A world where medicine fails?

[Hysteresis]

The natives of the forest don't need any man made drugs. But look at their food. Its all natural.

Whilst ours is pumped full dangerous additives. And then we wonder why we need so many drugs.

But the natives in the forests are not exposed to the viruses we are. When they are exposed to them they suffer just the same as we do. Additives to our food is not a factor in this particular situation of Antibiotics.
I am sure Chapeau will concur with this.

 

[jeds]

It's all about profit. Drug companies moved away from the development of new antibiotics because other drug types were more profitable. As antibiotic resistance increases that situation will change and they will change tack again. In fact, I wouldn't mind betting they allready have a few options in the back of the filing cabinet just waiting for things to reach critical.

So, it looks bad but population explosion will still kill us off first.

 

[chapeau]

IIn fact, I wouldn't mind betting they allready have a few options in the back of the filing cabinet just waiting for things to reach critical

I'll take that bet. How much do you want to wager, how about our houses?

I shouldn't tell you this, but google 'antibiotic pipeline' first.... Then come back and we can discuss it again.

 

[chapeau]

The natives of the forest don't need any man made drugs. But look at their food. Its all natural.

Whilst ours is pumped full dangerous additives. And then we wonder why we need so many drugs.

But the natives in the forests are not exposed to the viruses we are. When they are exposed to them they suffer just the same as we do. Additives to our food is not a factor in this particular situation of Antibiotics.
I am sure Chapeau will concur with this.

Interestingly the forest dwellers once suffered more as they had little resistance to our bugs.

The brilliant book "Guns, Germs and Steel" gives an explanation of how European germs helped us conquer the world. Europeans became resistant to them when we started to lived together in towns - that nasty evolution again, Europeans had to die in large numbers to gain resistance as a species.

Then when we started exploring the world, the same bugs helped wipe out the populations who hadn't seen them before.

Also interestingly, we are now finding different racial populations do have subtlely different DNA makeups which make medicines work better or worse. Lots of the trials were done on 'Europeans' as we had the money to buy the drugs.

Drug companies are now finding that some trials for drugs which failed on Europeans actually work on, say Japanese.

All very interesting stuff. Of course the problem is a lot of these candidate drugs are now out of patent so you cannot expect a pharma company to spend large amounts of cash to prove they work on the Chinese when the Indians will then just manufacture them for pennies.

Getting a drug to market is not simple. Barrier upon barrier are imposed with no guarantee that the hundreds of millions spent will make a return. The 'blockbusters' that would fund the majority of failures (and provide a decent return on investment) are no more.

 

[Brigadier]

I'd expect that, in 30yrs time and if you can afford it, you'll have nano machines swimming around inside you, zapping or stabbing the nasties. A bit like a cockroach won't out-evolve a lump hammer any time soon, so I can't see a bacteria out-evolving being chopped into bits (unless each bit replicates) =-O

 

[Hysteresis]

I'd expect that, in 30yrs time and if you can afford it, you'll have nano machines swimming around inside you, zapping or stabbing the nasties. A bit like a cockroach won't out-evolve a lump hammer any time soon, so I can't see a bacteria out-evolving being chopped into bits (unless each bit replicates) =-O

I don't expect your nano machines in 30 years time (even if I lived that long). I remember in the 70's 'they' said the fusion problem would be cracked by 2000, and we are still 30 years away.
Your proposed nano machines is certainly as far away as fusion even if it were a feasible proposition. The development costs will make is very unlikey anyway,

 

[Brigadier]

Fusion is a bad example - if I correctly recall, there was an article in new scientist, around a decade ago, about predictions of scientific advancement. Controllable Fusion was the one thing that the scientific community couldn't see ever working, not in any meaningful timescale for current generations.
Hence the phrase "just like fusion - 50yrs away, and always will be."

 

[EddieM]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21702647


It's worrying stuff.

You'll be able to stop worrying about oil running out for a while then, esp bearing in mind that diseases usually carry off the very young (not good) the very old (good, uneconomic, resource hogging coffin dodgers) or the weak (read unemployed) Jobs a good 'un (apart from the young, we middle age people need young slaves to do all the crap jobs)

 

[chapeau]

'Nano machines' are in development if you consider stem-cell therapy and biologicals to be the same thing.

Unfortunately they are rather speculative right now, though there is some good work being done - in universities mainly.

It's going to be expensive. The new Big Thing is 'Personalised Medicine', let's see how that pans out.

A lot of pharmas are getting out of whole disease areas...

 

[joe-90]

A lot of pharmas are getting out of whole disease areas...

At least learn to spell 'farmer' FFS.

 

[jeds]

IIn fact, I wouldn't mind betting they allready have a few options in the back of the filing cabinet just waiting for things to reach critical

I'll take that bet. How much do you want to wager, how about our houses?

I shouldn't tell you this, but google 'antibiotic pipeline' first.... Then come back and we can discuss it again.

Don't need to google it. I've got a bit of inside info from a gooid friend of mine who is the top science man at one of the large drug companies. It's all hush hush though so can't tell you about it. What's your house worth? Just so I know its a fair bet.

 

[chapeau]

Well there is only one 'large' pharma left in the UK and that's going to be a tad smaller in a few weeks

But buy their shares if you believe in them.

 

[chapeau]

A lot of pharmas are getting out of whole disease areas...

At least learn to spell 'farmer' FFS.

Pharma may be an abbreviation for:

Pharmaceutical industry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharma

What a numskull you are Joe. 100% oaf.

 

[joe-90]

Not as dumb as one that can't see a play on words when he sees one. God you're dull.

 

[chapeau]

please don't tell me you want to be my chummy mate again.