This is a commentary. I’ve been known to step up on a soap box from time to time, and this is going to be one of those times.
Anyway, I received this article
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987719308199 a month or so ago, in my research feed, and was absolutely horrified. I must have read the title a dozen times, thinking that I was confused or read something wrong. But no, in fact, it was true. Someone actually researched how much it would HURT the insurance industry, hospitals, medical offices, pharmaceutical industry, etc. IF we found a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. WHAT?!?!
How about if we DON’T find a cure for Alzheimer’s? Sure, all of those industries and practitioners will still receive money hand over fist for the suffering and degradation of people’s brains and ruining of their and their families’ lives; but where does that leave all of the rest of us?
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the top causes of mortality. There are currently about 6 million people suffering with it in the US. 6 million. The projections over the next 30 years are astronomical. Suffering. So. Much. Suffering. Anyone that has been touched by Alzheimer’s, that has a family member with Alzheimer’s, or has visited a nursing home has seen what the disease does.
Why, on Earth, would we want to keep that around? Why would we give a #%&@ whether the “industry” would financially suffer?
There’s all kinds of research on potential causes and treatments for Alzheimer’s. We know that none of the medications currently on the market do squat. We know it. The most “effective” medications slow progression by a number of weeks. Yes. you read that right – weeks. What’s the point?
Within the Functional Medicine community, we also know that there are treatments and means to prevent Alzheimer’s: lowering blood sugar, repairing the Blood Brain Barrier, repairing the gut, etc. I’ve read studies on antibiotic usage improving symptoms, dietary changes, and a dozen others that show FAR more promise than the meds that are currently on the market. I’ve SEEN people reverse their Alzheimer’s dementia by following some of these recommendations. And you know what? Most of these treatments are low cost, low tech, and just require time and effort. So why isn’t everyone using them?
I, for one, (and I suspect others would join me in this sentiment), would be more than happy to burn the industry down before I’d care, in the least, whether it would suffer one dollar (or a billion) by preventing the suffering of millions of others.
*stepping down from the soapbox for now*
Dr A
“Predicted economic damage from a quick, simple Alzheimer’s disease cure”? What?
This is a commentary. I've been known to step up …
This is a commentary. I’ve been known to step up on a soap box from time to time, and this is going to be one of those times.
Anyway, I received this article
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987719308199 a month or so ago, in my research feed, and was absolutely horrified. I must have read the title a dozen times, thinking that I was confused or read something wrong. But no, in fact, it was true. Someone actually researched how much it would HURT the insurance industry, hospitals, medical offices, pharmaceutical industry, etc. IF we found a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. WHAT?!?!
How about if we DON’T find a cure for Alzheimer’s? Sure, all of those industries and practitioners will still receive money hand over fist for the suffering and degradation of people’s brains and ruining of their and their families’ lives; but where does that leave all of the rest of us?
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the top causes of mortality. There are currently about 6 million people suffering with it in the US. 6 million. The projections over the next 30 years are astronomical. Suffering. So. Much. Suffering. Anyone that has been touched by Alzheimer’s, that has a family member with Alzheimer’s, or has visited a nursing home has seen what the disease does.
Why, on Earth, would we want to keep that around? Why would we give a #%&@ whether the “industry” would financially suffer?
There’s all kinds of research on potential causes and treatments for Alzheimer’s. We know that none of the medications currently on the market do squat. We know it. The most “effective” medications slow progression by a number of weeks. Yes. you read that right – weeks. What’s the point?
Within the Functional Medicine community, we also know that there are treatments and means to prevent Alzheimer’s: lowering blood sugar, repairing the Blood Brain Barrier, repairing the gut, etc. I’ve read studies on antibiotic usage improving symptoms, dietary changes, and a dozen others that show FAR more promise than the meds that are currently on the market. I’ve SEEN people reverse their Alzheimer’s dementia by following some of these recommendations. And you know what? Most of these treatments are low cost, low tech, and just require time and effort. So why isn’t everyone using them?
I, for one, (and I suspect others would join me in this sentiment), would be more than happy to burn the industry down before I’d care, in the least, whether it would suffer one dollar (or a billion) by preventing the suffering of millions of others.
*stepping down from the soapbox for now*
Dr A
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