The human body has amazing recuperative powers, a fact the average doctor well knows. But the human mind tends to get in a panic when Junior gets a croupy cough or Janella Ann sprains her ankle.
We hear complaints about the level of medical care now being offered.
Young mothers are disturbed because antibiotics are not so readily available for young fry who get sore throats. If the doctor suggested a mixture of honey and lemon, he knows he would get a stony stare.
It’s important, after all, to get that child back in school, playing hockey and beating the cymbals in the school band, isn’t it?
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I grew up in the pre-antibiotic age. My siblings and I all survived strep throats, influenza and all the usual list of childhood diseases. If we ran a high temperature the doctor’s telephone message would be: “Rest, drink lots of fluids, keep warm and you should be back at full speed in a week.”
Then during the Second World War penicillin came into use. Armed forces personnel noticed how they had been restored to health with an antibiotic treatment. We’ve been suckers for instant remedies ever since even though antibiotic-resistant bacteria are now threatening our castle in the clouds.
When medicare came in,. the line-ups at doctors’ offices stretched from here to there.
The vast majority of aches and pains treated would have gone away by themselves, given a sensible diet and appropriate exercise. Don’t expect a politician who depends on your votes to tell us we have been spoiled, but we have.
