( 1)
In China, the incidence of cataract in people over 60 years old can reach 65%. If left unchecked, the result may be blindness. My grandmother was too old to have surgery because she didn't receive treatment in the early stage, and she was blind in one eye. The lesson is really painful.
Medical statistics also confirm this point: among the causes of blindness caused by eye diseases in China, cataract ranks first, reaching 47%.
(2)
The incidence of cataract is so high that the consequences are very serious. So, is it particularly troublesome to treat? Please look at a set of information extracted from authoritative medicine:
1, the 8th edition of Ophthalmology, said: At present, there are more than ten kinds of anti-cataract drugs including traditional Chinese medicine in clinic, but the curative effect is not very exact.
2. China Network for Prevention and Treatment of Blindness under the National Health and Family Planning Commission said: No matter what kind of cataract, surgical treatment is the most effective means. So far, no medicine has been proved to cure cataract or prevent its development.
3. The American Ophthalmology Association's 20 16 clinical guidelines for adult cataract wrote: For humans, no drugs have been found to effectively treat or delay the progress of cataract. Ophthalmologists should explain this problem to patients.
The conclusion is that the only effective way to treat cataract in the world is surgery.
(3)
Then, the question is, will surgery be very troublesome and will it cost a lot of money?
Experts pointed out that cataract surgery is a very mature treatment. During the operation, the patients suffered less pain, and the treatment cost was subject to the local hospital charges, with an average of about 5,000 yuan.
The cost of 5000 yuan, not to mention the city. Suppose that the rural elderly with low income will bear 1.500 yuan according to the reimbursement rate of 70% of the current new rural cooperative medical system (some are higher, here is just an example).
In other words, 1500 yuan can make the elderly say goodbye to cataracts and have a clear and happy life. This cost can really be said to be acceptable to 90% people in China.
(4)
In that case, why is there such a cataract drug that sells 750 million a year? After all, drugs are not effective in treating cataracts.
But that's the problem-the effect of drugs on cataracts is really bad, but this does not prevent businesses from boasting that it is "effective" in advertisements. Moreover, this kind of misleading advertisement costs as much as 260 million yuan a year, and its coverage is so high that the audience can't even see it.
(5)
Seeing this, I think everyone understands that the merchants take advantage of the three fears of the elderly, that is, "fear of blindness, fear of surgery and fear of spending more money", and only magnify the parts that are beneficial to the merchants themselves: "such as the harm and severity of cataracts", but remain silent about the limitations and dangers of the products themselves:
The limitation is that the approved indication of the drug is "early senile cataract", but the company blurs the word "early" in the brainwashing advertisement.
The danger is that, in addition to the asymptomatic risk, many patients delay the best operation period because of this eye drop, leading to over-ripe cataract, glaucoma and uveitis. When surgery is inevitable in the end, it also increases the risk of surgery.
(6)
Although the state's management of drug advertisements has been showing an increasingly strict trend, there will always be all kinds of fish that slip through the net under the big policy. Therefore, as a consumer, we must first be rational and sober.
We can see from the sales websites of merchants that many people who buy this medicine are young people, that is, children of the elderly. In fact, they are not so blind to advertising. A little more popular science knowledge about cataract on the Internet can uncover this scam, but they are not.
In addition, although there are still problems of "difficulty in registering" and "difficulty in seeing a doctor" in China, ordinary numbers can still be hung up. As for cataract, as long as it is an ordinary visiting doctor, it can be diagnosed.
The last sentence is: if you feel unwell, it is the best policy to go to the hospital first. As for the advertised products, ask the doctor's opinion first.
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