Lifestyle Diseases: A Matter of Choice.
Epidemiology of Top Afflictions

This section is broadly titled "Lifestyle Diseases" and will examine the major epidemics sweeping America today.

The objective will be to show how these diseases flow from choices we make and how a few adjustments in our lifestyle can restore health and prolong life.

Depending on your age, this may be your main topic of discussion. This was brought home while sitting in a restaurant at a Florida golf course where most of the patrons appeared to be elderly retirees. Doing a little eavesdropping, many conversations seemed to center on comparisons of what pills they were taking or their latest ailments.

Unfortunately, lifestyle diseases are not just confined to the elderly. Epidemics of autism and diabetes are rampant among young people today. Obesity and the health challenges it entails are epidemic in our population.

Epidemiology is the study of disease trends in a population, focusing on the factors that contribute to health issues. It is "evidence based research" with the purpose of accumulating data to arrive at logical interventions for public health.

We will examine those health issues that can be attributed to lifestyle. In this context, the lifestyle diseases are identified as heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. We will also look at the autoimmune diseases as a category, some of which may or may not be influenced by lifestyle.

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There are several conditions we will look at that affect children and young people. One example is autism. It is now epidemic among children but theories about the cause abound and the jury is still out.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is another "young person" condition that generates a lot of controversy. Some argue that it is not a health condition at all but a creation of the pharmaceutical industry.

What used to be mostly senior citizen health concerns have now gone mainstream and permeate the population. Elementary school kids are now defined by their asthmas and allergies, attention deficit disorders, weight issues and diabetes.

Young adults are also increasingly defined by their overweight and obesity afflictions, or diabetes, or stress induced cardiovascular conditions or sadly, more and more incidents of cancer.

In the elder groups, we see the same afflictions but with the addition of more degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and cognitive afflictions.

Our healthcare system is getting better all the time at treating these conditions but prevention leaves a lot to be desired. In spite of advances in medical technology, we seem to be getting sicker and sicker as a nation.

In order to put the disease data that follows in perspective, we need to get a handle on the population figures of the United States. From the latest census data, we find:

As of mid-year, 2006, the census bureau's American Factfinder estimates the population of the U.S. to be 299,398,484. For simplicity, we will use a nice round 300 million as our total population.

By sex we have 147,512,152 males (49%) and 151,866,332 female (51%).

20,417,636 children under 5 years old (7%)

19,709,887 children from 5 to 9 years old (6%)

41,951,583 pre-teen and teenagers from 10 to 19 years old (14%)

61,527,219 young adults from 20 to 35 years old (21%)

118,531,807 working age adults from 35 to 64 (40%)

37,260,352 seniors 65 and over (12%)

It's interesting that in each age bracket the male/female balance is fairly close, give or take a few percentage points. However, when we look at the over-65 crowd, the balance is skewed in favor of females; 58% female to 42% male.

It must be all that broccoli, cauliflower, quiche and vegetable casseroles that the ladies eat. Real men don't touch that stuff, we'd rather die early. More steak and potatoes, please.

Now it's time to visit the CDC and look at their disease statistics so we can see just how big a problem these diseases are. The chart below shows the 2003 mortality rates for the top ten causes of death in the U.S. as compiled by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

I wonder why they neglected to include deaths caused by U.S. Healthcare system. All deaths due to medical mistakes, nursing home neglect, hospital acquired infections, surgical errors, prescription errors and the like for 2003 would exceed the total number of cancer and Heart disease fatalities shown. It would be right at the top of the list at a little over 700,000 deaths. These are collectively known as Iatrogenic and Nosocomial events.

Click here if you would like a deeper look into Iatrogenic and Nosocomial Deaths in the U.S.

Now let's check out the current estimates for some of these diseases from the same CDC statistical source.

Heart Disease is the number 1 killer of the lifestyle diseases and yet it is very preventable. In 2005, the number of deaths from heart disease was 652,091; down from 685,089 in 2003. That is good news and indicates something positive might be happening. We will see.

The CDC presents data in terms of deaths per 100,000 people in the population which gives us a good basis of comparing the incidence of diseases on an apples-to-apples basis. So, we will show that data point for each disease we discuss.

According to the CDC, we had 222 deaths from heart disease deaths per 100,000 people in 2005. They also present data on how many people have been diagnosed with a disease but not yet in a healthcare institution (hospital, nursing home or assisted living).

Photo: Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

In 2006 there were 24.1 million (11%) noninstitutionalized adults.

Please navigate to Heart Health for a look at the Epidemiology of U.S. heart disease and what changes we can make in our lifestyle to keep our hearts pumping and the blood flowing.

Cancer is different than most other diseases in that it is not just one disease. There are as many forms of cancer as there are body parts to be afflicted: brain cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, and on and on. Each one has its own physiology but no matter where they first appear, they can metastasize and spread.

