I posted this a while ago on an old blog I was posted to, and it is simply a list that shows how important it is to start looking after your health, and getting into preventative health-care NOW!
As you read, I am sure you will be amazed at how shocking some of these statistics are – and most of them are getting worse!
Good luck, and let me know how you feel at the end!!!
‘Disease Management’
- The US spends more per person on health care ($14 million per minute), more than any other country, yet ranks 37th for overall quality.
- Over 50% of all healthcare costs is spent keeping people alive in the last 54 days of their life.
- Studies indicate that 20-30% of patients receive contraindicated care.
- An estimated 44,000-98,000 die each year as a result of medical errors.
- If other estimates are used, the deaths due to causes related to the care they were given would range from 230,000 to 284,000 or the 3rd leading cause of death.
- It is estimated that bad reactions to prescription and over the counter medicines kill more than 100,000 Americans and seriously injure an additional 2.1 million every year – 10,000 from aspirin alone.
- Such reactions, which do not include prescription errors or drug abuse, rank between 4th and 6th among causes of death.
- Aspirin and related drugs kill almost as many people every year as AIDS. If those deaths were given their own category, they would constitute the 15th most common cause of death in the United States.
- The average American spends >$4,000 per person, per year on medical expenses.
A recent health comparison of 13 industrialised countries shows that the US ranks:
- 13th (last) for low birth-weight percentages
- 13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall
- 11th for postnatal mortality
- 13th for years of potential life lost
- 10th for age-adjusted mortality.
Comparative causes of death – Annual average in the USA
- Adverse drug reactions: 100,000 to 140,000
- Automobile accidents: 39,325
- Food contamination: 9,100
- Boating accidents: 2,064
- Household cleaners: 74
- Acute pesticide poisoning: 12
- All vitamins, amino acids, herbs: 0
Diseases
- In 1900, the leading causes of death were from infectious diseases. In 2000, 8 of the top 10 causes of death were related to nutrition.
- In 1900 just 1 in 30 people suffered from cancer, compared to 1 in 3 as of 2000, and an estimated 1 in 2 by 2010.
- 1 in 2 children born in the year 2000 will become diabetic.
- In 1961 it was determined that 50% of Americans had a fungal infection. Today it is as high as 90%.
- Prostate cancer will kill about 39,000
- Breast cancer will kill about 40,000
- Colon-rectal cancer will kill about 60,000 with 130,000 new cases this year.
Bodyweight
Over 97 million Americans, (61%) are overweight.
In 1999, American sugar consumption was 158 pounds per person. The average American eats 20 pounds of food additives, preservatives and colourings a year.
Approximately 22 million children under 5 years of age are overweight across the world. In America the number of overweight children and adolescents has doubled in the last 2-3 decades.
Obesity in American’s is up from 26% to 34%. Meaning that one third of Americans are overweight or obese.
40% of 13 year old girls in the U.K smoke.
In the U.K. 60% of adults are overweight.
Pain and Inflammation
The number one reason people go to the doctors!
Back pain:
- is experienced by 90-95% of all people at some time in life.
- 2nd most frequent reason for visits to the physician.
- 5th ranking cause of admission to hospital.
- 3rd most common cause of surgical procedures.
- Number one cause of permanent disability under 45s.
Activity levels
- We spend approximately 80,000 hours of our lives sitting down.
- 23% of people fall asleep while driving.
- Only 30% of the population does any form of regularly scheduled exercise, including regularly walking the dog!
Prevalence of Digestive Disease
All digestive diseases (USA 1985-1992):
- Prevalance: 60-70 million people affected
- Mortality: 191,000 including deaths from cancer
- Hospitalisations: 10 million (13% of all hospitalisations)
- Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures: 6 million (14% of all procedures)
- Physician office visits: 50 million
- Disability: 1.4 million people
Costs:
- $107 billion
- $87 billion direct medical costs
- $20 billion indirect costs (e.g. disability and mortality)
Abdominal Wall Hernia (USA 1980-1990):
- Incidence: 800,000 new cases, including 500,000 inguinal hernias
- Prevalance: 4.5 million people
- Hospitalisations: 640,000
- Physician office visits: 2 to 3 million
- Prescriptions: 184,000
- Disability: 550,000 people
Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis (USA 1976-1987):
- Mortality: 26,050 deaths
- Hospitalisations: 300,000
- Physician office visits: 1 million
- Disability: 112,000 people
Constipation (USA 1982-1987):
- Prevalance: 4.4 million people
- Mortality: 29 deaths
- Hospitalisations: 100,000
- Physician office visits: 1 million
- Disability: 112,000 people
UK – 10 million prescriptions are written annually for laxatives, and many more non-prescription laxatives are taken. At over £46 million per year in England, expenditure on the four main types of laxative is higher than on hypnotics and anxiolytics.
Diverticular Disease (USA 1983-1987):
- Incidence: 300,000 new cases
- Prevalence: 2 million people
- Mortality: 3,000 deaths
- Hospitalisations: 440,000
- Physician office visits: 2 million
- Disability: 112,000 people
UK – Over half the population aged over 70 have diverticular of the large intestine.
Gallstones (USA 1976-1987):
- Prevalance: 16-22 million people
- Mortality: 2,975
- Hospitalisations: 800,000
- Physician office visits: 600,000-700,000
- Prescriptions: 195,000
- Surgical procedures: 500,000 cholecystectomies
- Disability: 48,000 people
UK -
- 1 in 10 people suffer with gallstones.
- In 1995, 10,000 people were receiving hospital treatment for gallstones.
