The risk business

Article Abstract:

Superstition and fear limit the chances of new medicines in reaching their intended users. The public's perception of risk is often distorted, resulting in highly irrational views of drug treatment. People are likely to protest against a medicine involving risk that would appear infinitesimal when compared with the widely accepted risks associated with smoking, drinking or travel. Professor William Inman of the UK's University of Southampton objects to such irrationality. According to Inman, head of a group that analyzes the side-effects of prescription medicine, people tend to focus on side-effects that are highly unlikely to occur rather than look at the numerous benefits that a drug treatment can offer. Instead of dismissing any medicine out of nothing more than primitive fear, people are advised to examine first the mathematics of the risks involved.

Drugs, Risk perception

---

The executive ailment: 'curable only by death'

Article Abstract:

Hangovers from too much alcohol consumption may be an occupational hazard for the business executive. People who drink more than 28 units of alcohol (a unit is equivalent to one half-pint of beer, a glass of wine or a shot glass of hard liquor) per week should reduce their alcohol intake. Elements of hangovers discussed are: dehydration, the toxic effects of alcohol on brain cells, and the gastric upset associated with drinking. Methods for reducing the effect of hangovers are also discussed, including: drinking a glass of milk or olive oil prior to drinking alcohol, drinking a half liter of water prior to retiring on the night of the heavy drinking, avoiding mixed drinks, and choosing white wine, white rum or vodka over red wine, brandy or port.

Employee alcoholism, Physiological aspects, Alcohol, Ethanol, Hangovers

---

Healthy skepticism

Article Abstract:

The prejudice many people hold against medicines is not surprising since modern drugs are still viewed by many people in the same superstitious light as the medications concocted by pharmacists in earlier times. The public misunderstanding of the effects of modern drugs has been reinforced by the pharmaceutical industry's marketing campaigns that have reinforced the misconception that drugs have certain intrinsically 'good' or 'bad' effects. Patients who wish to evaluate prescribed drugs in a reasonably informed way may request information from their doctors about all possible effects that may arise from taking a certain drug.

Pharmaceutical preparations, Pharmaceutical industry, Column, Drug therapy, Drug utilization, Drug monitoring

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: The subsidising instinct. Only relate
• Abstracts: Where money is not enough: Labour's health and education policies. Not yet airborne
• Abstracts: Team fitness. Informed choice. Sime Darby gropes for new mountains to conquer
• Abstracts: The formidable risks managers face in an unfamiliar culture. Corporations tragically waste overseas experience
• Abstracts: Award-winning advertising campaigns. State ads entice foreign investors. How to reach 3 countries in one native language

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.