Premature death rates vary

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Premature death rates vary in the U.S....

Premature Death Rates in US Fall for Some, Rise for Others, Study says
January 25, 2017 - Premature death rates in the United States are falling for some groups and rising for others, a new study suggests.

According to researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), premature death rates have fallen for Hispanics, blacks and Asian/Pacific Islanders, while they’re rising among whites and Native American groups. The study examined premature death rates, dying between the ages of 25 and 64, in the U.S. from 1999 to 2014. The drop among Hispanics, blacks and Asians, researchers say, is a result of fewer deaths from cancer, heart disease and HIV, thanks to medical advances, better public health efforts to lower tobacco use and better diagnosing techniques.

A man injects himself with heroin using a needle obtained from the People's Harm Reduction Alliance, the nation's largest needle-exchange program, in Seattle, Washington. Drugs were a leading reason for the rise in premature death rates among young, white Americans.​

For whites and Native Americans, the rise in premature deaths is being driven by drug overdoses, suicide and liver disease. Researchers discovered a premature death rate among 25- to 30-year-olds in this group as high as two to five percent per year. That, they add, is similar to the increases seen during the U.S. AIDS crisis. "The results of our study suggest that, in addition to continued efforts against cancer, heart disease, and HIV, there is an urgent need for aggressive actions targeting emerging causes of death, namely drug overdoses, suicide, and liver disease," said Meredith Shiels of the NCI and lead author of the study.

Her colleague, Amy Berrington, also of NCI and a senior author, added that the study could be used to target and prevent premature death for those groups that need help. "Death at any age is devastating for those left behind, but premature death is especially so, in particular for children and parents," she said. "We focused on premature deaths because, as Sir Richard Doll, the eminent epidemiologist and my mentor, observed: 'Death in old age is inevitable, but death before old age is not.'” The study appeared January 25, 2017, in The Lancet.

Premature Death Rates in US Fall for Some, Rise for Others, Study says

 

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Premature babies increase in the U.S. for 2nd straight year...

Preterm Births in US Increase for a Second Year
June 30, 2017 | WASHINGTON — New government data show the health of pregnant women and babies in the U.S. is getting worse, and a report by the National Center for Health Statistics shows the number of babies born prematurely has been increasing since 2014.

Preterm American births increased in 2016 and 2015 after seven years of steady declines. Prematurity rose by 2 percent in 2016 and by 1.6 percent the year before. Stacey Stewart, president of the March of Dimes, a nonprofit U.S. group that works to eliminate prematurity and birth defects, called the increase “an alarming indication that the health of pregnant women and babies in our country is heading in the wrong direction.”

Expand health care

Stewart called on Washington to expand access to quality prenatal care and promote proven ways to help reduce the risk of preterm birth. Noting that the U.S. Senate is considering a health care bill that many Americans believe would reduce health benefits for poor families and change coverage for maternity and newborn care, Stewart said now “is not the time to make it harder for women to get the care they need to have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.” In the U.S., about 400,000 babies born each year before the 37th week of pregnancy are considered preterm. No one knows all the causes of prematurity, but researchers have discovered that even late-term “preemies” face developmental challenges that full-term babies do not. Several studies show that health problems related to preterm births persist through adult life, problems such as chronic lung disease, developmental handicaps and vision and hearing losses.

African-American rates

Research also shows that African-American women are 48 percent more likely to bear a child prematurely than all other women. And African-American infants born with birth defects are much more likely to face severe outcomes, compared to other U.S. newborns. African-American women in general are worse off than low-income white women, Stewart said. “We want to make sure that all babies have access to opportunities to be delivered at full term,” she told VOA, “that mothers have the opportunity to have healthy pregnancies and deliver their babies full term, and we know we must do a much better job in African-American and Hispanic communities and in other communities of color,” to make sure that solutions are available.

Melinda Star Guido lies in an incubator at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at 9 1/2 ounces. Most babies her size don’t survive, but doctors are preparing to send her home.​

The report from the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that preterm rates rose in 17 of the 50 U.S. states, and that none reported a decline. The incidence of low birth weight, a risk factor for some serious health problems, also rose for a second straight year in 2016. Again, rates of low birth weight babies were higher for African-Americans than for other racial groups.

Preterm Births in US Increase for a Second Year

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Premature Birth Still Top Killer of Young Children, Big Problem in US
November 17, 2015 | WASHINGTON — People around the world observed World Prematurity Day Tuesday in an attempt to focus attention on the harm babies face when they are born too soon - before 37 weeks in the womb. The March of Dimes, an international advocacy group for child and maternal health, reports that for the first time, the complications of preterm birth now outrank all other causes as the world’s number one killer of young children.

