Americans 'more ill than English'
White middle-aged Americans are less healthy than their English counterparts, research suggests.
Americans aged 55 to 64 are up to twice as likely to suffer from diabetes, lung cancer and high blood pressure as English people of the same age.
The healthiest Americans had similar disease rates to the least healthy English, the Journal of the American Medical Association study found.
The US-UK research found greater links between health and wealth in the US.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4965034.stm
This is what 2 weeks of vacation, constant threat of losing your job, no government health system or social security net will earn you.
Welcome to the Fuck You society.
Sorry to be blunt but it's true.
That article says they compared "self reports" of diseases. I think there are cultural differences enough there to make the report suspect.
Taking it to a stereotypical extreme, Americans like a name for each disease -the more scientific the better- and they like to play it up. It's never "feeling under the weather" or "the sniffles" and rarely "a cold" it's "the flu" at the very least, preferably "stomach flu". And it's never hayfever but "seasonal allergies". Sore throats are always "strep" And when talking to strangers, Brits will generally go the stiff upper lip route rather than get personal about their ailments.
Then do explain the difference between life expectancy then Dr Monster.
I'll be interested to see your take on that.
We Brits aren't known to be so stiff upper lipped as to say, Dad died two years ago but we didn't want to bother anyone.
It's because Murrikans are germophobes and keep themselves freakishly clean with all that antibiotic nonsense and never leave the house to take exercise in the outdoors... which basically kills their immune system, hence all this asthma and allergy bollocks.
Then do explain the difference between life expectancy then Dr Monster.
I'll be interested to see your take on that.
We Brits aren't known to be so stiff upper lipped as to say, Dad died two years ago but we didn't want to bother anyone.
:?:
Please quote the relevant part of the article/study you would like me to comment on.
......Not that it has any relevance to my comment on the self-reporting of diseases. Even I -the "ultimate proof of life after death"- do not expect people to self-report on their demise. :lol:
Then do explain the difference between life expectancy then Dr Monster.
I'll be interested to see your take on that.
We Brits aren't known to be so stiff upper lipped as to say, Dad died two years ago but we didn't want to bother anyone.
:?:
Please quote the relevant part of the article/study you would like me to comment on.
......Not that it has any relevance to my comment on the self-reporting of diseases. Even I -the "ultimate proof of life after death"- do not expect people to self-report on their demise. :lol:
Like I said, do please report on the fact that the USA has a lower life expectancy than the UK. You can find that information anywhere on the web yourself.
This is what 2 weeks of vacation, constant threat of losing your job, no government health system or social security net will earn you.
But the good news is "Those on the lowest incomes in both countries reported most cases of all diseases ... and those on the highest incomes the least"
So if you've got a job, work hard, don't sit on your arse all day complaining about the lack of government handouts then you'll be ok.
Did I mention Republicans are happier than Democrats? :grin:
Not having been sick or seen a doctor in over 7 years... I am always amazed to hear my American friends chat about their 'meds' as if its as normal as breathing. Even the ads are getting worse... pictures of happy jolly people, then "Ask your Dr if it's right for you" ... and almost always wondering what the hell they are trying to sell.
Why don't they get honest and say " Too busy, too lazy or ignorant to get healthy by changing your lifestyle and what you eat? Don't worry, take SOOOPER PILL One pill every four hours a day solves everything, apart from the few side affects...swelling, joint pain, headaches, sore throat, bleeding from the u-know-what, heart attack, kidney failure...et al ... (of course we have a pill for all those too ) .. grin
So if you've got a job, work hard, don't sit on your arse all day complaining about the lack of government handouts then you'll be ok.
What if you're too sick to do that? :shock:
That article says they compared "self reports" of diseases. I think there are cultural differences enough there to make the report suspect.
Taking it to a stereotypical extreme, Americans like a name for each disease -the more scientific the better- and they like to play it up. It's never "feeling under the weather" or "the sniffles" and rarely "a cold" it's "the flu" at the very least, preferably "stomach flu". And it's never hayfever but "seasonal allergies". Sore throats are always "strep" And when talking to strangers, Brits will generally go the stiff upper lip route rather than get personal about their ailments.
