I’m all for studying and learning more about everything. But why is it that in medicine the more we know, the more unhealthy we ‘are’?
If all other areas of knowledge worked this way, EVERY new animal discovered would be poisonous. Every new Hubble discovery would be an object hurtling toward Earth heading to kill us. Every new technological discovery would be dangerous to touch or use. Every new alloy would be highly radioactive.
I contend that the reason medical discoveries are almost always ‘bad’ news is that the providers of drugs and services can make MORE money if we are ‘sick’ or ‘headed toward a problem’. Or it gives the food Nazis more ammo to tell us we can’t have foods we want, via legislation.
“Either way, I’ve got to get mine down.”
You’ll have to stop thinking about politics for a start.
Der Schtumpy Says:
“I’m all for studying and learning more about everything. But why is it that in medicine the more we know, the more unhealthy we ‘are’?”
Maybe because medicine, unlike, say astrophysics has, as it’s purpose, the staving off of the inevitable. The idea is to eliminate those actions/conditions which are unhealthy. Or at least, perceived to be this week. Next week the very same action might be lifesaving (see Woody Allen – Sleeper). And of course, because that’s where the money is.
Even if you try to be positive and suggest something that will extend life or make you healthier you are, per force, talking about adjusting something that is unhealthy.
As an aside, I think the human body is a very complex system which is not completely understood. Maybe not even well understood. Yet the “experts” talk as if they understand all. And new things are being discovered: For example a friend of mine had her blood pressure – which was great for the first 64 years of her life, suddenly spike alarmingly. They took scans and determined she has a blockage in one of the arteries leading to one kidney. Muscular Firbro-something-or-other which, the vascular surgeon said, means that scar tissue collects and the kidney isn’t getting enough blood and sends a signal to the heart to pump harder which it does but jacks your BP up. Solutions included drugs, balloon, stent, roto-rooter. Amazingly, to me, according to this guy (Mass General head vascular surgeon) this is a fairly recent discovery.
Gregg,
it just seems to me, that at some point, some researcher, somewhere, after pouring through the facts and figures, would come up and say, “Hey, look, you did something right and your life expectancy is just fine!!
The law of averages keeps new information from falling always to just bad or just good. If it’s always one way or the other, I tend to think it’s been tampered with.
Der Schtumpy Says:
“The law of averages keeps new information from falling always to just bad or just good. If it’s always one way or the other, I tend to think it’s been tampered with.”
Hey Der,
Well I guess I don’t know what you would consider good news. For example there was the report of people who lived over 100 years, as a group not just an individual, and they ate a rather lean low calorie diet.
I’m all for studying and learning more about everything. But why is it that in medicine the more we know, the more unhealthy we ‘are’?
If all other areas of knowledge worked this way, EVERY new animal discovered would be poisonous. Every new Hubble discovery would be an object hurtling toward Earth heading to kill us. Every new technological discovery would be dangerous to touch or use. Every new alloy would be highly radioactive.
I contend that the reason medical discoveries are almost always ‘bad’ news is that the providers of drugs and services can make MORE money if we are ‘sick’ or ‘headed toward a problem’. Or it gives the food Nazis more ammo to tell us we can’t have foods we want, via legislation.
“Either way, I’ve got to get mine down.”
You’ll have to stop thinking about politics for a start.
Der Schtumpy Says:
“I’m all for studying and learning more about everything. But why is it that in medicine the more we know, the more unhealthy we ‘are’?”
Maybe because medicine, unlike, say astrophysics has, as it’s purpose, the staving off of the inevitable. The idea is to eliminate those actions/conditions which are unhealthy. Or at least, perceived to be this week. Next week the very same action might be lifesaving (see Woody Allen – Sleeper). And of course, because that’s where the money is.
Even if you try to be positive and suggest something that will extend life or make you healthier you are, per force, talking about adjusting something that is unhealthy.
As an aside, I think the human body is a very complex system which is not completely understood. Maybe not even well understood. Yet the “experts” talk as if they understand all. And new things are being discovered: For example a friend of mine had her blood pressure – which was great for the first 64 years of her life, suddenly spike alarmingly. They took scans and determined she has a blockage in one of the arteries leading to one kidney. Muscular Firbro-something-or-other which, the vascular surgeon said, means that scar tissue collects and the kidney isn’t getting enough blood and sends a signal to the heart to pump harder which it does but jacks your BP up. Solutions included drugs, balloon, stent, roto-rooter. Amazingly, to me, according to this guy (Mass General head vascular surgeon) this is a fairly recent discovery.
Gregg,
it just seems to me, that at some point, some researcher, somewhere, after pouring through the facts and figures, would come up and say, “Hey, look, you did something right and your life expectancy is just fine!!
The law of averages keeps new information from falling always to just bad or just good. If it’s always one way or the other, I tend to think it’s been tampered with.
Der Schtumpy Says:
“The law of averages keeps new information from falling always to just bad or just good. If it’s always one way or the other, I tend to think it’s been tampered with.”
Hey Der,
Well I guess I don’t know what you would consider good news. For example there was the report of people who lived over 100 years, as a group not just an individual, and they ate a rather lean low calorie diet.
Do you consider that good news?