3-1 Discussion Medical science Post 16

Medicalsciencehasdonemanywonderfulthings.Ithasprolonged

andextendedlife,providedcuresforawiderangeofdiseases,

identifiedthecauseofinfectiousdiseases,andproducedvaccines

anddrugstotreatthesemaladies.Despitethemanywonderful

thingsmedicalsciencehasdone,therecanbe‘toomuchofagood

thing’.

Oneofthefirstimplicationsof‘toomuchfaith’inmedicalscience

isthatpeoplehavebeenconditionedtoplace“aninordinateamount

oftrustinit,toanunrealisticandunsustainableextent”See(2019).

Consumingmedications,undergoingtreatments,embracing

unprovenmedicaladvanceshavetakentheplaceofahealthy

lifestyle.Insteadofmakinglifestylechanges,itis‘easier’tokeepthe

illnessincheckthrumedicaltreatment.“Thelackadaisicalattitude

towardsthemaintenanceofone’sphysicalhealthcouldbeattributed

totheoverconfidencethatpeoplehaveonthedrug-saturated

medicalparadigmthathasmanifested”See(2019).

Anotherimplicationof“toomuchfaith”inmedicalscienceisthat

boundarieshavebeenextended,technologieshavebeenexpanded,

andthecallto‘donoharm’hasbeenignoredtotheextentthat

medicalsciencehasmovedbeyondcuringthehumanbodyofdisease

andmaladiesbuttothepointofmodifyingitforourpleasure/desire.

Caseinpoint;cosmeticsurgery.Humansaredissatisfiedwiththe

current.Theywantnewandinnovativewaystoenhancethebody.

Thiscomeswithafinancialcostaswell.

Unfortunately,patientsandcliniciansunderestimatetheharmand

overestimatethebenefitsofmedicalintervention(Mandrola,2017).

Themedicalsciencethatwerelyoncan’talwaysbetrusted.As

notedbyRichardHorton,editoroftheLancet,“muchofthescientific

literature,perhapshalf,maysimplybeuntrue”“intheirquestfor

tellingacompellingstory,scientiststoooftensculptdatatofittheir

preferredtheoryoftheworld.”

Tosaveusfromourselves,weneedtobemoreskeptical,ask

morequestions.Beslowandconservative,sharethedatamorethan

theinterpretationofthedata,andfocusonthebenefitsandharmsin

absoluteterms(Mandrola,2017).Medicalscienceisgoodbutit’snot

perfectandthereistoomuchofagoodthing.



References:

Mandrola,J.(2017,April).Want more trust in medical sciences?

embrace uncertainty and cut the hype.LatestMedicalNews,Clinical

Trials,Guidelines-TodayonMedscape.RetrievedJanuary17,2022,

fromhttps://www.medscape.com/

See,Irwin(2019,October9).People are placing too much faith in

medical science- do you agree?Newyorktimes.com.RetrievedJanuary

17,2022.