Hello... I would like to introduce myself.

[jayemcee]

Your post brings back to my mind the frustation when my sister Roberta was fighting ALS. "We are not in the business of saving peoples lives, the drug needs to be marketed first so we can make money." Norma

Sadly, Norma, this conduct is typical of pharmaceutical companies. What shows them up for what they really are is the amount of money that they will expend on wooing the doctors. Every year the fine pen and the leather bound desk diary are a standard 'gift'/expectation. I have heard doctors being asked if the want to attend a night out at the drug company's expense. A 'yes' will find them flying 300 miles by helicopter to some choice location for an evening of free entertainment. Thousands of pounds already put behind the bar so that 'free' drink can be given to all.

It is insidious and ruinous and it starts when doctors first qualify. This ensures that they remain ensnared for the whole of their professional career. As they grow in clinical experience and reputation, they get more research grants and consultancies than they know what to do with and this is very big bucks. You wont find an easy way to divorce clinicians from pharmaceutical companies until drug manufacturing companies are prohibited from entering the clinical life of doctors and patients.

jmc

 

[Saubier]

Statins prolong life? Check out these articles:
H Iso, DR Jacobs, D Wentworth, JD Neaton, and JD Cohen, “Serum cholesterol levels and six-year mortality from stroke in 350,977 men screened for the multiple risk factor intervention trial.” NEJM, Volume 320:904-910 April 6, 1989 Number 14.
Muldoon MF, Manuck SB, Matthews KA, “Lowering cholesterol concentrations and mortality: a quantitative review of primary prevention trials,” BMJ (British Medical Journal), 1990 Aug 11;301(6747):309-14.
K. M. Anderson, W. P. Castelli and D. Levy, “Cholesterol and mortality. 30 years of follow-up from the Framingham study.” JAMA, Vol. 257 No. 16, April 24, 1987.
J. D. Neaton, H. Blackburn, D. Jacobs, L. Kuller, D. J. Lee, R. Sherwin, J. Shih, J. Stamler and D. Wentworth, “Serum cholesterol level and mortality findings for men screened in the multiple risk factor intervention trial. multiple risk factor intervention trial research group,” JAMA, Vol. 152 No. 7, July 1, 1992.
Forette B, Tortrat D, Wolmark Y., “Cholesterol as risk factor for mortality in elderly women.” Lancet. 1989 Apr 22;1(8643):868-70.
Ulmer H, Kelleher C, Diem G, Concin H., “Why Eve is not Adam: prospective follow-up in 149,650 women and men of cholesterol and other risk factors related to cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.” J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2004 Jan-Feb;13(1):41-53.
Alan M. Garber, MD, PhD; Warren S. Browner, MD, MPH; and Stephen B. Hulley, MD, MPH, “Clinical guideline, part 2: Cholesterol screening in asymptomatic adults, revisited.” Annals of Internal Medicine, 1 March 1996, Volume 124, Issue 5, Pages 518-531.
Peter Cummings and Bruce M. Psaty. “The association between cholesterol and death from injury.” Annals of Internal Medicine, 15 May 1994, Volume 120 Issue 10. Pages 848-855.
S. Bandyopadhyay, A.J. Bayer and M.S. O'Mahony. “Age and gender bias in statin trials. Q J Med, 2001; 94: 127-132.
Yadon Arad, MD, Louise A. Spadaro, MD, Marguerite Roth, RN, David Newstein, DrPh and Alan D. Guerci, MD. “Treatment of asymptomatic adults with elevated coronary calcium scores with Atorvastatin, vitamin C, and vitamin E.” J Am Coll Cardiol, 2005; 46:166-172.
Krumholz HM, Seeman TE, Merrill SS, et al. “Lack of association between cholesterol and coronary heart disease mortality and morbidity and all-cause mortality in persons older than 70 years.” JAMA 1994;272:1335-1340.
Anderson KM, Castelli WP, Levy D. Cholesterol and mortality. 30 years of follow-up from the Framingham study. JAMA 1987;257:2176-2180.
Foody, JM; Yun Wang; Kiefe, CI; Ellerbeck, EF; Gold, J; Radford, MJ; Krumholz, HM. “Long-term prognostic importance of total cholesterol in elderly survivors of an acute myocardial infarction: The cooperative cardiovascular pilot project.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Volume 51 Page 930 - July 2003.
Michael H. Davidson, MD, Sara B. Kurlandsky, PhD, Ruth M. Kleinpell, PhD, RN, Kevin C. Maki, PhD. “Lipid management and the elderly.” Prev Cardiol 6(3):128-133, 2003.
Brescianini, S; Maggi, S; Farchi, G; Mariotti, S; Di Carlo, A; Baldereschi, M; Inzitari, D. “Low total cholesterol and increased risk of dying: are low levels clinical warning signs in the elderly? results from the Italian longitudinal study on aging.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Volume 51 Page 991 - July 2003.
Andrew R. Lockman, M.D., Andrea D. Tribastone, M.D., Karen V. Knight, M.S.L.S., and John P. Franko, M.D., University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia. “Treatment of cholesterol abnormalities.” American Family Physician, Vol. 71 No. 6, 15 Mar 2005.
Krumholz HM, Seeman TE, Merrill SS, et al. “Lack of association between cholesterol and coronary heart disease mortality and morbidity and all-cause mortality in persons older than 70 years.” JAMA 1994;272:1335-1340.

I don't think so.

 

[arlie]

good morning-has anyone tried any eastern medical treatments or natural treaments that has slowed the progression of the disease

 

[[email protected]]

Hello...I would like to introduce myself

The WHO is already investigating - see Wall Street Journal July 3, 2007 edition. Also, the FDA is also investigating. Go to peoplespharmacy.com and search "Statin Drugs and ALS-Like Symtoms". Add your comments and the FDA may contact you - they contacted my husband this week and he had added his comments last August.

 

[CindyM]

Hello clotzman. This is a little off- topic but you might want to change your user name. Posting your email on the internet for all the world to see is a little like leaving your personal phone number scrawled on a wall at a busy inter-state rest stop. Lots of folks come here, not just our members. And the web-crawlers can pick up an email address real easy. Not like our PM system, which is protected. Just a hint...Cindy

 

[jayemcee]

Statins prolong life? Check out these articles:
<list snipped...>
I don't think so.

Hi Saubier, thank you for posting what has effectively become a standard list in the litany of evidence against the ruinous cholesterol/heart hypothesis.

I would have suggested that including the relevant hyperlinks would have assisted the readability for people who are unfamiliar with searching for medical literature. It is a particular bête noire of mine that the medical profession chooses to keep research findings out of the public domain. I guess that just serves to confirm that most research is initiated by pharmaceutical companies and commercial considerations (secrecy) override the duty to the public weal.

I have been an ardent proponent and supporter of the notion that all medical research is indexed in a public repository after being published. It should also be summarised in lay language and it should be freely available to any member of the public who so wishes to establish the science behind any form of treatment which they are offered.

For now, pointing people to medical papers that are well publicised around the internet, is a very good start.

also Jeff