Kalamazoo County ranks below state average in death

By Elizabeth Hicks

Hicks@CountyWideNewspaper.com

In January 2006, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), a branch of the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Service's Center for Disease Control (CDC), released "Deaths: Final Data for 2003".

The NCHS found that in 2003 a total of 2,448,288 deaths occurred in the United States. That's 832 deaths for every 100,000 people! Michigan, a bit above average, registered 850 deaths per 100,000 people. Kalamazoo County came in a little lower than average with 784 deaths per 100,000 people.

The county with highest number of deaths in 2003 was Ontonagon County in the Upper Peninsula with a whopping 1,660 deaths for every 100,000 people. The county with the least deaths in 2003 was Washtenaw, which is east of Jackson County, with only 570 deaths per 100,000 people.

Kalamazoo County's death rate has not changed much in the past ten years and it has stayed below the average death rate for Michigan and the country as a whole.

According to the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), the five leading causes of death in the United States in 2003 were heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, and accidents. The same was true for Michigan and for Kalamazoo County.

Illnesses like heart disease and cancer caused 50% of the deaths in the United States and 54% in Michigan, but only caused 45% of deaths in Kalamazoo County.

MDCH compiled statistics showing the number of years of potential life that was lost due to disease given that the average life expectancy for humans is 75 years. For Kalamazoo County, the MDCH states that 1,850 years were lost due to heart disease and 3,012 years were lost due to cancer in 2003.

Heart disease caused 27% of deaths in the United States in 2003. While heart disease caused 31% of deaths in Michigan, it only caused 24% of deaths in Kalamazoo County.

According to MDCH, the prevalence of heart disease is slowing being reduced. In Michigan over the past five years the death rate from heart disease has dropped by 35.7 deaths per 100,000 people, in Calhoun County the rate dropped by 40.3 deaths and in Kalamazoo County the rate has dropped by 67.5 deaths!

Home Front Page Articles