Worldwide, healthcare costs $9.5 trillion annually. If it were a country, it would be the world’s third largest economy. And it is in trouble.
Healthcare, in it’s current form contributes nothing to an economy, because it it reactive, dealing with health issues as they happen. With aging populations, healthcare costs are increasing at an unsustainable rate, and with a world in the initial phases of a recession, politicians are being forced to make uncomfortable decisions. This will not go well, and people in Britain are already finding out.
A big part of the problem with healthcare is that people consider healthy as not being sick. If they have a chronic condition, that’s being held in check with medication, they consider themselves to be healthy. Eighty seven percent of the people who succumbed during the COVID pandemic had a pre-existing condition, and many of them considered themselves to be healthy. They were not.
Healthy is a state where the body is able to combat infections and viruses, and is highly resistant to most medical conditions because the immune system is in good condition. That is what heart rate variability measures, when it’s done properly.
The standard recommendations from doctors trying to improve health have always been:
- Get proper rest;
- Take more exercise;
- Eat properly;
- Take a holiday;
- Stop smoking;
- Drink less.
The effect of all of these recommendations is improved health, and they are exactly the same behaviours that lead to improved HRV metrics.
And here is the kicker. Following these changes also produces greater wellbeing and happiness in the workforce, which in turn produces higher productivity. Yes, for the first time, healthcare will be contributing to economic growth, and is a worthwhile investment.
Of course the existing healthcare industry will resist that. They have too much to lose. But so do we, if we don’t take a different approach.
Live healthy to be healthy.
