As a researcher and scientist I read a lot [...]]]> I spend hours a week exercising and trying to trick my not so young body into returning to the body of a few decades ago.  It’s not like I’m asking for the body of college years.  That would be a miracle and a whole different blog topic.

As a researcher and scientist I read a lot of  studies.  As someone who also love s to garden and cook and someone who loves to eat I also read articles about healthy eating and raising my own vegetables.  I’ve seen that reasonable eating can reduce my body weight.

I’ve also seen an apparent link between genetics and the health issues that I am trying to avoid like high cholesterol and high blood pressure.  After all, my husband and I both eat the same things for the most part but his cholesterol is 50 points less than mine.  Granted I am not taking into account ratio of good to bad cholesterol which is important but just to keep it simple I’m talking about total cholesterol.  On the other hand he has high blood pressure and I have low blood pressure.

His idea of exercise is watching me do P90X.  He does drink wine more regularly than I and doesn’t skimp when it comes to dipping that whole grain bread in olive oil but he just doesn’t seem to struggle with those few extra pounds the way that I do…. and he is a decade ahead of me.

So today I stumbled across an article that I saved to read “some day” – now I remember why I put it aside for some day.  The article is about the link between soft drinks and weight gain.  Now we could be on to something.  One major difference in our diets is my addiction to the soda in the red can. (gasp)  I do have 20 ounces a day of it.  I occasionally try to quit and I have been successful for brief periods of time- usually until a migraine comes along and I fall off the wagon.

Basically the article is looking at the studies that have been published relating the link in soda consumption to the obesity problem in America.  I know that the acid in sodas in not good for me.  It blocks the absorption of calcium which lowers bone mass.  Luckily my bones so far are healthy although age and hormones, another topic for later, may start taking a toll on that.  The article states that there aren’t enough definitive studies yet to be sure of the link but they do note that the increase in high fructose corn syrup consumption over the last several decades exceeds the increase in intake of any other food or food group. And they do show data that indicates a link between soda consumption and weight gain.

Now I have been trying to cut the HFCS from my diet and I have been amazed at the number of foods that list it high on the label when listing contents.  I’ve managed to eliminate many of the sources of HFCS in my diet just by reading labels and being aware of what I buy.

It is time to take a action on what is now probably the major source of HFCS in my diet as well.  After all, the exercise that I do can add muscles but if that layer of fat is surrounding them it will only hide all my hard work.  Time to start working that other organ in my body and overcome the soft drink habit.

I know that the people at the office don’t want to see this happen.  Not because of the stock prices dropping but they seem to think there is a change in my behavior when we go through this process.  So let’s not tell them.  Anyone want to join me and we can do our own research and see if we can lose some weight, specifically fat, by giving up soft drinks?  It may not be scientific but anecdotal info sometimes leads to good research.  Remember that artificial sweeteners are bad so we have to give them up completely not trade this sin for a different one.  OK, so who’s in?

Understandably the pharmaceutical companies have to be able to recoup the cost of bringing new drugs to market.  At an [...]]]> Anyone who has filled a prescription lately was probably astonished at the cost and would agree that we have to find a way to lower prescription drug prices.  So will lower drug prices jeopardize drug research?

Understandably the pharmaceutical companies have to be able to recoup the cost of bringing new drugs to market.  At an average of 10 years and billions of dollars, I suppose that it is tough to fund that on an on-going basis especially if you are expected to do this on lower profits.

Yes, lower drug prices would decrease the available funds to bring drugs to the market.  Many people don’t realize how important the clinical research process is and, while it is not a perfect process, it is designed to protect the American public.  Clinical research provides a method of testing investigational medications in humans under a controlled environment with oversight by Review Boards whose primary purpose is to protect the research volunteer.

While lower drug prices could jeopardize drug research it doesn’t have to stifle it all together.  America will continue to be a leader in development of new medications.  Despite our current economic climate and the challenges that we face we will continue to be a great nation.  While there is great concern about our healthcare system, we will overcome these issues.  It won’t happen quickly, it will certainly be controversial and it will probably be painful;  they don’t make a drug for that.

Every American could make a difference though.  The cost of developing new drugs could be drastically reduced, if the rate of enrollment in clinical studies was increased.  One of the biggest delays in the process is the recruitment of people into studies.  In order to better test the medications, it has to be tested in a statistically significant number of people.  The more volunteers, the better the data.  The quicker the data is collected the lower the cost of the data.

Many people think that people who volunteer for studies are risk takers or that they are only doing it because they are looking for a cure for their own disease but many people volunteer because it will help others.  Many diseases are hereditary so perhaps they are paying forward … even without their knowledge.

Many people are adverse to taking any medications.  While I subscribe to the philosophy that prevention is the best medicine and that anything should be done in moderation I bet that if you check a burn center or a veteran’s hospital you would find any number of people who never thought that they would take medication.  They would now doubt be grateful for the fact that the medication has been tested for safety and effectiveness.

Increasing participation in clinical studies is one way to lower the cost of research resulting in lower drug prices.  So, will lower drug prices jeopardize drug research?   Only if we let it!