All articles tagged with #mortality
CNN notes that despite doctors calling him in excellent health, 79-year-old Trump’s aging, frequent security threats, and moments of fatigue keep mortality concerns in the foreground as he campaigns, with incidents near the White House and past assassination attempts underscoring ongoing security risks.
In a 13-year study of 340,924 UK Biobank participants, low to moderate wine intake was associated with lower mortality risk than spirits, beer, or cider, including a 21% lower risk of cardiovascular death for moderate wine drinkers; even modest intake of spirits, beer, or cider linked to higher cardiovascular mortality. Heavy drinking raised death risk across beverage types. The findings may reflect wine’s polyphenols and healthier drinking patterns, but the study is observational and could be influenced by lifestyle factors, so randomized trials are needed for confirmation.
A new Cochrane review finds PSA blood testing likely reduces death from prostate cancer with moderate certainty, reporting about two fewer disease-specific deaths per 1,000 men screened across six long-term European and North American trials. The benefit is modest and depends on careful implementation, ongoing medical follow-up, and selective biopsies to minimize overdiagnosis and overtreatment; the study does not issue guidelines but supports PSA screening in appropriately selected patients.
A longitudinal Add Health study finds conservatives in midlife experience worsening health and higher mortality than liberals since the 2010s, due to both demographic shifts and a politics‑driven decline in trust in and engagement with medical care. By 2020–2022, internal (disease‑related) deaths rise more among conservatives. A post‑COVID survey shows right‑leaning individuals are less likely to visit primary care, mistrust physicians, and doubt medications, suggesting a politicized health‑behavior gap that persists beyond COVID‑19 and is not fully explained by demographics or policy.
A UK analysis of nearly 16 million English adults aged 65+ found that about 28% of those who died from COVID-19 in the first 2.5 years would likely have lived at least five more years if they had not contracted the virus, while roughly 23.5% would not have survived more than a year; overall, life expectancy for those who died was reduced by about four to five years. The study, which used linked health data and accounted for vaccination status and pandemic waves, argues that many older COVID-19 decedents were not near death before infection and highlights real-time mortality-displacement modeling for future pandemics.
A study analyzing CDC death records from 1999–2023, with machine-learning projections, shows rectal cancer mortality among adults aged 20–44 rising two to three times faster than colon cancer and widening across demographics, especially Hispanics and Western states. Researchers warn that diagnostic delays (about seven months for young patients) and symptom dismissiveness contribute to more advanced disease, suggesting screening strategies may need reevaluation to address increasing younger-onset rectal cancer.
A long-term study of 1,338 older adults found that longer daytime naps, more frequent naps, and morning naps were linked to higher all-cause mortality. Each extra hour of napping per day correlated with about a 13% greater death risk, each additional nap per day with ~7% more risk, and morning nappers had roughly 30% higher risk than afternoon nappers. While the findings show correlation, not causation, they suggest nap patterns may reflect underlying disease or circadian disruption and could be used via wearable monitoring to detect health issues earlier.
A study analyzing CDC death records (1999–2023) and projecting future trends, presented at Digestive Disease Week 2026, finds rectal cancer deaths rising two to three times faster than colon cancer in adults aged 20–44, with the steepest increases among 35–44-year-olds and Hispanics in Western states. The research highlights diagnostic and treatment delays for younger patients (averaging seven months to treatment vs. about one month for older adults) as a key driver and suggests screening strategies may need reevaluation to address this shifting burden.
A Digestive Disease Week 2026 study finds rectal cancer deaths in adults aged 20–44 rising 2–3 times faster than colon cancer, with mortality projections suggesting the trend could continue through 2035. Most under-50 patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, and there is an average seven-month delay from symptom onset to treatment, highlighting the need for primary care to investigate early bowel changes in those under 45 and to better understand tumor biology to improve outcomes.
Large population studies across multiple countries find regular chili pepper consumption associated with lower mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer, with capsaicin cited as a potential mechanism. However, the evidence is observational and the reductions are modest, so causation cannot be proven and more rigorous research is needed.
A Lund University study followed more than 600,000 people from age 17 to 60 and found that obesity onset in early adulthood (17–29) was linked to about 70% higher all-cause mortality during follow-up, driven largely by cardiovascular disease. The findings suggest the duration of obesity, rather than late-life weight gain, may drive risk, potentially via long-term insulin resistance and inflammation. Exercise and diet data weren’t analyzed, and there are sex-related nuances; the takeaway is to aim to prevent obesity early in life.
A long-term study using wearable-measured nap patterns in 1,300+ older adults (average age ~81) found that more frequent and longer morning naps are associated with higher all-cause mortality, suggesting napping patterns could help flag underlying health issues (though correlation, not causation).
A Mass General Brigham and Rush University study followed 1,338 older adults for up to 19 years using wrist activity monitors to quantify nap length, frequency, and time of day. They found longer, more frequent, and morning naps associated with higher all-cause mortality: about 13% higher risk per extra nap hour, 7% per additional nap, and 30% higher risk for morning versus afternoon naps; irregular patterns showed no increased risk. The authors emphasize correlation, not causation, and suggest wearable nap tracking could help detect underlying health issues early.
A UK Biobank study of 72,174 adults wearing accelerometers found that increasing daily steps up to about 9,000–10,000 is linked to a 39% lower risk of death and a 21% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, with benefits already appearing around 4,000–4,500 steps and regardless of sedentary time; the study is observational and cannot prove causation, and high sedentary time still carries risks.
A BMJ Medicine analysis of two large cohorts finds that both total physical activity and the variety of activities independently correlate with longer life. Walking and other activities show strong associations, with benefit peaking around 20 MET-hours per week, while those engaging in a broader range of activities have about a 19% lower risk of all-cause mortality after adjusting for total activity. Limitations include self-reported data and a largely White sample, making the findings observational rather than causal.