TWiGL

jayparkinsonmd:

Today is the end of an era folks. Lipitor, the #1 selling branded medication in the world is going off patent. This means, instead of the $115 a month Pfizer has been charging, it is now a race toward the bottom for generic manufacturers to produce and sell it for hopefully $4 a month.

Despite Lipitor’s wild popularity, as you can see below, either 96 or 98% of people (depending on whether or not you have prior heart disease) who take Lipitor see no benefit. It does do what it says— it lowers your cholesterol. But prolonging your life and increasing the quality of your life is much more complicated than just lowering your cholesterol. Here are the numbers for:

Those without heart disease (just high cholesterol):

For those with a heart disease diagnosis:

Taking chronic medications like Lipitor is quite similar to receiving vaccines. You receive vaccines to not only protect yourself, but to also protect society. At the individual level, Lipitor is a very bad investment. At the population level, a very small percentage of Lipitor takers are helped. As you can see, if you’re a gambler, it’s not a very good bet to take Lipitor. And if you look at the entire population of people, less than 4% of those taking Lipitor will actually be helped.

This is modern medicine folks, bottled up and sold via daytime television. 

And by the way, see that chemical structure up there. That’s called atorvastatin. It’s also called Lipitor. If anything changes in that chemical structure, it’s fundamentally different and can no longer be called atorvastatin. So if any of you are wondering if a generic is better/different from a branded medication. It’s simply not. If a generic medication were different/better, it would be a fundamentally different chemical compound. And that applies to all medications and vitamins. Don’t let marketers fool you that there’s a benefit to spending $111 more a month on a branded drug.

shortformblog:

Screw the Food Pyramid; let’s switch to the Food Plate instead!

Meet the worst graphic ever created. You may have heard about this thing. It’s called the MyPyramid. There’s some random dude running up it to remind people to exercise, which it’s honestly never done for us. But there aren’t any numbers, no good explanation, and few details to explain what people should eat. It’s one of the greatest travesties the USDA has ever created. It’s as terrible as the 2012 Olympics logo, except worse, because it’s meant actually teach people how to eat healthier; that hasn’t happened. And it might finally get replaced by a completely different shape. Finally. About time. A little history:

• pyramid In 1992, the USDA introduced the Food Pyramid as a way to explain to people how much food they should be eating. It wasn’t considered a success.
• pyramid In 2005, USDA officals replaced the pyramid with “MyPyramid,” a vertically-oriented chart derided for being even more confusing than the original version.
• plate? Perhaps hearing the cries of those who want to see a simpler food graphic, the USDA plans to launch a version of the graphic that revolves around a simple plate. source

» Why this is a good idea: Simply put, the basic idea behind this graphic needs to be as simple as possible, and while the original graphic wasn’t terrible, its replacement was. What we’d like to see is a shape that looks like a cafeteria tray, with compartments for each piece. However, the independently-produced Power Plate (which notably doesn’t include meat products at all) is also a worthy option, too. Let’s hope they don’t screw it up.

Follow ShortFormBlog

(Source: shortformblog)

jtotheizzoe:

Amber Waves of…ah…ah…achoo! What you need to know about allergies

CURSE THE POLLEN. But here’s how it works.