The year 2011 marks 100 years of the national census taking of
Australians. There have been some remarkable advances in health shown in
the numbers. The average life expectancy for women has grown from 60
years in 1911 to 84 years in 2010. Men have increased their life
expectancy from 56 to 79 years. Infant mortality has dropped from 74 in
1000 in 1911 to just 4 in 1000. The leading causes of death in 1911
were:
- Organic Heart Disease (10.2%)
- Senile Debility (8%)
- Cancer (6.9%)
- Tuberculosis (6.6%)
- Congenital debility birth defects (6.5%)
The leading causes of death in 2008 were:
- Ischaemic (reduced blood supply) heart diseases (24%)
- Strokes (12%)
- Dementia and Alzheimer disease (8%)
- Trachea and lung cancer (8%)
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases (6%)
- If we group the top heart related diseases and stroke, they combine to a whopping 42%, and cancers combined increases to 27%!
Many of the changes in life expectancy and causes of
death are because of improved sanitation and living standards, reduction
in infectious diseases through vaccines and medicines, and health
education. Even in 1911 doctors were aware poor diet and nutrition were
the main cause of many illnesses and deaths with their patients. Sadly,
not much has changed on that front. Our diets are remarkably different
from 1911, but our choices are no better - perhaps even worse. We've
replaced "meat and three veg" to takeaway burgers and fries, a toxic mix
of salt, sugar and fat. We've brought many infectious diseases under
control so they and no longer pose a substantial risk to our lives.
Lifestyle diseases are now our big challenge - diabetes and obesity are
the two biggest risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Medical
research has changed its focus from finding treatments and prevention
for infectious diseases to finding interventions for our own poor
choices. Our sedentary lifestyle and poor diets are forcing doctors to
look at ways to manipulate our genes and cellular processes. Because of
that research, there's more scientific evidence of how our cells need to
work with each other to maintain and recover health, particularly with
cancers. We're becoming more aware of the connectedness of our bodies.
When one part is unwell its effects can ripple through the entire body -
even if it is just one cell that's sick. We're learning more about how
to feed our cells to prevent, treat and even reverse diseases. We can
wait for medical research to find a cure for poor food choices. But how
hard is it really to visit the fruit and vegetable section of your
supermarket more, and skip the chips and soft drink aisles? How hard is
it really to choose to take the stairs instead of the escalators? How
hard is it really to choose to walk five blocks instead of drive? It's
simple, little, daily choices like these that lead to a huge difference
over a lifetime. Medical research will and should continue. But our
lives belong to us - we live them, not the laboratory rats. We can make
decisions today to change the course of our lives, whatever the year, be
it 1911 or 2011. Sources
- "Official Yearbook of the Commonwealth of Australia" (includes 1911)
- Australian Bureau of Statistics
Karen invites you to discover more about how your food, even
healthy food, impacts your body. If you want to know more about how you
can overcome many illnesses and diseases, then check out the video the truth about healthy food
If you want to know more about a simple daily supplement to help keep the health balance in your body's nutrition, we'd love to hear from you.
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