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Almost half of middle aged Americans suffer from one or more chronic illnesses.

Living longer with chronic illness is possible with better medical care and pharmaceuticals, however, disease prevention is the real goal.

The increases were due mainly to rises in three conditions: hypertension, diabetes and cancer, according to the report. These increases may be due to more new cases, or due to people living longer with the conditions because of advances in medical treatments.

The report also said that middle-aged adults with at least two chronic conditions had increasing difficulty, between 2000 and 2010, in getting the care and prescription drugs they needed because of cost. In 2010, 23 percent reported not receiving or delaying the medical care they needed, and 22 percent said they didn’t get the prescriptions they needed. In 2000, these rates were 17 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

For those who do everything they can to avoid artificial sweeteners it is disconcerting, to say the least, to learn than healthy habits like drinking lots of water can lead to filling up on artificial sweeteners.

The concern over artificial sweetener in drinking water is a real one.

The damage done to the body can wreak havoc on the digestive system and cause a multitude of chronic illnesses which often go undiagnosed.

Here are a few of the symptoms experienced by those who use Splenda.

Gastrointestinal problems: bloating, gas, pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or bloody diarrhea

Seizures, Blurred vision, Blood sugar increases Headaches and migraines Dizziness

Allergic reactions, including swelling of the face, eyelids, lips, tongue, or throat.

Weight gain

Allergic skin reactions: Redness, itching, swelling, blistering, weeping, crusting, rash, eruptions, or hives

Breathing problems: wheezing, tightness, cough, or shortness of breath Stuffy nose, runny nose (clear, thin discharge), sneezing

Heart palpitations or fluttering

Joint pains and achesBloodshot, itchy, swollen, or watery eyes Anxiety or sensation of being “spaced-out” and Depression

If you think that being overweight effects only the obese then think again.

Obesity is fast replacing tobacco as the single most important preventable cause of chronic non-communicable diseases, and will add an extra 7.8 million cases of diabetes, 6.8 million cases of heart disease and stroke, and 539,000 cases of cancer in the United States by 2030.

Some 32 percent of men and 35 percent of women are now obese in the United States, according to a research team led by Claire Wang at the Mailman School of Public Health in Columbia University in New York. They published their findings in a special series of four papers on obesity in The Lancet.