A
health crisis is sweeping the world and it has already become
the fast-growing source of disease and death in the U.S. Excess
weight and obesity are causing this epidemic ... which is
completely preventable by lifestyle changes.
The statistics are chilling. According to U.S. Surgeon General
Richard Carmona, nearly two of out of every three Americans are
now either overweight or obese, mainly because of poor food
choices and lack of exercise. Some 31% of the population
suffers from actual obesity, which is defined as being 30 lbs or
more over the weight considered healthy by doctors for a
person's size. Extreme obesity is classified as being 80 lbs or
more overweight.
One in every eight deaths in the U.S. is caused by illnesses
directly related to the victims being overweight or obese. These
illnesses include the nation's number one killer - heart
disease. Life expectancy rates, which have been rising for 200
years, are now going into reverse because of the scourge of
excess weight and obesity.
It's not just adults who are at risk. In the 1960s, just over 4% of 6 to 17-year-olds in the U.S. were overweight. Since
then, the number has more than tripled to over 15%. And
the problem doesn't end when children grow up. Nearly three out
of four overweight teenagers are at risk of becoming overweight
adults.
Private insurance spending on weight-related illnesses in the
U.S. has grown
more than tenfold since 1987, with the increase in weight gain
and obesity fueling a dramatic rise in the amount spent on
treating heart disease, high cholesterol levels and various
forms of Diabetes such as Pre- and Type 2 Diabetes, as well as
other symptoms.
According to a report published in an online journal of health
policy and research called Health Affairs, employers and
privately-insured families spent $36.5 billion on obesity-linked
illnesses in 2002, the most recent year for which figures are
available and up from an inflation-adjusted $3.6 billion in
1987. There is some evidence that suggests the figure may since
have more than doubled to $75 billion. If factors such as lost
productivity from obesity-related illness are included, the
annual cost to the U.S. has soared way past the $100 billion
mark.
Weight loss via a balanced, nutritious diet and regular exercise is a key factor in avoiding or reversing many of these obesity-linked illnesses, which have Insulin Resistance as a common underlying cause.
A huge increase in irreversible Type 2 Diabetes as a result of the current obesity epidemic caused a 64% rise in treatment costs between 1987 and 2002. But before most people develop Type 2 Diabetes, they suffer from Pre-Diabetes - a reversible condition in which glucose levels are elevated above normal but are not high enough for a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes.
Left unchecked, however, Pre-Diabetes can lead to the Type 2 variety. Once it takes hold, Type 2 Diabetes, which may require daily insulin injections for life, can significantly increase the risk of blindness, amputation and kidney disease.
The number of people being treated for heart-damaging high
cholesterol levels linked to obesity has risen by 10%
since 1987. Yet weight loss can also lower high cholesterol and other
illnesses like the cluster of cardiovascular risk factors called
Metabolic Syndrome (Syndrome X) and the leading cause of female
infertility known as PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome).
The good news is that the Insulite System for Excess Weight and Obesity can help to reverse Pre-Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and PCOS. By offering a scientifically-designed approach to reversing Insulin Resistance via weight loss, it can to set you on the road to better health and a greater sense of well-being.
(1)
The rising prevalence of treated disease: effects on
private health insurance
spending. - Thorpe KE, Florence CS, Howard DH, Joski
P.Health Aff (Millwood). 2005 Jan-Jun;Suppl Web
Exclusives:W5-317-W5-325.
PMID: 15983005
Click here to read how Addiction to
Carbohydrates and Gluten Underlies Excess Weight and Obesity
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