In one of my previous posts, I reviewed a study which compared dietary supplement users vs. non-users. The results of this particular study suggested that people who use dietary supplements differed from non-users in several key aspects. To understand an overall gestalt of how they differ, I think we need to take a step back and look at how we as individuals cope with illness.
Illness. It’s just a terrible word isn’t? To most people it’s something that we would rather not have to think about or have to deal with. For the unfortunate among us, it’s something that we have to deal with sooner rather than later. However, as we age it’s something that in one shape or form, none of us is lucky enough to escape. Eventually, we all generally have to learn how to cope with illness. In particular, this often includes common conditions including high blood pressure, cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis as well as various types of cancer. Though we often consider illness as something that we need to diagnose and treat, perhaps, we should expand our efforts at methods of preventing rather than treating illness.
As individuals, we all have a choice in how we cope with the diagnosis of a medical condition. A diagnosis of cancer or heart disease can be tremendously stressful and people diagnosed with these conditions can potentially develop depressive or anxiety disorders. Some people will react with a general sense of denial and avoidance while others will take ownership of their illness and take a more active role in their treatment.
In general, people who take dietary supplements whether or not they are actually well enough informed or whether or not there is enough scientific evidence to support the use of a particular dietary supplement, often fall in the later category of people who take an active roll in their treatment and more importantly in seeking to maintain a healthy lifestyle. What does this entail? For the most part, it involves learning about your illness, asking your treating physician questions and reviewing your treatment options. These are just some of the options that we as individuals have in taking ownership of their illness. Aside from this, seeking to maintain a healthy lifestyle involves choosing to be more informed and taking active measures to actually attempt to prevent illness.
Now, I would suggest that you take one more step back and reflect upon how your choices as individual affect society in general. Health care costs are bourgeoning at an enormous rate. Given that we have an aging population and that many illnesses are somewhat age-related, costs to our health care system will only continue to escalate.
What can we, as individuals, do to help reduce our escalating health care expenditures?
Recently, I came across a series of four health-impact studies by the Lewin Group. These particular studies were commissioned by the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance (DSEA). The supplements studied in this health-impact study only included those with both the highest level of evidence as well as Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved health claims. As you may expect, the focus of these studies encompassed the idea of consuming these dietary supplements to prevent rather than treat specific diseases.
The old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is certainly supported by the potential health care savings of preventing rather than simply treating diseases.
Which supplements in this study could potentially reduce health care expenditures?
1. Calcium (1200mg) with Vitamin D
a. “Calcium with vitamin D: Appropriate use of calcium with vitamin D for the Medicare population shows potential avoidance of approximately 776,000 hospitalizations for hip fractures over five years, as well as avoidance of stays in skilled nursing facilities for some proportion of patients. The five-year (2008-2012) estimated net cost associated with avoidable hospitalization for hip fracture is approximately $16.1 billion.”
2. Folic acid (400 mcg)
a. “Folic Acid: The total lifetime cost of a baby with Neural Tube Defect (NTD) in 2004 is roughly $532,000, including direct medical costs, therapies and equipment, and special education. Out of about 4 million live births annually, NTDs occur in one of every 1,000 pregnancies in the U.S. Of 64 million American women who are of childbearing age, if just 10.8 million additional women began taking 400 mcg. of folic acid on a daily basis periconceptionally, approximately 600 babies would be born without NTDs, saving as much as $326 million as a result. Over five years, taking into account the very low cost of the supplement, $1.3 billion in lifetime costs could potentially be saved.”
3. Omega 3 Fatty acids (1800mg)
a. “Omega-3 Fatty Acids: The estimate of the potential five-year savings in health care expenditures resulting from a reduction in the occurrence of coronary heart disease (CHD) among the population over age 65 through daily intake of approximately 1800 mg of omega-3 is $3.2 billion. Approximately 374,301 hospitalizations and associated physician fees due to CHD could be avoided.”
4. Lutein (6-10 mg ) with zeaxanthin:
a. “Through daily intake of 6-10 mg of lutein with zeaxanthin, it is estimated that $3.6 billion could be saved over 5 years by helping people with age related macular degeneration avoid dependency. Across the five year period, approximately 190,927 individuals could avoid the transition to dependence either in the community or a nursing facility that would accompany a loss of central vision resulting from advanced AMD.”
***Source: Dietary Supplement Information Bureau
The final report of the Lewin Group Study concluded:
“The final report of a study commissioned by the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance (DSEA) shows that over the next five years, appropriate use of select dietary supplements would improve the health of key populations and save the nation more than $24 billion in healthcare costs.”
To view the full reports, please visit the Dietary Supplement Information Bureau’s Website: DSIB. The dietary supplement information bureau is a non–profit organization. The website is also a well-known resource for objective information about dietary supplements.
dietary supplement information bureau health care expenditure dietary supplement calcium vitamin d omega-3 fatty acids folic acid neural tube defects hip fractures macular degeneration lutein
5 Comments
July 28, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Just from 4 simple supplements that can save more than $32 billions in 5 years time. How if we calculate of all the list of supplements. I think it can beat the mark of all billionaires sum.
The only problem is, most of the dietary supplement doesn’t get FDA approved. The famous brands like Muscletech, Optimum Nutrition, BSN, etc are among the best selling dietary supplements that is not approved by FDA.
August 2, 2008 at 12:10 am
Thanks for a fantastic information.
All this simply means that supplements work!
August 11, 2008 at 8:29 am
Thats a really nice article. It was informative, but I have a question on the protein supplements… Is use of protein supplements by body builders really beneficial.you said it reduces health care expenditure but what i have read is that its use in the long run causes kidney ailments???
August 11, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Javon, thank you for your comment on this article post. However, I think that you’ve mixed up two separate articles. Protein supplementation was not mentioned in the article about dietary supplements that reduce health care expenditures.
Instead, I recently wrote a post about protein supplementation to increase endurance to start off a series of articles about dietary supplements that may improve athletic performance. Whether or not protein supplementation may cause kidney ailments is a very good question. I will dedicate a full article post to address this question.
cheers,
Jarret
August 13, 2008 at 1:30 pm
HI. Ever heard of Waiora? we use it specially their anti-aging, natural cellular defense and the cardio basics.
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