> Limitations of the study include the fact that the authors were not able to look at factors like immigration status
Into the trash it goes.
The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening
61–70 of 136 posts
Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening
#62It’s really hard for me not to be skeptical of a study that starts with the premise of measuring everyone else against “the most privileged group,” aka. white men, and then calling their metric “health justice.” I don’t know the stats off the top of my head but I’ve heard many times that men’s health issues are under-studies relative to women’s — ie breast cancer versus prostate cancer. I’ve also seen that mental hea…
Statistically speaking, white men are far and away the highest income earners in America. They are literally the most privileged group. Until 2008, 44 of 44 of US presidents were white men. White men dominate the Fortune 500, Wall Street, and leadership in the government. The paper also explicitly defined health justice as "a measure of the correlation of health outcomes with income, race/ethnicity and sex; and a sum…
Indians and asians actually earn more than whites on average.
Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening
#63Being healthy is cheap as can be, but the gap is indeed increasing. One need only spend 10 minutes at their favorite discount grocer checkout line to see why. I'm not sure what the answer is, but it's very sad. Why are we destroying our bodies? edit: this quote is getting at it, but seems to ignore the real problem. > Research shows that health care accounts for only 10% to 20% of overall health outcomes > when patie…
> Do we have many people dying from lead and pests nowadays?
You misunderstand the problem.
You "die" from a heavy metal or other accumulating poisons only if you get an acute poisoning with a pretty large amount.
But if you get only tiny amounts for decades you don't die. You just suffer form a lot of "minor" ailments, and most of the time nobody even attributes it to lead (or mercury or whatever). That's because the correlation with aging is almost 1 - after all this can go on for decades with imperceptibly tiny increases in issues, completely in line with aging. Your brain will function less well. Your eyes may be dry and other minor sight issues. Key word "minor", you will not have some big clear symptoms, you will have lots of small issues. A few more warts from decade to decade. A bit more psoriasis. A few cramps. You are more easily tired ("it's the stress"). Maybe some slight depression, occasionally, and you don't get anything done. You get more colds than ten years ago and they last longer. Allergies start and grow.
Check my history, I posted about it, I had chronic (mercury) poisoning diagnosed, and only through luck and persistence. I have a long list of such symptoms that are all gone now even though I'm ten years older now than when I started (chelation) treatment, and which I myself, just like any doctor, always thought were "normal" issues that everybody has. That includes stuff like a nodule disappearing from my thyroid and the thyroid shrinking to normal size, to the great amazement of the endocrinologist, under chelation treatment within less than a year, after it had been there for over two decades. Needless to say, instead of asking questions and following up on how I achieved the miracle - nothing at all. And it wasn't some random miracle that cannot be explained, clearly this had to do with the chelation treatment, since that exact area became very active exactly after the 4th or 5th such treatment. Nobody cares.
Anyway, your post shows one of the problems: If there isn't a big problem visible right away there is none. Heavy metal poisonings with tiny amounts over decades are next to impossible to prove, unless you are "lucky" and for some reason when you are tested you actually have quite a bit moving around in your blood (unusual for such chronic exposure, where most of it is stored in various organs).
So nobody knows - wants to know? - how big the problem really is. My own doctor, researcher at a university clinic, is pretty pessimistic though.
Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
This doesn’t solve the problem of people who die of seizures, diabetes, or other ailments because they can’t afford their medication or insulin. Being lucky is not a healthcare strategy. There is a caravan of Americans who went to Canada to get affordable insulin [1]. From a “first world country”. The answer is universal healthcare. Everything else is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. [1] https://www.reuters.co…
edit: type 2 Diabetes is a preventable condition, please see my parent edit. Even if it wasn't preventable, apparently only 20% of the disparity is due to unequal healthcare. We don't need better health care. We just need people to care about their health. to the people commenting that t1 is not preventable.. yes. I know that. I also know that type 2 is 23x more common in the US so it's really a nitpick imo: http://d…
Type 2 diabetes, isn't just completely preventable its largely reversible. (https://www.virtahealth.com/research)
Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Statistically speaking, white men are far and away the highest income earners in America. They are literally the most privileged group. Until 2008, 44 of 44 of US presidents were white men. White men dominate the Fortune 500, Wall Street, and leadership in the government. The paper also explicitly defined health justice as "a measure of the correlation of health outcomes with income, race/ethnicity and sex; and a sum…
Who are the highest income spenders ? I'm reminded of the Seinfeld reservation bit ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2GmGSNvaM ).
