When the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drastically lowered the 'blood sugar' level, the HbA1C test, to 5.7 percent for a potential precursor to disease labeled "prediabetes" the rest of the world jeered. In China, that would mean 500 million people worried they have a disease. In America, it would mean 80 million more potential patients. When it came to data, less than 5 percent of those with that A1C level would ever go on to develop type 2 diabetes...in their entire lives.
Advocates insisted that this would warn people to start exercising, but realists knew the truth. Many were going to demand medicine and when they did not get it, members of Congress were going to be yelling at insurance companies.
We know it's true, people accept science so much they feel comfortable taking a pill, especially if it means not having to wait for exercise to help. A new study affirms that. In a recent survey presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2018, people told them were to imagine having high blood pressure (which itself is not a disease, but that is a different article) and choosing between a pill, a shot, drinking tea, or exercising, people chose a pill, followed by tea. No one wants to exercise.
There are serious limitations. From March to June 2017, 1,284 U.S. adults recruited through Amazon Turk and 100 patients attending an outpatient health clinic completed the survey. Most survey respondents were under 45 years old, and half were female. Roughly three-quarters of respondents were non-Hispanic white, 10 percent were African American, 7 percent were Hispanic or Latino, and 8 percent were Asian. Most had high blood pressure.
When almost all of your respondents are young, they are not going to be worried about longevity or heart disease, and they still think they have time to start exercising next year. That skews the results.
But 96 percent would take a pill for an extra five years of life. Now, 93 percent would exercise if it meant an extra five years of life but the discipline it takes to exercise versus taking a pill is enormous. And people rationalize. Few skip their birth control pill, insult or heart medication but almost everyone can rationalize that missing a day or a week is not a problem.
Americans lead the world in adult science literacy, which is why Europeans are terrified of modern agriculture while Americans recognize there is no Beepocalypse, nor do GMOs causes autism, so Americans actually expect even more than five years from the medical community.
Over 20 percent of respondents expected more life expectancy beyond what any of the individual interventions could provide. That's confidence in U.S. technological superiority.
People Would Rather Pop A Pill Than Exercise To Lower High Blood Pressure
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