Guest guest Posted April 9, 2003 Report Share Posted April 9, 2003 :Tue, 8 Apr 2003 11:00:00 -0500 WC Douglass No picnic Daily Dose April 8, 2003 ************************************************************** Growing up? Take a pill... I've written before about children and drugs -- how seemingly every kid nowadays with even the mildest case of " ants in the pants " is immediately force-fed a mega-dose of good old vitamin R (Ritalin, of course)... Yet even though research shows that prescriptions of Ritalin and related drugs rose an alarming 26% in the late 90s (and even more dramatically since then, I'd wager), this variety of amphetamine stimulants -- actually class II controlled substances, like cocaine and morphine -- jumped in popularity less than half the rate some prescription antidepressants did over the same time period among minors. That's right: Doctors prescribed drugs like Prozac and Zoloft to minors 62% more often in 1999 than they did just 4 years earlier, according to a 2002 article in Ambulatory Pediatrics. But why have we all of a sudden become a nation of dysfunctional youth -- alternately hyperactive or depressed? Is it because of the ozone layer? The insidious Joe Camel? Or is it because of rap music on MTV? Nope. Unhh-Unhh. Negative. It's because of the almighty dollar -- the stuff that makes the world go 'round for drug makers and insurance companies. You see, by enlisting the aid of cut-rate insurance group doctors -- and using direct-to-consumer advertising to convince adults (parents and teachers, for starters) that children need " treatment " -- drug companies have developed a powerful push-pull to tap into the last taboo drug market: Kids. But if you ask them, they'll tell you that the recent boom in psychiatric drugs for non-adults is due to radical advances in the diagnosis of mental illness. In other words: It's not that kids today are so much more manic or melancholy than they ever were -- it's just that before, we didn't know it. That's right, according to the powers-that- be; many of us surely suffered from serious mental disorders growing up, but were left untreated... And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you! Studies reveal that a combination of medication and therapy has shown to be the best among the mainstream approaches for treating teen depression. But pills are much cheaper than shrinks, so they get the nod when insurance companies are footing the bills. Also, any old garden variety, wet-behind- the-ears doctor (the kind usually employed by HMOs) can prescribe antidepressants -- no specialist needed. They write a prescription, and everybody wins... Except the children. Whether their enviable youthful exuberance is mistaken for the made-up myth of ADHD -- or their normal teenage hormones are mislabeled as clinical depression (or both, why not?), these souls will forever carry the burden of feeling like they're " different. " That's not to mention the abuse their peers can heap on them -- or the pressure they'll be put under in the illicit schoolyard drug market (believe it). And because of the drugs our doctors nowadays are doling out to them like Halloween candy, many will also battle substance abuse problems later in life... Actions to take: Parents, don't believe the drug company pitches, whether you see them on TV or hear them at the doctor's office. Remember your own teen years -- how a small thing could seem like the end of the world. And remember that part of being a parent is enduring the agony (believe me, it can be agony) of calming your children down when they're wild -- or cheering them up when they're blue. ************************************************************** Conflict of interest = compounding interest for research providers Well, better late than never! It seems that someone else has finally started to wake up and take notice of the blatant conflicts of interest in biomedical research -- something I've been squawking about since Everest was an anthill. Ironically, it's the Journal of the American Medical Association -- a frequent target of mine for its pandering to the FDA -- that published an article describing the crisis in depth. What do I mean by " conflicts of interest? " I'm talking about the more than 60% of academic institutions that have " sponsorship connections " with start-up companies -- and conduct the " unbiased research " that determines whether the " start-ups " live or die. I'm talking about the 1 in 4 " independent " investigators with biomedical industry affiliations. I'm talking about the obvious association between industry sponsorship and favorableness of results in the arena of biomedical research. But what does all this really mean? It means that much of the research that forms the basis for so many areas of modern medicine -- but especially prescription drugs -- is compromised at best, worthless and misleading at worst. Though I'd rather eat a pound of nails than do it, I must give JAMA credit for reporting the painstaking review of over 1100 original studies that yielded the hard facts about this widespread conflict of interest -- one that's been working its sinister effects on you and your health for years. It's late, but at least one of the establishment's " respected " medical journals has finally sounded the alarm. The sad fact is, it may not be enough to " reform " health care -- virtually every aspect of the mainstream medical " business " is pointed, however subtly, toward one main objective: Drug company profit. And one article in JAMA isn't going to change that. An ounce of parenting is worth a pound of pills, William Campbell Douglass II, MD ************************************************************** Copyright ©1997-2003 by www.realhealthnews.com, L.L.C. 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