We're sicker than the Brits.

Post #254,271 by mmoffitt 5/3/06 11:11:01 AM Reply	We're sicker than the Brits. It's that old "lack of community" thing I've been ranting about. Seems that in addition to everything else, it might be making us physically ill. May 3, 2006 \ufffd A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association comes to a conclusion that has surprised even the researchers who conducted it. Middle-aged whites in England are significantly healthier than middle-aged whites in the United States. That's despite the fact that the United States spends twice as much per person on health care. ... Michael Marmot of University College in London said the results astonished him and the other researchers. "Americans have more diabetes. Americans have more heart disease. Americans have more respiratory disease and other diseases, as well," Marmot says. That's twice as much diabetes in the United States. And nearly twice as many people in the United States reported cancer. "It was a bit of a big shock," Marmot says. "I just didn't imagine we'd find it consistently across the board, with worse health in the United States compared with England." In the categories of diabetes, blood pressure and cancer, England's poorest citizens -- those in the lowest one-third of income levels -- did better than the richest one-third of Americans. ... Researchers are doing a new study on what is causing the difference. Some researchers have suggested that a factor called social isolation is at play. "We have many people working an enormous number of hours," says Lisa Berkman, a social epidemiologist with Harvard University. "But they also have no time to take care of themselves or their families, as well as maintain a certain kind of community or neighborhood or set of ties." [link\|http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5377794\|http://www.npr.org/t...p?storyId=5377794] bcnu, Mikem It would seem, therefore, that the three human impulses embodied in religion are fear, conceit, and hatred. The purpose of religion, one might say, is to give an air of respectibility to these passions. -- Bertrand Russell
Post #254,272 by dmcarls 5/3/06 11:33:03 AM Reply	Somewhat off-topic, but sometimes it's self-inflicted [link\|http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2006/02/16/reece/\|http://www.grist.org...2006/02/16/reece/] Moving Mountains Mountaintop-removal mining is devastating Appalachia [...] Alongside this ecological devastation lies an even more ominous human dimension: an Eastern Kentucky University study found that children in Letcher County, Ky., suffer from an alarmingly high rate of nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and shortness of breath -- symptoms of something called blue baby syndrome -- that can all be traced back to sedimentation and dissolved minerals that have drained from mine sites into nearby streams. Long-term effects may include liver, kidney, and spleen failure, bone damage, and cancers of the digestive tract. " [...] long article about coal-mining. I do agree with mmoffit's posting, however. Long hours, constant stress, and junk-food finally take their toll. I'm thinkin' Arby's, indeed.
Post #254,282 by ben_tilly 5/3/06 1:09:38 PM Reply	I'm not shocked It has long been known that the level of economic disparity correlates negatively with overall health. The USA has large (and growing) economic disparities - it is therefore no surprise to me that our health has been adversely affected. Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #254,303 by mmoffitt 5/3/06 3:58:14 PM Reply	? It has long been known that the level of economic disparity correlates negatively with overall health. The conventional wisdom, I thought, was that there was a correlation between private wealth and health (the poor here are less healthy because they are poor). But are you saying, economically speaking, that you do not find it surprising that England's bottom third is healthier than our top third? bcnu, Mikem It would seem, therefore, that the three human impulses embodied in religion are fear, conceit, and hatred. The purpose of religion, one might say, is to give an air of respectibility to these passions. -- Bertrand Russell
Post #254,326 by ben_tilly 5/3/06 6:40:46 PM Reply	Both are true Within a society, wealth is associated with good health. But between societies, having large income disparities is associated with bad health for everyone. The cause is not understood, but stress levels are an obvious component. [link\|http://www.macses.ucsf.edu/Research/Social%20Environment/notebook/inequality.html\|http://www.macses.uc...k/inequality.html] quotes some of the results on the latter phenomena. So basically what this research tells me is that the second factor is beating the first factor. If stress is indeed the critical factor, then essentially we're hearing that there is more stress in the top third of US white males than in the bottom third of UK white males. This claim is interesting but it does not shock me - just look at the differing vacation policies in the two countries. Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #254,328 by pwhysall 5/3/06 6:50:35 PM Reply	We are definitely less stressed over here. At least in respect to the workplace. For example, I get 30 days a year paid leave, don't have to take any holiday at all to go to the dentist (just tell my boss I'm nipping out of the office for an hour), get fully paid sick leave up to six months, don't have to do my own taxes, can't be fired at will, and so on and so forth. I don't get out-of-hours calls, don't have to look at work email at home (except in extreme circumstances), and work a 37.5 hour week, arriving home at 4.30 every day. I get paid overtime for any extra hours I do, and I'm expected to charge all worked overtime. To say that my work-related stress level is low is understating it. And my experience is pretty typical of the average UK worker working for any company of more than about 100 employees. I have previously worked in jobs where I (needlessly) worried about them at home. It sucked royally, and I'm never going back to that. Compare that to the 60 hour weeks that are seemingly routinely expected of US office workers, and I can understand why stress-related conditions like diabetes, heart disease and so on are so common. That, and the fatty thing. Peter [link\|http://www.no2id.net/\|Don't Let The Terrorists Win] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Home] Use P2P for legitimate purposes!
