Americans sicker than neighbors to the north

[Warpy]

Fewer Canadians report chronic diseases, from diabetes to depression

ATLANTA - You can add Canadians to the list of foreigners who are healthier than Americans.

Americans are 42 percent more likely than Canadians to have diabetes, 32 percent more likely to have high blood pressure, and 12 percent more likely to have arthritis, Harvard Medical School researchers found. That is according to a survey in which American and Canadian adults were asked over the telephone about their health.

The study comes less than a month after other researchers reported that middle-aged, white Americans are much sicker than their counterparts in England.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13049984/

Our government's lack of care for its people is killing us. What will it take for us to rise up and threaten to return the favor?

[kenny blankenship]

1. Good thing we have "the best medical care in the world"

otherwise our tendency to be sicker than other people like the Canadians would be taking a heavy toll on us.

[Turtlebah]

2. A symptom of our dysfunctional society

Violence is ok in America.. but nudity on tv is considered vulgar.. something wrong with that. Not that I'm into nudity, but our 'American values' are twisted.

[depakid]

3. Plus they perceived themselves to be healthier

which in itself is a fairly strong predictor of future health!

Also- the guy from the RAND corporation is mistating (or perhaps overstating) the findings from Micheal Marmot's British/American study.

[Cleita]

4. Here's a link to another story on CNN about the same.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/05/30/healthier.canadians.ap/index.html

About this paragraph in the article:

James Smith, a RAND Corp. researcher who co-authored the American-English study, disagreed. His research found that England's national health insurance program did not explain the difference in disease rates, because even Americans with insurance were in worse health.

The RAND Corporation is a conservative think tank and I would be interested in knowing if the study took into consideration that many of those insured Americans are underinsured with high deductibles. This has the effect of keeping the insured from seeking medical attention at the onset of an illness and not getting the initial health care that they need before a condition worsens.