Think Your Doctor Knows Best? Think Medical Science is on Your Side? Think again!
January 23rd, 2007Via: Avanoo:
The average life expectancy in the United States is 77.85 years, which ranks forty-sixth highest in the world. Among the countries with higher life expectancies are Guam and Puerto Rico, both of which are under U.S. control, but don’t have nearly the same “quality†of health care that is provided in U.S. states.
Per capita, more centenarians (people 100 or over) live in Dominica, a small third-world Caribbean island, than anywhere else. Most of them live active, rural lifestyles and have little or no access to Western medicine or health care.
How is it that the United States, which spends more money on health care than any other country, isn’t able to compete with third world countries and territories that don’t have nearly the same access to modern conveniences, modern medicines, or modern treatments?
Perhaps my own life experience can help us to better understand what’s going on here.
I’m not convinced those doctors were trying to keep the party (FDA) line. But I’m also not sure how any doctor would overlook diet as a cause of illness…especially given the junk that passes for food (or drink) in this country. They were blinded to the obvious by their own pride.
I don’t go to doctors unless it’s life or death anymore. Preventive practices for healthy living are best.
But we need to reduce the population, so visit your doctor, often.
It is a bit sensationalist to think of the manufacturers of sodapop and aspartame as the same monolithic evil as “the medical establishment”.
In fact, in this case we are talking about a poison that was introduced into the foodstream *AGAINST* the strenuous recommendations of the medical community. So which is it? are they evil or no?
The “food” industry (aspartame is hardly food) is NOT the same as the med community. Further, the med community is not monolithic — witness Dr. Weil’s resounding international success in research of alternative medical therapy. And there’s more where he came from.
There are systemic problems in the medical community, absolutely. That’s not the same thing as saying all doctors want to screw you over.
There are plenty of educated medical professionals who are aware of the built-in weaknesses of a money-driven system, and who are advancing methodic, scientific research into alternative therapies. Not enough, perhaps, but that’s not the implication of your title to this post.
a non-scientific approach to medicine is hardly an improvement.
95% of the food at my local supermarket contains things that were never meant to be in the human stomach. The 5% that is marketed as “organic” or what have you cost 3-5 times more.
Andrew Weil started to TransFat Fad, and that’s great, but it’s the ingredients I can’t pronounce that bug me.
Thanks for posting this great article, I was wondering the other day about the life-expectancy stats…but I didn’t research it because I was afraid of what I’d find. Still, 77 ain’t too bad…but the U.S. should be in the top 5 with all our fabulous sciences.
Another example of the single most descriptive phrase of our times: “conflict of interest”. The medical industry is worth billions every year. While I don’t think that most participants in it are consciously seeking to keep us ill, it’s hard not to believe that at an unconscious level they equate illness with profit.
Perhaps not the medical industry, but certainly the US biomedical industry equates “illness” with profit. They develop and and hock wares that treat symptoms (“Just one pill, once a day! Ask your doctor!”), often suggested, implied, or even created (through interaction and side effect), rather than cure anything.
It’s not profitable to cure anyone, and there in lies the basic problem with profit-centric medicine.
In rural China, by contrast, villagers pay their doctor when they are well, and stop paying when they are ill. Needless to say, the doctor quickly comes (housecalls are the norm) to find out why. Emphasis is on prevention and “whole health”, such as good diet, exercise, holistic medicine, etc.
A better system, perhaps, in some ways.
The main assets of a country are its companies, its housing and infrastructure and its people and their health.
The financial industry is looting the companies ($130M bonus?) and the housing stock (neg am loans?) and the big pharma industry is looting people’s health.
http://www.freemarketnews.com/Analysis/239/6817/economy.asp?wid=239&nid=6817
Our youth is our best indicator of our future; they can already see the writing on the wall and their 2 main interests? American Idol and Survivor. Why? The only way for them to survive in the future is to learn to sing for their new masters since there will not be any meaningful employment left.