Health Notes

America’s High Cost Low Benefit Health Care

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association compared the health of middle-aged white individuals in England and in the United States. The findings were unexpected. It turns out that the British spend about half on health care per capita compared to us, yet there incidence of chronic disease such as cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease is about half of ours.

Researchers performing this study are baffled at the findings. Now they are all scrambling to try and come up with reasons which range from increased stress in the States to disparities in exercise rates between the two groups.

According to this study, the United States spends about $5,200 per person on health care. That figure is half in England. Yet our rate of heart disease is 15.1% compared to their 9.6%. The differential in diabetes and cancer is even more staggering. 12.5% of Americans will suffer from diabetes as opposed to 6.1% of the same age-related group of white individuals in Great Britain. The statistics for cancer are 9.5% compared to 5.5%. Stroke is 3.8% here in the United States compared to 2.3% across the Atlantic.

The individuals who participated in this study aged from age 55 through 64. Only whites were used in the study, to eliminate any specific diseases related to ethnicity, and socio-economic levels. This seemed to have little to do with health status. In fact, Americans of a higher income level had a health status very similar to the low income British. Unfortunately, the United States ranks behind approximately two dozen other countries in the world in their overall life expectancy and other health measurements, according to the World Health Organization.

So, we may speculate as one of the experts did about the reasons for this difference. Obesity may be one reason, the United States also has the distinction of being the top obese nation. Stress certainly may be a factor. The average American lifestyle creates a great deal of stress which is not encountered in certain European nations. Any business people who have dealt with Western Europeans understands that their way of doing business is totally different from ours, and that time schedules mean very little to them. This may, in part, account for the discrepancy in this study. Tied in with this, would be sleep deprivation. We live in one of the most sleep deprived nations and eras ever. The body utilizes sleep time to heal itself and to deal with any stressors that we encounter on a day to day basis. So, lack of sleep could certainly factor in to the overall equation.

As you can see from the comment from Girard Anderson, an expert in chronic disease at Johns Hopkins University, even the experts on this subject are baffled. He stated, “I knew we were less healthy, but I didn’t know the magnitude of disparities.” So, we’ve baffled even the experts with this one!

I think it is important for all of us to sit back and look at these findings and try to analyze them relative to our own lifestyles. How much stress do you encounter on a daily basis? How much sleep do you get every night? If it’s less than eight hours, you, in all likelihood are sleep deprived. What is your diet like? We are now seeing more and more organic foods advertised at local supermarkets. Have you made the switch to try to eat more organic produce to reduce pesticide and herbicide intake? How much exercise do you get on a daily basis? Walking is a fine form of exercise. It is very easy and can be done over a lunch hour or in the evening.

I’m not looking to create more stress in your lives; however, I do think there are certain things that we prioritize, and we should begin prioritizing our health. Unfortunately, it’s not a priority for many until they begin to lose it.

I trust this information will give you some food for thought for this week. Thank you again for reading my article. I appreciate it greatly when I meet individuals in our area who come up to me and ask if I am Dr. Pfeiffer and state that they read my article every week. It gives me more motivation to continue to seek out more information for you on a weekly basis.

Don’t forget to visit our website to review some of our previous articles and other health care information at www.upchiropractic.com.