Question

According to the 1980 Census, the United States population was approximately 226,540,000 in 1980, and according to US Census Bureau estimates, approximately 317,300,000 at the beginning of 2014. Using Census data for 1980 and estimates derived from mortality data and census estimates for 2014, we arrive at the population estimates given in the table below:

Year	Total Population	Ages 15–24	Ages 25–44	Ages 45–64
1980	226,540,000	42,475,000	62,707,000	44,497,000
2014	317,300,000	43,956,000	84,410,000	83,747,000

The National Center for Health Statistics published a document entitled “Health, United States, 2015: With Special Feature on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities” that includes a table listing the leading causes of death in both 1980 and 2014 for various categories of Americans. Under the Project Instructions link in Blackboard, you’ll find Discussion Board Forum 2: Data; this is a spreadsheet showing the leading causes of death in both 1980 and 2014 for these 3 age categories. Each of the first 3 questions has both a computational part and a discussion part. To get full credit for each of the discussion parts please support the reason you provide by citing a reference. This should not be an excessively difficult task: you can easily find information online for most of the illnesses or other causes listed in the report. All you need to do is provide the website you used (though other resources are also permitted if you prefer to use one of those).

1)Assuming that the population numbers in the above table are relatively accurate, use the Discussion Board Forum 2: Data spreadsheet to compute the deaths per 1000 people for each age group in both 1980 and 2014. Give these 6 values (e.g. deaths per 1000 people for ages 15–24 in 1980) and then cite a reference to discuss what might account for the changes between the death rates in 1 of these 3 age categories between 1980 and 2014.

2)Besides the changes in the overall death rate in the past 3 decades, the leading causes of death vary somewhat between 1980 and 2014. Choose 1 of the 3 age ranges and select 1 cause of death from the Discussion Board Forum 2: Data spreadsheet that strikes you as noteworthy and that appears in both the 1980 and 2014 lists. For the cause of death that you selected, compute the number of deaths per 1000 in both 1980 and 2014 for your chosen age group and cite a reference to discuss the possible reasons for any changes in the rates over this period.

3)Not only do the leading causes of death vary across time, they vary significantly for different age ranges. Looking only at the 2014 data, choose a cause of death that appears in both the 25–44 and 45–64 age categories and compute the number of deaths per 1000 people for both age categories. Cite a reference to discuss a possible reason for any differences in these values as people advance in age.

4)Contemplating causes of death might strike some people as unpleasant or even morbid. However, the Bible encourages us to give some thought to the fact of our own mortality. Ecclesiastes 7:2–4 says: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” It is interesting to consider why the author of Ecclesiastes encourages the wise to go to the house of mourning and the living to lay the end of all mankind to heart. What value might there be in thinking about the, admittedly uncomfortable, subject of the end of all mankind? What comes to your mind when you consider this topic?

2014
Population	317,300,000
Deaths
All causes	2,626,418
Diseases of heart	614,348
Malignant neoplasms	591,699
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	147,101
Unintentional injuries	136,053
Cerebrovascular diseases	133,103
Alzheimer's disease	93,541
Diabetes mellitus	76,488
Influenza and pneumonia	55,227
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	48,146
Suicide	42,773
Ages 15 - 24
Population	43,956,000
Deaths
All causes	28,791
Unintentional injuries	11,836
Suicide	5,079
Homicide	4,144
Malignant neoplasms	1,569
Diseases of heart	953
Congenital malformations/abnormalities	377
Influenza and pneumonia	199
Diabetes mellitus	181
Chronic lower respiratory disease	178
Cerebrovascular diseases	177
Ages 25 - 44
Population	84,410,000
Deaths
All causes	118,173
Unintentional injuries	33,405
Malignant neoplasms	14,891
Diseases of heart	13,709
Suicide	13,275
Homicide	6,747
Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis	3,307
Diabetes mellitus	2,708
Cerebrovascular diseases	2,324
HIV disease	1,757
Influenza and pneumonia	1,674
Ages 45 - 64
Population	83,747,000
Deaths
All causes	524,725
Malignant neoplasms	160,116
Diseases of heart	109,264
Unintentional injuries	38,640
Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis	21,419
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	20,894
Diabetes mellitus	19,404
Cerebrovascular diseases	17,076
Suicide	16,294
Septicemia	8,223
Influenza and pneumonia	8,121
65 years and older
All causes	1,922,271
Diseases of heart	489,722
Malignant neoplasms	413,885
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	124,693
Cerebrovascular diseases	113,308
Alzheimer's disease	92,604
Diabetes mellitus	54,161
Unintentional injuries	48,295
Influenza and pneumonia	44,836
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	39,957
Septicemia	29,124

Answer 1

Question (1)

Question 2

Question 3

(4) Studying death and all the factors that cause the end of life of mankind may sound morbid but it is more valuable than studying life itself because to know death is to know life. Every action of mankind that leads to his death are to be contemplated, studied, understood and researched in order to avoid unhealthy actions or habits that could end a life earlier than it is suppose to end. For instance, over eating for a prolonged period of time leads to many diseases such as diabetes, heart problems, obesity, blood pressure etc. Only because medical professionals study these things do we know what to eat and how much to eat, how to keep ourselves fit, and how to avoid bad habits that could jeopardise our health. Death has provided an insight into best ways to live life healthy and happily. Death comes to us all. It is something that is common for every race, religion, creed and color and every lifeform. Even stars die after a period of time. In fact, the number of deaths per 1000 in the lists above would not have come down if doctors and scientists did not study the causes of death. So it has to be seen through a scientific prism.