Needing an honest answer

4 As nurses why do you guys think that medications only treat the symptoms of a disease instead of curing the disease? Is it because no one has come up any cures yet? () Or do you guys think it's a conspiracy?

I for one think it's a conspiracy and that's what I'm writing a paper on. Just wanted to know how you all felt. Thanks.


Side note: OMG just noticed I put "and" instead of "an" in my title. Disregard Please!
Unless the disease is CAUSED by a lack of whatever it is that the medication is supplying, then it can't CURE the disease.Diseases are usually caused by genetics or lifestyle choices. If you have heart disease caused by horrible diet and no exercise, then the only thing that will actually address the cause is changing diet and getting exercise. There is no pill for that.No, I don't think it's a conspiracy. Modern medicine is not perfect.

Ebony, you made me drop my hamburger, you really did!! Darn you!If this is for nursing, you gotta pick another topic. You gotta.

I agree with 2nd wind.Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the question. Can you give us an example of what you feel is conspiracy on the part of doctors and/or pharmaceutical companies?I'm sure your nursing instructors will find your paper amusing. Can I pretty please read it when you're done?

Wow, ok. So all of these advances in medicine and no one has found a cure for AIDS, Diabetes, or HTN? Seriously? I'm assuming all of you here are pretty smart but drug companies rather just keep selling you pills that does'nt fix ANYTHING than to have a world of healthy people walking around. It'll cut into their pockets. Think about it people.

A conspiracy??? really?

Ummmm-are you thinking of "conspiracy" as in Pharmaceutical companies blazoning new "breakthroughs" in treatments, only to find there are serious side effects? Or have you watched Johnny Mnemonic once too many times? Whether you refer to pharmaceutical company practices as being conspiracy, or leave out the cons and just call it piracy, there is no doubt that there are dirty operators out there as in many other businesses. Many essential medications carry ridiculous price tags,which might support an accusation of profiteering, but I can't remember when last I heard a reputable company claiming to have found a "cure" for any life-threatening condition.

And you know what? Most of these drugs have worse side effects than the disease.

Hm, there are a lot of diseases we DO cure, and that is pretty amazing. The discovery of penicillin still blows my mind. And thanks to vaccines we have a much lower incidence of diseases that wiped out whole populations back in the day.I can see where the conspiracy viewpoint comes from, but as someone who works in research I can say that "cure" type research is federally funded and supported. For rarer diseases, that may not be as much of a priority because they affect less people. But for alzheimers, heart disease, cancer and AIDS... yes. We don't have cures yet because the human body + disease is an infinitely complex and delicate interaction. For example the AIDS virus is continually mutating, making vaccine development extremely difficult. Good luck with your paper.

OK maybe "conspiracy" is too strong of a word for you guys... how about travesty?

Ebony there is a lot to finding a cure than just saying "lets make this drug". The disease process and how the body works is extremely intricate. NO ONE fully understands it.. We have come a long way with medicine, but there is still much much much more to learn. Lab work , making medication, takes time. Not only is it scientifically hard, legally its hard. There's a lot that goes into advancement. So seriously, we haven't found a cure for HIV yet.

Don't write this paper. If you really feel that strongly about it, wait until you are better educated to write it. As is, if you write it now you are going to sound like a complete idiot.We all know that most drugs only treat symptoms. It's because we either don't know what causes the particular condition, or because the damaged caused by the condition is irreparable (with our current knowledge, anyhow). So we treat the symptoms, because that is what we *can* do to improve someone's life.Take some pathophysiology and some pharmacology. If you still feel there is a gigantic conspiracy theory, THEN you can write the paper. I doubt you'll feel that way, though.There are some valid ethical complaints to be made in the realm of health care. For example, there are health care access and insurance issues that have some quite blatant racial and/or socioeconomic biases. Or, another possible topic could be the funding of university construction and research by pharmaceutical companies. Or health insurance companies' political activities. If you're looking for potentially valid conspiracies, try exploring something like that.

Quote from EbonyBorn2SucceedWow, ok. So all of these advances in medicine and no one has found a cure for AIDS, Diabetes, or HTN? Seriously? I'm assuming all of you here are pretty smart but drug companies rather just keep selling you pills that does'nt fix ANYTHING than to have a world of healthy people walking around. It'll cut into their pockets. Think about it people.