Post #254,294 by tuberculosis 5/3/06 3:03:48 PM Reply	Car culture to blame When you're in Europe, you can spot the Americans right off. They look pudgier, less fit. Europeans often rely more on public transportation (and it actually works there). They walk more. Driving in Europe is a pain and mostly unnecessary. Similar comparisons of urban vs suburbanites yield similar results. Urban sprawl kills. [link\|http://www.blackbagops.net\|Black Bag Operations Log] [link\|http://www.objectiveclips.com\|Artificial Intelligence] [link\|http://www.badpage.info/seaside/html\|Scrutinizer]
Post #254,306 by mmoffitt 5/3/06 4:02:57 PM Reply	Amen. I recently bought an entry level road bike. I had one when I lived in California and I road all the time (even back in high school a 30 mile before school ride was a ritual I rarely failed to perform). My youngest asked me the other day if I missed anything about California and if so, what I missed most. Without hesitation I said, "I miss public transportation. The last year I lived in California I worked almost as far away from home as I do now and I didn't drive my car at all that year. It was the bus to/from work and the bike on week-ends." I can personally attest to the relationship between lack of public transportation and girth. :0( bcnu, Mikem It would seem, therefore, that the three human impulses embodied in religion are fear, conceit, and hatred. The purpose of religion, one might say, is to give an air of respectibility to these passions. -- Bertrand Russell
Post #254,320 by lincoln 5/3/06 5:49:08 PM Reply	Don't forget all of those studies that say Americans work more hours annually now than any other industrialized nation. We're a country of stressed out lab rats, with us going home, connecting to the corporate VPN every night and on weekends, taking cellphone calls 24x7x365, checking in with the office while on vacation (when we're not too busy to actually TAKE time off), etc. We don't have time to eat good, mentally unwind, and just plain relax. On top of it all, as we watch the stock market, the economy, the job market, politics, and so on, it's a miracle we all haven't commited suicide yet. lincoln "Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from." -- E.L. Doctorow Never apply a Star Trek solution to a Babylon 5 problem. I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a *Citizen* of the United States. [link\|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net\|contact me]
Post #254,322 by pwhysall 5/3/06 6:03:41 PM Reply	Er. No. Driving in Europe is not mostly a pain. Driving in Europe if you're American is mostly a pain. In Britain, we take our cars to Europe in order to drive around it for fun, because some of the twisties are better, the weather's better, and we're more-or-less obsessed with cars as a nation[0]. That, and it's where the Nurburgring and the speed-limit-free Autobahns are. As for the lack of fatties... You might want to consider that your "small" Coke at the drive-through is congruent with our "large", and we don't even have the ridiculous buckets'o'pop that you do. In Wendy's in Philly, I saw that you could get a 32oz Sprite. That's two pints of pop, and about a zillion grammes of sugar. Remember what I said about eating in America? A "small" of anything is large enough for my European appetite. New York was populated by people I would adjudge to be more-or-less normal-sized. Philly, by contrast, had some of the fattest people I've ever seen in my life. I felt positively svelte. [0]A fact that has not escaped a number of recent governments who have latched onto the private motorist as a source of income. Peter [link\|http://www.no2id.net/\|Don't Let The Terrorists Win] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Home] Use P2P for legitimate purposes!
Post #254,330 by Another Scott 5/3/06 7:02:49 PM Reply	You'd enjoy some of the TV shows we have now. :-/ [link\|http://www.csulb.edu/~d49er/archives/2006/spring/opinion/v12n93-learn.shtml\|"... the 'Train Wreck Channel'..."]. Cheers, Scott.
Post #254,337 by drewk 5/3/06 9:13:06 PM Reply	Dont' we just wish That's two pints of pop, and about a zillion grammes of sugar. We haven't had sugar in our soft drinks since about '88. === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #254,338 by admin 5/3/06 9:14:12 PM Reply	Pop is a big factor. I rarely drink it anymore, and when I get a "small" at a fast food joint, I usually finish half of it at the most. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #254,342 by drewk 5/3/06 9:21:14 PM Reply	I drink almost entirely diet So of course I'll be about 45 when they figure out the artificial sweeteners give you cancer of the elbow or some shit. === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #254,363 by inthane-chan 5/4/06 12:51:00 AM Reply	I drink water myself, occasionally fruit juice.
Post #254,367 by altmann 5/4/06 2:42:34 AM Reply	Carbonation will dissolve your teeth -- Chris Altmann
Post #254,546 by danreck 5/5/06 2:09:33 PM Reply	Are you 45 now? You looked younger on our trip to Jersey... [link\|http://allergies.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=allergies&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dldewey.com%2Fasparst1.htm\|http://allergies.abo...om%2Fasparst1.htm] It took me almost a month to have it diagnosed and one of the side effects I was having was that it made me thirsty. Just a few thoughts, Danno
Post #254,547 by drewk 5/5/06 2:35:41 PM Reply	But if it causes brain damage ... ... how will I be able to rationally conclude that I ought to stop using it? And why do I keep hearing the words "Roman empire" and "pewter wine goblets"? === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]

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