Do you still believe in the myth of health preservation? The key factor affecting life expectancy is medical treatment rather than "health preservation"

Li Qing, Tianjin Teda Hospital

Half a month ago, a person's death caused a lot of repercussions on the Internet.

On June 14, 2019, Mr. Mei Meisheng, a renowned health expert, died of intestinal cancer at the age of 59. Compared with the average life expectancy of 76 years in China, 59 years old is still very young.

Mei Mosheng is a well-known calligrapher, painter, scholar and Taijiquan expert. He practices Changquan at the age of 14 and Taijiquan at the age of 25. He paid attention to health preservation all his life. He published many classical articles on health preservation theory in various newspapers and magazines, and taught the public to pay attention to health preservation.

But, things go against their wishes.

Of course, a person's life span is affected by many factors, including genetic factors, environmental factors, living habits, diseases, social security and medical level.

We can't think that smoking and drinking are harmless to health because someone has lived for 100 years. We can't totally deny their living habits because someone doesn't live long. We can't simply deny health because the "health master" died early.

In the field of life and health, there are occasionality in individual cases.

Therefore, in medicine, individual cases can not explain the problem; several dozen cases, small samples of observation conclusions may be biased; only large samples and control conclusions can be convincing, it is more scientific.

For example, in the treatment of diseases, one or two or more patients can't think that the treatment is effective because of a few medicines or a treatment method. Only through large sample and randomized controlled observation can we draw scientific conclusions.

That is to say, big data is reliable.

Let's take a look at the big data on human life expectancy.

Some scholars have verified that the average life expectancy of Chinese people in past dynasties is: less than 18 years in Xia and Shang Dynasty, about 20 years in Zhou and Qin Dynasties, 22 years in Han Dynasty, 27 years in Tang Dynasty, 30 years in Song Dynasty, 33 years in Qing Dynasty and 35 years in Republic of China.

According to available data, the average life expectancy of Chinese people was 34-35 years in 1929-1931 and 39 years in 1944-1949. After summarizing the data, it is generally believed that in the first 50 years of the 20th century, the average life expectancy of the Chinese population was less than 40 years.

Further statistics show that the low life expectancy of the Chinese people during this period is not due to war, but to premature death from diseases, which is the main cause of the long-term low life expectancy of the Chinese people.

In fact, the average life expectancy of ancient Europeans was not long. According to statistics, the average life expectancy of Europeans in BC was only about 20 years old, and it continued to prolong slowly thereafter, reaching about 40 years old in 1850. That is to say, it took a long 2000 years for human life to prolong by 20 years.

The 19th century was a turning point. The average life expectancy of the population rose rapidly. In the more than 100 years since 1850, the average life expectancy of Europeans has increased by about 40 years, which is inseparable from the progress of medical technology and the improvement of the health environment. Especially the discovery of antibiotics and the application of immunization technology have eliminated various infectious diseases (such as cholera, smallpox and plague) which caused a large number of deaths in ancient times, making the average life expectancy of European population increase to about 2.3 years every ten years in this century, which is in sharp contrast with that in ancient times.

That is to say, the human life span is greatly prolonged because the development of physics and chemistry has led to the development of modern medicine. How can life be prolonged if the disease is uncontrolled? Without good medical treatment, where can we live a long and healthy life?

These have nothing to do with traditional health preservation!

At present, the life expectancy of the Chinese people has also increased substantially, but there is still a gap compared with many developed countries.

In May 2018, the World Health Organization released its latest report, World Health Statistics 2018: The average life expectancy of the global population reached 72 years, including 74.2 years for women and 69.8 years for men.

Regionally, life expectancy is the highest in Europe and the West Bank of the Pacific, 77.5 and 76.9 years respectively; 69.5 years in Asia; and 61.2 years in Africa.

In the ranking of life expectancy, Japan ranked first in the world with high quality medical services and social welfare, reaching 84.2 years old, with life expectancy of 87.1 years for women and 81.1 years for men. With the exception of Japan, the top ten countries are Switzerland, Spain, France, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Canada, South Korea and Norway, see figure.

The life expectancy of the Chinese population is about 76.4 years, including 75 years for males and 77.9 years for females, ranking 52nd, up from the previous level.

The top countries are basically those with developed economy, high medical level and perfect medical system.

