Palliative care can cut costs and improve quality of life

By Ira Zunin

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 24, 2011

~~<p>The World Health Organization <a span="" style="color: #0000FF;" target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/oQAoY0">recently announced</a> that chronic diseases — including heart problems, stroke, cancer, persistent respiratory conditions and diabetes — have now become the world’s leading cause of mortality, representing 63 percent of all deaths. Fully a quarter of these people are less than 60 years old, and 90 percent of early deaths are in the low- to middle-income population.</p>
<p>This represents a marked departure from previous data in which infectious diseases were most devastating. Unlike infectious diseases, however, chronic illnesses start early, progress slowly and last a long time. This translates not only into a substantial loss of productivity, but also the need for a staggering amount of health care resources. Most gripping is the fact that the lion’s share of human suffering can be prevented by a healthy lifestyle. Yet, for too many, the damage has been done.</p>
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The World Health Organization recently announced that chronic diseases — including heart problems, stroke, cancer, persistent respiratory conditions and diabetes — have now become the world’s leading cause of mortality, representing 63 percent of all deaths. Fully a quarter of these people are less than 60 years old, and 90 percent of early deaths are in the low- to middle-income population.

This represents a marked departure from previous data in which infectious diseases were most devastating. Unlike infectious diseases, however, chronic illnesses start early, progress slowly and last a long time. This translates not only into a substantial loss of productivity, but also the need for a staggering amount of health care resources. Most gripping is the fact that the lion’s share of human suffering can be prevented by a healthy lifestyle. Yet, for too many, the damage has been done. Login for more...