IMPACT OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE ON GLOBAL MORTALITY RATE

2011-07-09T16:14:00.001+01:00

Chinedu Nwagbo CSN

INTRODUCTION

Mortality is on the rise throughout the world. Most nations of the world are witnessing remarkable increase in incidents of death, and progressive decline in life expectancy in recent times. This fact is easily deducible from analysis of statistics published by various regulatory agencies from around the world.

Interestingly, most of the countries with high mortality have also seen some new changes in established trends among factors which are linkable to rising mortality. Some of these factors include increasing disease burden, environmental pollution and degradation, increased smoking among the population, and growing stress. However, these are not the primary factors responsible for rising mortality, since they are the results of some other human activity or circumstances.

Consequently, it is highly probable that the present global rampage of killer diseases, and other life threatening conditions, have their root in some other factors. The advent of the 21^st century has been attended by revolutionary advances in technology, modifications in industrial and business practices, and many other changes, all of which have affected peoples’ lifestyles all over the world. These newly acquired habits and lifestyles are indicative of the decline in public health; hence the rising mortality in most countries of the world.

This paper attempts to examine the co-relation between these primary and secondary factors contributing to global increase in mortality, and to proffer a solution to the menace. The nature of these factors, and how they raise mortality in most countries of the world, will be scrutinized. Although mortality data can be deduced for various segments of a population, as it is done actual practice, this paper will lay emphasis on adult mortality, and the 3 leading causes of death.

THESIS STATEMENT

The increasing incident of global mortality is, largely, attributable to some factors which constitute the leading cause of death worldwide. These include heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

For the year 2002, the above-mentioned factors were responsible for 31,063,696 deaths worldwide; representing 54.47 % of total mortality for that year².

However, these diseases are the consequences of dangerous habits and lifestyles, which were developed in response to changes in contemporary cultural traits, a by-product of civilization in the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

Therefore, the increase in global mortality corresponds to recent changes in cultural traits, which foster these disease-yielding habits.

I) Global mortality on the increase

Mortality is a body of data showing the number of deaths in a place, stating their cause, and the time period covered by the data². One of the uses of this data is to carry out studies aimed at understanding the trend of diseases and deaths in populations³.

According to figures extrapolated from the mortality data released from the U.S. Census Bureau’s International database (shown in figure 1); global mortality is on the increase⁴.

YEAR	DEATHS	VARIANCE	A. I. G.M. (%)
1996	52,234,422
1997	52,760,750	669,045	1.28
1998	53,163,710	402,960	0.76
1999	53,773,625	609,915	1.15
2000	54,331,602	410,652	0.76
2001	54,665,685	482,530	0.89
2002	55,029,225	363,540	0.67
2003	55,402,985	373,760	0.68
2004	55,907,598	352,824	0.64
2005	56,130,065	375,220	0.67
2006	56,579,380	449,315	0.80
Total Deaths: 599,979,047 Average Increase per Year: 0.83%

Figure 1: Annual Increase in Global Mortality (A.I.G.M.)

II) The driving force behind rising global mortality

Obviously, the greatest contributor to rising global mortality is the increasing number of deaths from the World’s top killer diseases; namely, heart disease, cancer and stroke. Heart disease (a term denoting any of the many conditions and diseases affecting the heart; examples include coronary artery disease, angina pectoris, e.t.c.) has rapidly grown to become the top killer disease in the world today, after its first documented occurrence was reported in 1912. Records show that over 7.25 million people (12.8% of all deaths) died in 2008² due to heart disease; this figure is expected to rise to 11.1 million by 2020¹¹.

The second ranking killer disease, cancer, is also afflicting more people than it did in the previous years. Cancer refers to a class of disease that occurs when a group of cells is involved in uncontrolled growth, or the invasion and destruction of adjacent cells, or cells in other locations in the body. It is not a new disease. The first known documentation on a cancer case was done in Egypt in 1500BC. Since then, it has killed millions of people, and the figures keep rising on a global scale.

Unfortunately, there is no cure till date, only palliative measures are available. Available statistics show that mortality due to cancers was 7,185,654 in 2002⁵. This represents 12.64% of the total mortality for 2002², and an increase of 15.90% from the 2000 figure of 6,200,000 deaths from cancers⁶.

Stroke, or Cerebrovascular Disease, ranks third among the leading causes of death worldwide. It involves the rapid loss of brain functions due to disturbances in the supply of blood to the brain caused by arterial blockade, or a haemorrhage (bleeding from a ruptured blood vessel); consequently, the affected portion of the brain ceases to function, which might result to loss of ability of move certain parts of the body, loss of ability to speak clearly (or a total loss of speech) or visual impairment. Moreover, this ailment can cause irreparable neurological damage, complications, and death.

Stroke is the greatest cause of adult disability in Europe and the U.S⁷. In 2002, stroke was responsible for 5,509,001 deaths (9.66% of the global mortality figure for 2002)². By 2008, the figure increased to 6.15 million (10.8% of the global mortality figure for 2008)¹, attesting to its growing threat to humanity.

