I was reading my favorite entertainment weekly, Happenings Magazine, and saw a news brief that indicates that 99% of heart attacks and strokes are linked to “modifiable” risks. I HAD to dive deeper. What I found is that 99% of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure cases are linked to preventable risk factors (Medical).
Weird.
Let’s recap what we know about cardiovascular disease.
First, it’s a disease. That means that it’s chronic, progressive, and lethal if left untreated. Kinda like the disease of addiction. Check.
Next, it’s the one of the deadliest diseases around the world. Kinda like the disease of addiction. Check.
Also, there are “modifiable lifestyle factors,” such as smoking, high blood pressure and/or cholesterol, obesity, and eating an unhealthy diet, that can exacerbate the risk of heart disease. Kinda like using substances can exacerbate the disease of addiction. Check.
And, finally, some risk factors for cardiovascular disease are genetic. Kinda like the disease of addiction. Check.
You know how cardiovascular disease is NOT like the disease of addiction? That would be how we treat people who have it. Think about your local hospital’s cardiac services. Are they anything at all like your local hospital’s addiction services? I’d bet not. And think about your community’s reaction to someone having a heart attack. Is it anything like the community’s reaction to someone having an addiction? Again, I’d bet not.
Two chronic, progressive, lethal diseases with possible genetic factors and absolutely modifiable risks. Why do we treat a person with one disease so differently than someone with the other disease? To be clear, why do we treat those with addiction so poorly? We blame them and their loved ones. We want to limit them to one or two treatments, believing that if they didn’t get better after that it’s because they just don’t want to.
Don’t get me wrong: people who commit crimes should be held accountable for the crimes they commit. Impaired driving, theft, violence…yes, a person who has a disease, even the disease of addiction, should be held accountable. But what if we actually helped families struggling with addictions?
What if our communities made meals and gave rides to appointments and fed the dog so people could go to meetings like we do when someone has cardiovascular disease? How much better would our communities be if we were willing to recognize addiction for the disease it is: people would ask for help; people would seek treatment; people would recover. And wouldn’t we all be a little better off?
References
Guided by Guida 
Leave a comment