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Subscribe to RSSMore than one in five middle-aged U.S. adults, and nearly half of adults over age 65, have more than one chronic health condition, such as hypertension and diabetes, according to a new government report.
The report said that in 2010, 21.3 percent of women and 20.1 percent of men between ages 45 and 64 had at least two chronic health conditions. In 2000, the rate among men was 15.2 percent, and among women it was 16.9 percent.
Increases were also seen in adults older than 65, with 49 percent of men and 42.5 percent of women reporting in 2010 that they had at least two chronic health conditions. In 2000, the rates were 39.2 percent of men and 35.8 percent of women.
Treatment for people with multiple chronic conditions is complex, the researchers said. By looking at trends in the rates of people with more than one condition, researchers are better able to make decisions about managing and preventing these diseases, and they can make better predictions about future health-care needs, they said.
The increases were due mainly to rises in three conditions: hypertension, diabetes and cancer, according to the report. These increases may be due to more new cases, or due to people living longer with the conditions because of advances in medical treatments.
The report also said that middle-aged adults with at least two chronic conditions had increasing difficulty, between 2000 and 2010, in getting the care and prescription drugs they needed because of cost. In 2010, 23 percent reported not receiving or delaying the medical care they needed, and 22 percent said they didn't get the prescriptions they needed. In 2000, these rates were 17 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
The CDC does not consider obesity itself to be a health condition; rather, it is a risk factor for other conditions, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. The obesity rate in the U.S. increased in the United States over the past 30 years, but has leveled off in recent years, the report said.
The report is based on data gathered during the National Health Interview Survey, in which participants complete a detailed questionnaire about their health status and health-related behaviors. Participants reported whether a physician has diagnosed them with any of nine chronic health conditions: hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, current asthma and kidney disease.
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Add to all that and then add twice or maybe three times the stress that no generation before had and yes, we are getting sicker as we age. How can we not.
Work all our lives, pay for our own families, then pay for dead beats, even illigals and their familiesvia welfare in one form or another.
Sending money to other counties to support them when we have more people than at any other time in history that have no homes, decent jobs, medical, but always money for those "foreign aid", welfare checks.
Crooked banks and stock market spending billions of our "bail out" "welfare check", money and that is just the tip of it.
Arrogant and uncaring politicians that spend our tax money like drunken sailors. Which by way they are funding and sending money to the rebels in Syria when we should not be sticking our nose in a civil war.
Just give a few years and all the dirty little Congress secrets of funneling money to the rebels who will of course turn on us just like all rest. Not to mention the Russians are about to get seriously pissed off. They are not stupid, but that is how Obama and his play nice, but behind their back, policies are going to take us yet into another war.
What would us Americans have to be sicker about? The stress is literally killing us.
More health care should lead to more health, no? Yet the more we spend on health care, the less healthy we are. How come nobody ever connects the dots?
Its in the medical community's interest to get, and keep, us sick. They and their cohorts in agribusiness keep selling us their diet products/services, 'healthy' processed foods, polluted sugar-water, and toxic, self-perpetuating prescriptions, and we keep gobbling it up.
Bread ain't white. Bleached bread is.
Part of the reason is the expanding range of blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. that's now considered dangerous. My cholesterol is among the 5% best in the nation - but my pharmacist tried to convince me I'm in danger and to consult my PCP. My every-three-month blood test (diabetes related) generally results in total cholesterol in the 130's, with HDL in the 50's and LDL in 70's or 80's. Triglycerides and ratios are optimal. Yet the makers of cholesterol meds have sponsored research that recommended lowering the "danger" level of LDL's from 100 to 70. So my pharmacist is pushing them. I politely told him I'd consult with the PCP who agreed it would be ridiculous for me to do so, although recent research suggests such meds lower the chance of heart attack in everyone.
Think people are in bad shape now and sicker?? wait to see what's coming up with the new generation! They are already obese those school kids and probably new diseases will developed by the time they will be adulte. Health care will be much more expansive and paying much more for prescription drugs. This country need to have physical exercise programs in school and that should be all mandatory from the pre-school to college at least, just to get into a positive habit to move. There is no magic solution but only good physical exercising program to start with could help everyone to be healthier. The younger to start the better for life.
Of course more Americans are sick - more sick Americans means more money for Big Pharma and the Cancer Industry. If profits drop, you can bet new guidelines will be developed that will help add more people to the sick list so doctors need to prescribe more medication with more side effects to cause more symptoms that need to be treated by more medications and monitored by more visits to the doctor. If Americans become healthier, the economy will suffer, so we're kept sick in order to keep money flowing in the right direction - into the pockets of insurance companies and drug makers.
Doctors push us to have all those diagnostic tests to catch things early so they can be treated. Laws are passed to make sure we live longer ( Wear your seatbelt, don't smoke, etc). But then living longer means we just become sicker and have to struggle with a health-care system that isn't friendly to old folks. We can't afford our medicines ( or that is all we can afford...no food). So the government tries to make sure we live to a ripe old age but then doesn't want us around and we can't afford to be around anyway and our quality of life is so bad we wish we could die but we are afraid to. Hmmm... does any of this make sense?
