Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP, MACE
This is a continuation of my War on Obesity.
The New York Times has criticized Donald Trump’s healthcare plan without even knowing what is in it.
I hope all the features of a healthcare plan missing from President Obama’s healthcare plan are included in President Trump’s healthcare plan. I believe Dr. Tom Price knows most of what needs to be included. He also knows that Obamacare is a disaster. It must be repealed.
I believe the critical element necessary for Repairing the Healthcare System is the development of a healthcare system in which consumers are responsible for their health and healthcare dollars.
This is the main reason Obamacare needs to be repealed. Obamacare makes consumers of healthcare dependent on the government and less responsible for their own healthcare.
Joan Colgin R.N. was Endocrine Associates of Dallas P.A.’s first fulltime Diabetes Educator. I nominated her for Diabetes Educator of the year some years back. She came out second to a woman who was trying to provide diabetes education to an indigent population. Endocrine Associates of Dallas P.A. was providing effective Diabetes Education on a one on one basis to consumers of all socioeconomic groups.
Joan provided Diabetes education to all people who were interested in learning to be responsible for the self-management of their Diabetes Mellitus. Patients live with their disease 24 hours a day and must learn how to manage it.
Endocrine Associates of Dallas P.A. was extremely successful in motivating people to be responsible for their own care.
Joan is presently the nurse member of the Texas Diabetes Council. Recently she asked me to publicize the CDC’s new position statement on Pre-Diabetes.
The National Institute of Diabetes (niddk.nih} published Overweight and Obesity statistics:
“More than two-thirds (68.8 percent) of adults are considered to be overweight or obese.”
“ More than one-third (35.7 percent) of adults are considered to be obese.”
“ More than 1 in 20 (6.3 percent) have extreme obesity.”
“ Almost 3 in 4 men (74 percent) are considered to be overweight or obese.”
My personal observation has been that 80% of patients in the Cardiac ICU have Type 2 Diabetes. Almost all have Type 2 Diabetes that was just discovered on this admission to the hospital.
We know the complications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus take at least 8 years after the onset of the disease to occur.
The Cardiac ICU patients either had Pre Diabetes (asymptomatic) or undiscovered Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (also asymptomatic) for at least 8 years prior to their heart attacks.
The CDC position paper can be extremely helpful in reducing the cost of medical care to our healthcare system if it is rolled out effectively.
Eighty percent of our healthcare dollars are spent on the complications of all chronic diseases. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is the most prevalent.
The summary of the position paper is as follows:
“What Prediabetes is Trying to Tell You”
Did you know that people can have prediabetes for years without any clear symptoms?
It often goes unnoticed until serious health problems show up, like type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
But if you find out you have prediabetes early, you could make lifestyle changes proven to help safeguard your health.
Knowing your risk is the first step. If you have any of these risk factors for prediabetes, don’t wait—talk to your doctor about getting your blood sugar tested:
- Being overweight
- Being 45 years or older
- Having a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes
- Being physically active less than 3 times a week
- Ever having gestational diabetes (diabetes while pregnant) or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds
- Being African American, Hispanic/Latino American, American Indian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American
- Want to find out your risk right now? Take the 1-minute quiz at organd be sure to share the results with your doctor.
The summary is all you have to know. DoIHavePrediabetes.org is an excellent questionnaire that takes two minutes to complete to determine if you are at risk for Type 2 Diabetes.
The CDC division of Diabetes Prevention includes a detailed position statement entitled:
The Surprising Truth About Prediabetes”
The first sentence says it all!
It’s real. It’s common.
And most importantly, it’s reversible.
You can prevent or delay prediabetes from developing into type 2 diabetes with simple, proven lifestyle changes.
The reason for the statement is simple to understand. We are all born with an inherited genetic make-up. About 33% of us have the genetic make-up that predisposes us to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
Obesity will bring out the tendency to develop Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus by causing us to be resistant to our own insulin.
Our body in response to exposure to sugar secretes our insulin. If we are resistant to our own insulin our sugar level will increase to the point of officially having Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus.
America has an Obesity Epidemic.
“More than two-thirds (68.8 percent) of adults are considered to be overweight or obese.”
Americans are constantly exposed to too many calories. The only way to gain weight is to eat more than you burn. The only way to lose weight is to eat less and burn more.
One third of those 68.8 percent of obese people will get Type 2 Diabetes unless they lose weight to prevent its onset.
Unless those people lose weight they will be destined to suffer the morbidity and mortality resulting from Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
The only one in control of a person’s weight is that person. This is the reason that individuals must be responsible for their own care.
The government cannot provide weight loss. The government can provide education and incentives for individuals to be responsible for their own care.
Preventing the onset of Type 2 Diabetes will precipitously decrease the cost of medical care.
This is the reason a consumer driven healthcare system with consumers being responsible for their care is vital to a successful healthcare system.
I hope President Trump and all of congress is listening.
The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” is, mine and mine alone.
All Rights Reserved © 2006 – 2017 “Repairing The Healthcare System” Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE
Please have a friend subscribe
Comments