Posts
I have written frequently about the importance of chronic illnesses. Most of us are just not aware that their incidence is rising - and rapidly. We tend to think instead about acute illnesses and injury but chronic illnesses are now not only common but last a lifetime once developed and are inherently expensive to treat. On top of that there are enormous losses in quality of life, personal productivity and economic impact on the individual and society.
The Milken Institute quantified some of these issues in a research report a few years ago. They evaluated cancer, diabetes [presumably type 2], hypertension, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary conditions and mental disorders. Here are some of the key findings:
• “More than 109 million Americans report having at least one of the seven diseases, for a total of 162 million cases.
• The total impact of these diseases on the economy is $1.3 trillion annually.
• Of this amount, lost productivity totals $1.1 trillion per year, while another $277 billion is spent annually on treatment.
• On our current path, in 2023 we project a 42 percent increase in cases of the seven chronic diseases.
• $4.2 trillion in treatment costs and lost economic output.
• Under a more optimistic scenario, assuming modest improvements in preventing and treating disease, we find that in 2023 we could avoid 40 million cases of chronic disease.
• We could reduce the economic impact of disease by 27 percent, or $1.1 trillion annually; we could increase the nation's GDP by $905 billion linked to productivity gains; we could also decrease treatment costs by $218 billion per year.
• Lower obesity rates alone could produce productivity gains of $254 billion and avoid $60 billion in treatment expenditures per year.”
To me the important point is that “each has been linked to behavioral and/or environmental risk factors that broad-based prevention programs could address.” Restated, we as individuals need to take responsibility for our own health. Not every illness is preventable, but a very large percentage are. It is up to us to eat a nutritious diet in moderation, exercise our bodies, seek ways to reduce chronic stress and avoid tobacco. These four steps would make a huge difference in our health and our lives.
Meanwhile, we each need to have a primary care physician and that physician needs to accept the responsibility to assist us with our prevention strategies and to coordinate our care should we develop a chronic illness. This will mean better health and much lower costs.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Praise for Dr Schimpff
The craft of science writing requires skills that are arguably the most underestimated and misunderstood in the media world. Dumbing down all too often gets mistaken for clarity. Showmanship frequently masks a poor presentation of scientific issues. Factoids are paraded in lieu of ideas. Answers are marketed at the expense of searching questions. By contrast, Steve Schimpff provides a fine combination of enlightenment and reading satisfaction. As a medical scientist he brings his readers encyclopedic knowledge of his subject. As a teacher and as a medical ambassador to other disciplines he's learned how to explain medical breakthroughs without unnecessary jargon. As an advisor to policymakers he's acquired the knack of cutting directly to the practical effects, showing how advances in medical science affect the big lifestyle and economic questions that concern us all. But Schimpff's greatest strength as a writer is that he's a physician through and through, caring above all for the person. His engaging conversational style, insights and fascinating treasury of cutting-edge information leave both lay readers and medical professionals turning his pages. In his hands the impact of new medical technologies and discoveries becomes an engrossing story about what lies ahead for us in the 21st century: as healthy people, as patients of all ages, as children, as parents, as taxpayers, as both consumers and providers of health services. There can be few greater stories than the adventure of what awaits our minds, bodies, budgets, lifespans and societies as new technologies change our world. Schimpff tells it with passion, vision, sweep, intelligence and an urgency that none of us can ignore.
-- N.J. Slabbert, science writer, co-author of Innovation, The Key to Prosperity: Technology & America's Role in the 21st Century Global Economy (with Aris Melissaratos, director of technology enterprise at the John Hopkins University).
No comments:
Post a Comment