This is great news. It makes me want to summarize the article. From 1990 to 2010, death rates have been cut in half, roughly, all over the world. There's no single factor, but these stand out:
* access to health care, especially early in life (in the US, helped by policy)
* fewer environmental toxins -- especially less smoking & less second-hand smoke
And in 2010, developing nations are where wealthy nations were in 1990. The health gap between rich and poor is shrinking everywhere.
The consequence is that better health means better lives & positive contribution to society. Positive feedback loop.
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My own theory: Internet access has helped too, by disseminating knowledge about health & disease.
> My own theory: Internet access has helped too, by disseminating knowledge about health & disease.
Considering internet usage is fairly recent, I don't think the internet is the reason.
Your assertion about developing nations become wealthy nations probably has more to do with it.
Also, I'm not sure I agree that it is great news. It just means that the human population is going to continue to expand. We need more people to die. Not more people to live.
If 7+ billion people want to live like westerners, there really is no hope.
Good news, but I find the title somewhat misleading when all the article does is trying to minimize the increase in adult death rates in the US (comparing to children). Also less deaths doesn't necessarily mean healthier..
It also doesn't mention the fact that there are fewer children today. The US birth rate has been in steady decline for nearly a decade now. Since 2007, it's only been up one year (2014)
True, although I'd guess that the massive decrease in mortality in infants under 1 (who are still massively more likely to die than older children) is probably due to improved medical intervention.
For older children and teenagers it's probably better safety equipment, particularly in cars. I guess we've also got improved treatments now for the few diseases which actually do kill children, such as various cancers.
But hey, it's still good news, even if "healthier" isn't the way to describe it.
The message here is that what matters most in healthcare and improvements in health as measured by live expectancy and quality of life aren't the high-cost, intensive interventions of advanced medicine, but the basics:
Ms. Currie can’t be sure what precise factors have led to the reductions in death rates for poor young Americans, but she has some theories. Public health insurance, through the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance programs, expanded to cover more children and pregnant women throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Research has shown measurable benefits to the children with access to the program: There was less infant mortality; they were hospitalized less often as they grew older; they were more likely to finish high school and attend college; and they earned more money in early adulthood. Those studies all suggest a real health benefit from the insurance program.
what matters?
Access to healthcare.
Access to healthcare during pregnancy.
Access to healthcare at childbirth.
Reductions in environmental contamination. Smoking. Lead. Pollution.
This is consistent with the data of the past 150 years: the greatest improvements in health come not from medicine, per se, but from public health and sanitation measures.
Clean water.
Municipal sanitation. (Getting rid of horses, and their offal and carcases, helped a lot as well.)
Food quality.
Refrigeration.
For all the commotion made about vaccines in the past few years, and yes, vaccines are absolutely a good thing and you and your children should have them, there were vast improvements in life expectency long before vaccines became available.
As there were long before antibiotics became available.
And much of the improvement in health among adults since 1950 is attributable to similar causes:
Less smoking.
Less alcohol consumption.
Better access to healthcare. Among those who had little to no access initially: the poor and minorities.
Vaccinations.
Better nutrition.
Fewer environmental contaminants. Especially leaded gasoline and paint.
It's a sobering message for those who are looking to high-tech, high-intervention methods for healthcare miracles. Evidence strongly suggests you'll be disappointed.
Though your doctor may appreciate the billing potential.
It does mean improved life expectancy, measured at birth.
It also probably means longer lives, as health in the first few years is predictive of this. Largely as indicated by discrepencies in mortality by wealth and race:
* access to health care, especially early in life (in the US, helped by policy)
* fewer environmental toxins -- especially less smoking & less second-hand smoke
And in 2010, developing nations are where wealthy nations were in 1990. The health gap between rich and poor is shrinking everywhere.
The consequence is that better health means better lives & positive contribution to society. Positive feedback loop.
---
My own theory: Internet access has helped too, by disseminating knowledge about health & disease.