Things used to be different. Home remedies and advice from our elders—even the elderly—were enough to convince us that we would quickly recover from any health problem, no matter how serious. However, the relentless pursuit of research by laboratories, the intelligence of scientists, and the dedication of all those involved in the quest to find a cure for any kind of disease, virus, bacteria, or anything else, made us the first volunteer "patients" in any experiment seeking practical and efficient solutions, turning us into unwitting "guinea pigs." 

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Today, however, we face a different reality: insurance is expensive. There is no doubt about it. The average person has to face this fact, and whether their employers offer the much-touted advantages of group insurance, or they are a pensioner, retired, or have reached old age, the ordinary citizen has the decision to enroll in these options. Naturally, this decision, if made, is supposed to prevent future headaches. 

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Of course, there are other resources whose advertising is overwhelming, namely clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, daycare centers, and other healthcare facilities in the area where potential "patients" live. On the one hand, medical terminology has adopted the definition of "patient," perhaps without considering that a "patient" is also someone who doesn't despair in the face of various circumstances—even those unrelated to medicine—and is able to remain calm. This type of "patient" is much calmer and more composed than those who go to the doctor or take their children to the pediatrician for any health problem they or their little ones may have, however insignificant it may seem. But, of course, both interpretations are valid.

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It wouldn't be wise to continue this article without including medications in the analysis. Every day there are more medicines that "cure" or perhaps "mask" the symptoms of certain health conditions. However, despite manufacturers, laboratories, and pharmacies loudly proclaiming their accessibility—due to their low cost and other factors they add to their description—the reality is far from this perception. Medicines are also expensive, with a few exceptions. 

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So we have insurance companies retreating to the sides to avoid getting involved in controversies that do not contribute anything to their finances and, on the contrary, flood them with absurd controversies that go nowhere and, paradoxically, plunge them into an incoherent debate, inversely proportional to what they pursue, according to their strictest considerations.

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And this is how we arrive at the "current patient," the one who has to pay co-payments that he had never considered before, due to the charges presented by health professionals: doctors, specialists, surgeons, psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, gynecologists, obstetricians, hospitals, laboratories, and a whole host of other institutions, experts, and competent personnel, dedicated - supposedly - to keeping the population healthy.

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This leads us head-on to the exorbitant prices of dentistry and stomatology. Sky-high! And you might ask yourself: why? A filling, a repair of a molar, canine, or tooth, a full dental cleaning, a crown, or an implant shouldn't be more expensive than surgery on any other organ, no matter how simple. But… there's always a "but"! The excuses are endless. Materials, dedication, experience, and a host of other justifications are given to patients to inflate prices to infinity. And that's when we ask ourselves: Are we in the hands of professionals who are enemies of our peace of mind, or has society simply succumbed to uncharted territories of the economy that are best left unmentioned?   

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Naturally, it follows from these conclusions that there are some professionals in all disciplines whose attitude is far removed from these simple observations on the unnecessary increase in costs that I have tried to reflect here: doctors, specialists, surgeons, hospitals, laboratories, dentists, experts and many other men and women dedicated to the humble task of helping us with our health without being carried away by the increase in life as a whole in turbulent and uncontrolled times in our current society. 

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Throughout my life, I've encountered top-notch professionals of all kinds who don't mince words when their patients' health is at stake. These are the highly respected and exceptionally skilled doctors who get straight to the point, in the Hippocratic tradition, beginning the healing process with just a smile of understanding of what they see in our bodies and how to fix it. We trust them as if they were geniuses. And in a way… they are! Can you imagine your trusted healthcare professional calling you while you're on vacation—in another country or on a cruise—simply to reassure themselves that they can enjoy themselves without the risk of receiving bad news from their patient?

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It's sad, I repeat, it's very sad to have to visit a doctor's office, regardless of the specialty, and see reflected in their face the indifference to something serious, or at least of relative importance, regarding our health. And, to make matters worse, they don't smile, nor does their voice carry the tone of the indifference with which we must face the challenges life throws at us in those moments.

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Having said all of the above, I can only speculate that, in some way, we may be forced to return to the era of home remedies, those that made us think we were curing ourselves and, in a way, relieved the stress that occupied our minds when we heard the professional tell us a complicated diagnosis, or when we saw tragedy reflected in their face. 

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It won't happen immediately, of course, I suppose there's still a long way to go, but what is unfortunately true is that if we continue down the path of rising health costs - many of them unjustified - we will soon have to use all our patience, if we have any left.