Did You Know Biotechnology Can't Fix Everything?

Let's face it: we're probably not the type of a healthy living right now. Sure, we all try our best to live healthy lifestyles, but it just doesn't always work out. Surrounded by fast food restaurants, chocolate bars and the attraction to be a couch potato, it's a wonder that anyone is in great health. As with any part of technology, the most successful one deals with what's happening in the moment. It seems that as society continues to develop, we need technology to match our new lifestyles. Many kinds of diseases and disorders that have been left a mystery are becoming more and more treatable by doctors worldwide. These advances are seen as progress in the biotechnological field, allowing technology to play a great role in the medical field. Although this is all true, it also seems that technological advances are not certainly pushing us to change our lifestyles, but rather dealing with the way we already live.

A general technological advance is the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. It uses a large pull and the hydrogen protons in the human body to create images through the way tissues in the body react with these magnetized protons. Using this system, doctors have controlled to analyze various illnesses without needing surgeries of any kind, including vascular, digestive and respiratory problems. Technology being able to help people with many different kinds of problems is surely something to appreciate.

Diet is one of the areas in which society has definitely changed. Many people don't have the time to cook food anymore, leading to more store-bought meals and food. Add in the nights out at restaurants and the snack foods between meals and you've got the perfect formula for heart disease. It's known that restaurants want their food to taste the best and please their customers, but it all comes at the cost of salt and fats. All of these fats will end up leading to clogged arteries, which is a major health concern.

Clogged arteries can be factors leading to many different types of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, strokes and high-blood pressure. Fat deposits gather at one point in the artery, and can reduce their diameter far, leading to those problems. Blood clots are also a problem, often being formed at the clogged points and breaking the amount of blood and oxygen movement even more. Sometimes, when arteries are completely clogged, a heart bypass surgery is necessary. This is a type of open heart surgery where blood vessels are taken from other areas of the body and the clogged portion is replaced. Although generally successful, it can be sometimes very risky and dangerous for the patient.

There are two new technological advances that have most likely new methods of dealing with clogged arteries. Researchers in Israel have evolved protein-based injections that can help the regrowth of blood vessels. This can lead to the removal of bypass surgery all together. “The growth of new blood vessels happens within a few weeks, showing improved blood circulation,” says Dr. Britta Hardy (Science Daily). The new blood vessels are mixed into the circulatory system and have produced affirming results in mice. The second method comes from Sweden, where Helen Fink has used bacteria to synthesize new blood vessels. Acetobacter xylinym is a bacterium that can produce cellulose-based blood vessels agreeing with the natural human body's circulatory system.

The truth is there is only so much that most technology can do. They can give you all the materials and resources to help reduce the chance of damaging the major systems, but if people don't want to change their lifestyle for the better, there is nothing else that can be done. Sure, biotechnology has taken us further in providing easy ways of becoming healthier, such as methods of getting fresh vegetables all year. Most of the technological advances involve fixing the consequences of our actions, instead of the problem. Maybe it's because we can't see past the issues in our sights, or maybe it's because we don't accept the root as a problem. Either way, something is going to have to change.

Although biotechnology has definitely improved over the years, offering advances that cater to the needs of people facing illness, it seems that something still must be changed to completely fix the problem. We need to become more focused on living healthy lives, whether that is through proper diet or active lifestyles. We can't depend on technology to fix all of our problems, especially since it was one of the causes of our current situation. Even as technology continues to improve the field of medicine, it is still up to us, as the individuals, to take action and improve our quality of life by being the form of healthy living.

Sources:

Advances of MRI - Express Healthcare Management
"New developments in heart bypass surgery"http://battlingforhealth.com/2009/12/new-developments-in-heart-bypass-surgery/?doing_wp_cron
Bacteria make artificial blood vessel of the future - ScienceDaily
Bypassing Bypass Surgery: New Blood Vessels Grown to Combat Heart Disease - ScienceDaily

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