Friday, October 24, 2014

Issue 447 Educate the public on Drugs October 24, 2014

The most disturbing thing I have found while working at a pharmacy is not the sheer number of patients (though it is sad), but that most do not even know why they are taking these medications in the first place, let alone how they may interact with their other medications, food and vitamins.  This too me is really bad as they could just be taking these medications and actually be hurting themselves.  So I say educate the public in the following ways.

Medications:  People should know and understand what each drug is used for.  So they should be educated on the nomenclature of each type of drug, or the names adjusted to reflect what they do in an easier to understand format.  This way the populace can know what each drug effects without having to go through the schooling of a pharmacist.  Also, basic rules of thumb on which medications can be taken with what will also need to be made known so as to prevent harm as well.

From there pharmacists, or special lines of communication should be open for anyone to call so that they can ask questions on their medications.  Further, knowledge of when and how to take the drugs should also be easy to understand.  For instance, you should space an hour between taking a medication that affects your thyroid, and that taking it with milk makes it less effective.  These kinds of thing are essential to patient health and safety, and limiting that knowledge to just pharmacists has a negative effect on society in my opinion.  

Vitamins and food:  Both of these can affect health as well and interact with medications.  So by educating people on what foods you can eat to maximize Iron levels, which can act as blood thinners, and so on, we can avoid having to pay for expensive medications, and even avoid vitamins save to increase absorption rates.  This more holistic branch of medicine can aid in reducing the chances of having to take medicines with negative side effects, or actually dealing with those side effects without additional medicines.  Also, as mentioned, foods and vitamins can affect other medications you are taking and thus should also be made available in an easy to understand format.

Where this should be taught:  Rather than teaching sex education in a health class in high school, maybe health should actually focus on healthy bodies and knowing and understanding the medicines, foods and vitamins we all ingest.  In addition they can discuss ways to take care of oneself so that there will not be a need for such chemicals being placed in our bodies.


Conclusion:  An educated populace is a healthy populace as then we may even be able avoid going to a doctor for unnecessary treatments, needing to bother a busy pharmacist and maybe we can actually treat ourselves on occasion so as to avoid using our insurance and having to dish out cash to see a doctor.  I will tell you now that in my experience, most doctors do not know about medicines at all.  But pharmacists do, and they know what interacts with what.  And guess what, they have a database that helps via the internet.  Would it not be just grand if we could all do the same thing and read off the internet in an easy to understand format?  Well you bet it would and that is slowly becoming more viable.  But many sites unfortunately do not have health care lingo written in layman's terms.  So can we adjust the system to make it so that we have to see doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals less?  Yes we can, but that only comes with a populace that is educated in such a way that we need only to look to ourselves for the answers we seek.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Issue 446 How many Credit cards should you have? October 23, 2014

Credit cards are basically cheap low denomination loans that you must pay back.  However, having too many credit cards can lead to financial ruin.  Let us discuss.

How it leads to poverty:  The reason why having too many credit cards can lead to financial ruin is due to the lack of ability to see those funds disappear.  You do not consistently see your balance going down.  So when people realize that they have spent all that money, then they proceed to typically get another credit card to pay off the debt they have now incurred.  This becomes a vicious cycle that can lead to the destruction of your credit score and thus you’re being unable to get a loan or risk a higher interest rate.  Also, what many people do not realize is that if your debt is high enough, regardless of the amount of income you gain, you can still become impoverished.  More debt equals poverty.  So how can this be avoided.

Simple solution:  You should not have more than two credit cards.  At most two is easy enough to keep track of on a daily (or even a weekly) basis.  One of those credit cards will be used for large purchases or when you lack the cash.  The other will be used if and only if you cannot pay down the first card quick enough and thus will only be used in emergencies.  I personally have one credit card which I use exclusively for internet purchases, and for when I like cash.  Otherwise I pay off as much of the debt incurred before interest is tacked on so as to avoid a higher credit card bill (usually I just pay off the entire amount owed).  For those with two credit cards, you can switch back and forth between the two so the amounts on both remain low and thus make it easier to pay off even if you have to pay interest on the debt.  Also, if you find a credit card that has a better interest rate, then you should eliminate the card you have that has the highest interest rate and replace it with the new one.  You can then proceed to use the new card to pay off the old cards debt so that it does not hang over you.  From there it is all a matter of carefully picking your purchases and buying more cheaply so that you stay ahead of the debt and finances you have.

