Healthier lifestyles and diet could prevent millions of cases of cancer; compliance with meds could save lives

The World Cancer Research Fund reports that healthier lifestyles and diet could prevent up to 2.8 million cases of cancer each year.  Inactivity is contributing to poor health and higher mortality for those who are obese, suffering from diabetes or on the brink of racking up those high glucose numbers. If more people walked just 20 to 30 minutes a day, or followed a routine exercise regimen, they can lose or maintain a healthy weight and avoid illnesses.  Stopping smoking can help to reduce cancers of the lung. 

On another front,  lack of health insurance leads to 45,000 deaths annually, according to the American Public Health Association.  Each year, thousands of people fail to go to a doctor when they are ill or fail to fill a prescription due to the high costs of healthcare.  In some cases,  faililng to get that prescription  could result in catastrophic infections or mortality from heart-releated or diabetes complications.

Prevention and wellness education is becoming more important, but the price of health insurance is still a deterrent to those who are just above the poverty line.  The working class poor without health insurance are often in worse shape healthwise than those on Medicaid.  While the U.S. has taken a stab at health care coverage for all, there are many that still won't be able to afford it, even when it becomes mandatory in 2014.  We should start thinking now about how to fix that problem, instead of watiting until it happens.

Obamacare: In critical condition but expected to survive

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is moving through its first full year of implementation in 2011, faced with a court challenge to the constitutionality of mandatory health insurance and the everyday pitfalls of partisan politics. It appears to be following the path of other reform measures that were considered problematic - Social Security and Medicare, most notably. At the time they were passed, many critics predicted they wouldn't last a decade, and while our current economic crisis appears to threaten their solvency, these institutions have so far survived the test of time. Once again, as time and history will tell us, health reform could offer Americans positive opportunities in the areas of prevention and early intervention. The new law requires insurance companies to offer at no cost to the insured preventive screenings for certain conditions. This move is expected to save money over time and will also result in earlier treatment and hopefully, fewer adverse effects that can lead to costly hospitalizations. In Medicare, for example, enrollees are entitled to a wellness checkup once a year and personalized prevention plans. All new Medicare plans offer prevention services with no out-of-pocket costs. It's an evolving process that could save time and lives over time and one of the brightest spots in the somewhat confusing list of new measures Americans will face in the coming years. Still to be decided: the constitutionality of mandatory health insurance...Stay tuned.