Posted on 05/16/2006 6:45:28 AM PDT by A. Pole
MEDICAL researchers recently set heads to shaking on both sides of the Atlantic with a study showing that white, middle-aged English people are much healthier than white, middle-aged Americans. The English have less cancer, less high blood pressure, less heart disease and stroke, and less diabetes. To make sure that the difference was not just the result of stiff-upper-lip Brits keeping quiet about what ails them, the researchers also examined biological data, which confirmed the disparity.
The results are so striking because there is no ready explanation for them. Yes, the English have a national health insurance system and we don't, but the gap is just as great between wealthy Englanders and their wealthy US counterparts, nearly all of whom have insurance coverage. In both countries, health relates directly to wealth, but the richest third of Americans have as much heart disease and diabetes as the poorest third of the English. The study focused on persons aged 55 to 64 and included only non-Hispanic whites, to keep health problems related to race or ethnicity from skewing the findings.
[...]
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has prompted considerable speculation about the roots of American bad health. One theory is that it reflects the fact that Americans on average have fewer vacation days than the English, contributing to an unhealthy level of stress on this side of the Atlantic. The average American gets 12 days of vacation a year; the average British person gets 23.
[...]
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
'Must be that healthy English diet.'
Yeah - us Brits eat our 'organ meat' whole, Americans insist it is mixed with lips, ears and a*seholes before being minced and made into burgers and hotdogs! :)
Exercising 11 days a year will not keep you from getting fat: exercising all year does. Brushing your teeth 11 days a year does not prevent cavities. Eating healthy 11 days doesn't prevent plaque build up in your arteries nor hold off conditions like Type 2 diabetes....etc, etc.
If you can find any empirical evidence to the contrary, I'd love to see it.
Even if you have private insurance in the UK, your health care is affected by the NHS. You get a better standard of care (if only measured in a private room versus a crowded co-ed public ward), but availability of doctors and equipment is still impacted by the system. So is the general state of innovation and progress. Cancer survival rates in the UK, for one example, are at the low end for an industrialized nation.
'If the results of this study are valid, I agree it's very possible that work stress is a major factor in explaining the difference in wellness.'
If that is true, Americans should start taking more holidays. Brits get to spend twice as much time with their families and children - the family is a good thing which should not come second to your work.
'Even if you have private insurance in the UK, your health care is affected by the NHS. You get a better standard of care (if only measured in a private room versus a crowded co-ed public ward), but availability of doctors and equipment is still impacted by the system.'
Not so. When I use my private healthcare, I go to a private hospital with private doctors and nurses - it's nowhere near an NHS hospital.
"Another theory: the study is bogus. I have some experience of the NHS. I'm betting there are more sick Americans because Americans survive getting sick, sometimes for years and years."
If that was the case US life expectancy would be higher than the UK’s. It isn’t.
There a lot of burying heads in sand going on in this thread. Hey, I’m no paragon of the healthy lifestyle but at least I admit it.
Europe sucks.End of story.
There are 100% private hospitals and doctors, but there are also private sections of NHS hospitals, and most medical workers divide their time between public and private commitments. They overlap and effect each other.
It's the kippers.
MEDICAL researchers recently set heads to shaking on both sides of the Atlantic with a study showing that white, middle-aged English people are much healthier than white, middle-aged Americans.
But who has more fun?
Nothing beats fun for having a good time!
Oh, it does. It makes a big difference in stress for me and most of people whom I ask if you have two or four weeks of vacation. I noticed that those who answer otherwise, display some neurotic oppressive symptoms.
With four weeks you can have a real break.
Not necessarily. Our statistics are skewed by several factors. We try harder than most nations to save extremely premature babies, for one thing (death of an infant seriously impacts the averages, for mathematically obvious reasons).
Having spent time in both places, I simply do not believe this study.
Do they get less or more cancer? If they get less their cases might be harder to cure.
The easiest way to check out the vacation hypothesis would be to look at Americans who get a lot of vacation and compare them to similar British workers. Perhaps a study comparing government workers on both sides of the pond would be in order.
Your statement will make some corporate types angry. Americans do not need to have children or family as it is cheaper to import next generation of workers from the Third World countries - basic Economics 101.
I think that a part of it is because the Brits don't have to use Big Pharma dispensers the way US doctors are.
They have some choice to look for really knowledgeable
homeopathistics etc.
They are not as trained to "side effects" producing pills and "cut, poison and burn" technology taught to our MDs.
We went to Devon to find an homeopathist with enough moxy to rid spouse of a tropical lung bug that Georgetown U. Hospital assured us would be there until he died because they didn't have a pill for it.
It is easier to have fun on vacation.
LOL! Touche'!
There is another theory that MADD and the other guardians of the nanny state don't want you to know -- alcohol consumption. The Brits as a whole drink more, and alcohol in moderate amounts is good for the heart and probably helps to reduce stress.
Also, while I would like to know the "biological data" that the researchers examined, in my observations, American Bluebloods of British stock seem to live a lot longer than Americans of other ethnicities.
I think you got that backwards. Practically all of the Hamburgers in the US are 100% beef, at least 75% of the hotdogs are. Order a hamburger in the UK and you can get pork, soy, egg, bread crumbs, flour, and other assorted crapola. Unless it's specified as a "Beef Burger" get ready for a foul tasting suprise. China has better hamburgers than the UK, I know from extensive experience. ;).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.