Odds and Ends

First I have to tell you that one of my dearest friends recently sent me her version of Odds and Ends which nearly had me rolling in the floor with laughter – I am absolutely going to let you all read it – however, it tells a little secret that I can’t share yet – so maybe next week!

For now – you are stuck with my not so funny brief points from the past week.

Positive Note on Drug Studies: Wow, yes I am going to admit that kudos is due several big Pharma companies – Pfizer not being one of them for some reason. The good news is based on a great many failures, which is ironic, but instead of just having a bunch of failed drugs, we may be able to put all that time and effort already spent, to another use. I am referring to the unfortunate truth that no company has found a drug to reverse or even reasonably treat the disease of Alzheimer’s. It does not appear that any advance has occurred since my years of working with this population (2000-2007). Then it was more a matter of treating symptoms and trying to modify behavior both environmentally and sadly, chemically. Alzheimer’s Disease is also a condition that leads to progressive despair for loved ones. Now several companies have agreed to put it all on the table. Scientists will be able to see what was tried, what affect the treatments did have and how. Perhaps in the failures will come a greater understanding of the disease.

Negative Note on Drug Company: Geez Johnson and Johnson – it is alleged that you paid people to go buy medicines on the down low so you wouldn’t have to recall them on the up and up – You know what happens when they do that in China? Let’s just say it is slightly worse than a blogger curling her nose at you.

Drugs again?! Sorry, but I heard this on the beach today. (Gulfcoast in SW Florida – still beautiful). Two women were chatting and one asked the other if she had seen the commercial that talks about depression. The one that says maybe if your medicine isn’t working you should add Abilify. AACK! How in the world two psychotropic or mood altering drugs could be better than one completely escapes me, however the real point is what she did NOT say. She did not say, “has your doctor ever suggested a different medication or a different approach to treatment?” Of course, the IDEAL statement would be “has your psychiatrist…” and the perfect-world statement would be, “hey, have you ever tried exercise for treating your depression – I hear it works wonderfully and has no adverse side effects.”

Illusions: A David Shaywitz reviewed a book called the Invisible Gorilla and the book is probably great, but the review was awesome! I was reading along thinking how well written the article was and then saw that the person writing was actually a professor so his grasp of the subject and ability to write about it was less surprising. Let me just say that the book discusses many misperceptions or illusions that we all seem to have. We remember things inaccurately and believe less in our faults and more in our abilities and even attractiveness. The book authors may be looking to knock us down a peg or two, but Dr. Shaywitz argues the opposite, and I so agree. It is better, maybe to think yourself more capable then you are because without that confidence you may never try to do something that you actually CAN do. Several years ago, a friend in NC, Beth, told me that my mind was a steel trap – I would do what I said I would do – I think that a strong sense of belief, illusion or no is a great tool to have!