Ethical, political, and social aspects of high-technology medicine: Eos and care.

Intensive Care Med

San Bortolo Hospital, Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Via Rodolfi 37, 36100 Vicenza, Italy.

Published: June 2006

Objective: We discuss biosocial aspects of high-technology medicine (HTM) to provide a global view of the current model of medicine in the developed world and its consequences.

Methods: We analyze changes in the concept of death and in the use and cost of HTM. The consequences of HTM on the delivery of basic medical care within and among countries are discussed. Concepts derived from Greek mythology are used to illustrate the problems associated with HTM.

Results: HTM can be extremely effective in individual cases, but it poses important bioethical and biosocial problems. A major problem is related to the possibility of manipulating the process of dying and the consequent alteration in the social concept of death, which, if not carefully regulated, risks transforming medicine into an expensive way of pursuing pointless dreams of immortality (myth of Eos). Another problem is related to the extraordinary amount of resources necessary for HTM. This model of medicine (which is practiced daily) has limited sustainability, can work only in highly developed countries, may contribute to unequal access to health care, and has negligible positive impact on global health and survival.

Conclusions: HTM poses very important biosocial questions that need to be addressed in a wider and transparent debate, in the best interest of society and HTM as well.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00134-006-0155-0DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

aspects high-technology
8
high-technology medicine
8
model medicine
8
concept death
8
htm
7
medicine
5
ethical political
4
political social
4
social aspects
4
medicine eos
4

Similar Publications

The risk of believing that emotions are bad and uncontrollable: association with orthorexia nervosa.

Eat Weight Disord

January 2025

Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore emotional functioning in individuals with varying levels of orthorexia nervosa (ON) symptoms. Given the established links between emotion dysregulation and other eating disorders (EDs), and the conceptualization of ON within the ED spectrum, this research sought to examine the relationships between ON symptomatology and emotion regulation strategies, alexithymia, and beliefs about emotions.

Methods: A large sample (N = 562) completed self-report measures with high psychometric properties, assessing ON traits (E-DOS), emotion regulation strategies (DERS-SF and ERQ), alexithymia (TAS-20), and beliefs about emotions (ERQ).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Current approaches in CRISPR-Cas system for metabolic disorder.

Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci

January 2025

School of Health Sciences & Technology, UPES, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Electronic address:

A new era in genomic medicine has been brought by the development of CRISPR-Cas technology, which presents hitherto unheard-of possibilities for the treatment of metabolic illnesses. The treatment approaches used in CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene therapy, emphasize distribution techniques such as viral vectors and their use in preclinical models of metabolic diseases like hypercholesterolemia, glycogen storage diseases, and phenylketonuria. The relevance of high-throughput CRISPR screens for target identification in discovering new genes and pathways associated with metabolic dysfunctions is an important aspect of the discovery of new approaches.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hollandite-type α-MnO exhibits exceptional promise in current industrial applications and in advancing next-generation green energy technologies, such as multivalent (Mg, Ca, and Zn) ion battery cathodes and aerobic oxidation catalysts. Considering the slow diffusion of multivalent cations within α-MnO tunnels and the catalytic activity at edge surfaces, ultrasmall α-MnO particles with a lower aspect ratio are expected to unlock the full potential. In this study, ultrasmall α-MnO (<10 nm) with a low aspect ratio (c/a ≈ 2) is synthesized using a newly developed alcohol solution process.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As teeth develop, their mineralised composition is a bio-recorder of diet, environment, and growth. High-resolution elemental mapping provides a tool to reveal records of life history within teeth. The relative concentrations of a range of trace elements change between in utero development, birth, and weaning in eutherian mammals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved clinical outcomes across several solid tumour types. Prominent efforts have focused on understanding the anticancer mechanisms of these agents, identifying biomarkers of response and uncovering resistance mechanisms to develop new immunotherapeutic approaches. This research has underscored the crucial roles of the tumour microenvironment and, particularly, tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in immune-mediated tumour elimination.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!