8 ms·

Show HN: Mortality Rates in the US Visualized

92 points by matthewisabel 13y ago

pg 13y ago
One interesting thing I learned from this is how highly correlated mortality from heart disease and cancer are. They're quite different types of disease, but perhaps what they have in common is that they're diseases of civilization in the sense of being caused by de facto "toxins" (I don't mean this literally) of industrialized life like processed foods, lack of exercise, cigarettes, etc. Is there local data about possible causes of mortality? If so that might be a good thing to add.
- prawn 13y ago
  How would those look overlaid with poverty/education? Are poor eating habits and smoking significant factors in heart disease and cancer overall?
  - dubfan 13y ago
    I didn't run the numbers but the correlation between poverty/education and cancer+heart disease seems relatively high. The mortality rates for those appear to be highest in the deep South, Appalachia and lower Midwest, which are some of the poorest and least-educated areas of the country.
- matthewisabel 13y ago
  I would love to do some overlays to put it in the context of other data. Something more granular would of course be nice too. Hopefully I'll find more data sets that I can plug in.
- bra-ket 13y ago
  cancer and blood flow are very closely related: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiogenesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiogenesis
  - kyro 13y ago
    They definitely are. Cancerous masses tend to ramp up blood vessel production because that's how they survive. In fact, there are tests, like angiography, that are done to identify areas of increased blood flow, which may indicate cancerous areas. However, there hasn't really been a link shown between cancer and heart disease, like hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart failure, etc, -- i.e. the two diseases haven't been shown to correlate pathophysiologically. But there is data showing a correlation between chemotherapy and heart disease, which could certainly contribute to the similarity in distributions in mortality between heart disease and cancer. For instance, doxorubicin is a chemotherapeutic agent infamously known for causing dilated cardiomyopathy.
- wikiburner 13y ago
  PG, what did you think of that "Can Google Solve Death?" Time magazine cover story from a month ago?: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2152422,00.html http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2152422... or Google's project Calico in general?: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/03/tech/innovation/google-calico-aging-death/ http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/03/tech/innovation/google-calico-...
- kyro 13y ago
  Also note that strokes are highly correlated with those two most likely due to it being a consequence of cardiovascular (read: heart) disease. The concentration of heart disease/stroke mortality in that region seems to be highly correlated with obesity distribution, which isn't a surprise. Actually, the state with the highest rate of obesity [1], Mississipi, is also the one with the highest mortality due to heart disease, and 3rd highest for strokes. As for cancer mortality, the distribution closely matches that of smoking prevalence by state, more so than the distribution for heart disease, again not a surprise [2]. What I find the most interesting, though, are the lone states that don't seem to be a part of any cluster and have a high prevalence of, like high respiratory mortality (and influenza/pneumonia) in Wyoming, or Alzheimer's in Washington and North Dakota, or high drug mortality in Arizona (and not in any of the other border states). [1] http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html [2] http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/AdultSmoking/ http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/AdultSmoking/
  - icambron 13y ago
    I have no expertise here, but I wonder if the Alzheimer's rate in Washington and North Dakota reflect differences is how deaths are classified.
    - bane 13y ago
      They're also statistically small numbers, so percentages are larger comparatively. But it definitely is one of the standout questions from this.
  - bane 13y ago
    The cancer bumps in West VA and Kentucky (and to some extent the rest of Appalachia) may have something to do with the mining industry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaintop_removal_mining http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaintop_removal_mining "According to 21 scientific studies there has been major effects on the population in the Appalachia where MTM takes place including over 50% higher cancer rates, 42% higher birth defect rates, and $75 billion a year in public health costs from pollution."
- marze 13y ago
  New research suggests that low vitamin D levels may be factors in both CVD and cancer, which could explain part of the correlation. The high rates in the states around Mississippi are because of the high fraction of African Americans, who experience higher (double) rates of CVD compared to whites, a fact not inconsistent with the vitamin D hypothesis.
- refurb 13y ago
  Oxidative stress and the resulting inflammation has been (loosely) linked to both cancer and heart disease.
- yen223 13y ago
  My totally unscientific pet theory is that if you somehow managed to survive long enough, eventually you will succumb to cancer or heart disease. So places with high cancer/heart disease rates might simply be places with the best healthcare system!
  - dzink 13y ago
