William de Berg
Until Robert Kennedy, Jr., raised the issue in his 2024 presidential campaign, lost in the morass of discussions on growing income inequality, endless wars, illegal immigration, educational decline, ever-mounting government debt, stagflation, rising crime, etc., was the question of “Why Are Americans So Sick?”
While the answer to this question is not entirely self-evident, the fact that we are getting sicker by the decade cannot be denied. Current life expectancy has remained basically stagnant since 2000, rising from 76.6 years in 2000 to 77.4 years in 2022 [1]. But this change masks much more disturbing facts concerning, not longevity but the general health of those Americans still living. For instance, the number of Americans over 65 with at least once chronic disease is 85%, and those with at least two chronic diseases is as high as 75% [2]. And the picture is not much better for our children. Whereas less than 5% of American children under the age of 18 had chronic diseases in 1960[3], by 2022 39% suffered from a variety of physical and mental disorders/diseases [4].
There are a large number of factors responsible for the declining health of Americans, including lifestyle and diet, the latter including the plethora of processed foods contaminated with all sorts of hormones and other chemicals. But not all lifestyle measures have declined, as cancer-causing smoking has dramatically decreased over the past 50+ years, from 43% in 1965 to just 12% in 2022[5], and alcohol use has held steady. This clearly points at modern medicine and its role in, if anything, not ameliorating this existential health crisis, despite the plethora of astounding technological advances in medicine that have occurred in the past half-century.
The past several decades have witnessed an enormous increase in medical and pharmaceutical expenditures in the United States. In constant dollars, health expenditures have more than tripled since 1980 ($3400 vs. $14,200 in constant dollars n 2023) [6], while the U.S. population only rose 50% [7]. Funding of the National Institutes of Health, which is instrumental in the development of almost all new medicines, almost doubled between 1996 and 2023 in constant dollars [8], and pharmaceutical revenues skyrocketed from $286 billion to $550 billion dollars from 2012 to 2021[9], despite a miniscule population rise (only 27 million people out of 344 million total) [7]. If medical research and funding were paramount factors in promoting health, one would think that Americans should be living much longer and healthier lives. But current medical science, despite its technological advances, also suffers from major liabilities, not the least of which is the fact that less than half of medical findings are even replicable [10].
Despite massive funding there are still very limited medical treatments for autism, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and a host of other worrisome medical conditions that continue to rise. For example, there has been an enormous increase in antidepressant use even as the efficacy of antidepressants remains controversial [11]. Even cancer, which has seen its mortality rate drop significantly because of reduced smoking and better detection, has only a marginally increased five-year survival rate relative to 2000[12]. The notion that there are “miracle” drugs and surgical techniques is fallacious [13-15], as all drugs and procedures have efficacy limits, negative side effects, and risks. For example, two of the so-called “miracle weight loss” drugs—Ozempic and Wegovy—have been associated with bone loss density and osteoporosis [16]. Even the relatively miraculous antibiotics are now a source of major concern due to microbial resistance [17].
And it’s not just that modern drugs fail to live up to their hype; some of the most famous of them (Vioxx, Phen-Fen, Bextra) have proven outright deadly despite initial approval from the FDA [18]. And the problem is actually getting worse given the FDA’s increasing fast-tracking of questionable drugs in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry [19]. And let’s not forget the fast-tracked COVID mRNA vaccines, responsible for millions of adverse reactions [20], and fluoridated drinking water, once considered one of the great triumphs of modern public health [21] but now shown to be a neurotoxin for developing fetuses [22].
So, what if we didn’t have modern medical wonders like drugs and sophisticated surgical procedures? A glimpse of what might occur is an examination of the health of the Amish people in the United States, who generally eschew even such basics as vaccinations, prenatal screenings, antibiotics, aspirin use, and routine health checkups. Despite this, the Amish have a life expectancy of 71 years [23], only six years less than the average American. But they also appear to be much less prone to chronic medical conditions, especially in later years [24]. What they lack in modern medical treatments, they make up for with a reliance on a lifestyle that includes more exercise, more natural foods, greater spirituality, stronger social support systems, and greater use of alternative medicine [23,24]. In fact, one of the most serious drawbacks of over-hyping modern medicines and procedures is that individuals suffering from various diseases and disorders avoid making the much more difficult lifestyle and diet choices that are known to offer even greater benefits than the drugs and surgeries themselves.
This begs the question: What would happen if we substantially reduced health-care spending and combined only the proven positives of modern medicine (e.g., antibiotics) with the Amish lifestyle? Would our life expectancy approach or exceed the current one and our overall health be greatly improved? Unfortunately, this is a question that will probably never be answered, or even investigated. One thing is for sure: Our nation would save trillions on health care, even as health-care insurers, hospital administrators, medical researchers, and pharmaceutical executives would be none too pleased.
———————————————————————————————————–
William de Berg is the pen name of an American scientist and author of four conspiracy/truther fiction novels: Serpent and Savior, White Spiritual Boy, Divided We Stand, and Shield Down.
References:
[1] https://datacommons.org/explore#q=life%20expectancy
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK610731/table/pz194-1/?report=objectonly
[6] https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/u-s-spending-healthcare-changed-time/
[7] https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/
[9] https://www.zippia.com/advice/us-pharmaceutical-statistics/
[11] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2253608/
[12] https://usafacts.org/articles/how-have-cancer-rates-changed-over-time/
[13] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/02/the-wonder-drug-myth/307933/
[14] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/big-study-casts-doubt-on-need-for-many-heart-procedures
[15] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EH1ryG4gO8
[16] https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a62282449/ozempic-bone-density-loss-study/
[18] https://www.hhrlaw.com/blog/2022/march/5-famous-drug-recalls-in-us-history-why-they-hap/
[20] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8850379/
[22] https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/34/1/143/7291347
[23] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11503162/
[24] https://time.com/5159857/amish-people-stay-healthy-in-old-age-heres-their-secret/
