Most of us will spend a great deal of our lives imagining how we will die, contemplating different scenarios, different diseases and conditions. Most of these imagined scenarios will however be typically more exotic than the predictable fates that awaits us. The WHO lists ten of the worlds biggest killers as ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, lower respiratory disease, HIV/AIDS, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diarrhoeal diseases, tuberculosis trachea/bronchus/lung cancers, malaria and road traffic accidents. 51.2 % of all the deaths worldwide can be attributed to one of these conditions. However, when you think about it, those of us who live in developed economies are unlikely to die from malaria, TB or diarrhea, so as the incidences of the other conditions rise what kind of picture are we left with.
Grimly enough the image above isn't far from the truth. In the EU two thirds of deaths are caused by circulatory diseases and cancer, much of these deaths are attributable to dietary factors like fat intake (specifically low-density lipoproteins), salt intake and alcohol consumption. When we break down the statistics a little more we see that 41% of these deaths are caused by heart attacks, strokes and other circulatory diseases, whilst the other portion of deaths cancer is responsible for the fate of 25% of us. I have used the word fate ironically so far, in that many of the bad choices people make, be it dietary, lack of exercise or use of recreational toxins, they have determined their fate in the greater majority of circumstances. We are all consciously writing our fate everyday. If we examine a smaller subsection of the population, what should be the healthy cohort, we still find high levels of unavoidable deaths. Suicide and traffic accidents are responsible for killing the majority of 20-40 year olds who die young, with a greater percentage of males dying from suicide. My issue here is that once again people are dying needlessly, if people suffering from mental illnesses were given the right kind of support, they wouldn't have to resort to such drastic measures. I don't even want to attempt to assess the situation in the developing world because the situation there is just incomprehensible, no food = no life, that's simple enough but the socio-economic-political situation is horrifically (although needlessly) complex. I digress. My biggest issue with many of these deaths come about through poor education, ignorance (stubborn and empirical), selfishness and neglect, people live there lives by bad decisions. So many health systems in the developed world are literally clogged by the arteries of people who didn't look after themselves and now they want someone else to fix their mess, meanwhile people who are genuinely ill through no fault of their own are often dropped down the waiting list for burger-hearts and whiskey-livers. In addition to this so much money is spent on operating on these people, rehabilitation and drug treatments, money that could be invested into education or something more worthwhile.
I know this article reads like a rant but it's the only way I could write it (rage consumed me throughout the process). If I can leave you with one thing, you are probably going to die from a heart attack, a stroke or cancer, these are the statistical favourites. Why not do something about that now eat healthy, live healthy and don't become another statistic. Wouldn't it be great if we could turn around and say in 2050, that 50% or 75% of people just die from old age without having become an expensive and draining burden on society because they adopted a gluttonous and reckless life.
Live long and prosper
MRHP's Doctor Owl McCop Thefuckon
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