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That's really surprising on the health care front. I think many westerners (myself included) think of Japan as a paragon of efficiency and effectiveness in near

by oostevo 16y ago

That's really surprising on the health care front. I think many westerners (myself included) think of Japan as a paragon of efficiency and effectiveness in nearly everything. Can you elaborate on what's wrong with the system?

jcampbell1 16y ago
I haven't lived in Japan, but my understanding is that it is bizarre. For instance they don't do organ transplants at all. period. none. They also visit the doctor 15 times per year on average, which means they go to the doctor when they are not actually sick, so the doctors are in the habit of not actually treating anyone. Japan may have the highest life expectancy of any country in the world, but Japanese people in the US live about 5 years longer on average than Japanese people in Japan.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  ...Japanese people in the US live about 5 years longer on average than Japanese people in Japan. 2 years longer, not 5 years. http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=53 http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&#3... http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_dyn_le00_in&idim=country:JPN&dl=en&hl=en&q=japan+life+expectancy http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_dyn_le... Of course, it's hardly clear that this effect is caused by health care. Most studies with good controls show very little relationship between variation in health care and health outcomes. (To measure the effect of lifestyle factors on health outcomes, you need a few hundred people for clear results. To measure the effect of health care on health outcomes, sample sizes of thousands give you muddled results.)
- pauldelany 16y ago
  They do transplants, but the rate is extremely low - mainly due to no donors: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6156925.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6156925.stm
lemming 16y ago
I've not had personal experience with this although I go to Japan relatively frequently, but I remember reading a scathing review of the Japanese health system, I think it was in the Lonely Planet. I'll look for it when I go home. I was also surprised since due to the general efficiency of everything and longevity of the people I was expecting the system to be amazing, but they painted a truly scary picture of it.
cdavid 16y ago
First, for a foreigner, there is obviously the language factor, but that's a given wherever you go in a country where you don't master the language. Whenever I went to a doctor for relatively minor things, they wanted to give me some pills. Generally, I got the impression that they just want to treat the symptoms rather than fixing the actual cause of the issue. Dental is so scary that I have never been there: people I know who went for minor things had to battle not to get their tooth removed for the most benin infection. Treatment of orthopedia also "looks" scary, although I don't have first hand experience with it: you see quite a lot of people, young people, with significant issues. I don't know the explanation for that (lifestyle being a huge factor obviously, it would need a real statistical study to actually know something there). The only times where I was under the impression I had someone who knew what he was doing was when I went to a university hospital, but I don't have easy access to that anymore. It is also extremely unpersonal, but I am willing to concede that's mostly cultural.

by oostevo 16y ago

jcampbell1 16y ago

I haven't lived in Japan, but my understanding is that it is bizarre. For instance they don't do organ transplants at all. period. none. They also visit the doctor 15 times per year on average, which means they go to the doctor when they are not actually sick, so the doctors are in the habit of not actually treating anyone. Japan may have the highest life expectancy of any country in the world, but Japanese people in the US live about 5 years longer on average than Japanese people in Japan.

yummyfajitas 16y ago
...Japanese people in the US live about 5 years longer on average than Japanese people in Japan. 2 years longer, not 5 years. http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=53 http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&#3... http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_dyn_le00_in&idim=country:JPN&dl=en&hl=en&q=japan+life+expectancy http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_dyn_le... Of course, it's hardly clear that this effect is caused by health care. Most studies with good controls show very little relationship between variation in health care and health outcomes. (To measure the effect of lifestyle factors on health outcomes, you need a few hundred people for clear results. To measure the effect of health care on health outcomes, sample sizes of thousands give you muddled results.)
pauldelany 16y ago
They do transplants, but the rate is extremely low - mainly due to no donors: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6156925.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6156925.stm

lemming 16y ago

I've not had personal experience with this although I go to Japan relatively frequently, but I remember reading a scathing review of the Japanese health system, I think it was in the Lonely Planet. I'll look for it when I go home. I was also surprised since due to the general efficiency of everything and longevity of the people I was expecting the system to be amazing, but they painted a truly scary picture of it.

cdavid 16y ago

First, for a foreigner, there is obviously the language factor, but that's a given wherever you go in a country where you don't master the language. Whenever I went to a doctor for relatively minor things, they wanted to give me some pills. Generally, I got the impression that they just want to treat the symptoms rather than fixing the actual cause of the issue. Dental is so scary that I have never been there: people I know who went for minor things had to battle not to get their tooth removed for the most benin infection. Treatment of orthopedia also "looks" scary, although I don't have first hand experience with it: you see quite a lot of people, young people, with significant issues. I don't know the explanation for that (lifestyle being a huge factor obviously, it would need a real statistical study to actually know something there). The only times where I was under the impression I had someone who knew what he was doing was when I went to a university hospital, but I don't have easy access to that anymore. It is also extremely unpersonal, but I am willing to concede that's mostly cultural.