Living Longer; Living Sicker - New Opportunities for Medicine and Dentistry
Living Longer; Living Sicker; How Healthy are we Really? Medicine and Dentistry’s new Opportunities
Modern science has worked miracles at extending human lifespan - but longer life spans come with the price of more sickness. So claims Dr. Reed Tuckson at United Health Foundation. (1)
In 1900 the three leading causes of death were pneumonia, tuberculosis, and diarrhea and enteritis. In fact, diarrhea and enteritis caused one third of all deaths in 1900. (2)
The 19th century discovery of microorganisms as the cause of many serious diseases marked a great turning point in our ability to prevent early death. Infectious disease control came about due to improvements in sanitation, hygiene, the discovery of antibiotics, along with vaccination programs. Our life spans have gone from below 50 years in 1900, to 76 and 82 years of age today, male/female respectively. (3)
With the decline of infectious diseases and people living longer, inflammatory related diseases have now claimed the top spots on the list of humankind’s top killers. While infant and child mortality has dropped from 30% to 1.4%, and with the wholesale reduction in infectious disease (at least in the “Western” world), cardiovascular diseases and cancer have claimed the top spots, taking three out of four lives.
Consequently, the so-called “lifestyle diseases” such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, now affect more and more people – even at the same time that modern scientific advances allow more and more people with these conditions to remain alive.
As Dr. Mike Roizen pointed out at the AAOSH Scientific Session at Cleveland, we all wind up dying at the average age of 76 and 82 anyway (male/female respectively). The question becomes … “HOW do you want to spend the last 20 years of your life!” In the “modern” healthcare era, the difference between wellness and disease living is HOW you live your final years!
Because mainstream medicine has acquired the ability to sustain life in the presence of heart disease, cancer and stroke, the new age in medicine will be wholly consumed with how to prevent the onset of inflammatory diseases in the first place – not just extending it in the face of debilitating inflammatory-related disorders.
That’s obviously where dentistry comes in – especially in an age where we understand so much more about how the oral inflammatory burden adds to whole-body inflammatory burden.
Accompanying this burden is the financial burden related to the cost of living longer while being less healthy. No amount of healthcare cost reduction (i.e. the costs associated with delivery of healthcare) can equal the impact of simply not needing the healthcare in the first place. Translated: The best bargain in healthcare is not needing it!
The financial impacts of these findings are substantial. Obesity, smoking, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and oral health problems combine to add trillions of dollars to the national (and global) health care bill – all of which is now impacting us in ways that have heretofore not been seen.
The answer lies in reducing the incidence and impact of lifestyle related diseases through increased activity, better nutrition and dietary practices, tobacco cessation, improved sleep and better oral health practices.
Through the coming years health professionals around the world have a wonderful opportunity to impact the health of our citizens and respective countries by helping their patients and clients understand the importance of improved lifestyle and wellness-focused practices. They will also be improving the prospects for national stability by driving down health care costs the right way!
Why must we and why will we be successful at this? Because as people truly begin to understand what its costing them to be sick, they will be driven to adopt new health practices and personal responsibilities for wellness, at unprecedented levels. They will also begin pressing their health providers to help them get well and stay well. This will turn out to be one of the biggest “trends” and forces for practice growth in our history.
1- https://www.unitedhealthfoundation.org/Grants/GrantsRankings.aspx
2- MMWR Weekly, CDC July 1999. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4829a1.htm. Accessed 12/11/2012.
3- 2- Longevity and Health Characteristics; http://www.census.gov/prod/1/pop/p23-190/p23190-g.pdf. Accessed 12/11/2012