A new report by the United Health Foundation shows some good news in Maryland along with concerning trends in chronic conditions. The America's Health Rankings report found the state ranked 11th overall with positive notes including Marylanders having a low incidence of adults with multiple chronic conditions. But overall, the report found the number of Americans dealing with chronic conditions has increased, and eight conditions including things such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, C-O-P-D and chronic kidney disease reached their highest levels since the foundation began tracking them. Dr. Marie Kanagie-McAleese at the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center sees the maintenance of chronic conditions as an expensive way to approach the problem.
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"When we look at how much money the United States spends on health care, we're looking at about $4 trillion a year. And it's estimated that about 90% of these health care costs are going towards management of chronic conditions. And so this is critically important for our medical system as a whole right now." |
She says the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases through changes in lifestyle would go a long way to reducing costs associated with disease management.
The report shows more than 29 million adults in the U-S are dealing with three or more chronic conditions. Study authors also note that in the past year 15-percent of adults in the country with two or more chronic conditions avoided needed medical care, including prescription medicines due to high cost. Kanagie-McAleese is board certified in lifestyle medicine and believes the public has yet to fully appreciate how our habits can impact health.
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"There's not enough education for the general public about how tremendously important our lifestyle is at helping to prevent these chronic diseases from occurring, but also once you have any of these chronic diseases, making lifestyle changes can really help in treatment and sometimes even reversal." |
She says type 2 diabetes is one example of a chronic condition that is very responsive to lifestyle changes.
Among the strengths in Maryland the report found a low prevalence of excessive drinking, and few cigarette smokers. Although one of the problem areas for the state was a high prevalence of insufficient sleep. In Maryland, 38 percent of adults are not getting enough sleep, which is higher than the national average, and ranks the state 39th in the nation on that metric. Kanagie-McAleese says when people are chronically sleep deprived, it promotes an increase in inflammation in the body.
