Archive for August, 2012
Propecia – should it be used by teenagers?
When you’re young, it’s very difficult to stay calm when you prove one of the unlucky teens to lose their hair without an acceptable explanation. Somehow, society forgives the young who lose their hair because of chemotherapy for cancer or as a result of some other natural accident. But any other hair loss marks you out as uncool. The really unlucky catch one of the fungal infections like ringworm which leaves swatches of hair on the ground as people walk around. This is deeply humiliating. Then you have the style conscious who put their hair under pressure by pulling it into position. After a while, pulling at the hair makes it fall out. But then come those who can be accused of having weak genes. Medical research confirms that male pattern baldness can affect teens as young as 14.
When the FDA were reviewing the evidence from the medical trials, it was aware that male pattern baldness was possible among the younger teens, but it decided to limit the prescription license to those aged 18 and over. The decision by the FDA is always a balancing of benefits against risk. Young bodies are still going through the maturing process and the levels of different hormones can be changing quite quickly. To intervene in the balance of hormones in the young is dangerous. The FDA therefore erred on the side of caution. In part, this reflects the nature of the drug. It’s not a cure for the genetic problem. It simply controls the process that would otherwise lead to hair loss. Perhaps if it was a specific cure, the FDA might have reached a different conclusion but, for now, doctors are not supposed to prescribe Propecia to those under 18.
Tags: FDA, fungal infections, hair loss, male pattern baldness
Home insurance and water damage
It’s not often you can start off an article about insurance with a quote from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge but, when the chance comes, you grab it. So here goes, “Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.” Now we all feel better for a little culture, let’s get on with the serious stuff. The folk whose thankless task it is to sell the insurance industry and its products do routine surveys to find out just how bad the insurers’ image problem is. This year, yet another set of figures shows the industry’s rep at another all-time low with particular popularity problems for the policies supposedly offering coverage against damage to the home. Now why should that be?
Well, during a recession when family budgets are really under pressure, there’s a change of attitude. In the days of boom, most people would have simply pulled out a credit card and paid for damaged contents to be replaced or repairs to be done. Unless it was a major loss, it was quicker and easier just to pay. With the days of bust showing no signs of going any time soon, families now find it better to claim every time there’s damage. If they are paying the insurance premium, they want value for their money. Not surprisingly, this threatens the insurers’ profit so they reject claims, go slow on negotiating a payment or just pay a token amount. This often proves a wake-up call to households we had not realized just how hard it is to separate insurers from their cash.
Tags: insurance industry, insurance premium, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, water damage