For many years, an witty statement about the uneven distribution of healthcare costs signed by a large Brazilian scientist has been walking on the Internet. We checked the correctness of such an attribution.

The phrase attributed to the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine Drazillio Varella, it looks completely like this: “Today in the world we invest five times more money in medicines for male potency and silicone for female breast than in Alzheimer's disease. In a few years, we will have old women with large breasts and old people with a strong member, but none of them will be able to remember why it is needed. ”

This quote can be found on resources such as "Picabu" Joyreactor, "Prose.ru" And "Pearls of thought". She gained particular popularity in social networks - they were divided by the phrase on Facebook (individual publications repostil 209, 126, 115 And 73 once), "VKontakte" Twitter And "Classmates".

Dementia is a syndrome in which there is a degradation of memory, thinking, behavior and ability to perform ordinary actions. By data WHO, in the world there are about 50 million people with dementia, and 60–70% of cases falls on its form, called Alzheimer's disease.

It is easy to assume that such the scale of the disease entails high expenses. So, only in the USA to care for people with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia in 2022 Spent $ 321 billion (of which $ 206 billion was on state programs Medicare and Medicaid), unpaid care organized by friends and relatives is estimated at $ 271 billion. And the expenses associated with dementia throughout the world, according to WHO, back in 2019 composed $ 1.3 trillion (including unpaid care), and this figure will only grow. At the same time, 75% of expenses accounted for Alzheimer's disease. How Notes The organization Alzheimer’s Disease International, "If global assistance in dementia was a country, it would be the 14th economy in the world."

As for the global market of breast implants, its volume, according to the report of the authoritative resource Research and Markets, in 2022, it was estimated at $ 2.09 billion. Little higher and worldwater circulation from erectile dysfunction - $ 3.21 billion last year, according to the data Reportlineker. Thus, from a factual point of view, the quote is catastrophically far from the truth. However, we are more interested in her authorship.

Throughout the history of the Nobel Prize, not a single representative of Brazil, regardless of the field of activity, was awarded it. Medical sites also do not know anything about a doctor named Drausillio Varell. True, a fairly famous oncologist and a popularizer of medicine in the press and on television, who are called Drausiu Varell, lives in San Paulo. He has a regularly updated websiteon which, among others, you can find and Lectures About Alzheimer's disease. Varella himself has repeatedly fallen into the field of view of facts. So, in 2020, it became widespread video, in which he, in fact, urged to abandon self -isolation during Pandemia of Coronavirus (later the doctor admitted his mistake, citing a sharp change in the dynamics of incidence), and in 2022 Allegedly advocated For children's use of narcotic substances (here he became a victim of installation). However, if in these cases it was possible to talk at least some video materials, then we do not find a quote about Alzheimer's disease, implants and drugs for potency on the scientist’s website or other authoritative sources. Moreover, in one of the articles on his website, Varell respects the breast implants, speakingthat they helped many women.

Despite this, the quote was widely used as English language, and on Portuguese. Of course, rumors about the statement attributed to him could not help but reach the doctor himself. When in 2009, during an interview with the Spanish radio station, the presenter introduced Varella, reading out the phrase that was checked, he declared: “I have no idea how much money is invested in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. And I would never say such rudeness. Even in the tavern. " Three years later the authorship of Varellla Refuted And the administrator of his official site after receiving the relevant issue by e -mail.

Where did the phrase of interest to the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, erectile dysfunction and plastic surgery have come from? In Russian, Dr. Varell began to be mentioned as the author in the early 2010s (and at first they used the correct version of the transcription of his name- Drazio), and in the 2009 version, the statement was attributed to another (this time the present) Portugal -speaking Nobel laureate, writer Jose Saramago. However, much earlier, in 2005, this quote already got into Jobs of jokes without attribution and with other numbers in the statistics given.

In the Portuguese, native language of Varella, the verified phrase in 2006 was accompanied by the note “The author is unknown”, but no later than January 2007, it They began to attribute The eminent doctor from San Paulo. Apparently, it was on portugal -speaking sites that this attribution first appeared, which later became universal.

Finally, on English sites, this phrase (as a joke and without indicating authorship) was mentioned in 2002, and a year earlier she entered the book of David Levy (under the pseudonym Dyvad Yvel)You received a funny letter", Compiled from humorous messages that the author sent by e -mail over the previous five years. This method of disseminating entertaining information was very popular in the 90s of the last century, when there were still few websites, and the fast Internet was for most users inadmissible luxury. Similarly gained fame invented The phrase of the Nile Armstrong “Good luck to you Mr. Gorski!”, As well as Speech by Kurt Vonnegut The benefits of sunscreen creams (both of these quotes were “verified” earlier). It is during this period, apparently, that the roots of the statement under study are leaving, which has nothing to do with the Brazilian doctor Drausiu Varell.

Photo on the cover: Palestrativa.com.br, social networks