A Protein Killer Could Treat All Cancers, and Possibly All Illnesses
145 replies, posted
[QUOTE=TheHydra;24296278]I do have to wonder what the ramifications of this could be. Is it possible that certain diseases could adapt and evolve to counter this?[/QUOTE]
I think any disease can adapt to something eventually.
How a Biological agent becomes resistant to a drug is through drug abuse.
This is when a Doctor prescribes a drug like penicillin. He writes down that the user must use all the pills up and take it like 3 times a day, and now if the person leaves 3 pills in the pill holder because he feels better, and than he will cause the remaining Biological Agent in his body to become resistant to that type of drug, and it will now divide and make more, and this may take a long time also. Like one part of the some what resistant Biological Agent gets into someone else and infects that guy and he abuses the pills than it goes on untill the Virus is fully resistant. Their are a lot of other ways it become resistant to something also. I don't know if this will work on the protein killer, but just a tip :).
[QUOTE=Afgman;24296534]I think any disease can adapt to something eventually.
How a Biological agent becomes resistant to a drug is through drug abuse.
This is when a Doctor prescribes a drug like penicillin. He writes down that the user must use all the pills up and take it like 3 times a day, and now if the person leaves 3 pills in the pill holder because he feels better, and than he will cause the remaining Biological Agent in his body to become resistant to that type of drug, and it will now divide and make more, and this may take a long time also. Like one part of the some what resistant Biological Agent gets into someone else and infects that guy and he abuses the pills than it goes on untill the Virus is fully resistant. Their are a lot of other ways it become resistant to something also. I don't know if this will work on the protein killer, but just a tip :).[/QUOTE]
That's not really how it works. They don't "become resistant". Natural selection means that some of the bacterium will be resistant to the antibiotics naturally and if they survive and breed with others that are also resistant, they slowly become more resistant. Finishing a course of antibiotics does not guarantee ridding yourself of bacteria either. If there are resistant bacterium present in your system and they survive then the infection becomes more dangerous.
[QUOTE=Dan The Man;24296681]That's not really how it works. They don't "become resistant". Natural selection means that some of the bacterium will be resistant to the antibiotics naturally and if they survive and breed with others that are also resistant, they slowly become more resistant. Finishing a course of antibiotics does not guarantee ridding yourself of bacteria either. If there are resistant bacterium present in your system and they survive then the infection becomes more dangerous.[/QUOTE]
Well, so their is no connection between a Bacterium getting a low dosage of something, and it becoming resistant some how? I read that in some book about staph infections >.>. Thanks for the clear up, because I wish to become a pathologist and advice is always good.
[QUOTE=Sickle;24291601]How about you prove a fucking point instead of spouting useless bullshit?
They DO make more money off of weekly chemo and rad therapy. More than they'll make off of this. This is the reason is will probably disappear like all of the other cancer 'cures'.[/QUOTE]
If corporations are evil as you claim they are, then the most evil of them all will use this cure to run the others out of business, making a cancer monopoly.
Who in gods name will pass up such an opportunity to drive out the competition?
[QUOTE=Adbor;24292976]:ramsay:
That's not how pharmaceutical market works, it's not full of clones of Louis Pasteur who have sworn to help the humanity with every fibre of their being. It's a market like every other and would be destroyed by an ultimate solution.
Imagine what would happen to:
-food market if a pill was invented to provide eternal nutrition
-entertainment market if you could pay once and be entertained forever
etcetera etcetera
Obviously my examples are quite silly but I'm only doing this to make it more clear. No company in the market will ever allow it to happen.[/QUOTE]
Uh....
A. This doesn't prevent cancer from coming back.
B. As long are more people are being born, there will always be more people getting cancer. (Every study these days shows that nearly everything gives you cancer)
C. It may not be filled with "Louis Pasteur clones who have sworn to help the humanity with every fibre of their being", but using your point of view it is filled with "evil people that try to make as much money as possible". In that case why waste time competing with several other pharmaceutical giants over chemo+rad when you can ruin them all and take all of the market?
L4D all over again.
I love people who act like it's ridiculous to be suspicious of pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals are filled with profiteering bastards who are willing to limit effectiveness for profit. I'm glad GunFox has gone through and pointed all this out for people.
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;24297573]I love people who act like it's ridiculous to be suspicious of pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals are filled with profiteering bastards who are willing to limit effectiveness for profit. I'm glad GunFox has gone through and pointed all this out for people.[/QUOTE]
This is the same for virtually every business
I'm arguing that a cure for cancer is economically viable
[QUOTE=James*;24298387]This is the same for virtually every business
I'm arguing that a cure for cancer is economically viable[/QUOTE]
It would be economically viable compared to releasing nothing, however, a cure is not what a pharmaceutical wants. They want slow and expensive treatments. it's not the scientists in charge here, it's the owners of the business that are doing this.
[QUOTE=3picFail;24290562]if only they had this during the black plague...[/QUOTE]
so the worlds population would probably be double what it is now...
So, it stops your body from producing proteins? I don't have a degree in biology, but isn't that bad?
