The New President's Answer

Since I tend to be a patriot at heart, I try real hard to respect, if not like, whomever the leader of the US is at a given moment. Even when I disagree with things they say or do.

As a result, I was very interested to hear that the new president was aware that 70% of insurance company claims are for chronic diseases. What is his solution?

Let's fight obesity.

Sigh.

It is this blogger's belief that obesity is a very important issue in the United States. Please, no comments that I am dissing the large folk, OK? I know it is a problem and while I am not even a little obese, I do recognize that it is a serious health issue. Its simply not the focus that will solve all our scariest problems.

Obesity is linked to high cholesterol (which I have and am not obese), diabeties, heart disease, hypertension, poly cystic ovary disease, and a bunch of other big nasties. All very serious problems wihout a doubt. What's more, they are all pretty expensive problems, too!

Ever see the price tag on Lipitor?

So, if we fight obesity in this country, I hypothesize that the cost of healthcare will come down for the rest of us, at least it seems to be what the new administration thinks!

Sounds good, right?

On the surface, yes. It very well may be a good place to start. After all, there are reasons I am not in charge of the country and that I don't make the rules. I'm not what you would call a diplomat and I make George Bush look like a pretty eloquent speaker (who also has Lyme but is ashamed of it, it would seem.)! I'd be fumbling over the names of newspapers I read worse than Sarah Palin because some days I am lucky I remember my name much less what I read.

So maybe I am splitting hairs, but I would have felt much more fulfilled if President Obama said he would like to start with the obesity issues.

My issue? When it comes to Chronic Diseases, in many cases the docs know where to start looking for medical problems in the case of obesity. They look for the sugar issues. They look for heart disease. While some (not all) heavy folks do not like to be told they have to lose weight and many avoid the doctor because they do not like to be patronized about their weight (and who can blame them as doctors CAN be very patronizing to those too heavy AND too thin?), many do get inspired to do something about it. Many control their sugar or cholesterol through diet and exercize when it was brought on by being overweight.

What's really bad though is that heavy people DO get sick for reasons other than their weight, and many are dismissed because the docs blame everything wrong with them on their obesity. So, make no mistake, its a problem no matter how you turn it.

And what about those issues not being brought on from weight? Doctors do not even begin to know where to search for the problem. There is the problem! When doctors cannot look at you and tell you to lose the weight and exercize or take an antidepressant, many have no idea WHAT to do!! Right now they have a pretty firm handle on the prescription pad for the Lipitor or the Welbutrin, but when it goes beyond that, many of our doctors are not equipped to handle trouble shooting, diagnosing, or maintaining patients that do not fit into the obese or depressed category.

That is scarier than the epidemic of obesity. Much scarier. When children grow to adulthood never being diagnosed with genetic disorders even when all the signs were there from birth, when teens lose their formative years suffering from a vector born disease that isn't diagnosed, and when this sets patients up to see out nefarious-types for doctors who claim to cure all their ills in their own desperation for themselves or their children, we have a problem much larger than obesity.