Need a New Disease to Generate More Profits? Just Move the Goalposts

Many diseases in the US are not actually defined by symptoms we experience, but by values determined through testing. It is obvious, once you think about it for a moment, that if you narrow the “normal” range on the test, then more people will fall outside that normal range and thus will be a candidate for treatment. And, shocking to exactly no one, that treatment will likely bring billions of dollars of additional revenue into the medical machine.

First, consider osteoporosis. With a strong tendency to be diagnosed in women over the age of 50, about 1 million women are diagnosed with osteoporosis annually in the US, and another 2-3 million diagnosed with more mild bone density loss called osteopenia. And how is this diagnosed and treated?