Health and longevity

According to some studies, since the late 19th century, the population of the developed world seems to have made a Faustian pact to fool the aging process. In just a few generations, life expectancy gained an additional 30 years. By this time, more and more people are able to see their grandkids grow old. Now is common for an individual to live a long retirement (if you have resources). But in Faust-like fashion, there’s always a price to pay.

The price they have to pay is measured in maladies such as Osteoporosis, Alzheimer, to name a few. Long days that turn into endless years in an elderly home could sound like a good scenario for the fortunate. The demise of our health is what we can associate with growing old. To deal with this problem, a feasible solution could be to focus more on extending health than extending life. It may sound shocking and cold-hearted, but when you get right into the heart of the matter, quality overcomes quantity.

Western medicine focus solely on treating the disease. There’s little to no effort on creating a pathway to prevent such maladies. In Denmark, they took a totally different approach. Primary –care providers are more important than a specialist. Prevention is the norm; specialists are not as important as someone who can guide you by the hand towards a disease-free future. What you think? Sounds too good to be true, right? When an ill individual becomes a constant source of income for laboratories, their disease takes the starring role. The individual is just a supporting character in their own story.

When you think about it, to maintain a healthier life, we need to focus on creating healthy habits since childhood. That’s when a primary –care takes the lead. Western medicine should make a U-turn and change perspective. We need a change of horses, guide the population to live better, not longer.

According to the projection provided by economically-developed countries, in less than a decade and a half the population of individuals over the age of 70 will increase from the current 13% to a staggering 20% In the United States alone that percentage represent around 35 million people. If we take in consideration that number and the disproportionate amount of dollars spend on the existing programs targeted towards such demographics, it’s common sense to shift towards prevention instead of treatment.

It is said by the United nations that residents of high, middle, low incomes are likely to live 60 years and beyond. It has been called one of the most significant transformation of the current century. On the other hand, the World Health Organization is advising us that to live longer is not enough, the world still needs to develop policies and programs suited for health and social needs of the population throughout their lifespan, no matter their condition.

Prevention is better than treatment, that’s a fact. Eating right, getting plenty of sleep, is a simple but effective piece of advice that we can take now to reach a full, healthy life. I know treatment makes perfect sense when we simply see everything through the distorted lenses of dollars and cents. Our quest for profit pushes society in this endless quest of gaining as much as we can, while we can. We're burning the candle at both ends, what’s the point of living more if you’ll be dragging the load of a frail health all along? Prevention should be the norm, not profit!

Our elders deserve better, (and when our time comes, we deserve it too.)