> People in the US have a lower life expectancy than many other countries,
The USA's life expectancy is 78.06 years – this is not far from the European Union average of 78.7 years and it is higher than some Scandinavian countries (such as Denmark) .
> is mainly due to the US having an appalling infant mortality rate
The infancy mortality rate (under five) of the USA is 7.8 per 1000 life births. This again is not that much worse than European countries (UK is at 6.0).
Now for my defence of the USA health system. Firstly, what are the leading causes of death in developed countries? They are listed below (with the number of people who died per year):
Ischaemic heart disease 3,512,000
Stroke 3,346,000
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 1,829,000
Lower respiratory infections 1,180,000
Lung cancer 938,000
Car accident 669,000
Stomach cancer 657,000
High blood pressure 635,000
Tuberculosis 571,000
What are some causes of Ischaemic heart disease ? Here are some:
There is limited evidence for population screening, but prevention (with a healthy diet and sometimes medication for diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure) is used both to prevent IHD and to decrease the risk of complications. “
For the second leading cause of death high cholesterol and cigarette smoking is also a contributing factor (you can see where I am going with this).
You can see that the average health of an American is therefore far worse off due to his/her lifestyle (diet, etc...). How can you compare the health system in the USA with one in Norway (8.3%), Denmark (9.5%) or Canada (14.3%) that does not have to contend with this obesity rate?
The health system in the USA is amazing for bringing the average life expectancy of the USA close to European levels with such a high rate of obesity.
We have just talked about obesity – there are quite a few other things that contribute to a larger death rate. A few examples is smoking (which is much more regulated in the EU, car safety (which is stricter in the EU) and AIDS prevalence. The AIDS prevalence for the USA is 0.6% which is higher than all the Western European countries.
The USA's life expectancy is 78.06 years – this is not far from the European Union average of 78.7 years and it is higher than some Scandinavian countries (such as Denmark) .
> is mainly due to the US having an appalling infant mortality rate
The infancy mortality rate (under five) of the USA is 7.8 per 1000 life births. This again is not that much worse than European countries (UK is at 6.0).
Now for my defence of the USA health system. Firstly, what are the leading causes of death in developed countries? They are listed below (with the number of people who died per year):
Ischaemic heart disease 3,512,000 Stroke 3,346,000 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 1,829,000 Lower respiratory infections 1,180,000 Lung cancer 938,000 Car accident 669,000 Stomach cancer 657,000 High blood pressure 635,000 Tuberculosis 571,000
What are some causes of Ischaemic heart disease ? Here are some:
“Its risk increases with age, smoking, hypercholesterolaemia (high cholesterol levels), diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) …
There is limited evidence for population screening, but prevention (with a healthy diet and sometimes medication for diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure) is used both to prevent IHD and to decrease the risk of complications. “
For the second leading cause of death high cholesterol and cigarette smoking is also a contributing factor (you can see where I am going with this).
What is the obesity rates for the USA? For a BMI of >30, as percentage of the population it is 30.6%! (Here is a nice graph: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Obesity_country_comparison...).
You can see that the average health of an American is therefore far worse off due to his/her lifestyle (diet, etc...). How can you compare the health system in the USA with one in Norway (8.3%), Denmark (9.5%) or Canada (14.3%) that does not have to contend with this obesity rate?
The health system in the USA is amazing for bringing the average life expectancy of the USA close to European levels with such a high rate of obesity.
We have just talked about obesity – there are quite a few other things that contribute to a larger death rate. A few examples is smoking (which is much more regulated in the EU, car safety (which is stricter in the EU) and AIDS prevalence. The AIDS prevalence for the USA is 0.6% which is higher than all the Western European countries.
Here are the sources for this discussion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expec... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mor... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Obesity_country_comparison... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_causes_of_death_by_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ischaemic_heart_disease http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_HIV/AIDS_a...