Phew!

I was beginning to worry about an invisible bruise on the back of my leg. Just today, it has seemed to be moving down my leg, from my lower hamstring, to behind my knee and now to my upper calf. As is my usual course of action, I asked others if they have experienced similar symptoms, and then checked out WebMD.

Relief washed over me in an awesome wave as I read the first paragraph -

"Bruises (contusions)develop when small blood vessels under the skin tear or rupture, most often from a bump or fall. Blood leaks into tissues under the skin and causes the black-and-blue color. As bruises heal, usually within 2 to 4 weeks, they often turn colors, including purplish black, reddish blue, or yellowish green. Sometimes the area of the bruise spreads down the body in the direction of gravity. A bruise on a leg usually will take longer to heal than a bruise on the face or arms."

One Mississippian, Two Mississippians, No That Was Only One Mississippian

You've likely heard by now that we have an obesity problem in this country. Here's a recent article on the Wall Street Journal website about some news.

Mississippi has achieved the dubious distinction of becoming the first state to have 30% of its residents classified as "obese". To give you an idea of how they measure obesity, an average U.S. male is between 5'8" and 5'9". At 200 lbs. and above, the average male is considered "obese" on the Body Mass Index (BMI). People with a lot of muscle mass can be in that range without being "fat", but it's pretty accurate on the whole.

The following point is sort of like the argument for helmet and seatbelt laws. American spends a lot of money because of the effects of obesity on its citizens.

"Officials at the Trust for America's Health advocate for the government to play a larger role in preventing obesity. People who are overweight are at an increased risk for diabetes, heart problems and other chronic diseases that contribute to greater health care costs."

I made a relevant post just over a year ago, pointing to the staggering figure that 90% of increases in Medicare costs during the study period were due to obesity related illness and disease -

Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The Obesity Epidemic and Medicare

"While increases in [Medicare's] cost have been attributed to causes such as medication costs, hospital and doctors fees, 90 percent of the increases can be attributed to people entering the program with diabetes, metabolic syndrome and other diseases associated with obesity, concluded a report published in the Aug. 22 online issue of Health Affairs."

Read the article on Forbes.com.

From the American Obesity Association:

"Each year, obesity causes at least 300,000 excess deaths in the U.S., and healthcare costs of American adults with obesity amount to approximately $100 billion."

WHO Rated the U.S. Poorly in Health Care Quality? Exactly

I don't know what you think of John Stossel. Some people think he's kind of loony. I am one of those people, but in spite of that, I think he makes good points, backed up by data. He challenges commonly held beliefs, and even though his job is mostly to sell advertising for ABC, he works hard to educate America. He's won 19 Emmys and he went to Princeton.

In a recent piece he wrote for Real Clear Politics (that you may read here), Stossel criticizes the misleading conclusion made by the New York Times in its article about the World Health Organization's (WHO) ranking of wealthy nations and their efficacy in providing quality health care. The Times also points to a recently completed Commonwealth Fund study.

Stossel points to our high rates of transportation fatalities and homicides, as well as poor diet and exercise habits as factors that are not related to care that is administered by our nation's health care providers. He also mentions Rock Hudson as the last prominent case of an American leaving the U.S. for medical care.

Blue in the Face

Even if you aren't a Blue Cross and Blue Shield policy holder, you can benefit from the work that they do across the country. I subscribe to Florida Blue, their email newsletter, and I recently received a quick first aid guide that is good to have in your home. Please click here to view and download the document.

It tells you, briefly and simply, what you should do if someone in your home suffers a broken bone, burns, nosebleed, head injury or is choking. I was surprised to learn that if someone is coughing, then he or she is not actually choking, and you should just let the problem pass.

Don't Take Two of These, Don't Call Me in the Morning

Head of the British Medical Association, Dr. Hamish Meldrum, has caused quite a stir across the pond. Maybe more interesting, however, than the information about the obesity debate that rages on in the UK and the good ol' US of A, is the fact that Hamish Meldrum is a Scottish name. That's incredible!

Anyway, the point is that Dr. Meldrum has come out in opposition to all of the over-medicalization (I guess that's a word in England. Whatever, they invented the language, even if they don't pronounce their r's.) of obesity treatment, and that prevention is clearly the ideal method of lessening that societal problem and the costs associated with it. Duh. We don't need MD's to figure that one out, do we?

Read the article here on "This is London".

I often find the readers' comments sections of online articles to be the most educational part of the experience. That is one of the many reasons that online media are more effective than print. You can't read a newspaper and instantly read how other people around the world are reacting to it. What an age in which we live...

Here is one such comment that I found to be especially poignant, especially given the European perspective it allows us to understand, and the struggle among proponents of healthcare reform, i.e. everyone -

"This is the problem with socialized medicine. Free individuals should have every right to make these "lifestyle choices" assuming any associated risks - including dying early or higher medical expenses. But when government provides healthcare for all, it is going to seek to constrain the rights of individuals in the name of the greater good."

- Jude, london, uk