    Average lifespan data can help answer that question. My guess is both conditions are preventable if caught early, so a good healthcare system would do a better job at reducing cancer and heart disease deaths than most.
  - cantrevealname 13y ago
    That's a good observation but right at the top of the chart it says, "DATA AGE-ADJUSTED AND PER 100,000 PERSONS (2010)". If it's adjusted for age, then I think your theory wouldn't apply.
eliben 13y ago
Is it only me, or is California suspiciously low in almost every single category? Why would that be?
- matsur 13y ago
  Suspicious in relation to what? Deaths per 100,000 is a relative measure and wouldn't be higher just because CA's population is large.
  - eliben 13y ago
    What I actually meant by suspicious is that it's uniformly low across many categories which at first sight look unrelated (e.g. cancer and firearms)
    - dragonwriter 13y ago
      Its either going to be above or below average in every category, whether they are related or not. With enough categories, its going to be similarly situated across several of them no in any case. Is it suspicious that Texas sits right in the middle in most categories?
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  > Is it only me, or is California suspiciously low in almost every single category? Well, its the second best overall, but "almost every single category"? 1. Heart, it is on the low side but near the middle of the pack; 2. Cancer, it is one of the best; 3. Respiratory, it is on the low side but not very low; 4. Stroke it is near the middle of the pack; 5. Accident it is fairly low; 6. Alzheimer's its is significantly worse than average; 7. Diabetes it is near the middle of the pack; 8. Nephritis it is quite low; 9. Influenza it is a bit worse than average, but near the middle; 10. Drug it is slightly better than average; 11. Suicide it is a little better than average; 12. Motor vehicle it is quite low but far from the best; 13. Firearms it is quite low but far from the best; 14. Alcohol it is notably worse than average; 15. Parkinson's it is a little better than average; 16. Homicide it is a hair better than average; 17. HIV it is better than average but far from the best. No, I don't think that counts as "suspiciously low in almost every single category".
prawn 13y ago
What would be behind the suicide strip just in from the West coast? Struggling farmers? (I'm not from the US, so not overly familiar with all the states and what they're known for.)
- hotpockets 13y ago
  Social isolation? Three of the bluest states are Ca, Ny, Il, with the biggest cities.
  - prawn 13y ago
    Could be. This suggests that farmers are concentrated in a central strip: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/a_map_of_farmers_in_the_u_s_and_world_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/0... The map top right here indicates correlation with population density, as you suggested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population_density http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_populati... And the first map on this US history page suggests those areas were late to the state party. Would that have had a strong impact? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1865%E2%80%931918) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1...
    - dubfan 13y ago
      Alaska and Nevada have some of the highest rates of suicide, but those areas are not suitable for farming. Another article posted earlier in this thread indicates population density isn't a factor, and the map seems to show that as well (Nebraska and Minnesota have low suicide rates and low density). Date of statehood is nothing more than a coincidence.
- t0dd 13y ago
  Some recent research suggests the primary factor is "residential instability": "Put another way, the very traits associated with the West (and romanticized in American culture)—individualism and independence, stoicism and solitude—may also have deeply negative implications for its people." http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/2013/06/solving-the-riddle-of-the-u-s--suicide-belt.html http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/...
0003 13y ago
This is absolutely sluggish in firefox 24, but runs like butter in chrome. Does anyone have a similar experience? It looks like New Yorkers look both way when they cross the street.
- pawn 13y ago
  Works in Waterfox with no issue...
pawn 13y ago
This is a fascinating tool you've put together. One can look at all sorts of interesting contrasts and/or patterns from it. One that I found interesting is that Washington and Florida have among the lowest rates for the flu, on complete opposite corners of the map and with what most would say are very different climates. I was also surprised that the flu kills more per 100,000 than alcohol, firearms, or vehicles. It doesn't seem to get the press that those others do.
- matthewisabel 13y ago
  It should say influenza and pneumonia for that label. I just realized that error. That number sounds more appropriate that label. Adjusting now. Update: Fixed.
  - ekianjo 13y ago
    What tool did you use to generate these maps?
    - matthewisabel 13y ago
      D3.js and a bit of jQuery. I really designed as I built. When I clean it up and add some other data it'll probably be a good place to use Backbone.
redemade 13y ago
state names on hover would be helpful
- bitops 13y ago
  That, or you could learn your US geography. :)
  - sp332 13y ago
    Imagine how lost you would be if it showed the 22 régions of Metropolitan France! :)
  - rolleiflex 13y ago
