3 ms·

>medicine is improving. I doubt whether this is true. Lots of hype, but no tangible improvement to show for chronic conditions for common people.

Brusco_RF 3y ago
GLP-1 isn't a tangible improvement for a chronic condition for common people?
xanderlewis 3y ago
Medical understanding is not getting worse, unless I’m severely mistaken. The systems that deliver the medical care might be, however (and indeed observably locally are, in many cases).
- dennis_jeeves2 3y ago
  >Medical understanding is not getting worse, unless I’m severely mistaken. You are mistaken. To realize that you will have to look back several decades and read the literature of those times, of what is left. Now note I'm taking about chronic illnesses (diabetes, cancer etc) not acute ones like an infection etc. The medical practitioner of yesteryear did not have the fancy diagnostic tools that we have today, but several of them appear to me to be sharp observers.
TaupeRanger 3y ago
You're exactly right, but most people just believe the headlines about cancer cures and "individualized medicine" that pop up every week and don't realize that literally none of them produce anything that helps real life patients. Medicine is not getting better - it's getting more expensive and less efficient.
- xanderlewis 3y ago
  > literally none of them produce anything that helps real life patients If you make claims that bold no one should even bother to read on.
- Aeolun 3y ago
  I dunno, I can casually get an MRI to check the status of slime in my nose these days. It may not be strictly ‘better’ but the availability certainly goes up.
- swells34 3y ago
  A majority of what you wrote is objectively false FUD. The only thing that I found accurate is: > it's getting more expensive and less efficient There have been a ridiculous number of medical advances in the last few years, advances that are actively improving and saving lives as I write this. Remember that time we had a pandemic, and quickly designed and produced a massive number of vaccines? Saved millions of lives, kept hundreds of millions from being bed ridden for weeks? The medical technology to design those vaccines, and to produce them at that speed and scale didn't exist 20 years ago. Cancer treatments, which you specifically mentioned, are entirely better than they were 10 years ago. The actual issue, which is the only worthwhile thing you wrote about, is cost and availability.
  - TaupeRanger 3y ago
    You are simply ignoring what I actually said. My criticism was directed at specific fields: name one cancer treatment or "individualized medicine" approach that has been proven to save lives or increase quality of life in the last 3-5 years. I'll wait. The vaccines were not the result of medicine getting "better" - they just happened to have a solution for the right thing at the right time, which is fortunate (and we're lucky that it worked, because there was no guarantee of that beforehand) but if the pandemic hadn't happened, what advances would we be discussing? What advances are actually making medicine better aside from once-in-a-hundred-year worldwide emergencies?
- dennis_jeeves2 3y ago
  Cancer cure, is indeed a big can of worms. I commented on it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39084422 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39084422
mlsu 3y ago
I'll just say: I have Type 1 diabetes, and in my lifetime, we have invented - fast acting analog insulins that are metabolized in 2-3 hours instead of 6-7 - insulin pumps that automatically dose exactly the right proportion of insulin - continuous glucose monitoring system that lets you see your BG update in real time (before, it was finger sticks 4-5 times a day; before that, urine test strips where you pee on a stick to get a 6 hours delayed reading (!)) - automated dosing algorithms that can automatically correct BG to bring it into range In aggregate, these amount to what is closer than not to a functional cure for type 1 diabetes. 100 years ago, this was a fatal condition.
- dennis_jeeves2 3y ago
  You are partially correct. Although notice that diabetes, both type I and II have dramatically increased due to a direct result of bad advice and environment. A little like giving a deaf person a hearing aid, while not addressing factors like loud noises that may lead to hearing loss.

Brusco_RF 3y ago

GLP-1 isn't a tangible improvement for a chronic condition for common people?

xanderlewis 3y ago

Medical understanding is not getting worse, unless I’m severely mistaken. The systems that deliver the medical care might be, however (and indeed observably locally are, in many cases).

dennis_jeeves2 3y ago
>Medical understanding is not getting worse, unless I’m severely mistaken. You are mistaken. To realize that you will have to look back several decades and read the literature of those times, of what is left. Now note I'm taking about chronic illnesses (diabetes, cancer etc) not acute ones like an infection etc. The medical practitioner of yesteryear did not have the fancy diagnostic tools that we have today, but several of them appear to me to be sharp observers.

TaupeRanger 3y ago

You're exactly right, but most people just believe the headlines about cancer cures and "individualized medicine" that pop up every week and don't realize that literally none of them produce anything that helps real life patients. Medicine is not getting better - it's getting more expensive and less efficient.

xanderlewis 3y ago
> literally none of them produce anything that helps real life patients If you make claims that bold no one should even bother to read on.
Aeolun 3y ago
I dunno, I can casually get an MRI to check the status of slime in my nose these days. It may not be strictly ‘better’ but the availability certainly goes up.
swells34 3y ago
A majority of what you wrote is objectively false FUD. The only thing that I found accurate is: > it's getting more expensive and less efficient There have been a ridiculous number of medical advances in the last few years, advances that are actively improving and saving lives as I write this. Remember that time we had a pandemic, and quickly designed and produced a massive number of vaccines? Saved millions of lives, kept hundreds of millions from being bed ridden for weeks? The medical technology to design those vaccines, and to produce them at that speed and scale didn't exist 20 years ago. Cancer treatments, which you specifically mentioned, are entirely better than they were 10 years ago. The actual issue, which is the only worthwhile thing you wrote about, is cost and availability.
- TaupeRanger 3y ago
  You are simply ignoring what I actually said. My criticism was directed at specific fields: name one cancer treatment or "individualized medicine" approach that has been proven to save lives or increase quality of life in the last 3-5 years. I'll wait. The vaccines were not the result of medicine getting "better" - they just happened to have a solution for the right thing at the right time, which is fortunate (and we're lucky that it worked, because there was no guarantee of that beforehand) but if the pandemic hadn't happened, what advances would we be discussing? What advances are actually making medicine better aside from once-in-a-hundred-year worldwide emergencies?
dennis_jeeves2 3y ago
Cancer cure, is indeed a big can of worms. I commented on it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39084422 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39084422

mlsu 3y ago

I'll just say: I have Type 1 diabetes, and in my lifetime, we have invented - fast acting analog insulins that are metabolized in 2-3 hours instead of 6-7 - insulin pumps that automatically dose exactly the right proportion of insulin - continuous glucose monitoring system that lets you see your BG update in real time (before, it was finger sticks 4-5 times a day; before that, urine test strips where you pee on a stick to get a 6 hours delayed reading (!)) - automated dosing algorithms that can automatically correct BG to bring it into range In aggregate, these amount to what is closer than not to a functional cure for type 1 diabetes. 100 years ago, this was a fatal condition.

dennis_jeeves2 3y ago
You are partially correct. Although notice that diabetes, both type I and II have dramatically increased due to a direct result of bad advice and environment. A little like giving a deaf person a hearing aid, while not addressing factors like loud noises that may lead to hearing loss.