I was reviewing my June 2008 issue of Conde Naste Portfolio Business Intelligence Magazine and on page 110 stumbled upon this article The Ultimate Cure by David Ewing Duncan. It is a fascinating Magazine, I highly recommend you pick one up if you have not had the pleasure of reviewing one before.
The Ultimate Cure article is interesting because it summarizes some of the research being done by the neurotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The focus is the desire by these companies to fix neurological problems people have:
Depression
Alzheimer’s Disease
Parkinson’s Disease
Deafness
Spinal Cord Injury
Obesity
Anxiety
Addiction
Epilepsy
The World Health Organization estimates 1 billion people suffer from brain related ailments each year. Thus this is a trillion dollar market for companies hungry to be the next big thing.
Duncan makes an interesting notation that conditions like depression have gone from being over diagnosed to possibly under diagnosed. It further goes on to note that in some parts of the world as many as 90 percent of populations may need antidepressants! Global sales in Antidepressants last year according to the Neurotechnology Industry 2007 Report were $20.6 billion dollars. Stunning.
The article also documents other interesting research being done to restore or extend the capacity of senses for those with impaired vision, smell, taste, and hearing.
The article is hope for people who suffer from any of the above maladies as they long for solutions to everyday problems. But lets not lose sight of the fact that a pill or procedure doesn’t fix everything. I have been a pharmacist for 12 years and I feel for people every day that struggle with these problems. People come in the pharmacy and want a single simple cure for weight loss, anxiety, insomnia and other conditions. They don’t want to hear about starting with a good foundation of a balanced diet, vitamin and mineral supplements, or other homeopathic or herbal medicine support. Ironically, when I recommend that a woman take a multivitamin and a calcium supplement they are often stunned that it doesn’t come in one pill! We all need to remember that every answer is not in a bottle. One pill will not fix all your problems. So enjoy this article, but remember a lot of solutions are up to you and your convictions. Help your body heal itself. My goal with supersizeyourthealth.com is to take you on a journey you never thought was possible.
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