    Don't assume everybody is from the US.
  - elwell 13y ago
    That internet exists so that we don't have to remember anything.
  - andyhmltn 13y ago
    In that case: Can you name me every county in South East England? :)
tokenadult 13y ago
I thought that this would be a time-trend display, like the one shared a while ago by another HN participant from Scientific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=longevity-why-we-die-global-life-expectancy http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=longevity-w... We've made significant progress against most causes of death, at all ages, since I was born.
- matthewisabel 13y ago
  Once I get that data I'll be all over. I definitely think this data (and something more granular) is particularly fascinating when considered over time.
hotpockets 13y ago
The west virginia->smoking->nicotine->no parkinsons link seems apparent. High lung disease though.
- fennecfoxen 13y ago
  West Virginia is also coal-mining territory, for what that's worth.
ekianjo 13y ago
Why is there such a high rate of Alzheimer in Washington state? There may be something to discover there related to its causes.
- matthewisabel 13y ago
  It does seem like quite an outlier. I found another article that mentions it and splits it by county. http://socialcapitalreview.org/washington-tops-u-s-in-12-year-alzheimers-death-rates/ http://socialcapitalreview.org/washington-tops-u-s-in-12-yea... It looks like a problem in the western part of the state, but I don't see any suggestion of why that is. *Correction: Meant county instead of country.
  - ekianjo 13y ago
    This definitely deserves some kind of investigation. There's probably something to learn from such high levels of difference in very close counties : http://socialcapitalreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Screen-shot-2013-03-28-at-9.16.54-AM.png http://socialcapitalreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Sc...
    - dubfan 13y ago
      As a resident of Washington the first thing that comes to mind is the difference in climate between the west and east. The eastern part of the state is mostly semi-arid, nearly desert in some areas. I've heard we also have one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the US, but I'm having a hard time finding good data on that.
      - erichurkman 13y ago
        It could also be something innocent, like a large treatment center or palliative care facility. That is, unless the data is meticulously groomed to report the patients' county/state of origin.
        13y ago
elwell 13y ago
Suicide seems to be highest in rural (lonely) cold (also less sunlight) states.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  > cold (also less sunlight) Yeah, this is also consistent with northern Europe and its higher suicide rates in cold, long, and dark winters. There's definitely a correlation between sun exposure and suicide, while it's not the only factor.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  For the "lonely" hypothesis, this map is not precise enough to confirm it. You would probably need a map with dots representing the exact location of all suicides on the map, and overlay it with a density map to see if there is a proper correlation or not.
- gilgoomesh 13y ago
  I think suicide is prevented by HIV – the two maps seem to be nearly complete opposites.
  - crystaln 13y ago
    HIV correlates with sexual activity, which seems likely to have a negative correlation with suicide. People who are getting laid are happier.
    - ars 13y ago
      I wouldn't say that. People who are in steady relationships are happier, and those have less HIV risk. People who bounce for person to person might be having fun, but long term and not usually happier.
dead_phish 13y ago
How did you incorporate data from Washington DC into this? I can almost guarantee that the reason Maryland has such a high rate on the HIV/AIDS chart is because of the District, and its outlying areas (Prince George's County, Anacostia, etc.)
- matthewisabel 13y ago
  I didn't include DC data. It does exist if you reference the data PDF put out by the CDC. I originally had included DC but it's a major outlier since it's almost entirely urban. It's also not a state and doesn't visualize well because of its size, so it's not in the csv I used.
- dubfan 13y ago
  What about Baltimore?
brianherbert 13y ago
Funny, terrorism didn't even make the list ;)
- yen223 13y ago
  That implies that the TSA is really good at their job right?
ballard 13y ago
Neat. A world map would be interesting, even if the data isn't as readily available.
aptwebapps 13y ago
Looks like suicides and accidents are at least a little bit correlated as well. I wonder if that is due to incorrect attributions? It could go either way, too.
- dzink 13y ago
  Both happen in states where people live long distances apart. Loneliness, boredom, and lots of driving maybe?
tbenst 13y ago
On first glance, I was shocked by how similar it looked to the electoral map from Presidential elections. 39/50 states in this chart are the correct color for the 2012 electoral map. For fun, I then took the correlation of the mortality rate and percentage of votes for Romney for each state and got at 49% correlation. It goes without saying that correlation != causation and I do not mean this as a political statement, rather a quantification of this curious resemblance.
- bane 13y ago
  Put another way, different mortality causes could be reflected in different political needs.
Ellipsis753 13y ago
I was kind of hoping that they would all be 100% as a dark reminder that we will all die.
