Over the past century, medical science has made remarkable achievements in treating and curing a range of illnesses ranging from bacterial infections, diabetes and inflammatory diseases. These advancements have vastly improved the health and life expectancy of people around the world. However, as is often the case with nature, these often comes with a catch; overuse of antibiotics have caused antibiotic resistance, while usage of treatments such as steroids, in the case of eczema, has resulted in a dependency on these medications. In the case of diabetes, particularly type I, those with this condition cannot survive without insulin injections. This has essentially led to the development of a society completely dependent on medication. While it is great that these medications have allowed people to manage their diseases, one can’t help but wonder, is a medicated society a good thing?
Unless you’re living under a rock, I’m sure everyone is aware of the pandemic that began in 2020, as well as the immense effect it had on the global supply chain. While it is not the root cause, the pandemic and the border closures that followed had a large impact on the Australian medication supply. Even now, Australia is currently experiencing a shortage of over 400 medications, including 63 antibiotics.1
Majority of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies originate from the US, which contains the largest pharmaceutical market in the world.2 As wonderful as it is for our American friends, what happens when they fall. Empires don’t last forever, just ask the Romans or the Assyrians. The leader of the free world will fall eventually, maybe even soon (a topic of which is worth a completely different article). When this does happen, will the global medication supply fall with it? Where will the diabetics get their insulin from? Asthmatics may not last long during the spring without their inhalers. Additionally, what if we experience a pandemic much worse than covid? These are questions we should all be asking and addressing sooner rather than later.
One solution may be to bring medication production nationally, rather than globally. But this is just putting a band-aid on a broken leg. A better approach would be if the scientists would focus more on understanding the root causes of our diseases. It is evident that something about modern society is causing an upsurge on these diseases. I can go on forever about the effects on various societal factors such as our food, increased hygiene and disruption of circadian rhythms that affect a large number of diseases (I have cited relevant articles on this topic).3–5 However, it seems as though scientists are more concerned about research on treatment, rather than prevention.
I will end his off by saying that while medications have been a lifesaving tool in treating and managing many diseases, they are often a dam holding back the flow of a river. The effect of a potential decline in their production would be catastrophic. As such, a society dependent on medication to survive is a weak society. Perhaps we all need to stop and think about the factors in our lives that may be contributing to the rise in these diseases, maybe even think about changing our habits. The moral to this story therefore is to eat well, let kids eat dirt and stop using your phone before bed.
References
Hot tip: if you can’t access these articles due to a paywall, try scihub, the number one scientific piracy site.
1. TGA says Australia is experiencing a shortage in over 400 medicines. https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/tga-says-australia-is-experiencing-a-shortage-in-over-400-medicines/ar-AA1dnCmg.
2. cycles, T. text provides general information S. assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct D. to varying update & Text, S. C. D. M. up-to-D. D. T. R. in the. Topic: Global pharmaceutical industry. Statista https://www.statista.com/topics/1764/global-pharmaceutical-industry/.
3. Paula Neto, H. A. et al. Effects of Food Additives on Immune Cells As Contributors to Body Weight Gain and Immune-Mediated Metabolic Dysregulation. Front Immunol 8, 1478 (2017).
4. Abbott, S. M. & Zee, P. C. Circadian Rhythms: Implications for Health and Disease. Neurol Clin 37, 601–613 (2019).
5. Rook, G. A. W., Lowry, C. A. & Raison, C. L. Microbial ‘Old Friends’, immunoregulation and stress resilience. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health 2013, 46–64 (2013).
