In a normal year, 54% of all deaths in the world are caused by 10 diseases. That is, over 30 million people died from just 10 causes. The ten causes of death can be grouped into three broad categories: cardiac, respiratory and neonatal. That’s it, and we’re here to tell you why.
1| Ischemic heart disease
About 9 million people die each year from problems related to the narrowing of the arteries that supply the heart: heart attacks. This is known as ischemic heart disease or coronary artery disease and is the result of a long-term process of collagen formation and accumulation of fat and inflammatory cells, which we call atherosclerosis.
As we have seen, this is a serious disease, and while it is influenced by certain genetic predispositions, it is exacerbated by unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, or a diet rich in “bad” cholesterol .
2| Stroke
Stroke (also known as a “sudden onset”) kills more than 6 million people, making it the second most common cause of death in the world. In general, cerebrovascular accidents are of two types: ischemic (due to blockage of cerebral arteries, as described in the previous section) and hemorrhagic (due to weakened and ruptured blood vessels).
Although there are many types of stroke (and thus many causes), the main risk factor is high blood pressure.
However, the main problem with this type of pathology is that it requires immediate intervention, which is simply not possible for most people in the world. Even in developed countries, such restrictions are relatively common.
3| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
We all know that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is more than just a disease. The term refers to a whole set of conditions that, in the course of their development, eventually lead to a blockage of air circulation, which creates various problems related to the respiratory system.
In other words, under the heading of COPD we can find everything from emphysema to chronic bronchitis, including some exacerbations of asthma.
Although tobacco smoke may be a “major factor in the development and progression of COPD” in developed countries, this claim is expanding in other parts of the world. After all, genetic factors, respiratory infections, and especially exposure to air pollutants at home and at work are key to its emergence. We should not forget that nearly 2.6 billion people cook with solid fuels (firewood, charcoal, dung, etc.) or kerosene in unventilated areas.
4 | Lower Respiratory Tract Infection
These diseases are arguably the number one cause of death, clearly contagious, while also causing a huge range of problems, including acute bronchitis, COPD exacerbations, or community-acquired pneumonia. We’ve learned a lot about these types of diseases in recent years.
A key feature of its mortality rate is that, while these infections do not pose a great risk to most people, they disproportionately affect particularly vulnerable populations. It is not for nothing that we devote more resources to contain, monitor and treat these infectious diseases.
5| Neonatal status
If we compare prenatal or neonatal mortality around the world with what it was 20 years ago or half a century ago, we get only good news. However, even today, some 2 million infants die from serious illnesses within the first hours of life.
This topic is too broad to analyze in detail, but good health systems and good hospital conditions do reduce such deaths substantially.
6 | Lung, bronchial, and tracheal cancers
Despite being the second most common cancer in the world (after breast cancer), lung cancer is so aggressive that it not only surpasses previous deaths, but slips into this list without a problem. There is no sense in which we are being lied to, and the reason is smoking.
Over the decades, the risk factor of the size of St. Peter’s has become a socially accepted and even promoted habit, and it has finally become a huge public health problem. Despite this, it is estimated that more than one billion people will continue to smoke in the coming decades. So we have to get used to having these types of cancer at the top of the list.
7 | Alzheimer’s and other dementias
In Spain, there are more than 800,000 Alzheimer’s patients. there are many. In fact, globally, there are almost as many people with Alzheimer’s disease as the population of Spain: more than 45 million people. Together with other dementias, nearly 2 million people die each year.
And, while we have good news (dementia in the West has fallen by as much as 30% in recent years), the truth is that now that we know the reasons for the decline… we cannot be very optimistic.
Over the past few decades, developed countries have made progress in many aspects of what we know to be associated with dementia (from average education levels, to smoking and consumption behaviour, to obesity or air pollution), but we don’t know what will improve More or less for the rest of the world to follow suit. The longer it takes, the longer it will take for global dementia numbers to improve.
8 | Gastroenteritis (and other diarrheal diseases)
Despite ranking eighth on that list, the disease that causes diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children under five. Each year, approximately 1.7 billion cases of diarrhea in children occur and approximately 525,000 children die.
That’s not the case with the worst, though: the worst of them are (in most cases) diseases that are both preventable and treatable. Because of this, it is one of the greatest public health challenges we face.
9 | Diabetes
Cardiovascular disease kills 233 per 100,000 people each year, while diabetes kills about 35 per 100,000. That may not seem like much, but it’s enough to see that diabetes killed 16,300 people in Spain in 2017.
The core problem is that it will become more. A sedentary lifestyle, unbalanced diet and rising life expectancy are fueling a disease that is quietly becoming one of the pandemics of this century.
10 | 10 Kidney disease
Yes, they go unnoticed; but the kidneys are one of the most important organs in the human body. Its purifying powers are vital to the proper functioning of the rest of the body, so truly chronic disease is a major health concern.
at shataca | What do we die of?These charts explain the most common causes of death
picture| Vladimir Khrysenko