America's epidemic of chronic illness is killing them too soon

The United States is failing at a fundamental mission - keeping people alive.

After decades of progress, life expectancy - long regarded as a singular benchmark of a nation's success - peaked in 2014 at 78.9 years, then drifted downward even before the coronavirus pandemic. Among wealthy nations, the United States in recent decades went from the middle of the pack to being an outlier. And it continues to fall further and further behind.

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A year-long Washington Post examination reveals that this erosion in life spans is deeper and broader than widely recognized, afflicting a far-reaching swath of the United States.

While opioids and gun violence have rightly seized the public's attention, stealing hundreds of thousands of lives, chronic diseases are the greatest threat, killing far more people between 35 and 64 every year, The Post's analysis of mortality data found.

Heart disease and cancer remained, even at the height of the pandemic, the leading causes of death for people 35 to 64. And many other conditions - private tragedies that unfold in tens of millions of U.S. households - have become more common, including diabetes and liver disease. These chronic ailments are the primary reason American life expectancy has been poor compared with other nations.

Sickness and death are scarring entire communities in much of the country. The geographical footprint of early death is vast: In a quarter of the nation's counties, mostly in the South and Midwest, working-age people are dying at a higher rate than 40 years ago, The Post found. The trail of death is so prevalent that a person could go from Virginia to Louisiana, and then up to Kansas, by traveling entirely within counties where death rates are higher than they were when Jimmy Carter was president.

 

FULL STORY

 

 

Don't tell the Chinese, they will see it as a weakness!

This is the problem with running a health system primarily on a for-profit basis. Public health investment suffers.

Processed foods imo is a major contributor sedentary lifestyle is another 

Bad food, no exercise, sedentary lifestyle, overweight, and fear of going to the hospital or a physician because it will bankrupt you--even if you're insured. I wonder for how many Americans the walk from their house to their car or their car to their office door is the most intense exercise of the day.

A poor article that ignores the elephant in the room. It mentions  inadequate insurance once but goes no further. How about the 8.4% or 27.6 million Americans of all ages did not have health insurance in 2022?

 

So for all the crying about needing primary healthcare doctors, there are over 27m people who cannot afford to see a doctor anyway. Lots of mentions of the poor. So why not discuss racial disparity? 

 

Nonelderly American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) (21%) and Hispanic (19%) people were more than twice as likely as their White counterparts (7%) to be uninsured as of 2021. At birth, AIAN and Black people had a shorter life expectancy (65.2 and 70.8 years, respectively) compared to White people (76.4) as of 2021, and AIAN, Hispanic, and Black people experienced larger declines in life expectancy than White people between 2019 and 2021.

 

While poor people suffer most, isn't it because they are mostly minorities? And the fact that the healthcare industry is only in it to the money? When I saw the attached cartoon of American healthcare executives visiting the NHS in the UK, I guessed the problem immediately.

 

 

28 minutes ago, Purdey said:

A poor article that ignores the elephant in the room. It mentions  inadequate insurance once but goes no further. How about the 8.4% or 27.6 million Americans of all ages did not have health insurance in 2022?

 

So for all the crying about needing primary healthcare doctors, there are over 27m people who cannot afford to see a doctor anyway. Lots of mentions of the poor. So why not discuss racial disparity? 

 

Nonelderly American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) (21%) and Hispanic (19%) people were more than twice as likely as their White counterparts (7%) to be uninsured as of 2021. At birth, AIAN and Black people had a shorter life expectancy (65.2 and 70.8 years, respectively) compared to White people (76.4) as of 2021, and AIAN, Hispanic, and Black people experienced larger declines in life expectancy than White people between 2019 and 2021.

 

While poor people suffer most, isn't it because they are mostly minorities? And the fact that the healthcare industry is only in it to the money? When I saw the attached cartoon of American healthcare executives visiting the NHS in the UK, I guessed the problem immediately.

 

 

Health Insurance is...'after the fact'!

 

After you get diabetes...after you are diagnosed with colon cancer...after you've had a heart attack...after you've had a stroke and the whole left side of your body is paralyzed...

