Angela Wenham
LightNews LightNews
angelawenham.bsky.social
Angela Wenham
@angelawenham.bsky.social
500 followers 26 following 0 posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Angela Wenham
scientificdiscovery.dev
Have you ever wondered:

Which antibiotics are most common? How much is used in livestock? How do antibiotics even work? Which countries monitor antibiotic resistance?

We have a new page on Our World in Data with data on all of these & more! Check it out:
ourworldindata.org/antibiotics
Screenshot of new topic page on antibiotics and antibiotic usage on Our World in Data: "Antibiotics are one of the most important medical breakthroughs of the 20th century.1 They have revolutionized healthcare by making it possible to effectively treat bacterial infections. Before antibiotics, even minor infections could be life-threatening, and medical procedures and surgeries were much riskier due to the high chance of infection. As a consequence, antibiotics have saved countless lives. But antibiotic resistance challenges their effectiveness. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics have hastened this growing global threat that makes it harder and more costly to treat infections." Map of 'share of children with symptoms of a respiratory infection who received antibiotics', showing data from countries surveyed by DHS/UN MICS, presented in a study by Browne AJ et al. (2021) Bar chart showing 'global deaths from infectious disease syndromes, broken down by antimicrobial resistance' Bar chart titled 'Livestock animals use very different amounts of antibiotics'
December 23, 2024 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Angela Wenham
scientificdiscovery.dev
Americans are now one-third less likely to die from cancer at the same ages as Americans in 1990
How has the risk of dying from cancer changed in the United States? To understand this, we can look at national cancer death rates in the United States. The gray line shows the crude rate, which is the rate of deaths from cancer per 100,000 people. It has risen between 1950 and 1990 and has fallen slightly since then. However, cancer death rates rise sharply with age, and the age of the US population has increased since 1950, so we would expect cancer death rates to rise for that reason alone. What if we adjust for the increased age of the US population? The red line, the age-standardized rate, shows this. It shows the cancer death rate if the age structure of the US population was held constant throughout. This shows a slight rise until 1990 and then a significant decline; rates have fallen by one-third. This means Americans are now one-third less likely to die from cancer at the same ages as Americans in 1990. This comes from several factors: better screening and earlier diagnosis, medical advances in cancer treatments, and public health efforts to reduce risk factors like smoking and exposure to carcinogens.
December 9, 2024 at 10:02 AM