Part 4: The Medical Fascination

In case you're unaware, I'm trying to document some differences, between US culture and other cultures that I've been part of.
These are totally subjective observations so please excuse my awkwardness if I overstate or generalize.

One area that really stands out for me is the US preoccupation with medicines and health.
Juxtapose this with stats which place the US in the unhealthy basket in areas such as sugar intake, obesity, heart health. Yet, seemingly due to the cultures sensitivity to health issue, life expectancies are still high.

I have never been part of a culture where drug are advertised on mainstream television. Or where citizens are told to ask their doctor about "Valtrex" or "Thermysen" as though they are foods or everyday products. I've had people not visit our home when they heard that one of our children had a 'cold' in case they caught it. That kind of makes sense. But forgive those who, not raised in such a culture, find that it communicates a "I like you, but only when you are well" kind of feeling.

Americans know much more about drugs and procedures and food content than anyone else I know. I think that is great, but probably frustrating if you are a doctor. I imagine that in some spheres, a little information can be dangerous. I'd love to get some input here as to why this is the case. Is it a slight mistrust of those in the medical profession? Or is it more of a sense of entitlement to understand areas of life that many other cultures leave to professionals.

Once again, I am not saying this just a negative thing. Physicians are human and make bad judgment errors that may have been avoided if someone had just had the confidence to question the expert.

Maybe the attitude toward medicine belies a deeper principle at work: that Americans like to believe that their opinions count in any arena no matter how informed/uninformed or relevant/irrelevant they are?