Conclusion:  We all have to be smart with our money so as not to burden ourselves or loved ones with financial instability.  As such, I found two credit cards maximum to be the best way to maintain my financial wellbeing without accruing too much debt.  So cut out the excess in your life so that you too are not forced into poverty by your own spending habits. 


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Issue 445 Terrorism and the Subways October 22, 2014

Mass transit is a prime target for terrorist attacks.  In this case we will be discussing attacks on the subway systems like those in New York City, and the chances of it occurring.  Let's begin.

Methods of attack:  There are three primary weapons of attack that can occur in a subway system like New York Cities.  The first in a chemical/biological attack.  Such an attack has been used by the radical cultist group Aum Shinrikyo in Tokyo's subway system, which used homemade saran nerve gas.  This demonstrated the potential of gas like attacks in subway systems and how the tunnels allow the toxic gases to spread rapidly throughout the entire subway system.  Reason being is that a subway is like a giant wind tunnel which carries any air from one part of the tunnel to the other parts of the system with ease.  Biological attacks work in a similar method if airborne, but a single infected person with say the flu, or Ebola can infect hundreds by merely staying in the system and just coughing and sneezing on enough people for it to spread. 

Attack type two is a bomb.  It can be just as devastating as a gas attack by it derailing a train car which can cause numerous trains to collide.  On top of this, it can paralyze a city’s infrastructure for an extended period of time which in turn hurts the economy as well.  As such, you not only have to deal with dead bodies, but transportation disruptions, and the possibility of people losing their jobs due to the economic losses associated with the attack.

Finally we have the third and most disturbing possibility.  A run and gun style attack like what occurred in Mumbai India could take hundreds of lives and send panicked people in the subways into the streets creating traffic jams and trampling people.  This can then be taken advantage of by the attackers as their targets are now bunching together and thus making for easier targets.  If they combine this method of attack with cheap pipe bombs, then you have a recipe for total mayhem.  

Possibilities:  In the United States, the chances of a chemical attack are limited due to the shear amount of resources involved in making deadly toxins.  As such, the police and the Federal authorities will notice and hopefully be able to stop the incident before it occurs.  Biological attacks are easier though and thus even spreading the common flu which kills thousands a year can be devastating.  The other two attacks (gunmen and bombs) are harder to accomplish, especially if you involve more people in the attack.  It requires coordination and timing.  Not to mention, the sheer amount of bullets and ammunition required would take months to collect and distribute.  The longer it takes for the terrorists to set up an attack the more likely they are to be detected.  However, it is possible for this kind of attack to occur ( such as the Boston Marathon Bombings) and thus we have to hope that the intelligence agencies and police forces are on their toes and are able to react fast enough to stop the attacks.


Conclusion:  We are always subject to an attack by terrorists.  This is a given fact in the world we live in today.  So the fact of the matter is, what are you going to do about it?  You can run and hide, take counter measures, or act like nothing is going to happen and not let it affect you.  I personally feel that I should just educate myself on the subject just to be prepared for such an occurrence happening.  Otherwise I will live my life normally.  I will not let the terrorists win by changing my routines and behaviors for that is when they win.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Issue 444 Out of country pharmacies October 21, 2014

Similar to yesterday’s article on medical tourism, we have people shipping in medications that are approved from one country to another to take advantage of the cheaper costs.  Here is how it works.

