Reconsidering The Virtue Of Preventative Healthcare
More than four billion drug prescriptions are written annually in the United States. Middle-aged women wolf down Zoloft antidepressants. 15-year old juvenile offenders are force-fed potent anti-psychotics. Menopause, ADHD, obesity – you name it, there’s a pill for it.
More than two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Women are statistically worse off than men. Hispanics are statistically worse off than Caucasians, while African-Americans and Native Americans are worse off still. One-third of children are overweight, the unsung victims of a soda-chugging, video-gaming nation.
But perhaps Big Pharma is not to blame — at least not exclusively. Modern technology, such as childhood vaccinations and senior palliative care, has drastically improved quality of life. The problem is that not enough emphasis is placed on the value of preventative healthcare. Perhaps the best healthcare is that which is never needed.
The Case for Preventive Healthcare
Three salient statistics make the case for the “if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it” healthcare:
- The average annual family health insurance costs $16,000.
- A study conducted at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health found that obesity is responsible for 18 percent of all deaths among African-American and Caucasian Americans ages 40-85.
- In a 2014 Gallup poll, obese respondents were more likely than normal people to be stressed, worried, sad, angry, and diagnosed with depression.