From: Dennis Roberts (droberts@netvectors.com)
Date: Thu Apr 08 1999 - 20:09:38 MDT
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 his
convienence 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)
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