What kills us

Americans visiting the U.K. sometimes step out in front of buses and are killed.

They are looking the wrong direction.

Warning on U.K. crosswalk

Americans die mostly of heart disease, cancer, and strokes. That fact is a sign of success in a nation's health. Those are diseases of old age. In centuries past, before vaccinations for infectious diseases and modern plumbing, people died at young ages from smallpox, tuberculosis, and typhoid.

Here is what Americans died from in 2021:

Covid was number three in 2021. It was top of mind as a health concern for Democrats two years ago. It was less so for Republicans, many of whom were re-defining Covid less as a potentially-fatal infectious disease and instead as a source of government over-reach. I use the 2021 chart because Covid is re-emerging. There is a summer spike in Covid cases.

Life is full of risks and random luck, but we all know the story of increasing one's chances of a long healthy life: Don't smoke, have a healthy weight, eat right, don't drink too much, exercise. It is important but boring. 

A poll this week reported what health risks capture our attention:

Here is a chart with another version of the mis-match between what kills us and what the media puts in headlines. "AIRPORT BOMB FOUND" gets clicks. "EAT HEALTHY FOOD" does not.

It is not clear to me that anything less than a N95 mask does much good to protect me from Covid, but paper masks probably help a little. The data show Covid vaccinations do reduce risk of serious illness for older people. Democrats probably should get vaccinated for Covid, along with ones for the flu and shingles. Do so proudly.

Republicans who suspect that vaccines are a suspicious plot by the Biden administration, Dr. Fauci, Bill Gates, George Soros, and the drug companies can suit themselves. We are at the "protect yourself" phase of the pandemic. I assume anyone and everyone could have it. I hope that between vaccinations and the post-infection interventions now available, I can survive Covid if I get it. JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, reported that because of greater vaccine acceptance by Democrats than by Republicans, Republicans had a 15% higher death rate from Covid than did Democrats. I feel sorry for Republicans but, as Leslie Gore sang back in my youth, "It my party and I'll cry if I want to." It's their party and they can vaccinate if they want to. 

By 2022 U.S. life expectancy had dropped by 2.5 years from its pre-Covid 1999 level. Over 267,000 Americans died of Covid in 2022. That year the Global Terrorism Index counted 11 American deaths from terrorism.

It is best to look both ways when stepping onto a crosswalk. Pay particular attention to the likely direction of the oncoming bus. 

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