Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: Mortality Rates in the US Visualized

matthewisabel.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 99 posts

Re: Show HN: Mortality Rates in the US Visualized

#61

Post by sakai »

Anybody know anything about VT health stats? I'm struck by the fact that it:

* Has the lowest influenza/pneumonia rate (7.9)

* Has the lowest nephritis rate (6.7)

* Is in the "really low" rate color for HIV and homicides*

* But has the highest Parkinson's rate (9.6)

What's a contributing factor for Parkinson's?

* Edit: That appears to be the "no data" color actually. I just assumed it was very low because VT has few homicides (1.4 / 100k residents average rate for the past 3 years, or about 10 homicides annually)

Re: Show HN: Mortality Rates in the US Visualized

#62

Post by ekianjo »

GabrielF00 wrote: post #59
ekianjo wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying it's more likely to commit suicide just because you own a gun ?

Suicide by firearm is more likely to succeed than suicide by other methods (for instance poisoning). Per the American Association of Suicidology, "if a gun is used to attempt suicide, a fatal outcome will result 78% to 90% of the time."[1] Suffocation is also very likely to succeed but poisoning results in death less than 5% of the time and falls about 25% of the time.[2] One can make an impulsive decision to commit…

Good point, thank you. Is there any data on suicide attempts per state, then, available anywhere online ? Are suicide attempts even recorded officially ?

Re: Show HN: Mortality Rates in the US Visualized

#64

Post by marze »

pg wrote: post #2

One interesting thing I learned from this is how highly correlated mortality from heart disease and cancer are. They're quite different types of disease, but perhaps what they have in common is that they're diseases of civilization in the sense of being caused by de facto "toxins" (I don't mean this literally) of industrialized life like processed foods, lack of exercise, cigarettes, etc. Is there local data about po…

New research suggests that low vitamin D levels may be factors in both CVD and cancer, which could explain part of the correlation.

The high rates in the states around Mississippi are because of the high fraction of African Americans, who experience higher (double) rates of CVD compared to whites, a fact not inconsistent with the vitamin D hypothesis.

Re: Show HN: Mortality Rates in the US Visualized

#66

Post by erichurkman »

dubfan wrote: post #51
ekianjo wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This definitely deserves some kind of investigation. There's probably something to learn from such high levels of difference in very close counties : http://socialcapitalreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Sc...

As a resident of Washington the first thing that comes to mind is the difference in climate between the west and east. The eastern part of the state is mostly semi-arid, nearly desert in some areas. I've heard we also have one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the US, but I'm having a hard time finding good data on that.

It could also be something innocent, like a large treatment center or palliative care facility.

That is, unless the data is meticulously groomed to report the patients' county/state of origin.

Re: Show HN: Mortality Rates in the US Visualized

#67

Post by ronnier »

sakai wrote: post #61

Anybody know anything about VT health stats? I'm struck by the fact that it: * Has the lowest influenza/pneumonia rate (7.9) * Has the lowest nephritis rate (6.7) * Is in the "really low" rate color for HIV and homicides* * But has the highest Parkinson's rate (9.6) What's a contributing factor for Parkinson's? * Edit: That appears to be the "no data" color actually. I just assumed it was very low because VT has few…

From Wikipedia, Vermont is 98.12% white. Many statistics correlate with demographics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont#Race_and_gender

Re: Show HN: Mortality Rates in the US Visualized

#68

Post by icambron »

kyro wrote: post #49
pg wrote: post #2

One interesting thing I learned from this is how highly correlated mortality from heart disease and cancer are. They're quite different types of disease, but perhaps what they have in common is that they're diseases of civilization in the sense of being caused by de facto "toxins" (I don't mean this literally) of industrialized life like processed foods, lack of exercise, cigarettes, etc. Is there local data about po…

Also note that strokes are highly correlated with those two most likely due to it being a consequence of cardiovascular (read: heart) disease. The concentration of heart disease/stroke mortality in that region seems to be highly correlated with obesity distribution, which isn't a surprise. Actually, the state with the highest rate of obesity [1], Mississipi, is also the one with the highest mortality due to heart dis…

I have no expertise here, but I wonder if the Alzheimer's rate in Washington and North Dakota reflect differences is how deaths are classified.

Re: Show HN: Mortality Rates in the US Visualized

#69

Post by crystaln »

gilgoomesh wrote: post #65
elwell wrote: post #32

Suicide seems to be highest in rural (lonely) cold (also less sunlight) states.

I think suicide is prevented by HIV – the two maps seem to be nearly complete opposites.

HIV correlates with sexual activity, which seems likely to have a negative correlation with suicide. People who are getting laid are happier.

Re: Show HN: Mortality Rates in the US Visualized

#70

Post by nhebb »

How does mortality data account for age? Given heart disease, cancer, and respiratory diseases were the top three causes of death in 2010, if in 2060 the average life span were 10 years longer, isn't it likely that these three things would still be the leading cause of death? The geographic distribution is interesting, but it seems to me that to breaking it down by age group would be more informative.
Post reply on HN