How Many US Deaths Are Caused by Poverty and Other Social Factors? About the Same as Deaths from Heart Attacks and Stroke, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (June 18, 2011) — How researchers classify and quantify causes of death across a population has evolved in recent decades. In addition to long-recognized physiological causes such as heart attack and cancer, the role of behavioral factors -- including smoking, dietary patterns and inactivity -- began to be quantified in the 1990s. More recent research has begun to look at the contribution of social factors to U.S. mortality. In the first comprehensive analysis of such studies, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that poverty, low levels of education, poor social support and other social factors contribute about as many deaths in the U.S. as such familiar causes as heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer.

To read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110616193627.htm