“Every citizen who stops smoking, or loses a few pounds, or starts managing his chronic disease with real diligence, is caulking a crack for the benefit of us all.”

Mitch Daniels (born April 7, 1949) is an American politician who is the president of Purdue University and former Governor of Indiana. A member of the Republican Party, he served two terms as governor from 2005 to 2013.)

Yes we have a possible crisis with Ebola at this time even the Flu but let’s look at the crisis that is clear. Chronic diseases are crushing our healthcare.

Our healthcare system is good at treating short-term problems, such as broken bones and infections. Medical advances are helping people live longer. But obesity is reaching epidemic proportions. The population is aging. We need to do a much better job managing chronic diseases.

Chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, and Alzheimer’s disease take a heavy toll on health. Chronic conditions also cost vast amounts of money. The trends are going in the wrong direction:

• Obesity increases the risk of developing conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. The rate of obesity in adults has doubled in the last 20 years. It has almost tripled in kids ages 2-11. It has more than tripled in children ages 12-19.
• Without big changes, 1 in 3 babies born today will develop diabetes in their lifetime.
• Average healthcare costs for someone who has one or more chronic conditions is 5 times greater than for someone without any chronic conditions.
• Chronic diseases account for $3 of every $4 spent on healthcare. That’s nearly $7,900 for every American with a chronic disease.
• These chronic diseases drive healthcare costs at an alarming annual rate:

• Heart Disease and Stroke: $432 billion/year.
• Diabetes: $174 billion/year.
• Lung Disease: $154 billion/year.
• Alzheimer’s Disease: $148 billion/year.The human cost of chronic diseases cannot be ignored:
• The Human Cost

• Chronic diseases cause 7 out of every 10 deaths.
• Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease are the leading causes of disability and death in the US.
• About 25% of people with chronic diseases have some type of activity limitation. This includes difficulty or needing help with personal tasks such as dressing or bathing. It may also mean being restricted from work or attending school.
• Today, Americans suffering from chronic diseases face rising healthcare costs. They also receive lower quality care and have fewer options.
• Health insurance co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses continue to rise. In many cases, choices and care are limited.
• The disabling and long-term symptoms that often come with chronic diseases add to extended pain and suffering. This decreases the overall quality of life. The financial and human costs of chronic diseases can no longer be ignored.
• There is a way we can prevent this and it would be keeping your weight ideal for your height within the therapeutic body mass index range (calculate it for free online).  If you need to lose weight you’ve come to the right blog.  Do it through diet, exercise balanced with rest and practicing routine healthy habits that prone you to having a healthy body overall which prevents disease.  So many diseases are due to these factors not practiced daily =  good diet with exercise, healthy habits and a therapeutic weight for your height.  If we had most of American citizens living this way certain diseases would be decreased terribly helping our country out with this economy of ours with the health care system.  If you need assistance in reaching these healthy practices   Do you want a better fit body or even an overall healthier family including grandchildren to even our country than take the action NOW.  For your goal in playing a part in living healthier and spreading the good news would benefit you and all around us.  Also, for the next decade & generation to be healthier will help Americans holistically in their lives all around (including our health care showing a spread of disease in lower percentage due to healthier dieting and activity choices by our people, who are so important in helping to decide where the health of the present and future of the US citizens lies.  Should it take our government to make a move (finally after so many years)?   I know I wouldn’t want them making the last move in our society and if you want to take part in joining me (at almost 50 y/o) than go to healthyusa.tsfl.com and be a part of making our home a healthy USA.
• We must face the epidemic of chronic diseases. If we don’t, the human costs will continue to soar. We might even face a lack of available or affordable care when it is needed most.  The crisis is clear. Chronic diseases are crushing healthcare. 
• Our healthcare system is good at treating short-term problems, such as broken bones and infections. Medical advances are helping people live longer. But obesity is reaching epidemic proportions. The population is aging. We need to do a much better job managing chronic diseases. Go to striveforgoodhealth.com and check out this weekend’s topic.

References:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chronic Disease Overview: Costs of Chronic Disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/overview.htm. Accessed July 24, 2007.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overweight and Obesity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/index.htm. Accessed July 24, 2007.
• American Diabetes Association. The Dangerous Toll of Diabetes. American Diabetes Association Web site. Available at http://diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/dangerous-toll.jsp. Accessed May 18, 2007.
• Partnership for Solutions. Chronic Conditions: Making the Case for Ongoing Care, September 2004 Update. Partnership for Solutions Web site. Available at http://www.partnershipforsolutions.org/DMS/files/ chronicbook2004.pdf. Accessed July 24, 2007.
• Mensah G, Brown D. An overview of cardiovascular disease burden in the United States. Health Aff 2007; 26:38-48.
• American Diabetes Association. Direct and Indirect Costs of Diabetes in the United States. American Diabetes Association Web site. Available at http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/ cost-of-diabetes-in-HYPERLINK “http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/cost-of-diabetes-in-us.jsp”us.jsp. Accessed September 20, 2007.
• Alzheimer’s Association. Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures 2007. Alzheimer’s Association Web site. Available at http://www.alz.org/national/documents/Report_2007FactsAndFigures.pdf.QUOTE FOR THE WEEKEND:Mitch Daniels (born April 7, 1949) is an American politician who is the president of Purdue University and former Governor of Indiana. A member of the Republican Party, he served two terms as governor from 2005 to 2013.)“With the chronic obesity in America, it’s more important than ever to not only feed kids healthy foods but to teach them how to make healthy choices on their own.” Jennie Garth (American actress and film director)

“ ‘Healthy obesity’ is quite a misleading term . “It sounds safe, but we know that it’s only healthy in a relative sense. The healthy obese become unhealthy and progress into the highest risk group. This is a real challenge to the idea that the obese can be healthy in the long term.”

Joshua A. Bell, a lead author and he also is a doctoral candidate at the University College London.

The ending result is 2/3 of our country is obese, do we want to continue making this wound larger? We already have caused a large number of obesity but like all wounds, time heals all wounds or a good majority of the wound  (in America’s case it’s a large one). We are now in a technology that knows what foods are high in fat, high in sugar, high in carbohydrates, high in calories, with what it can cause when foods like this are taken on a daily basis in all yours meals over a long period of time, which is obesity. We also know the ending result of obesity in based upon the kinetics of what it can create in the body, again overtime.   We are a stronger nation in all colors, races, ages, and sexes with knowing the knowledge of what to do.   Do you want a better fit body, family, grandchildren and even country than take the action NOW. For your goal in playing a part is one you need to be healthy or get healthier and without question you will feel better. Also, for the next decade & generation to be healthier it will help Americans in their lives all around (including our health care showing a spread of disease in lower percentage that is originally due to poor diet and activity choices by our people=again society’s choices, who are so important in helping to decide where the health of the present and future of the US people lie. America please help me turn this around. Should we let our government make the move on our health rather than us? Finally after so many years Obama’s health care law had to get involved because of the money aspect regarding Americans health took, taking a toll on our economy. I know I would want the people making the last move regarding our health care system, when we still have choices. If you care about this you would want to take part in joining me (at almost 50 y/o) to get healthier. If you are than go to healthyusa.tsfl.com and be a part of making our home a healthy USA with learning the knowledge of how to prevent or better treat your body even diagnosed if already diagnosed with obesity, coronary heart disease, diabetes II, high blood pressure, stroke, transient attack ischemia, and more). It is recommended to get clearance first from your M.D. if you decide to take this diet plan. How do we reach and stay at a healthy state in making our lives a grand ride on a roller coaster without falling off the track; and if we do fall off the ride (Ex. Have a trauma, like a back injury) if you have been healthy most or all your life the better the odds you will turn out. To reach that level internally we now all need to see what it is we are NOT doing best to our bodies regarding the daily habits of prevention (most significant factor) or regarding the habits of secondary-treating of disease or illnesses people have today (do you follow your diet, or are you compliant with taking your meds prescribed, etc…).   Prevention Habits would be stay fit (not necessarily a body builder fit), be ideal in your weight (BMI), eat and drink healthy, know good foods from bad foods, and practice healthy habits of living. If your at this healthy state already great and if you do unhealthy habits occasionally that is great also (Examples like eating Burger King, having shell fish, drinking alcohol and parting till 2am or so). If you need to learn how to reach this state or even learn how to stay in this level of health because of getting older or whatever the reason is than Dr. Anderson and myself as your coach can help you. Dr. Anderson through his book of “Dr. A’s Habits of Heath” and me as your health coach with take shape for life will teach you all about this. We can provide the knowledge, the foods you eat for 3 to 6mths to a couple of years, depending on what you want to lose; but in time you can even stop take shape for life and just buy healthier foods in the store using all 4 food groups (which the book reviews also with what foods in each group is the lean, leaner to the leanest and in what proportions). I always say do anything legal in America within moderation and you should do fine but when we don’t negative feedback begins to start, which is what has happened to our country & even others with cancer, obesity, cardiac disease, diabetes, and more due to living on a regular basis unhealthy habits, poor activities of daily living and unhealthy normally in the diet So America let’s turn around for the better and join me. Take a peek at healthyusa.tsfl.com and check us out with guaranteed no hacking, no fee, no donation, or any BS. I hope I did shed light on someone and hope to hear from you soon. Thank you for reading at my blog and don’t hesitate with giving me your comments, they matter.

