Needing an honest answer

Nurses General Nursing

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As nurses why do you guys think that medications only treat the symptoms of a disease instead of curing the disease? Is it because no one has come up any cures yet? (:rolleyes:) Or do you guys think it's a conspiracy?

I for one think it's a conspiracy and that's what I'm writing a paper on. Just wanted to know how you all felt. Thanks.

Side note: OMG just noticed I put "and" instead of "an" in my title. Disregard Please!

I wanted to chime in and say that I used to have this attitude that there was a cure for cancer/HIV/diabetes/etc... lurking behind the scenes, but the person who discovered it would end up dead should he or she make it public.

I also used to believe that drugs have more harmful effects than the disease itself. Oh, and the belief that if it weren't for diseases, there would be much less jobs and what would that do to our economy and population growth; yeah, I used to have these conspiratorial beliefs--and with all my heart did I believe.

Since taking Patho, A&P, and Micro, I have a much clearer understanding of the drug processes, from the research level down to the usage level. I still feel that certain drugs are overused, and feel that many diseases are preventable for life, regardless of genetic disposition. But conspiracy? No way! Drugs have saved far too many lives.

Modern medicine, when used in conjunction with alternative medicines, are a boon to our lifestyles. Without the knowledge, dedication, and compassion of scientists, doctors, [and nurses] to help heal the sick and injured, our lifespan would be cut short and our quality of life would be horrendous--I'm thinking third world.

Sure, mistakes are made and no system is perfect and never, ever will be.

Perhaps instead of writing a paper on pharmaceutical conspiracy, maybe you could direct your investigative nature towards the food industry, who, I feel are far more devious than any other industry. And remember, food plays a very significant role in our health.

That was probaly one of the most sincere comments in this thread. Kudos to you!

I disagree. I think every response you got to your first post was dead sincere but not anything that you wanted to hear/read.

Exactly. The people with the money control the world. Tell me why we had a pt. w/ a stage 4 decubitis ulcer, paraplegic late 20's male and he is'nt getting the help he needs bc he has a limited health plan. Like seriously? No, seriously :eek:. He even went to the hospital and they did'nt even admit him. This is off topic but it just goes to show that insurance companies, pharm. companies all are big businesses! They don't care if you live or die. It's all a profit to them.

I'm confused. You're not a nurse, but you claim to understand how the medical and reimbursement system works. Where does your insight come from?

If the twenty-something year old paraplegic has developed a Stage 4 decubitus ulcer, where (in what facility) did he develop it? Is he at home or in a skilled care setting? How big was the ulcer, and on what part of the body? Are you aware that if the ulcer is non-surgical and otherwise uncomplicated there is no reason to hospitalize--or to not hospitalize yet? Is your information based in facts, or in the utterances of the nurses you work with? This alone does not prove that insurance and pharma companies are big business. Everybody already knows that they are big, BIG businesses who don't care if you live or die because to them there is no "you." They don't deal personally with people. That's how big businesses are, all of them.

You must be a sophomore. The tone of your posts is that no one else knows what you know, and that no one else has had the insights that you have had. You have advised that there are things "you nurses" should educate ourselves about, things that you hold dear personally and culturally. May I suggest that you keep quiet for a minute and have a good look around, then, while still examining and questioning life and other important things, learn the value of what other people know even if their knowledge and beliefs conflict with your beliefs.

But, I still contend that they have a right to make a profit. Afterall, that IS why they started companies. They don't HAVE to make like saving drugs. But they do. Good for them. They could be pumping out Justin Beiber merchandise instead....

And, as I originally stated, I agree with you -- I just object to their making OBSCENE profits ...

And v. few of the drugs they're producing these days are "lifesaving." Most of them seem to be retreads of older drugs, or the risks are equal to or greater than the benefits, or they are, at least, no more effective (but MUCH more expensive) than older drugs that treat the same problem.

Frankly, I'd much rather they were hawking the Justin Beiber schlock. At this point in history, I have a hard time thinking of them as anything other than a necessary evil.

Specializes in Oncology.
And you know what? Most of these drugs have worse side effects than the disease.

You're kidding, right? I have type 1 diabetes. It's an extremely complicated disease that I can think of multiple trials working on curing it. I have to take insulin. I get hypoglycemic from it occasionally when things are mis-balanced. I get welts at injection sites sometimes.

I'd be dead without it.

Ebony, some people here have given you some very sound advice, without the sarcasm and insults. I suggest you think about it seriously.

Those that haven't are actually proving that whole, "nurses eat their young" thing to be true, and should really think about responding without all the personal insults and sarcasm. She is a student and at one time you were in the same position and you were learninggggggg.

