Cause of Death in 1980 and 2016

Discussion

There has been an increase in the number of deaths that have occurred in the last four decades. However, the causes of death tend to vary with age. In 1980, a total of 1,989,841 people lost their lives. This was approximately 0.9% of the population of that year. The major causes of death across all age groups during this period included heart diseases, malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular diseases, and unintentional injuries. Majority of those who lost their lives were aged between 45 and 64 years. This was mainly due to the fact that mortality rate tends to increase with ageing (WHO, 2015). By the year 2016, the number of deaths had increased by 37.9%.  A total of 2,744,248 persons had perished.  The top causes of death during that time were diseases of the heart, malignant neoplasms, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease. In both 1980 and 2016, suicide was the least cause of death. However, the rate of suicide between these years increased by more than 67%. Majority of the persons who committed suicide were within the age bracket of 15 to 24. This is where teenagers and adolescents belong to. These young people often grapple with serious emotional and psychological problems (National Center for Health Statistics, 2017). As a result, some choose to commit suicide.

Among the young people aged between 15 and 24, the leading causes of death in 1980 were unintentional injuries, homicide, suicide, malignant neoplasms, and diseases of heart. Minor causes included congenital anomalies, cerebrovascular diseases, pneumonia, influenza, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and anemia. These factors led to the death of about 0.1% of the population of the young persons of that time. In the year 2016, suicide, homicide, malignant neoplasms, and unintentional injuries still remained among the top causes of death in the age group. Other causes included heart disease, congenital malformations or abnormalities, diabetes mellitus, chronic respiratory diseases, influenza, pneumonia, and pregnancy complications. All these causes led to the death of 32,575 out of the 43,500,000 young people who lived at the time.  Increased physical inactivity, poor nutritional habits, and other lifestyle changes are responsible for an increase in the rate of chronic diseases such as diabetes among the young people in the recent years (WHO, 2015). Complications in pregnancy can be attributed to teenage pregnancies (National Center for Health Statistics et al., 2016). There is an increase in the number of such pregnancies as a result of permissiveness and premarital sex.

In 1980, there were 62,707,000 people aged between 25 and 44 years. Out of these, 108,658 lost their lives. The deaths were mainly caused by unintentional injuries, malignant neoplasms, heart diseases, and homicide. Other causes included suicide, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, pneumonia, influenza, and congenital anomalies. In 2016, 0.2% of the people in the age bracket died due to unintentional injuries, malignant neoplasms, suicide, and disease of heart were the leading causes of death. Homicide, chronic liver disease, liver cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, cerebrovascular disease, HIV, and septicemia formed part of the minor causes of death. In both 2016 and 1980, unintentional injuries topped in the lists of death causes. People who are in their mid-twenties and early forties are physically active (National Center for Health Statistics, 2017). Many are involved in manual works and other physical activities that make them susceptible to injuries. It is also important to note that many people in this age bracket are sexually active (National Center for Health Statistics et al., 2016). This explains why increased sexual promiscuity in the recent years has led to an increase in HIV infections and deaths.

For the persons who belong to the age bracket of 45-64, heart diseases, malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular diseases, unintentional injuries, chronic liver disease, liver cirrhosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were the chief causes of death in 1980. These problems were responsible for the death of approximately 1 % of the population of these people of the time. Other minor causes included diabetes mellitus, suicide, influenza, pneumonia, and homicide. In 2016, a total of 539,961 out of the 84,300,000 of individuals in the age bracket died mainly as a result of malignant neoplasms topped in the causes list, followed by disease of the heart, unintentional injuries, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, chronic lower respiratory diseases, diabetes mellitus, cerebrovascular diseases, and suicide. Other causes of death included septicemia, nephritis, nephritic syndrome, and nephrosis. The high rate of chronic diseases among the people of this particular age in the recent years can be attributed to ageing and lifestyle changes (WHO, 2015). Unintentional injuries can be associated with increased falls and slips (WHO, 2015). Thus, the age category is indeed associated with serious health problems.

References:

National Center for Health Statistics (U.S.), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.), & United States. (2016). Health, United States, 2015: With Special Feature on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics.

National Center for Health Statistics (U.S.). (2017). Health, United States, 2016: With Chartbook on Long-Term Trends in Health. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.

World, Health Organization (WHO). (2015). World Health Statistics: 2015.Geneva : World Health Organization.