Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 22:09:04 -0400
From: Karen Crowell
Subject: diabetes and obesity go hand in hand
Someone wanted to know why Chatham County might need a director to lead a program to combat obesity.
Well, preventing obesity goes a long way toward preventing diabetes. if you’re obese, chances are you’re also a diabetic. Neither one of them is easy to control. As a matter of fact, weight-loss surgery, a procedure that used to be only allowed to treat obesity when it became life-threatening, is even more likely to cure you of diabetes than it is to help you return to normal weight. And for that reason, medical insurance companies are much more likely to cover the cost. The expense of chronic conditions like diabetes is so high, it’s worth the price of the surgery.
An article in the Greensboro News & Record describes a recent report on diabetes in North Carolina and what it is costing us.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/09/03/4119382_another-reason-to-expand-medicaid.html?sp=/99/108/&rh=1
“Diabetes is a costly epidemic in North Carolina, and it is rapidly expanding. ..The rate of diabetes here has doubled over the past 20 years. It is the seventh-leading cause of death in the state — and it’s more deadly than that for African-Americans and American Indians. By 2025, if this trend continues, diabetes will take many more lives and “cost the state’s public and private sectors more than $17 billion per year in medical expenses and lost productivity,” the report says.
Risk factors include being overweight, exercising too little and having high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Lifestyle choices are important for reducing risk or managing the disease. Unfortunately, the authors say, many North Carolinians lack access to medical care or programs that help them reduce risk or manage disease. They recommend a number of policies to improve those conditions.”
Karen Crowell