sakai 13y ago
Anybody know anything about VT health stats? I'm struck by the fact that it: * Has the lowest influenza/pneumonia rate (7.9) * Has the lowest nephritis rate (6.7) * Is in the "really low" rate color for HIV and homicides* * But has the highest Parkinson's rate (9.6) What's a contributing factor for Parkinson's? * Edit: That appears to be the "no data" color actually. I just assumed it was very low because VT has few homicides (1.4 / 100k residents average rate for the past 3 years, or about 10 homicides annually)
- ronnier 13y ago
  From Wikipedia, Vermont is 98.12% white. Many statistics correlate with demographics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont#Race_and_gender http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont#Race_and_gender
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
nhebb 13y ago
How does mortality data account for age? Given heart disease, cancer, and respiratory diseases were the top three causes of death in 2010, if in 2060 the average life span were 10 years longer, isn't it likely that these three things would still be the leading cause of death? The geographic distribution is interesting, but it seems to me that to breaking it down by age group would be more informative.
- Nitramp 13y ago
  According to the site's heading, the data is age-controlled.
- matthewisabel 13y ago
  On page 110 of the CDC's PDF the formula for computing age-adjustment is discussed. You'll also find the original data there where you can look column-by-column and see the impact that adjustment has for various states and cases. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_04.pdf http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_04.pdf
Houshalter 13y ago
It's interesting, but I want to know, as a young individual what is likely to kill me? I want to know where I should put my efforts towards not dying.
- m_eiman 13y ago
  Have a varied diet and be somewhat physically active regularly?
- kybernetikos 13y ago
  So it's actually even worse than that - you need to know not only what will stand a good chance of killing you, but what is sensitive to intervention too. You need a causal link that you can break, not just correlation and that's so hard to research that there's much less known about it. For example, studies tell us that sitting more than three hours per day correlates with a reduced life expectancy: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/07/09/study-excessive-sitting-cuts-life-expectancy-by-two-years http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/07/09/study-excessi... but that doesn't tell you that if you take someone who is sitting that much and make them stop it'll make any difference at all.
  - Houshalter 13y ago
    Right but it's evidence towards the hypothesis "standing for three hours will increase your life span". It seems less likely that people who live longer are inherently more likely to stand. But yes I see your point. A lot of pop science "doing X will help you live longer" strikes me as complete bullshit.
    - kybernetikos 13y ago
      You're quite right of course (although actually, it seems very plausible to me that fit people are more likely to stand more / choose jobs where they will stand more) My comment was mainly out of the frustration I have because so many interventions are very difficult to do and so I want good confidence that they will actually make a difference, but most research just gives you at best strong correlations. Still, I've got a standing desk now...
ars 13y ago
Reminds me of "A Fire Upon the Deep", because the warmer the climate the worse the mortality rate.
- adventured 13y ago
  That's not accurate. California, Arizona, Hawaii, Florida are among the best states for longevity. The mortality rates in Hawaii for example are the lowest, and California is #2. The numbers for Texas and New Mexico, while elevated, are still dramatically lower than the high mortality belt numbers. Also, one of the biggest offenders is West Virginia, and having spent a lot of time there, it's not a particularly warm state about half the year (certainly not compared to Mississippi).
LionRoar 13y ago
I always realy like these kind of data. Not in a morbid sense but just to see the real data instead of marketing driven FUD. Another thought that I always have seeing data like this is that it gives a clear view where the government should spend their/our money.
bane 13y ago
Remote, low population areas are high for accidents and suicides. The Alzheimer's chart was unusual, all things being equal, I'd have expected the statistic to be flatter. Suicide, Alcohol and Parkinson's have a strange sort of correlation. how come whenever I see these kinds of things, it's always for the U.S.? Is the data simply not available in other countries/areas? I've almost never seen similar visualization experiments for say...France. Is the U.S. just that* much better in collecting and distributing data about itself?
DanielBMarkham 13y ago
Some interesting patterns here. I know several folks who live in Kentucky. Doesn't look like the state does too well. Florida, on the other hand, seems to hold up well across the board. Obesity kills in the deep south and especially the central Gulf states big time, and there's a string of alcoholism than runs along the Rocky Mountains. I don't find the Connecticut/Hawaii good numbers too strange, as both have very high incomes and cost of living.
- DharmaPolice 13y ago
  If the data is age adjusted it would be interesting to know if the Florida figures are influenced by retirees moving there.

