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Asked by kanemcninjaboy to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara, Siana on 6 Nov 2015.
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Richard Unwin answered on 6 Nov 2015:
There are lots of diseases that we have good medicines for and we have things you can take that can help to make you fitter (along with regular exercise, of course), although it’s unlikely there will ever be a single magic pill that keeps us fit and cure all disease. The body is very complicated with millions of parts and so I think there will never be one medicine could do everything, just like you can’t fix everything that can go wrong on a car just using one spanner!
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Sara Falcone answered on 6 Nov 2015:
I can actually think about a drug that already does it. But this happens because the overweight/obesity that is associated with the disease (in this case diabetes type 2) is actually a cause of that disease too (in a very simplified way, it is like a loop : unfit -> disease -> more unfit). So when you cure the disease with this medicine, you often find that the patient loses weight too.
That said, in the vast majority of the cases, a good diet and physical activity do a wonderful job at keeping us fit and do not have the side effects that medicines often have. -
Siana Jones answered on 6 Nov 2015:
It would be better if we tried to prevent disease. How about eating a good diet and doing plenty exercise??
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Peter Francis answered on 10 Nov 2015:
We already have it, its called exercise. In the 1950’s in London, scientists found that postmen who cycled to deliver mail had less heart attacks than post office workers that were seated behind the counter. They also found similar differences between bus drivers and bus conductors. MOVE!
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Carolyn Nielsen answered on 18 Nov 2015:
There’s lots of interesting research being done on how you can best design buildings and cities ( the ‘urban environment’) to encourage people to stay active. Sometimes it’s just about nudging people to make a better choice for their health. For example, if you make staircases near the entrance to an office building, people will be more likely to use them than if you hide them around the corner and the lift is easier to get to! I have this where I work actually… the lift is really slow and I have to walk further to get there so I always take the stairs. It’s easier, and it’s good for me 🙂
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