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Causes Of Death Canada: How Illness And Disease Affects Canada Vs. The World

How Illness And Disease Affects Canada Vs. The World
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Canada has been looking like a mighty fine place to live in the past few years. Not only was the country chosen as the ninth best place to be born in 2013, but five of our major cities were touted for their high quality of life in a recent index surveying the globe.

But one of the inevitabilities of life, of course, is death, and a new report on mortality rates released by the U.S.-based National Research Council and Institute of Medicine shows exactly why and how Canadians (and other nationalities) are dying each year. Using the World Health Organization's most recent statistics from 2011 for 16 of the wealthiest countries and taking the United States as the benchmark nation, the report puts certain diseases — like cancer and Alzheimer's — in stark numbers to demonstrate their effects.

In 2011, it was reported that cancer was the leading cause of death in Canada, and despite the number of deaths from the disease dropping in recent months, it still remains the biggest killer overall.

On the plus side, more Canadians are adjusting their lifestyle factors to prevent the disease, and helping their health for the other leading cause of death — cardiac disease — at the same time.

In the report, non-health related causes of death included traffic accidents, suicides and drownings, which did not have as large an impact on Canada as diseases and illnesses. Interestingly, our nation had the highest mortality rates for panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and lymphomas (a type of blood cancer).

But overall, Canada is better off than most. Out of 16 ranked countries, the country sits at 11th place in overall causes of all death, while the U.S., for example, is number one, followed by Denmark. Most notably, the United States was found, by a significant margin, to be the place where the most violent deaths occur.

How do Canada's causes of death rank against the rest of the world? Think there's any particular reason why we are where we are? Let us know in the comments below!

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