While Congress debates healthcare reform, there is no debating the results of recent studies on Americans’ health. In the last few weeks studies have shown that Americans are not living as long as they should be, our health continues to be undermined by our bad habits and new cases of Alzheimer’s are being reported in record numbers.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last month that the average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78 years, an increase of 1.4 years over the last ten years. However, this is actually one of the lowest numbers among developed nations; even people in Cuba live longer on average. Yet, Americans have the highest healthcare spending per capita in the world (LiveScience).

There are also indications that this number may be the peak for American life expectancy if trends in childhood obesity continue. Not to mention Americans’ bad habits with eating, smoking and exercise that persist despite all the information out there about the benefits of healthy living. Another recent study from Oxford University showed that middle-aged male smokers who also have high blood pressure and cholesterol died a decade sooner on average than their peers without these factors for heart disease.

According to the American Heart Association, in the U.S. high blood pressure has fallen since 1999 by only 16 percent, high cholesterol by 19 percent, and tobacco use by just over 15 percent. “People exercise no more than 10 years ago, while rates of obesity have climbed sharply, especially among children.”

As the healthcare debate in Congress gets increasingly more heated and the debaters seem mired down in semantics and politics, the bigger picture of how to make Americans healthier is getting buried under the mudslinging. President Obama has said that the present healthcare system is focused on “excessive defensive medicine.” But even the majority of his proposals have to do with health insurance reform, not necessarily health reform. Again, it might seem like just semantics, but there is a difference.

NBC Nightly News reported recently that cases of Alzheimer’s are rising at an alarming rate around the world. Every 70 seconds in the United States, a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and the number of cases is expected to increase 77 percent over the next 40 years. Again the studies showing the benefits of a healthy diet and regular exercise to help prevent this disease are largely ignored.

Perhaps if there was more emphasis on preventative medicine rather than the defensive medicine the President was bemoaning, health insurance and healthcare would cost a lot less. The cost of dealing with all the new cases of Alzheimer’s will be “staggering,” according to Dr. Nancy Snyderman of NBC. If more Americans have access to health insurance then they should receive better healthcare, including listening to doctors when they advise more exercise, healthier foods and less bad habits.

The new flu treatment using Tamiflu could possibly put some patients at an increased risk of a stroke. The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have received more than 400 reports of Tamiflu vaccine side effects since the start of the swine flu outbreak, and now doctors have been notified that Tamiflu can interact with the anticoagulant Warfarin and prove fatal to those taking their daily Warfarin medication. The combination can cause uncontrolled internal bleeding which can result in a stroke

Warfarin is a blood thinning drug taken by millions of patients worldwide, including those who have had heart surgery. Doses are usually monitored by a blood test on a regular basis depending upon their clotting ratio known as the International Normalised Ratio (INR). A ratio of between two and three is the norm, that is to say that the ’stickiness’ of the blood can be up to three times thinner than the average person, the higher the INR rate the thinner the blood. The worry is that Tamiflu could thin the blood even further, causing a stroke or excessive bleeding.

The situation is disturbing as Tamiflu medication for H1N1 flu treatment can be purchased on the internet without a doctor’s prescription and even prescribed via telephone in the UK and delivered to designated collection points.

Oxford University researchers last week said that children should not be given the anti-viral drug as those who were otherwise in good health could suffer more harm than benefit from taking Tamiflu or Relenza the alternative anti-viral. Over half of all children who received it have had side effects including.

? Sleep problems

? Stomach cramps

? Nausea

? Psychiatric problems, including nightmares, and unusual behavior.

As a result the MHRA stressed that anyone who is already taking medication for an underlying condition should check with their medical practitioner before embarking on Tamiflu flu treatment course.