“About half of all men and one-third of all women in the US will develop cancer during their lifetimes. Today, millions of people are living with cancer or have had cancer.

The risk of developing many types of cancer can be reduced by changes in a person’s lifestyle, for example, by staying away from tobacco, limiting time in the sun, being physically active, and eating healthy.”

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY

Cancer can be a simple disease or a monster to the body and let us first start reviewing the basics of cancer to understand this sentence. 

The body is made up of trillions of living cells.  Normal body cells grow, divide to make new cells, and die in an orderly fashion.  During the early years of a person’s life, normal cells divide faster to allow the person to grow. 

After the person becomes an adult, most cells divide only to replace worn-out or dying cells or to repair injuries. 

The pathophysiological responses of a patient with cancer are frequently determined by the size and extent of the tumor and by the presence or absence of metastases.

Cancer starts when cells in a part of the body start to grow out of control. Cancer cell growth is different from normal cell growth. Instead of dying, cancer cells continue to grow and form new, abnormal cells. Cancer cells can also invade (grow into) other tissues, something that normal cells cannot do. Growing out of control and invading other tissues are what makes a cell a cancer cell. Cells become cancer cells because of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) damage.

DNA is in every cell and it directs all its actions. In a normal cell, when DNA is damaged the cell either repairs the damage or the cell dies. In cancer cells, the damaged DNA is not repaired, but the cell doesn’t die like it should. Instead, the cell goes on making new cells that the body doesn’t need. These new cells all have the same damaged DNA as the first abnormal cell does=cancer cells.

The normal cells of a human body=Our red blood cells (our iron and cells that provide nutrition to our tissues by feeding oxygen to all our tissues), our white blood cells (fight infection off our body-part of immunity system), and our platelets (controls our clotting of the blood) all are taken over by the cancer cells especially if the cancer is primarily in the bone or metastasized to the bone since this organ in the human body produces all our blood cells in the bone marrow and the cancer in that causes the bone marrow to make cancer cells which is hard to cure especially if your cancer in the bone is at grade 3 or 4.   If a patient’s cancer is grade 1 or 2 its much easier to treat to possible completely cure. 

Again cancer can be a simple disease or a monster.

People can inherit abnormal DNA (it’s passed on from their parents), but most often the DNA damage is caused by mistakes that happen while the normal cell is reproducing or by something in the environment. Sometimes the cause of the DNA damage may be something obvious like cigarette smoking or sun exposure. But it’s rare to know exactly what caused any one person’s cancer. In most cases, the cancer cells form a tumor.

Some cancers, like leukemia, rarely form tumors. Instead, these cancer cells involve the blood and blood-forming organs and circulate through other tissues where they grow. Neoplasms or “new growths” are relatively autonomous (independent).  This means that the growth and its behavior are more or less independent of the host (the normal body functions).

  Neoplasms have been defined as benign or malignant; cancer is a common synonym used to refer to a malignant neoplasm.  The difference between a benign and malignant neoplasm depends on its behavior in the host.  Now if the neoplasm stays localized, enlarges slowly, is homogeneous in appearance, and can be resected or removed, then it is benign. 

On the other hand, if the neoplasm spreads or metastasizes to other areas of the body, infiltrates and causes the destruction of normal tissue, left untreated, will kill the host, then the neoplasm is considered malignant (it takes over in the body).

If a large tumor is occupying the oral cavity, then the patients will have problems with ingestion that might lead to an altered immune-responsiveness. 

