Also, greatly increases the likelihood of infecting someone young and healthy. In fact, people with abdominal obesity or type 2 diabetes are probably the major source of COVID-19 infection in everybody else.

Let us help you improve defense against Coronavirus. You’ll be less likely to become infected and less likely to infect others.

To learn more about programs Herd Healthcare offers, our website is:
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COVID-19 is an acute viral respiratory illness that can spread from person to person. It is caused by a coronavirus similar to others that cause acute respiratory illnesses, even including the common cold. Infection can be so mild as to cause no symptoms at all or so severe as to cause serious symptoms and even to cause death.

This coronavirus called COVID-19 is enough different from all the others that there are no vaccines to prevent illness following infection. Also, there are no medications yet proven specifically effective in treating its effects.

With no prevention or treatments, this virus has spread as an epidemic throughout the world. Here in the US, the cost of treating those infected and the cost of preventing its spread between people has been enormous. It spreads rapidly and causes more serious illness than influenza.

Every year, about 12% of the population in the US gets the flu. That is they have symptoms from infection with influenza virus. Of those with symptoms, 1 or 2% have to be hospitalized and 1 in 10 of those hospitalized don’t recover. The result is 30,000 to 50,000 deaths every year from influenza.

In the first 3 months of illness with COVID-19 in the US, 1.4 million people have suffered symptoms. More than 20% of them have had to be hospitalized and more than 80,000 have died. Deaths in just three months more than twice the total deaths caused by influenza in a whole year. We still don’t know how many there will be in 12 months! Could be 3 or 4 times more!

The cost of COVID-19 in 2020 will be enormous. Both Health Care Costs and Costs to the Economy.

Medical treatment for COVID-19 will increase Health Care Costs by about 20%. Costs to the US economy for public health measures will reduce Gross Domestic Product about 20%.

Costs of Medical Treatment for COVID-19 will be about seventy times more than annual costs for medical treatment of influenza.

Portioning costs to everybody will increase Health Care Costs by $2,400. Increase caused by Influenza will be about $350.

Loss of GDP caused by COVID-19 will be about 200 times greater than loss caused by Influenza.

Loss of GDP portioned to everybody will be an annual cost of $15,000!

COVID-19 frequently is serious and potentially deadly for anyone with abdominal obesity. That’s half of the US adult population. The other half may not even have symptoms if infected or be infectious to anyone else.

Weight reduction and moderate exercise abolish risk of severe COVID-19 for individuals with abdominal obesity and greatly decrease risk of transmission to others.

No vaccine against COVID-19 will ever substitute for recovery from abdominal obesity. Vaccines against other types of coronavirus have never been successful protecting against illness. Vaccines against influenza viruses only protect about 40% of those who have been vaccinated. Also, vaccination is required every year. Only about 50% of those who could be protected actually get vaccinated each year.

The natural defense against COVID-19 involves the immune system. This includes white blood cells circulating in blood and specialized cells in organs and tissues. Immune cells recognize normal, healthy cells. They also recognize unhealthy cells. Injury or infection causes immune cells to isolate and remove unhealthy cells.

Immune cells also recognize unhealthy conditions. They collect and multiply in unhealthy tissue. Some immune cells tear down unhealthy tissue and other immune cells clean up and restore healthy conditions.

Fat in the abdomen is recognized as unhealthy. Immune cells accumulate and multiply there, especially the tear-down cells. Eventually, immune action in abdominal fat dominates the whole immunity system. Levels of immune cells, proteins and hormones all rise above normal in blood samples and other tissues. But not enough to take care of new COVID-19 infection.

Immune cells depend on normal metabolism of sugar, fat and protein just like cells in all other systems. When overloaded with sugar and fat, they become resistant to insulin. Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes further damage immune response to infection.

Response to COVID-19 requires rapid action by immune cells. The result of abdominal obesity and type 2 diabetes is slow onset and reduced strength of immune response.

