The Changes in How We Die

This looks like it will be the week that the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of Obamacare so what better way to start the week than a health care topic.

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article by Drs. David Jones, Scott Podolsky and Jeremy Greene on "The Burden of Disease and the Changing Task of Medicine".  Translated for mere mortals-"The Changes in How We Die".

The authors look at data from 1900-2010 to demonstrate how disease and treatment is a moving target.  You can see the changing nature of disease and death in this chart of the Top 10 Causes of Death comparing 1900 and 2010.

New England Journal of Medicine Using Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The chart shows the considerable advances of health care over the last century.  Overall deaths per 100,000 have been cut in half.

Deaths from pneumonia and influenza, which were the largest killers in 1900, have been reduced by 90%.  TB and GI infections, the second and third largest causes of death at the beginning of the century, do not even make the chart today.  Deaths from accidents have been cut in half even though automobiles, airplanes and other complicated types of machinery did not exist in 1900.

Despite the progress on these fronts, other diseases have taken their place, as you can see from the increase in deaths from heart disease, cancer and diabetes.  The authors note this change and comment that "In many respects, our medical systems are best suited to diseases of the past, not those of the present or future.  We must continue to adapt health systems and health policy as the burden of disease evolves."

The decision involving Obamacare will have a significant impact on the future of health care in this country.  We can only hope that it is the right one.