If the tumor is in the large colon, then obstruction of the lumen, changes in bowel habits, and GI bleeding can occur. 

In addition, if tumors are large they often outgrow the blood supply, which leads to necrosis and bleeding. 

However, all the above changes are relatively late signs; the tumor would be quite large for a patient to exhibit these effects.  Most small tumors are painless and symptomless. 

In one sense this is unfortunate.  If small tumors were painful, perhaps more patients would seek earlier treatment and tumors could be treated more successful being diagnosed before they are large.

“Living in the moment gives you a sense of reverence for all of life’s blessings. What I know for sure is that what you give comes back to you.”

Oprah Winfrey

“There is roughly a 20 minutes window in which once your brain has released oxytocin, we’ve shown in experiments that people are basically much nicer to each other, give much more to charity. They behave in ways that are very pro-social even with strangers.”

Dr. Paul J. Zak ( director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University )

“What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god!”

William Shakespeare–Hamlet proclaimed this.

Go to striveforgoodhealth.com and read about How the human mind works in taking the action to kill.

In today’s quote Hamlet’s point was that humans are a remarkable species — though Hamlet himself has lost all appreciation for mankind. Humans have created phenomenal architectural structures ranging from pyramids to skyscrapers. We’ve explored the depths of the ocean and the surface of the moon. We’ve created works of art that can affect emotions and provoke thoughtful conversations.

Perhaps what makes us even more remarkable is that we have this seemingly infinite capacity to achieve great things, and yet our history is filled with violence toward one another. How can we dedicate countless hours to matters of art, science, and other sophisticated pursuits and still commit acts of murder or wage globe-spanning wars?

We have a tendency to think of ourselves as existing apart from other species. Humans have the ability to reason and pass down knowledge to future generations. This ability makes it seem like we base our actions mainly upon rationality. But how do we reconcile that with the act of eliminating other members of our own species?

It’s a complex problem. Part of the answer may be that we’re not as separate from other animals as we imagine. It’s dangerous to ascribe traits to other species — we run the risk of anthropomorphizing animals and assuming the reasons they behave a certain way are the same as our own. Anthropomorphizing is attribution of human form or other characteristics to anything other than a human being. But in general, it seems that animal behavior is the product of instinct, emotion and reason. Some animals demonstrate a greater aptitude for reasoning than others. Humans are at the top of that list.

But that doesn’t mean all our decisions are based upon cold, calculating rationality. Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio’s research indicates that emotions play an important role in decision making. He conducted experiments with people who had suffered brain damage that affected the part of the brain that allows us to experience emotions. In his studies, Damasio found that the patients had trouble making choices. They could identify solutions to a problem but couldn’t decide upon a specific course of action [source: Wrangham and Peterson]. Why is that important? It indicates that while we’re not slaves to our emotions, they play an important part in how we behave.

One of the reasona we kill is because our ancestors killed. By killing, our ancestors removed rivals and ensured the survival of their offspring. In other words, we’re violent because all the peaceful ancestors to humans were killed off by the violent ones. We’ve inherited our nature from our predecessors. We call this evolutionary biology.

This view is by no means universal. Scientists from different disciplines have criticized evolutionary biology, saying that it oversimplifies human behavior and serves as a genetic excuse for bad behavior. While there is scientific consensus that the human brain is the product of evolution, there’s a gap between those who think our brains are in Stone Age mode and those who say the brain is much more flexible than evolutionary biologists admit. What do you think?

One counterargument to evolutionary biology states that our minds are adaptive and evolve far faster than evolutionary biology. Stating there is no universal human nature — the environment and our adaptation to it means that each culture has its own unique nature [source: Begley]. Though another thing to take into account is history does repeat itself. Could we change it? Yes but the main question is do our people ALL around the world want that, and obviously no.

There is another debate on why we kill and that is on a superficial level we kill because it comes down to nature versus nurture. The nature side suggests that we are inherently a violent species and it should come as no surprise that we sometimes kill one another. The nurture side says that we are an adaptive species and that our environments — including everything from family structure to political influences — shape our behaviors. The truth is probably that we’re a product of both. Ignoring one set of influences while concentrating on the other is missing the story.