The daily news about COVID-19 often reports that severe disease and death occur mostly in elderly people. That’s not completely true. Reports from New York are different than reports from China. In a report of 5,700 patients treated in hospitals in New York City, half the patients were less than 64 years of age.

Another feature of patients with COVID-19 in New York is the severe effect of obesity. Under 60 years of age, obese patients were twice as likely to be hospitalized as those who were not obese. In hospital, those with mild obesity were twice as likely to be admitted to Intensive Care Units. Patients under 60 years of age with severe obesity were 4 times as likely to be admitted for Intensive Care.

Obesity was not the most important risk factor for patients over 60 years of age.

We don’t yet know an effective treatment for COVID-19. It’s always possible that treatment will be found that is as miraculously effective as Penicillin for Streptococcal sore throat.

We also don’t have an effective vaccine for prevention of COVID-19. It’s always possible a vaccine will be produced that is as miraculously effective as polio vaccine for acute poliomyelitis.

We do know that normal healthy % body fat and regular routine of moderate exercise greatly increase natural resistance to all viral infections.

We can prevent severe symptoms of COVID-19 in ourselves and avoid transmission of infection to others.

We are pleased to share our blog articles with you, and we are always interested to hear from our readers. Our website address is: www.herdhealthcare.com

This is a really good deal! Every hour spent gains more than 10 hours additional time in Good Health.

Good Health means look good, perform well and feel great.

Visit our website: www.herdhealthcare.com to get started on an action plan for Good Health.

Good Health Planning

Maintenance Time
Eventually, Good Health Practice includes moderate exercise 150 minutes every week, averaging about 30 minutes a day. This is time spent in endurance exercise like walking, running or biking or strength training like push-ups or lifting weights. How the time is divided up day by day doesn’t really matter.

Moderate exercise might well add time to all other activities of daily life. Everything else in Good Health Practice is time spent somehow anyway.

Training in Good Health Practice

Initial time spent is discretionary. Since maintenance time is about 30 minutes a day, that’s a reasonable time to aim for. But the amount of time spent is not as important as spending that time every day.

The time it takes to measure and record progress day by day depends on how much you are willing to spend. You can begin by reporting something simple like fasting blood sugar. Reporting just one measurement probably requires no more than 5 or 10 minutes. It will require more time as you report more but you will get good at measuring and reporting as you gain skill from daily repetition. Coaching sessions to review progress probably require no more than 30 minutes a week.

Something recorded every day about Good Health is essential. Also, recording in a Notebook is important. Those notes are essential for successful coaching sessions.

Health-related Quality of Life (HRQOL)

The impact of recording and improving health practices might seem like it’s going to be a nuisance. Or make life unpleasant. It won’t be a nuisance or unpleasant. The experience of overweight adults with type 2 diabetes consistently has been significant improvement in HRQOL.

The Look AHEAD trial of more than 5,000 overweight/obese individuals with type 2 diabetes tells the story. That study reported effects of changing health practice on nutrition, physical activity, mood and mental health for up to 11 years.

The results showed improvement in HRQOL. The greatest improvements were in physical functioning. Also, the greatest changes occurred in those with the poorest function when they entered the program. There was some loss of improvement in those who regained weight. The greatest improvements were enjoyed by those who were most successful in maintaining changes in body weight and physical activity.

Financial Planning

Retirement Savings Accounts

Day-to-day financial expenses make it hard to save for future healthcare and retirement. Very few wage earners have pensions. In fact, the majority of families in the U.S. have less than $1,000 saved and half of all families have nothing saved for retirement.

The median amount for those who have IRAs or 401(k)s is $60,000. The typical amount available at retirement is $600 a month.

What to do?

Some expect to rely on Social Security. Some expect to rely on help from their children. Others expect to just keep working until they can’t.

Then what? Don’t know.