Usually the people who earn the most have people whose only job is spending it for them.
Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Processed unhealthy foods are cheaper than processed healthy(er) foods. Beans and grains are cheap. Staple fruits and vegetables are cheap. Chicken is cheap (especially dark meat). Eggs are cheap. You can feed a family of 4 a very healthy diet for ~$100 a month if you're willing to put in the work sourcing and cooking. That's the crux of the issue, though. Food deserts combined with a lack of nutritional and culinary…
> Beans and grains are cheap. Side note: grains are not a healthy food.
I hate to be that person, but the statement "grains are not a healthy food" is a pretty bold statement. I'm not sure that the best evidence available supports that claim.
Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Processed unhealthy foods are cheaper than processed healthy(er) foods. Beans and grains are cheap. Staple fruits and vegetables are cheap. Chicken is cheap (especially dark meat). Eggs are cheap. You can feed a family of 4 a very healthy diet for ~$100 a month if you're willing to put in the work sourcing and cooking. That's the crux of the issue, though. Food deserts combined with a lack of nutritional and culinary…
> Beans and grains are cheap. Side note: grains are not a healthy food.
Whole grains aren't unhealthy as part of a balanced diet. Bread or rice makes vegetables more palatable, adds some protein, carbs, fiber, and minerals. Carbs are vital if you're doing physical labor. Grains are more calorie dense than veggies, cheaper, and store longer, than veggies - all big pluses for low-income households.
Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unhealthy foods are cheaper than healthy foods, partially due to sugar subsidies. This is what happens when corporations run the government. They lobby for things that are beneficial to their bottom line rather than what's better for the well being of the population.
Processed unhealthy foods are cheaper than processed healthy(er) foods. Beans and grains are cheap. Staple fruits and vegetables are cheap. Chicken is cheap (especially dark meat). Eggs are cheap. You can feed a family of 4 a very healthy diet for ~$100 a month if you're willing to put in the work sourcing and cooking. That's the crux of the issue, though. Food deserts combined with a lack of nutritional and culinary…
What, you're too good for Brawndo?
Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Processed unhealthy foods are cheaper than processed healthy(er) foods. Beans and grains are cheap. Staple fruits and vegetables are cheap. Chicken is cheap (especially dark meat). Eggs are cheap. You can feed a family of 4 a very healthy diet for ~$100 a month if you're willing to put in the work sourcing and cooking. That's the crux of the issue, though. Food deserts combined with a lack of nutritional and culinary…
> Beans and grains are cheap. Side note: grains are not a healthy food.
Considering how difficult it is to conduct reliable experiments in human nutrition, and the wide variety of conflicting results, this is a dubious claim. I'm fairly confident that traditional grain-based diets are better for you than a diet based on modern processed/junk foods. Grains do contain anti-nutrients, but it's uncertain if they're a serious health risk, and it's possible to reduce the levels with fermentation (e.g. sourdough).
Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening
#70It’s really hard for me not to be skeptical of a study that starts with the premise of measuring everyone else against “the most privileged group,” aka. white men, and then calling their metric “health justice.” I don’t know the stats off the top of my head but I’ve heard many times that men’s health issues are under-studies relative to women’s — ie breast cancer versus prostate cancer. I’ve also seen that mental hea…
Statistically speaking, white men are far and away the highest income earners in America. They are literally the most privileged group. Until 2008, 44 of 44 of US presidents were white men. White men dominate the Fortune 500, Wall Street, and leadership in the government. The paper also explicitly defined health justice as "a measure of the correlation of health outcomes with income, race/ethnicity and sex; and a sum…
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/white-minority-populat...
It’s interesting that they are so privileged yet have on average decided otherwise on the future (with negative growth).
Humans are interesting...