Image via Wikipedia
Medical technology has advanced to the point where doctors and nurses can work veritable miracles. A person can enter the ER in a state resembling death, and still end up walking out of there a fairly short time later. But sometimes their overall health still suffers for it. So it leads a person to wonder whether the solution to our problems is more technology, or better preventative medicine?
It’s a well known fact that at a certain age, it makes sense for a person to handle their own healthcare costs. For the young and basically healthy, other than having a terrible accident they shouldn’t have anything worse than the occasional dental cavity or strained muscle. However, this seeming invulnerability is where a lot of people get into serious trouble. As a person ages, their immune system tends to decline, which makes a person less resistant to illness. In addition to that, the slow cannibalism of the calcium in one’s skeleton tends to result in weakness, especially about the joints, resulting in easier breakage.
With technology, a person can be pieced back together almost to the extent of Mr. Potato Head. But with costs being what they are, it’s easy to see why prevention could also be the answer. Is it so hard to exercise every day, get plenty of calcium, and eat meals rich in protein and good fats? Of course it isn’t. We live in the wealthiest world ever constructed, beyond the wildest dreams of ancient kings. Just because we have incredible technologies to save our lives is no excuse to essentially put them in peril in the first place.
