We need to keep things in perspective. When you think of the what causes deaths to individuals, our normal tendency is to think of the violent, cruel and bizarre. What’s in the news lately? Gun control. However, there are many ways people die. Which of the following result in more deaths per year in the US: homicide with guns, auto accidents, drugs, medical malpractice, unhealthy food or lifestyle?
Let’s look at the numbers.
Number of deaths in the US:
Homicides with guns have fallen from 10,225 in 2005 to 8,583 in 2011 (1)
Auto Accidents have also fallen from 43,443 in 2005 to 32,367 in 2011 (2)
Drugs (Prescription) deaths have increased from 40,238 in 2005 to to 82,724 in 2010 (3)
Medical Malpractice seems to remain between 195,000 to 201,000 deaths since 2005 (4)
Unhealthy Food/Lifestyle habits account for deaths from cancer, heart disease, and diabetes:
Cancer diagnoses increased from 1.2 million to 1.6 million from 2000 to 2012, deaths increased from 552,200 to 577,190. (5)
Heart Disease is the most preventable disease and could be cut by 82% by focusing on improving poor eating habits, increasing exercise and smoking cession. Deaths in 2007 was 813,000 and is increasing 10%/year.(6)
Diabetes (Type 2) is a preventable condition with 2.8 million people having diabetes and approx. 74,250 deaths in 2005. (7)
So, you tell me, is the number of deaths from Cancer and Heart Disease less sensational just because it is “suicide by spoon or couch”? What about Prescription drugs and medical malpractice? Do we outlaw doctors and drugs? There is no doubt that we need to protect innocent by-standers and children. However, shouldn’t we be even more concerned about the number of deaths occurring and the tremendous financial burden it cost to treat those who are making poor health choices? What should be done to educate people and especially parents to want to choose a healthy diet and exercise instead of opting for convenience and cheap unhealthy food?There really is NO cheap food when you factor in the cost of medical care and loss of quality of life as a result of eating what I call Suckfood. If your food isn’t giving you life, it’s sucking the life out of you!
(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/10/gun-crime-us-state
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year
(3)(4) http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Causes_of_Death#Adverse_Events
(5) http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/document/acspc-031941.pdf
(6) http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/news/rel2011/UNH-Heart-Disease-US-Alarming-Facts.pdf
(7) http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2005.pdf
I hope others will leave comments on this issue. I really want to know what others are thinking about what's killing Americans.