You Think You're Healthier Than Others...

But Your Doctor Might Disagree.

Imagine this: you think you're healthy and it's everyone else who has problems.

Well, according to a new study, that is exactly what a majority Americans surveyed believe despite data showing higher incidence of obesity and diabetes.

Over half of the people who responded to the survey believed other people's health was poor, however only 17 percent would admit their own health was going in the wrong direction.

The study, which was commissioned by GE Healthcare, The Cleveland Clinic and Ochsner Health System, found a large discrepancy between how Americans rate their own personal health and how they rate the health of their fellow Americans. Alarmingly, most Americans seem to think they are in much better shape than their doctors believe they are.

This is not the first study that shows people generally rate themselves higher in personal categories than what reality may suggest.  It has been demonstrated in other surveys that most people generally think they are better looking and smarter than their peers. 

This is the human ego at play.

Researchers believe that people are either not confronting reality about themselves or they don't have the correct knowledge and believe they are doing the right things, according to Dr. Michael Roizen, chairman of The Cleveland Clinic's Wellness Institute.

Misinformation appears to be a big problem.   I can attest to this as I often will see patients attempt to do things they believe are correct, but are often counter-intentive to what they need to get better.

On Monday, Feb 8th, over half of my patients came to me with complaints of relapse of their symptoms due to shoveling snow or using a snow-blower. 

The study results from over 2000 people across the nation in 2000 show that almost a third of the people gave themselves an A for personal health management and regular exercise, and 92 percent gave themselves an A for healthy eating.

However, just over 90 percent of physicians gave these patients a grade of C in each of the categories--a large disconnect.   One reason is that an obese person will compare themself to another obese person and think that's a fair basis for comparison.

Another problem appears to be that many respondents didn't know their basic health numbers - blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose level and other measures- though the majority reported that keeping those numbers in a good range was key to good health.

Ninety-five percent agreed that regular checkups with their physicians were important, even though 70 percent said they had taken actions to avoid their doctors, such as hoping their health problems would go away on their own or asking a friend for medical advice instead.

How often do you think I have a patient tell me, "I thought it would just get better on its own."?

Again, evidence that people live in their own fantasies and minds rather than in reality.

The real reality is that most Americans don't take steps to prevent disease and think that if they aren't sick or critically injured, they're fine. But most of the killers are silent diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries. These diseases don't get noticed on a day to day basis, but they evolve slowly and insidiously over time, just like the lines of aging on your face. 

Unfortunately people justify their negative behaviors by believing that the good things they do cancel out the negative.  So, a trip to Handel's for ice cream is negated by the 30 minute walk they took the day before.

Sorry, it just doesn't work that way.