Post subject: 15 costliest medical conditions

Heart disease,
mental disorders,
lung disease,
cancer,
trauma,

high blood pressure,
diabetes,
back problems,
arthritis,
stroke and other brain blockages,

skin disorders,
pneumonia,
infectious disease,
hormone disorders, and
kidney disease.

Healthcare spending from 1987 to 2000 increased $200 billion, and these 15 diseases are the major contributors. Costs of care for these diseases increased dramatically for the last 17 years or so.

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".... The big hikes in spending there were due to better but more expensive new drugs and devices."

I think this is the crux of the matter.

20/30 years ago, doctors were confident enougn to diagnose what the believed the problem to be & try out treatment for it. If that didn't work, they re-thought the story.

Nowadays, with such big lawsuits being filed for the slightest thing, they are not willing to do that, and always refer the patient for...CAT scans, Xrays, whatever - these machines are wildly expensive to use. Even dialysis treatment costs around $50.000 per person per year, and let's not even mention radiotherapy & chemotherapy.

'Healthcare' is becoming machine-and-drug-based, with not too much human element - quite sad really.

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