What Are Underlying Conditions, Anyway?

With another school—this time, in Manhattan's Morningside Heights—closing due to high student absentee rates, worries about the swine flu continue. The NY Times tries to delve into what "underlying conditions"—something that the four swine flu victims who died had in common—actually are. Conditions like "diabetes, asthma, heart disease, lung disease, a weakened immune system and, possibly, obesity... could aggravate the effects of swine flu." The widow of Mitch Wiener, an assistant principal in Queens who was the first New Yorker to die from the H1N1 virus, told the Times, "Many, many people share the same underlying causes that my husband had, and if he’s at risk, many people are at risk," and was skeptical of the conditions playing a part in his death, "He was overweight and he was taking medicine for high blood pressure. How many people 50 and above don’t?"

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By Jen Chung in News on May 28, 2009 9:35 AM

Comments [rss]

nyorker555

Well, the man who died looked obese, not just overwieght. That's not good.

JacqueMehoff

same with the insurance "pre existing condition" clause.

who doesn't have a pre-existing condition at age 40+?

jaycjay

"What really annoys me about this is that people don't seem to realize that people die from the normal flu ALL THE TIME."

Exactly. About 30,000 people die from the flu in the US every year. And of course, almost all of them have some "underlying condition" which makes them more vulnerable than the hundreds of thousands who get the flu and don't die.

So far there's absolutely no evidence that H1N1 is more likely to kill someone who gets it than any other typical strain of flu.

JacqueMehoff

I find the one meal a day diet works in losing weight. (not by choice, incls no beer) I lost 15 lbs already. I'm at my pre-college weight.

MidCFrank

More important -- a 50-year-old being overweight/taking blood pressure is A CHOICE. I'm looking at 52 this summer, was ordered to lose a little weight and get in shape or start taking "the pills" -- I opted for getting in shape and it's great on many levels. Americans are too quick to take the easy fix -- which turns out to not be a fix at all.

whitecastlerock

Good for you man! All too often doctors cannot wait to give you prescriptions like they are handing out pez...

NannyState

I get my Pez on the street.

MidCFrank

Fortunately mine is not one of them!

Steven

If people would start eating more vegetables more and have a good balance diet they will not be overweight or have heat problems. All too often you see people eating a lot of salty food and tons of meat. I believe you should only have a 4oz piece of steak like twice a week tops.

JacqueMehoff

I've always thought pneumonia was the killer but it's the flu.

Peter

What the article doesn't fully address is that underlying conditions differ in their significance. Thousands upon thousands of people have asthma, for example, but cases can range from very minor to very serious. It's unlikely that all cases of asthma increase one's swine flu risk to the same extent. More likely, only the most severe 10% (for example) of cases are associated with an elevated risk of swine flu death.

nicemarmot

What really annoys me about this is that people don't seem to realize that people die from the normal flu ALL THE TIME. I'm really glad I'm not a doctor. I would have to resist the urge to stand up in the ER with a megaphone yelling "YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!"