6 ms·

Americans are dying young at alarming rates

28 points by vo2maxer 7y ago

vo2maxer 7y ago
“US life expectancy has not kept pace with that of other wealthy countries and is now decreasing.” https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2756187 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2756187
- sodosopa 7y ago
  mainly because of drug and substance abuse and suicide. Highlights the need for mental health treatment and perhaps more education around the perils of self medicating.
  - taylodl 7y ago
    What's driving drug and substance abuse and suicide in the United States? Why is our mental health so poor? I think there's root causes to these questions and I think they point to our extreme income inequalities.
    - nine_zeros 7y ago
      Good point. Why is everyone so unhappy when the economy is supposedly doing sooo well.
      - kube-system 7y ago
        The economy isn’t doing that well. It’s pretty stagnant. It’s the stock market that is doing well. But stock market != economy.
    - pkaye 7y ago
      > The death rate among African Americans is up 4 percent, Hispanics 7 percent, whites 12 percent and Native Americans 18 percent. The rate for Asian Americans also has increased, but at a level that is not statistically significant. I wonder about the racial differences too. Why are Asian Americans and African Americans much lower? Don't they deal with the same income inequalities?
    - P_I_Staker 7y ago
      Just like the top-level issue (overall mortality), this is likely multi-faceted and caused by several sub-issues. ODs can largely be traced to drug policies (overperscription, non-treatment, economic incentives to tamper with drugs, ect) We have a pretty substantial "loser class". People that have jobs that don't pay well and aren't held in esteem. Many within this group don't feel they have a chance at upward mobility (and may be right). This has been especially hard on middle-aged people who've seen a tremendous growth in suicidality (which is still less than younger folks, but has seen explosive growth). We don't treat mental illness and heavily stigmatize it. We engage in a number of habits that likely result in poor mental health. There's less face to face interaction. We spend large amounts of time sitting perfectly still in the same exact spaces, and have poor diets. There's likely a ton of things that are contributing. I'm not sure there's a silver bullet, singular "cause" that's driving this.
  - algaeontoast 7y ago
    Are Americans on average more successful at their first attempt of suicide? (obviously firearms play a part in this)
throwawaymanbot 7y ago
The US is becoming increasingly Sovietized. The GOP are the standard bearers of this.
downerending 7y ago
Read the JAMA article here, rather than the dumbed-down summary: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2756187?guestAccessKey=c1202c42-e6b9-4c99-a936-0976a270551f&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=112619 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2756187?gu... There are lots of interesting details. Notably, the increases are mostly in the male population.
- vo2maxer 7y ago
  Why not read both? The WaPo article links to the JAMA report and also to previous ones. It also elicits some comments from other researchers in the field. I am curious why you’re adding “dumbed-down” to “summary.” In addition, in the first comment, I quoted from the original report and inserted a link.
  - downerending 7y ago
    Partly because the WaPo article is behind a paywall. But mostly because journalists' glosses of scientific articles tend to be mediocre at best, and usually far worse. These days especially, it's important to go to the source.
Perenti 7y ago
Surely the smoking gun (or elephant in the room) is that medical care and medical insurance are very expensive in the USA, whilst other developed nations are adopting universal healthcare?
- kube-system 7y ago
  I’m not sure if the lack of universal healthcare is a cause or a symptom of the problem. As the article points out, people are engaging in more self destructive behaviors. These behaviors are much more influenced by social and cultural support systems than anything else.
algaeontoast 7y ago
I wonder if binge drinking culture is a factor here?

28 points by vo2maxer 7y ago

“US life expectancy has not kept pace with that of other wealthy countries and is now decreasing.” https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2756187 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2756187

sodosopa 7y ago
mainly because of drug and substance abuse and suicide. Highlights the need for mental health treatment and perhaps more education around the perils of self medicating.
- taylodl 7y ago
  What's driving drug and substance abuse and suicide in the United States? Why is our mental health so poor? I think there's root causes to these questions and I think they point to our extreme income inequalities.
  - nine_zeros 7y ago
    Good point. Why is everyone so unhappy when the economy is supposedly doing sooo well.
    - kube-system 7y ago
      The economy isn’t doing that well. It’s pretty stagnant. It’s the stock market that is doing well. But stock market != economy.
  - pkaye 7y ago
    > The death rate among African Americans is up 4 percent, Hispanics 7 percent, whites 12 percent and Native Americans 18 percent. The rate for Asian Americans also has increased, but at a level that is not statistically significant. I wonder about the racial differences too. Why are Asian Americans and African Americans much lower? Don't they deal with the same income inequalities?
  - P_I_Staker 7y ago
    Just like the top-level issue (overall mortality), this is likely multi-faceted and caused by several sub-issues. ODs can largely be traced to drug policies (overperscription, non-treatment, economic incentives to tamper with drugs, ect) We have a pretty substantial "loser class". People that have jobs that don't pay well and aren't held in esteem. Many within this group don't feel they have a chance at upward mobility (and may be right). This has been especially hard on middle-aged people who've seen a tremendous growth in suicidality (which is still less than younger folks, but has seen explosive growth). We don't treat mental illness and heavily stigmatize it. We engage in a number of habits that likely result in poor mental health. There's less face to face interaction. We spend large amounts of time sitting perfectly still in the same exact spaces, and have poor diets. There's likely a ton of things that are contributing. I'm not sure there's a silver bullet, singular "cause" that's driving this.
- algaeontoast 7y ago
  Are Americans on average more successful at their first attempt of suicide? (obviously firearms play a part in this)

throwawaymanbot 7y ago

The US is becoming increasingly Sovietized. The GOP are the standard bearers of this.

downerending 7y ago

Read the JAMA article here, rather than the dumbed-down summary: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2756187?guestAccessKey=c1202c42-e6b9-4c99-a936-0976a270551f&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=112619 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2756187?gu... There are lots of interesting details. Notably, the increases are mostly in the male population.

vo2maxer 7y ago
Why not read both? The WaPo article links to the JAMA report and also to previous ones. It also elicits some comments from other researchers in the field. I am curious why you’re adding “dumbed-down” to “summary.” In addition, in the first comment, I quoted from the original report and inserted a link.
- downerending 7y ago
  Partly because the WaPo article is behind a paywall. But mostly because journalists' glosses of scientific articles tend to be mediocre at best, and usually far worse. These days especially, it's important to go to the source.

Perenti 7y ago

Surely the smoking gun (or elephant in the room) is that medical care and medical insurance are very expensive in the USA, whilst other developed nations are adopting universal healthcare?

kube-system 7y ago
I’m not sure if the lack of universal healthcare is a cause or a symptom of the problem. As the article points out, people are engaging in more self destructive behaviors. These behaviors are much more influenced by social and cultural support systems than anything else.

algaeontoast 7y ago

I wonder if binge drinking culture is a factor here?