The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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    Causes of death in the United States

    Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston studied dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors.

    Toping the list were smoking and high blood pressure.

    First, the details.

    • Data on the exposure to risk factors among Americans were obtained.
    • The number of disease-specific deaths attributable to risk factors was adjusted for the effect age and gender.
    • The findings for 2005 were reported.

    Risk factors associated with the highest number of deaths.

    • Tobacco smoking and high blood pressure
      • Responsible about 1 in 5 or 6 deaths in US adults.
    • Overweight-obesity and physical inactivity
      • Each responsible for nearly 1 in 10 deaths.
    • Dietary risks with the largest mortality effects
      • High dietary salt
      • Low dietary omega-3 fatty acids
      • High dietary trans fatty acids
    • Alcohol use
      • Many deaths from ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, and diabetes were averted by current alcohol use.
      • But they were outweighed by deaths from cardiovascular diseases, cancers, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, alcohol use disorders, road traffic and other injuries, and violence.

    The bottom line?
    The authors concluded, “The results of our analysis of dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors show that targeting a handful of risk factors has large potential to reduce mortality in the US, substantially more than the currently estimated 18,000 deaths averted annually by providing universal health insurance.”

    4/29/09 21:30 JR

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