[American Health Care System]: Third Leading Cause of Death

Excerpts from the book The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Thomas M. Campbell

 

Just How Unhealthy Are Americans? 

2/3 of Americans are overweight

1/3 Americans 21 years+ are obese

• obese: he/she is carrying more than 1/3 of a person above and beyond a healthy weight
• "similarly, frightening trends have been occurring in children as young as two years of age"

15 million Americans have diabetes

• 34% of diabetics are unaware of their illness 

Half of Americans have a health problem that requires taking a prescription drug every week

100 million+ Americans have high cholesterol

1/3 Americans will die of heart disease

Americans male has 47% chance of getting cancer. American females have 38% chance (according to American Cancer Society)

• at rates highest in the world 

Cleaning Up the Mess...?

In 1997, we spent over a trillion, yes $1,000,000,000,000+, on health care

• $1 out of every $7 is spent on health care
  

 Health Care Financing Administration predicts we will spend $16,000,000,000,000 on health care by 2030

• Yet we still have tens of millions of people without access to basic care (due to being uninsured)
  

But it doesn't add up...
#1: health care expenses
#37: health care system performances

How Are Our Hospitals Killing Us?

The category Adverse Drug Effects are "the hospitalized patients who die from 'noxious, unintended and undesired effect of a drug' which occurs at normal doses... with the use of approved medicines and correct medication procedures"

• In addition, "One out of 15 of all hospitalized patients have experienced a serious adverse drug reaction, 'one that requires hospitalization, prolongs hospitalization, is permanently disabling or results in death'"
• This number does not include tens of thousands who suffer from incorrect administration and use of these drugs, nor does it include adverse drug events that are labeled 'possible' effects or drugs that don't accomplish their goals 

Why Isn't Preventative Medicine Presented? 

Arguably, the main problems: Nutritional Confusion and Ulterior Motives ($$$:Insurance)
The Ulterior Motive spiel is a rant that I will prefer to keep you from reading as it is simply a rant... no matter how true it is

I will not get in to the effects of animal products on health in this post... I will post this when I have more time. But for now, look at the difference in the current American diet and the disease-preventing nutritional diet based on the most nutrient-dense food per calorie consumed

Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food. —Hippocrates

All Too Often, Fancy Outweighs Fact

Further Resources:

FAQ's by Dr. Fuhrman
The China Study
The China Study in the NYTimes
Food Matters