Comment by inglor_cz | Hacker News Reader

Comment by inglor_cz | Hacker News Reader

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While I dislike the very idea of War Against Drugs, we (the Western world) are fairly clearly overmedicated and doctors should be motivated to prescribe less drugs, not more. Things like antibiotic resistance are no fun.

The lobbying of pharmaceutical companies is corosive to good medicine. I have a few doctor friends here in Czechia; even here, in a public health system, representatives of pharma companies do their utmost to cultivate a client-patron relationship with doctors, to get them to prescribe more drugs.

This year, I got off my antihypertonic medication by intermittent fasting. After 17 years no less. My cardiologist said: "OK, you do not need them anymore and you surprised me a bit, but do not expect others to follow your example. It is so normal just to take pills that people won't even try any lifestyle modification."

This is a dangerous norm.

At the risk of seeming like I'm helping the pharmaceutical industry off the hook; there's a flip-side to the pharmaceutical companies pushing their products the way they do: people want the pills. We--especially in the West--are lazy and we think it's ok to just take a pill and be done with it.

I commend you for doing the work you needed to do to get healthy! I wish more people would take that route instead of taking pills. It is so much more rewarding!

It possibly is, agreed, but as with all complex subjects that involve many different people who suffer through their own personal problems, in many cases, overlabeling people as too quick to prescribe drugs or seek them can also be a dangerous and highly politicized norm.

I strongly suggest reading this post for an alternative perspective on how damaging over-politicization of doctor-patient relationships can be in either direction.

https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/09/16/against-against-pseudo...

80% of all antibiotics in the US are given to livestock. The majority of infectious disease in humans originate via zoonosis. The agricultural industry is responsible for antibiotic resistance, not people being prescribed antibiotics.

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