Are We Measuring Health by the Wrong Outcomes?
- erkanykaya
- Mar 30
- 3 min read
Are We Measuring Health by the Wrong Outcomes?
Modern medicine—especially in the West—has an extraordinary ability to intervene. In moments of crisis, it steps in: precise, powerful, often life-saving. But here’s the question we need to ask:
Is modern healthcare truly saving lives, or is it treating symptoms of a much deeper systemic problem?
🔬 The Contribution of Modern Medicine: A Savior or a Temporary Fix?
Since the 1750s, life expectancy worldwide has increased significantly. Improvements in hygiene, clean water, vaccination, and antibiotics—public health measures—have driven most of this change. But modern medicine alone is estimated to save just 2 lives per 1,000 people per year. (Sources: McKeown, WHO, Health Affairs)
That accounts for only 16% of total progress in mortality reduction. The remaining 84% comes from factors outside of clinical medicine.
These numbers don’t downplay the value of medical technology, but they highlight something deeper: If someone’s life is saved, what caused that life to be at risk in the first place? If the system keeps producing the same risks, we’re not solving the root cause—we’re just firefighting.
🍔 Systemic Issues: A Lifestyle That Damages Health
Despite the power of modern medicine, environmental and lifestyle-driven factors have become the leading causes of illness:
• Ultra-Processed Foods
In the US and UK, over 50% of daily calorie intake comes from ultra-processed foods—laden with sugars, refined carbs, additives, and empty calories. These are directly linked to obesity, diabetes, and several types of cancer. (BMJ, 2023)
• Sedentary Living
Physical inactivity has now surpassed smoking as a top cause of death. According to the WHO, around 5 million deaths each year are linked to lack of movement. (WHO, 2020)
• Mental Health Crisis
Anxiety, depression, burnout, insomnia... Modern work culture, urban life, digital addiction, and chronic stress are taking a serious toll on mental well-being. Psychiatric medication use is at record highs, but recovery rates are not following suit.
• Global Spread
This Western lifestyle is now exported globally—displacing traditional, preventive, community-based health models that once protected people from chronic disease.
📊 A Surprising Comparison: What the Mortality Numbers Say
Today, mortality rates in many Asian countries average 6–7 per 1,000 people.In Western societies, it’s 8–13 per 1,000.
And yet, in Asia, per capita healthcare spending is much lower. There are fewer MRI machines, fewer doctors per patient, and limited access to high-end medical interventions.
This leads us to a critical realization:If modern medicine saves 2 lives per 1,000 people annually,But the broader system it functions within creates 2 to 7 excess deaths per 1,000,Are we really winning?
🧭 The Real Question: Are We Truly Healing?
This isn’t an accusation.It’s a systems-level reckoning.
If we truly want to save lives, we must go upstream. More hospitals, more pills, more high-tech equipment—these are not enough. Because many of today’s diseases are symptoms of the system itself.
We must ask ourselves:
Does our education system teach people how to live healthy lives?
Does the food industry prioritize public well-being or profit?
Are cities designed for human movement or traffic flow?
Is our work culture sustainable for mental health?
Are health policies focused on prevention, or just on treatment?
🌱 Real Health: A Life Where Medicine Isn’t Necessary
Modern medicine is essential—no doubt.But true health is the kind of life where you rarely need medicine in the first place.
Preventive care, traditional wisdom, mental balance, quality sleep, natural food, physical activity, strong social bonds, and a sense of meaning—these are the foundations of lifelong well-being.
We need to redefine what a health system measures.Not just outputs like life expectancy or hospital visits.But the conditions that make health the default.
Erkan Yalçınkaya
Comments