Gastritis and Nonulcer Dyspepsia (NUD) (USA 1975-1988):
- Incidence: Gastritis: 313,000 new cases, Chronic NUD: 444,000 new cases, Acute NUD: 8.2 million new cases
- Prevalance: Gastritis: 2.7 million people, NUD: 5.8 million people
- Mortality: Gastritis: 703, NUD: 49
- Hospitalisations: Gastritis: 600, NUD: 65,000
- Physician office visits: Gastritis: 3 million, NUD: 800,000
- Prescriptions: Gastritis: 2 million, NUD: 649,000
- Disability: Gastritis: 34,000 people, Chronic NUD: 42,000 people
UK – 40% of the population suffer with dyspepsia at some time in the lives.
Gastroesophagael Reflux Disease and Related Esophageal Disorders (USA 1984-1988):
- Prevalance: 3 to 7 percent of US population
- Mortality: 1,000 deaths
- Hospitalisations: 1 million
- Physician office visits: 4 to 5 million
Hemorrhoids (USA 1983-1987):
- Incidence: 1 million new cases
- Prevalance: 10.4 million people
- Mortality: 17 deaths
- Hospitalisations: 316,000
- Physician office visits: 3.5 million
- Prescriptions: 1.5 million
- Disability: 52,000 people
UK – Fifty percent of the population have haemorrhoids by the time they are 50.
Infectious Diarrhea (USA 1980-1987):
- Incidence: 99 million new cases
- Mortality: 3,100 deaths
- Hospitalisations: 462,000 to 728,000
- Physician office visits: 8 to 12 million
- Prescriptions: 5 to 8 million
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (USA 1987):
- Incidence: 2 to 6 new cases per 100,000 people
- Prevalance: 300,000 to 500,000 people
- Mortality: Fewer than 1,000 deaths
- Hospitalisations: 100,000 (64 percent for Crohn’s disease)
- Physician office visits: 700,000
- Disability: 119,000 people (1983-1987)
UK – 1 in 1500 suffer with Crohn’s disease.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (USA 1983-1987):
- Prevalance: 5 million people
- Hospitalisations: 34,000
- Physician office visits: 3.5 million
- Prescriptions: 2.2 million
- Disability: 400,000 people
UK -
- More than half of patients attending gastroenterology out-patient clinics have IBS
- One third of all people in GB have occassional symptoms
- 1 in 10 have symptoms bad enough to require medical attention.
Lactose Intolerance (USA 1994):
- Prevalance: 30 to 50 million people
Pancreatitis (USA 1976-1988):
- Incidence: Acute: 17 new cases per 100,000 people
- Mortality: 2,700 deaths
- Hospitalisations: Acute: 125,000, Chronic: 20,000
- Physician office visits: Acute 911,000, Chronic: 122,000
Peptic Ulcer (USA 1983-1987):
- Prevalance: 5 million people
- Mortality: 6,500 deaths
- Hospitalisations: 630,000
- Physician office visits: 3 to 5 million
- Prescriptions: 2 million
- Disability: 401,000 people
UK – 1 in 10 men suffer with a peptic ulcer(s), 1 in 15 women suffer at some time in their lives.
Viral Hepatitis (USA 1987-1992):
- Incidence: Hepatitis A: 32,000 new cases, Hepatitis B: 200,000 to 300,000 new cases, Hepatitis C: 150,000 new cases, Hepatitis D: 70,000 new cases
- Prevalance: Hepatitis A: 32 to 38 percent of US population that have any history of disease, Hepatitis B: 4 percent of the population that have any history of disease, Hepatitis C and D: Not determined
- Mortality: Fewer than 1,000 deaths
- Hospitalisations: 33,000
- Physicians office visits: 500,000
UK – 613 Hepatitis B cases in 1996, 114 Hepatitis A cases in 2001.
Additional Data:
- Liver and Kidney Transplants: 3,300 transplants performed in the US in 1993, In the UK during 2001 living donor kidney transplants increased by 3%, The number of live kidney transplants doubled since 1997.
- Americans spend $1,369,863 every day on laxatives!
Prescription drugs
- 80% of adults in the United States take some type of medication in any given week, with half taking a prescription drug.
- About 7% of the population of the United States takes 5 of more prescription drugs in any given week.
- Americans spent nearly $150 billion on these drugs in 2001.
- 1 in 2 kids on medical drugs.
The Medical Model
The current medical model is:
- Symptom oriented
- Focused on isolated organ systems
- Focused on germs, viruses, genetic causes, etc
- Treats with pharmaceuticals and surgery.
The overall influence of the healthcare industry is to emphasise drug treatment at the expense of other modalities:
- Psychotherapy, social approaches, nutritional, herbal, and natural remedies, rehabilitation, general hygienic measures, non-patentable drugs, or other alternative approaches.
- It focuses attention on disorders that are treatable by drugs, and may promote over-diagnosis.
- It reinforces the practise of dealing with disease by treatment of symptoms, and diverts interest from prevention.
Do more doctors equal better health?
There has been no reduction in the amount of disorders as a whole in light of significant advancement in technology and increased numbers of medical professionals.
The New Paradigm
- Looks for the underlying cause of disease!
- Recognises disease as a loss of homeostasis in one or more fundamental control systems!
- Therapeutic goal is control systems normalisation!
- More emphasis on nutrition and lifestyle factors!
- Individual doctors are showing interest or at least tolerance to complementary, alternative and functional medicine!
- Research, conferences and publications in complementary, alternative and functional medicine are increasingly popular!
- The public currently spends more money seeing “alternative practitioner” than they do seeing “conventional practitioner!
Please note: Even though the majority of the above statistics are for the US, they generally apply to most industrialised and modern, Western countries.
Shocking isn’t it? Don’t join these statistics. Take care of your own health now!
