I last posted on the subjects of kidney disease and dialysis a little over one year ago. Since then, the Top Five Cool Things That Have Happened In My Life are, in chronological order:
My fantasy baseball team “Allfive Fingers” won its second league title in four years
I discovered that leadership is an applied science, and I started applying it
Running became fun again
I spent a day on Capitol Hill lobbying for kidney disease awareness
I decided to make healthcare advocacy my life’s work
Dialysis is not an exciting topic to write about, and neither is kidney disease. I will do my best to make you want to read more. If you read, you’ll learn more, and knowledge rules the day.
Most people lose kidney function as a result of some other condition. Some of the top contributing factors are: diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and lack of awareness. Blacks and Hispanics are affected by kidney disease at higher-than-average rates; I don’t know whether the causes are genetic, cultural, or some combination of the two.
As I write this I happen to have the Travel Channel on, and the current piece is about a restaurant called Rocket Burger in Chicago. The eatery just constructed a Mac-and-Cheese burger, which is a big, beautiful burger sandwiched between two mac-and-cheese buns (four cheeses poured over cold, cooked macaroni, cooled, and cut into circles which are egged, breaded, and fried). Damn, that thing looks good! And that, friends, is a huge part of the problem.
For every wellness advertisement, I’ll bet there are 100 junk food, fast food, and beer commercials. And for every two ads for unhealthy food, there’s an ad for medicine that will help get rid of the condition that you wouldn’t have acquired in the first place if you didn't eat all that junk. We have been conditioned to having it our way all the time, and then making a half-assed effort to regain our health when we realize that we've gone too far. “Oh well, I’ll start a diet next month.” “I can lower my cholesterol by taking a pill”. “I’ll get a tummy tuck.” “I’ll get a bypass”. “I’ll join a gym.”
Corporations love our “have it all” attitude because they nail us coming and going. We give them our money while making ourselves unhealthy, and then give them even more money for all those half-assed diets and miracle medications that we shouldn't have needed in the first place.
There's more money to be made treating kidney failure than there is to be made from preventing it. How much will I spend if I am healthy? [fill in the blank] How much will I spend if I am a dialysis patient? [fill in the blank] How much will I spend if I’m dead?
I am by no means an expert in this area yet; I am just getting started. But this is how I see things so far. The American population is by and large uninformed when it comes to kidney disease; most people who wind up on dialysis didn't realize that they were sick until it was too late. I am a prime example. What makes matters worse is that many entities like things the way they are.
The greatest gift I can give is to promote wellness- and prevention-centered healthcare models going forward. The best way to address America’s health crisis - kidney disease included -- is through grassroots, holistic, common-sense prevention and education strategies.
And I’ll do my best to keep things interesting along the way!
