Everywhere I read that rates of different illnesses are going up. It seems like everyone I know is on allergy medication, including myself. When I was a kid I was the weird one for having allergies. Asthma seems to be on the rise too.
My girlfriend, who is very liberal, thinks it is because of all the pollutants that George W. is allowing into the air. I am not political one way or the other, but I find that hard to believe. I think that the “rise” in illness is due to the ridiculous amount of money spent by pharmaceutical companies on research, development, and marketing of these new drugs.
When I was a kid there were no commercials for allergy medication, and it seemed like less people had allergies. I guess it is like the chicken or the egg question. Are the rates of these illnesses really skyrocketing, and that is why all of these new drugs are coming out? Or, are the pharmaceutical companies convincing everyone that they need these drugs, and that is 1) causing more people to go to the doctor, and 2) causing the doctors to “diagnose” and prescribe more of these medications?
The same can be said for mental disorders. Just a few years ago bipolar disorder was something that I knew of, but wasn’t confronted with everyday. Now, I know at least 3 people that have it. Do you think mental illness is on the rise? Do you think it is even possible for someone to just be a little bit “F-ed” up anymore?
What do you think?
PS - I was taking Allegra for my allergies and I felt like crap. Since I ran out I have just stopped taking anything all together and I feel 100 times better. Do I really need it?
I also take Advair for asthma, and I can say that it has truly helped me.