If we’re the product of both inherited traits and environmental influences, what would give us the reason to kill? Many answers boil down to survival. In some cases, it’s as simple as access to resources. Whether it’s a conflict between two people or multiple nations, the reason to kill may be linked to the fact that one party wants what the other party possesses. That might motivate people to kill in order to take or protect those resources. The intellectual and emotional need for those resources is often greater than the reluctance to kill.

So why else would a human kill? A person with antisocial personality disorder feels no empathy toward others. Not all violent conflicts are over resources, though. This is where people we call psychopaths and sociopaths come into play. Example criminals like Charles Manson may kill — or inspire others to kill — based on fundamentally flawed reasoning. They feel very little emotion at all and may seek out dangerous or thrilling situations to get an emotional response. They tend to be deceitful and feel no shame or guilt for misleading others. While they may recognize right from wrong, they may not care about the distinction.

According to a hypothesis posed by Ervin Staub, genocide is a result of a combination of environmental hardships and psychological coping. Staub suggests that when times are hard, people look for an excuse or scapegoat. That can include identifying a subsection of the population as being responsible for the hardship the community experiences. Wiping out that population is a way to cope with the hardship. It’s a means to solve a problem, even though the solution and problem aren’t necessarily connected in reality. Is this what is going on now in NY with the people rioting?; not protesting since this is done peacefully. It is not blocking traffic, burning down businesses, hurting people to killing people which all have happen regarding incidents that involved policeman in taking an action to someone who did something illegal by NYS law but the individual retaliating rather than being cooperative and investigations took place but because a certain group didn’t like the results it resorted to violence. The judicial system they did not follow. Have criminals been set free by court and no violence took place? Many times. So you decide is this the reason why we are violent to killing people?

What about the rest of us? What could drive us to kill? Since our decisions are based upon both emotions and reason, we can sometimes favor one over the other. In emotionally charged situations, we may allow ourselves to act impulsively, ignoring rationality. These so-called crimes of passion can happen between people with strong emotional bonds. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 30 percent of all female murder victims were killed by their spouses. Another 18.3 percent were killed by ex-spouses. Only 8.7 percent of all female victims were killed by a stranger [source: Bureau of Justice Statistics].

This is scary and a very complicated discussion. Humans kill because we’re not dispassionate, robotic beings. We have wants and needs and possess the ability to pursue them. We may never know the full explanation of why we behave the way we do, but as we learn more we may find ways to improve ourselves and make murder a thing of the past. Yet that goal is very, very far away in reach.

Sources

• “Crime in the United States.” U.S. Department of Justice. Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Sept. 23, 2010) http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/data/table_12.html
• Jonathan Strickland from the blog In How Things Work.
• “Homicide Trends in the U.S.” Bureau of Justice Statistics. (Sept. 23, 2010) http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/gender.cfm#vorelgender
• Baumeister, Roy F. “Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty.” Henry Holt and Company. New York. 1997.
• Begley, Sharon. “Why Do We Rape, Kill and Sleep Around?” Newsweek. June 20, 2009. (Sept. 22, 2010) http://www.newsweek.com/2009/06/19/why-do-we-rape-kill-and-sleep-around.html
• Hill, Gerald and Hill, Kathleen. “insanity.” The People’s Law Dictionary. Law.com. (Sept. 23, 2010) http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=979
• Koenigs, Michael, et al. “Damage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgments.” Nature. April 2007, 446, pp. 908 – 911 Kelly, Dave. “Antisocial Personality Disorder.” PTypes Personality Types. 2010. (Sept. 23, 2010) http://www.ptypes.com/antisocialpd.html
• Lykken, David T. “The Antisocial Personalities.” Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hillsdale, N.J. 1995.
• Mattiuzzi, Paul G. “Why do people kill?” Everyday Psychology. July 30, 2008. (Sept. 21, 2010) http://everydaypsychology.com/2008/07/why-do-people-kill-typology-of-violent.html
• Polk, Kenneth “When Men Kill: Scenarios of Masculine Violence.” Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, U.K. 1994.
• Staub, Ervin. “The Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence.” Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, U.K. 1989.
• Wrangham, Richard and Peterson, Dale. “Demonic Males: apes and the origins of human violence.” Mariner Books. 1997.

Wrangham, Richard. “Why We Kill.” bigthink.com. April 2, 2010. (Sept. 22, 2010) http://bigthink.com/ideas/19361