Top 10 causes of death

[kebaldwin]

http://www.menshealthnetwork.org/library/TopTenCausesDeath.pdf

This is for 1998

1. Diseases of heart
2. Cancer
3. Stroke and Cerebrovascular diseases
4. Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases
5. Accidents and adverse effects
6. Pneumonia and Influenza
7. Diabetes
8. Suicide
9. Kidney disease
10. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis

I would bet that at least 50% of these could be delayed (eventually we all die of something).

But what is surprising is how many of these are greatly improved by low carb diet.

[tie_guy]

I wonder how many people think we have this heart disease and stroke thing figured out: just lower your cholesterol by eating low fat (or more likely by taking statins.) No one with low cholesterol ever dies of heart disease or stroke right? Actually I believe that about half of all americans die of heart disease or stroke (flip a coin -- heads you die from a heart attach tails you die of something else) and only about 25% of americans have high cholesterol -- so that can't be right.

Altough to be fair I believe a lot of people who die of heart disease really die from old age -- it is just the heart attack that is what finally kills you off.

[Nancy LC]

There really is no such thing as dying from old age. You always have a cause of death, although it might be difficult to tell what it is when you're ailing and failing in a lot of different ways.

For instance, my father had a huge number of things wrong with him, pretty sure it was pnumonia that finally got him, however that was caused by a series of strokes he had. On his death certificate they put down heart failure. Yes... it is true, his heart did stop beating but only after he stopped breathing.

So, I think especially in really old people it is difficult to say which thing got them.

[betnich]

Am sorry to hear that, Nancy. My condolences...

Have one parent in the 80's who suffers multiple ailments, and lost the other to diabetes, etc. a few years ago. Sad but true, we all die of something...

[MsTwacky]

There really is no such thing as dying from old age. You always have a cause of death, although it might be difficult to tell what it is when you're ailing and failing in a lot of different ways.

ummm...I know of many people that had died in their sleep with no known cause except that they were old.

[Dodger]

ummm...I know of many people that had died in their sleep with no known cause except that they were old.An autopsy would have found a cause. I don't think that old age is an acceptable cause of death any more.

[Nancy LC]

There's always a cause of death. They don't put "died of old age" on a death certificate, and they also don't usually do autopsies on elderly people unless there as been some suspicious circumstances. I think the default is to attribute it to the heart.

Actually, I heard recently there's just a tiny region of the brain that controls autonomous breathing. If the last of those cells die, due to Alzheimers, stroke, brain damage, or whatever, you'll stop breathing in your sleep and die.

Nighttime Dying Linked To Sleep Apnea From Brain Cell Loss

Aim to grow old and die peacefully in your sleep? Be careful what you wish for. A new UCLA study suggests that some people die in their sleep because they stop breathing due to a cumulative loss of cells in the brain's breathing command-post. The online edition of Nature Neuroscience reports the findings on Aug. 7.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050809064050.htm

Fortunately, there's no such thing as dying of old age, any more than there once was a such thing as dying of middle age or infancy at other periods of history. :lol:

[tom sawyer]

The wife says my infantile behavior will be the death of me. Can't wait to tell her Nancy says she's got it all wrong.

[Nancy LC]

Tom's Death Certificate: Died due to Darwin effect

:lol:

[tom sawyer]

I prefer to think I fall in the Intelligent Design category.