经济滑坡导致药物销量下降——是件好事

　　Part of Pfizer’s problem was an ad campaign featuring noted heart specialist Robert Jarvik (maker of artificial hearts). The Jarvik campaign was pulled in favor of one featuring an average Baby Boomer, back in September. But Lipitor is set to go “generic” in 2011; it will be interesting to see if Pfizer will come up with another drug in place of this one

　　People have always taken too many drugs, and now with the growth of drug ads everywhere in the media, people are taking WAY too many drugs. I am happy that the economic downturn is forcing people to look at their prescription drug expenditures and to cut back.

　　The flip side of this discussion, of course, is that some people won’t take medications they should take. Or they will take medications and not have enough money to eat. That’s sad and true, but it may also be possible that there are other more natural ways to get the same effect.

　　For example, a nutritionist told me that Red Yeast Rice has been shown to be effective in lowering cholesterol. Read the Mayo Clinic’s page detailing this supplement. They give it an “A” in lowering total cholesterol, LDL’s, and trigyceride levels. I don’t know the cost of the Red Yeast Rice, but I’m sure it isn’t as much as Lipitor.

　　Do you know of any other natural alternatives to high-priced medicines? Do you think we Baby Boomers should start considering natural healing, alternative medicine, to save money and be healthier?

　　胆固清是世界上最常用的处方药，其制造商瑞辉公司称胆固清销量也下降了13%。然而尽管生育高潮不断，但这些孩子和其他很多人都开始认真考虑药物问题，而且提出了是否有更加天然的替代物的疑问。

　　瑞辉公司的部分问题是一个关于著名心脏专家、人造心脏制造者罗伯特·贾维客(Robert Jarvik)的广告宣传。这次宣传是继九月份时关于一名普通生育高峰期出生的小孩的广告后推出的。但是瑞辉公司预计将于2011年将胆固清生产“基因”化，因此，静观瑞辉能否研制一种新药来代替胆固清将是一件很有趣的事。

　　一直以来，人们吃的药总是多于实际需要。如今，各种媒体药物广告到处都是，而且有增无减，人们也就顺着“形势”吃着太多的药。由于经济下滑，人们不得不考虑一下处方上药物的花费，并适当削减，对此我感到很高兴。

　　关于这个问题的讨论当然也存在不够周全的一面，那就是有些人可能该吃药的时候也不去买药。或者，有人愿意吃药，可是他们没钱买药。这样的情况令人很难过，但却是确实存在的事实。然而也许真的可能存在更加天然的替代品来达到同样的医治效果。

　　例如一名营养学家就曾告诉我说红曲米有降低胆固醇的作用，而且绝非空穴来风。梅约医学中心学报上对此就有详细的介绍，并且对红曲米降低胆固醇、低密度脂蛋白和三酸甘油酯的作用给出了“A”的评价。我不知道红曲米的价格是多少，但肯定没有胆固清贵。

　　你知道有其他更天然的东西可以代替高价的药品吗?我们作为生育高峰出生的一代是不是该考虑采用天然的治愈方法来代替吃药呢?这样我们既可以省钱，又可以更健康。