Do some research on medicine. Seriously. Those were some dark times when doctors had to use the knife to do a diagnosis, or even the study of leeches for certain blood diseases. Surgery was horrifying back then. Hardly any safety measures existed. Epidemics ran rampant. The term “quack” was adopted to define “medical fraud”. No one on this Earth would give two cents to go back to that period of time when medicine was monstrous.
What makes medicine so different today? Is it any wonder that cancer, heart disease and stroke death rates have decreased and life expectancy has increased? That being said, the idea that Americans statistically now take more prescription drugs and have surgery more often these days actually has a negative connotation. The United States is practically one giant medicine cabinet hooked to an EKG and IV! You see?
It’s a tricky balance. The fact is doctors these days have more accurate diagnoses due to CT scans and MRIs. Kidney stones and cancer can be caught a lot easier; however, those technological tools can pack a wallop in radiation, about 500 times more than your conventional X-ray. And everyone knows how deadly radiation can be.
So what role does technology play in medicine? It seems a little twisted.
Granted, technological advancements have catapulted the medical field well past the leeches and quacks of medieval times. But there are now more issues involved with the convolution of procedures and prescriptions that have clouded everything–increased healthcare costs, even medical lawsuits. The whole situation’s just a little messier. Yes, safer. But messier.
The trick is to use technology not as an ‘advancement’, but a ‘tool’. Part of the problem is the over-medication and overuse of these tools defensively to protect against such things as possible malpractice or blame. Research is needed to make the necessary decisions to use a tool WHEN NEEDED, and not to COVER THE BASES in medicine.