Causes of Death in the USA

“The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil”—our mission too?

By Ralph D. Winter, originally published on April 25, 2004

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Click to enlarge. Row 18 indicates the reported number of deaths in the USA, per year in Column 1, and per day in Column 5. Row 16 sums up the total number of deaths in the USA per year due to the 15 causes listed in rows 1-15. Each row gives the breakdown for each of the different causes of death, Column 1 = annual total, Column 5 = daily total. Column 1 data for 2001, from the National Center for Health Statistics, 2003. Other columns and calculations, RDW, 4/25/04

How few die a natural death!

1. Note that the deaths from the causes listed in rows 1-8, Column 4, account for 75% of all deaths in the USA.
2. Note that the number of deaths in the USA from just homicide (Row 14) is only 7/10 of 1% of all deaths.
3. Note that the number of deaths from heart disease plus cancer (Column 4, Row 2) constitutes more than half (51%) of all deaths.
4. Lines 5, 11 and 14 are non-disease causes. Together they represent 4%, 1/3% and 0.7% of the total. The remaining twelve disease-related causes are still 76.4% of the total deaths. (Should that be true?)
5. If Line 17, “Other Causes,” is mostly disease, then pathogenic or germ-based disease accounts for even more than 76.4% of deaths. Yet 99% of medical/pharmaceutical funds focus on treating disease, not eradicating the pathogenic sources.

Beneath these silent statistics...

Beneath these silent statistics is a raging war of pathogenic disease against human beings. This war prematurely drags down to death in pain and suffering about four out of five people who die in the United States. Subtracting lines 5, 11, and 14, eight out of ten dies an unnatural death. This is not a pretty picture, and not something to look forward to. As someone said, I am not afraid of death, just the process of dying.

But the absolute wonder is that less than one percent of medical funds go to disease sources instead of disease treatments. There are several reasons for this.

1. Until recently many of these diseases were not understood to be the result of infections (pathogens, that is, viruses, bacteria or parasites), but because of “conditions.” Duodenal ulcers also were because of stress and spicy food, etc., not a bacterium (heliobacter pylori). Tuberculosis was assumed to be caused by sleeping in damp places, not by a pathogen. Heart disease has long been described as being caused by conditions like salt or cholesterol in the diet and as a gradual build-up of plaque in the arteries. Now it is clear that half of all who die of heart attacks don’t possess any of the alleged symptoms. Now, heart deaths are attributed to sudden “eruption” of inflammation in arterial walls (due to an infection), which suddenly blocks arteries and thus strains and damages the heart, suddenly. Strong evidence has now been acknowledged to indicate that infections underlie heart disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and schizophrenia, for example.
2. A second major reason is that Western theology has a blind spot stemming from the Neo-Platonism of Augustine (in the fourth century AD). Thus, we tend to look for God’s after-the-fact purposes in a tragedy. We don’t often seek to eradicate the causes—unless we think they are conditions like lack of exercise, wrong nutrition, etc. Jonathan Edwards (1740s) was accused of “interfering with Divine Providence” when he sought to employ a vaccine to defend his Indians from smallpox.
3. The simplest factor to explain is that sick people seeking healing (not causal explanations) provide the truly enormous resources of the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Over 99% of all such funds, understandably, focus on treatments not origins of disease. Yet, most government money (NIH, NCI, etc.) is also manipulated or influenced by the medical/pharmaceutical industries, so also with the research grants on which university faculties live. In other words, relatively little concern ends up for disease origins. 

Hell's Kitchen and the Epidemic of Debilitating Health-Disorder Diseases: Radical Theories from the Fringe

By Rebecca Lewis

It is a well-known oddity of investigative science that new theories and insights usually have to come from the fringes. At the center of scientific thought are the entrenched perspectives and long-held theories that resist being challenged. They are accepted as truth, as are their hypothetical conclusions. It takes those who have not been thus indoctrinated to be able to view problems from a different perspective. And this perspective merits serious consideration from anyone trying to actually reach a clearer understanding of root problems.

Since the 1940's, a vast array of previously unknown or rare health disorders have appeared, and in the last generation, have become epidemic. Diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, to name a few, and childhood and teen disorders like asthma, ADHD, autism, and schizophrenia. I call them "health disorders" because they do not appear to be contagious, but are clearly increasing in epidemic proportions, a pattern that does not result from genetic degradation. 

