Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Preventable deaths were listed as 467,000/year in the USA due to smoking(20% of total deaths), 90,000 deaths caused by alcohol use, high blood pressure 395,000, obesity and high blood glucose 216,000, inactivity 62,000 and omega 3 deficiency up to 96,000.
In an effort to increase awareness among Americans on leading a healthy lifestyle, Healthy People 2010 (HP2010) is “a set of health objectives for [the U.S.] to achieve over the first decade of the [21st] century” (1). Specifically, HP2010’s two stated goals are “to help individuals of all ages increase life expectancy and improve their quality of life” and “to eliminate health disparities among different segments of the population” (2).
Now a new study (3) has found that one way to help accomplish both goals may be through increasing omega-3 fatty acid intake in the U.S. population.
In the study, researchers identified 12 risk factors that have the potential to adversely affect quality of life, ranging from high blood sugar to high salt intake to low fruit/vegetable intake to alcohol and fatty acid intake. It projected how many deaths could be prevented if these risk factors were altered by using 2005 data on causes of death from the National Center for Health Statistics and the National Health (4) and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (5).
Regarding substance abuse, the researchers found tobacco smoking to be responsible for an estimated 467,000 deaths (1 in 5 U.S. deaths). Alcohol use caused 90,000 deaths that ranged from road traffic and other injuries, violence, chronic liver disease, cancers, alcohol use disorders, and stroke. A surprising statement by the researchers was that alcohol helps prevent 26,000 deaths due to “moderate alcohol consumption” which they classified as up to 40 grams per day for men and 20 grams per day for women.
It should be noted that while moderate alcohol consumption may save lives, it is important to note that nearly 14 million Americans meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders, 45% of all motor vehicle accident deaths are alcohol-related, “problem drinkers” (those whose alcohol consumption negatively affects their life (6)) average four times as many days in the hospital as nondrinkers (mostly because of drinking-related injuries) and alcohol kills nearly 7 times more youth than all other illicit drugs combined (7).
Among specific conditions, high blood pressure (which affects nearly 74 million Americans age 20 and older (8)) was responsible for 395,000 deaths (1 in 6 U.S. deaths) in 2005. Obesity and high blood glucose each caused up to 216,000 deaths (8%-9% of all deaths in adults) in 2005. Regarding exercise, they stated that 20 minutes of “moderate activity” per day would help prevent 62,000 deaths per year.
But perhaps the biggest surprise was that omega-3 fatty acid deficiency contributed to as many as 96,000 deaths per year in 2005. Specifically, they stated that “omega-3 fatty acids seems to reduce [deaths from heart disease] at intakes up to 250 mg/day, but has relatively little additional mortality benefits at higher intakes” (9).
For the researches, “Smoking and high blood pressure, which both have effective interventions, are responsible for the largest number of deaths in the US. Other dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors for chronic diseases also cause a substantial number of deaths in the US.”
Source: Danaei, Goodarz, et al. “The preventable causes of death in the United States: comparative risk assessment of dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors.” PLoS Med 6.4 (2009): e1000058.
© 2009 Danaei et al. Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Click here to read the full text study.
Posted August 14, 2009.
References:
- “Healthy People 2010” website: Healthy People. Gov.
- See the Healthy People website.
- Danaei G. The Preventable Causes of Death in the United States: Comparative Risk Assessment of Dietary, Lifestyle, and Metabolic Risk Factors. PloS Med April 2009.
- NCHS Website: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- NHANES Website: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- “Problem Drinker vs. Alcoholic” posted on the Chaplain Care.Navy website.
- “Alcohol” posted on the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse website.
- “High Blood Pressure Statistics” posted on The American Heart Association website.
- Mozaffarian D, Rimm EB (2006) Fish intake, contaminants, and human health: evaluating the risks and the benefits. JAMA 296: 1885–1899