Prescriptions from out of country:  Well it is all about the costs.  You can get a drug for your physical condition cheaper than you would in your home country like the United States.  The reasons are simple.  For one, there are is less regulations in some countries while still maintaining the same quality of medication.  Due to the lower costs involved in producing the medication (less bureaucracy) means that the drugs will be much cheaper.  Stated another way, it is less involved to produce and dispense a drug in Canada then it is in the United States.  Also, some countries allow generic drugs to stay on the market longer.  This means older, or copies of the medications are more readily available, hence a cheaper price due to a larger supply.  From there you simply need a prescription from a doctor to give to a pharmacy in the neighboring country to give them the authority to fill the prescription and ship it to you.  I have seen plenty of my patients at the pharmacy I work at brag that they can get their drugs cheaper in Canada or Mexico, which saves them anywhere from $20 to thousands of dollars a year.  

Possible problems:  The main issue with this however, is that quality control (depending on the country) may not be up to par with Countries like the United States and Canada.  As such, you may be getting a weaker medication (thus less effective treatments).  Also, older generics of medications and older medications in general may have more side effects.  So there is a potential health risk for using a drug that other countries have ceased using.  But so long as you keep these risks in mind you can have cheaper health care.

Conclusion:  I want my patients to save money, because drugs are really darn expensive.  Hell, I remember a patient buying their three medications (a month supply each) out of pocket, and that cost them well over $3,000.  It was horrible to watch, but they needed it.  However, even if my pharmacy loses money I want people to save money for the drugs they need.  So let them get their medicine from wherever they can, so long as it is effective and cheap.


Monday, October 20, 2014

Issue 443 Medical Tourism October 20, 2014

Have you ever heard of this?  Medical Tourism?   Well it is an actual real term that defines a specific practice.  Of which I will explain now.

Medical Tourism:  This form of tourism is where patients go from country to country to get procedures done to either improve their health, or in some cases enhance themselves.  Basically, you have a strain of cancer where the cure is not legal for sale or use in the United States, so you go to France where the cure is legal to get treatment.   This is how it works.  Cases of medical tourism are for treatments that are not allowed in one country, but allowed in others.  In other cases it is cheaper in the other country to get treatment for diseases and health conditions.  Then there are some like people who need an organ transplant, but are so far away in line for the next kidney, heart or lung, that they will probably die in their home country.  Therefore they head to a country where they can get a new organ almost immediately.  These are the advantages of medical tourism.

Reactions:  While getting cheaper healthcare in another country is supported, there has been very negative reactions to the organ transplant form of this tourism and to a lesser extent the possible experimental treatments for diseases that have no cures in the home country of the patient.  With respect to the organs, they are seen as sacred and thus not a commodity by a large majority of the world community.  As such countries are cracking down (like China) by making it almost impossible for foreigners to get transplants from the people in the country the medical tourist is visiting. 

 As to the experimental drugs.  While cures/procedures may be approved in one country, they are not guaranteed to work.  In addition, many of these people may have to stay in the country they are visiting for treatment due to bans on their medicine, or the procedures ban in their home country until it is finally approved (which may be years later).  Obviously this makes it hard on people with rarer diseases, but governments are not budging and are reluctant to change policies in the near term out of fear of possible future complications and side effects.

On another note, regular medical tourism is sometimes frowned upon based upon the fact that some view the foreigners entering their countries as intruders.  That they take away the medical care that otherwise would be used to treat a fellow citizen.  However, these notions fade in and out with economic difficulties for it is more out of resentment over actual fact that these feelings appear.

Conclusion:  I think medical tourism is a fantastic thing.  It gives people more access to treatment opportunities than if they stayed in their home country (though this is usually reserved for the rich because they have the money to spend to hop from country to country).  I find the organ donor portion to be good for people who may be struggling to get a match in their home country, but sadly governments are ethnocentric at times which means some of these organs that could have went to save others will go to waste.  On the experimental drug front, or the as yet to be approved drugs, I believe that people do own their bodies and thus should be free to experiment to try and save themselves (especially if their condition is terminal).  This is my feelings on the matter and I hope you enjoyed the read.


Friday, October 17, 2014

Issue 442 Babe Stable News Network?! October 17, 2014

Ok, I am writing this to point something out.  Something so obvious that we have become oblivious to it when we watch the news.  Here we go.

