Spring Lecture
“Pepsi is a Killer: Why Healthcare Prices are Rising”
By Amanda Mayes
Every spring, the Honors Program
requests its students to attend a lecture. This year, we were fortunate to have
Dr. Michael Roizen come to Ashland to talk about health. Admittedly, health
does seem to be on the metaphorical back burner of most people’s lives. How can
we not be aware of arguably the most important aspect of our lives? Perhaps we
live in a state of perpetual ignorance out of choice; we’re young, we don’t
have to worry about cardiovascular disease, diabetes or cancer for another
thirty years. Dr. Roizen was determined to teach just how important health is
for people even in their early twenties.
Photo by A. Mayes
He began his lecture by explaining
that the cost of healthcare is increasing significantly because there is an
“influx of chronic disease.” His work at the Cleveland Clinic has made it
possible for chronic disease, at least in Cuyahoga County, to decrease by 2
percent every year. But how is this change possible? While Dr. Roizen never
said this directly, I believe awareness must first be implemented. We’ve all
heard from doctors and parents to avoid added sugars and unnecessary stress,
but have we ever been told why? Arteries are lined with tiled cells between
which protein acts as mortar. When sugar is introduced, the cells’ ability to
stick together weaken, tears occur, and LDL—the bad cholesterol—is used to
patch them up. Stress, perhaps more alarmingly, raises blood sugar, increases
heart rate and blood pressure, and inevitably increases fat while decreasing
muscle. Stress also has the same effect as dementia; it decreases brain size
and reduces memory.
Change
occurs through the changing of culture: eliminate the use of tobacco; alleviate
unmanaged stress; make better food choices, which also leads to portion
control; become active. Dr. Roizen says that within three years of these
behavioral changes, it’s as if we never had those aforementioned behaviors. In
fact, health concerns can be changed in 28 days. The genes are still present
that make it possible for you to have these health concerns, but they are now
turned off by the presence of healthy life choices. If we all reduced these
behaviors listed above, healthcare cost would decrease by 75 percent.
And
if this still isn’t enough to encourage you to change your behaviors, keep this
in mind: you might be able to burn off the calories of a Pepsi, but the
physical effects will not be removed for 180 days.
Dr.
Roizen is so concerned about the health that the Cleveland Clinic is no longer
hiring people who smoke. They have also eliminated soda machines from every
facility. He is attempting to make a statement here: we all have to pay for
Ohio Medicaid, and the price we pay increases as chronic disease does. Perhaps
the most disconcerting of his talk was the matter-of-fact way he dismissed
smokers—if a smoker just died without ever stepping foot in a hospital, we
wouldn’t care. We wouldn’t be paying for their choice to harm themselves. At
this point, 20 percent of the average Ohioan’s salary goes to healthcare. Dr.
Roizen is steadfast in his desire to decrease the amount. And while he may not,
for lack of a better phrase, sugarcoat the facts, he is working toward a
healthier Ohio and a healthier America.
Photos below by S. Julian
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