Robin Hanson wrote:
> On 4/6/99, Hal Finney wrote:
> >I don't like going to doctors either, but then I think of cases like
> >muppeteer Jim Henson, who died of pneumonia a couple of years ago. I
> >can't help thinking that if he'd gone to the doctor instead of waiting
> >for that darn cough to go away, he'd be alive today.
>
> The trouble with aneqdotes is, of course, that one can also find lots
> of cases of people who died because they did go to a doctor.
>
> This particular combination of posts serves to demonstrate what I feel
> is a major roadblock to widespread wellness in our
society. That is the inability of the average person to take FULL
responsiblity for their own health.
Henson- an obviously intelligent and talented individual- dies from a
disease that almost always kills a person who is already debilitated. How
does such a person allow themselves to get that way? Not knowing any more
about Henson than what I saw on TV, I can still be fairly sure that he:
Choose one or more from this list-
(1) smoked tobacco
(2) ate a diet heavy on fat and sucrose and almost devoid of a long list of
ESSENTIAL vitamins and minerals
(3) did as little physical exercise as possible (4) consumed excessive amounts of alcohol, or coke, or reefer, etc (5) hadn't had a complete physical in a long time (6) ignored early symptoms of declining health (7) then fully expected to be cured of any and all disease at hisconvienence and at resonable cost.
I'm not taking a poke at Henson. We all engage in risky behaviors and I
liked some of his work too. (KERMIT)
But don't expect your local MD to be able to cure a full blown case of
pneumonia when you wait until you are half dead before calling the office.
Dennis Roberts RT (R) (MR)