We spend a lot of money on developing medicines against diseases, and then as the human body develops resistance to these drugs, we have to seek new medicines at an even greater cost to both human and material resources. This vicious cycle is like a bottomless pit that enslaves more and more doctors and patients into pursuing drugs.

Despite an unusually warm winter, the flu was a worry in China this year. Double sneezes expelled by a middle-aged man aroused protests on a bus traveling from Shuinianhe station to Ximen station in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province.

“Don’t infect us! You know how serious flu is,” a passenger said, stirring others to voice agreement. Some even demanded the middle-aged man get off the bus as soon as possible.

Aware of this public concern about the flu, the Shichuang company provided Banlangen (a traditional Chinese medicine to be taken after being mixed with boiling water to prevent flu) beside its office water cooler, with a sign reading:

“When it comes to flu, drinking Banlangen is better than drinking water.”

Two bags of Banlangeng helped set an employee’s mind at rest. In addition, the company distributed other kinds of flu medicines to employees as a benefit. Banlangeng, Qinghuoweimaipian, Ganmaoqingrekeli, Amoxicillin, Berberine, White & Black and Anti Cold & Cough Virus. Which one to chose?

Among non-prescription medicines listed by China’s Ministry of Health, flu medicines and respiratory medicines make up the largest number -- 83 are listed, including pills, instant herbal mixtures, Chinese medicines and Western medicines. They have a 500 million yuan production value through nearly one hundred pharmaceutical factories in China. Such large amounts of investment in the most ordinary of diseases might be criticized as using sledge hammer to swat a fly.

As far as prescription medicines go -- some 20 billion painkilling and antidepressant pills are estimated sold in China per year, which comes out to an average of 12.5 pills per person -- 51 pills per person in certain areas -- taken over an average of 9.7 years. “Phenacetin,” and according to some reports some 10.6 percent of the Chinese population is addicted to it. Phenacetin can lead to diffuse pulmonary alveolitis; quinidine can bring about arrhythmia and eclampsia; chronic use of penicillin can cause gastric ulcers and gastremia; acheomycin can turn color of kids’ teeth yellow.

Statistics show that one-third of all deaths in the world are caused by improper drug usage. In China, the figure is said to be 11 to 26 percent, that is, some 192,000 people. A good medicine can bring bad results if it is not taken as prescribed.

Scientific research indicates that side-effects happen at a 10 percent rate when one is taking five different kinds of medicines at the same time, but the number rises to 65 percent if six different kinds of medicines are taken at the same time.

According to Jiang Shi, a pharmacologist, traditional medicine emphasizes a difference between improper drug usage and drug abuse, holding that only drug addiction can be called abuse. But in fact, some patients rely on medicines after their recovery just so they can enjoy the ‘charge’ and pleasure brought about by medicines. “What’s the difference?” he asked.

When Beijing was under a flu attack, Liu Feng took out a box of “White& Black” pills from his drawer and gave it to a colleague who was sneezing and had a runny nose but refused to take medicines for fear of being drowsy. Liu Feng knows there is no miracle drug for flu -- but he keeps “White & Black” in reserve because he was impressed by the advertisement – no falling asleep in the daytime after taking the white pill; a good night’s sleep after taking the black pill. The advertisements message was persuasive to Liu’s colleague, who continued working hard in spite of illness.

A recent investigation on world culture and consumerism carried out by nearly 50 survey companies organized into an international investigation network showed that 30 percent of the world population consumes according to the influence of advertisements. But the rate is over 60 percent in China -- our minds and judgment are guided by abundant, plentiful and overwhelming advertisements and propaganda campaigns. So we know that we should have two pills a time if we catch a cold, even without consulting doctors.

“Select medicines according to TV” has become a stereotype in China.

Wang Da, from the State Drug Administration, said that in many Western countries, advertisements for medicines are forbidden on television for being easily misleading without a doctor’s prescription. But it would be very hard to follow this approach in China. Drug advertisements are so profitable in many ways. With the popularity of over-the-counter drugs, more and more Chinese people prefer to buy medicines in pharmacies and the supermarket instead of spending a whole morning waiting to register in a hospital to see a doctor. Having the right to select their own medicines, people rely more and more on brand images that emerge through TV programs and radio.

Drug factories and agencies continue to woo profits though drug advertisements while consumers surrender to media and “health agencies.” However, it is obvious that these consumers also have no sense of security at all in the brands of their choice.

In the disco bars of Beijing and Shanghai, young people use a kind of cough mixture as a stimulant. They begin to wave heads and twist their bodies after drinking up a bottle of cough mixture sold at 100 yuan (US$12.08) in the bar that costs only 23 yuan (US$2.78) at a pharmacy. It contains 0.1 percent of cocaine and 0.14 percent of ephedrine, both of which are abstracted from opium though at a low level. But if you take a lot at once, you will feel it will have the same effect as “dancing outreach” [methamphetamine].

In a disco in Beijing, the host is calling on the crowd, “Let’s wave to end the world!” Several young people go into a small room, drink up their cough mixture and start to wave under the rhythm of the host. The host keeps yelling, “Are you high enough? Do you want to go higher?” After frantic waving for a while, a young man falls on the ground unconsciousness with snot on his lip.

Confirming that the cough mixture is used as “dancing outreach,” the Ministry of Health ordered the stop of the cough medicine production. There was nothing wrong with the drug producers, and disco managers are reluctant to obey the rule. The production and marketing of a drug is allowed only when its harm is controlled within its directions and therefore is safe for patients.

Still any young man may abuse the cough mixture without intending to cure his cough. The pursuit of excitement continues after the ban. Young people have other ways: Chasing a van with a wide opened nose, a high school student is absorbing the waste gas from vent-pipe. The gas makes him excited.

While young people may crave excitement, women pursue a more clear-cut goal, preferring to be young but poisoned instead of healthy but old.

While Viagra enables men to challenge the limits of their human functions, BOTOX has enabled women to challenge aging which is vital to many women for their sense of attractiveness. But because BOTOX is a toxin, it is the more dangerous of the two drugs. The mechanism of BOTOX is simple: Doctors inject BOTOX solvent into brows, neck and forehead, a toxin from BOTULINUM can interfere with the chemical transmitters of muscles and nerves. It makes muscles polished but inelastic. Overuse of BOTOX can bring paralysis, dyspnoea and even death. But the cost is believed “valuable.” Thousands of Americans prefer to think of another result: -- no aging, no furrows and no sagging skin. Regular injection can maintain the effect, and it also may introduce antibodies to you although doctors say that seldom happens.

We use drugs to enhance our memory, prevent sagging skin through plastic surgery by operation and eliminate impotency -- all of which reflects basic instinct of human-being -- fear of death, more fear of anile, desire of longevity, youth and delight.

Medicine is powerful and charming but also terrible. The sophisticated balance of our body is being undermined by drugs more than diseases. Viagra enhances men’s sexual confidence; BOTOX rejuvenates women; fat-reduction surgery shapes us; Prozac keeps us positive. A scientist from Harvard declares that by implanting a chemical material, women need not have dead cells in ovary and can maintain their reproduction capability to 80 years of age, with no more menopause. Having abundant modern drugs, lots of advertisements and fears of death, people depend more on the progress of medicine and new drugs. But what will happen to our own immune system and our own inherent abilities to respond to disease?

(北京青年报 ［Beijing Youth Daily］January 25, 2002, translated by Li Liangdu for china.org.cn)