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| U.S. Records Drastic Decline in Death Rate | |
| 2006-04-20 | |
| Somehow, it's gotta be Bush's fault(tm)! I'm sure minorities, women and gays are hardest hit too! ATLANTA - In what appears to be an amazing success for American medicine, preliminary government figures released Wednesday showed that the annual number of deaths in the U.S. dropped by nearly 50,000 in 2004 — the biggest decline in nearly 70 years. The 2 percent decrease, reported by the National Center for Health Statistics, came as a shock to many, because the U.S. is aging, growing in population and getting fatter. In fact, some experts said they suspect the numbers may not hold up when a final report is released later this year. So much for all those upcoming lawsuits against McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's! Super size me, baby! Nevertheless, center officials said the statistics, based on a review of about 90 percent of death records reported in all 50 states in 2004, were consistent across the country and were deemed solid enough to report. The center said drops in the death rates for heart disease, cancer and stroke accounted for most of the decline. Again, puts a nail in the coffin for those ambulance chasers. However, with the current state of the courts, who knows? "We were surprised by the sharpness of the decrease. It's kind of historical," said statistician Arialdi Minino, lead author of the report. Leave it to a statistician to say "kind of historical." The government also said that U.S. life expectancy has inched up again to 77.9 years, a record high but still behind that of about two dozen other countries. Well, of course, what else would the UN have to do except scold those fat, lazy 'mericans? The preliminary number of U.S. deaths recorded for 2004 was 2,398,343. That represents a decline of 49,945 from the 2,448,288 recorded in 2003. U.S. deaths ordinarily rise slightly each year. The last decline in annual deaths occurred in 1997, a modest drop of 445 deaths from 1996, Minino said. As Taranto says, "below 100%?" The number of deaths has not dropped this steeply since 1938, when there were about 69,000 fewer than in 1937. A drop in 1944 came close — about 48,000 fewer deaths than the previous year. Health officials could not immediately say why the number of deaths fell so sharply in either of those years. Couldn't be because WWII was coming to a close then, eh? Man, I need to apply for a grant to study these issues! "These are preliminary data," said Paul Terry, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Atlanta's Emory University. "But if it holds up, it's obviously very good news." "Very good news indeed," he added while ordering an XL Papa John's pizza. To see such a giant drop after years of annual increases was a little hard to swallow for some. Of course, there will always be doubters, even of good news. I guess the National Association of Funeral Home Directors will be expressing their outrage too! "We will not make much of this until the final data come out," said Elizabeth Ward, director of surveillance research for the American Cancer Society. She sees less grant money coming their way, I assume! Overall, age-adjusted death rates fell to a record low of 801 deaths per 100,000 population in 2004, down from almost 833 deaths per 100,000 in 2003. Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death, accounting for 27 percent of the nation's deaths in 2004. Cancer was second, at about 23 percent, and strokes were third, at 6 percent. The good news: The age-adjusted death rate for all three killers dropped. The heart disease rate declined more than 6 percent, the cancer rate about 3 percent, and the stroke rate about 6.5 percent. Bye, bye, McDonald's lawsuits! Improvements in medical care, particularly in medications aimed at preventing heart disease, at least partly explain the improvements in the heart disease death rate, said Ken Thorpe, an Emory professor of health policy. But, but, I thought we had 40 million people who didn't have insurance? How can this be? Also, the flu season for 2004 was milder than 2003, which helped explain the more than 7 percent drop in the influenza death rate, Minino noted. The death rates for 11 of the 13 other leading causes of death also declined, with only Alzheimer's disease (the No. 7 killer) and high blood pressure and kidney disease related to high blood pressure (No. 13) inching up. Even officials at the National Center for Health Statistics were "really kind of concerned" when they first saw their own numbers, said Bob Anderson, the agency's chief of mortality statistics. But the fact that decreases in the death rate were found nationwide gives them confidence that the findings are legitimate, and not the result of something like changes in data collection. Only a scientist who spends his entire life indoors in a lab can see these data as "concerning." The government also reported that a baby born in 2004 could expect to live to nearly 78 — an increase of almost half a year from 2003. Women now have a life expectancy of 80.4, up from 80.1. Male life expectancy is 75.2, up from 74.8. Wait! Stop the presses! I always thought women were hardest hit! The life expectancy for whites — 78.3 — was up only slightly from the previous year. The increase for blacks was larger, with a rise from 72.7 to 73.3. There it is. Blacks (minorities) are still hardest hit. Whew, I was beginning to worry about this author. The government also reported that the infant mortality rate has dropped to 6.76 deaths per 1,000 births, down from 6.85 the year before. But a huge racial disparity persists. The rate for whites was 5.65 per 1,000 births, for blacks, 13.65. This is a serious question. I wonder if this counts abortions as "mortality"? If so, that could explain the disperity, but then I'd be a racist for saying so.
Egads! Canada has longer average lifespan? Uh oh, look for socialized healthcare near you soon. And, I note that no one in the Middle East is mentioned (except Israel). Anyone got a clue meter for that? | |
| Posted by:BA |
| #6 Ummm, road deaths down due to driving less? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2006-04-20 22:40 |
| #5 All smoking diseases. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-04-20 19:56 |
| #4 I'd say improving diets are a major factor. As the parent of teenager, I regularly go to McDonalds and other fast food places. I don't eat the stuff and haven't for many years, but I've been struck by how they have been getting away from the fat, salt and sugar (although not so much as the other two). |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-04-20 16:52 |
| #3 I was pretty sure the mortality rate anywhere is 100%. Go figger. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2006-04-20 15:53 |
| #2 How soon before the Democrats in Congress take credit for this? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-04-20 14:14 |
| #1 No surprise, really, and the decline will continue. The boomers are not going to go quietly into the night. It's their g*ddamned planet, dontcha know. |
| Posted by: BH 2006-04-20 13:51 |