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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBBC: The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs
The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs was an eye-opening insight into our pill-popping cultureUK Telegraph Michael Hogan 15 SEPTEMBER 2016
Come and get your pills! We are selling pills with side effects guaranteed! Gastric bleeding, sir? These can erode your stomach lining and kill you. Setting up a mock market stall called The Honest Pharmacy was just the start of The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs (BBC One) a blend of science documentary and social experiment which was both eye-opening and surprisingly entertaining.
The telegenic Dr Chris van Tulleken (this time without his screen sidekick, twin brother Xander) began by hitting us with a barrage of scary statistics. GPs in the UK prescribe over a billion tablets each year. That means the average Brit takes 100,000 pills in their lifetime. Its a wonder we dont rattle as we walk.
Credit: BBC
While many drugs undoubtedly do good and save lives, they can also be harmful causing serious side effects and thousands of deaths each year. In a one-man bid to solve the over-medication crisis, van Tulleken set up shop in an Essex surgery to investigate whether patients really need their repeat prescriptions. Cue a voyeuristic glimpse into the confidential intimacy of GP appointments.
Could he wean young mother Sarah off the antidepressants shed been taking for eight years? By making her swim in an ice-cold lake, yes maybe. Could he tackle Wendys chronic 20-year shoulder problem without her cabinet full of painkillers? Most definitely, by replacing pills with placebos, while encouraging daily exercises...snip
Read More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/09/15/the-doctor-who-gave-up-drugs-was-an-eye-opening-insight-into-our/
Programme website: http://bbc.in/2bXRv2y A two-part social experiment with Dr Chris van Tulleken.
Full programme on BBC iPlayer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07w532p
Divine Discontent
(21,056 posts)He's going after the things that can be usually fixed by physical therapy and other non traditional practices. What ya all think?
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I wouldnt need drugs, either.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)trotsky
(49,533 posts)Came here just to find a reference. Thank you for not disappointing.
Skittles
(153,193 posts)it isn't
Response to nationalize the fed (Original post)
LiberalLoner This message was self-deleted by its author.
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)I do agree that there are too many drugs being prescribed. I am surprised at how almost everyone seems to take several prescriptions these days.
I have a regular 'script, a premarin patch. It doesn't save my life but does make life much, much less miserable. I understand how that works and so do people who share my view that too many drugs are being prescribed.
Add to that supplements and OTC stuff. I marvel at how some are just obsessed with this stuff. 20 'scripts and another $150 in supplements. I know several people who do this. They all look worse every time I see them.
This is getting out of hand.
LiberalLoner
(9,762 posts)Who claims not to use any drugs. Seemed outlandish to me. Fewer drugs, okay....no drugs at all? Not a good idea.
Humanist_Activist
(7,670 posts)I'm always fascinated by this, because, in my experience, most doctors are reluctant to prescribe medications unless they feel they are necessary. Were and are there problems with overprescribing antibiotics, for example? Yes, there are specific examples like this for some classes of medication, but does that mean there is a problem across the board? I don't think so, and it should be up to the doctor(s) and patient to determine what is the correct amount of prescriptions they are supposed to take.
kcr
(15,320 posts)Convincing us we don't need our medication is a brilliant move in this regard, because clearly a lot of people are falling for it. It's scary.
Humanist_Activist
(7,670 posts)particularly with the attempt to replace a patient's anti-depressants with cryotherapy, which is, at best, unproven, basically making her into a guinea pig. This can be extremely dangerous depending on the severity of her depression.
LiberalLoner
(9,762 posts)progressoid
(49,999 posts)MineralMan
(146,329 posts)Truly it's not. Yes, many people take too many medications. The answer for that is a trip to the doctor and the pharmacist to do a medication review. The answer is not that nobody should take medications.
This kind of binary nonsense is one of the reasons people are so confused.
Don't give up on medications. Ask why you're taking each one and whether there is a good alternative. Make your medical professionals do their jobs.