I would agree that the medical field is plagued with empiricism which consists of asking a naive question (rather than working from a deeper theory) and then doing a study to 'measure' the thing in question. Third parties then note the correlation and issue 'advice' in the form of suggestive reporting. I would guess this puts the public off science altogether!

Perhaps the best way to look after the body will turn out to be as Aubrey de Grey suggests: regular servicing to repair accumulated damage. But we aren't there yet. Plus we urgently need new antibiotics.