Why All the Swine Flu Drama?

[TelegramSam]

Originally Posted by ripsnorta2

The powers that be are worried.

Nonsense. The powers that be are rubbing their hands together...

[ripsnorta2]

Originally Posted by TelegramSam

Nonsense. The powers that be are rubbing their hands together...

Why would that be?

[Eric Lorence]

Drama sells news...

The "flu" in all it's varieties have been killing millions of people for a thousand years, this one just happens to have no specific inoculation, or treatment at this point.

[Michael Oksa]

PLEASE stop the political BS! It doesn't belong here. Period.

~Michael

[debra]

Originally Posted by Eric Lorence

Drama sells news...

The "flu" in all it's varieties have been killing millions of people for a thousand years, this one just happens to have no specific inoculation, or treatment at this point.

That's the way I see it. Drama Sells!

It doesn't neccessarily mean that all the facts are there yet or that the initial percieved facts are correct either.

It still creates a breeding bed of opportunities.

The individual marketer just has to decide "How Responsible are You Going To Be When Opportunity Knocks".

Anyway...I think Dee is about two steps ahead of us all with her WSO.

Anybody gonna loan me 37 bucks? (i think Dee has something there)

[makecashnow]

Watch out for all the swine flu scams, there are junk ebooks and swine flu kits popping up everywhere. I wrote a scam article on it,Swine Flu Scam - Profiting Off An Epidemic if anyone is interested in the scams that are popping up.

[Michael Oksa]

I couldn't disagree more.

Look at it this way. If the pharmaceutical companies REALLY wanted to make as much money as possible, they would have waited MUCH longer to say anything at all.

You know, this whole anti-pharmaceutical thing really gets me mad.

Someone near and dear to me suffered from a chronic condition which was kept under control by MED-I-CA-TION. However, they were convinced by a pusher that the pharmaceutical companies only wanted them to be hooked, and that somehow the FDA was in on it, too.

So, this near and dear person stopped taking the "evil" medicine and instead switched to a whole course of the "good" stuff that was pushed on them.

It was hell.

This person relapsed, and relapsed hard. Ending up in the hospital, and barely surviving each time.

What was it that the pusher recommended? Natural remedies.

Yep, and the pusher had all the proof in the world. How the meds were bad, and how this root, and that herb brought the body back into its natural balance.

Screw that.

It's bull!

Finally, after several years of struggling, this near and dear person went back to the "evil" medication - and has made a full recovery and is doing well.

So, you'll have to excuse me if I am the lone voice here. But pharmaceutical companies are not inherently evil, they are not trying to create panic, and may have the ONLY way to cure what could (maybe) be a nasty pandemic.

Of course, I'm speaking from my own personal experiences. Just like all of the "natural is better" crowd who have their own personal experiences to back up their claims.

Let's see how your elm-bark-tea-leaf-mumbo-jumbo is going to kill the flu.

It can't.

It won't.

Don't worry, I know I can't win this one, but I felt that it was still important enough to say.

You want to talk about TRUE marketing? Look at how the "natural health" market has convinced people that science is wrong.

All the best,
Michael Oksa

[Michael Oksa]

It's the corruption of information that I'm against, creating mountains out of a molehill that doesn't even exist, causing a storm in a teacup, when no storm is actually occurring in the first place that get my goat going.

Thank you for supporting my point, because that's EXACTLY, 100% what the "natural remedies" crowd does with the FDA, government and pharmaceutical companies.

True marketing indeed.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not so foolish as to think the drug companies are altruistic. They're in it for the money, too.

It sounds like we agree that there are good and bad aspects of each camp.

I do my best to not take medicine of any kind. Sometimes I just have to. But I don't grab an aspirin when I get a headache, have never taken an antacid, etc.

Too many people are too quick to medicate themselves (pharma or natural) at the slightest hint of discomfort.

~Michael

[Kevin Riley]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

Thank you for supporting my point, because that's EXACTLY, 100% what the "natural remedies" crowd does with the FDA, government and pharmaceutical companies.

True marketing indeed.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not so foolish as to think the drug companies are altruistic. They're in it for the money, too.

It sounds like we agree that there are good and bad aspects of each camp.

I do my best to not take medicine of any kind. Sometimes I just have to. But I don't grab an aspirin when I get a headache, have never taken an antacid, etc.

Too many people are too quick to medicate themselves (pharma or natural) at the slightest hint of discomfort.

~Michael

Michael

There needs to be more balanced, sensible people like you.