FYI, I have elected to forego the tests, put my faith in God, and just make sure I am ready when He is. Takes the worry out of the whole life thing.
hmmmm .... could it be in the last 30 years we started eating more processed "ready-to-make food". The "fresh" foods such as produce, dairy and meat are laced with hormones and pesticides. I would say 75% of the food I see at the market is loaded with salt, saturated fats, trans fats, multiple artificial sweeteners/sugars, including high fructose corn syrup, food coloring and dyes.
Its not the governments job to regulate what we eat. The food industry doesn't give a damn so long as they are making money. Educate yourself, read your labels and change bad habits. If you eat crap, you'll feel like crap.
There's a lot of people out there with no medical insurance. Health care is expensive. If you have no insurance you have no access to health care. If you're poor (or even not so poor) and you get sick, too bad. Think that's bad? Try getting a toothache.
That's why the republicans' want to limit health care access, they want to use up todays zombie workers so they can a fresh crop of worker drones. don't worry the one percent overlords will make sure you'll get a almost free incineration.
I think this article is a bit misleading. Just because people have chronic conditions doesn't mean they can't keep the conditions under control with low-cost drugs (particularly hypertension). Many people this writer calls "sick" are living completely normal, active lives. Aside from this, the cure for chronic diseases is to prevent them. The cure for diseases related to aging is to prevent aging. We are spending billions trying to find cures for diseases instead of spending on ways to prevent the underlying causes.
I've seen a couple of posts that allude to the fact that maybe the problem is in our system. Monopolies are good for corporations and bad for everyone else. This fact seems to be well accepted in everything but health care. The medical/pharmaceutical industry has a monopoly on health care. It is actually a sickness care model however. The answer to everything is drugs and surgery in their opinion even though those two approaches rarely cure anything. Don't get me wrong. When it comes to sickness care America is the best in the world and there is certainly a time where it is the only option. When it comes to health care we suck. Any treatment protocol that does not push drugs and or surgery is vilified.
If you develop chronic health conditions in your 40s such as high blood pressure and diabetes, it is almost always due to lifestyle factors. It should not be considered normal to be in your 40s and on blood pressure medicine. Unfortunately, we seem to be moving to a new normal where people just think it is the norm.
That's what happens in a pills and bills medical environment supported by unwalkable communities without parks and recreation opportunities. What happened to the YMCA? The neighoborhood park? Sidewalks? Local grocery store?
A vast majority of the health issues in this country are predicated on lifestyle and the food selections we make and those decisions obviously lack good education. Most kids today only know that milk comes from the supermarket not a cow! Many on this vine have indicated genetics are the excuse used by those with the most health issues and that is a valid statement. A large portion of the citizens of America initially came from Europe and as I found out two years ago there are several genetic abnormalities in people from European decent. Many people of this background have food sensitivies and one of the main ones is wheat or gluten foods. The onslaught of acid reducers being advertised on the television gives you a strong indication of how prevalent this problem is, so the current news info on whether gluten free diets are a fad is silly because it is a serious concern and the vast majority of people with these digestive issues are probably genetically predisposed to being gluten sensitive. So I believe any one serious about their health, the expense of health care and their future should really investigate their genetic background because therein lies the answer to many questions an individual may have regarding specific health concerns. It is only a blood test and believe me from experience what you learn may literally save your life as it did mine! What have you got to lose?
All of those who are out of work avoid things such as dental check-ups and routine physicals which would detect some of these illnesses earlier on. Thanks for all the jobs you have cost us Mr. Obama!
Of course we're sicker.. It's because of people throwing fits over "stigmatizing formula" when we know that most of these illnesses can be traced back to the choice to formula feed because we're too lazy and selfish to do what's best for our children. Ps- For those of you about to start in about how you tried, but you couldn't breastfeed---there's less than 3% of the WORLD'S population who genuinely can't breastfeed. More than likely, you're not a part of that tiny percentage.
A big part of the reason is that Big Pharma has succeeded in enlarging the numerical definitions of what's a problem. 100 total cholesterol is extremely low and healthy with the right ratios. But now they're claiming it needs to be under 70 for diabetics. Blood pressure, etc. all have expanded numbers and in most cases there's no solid information that achieving the better numbers does much to improve life over the old ones.
lower cholesterol has been proven to be beneficial
all other primates have cholesterols in the 100s--why do you think humans should be the exception?
This is just another bull%^&&** article to sell more doctor services and pills. No one is getting any sicker, the medical industry just keeps lowering the standards of measurement, such as they did with diabeties, so that we all fall into one sick catagory or another. Most of the pills people take may or may not help as with most medical procedures. All those pills and procedures hurt just as many people as they help and the doctor's have to find something wrong to stay in business.
thanks for writing the worst post on the thread!