Some individuals believe in their ancestors, which results in reliance on traditional medicine to manage their co-morbidity. I believe that this has a negative outcome because this increases the burden of health issues and delays time for receiving the proper medical attention.
To begin with, the proportion of the older population has increased over the last few decades because of the improvement of medical care. As a result, higher percentage of the elderly will have chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. People who prepare their own medicine have an increased risk of complications. At this pace, the death rate would be higher, which in turn breakdown the trust in the medical system. For example, the habitants of the rural areas have multiple co-morbidity than the urban ones due to inaccessibility.
In addition, some illnesses need rapid intervention, means if people do not receive the proper care it will progress. Multiple causes have led to this outcome, including the far distance of the specialized centers, the lack of resources, and the transportation system. It is not ordinary to find a big hospital in rural areas. For example, in some developing countries, people used to travel to another country to get professional medical care.
In conclusion, despite the popularity of traditional medicine, it is not suitable for all conditions. This is because of faulty practice, which can worsen the patient outcome and the lack of professional medical attention, which results in increased mortality among the elderly.