3 ms·
To me, this is an excellent argument that merely making healthcare more affordable in the US isn't the answer. I'd like to posit that the culprit(s) of bad US
by TimTheTinker 2y ago
To me, this is an excellent argument that merely making healthcare more affordable in the US isn't the answer.
I'd like to posit that the culprit(s) of bad US health could likely be narrowed down by carefully analyzing the differences between (a) 1970 and now; and (b) Americans and Europeans in an exhaustive list of the human body's environmental touchpoints, narrowing the list to things that apply to >90% of each population. A few examples:
- food supply differences. For example, European regulation prohibits GMO and a lot of pesticides that are allowed in the US. Meat also differs significantly in their food supply (corn vs grass for beef) and other factors.
- vaccines. How much of the European vaccine schedule's components are not sourced from American suppliers?
- atmosphere. Off-gassing of synthetic materials in homes and offices is a newer thing.
- containers. In 1970, none of the food supply was distributed in plastic containers, for example. And glass containers are a lot more popular in Europe than the US.
I do wonder whether the answers could be staring us in the face, but have been suppressed because of corporate interests in the US. (Much the same as how cigarette smoking was publicly labeled "healthy" prior to the 1970s, even by scientists and doctors, because of studies funded by Philip Morris and other tobacco companies.) At least theoretically, health-related companies do stand to benefit financially from keeping us alive but less healthy. Widespread chronic semi-disease does make a lot of money, especially for vertically integrated insurers who can delay/deny claims, and for suppliers who have achieved regulatory capture of some sort.
- pixl97 2y agoTo couple with food supply differences add in calorie intake differences. With pollution add in car culture which decreases the amount walked
- TimTheTinker 2y agoIn 1970, obesity in the US was not anywhere as much of a problem. But car culture (and gasoline pollution) was very much a thing. > calorie intake differences Yeah, that's a big one. Also, processing foods heats them multiple times prior to sale, which increases caloric bioavailability.
- kvdveer 2y agoI've read somewhere that the poor and the rich get the worst healthcare in the US. The poor because the just don't get any. The rich because healtcare providers will do whatever (they think) the paying client wants, including unnecessary stuff, and hiding unpleasant news. I'm not in the US, so I can't validate this, however, it does help explain why healtcare outcomes for the rich aren't very good.
- nosianu 2y agoJust a minor nitpick. > For example, European regulation prohibits GMO GMO is not forbidden. It just has to get approved case by case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food_in_the_European_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food_in_t... (section "Approach" shows what is required) There is a large per-country component too. > The EU uses the precautionary principle, demanding a pre-market authorisation for any GMO to enter the market and a post-market environmental monitoring. Alternative link (EU site): https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/projects-and-activities/genetically-modified-organisms-gmos_en https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/projects-and-acti... Much of the monitoring is to avoid or trace cross-contamination between fields, and ultimately the reason for that is significant consumer demand for non-GMO food, so that farmers who are non-GMO don't want their crops contaminated by a neighboring field that has GMO plants.
- TimTheTinker 2y agoThanks for the correction. > GMO is not forbidden. It just has to get approved case by case. Allowlisting makes so much more logical sense. New ideas shouldn't be allowed by default. Especially when so many variables are at play, the FDA's denylist model across a massive population makes it very difficult to narrow down what is causing a problem. If I could make only 1 change to US health policy, it would be switching the FDA to allowlisting.