|
March 18, 1999 - As the millennium approaches, Americans are optimistic about the future of their health.
In a recent poll conducted for Shell Oil Company by Washington, DC-based Peter D. Hart Research Associates, more than 1,200 adults were asked which diseases they thought would be cured in the next 30 years. Respondents were "very optimistic" about finding cures for:
- Spinal cord injuries, 67%
- Diabetes, 65%
- Hepatitis, 63%
- E-coli and food-borne illnesses, 61%
- Cancer, 59%
- AIDS, 54%
- Herpes, 54%
- Multiple sclerosis, 52%
- Alzheimer’s, 51%
- Stroke and heart disease, 45%
- Obesity, 40%
- Common cold, 38%
In addition, 25 percent felt cancer would be cured first, among such diseases as AIDS and heart disease, and 48 percent felt cancer deserved the most funding for medical research over the next 30 years.
The questions were asked as part of the oil giant’s "Shell Poll," a quarterly public opinion survey. Adults nationwide were polled on a variety of topics including their views on the future of technology, lifestyle, and the political climate.
Other findings in the survey:
- Americans named penicillin and other antibiotics as the most significant medical breakthrough of the 20th century – 30 percent chose the antibiotics over organ transplant (24 percent), the discovery of DNA (21 percent), the polio vaccine (10 percent), the birth control pill (6 percent), and x-ray technology (5 percent).
- When asked which events that could happen in the next century would be the worst part of living in the 21st century, 58 percent of respondents chose the cloning of human beings. Other responses included most people living to be 100 (12 percent), women in their 50s and 60s conceiving children (9 percent), genetic engineering (8 percent), and the discovery of extra-terrestrial life (7 percent).
- A majority of Americans (64 percent) believe DNA engineering will some day allow people to select the sex and characteristics of their children.
- Fifty-two percent believe scientists will clone a human being in the future.
- Alternative medicines, such as herbal remedies and acupuncture will be common in the next 30 years, say 85 percent of respondents.
|
