4 ms·

From a drug designer's perspective, though, this is a problem. If you don't know why the current drugs work you're going to have a lot of trouble improving the

• danmaz74 13y ago
  Yes, but to know "why" (I'd much rather say "how") current drugs work you don't need to know "why" people get certain illnesses - that's my issue with the article. Their logic is: low serotonin levels aren't the cause of depression - so raising serotonin levels will not eliminate the cause of depression - so doing that isn't useful. That's a naive (and wrong) logic. Your heart going into fibrillation is not the cause of your heart problems, but treating the fibrillation can save your life - whatever the "cause" of that fibrillation.
  • tsotha 13y ago
    >Yes, but to know "why" (I'd much rather say "how") current drugs work you don't need to know "why" people get certain illnesses - that's my issue with the article. Well, that's true. But I think he makes a reasonably compelling argument that we don't in fact know why the current generation of drugs works.