Two things came across my desk this morning, both directly relating to two of my New Years Resolutions - one that scared the daylights out of me, the other saved me money, yet both provided me incentive to get off my rear and move.
Diabetes…the new Epidemic
The first was an article that appeared in the New York Times today entitled Diabetes and Its Awful Toll Quietly Emerge as a Crisis. It’s quite a long article but worth the effort to read. And for those of you who are just too tired or busy to read the entire article, there is a video feed. So why should you read it?
- Diabetes is the only disease in the U.S. that is getting worse, instead of better. And it’s getting worse fast!
- One in three children born in the United States five years ago are expected to become diabetic in their lifetimes.
- Diabetes has no cure. It is progressive and often fatal, and while the patient lives, the welter of medical complications it sets off can attack every major organ.
- In a 24-hour period of time, 4100 people are diagnosed with diabetes, 230 amputations are performed in people with diabetes, 120 people enter end-stage kidney disease programs and 55 people go blind.
- Diabetics are two to four times more likely than others to develop heart disease or have a stroke, and three times more likely to die of complications from flu or pneumonia, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
- Most diabetics suffer nervous-system damage and poor circulation, which can lead to amputations of toes, feet and entire legs; even a tiny cut on the foot can lead to gangrene because it will not be seen or felt.
And that’s just for starters.
According to Lorna Thorpe, New York deputy health commissioner, after combing through medical charts she believes that diabetes should be third among the diseases causing death in New Yorkers, trailing cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The disease can be controlled through careful monitoring, lifestyle changes and medication that is constantly improving, and plenty of people live with diabetes for years without serious symptoms. But managing it takes enormous effort. Even among Americans who know they have the disease, about two-thirds are not doing enough to treat it, according to the article.
So that’s reason enough for me to re-commit to exercising and eating right, for a healthier me in 2006.
Getting My Personal Affairs In Order For Less…and then some
2005 marked the first time when I finally made “peace of mind” a priority for the year, and created a living will. Spurred on by last spring’s Terri Schiavo tragedy, I wanted to spare my family any additional emotional turmoil and confusion in the event that I suffered some unexpected condition rendering me unable to express my own healthcare wishes. During my research I came across a great service called LegalZoom which was an online site that promised to save me time and money on legal matters and would help me create reliable legal documents from my home or office. The site offered an easy-to-read online questionnaire that automatically inserted my answers into the required legal documentation. Then the document was reviewed by paralegals to assure I completed everything properly (a big selling point to me). You can get more information on the process by viewing our article on Affordable Living Wills (and other legal documents) Available Online.
Well, last year was the Living Will. This year will be the Last Will and Testament. Ultimately, my husband and I will be creating a Living Trust, an important estate planning tool that can help save the expense and delay of probate (which can last as long as three years and take up to 10% of our estate’s value - something we want to avoid for our son). But that’s a little more complicated, and I want to get something in place now. I can get a Standard Last Will and Testament drawn up for $59 and if I do it on or before January 19th, I can get another $10 discount (just use the referral code of FRESHSTART at checkout). Well, I’m not putting this off any longer, and I hope you won’t either.
All the best for you and your loved ones in 2006!
Susan from Women’s Work
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