Will anemia kill you?

February 24, 2010

Well, that depends of course – however, anemia can be deadly. In 2006, the latest data available, 3,996 deaths were attributed to anemia (that’s 1.3 per 100,000 population). In comparison, heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, accounted for 631,636 deaths in 2006, a rate of 200.2 per 100,000 population. However, the risk of death from anemia appears to increase with age. The data for 2006 illustrates this:

Under 1 year – 11 deaths
1 to 4 years – 26 deaths
5 to 14 years – 34 deaths
15 to 24 years – 93 deaths
25 to 34 years – 141 deaths
35 to 44 years – 192 deaths
45 to 54 years – 232 deaths
55 to 64 years – 304 deaths
65 to 74 years – 401 deaths
75 to 84 years – 975 deaths
85 years and over – 1,587 deaths

Anemia deaths by age in the United States, 2006

For more data on anemia, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/anemia.htm.

Leave a Comment » | anemia, Deaths, iron deficiency, Vital Statistics System | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Megan Cox

NCHS releases 33rd annual report card on Nation’s health

February 18, 2010

Each year, NCHS releases a report to Congress and to the President concerning the nation’s health. This report is available to the media and the public, and the 33rd edition, Health United States, 2009, can be found at www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm. Each year the report features a special section, and this year’s focus is the growing use of medical technology.

For the report’s press release, visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/10newreleases/hus09.htm.

For a podcast with one of the report’s authors, visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/STATCASTS/statcasts.htm#statcast_16.

For a brief summary of this report, visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus09_InBrief.pdf.

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Posted by Megan Cox

Americans turning to internet for health info

February 4, 2010

From January through June 2009, 51% of adults aged 18-64 had used the Internet to look up health information during the past 12 months. This information was collected from NCHS’ National Health Interview Survey, featured in a new web release. The data underscores the important role that IT is playing in the health field, as people search for answers quickly and exhaustively from the privacy of their own computer. Here’s the breakdown by sex:

Other data include the following:

Among adults aged 18-64, women were more likely than men to look up health information on the Internet (58.0% versus 43.4%) and were also more likely to use online chat groups to learn about health topics (4.1% versus 2.5%).

From January through June 2009, almost 5% of adults aged 18-64 had communicated with a health care provider by e-mail in the past 12 months.

During the first 6 months of 2009, 6% of adults aged 18-64 requested a refill of a prescription on the Internet, and almost 3% had made an appointment with a health care provider in the past 12 months using the Internet.

For the full report, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/healthinfo2009/healthinfo2009.htm.

 

Leave a Comment » | Health IT, National Health Interview Survey, technology | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Megan Cox