{"id":322,"date":"2021-04-15T13:55:09","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T13:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-hvcc-healthpsychology\/?post_type=chapter&p=322"},"modified":"2021-04-15T13:59:44","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T13:59:44","slug":"leading-causes-of-death","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-hvcc-healthpsychology\/chapter\/leading-causes-of-death\/","title":{"raw":"Leading Causes of Death","rendered":"Leading Causes of Death"},"content":{"raw":"

Causes<\/span><\/h2>\r\n
\r\n
See also:\u00a0List of causes of death by rate<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Preventable causes of death<\/a><\/div>\r\nThe leading cause of human death in\u00a0<\/span>developing countries<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>infectious disease<\/a>. The leading causes in\u00a0<\/span>developed countries<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0<\/span>atherosclerosis<\/a>\u00a0(<\/span>heart disease<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>stroke<\/a>),\u00a0<\/span>cancer<\/a>, and other diseases related to\u00a0<\/span>obesity<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>aging<\/a>. By an extremely wide margin, the largest unifying cause of death in the developed world is biological aging,<\/span>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0leading to various complications known as\u00a0<\/span>aging-associated diseases<\/a>. These conditions cause loss of\u00a0<\/span>homeostasis<\/a>, leading to\u00a0<\/span>cardiac arrest<\/a>, causing loss of\u00a0<\/span>oxygen<\/a>\u00a0and nutrient supply, causing irreversible deterioration of the\u00a0<\/span>brain<\/a>\u00a0and other\u00a0<\/span>tissues<\/a>. Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds die of age-related causes.<\/span>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In industrialized nations, the proportion is much higher, approaching 90%.<\/span>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0With improved medical capability, dying has become\u00a0<\/span>a condition to be managed<\/a>. Home deaths, once commonplace, are now rare in the developed world.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n
[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"220\"]\"\"<\/a> American children smoking in 1910.\u00a0Tobacco smoking\u00a0caused an estimated 100 million deaths in the 20th century.[23][\/caption]\r\n
\r\n
<\/div>\r\n
In\u00a0<\/span>developing nations<\/a>, inferior sanitary conditions and lack of access to modern\u00a0<\/span>medical technology<\/a>\u00a0makes death from\u00a0<\/span>infectious diseases<\/a>\u00a0more common than in\u00a0<\/span>developed countries<\/a>. One such disease is\u00a0<\/span>tuberculosis<\/a>, a bacterial disease which killed 1.8M people in 2015.<\/span>[24]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span>Malaria<\/a>\u00a0causes about 400\u2013900M cases of fever and 1\u20133M deaths annually.<\/span>[25]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span>AIDS<\/a>\u00a0death toll in\u00a0<\/span>Africa<\/a>\u00a0may reach 90\u2013100M by 2025.<\/span>[26]<\/a><\/sup>[27]<\/a><\/sup><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAccording to\u00a0Jean Ziegler<\/a>\u00a0(United Nations<\/a>\u00a0Special Reporter on the Right to Food, 2000 \u2013 Mar 2008), mortality due to\u00a0malnutrition<\/a>\u00a0accounted for 58% of the total mortality rate in 2006. Ziegler says worldwide approximately 62M people died from all causes and of those deaths more than 36M died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in\u00a0micronutrients<\/a>.[28]<\/a><\/sup>\r\n\r\nTobacco<\/a>\u00a0smoking killed 100\u00a0million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill 1\u00a0billion people around the world in the 21st century, a\u00a0World Health Organization<\/a>\u00a0report warned.[23]<\/a><\/sup>\r\n\r\nMany leading developed world causes of death can be postponed by\u00a0diet<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0physical activity<\/a>, but the accelerating incidence of disease with age still imposes limits on human\u00a0longevity<\/a>. The\u00a0evolutionary cause of aging<\/a>\u00a0is, at best, only just beginning to be understood. It has been suggested that direct intervention in the aging process may now be the most effective intervention against major causes of death.[29]<\/a><\/sup>\r\n
\r\n
\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"220\"]\"\"<\/a> Le Suicid\u00e9\u00a0by\u00a0\u00c9douard Manet\u00a0depicts a man who has recently committed suicide via a firearm[\/caption]\r\n\r\n
Selye<\/a>\u00a0proposed a unified non-specific approach to many causes of death. He demonstrated that\u00a0<\/span>stress<\/a>\u00a0decreases adaptability of an organism and proposed to describe the adaptability as a special resource,\u00a0<\/span>adaptation energy<\/i>. The animal dies when this resource is exhausted.<\/span>[30]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Selye assumed that the adaptability is a finite supply, presented at birth. Later on, Goldstone proposed the concept of a production or income of adaptation energy which may be stored (up to a limit), as a capital reserve of adaptation.<\/span>[31]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In recent works, adaptation energy is considered as an internal coordinate on the \"dominant path\" in the model of adaptation. It is demonstrated that oscillations of well-being appear when the reserve of adaptability is almost exhausted.<\/span>[32]<\/a><\/sup><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nIn 2012,\u00a0suicide<\/a>\u00a0overtook car crashes for leading causes of human injury deaths in the U.S., followed by poisoning, falls and murder.[33]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Causes of death are different in different parts of the world. In high-income and middle income countries nearly half up to more than two thirds of all people live beyond the age of 70 and predominantly die of chronic diseases. In low-income countries, where less than one in five of all people reach the age of 70, and more than a third of all deaths are among children under 15, people predominantly die of infectious diseases.[34]<\/a><\/sup>","rendered":"

