[extropy-chat] Re: Robin Hanson on Cynicism

[BillK]

On 9/24/05, Brett Paatsch wrote:
> Major things that people die of are heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
> All these diseases have given ground to medicine since the Rand study
> was done in 1979 or earlier.
>
> Insulin for diabetes. Angiograms then stents and bypasses for heart
> disease. Chemo and radiation treatment followed by treatment
> with stem cells.
>
> The Rand study didn't look at the young or the old. It excluded the
> frailest cohorts. The groups that would have been most likely to
> benefit.


Study reveals trends in U.S. death rate, leading causes of death over 30 years
<http://pubs.ama-assn.org/media/2005j/0913.dtl#study>

The death rate from all causes of death combined decreased by 32
percent between 1970 and 2002, with the largest decreases for heart
disease and stroke, but with an increase in death rates for diabetes
and COPD, according to an article in the September 14 issue of JAMA.

"Several important insights are suggested by these temporal trends in
the death rates and number of deaths at various ages. First, the
decrease in the age-standardized death rate for 4 of the 6 leading
causes of death in the United States represents progress toward one of
the fundamental goals of disease prevention by extending the number of
years of potentially healthy life. This progress has been greater for
cardiovascular disease and for accidental deaths than for cancer, yet
even for cancer the age-standardized death rate has been decreasing by
1.1 percent per year since 1993. Less favorable developments are the
slowing of the decline in age-standardized mortality rates from stroke
and accidents since the early 1990s, and the increase in death rates
from COPD and diabetes."

"The reduction in the death rate from accidents from 1970 through the
early 1990s coincided with implementation of a 55 mph speed limit
during the first energy crisis in the 1970s and mandated use of seat
belts in most states beginning in 1984. The recent flattening of the
accident mortality rate coincides with the relaxation of the maximum
interstate speed limits since 1987. The biphasic [having two phases]
trend in cancer mortality rates reflects both the impact of the
tobacco epidemic on tobacco-related cancers through 1990, followed by
reduction in cancer mortality through tobacco control and advances in
early detection, in treatment, or in both. The increase in COPD death
rates results largely from the long-term effects of tobacco smoking in
an aging population, whereas the increase in diabetes mortality since
the late 1980s reflects dramatic increases in obesity," the
researchers write.


BillK