Death, leading causes

Anderson, R. N., Smith, B. L. (2003). Deaths Leading causes for 2001. National Vital Statistics Report, 52 9), 1-86. 

Nowadays the one of the leading cause of death in industrial country is Heart Failure (HF). Under the pathological conditions (e.g., Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD)) the changes in the enzymes activity and ultrastructure of tissue were obtained. The behavior of trace elements may reflect the activity of different types of enzymes. Pathological changes affects only small area of tissue, hence the amount of samples is strictly limited. Thereby, nondestructive multielemental method SRXRF allow to perfonu the analysis of mass samples in a few milligrams, to save the samples, to investigate the elemental distribution on the sample area. 

Thiamine, whose structure is shown in Figure 18.17, is known as vitamin Bj and is essential for the prevention of beriberi, a nervous system disease that has occurred in the Far East for centuries and has resulted in considerable sickness and death in these countries. (As recently as 1958, it was the fourth leading cause of death in the Philippine Islands.) It was shown in 1882 by the director-general of the medical department of the Japanese nayt that beriberi could be prevented by dietary modifications. Ten years later, Christiaan Eijkman, a Dutch medical scientist working in Java, began research that eventually showed that thiamine was the... 

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects over 5% of the adult population, is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide and is the only major cause of mortality that is increasing worldwide. It is an inflammatory disorder of the lungs, caused mainly, but not exclusively, by cigarette smoking. 15-20% of smokers develop COPD. 

It has been proposed that the development of the complications of diabetes mellitus may be linked to oxidative stress and therefore might be attenuated by antioxidants such as vitamin E. Furthermore, it is discussed that glucose-induced vascular dysfunction in diabetes can be reduced by vitamin E treatment due to the inactivation of PKC. Cardiovascular complications are among the leading causes of death in diabetics. In addition, a postulated protective effect of vitamin E (antioxidants) on fasting plasma glucose in type 2 diabetic patients is also mentioned but could not be confirmed in a recently published triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial [3]. To our knowledge, up to now no clinical intervention trials have tested directly whether vitamin E can ameliorate the complication of diabetes. 

Tuberculosis is a major health problem throughout the world, infecting more than 8 million individuals each year. It is die world s leading cause of death from infectious disease Individuals living in crowded conditions, those widi compromised immune systems, and individuals widi debilitative conditions are especially susceptible to tuberculosis. 

In a previous section we mentioned the significance of myosin filament structure. In nematodes two forms of myosin-II, myosin A and B, are required for proper filament stmcture (Epstein, 1988). The two forms of myosin are expressed at the proper time to allow for correct filament assembly. An accessory protein called paramyosin is also required for correct filament assembly. In vertebrate cardiac muscle, there are also two isoforms of myosin-II a-myosin and p-myosin. The proper ratio of these two proteins is of utmost importance for proper muscle activity. The incorrect synthesis of a- and P-myosins results in a severe cardiac disorder known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Genetic transmission of the disease occurs in about 55% of families. The inherited condition is called familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC), and this condition is a leading cause of sudden death in young athletes. 

Stroke is the leading cause of major long-term disability in adults and the third leading cause of death in the United States. On average, a new stroke occurs every 45 seconds. Thrombolytic therapy with intravenous recombinant tissue-plasminogen activator (IV rt-PA) is the most effective treatment for acute ischemic stroke. In this chapter, we review the rationale for thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke, clinical evidence supporting the use of thrombolytics, and the application of thrombolysis in practice. 

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. There are a number of established risk factors including serum cholesterol levels, smoking and family history, which are responsible for between 50 and 75% of the CVD cases, with the remainder due to factors that cause atherosclerosis. Estrogen treatment such as hormone replacement therapy is known to protect against CVD by decreasing the levels of low-density... 

Ischemic heart disease affects over 13 million Americans and is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States.2 The incidence of IHD is higher in middle-aged men compared to women. However, the rate of IHD increases... 

COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States in 2000,119,000 adults died from the disease.3 In 2002, COPD was estimated to cost the United States 32.1 billion, with direct medical costs accounting for 18 billion of the total.3 Morbidity, mortality, and costs are all expected to increase over the next decade. 

Cirrhosis is the result of long-term insult to the liver, so damage is typically not evident clinically until the fourth decade of life. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis combined were the 12th leading cause of death in the United States in 2002. In patients between the ages of 25 and 64, damage from excessive alcohol use accounted for over one-half of the deaths.2 Alcoholic liver disease and viral hepatitis are the most common causes of cirrhosis in the United States and worldwide. 

CHD is the leading cause of death among women in the United States. Retrospective data indicated that HRT was associated with a decrease in risk of CHD by 30% to 50%.21 However, the results of recent RCTs demonstrate that HRT does not prevent or treat CHD in women and that it actually may cause an increase in CHD events. The HERS, published in 1998, was the first RCT conducted in women with established CHD. This trial demonstrated an increased incidence of CHD events within the first year of treatment with HRT and an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and gallbladder disease. There was a trend of decreasing incidence... 

Cardiovascular disease has been identified as one of the leading causes of death in organ transplant recipients.55 Posttransplant hypertension (HTN) is associated with an increase in cardiac morbidity and patient mortality in all transplant patients and is also an independent risk factor for chronic allograft dysfunction and loss.56 Based on all the available posttransplant morbidity and mortality data, it is imperative that posttransplant HTN be identified and managed appropriately. 

Sepsis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for critically ill patients, and the tenth leading cause of death overall.1,4 Sepsis causes 660,000 to 750,000 cases annually, a four-fold increase from 1979.1,4,5 Care of septic patients costs 17 billion in the United States annually ( 22,000 to 50,000 per patient).4,6... 

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, and cancers of the lung and bronchus rank first in mortality,... 

Though still the second leading cause of cancer death, mortality rates for colon cancer have declined over the last 30 years as a result of better and increasingly used screening programs and more effective and better tolerated treatments. 

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