Many new books are being written on the subject, some postulating that these diseases are environmental or nutritional (e.g. Our Stolen Future, Altering Eden, Hell's Kitchen, Breast Cancer and Iodine, The Orthomolecular Treatment of Schizophrenia), while other books are postulating that these diseases are caused by unsuspected germs, fungi, viral assaults to our immune systems, or misguided treatments (e.g. The Germ That Causes Cancer, Dissolving Illusions, Plague Time, Anatomy of an Epidemic).  Interestingly, some are even researching the chemical breakdown of the body, and resultant illnesses, related to ongoing emotional stresses and spiritual problems, such as fear, anger, abandonment, hatred. Organizations such as BeInHealth.org, and books such as The Biblical Foundations of Freedom (by Art Mathias) and A More Excellent Way (by Henry Wright), see physical healing and healthiness as a result of spiritual and emotional healing and deliverance. 

In my opinion, none of these views paint the whole picture. Instead, each must be taken in context and enlightened by the perspective of the others. Only then will we be able to see what's happening to our bodies and our world. But what does not seem to be in doubt is that humans are not the only ones struggling with new varieties of degenerative health conditions, with everything from the collapse of entire bee colonies to the gender-warping of the fish and reptiles that inhabit our fresh waters. Indeed, a lot of additional insight can be garnered by studying both animals and humans.

One of the most unique theories of the roots of degenerative disorder, is that presented by a book called Hell's Kitchen, written by a medical doctor who began his career as a zoo veterinarian. After spending nearly 20 years successfully figuring out how to keep a wide variety of zoo animals healthy and fertile, Dr. Joel Wallach realized that most of the modern degenerative human diseases were very similar to the nutritional diseases he was overcoming in zoo animals. He went back to medical school to train as a Naturopathic doctor, while doing his own research into the history of the development of obesity, diabetes, cancer, and most other health disorders that have developed in the Western world in recent times. 

Dr. Wallach's fascinating conclusion is that Americans began to fight increasing problems with obesity, diabetes, and many other degenerative diseases when they stopped fertilizing their fields with wood ash (potash) and later also their backyard gardens. In the late 1800's with the boom in the chemical industry, farms switched to using chemical fertilizers, with a handful of nutrients instead of the 91 found in wood ash. Homes ceased to use wood ash in their vegetable gardens as they slowly switched from cooking with wood fires to using natural gas and electric stoves, as well as coal and gas fireplaces. The result is a long-term decline in soil nutrients, and thus, the nutrients available in our foods. 

Wallach's book contains many intriguing insights, though it read more as a list of historical events interspersed with insights and comments. At times he seems reactionary to the medical establishment which has shunned him. One fascinating study he did with an Amish community led to his discovering he could virtually prevent muscular dystrophy in their children by ensuring adequate supplies of selenium to pregnant mothers. He benefited much from the many years he spent tracing the deficiencies and diseases that result from nutritional changes in diverse animal species. He has much to contribute to the discussion, applying his research techniques to the study of human health problems.

This book is a prime example of how people on the fringes of the medical community might come up with new perspectives which greatly contribute to understanding the roots of modern diseases.  I highly recommend reading this quirky book for the unique perspective it provides.

Rebecca Lewis is a curriculum development consultant who serves on the RWI's Advisory Board.

Five Revelations Concerning the Battle Against Disease

Compiled from the writings of Ralph D. Winter

By Emily Lewis

Flickr/svenwerk

1. Healing the sick or seeking the source of the sickness?

The enormous expenditures we as a society make in the medical world are almost entirely focused on healing the sick not seeking the source of the sickness. Neither in the practice of medicine (doctors and hospitals) nor in the pharmaceutical world is there—nor can there be—significant concern or focus upon the origins of disease. 

2. Inexpensive medicines can't obtain FDA approval.

Our well-intended FDA—designed to give approval of helpful medicines—has developed a process of approval which costs, supposedly, from $400 to $800 million. This forces very high prices on what is approved. Even more ominous is the bald truth that no product that is inexpensive to manufacture or that can easily be sold by anyone will ever justify the enormous expense of that approval process.

3. Infections may be at the root of chronic illness.

While the causes of many well-known chronic illnesses (heart disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia) are commonly attributed to lifestyle and environment (diet and toxic agents), a totally new development in the university world is the strong suspicion that infectious agents, either viral or bacterial, are basically producing all of the mentioned chronic diseases.

4. Neo-Platonism influences our view of disease and evil.

Christian theology since the fourth century has been greatly influenced by Neo-Platonism in respect to ascribing all evil to God, not Satan. Our inherited theology allows us to fight “terrorists” that can be seen with the naked eye but not to fight tiny terrorists that can only be seen in a microscope.  That tiny world we assume is amenable only to God and to our prayers. We have no formulated mission to intervene.

5. God will not make sense.

The effect of this theology upon our efforts of evangelism and mission is that God will NOT make sense if we attribute to Him what Satan does.

Editor's Note: These ideas are excerpted from an essay written by Ralph D. Winter entitled, "A Growing Awareness About Disease." You can read the full essay by clicking to read more.  

Emily Lewis is the RWI's Content Curator and Social Media Manager