Why do we love medicines so much?
نویسندگان
چکیده
Humans love medicinal drugs; we cannot get enough. Worldwide, the amount of money spent on medicines annually is growing exponen tially and is expected to reach around uS$1 trillion in 2012. So far, there has been no satisfactory explanation for human ‘pharmo philia’, our powerful trop ism to medicines. Most studies that have attempted to provide an explanation have focused on classical supply–demand eco nomics. Here, we suggest a different expla nation: pharmo philia evolved as a means to cope with disease and sickness and is mediated through beliefinduced neuro logical and immuno logical signalling path ways. given that our love for drugs seems to be hardwired into our biology, such an assertion has both social and economic repercuss ions. if public health policies do not take into account our strong pharmo philia, we will continue to overspend on and ‘overvalue’ drugs at the expense of non medicinal treatments and prevention strategies. Human pharmo philia is also a threat to biodiversity; one that has already brought many animal and plant species to the brink of extinction.
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