Benjamin Franklin famously said nothing’s
certain but death and taxes, and so far he’s
been half-right.
Barring some astonishing medical breakthrough,
we’re all gonna croak.
You, me, even Nicolas Cage and our producer,
Paul.
Hey Paul.
But how?
How will we die?
There are a few ways to approach this question.
First, should we look at deaths in a specific
country, like the US or China?
While we can pull some interesting statistics
from a more narrowly defined study, doing
so means we’re essentially ignoring the
rest of the world.
So let’s take a shot at the Big Kahuna of
Mortality Studies: the global statistics on
death.
In 2012, the most recent database available,
just five conditions were responsible for
40% of annual deaths.
Can you guess which one led the pack?
If you thought “something about heart disease,”
then congratulations.
You are correct.
You’re still going to die, but always remember:
you died a winner.
Cardiovascular diseases wiped out an estimated
17.5 million people in 2012, accounting for
31% of all deaths.
Of these fatalities, 7.4 million were due
to coronary heart disease and 6.7 million
were due to stroke.
The most common cause of ischaemic heart disease
is atherosclerosis – that’s where this
gross plaque made of fat, cholesterol, calcium
and other substances builds up within your
arteries.
Eventually this gunk hardens, reducing the
amount of blood that can run through your
system – and this means less delicious,
necessary oxygen reaches your organs.
While some causes of death, such as AIDs,
have declined over time, heart disease is
on the rise.
Why?
According to the World Health Organization,
behavioral factors play a huge role in this
affliction.
All the fun stuff: smoking, drinking too much
booze, obesity and physical activity (or specifically
lack thereof) can all contribute to the most
unpleasant (and perhaps final) surprise of
your life.
Fortunately, experts around the globe are
tackling this problem together.
As we record this episode, the Member States
of WHO are working to achieve the goals created
in the oh-so-suavely named “Global action
plan for the prevention and control of Noncommunicable
Diseases 2013-2020.”
While the title doesn’t exactly roll off
the tongue, the concept itself is worthwhile.
In the US alone 1 out every 4 deaths are caused
by heart disease, and many people don’t
recognize the symptoms.
Sure, one day we may be able to replace our
bodies or upload our minds to the internet,
but for now the one body you have - the one
you're watching this video in - and it's the
only one you’ll get – so take care of
it!
This question also got us thinking a lot about
mortality, and I think I’ve decided how
I’d like to go out – on a gigantic kamikaze
rocket hurtling into space to collide with
an asteroid and save the world.
Basically, a cooler version of the movie Armageddon.
What about you?
Let me know in the comments and if you’d
like to learn more about this delightfully
dark subject, visit us over at HowStuffWorks.com.
Also if you are a ghost, please drop a line
because we'd love to hear about life's post-credits
stinger scenes.
