Requesting research help in finding health-related statistics

[Sarah Rainsong]

I would really like to find some health statistics from recent years, specifically to compare to what's going on with covid (But discussing covid is not the point of this thread! There's plenty of threads on that :bigsmile: )

Specifically, I'd like to find the number of strokes and heart attacks here in the US over the last few years through at least the last month. It's this last part that I can't seem to get. The latest numbers on strokes and heart attacks I can find seem to end with 2017!

I would expect to at least find information through 2019. But am I asking too much? Is this the kind of thing that doesn't get reported or compiled until well after it occurs, so I'd have to wait until a year or two from now?

I even tried checking out statistics from my home state. I thought I had seen something with regards to that before, but when I went back to the page I'd bookmarked, it seems that I "don't have access" to that page anymore.

Does anyone have any search suggestions or anything that might help me?

[Bill Ryan]

This might be what you're looking for?? (At least partly! But I've not checked out the important 'last month' bit)


https://nihlibrary.nih.gov/resources/subject-guides/web-search-thinking-beyond-google/health-statistics

[Sarah Rainsong]

Thanks, Bill, unfortunately I'm still unable to find anything in that more current than 2017, but I will keep looking :sherlock:

[Bill Ryan]

Okay, here's another offer: :)


https://cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/index.htm

...of which the link below is a subsection:
(The Covid-19 data seems to be up to date, whether accurate or not. But again, I've not checked this out in any detail at all.)


https://cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm

[Sarah Rainsong]

Thank you again, Bill. The data on those links is great, but still nothing on recent data, which is important to understand how it possibly relates to covid. I do appreciate the help, though!

I think I might try a different, more back-door approach than simply looking up statistics. Perhaps if I can find news articles I can find references in them and follow up sources that way.

I'll let you know how that goes.

[shaberon]

I would expect to at least find information through 2019. But am I asking too much? Is this the kind of thing that doesn't get reported or compiled until well after it occurs, so I'd have to wait until a year or two from now?



Yes, I think that's it. Slow. I have tried looking for similar things and don't have a better way to do it.

What mystifies me is even with old data, it is hard to get tangible information about, say, x heart attacks in state y. Everything is a bit dressed up and weird and seems to look at trends and statistics and graph-making instead of the basics.

[Agape]

https://www.heart.org/-/media/files/about-us/statistics/2020-heart-disease-and-stroke-ucm_505473.pdf?la=en

I am afraid you are right there, the data from the recent year or two won’t be available till the next year though 2019 statistics may appear at the later part of 2020.

The thing is the system collects data from all kinds of medical institutions depending who runs them including military institutions etc. and they’re reported through insurance companies at the end of the process.
That means there are sometimes long delays in reporting deaths and their causes.

So most statistics require human reassessment and supervision before they’re published and it’s done through team studies tied to certain universities and departments watching for errors. Studies results get released before the end of the year or beginning of the next one depending on particulars of university curriculums.

The same people are often best aware of how many cases “do not get in”, sometimes for imperfections in the digital systems.

It isn’t “quite like” the Covid 19 reporting situation, even if done chaotically it runs like independent operation in a new digital circuit.


But I can imagine that in couple of years most of the digital data collecting systems will be synchronized far better and we may be able to find precise statistics of events as they happened per day and month, in real time with some minute number of errors.

So far all the numbers on worldometers and other global statistics pages are approximates. They will be so long to go yet ..since not all who are ill report themselves to doctors.

And sadly enough : due to this global pandemics situation many other medical situations may get neglected or delayed inevitably.
So early to say but the consequences of long lasting stress and physical negligence of non-Covid patients may take us to increase of emergencies in next couple of years affecting those with cardiovascular diseases, other chronic conditions, depression and so forth, especially for being restricted from movement for number of months now.
Obesity in itself seems to affect staggering 757 million people worldwide, that’s roughly a billion if the counts were up to date.
In case of global calamity : one billion people are in risk of not being able to help themselves but depending on others help one way or another.

https://www.worldometers.info/obesity/


It’s a condition that we can change, actually.


Hope it helps

🌟

[Sarah Rainsong]

Thank you all, Bill, Shaberon, Agape :sun: I suppose that it is another of those things that time will tell, and until then, we must be patient and do the best we can. I will continue to look into information as I can, and will update if I do happen to find something.

[silvanelf]

I would really like to find some health statistics from recent years, specifically to compare to what's going on with covid (But discussing covid is not the point of this thread! There's plenty of threads on that :bigsmile: )

Specifically, I'd like to find the number of strokes and heart attacks here in the US over the last few years through at least the last month. It's this last part that I can't seem to get. The latest numbers on strokes and heart attacks I can find seem to end with 2017!


Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2020 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association (https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000757)


The American Heart Association, through its Statistics Committee, continuously monitors and evaluates sources of data on heart disease and stroke in the United States to provide the most current information available in the annual Statistical Update.


Look at the PDF/EPUB link and the navigation links in the left column.

I tried to get the tables at

2. Cardiovascular Health
See Tables 2-1 and 2-2 and Charts 2-1 through 2-15

but my access was blocked:


IP Address ***.***.***.*** Blocked

Your IP address has been blocked automatically due to excessive site usage. For assistance in removing the IP block, please contact us for help.

[silvanelf]

Unfortunately, I can't find the study mentioned in the summary:


Cardiovascular diseases and cancer significantly increased the risk of death for patients who contracted COVID-19, a new study found.

The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, examined the link between certain preexisting conditions and COVID-19 mortality. Researchers searched several databases, including Medline and Ovid, for studies published between Dec. 1, 2019, and May 1. They included 19 studies in the meta-analysis. The 19 studies involved 61,455 patients with COVID-19.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/cardiology/covid-19-death-risk-doubles-for-patients-with-cardiovascular-disease-cancer.html

Just another article:


The Oregon Health Authority reported 61 new cases of the coronavirus and two deaths, bringing the total known death toll to 101. Of almost 55,000 people tested, 2,446 results were positive.

All those who died in the state from the coronavirus had underlying health conditions, said health authority spokesman Jonathan Modie. Almost 60% had cardiovascular disease, according to a table published by the Oregon Health Authority late Tuesday. The data, based on case interviews and medical records of 73 people who died, marked the first time the agency specified what the underlying conditions have been.

https://apnews.com/fab1dd82102ab45bd42f72893205f1d1

[AutumnW]

Sarah, I am sorry to pollute your thread with politics. All those of a conspiratorial bent about this virus should be paying attention to coincidental funding cuts and layoffs just prior to the outbreak. Here is one of the reasons you are not going to find much info.

Mar 26, 2020


Reuters: Exclusive:

U.S. slashed CDC staff inside China prior to coronavirus outbreak
“The Trump administration cut staff by more than two-thirds at a key U.S. public health agency operating inside China, as part of a larger rollback of U.S.-funded health and science experts on the ground there, leading up to the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters has learned.

Most of the reductions were made at the Beijing office of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and occurred over the past two years, according to public CDC documents viewed by Reuters and interviews with four people familiar with the drawdown. … The CDC’s China headcount has shrunk to around 14 staffers, down from approximately 47 people since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the documents show. The four people, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the losses included epidemiologists and other health professionals…” (Taylor, 3/25).

https://www.kff.org/news-summary/reuters-examines-changes-to-cdc-nsc-epidemiology-pandemic-response-staff-under-trump-administration/

It's no coincidence you are not finding much in the way of stats. The WHO isn't trusted. The current government has laid off CDC epidemiologists across the board, and seems particularly focussed on China. Chinese stats are not reliable. So...we are in a bit of a vacuum of information here.

Peak Prosperity's Chris Martenson is a pathologist who has a strong statistics background. If you go onto that forum, members may be able to help you and C.Martenson, himself will, if he has the time and energy.

[Bill Ryan]

Peak Prosperity's Chris Martenson is a pathologist who has a strong statistics background. If you go onto that forum, members may be able to help you and C.Martenson, himself will, if he has the time and energy.Yes, I was going to suggest the same. :thumbsup: In some of his videos the last 2-3 weeks, Martenson has presented some graphs that certainly seem to be (a) well-sourced and (b) up to date. It's possible that some of those source links are in the YT show notes, which he usually takes care to post in some detail.

[AutumnW]

Thanks for the thumbs up, Bill. I really like his open minded take on this issue and the fact that he can read reports and find the flaws in those reports. He's really even handed. I note that a recurring theme on his videos lately is...if this is naturally occurring, where is the scientific data that proves it? So, he doesn't want to go too far out on that limb, but having been on that forum since its inception, I sense he is highly suspicious.:thumbsup:

[Bill Ryan]

Try these, maybe:


http://rt.live
https://covidtracking.com

I've not looked to check, but there may be links there to other real-time sites of interest.

[Sarah Rainsong]

Try these, maybe:


http://rt.live
https://covidtracking.com

I've not looked to check, but there may be links there to other real-time sites of interest.

Thanks, I don't see the data I'm looking for, but I'll look in more detail for some possible links. :thumbsup: