Replacing Yourself to Middle Age

Did you know that thirty to forty percent of elective angioplasties, spinal fusions, knee and hip replacements are not necessary? Actually, that smattering of statistics didn’t bother me as much as the word elective. It is hard to believe insurance companies approve these procedures. It is hard to believe that consumers of health care want these things. It is hard to believe doctors are suggesting these things. What motivates this unbelievable cycle of major medical consumption?

 
Did you know sixty marks the beginning of the new middle age? Does this mean we should expect to celebrate our one hundred twentieth birthday? Are we going to be shunted, stinted, metallically jointed and braced from the inside? Why have middle age at all when we can take a little blue pill, a bladder control pill, cholesterol and blood pressure pill combined, we can grow our eye lashes by prescription, recharge our oxygen machines, use a store supplied scooter when the cart no longer serves as a walker, take a pill to get some sleep, eat yogurt to go to the bathroom, and generally treat most of the symptoms of aging.

 
Don’t get me wrong, I take my share of medications, double my pain pills before I go to the gym and cannot imagine sleeping without pharmaceutical assistance.

 
I am just having trouble melding the idea of elective surgeries and moving middle age to sixty. I suppose every decade sees improvement in health care but I’d like to see a trend toward ‘do it yourself’ care, not self surgery, but a the sort of self involvement that includes insurance companies, consumers and doctors in preventative treatments.

 
I think a sort of education-health-care campaign that encourages elective prevention might be a good idea. For example, on a person’s thirtieth birthday they would get reduced insurance premiums if they began and maintained a gym membership, shopped at a whole foods market, kept their body mass below a certain level and participated in healthy pastimes.

Is it fair to move middle age to sixty if the participants have been surgically enhanced, is claiming to be middle aged like a sport or a bike race where people can be disqualified for using steroids or doping before an event?  I am raising more questions than I can answer, so I think I’ll stop now. 

Thanks for another opportunity to present my opinions and run-on sentences, be sure to check back for new posts and as always you can leave a comment.