In general, people are living longer now. Discuss the causes of this phenomenon. Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay.
(a) A greater number of people are now hitting the eighty-year mark than ten years ago. In fact, the life expectancy of the average human has gone up considerably, and is rising still. This phenomenon is the result of several reasons. For one, continuing scientific and medical innovation ensure that more people receive the treatment they require. As our knowledge grows regarding various diseases, we become better equipped to tackle them. Consequently, we have managed to eradicate some diseases on a global scale, while controlling the other diseases, so that the rate of mortality does not reach an alarming height during the outbreak of a disease. The plagues of yore, as well as the more recent plague outbreaks are becoming few and far in between. Such control of diseases means that the general life expectancy has gone up.
Diseases such as cancer, which used to result almost inevitably in death, are now curable, provided they are diagnosed at a certain stage. Diseases such as tuberculosis and cholera now cause fewer deaths than they used to only a few decades ago.
Another reason for the greater life expectancy is the general betterment of the quality of life. What we call the ‘global village’ is fast becoming a city. And in this city, more and more people are being provided a better level of hygiene than ever before. A better and improving system of communication ensures that the latest medical discoveries in the United States and Europe are known all over the world in a space of a few days. Therefore, more and more people have access to better health care. Even people living in relatively remote areas have access to some kind of medical facilities. Though these facilities may be incapable of handling a crisis, they may help prevent death in cases that require antibiotics and antivenin, thereby preventing death by infection or poison.
The increase in awareness also means that people in general are becoming more aware of the risks of various diseases. For instance, more people now, than two decades ago, are aware of the scourge of cholesterol and the havoc it wreaks on an individual’s circulatory system. Similarly people are becoming aware that prevention is, after all, better than cure and are taking the appropriate steps to prevent infection from diseases.
In general, though, the increased life expectancy owes much to the revolution in communication. It may be mentioned that even two hundred years ago, inventions and discoveries were being made. However, they did few people any good. It simply took too long to disseminate the information. The general level of awareness regarding health was also low. However, it has been noticed that since the inception of communication through first print, and then radio and television, the level of awareness regarding health has generally risen. To illustrate, print facilitated the spread of knowledge through books. Radio helped bring that knowledge to many people. Television helped to further this knowledge and disseminate is amongst an even greater number of people. And finally, the Internet has removed the final barriers between intercultural and interracial communication.
In the coming years, we may hope to see an even greater increase in life expectancy, even as communication techniques continue to improve.
(b) According to the latest statistics, the average life span of human beings is about 75-79 years old. Comparing to that ten years ago, it has been increased by 10%. Advancement in technology, better lifestyle and nutritional diets are the main reasons for prolonged lives.
Advancement in technology helps to bring about new methods of curing fatal diseases. Cancer used to have no cure in the last decade, but recently new methods such as X-ray treatment and various types of injections are introduced which can greatly extend the patients’ lives. Advancement in technology also improves the quality of medical instruments. This lowers the risk and minimizes the possible side effects of various operations.
People nowadays are having better lifestyle than in the past. They are more aware of the importance of healthiness. Compulsory annual body checks help to prevent the condition to worsen and the spread of diseases. People become more depending on their family doctors when they are sick instead of consuming medicine that is not given by their doctors. They also learn to maintain a suitable amount of workload and take breaks in order to be healthy psychologically. This can minimize the chances of getting the diseases that are stress related such as heart attack.
Balanced diet is not only a motto for people who are keeping fit, but also applies to the general public. People become more aware of the choice of food. They start to pay attention to the nutritional values of food. This can serve as a guideline to prevent people from overeating certain types of food and ignoring the nutritional food. It can therefore improve the healthiness of the public as a whole. It can also reduce the chances for malnutrition and can help extend the life span of human beings.
To conclude, advancement in technology and raising awareness in healthy lifestyle help to extend the life span of human beings. We can predict that in the future, people can live longer and healthier, and more methods of curing diseases will be introduced.
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