Healthcare Costs In Retirement

Medicare Coverage

Healthcare costs are often higher than anticipated. Medicare covers many healthcare expenses but not all!

The average retiree over 65 years of age will spend about $5,000 a year on healthcare premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.

That doesn’t include the cost of long-term care.

Long-term care

Costs range from $40,000 a year for home healthcare to more than $90,000 a year in a nursing home.

Out-of-pocket healthcare expenses are the biggest risk for outliving your money.

Good Health Is A Good Financial Plan

Potential For Healthcare Saving $

Good health prevents the expenses and distractions of physical and mental illness. Patients with type 2 diabetes at 40 years of age can expect to spend $5,000 more in out-of-pocket expenses every year than others who do not have diabetes.

A patient who has type 2 diabetes at 40 years of age can expect to spend more than $125,000 out-of-pocket by 65 years of age. That would be pretty good to put into retirement savings!

Income And Productivity $

Cost of illness is even greater in other ways than healthcare cost. Illness and disability affect performance and productivity. They reduce ability to earn income and ability to manage personal, family and social commitments.

Ultimately, illness and disability cut short the years for generating income and managing commitments.

The greatest benefit of a Good Health Plan is the opportunity for long, rewarding, independent living with financial security free of huge healthcare expenses.

Action Plan To Reverse Diabetes

Time Getting Started

Making measurements and keeping records is the first task. Everything starts here. How much time spent is what makes this all work.

Begin with measuring and recording what’s already going on. Record blood sugar levels, or blood pressure, or body weight, or steps on pedometer, or medications taken.

Take pictures of meals and snacks. Or describe them. Whatever represents your current health practice.

Plan it, measure it, note it and record it. Doesn’t take long. Maybe 10 minutes a day but it’s on your mind. That’s your executive cognitive function in control.

Also Read: Reverse Diabetes and Maintain Your Brain

What will happen depends on subconscious habitual daily responses against new executive orders. We’ll find out what your brain operating system will allow making measurements and keeping daily records.

Other Time

Some time is well spent reviewing information, becoming educated and building a foundation for motivation to reverse diabetes. The more you know, the better your executive cognitive function can manage your intrinsic habitual responses.

If possible, 1 or 2 hours a week.

Creating social support interactions with family, friends and community groups also is time well spent. It’s a help to learn from others, to show them what you can do. Share the pleasure of success and support each other when things don’t seem to be going so well.

Digital Equipment $ Costs

Personal computers, mobile units and internet charges are expensive. However, most of us already have digital equipment and internet account subscriptions required for digital technology services.

Food And Fitness Diary Apps (Free and Premium $ Accounts)

The best way to start adjusting the metabolic balance of current health practice is to analyze your calorie intake and calorie demands of physical activity. With information about what needs to be changed, you can make your own decisions about how to make improvements.

Information on calorie content of food and calorie expenditure with exercise can be found on Apps available on the internet. Most have free basic accounts and subscription premium accounts. Examples are:
• MyFitnessPal
• SparkPeople

Commercial Weight Loss Programs

Specific menu suggestions and recipes can be purchased. Calorie content and nutrient categories are already figured out for you.

Programs that provide advice on food to buy include:
• Weight Watchers

Programs that deliver food to your home include:
• Jenny Craig
• Nutrisystem
• South Beach Diet

Discretionary $ Costs

Discretionary costs are for items you buy that enhance good nutrition and good physical activity for you.

Anything you can afford that helps you set and follow your action plan, is worth the money you spend on it. But hardly anything is absolutely necessary beyond PC, mobile unit and internet account.

These include things like:
• gym membership
• exercise equipment
• special food choices

Good Health Planning May Be Even More Important Than Financial Planning

We are pleased to share our blog articles with you, and we are always interested to hear from our readers. Our website address is: www.herdhealthcare.com

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Good Health Planning for Retirement is more important than Financial Planning. Money can’t buy Good Health but Diabetes Remission saves Money. Contact us and we’ll get you started toward saving money.

