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I always wonder if one can take solace in the fact that one has a problem that everybody else also is dealing with/will be dealing with and so there is a huge f

I always wonder if one can take solace in the fact that one has a problem that everybody else also is dealing with/will be dealing with and so there is a huge financial (and quite frankly medically selfish) incentive to solve. The opposite of that is that having such thoughts immediately makes me feel a shitty person because financial resources are not infinite and if they are thrown at solving the problem that everybody is dealing with it means that people with rare diseases are getting the short hand of the stick.

Hnrobert42 4y ago
There isn’t a financial incentive to solve it. There is one to treat it. Insulin, blood pressure meds, statins for cholesterol, cardiac stints are all big business.
- Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago
  So was the ice business, not to mention the salt business, the ice cartel and the salt cartel were dominating but the person who invented the refrigerator put them both out of business in one swoop and managed to subtract all their wealth/ status from them. In this case there is also the incentive to solve it if anything out of selfishness given that everybody at some point develops cardiometabolic problems
- steve_adams_86 4y ago
  It seems to me that the vast bulk of their business is made possible by the fact that our alternative is to dramatically improve our diets, sleep, and exercise regimens. Studies seem to show that each of these often have meaningful effects on preventing, stopping and even reversing common diseases. This is all really hard for people to do, though. There’s a lot working against us. It’s hard to see why we should do it at the individual level — it’s hard to believe these changes will make a meaningful difference. But you’re right that there’s no financial incentive there. Not at all. There is for each of us, and here in Canada there is an incentive to reduce medical spending, but pharmaceutical companies stand to gain nothing and lose so much. It’s hard to imagine this changing much, but what a difference it would make. Life could be so much different for so many of us.
- fshbbdssbbgdd 4y ago
  Sure, current leading pharma companies will keep making money if they don’t invent an obesity cure. But most people aren’t in the pharma business, and even most scientists with the relevant expertise aren’t pharma magnates. If there were some one-and-done obesity chemical that no drug company bothered to market yet, it would actually be a great act of charity to the industry for everyone to unanimously ignore that opportunity. Realistically, there are a bunch of also-ran pharma companies who would jump at the chance to be the exclusive seller of this miracle drug for 17 years until the patent ran out.
- 8note 4y ago
  isnt there? as long as people jeep needing to be cured, you have business. not as good of business as treating it, but still great business
loeg 4y ago
> I always wonder if one can take solace in the fact that one has a problem that everybody else also is dealing with/will be dealing with and so there is a huge financial (and quite frankly medically selfish) incentive to solve. Not really; no one has cracked old age, for example. There's no cure for diabetes, either.
sterlind 4y ago
cuts both ways with rare diseases. mine's progressed to the point where I need a wheelchair outside the house. I do daily PT, but my arms are messed up too so my exercises are necessarily very light. Wheelchair use is literally a sedentary lifestyle, so I'm at risk of all the couch-potato issues. Considering approximately $0 has been spent on drug discovery for my disorder (genetic, rare, not fatal), I'd substantially benefit from exercise-in-a-pill drugs if those come out, as would a lot of others in my position.

Hnrobert42 4y ago

There isn’t a financial incentive to solve it. There is one to treat it. Insulin, blood pressure meds, statins for cholesterol, cardiac stints are all big business.

Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago
So was the ice business, not to mention the salt business, the ice cartel and the salt cartel were dominating but the person who invented the refrigerator put them both out of business in one swoop and managed to subtract all their wealth/ status from them. In this case there is also the incentive to solve it if anything out of selfishness given that everybody at some point develops cardiometabolic problems
steve_adams_86 4y ago
It seems to me that the vast bulk of their business is made possible by the fact that our alternative is to dramatically improve our diets, sleep, and exercise regimens. Studies seem to show that each of these often have meaningful effects on preventing, stopping and even reversing common diseases. This is all really hard for people to do, though. There’s a lot working against us. It’s hard to see why we should do it at the individual level — it’s hard to believe these changes will make a meaningful difference. But you’re right that there’s no financial incentive there. Not at all. There is for each of us, and here in Canada there is an incentive to reduce medical spending, but pharmaceutical companies stand to gain nothing and lose so much. It’s hard to imagine this changing much, but what a difference it would make. Life could be so much different for so many of us.
fshbbdssbbgdd 4y ago
Sure, current leading pharma companies will keep making money if they don’t invent an obesity cure. But most people aren’t in the pharma business, and even most scientists with the relevant expertise aren’t pharma magnates. If there were some one-and-done obesity chemical that no drug company bothered to market yet, it would actually be a great act of charity to the industry for everyone to unanimously ignore that opportunity. Realistically, there are a bunch of also-ran pharma companies who would jump at the chance to be the exclusive seller of this miracle drug for 17 years until the patent ran out.
8note 4y ago
isnt there? as long as people jeep needing to be cured, you have business. not as good of business as treating it, but still great business

loeg 4y ago

> I always wonder if one can take solace in the fact that one has a problem that everybody else also is dealing with/will be dealing with and so there is a huge financial (and quite frankly medically selfish) incentive to solve. Not really; no one has cracked old age, for example. There's no cure for diabetes, either.

sterlind 4y ago

cuts both ways with rare diseases. mine's progressed to the point where I need a wheelchair outside the house. I do daily PT, but my arms are messed up too so my exercises are necessarily very light. Wheelchair use is literally a sedentary lifestyle, so I'm at risk of all the couch-potato issues. Considering approximately $0 has been spent on drug discovery for my disorder (genetic, rare, not fatal), I'd substantially benefit from exercise-in-a-pill drugs if those come out, as would a lot of others in my position.