I myself detest hospitals, shun medicine, and have a healthy questioning stance with doctors. We lead a very healthy life (exercise, muesli, raw vegetables and fish, whole grains) and rarely visit a doctor. For small ailments, I'll find natural remedies. But ... there comes a time when medication is required.

[Martin Luxton]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

I couldn't disagree more.

Look at it this way. If the pharmaceutical companies REALLY wanted to make as much money as possible, they would have waited MUCH longer to say anything at all.

You know, this whole anti-pharmaceutical thing really gets me mad.

Someone near and dear to me suffered from a chronic condition which was kept under control by MED-I-CA-TION. However, they were convinced by a pusher that the pharmaceutical companies only wanted them to be hooked, and that somehow the FDA was in on it, too.

So, this near and dear person stopped taking the "evil" medicine and instead switched to a whole course of the "good" stuff that was pushed on them.

It was hell.

This person relapsed, and relapsed hard. Ending up in the hospital, and barely surviving each time.

What was it that the pusher recommended? Natural remedies.

Yep, and the pusher had all the proof in the world. How the meds were bad, and how this root, and that herb brought the body back into its natural balance.

Screw that.

It's bull!

Finally, after several years of struggling, this near and dear person went back to the "evil" medication - and has made a full recovery and is doing well.

So, you'll have to excuse me if I am the lone voice here. But pharmaceutical companies are not inherently evil, they are not trying to create panic, and may have the ONLY way to cure what could (maybe) be a nasty pandemic.

Of course, I'm speaking from my own personal experiences. Just like all of the "natural is better" crowd who have their own personal experiences to back up their claims.

Let's see how your elm-bark-tea-leaf-mumbo-jumbo is going to kill the flu.

It can't.

It won't.

Don't worry, I know I can't win this one, but I felt that it was still important enough to say.

You want to talk about TRUE marketing? Look at how the "natural health" market has convinced people that science is wrong.

All the best,
Michael Oksa

Michael,

While I may not see eye to eye with you on the allopathic vs. alternative medicine debate you make an important point which was behind what I posted earlier.

You have to be sure of your facts before you make any health recommendations. Just like marketing, there is no 'one size fits all' in medicine. A drug that helps one patient could poison another.

Generalized statements are also dangerous. "Water is good for you."
Yes and no. If you drink too much too quickly it will kill you.

This is why disclaimers telling people to consult their doctors before starting/changing treatment are vital in the medical niche. Too many people seem to view them as unnecessary bureaucracy.

FYI, there are responsible people in alternative medicine. A decent alternative practitioner will usually spend at least two hours with you on the first visit taking your case history and will also recommend a series of tests to find any vitamin or mineral imbalances in your body.

Telling somebody "take this" without knowing what you are dealing with is plain wrong.

Martin

[Jeremy Wilson]

In the U.S...

Over 300 Million People....less than 200 reported cases = 0.00006666666666666667% of people infected = mass paranoia and alarm and non stop media coverage and fear mongering = ridiculous nonsense


From The CDC:

Every year in the United States, on average:

* 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu;
* more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu-related complications; and
* about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes.

CDC - Influenza (Flu) | What Everyone Should Know About Flu and the Flu Vaccine


Sooooo...according to these numbers up to 60 Million people a year get the "normal" flu in some form and it is business as usual...nothing to see here...please move along

But 200 cases of this flu = panic.

Completely absurd.

[Michael Oksa]

It is not that it's just 200 cases, it's the type of case and how it spread.

This is a different strain of flu. When a flu virus is transmitted from animal to human (as is often the case) there is less cause for concern. However, this bug has made the leap and is transferred from person to person. That's only one part of it.

You could talk all day long about certain numbers. One I've seen tossed around is that roughly the same number of people die in US automobile accidents every year. But, it is very unlikely that there will all of a sudden be a huge jump in that number - for any reason.

So far, we have been dodging bullets for the last 40 years (Hong Kong flu, 1968). Any flu has the potential of becoming a pandemic, and this one has shown signs of doing just that.

Absurd? Not even a little bit.

What is absurd is that too many people don't understand pandemics and would rather blame some pharmo-governmental conspiracy than accept something as silly as science.

I honestly hope they have been overreacting, but another part of me fears that they waited too long to do too little.

The one thing I think both sides could agree to? Only time will tell.

~Michael

[Bev Clement]

Without facts it is impossible to see the bigger picture, the problem is many people are quick to blame anyone, everyone for the situation without knowing the truth behind it.

Michael, I have to agree with you. I also don't take medication unless I really, really have to. The last time I saw a doctor was 5 or 6 years ago, but there are times when medication is essential, and people who don't know what they are talking about do more damage than good.