[secede] -- sickcare
Western sickcare is reactive, not proactive. The patient comes in with a complaint, and the doctor sends him on his way with a prescription. Medications usually deal with symptoms without addressing the root cause. For example, if a patient has high blood pressure, the doctor simply prescribes a blood pressure medication for him. No attempt is made to understand why he has high blood pressure in the first place, and non pharmaceutical solutions are discouraged.
There are two obvious problems with this approach —
(1) If the underlying cause is not treated, the symptoms will probably worsen over time.
(2) All medications have side effects. In attempting to squelch one symptom, we create another. A new drug is prescribed, and the cycle intensifies.
Doctors are incentivized by the government controlled medical system to act this way. Patient outcomes are not the primary concern, since the doctor gets paid whether he fixes the problem or not. In fact, if the patient keeps coming back, he creates more billable hours. Therefore, it is in the interest of sickcare workers to prolong sickness and foster dependency. Until the free market is allowed to reward results and punish incompetence, this situation will not change.
Health is freedom. Since the government medical establishment does not benefit from a healthy population, its recommendations should be regarded with suspicion. We must educate ourselves and take personal responsibility for our physical existence. Proactive measures like barbell training, hormone replacement therapy, vitamin D, good food, and good sleep have the ability to prevent and treat a huge number of common physical and psychological ailments at a fraction of the cost of the sickcare approach. They are much cheaper in the long run, but like all investments they involve a sacrifice of goods and pleasures today for goods and pleasures tomorrow.