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The television sitcoms and movies seldom display the negative
consequences of recreational sex because consumers want a few hours
of fantasy, not a lifetime of reality.
In the 1970’s, the chance of acquiring a sexually transmitted
disease was one out of thirty two contacts and now the chances are
one out of three.
As Americans, we first have to realize the magnitude of the problem
we’re dealing with and the cost. According to American Social Health
Association, we spend more than $8 billion per year to diagnose and
treat sexually transmitted diseases not including HIV. In addition
we pay for the emotional pain from rejection and betrayal that may
result in depression, panic attacks, migraines, fibromyalgia,
bulimia, anorexia, and obesity.
Premarital sex results in teenage pregnancy 900,000 times every year
when our annual birth rate is 4.5 million. The pricetag is estimated
to be $29 billion for adolescent childbearing and its negative
social consequences.
HIV/AIDS as we know it didn’t exist until the 1980’s. Presently, the
cost of the epidemic is $25 billion per year. We’ve lost 520,000
lives.
But how can we expect our society to miss out on all the fun by
obeying God?
In a study by Robert and Amy Levin which was published in Redbook
magazine, 100,000 women were surveyed. The women that were labeled
“highly religious” were more likely to experience “a higher degree
of sexual enjoyment and greater frequency in love making” than the
other women. Sometimes as Christians, we are fooled into thinking
that are lives are not as fulfilled, but when we seek God He doesn’t
withhold any good thing from us.
God also cares about what we eat and how we work or exercise. In
America, we live in a land of plenty, and sometimes we eat more than
we should. As I was caring for a 500 pound lady who had been
bed-bound for seven years, she told me she used to deep fry most of
her food. She loved to eat. Her cakes and pies vanished at the
church potlucks, but her lifelong habits severely restricted her
freedom.
Another patient, Katherine, was a 50 year-old mom when she came
to my office with her left face drooping. She had been diagnosed the
day before in the emergency room with Bell’s palsy (paralysis of the
facial nerve) which can be the result of an infection, inflammation,
or diabetes. In Katherine’s case her blood sugar was elevated, and
she was diagnosed with diabetes. Katherine was 240 pounds and rarely
exercised. On that day in the office, she was emotionally distraught
and cried intermittently throughout most of the visit. By the end of
her appointment, after talking about proper eating habits and
building up her muscle and metabolism by exercise, she was
determined to make a change in her lifestyle and attend diabetic
education classes to learn more about her disease.
When I saw her several weeks later, she had dropped a few pounds
and was swimming 50 minutes five times a week. After several months,
her facial paralysis resolved and her blood sugar returned to
normal. She demonstrated motivation to do the right things.
Across America we have put on the pounds. On one Monday morning, I
saw five patients in my practice who weighed over 300 pounds. In
1980, our population was 45% overweight or obese. By 2000, we
blossomed to 65% overweight or obese.
Our overindulgence and lack of physical activity have lead to our
excessive weight which is associated with an increased incidence of
diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, strokes,
arthritis, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease, and cancer (uterine,
breast, prostate, and colon).
Obesity kills 400,000 Americans prematurely every year, and the cost
for diabetes alone was over $132 billion or almost ten percent of
the total health expense. Experts say that if Americans will walk
thirty minutes four times a week we will prevent half the cases of
diabetes in the future.
Renee, a thin 36 year-old came to the emergency room complaining of
chest pain. Her worried expression was apparent to me as she
explained her pain with her hands on her chest. Her skin was pale
compared to her reddish-brown hair. She was a factory worker and had
just come from her job. After I reviewed her electrocardiogram, I
informed her she was having a heart attack. She replied that she was
afraid of that. Then she told me that she wasn’t ready to die
because she had two boys at home. I told her I would do everything I
could to help her.
I gave her an aspirin, oxygen, nitroglycerin, and eventually
morphine to see if her pain would go away completely. Her pain
persisted. I then ordered a clot busting drug to open up her
arteries and relieve her discomfort. It didn’t. I contacted the
heart doctor to arrange transfer for a heart catheterization. After
she was transported and had the procedure, the heart doctor told me
that she had disease in one of her arteries which only affected a
small portion of her heart. I was glad she survived and was going to
do well.
As I thought about the cost, I estimated the emergency room visit
was around $2000, the clot busting drug at $2500, the helicopter
ride billed $2500, and the heart catheterization a mere $2000. If
she needed open heart surgery, it would have drained out $75,000.
The reason she had a heart attack at age 37 was because she had
smoked cigarettes for twenty years. If she would have died, she
would have left her 8 and 10 year-old boys without a mother. We
spend $155 billion per year on tobacco related diseases which kill
480,000 prematurely every year. Smoking is the major risk factor for
the top four causes of death (heart disease, cancer, stroke, and
lung disease), and it cuts an average 13 years off a smoker’s life.
The cigarette kills 480,000 people prematurely every year, and we
spend $155 billion per year on tobacco related diseases. Smoking is
the major risk factor for the top four causes of death (heart
disease, cancer, stroke, and lung disease).
Alcoholism affects 15 million people and results in 100,000 deaths
annually.
Since the 1970’s, abortion has claimed 47 million lives and has
adversely affected many women. I saw one emotionally distraught
woman, who was having a miscarriage, in the emergency room. After
she calmed down, she explained to me that she also had a
two-year-old die suddenly from congenital heart disease. Then she
told me that she aborted her first pregnancy because she wasn’t
ready to have kids. Women who abort are two times more likely to
abuse alcohol, five times more likely to use drugs, and three times
more likely to commit suicide than the general population.
Gambling which in the 1960’s was only legal in 2 states has now been
legalized in 48 states and has addicted 5 to 15 million people. In
America, we wager over $700 billion per year which is more than we
spend on movies, CD’s, major league sports, books, and entertainment
parks combined. The financial ruin, health problems, and suicide
attempts have impacted the health care system.
Pornography has grown to the point that Americans rent 800 million
adult movies annually. The porn industry is partly responsible for
an increase in the number of divorces, rapes, and child
molestations.
Illegal drugs are used by over 10 million Americans annually.
Smoking marijuana is just as dangerous as smoking cigarettes and
drug use increases the risk for mental illness. In one study, army
recruits who smoked marijuana more than fifty times before
enlistment had a six times higher incidence of schizophrenia while
enlisted.
Our divorce rate is over 50% and impacts the health of adults and
children.
Fatherless homes account for 63% of youth suicides, 90% of
homeless/runaway children, 85% of children with behavior problems,
71% of high school dropouts, 85% of youths in prison, and well over
50% of teen mothers.
Over the last 25 years, our jail, juvenile detention, and prison
population has grown from 200,000 to 2 million while 10 million
Americans go through the system every year. It costs $30,000 per
year to care for a prisoner.
As the moral fabric of our nation spirals downward, what can we do?
In Hosea 4: 6, it states “My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge.” We first have to know where we are, before we can begin
to formulate ways to find solutions. America is in a health care
crisis as we spend $1.8 trillion per year or $6000 per person per
year. We need to get back to our moral foundation.
“What is the hope for America?” I asked a patient of mine, a former
pastor who had a stroke.
He replied that each individual has hope. He was right.
We can have hope for this life and for eternity through Jesus
Christ.
By Daniel Carrel D.O.
“Is Biblical Morality Outdated? A Physician’s Perspective” Available
at Arnie’s Restaurant on Leonard, Kregel Parable bookstores, and at
www.drcarrel.com. ISBN-13: 978-1-932124-87-3 ISBN-10 1-932124-87-X |
