In one study, male and female non-smokers who were obese at age 40 died 6 -- 7 years earlier than their non-obese equivalents. Obesity is associated with hypertension, dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance, the secular trends in these conditions should indicate the emerging disease impact of the obesity epidemic (Canoy and Buchan, 2007)
The epidemic of obesity really began in 1980 and in almost all countries has been rising inexorably ever since. It wasn't until 1997 that the World Health Organization accepted that this was a major public health problem and, even then, there was no accepted method for monitoring the problem in children (James, 2008)
Secondly, he deals with the philosophical issue of whether or not it is moral for the federal, state and local governments to make a product legal (and an addictive at that) and then to punish and vilify its users with special, discriminatory smoking excise taxes on that product. Based upon his study, there is simply no difference between the health costs coming from normal medical maladies and those that have been caused by the smoking habit (Auld, 2011)
This is the most prevalent among the teenage population. For every 10% increase in the purchase price of a pack of cigarettes, the youth smoking rates overall dropped about 7% (Peterson et
The study found that this included the subpopulations with the highest smoking rates as well. It was shown in the article that smoking rates among pregnant women are responsive to tax hikes (Ringel, & Evans, 2001, 1855)
These estimates were largely based upon the figures that went back two decades that were developed by analysts working for the states that comprising estimates of state-specific costs for use at trial or in settlement discussions. The medical costs of smoking in the United States equal and may also well exceed the most commonly referenced figure of 6 -- 8% of the general population in the country at large (Warner, Hodgson & Carroll, 1999, 290-291)
The rate of natural loss increases substantially after age 50. If its severe enough, the thinned-out bones become porous, and osteoporosis develops, which literally means bone porosity (Walford, 2000, p
Paget's Disease of Bone In 1877, Sir James Paget first described a disease that he had identified in a small number of patients who had been described as "having overly large heads and enlarged or deformed extremities with a higher likelihood of fracture." (Chaffins) While Paget believed that this disease was a relatively new one, archaeological studies have since found evidence of it in skeletons from the first century A
" (Chaffins) Besides the use of these agents, Calcitonin is the only other known treatment for Paget's disease of bone, and is effective in reducing bone turnover. And while there is some evidence that chemical agents can provide some relief for the pain and oseolytic disease often associated with Paget's disease, "there is no convincing evidence that treatment is effective at preventing chronic complications, such as deafness, deformity and secondary arthritis" (Cundy) However, since chronic complications tend to develop over years, or decades, recent treatments may yet prove themselves effective
But with Paget's disease of bone, the rate of bone rebuilding and that of the bone decaying is out of sync, resulting in "production of bone that is denser than normal, but which is structurally disorganized and mechanically weak." (Daroszewska, 270) In humans, the only other major bone disorder that is more common than Paget disease of the bone is osteoporosis
(Singer 484) Paget's disease can often be diagnosed through radiological technology, such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRI's; and there are a number of signs of Paget's disease among which are "osteoporosis circumscripta, lesions, osteosclerosis, increased thickness and circumference of bone, compression from softening of bone, separation and displacement of teeth, picture-frame vertebrae, enlarged cranium with increase in the marrow space, and intense uptake of radioactive tracers by involved bone." (Flowers, S34) In the early stages of the disease, a condition called osteolysis can usually be detected on radiographs as lesions on the bones
In the spine, Paget's disease can lead to "nerve root compression, spinal stenosis, the cauda equina syndrome and fractures." (Seton) Complications of Paget's disease can be high output failure, renal stones or hypercalcaemia, and sometimes, when a patient is bedridden, profound shifts in calcium
Dental complications in patients with maxillary or mandibular disease include malocclusion and loss of teeth." (Singer 484) But the most common site of Paget's disease is the spine, with the sacrum and lumbar region being affected most often
Neuro-imaging innovations and research findings have reached explosive levels in the last decade. These can scan abnormal metabolic activity, such as that of the orbital frontal cortex in alcoholism and other forms of addiction (Krotz 2001)
Other and more sophisticated modalities proposed or recently developed include diffused optical tomography, elastography, electrical impedance tomography, fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine, opto-acoustic imaging, and positron emission tomography or PET. The most popular brain imaging tools were the CT scan, the MRI and the PET until the emergence of an MRI variant, called functional MRI or fMRI, as an evolutionary brain-imaging device (Pennisi 1994)
As a breakthrough in research on Alzheimer's. The compound enables researchers to see and examine brain plaques found in living Alzheimer sufferers (Romain 2004)
The foregoing facts make arguments in support of requiring smokers to pay even more appear spurious on their face, but there is more involved in the analysis than first meets the eye and these issues are discussed further below with respect to the second-hand smoke generated by smokers. Second-Hand Smoke and Health Care Costs Even though many tobacco companies have known about the harmful effects of smoking for more than a half century and other research has confirmed these suspicions for more than 40 years, the potential adverse health effects of so-called "second-hand smoke" have only come to light relatively recently (Cox & Foster, 2011)
In fact, despite the growing body of evidence that smoking causes a wide array of healthcare problems and further exacerbates numerous others, a new group of smokers emerges and the costs that are associated with treating them continue to escalate (Sunstein, 2004). Indeed, each year, more than one million people in the United States develop smoking-related illnesses and more than 400,000 eventually die from these healthcare problems (Daynard & Barr, 1999)
Although actuarial tables exist that help calculate the value of a lost life, these calculations fail to take into account the diminished productivity and quality of life issues that second-hand smoke causes, especially since the actual costs that are involved are unclear. Therefore, even though just a minority (approximately 28%) of Americans currently smoke, a majority of Americans continue to be exposed to the second-hand smoke they produce (Russell, 1999)
Current Funding Mechanisms for Smoker Health Care According to Daynard and Barr (1999), since the mid-20th century, the big tobacco companies have engaged in a veritable conspiracy to hide the real truth about the dangers of smoking in ways that have helped recruit new generations of smokers. In fact, despite the growing body of evidence that smoking causes a wide array of healthcare problems and further exacerbates numerous others, a new group of smokers emerges and the costs that are associated with treating them continue to escalate (Sunstein, 2004)