Is there local data about possible causes of mortality? If so that might be a good thing to add.
As for cancer mortality, the distribution closely matches that of smoking prevalence by state, more so than the distribution for heart disease, again not a surprise [2].
What I find the most interesting, though, are the lone states that don't seem to be a part of any cluster and have a high prevalence of, like high respiratory mortality (and influenza/pneumonia) in Wyoming, or Alzheimer's in Washington and North Dakota, or high drug mortality in Arizona (and not in any of the other border states).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaintop_removal_mining
"According to 21 scientific studies there has been major effects on the population in the Appalachia where MTM takes place including over 50% higher cancer rates, 42% higher birth defect rates, and $75 billion a year in public health costs from pollution."
The high rates in the states around Mississippi are because of the high fraction of African Americans, who experience higher (double) rates of CVD compared to whites, a fact not inconsistent with the vitamin D hypothesis.
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2152422...
or Google's project Calico in general?:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/03/tech/innovation/google-calico-...
Hopefully I'll find more data sets that I can plug in.
However, there hasn't really been a link shown between cancer and heart disease, like hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart failure, etc, -- i.e. the two diseases haven't been shown to correlate pathophysiologically. But there is data showing a correlation between chemotherapy and heart disease, which could certainly contribute to the similarity in distributions in mortality between heart disease and cancer. For instance, doxorubicin is a chemotherapeutic agent infamously known for causing dilated cardiomyopathy.
It goes without saying that correlation != causation and I do not mean this as a political statement, rather a quantification of this curious resemblance.
The Alzheimer's chart was unusual, all things being equal, I'd have expected the statistic to be flatter.
Suicide, Alcohol and Parkinson's have a strange sort of correlation.
how come whenever I see these kinds of things, it's always for the U.S.? Is the data simply not available in other countries/areas? I've almost never seen similar visualization experiments for say...France. Is the U.S. just that* much better in collecting and distributing data about itself?
One that I found interesting is that Washington and Florida have among the lowest rates for the flu, on complete opposite corners of the map and with what most would say are very different climates.
I was also surprised that the flu kills more per 100,000 than alcohol, firearms, or vehicles. It doesn't seem to get the press that those others do.
Update: Fixed.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=longevity-w...
We've made significant progress against most causes of death, at all ages, since I was born.
* Has the lowest influenza/pneumonia rate (7.9)
* Has the lowest nephritis rate (6.7)
* Is in the "really low" rate color for HIV and homicides*
* But has the highest Parkinson's rate (9.6)
What's a contributing factor for Parkinson's?
* Edit: That appears to be the "no data" color actually. I just assumed it was very low because VT has few homicides (1.4 / 100k residents average rate for the past 3 years, or about 10 homicides annually)
I know several folks who live in Kentucky. Doesn't look like the state does too well. Florida, on the other hand, seems to hold up well across the board. Obesity kills in the deep south and especially the central Gulf states big time, and there's a string of alcoholism than runs along the Rocky Mountains.
I don't find the Connecticut/Hawaii good numbers too strange, as both have very high incomes and cost of living.
I originally had included DC but it's a major outlier since it's almost entirely urban. It's also not a state and doesn't visualize well because of its size, so it's not in the csv I used.
Yeah, this is also consistent with northern Europe and its higher suicide rates in cold, long, and dark winters. There's definitely a correlation between sun exposure and suicide, while it's not the only factor.
"Put another way, the very traits associated with the West (and romanticized in American culture)—individualism and independence, stoicism and solitude—may also have deeply negative implications for its people."
http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/newsroom-content/...
"They also guessed that the West's low population density might play a role in its high suicide rates, but the findings did not bear that out."
For others who don't read the article, residential instability is their suggestion leading to lessened social integration.
- disease: Flu and smallpox epidemics wiped out more than half the population in many villages. This was a traumatic event, that left many young people disconnected from their families and cultural groups.
- cultural suppression: Initial contact with Native groups often involved missionaries. While a few missionaries added to an existing culture without taking anything away, most missionary groups came in and told the Native population that their ways were of the devil, and they needed to drop what they were doing and take on Christian traditions. These efforts contributed to severe disconnects between generations.
- introduction of alcohol and other drugs: Combined with all of the other issues that led to young people feeling isolated, alone, and depressed, alcohol and other drugs have had devastating effects on villages, and on urban areas as well.
These are complex issues, and not issues that everyone feels comfortable talking about. They are issues I had no idea existed before I moved to Alaska. That's a really brief overview, but I'm happy to expand on any of those if anyone has any questions.
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/19/174761612/a-turning-point-for-...
Most of the intermountain west is very arid, so rather than "farming" as that is usually understood, the occupation tends to be ranching (keeping cattle).
About the leading causes of death, they tend to correlate strongly with poverty, and it's not surprising to find high rates in poorer rather than richer states.
Perhaps religious/cultural attitudes play a part? That wouldn't account for Utah though.
This suggests that farmers are concentrated in a central strip: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/0...
The map top right here indicates correlation with population density, as you suggested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_populati...
And the first map on this US history page suggests those areas were late to the state party. Would that have had a strong impact? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1...
It looks like New Yorkers look both way when they cross the street.
For example, studies tell us that sitting more than three hours per day correlates with a reduced life expectancy: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/07/09/study-excessi... but that doesn't tell you that if you take someone who is sitting that much and make them stop it'll make any difference at all.
But yes I see your point. A lot of pop science "doing X will help you live longer" strikes me as complete bullshit.
It looks like a problem in the western part of the state, but I don't see any suggestion of why that is.
*Correction: Meant county instead of country.
I would also be interested in county data, if only because upstate New York and New York City are essentially two completely different places :P
California, Arizona, Hawaii, Florida are among the best states for longevity. The mortality rates in Hawaii for example are the lowest, and California is #2. The numbers for Texas and New Mexico, while elevated, are still dramatically lower than the high mortality belt numbers.
Also, one of the biggest offenders is West Virginia, and having spent a lot of time there, it's not a particularly warm state about half the year (certainly not compared to Mississippi).
Well, its the second best overall, but "almost every single category"? 1. Heart, it is on the low side but near the middle of the pack;
2. Cancer, it is one of the best;
3. Respiratory, it is on the low side but not very low;
4. Stroke it is near the middle of the pack;
5. Accident it is fairly low;
6. Alzheimer's its is significantly worse than average;
7. Diabetes it is near the middle of the pack;
8. Nephritis it is quite low;
9. Influenza it is a bit worse than average, but near the middle;
10. Drug it is slightly better than average;
11. Suicide it is a little better than average;
12. Motor vehicle it is quite low but far from the best;
13. Firearms it is quite low but far from the best;
14. Alcohol it is notably worse than average;
15. Parkinson's it is a little better than average;
16. Homicide it is a hair better than average;
17. HIV it is better than average but far from the best.
No, I don't think that counts as "suspiciously low in almost every single category".
Here's a table showing age distribution by state. This doesn't explain everything, but WV does have the highest percentage (16%) of 65-and-overs. That might explain their poor showing, but LA and MS are unremarkable there: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0016.p...
