Shankar P R, Subish P
Department of Pharmacology, Manipal College of Medical Sciences, PO Box 155, Deep Heights, Pokhara, Nepal.
Singapore Med J. 2007 Apr;48(4):275-80.
Convincing healthy people that they are sick and require medicines can enormously expand the market. Disease mongering can turn ordinary ailments like baldness into medical problems, consider risk factors such as hypertension and osteoporosis as diseases and frame prevalence estimates to increase potential markets. In Asia, conditions like erectile dysfunction, male pattern baldness, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and irritable bowel syndrome, and the drugs to treat them, are widely promoted. Fairness creams and traditional medicines are also widely used. The cost of disease mongering to the individual and the community is expected to be high. Some authors have argued that medicalisation of illnesses may not be a problem and the real problem may be the lack of medicines. Doctors will play a key role in combating disease mongering. Disentanglement from the pharmaceutical industry and development of a capacity for critical analysis are required. Educating patients and empowering them to make decisions are important. Several initiatives have been undertaken to combat disease mongering. Initiatives at the level of the patient and the physician are especially important. Studies on the extent and knowledge of disease mongering among doctors and medical students, and their economic and social consequences are urgently required.
让健康的人相信自己生病了且需要药物治疗，这会极大地拓展市场。疾病兜售可将诸如秃头之类的普通病症转化为医学问题，将高血压和骨质疏松等风险因素视为疾病，并构建患病率估计值以扩大潜在市场。在亚洲，勃起功能障碍、男性型秃发、注意力缺陷多动障碍和肠易激综合征等病症及其治疗药物都得到广泛推广。美白面霜和传统药物也被广泛使用。疾病兜售给个人和社会带来的代价预计会很高。一些作者认为，疾病的医学化可能不是问题，真正的问题可能是药物短缺。医生在对抗疾病兜售方面将发挥关键作用。需要与制药行业划清界限并培养批判性分析能力。对患者进行教育并赋予他们做决定的权力很重要。已经采取了多项举措来对抗疾病兜售。患者层面和医生层面的举措尤为重要。迫切需要开展关于医生和医学生中疾病兜售的程度及认知情况及其经济和社会后果的研究。