 

People go through there lives stating on social media..."I love my fat"..."I'm okay with looking like a beached whale, I still love myself"...I can live with my diabetes and my foot amputation next week...

 

Americans are some of the most 'hypnotized, brainwashed, and health ignorant individuals on the planet. 'Who in their right mind eats more than they need...?'

 

There is no acknowledgement or practicing of 'Preventive Medicine'.

 

90-95%  percent of all disease is preventable...

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2515569/

Edited October 6, 20232 yr by tkramer

 

The truth form Jeffs mouth. Not the hyperbolic xenophobic BS propaganda narrative.

20 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

 

The truth form Jeffs mouth. Not the hyperbolic xenophobic BS propaganda narrative.

Wow...great stuff...!

1 minute ago, tkramer said:

"don't ask me why"

 

WHY...?!

What part of don't don't you understand?

So frustrating this is happening, as need hardly happen at all - if folk just ate sensibly and exercised each day. Really isn't too difficult.

Thailand is unlikely to be impacted as many Western societies as more people become obese and expect to be "cured" by the system. And moan about waiting lists.

54 minutes ago, tkramer said:

There is no acknowledgement or practicing of 'Preventive Medicine'.

I wholeheartedly agree this wasn't mentioned. However, advance medical advice to reduce issues like diabetes is given by general practitioners in many countries.

It comes down to cash in the end. Fat people are a source of income for insurance companies. 

45 minutes ago, Purdey said:

I wholeheartedly agree this wasn't mentioned. However, advance medical advice to reduce issues like diabetes is given by general practitioners in many countries.

It comes down to cash in the end. Fat people are a source of income for insurance companies. 

"It comes down to cash in the end."

 

Not so!

 

Some of the healthiest and most long-lived people on the planet are middle to lower-middle class rural inhabitants by world standards.

 

Home - Live Better, Longer - Blue Zones

Edited October 6, 20232 yr by tkramer

8 hours ago, 2baht said:

Don't tell the Chinese, they will see it as a weakness!

Don't tell 'journalists'...they will see it as a topic in which to 'pontificate' on...

Maybe since it’s a Thailand forum.  It should be looked at that the death  rate is very high here.  Accidents, lack of or no health insurance, alcoholism, insufficient vaccinations, poor health care , bad air quality, poor sanitation , etc. 

My point is.  There are many countries with health issues.  It depends on how one takes care of themselves.. And if they have the proper resources to  do so. 

2 minutes ago, swm59nj said:

Maybe since it’s a Thailand forum.  It should be looked at that the death  rate is very high here.  Accidents, lack of or no health insurance, alcoholism, insufficient vaccinations, poor health care , bad air quality, poor sanitation , etc. 

My point is.  There are many countries with health issues.  It depends on how one takes care of themselves.. And if they have the proper resources to  do so. 

Well it is the world News Sub-Forum.

 

And no, life expectancy in populations is not simply a matter of individuals taking care of themselves.

 

The Romans drained swamps and removed Malaria as a seasonal killer in Rome. 
Victorian Liverpool installed sewage systems and potable water distribution and in doing so removed cholera and typhoid from their city.

 

Vaccinations have saved countless lives while the availability of affordable porcelain alone removed the cause of disease that killed relentlessly.

 

Diseases that impact at the societal level require societal level cures.

A post contravening our Community Standards  and a reply has been removed.

Fast food + big bucket (free refills) of coke. Inexpensive alcohol. 
To me IN&OUT was the healthiest fast food, but still tried to have it every few months. 

I loved Norms restaurants, but just a few times. 
 

soon will see it here as well. Soda machines used to be back of the counter, now they are out there for free refills. 

 

Edited October 6, 20232 yr by The Theory

Not only in the USA.

 

28 minutes ago, attento said:

Not only in the USA.

 

Among wealthy nations, the United States in recent decades went from the middle of the pack to being an outlier. And it continues to fall further and further behind.

We all understand the need of preventive maintenance for our cars etc.

