Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The Cost of Psoriasis Treatment

University of California, Davis dermatologist Dr. April Armstrong has done research using data from the files of the National Psoriasis Foundation into various aspects of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and how these conditions affect the lives of the more than 5,600 people analysed. Read about it here. 

One of the interesting things to come out of it is the high cost of treatment. 91% Of those studied have some sort of private or public health insurance. Despite that, out of pocket costs for co-pays and other costs are more than $2,500 per year for most patients and can be upward of $600 per month, or more then $7,200 per year. That is an awful lot of money to pay out for treatment, aside from what is being paid by the insurance. That can add a whole lot to the misery that you might feel from fighting these conditions.

We each have to fight it in our own way and I only really know the way that I find best for me. That is to fight it primarily by eating a very healthy diet and living a very healthy lifestyle. I don't smoke and I consume very little alcohol or sodas, all of which can have major detrimental effects on both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

You have to deal with it in the way that you can manage. But, if you are one of those people paying out enormous sums of money to doctors and specialists then your health insurance is likely paying out even larger amounts. If, while this is going on, you are abusing your body by eating all sorts of highly processed or junk food, smoking and drinking large amounts of alcohol or sodas, then think about what you are paying out unnecessarily.

We often hear the argument that it is too expensive to eat healthy, that junk or convenience food is so much cheaper and easier. Add onto your food costs for whatever you are paying out to the medical profession to treat you and that junk food is no longer so cheap. This doesn't only apply to psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, it also applies to many other conditions that are affected by diet. Many of them are self-inflicted conditions, brought on by over-eating and by eating cheap junk food.

Everyone complains about the high cost of medical insurance and of medical treatment. A major factor in the high cost of insurance is so many people refusing to take personal responsibility for the state of their bodies. We can't help it if we are born with a genetic problem that leads to a disease or health problem but we can help it if we abuse our bodies into bad health. If we do that we should not expect those who do look after themselves properly to help carry the cost of treatment.

So, please rethink the way that you eat. Work hard to clean up your bad dietary habits, get more exercise and get out into the sunshine more often. Your body and your wallet may both benefit from the changes.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Dix
    Thanks for the wonderful article. I agree totally that one can make a lot of difference by eating healthy. I know this for a fact.
    However I want to add that equal part is played by one's emotional wellbeing, physical activity in addition to diet.
    For example in my case to start with i never smoked, drink alcohol, my diet has been devoid of sodas,junk food, meat, fried food etc, still i ended up with the condition, it was emotional turmoil that caused it. But once i screwed it up, then even the occasional indulgence of little processed food or some small fried food caused the pains to flare up, i have seen my flare ups are much bad if it is an emotional turmoil. So for me to control this through diet is like walking over a rope, still i prefer it to drugs. I am positive that i need to give time for my body to heal and then i can take some occasional indulgences.

    So yes Diet has a major stake in it, so do other factors like emotional well being and one's outlook to life.

    Health and Happiness to All

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    1. Smith, thanks for your input. I agree with you totally that emotional well-being has a major effect on psoriasis and have mentioned that elsewhere on my blog. I try to deal with one basic issue in fairly good detail in each post rather than mix up the issues. I will, no doubt, get back to emotional stress at some time in the future when I have valid new info to discuss.

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  2. Hi Dix
    Do you mostly eat organic food, what is your take on Organic vs non organic
    Thanks

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    1. I don't buy a lot of organic. There are some foods that are fairly safe from being dangerous to your health due to pesticides and others that you really should buy organic. There is a clear list at http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/ that will guide you on what to buy organic and what not to bother.

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