Maggie's Farm

The Japanese have the highest rate of cancer deaths. One could conclude that maybe rice causes cancer. But Japanese are not noted for being overweight. Hmmmmm! But the truth is much more informative and understandable; Japan has a high population of older people and older people have higher rates of cancer. This skews their statistics.

There is something similar that holds true for the entire "1st" world. Generally we live longer so we don't die in our 20's 30's and 40's from diseases we can prevent or cure. We live into our 70's 80's and even 90's and die of diseases of old age. Diseases like; heart disease, cancer, stroke, etc. This skews our statistics. It also opens up an avenue for those who have a health related agenda to use these skewed stats for their own purposes. How often do you hear that Americans have more heart attacks than most other vountries? Never mind that the reason is we live longer than the citizens of most other countries. Similar pronouncements are made about Cancer rates in the U.S. There seems to be no controls over how much misinformation can be generated and disseminated with very little fact checking.

I don't have a citation, like so many thing I read I don't keep track of the source. One of the problems you will find when looking at Japanese medical/health stats is their culture. In their culture doctors don't tell patients that they have cancer because it is considered impolite to cause them so much worry. They prefer to let them die in peace/bliss. But because of this cultural tradition impinging on medical care much of the statistical data about Japanese health has been inaccurate.

Japanese do live "slightly" longer than most other first world citizens. I suspect that has more to do with their reverence for old people and their cultural tendency to keep their parents in their household when they can no longer care for themselves.

Could this be because of diet? Who knows, but probably not. That is exactly what I meant by my statement "It also opens up an avenue for those who have a health related agenda to use these skewed stats for their own purposes." Where individuals with a bias do data dredges for any statistical fact that seems to or can be twisted to support their biases. Interestingly Americans of Northern European descent have about the same longevity as Japanese living in Japan. Since no one would likely claim that Americans of any descent eat a "good" diet this fact isn't useful to those with a bias so it doesn't get cited as proof of anything.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Japanese diet and had lunch just today at a new Japanese restaurant in town and expect to eat there often. But I won't be giving up McDonalds anytime soon.

Yes you can pretty much put your head in the sand whenever you are faced with something you don't agree with and claim it is all just opinion. If that's what you need to do so that you don't feel challenged then have at it.

The thing about these end of life diseases is we all die and something kills us. If you live in the modern Western world you typically die of old age which means the big three; Heart disease, cancer and stroke. Some countries choose to not list cause of death as "cancer" just as most movie stars that die don't like to list a cause of death that implies/confirms they died from their dispicable habits/life style. So countries like Japan simply list "died of old age" So the data gets skewed.

Well you know... Your schtick on MF is a bomb thrower so it's hard to take you seriously. If you doubt something do the work and research it and draw your own conclusions. I'm not going to be your librarian