Suicides, obesity, smoking and poor quality health coverage all contribute, study says
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comJapan may soon lose its top longevity ranking
Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:57 PM EDT (msnbc.com)
- msnbc.com sites & shows:
- TODAY
- Rock Center
- Nightly News
- Meet the Press
- Dateline
- Morning Joe
- Hardball
- Ed
- Maddow
- Last Word
- msnbc tv
Leave a Comment:
I went into a pachinko parlor there once. The cigarette smoke and stench was so thick I nearly gagged. And I'm a life long smoker!
I'm sure all the new radiation isn't going to help
stabbystabstab: No, it's not going to help, but it's unlikely to hurt either, given the amounts of radiation (http://maps.safecast.org/feedMap.php), the relatively rarity of the cancers associated with radiation, and the relatively small (ca. 80,000) number of people who have been most heavily exposed to radiation.
you're right. Cancer and radiation have nothing to do with each other
stabbystabstab: They have a lot to do with each other, alas, but the association is that radition exposure tends to increase the rate of incidence of certain cancers (e.g., thyroid cancer from exposure to iodine-131; cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_effects_from_Fukushima_I_nuclear_accidents and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects#Comparisons_to_other_radioactivity_releases and related articles) but the rate of incidence of those cancers tends to be fairly low. Hence, the actual number of extra cancer cases is likely to be relatively low. It may not even be detectable, though only the future will show us that.
Maybe they could send all their cancer patients to that area for radiation treatment. Rent out the abandoned houses to them, and the treatment is free. Call the marketing people! (just kidding)
The fact is that age discrimination in recruitment is rampant in the US, UK, Canada and Australia and all of these countries now face increasing dependency ratios resulting not merely from aging but from lack of political will in protecting older workers from discrimination during recruitment.
I know because I am 80 and still working. As part of my work, I provide on the job training for younger workers who have skills but lack experience in applying their skills.
Politicians themselves are biased, which may explain their inaction in enacting laws to protect older people from age discrimination. For a start, allowing questions relating to age in job application forms should be outlawed along with asking for dates of degrees etc.
This is justified by the fact that ten years after school, performance in most occupations is related more to experience than courses taken. Since recruiters do not seem to be aware of this I did a master degree at age 75.
This helps to obtain work by reducing age bias of recruiters, but even if it does not increase performance as much as the same time devoted to on the job experience.