I was just reading how the AK-47 (and its variants) is the deadliest weapon ever created, as it still accounts for around 250,000 deaths per year. However, that number is dwarfed by the amount of cardiovascular disease deaths, which sit at around 20 million per year. But when I was looking at some of the data around it and compared some maps, I found it interesting.
Causes of cardiovascular disease is generally pretty well known and accepted, though I am not sure the order they are generally given in is representative, since obesity appears down the list. Still, tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, overuse of alcohol, type 2 diabetes, obesity and excess weight - and then the things a person can't do much about, getting older, genetics, sex. Though with that last one, I guess a man that transitions to a woman automatically lowers their risk multiplier.
Like normal, I was interested more in the global view of things and how it compared in different regions. The first thing I looked at was the mortality rate around the world, which you can see presented in a map below with the darker meaning higher prevalence per 100,000 population.
I thought, that looks a bit weird and then did another search and found that countries with low to middle incomes tend to have a higher rate of mortality. Which is obvious! Because they don't have the money to prevent the deaths. Dying is only part of the problem.
So I looked at another map, which instead of mortality, show prevalence.
That's better.
Now we can compare the two and pull out some insights. There are a couple pretty obvious ones that can be seen. Firstly, the map is generally reversed. The countries that have relatively few deaths, have a high prevalence. Even Japan, South Korea and France that are often cited as having "low CVD deaths" actually have mid-range prevalence. The US and is one of the highest rates. The EU is mid-range with low mortality. And then of course there is Russia that has a mid-range prevalence, but a pretty high mortality.
Moral of the story?
Don't get chronically ill in Russia.
It seems that the biggest killer isn't the disease, it is being poor and living in a country that doesn't have decent healthcare systems that can cover and treat chronic illness. Of course, while we might not be able to do much about the healthcare systems in our countries, the largest risk factors are lifestyle behaviours - smoking, drinking, not moving, eating poorly, getting fat. These things we can affect to lower our chances of dying from a CVD. But, reducing our multiplier for CVD would also likely reduce our multiplier for a host of diseases and disorders simultaneously.
But, what I think is more important than reducing our chance of early death, is increasing our chance of quality life. Sure, a person can be happy chowing down a burger with a pound of meat and a two litre coke as a chaser, but is the same person happy in other parts of their life? Live in the moment for sure, but pay attention to all those moments where you are not enjoying it because you are out of breath, knees hurt, are unable to climb stairs, struggle to tie shoes, or whatever other health ailments we might incur when we treat our bodies poorly.
And yes, even when we treat them well, illness and disease happen, but I would go out on a limb and make a prediction that the people who treat their bodies pretty well, have a generally better quality of life than the people who don't. They might miss out on some pleasures in frequency, but they gain comfort in daily life consistently and don't have to face the litany of discomforts that can plague a person's life, who doesn't look after themselves.
A long life might be overrated, but a good life should be front and centre of our activity. A good life isn't about momentary pleasure, it is about the overall level of quality of how we think and feel about our experience. When we are in pain and discomfort, feeling good becomes more difficult. Try a little test. Cut a piece of chocolate and put it in your mouth, and then stab yourself in the hand with the knife. How's the taste?
The problem is that this is generally not how we experience the world. We can have the chocolate, the burger, the beer or whatever our particular vice food is, and we don't get the pain until much later, when it has accumulated in our body into a problem. By then, we barely tie the problem to the actual cause, let alone do anything about it. Often, we look to forget our uncomfortable problems for a moment by seeking pleasure anyway - more vice to accumulate.
And yeah, the people in the wealthier countries might not die as often from lifestyle diseases, but surviving doesn't mean good life. If you haven't experienced a come back from death moment in your life, as someone who has "survived" a stroke, take my word for it. Surviving isn't enough.
I don't know what the deadliest weapon really is, but I suspect that most of our problems in this world, are preventable lifestyle choices. Everything from our individual health, to the health of our environment, including war, famine and violence. If we choose to live a little differently, life changes.
We are our own worst enemy as individuals and a species.
Taraz
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