Hack Your Pancreas and 3D-Print Your Smile

From FEE.org (May 26):

The more government involves itself in health care, the harder it becomes to find quality services at affordable prices. As the state has inserted itself more heavily into the health sector over the last several years, many Americans are left searching for alternatives to traditional services.

Luckily, as technology continues to advance far beyond anything our grandparents thought possible, health care itself is becoming more decentralized as individuals are now able to take personal control over their medical decisions.

While older generations may be content to wait on others to improve existing services, millennials are too impatient to let others change the world without taking an active role.

As America’s favorite scapegoat, the country’s youth is constantly being accosted for not caring enough about our futures and specifically, for lack of desire when it comes to buying health insurance. Proponents of nationalized health care will say just about anything to convince young Americans to buy insurance policies we have no interest in purchasing. But while we may not be purchasing health care premiums, millennials are doing something no other generation has done before: open-sourcing health care.

3D Print a Perfect Smile

Just last year, college student Amos Dudley was making headlines after he utilized his campus’ 3D printer in order to make his own orthodontic retainers. Unsatisfied with the appearance of his own teeth but unable to afford braces, which can cost several thousand dollars, Dudley spent his free time researching various methods of straightening teeth and applied that knowledge as he designed and 3D-printed several “invisible” retainers for his own use.

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Health In Your Hands

Alabama resident Dana Lewis’ inspiration for designing and manufacturing artificial pancreases was born out of her own struggle with type 1 diabetes.

Since diabetes patients do not enjoy a fully functioning pancreas, which helps produce and regulate the flow of insulin throughout the body, the trick is finding some sort of device that automatically monitors the levels of blood sugar in the body and then adjusts the insulin administered. As of now, nothing on the market or available through a physician is able to adequately perform the tasks of a real pancreas, which has caused many diabetes patients to take their health in their own hands.  [read more]

Thank you Obamacare for making these desperate young people to make their own medical equipment! If some Congress person who likes over-regulation reads about this he or she would be thinking about outlawing this practice. You never know.