Heart disease is the most preventable disease. Of course, everyone has to die from something, and if one avoids heart failure, most likely cause of death will be cancer. However avoiding heart disease will yield several extra years of life.
We want news about other people’s behaviors killing us. We don’t want to hear about how we’re killing ourselves.
Surprise, surprise, surprise …
"News" are events that excite interest.
You doing yard work, not news. Several young people getting together and going to an elderly or handicapped person's house and doing their yard work so the city does not fine the old people several thousand dollars for having a unkempt yard, news.
Bill having a heart attack and dying, not news.
Bill having a heart attack and dying while trying to ride a zebra, news.
Bill being shot dead because some little punk wanted the 37 cents in his pocket, big news.
I’m surprised Covid didn’t get a bigger share.
One cause of death not mentioned at all is medical error.
Rumor has it, it’s actually the second leading cause of death in the US.
This is actually a great subject I don’t think I have ever seen before.
Where is the column for war? Don’t people still die from that? /s
Articles in the news about “Harry” or “Betty” dying at 96 from heart failure isn’t really news. At least it’s not if they were “regular” people.
But studies like this should be kept in mind because people think the news represents all actions and all feelings. Based on the news you would think the world is coming to an end. A quick trip to the local soccer field on Sunday afternoon would show that it is not.
“News” used to be defined not as “Dog bites man”, but rather “Man bites dog.” It is something out of the ordinary. Someone dying of cancer is not “out of the ordinary.”
How would the graph change if it were based on expected remaining years of life lost?