Dr. Edward McCabe, the medical director of the March of Dimes, told VOA, "We’ve gotten some infectious diseases, diarrheal illnesses, malnutrition -- those have been going down, so we’re making good gains there. But preterm birth has not been going down in many countries. It’s been increasing." Thus, the global concern. People took to Facebook and Twitter to express their feelings and to state their goals. One post read: "Malawi is also leading the charge in South Africa to raise awareness about ‪#‎WorldPrematurityDay!" Malawi has the highest rate of premature birth in the world.

The Facebook page for World Prematurity Day.​

Other posters showed pictures of cities lit up in purple, the color of World Prematurity Day. There were photos from Wellington, Canberra and Sydney and buildings were lit up in Mexico City, Accra, Budapest and other places. Adults born preterm posted pictures of themselves at birth. Some mourned babies who didn't make it. The observance of World Prematurity Day began five years ago when organizations involved in preventing preterm births joined together to raise awareness of the lives lost and the problems it causes: blindness, reduced intellect and cerebral palsy among them.

Global problem

Approximately 15 million babies are born prematurely each year. That's more than one in 10 of all babies born worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO reports around 1 million of those babies die from complications of prematurity. More than 60 percent of preterm births occur in Africa and South Asia. Some parts of the U.S. have higher rates of prematurity than some developing countries. In its annual report card for the United States, the March of Dimes gave the U.S. a mediocre grade overall. Some states got the lowest grade possible. Only four got the highest. No one knows all the causes of preterm birth, but McCabe said there "are a lot of disparities. Even states like California, which is doing well overall, have pockets that have just incredibly high preterm birth rates."

Ahed Hussein, 18, a Syrian refugee who fled the war in Syria, puts her hand on the incubator where her premature newborn daughter rests in Chtaura's hospital in Chtaura, Lebanon.​

The March of Dimes has a two-stage plan to reduce prematurity in the states with the highest rates and then to expand the work to other regions. “We’re trying to be more strategic to help us focus our resources where they’re needed to improve the country and not leave the poorest performing areas, the poorest performing populations behind," McCabe added. Dr. Regina Benjamin, a former U.S. Surgeon General, operates a clinic in rural Alabama, a state with an preterm birth rate of 11.5 percent or higher, depending on the area. It's also a state with a lot of African-Americans who have the highest rate of preterm birth of all the racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. "I've attended to babies who didn’t make it," Benjamin said. She recalled that in her early training a baby born prematurely often died. She credited the March of Dimes with changing that scenario. She now sits on the organization's board of directors.

Breastmilk may prevent blindness in preterm babies

 

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Too Many People Dying Prematurely From Non-communicable Diseases...

WHO: Too Many People Dying Prematurely From Non-communicable Diseases
September 18, 2017 — The World Health Organization reports some progress is being made in reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases. But it says much more needs to be done to save the lives of nearly 40 million people who die every year from preventable causes.

In this latest global assessment, the World Health Organization reports cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases, cancers and diabetes continue to be the world’s biggest killers. Every year, it says 15 million adults in the most productive period of their lives, between the age of 30 and 70, will die prematurely.

The biggest risk factors are tobacco, the harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity. WHO director for the prevention of non-communicable diseases, Douglas Bettcher, said the world is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal of cutting premature NCD deaths by one third by 2030. “The window of opportunity to save lives is closing. This is playing out before our eyes in many ways, including increasing numbers of people, particularly children and adolescents suffering from obesity, overweight and diabetes. If we do not take action now to protect people from NCDs, we will condemn today’s and tomorrow’s youth to lives of ill health and reduced economic opportunities,” Bettcher said.

An overweight woman sits on a chair in Times Square in New York, May 8, 2012. Nearly 40 million people die every year from preventable causes, the World Health Organization finds.​

Despite common perceptions, Bettcher told VOA premature deaths from non-communicable diseases are not just a rich country problem. “Eighty percent of the deaths are in countries that are already often stressed, their health systems are stressed with the usual, the conventional burdens of disease, communicable diseases, maternal-child health problems. And, then this is an added, extremely large burden for the health system,” Bettcher said.

WHO reports Costa Rica and Iran lead the 10 best performing countries in reducing deaths from non-communicable diseases. It says six countries have achieved no progress at all. Five are in Africa: Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome Principe and South Sudan. The sixth country is Micronesia in the western Pacific.

WHO: Too Many People Dying Prematurely From Non-communicable Diseases