How red-state politics are shaving years off American lives [Ohio focus]

[irisblue]

Gift article from the WaPo. https://wapo.st/48Q05Oy


snips'Ashtabula’s problems stand out compared with two nearby counties — Erie, Pa., and Chautauqua, N.Y. All three communities, which ring picturesque Lake Erie and are a short drive from each other, have struggled economically in recent decades as industrial jobs withered — conditions that contribute toward rising midlife mortality, research shows. None is a success story when it comes to health. But Ashtabula residents are much more likely to die young, especially from smoking, diabetes-related complications or motor vehicle accidents, than people living in its sister counties in Pennsylvania and New York, states that have adopted more stringent public health measures..."

snips-"Ohio sticks out — for all the wrong reasons. Roughly 1 in 5 Ohioans will die before they turn 65, according to Montez’s analysis using the state’s 2019 death rates. The state, whose legislature has been increasingly dominated by Republicans, has plummeted nationally when it comes to life expectancy rates, moving from middle of the pack to the bottom fifth of states during the last 50 years, The Post found. Ohioans have a similar life expectancy to residents of Slovakia and Ecuador, relatively poor countries...

Thirty years ago, Ohio’s health outcomes were on par with California’s, with nearly identical death rates for adults in the prime of life — ranking in the middle among the 50 states. But the two states’ outcomes have diverged, along with their political leanings, said Ellen Meara, a health economics and policy professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She has studied why death rates fell in California, home to some of the nation’s most progressive politics, while they scarcely budged in increasingly conservative Ohio. By 2017, California had the nation’s second-lowest mortality rates, falling behind only Minnesota; Ohio ranked 41st, according to The Post analysis."

[AllBlue]

1. I grew up in Northern Ohio

And unfortunately, this is true. Amazing medical care is available
to some in the Cleveland clinic system, but many, many of my friends
and relatives are dead and buried; various reasons. I am 65 and now
live in Oregon, as place I am unlikely to leave for long. I had a strong
feeling when I was a teenager that moving west was the answer to a
good life, and while it's expensive here, it can be more costly beyond
simple dollars and cents to live in many other places, imo. (Red states,
mostly)

[appalachiablue]

2. K/R Few regulations on toxic ingredients, no preventive health policies. Killing Americans

Last edited Wed Oct 4, 2023, 08:19 PM - Edit history (1)

slowly while profiting from unhealthy consumer products and medical care costs.

Impt. info and excerpts, well done. Thanks for posting! K/R
-------
ETA, There are more factors than lifestyle choices of smoking, excessive drinking and not wearing seatbelts.

In the US there are thousands of consumer products loaded with toxins and dangerous industrial chemicals that are unregulated and which contribute to chronic disease.

- PFAS, stain and water resistant chemicals are used in household products from cookware to raincoats, childrens' clothing, carpeting and packaging such as stryofoam food containers, fast food wrappers, pizza boxes, beverage cups and more.

- Plastic pollution of the planet in water systems, humans, the ocean and clouds.
Microplastics Are In The Air, Drinking Water, Dust, Food: How To Reduce Your Exposure
https://www.democraticunderground.com/114231473

- Many of Today's Processed Foods Engineered By Big Tobacco: Addictive Strategies, Fat, Salt, Sugar, Wash Post, 9.23
https://www.democraticunderground.com/114232161

[Diamond_Dog]

3. This article makes this Ohioan very sad.

We have a beautiful state but it’s being ruined by Republicans and way too many people who fall for their propaganda. Anti-science, anti community health, God forbid we raise taxes to pay for anything that’s for the common good. I have a right to eat whatever I want and smoke myself to death. No young whippersnapper doctor is gonna tell ME what to do. No government is gonna force me to wear a seatbelt or get a vaccine or force me to store my gun properly. This is the pervasive attitude and it makes me want to scream sometimes.

[raising2moredems]

4. Take solace..

this mentality cannot breed fast enough (nor be healthy enough truth be told - anti-vaxxers) to sustain itself for the long term. Nor the short term in some areas. As the comedian Ron White says, you can't fix stupid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_the_Matter_with_Kansas%3F_(book) is another good example.