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On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:28:28 -0800, "nom=de=plume"
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On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:58:37 -0800, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

The thing that bothers me is they still have not addressed that.
If the government really wanted to cut health care costs they would be
setting up low cost store front clinics staffed by paramedics and
medical techs to handle minor injuries and ailments. A lot of drugs
should be able to be dispensed by pharmacists without prescription.
They are doing nothing to actually cut the cost of care with any bill
I have seen. They all seem to just be subsidizing billionaire medical
conglomerates and insurance companies with tax payer money.


That's one thing that could be done, but the bigger problem is
prevention,
e.g., heart attacks and other life-threatening, but preventable
conditions.
We need a coverage for all people that include preventative care.

Most of the prevention for those things do not require a doctor, they
require some self restraint and a little activity from the patient.

Untrue for lots and lots of things. High blood pressure for example
requires
that the patient get tested and then monitored carefully. Cancer, regular
checkups find all sorts of things.


You still don't need 8 years of training to monitor blood pressure. I
think a lot of this blood pressure thing is driven by the drug
companies that sell the pills. I am a little sensitive about this
because blood pressure medicine killed my mother.
She had the "white fright" problem and her resting blood pressure was
in the 90/60 range in spite of regularly blowing a 190/100 at the
doctor's office. It went down hill from there.


Basically step away from the doughnuts, put out the cigarette and take
a walk.
Michelle Obama seems to be taking that on but she is not getting much
help from the media. They sell doughnuts (fast food, potato chips,
candy etc) and you can't watch TV if you are out on a walk.


Yes, obesity is a huge (no pun intended) problem.



Monitoring isn't the problem. Lots of people can't get it under control
without medicine and it needs to be monitored closely. I'm sorry for your
mom. Diabetes is another silent killer. It's not just getting tested.. it's
regular monitoring and checkups. There are a host of others. That's why docs
go through so many years of training. Nurses and Physician Assistants can do
some of it, certainly. But, they can't do al lot of it.


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Nom=de=Plume