Opening Up the Market for Health Care

I think it's pretty clear that one of the best ways to reduce our cost of medical care is to help the "free market" system work more efficiently.  To do that, we need to open up pricing for health care and services, as well as provide consumers with the capability of evaluating alternative providers and medications.

30 years ago, it was impossible for a patient to be able to find out costs for services or prescriptions.  We didn't have access to the information, nor did we have the pricing.    Now, with the internet, and powerful search systems, it is possible for us to find out the details about our ailment, determine the best treatment, search for the best price on a pharmaceutical.  In some cases, we may need a blood or urine test or some other type of laboratory evaluation.  We may need an x-ray, CAT scan, or MRI also.  Why do we always have to go to a doctor BEFORE we can get those tests?  It's simple, we need a gateway to keep us from spending unnecessarily on those services.  Why can't we set up our pricing scheme so that patients could do those things in advance of seeing the doctor -- but at their own risk or expense?

Also we need better on-line comparisons of drug prices.  It's clear that patients can do this in other countries, but within the US, there are apparently restrictions on price comparison of prescription drugs.  Most likely this is because of pressure from big pharma..We can easily compare prices of drugs in other countries using the internet.  However within the US it is very difficult.  Obviously no pharmaceutical company wants to be the first or only company to do this.  However if legislation were passed requiring everyone to post their prices, everyone will be playing by the same rules -- totally fair!   It would also facilitate competition, which the companies don't want, because it would likely reduce the overall revenue received for drugs.  

NitroMemantine Reverses the Loss of Brain Connections in Alzheimer’s Disease | Alzheimer's Reading Room

NitroMemantine Reverses the Loss of Brain Connections in Alzheimer’s Disease | Alzheimer's Reading Room:

Another article in SciTech describing the new breakthrough

You Tube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZPRXhkhFqA

Common Nutrient Keeps Flies Sharp into Old Age: Scientific American

Here is another clue to a diet change that could improve memory and longevity.  Polyamines -- which include putrescine, cadaverine, and spermidine (doesn't that sound gross) are chemicals found in wheatgerm and fermented soya beans.

Common Nutrient Keeps Flies Sharp into Old Age: Scientific American:

Apparently natto, a Japanese product increases the amount of polyamines in human blood.  Natto, according to Wikipedia:

 Nattō is a traditional Japanese food made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis. It is popular especially as a breakfast food. Nattō may be an acquired taste because of its powerful smell, strong flavor, and slimy texture

Could this actually work for humans?  If so, it would be an amazing breakthrough!

A Homely Rodent May Hold Cancer-Fighting Clues - NYTimes.com

Another day, another breakthrough in cancer research:.  Interesting how the study of other organisms has resulted in so many medical findings.
A Homely Rodent May Hold Cancer-Fighting Clues - NYTimes.com:  Naked Mole Rats produce a compound, called hyaluronan,  that appears to prevent them from getting cancer.
Could this be the cancer cure we've been looking for?  I hope so!

If nothing else, it will possibly guide studies into other methods of preventing or curing cancer by employing similar mechanisms that hyaluronan uses. 

Alzheimer’s drug candidate reverses disease in mice Page 1 of 2 | UTSanDiego.com

This "J147" drug being developed and tested by the Salk Institute could be an extremely important breakthrough.  According to a recent RAND study, Alzheimer's disease is already one of the most expensive diseases,(See this article). With the upcoming aging baby boomers (us), the disease could bankrupt our medical care system.  If a simple drug could help reverse brain damage due to Alzheimer's disease, it could help mitigate that impact. The J147 drug is an extract of curcumin -- the spice in curry.   See this article Alzheimer’s drug candidate reverses disease in mice Page 1 of 2 | UTSanDiego.com:

The drug has already been in development for 6 years of preclinical studies at Salk.  The lead author of the study is Marguerite Prior, a research associate in Dave Schubert's laboratory.  Schubert is the head of Salk's cellular neurobiology laboratory.

David Schubert has apparently talked to drug companies and they are not interested in pursuing further development of the drug, and right now he needs only $1.5M to start the initial human trials -- and apparently can't get the funding.  I can see why the big pharmaceuticals might not be interested since it would be difficult to patent a naturally occurring spice, so there would not be much profit margin in producing the drug.  http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/may/15/tp-potential-alzheimers-drug-reverses-disease-in/

Since currently there really is no real cure, and the drugs that are prescribed only slow down the process slightly, it reduces the value of even screening for the disease.  Why find out if you've got it, if there's nothing that can be done about it?  http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/dec/03/alzheimers-dilemma/

Article in Science2.0 
Alzheimer's Research Journal about J147

Make your own J147:

The synthesis of J147 has been carried out using simple chemistry as described in our
previous paper by condensation of 3-methoxybenzaldehyde and (2, 4-dimethylphenyl)
hydrazine hydrochloride in EtOH at room temperature, followed by acetylation using
trifluoroacetic anhydride and triethylamine in CH2Cl2 gave J147 (Scheme 1). Donepezil has
been synthesized with 99% purity according to the literature procedure published in Organic
Process Research & Development 2008, 12:731-735 (Scheme 2).
Synthesis of (E)-N-(2,4-dimethylphenyl)-2,2,2-trifluoro-N'-(3methoxybenzyli-dene)
acetohydrazide (J147) {2nd Level Heading}
A mixture of 3-methoxybenzaldehyde (50 g, 367.64 mmol) and (2, 4-dimethylphenyl)
hydrazine hydrochloride (63.23 g, 367.64 mmol) in EtOH (50 mL) was stirred at room
temperature for 1 h, the obtained solid was filtered off, washed with ethanol and dried under
vacuum to afford hydrazone hydrochloride 1 (95.94 g) in 90% yield as a light brown solid.
This unstable hydrazone (50 g, 172.41 mmol) was dissolved in CH2Cl2 (50 ml), Et3N (57.56
mL, 413.79 mmol) followed by (CF3CO)2O (28.77 mL, 206.89 mmol), was added at 0°C and
the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 h. Reaction mixture was diluted with aq.
sat. NaHCO3 solution (500 mL), extracted with CH2Cl2 (2 x 500 mL), dried (Na2SO4) and
evaporated, resulting solid was recrystalized from ethanol to give J147 (49.11 g, 81%) as a
white solid: mp 70 to 72°C; LCMS purity 98%; 1H NMR (CDCl3, 500 MHz) δ ppm 2.10 (s,
3H), 2.42 (s, 3H), 3.82 (s, 3H), 6.98 (dd, J = 8.5, 2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.07 (d, J = 7.5 Hz, 1H), 7.14
(d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.28 (m, 3H). MS (ESI): m/z calcd for C18H17F3N2O2 ((M + H) +)
351.1314; found 351.1366 ((M + H) +).

Americans Face Shorter Life Span, Life Expectancy Suggests NIH Study - AARP

The AARP reported on an NIH study that shows that the US is at the bottom of the list of longevity among the 17 advanced nations including Europe and Australia.    This is a very embarrassing situation for our country -- especially when we spend far mor per capita on medical care than any other nation.

Americans Face Shorter Life Span, Life Expectancy Suggests NIH Study - AARP:
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UCSD RESEARCH CLAIMS NEW CANCER WEAPON | UTSanDiego.com

This could be the long-awaited break-through in the "war on cancer" that was initiated by Richard Nixon when he was president:

UCSD RESEARCH CLAIMS NEW CANCER WEAPON | UTSanDiego.com: