Is medicine right or corrupt?

Question

I know how hard our scientists are working today to find a cure for things like cancer, AIDS, HIV, and diabetes. But in the long run, will medicine just backfire? Like today, there are a lot of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that are extremely strong. We made them that way because we overused antibiotics and some of them found a way to resist it.

I think medicine takes away natural defenses such as natural selection and evolution. Because we are constantly creating artificial things to protect us, we as a species are not growing stronger ourselves.

Example: 2% of the world population has a disease. Without a medicine, let's say 1.5% succumb to it but .5% develop natural resistance. The disease is still at its same strength level, but the humans are stronger. Now let's say we develop a medicine to cure the disease and save the 2%. Some of the disease will develop resistance to the medicine and come back stronger. So we've saved 2% but is that worth weakening the rest? WhatdoUthink?

Answer 1

Interesting question.  But I think it is incorrect to view natural selection and evolution as "natural defenses" against illness.  These are processes that have continued for billions of years on Earth, and will continue to do so for billions of years more.  And although your point concerning misued antibiotics is well taken, the microbes that antibiotics are designed to fight will evolve with or without the misuse of antibiotics - it's simply a matter of time.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), on the other hand, is an example of evolution and adaptation in overdrive, as it has constantly mutated and strengthened since exploding onto the world scene.  The difficulty in finding effective treatments for AIDS, let alone a cure, comes from HIV's success in changing itself faster than researchers can keep up with, which lead former Merck researcher Mark Goldman to comment, "Right now, the virus is just smarter than we are."

On the other hand, there is a biological imperative for a species to preserve itself, and humans are not the only species to utilize medicine as a means of self-preservation.  Some species of parrots in Australia have been observed ingesting certain clays in order to neutralize poisons that farmers sometimes use on grain.  So, on a more basic level, I think the use of medicine in order to preserve a species is not just ethical, but also an imperative.

Natural resistance is another issue that borders on the controversial issue of eugenics.  During the infamous Black Death in Europe, there were a select few humans who had inherited from both parents the genetic code that essentially rendered those individuals immune to bubonic plague; unfortunately, medicine being what it was during the Middle Ages, these people could only provide comfort for the afflicted instead of actual relief.

Long answer, I know, but I hope this helps a little.