Isn’t your health worth the effort?

I don’t think I need to remind anyone about the obesity epidemic happening in the United States. The last time I checked it makes the news at the very least once a week.
As health care professionals we all know how obesity wreaks havoc on every part of the human body: from high blood pressure, increased cholesterol, heart disease, joint damage, impending Diabetes, etc. Which of course puts a direct effect on the state of our Health care system.

Everything from taxing to scare tactics are being used to spread the message : Being obese is bad for your health.

Now let me make something very clear. I’m talking about obesity not being over weight. There is a distinct difference and I’d rather not make this entire blog post debating about definitions, semantics and splitting hairs. I’m talking about being so ‘heavy’ that it causes other physical ailments that put your health at risk. Period.

I of course have my own personal opinions concerning the cause and effect of this horrible epidemic, but I thought I’d share a public fact.

For some reason the general public likes to take the easy road. The path of less resistance. If you don’t believe me ask yourself this: When was the last time you spent a longer time searching for the TV remote control than actually getting up and turning the channel on the Television itself?

Heart disease is still the number one killer in the United States. And get this: most of the contributing factors of this disease are PREVENTABLE.

Yet, we as a general public rather take the easy way out.

Recent findings in Germany discovered that patients with heart disease that exercised received a greater benefit than those who chose surgical procedures.

“Studies have shown heart patients benefit from exercise, and some have even shown it works better than surgical procedures. At a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology on Sunday, several experts said doctors should focus more on persuading their patients to exercise rather than simply doing angioplasties.”

Unfortunately it seems that everyone would rather lie on a table and get the quick-fix angioplasty instead of attempting to better their health by increasing their level of activity.

“Most patients want the quick fix,” Cannon said. Exercise may improve patients’ hearts better than an angioplasty, but it may also take months or even longer for patients to feel the benefits. “It’s a lot easier to get your artery fixed than it is to exercise every day.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m interpreting this as most of the public who suffers from Heart Disease and need to treat the problem would much rather take the ‘easy’ way out as opposed to ‘working’ for it. It’s a matter of risk versus reward versus time and energy. Yes of course the procedure will be the quick correction if you simply lie on the table for the angioplasty, but then you put yourself at risk for a myriad of complications if something goes wrong. And yes if you choose the exercise option it will take longer for the benefits to take effect.

But, the benefits of exercise last longer and have far less side effects and possible complications versus the surgical procedure. Wouldn’t you want to lessen your risks?

What do you think? Isn’t your health worth the effort?