Thursday, May 24, 2012

Why So Many New Diseases?

Not all new diseases are really diseases. Some of them are simply old conditions, rehashed into a disease definition for the purpose of profit. And typically, they are given official-sounding names. But not always. Consider this:

I remember the first time I heard a commercial about Restless Leg Syndrome, I was ROTFLMAO. (If you don't know what that is, let's just say I was more than chuckling.) But it turned out to be not so funny, as it was a sign of much worse to come.

So far, the raft of new diseases being shoved at us includes all levels of consciousness (apparently it's not healthy to be too happy or too sad), every physical sensation (tingles and itches must be treated aggressively), and even the inability to feel something has to be a disease. Everything that used to be a temporary problem is now a disorder requiring treatment. And let's not forget about our right to abuse our bodies by eating destructive junk mistakenly called food. Just take a pill so you don't feel the pain as it ruins your organs. Of course, that creates a disease, and now you have a brand new reason to formulate new pills.

It has to be this way, of course, to fit our current health care system, because the very nature of medical care is based on disease --> treatment --> cure. Similarly, insurance companies only pay for specific cures for specific diseases or conditions. If it doesn't have a name and a drug created for it, chances are the claim will be denied.

Since this has become such big business, the only real solutions are based on business and marketing principles, methods and tactics, none of which has a thing to do with health care.

It used to be said you can't bottle sunshine and fresh air, let alone charge a fee for it, so the industry had to come up with something you can bottle and pay for.

A recent article about the vaccine industry noted that research is already underway to develop yet more vaccines for even more diseases simply because it's so profitable.

As the "medical industrial complex" continues to "discover" new diseases, the list grows in order to feed the need for more vaccines to prevent them.

I have a better idea: Let's prevent these diseases by refusing to invent them. Oh wait, I think I need a pill for my own special disease: Diurnal Maltrichia (Bad Hair Day).  Since there is a whole new industry for naming new drugs, here are some suggestions for the pill that could be invented to treat it: How about Follicle Fix? The chemical name could be Eutrichinex, or Eutrichifex, or Maltrichinol, etc. As much fun as this is, the humor is at the expense of the new wave of sufferers yet to come.