8 ms·

Most of the conditions you've mentioned there have exogenous causes (i.e. diseases or environmental toxins), and I question your inclusion of many of the ones t

Most of the conditions you've mentioned there have exogenous causes (i.e. diseases or environmental toxins), and I question your inclusion of many of the ones that don't (who thinks we have "conquered" breast cancer??). But we have made very little progress in staving off degenerative-type diseases. Even the primary degenerative disease you mention, knee failure, we cure largely with a wholesale replacement. That obviously isn't applicable to organs we can't just swap out.

giantg2 1y ago
I agree. Rates of cancer and diabetes are up. We might have better treatments than in the past, but I though I even saw graphs showing that overall cancer fatalities rates are flat - a lower percentage of people die from it, but the increase in cases mostly offsets that (depends on the specific type).
- BurningFrog 1y ago
  One angle is that as we find cures for other diseases, cancer rates go up because we live long enough to get cancer. The sum of all causes of death will very likely continue to be 100%...
  - leereeves 1y ago
    > The sum of all causes of death will very likely continue to be 100%... If not, we'll have a whole lot of new problems.
  - giantg2 1y ago
    I'm not talking about that. The rates in adults under 50 and in children have also been increasing.
owenpalmer 1y ago
Swapping out organs may be an option in the future. I'm getting a bioengineering degree so I can't work in organ engineering research. We're definitely not there yet, but there's a lot of interesting research happening in this area.
groby_b 1y ago
"Conquered" is a loaded term, but a 43% reduction in mortality since 1990 is nothing to sneeze at. The 5 year survival rate for localized (early stage) breast cancer is 99% Did we remove it as a cause of death? No. But the prognosis is much less dire by now than it was even a few decades ago. Very few causes are ever completely "conquered", they just move down in relative relevance.
- hn_throwaway_99 1y ago
  A huge part of that increase in 5 year survival rate is just earlier detection, though. I fully acknowledge that we've made large strides in understanding and treating breast cancer, but in most cases, once it spreads it's still "game over", and so it is still an immensely fearful experience for people to go through. Contrast that with, for example, HIV. 35 years ago it was probably the scariest disease there was, considered a guaranteed death sentence. Now it is largely preventable with PrEP, and treatments are so good that it is a manageable condition with lifespans on par with HIV-negative people for most of those who diligently follow their treatments.
caycep 1y ago
Cheating Charon on the River Styx is hard... I will say lecanumab is being promoted like crazy...on the plus side, a side benefit is it's easier to get PET scans covered by Medicare, likely bc of a bureaucratic push from the pharma. We do offer it to those interested because there's little else aside from long term palliative care, but we're very upfront re the ARIA risks and the logistical challenges (requires a lot of visits to infusion sites, MRI monitoring etc) Further scientific attempts in the US to look at this is probably kneecapped though; Chinese science will probably take the lead in the next decade

giantg2 1y ago

I agree. Rates of cancer and diabetes are up. We might have better treatments than in the past, but I though I even saw graphs showing that overall cancer fatalities rates are flat - a lower percentage of people die from it, but the increase in cases mostly offsets that (depends on the specific type).

BurningFrog 1y ago
One angle is that as we find cures for other diseases, cancer rates go up because we live long enough to get cancer. The sum of all causes of death will very likely continue to be 100%...
- leereeves 1y ago
  > The sum of all causes of death will very likely continue to be 100%... If not, we'll have a whole lot of new problems.
- giantg2 1y ago
  I'm not talking about that. The rates in adults under 50 and in children have also been increasing.

owenpalmer 1y ago

Swapping out organs may be an option in the future. I'm getting a bioengineering degree so I can't work in organ engineering research. We're definitely not there yet, but there's a lot of interesting research happening in this area.

groby_b 1y ago

"Conquered" is a loaded term, but a 43% reduction in mortality since 1990 is nothing to sneeze at. The 5 year survival rate for localized (early stage) breast cancer is 99% Did we remove it as a cause of death? No. But the prognosis is much less dire by now than it was even a few decades ago. Very few causes are ever completely "conquered", they just move down in relative relevance.

hn_throwaway_99 1y ago
A huge part of that increase in 5 year survival rate is just earlier detection, though. I fully acknowledge that we've made large strides in understanding and treating breast cancer, but in most cases, once it spreads it's still "game over", and so it is still an immensely fearful experience for people to go through. Contrast that with, for example, HIV. 35 years ago it was probably the scariest disease there was, considered a guaranteed death sentence. Now it is largely preventable with PrEP, and treatments are so good that it is a manageable condition with lifespans on par with HIV-negative people for most of those who diligently follow their treatments.

caycep 1y ago

Cheating Charon on the River Styx is hard... I will say lecanumab is being promoted like crazy...on the plus side, a side benefit is it's easier to get PET scans covered by Medicare, likely bc of a bureaucratic push from the pharma. We do offer it to those interested because there's little else aside from long term palliative care, but we're very upfront re the ARIA risks and the logistical challenges (requires a lot of visits to infusion sites, MRI monitoring etc) Further scientific attempts in the US to look at this is probably kneecapped though; Chinese science will probably take the lead in the next decade