Preventing aging is better than treating critical illness
Studies have found that delaying aging is more valuable than curing individual critical diseases. For Americans, delaying aging and increasing life expectancy by ten years is worth more than $7 trillion per year!
When I was in graduate school, my professor at the University of Chicago, Kevin Murphy, was studying the economic contribution of medical innovation. He found that in the thirty years since the 1970s, the decline in heart disease mortality alone had made Americans life expectancy increased by more than 3 years. Coupled with the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and various cancers, the average life expectancy is increased by about 5 years. Human life has a price, and the economic contribution of these medical innovations brings a return worth more than $3 trillion to the United States every year, which is equivalent to half of GDP!
Yes, after the “epidemiological transition” of the last century, the epidemics that threaten humanity have shifted from infectious diseases that threaten younger generations to chronic diseases that threaten older generations, and dealing with cardiovascular diseases and For chronic diseases such as various cancers, the mainstream medical response is that treatment is better than prevention. Just imagine that the more successful the investment in treating heart disease is, the higher our chances of surviving to the age of 60 will be, and the greater the risk of various cancers. As a result, the demand for prevention and treatment of various cancers will be greatly increased. Think about it, when cancer doesn’t kill us, prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s will only become more valuable. Therefore, I think the most important economic revelation of health capital in the twentieth century is the increasing returns on health investment, and this increasing return is due to the complementary relationships between different health capital investments.
Let’s test everyone, who is the number one killer and the highest risk factor for cardiovascular disease? Is it high blood sugar? Or high blood pressure or hyperlipidemia? No, the answer is advanced age! It turns out that older age is the highest risk factor for all chronic diseases. To tell the story of longevity in the 21st century, experts from two major disciplines recently jointly published an article “The Economic Value of Targeting Aging”. The article pointed out: In the 21st century, extending healthspan is more valuable than purely extending lifespan. , and delaying aging is more valuable than curing individual critical diseases. Delaying aging and increasing life expectancy by ten years is estimated to be worth more than 7 trillion U.S. dollars in return per year. By resisting aging, we can ultimately meet all our health needs.
The author is the chief economist of Orientis (studied from the Chicago School of Economics, and excels in business because he believes that business practice is the best standard for testing market truth.)
2024-02-21 20:30:16
#Preventing #aging #curing #critical #illness #am730
