Why Do Okinawans Live So Long?

Apparently, Okinawans live the longest of any people in the world. Is this due to their relaxed island lifestyle? A high dose of vitamin C from eating goya? Genetics?

Well, it's probably not from the quality of the medical care here. I just got back from the hospital. Now, before you start to worry that something terrible happened, let me reassure you: I am perfectly healthy. I went to the hospital to get some medicine so that I hopefully won't get malaria during my upcoming travels. But in Japan, those who are about to keel over and die and those who just need a prescription or a physical go to the same place. Hopefully I didn't catch anything nasty while in the waiting area. Perhaps I should have worn a surgical mask like the cool kids.

Anyways, after explaining why I was at the hospital, I was quickly directed to a doctor. He spoke shockingly fluent English. I was very excited about this. So I explained to the doctor why I wanted medicine for malaria. He seemed unsure about my request. So then I showed him a piece of paper with the name of the medicine I wanted. Luckily, I had done my homework, and had found out that I needed a certain kind of malaria pill because the malaria in parts of Cambodia is resistant to mefloquine.

So the doctor said he could give me the medicine and asked me how long I would be traveling. I told him 11 days. And he said that he would give me 7 pills. Excuse me? 7? I told him again that I would be traveling for 11 days and would need one pill for every day of my trip, plus one pill to take before I leave, and 28 pills to take after I return. So I would need 40 pills for my 11 day trip. Not 7 pills. And then the guy who has been to medical school (or so I assume) told me that I wouldn't need to take any pills after I came home. Hmmm.

Now, to give the guy some credit, I was perhaps his first patient who ever requested pills to prevent malaria. (time for some non-p.c. generalizations) Japanese people are not adventurous travelers. Japanese people don't like to go places they consider dangerous. Japanese people don't travel off the beaten path. When they travel, they go on expensive tours. They don't have to learn the local language and culture. They just point and click the camera. They tend to stay in big cities and touristy areas which probably wouldn't have as much of a malaria problem. They wouldn't even know that they would need pills to prevent malaria unless the tour company told them ahead of time.

So after the doctor checked some textbooks, he decided to tell me the correct dosage. The same dosage I had told him I needed. 40 pills. He wanted to know where I saw information about the medicine. I told him: the internet. (http://www.cdc.gov/) I wonder what happens to patients who go to the hospital without knowing exactly what they need, including drug name and correct dosage.

At least my medicine was cheap. About 300 yen ($3 ish). Without insurance it would have been a whopping 1000 yen. Dirt cheap compared to the US. Probably would be at least 10 times more expensive there! This miracle pill will not only protect me from malaria. It will also treat the following conditions: bubonic plague, gonorrhea, UTIs, sinusitis, pneumonia, tetanus, acne, chlamydia, bronchitis, gangrene, traveler's diarrhea, respiratory infections, eye infections, and plenty of things I have never even heard of.

Unfortunately, the pharmacy didn't give me any information on possible side effects or drug interactions. Maybe because they thought I wouldn't be able to read Japanese. Or maybe because they don't give out that information in the first place. Good thing I have the internet to tell me about my increased risk of sunburn and yeast infection.