Posted by Althea8869 on February 11, 2004, at 16:35:17
In reply to Re: ^5!!! Ditto, posted by justjustine on February 11, 2004, at 14:50:28
You know its interesting - I was just thinking that in a broad sense we are the generation that is doing the clinical testing for the next. With the staggering increase in knowledge about brain chemistry in just the last few years, and the greater acceptance of depression as a disease, it is believed that the next generation will have taylor made solutions. Get an MRI, few blood tests and they'll know exactly what the problem is and exactly what med(s) to give you. If you look back in time just a few decades, the number of options for treatment decreases exponentially. Not that im happy being anyones test subject, but if I knew that my child was going to suffer from depression at some point in his life, than I think the difficluties that I have had trying these different meds is, by comparison, acceptable.
With regard to the drug companies, it's the CEO's and the salesmen that I dont trust, I have a great deal of respect and appreciation for the R&D folks, who are not getting paid very much, even in the private sector, and still manage to find increasingly sophisticated and novel ways to help, and in some cases cure, serious diseases. Last night I was reading some abstracts from some Pharm study site, and one abstract was about a novel new antidepressant, now in stage one trials(so it has no name), that is proving as efficacious, if not more so, than anything currently available. The intrigueing part though, is that it has absolutely no appreciable effect on any of the neurochemicals that people associate with depression. Many people forget, or just dont realize, that our knowledege of the brain, especially as it pertains to mood/behaviour is still in its infancy - despite the incredible pace over the last few years.Anyway, had a few free minutes so I though id post. Take care.
poster:Althea8869
thread:53462
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040210/msgs/312175.html