Saturday, April 01, 2017

Managed diseases and Failure of science

[off topic]

In my opinion, about 70-80% of ailments or diseases treated by doctors using so called evidence based medicines are in the category of “managed diseases” requiring the patient to take medicines life long in additions regular tests and medical consultancy. A very small portions of diseases today are actually curable. This is in spite of spectacular progress of science and technology. From knowing super fine structures inside atom’s nucleus to genetic code, from nano medicine particles to mechanical  heart, from feeling robot to cloned animals - we are the peak of our knowledge than any other generation or human race in the past. Yet more than 3/4 our diseases are incurable and we have darkness at the heart of intense light.  Why science and technology is failing to lift the sufferings of people from these “managed diseases” ? Why science has come to a poor second to nature and life?

I acknowledge role of science and technology in dealing with threats on the life from outside - like accident, fire, suicide etc. Tools and Methods of science have been life saving. Probability of saving life of an accident victim are significantly increased over last 100 years. That is really commendable job of science and medical world.

Coming back to managed diseases - why should we go to a doctor if he cannot cure a disease that has come from inside human body - likes of diabetes, blood pressure, asthama, thyroid and deadly cancer and AIDS? The experience of those who meticulously follow doctors prescriptions is not better barring few edge cases. People lose money, mental peace and suffer through pain while blindly believing modern science and evidence based medicines. Doctors on the other hand blame poor patients that she could not keep up with diet or exercise schedule. When a diabetic patient is about lose a toe due to high sugar levels - doctors would say, patient did not keep the sugar levels under control. Poor patient all that he can do - walk 1 hour day, forget sweets in the life, no fried, non veg or alcohol - probably lived only on salads or veg stuff. Still suffered from all consequences of this glorious managed disease.

Commercial angle of making money through these diseases - pharma, big hospitals, medical equipment manufacturers,  Doctors and institutions that produce doctors and all connected eco systems - is  difficult to miss.

Making money is fine - but cure the disease.

When any alternative medicine or mystic claims some cure - entire world of so called intellectuals, rationalists and supports of science/evidence based medicine pounce on that method and finish it off. Media plays hand in hand to portray anything other than “science” is essentially bad and unreliable.

How can we flip this ratio of managed diseases to curable(time bound) diseases ?  Can science accept its defeat humbly and make way for unconventional methods or new thinking about life ?

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