# Pascalian Medicine - Real Title: Pascalian Medicine - Astral Codex Ten ## Highlights ### 252515946 loa loa are harmless until you take medicine > There’s a species of parasitic worm called *Loa loa*. Usually it hides from the immune system. But if you take ivermectin for some unrelated reason, the *loa loa* dies *en masse*, the immune system notices the corpses, it freaks out and massively overreacts, and sometimes your brain gets fried in the crossfire. If you get this, kudos - it’s one of the most esoteric ways to die, and any medical professionals in the vicinity will be impressed. But my point is, “this drug has no side effects” is a fraught statement. In principle ivermectin is perfectly safe; in practice, the world is full of weird stuff that can make harmless drugs kill you unexpectedly. - [View Highlight](https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/pascalian-medicine?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo4MDc2ODE1LCJwb3N0X2lkIjo0NDM3NTMyNCwiXyI6InpOWllYIiwiaWF0IjoxNjM3Nzc5MTIyLCJleHAiOjE2Mzc3ODI3MjIsImlzcyI6InB1Yi04OTEyMCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.JzU-KlMnIrXWwwLdB593x_B9UXPnP-YuhKXUsCQFCBE&__readwiseLocation=2%2F15%2F0%2F3%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A7%2C8%2F15%2F0%2F3%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A481#:~:text=There%E2%80%99s%20a%20species%20of%20parasitic%2Charmless%20drugs%20kill%20you%20unexpectedly.) ### 252516328 effective healers must be trusted > If it became generally accepted to prescribe lots of pills that probably didn’t work, and patients knew this, it might decrease trust in all medications. Even if your doctor said “this is one of the ones that definitely works”, some people wouldn’t believe them. And there’s no bright line between the ones that have a 99.9% chance of working, 99% chance of working, 90% chance, 50% chance, and 5% chance (which are antidepressants? I would say closest to 90% chance of working in theory, 50% for an individual patient - but I’m not sure!) This could water down patient perception of every medication from “effective cure” to “shot in the dark”. - [View Highlight](https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/pascalian-medicine?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo4MDc2ODE1LCJwb3N0X2lkIjo0NDM3NTMyNCwiXyI6InpOWllYIiwiaWF0IjoxNjM3Nzc5MTIyLCJleHAiOjE2Mzc3ODI3MjIsImlzcyI6InB1Yi04OTEyMCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.JzU-KlMnIrXWwwLdB593x_B9UXPnP-YuhKXUsCQFCBE&__readwiseLocation=0%2F24%2F0%2F3%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F24%2F0%2F3%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A645#:~:text=If%20it%20became%20generally%20accepted%2Cto%20%E2%80%9Cshot%20in%20the%20dark%E2%80%9D.)