The Babe Anchor:  On every news network you will notice that many of the female news reporters, anchors, and even some commentators typically show their legs.  And in some cases show a little to a lot of cleavage.  But most importantly, the camera men and some of the lighting people try to emphasize this fact on purpose.  Reason is simple, to show these sexy women in the hope to keep audiences watching for a few minutes longer.  Basically it is all about sex selling the news (hi Fox news channel).  But is this a problem.

Morality:  Yes, sex sell, and it sells very well.  But, are we objectifying these women into objects?  The problem is, we are in a sense even if they are complicit in the action.  So morally speaking we have a tentative situation where if we start seeing women wearing even skimpier clothes and making provocative poses on purpose, then we know that we are morally wrong and protest should ensue.  Also, if the women does not want to be highlighted as a sex object, then it should not be forced upon her by her employer, in which again protests should ensue.  However, right now I have heard nothing of the sort happening yet (thank God).  But we must be sure that this does not go any further, and that we all realize the possible consequences of objectifying women.


Conclusion:  Thank you for reading as this can be a potential problem.  Women and men alongside them have fought hard for the idea of equality between the sexes.  However, this objectification can possibly undo that.  Hence the reason I wish to bring it to you (my readers) attention.  So please keep this in mind when running your own businesses, programs, and just in everyday life in general.  No one should be put on the same level as an object, not now or ever.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Issue 441 Death of CD's October 16, 2014

The compact disc (CD) has been a mainstay for the music industry for years.  However, with the ability to download songs from the internet, they have been slowly been phased out.  Allow me to explain the obvious.

Death of multi-song disks:  The main reason is the price of the songs themselves.  Allot of music listeners bought CD's to simply listen to one song over and over again.  But they had to pay the cost for not only that one song, but every song on that CD.  So once you could just buy the songs you like people stopped bothering to buy these multi song discs.  Heck, why would you want to pay for something you do not have too.  So many record companies and bands are looking to simply sell direct to the consumer through the internet.  Here people can preview other songs and buy them if they like.  This helps many small bands and record companies that cannot afford to release all those CD's and thus allows them to cut out yet another middle man in the process of selling their goods (music) to their customers.

Impact:  Soon we will lose the CD player all together just like we did with cassette tapes in the last few years.  Instead, we will have USB cables from our phones, digital music players and thumb drives plug in instead to listen to the songs we want to hear, and only the songs we want to hear.  And even then, they may eliminate the plug in system all together and just have the system link wirelessly to your car radio and radio systems (which is already being done and improved upon).  But if you think about it, this means the elimination of yet another industry.  Yes people will lose jobs, but that is the creative destruction of the market.  In addition, movies will be bought and sold in the same way, which will eliminate the need for DVD and Blue ray players.  Why worry about quality by buying a new system when TV's will have upgradable programing to get more and more detail out of every show that you watch.  Video games too will shift to an all-digital transfer system too, so you can avoid the lines at release and just buy the game online at a much cheaper cost.  Basically, it will work in the same way as when you rent or buy an electronic book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.  You can buy to keep or buy to rent.  Soon we will see all media entertainment digitized with very few exceptions as we transition away from expensive production lines and embrace a completely internet based economy.  Heck, they may even set up online swap meets for certain content especially when patent rights expire.  This even allows patent rights to be global too (almost forgot that one).

Conclusion:  I personally think books will be the sole exception to total digitization as people still have a nostalgia type feeling when it comes to reading a book.  However, everything else is all about saving money for both the producer and the consumer, with the downloadable content on the internet allowing for the bands themselves to sell their music without the need for a record company.  It allows moviegoers to purchase the movie they just saw the moment they are released in theaters after testing to see if it is worth the $5 or less.  Gamers can get any video game they want from any platform, and play them all on television via their computers.  I can see it now, rather than trying to buy a new game system, the companies will compete on the release of the best controllers to enhance game play (they may even release special televisions for games like they do computers).  Overall, the internet is one of the greatest inventions mankind has ever known, and it is sure to continue changing the way we live and how we buy and sell our wares.