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Show Americans are slowly dying from diseases of choice In this day of skyrocketing health care costs, and the renewed renew-ed interest in exercise and healthy lifestyles it is appalling that millions of Americans are still dying from diseases of choice. With medical advances many life threatening illnesses have been eliminated, but the majority of Americans are dying from diseases of choice. The cost of alcoholism is skyrocketing. Every year thousands die as a result of alcohol related accidents. Many of the victims of alcohol are innocent victims. In 1986 the estimated social cost of of alcohol abuse was $120 billion. These social costs include: reduced productivity and lost employment, $70 billion; mortality, $18 billion; health care costs, $15 billion; motor vehicle crashes, crime and social welfare administration, $9 billion; and victims of crime and incarceration in-carceration $4 billion. Even these staggering figures seem insignificant when compared com-pared to the emotional cost to the family of an alcoholic. All of this cost, both mental and actual, could be eliminated. Alcoholism is a disease of choice. There are those who would argue that alcoholism is an inherited trait. But if there was no alcohol abuse, there would be no alcoholism. It is the responsibility respon-sibility of someone who has the propensity toward alcoholism to protect himself from the disease, just as much as it is the responsibility of a woman whose family has a history of breast cancer to get regular mamograms. Tobacco related diseases are also diseases of choice. Each year thousands of smokers die from their choice to use tobacco. And it is a slow, debilitating, miserable death. Those who suffer from emphysema slowly die of suffocation. They are usually relegated to a wheelchair, because they do not have enough lung capacity to walk. They cough, wheeze, and beg for any relief to the feeling of suffocation. And they die because of the choice they made. Today, the young boy who became the first to bring to light the tragedy of the innocent victims of AIDS, is in a coma. The young boy contracted the deadly disease through a blood transfusion, trans-fusion, and now he is dying, not because he wants his young life snuffed out, but because of a choice that was made by someone who has made choices which could lead them, and other innocent victims to death. Obesity and its related diseases are major contributors to the number one killer in America, heart disease. Overeating is a national pastime. Recent studies show that women who are just slightly overweight are more prone to heart disease that originally thought. Every year billions of dollars are spent combating overweight and its health effects. And yet Americans continue to gorge themselves at all-you-can-eat buffets. Perhaps they should be renamed to all-you-can -possibly-stuff-in buffets. Many claim they are victims of heredity, that they can't control their weight. But they too have the same responsibility as others who have known health risks in their background. There is no excuse for obesity. Health insurancce costs for families who have legitimate health problems are skyrocketing. Many deserving children cannot be insured because of the restrictions placed by the in-sureres. in-sureres. Thousands of Americans are bom with birth defects, and crippling diseases. Some are bom blind, others unable to hear. They spend their lives Crying to reach a "normal" lifestyle. The costs for their medical attention are staggering, and they never have a day when they are totally well. They had no choice. But every year millions of Americans who were born with strong, healthy bodies choose to destroy themselves with diseases of choice. These diseases are taking too great a toll on the economy. America can no longer afford to pay for the stupidity of its citizens. |
