Google – AFP, 9 January 2013
A fitness
instructor (C) helps teens balance on a ball during a fitness class
in
California on October 19, 2009 (Getty Images/AFP/File, Justin Sullivan)
|
WASHINGTON
— Americans are in worse health, die earlier and suffer from more disease than
residents of other wealthy nations, according to a new study out Wednesday.
The
disadvantage spans all ages from birth to 75, said the report, conducted
jointly by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine.
Some
details were surprising: even wealthier Americans and those with health
insurance were not as healthy as counterparts in other prosperous nations, it
found.
"We
were struck by the gravity of these findings," said Steven Woolf,
professor of family medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond
and chair of the panel that wrote the report.
"Americans
are dying and suffering at rates that we know are unnecessary because people in
other high-income countries are living longer lives and enjoying better health.
What concerns our panel is why, for decades, we have been slipping
behind," Woolf stressed.
The report
is the first of its kind to look at a range of illnesses, injuries and
behaviors of people of all ages in the United States to run a comparison with
counterparts in rich countries such as Australia, Canada, Japan and several
countries in western Europe.
Among the
countries studied, the United States was in last place or close to last in nine
key benchmark areas.
They were:
infant mortality and low birth weight; injuries and homicides; teenage
pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections; prevalence of HIV and AIDS;
drug-related deaths; obesity and diabetes; heart disease; chronic lung disease;
and disability.
Many of the
health problems disproportionately plague children, the report found.
The United
States has the highest infant mortality among rich countries despite the fact
that it spends more on health care than any other country.
The report
urges authorities to step up efforts to identify and pursue national health
goals.
US
President Barack Obama's landmark overhaul of the health care system, which
aims to provide insurance to the majority of those currently without, is due to
come into force next year after being upheld by the Supreme Court.
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"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS" – Sep 29, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - Text Version)
"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS" – Sep 29, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - Text Version)
".. I'm in Canada and I know it, but I will tell those listening and reading in the American audience the following: Get ready! Because there are some institutions that are yet to fall, ones that don't have integrity and that could never be helped with a bail out. Again, we tell you the biggest one is big pharma, and we told you that before. It's inevitable. If not now, then in a decade. It's inevitable and they will fight to stay alive and they will not be crossing the bridge. For on the other side of the bridge is a new way, not just for medicine but for care. ...."
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