III) Factors behind the 3 leading causes of death worldwide

Although, the 3 major diseases under discussion constitute the major driving force behind the rising global mortality, they are not self-sustaining. Rather, their dominance is driven by several habits and conditions emanating from the prevalent culture in contemporary society; as evident in most countries. In fact, the 3 diseases share a remarkably similar set of causative factors.

Ironically, these harmful habits and conditions were born of the quest to improve the quality of human life, which is the central theme of civilization. Notable among these are the following;

1) Increasing adoption of sedentary life styles.

Due to a rapid increase in automation, and introduction of self-powered tools and equipments in homes and work places; most people now spend an increasing portion of their lives in a seating, or some other static position. This development has, to a large extent, removed the need for some physical activity, or exercise, in their lives; thus, they are more prone to obesity, and to ill health (i.e. any if the 3 diseases). It is reported that, “lack of physical activity and obesity is a major cause of stroke”⁹.

2) Modification of practices in the food production industry.

There have been drastic changes in food handling and production methods in recent times. Most farmers now use synthetic fertilizers and non-biodegradable pesticides in their farming operations. This is preceded by the use some harmful chemicals (like unsafe preservatives, pigments, sweeteners, enhancers and flavors) during the processing of these agricultural produce into finished food products. Many of the chemicals employed for the above-mentioned purposes have been reported to possess some carcinogenic (cancer-causing) activity, or some other toxic properties. An example is lidane¹².

3) Proliferation of fast food outfits and consumption of highly processed foods.

Today’s highly mobile population has developed a very high dependence on fast foods, quick fixes, and other forms of highly refined foods. Apart from the use of harmful chemicals during the production of these edible items, the extreme conditions to which these food materials are subjected during their processing can destroy their nutritional value.

Moreover, extreme processing conditions, or storage periods, can generate harmful chemical by-products, or entities called free radicals. Free radicals have been linked to formation of cancers, and other life threatening conditions in humans. Another toxic food contaminant used in food packaging, Bisphenol A (BPA) migrate from packaging materials into the food item during storage¹³.

4) Cumulative effects of industrialization on our habitat.

One of the major undesirable outcomes of industrialization is the pollution of the environment with toxic industrial by-products. Most of these harmful pollutants find their way into the body through inhalation, food and water ingestion, or the skin, thereby causing ill-health. Many of such incidents have been reported in the past. For instance, it has been reported that tobacco smoke (inhaled actively by a smoker, or passively by people in the vicinity) is the cause of one out of every three cancer-related deaths in the developed countries¹⁰.

Although, more stringent regulations have been set up to tackle environmental pollution, it is still a formidable threat to health, and to an improved life expectancy.

CONCLUSION

In view of the above-stated, it is obvious that the cultural evolution in contemporary society is largely, though indirectly, responsible for the increase in global mortality; being the major driving force behind the 3 leading cause of death worldwide. Figures show that these 3 majors accounted for over 54% of all deaths in 2002;

However, these figures correspond to the changes observed in trends depicting the 21^st century culture; representing emergence of certain habits and lifestyles among people which are supportive of these killer diseases. Some of these include, the heavy consumption of highly processed and refined foods, which foster cancers and heart diseases; prevalence of sedentary lifestyles due to increase in automation, which in turn, causes obesity and attendant conditions like hypertension, cancer and stroke; and the practice of mass production in the food industry, which has fostered the use of some harmful chemicals in food processing and agriculture, leading to increase in the occurrence of cancers.

Consequently, urgent steps are required to curtail the indirect, but huge, impact of these cultural traits on global mortality, as it behooves us. It is pertinent that Governments, Private Institutions, Non-governmental Organizations, and other groups embark on rigorous enlightenment campaigns to create public awareness of the dangers of these unwholesome habits. Education remains the beat options.

REFERENCES

1) “10 leading cause of death by broad income group (2008)”; World Health Organization.

2) “Mortality Data for 2002”; World Health Organization, 2003.

3) Australian Institute Of Health & Welfare, 2011.

4) United States Census Bureau’s International Database World Vital Statistics.

5) Extrapolated figures from “list of causes of death by rate for 2002” World Health Organization.

6) Onlinelibrary.wiley.com; “estimating the Global Cancer Burden: Globocan2000”.

7) Wikipedia.org: Stroke.

8) Anand Kunnumakkara, et al (September 2008); “Cancer is a preventable disease that requires major lifestyle changes” Pharm. Res. 25(9): 2097-116.

9) “Stroke Risk Factors” American Heart Association, January 2007.

10) Sasco AJ, et al (August 2004) “tobacco smoking and lung cancer: a brief recent epidemiological evidence”. Lung Cancer (Amsterdam) 45 Suppl. 2 S3-9.

11) World Health Organization. http://www.who.int. Accessed March 26, 2009.

12) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Toxicologic profile for alpha-, beta, gamma- and delta-hexachlorocyclohenxane. Aug. 2005. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp43.pdf

13) Soto, A. M.; Sonnenschein, C. (2010). "Environmental causes of cancer: endocrine disruptors as carcinogens". Nature Reviews Endocrinology 6 (7): 363–70. doi:10.1038/nrendo.2010.87. PMID 204986777.

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