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Too many people take too many pills

economist.com

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Re: Too many people take too many pills

#131

Post by inglor_cz »

escapedmoose wrote: post #74
inglor_cz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the developing world, where highly processed food is usually too expensive for a normal family to live on, people cook regularly. Like, every day. How come? They certainly don't work any fewer hours than Westerners do.

Often those tasks are left for their children who are forced to cut their education short to care for the family.

My own grandparents came from very rural settings in pre-WWII Slovakia and almost all of the cooking was done by the adults, not by the kids. The kids helped around (carrying water, taking care of poultry etc.), but it didn't interfere with their schooling.

Re: Too many people take too many pills

#132

Post by schwartzworld »

local_crmdgeon wrote: post #2

I hate these articles. While yes, this is true, it's also true that _many_ people have severe, untreated illness that they're just "toughing it out." My friend with BPD ruined his life because he's "stronger than the disorder, I don't need to take my meds" Spent millions foolishly, genius engineer - horrible story. Easily fixed.

Reminds me of Steve Jobs. He had the extremely rare TREATABLE form of pancreatic cancer, and the money for the best treatments, but died because he chose green smoothies over medicine.

Re: Too many people take too many pills

#133

Post by atchoo »

dmreedy wrote: post #128
atchoo wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably not. The meme of the "doped up women on prescription pills" has been a thing since probably the 50s. There was lots of over-prescription targeting "house-wives" before the opioid crisis e.g. diet pills, sleeping pills and tranquillizers. Your 80s doctor would ply you with all sorts of amphetamines, barbiturates, quaaludes etc. Lots of these have since been withdrawn due to causing medical problems. Marilyn M…

And earlier even, though laudanum was a tincture instead of a pill. Society has for a long time felt that women's "hysterics" have warranted "medicating".

Ah yes, Laudanum, good example of the same phenomena. Apparently it was a pill in 1618!

I'm also reminded of Rolling Stones 1965 "Mother's Little Helper" which was about women and prescription pills:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Little_Helper

Re: Too many people take too many pills

#134

Post by lr4444lr »

dantheman wrote: post #36
aschearer wrote: post #8

People want pills or miracle diets. People don't want lifestyle changes. They're busy, stressed, strapped for cash, and anyway they like the standard American diet. Collectively, we could shape our environment so healthy decisions are easier and unhealthy choices are harder, but we can't even agree to tax sugar. So we won't make policy changes anytime soon, and individually many of us will fail to make healthier choi…

Sugar is taxed, it's why we have hi-fructose corn-syrup.

More that corn is subsidized.

Re: Too many people take too many pills

#135

Post by obruchez »

JohnFen wrote: post #15

I had surgery last year, and had to give a list of the medications I currently take. My list had a single item, OTC allergy medication. The surgeon and intake nurse both independently double-checked that my list was complete. They told me that it's almost unheard of for someone of my age to have no ongoing prescriptions and they wanted to be sure a mistake wasn't made. I was very surprised by this. I was even more su…

How old are you?

Re: Too many people take too many pills

#136

Post by local_crmdgeon »

trollthrowaway4 wrote: post #91
birdyrooster wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who are you to say that spending your millions is foolish this way or that way? We all end up as dirt. Why not live eccentrically and take risks? It makes for a good story which you have conveniently cast as horrible. I bet that story is plenty interesting and worthwhile as is yours.

[flagged]

He spent it on gorging himself on fried chicken delivery and electronics he piles around his horde room. His parents have to manage him to keep him from suicide. It's not a funny situation.

Re: Too many people take too many pills

#137

Post by QuercusMax »

comfypotato wrote: post #86
0zemp2c wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think 30 mins, 3 times a week of exercise is remotely close only stretching back a few decades, my grandfather was working his own land as a subsistence farmer without much "automation"...probably doing the equivalent of three hours of CrossFit a day, basically every day. looking back at pics of him now...he was strapped, even in his late 70s (what was also known as "normal"). my genetics probably come from h…

5 hours per week of 3 METs (a 2.5mph walk is 3 METs) reduces your risk of Cardiac disease by 70%. This is from one of the bigger meta analyses I’ve ever read. The US’s exercise guidelines are based on it. In general more is better, but it’s diminishing returns, and you could argue that more time than this could be better spent doing other healthy tasks.

Never heard the term MET before- it's this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_equivalent_of_task

Re: Too many people take too many pills

#138

Post by pfannkuchen »

xkgt wrote: post #113
ploxiln wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a dramatic trope. I'm an american, born and raised as they say, and I've never seen that. It probably happens sometimes in places I'm not familiar with, but ... come on, it's absurd, anyone would be incapacitated by that many pills. I was thinking about this when watching The Shape of Water, Michael Shannon's character is in his car, arms shaking, pouring the whole pill bottle on his face ... It's a dramatic tro…

I wonder how much these tropes and storytelling techniques shifts the baselines of cultural norms. For example, a sitcom would often find it convenient to have friends meet daily in a bar and somehow drinking almost daily is perceived to be a normal thing to do.

For this particular example, if anything I think drinking frequently with friends and family was much more frequent in times prior to television. But agree that television has this effect in general, shaping perception around social norms. I suspect it is used this way intentionally in some cases.

Re: Too many people take too many pills

#139

Post by trollthrowaway4 »

local_crmdgeon wrote: post #136
trollthrowaway4 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

He spent it on gorging himself on fried chicken delivery and electronics he piles around his horde room. His parents have to manage him to keep him from suicide. It's not a funny situation.

[flagged]

Re: Too many people take too many pills

#140

Post by lubujackson »

xkgt wrote: post #113
ploxiln wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a dramatic trope. I'm an american, born and raised as they say, and I've never seen that. It probably happens sometimes in places I'm not familiar with, but ... come on, it's absurd, anyone would be incapacitated by that many pills. I was thinking about this when watching The Shape of Water, Michael Shannon's character is in his car, arms shaking, pouring the whole pill bottle on his face ... It's a dramatic tro…

I wonder how much these tropes and storytelling techniques shifts the baselines of cultural norms. For example, a sitcom would often find it convenient to have friends meet daily in a bar and somehow drinking almost daily is perceived to be a normal thing to do.

In the 80s there was a show called Cheers centered around the same people being at a bar every day. I don't think it is a new phenomenon and it has actually been going the other way - it used to be typical to hit the bar after work every day (and still is in a lot of places) and was generally more about winding down/socializing than consuming alcohol.
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