论文部分内容阅读
随着医学的迅速进步和更良好的卫生保健环境的出现,人的生命周期也在迅速延长。据预测,到2000年美国的八分之一的人口将在65岁以上。大大延长的寿命将给社会带来若干重大的影响。对老年人的长期治疗将花掉大量可以用于改善其他人群的境况和解决各种社会问题的资金。当前,疾病、死亡及残废的主要原因是个人的生活习惯与行为。健康不佳是导致提前退休的主要因素。过去十年因病而不能继续工作的人所占的比例一直在增加,而同一时期死亡率却在不断下降,“寿命延长而健康却更差”。重要的是同时降低死亡率和发病率。高技术工作环境降低了对体力劳动的要求,这可能导致一系列生理变化。志愿参加一些体力劳动可以抵销这类对健康的不利影响。将来对生与死的选择可能将根据是否有剧烈病痛或是否已完全失去生活能力来决定,而不是根据不惜一切代价来促使生命维持下去这一死板的道德信条。
With the rapid advancement of medicine and the emergence of a better health care environment, the life cycle of people is also rapidly prolonged. It is predicted that by the year 2000, one-eighth of the population in the United States will be over the age of 65. The greatly extended life expectancy will have several major implications for society. Long-term treatment of the elderly will spend a lot of money that can be used to improve the situation of other people and solve various social problems. At present, the main causes of illness, death and disability are personal habits and behaviors. Poor health is the main factor leading to early retirement. The proportion of people who have been unable to continue working due to illness in the past decade has been increasing, while the death rate has been declining during the same period. “Life is prolonged and health is worse.” It is important to reduce both mortality and morbidity. The high-tech work environment reduces the demand for manual labor, which may lead to a series of physiological changes. Voluntary participation in some physical labor can offset such adverse health effects. In the future, the choice between life and death may be determined by whether there is a severe illness or whether it has completely lost its ability to live, rather than the rigid moral tenets of maintaining life at all costs.