92 points by matthewisabel 13y ago

pg 13y ago

One interesting thing I learned from this is how highly correlated mortality from heart disease and cancer are. They're quite different types of disease, but perhaps what they have in common is that they're diseases of civilization in the sense of being caused by de facto "toxins" (I don't mean this literally) of industrialized life like processed foods, lack of exercise, cigarettes, etc. Is there local data about possible causes of mortality? If so that might be a good thing to add.

prawn 13y ago
How would those look overlaid with poverty/education? Are poor eating habits and smoking significant factors in heart disease and cancer overall?
- dubfan 13y ago
  I didn't run the numbers but the correlation between poverty/education and cancer+heart disease seems relatively high. The mortality rates for those appear to be highest in the deep South, Appalachia and lower Midwest, which are some of the poorest and least-educated areas of the country.
matthewisabel 13y ago
I would love to do some overlays to put it in the context of other data. Something more granular would of course be nice too. Hopefully I'll find more data sets that I can plug in.
bra-ket 13y ago
cancer and blood flow are very closely related: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiogenesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiogenesis
- kyro 13y ago
  They definitely are. Cancerous masses tend to ramp up blood vessel production because that's how they survive. In fact, there are tests, like angiography, that are done to identify areas of increased blood flow, which may indicate cancerous areas. However, there hasn't really been a link shown between cancer and heart disease, like hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart failure, etc, -- i.e. the two diseases haven't been shown to correlate pathophysiologically. But there is data showing a correlation between chemotherapy and heart disease, which could certainly contribute to the similarity in distributions in mortality between heart disease and cancer. For instance, doxorubicin is a chemotherapeutic agent infamously known for causing dilated cardiomyopathy.
wikiburner 13y ago
PG, what did you think of that "Can Google Solve Death?" Time magazine cover story from a month ago?: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2152422,00.html http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2152422... or Google's project Calico in general?: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/03/tech/innovation/google-calico-aging-death/ http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/03/tech/innovation/google-calico-...
kyro 13y ago
Also note that strokes are highly correlated with those two most likely due to it being a consequence of cardiovascular (read: heart) disease. The concentration of heart disease/stroke mortality in that region seems to be highly correlated with obesity distribution, which isn't a surprise. Actually, the state with the highest rate of obesity [1], Mississipi, is also the one with the highest mortality due to heart disease, and 3rd highest for strokes. As for cancer mortality, the distribution closely matches that of smoking prevalence by state, more so than the distribution for heart disease, again not a surprise [2]. What I find the most interesting, though, are the lone states that don't seem to be a part of any cluster and have a high prevalence of, like high respiratory mortality (and influenza/pneumonia) in Wyoming, or Alzheimer's in Washington and North Dakota, or high drug mortality in Arizona (and not in any of the other border states). [1] http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html [2] http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/AdultSmoking/ http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/AdultSmoking/
- icambron 13y ago
  I have no expertise here, but I wonder if the Alzheimer's rate in Washington and North Dakota reflect differences is how deaths are classified.
  - bane 13y ago
    They're also statistically small numbers, so percentages are larger comparatively. But it definitely is one of the standout questions from this.
- bane 13y ago
  The cancer bumps in West VA and Kentucky (and to some extent the rest of Appalachia) may have something to do with the mining industry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaintop_removal_mining http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaintop_removal_mining "According to 21 scientific studies there has been major effects on the population in the Appalachia where MTM takes place including over 50% higher cancer rates, 42% higher birth defect rates, and $75 billion a year in public health costs from pollution."
marze 13y ago
New research suggests that low vitamin D levels may be factors in both CVD and cancer, which could explain part of the correlation. The high rates in the states around Mississippi are because of the high fraction of African Americans, who experience higher (double) rates of CVD compared to whites, a fact not inconsistent with the vitamin D hypothesis.
refurb 13y ago
Oxidative stress and the resulting inflammation has been (loosely) linked to both cancer and heart disease.
yen223 13y ago
My totally unscientific pet theory is that if you somehow managed to survive long enough, eventually you will succumb to cancer or heart disease. So places with high cancer/heart disease rates might simply be places with the best healthcare system!
- dzink 13y ago
  Average lifespan data can help answer that question. My guess is both conditions are preventable if caught early, so a good healthcare system would do a better job at reducing cancer and heart disease deaths than most.
- cantrevealname 13y ago
  That's a good observation but right at the top of the chart it says, "DATA AGE-ADJUSTED AND PER 100,000 PERSONS (2010)". If it's adjusted for age, then I think your theory wouldn't apply.

