Boosting immune systems

I was appalled to hear on the wireless this am that medical students no longer have pharmacy in their curricula.

Holly It seems a bit more complicated than you imply.
Yes the big pharma companies are paying money to stop other companies making cheaper generic copies, but only until the time when their patent would have run out anyway.
It appears that the companies making the cheaper generics collude to make the copies before the patent runs out, and are effectively blackmailing the large companies.
Patent law is there for a reason and that is to protect the profits of the companies who have spent billions researching and developing new drugs.
You may think it unbalanced and unfair, but as Jess has pointed out, without the R&D of the drug companies, there would be no new drugs, period.
Compared to the money spent by Big Pharma, the Government actually spends very little on research.

Taxpayers fund basic scientific research, mostly via universities and national institutes.
These lines of research are published and can by used by anyone in the world.
They do not "hand over" anything to pharma companies. The pharma companies try to develop new drugs which is a very expensive process. Most of their possible drugs do not turn into usable drugs.
So not at all sure what money you think the taxpayer should get back.

I found last night's documentary on BBC 1 - Who's Paying your Doctor? - very informative and it proved the point I made about pharmaceutical companies control over what drugs are prescribed for us. They must hate it when we find a natural remedy that works just as well

I didn't see that but will see if it's on iplayer.

The big pharmaceutical companies actively keep competitive drugs from reaching the market place if they believe it will harm their own sales

www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/health/policy/drug-makers-deals-with-generic-rivals-may-face-justices-review.html

www.ip-watch.org/2013/06/19/european-commission-fines-pharma-companies-for-payments-to-delay-generic-entry/ (google 'pay for delay') - it also keeps costs higher than they need to be.

The taxpayer pays for a large proportion of all medical research, when the research is complete, the government then hands the finished product over to the drug company to market - I don't know if they have to repay any of the taxation they received; I hope they do.

Patients are not always prescribed what is the best medication for their ailment and some are only available on private prescription - but patients are generally not given that information so they remain unaware that alternatives are available.

IMO - you are right to be sceptical.

Interesting, Jess - as the immune system is very much your speciality, it's good to hear the real scientific background, because it helps me to form a balanced picture of what helps and what doesn't!

Thinking of herbal remedies, I agree that some may be, and some are, effective. But, for example, St John's Wort, which is a very effective anti depressant, can have a very detrimental effect on some pharmaceutical drugs - Tamoxifen, for example, and statins, reducing their effectiveness. So, like everything else, the message is to approach with caution.

I found last night's documentary on BBC 1 - Who's Paying your Doctor? - very informative and it proved the point I made about pharmaceutical companies control over what drugs are prescribed for us. They must hate it when we find a natural remedy that works just as well.

Gaga only just seen this!
Vitelligo is just de pigmentation of the skin.
It is not an autoimmune disease, but, a higher proportion of people with vitelligo have been found to have autoimmune problems.
My gran had it very badly and my daughter has it mildly.

Just back on after difficulties with connection

Aka - apparently the shingles vaccine is (or was) not available privately as all the available stocks were bought up by the NHS and offered to 70 and 79 year olds (very strictly) and even people with compromised immune systems were unable to receive it. That was before Christmas and I have not enquired since.

'Do you never swig down the red wine to get your antioxidants?' it's as good an excuse as any

jingl, you do make me laugh!

Horses for courses.

I'll shut up now.

I'm sure all the old folks would love to wade through a load of Cochrane reviews.

Do you never swig down the red wine to get your antioxidants Jess?

The article Wasn't referring to coughs and colds specifically. It refers to building up a healthy immune system. To have a healthy immune system you need good all round good health. Vitamin E is necessary. Seeds, oil, etc - good source. I would substitute rapeseed oil personally.

I think most people realise there is no proven evidence re ech inacea. There is no evidence against it either. Advice harmless and might do some good.

What I mean by an open mind is not accepting what you have been told is the absolute truth, but to question and explore, find out and don't be blinded by the little knowledge that you may have.

Let's keep an open mind as to what an open mind is..OK?

experigran It depends what you mean by keeping an open mind.
If you mean accepting something is true, without examining all the evidence, or accepting something as true without any evidence at all, it's not a good thing.
If on the other hand you mean questioning assertions and assuring yourself that they have a foundation after you have looked at the evidence, then that is a good thing.

Try keeping an open mind.

Well said, jess.

Anyone can write an academic review and reach their own conculsions. They may not have searched the literature thouroughly or they may be biased. The gold standard systematic reviews are Cochrane reviews . This one found no preventative effect of Echincacea nd a possible weak shortening effect on colds. This is a long way from eulogising it as nature's antibiotic etc etc which that author does.
summaries.cochrane.org/CD000530/echinacea-for-preventing-and-treating-the-common-cold
Just about every paragraph in the ageuk article is riven with non-sequiturs or just plain nonsense. There is for instance no evidence that oils or vitamin E help prevent colds. Or indeed antioxidants. I have complained to Ageuk about the poor quality of the article.
Experigran of course some medicines are derived from herbs. That does not mean all so called herbal medicines are useful and should be accepted uncritically. Why lay the blame for everything on "big pharma". I'm sure they would like to isolate powerful new compounds from plants that can be sold in tested and measured doses, with proper safety checks. Don't you think they have looked?
"A cure" will never be found for cancer because it is hundreds of different diseases. There is nothing simple about the interaction between the immune system - it is as complex as the brain - maybe more so. And nothing simple about the relationship between immune system and cancer. In some situations the immune cells are helping the cancer cells to thrive. If there was a simple relationship between cancer and the immune system, those with damaged immune systems would be getting cancers all over their bodies. But as it is, even in advanced AIDS there are only a few specific cancers that tend to take hold.

Read that one now. How can there be anything wrong with that? Glad to see the mention of beef too. And chicken. Can't be all veg.

Age concern are not going to put any old stuff out.

But later on Jess referred simply to 'the horrid article', which could have been confusing because Aka had also posted her link by then.

It's actually stated the Age UK link is so bad!

x posts...!

It was Experigran's link Jess was referring to, jingl.