A large percentage of cancers are self inflicted and we do have some control over those.

The numbers show 559,312 deaths in 2005, up from 556,902 in 2003, representing 188.7 deaths per 100,000.

While the percentage increase in deaths is very small at .43%, it does indicate that cancer is gaining ground rather than losing it.

In 2006 there were 15.8 million (7.2%) noninstitutionalized adults who have ever been diagnosed with cancer.

Please navigate to Cancer for a look at the Epidemiology of the major types of cancer in the U.S. and what changes we can make in our lifestyle to keep the tumors at bay and eliminate damaged and mutated cells that lead to cancer.

It seems that strokes should be lumped in with heart diseases since the pathology is much the same but due to the location and numbers of deaths, the CDC breaks it out as a separate condition.

2005 logged 143,579 stroke deaths, down from 157,689 in 2003. This was 48.4 deaths per 100,000. Here we have another good news story resulting in an 8.9% drop during the two-year period. In the page on strokes, we will explore the reasons why and see if we can improve on that with some focused lifestyle changes.

In 2006 we had 5.6 million noninstitutionalized adults who ever had a stroke which was 2.6% of the population.

Please navigate to Stroke for a look at the Epidemiology of stokes in the U.S. and what changes we can make in our lifestyle to maintain normal blood flow and blood pressure in our brains.

The number 4 spot for Lifestyle Diseases goes to Respiratory Conditions (bronchitis, emphysema and asthma)

Combined deaths from bronchitis, emphysema and asthma totaled 130,933 in 2005, up from 126,382 in 2003. This was 44.2 deaths per 100,000 people.

The increase is 3.6% and although fairly small for two years, is still going in the wrong direction.

Why the direction is up while numbers of smokers is on the decline is something that needs to be investigated.

Not smoking and avoiding second hand smoke is the greatest lifestyle choies that can be made to protect oneself from lower respiratory disease.

Looking at each condition separately, in 2006 there were 9.5 million noninstitutionalized adults with diagnosed chronic bronchitis, representing 4.3% of the population.

Photo: Pathology of lung showing emphysema characteristic of smoking

For the same period, there were 4.1 million noninstitutionalized adults who had ever been diagnosed with emphysema, at 1.8% of the population.

Asthma came in with 16.1 million noninstitutionalized adults at 7.3% of the population.

The major lung diseases are covered in the section on the respiratory system.

Since Accidents, meaning unintentional injuries, were in the number five spot at 109,227 deaths in 2003, we will jump to number six.

Diabetes is possibly the fastest growing disease condition affecting all age groups. Evidence is that the epidemic is being driven by poor nutrition, sedentary lifestyles and chronic overweight and obesity. The causes and treatment will be examined as well as preventative lifestyle changes we can make to avoid this disease.

In 2005, deaths from diabetes totaled 75,119, up from 74,219 in 2003; a 1.2% increase. This was 25.3 deaths per 100,000.

The CDC tells us that between 2001 and 2004, the percentage of noninstitutionalized adults 20 years and older with diagnosed diabetes was 7.2% and with undiagnosed diabetes was 2.8%. I'm not sure how they came up with a figure for "undiagnosed" diabetes; maybe they have a good Ouija board.

Please navigate to Diabetes for a look at the Epidemiology of diabetes in the U.S. and what changes we can make in our lifestyle to keep our blood sugar and insulin release normal and maintain a happy pancreas.

The last Lifestyle Disease we will consider is the dreaded Alzheimer’s disease. There is a lot of dispute over whether or not this is a normal disease of old age, an inherited genetic condition or something we do to ourselves.

Reported deaths from Alzheimer’s in 2005 were 71,599, up from 63,457 in 2003. This was a pretty frightening increase of 12.8%. The deaths per 100,000 were 24.2.

Although the numbers are somewhat dated, CDC shows that in 2000, there were 7,900 hospice patients with Alzheimer's as a primary diagnosis and in 1999, 231,900 residents in nursing homes with Alzheimer's.

Please navigate to Alzheimer’s Disease for a look at the Epidemiology of cognitive degeneration in the U.S. and what changes we can make in our lifestyle to keep our brain cells fed and healthy.

What will be shown in the links referenced above is that the named lifestyle diseases are self-inflicted to a large extent and that the suffering caused by them can be alleviated or avoided entirely by making changes in our lifestyle. The physiology of how these conditions form are examined so as to see the relationship between what we do and what we come down with.

Leave Lifestyle Diseases and return to Home page
Navigate to discussion of Superbugs in the U.S.
Navigate to Autoimmune Disorders: Inflammation at its worst!
Navigate to "What is Cancer" for the 1st of 6 pages on this disease
Navigate to Allergies: Growing Exponentially!
Navigate to Alzheimer's Disease: It's Got to be the Worst!
Navigate to Reversing Diabetes
Navigate to Strokes and learn their causes
Navigate to Heart Disease
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