Dee Edington was a mentor to several members of the MakeUsWell Network. His work inspired many more. Please feel free to add your own thoughts about Dee and his work as comments at the end of this post.
Rare diseases affect 30 million people in the USA. And more than 300–400 million worldwide. They often cause chronic illness, disability, and premature death… A large number of rare disease patients [estimated 65-75%] remain undiagnosed for years and many even die without an accurate diagnosis.
“Orphan Drugs” are defined as drugs with a target patient population of less than 200,000 people or more than 200,000 people, but with a finding that research and development costs are unlikely to be recovered. They are usually developed to treat rare diseases.
Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Gay wrote an article about doughnuts in workplace break areas used to lure workers back to the office. The sub-heading read, "Wellness, schmellness. Let’s promote the joy of glazed carbohydrates in the break room.”
Rather than resisting this human frailty, we need to adapt to it. Healthy nutritional habits need to be as enjoyable, affordable, convenient, and socially supported as unhealthy ones.
Opioid related deaths skyrocketed during the pandemic. According to the Center for Disease Control, there were nearly 92,000 drug overdose deaths in 2020, a 30% increase from the prior year. Overdose deaths spiked up again in the first half of 2021. An examination of causation produces a multitude of reasons:
Progression from addictive prescription opioids to heroin to fentanyl
Availability - the result of more active drug cartels across Mexican borders into the United States, and more lucrative drug trafficking opportunities in heroin and fentanyl
Public policy and institutional leaders such as corporate CEOs, educational system leaders, healthcare system CEOs, and military leaders lack a comprehensive culture of health strategy.
The opioid crisis has a direct correlation with mental health issues, obesity, and other health concerns. Isolation and loneliness caused by the various Covid-19 lockdowns have seemingly exacerbated mental health disorders, triggering an increased incidence of substance abuse and related behaviors, such as domestic abuse and suicide. Contributing to these stress levels are politically divisive news outlets promoting fear mongering for ratings. The coping mechanisms for some when dealing with this fear, anxiety, and burnout have led to the abuse of various “self medicating” substances.
We must demand great science, not simply passively follow what others tell us is “the science.”
Great scientists developed and deployed Covid 19 vaccines, which have been effective in reducing hospitalization and death risks in every age cohort and in every subpopulation of comparable health risk. They also understood that the virus would evolve and that what we believed at the beginning of the crisis would change.
The certainty and rigidity emanating from politicians, the media, and many health advocates are the opposite of great science. When we truly use and demand rigorous scientific analysis, additional solutions will emerge.