4 ms·

Surprised the article doesn't try the hypothesis that the issue is access to high-quality hospitals and medical schools. Detroit is a nice enough town (in part

by guyzero 10y ago

Surprised the article doesn't try the hypothesis that the issue is access to high-quality hospitals and medical schools. Detroit is a nice enough town (in parts) but I'd rather get sick in New York City.

maxerickson 10y ago
Wayne State University has a good teaching hospital: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_State_University_School_of_Medicine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_State_University_School_... Beaumont Health is an excellent system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_Health https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_Health And the University of Michigan Hospital is available to anyone with a car: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan_Health_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan_Health_... So the availability of care isn't going to be a problem in Detroit (access to care could be very different though).
jessriedel 10y ago
Actually, the best controlled and pseudo-controlled studies show that, within the United States, access to medical care has negligible impact on life expectancy.
Symmetry 10y ago
No, they excplicitly address the hypothesis and reject it: The findings underscore public health research showing that healthy habits matter. The JAMA paper found that several measures of access to medical care had no clear relationship with longevity among the poor. But there were correlations with smoking, exercise and obesity. “There remains this misconception in our society that health is determined by health care,” said Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor and director of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, who wrote an editorial commending the research but offering some methodological criticisms. “Behaviors have a huge influence on health outcomes.”
iskander 10y ago
Hospitals add surprisingly little to health and longevity. The biggest factors are hygiene, exercise, diet, and pollution (including smoking). It's nice to get a speedy by-pass surgery when your heart clogs up, but it's even nicer to not get that heart attack in the first place.

by guyzero 10y ago

maxerickson 10y ago

Wayne State University has a good teaching hospital: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_State_University_School_of_Medicine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_State_University_School_... Beaumont Health is an excellent system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_Health https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_Health And the University of Michigan Hospital is available to anyone with a car: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan_Health_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan_Health_... So the availability of care isn't going to be a problem in Detroit (access to care could be very different though).

jessriedel 10y ago

Actually, the best controlled and pseudo-controlled studies show that, within the United States, access to medical care has negligible impact on life expectancy.

Symmetry 10y ago

No, they excplicitly address the hypothesis and reject it: The findings underscore public health research showing that healthy habits matter. The JAMA paper found that several measures of access to medical care had no clear relationship with longevity among the poor. But there were correlations with smoking, exercise and obesity. “There remains this misconception in our society that health is determined by health care,” said Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor and director of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, who wrote an editorial commending the research but offering some methodological criticisms. “Behaviors have a huge influence on health outcomes.”

iskander 10y ago

Hospitals add surprisingly little to health and longevity. The biggest factors are hygiene, exercise, diet, and pollution (including smoking). It's nice to get a speedy by-pass surgery when your heart clogs up, but it's even nicer to not get that heart attack in the first place.