Dear Beth, Do You Have These Pre-Existing Conditions?
I listen to NPR with my teen-age daughters. 
In these formative years, I love NPR because it makes you think, which leads to quality discussion. Quality discussion leads to understanding differences, which grows new thoughts and ideas. New ideas lead to novel solutions, which fuels positive change. If you have been listening to NPR lately, you can’t help but focus on the uncertainty of our health care system. But the bottom line is that we need to focus on what we can individually change, which leads me to pre-existing conditions.
Do you know the most common pre-existing conditions? Before reviewing the list, I would like you to guess the top three. Do you have them in your mind? Now, read the list below. The list is from the most common to least common with the percentage representing the number of people who suffer from the condition:
- Anxiety – 18.1%
- Acne – 17.1%
- Diabetes – 12.7%
- Sleep Apnea – 10.2%
- Asthma – 7.9%
- Extreme Obesity – 7.6%
- Depression – 7.5%
- COPD – 6.6%
- Atherosclerosis – 5.35%
- Cancer – 4.7%
Are you surprised? Are you on this list and, if so, where? What if I told you that some of these conditions are partially or totally controlled by you and your habits? Before you get defensive about it, let me turn the questions on myself.
Question:
Beth, be honest. Do you have these pre-existing conditions and, if so, what can you do about them?
Answer:
- I have anxiety which ultimately resulted in an emergency prescription that I refuse to use. Instead, I use natural solutions for the insomnia and have focused on cognitive behavioral therapy for the past three years. It has helped me gain control of my attacks. The anxiety used to set off atrial fibrillation. This trigger event has not occurred for over a year now because I try to focus on what I can control. I have done an excellent job managing this condition.
- I have suffered from acne off and on my whole life, because I have polycystic ovarian syndrome. This was the cause of my infertility also. I take one prescription medication to control this.
- I have suffered from extreme obesity and weighed 425 pounds about 16 years ago. I lost 250 lbs with no surgery over 7 years. I used diet and exercise. When I did that, I was able to discontinue 6 prescription medications. I have gained 25 pounds in the last 3 years and I hate it, even though I know that middle-age and focusing my time on my children is the main cause. During my entire life, I have used my food addiction to control my feelings. It is not healthy. I am not in the extreme obesity category, but I need to do a better job and get my weight back where I like it to be. No excuses. I will address this issue.
Can you look at this list and write this paragraph for yourself? Can you start with one thing to improve the problem? If you have a pre-existing health care condition that is lifestyle related, I challenge you to write this paragraph to yourself and then list steps to correct the problem. We can’t personally control Congress, but most of us can control your health care costs.
