– “The Death Rate Is Rising”
“For the first time 10 years, the death rate for people living in the U.S. has risen. Preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests both the overall number of deaths and the rate adjusted for the increasing likelihood of death as people age, rose in 2015.”


* Measurement of Death Rate
“The death rate is measured as a number of people who die per 100,000. The overall rate has been declining in the U.S. since 1935. In 1935, the CDC published a death rate of 1,860.1 persons per 100,000, and in 2014 that number was 723.2 persons per 100,000. In 2015, the number rose to 729.2 persons per 100,000.

Although single-year improvements in mortality have been small since 1935, there has been an overall 60 percent decline in death rate between 1935 and 2010. Despite declining rates, every year the leading causes of death were heart disease, cancer and stroke.

The rise in death rate in 2015 is significant as it represents a larger increase in death rate than has been experienced since 1993, when the rate rose by 8.8 people per 100,000 or an overall increase of 1.7 percent.

The rates for the leading causes of death that year were stable, but there was a significant rise in the number of deaths from HIV.”


* What Caused the Rise in Death Rate?

“On the surface, the CDC report lists a rise in several causes of death, including suicide, Alzheimer’s disease and drug overdose. The latter refers primarily to opioid prescription overdoses, which now far surpasses illicit drug overdoses.

In the past, although there have been increased numbers in specific groups noted, an increase in death rate for the entire population has been a relatively rare occurrence,” by Dr. Mercola.
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Editor’s Note:
The horrific suicide of a man lighting his body on fire in Yelm followed by a murder-suicide in McKenna, brought national attention again to our area and highlighted major social issues in our midst. Suicides affect not only the community, however all of the families involved, creating emotional wounds that never heal. While this town has been growing pains with a tripled population in the last 15 years, not even the enormous Seattle Metro area has experienced a murder-suicide, plus a suicide in public by self-imposed fire, within days of each other. This signals a crisis where our neighbors don’t use the many free social services in Thurston & Pierce Counties to assist them in handling their burdens and feel they only have one way out – suicide.

Regardless of national and local political divisiveness, we have to take care of each other!