I didn't say they're insoluble, and I certainly didn't say we shouldn't attempt to treat and cure diseases. My issue is with seeing illness as an isolated "thin

I didn't say they're insoluble, and I certainly didn't say we shouldn't attempt to treat and cure diseases. My issue is with seeing illness as an isolated "thing" almost as if it exists independently of the person. Obviously, this is heavily dependent on the situation. For example, there's the issue of fixing "problems" that are not seen as problems by the person living with them. A kinda health normalisation. Since you mention lactose intolerance, I can certainly imagine millions of people in Asia shrugging with indifference. Plenty would be unlikely to want to change their lifestyle. What would be the point? They've been lactose intolerant for thousands of years. If they don't see a problem, does a problem exist? (I'm sure some would want to eat dairy, of course.) Does this mean that a westerner in a dairy-consuming culture shouldn't see lactose intolerance as a problem? Nope, I know several who very much do. It's just context dependent, isn't it. People decline treatment all the time, for a huge variety of reasons. Even in situations where a cure is highly desirable and can be highly effective, it might not be straightforward. (I'm going to put aside religious objections, that's a whole other can of worms.) A cure might be extremely unpleasant, even disfiguring. Radical mastectomy is an obvious example. Describing illness as a problem requires defining that problem in order to define the cure. Radical mastectomy might effectively "cure" some breast cancer, but the definitions of the problem and the cure are very limited. So we should just move the goalposts, right? Solutions shouldn't result in severe scarring, lymphoedema, dysmorphia, depression, relationship difficulties... hmmm, moving those goalposts is starting to seem tricky. There's plenty I'm not saying. I'm not saying we shouldn't try. I'm not saying problems don't exist (quite the opposite) and I'm not saying that health conditions should be ignored. Health conditions are not just problems that don't yet have a solution. They can be deeply complex, involving issues of identity and ethics and more. Like I said, I certainly don't object to curing disease. I'm just pointing out that it can be complex.