No one cares about maintenance of our own bodies.

Stupid,very stupid.

Preventive healthcare can save many lives and many billions of whatever currency you chose.

People are too lazy or too busy to take care of themselves.

11 hours ago, Purdey said:

A poor article that ignores the elephant in the room. It mentions  inadequate insurance once but goes no further. How about the 8.4% or 27.6 million Americans of all ages did not have health insurance in 2022?

 

So for all the crying about needing primary healthcare doctors, there are over 27m people who cannot afford to see a doctor anyway. Lots of mentions of the poor. So why not discuss racial disparity? 

 

Nonelderly American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) (21%) and Hispanic (19%) people were more than twice as likely as their White counterparts (7%) to be uninsured as of 2021. At birth, AIAN and Black people had a shorter life expectancy (65.2 and 70.8 years, respectively) compared to White people (76.4) as of 2021, and AIAN, Hispanic, and Black people experienced larger declines in life expectancy than White people between 2019 and 2021.

 

While poor people suffer most, isn't it because they are mostly minorities? And the fact that the healthcare industry is only in it to the money? When I saw the attached cartoon of American healthcare executives visiting the NHS in the UK, I guessed the problem immediately.

 

 

That is exactly what it is about. Nail, head, hammer.

10 hours ago, tkramer said:

Wow...great stuff...!

Brilliant!

How a Big Pharma Company Stalled a Potentially Lifesaving Vaccine in Pursuit of Bigger Profits

A vaccine against tuberculosis, the world’s deadliest infectious disease, has never been closer to reality, with the potential to save millions of lives. But its development slowed after its corporate owner focused on more profitable vaccines.

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-big-pharma-company-stalled-tuberculosis-vaccine-to-pursue-bigger-profits

12 hours ago, stevenl said:

Among wealthy nations, the United States in recent decades went from the middle of the pack to being an outlier. And it continues to fall further and further behind.

'Behind' being the operative word.

 

I can remember the first time I landed in the US (with considerable jetlag), and after about an hour watching TV, especially the advertisements, thinking that every American had hemorrhoids, adult incontinence, and that their false teeth were forever falling out.

Cigarettes, alcohol and junk food -- long may it wave!

 

On 10/6/2023 at 5:32 AM, The Theory said:

Fast food + big bucket (free refills) of coke. Inexpensive alcohol. 
To me IN&OUT was the healthiest fast food, but still tried to have it every few months. 

I loved Norms restaurants, but just a few times. 
 

soon will see it here as well. Soda machines used to be back of the counter, now they are out there for free refills. 

 

On my visit to US ate at jack in box, most of the customers had no business there. Just large, even the young ones were pudgy. Then you have Costco selling everything in huge amounts. It's just over the top crazy.

6 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

On my visit to US ate at jack in box, most of the customers had no business there. Just large, even the young ones were pudgy. Then you have Costco selling everything in huge amounts. It's just over the top crazy.

High calorie, low nutrient fast food is cheap and everywhere.  Fresh fruits and vegetables---not so much.

 

The government should stop grain subsidies and start subsidizing fruits and vegetables.

It's the governments fault... right.  

OH wait... we have Obama's affordable care... no more uninsured.  We now have laws about serving size and drinks sizes... no more fatties or diabetics.  In every aspect of society today the elephant in the room is that not one single person dare point the finger at the real reason for the problems... and that is the lack of personal acceptance of responsibility by anyone... no solutions... just finger pointing. 

 

 

 

37 minutes ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

It's the governments fault... right.  

OH wait... we have Obama's affordable care... no more uninsured.  We now have laws about serving size and drinks sizes... no more fatties or diabetics.  In every aspect of society today the elephant in the room is that not one single person dare point the finger at the real reason for the problems... and that is the lack of personal acceptance of responsibility by anyone... no solutions... just finger pointing. 

 

 

 

Yet all other economically developed nations are ahead of the USA in terms of life expectancy. Even those like Germany and the UK which also have a dismal record. The US approach to health is to apply bandaids. Very costly bandaids.