As of 2021, our GDP was approximately 23 trillion dollars. Of this 23 trillion, 4.3 trillion was spent on healthcare alone. So to put this into perspective, nearly 20 cents of every single dollar spent in this country is on healthcare. So I ask; why do we continue to be so sick?
The medical community has made amazing progress when it comes to the acute side of healthcare. Within my lifetime, a premature baby born at 24 weeks has gone from having zero chance of survival to now being able to grow, fully mature and live a beautifully long life with no health problems. People who have been in car accidents, their bodies mangled, can survive and recover; it's remarkable.
Where the medical community is lacking is on the side of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Sure, when a severe event, like a stroke or heart attack occurs, the medical community can save your life, however what about the treatment of that chronic disease leading up to that severe event or how about the prevention of the disease altogether? The rates of diabetes and heart disease have continued to stay the same even though hordes of new medications come out to treat them. Perhaps a drug isn't the answer. As I've said before, I am not anti-medication; there are those, for example, with epilepsy that merely could not function without it. However, simply due to medications being effective for one condition translating into them being effective for all conditions is ludicrous and irresponsible. Just a little food for thought with your morning coffee, so long for now.