Causes<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
See also:\u00a0List of causes of death by rate<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Preventable causes of death<\/a><\/div>\n

The leading cause of human death in\u00a0<\/span>developing countries<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>infectious disease<\/a>. The leading causes in\u00a0<\/span>developed countries<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0<\/span>atherosclerosis<\/a>\u00a0(<\/span>heart disease<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>stroke<\/a>),\u00a0<\/span>cancer<\/a>, and other diseases related to\u00a0<\/span>obesity<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>aging<\/a>. By an extremely wide margin, the largest unifying cause of death in the developed world is biological aging,<\/span>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0leading to various complications known as\u00a0<\/span>aging-associated diseases<\/a>. These conditions cause loss of\u00a0<\/span>homeostasis<\/a>, leading to\u00a0<\/span>cardiac arrest<\/a>, causing loss of\u00a0<\/span>oxygen<\/a>\u00a0and nutrient supply, causing irreversible deterioration of the\u00a0<\/span>brain<\/a>\u00a0and other\u00a0<\/span>tissues<\/a>. Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds die of age-related causes.<\/span>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In industrialized nations, the proportion is much higher, approaching 90%.<\/span>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0With improved medical capability, dying has become\u00a0<\/span>a condition to be managed<\/a>. Home deaths, once commonplace, are now rare in the developed world.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

American children smoking in 1910.\u00a0Tobacco smoking\u00a0caused an estimated 100 million deaths in the 20th century.[23]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
In\u00a0<\/span>developing nations<\/a>, inferior sanitary conditions and lack of access to modern\u00a0<\/span>medical technology<\/a>\u00a0makes death from\u00a0<\/span>infectious diseases<\/a>\u00a0more common than in\u00a0<\/span>developed countries<\/a>. One such disease is\u00a0<\/span>tuberculosis<\/a>, a bacterial disease which killed 1.8M people in 2015.<\/span>[24]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span>Malaria<\/a>\u00a0causes about 400\u2013900M cases of fever and 1\u20133M deaths annually.<\/span>[25]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span>AIDS<\/a>\u00a0death toll in\u00a0<\/span>Africa<\/a>\u00a0may reach 90\u2013100M by 2025.<\/span>[26]<\/a><\/sup>[27]<\/a><\/sup><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

According to\u00a0Jean Ziegler<\/a>\u00a0(United Nations<\/a>\u00a0Special Reporter on the Right to Food, 2000 \u2013 Mar 2008), mortality due to\u00a0malnutrition<\/a>\u00a0accounted for 58% of the total mortality rate in 2006. Ziegler says worldwide approximately 62M people died from all causes and of those deaths more than 36M died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in\u00a0micronutrients<\/a>.[28]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Tobacco<\/a>\u00a0smoking killed 100\u00a0million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill 1\u00a0billion people around the world in the 21st century, a\u00a0World Health Organization<\/a>\u00a0report warned.[23]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Many leading developed world causes of death can be postponed by\u00a0diet<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0physical activity<\/a>, but the accelerating incidence of disease with age still imposes limits on human\u00a0longevity<\/a>. The\u00a0evolutionary cause of aging<\/a>\u00a0is, at best, only just beginning to be understood. It has been suggested that direct intervention in the aging process may now be the most effective intervention against major causes of death.[29]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Le Suicid\u00e9\u00a0by\u00a0\u00c9douard Manet\u00a0depicts a man who has recently committed suicide via a firearm<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Selye<\/a>\u00a0proposed a unified non-specific approach to many causes of death. He demonstrated that\u00a0<\/span>stress<\/a>\u00a0decreases adaptability of an organism and proposed to describe the adaptability as a special resource,\u00a0<\/span>adaptation energy<\/i>. The animal dies when this resource is exhausted.<\/span>[30]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Selye assumed that the adaptability is a finite supply, presented at birth. Later on, Goldstone proposed the concept of a production or income of adaptation energy which may be stored (up to a limit), as a capital reserve of adaptation.<\/span>[31]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In recent works, adaptation energy is considered as an internal coordinate on the “dominant path” in the model of adaptation. It is demonstrated that oscillations of well-being appear when the reserve of adaptability is almost exhausted.<\/span>[32]<\/a><\/sup><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In 2012,\u00a0suicide<\/a>\u00a0overtook car crashes for leading causes of human injury deaths in the U.S., followed by poisoning, falls and murder.[33]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Causes of death are different in different parts of the world. In high-income and middle income countries nearly half up to more than two thirds of all people live beyond the age of 70 and predominantly die of chronic diseases. In low-income countries, where less than one in five of all people reach the age of 70, and more than a third of all deaths are among children under 15, people predominantly die of infectious diseases.[34]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Public domain content<\/div>