Kidneys and Covid19

The divide on whether to open is coming down to politics not medicine--specifically, who hates Donald Trump. But maybe it should come to whether you care about your kidneys. Take a look at the comorbidities of those who died of or with (which seems to be a lot of it) this novel SARS virus--diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Specifically, diabetes. About a third of those with diabetes (which is often related to both hypertension and obesity) will develop chronic kidney disease. The kidneys can't filter your blood and you may also have nerve damage. It's a disease that affects the same people vulnerable to this virus--over 60, high blood pressure and member of a minority group. A chronic condition means usually it's controllable by changes in life style and medication, and nagging from the doctor.

The very people who aren't seeing their doctors or are afraid to call, are the ones you're putting in danger by hanging on to your hatred of Donald Trump so you can blame him for the virus and the shut down. End the shut down; save your kidneys.

And please, Trump haters, stop acting so morally superior by accusing conservatives of wanting people to die by going back to life and work. You are the problem. . .

How smart is WiseWoman?

In common parlance, the words "wise woman" mean someone who depends on cards and herbs and pagan rituals to heal or help someone. But not so in the federal government.

The WISEWOMAN program (Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for WOMen Across the Nation) is administered through CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP). The WISEWOMAN program provides low-income, under-insured or uninsured women with chronic disease risk factor screening, lifestyle intervention, and referral services in an effort to prevent cardiovascular disease. The priority age group is women aged 40–64 years.

CDC funds 21 WISEWOMAN programs, which operate on the local level in states and tribal organizations.

The current budget for this program which essentially screens women for health problems is $16 million and change. So I was browsing through the screening pie charts and was more than a little shocked to see that 84% with hypertension, 84% with high sholesterol and 88% with diabetes had previously been diagnosed.

It seems we have an awful lot of programs to meet the needs of the uninsured, but wasn't that the reason we needed to rush Obamacare through without reading it--because so many didn't have these things, which are clearly right under their noses, plus screening women previously diagnosed. A screening or a diagnosis or a counseling moment doesn't mean treatment, doesn't mean research. Actually, doesn't mean diddly squat if the patient doesn't follow through.

You can look at the list of accomplishments, but you'll find nothing about mortality or extended life for those participating.

Did You Know--how 13 million people became unhealthy

When the blood pressure threshold that established the diagnosis of hypertension was lowered from 160 to 140 mm Hg systolic and from 100 to 90 mm Hg diastolic, 13 million previously healthy persons were transformed into patients requiring medication. JAMA, April 6, 2011, review of "Overdiagnosed."