If I had more money than morals, the first thing I’d do is plough every last red cent of mine into a drug company. No other profession, to my mind, has such total success in inventing a dubious solution, manufacturing the market to peddle it to and...
HRT: Its days as a ‘just-in-case’ are numbered
It never rains but it pours for the HRT industry. One of the most lucrative drugs markets came crashing down with the sudden stopping of the Women’s Health Initiative trial when, last year, it was discovered that oestrogen plus progestin...
If you're worried about losing your mental abilities as you get older, start walking. It might be all you need to do to ward off dementia, memory loss and the like.
No, memory loss is not inevitable as we age, but we’d be very fortunate to avoid it happening. Memory starts to decline imperceptibly in early adulthood (Alzheim Dis Assoc Disord, 2003; 17: 162-7); by age 65, about 40 per cent of us will have...
BAD SCIENCE So many studies, so many flaws A full one-third of American scientists have been found guilty of serious misconduct while undertaking medical research over the last three years. Their misdeeds have included the falsification of data...
Drug companies have been accused of suppressing vital data showing that their new-generation atypical antipsychotics are killing around one in four elderly dementia patients. The startling discovery was made in nine separate studies that were...
Levodopa’s ability to reduce the distressing symptoms of early-stage Parkinson’s disease has earned itself enough street cred to become the first-line treatment for the condition. However, there’s a flip-side to every coin, and this drug is no...
Risperdal (risperidone) is the most prescribed antipsychotic in the US and, with worldwide sales of $2.1bn, is Johnson & Johnson’s second most profitable drug.
Doctors are enthusiasts, who often seize upon an all-purpose product - the type of gadget that claims to hoover your livingroom, cut your grass, wash your dog and put out the rubbish.
What Doctors Don't Tell You