL levels and rates of atherosclerosis. However, these new drugs do not lower PCSK9 activity by this mechanism. The APO-A1 Milano 'super-HDL' mutation was also first discovered in humans, but these subjects had such low levels of HDL that their physicians were at first shocked at what looked like a huge CVD risk factor. The Darwinian history of both sets of mutations is rather cautionary. Neither has shown any significant positive selection advantage, and both remain very rare mutations. And attempts to boost HDL levels and activity (See The Failure of Torcetrapib) resulted in higher CVD mortality and the failure of the whole class of CETP inhibitors as drugs.<br /><br />In the face of such complexity, I would much prefer to see the FDA completely ban advertising of hypolipidemic drugs, and perhaps all prescription pharmaceuticals. The endless spiels of contraindications and side effects, interspersed with positive and glowing people doing stilted and scripted "happy things" is an absolute pox on the face of humanity. How exactly are we supposed to interpret a happy middle-aged couple planting flowers with the voice over, "..you may have swelling of the face and lips, internal bleeding, and may die of tuberculosis or a fungal infection."Kirk Maxeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11864529687578909475noreply@blogger.com