Public health recommendations have always been a hard sell. Resistance to new behaviors – like the mask-wearing and social distancing advised during the COVID-19 pandemic – is part of human nature.
Clinical trials are used to establish that medicines work. But these don’t take into account the genetic differences between us that can mean very different outcomes for different patients.
Using electronic medical records may be a better way to treat those at risk of heart disease than treating everyone or treating only known ‘at risk’ groups.
Lipitor was approved by the government in 1997, and while under patent protection it was the highest-selling drug of all time with worldwide sales of more than US$12 billion a year.
While studies suggests that cholesterol-lowering statins can make the flu shot less effective, the vaccine remains the best available tool for reducing flu-related complications and death.
Media are important. Especially the media we trust. One might express the effect of a piece of journalism (J) about, say, a particular drug or food, as a factor of media authority (A), multiplied by the…