Trapper and Full Body Scan
San Raffaele Hospital used four rappers to promote its €2,500 service, offered only on a self-paying basis. Criticism of this kind of advertising has come from several fronts, even leading to a parliamentary question raised by the Five Star Movement, now marginal in percentage terms.
The issue is that it appears to be something only a privileged few can afford. But can health really be considered a luxury? Perhaps we have forgotten that health is our true wealth. Klinik Sankt Moritz, which refers to the Health Protection Act of the Canton of Grisons, is well aware that Article 2 states:
“Art. 2 Individual responsibility. Every resident is responsible for adopting a lifestyle that promotes health. The public health sector does not exempt anyone from this responsibility.”
The kind of advert where you binge without restraint and then a friend gives you a pill to digest is not only miseducational, it borders on illegality. We are joking with our health, because we are not taking on our individual responsibility for a healthy lifestyle.
Ozempic should be a boost to start a new journey of self-discovery; otherwise, you simply regain weight by the following summer. Investing in yourself is a good thing. Gym, skincare, physical activity, equipment and even aesthetic medicine and surgery, which improve our relationship with our body, are all investments in our well-being.
Full Body Scan clearly fits into this vision, together with molecular medicine such as metabolomics and microbiota analysis. Investing in ourselves while we are still healthy means giving ourselves a longer and healthier life. This is not selfishness; it is common sense. Modern medicine often allows the body to survive, but not the brain, which, once deteriorated, is irreversibly lost.
In the case of a Full Body Scan, it means detecting a tumour at the very beginning of its course, raising the chances of success to over 90%, with 5-year survival rates above 95%. Can we really put a price on that?
We know that the direct cost of cancer is covered by the Italian National Health Service, but the risk burden falls on the patient. Loss of work capacity, restricted access to loans as a cancer patient, and reduced working hours for one or more family members are all “out-of-pocket” costs for the household.
The “I am entitled to everything” mindset is the perfect excuse not to take responsibility for quitting smoking, drinking less alcohol, and cutting down on sugar and carbohydrates. But how much does this excuse really cost us? We are constantly shown the wrong models, even in movies: “Don’t worry, it will pass, let’s go for a drink!”.
In this context, the Digital Twin becomes a simple motivator to maintain a healthy lifestyle, offering a dashboard of our activities in numerical form and providing clear reference points to stay on course.
Sergio d’Arpa