Clipping Board » Medical Myths ─ The truth about healthcare is often different from what you intuitively think.
【United Online Planning / Excerpted and compiled from the book "Using Only Blood Pressure Medication Is a Death Sentence"】
2012.07.24
There are many things about Taiwan that we can be proud of—its hardworking, kind, and hospitable people, its advanced technology, and its abundance of talent. However, there is also one record that stands far ahead of other nations, firmly holding the world's top spot: the incidence and prevalence of dialysis. Even more astonishing is that the primary driver behind this record is actually our National Health Insurance (NHI) system.
**Taiwan Research, International Exposure: NHI Leads to Dialysis**
In 2008, the Taiwan Society of Nephrology published a clinical study on kidney failure in the internationally renowned nephrology journal *Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation*. The study analyzed the incidence, prevalence, and even mortality rates of kidney failure in Taiwan before and after the implementation of the NHI. The results revealed that five years after the NHI was introduced, the incidence of kidney failure increased by 2.6 times, the prevalence surged by 3.5 times, and the mortality rate more than doubled! These statistics clearly rank Taiwan first in the world.
Did Taiwanese kidneys suddenly deteriorate after the NHI was launched? Or do Taiwanese people enjoy government "benefits" so much that they deliberately undergo unnecessary kidney dialysis as a form of SPA? Or, as some speculate, is it because Taiwan's dialysis technology has advanced, allowing patients to survive longer and thus accumulate in numbers? No. Beyond the surface issue of the NHI system, the core problem is this: **blood pressure medication is free!**
**Abuse of Blood Pressure Medication May Lead to Kidney Failure**
The globally authoritative medical journal *The Lancet* (2008) pointed out that blood pressure medication can cause kidney damage. The study showed that patients with cardiovascular diseases or diabetes who use blood pressure medication long-term experience significant kidney function impairment, especially when multiple types of blood pressure drugs are combined—the harm becomes even more severe.
A few years ago, a shocking clinical study on kidney disease was published in *Kidney International* (2006), the professional journal of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), the leading global authority on kidney medicine. The study found that diabetic patients who used blood pressure medication (ACE inhibitors) long-term exhibited a clear increase in kidney failure, with a 4.2-fold higher rate of end-stage renal failure after just three years.
**A National "Big Business": The Longer You Live, the More You Claim**
The implementation of the NHI has accelerated the utilization of medical resources by the public. Particularly after the equalization of medical costs under public healthcare, the commercial interests that once operated openly naturally shifted to a "shared pot" model. To maximize profits, one must **"abuse"** these public resources to reap greater returns.Therefore, under the deliberate care, encouragement, and promotion by the "givers," and driven by the "recipients'" fear and mentality of enjoying benefits, the consumption and cost of these antihypertensive drugs have firmly held the top spot for over a decade!
When people treat hypertension symptoms as a "business," and since the government foots the bill, "customers" only need to spend a small amount to receive large quantities of free medication—both the "customers" feel satisfied and the "business owners" are happy with their profits. If ordinary people were to run this kind of "business," who wouldn’t want to make it as big and long-lasting as possible?
According to statistics from the Department of Health, the hypertension consultation rate was 144 per 100,000 people in the year before the implementation of National Health Insurance (1994). However, three years after its implementation (1998), the rate soared to 8,245 per 100,000 people—a staggering 57-fold increase! By 2010, the number of hypertension consultations reached 13,583 per 100,000 people, an absurd 94-fold rise! If we were to rank this globally, this "Taiwan miracle" would truly be number one in the world!
[This article is excerpted from Dr. Chen Zhiming’s 2012 book *Using Only Blood Pressure Medication Is Suicide*, published by Microscope Culture.]
Source: http://udn. com/ NEWS/ NATIONAL/ AD1/ 7245575. shtml#ixzz21h73nlSF
Overuse of Blood Pressure Drugs May be Leading Cause of Dialysis in Taiwan
2012.07.24
There are many things about Taiwan that we can be proud of—its hardworking, kind, and hospitable people, its advanced technology, and its abundance of talent. However, there is also one record that stands far ahead of other nations, firmly holding the world's top spot: the incidence and prevalence of dialysis. Even more astonishing is that the primary driver behind this record is actually our National Health Insurance (NHI) system.
**Taiwan Research, International Exposure: NHI Leads to Dialysis**
In 2008, the Taiwan Society of Nephrology published a clinical study on kidney failure in the internationally renowned nephrology journal *Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation*. The study analyzed the incidence, prevalence, and even mortality rates of kidney failure in Taiwan before and after the implementation of the NHI. The results revealed that five years after the NHI was introduced, the incidence of kidney failure increased by 2.6 times, the prevalence surged by 3.5 times, and the mortality rate more than doubled! These statistics clearly rank Taiwan first in the world.
Did Taiwanese kidneys suddenly deteriorate after the NHI was launched? Or do Taiwanese people enjoy government "benefits" so much that they deliberately undergo unnecessary kidney dialysis as a form of SPA? Or, as some speculate, is it because Taiwan's dialysis technology has advanced, allowing patients to survive longer and thus accumulate in numbers? No. Beyond the surface issue of the NHI system, the core problem is this: **blood pressure medication is free!**
**Abuse of Blood Pressure Medication May Lead to Kidney Failure**
The globally authoritative medical journal *The Lancet* (2008) pointed out that blood pressure medication can cause kidney damage. The study showed that patients with cardiovascular diseases or diabetes who use blood pressure medication long-term experience significant kidney function impairment, especially when multiple types of blood pressure drugs are combined—the harm becomes even more severe.
A few years ago, a shocking clinical study on kidney disease was published in *Kidney International* (2006), the professional journal of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), the leading global authority on kidney medicine. The study found that diabetic patients who used blood pressure medication (ACE inhibitors) long-term exhibited a clear increase in kidney failure, with a 4.2-fold higher rate of end-stage renal failure after just three years.
**A National "Big Business": The Longer You Live, the More You Claim**
The implementation of the NHI has accelerated the utilization of medical resources by the public. Particularly after the equalization of medical costs under public healthcare, the commercial interests that once operated openly naturally shifted to a "shared pot" model. To maximize profits, one must **"abuse"** these public resources to reap greater returns.Therefore, under the deliberate care, encouragement, and promotion by the "givers," and driven by the "recipients'" fear and mentality of enjoying benefits, the consumption and cost of these antihypertensive drugs have firmly held the top spot for over a decade!
When people treat hypertension symptoms as a "business," and since the government foots the bill, "customers" only need to spend a small amount to receive large quantities of free medication—both the "customers" feel satisfied and the "business owners" are happy with their profits. If ordinary people were to run this kind of "business," who wouldn’t want to make it as big and long-lasting as possible?
According to statistics from the Department of Health, the hypertension consultation rate was 144 per 100,000 people in the year before the implementation of National Health Insurance (1994). However, three years after its implementation (1998), the rate soared to 8,245 per 100,000 people—a staggering 57-fold increase! By 2010, the number of hypertension consultations reached 13,583 per 100,000 people, an absurd 94-fold rise! If we were to rank this globally, this "Taiwan miracle" would truly be number one in the world!
[This article is excerpted from Dr. Chen Zhiming’s 2012 book *Using Only Blood Pressure Medication Is Suicide*, published by Microscope Culture.]
Source: http://udn. com/ NEWS/ NATIONAL/ AD1/ 7245575. shtml#ixzz21h73nlSF