eliben 13y ago

Is it only me, or is California suspiciously low in almost every single category? Why would that be?

matsur 13y ago
Suspicious in relation to what? Deaths per 100,000 is a relative measure and wouldn't be higher just because CA's population is large.
- eliben 13y ago
  What I actually meant by suspicious is that it's uniformly low across many categories which at first sight look unrelated (e.g. cancer and firearms)
  - dragonwriter 13y ago
    Its either going to be above or below average in every category, whether they are related or not. With enough categories, its going to be similarly situated across several of them no in any case. Is it suspicious that Texas sits right in the middle in most categories?
dragonwriter 13y ago
> Is it only me, or is California suspiciously low in almost every single category? Well, its the second best overall, but "almost every single category"? 1. Heart, it is on the low side but near the middle of the pack; 2. Cancer, it is one of the best; 3. Respiratory, it is on the low side but not very low; 4. Stroke it is near the middle of the pack; 5. Accident it is fairly low; 6. Alzheimer's its is significantly worse than average; 7. Diabetes it is near the middle of the pack; 8. Nephritis it is quite low; 9. Influenza it is a bit worse than average, but near the middle; 10. Drug it is slightly better than average; 11. Suicide it is a little better than average; 12. Motor vehicle it is quite low but far from the best; 13. Firearms it is quite low but far from the best; 14. Alcohol it is notably worse than average; 15. Parkinson's it is a little better than average; 16. Homicide it is a hair better than average; 17. HIV it is better than average but far from the best. No, I don't think that counts as "suspiciously low in almost every single category".

prawn 13y ago

What would be behind the suicide strip just in from the West coast? Struggling farmers? (I'm not from the US, so not overly familiar with all the states and what they're known for.)

hotpockets 13y ago
Social isolation? Three of the bluest states are Ca, Ny, Il, with the biggest cities.
- prawn 13y ago
  Could be. This suggests that farmers are concentrated in a central strip: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/a_map_of_farmers_in_the_u_s_and_world_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/0... The map top right here indicates correlation with population density, as you suggested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population_density http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_populati... And the first map on this US history page suggests those areas were late to the state party. Would that have had a strong impact? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1865%E2%80%931918) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1...
  - dubfan 13y ago
    Alaska and Nevada have some of the highest rates of suicide, but those areas are not suitable for farming. Another article posted earlier in this thread indicates population density isn't a factor, and the map seems to show that as well (Nebraska and Minnesota have low suicide rates and low density). Date of statehood is nothing more than a coincidence.
t0dd 13y ago
Some recent research suggests the primary factor is "residential instability": "Put another way, the very traits associated with the West (and romanticized in American culture)—individualism and independence, stoicism and solitude—may also have deeply negative implications for its people." http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/2013/06/solving-the-riddle-of-the-u-s--suicide-belt.html http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/...

0003 13y ago

This is absolutely sluggish in firefox 24, but runs like butter in chrome. Does anyone have a similar experience? It looks like New Yorkers look both way when they cross the street.

pawn 13y ago
Works in Waterfox with no issue...

pawn 13y ago

This is a fascinating tool you've put together. One can look at all sorts of interesting contrasts and/or patterns from it. One that I found interesting is that Washington and Florida have among the lowest rates for the flu, on complete opposite corners of the map and with what most would say are very different climates. I was also surprised that the flu kills more per 100,000 than alcohol, firearms, or vehicles. It doesn't seem to get the press that those others do.

matthewisabel 13y ago
It should say influenza and pneumonia for that label. I just realized that error. That number sounds more appropriate that label. Adjusting now. Update: Fixed.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  What tool did you use to generate these maps?
  - matthewisabel 13y ago
    D3.js and a bit of jQuery. I really designed as I built. When I clean it up and add some other data it'll probably be a good place to use Backbone.

redemade 13y ago

state names on hover would be helpful

bitops 13y ago
That, or you could learn your US geography. :)
- sp332 13y ago
  Imagine how lost you would be if it showed the 22 régions of Metropolitan France! :)
- rolleiflex 13y ago
  Don't assume everybody is from the US.
- elwell 13y ago
  That internet exists so that we don't have to remember anything.
- andyhmltn 13y ago
  In that case: Can you name me every county in South East England? :)

tokenadult 13y ago

I thought that this would be a time-trend display, like the one shared a while ago by another HN participant from Scientific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=longevity-why-we-die-global-life-expectancy http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=longevity-w... We've made significant progress against most causes of death, at all ages, since I was born.

