health

*All statistics refer to risk in US

Chronic Disease

Incidence (lifetime risk of developing) or prevalence, death rate (risk of dying, if applicable)

Heart Disease 1:2, 1:4

Cancer 1:2, 1:5

Male 1:2, 1:5
Prostate 1:9, 1:41
Lung 1:15, 1:18
Colon & Rectum 1:23, 1:55
Bladder 1:26, 1:108
Skin 1:36, 1:256
Pancreas 1:60, 1:72

Female 1:3, 1:5
Breast 1:8, 1:39
Lung 1:17, 1:22
Colon & Rectum 1:25, 1:60
Uterus 1:33, 1:159
Thyroid 1:52, 1:1429
Skin 1:56, 1:526
Stroke 1:4, 1:20

Diabetes 1:10, 1:35

Overweight & Obesity (20 years old+)

Overweight (including obesity) ~70%
Obese ~40% (~30% in 2000)

Asthma 1:13

Alzheimer’s 1:10 (Age 65+)

Age
65-74 1:33
75-85 1:6
85+ 1:3
Expected increase from 5.8 to 13.9 million cases by 2060

Autism 1:40

Surveillance year
2000 1:150
2008 1:88
2016 1:54

Attention Deficit 1:10 (1:15 in 2000)

As shown in these statistics, chronic diseases are the most prevalent diseases afflicting Americans in the modern age. Heart disease and cancer affect nearly one in two Americans. Type 2 diabetes affects one in ten. Obesity is now around 40% of the population and still rising.

At the same time, an increasing number of diet studies are showing undeniable evidence that food is a major factor in the rise of chronic diseases. In other words, food choices have a significant impact on preventing and reversing the most common chronic diseases. By choosing the right diet, individuals can greatly reduce these numbers.

Mental Health

Mental Illness

Adult
Any Mental Illness in 2019 1:5 (1:6 in 2008)
Severe Mental Illness in 2019 1:20 (1:27 in 2008)

Adolescent
Any Mental Illness 1:2
Severe Mental Illness 1:5

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Adult
Any anxiety 1:6
Mild 1:10
Moderate 1:29
Severe 1:37

Depression

Adult
At least one major depressive episode in 2019 1:13 (1:15 in 2009)
At least one major depressive episode with severe impairment in 2019 1:19 (1:25 in 2009)

Adolescent
At least one major depressive episode in 2019 1:7 (1:12 in 2009)
At least one major depressive episode with severe impairment in 2019 1:9 (1:17 in 2009)

Thoughts of Suicide

Adult
Had serious thoughts of suicide in 2019 1:21 (1:27 in 2008)
Made a suicide plan in 2019 1:71 (1:100 in 2008)
Attempted suicide in 2019 1:167

Divorce

Percentage of marriages that ended in divorce between 2010 and 2018 ~38%

Not only do Americans suffer from poor health physically, but also mentally. Mental health in the US has worsened in the past decade. Now, one in five Americans suffer from some sort of mental illness. One in six have generalized anxiety disorder. One in seven adolescents and one in thirteen adults experience depression. Thoughts of suicide are increasing. Mass shootings remain a major issue. The overall trends do not look good.

Read More

“What is the healthiest diet?” https://ponadr.blog/2019/10/04/what-is-the-healthiest-diet/

Sources

Heart Disease

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000659

https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm

Cancer

https://seer.cancer.gov/archive/csr/1975_2016/

Stroke

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1804492#

https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/stroke/conditioninfo/risk#:~:text=Each%20year%2C%20about%20795%2C000%20people,another%20stroke%20within%205%20years.

Diabetes