My approach would be that whatever any insurance company covers would be covered for starters; anything else would have to be proven.
It’s a topic that deserves a soapbox. I’m a ‘convert’ to national health care the long hard way of collecting data and running figures and realizing that if the U.S. had a way of spending the same on healthcare as is spent now the result would be a system that would make Canada look like amateurs. It should follow Canada’s system of being run on the provincial/state level, and I’d even chop some states into multiple ‘districts’ to keep the system more responsive, like no more than ten million people in a district.
I’m not big on ‘holistic’ therapies nor the magical powers of ‘essential oils’, but I don’t expect big pharma to fund studies on the antibiotic properties of turmeric anytime soon. I’ve been using it for a decade and a half to great benefit on an extensive statistical population of N = 1.
I suppose the discussion of public health insurance could be stretched into this discussion only because it involves some of the ethical issues raised in how to control and regulate gene editing, but it is a really really big stretch. There are so many abuses of the age limited health care insurance (Medicare) that I shudder to think of what fraudulent opportunities would be taken advantage of with an expanded system that would cover some of these poorly supported treatments. Anyway, let’s try to return to the original subject.
It’s worth noting that the #1 source of anxiety in the U.S. boils down to having a crappy medical system. Thus the best way to deal with anxiety in the U.S. would be to implement a universal medical coverage system – and if that system could provide some solutions via gene editing, that would be two blows against anxiety at once.
Ethical debates around any new form of treatment should be obligatory and gene therapy is not unique in that regard. The Christian community should have a voice in this and ethical principles derived from the Bible is and has always been important.
But I think we can overstate the importance too, examples of this can probably be found when any new idea or reality is introduced. How specific the Bible can be on gene editing is beyond my level of Bible knowledge, but who’s to say that Jesus did not heal people by changing their genes.
“Modern medicine refuses to acknowledge grass roots medicine and treatment and is built around capitalising on emergency.“
Just wanted to comment on this statement, because that’s a very frequent one to encounter. I’d say Modern medicine doesn’t refuse anything that works. I’m a doctor myself and would gladly “prescribe” a massage to help with anxiety/depression. Have even worked in units where this as well as acupuncture has been used routinely.
But Modern medicine is always seeking proof. Evidence that something works and that it is cost effective. To blame “Big Pharma” on not spending money on researching massage therapy or similar is obviously ridiculous. They are profit driven companies, it’s literally not their business to do so.
If anything, the research should be done with public funding, but no one wants to pay more taxes.
Also important (back to ethics questions) to realise that gene therapy is not one thing. Genetic diseases can be treated in many different ways. mRNA or viral introduced therapies are very different to CRISPR editing and germ lines modification different again. Different techniques carry different possibilities, hopes, risks and consequences.
Most of us have now already had a taste of one of these new treatments and some of the pushback (including fear that God wouldn’t recognise our “modified” genes) serve to show that a lot of education is needed in this very exciting new field.
Welcome to the forum, Stian! We appreciate new voices and look forward to getting to know you better and hearing your viewpoint. We have several physicians around here (I am a retired family medicine doc). I agree that massage is therapeutic and treatment of anxiety/depression requires multiple modalities. Meds alone do not do the job, and life style changes, behavior therapy and relaxation techniques all have a role. The ethics of gene therapy is certainly a ripe topic for discussion.
I just think cutting genes out seems brutal, when surly science is able to hit the off switch or the moderate function switch on them. A certain level of anxiety is good, it makes us conscientious, too much is obviously debilitating.
With regards to the big pharmaceuticals, well I don’t have a stack of research papers but so I’ve read that they’re not really sure why things like SSRI’s work. Also they’re not a cure, they provide a platform for the individual to start to function so they can work through issues, triggers and toxicities social or chemical that may be exacerbating their mental health issues.
I think I mentioned already talking therapy has been proven to be more effective than antidepressants at treating depression, again I don’t know the legitimacy of these tests and under what controlled circumstances and factors of operation they were conducted under.
I’m not advocating not using modern medicine, that would be crazy! I’m not a conspiracy theorist. It’s just a natural consequence of a capitalist structure that the best interest of the people will be neglected for prophet.
Will god recognise us with a couple genes missing, I’d imagine so he’s god right… that’s probably as silly as god not recognising us because we change our clothes.
I’m pretty sure extra genes and missing genes are the cause of some health conditions and I know god recognises people with disability
Without digging into actual research I can say that it has at least some effect. It is difficult to do blinded studies of Acupuncture, but not impossible. The difference is whether skin is pierced or not. Studies I’ve seen show minimal difference to placebo.
Thing is, placebo effect is still an effect, and if that can reduce meditations with potential significant side effects, then that’s great.
Unproven treatments replacing life saving ones, like cancer treatments for instance, is a very different thing. Modern medicine at its best should be holistic in that it can utilise a wide variety of treatments for the correct conditions.
Obviously massage isn’t gene therapy in the sense of changing our DNA, but we know very little about what can change our gene expression. As often the case reality is more complex than we think.