matthewisabel 13y ago
Once I get that data I'll be all over. I definitely think this data (and something more granular) is particularly fascinating when considered over time.

hotpockets 13y ago

The west virginia->smoking->nicotine->no parkinsons link seems apparent. High lung disease though.

fennecfoxen 13y ago
West Virginia is also coal-mining territory, for what that's worth.

ekianjo 13y ago

Why is there such a high rate of Alzheimer in Washington state? There may be something to discover there related to its causes.

matthewisabel 13y ago
It does seem like quite an outlier. I found another article that mentions it and splits it by county. http://socialcapitalreview.org/washington-tops-u-s-in-12-year-alzheimers-death-rates/ http://socialcapitalreview.org/washington-tops-u-s-in-12-yea... It looks like a problem in the western part of the state, but I don't see any suggestion of why that is. *Correction: Meant county instead of country.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  This definitely deserves some kind of investigation. There's probably something to learn from such high levels of difference in very close counties : http://socialcapitalreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Screen-shot-2013-03-28-at-9.16.54-AM.png http://socialcapitalreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Sc...
  - dubfan 13y ago
    As a resident of Washington the first thing that comes to mind is the difference in climate between the west and east. The eastern part of the state is mostly semi-arid, nearly desert in some areas. I've heard we also have one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the US, but I'm having a hard time finding good data on that.
    - erichurkman 13y ago
      It could also be something innocent, like a large treatment center or palliative care facility. That is, unless the data is meticulously groomed to report the patients' county/state of origin.
      - 13y ago

elwell 13y ago

Suicide seems to be highest in rural (lonely) cold (also less sunlight) states.

ekianjo 13y ago
> cold (also less sunlight) Yeah, this is also consistent with northern Europe and its higher suicide rates in cold, long, and dark winters. There's definitely a correlation between sun exposure and suicide, while it's not the only factor.
ekianjo 13y ago
For the "lonely" hypothesis, this map is not precise enough to confirm it. You would probably need a map with dots representing the exact location of all suicides on the map, and overlay it with a density map to see if there is a proper correlation or not.
gilgoomesh 13y ago
I think suicide is prevented by HIV – the two maps seem to be nearly complete opposites.
- crystaln 13y ago
  HIV correlates with sexual activity, which seems likely to have a negative correlation with suicide. People who are getting laid are happier.
  - ars 13y ago
    I wouldn't say that. People who are in steady relationships are happier, and those have less HIV risk. People who bounce for person to person might be having fun, but long term and not usually happier.

dead_phish 13y ago

How did you incorporate data from Washington DC into this? I can almost guarantee that the reason Maryland has such a high rate on the HIV/AIDS chart is because of the District, and its outlying areas (Prince George's County, Anacostia, etc.)

matthewisabel 13y ago
I didn't include DC data. It does exist if you reference the data PDF put out by the CDC. I originally had included DC but it's a major outlier since it's almost entirely urban. It's also not a state and doesn't visualize well because of its size, so it's not in the csv I used.
dubfan 13y ago
What about Baltimore?

brianherbert 13y ago

Funny, terrorism didn't even make the list ;)

yen223 13y ago
That implies that the TSA is really good at their job right?

ballard 13y ago

Neat. A world map would be interesting, even if the data isn't as readily available.

aptwebapps 13y ago

Looks like suicides and accidents are at least a little bit correlated as well. I wonder if that is due to incorrect attributions? It could go either way, too.

dzink 13y ago
Both happen in states where people live long distances apart. Loneliness, boredom, and lots of driving maybe?

tbenst 13y ago

On first glance, I was shocked by how similar it looked to the electoral map from Presidential elections. 39/50 states in this chart are the correct color for the 2012 electoral map. For fun, I then took the correlation of the mortality rate and percentage of votes for Romney for each state and got at 49% correlation. It goes without saying that correlation != causation and I do not mean this as a political statement, rather a quantification of this curious resemblance.

bane 13y ago
Put another way, different mortality causes could be reflected in different political needs.

