8 Things About Death (Besides the Obvious)
Here's a look at some of the ways people have been dying lately -- from the common to the unusual.
A cohort study of the relationship between wealth, mortality, and disability among 12,173 older adults in the US and 7599 in England found that lower wealth “was associated with increased hazard of death and disability." 1 And "the absolute risk of death and disability among those with lowest wealth was high in both countries.”
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A variety of atypical causes of death in the US were reported by The Statistics Portal.2 In 2016, these included 75 deaths by lawnmower; 2 crushings by vending machines; >160 autoerotic asphyxiations; 1 trampling on Black Friday; and 31 deaths by lightning.
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Death by drug overdose is the #1 cause of death for Americans under 50.3 Last year, OD’s were more deadly than guns and cars. The top 10 culprits: heroin, cocaine, oxycodone, alprazolam, fentanyl, morphine, methamphetamine,
methadone, hydrocodone, and diazepam.4
18,680 people died in car crashes in the first half of 2017 and 2.1 million people were seriously injured. That's down slightly from the estimated 40,000 deaths in 2016.5
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Gun deaths in the US United States rose in 2016 to about 12/100,000 people, up from 11/ 100,00 people in 2015.6 There were 391 mass shootings in 2017 in the US as of 11/14. In 2016, there 477; in 2015, there were 371; and in 2014, there were 325.7
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Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in US. There were more than half a million suicides between 2001 and 2015.
While we’ve seen many causes of death come down in recent years, suicide rates have increased more than 20% from 2001 to 2015. And this is especially concerning in rural areas,” said CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald, MD.”8
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At least 2.8 million people die annually from being overweight or obese. It's a global epidemic, reports the WHO.9 Even in low and middle-income countries are not immune: at least 2.8 million people die annually from being overweight or obese. The prevalence of obesity nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016.
The CDC reports these as the top 10 causes of death – in this order: Heart disease; cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases; accidents; stroke; Alzheimer’s disease; diabetes; influenza and pneumonia; nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis; intentional self-harm
Click through the slide show above for some facts about the way people have died recently, including the top 10 reasons.
References:
1. Makaround LK, BrownRT, Diaz-Ramirez-D, et al. Wealth-associated disparities in death and disability in the United States and England. JAMA Intern Med. Published online October 23, 2017. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.39032. Loesche D. Unusual Causes of Death in the US. Sept 28, 2016. https://www.statista.com/chart/6024/causes-of-death-in-the-us/3. Katz J. Short answers to hard questions about the opioid crisis. The New York Times. August 10, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/03/upshot/opioid-drug-overdose-epidemic.html?_r=04. Drugs most frequently involved in drug overdose deaths: United States 2010-2014. National Vital Statistics Reports.December 20, 2016. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr65/nvsr65_10.pdf5. Halsey A III. More than 18,000 died on U.S. roadways in the first six months of 2017. Washington Post. August 15, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/more-than-18000-died-on-us-roadways-in-the-first-six-months-of-2017/2017/08/15/0af8cb34-811f-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html?utm_term=.2141084ae6cd6. Hauser C. Gun death rate rose again in 2016, CDC says. NY Times. November 4, 2017https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/us/gun-death-rates.html7. https://www.massshootingtracker.org/data8. Americans in rural areas more likely to die by suicide. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. October 25, 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p1005-rural-suicide-rates.html9. World Health Organization. 10 Facts on Obesity. Updated October 2017. http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/obesity/en/