Is it me or are the most daunting things in medicine nowadays solved by simple practical things?
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;24299337]It would be economically viable compared to releasing nothing, however, a cure is not what a pharmaceutical wants. They want slow and expensive treatments. it's not the scientists in charge here, it's the owners of the business that are doing this.[/QUOTE]
This. I have nothing but respect for the people that dedicate their lives to finding things to help humanity, but they're still bound by a system that must profit. If money can not be made by solving a problem, or worse, lost, no matter how big the problem, it simply won't be solved. Some people see corporations and everyone that's a part of them as evil to the core, I think it's just a mater of motivation and values. Some people just really like expensive houses and cars.
[QUOTE=Article]fulfilling the promise that wonder cures l[B]ike stem cells[/B] and gene therapy have failed to deliver[/QUOTE]
Thats because you banned it.
[QUOTE=stealth_camo;24290541]Do you have a tinfoil hat on?[/QUOTE]
Nope, I'm wearing my designer cynic glasses.
Soon, people will laugh at how hard it was to fix cancer.
When I used to be very sick, my mom always gave me antibiotics even tough the medic didn't prescribe it and she used to get them from europe.
Why can't we purchase them in Canada?
[QUOTE=wanksta11;24308840]When I used to be very sick, my mom always gave me antibiotics even tough the medic didn't prescribe it and she used to get them from europe.
Why can't we purchase them in Canada?[/QUOTE]
you can, you just need a prescription.
this ensures there's not misuse.
your mother is silly.
It's common knowledge companies can bribe the FDA to push things out on the market.
I think the only way this will come out is if the government steps in and makes sure that the people who need this get it.
[QUOTE=Sickle;24291601]How about you prove a fucking point instead of spouting useless bullshit?
They DO make more money off of weekly chemo and rad therapy. More than they'll make off of this. This is the reason is will probably disappear like all of the other cancer 'cures'.[/QUOTE]
...
Making drugs more effective is a superb investment for pharmaceutical companies, as the receivers of said drugs are more likely to survive to catch even more diseases which the pharmaceutical companies can charge money for the cure for. Take your tinfoil hat off.
[QUOTE=Hellduck;24318146]...
Making drugs more effective is a superb investment for pharmaceutical companies, as the receivers of said drugs are more likely to survive to catch even more diseases which the pharmaceutical companies can charge money for the cure for. Take your tinfoil hat off.[/QUOTE]
This.
Dead people can't buy drugs.
We're talking about a cure here. A cure only makes profit ONCE. Unless it's so outrageously expensive that only the very wealthy can afford it, it's still much more profitable to use a long, slow treatment over time, like chemo.
[QUOTE=Z3r0747;24319220]We're talking about a cure here. A cure only makes profit ONCE. Unless it's so outrageously expensive that only the very wealthy can afford it, it's still much more profitable to use a long, slow treatment over time, like chemo.[/QUOTE]
Yes, but if you're dead then you can't buy any more drugs. Cure them of their cancer quickly and they'll live to get a cold that they'll get overly dramatic about and buy antibiotics for every year. Put them on chemo and they could die, and you'll make no more money from their chemo, or from future drugs you could have sold them.
But statistically the chance of them surviving chemo is pretty strongly in their favor. As is the chance that the cancer will return and require more chemo.
Also the statistical chance of the same person having TWO major illnesses which they can profit from significantly is relatively low.
[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;24290650]
Compared to the billions they're making now?[/QUOTE]
Which is split into hundreds of companies, if one of these companies can practically monopolise their market share with a new wonder drug, they would.
[QUOTE=Sickle;24290456]They make more money off of the chemo and rad because it has to be applied like every week or so.[/QUOTE]
Lol, do you honestly believe they make more money from that?
Do you have ANY IDEA how much a company could make from a cure for one of the most common diseases in the world?
If the thread title comes true and all illnesses are cured, the population is going to balloon up and we're all going to be much worse off.
So it really isn't something to cheer for. Sure, it'll save your Aunt Linda who lives in Florida but it'll kill millions of others in places like India where overpopulation is a valid concern.
I personally am worried about this. I mean, its great that cancer could be cured, along with every single other disease known to man; but is it really necessary? We will have a massive population boom, because the entire balance of people dieing from disease, people dieing from old age, and people being born would be screwed up.
[QUOTE=ZekeTwo;24322512]If the thread title comes true and all illnesses are cured, the population is going to balloon up and we're all going to be much worse off.
So it really isn't something to cheer for. Sure, it'll save your Aunt Linda who lives in Florida but it'll kill millions of others in places like India where overpopulation is a valid concern.[/QUOTE]
...you are joking, right?
I know you're joking.
[QUOTE=BaconDioxide;24323046]...you are joking, right?
I know you're joking.[/QUOTE]
He's right, it's the sad truth, a magic cure to all diseases would hurt us a lot, especially since that would be disproportionately advanced relative to our space... advancement. If we can find other planets to live on, this would be great, but until then...this isn't all that wonderful.
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