Home > Online Clinic News > Individuals Live Longer but in Poorer Health Claims Study

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by Robert MacKay, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 | Categories: General Health

It may not come as a big surprise that our views on health today differ radically from the key issues considered 20 years ago. Although past studies always have reflected the needs of the zeitgeist they were conducted in, no large-scale studies have considered the impact of these shifts on the health landscape in total. Now, an international study covering 302 institutions from 50 countries, has resulted in a triple issue of The Lancet devoted to discussing what health is today.

The study was funded by the World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and was a collaborative effort between the University of Queensland, Harvard School of Public Health, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of Tokyo, Imperial College London, and the World Health Organization.

During the course of the study the researchers utilised a wide range of data, including data from surveys, censuses and registration systems. In addition to that, all randomised controlled trials were subject to an in-depth meta-analysis. All of this information was then put into a database that covered a wide range of conditions from AIDS to zinc deficiencies. The data were then further analysed to see whether they would fit criteria set by the committee, such as excluding data that may have been too specific to a time and place. The final findings, which were developed from statistical modelling, were so widespread that 650 million estimates were generated for both small and large health challenges.

One of the key interpretations of the findings indicated that although mortality has decreased, individuals now appear to live longer but be less healthy. For instance, malnutrition appears to have decreased by two thirds whereas dietary risk factors and physical inactivity collectively caused 10% of the disease burden directly or indirectly. Heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, smoking and alcohol were seen as the leading risk factors for premature death or disability.

What is remarkable about this study is not the findings, as it could be argued that they confirm what many people already have suspected with regards to modern health, but due to a range of factors, individuals may not attempt to not change these behaviours to affect a different outcome.

What intrigues us about the study is the impact it will have on the research community. Establishing a database of this magnitude has not been accomplished in the past, and it is bound to illuminate areas where research is lacking.





 
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