I was listening to an interview with the researchers on NPR this morning. In fact they didn't relay on self reports but went on to look at actual health records - the results were the same.
Basically there is no dispute that this research shows that middle aged, middle class white British people are healthier than Americans of the same age, race and social standing.
However no one has any empirical data to explain why.
What surprises me is that anyone is surprised by this study - I'd have thought it was blindingly obvious.
The causes are probably complex - access to healthcare, lifestyles, Americans are more likely to drive everywhere, they tend to eat larger portions, lack of vacation time and longer working hours etc.
What also surprises me is that all the media outlets are hung up on the mystery of the comparative healthcare spending - the US spends far more per head of population than the UK - what they seem to have lost is that all the extra money isn't spent on actual care but on adminstration and inflated drug prices.
Of concer to all of us though was the suggestion that Brits who move to the US will adopt a US lifestyle and therefore have a US life expectancy. :shock:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...Id=5377794
Some of the reason for Americans being "sicker" is confession.
No, not the 10 hail marys type. But what we actually speak about an ailment.
As you said, Brits are more likely to talk down a sickness. Americans in general talk it up, give it a TLA and pump meds down their throats.
It is psychologically and spiritually true that out of the abundance of the heart speaks the mouth. If you say you are sick, you are. If you say you are fighting an ailment, you will.
That and the Americans can't live without their Lysol. Kill all germs and there's nothing for the immune system to fight and nothing to help it get stronger.
Obesity=high blood pressure=diabetes=high estrogen levels=cancer
Some of the health care problems here in the U.S. are related to obesity. It is all about choice of food you eat. At college, we are bombarded with Burger King, Pizza and all the junk food you can imagine. It is cheaper to buy a hamburger than a choice of salad, so I wonder, college kids are living on a budget which foods do you think they will go for??? I see it everyday, they go for the greasy foods that are good in taste and light on the wallet.
Whatever you eat ( genes, biological making) in childhood, adolescence, as an adult will dictated +/- your health when you get to old age.
Brit=alcohol=happiness=health wink
We have a lot of people here who have migrated from Portugal, Greece, Italy and so on.
My doctor says they come from places with the some of the healthiest. mediteranean diets in the world, but she says something goes horribly wrong when they come to North America. Even the North American versions of their traditional dishes go from healthy to unhealthy.
I have personally experienced this with greek salads. A real Greek salad should be chopped tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, onion, garniished with olives and cubes of feta cheese. The dressing is simply olive oil which when drizzled on the salad infuses with the feta.
All the North American versions I've seen, even in Greek restaurants replace most of those ingredients with iceberg lettuce (no lettuce in original), shower the salad in a MOUNTAIN of crumbled feta cheese and replaces the olive oil with processed gunk out of a packet.
I simply use this as one example.
Without a shred of evidence, I would speculate that the difference in the BBC article could be blamed to some extent on highly processed food, in larger portions, with more fat content. Just an educated guess.
There have been many studies that have shown that there is an element of self-fulfilling prophesy in healthcare and in longevity. The person who has plans for the next ten years is much more likely to live that long than one who doesn't have such a plan.
Americans are bombarded with health propaganda by drug companies, by hospital organizations etc., it is little wonder that they are conscious of every little sickness.
Most of us grew up in more of a stiff upper lip environment so when we get a cold, we tough it out, knowing it will go in about nine days, where someone raised here will go to the doctors with a "virus" and with treatment, perhaps an antibiotic that is provided for mental rather than physical health, it will go away in only a week and a couple of days.
The obesity thing is an obvious answer, but it is increasing in the old world now. The health people were getting worried, back during the Vietnam war, many of the young men who were killed were found to have the arterial blockage of middle aged men. They put it down to fast food and perhaps huge amounts of milk drunk by children and youths.
Following on Lee's point, I heard an interview with a woman who's French mother lived here for half the year and in her French village, the other half. Her diet was exactly the same, but in France, all the produce was local, here, in winter it was shipped in. the other difference was that she walked into the village each day to get fresh produce, where here, she went to the supermarket. She gained weight here and lost it there.