What is the state of your health?

March 14th, 2012 by admin

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” ~World Health Organization, 1948 ~

We are a society in crisis. There are several but the one I want to talk about is health. Because of advances in science and medicine we have been continually increasing our lifespan. In the year 1900 it was 46 years, today it is over 70 years and continues to increase. However according to various health organizations, including the US Dept of Health, we as a people are sicker now than at any time in our history. In the last several decades cancer, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, and hearth disease have increased to near epidemic levels.

To illustrate here are some statistics from the US Dept of Health and The Center for Disease Control.

In 2006 there were 1,399,790 new cases of cancer, resulting in 564,830 deaths. The fastest growing cancer of men is prostrate cancer and for women, breast cancer.
15.7 million People in the US, 6% of the population, have diabetes, 1 in 3 don’t even know they have it.
In 1997 it’s estimated that 59.7 million Americans have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease. 41.2% of all deaths in 1997 were due to cardiovascular disease (1 in 6 were younger than 65.
Nearly 40 million Americans (1 in 7) have arthritis. This figure is projected to increase to 60 million by 2020(20% of the population)
Asthma has become a major public health problem, especially among children, where it is the third-ranking cause of hospitalization of children under 15 years of age. Pediatric Asthma rate jumped 72% among children 5 to 16 years old from 1980 to 1994.
In 1938, 0.5% of males were functionally sterile vs. 8% to 12% today. A study done about 10 years ago by an independent health organization showed that men’s sperm counts were drastically reduced around the world except in one region in Norway. The difference was their lifestyles. They were rather isolated and ate mostly fish and other seafood. They also grew their own produce which was grown organically.
The 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicate that about 16% of children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 are overweight. This is a 45% increase from estimates of 11% in the 1988 to 94 study. The 1999 – 2002 study also showed that 65% of adults are either overweight or obese, 16% higher than the previous study.

What does this mean? Why is our health becoming so poor? Is it really true that this is a part of aging as we are led to believe? Or is this just an excuse? We are told that the increase is due to environmental factors and a more sedentary lifestyle. We are not eating right and not getting enough exercise. These are contributing factors.

Friday we will talk more about the causes and what we can do to not become one of those statistics. We do not have to except the misconception that aging brings with it diminished capacities and sickness.

TODAY’S TIP: Do not buy into the notion that aging means sickness. Look around you and see those seniors that are in excellent health and emulate them.

What are are you doing to stay healthy?