Katharine Boyntoyn
Staff writer
Last week there was an opinion piece published over the drawbacks of modern medicine. One of the drawbacks was that more and more Americans are seeking the “fountain of youth.”
While this may be true for some people, I don’t think that advancements in medicine are all together bad things.
I don’t think anything is that black and white.
The opinion said, “Modern medicine shouldn’t fight nature,” and I agree with that on a couple of points.
I agree that our ancestors died at an earlier age. I don’t necessarily agree that they died peacefully because they were younger and that is just the hand they were dealt.
The Center for Disease Control reported in 1930 that 670 women died per 100,000 live births annually in the United States.
Yes, women used to die regularly in childbirth.
In 2003, the CDC reported only 12.1 women died per 100,000 live births annually in the U.S.
I, for one, am happy (being a mother of two boys who weighed over eight pounds) that I had a better chance, because of modern medicine, of being able to live through the births of my children.
Another point that was made, “With painful and torturing treatments, those diagnosed with cancer can spend thousands of dollars to keep themselves alive for a few more years.”
I don’t think that it is fair to sit back, while you have your health, and comment on someone who may be young and diagnosed with cancer fighting, any way they can, to live a couple of more years.
According to the American Cancer Society’s Web site, 565,650 Americans die each year due to cancer.
That is 1,500 Americans gone each day, or 1 in 4 Americans dying because of cancer.
Among those numbers 1,490 deaths are among children from the ages of 0-14.
This is a topic really close to my heart because my mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of 36.
I was only 14 years old. My brother was 12.
If it hadn’t been for modern medicine (surgery, chemotherapy, prescription medicines) then my mom would have died.
She wouldn’t have seen me graduate from high school, or get married, or watch her grandchildren come into this world.
I think that the evolution of medicine is just another part of us being human.
I don’t mean to say that I think people should invest money in the fountain of youth idea. People are going to die, it is inevitable, we are human.
I just don’t think it is fair to criminalize those people who employ modern medicine to give them a fighting chance to live.
If someone lives to the ripe old average age of 77.8 years, according to the CDC, then great they can look back on their life and die knowing they have had a long, fulfilling life.
I think it is a whole other ball game when the person dying is a person who isn’t that ripe old average age.
Instead they are in their 30s and diagnosed with cancer, and questioning why they can’t watch their kids grow up.
I think that is one point behind modern medicine. Not to help that person who is 80 something years old chase the dream of living to be 150.
No, instead modern medicine is there to help the person who is going to be robbed of their life, fight for another chance.
Ultimately, it is up to the individual who is sick to decide if they will rely on modern medicine or not.