Let's take another look at the ranking of life expectancy of the provinces and regions in mainland China.

The first two are Shanghai and Beijing, with average life expectancy exceeding 80 years, followed by Tianjin, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Liaoning, Hainan and Jilin. The cities or provinces with developed economy and high medical level ranked first.

Beijing and Tianjin are also heavily polluted by air.

No wonder netizens exclaim: the more developed areas, the worse the air quality, the longer the life expectancy per capita, and vice versa. This supports the truth that economic conditions are more important than air quality.

The word "health preservation" comes from Taoist thought. Since ancient times, Chinese people have paid attention to health preservation, but health preservation has not improved the average life span of Chinese people. Ancient emperors, who were most health-conscious, lived no longer than their subjects.

In 2017, stroke, ischemic heart disease (CHD), lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and liver cancer were the top five causes of death in China. If we can control these chronic diseases, it can also make us healthier and longevity.

The common risk factors of stroke and coronary heart disease are hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and smoking. Effective prevention and control of these four risk factors can greatly reduce the incidence and mortality of stroke and coronary heart disease.

In the treatment of chronic diseases, the concept of modern medicine has also changed from simple clinical treatment to disease management. It is not only the work of doctors but also the participation of patients and society to treat and control diseases.

For the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, stroke and coronary heart disease, detailed medical guidelines have been formulated, including when to start medication, what drugs to use, what target values to control, how to eat, how to exercise, and even refine to a few grams of salt per day, how much carbohydrate intake, how much exercise per week, and so on. All kinds of guidelines have made clear provisions and suggestions, and these provisions and suggestions are also from the global scientific research data.

For the vast majority of people, we should pay attention to healthy lifestyle in peacetime, such as reasonable diet, proper exercise, quitting smoking and alcohol, psychological balance and so on. Regular physical examination, early detection of problems, treatment of diseases, and control of various risk indicators to meet the standards. Only in this way can we truly achieve physical health and prolong life.

Health preservation is an activity of prolonging life by various means. The ultimate goal of health preservation is health and longevity. If health preservation, the above measures are the best health preservation.

Looking back, let's see how the health master Mei Mosheng keeps fit.

Four years ago, the health care community introduced him as follows:

Mei Meisheng, 55, has a spirit that is hard to compare with his peers. Although he sleeps only three or four hours a day, he can maintain a vigorous energy throughout the day. Every morning, Mei Meisheng would get up on time, climb the hill near his residence, face the rising sun, breathe and Practice for an hour. The integration of Chinese traditional culture makes him have his own unique understanding of health preservation.

He attached great importance to the health-preserving formulas of ancient physicians and Taoists, such as percussion of teeth, combing of hair and swallowing of body and soup. He had been practicing them for more than 20 years, every day, and the health-preservers recognized these health-preserving methods very much.

Mei Meisheng believes that these small methods, small health preservation, mainly through some local health care methods, so that the local body to maintain blood circulation, through friction and electricity, heat, and then play a health care role. Therefore, forming a daily regimen of these habits is conducive to health and longevity.

But according to friends'recollections, Mei Mosheng felt gastrointestinal discomfort at the end of last year.But he insisted on not asking the doctor, believing that his health care, will be far-reaching illness.It was not until the appearance of stool bleeding that family members forced them to go to the hospital for examination, but the result was advanced cancer.

Of course, last year's medical treatment can not guarantee his health and longevity, but judging from his actions, he does not believe in doctors and rejects modern medicine, which is the root of his tragedy. To refuse medical treatment is contrary to medical treatment. It is useless to know more about health preservation, because his way of health preservation is not correct at all.

Nowadays, there are many health-care institutions in our society. They expand, complicate and mystify the concept of health-care, vigorously promote the concept of health-care, vigorously promote the production of health-care products, brainwash the people in various forms, and deceive people under the guise of health-care.

This is actually a murder for money!

This is also the fundamental reason why many people dislike health preservation.

Scientific health concept, good living habits, perfect social guarantee and high-quality medical service can prolong life.

In short, health care is health management.

Medical science is the science of life. As for life and health, no theory of health preservation can surpass medical science.

There is no theory of health preservation which is contrary to medical theory in the world. Health preservation without medical basis is a joke.