Healthy Bytes

Diabetes treatment costs… bad news and good news

read time: 144 words, just a minute

As reported by Reuters, the cost of treating diabetes may increase by as much as 68% through 2009…

In their Drug Trend Report, Medco Health Solutions, Inc, reports the number of diabetes prescriptions trails only cholesterol prescriptions. Diabetes scripts are predicted to take first place in year over year growth.

Spending on diabetes drugs is rising 10-20% annually with a number of new drugs soon to come onto market. And of course diabetes is rising in epidemic numbers…
More diabetics + more drugs = many more bucks for big pharma.

Oh yea, I did promise good news…

Medco Chief Medical Officer Robert Epstein:

“While prevention of type 2 diabetes needs to be a national priority, drug treatments can help prevent the onset of complications from diabetes that lead to hospitalizations, more complex treatment and dramatically higher costs.”

You see, it could cost even more.

Stressed out?

read time: 344 words, about two minutes

Welcome to the laboratory of psychoneuroimmunology which basically studies how stress and the negative emotions stress creates manifest physically.

How about that gut feeling? And what about your broken heart?
The belief of Dr. Michael Jones, director of Northwestern Memorial’s Center for Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders is the stomach and the heart are merely dumb beasts. It’s what’s going on in your brain that’s expressed in your organs.

In fact, the stomach is one of the first organs to be effected by chronic stress. And since digestion happens in the stomach, digestion isn’t happening well when you’re stressed out.

Chronic stress is not a singular event like getting caught in a traffic jam. It’s the constant elevated stress.

What Rockefeller University neuroendocrinologist Bruce McEwen has found is stress can change the brain’s “wiring”. Stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) activate an inflammatory response in the body. Some folks may primarily experience it in the stomach, perhaps the intestines, perhaps the heart, perhaps the joints. That response fires back to the brain in areas controlling blood pressure, heart rate and digestive organs as well as memories, fear and anxiety.

Cortisol and adrenaline constantly flowing throughout your body play nasty with the immune system, increasing the risk of infection as well as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis.

(Laughing and exercise cool down inflammation and boost the immune system).

You’re more likely to get sick when you’re experiencing a lot of stress.

Ohio State University researchers Janice Kiecolt-Glaser and her husband, Ronald Glaser published a study in 1995 that showed relatives who were caring for Alzheimer’s patients took 24% longer to heal from small, superficial wounds than people in the same age and economic bracket who were not caregivers.

In a second study, they showed students coming up on midterms took 40% longer to heal than when they were ready for summer vacation.

Nutrition can help. But chronic stress is more of a lifestyle issue. Exercise, deep breathing, meditation, any form of relaxation. And of course, making changes in your life that alleviate the chronic stress.

Now it causes cancer, Now it doesn’t

read time: 463 words, about 2 minutes

How tired are you of conflicting results?
I mean one study says eating blabla will prevent (fill in the blank malady). Then another study comes along and says blabla does not have an effect on (fill in the blank malady).

My sense from a lot of people is, in some ways they’re numb to all these “studies”. At minimum, they’re confused and frustrated. When it comes to teasing and toying with your health and the quality of your life, well, it seems a bit cruel.

You can’t blame the researchers in most cases – assuming they don’t have a hidden agenda that has significantly tilted the research.

But here’s the thing – in my strong opinion – all of this research, or at least the interpretation of it, tries to fulfill a much greater role than it possibly can. Often this is driven by hope, mortal fears and our inherent need to make things better.

Additionally, while a particular study may look at one particular food, or one effect, it cannot completely control everything else. For instance, “subjects” that are apt to ‘eat a healthy diet’ are also apt to practice numerous other healthy habits. Since they’re probably healthier to begin with, the results they experience may significantly differ from the results a less healthy person will realize.

Let me explain.
Think about a couple phrases you’ve probably heard a billion times:
Eat a balanced diet
Everything in moderation

These are very, very, very core truths and the first filter you should use for everything.
A> There simply is not ONE thing, not ONE food.
B> There’s an inter-relationship among the systems in the body. What you eat does not have a single effect on a single system. Nor is the effect generally noticed immediately.
C> You need a plethora of nutrients to thrive. Eating a small number of foods won’t get you there.
D> The body is pretty forgiving. It can take sporadic and temporary stresses. But constant stress and malnutrition have a cumulative effect.

All this to say, that yes, for example, blueberries are very good for you. But, simply adding blueberries to a bad diet is not enough to absolve the effects of a bad diet. It’s only enough to tilt the scale a little.

While there is value in research findings, understand them in perspective. And try to understand why a particular food or advocated diet is good or bad. For instance, in the case of blueberries - they’re very good anti-oxidants. So to increase your anti-oxidant intake, blueberries are one of the best ways.

So when you turn on the evening news and here about the “latest” miracle food or miracle exercise, understand the limitations of research. And don’t abdicate your responsibility to consistently eat well for the health of it.

An ounce of prevention

read time: 239 words, about a minute

There is an adage that goes something like:
Not a nickel for prevention but a fortune for a cure.
That sums up the way we’ve been treating our health. Folks that are really good about getting the oil changed and tires rotated, dash off for a donut after dropping the car off.

We understand the concept of maintenance when it comes to cars and houses. But we don’t seem to carry that notion through to our health.

Perhaps part of the reason is where do you go for “health maintenance”?
Fact is – you have to do it yourself. You have to do it on a regular basis, not just once a year.

People aren’t “inspired” to invest in their maintenance. Whether that’s a time investment or a financial investment. But if they’re facing death due to disease, they’re often ready to empty their bank accounts.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) estimated the cost of diabetes to be $132 billion in 2002 (up from $98 billion in 1997).

The CDC estimated the cost of obesity to be $75 billion 2003.

According to the CDC, the cost of heart disease and stroke in the US is projected to exceed $394 billion in 2006.

Big numbers. The most important numbers tho are the cost to you personally. How would your life be impacted with chronic disease and perhaps early death?
Better yet – how would your life be impacted with vitality and health?

What’s on sale this week

read time: about one minutes

With halloween coming up what’s on sale everywhere is candy.
And when you think of candy, you think of…
sugar.

Americans are currently consuming sugar at a rate of 2-3 lbs a week.
In the last 20 years, the per person yearly consumption has gone from 26 lbs. to 135 lbs. (compared to 5 lbs. in 1890).

When I was a kid the only two results of consuming sugar I was told about were weight gain and tooth decay.
True and true, but sugar is associated with a whole lot more…
depressing the immune system
heart disease
cancer
stroke
diabetes
obesity
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
arthritis
food allergies
decresed insulin sensitivity
digestive problems
cholesterol - lower HDL and raise LDL
elevated systolic blood pressure
kidney damage
fatty liver
overstressed pancreas
cholitis
increased free radicals
headaches and migraines
hormonal imbalance
fluid retention
speeding up aging

in the next few posts will talk about sugar alternatives - the good and the bad, as well as some food label decoding.