Pocket Change

Do you realize that 3.5 BILLION dollars was spent on researching male pattern baldness last year?  Do you also realize that over 10 BILLION dollars was spent on botox injections?  Am I the only one, or does this seem way past insane??!!!

169 million dollars was spent last year for MS research.  43 million dollars was spent for ALS research.  152 million was spent on Parkinson’s research.  Do you see the pattern here?  It seems that people are more interested in how to “pretend” to be younger than they are in health matters.

I started really thinking about this a while back.  I was watching a movie on TV.  One of the female stars has obviously gotten collagen shots in her lips.  It was grossly overdone and she looked awful.  I would think I had gone through what was probably a fairly costly, painful process and end up with the results she did.

Another thing that has had me thinking about the ways medical science wastes money is the hair loss research.  There is always a hair loss commercial on TV with both male and female patients.  The cost of buying and maintaining quality hair replacement systems over 15 years is approximately $28,125.00 ($1,200 plus $675 in annual upkeep = $1,875 x 15 years = $28,125.00).  Hair transplant costs typically cost between $3.00 to $8.00 per graft, with $5 to $6 per graft being about average. It is normal for the price per graft to drop as the size of the surgical session increases. Many clinics will offer a reduced rate per graft once a certain surgical session size (i.e. 1,000 or 2,000 grafts) is exceeded. No matter how you look at it, either option is a lot of money.  None of the options are covered by any insurance plan because it is a cosmetic procedure.

I understand insurance companies not covering these things.  What I don’t understand is why they don’t cover much of the health related care options.  If they are still in trial, I can see that.  But many times our medications are so expensive that we cannot afford to take them.  It is a very sad thing to me and says so much about where most people’s heads are. 

I have watched a lot of movies and TV in my life and accept that some of us get older!  I feel sorry for those who come to grips with that fact.  If you live, you will get older and look older. 

Besides, if I figured out how much plastic surgery and such it would take to make me as beautiful as Sandra Bullock, I would have to live a couple of hundred lifetimes!! J