don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

A wellness mindset focuses on the benefits and payoffs of a healthy lifestyle, not the adverse consequences of NOT thinking and acting in wellness-oriented ways. Wellness promoters do not try to frighten people about smoking, mock them for not exercising, scold them for following The Junk food Diet or otherwise cajole, browbeat, or harass.

Yet, every so often, there is no harm in addressing a particular illness or disease, and viewing its prevention and management from the positive perspective of self-management. After all, a vast number of people are ill, suffering, and beset with problems brought on by all manner of factors. Thus, it is just as important to promote personal responsibility, fitness, sound nutrition, and all the other skill areas that are part of the wellness agenda to the sick as it is to the well. Furthermore, everyone is at risk for all kinds of what Shakespeare described as the slings and arrows of an outrageous fortune.

One of the most dramatic of these slings and arrows is the disease called diabetes. Diabetes is a leading cause of blindness and kidney failure and it dramatically raises the risk of heart attacks. It kills 180,000 Americans annually. Cases of diabetes rose dramatically in the past year and have been increasing at a startling rate for several years. Some call diabetes an epidemic in this country.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released data last month showing that diabetes is an equal opportunity disease affecting every demographic category. At least 16 million Americans have diabetes, a disease that prevents the body from regulating blood sugar. The number of cases is expected to rise to 22 million by 2025. In just the past decade, diabetes cases grew by nearly half again, an increase that crossed races and age groups but was sharpest -- about 70% -- among those in the 30 to 39 age cohort. This statistic is an instance of what is termed adult-onset diabetes.

I'll bet you won't be surprised to learn that the CDC attributes the rise of diabetes to obesity and insufficient exercise combined with the junk food diet so many people, particularly children, have adopted.

The message is out there -- lose weight by increasing your physical activity and changing your diet, CDC epidemiologist Ali Mokdar said. He added this frightening but not surprising note to the end of his remark: But nobody is doing it.

So, we might ask ourselves, Why not? Why is that nobody, or at least far too few people, are doing it? I suspect there are many reasons, as life is more complex than many want to admit and behaviors have many causes. In my view, however, a major factor is that no major element (like the school system) in society is responsible for or has taken upon itself the task of promoting self-management. This is not what we expect of our doctors, it is certainly not what we ask of the health care or medical system, and it is not something that society in general promotes and reinforces.

Self-management is a positive alternative to mediocrity. Wellness or self-management could be promoted as a far more attractive alternative than that of just muddling through life. It could be presented as having vastly more appeal than the lifestyles that prevail that lead to obesity and diabetes, factors such as sedentary living, blaming others rather than seizing accountability, being a victim, eating junk food, and otherwise failing to empower yourself and live in a manner consistent with personal excellence.

These kinds of attitudes lead not only to obesity and, eventually, diabetes and other diseases but as well to less quality of life, less sense of meaning, and lower expectations. It is surely wise to minimize health risks and increase your chances of avoiding diseases, but the best reason to live well is that it is a more enjoyable way in which to experience your existence.

Maybe it's time for a new approach to dealing with the epidemic of diabetes -- the promotion of wellness lifestyles at all levels. A self-management lifestyle is a lot cheaper than treatments, including drugs and tests and all the rest, and it is certainly a richer way to be alive.

Be well. All the best.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of adaptations and challenges. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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