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underpants

(182,279 posts)
Thu Jan 10, 2013, 09:37 PM Jan 2013

PLEASE READ - Americans have lowest life expectancing and are poorer

The findings were stark. Deaths before age 50 accounted for about two-thirds of the difference in life expectancy between males in the United States and their counterparts in 16 other developed countries, and about one-third of the difference for females. The countries in the analysis included Canada, Japan, Australia, France, Germany and Spain.

Car accidents, gun violence and drug overdoses were major contributors to years of life lost by Americans before age 50.

Americans also had the lowest probability over all of surviving to the age of 50. The report’s second chapter details health indicators for youths where the United States ranks near or at the bottom. There are so many that the list takes up four pages. Chronic diseases, including heart disease, also played a role for people under 50.

The panel sought to explain the poor performance. It noted the United States has a highly fragmented health care system, with limited primary care resources and a large uninsured population. It has the highest rates of poverty among the countries studied.

Education also played a role. Americans who have not graduated from high school die from diabetes at three times the rate of those with some college, Dr. Woolf said. In the other countries, more generous social safety nets buffer families from the health consequences of poverty, the report said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/health/americans-under-50-fare-poorly-on-health-measures-new-report-says.html?_r=0

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PLEASE READ - Americans have lowest life expectancing and are poorer (Original Post) underpants Jan 2013 OP
We are focusing on an important thing, but it is possibly the wrong thing... Kalidurga Jan 2013 #1
US life expectancy declining. kenny blankenship Jan 2013 #2
preeeeeeeecisely. cbrer Jan 2013 #4
We're number one... awoke_in_2003 Jan 2013 #3
The answer for me was to leave the USA Richard_uk Jan 2013 #5
Welcome to DU underpants Jan 2013 #6
K&R. So sad.. Overseas Jan 2013 #7

Kalidurga

(14,177 posts)
1. We are focusing on an important thing, but it is possibly the wrong thing...
Thu Jan 10, 2013, 10:19 PM
Jan 2013

Recently I gave up meat, that was last January. I didn't however have a much better diet. I was still eating a lot of processed foods and not many vegetables or fruits. It was mostly cheese and carbs for a long time. Sometime in October, I found myself eating my daughters oatmeal she left behind when she went to college, I was too lazy or too sick to go and get more procesed food like substances. So, I had oatmeal that morning and then went to get food. I had oatmeal the next day for breakfast even though I had other food. I had oatmeal until it ran out. But, what happened in the next two weeks is I started to feel a lot better. So since then I have been tweeking my diet and trying to find what foods work best for me. Apparently what works is a lot of vegetables and higher fiber foods in addition to just giving up meat. I watched two movies recently on the topic of food and nutrition the first one is about adopting a vegan diet the second one a healthy omnivore diet with an emphasis on lowering bad carbs (maybe carbs in general. While that isn't for me, I found a lot of useful information in that move two. These are the two movies I watched; Vegucated and Hungry For Change. I watched both from Netflix.

I think we could eliminate 60 to 90% of our nations health problems by focusing on prevention. For some it will just be learning how to get enough sleep. For some it will be avoiding processed foods especially sugar. For some it will be to move a little more. And some might need a comprehensive approach. I feel I was pretty close to dying I know it sounds dramatic, but I had so little energy it was difficult to get out of bed, shower, and go about my day. It still is. But, I am getting better my progress is a bit bumpy, but things have improved to the point I think I might fully recover from whatever it is that destroyed my energy level.

kenny blankenship

(15,689 posts)
2. US life expectancy declining.
Fri Jan 11, 2013, 01:24 AM
Jan 2013

Gotta pay those insurance companies, hospital corps, and big pharma.

You folks won't mind too much if they choose not to share in your sacrifice? They have real lives to live.

 

cbrer

(1,831 posts)
4. preeeeeeeecisely.
Fri Jan 11, 2013, 04:50 AM
Jan 2013

People who vote republican are perpetuating the theft of the future of this nation.

Richard_uk

(20 posts)
5. The answer for me was to leave the USA
Fri Jan 11, 2013, 07:42 AM
Jan 2013

After 20 years in the USA I moved to the UK, as a 50 year old male, this move added 2 years to my life expectancy. I now live in a country where the healthcare focus is on preventative care rather than cost or profit. I pay about 12% of my salary in national insurance contributions. I have no co pays, i get free prescriptions (due to medical need not ability to pay), there is no limit to the cost of any procedure that I may need. Here, I will never even see a breakdown of my treatment cost.
When i lived in the USA I used to have to negotiate with insurance companies for cover for my employees, something that as an engineer I was completely unqualified to do. Nevertheless dozens of families relied on the decisions that I had to make. This was done with no knowledge of their medical needs. All that I considered was the cost of the various care packages. Each year these packages provided less coverage for more money.
Here in the UK two terms are unknown, "medical bankruptcy and pre-existing condition", cover is for life and is provided by a single institution the National Health Service. Even the most conservative British politician would not dare to advocate its abolition, it would be political suicide. The US system is considered a joke here. When I explain to a brit that if you lose you job in the USA you lose your medical benefits they are incredulous, image losing your healthcare when you may need it the most. So thank god for the socialists of 1950's Britain.
If this is what socialism can do, bring it on.

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