Annual Medical Costs

Have you checked your medical expenses for 2018? Are your expenses more than you expected? The average for everybody in the USA today is more than $10,000. If you have diabetes, your expenses likely are more than twice the expenses of people with ideal weight and no diabetes.

Take a look at the figure. The orange column indicates costs on the average for everybody. Note that people who are obese pay an average of about $12,000. People with ideal body weight spend about half that amount or about $6000. Now look at the blue column at the left of the figure. People with diabetes pay almost $14,000 per year, or more than twice the amount paid by people with ideal body weight and no diabetes.

Of course, there’s been a big change in how we pay our bills for medical care. Fortunately, most people have healthcare insurance. During the past 10 years, the average individual healthcare insurance premium has gone up from $160 per month to $390 per month. That’s a three-fold increase! At the same time the deductible for individual healthcare insurance has gone up from $2000 per year to $4000. That’s a twofold increase. Since medical treatment for diabetes has risen from about $150 per month to more than $500, the additional $2000 is unavoidable expense. In addition, copayment (flat fees) or coinsurance (percent costs) is charged for every medical service after reaching the deductible.

Finally, some healthcare insurance plans are increasing rates according to pre-existing medical conditions.

Cost of Chronic Illness

We tend to think about hospitalization for acute illness, surgery and emergencies as terrible costs for medical care. Certainly, we carry healthcare insurance to help us pay for something that requires hospital care. In fact, chronic illness is far more expensive for all of us year after year. Chronic illness causes 86% of all healthcare spending. The combination of diabetes and obesity is the most expensive cause of chronic illness in the USA. The figure shows the relative costs in each major category of illness. You can see in this figure that diabetes and obesity cause medical expenses more than cardiovascular disease or cancer. Both also contribute even more to cost as major causes of cardiovascular disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Both diabetes and obesity result from too many calories taken in and too few used for energy. Both can be corrected and would save more than 10% of total healthcare costs in the USA.

Remarkable Cost Savings with Weight Reduction

Saving money by reducing diabetes and obesity actually has been demonstrated by keeping accounts of money spent on healthcare in an HMO. During 12 months, the medical expenses for men and women with diabetes and obesity were recorded. Those who reduced their weight had less cost for medical care than those who gained weight. All of the savings were from decreased costs of anti-diabetes medications including insulin.    

                                               In the figure, we can see the amounts spent by those who lost more than 3.3% of body weight, those who had no change, and those gained more than 3.6% in body weight. Those who lost weight spent $1700 less in one year than those who gained weight.

Those who lost 5 pounds spent $600 less than those whose weight stayed the same. Those who gained 5 pounds spent $600 more. That’s $120 more or less for every pound of body weight gained or lost.
Since the time these people with diabetes were studied, the cost of diabetes medications has more than doubled. Today, the savings for reducing weight at least 5 pounds would be more than $1200. That would be $240 per pound!

Consider all the Costs of Disability and Death

In addition to costs of medical treatment, there are costs because of reduced productivity at work, at home and in the community. Those personal costs increased total cost by about 40%.
Patients with diabetes and obesity are less able to work or interact with family, friends and community. In addition to increasing total cost, intermittent and permanent disability seriously degrade quality of life.

Lifetime Medical Costs

From birth to the end of life the cost for medical treatment for everybody is about $300,000.
In the figure, you can see that treatment of diabetes increases healthcare costs by about $5,000 every year. That includes costs for treating complications of diabetes as well as treating complications of heart disease, stroke, cancer and dementia.
Here, again, overweight and obesity increase medical costs as well as contributing to the cause of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and stroke.

The $ Value of Good Health

We all know we should save money for retirement. Also, we need good health for length and quality of life after retirement. Money can’t buy health but good health saves money. Reversing diabetes provides good health and the money to enjoy long life in retirement.

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