Chronic illness major cause of premature deaths

9/21/2018 chronic illness , health , risks , WHO , world 0 Comments

If you live in the US, China or UK you have a higher risk of dying early from chronic illnesses like cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes than people in Australia, Japan, Spain or Sweden. These are some of the findings in a detailed global analysis of deaths related to non-communicable diseases (NCD). The study is a collaboration between the Imperial College London, World Health Organisation and NCD alliance.

Chronic illnesses are the main cause of premature death for most countries and a larger danger to human health than traditional foes such as bacteria or viruses. Non-communicable diseases kill nearly 41 million people every year, about seven out of ten deaths globally, of which 17 million of these deaths are classed as premature (i.e. before the age of 70). 

Overall, women in Spain, South Korea, Japan and Switzerland were least likely to die prematurely from chronic illness while the lowest risk for men were Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland. 

According to the analysis, the situation is stagnating or deteriorating in 15 countries for women and 24 for men. A multitude of factors such as alcohol and tobacco use, pollution, stress and lack of sleep, diets and exercise, early treatment etc could be contributing to increases in chronic illnesses. 

In Europe, women in Moldova (17%) and Ukraine (16%) have the highest chance of dying from key NCD and the lowest chance in Spain (6%) and Switzerland (7%). For men i Europe, the highest chance is seen in Russia (37%) and Belarus (35%) and the lowest chance in Iceland (10%) and Switzerland (11%).

The chances for men and women in the US to die prematurely of NCD is worse than in Vietnam, Turkey, Panama, Liberia, Mexico and Angola. In other words, the highest risk among all high-income nations.