Palliative care vs. preventative care

[TarkanAttila]

Say I had an idea. If the US government wishes to save money on medical care, how about they cut down on costs by researching actual cures for diseases? For example, my mother has diabetes. More than once I have heard there are actually cures - natural cures, even - for diabetes.

I don’t know if it is only for type 2 or type 1, but as I understand it both types of diabetics still profusely use pumps - or needles - and all of the tubes and tools that come with it. If they could be cured, however, they would not need those things, which are expensive, and which (speaking for my mother, especially) some cannot even afford. People like my mother, to be honest, cost manufacturers and the government (assuming they pay for her free samples) a lot of money. It’s a loss.

But if, instead of relegating them to the pump, or needle, they bothered to try to cure diabetes, it could be treated once and for all, and the government wouldn’t need to treat them any longer, thereby negating costs - especially for those who can’t afford the tubes etc.

Whatcha think? A programme to cure diabetes? Or the common cold? Or AIDS? Or cancer? Or some other disease, perhaps one that’s got a lot of palliative or life-supporting care?

 

[Dakota_Roberts]

Say I had an idea. If the US government wishes to save money on medical care, how about they cut down on costs by researching actual cures for diseases? For example, my mother has diabetes. More than once I have heard there are actually cures - natural cures, even - for diabetes.

I don’t know if it is only for type 2 or type 1, but as I understand it both types of diabetics still profusely use pumps - or needles - and all of the tubes and tools that come with it. If they could be cured, however, they would not need those things, which are expensive, and which (speaking for my mother, especially) some cannot even afford. People like my mother, to be honest, cost manufacturers and the government (assuming they pay for her free samples) a lot of money. It’s a loss.

But if, instead of relegating them to the pump, or needle, they bothered to try to cure diabetes, it could be treated once and for all, and the government wouldn’t need to treat them any longer, thereby negating costs - especially for those who can’t afford the tubes etc.

Whatcha think? A programme to cure diabetes? Or the common cold? Or AIDS? Or cancer? Or some other disease, perhaps one that’s got a lot of palliative or life-supporting care?

You can’t cure the cold, it evolves too fast, HIV is probable close to impossible to cure.

 

[ValPal]

Say I had an idea. If the US government wishes to save money on medical care, how about they cut down on costs by researching actual cures for diseases?

Believe it or not, the research on many of these diseases have been done, and are in fact curable. There is no money in curing disease though. Western doctors tend to emphasize drug treatment, and have little to no training in the areas necessary to cure the disease, such as exercise and nutrition. Some non-western doctors do.

For example, my mother has diabetes. More than once I have heard there are actually cures - natural cures, even - for diabetes.

I don’t know if it is only for type 2 or type 1, but as I understand it both types of diabetics still profusely use pumps - or needles - and all of the tubes and tools that come with it. If they could be cured, however, they would not need those things, which are expensive, and which (speaking for my mother, especially) some cannot even afford. People like my mother, to be honest, cost manufacturers and the government (assuming they pay for her free samples) a lot of money. It’s a loss.

It is true that in many cases Type-2 diabetes can be cured. I am not aware of any cure for Type-1, which often involves failure of the pancreas. Type-2 diabetes is often cured by diet and exercise. It’s no secret either. There are some clinics that have a lockdown, where diet is strictly controlled and blood test are taken every day. The change often occurs so quick that if the insulin isn’t reduced daily, the patient can go into insulin shock.

Or the common cold?

Colds happen fast, but they appear to be able to be prevented. Back when I was a strict vegetarian and exercised constantly, I never got a cold curing the two-year period I did that. I have also found that I can dramatically reduce the effects of a cold after I have it. What I do now is juice a lemon or lime and drink the juice, several times a day when I have the cold. I also run several miles each day during this period to heat my body up. I works very well, at least for me.

 

[SonCatcher]

If only it were that simple. Truly, if there were already full cures that would work on every patient, the medical community would be all over that. In the case of diabetes, many doctors will try to help their patients manage the disease with diet and normal activity before moving on to needles, etc.

Some (type I) diabetics can be “cured” of diabetes by receiving a pancreas transplant. Unfortunately, these wind up on immunosuppressants to prevent rejection of the organ. I think that one beneficiary also received a marrow transplant so they would not require immunosuppression, but the risks of the procedure itself just pile up. The potential benefit does not balance the risk for most.

 

[TarkanAttila]

Believe it or not, the research on many of these diseases have been done, and are in fact curable. There is no money in curing disease though. Western doctors tend to emphasize drug treatment, and have little to no training in the areas necessary to cure the disease, such as exercise and nutrition. Some non-western doctors do.

I thought as much - especially in that curing diseases would kill American medicinal practise. On the other hand, many people in America cannot afford healthcare anyway, and they’re usually the ones who need healthcare the most. People want and need cures, not palliatives. And I think they’d scrap together everything they could to cure a disease, even when they can’t afford palliatives and supplies like tubes and insulin (the tubes and such which I have seen my mother get for free from our local clinic) or like dialysis.

 

[ValPal]

I thought as much - especially in that curing diseases would kill American medicinal practise. On the other hand, many people in America cannot afford healthcare anyway, and they’re usually the ones who need healthcare the most. People want and need cures, not palliatives. And I think they’d scrap together everything they could to cure a disease, even when they can’t afford palliatives and supplies like tubes and insulin (the tubes and such which I have seen my mother get for free from our local clinic) or like dialysis.

The natural state of the human body is health. The cure for most diseases is simply a natural diet and exercise. And the cost of the preventive care is free.

If everyone did this, palliative care would be a very small fraction of what it is today.

 

[sinscriven]

I really like that Idea. Government research isn’t a new thing, but political conditions the past century or so have conditioned a lot of people to scream bloody murder about anything done for the common good as “communism/socialism”, and a general cultivated attitude from the right that the government can’t do anything right.

That alone is going to be a major barrier for public support or government funded and owned medical research, not to mention the amount of tremendous lobbying power the pharmacorps have. There’s no way they’d let that happen there’s simply too much money in it.