Ellipsis753 13y ago

I was kind of hoping that they would all be 100% as a dark reminder that we will all die.

sakai 13y ago

Anybody know anything about VT health stats? I'm struck by the fact that it: * Has the lowest influenza/pneumonia rate (7.9) * Has the lowest nephritis rate (6.7) * Is in the "really low" rate color for HIV and homicides* * But has the highest Parkinson's rate (9.6) What's a contributing factor for Parkinson's? * Edit: That appears to be the "no data" color actually. I just assumed it was very low because VT has few homicides (1.4 / 100k residents average rate for the past 3 years, or about 10 homicides annually)

ronnier 13y ago
From Wikipedia, Vermont is 98.12% white. Many statistics correlate with demographics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont#Race_and_gender http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont#Race_and_gender

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

nhebb 13y ago

How does mortality data account for age? Given heart disease, cancer, and respiratory diseases were the top three causes of death in 2010, if in 2060 the average life span were 10 years longer, isn't it likely that these three things would still be the leading cause of death? The geographic distribution is interesting, but it seems to me that to breaking it down by age group would be more informative.

Nitramp 13y ago
According to the site's heading, the data is age-controlled.
matthewisabel 13y ago
On page 110 of the CDC's PDF the formula for computing age-adjustment is discussed. You'll also find the original data there where you can look column-by-column and see the impact that adjustment has for various states and cases. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_04.pdf http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_04.pdf

Houshalter 13y ago

It's interesting, but I want to know, as a young individual what is likely to kill me? I want to know where I should put my efforts towards not dying.

m_eiman 13y ago
Have a varied diet and be somewhat physically active regularly?
kybernetikos 13y ago
So it's actually even worse than that - you need to know not only what will stand a good chance of killing you, but what is sensitive to intervention too. You need a causal link that you can break, not just correlation and that's so hard to research that there's much less known about it. For example, studies tell us that sitting more than three hours per day correlates with a reduced life expectancy: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/07/09/study-excessive-sitting-cuts-life-expectancy-by-two-years http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/07/09/study-excessi... but that doesn't tell you that if you take someone who is sitting that much and make them stop it'll make any difference at all.
- Houshalter 13y ago
  Right but it's evidence towards the hypothesis "standing for three hours will increase your life span". It seems less likely that people who live longer are inherently more likely to stand. But yes I see your point. A lot of pop science "doing X will help you live longer" strikes me as complete bullshit.
  - kybernetikos 13y ago
    You're quite right of course (although actually, it seems very plausible to me that fit people are more likely to stand more / choose jobs where they will stand more) My comment was mainly out of the frustration I have because so many interventions are very difficult to do and so I want good confidence that they will actually make a difference, but most research just gives you at best strong correlations. Still, I've got a standing desk now...

ars 13y ago

Reminds me of "A Fire Upon the Deep", because the warmer the climate the worse the mortality rate.

adventured 13y ago
That's not accurate. California, Arizona, Hawaii, Florida are among the best states for longevity. The mortality rates in Hawaii for example are the lowest, and California is #2. The numbers for Texas and New Mexico, while elevated, are still dramatically lower than the high mortality belt numbers. Also, one of the biggest offenders is West Virginia, and having spent a lot of time there, it's not a particularly warm state about half the year (certainly not compared to Mississippi).

LionRoar 13y ago

I always realy like these kind of data. Not in a morbid sense but just to see the real data instead of marketing driven FUD. Another thought that I always have seeing data like this is that it gives a clear view where the government should spend their/our money.

bane 13y ago

Remote, low population areas are high for accidents and suicides. The Alzheimer's chart was unusual, all things being equal, I'd have expected the statistic to be flatter. Suicide, Alcohol and Parkinson's have a strange sort of correlation. how come whenever I see these kinds of things, it's always for the U.S.? Is the data simply not available in other countries/areas? I've almost never seen similar visualization experiments for say...France. Is the U.S. just that* much better in collecting and distributing data about itself?

DanielBMarkham 13y ago

Some interesting patterns here. I know several folks who live in Kentucky. Doesn't look like the state does too well. Florida, on the other hand, seems to hold up well across the board. Obesity kills in the deep south and especially the central Gulf states big time, and there's a string of alcoholism than runs along the Rocky Mountains. I don't find the Connecticut/Hawaii good numbers too strange, as both have very high incomes and cost of living.

DharmaPolice 13y ago
If the data is age adjusted it would be interesting to know if the Florida figures are influenced by retirees moving there.