Is our HEALTH all about the NUMBERS?
Symbols, integers, measures, these are a few of the words that provide us definitions of numbers. The caliber of definitions depends on our research objective and sources. The definitions do not provide definitive identities, but the definitions can provide guidance on how we learn and understand numbers. Is our health all about the numbers?
Kidney Contenders® monitors the medical science and regulatory data for health and wellness of the human anatomy. Medical science data can provide calculation results of population dependence on health and wellness quality vs. quantity ratio. Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a popular health topic for Kidney Contenders® . The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention 2019 report reads that “15% of US (United States) adults (37 million people) are estimated to have CKD.” The US population worldometer website reports there are over 328 million people (accounted for) living in the United States as of Wednesday, March 21. The two primary diagnosis causes that have high percentages are diabetes and high blood pressure. Based on a 100% scale, diabetes related causes for CKD are 38% and high blood pressure related causes for CKD are 26%, leaving 36% for other or unknown causes. Why are these numbers important? CKD is a real illness and real illnesses will kill us.
The causes for CKD and the amount of people affected with this illness are large amounts. Unless a person monitors their health every day with a licensed medical professional who has access to all medical technology to determine the person’s continuous health, people must understand the numbers. Numbers are significant to us when we are already affected by illnesses such as CKD. Once we are affected, we look for ways to resolve, when we could have taken a proactive approach prior to our diagnosis by studying the numerical data available.
“In a medical study of (age) 60+ males and females, 1 in every 4 will meet the diagnosis of CKD. Not everyone will need dialysis. Some are high risk for progression, and some are low risk.” – Matthew Sparks, M.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine
How much data must we study in order to understand whether we are healthy or whether we are in danger of succumbing to illnesses like CKD? How do we know what data is accurate?
This depends on how much we want to understand about our bodies and how our organs, like our kidneys function. The molecular development of the human body is complex. There are different genes, for example that have roles in the physiological development of the kidneys. Unless we have a passion for studying complex mathematical breakdown of our molecular development and sustainability, our focus will always be simple numbers. Regulatory data does provide simple numbers for non-medical professionals. We can also determine what data is accurate because of regulatory monitoring by our United States federal government.
“There are extensive controls in pre-clinical development” – Professor Al Jacks, Food & Drug Law, University of Georgia
Regulatory data provides regulatory oversight over how health and wellness can be accomplished within legal processes. Many of us focus on new drugs and how new drugs can be a temporary solution or a resolution for a health issue. New drugs are not marketed to us without research and surveillance by the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA list 5 steps required for drug development process and approval. Multiple testing is required by the drug applicant in the preclinical research step before the drugs can be tested on humans. Medical devices are also under regulatory policies. The MediBeacon medical device, transdermal Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) for example, is a measurement used by clinicians to monitor renal function. In October 2018, the FDA approved MediBeacon as a “Breakthrough Device” for expedited regulatory review, though the device is not yet approved for human use. these actions are taken by the FDA to ensure our health is protected and only the most efficacious and safe drugs are available for us.
Should we study all types of data fields in order to have a better comprehension of our own health? Yes, we should. These data sources are categorically separate from each other but coexist for us to understand the underlying causes of what can contribute to our health and our wellness. What matters is taking data and understanding it without false pretenses.
Online Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/kidneydisease/pdf/2019_National-Chronic-Kidney-Disease-Fact-Sheet.pdf
http://dev.biologists.org/content/develop/136/23/3863.full.pdf
https://www.fda.gov/forpatients/approvals/drugs/ http://www.medibeacon.com/
