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HEALTHCARE: THE OVER-EDUCATED CONSUMER
Let's get this straight. The Internet is fabulous. It is such a ubiquitous part of our lives that it is almost unimaginable to
think of a world when we didn't structure our whole day around it. Checking e-mail as soon as you get to the office, skimming through newspaper headlines ( ever since I paid $49.95 to get Times Select,
I can't remember the last time I actually bought the New York Times from a news stand), looking up your astrology forecast for the day and the latest advice on your love life, catching up with your favorite
political blog, hunting for a recipe so you know what ingredients to pick up in your lunch break for fixing a quick dinner when you get home…… One can go on and on and, just
remember, we haven't yet even begun to talk about the part played by the Internet at work. Doctors, lawyers, educators, students, investment bankers and stock brokers, the entire
communications media-in fact just about every profession or occupation in our society (except maybe the street vendor) needs to use it in order to function effectively on the job.However, sometimes the fabulousness of the Internet can get out of hand. There is such a thing as information overload. With arguments to be found to back virtually any opinion or claim on any possible subject deemed worthy of discussion,
the ordinary person can get so overwhelmed, that s/he can begin to yearn for the good old days when the teacher gave you a research assignment for homework and all you had to do
was go to the library and pull out the relevant tome from the Encyclopedia Britannica. (I long ago put my own collection out on the street for recycling.) Let me illustrate with one
example-healthcare-since it is the industry with which I have the most familiarity. We are probably the most health-conscious nation in the
world. Kindergarten children are taught to read food labels to see if they contain trans fats or saturated fats before they learn to read for pleasure. I do not wait for my doctor to tell
me about my blood pressure or my cholesterol levels during my yearly check-up. I've already read up about HDL, LDL, triglycerides and lipoproteins on Web MD or one of the other 6
trillion Web sites dealing with health matters and I've gone out and bought my very own blood pressure monitor and home cholesterol testing kit as advertised on those pop-up ads
every time I turn on my computer. Now I can test my blood pressure 15 times a day in between those times when I'm not running on the treadmill at the gym doing my 3-mile-a day
work out to ensure my cardiovascular system is in optimum condition. Food shopping has become as complex a task as brain surgery. A few months ago I remember feeling thrilled to read on the
Internet that there were several beneficial effects to drinking coffee (including protection against high blood pressure and
diabetes) and so I need not feel guilty about my regular 8AM and 3PM cravings for it. Last month, based on a study done at Brown University's Department of Community Health, Leslie Sabbagh of Healthday
reported that even "an occasional cup of coffee might trigger first heart attacks in some people". Not only that, I might get Parkinson's, breast cancer,
osteoporosis, hypertension and possibly kill myself (yes, there's actually a study in the works linking coffee drinking to suicide in women!) Not so long ago we were strongly urged to
limit egg consumption to 3 times a week at most, and preferably only once a week because eggs are loaded with cholesterol. Lately the egg has made a spectacular come-back
and is now touted as the perfect food. Good news for me as a Parsi and life-time egg-lover. That is, until next month as I'm merrily browsing away on my computer looking for new recipes
for omelets and frittatas and I come across an article that announces I will shortly be dying of Allergic Granulomatosis and Angiitis.
How about the ever-popular subject of Depression? An on-line article in Psychology Today cites cross-cultural data showing that
the U.S. has a higher rate of depression than almost any other country. One of the causes offered is our growing reliance on technology for speeding up communication and
expecting instant results for every interpersonal problem. Exchange 2 e-mails with somebody on J-date or match.com, who sounds like the perfect soul-mate on paper, spend two
hours primping for the eagerly-awaited first date, go to bed with him, however unappealing the prospect, just because you've spent a month's salary on lingerie from La Perla or one
of those ridiculously expensive little boutiques in Soho, and you can't bear to let it all go to waste. The next morning you wake up alone in your own bed or next to a troll you cannot
recall having ever met, let alone getting into his bed. Then you wonder why you're feeling even more miserable than you did any of those lonely Saturday nights, staying up late on the
couch in your holey underwear and stained T-shirt, watching old movies on Showtime or AMC and stuffing your face with Doritos or Cheez Whizz on toast? Time for the old Zoloft-Lexapro-Prozac triumvirate to take over.
Please understand, I'm not knocking the Internet. I couldn't live without it. I'm not against seeking information from all
reliable sources on subjects that concern my physical or mental health. As the saying goes: "to be forewarned is to be forearmed". All I'm pleading for is a little balance. Instead of
obsessing over every study ever done on the subject of weight loss, take a long walk in the park with your dog or a friend who makes you laugh. Instead of spending time trying
to sound witty and sensitive in e-mails to perfect strangers, get to know your neighbor who lives across the hall, or the co-worker whose name you never bothered to find out.
Instead of constantly worrying about what's going to kill you next, savor the things you enjoy-whether it's an egg, a glass of wine, a great Camembert or an amazing chicken curry-just in moderation.
Learning how to keep yourself healthy is a means to an end-not an end in itself. Otherwise, it would be like spending your whole life learning techniques of how to play the piano from a book, but never making the music.
Vera Mehta
September 2006 _____________________
Vera Mehta, Ed.D. in Anthropology and Education, will spend several hours per week mining data from the office environment. She will be looking at
medical attitudes in New York, from both the physician's and patients' perspectives. She may be contacted at
veramehta@yafferuden.com |
