<biotechnology holds a lot of promise -- but we have do a lot of weeding out first ... >
IMO there is a ton of help in ourselves, one has to learn how to listen:
chronicle.duke.edu
<<There is growing sentiment in the medical field that meditation is just as effective a tool for alleviating the symptoms of stress and pain-related diseases as conventional practices.>>
ie. just about every health problem.
Going into the clinic [again]:
<<Duke researchers have recently won a number of government-sponsored grants, allowing them to clinically investigate the merits of various forms of meditation as medical tools.>>
Of course our medical tradition, indeed our very cultural core goes against this working. Most 'scientific' studies are narrow in scope by their nature where as eastern medicines and using [changing] ones mind is very broad in scope... so I expect to see headlines like: "Meditation not helpful in fighting hear disease!"
Yea, right.
As for biotechnology... I used to be a big fan, and to some extent still am, but I see time and again money being directed based on 1.) making money only 2.) To narrow indications based on difficulty of proof 3.) To late stage 'dis-ease' rather than prevention or betterment of life.
So let's take the case of diet. The American diet has changed radically over the past 50 years as have statistics in heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and many others etc. Yet there is TONS of money being spent to make a pill for each little category of sick people to take, and relatively small amounts studying the broad based mechanisms of processed food, sugar intake, etc. and their effects on the body. Correct me if I'm wrong, but virtually ALL of western medicines are aimed at covering up symptoms of disease and practically NONE aimed at root causes. As far as I've seen in the biotech clinic this is NOT changing... save for some spectacular failures like gene therapy.
It's a dark comedy really. The older people I talk to speak endlessly about the pills they take, what's new on the market, and what their doctors are saying but do little for themselves. Many actually believe the thing to do is wait for the cure for what ails them. OTOH, meditative techniques such as yoga, etc are expoding and even the next group down [60 and under] are catching on fast to alternative techniques.
DAK |
