Gregg+Mitman+Chapter+6+Annotation+3

Michelle Cullum Asthmatic Spaces Annotation 3 Greg Mitman Chapter 6 An Inhaler in Every Pocket The source for this particular research assignment was Gregg Mitman’s __Breathing Space.__ Gregg Mitman is the Interim Director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a professor in the Department of Medical History at the Nelson Institute. Perhaps even more important than all of his distinguished titles is the fact that both he and his son are highly asthmatic and thus can give a firsthand take on much of his findings. Chapter 6 of __Breathing Space__, titled “An Inhaler in Every Pocket”, pertains to the over-medicalization of asthma and other respiratory diseases such as allergies and the common cold. Finally, his text acts a transition from the often highly scientific studies and papers on asthma and demonstrates a fantastic public means of education. In the early portions of the chapter, Mitman provides the reader with the original definition of atopy, or the hereditary predisposition to have an adverse reaction to otherwise innocuous substances. From this definition, the author explains how the world allergy was coined and further discusses the biological factors of hay fever. From there, Mitman enters into the “politics of allergies and asthma” with the introduction of the drug companies and their early research during World War II. During this time, drug companies developed an expertise in modern consumer packaging and production, thus starting the massive drug company monopoly. Coming out of this wave of medicalization, antihistamines were introduced to the U.S. drug market in 1946, and just as they are today, marketed as a remedy to allergy sufferers. The two primary drugs of this time were Benadryl and Pyribenzamine, which had a net profit of over 2 million dollars in the first year. With this statistics, the book makes emphasizes the history of allergy sufferers and demonstrates that this is by no means a new condition favoring some over others. Politics soon found its way even deeper into the newly founded drug market with the military drug trials and biomedical research of the WWII era. Because the military held the majority of our nation’s funding, it was the only viable means for drug testing and became a key player in drug marketing. The original drug trials were testing the affects of Dramamine, a drug often used for curing seasickness. Although this drug seemed innovative, its drowsy side effects soon overshadowed its usefulness. That is until the military harnessed a portion of Benadryl and a bronchodilator and marketed the drug under a new name and higher price. Also called off-labeling, this “reinvention” of drugs began infiltrating the drug market and soon became extremely profitable. Playing off of this argument, Mitman shows his subtle disdain for the drug companies, declaring that they make you “part of their tribe” and punctuating his words with sarcastic and sneering comments about the market-based focus of drug companies. Unlike the war era, drugs today are often not meant to help sustain life but improve the life we have been given. This could not be clearer than the war over the drugs to treat the common head cold. Here, physicians are played against the drug companies in that the doctors shun over the counter drugs because of fewer resulting patient visits. On the other hand, drug companies favor such a move for it increases their already billion dollar profits. Walking down any drug store aisle, it is clear that this battle has yet to cease and the battle of the brands still persist. One good side effect of the drug company politics came in the form of National Asthma Awareness Week in the spring of 1986. During this week, 250,000 dollars was spent on a media campaign to educate the public on asthma and asthma triggers. This was unlike any of the other measures discussed in the other research in that it targeted the public and how they can help treat themselves before encountering an attack. On the other hand, this proved to be a giant advertisement for the drug companies, the very companies that supported the campaign. As one can see, even when attempting to help the public, the drug companies remain profit oriented. Overall, this text emphasizes how asthma information has been widely publicized since the early 1940’s. Furthermore, __Breathing Space__ is a fantastic example of a non-scientific resource out to the public to help spread information and treatments of asthma that nearly all can easily understand. Ultimately, education is the key for combating such a wide-spread diverse disease.