Specializes in Med/Surg.
I think that the biggest "cure" for a lot of diseases is prevention. I'm sure I am going to make some people very angry when I say this, but we spend loads of money trying to cure things that are very preventable. I know there are innocent AIDS victims out there, but how many people who have AIDS, have it because of choices they make? How many people with HTN have it because of choices they make (me for sure...I was on HUGE doses of Metoprolol until I made a few changes to my diet and lifestyle and my B/P is better than ever.... and without meds)? How many people have certain cancers because of choices they make?

I really don't think there is a "cure" for everything...and often the "cure" would come at a price that most of us aren't willing to pay. Look at the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation!

I can't believe for even a second that it is a conspiracy against us. There are too many people out there who are too honest, too caring, or too loose lipped to have something like that so on for this long. And, if someone truly did find a cure for cancer or Alzheimer's or whatever and the government covered it up, would they really keep quiet? Maybe a few, but I don't think everyone would.

Didn't get through all the posts yet, but had to comment on this. AGREED. I have a chronic inflammatory bladder condition...no cure. Well, the "cure" would be removing my bladder and creating an ileoconduit. I pick meds, to control my symptoms, instead.

I have endometriosis as well (goes hand in hand with the above, oftentimes). Only "potential" cure is a hysterectomy, and that's not a guarantee (as the offending tissue grows outside of the uterus, anyway. I've had 3 surgeries now to try to remove the tissue, and it always grows back. So, you guessed it....meds to control the pain, etc, are my only real option.

Medications DO cure disease.

Antibiotics cure bacterial infections... as, for example, Leprosy.

Iron replacement cures iron deficiency anemia.

Laxatives cure constipation.

Antivirals cure viral infections.

Allergy shots are aimed at curing allergies rather than treating them after the fact.

And as others pointed out, some diseases are caused by lifestyle choices and are therefore only cured by lifestyle choices (if damage is not to the point where cure is no longer possible).

So, we have come up with cures for some diseases and ailments.

Why don't we have cures for ALL diseases? Because many diseases are a result of damage or malfunction of body parts. There is no drug (at this time) that can tell a damaged thyroid to work normally... it's broken. So all we can do is replace the hormone it would make if it wasn't damaged.

There is no drug (at this time) that can fix a pancrease that has been damaged by years of abuse (via poor diet and lack of exercise) or some other cause. So we cannot cure diabetes with a drug, we can only attempt to do for the body what the pancreas would do if it was working normally.

Many other diseases we don't even understand enough to figure out how to treat it effectively, let alone cure it. We don't really know what is going wrong in the body that causes it. Alzheimers, multiple sclerosis and irritable bowel syndrome are expamles of this. How do we cure a disease when we do not even know it's cause?

Specializes in Trauma ICU, Peds ICU.
It's challenging enough having to explain basic concepts to teach my patients and families. I simply lack to willingness or energy to even begin with you here. .:hdvwl:

Amazing

Likewise. I truly thought OP had to be a troll, otherwise my response would've been less harsh. Sorry if it stung, but I seem to be in good company.

I once had the son of a patient with a phenomenal ICH (described as "like a cherry bomb went off in her brain" by one of our neurosurgeons) ask me why we couldn't just "do a brain transplant." He was serious.

Sometimes the depth of ignorance about nullifies any response.

Ebony, some people here have given you some very sound advice, without the sarcasm and insults. I suggest you think about it seriously.

Those that haven't are actually proving that whole, "nurses eat their young" thing to be true, and should really think about responding without all the personal insults and sarcasm. She is a student and at one time you were in the same position and you were learninggggggg.

Please lighten up!:twocents:

Oh horse pucky.

It's not eating the young to disagree with an idea or to respond with sarcasm. The poster presented an outlandish idea in a poorly thought out manner. The responses would have been the same if she'd been a nurse for 20 years.

As a person who spent years making and developing drugs, I have to disagree. Yes, drugs are insanely expensive. But making and researching drugs is insanely expensive. People need to remember that drug companies are in fact drug COMPANIES and need to make money to stay afloat. People who make comments like that have no idea the complicated and expensive research that goes into making the simplest of drugs. That is in no way meant to be an insult. It is just so much more complicated than most people can ever understand.

No one forces you to take drugs. People are lucky as hell that the ones available are there for them to take. If I didn't pay for and take my pill every day, I'd be dead. That's a choice I make. I don't get ****** at the company for charging me for the pill, I am grateful that someone took the initiative to research my disease and make a pill available to me.

Profit, okay. But CEOs making billions.. that's just obscene. And the amount that pharmaceutical companies spends on R&D is minmal compared to to what's spent on advertising, etc.

Not to mention some less-than-ethical practices .

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