Interesting Article

[Sangye]

Derek, about the journals charging to read the full article : Medical journals are not big money makers. They barely get by, actually, and because their online versions don't have advertising, they charge small amounts for subscriptions, individual papers, etc....

Researchers (not the ones working for pharm. companies) make very little money, too. They spend their lives immersed in research, working way more hours than you can imagine, all to help patients. They rarely get any glory. I did biomedical research in my early twenties, so I know what their lives are like, and what the world of research publishing is like, too.

If it weren't for their work, we would all be dead. We wouldn't have anything but pred to treat us, which was only 50% effective at keeping Weggies alive for one year.

Since you're interested in reading numerous journal articles, you might try the following : If you live near a university, you can use their library (medical or otherwise) for free. You can photocopy any journal article. Also, you can ask your doctor for copies of any articles s/he has authored. I think PubMed has a way of purchasing a subscription that allows you to download full articles from any journal. I'm sure you can fish around on their site and find out. Or call a University library and ask them how. I'm sorry I don't know more about getting online research-- the internet didn't exist when I was involved in research.

[Doug]

Oops! Derek was not the one ranting about free medical journal articles. I'm afraid I have to take credit for that, Sangye. Thanks, at any rate, for the perspective. Doug

[Sangye]

(Sorry Derek! )

Doug, let me know what you find out about subscriptions, etc... It would help me to know how to get the full article (or at least the full abstract), too.

[Cindy M]

Great article but very scary. If it's not the disease that will get us it's the medication. What a choice.

[Jack]

Or it could be one of the hundreds of things that get "normal" people.

[Sangye]

Yeah, I bet a banana peel takes me out in the end....

I think the article can also be interpreted as positive, too. When Dr Seo has explained these things to me, that's his attitude about it. The concept of sorting out disease from damage is new. Most docs keep us on drugs for the "standard" amount of time without considering what that's creating for us down the road. Any symptoms we have are labeled as "Wegs" and not fallout from Wegs or the drugs.

I think it's because for decades there weren't alternatives. The docs couldn't worry about drug toxicity down the road, just keeping someone alive today. Now we're living longer with Wegs, and there are less-toxic drugs to help. My first docs were unconcerned about the long-term consequences of the drugs. I was freaked out but they said, "There's no alternative." They also had no clue about when to stop a drug or change it.

[Doug]

(Sorry Derek! )

Doug, let me know what you find out about subscriptions, etc... It would help me to know how to get the full article (or at least the full abstract), too.

Sangye- Serves me right! This is not for amateurs, I guarantee! I've been tied up with executor business on my father's estate and hospital visits with my mother (she's doing just fine, thank you!), so I haven't had more than a few minutes to play around in the site. I am registered there now, so I guess that means I can go back any time I want and wallow in the zillions of publications they seem to have available! I can't believe how many sort variables they allow. So far, I haven't found anything that tells me dollar amounts for any publication. Never mind. I'm pretty snoopy when I get the chance.