You got a nice deal then... I've worked for myself... couldn't get any group rates
i've always worked for myself, too. never had any group rates. i am paying a whopping $201 a month now for family coverage, and to find this i didn't have to do anything more intrepid than go to google and type "health insurance".
<unfortunately, Chinese medicine hasn't done much for life expectancy in China over the years.>
Oh? Beg to differ.
"Traditional Chinese medicine is not based on knowledge of modern physiology, biochemistry, nutrition, anatomy, or any of the known mechanisms of healing. Nor is it based on knowledge of cell chemistry, blood circulation, nerve function, or the existence of hormones or other biochemical substances. There is no correlation between the meridians used in traditional Chinese medicine and the actual layout of the organs and nerves in the human body. The National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF) claims that of the 46 medical journals published by the Chinese Medical Association, not one is devoted to acupuncture or other traditional Chinese medical practices. Nevertheless, it is estimated that somewhere between 10 and 15 million Americans spend approximately $500 million a year on acupuncture for treatment of depression, AIDS, allergies, asthma, arthritis, bladder and kidney problems, constipation, diarrhea, colds, flu, bronchitis, dizziness, smoking, fatigue, gynecologic disorders, headaches, migraines, paralysis, high blood pressure, PMS, sciatica, sexual dysfunction, stress, stroke, tendinitis, and vision problems."
skepdic.com
Even in 'the West' much of life expectancy increase is due to sanitation
as i explained to tooearly, sanitation was a direct product of the Germ Theory of Disease, i.e., western medicine. it's rather curious that people who readily believe in meridians and other unprovable phenomena think sanitation just fell from the sky.
Western medicine isn't coming close to stemming the tide of new diseases and increasing death rates by variable which are all addressed in Chinese medicine.
yeah, right. i guess if the flu pandemic hits we just need to get pricked on the earlobe by an accupuncturist?
IMO the best way is to use both... Chinese medicine {most of the time} for prevention and Western medicine for later in life
the idea of preventive care is, i think, the best thing about Chinese medicine. health care in the west discourages health maintenance since profits are made from treating diseases. this is unfortunate. but it is something that could be corrected by an enlightened society. there's no physical reason the scientific method couldn't be applied to preventive care with great effectiveness. it's just that systemically, the incentives aren't there to motivate people.
also, the diets in the West are terrible, and as is well known our poor diets lead to heart disease and many other problems. on top of this, i think the standards have really come down over the years, both in terms of quality of food and quality of body. people eat much more junk today and prepare little of their own food. this means a greater proportion of processed foods. also, people consume greater total volume of food, even as they exercise less. naturally, there are more obese people as a result.
i think this is because the standards have slowly come down. you can't force people to control their diets or their figures, but social pressures are very effective. this is, i think, why when i come back to America from Asia, the first thing i notice is all the fat people. in Asia, the fat person sticks out and feels pressure, a lot of pressure. i think that social pressure is worth 1000 diet books. here, many people are fat, plus they feel sorry for themselves and blame it on their genetics even if their own ancestors weren't fat--society coddles them and the doctors are happy because they have waiting rooms full of fat people suffering from all sorts of complications from their condition. so, i think what we have is a social disease... |
